Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village

I headed to the Aokigahara flooded depths with Dongyeong's Aoki.

"Oh, right."

On the way, I thought I might as well rescue Elder Cheongwol of the Thunder God Style first, so I went to the secret hideout in the entrance abyss where he was concealed. Quite some time had passed since my reincarnation, and he looked even more haggard. Still, the fact that he was somehow alive showed he had grown accustomed to surviving in this place.

"Ugh... Finally... Am I getting out of this hell?"

Tears welled up in his eyes, unbefitting a warrior of the Thunder God Style. Then again, every day spent hiding from monsters in the entrance abyss must have been pure torment. I had already extracted everything useful from Elder Cheongwol, so rescuing him now wouldn't yield anything new, but I figured there was value in the act itself. I asked him,

"Elder Cheongwol. Have you ever seen an exit from this entrance abyss... leading to the annihilation depths?"

"No idea. The monsters here are so overwhelming, I never had the luxury to think about that... Ah."

Elder Cheongwol spoke as if something had just occurred to him.

"Pardon?"

"Twice."

I turned to look at him in surprise. He mumbled a bit before continuing.

"It was a long time ago. Right after I first entered the entrance abyss and found my hideout. I saw a man flying past while dodging monsters. He was dressed like a Dongyeong warrior, and he went in... then came back out."

"That was years ago."

"That guy possessed an incredible sword aura. I wondered if there was even a master like that in the Central Plains..."

Elder Cheongwol chewed on the chicken I had given him as he spoke.

"Hmm... And more recently, about a month ago, I saw a guy in a conical hat charging at a massive monster. But I saw him die in the fight, so probably not relevant."

"He died...? How?"

"He got hacked to pieces by a rakshasa-like monster dozens of zhangs big with eight arms."

"How skilled was he?"

"Couldn't tell from a distance, but it ended in an instant. The monsters here are just too strong for that not to happen."

I could tell Elder Cheongwol's accounts were a bit muddled. Then again, expecting more from someone teetering on the edge of life and death in a daze every day was unreasonable. Still, I had a gut feeling that what he was saying held some key importance.

'The latter one with the hat... probably the guy I saw before.'

He had died from a monster's breath beam last time, and now again. Whoever he was, charging into the entrance abyss to fight transcendent-level monsters meant he wasn't right in the head. Anyway, if he was dead, no need to worry about him. The important one was the first.

I said to Elder Cheongwol,

"Let's get out of here with me right now. Then tell me the details at our base."

Flash

I took Elder Cheongwol out first, gave him food and water to recover, and three days later, once his energy was restored, I heard the full story. He meticulously recalled his memories and drew a sketch.

"I don't remember details... but that Dongyeong warrior's face felt like this."

I examined the sketch's outline and features closely with the strategists. Staring at the drawing, a hunch hit me, and I figured out what it was.

"So it was him after all."

A face I'd seen before.

No, extremely familiar.

"Obvious, but confirming it matters."

Mangryang said calmly. He thought for a moment, then spoke.

"We can meet him later. Let's stick to the plan for now."

"Got it."

Flash

I entered the entry point of Aokigahara's flooded depths with Mangryang, Cheon Ujin, Zhuge Sa, Jin So-cheong, and others. The location was a dark cave leading from the living flood to the dead sea, home to biped ruins and an onmyoji clan guardian.

Hum

A human silhouette appeared above the altar. Soon, "it" fully manifested in human form on the altar. He wore white robes and a specially crafted headdress. Dressed as an onmyoji, he greeted us politely.

"I am Abe no Yoshihira of the flooded depths guardian clan. Might I ask who you gentlemen are?"

I said to him,

"Why should we tell you that?"

"You used a demonic artifact to enter and exit the entrance abyss and appear here directly, so I assumed you were distinguished figures with great secrets."

He had us all figured out.

Well, as a guardian clansman, he would know that much.

As I stayed silent, Mangryang beside me spoke.

"We wish to meet your clan head, Abe no Seimei."

"That's difficult. Our lord doesn't reveal himself just because some outsider of unknown origins wants to see him."

"We come from the Central Plains. I am Mangryang, disciple of Venerable Mangryang. This is the righteous hero Baek Woong, Jin So-cheong, Zhuge Sa, and finally my junior brother, the Illusion God Cheon Ujin. We fight against the demons."

"And?"

"We'll help maintain and reinforce your barriers. In exchange, we want to speak with Abe no Seimei."

"......"

Abe no Yoshihira pondered deeply. Then he pointed his index finger at Zhuge Sa and said,

"Everything else is fine, but not you. We can't allow a powerful demonic sorcerer like yourself."

Zhuge Sa smirked and said,

"You want me to leave?"

"No entry for those aligned with demonic arts."

"What about that guy?"

Zhuge Sa's finger pointed at me. As I looked puzzled, Abe no Yoshihira mirrored my confusion.

"What's... that supposed to mean? He looks like an ordinary human."

"Heh heh heh. Fair enough."

Zhuge Sa burst into amused laughter and waved his hand.

"Then I'll be off."

Whoosh

As he vanished using his sorcery, Abe no Yoshihira said,

"Our lord wishes to meet you. Follow me."

That rubbed me the wrong way, so I said,

"Was kicking out Zhuge Sa your decision or Seimei's will?"

