Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 205

Chapter 205: Sound and Smell

Sound and Smell

An orange light shot out through the fog.

Though not very bright, it was clearly visible even in the curtain of dense mist.

An enigma.

Whats wrong?

Right as I was about to walk forward, Namgung Bi-ah asked me from behind.

What do you mean whats wrong, there is-

I stopped my words just as I was about to ask her.

There was no way she couldnt see such a clear light.

At such a realization, I asked Namgung Bi-ah.

Can you not see that?

?

At my question, she just tilted her head in confusion.

She really didnt seem to be able to see the light.

Is it visible only to me?

This peculiar light that was clearly visible to me, seemed to be invisible to others.

[Why do you keep saying that you see something? Huh?]

Seems like you cant see it as well, Elder Shin.

If even Elder Shindespite us sharing our visioncouldnt see it as well, did that mean that the light was another ability of the Marble of Celestial Captivation?

Regardless of the truth

Itd be best for me to follow it.

I was left with no other choice.

To find the correct path in this labyrinth of fog, I had to try anything and everything.

Enhancing my senses doesnt work either.

My Qi flowed seamlessly, yet I couldnt enhance my senses.

It seemed like something within the fog prevented it.

Fair, theres no way a fog that has persisted for centuries is normal to begin with.

It made sense why the Black Palace chose this place for their main palace.

Even if one knew that the main palace was located on the Misty Mountains, finding It wouldnt be an easy task, especially if formations were cast to further conceal it.

Grabbing Namgung Bi-ahs wrist, I warned her.

Follow closely.

Okay.

First, I sharpened my senses to their utmost limit.

Although the improvement was marginal, it was still extremely helpful in this unfamiliar mountain terrain.

With Namgung Bi-ahs arm firmly in my grip, we moved forward.

Despite the lack of an explanation, as I dragged her forward, Namgung Bi-ah voiced no complaints about this.

Perhaps the fact that I constantly pointed out her poor sense of direction had convinced her to trust my lead.

We continued to walk through the fog for a very long time.

Under normal circumstances, we would have covered the same distance in just a few leaps, but the need to move extremely carefully hindered our progress.

[It really is a nasty fog.]

Indeed, it really is unpleasant.

[So, this fog is a trace left by a demon?]

Yes.

This peculiar fog had appeared alongside a White Gate of Demons in the past.

And it remained as a trace after the demon that had emerged from that gate was slain.

Historically, the number of White Demons could be counted on one hand, and they all had been successfully sealed or slain.

Yet, as if to show their immense power and ability, they left traces of themselves even after their death.

The blinding fog in the Misty Mountains

The freezing chill of the North Sea

And even the scorching heat in the West. They were all examples of such traces.

These anomalies were a testament to the demons influence on nature, even after their death.

At my thoughts, Elder Shin clicked his tongue.

It seemed like he was displeased with something.

[Tsk, these bastards leave a mess even after death, and they didnt even do a good job at cleaning up the mess.]

According to Elder Shin, people shouldve done a better job on cleaning up the mess after the demon was slain.

Of course, slaying a White Demona being considered a calamitywas a great achievement in and of itself.

But since it was Elder Shin who said it, I could understand.

[Back in my day if we slayed such bastards, we were required to clean up the mess that came after, but the ones who came after, though Ugh, tsk tsk.]

The past, the time when Elder Shin and the heroes fought against the Blood Demon.

A period of time when high-grade demons ran rampant.

And since Elder Shin was active as the Divine Sword of Mount Hua, he had probably encountered a few White Demons.

There were way too many traces left for that not to be the case.

I could tell just by looking at the present Misty Mountains.

You are absolutely right.

[Hmm? Whats gotten into you? Its really strange for you to agree with me-]

You shouldve cleaned up after yourself.

[Hmm?]

Elder Shin let out a confused reaction.

The demon responsible for turning this mountain into a mess was named the Mist Dragon.

The Mist Dragon had cursed this mountain with perpetual fog after its death.

And it was slain by none other than the Divine Sword of Mount Hua, Shincheol.

[]

Reminded of the truth, Elder Shin fell silent.

It seemed he was too embarrassed to speak.

******************

As we continued to follow the light, the silence from Elder Shin and the naturally quiet Namgung Bi-ah made the journey go much faster, and soon we found ourselves close to the end.

How long has it been?

Though I wasnt sure because of all the fog, judging by how it was slowly getting darker, it would soon be night.

A camp

It was possible to build one if I really wanted to, but the situation was far from ideal.

First, the Marble of Celestial Captivation had stopped working.

Its light was still telling us the path, but even after it had regained its color, I still couldnt know Gu Huibis current situation.

There was a smell.

Her response left me frowning in confusion.

I couldnt understand.

Namgung Bi-ah had just sliced through an unstable part of the formation with her sword.

A miss would have caused it to backfire in retaliation and the unstable part of a formation isnt visible to the human eye to begin with.

Yet, not only did she locate it, but also successfully severed it?

Watching her do such a thing, reminded me of a certain individual.

Water Dragon.

The crazy fucker of the Wudang Sect.

In my previous life, he too had a knack for dealing with formations in the same way.

I remembered him just casually scanning his surroundings before slicing the air, effortlessly solving the problem.

His method was so absurd that I still remembered it.

Despite my best efforts, I couldnt understand his technique, so I even ended up asking the Water Dragon about it.

About the principle behind his technique, that is.

But his response was even more ridiculous.

-Listen for a sound. Then youll hear it.

-What do you hear? The sound of my heart exploding out of frustration?

-I could hear that for quite a while.

-You piece of?

I was reminded of the Water Dragons mocking laughter; it still makes me angry.

But putting that aside

If I were to compare the Water Dragons words to what Namgung Bi-ah just said just earlier

-There was a smell.

-There is a sound.

For some reason, there was a striking similarity between their claims.

Namgung Bi-ah turned to me.

Are you not going in?

The opening she had made was gradually closing.

She hadnt fully broken the formation, but merely carved a passage through it, so it would soon fix itself completely.

Recalling the Water Dragons words from my previous life, it wasnt possible to create an opening at the same spot once it had healed.

Enemies would likely notice if the same spot was targeted repeatedly.

Considering this, I couldnt afford to hesitate.

Lets go.

I followed Namgung Bi-ah into the opening.

Upon entering, I found the interior to be starkly different from the outside.

*****************

Pause.

The Palace Lord abruptly halted his steps.

Palace Lord?

This prompted the Great Oni, who was following him, to ask.

Hmm.

The Palace Lord, however, remained silent, his gaze wandering around and his expression strange.

The Great Oni discerned that the Palace Lords focus wasnt on the wall in front of them, but rather, something beyond it.

After a momentary glance at the wall, the Palace Lord shifted his gaze forward once again.

Great Oni.

Yes, Palace Lord.

Inspect the formation later.

Understood.

Even as the Great Oni acknowledged the order, he was doubtful inside.

The formation, huh.

He had recently examined it and found no issues, which made the Palace Lords order puzzling.

Despite his curiosity, the Great Oni decided not to question it.

His duty was to obey the Lords commands.

With the matter settled, the Palace Lord resumed his journey, his destination being that room.

As expected, the Leader made his way to the same room he had visited yesterday.

As he neared the door, he pondered.

It should be done by now.

One day, a period as long as that, should have been more than enough for the Great One to consume the flame.

As he approached his destination, he could feel his heartbeat intensifying.

Imagining the most perfect form of His Heaven he would witness in the future, the Palace Lord felt a surge of excitement.

Slam!

The colossal door swung open and the Palace Lord slowly stepped inside.

Slam!

And as soon as he did, the door closed behind him.

Immediately, the Palace Lord knelt and bowed his head to His Heaven.

Oh, Heaven I have-

His words trailed off as he took in the sight before him, shock filling his face.

In a space where only darkness should have prevailed, there was light.

A dense, violet flame illuminated the room.

This flame; it was definitely the Holy Fire created by His Heaven.

From the center of the flame, voices could be heard.

Why is this book so hard? Uhm do you have anything else?

Book.

No, like, do you have any other books?

N.

SighYou really give the shortest responses. Didnt I tell you to respond with at least two letters?

No.

Good Job!

Gu Huibi, who shouldve disappeared from this world after becoming one with His Heaven, was instead comfortably seated in the room.

With His Heaven, nestled on her lap.

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