"No. He only told me to bring you all."

"What? Who are you to interpret orders on your own whim?"

As I pressed him, Abe no Yoshihira bit his lip and said,

"This is the front line against demons. How could we let in a demonic sorcerer?"

"But..."

As I started to protest, Mangryang spoke to me via pure sound transmission.

[Baek Woong. Drop it. These are onmyoji fighting on the front lines, so they have to be extremely sensitive and conservative about demonic arts. Arguing more will just sour things.]

[Understood.]

Rustle

After passing through several doors of his eight trigrams sorcery, we arrived at a bizarre place. Eight trigrams patterns and all sorts of mystical incantations were engraved everywhere, with human buildings perched atop divine trees. It was a fairly large village, and all its inhabitants were onmyoji garb.

Soon, we reached the highest point, where a beautiful child with silver hair stood. The child was androgynous yet stunningly attractive, exuding a fox-like aura. Seeing the child, Abe no Yoshihira knelt and said,

"Lord Seimei. I have brought them."

"Withdraw. And keep everyone away from this area."

"Yes."

Even though it was a child's command, Abe no Yoshihira obeyed naturally. That beautiful child was undoubtedly the supreme onmyoji Abe no Seimei we sought.

The child gazed at us with silver bead-like eyes and said,

"You've come well. I am Abe no Seimei."

Abe no Seimei!

The legendary sorcerer and onmyoji who first succeeded in the Mount Tai Pacification Rite.

He led Dongyeong's onmyoji clan and was the one sealing Aokigahara's flooded depths. I asked Abe no Seimei,

"I've heard you're hundreds of years old. Why do you look so young?"

"It's cute. Respect my tastes."

"Uh? O-okay... Are you a boy or a girl?"

"Doesn't matter."

"......"

His matter-of-fact tone left me flustered instead. With an indifferent expression, he said to Mangryang,

"You said you'd help maintain the seal. How exactly?"

"We'll give you our divine treasures. An onmyoji of your caliber can surely use their power to strengthen the barriers."

"Fine. Then sit there."

As Seimei pointed at empty air, space warped dramatically, conjuring chairs for the group. He created his own and sat, interlocking his fingers as he said,

"Ask what you want."

Wary, I said,

"You're not suspicious of us? I'd test what treasures you have and what you can offer first."

"Why be suspicious?"

"What?"

"If you're Venerable Mangryang's disciple, that's all the guarantee I need. And I know you're not lying, so no point in probing."

"......!!"

"Humans opposing demons are rare. Better to trust when you can—it's to our benefit."

Just being Venerable Mangryang's disciple earned that much trust?

Mangryang's influence was even greater than I'd thought. For Dongyeong's grand sorcerer, who had lived centuries, to trust so readily proved he saw him as an absolute ally. As I marveled inwardly, Mangryang spoke.

"I know you performed the Mount Tai Pacification Rite to gain immortality. During that rite, did the Southern and Northern Dipper Lords appear?"

"Looks like you've summoned Mount Tai Pacification too."

"Yes."

Seimei replied slowly.

"Correct. The true nature of the immortality rite called Mount Tai Pacification is to petition the Southern and Northern Dipper Lords to meet Yama, then erase your name from Yama's life-and-death ledger."

"Didn't you sense anything off?"

"What specifically?"

"Any signs of impurity or corruption while the Southern and Northern Dippers acted as intermediaries to the afterlife?"

At Mangryang's words, Seimei slightly relaxed his interlocked fingers.

"Nothing like that. But I can guess why you're asking."

"You know something?"

"The afterlife has its shady side, that's true. Close to swindlers peddling fraudulent contracts."

"Fraudulent contracts..."

"Humans dying and going to the afterlife is the scam itself."

What?

Dumbfounded as I listened, Seimei said,

"I'd like to hear the full reason you're digging into corruption."

I exchanged glances with Mangryang. Convinced the Seimei before us was a trustworthy ally, I explained everything: how we took Xiang Yu's commission to find Wu He's soul, and uncovered the afterlife's secrets in the process. Seimei pondered deeply, then said,

"They're probably hiding that Yama King has vanished. Makes sense if you acted suspiciously like that."

I was stunned.

"Y-Yama King vanished?"

What was this?

Wasn't Yama King the lord of the underworld who judged human good and evil to send them to hell or heaven? As I reeled, Abe no Seimei said nonchalantly,

"Yama King is just one of the Ten Kings of Hell. Famous, sure. But he was already gone five hundred years ago when I performed Mount Tai Pacification. So I bribed the Southern and Northern Dipper Lords and erased my name from the ownerless Yama's ledger."

"That's true? Why did Yama King die..."

"No idea."

Abe no Seimei replied indifferently.

"You look like you have more questions."

"Oh, right. By any chance..."

I hesitated before asking.

"Has Miyamoto Musashi ever come to these flooded depths?"

"Yes."

As expected!

I'd suspected from Elder Cheongwol's portrait, but Miyamoto Musashi had indeed entered Aokigahara's flooded depths in the past! Swallowing hard, I said,

"Then... did he go beyond the entrance abyss into the annihilation depths?"

"No."

"He couldn't?"

"Correct."

Abe no Seimei said.

"Miyamoto Musashi was defeated by the king of the tree sea. He could never challenge the flooded depths again."

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