Chapter 238

Chapter 238

-Achoo.

Baek Risan blinked at Nakcheon, who suddenly mimicked sneezing while walking. Sensing the gaze, Nakcheon turned his head and spoke briefly.

-I felt like someone was talking about me.

“They’re talking about you, but why are you sneezing?”

-There was a tribe in the desert that had such a saying.

“Really……?”

How strange a saying.

Baek Risan tilted his head, accepted Nakcheon’s story on his own, and looked around before asking.

“Where are we going now?”

-A settlement.

“Which settlement?”

-A settlement called Oyeon.

“Oyeon?”

-Yes.

After pausing briefly, Nakcheon continued.

-There are several human settlements in this Daemak. Those who don’t belong to large groups and form villages. Oyeon is one of those settlements.

“About that, isn’t it strange?”

-What do you mean.

“If what you said before is true, you said they could stay safe inside the settlement by setting up formations, but ultimately if they leave the settlement, they could be discovered by yokai and killed.”

-That’s correct.

“Then is there really a need to form settlements and live? If it were me, I’d go to Magyo and ask for protection…… Wouldn’t that be safer?”

-That would be the wise decision.

“Then, why…….”

-Not everyone is wise.

Nakcheon looked at the invisible horizon beyond the sand dunes with dark eyes and spoke.

-Most beasts that form homes tend to remember their origins. The concept of homeland doesn’t exist only for humans.

-Places that remain in memory for long periods. Such things transform into an obsession called memories and bind people’s ankles. Even knowing it’s dangerous, there are those who can’t abandon their homeland for this reason. For them, abandoning their homeland is no different from abandoning their roots.

“I understand what you’re saying, but…….”

Baek Risan, who thought about Nakcheon’s words for a moment, tilted his head. It was a story that didn’t make sense.

“Anyway, the settlements are inside Daemak.”

-That’s correct.

“I don’t know much about farming, but is food self-sufficiency even possible? I don’t think farming would go well in the desert. It’s not like they can do livestock farming either.”

“Ah, Magyo must be supporting them.”

“Magyo is…… supporting them?”

“That’s right.”

When Nakcheon’s answer didn’t continue, Songbyeok Jinin, who slipped in, explained with a grin.

“Does the donor know what role the settlements scattered here and there play?”

“No. Based on the explanation I just heard, I thought people who couldn’t abandon their homeland were just stubbornly staying there.”

“……Hehe. That’s not entirely wrong, but those people aren’t staying there just because they’re stubborn. Each settlement has its role.”

“Role?”

“That’s right. Each settlement in this Daemak is wrapped in a formation, and at the same time, it’s also an axis of a giant formation.”

A formation of tremendous size surrounding Daemak.

That formation prevents yokai located outside Xinjiang from flowing in, and prevents yokai inside Daemak from going out. The reason Central Plains people consider Xinjiang a demon realm is also because the environment inside and outside Xinjiang is extremely different due to this formation.

“The important thing is that such a formation can’t just be maintained.”

“Don’t tell me living sacrifices or something like that are needed…….”

“Haha, it’s not that. However, very meticulous management is needed in terms of maintenance.”

Just because it’s a well-constructed formation doesn’t mean the formation will collapse if one or two axes collapse, but that doesn’t mean it won’t experience weathering over time if completely neglected. Personnel are needed to periodically manage and maintain the formation.

“People created villages at the places that become the axes of this formation and took charge of maintenance and repairs. In exchange, they arranged to receive food and necessary daily necessities from Magyo. Does that make sense?”

“Yes. Well. Roughly…….”

Baek Risan, who nodded with an expression that still found it somewhat puzzling, crossed his arms and was lost in thought before raising his head. He understood that settlements existed anyway, but there was something he didn’t understand.

“Wait. Nakcheon.”

-What is it.

“We’re going to find survivors now, right?”

-That’s correct.

“But if what you say is true, the people of the settlements can’t even come outside the settlements. Then wouldn’t it be useless to visit settlements to find out news of survivors?”

-That’s a reasonable doubt. But no.

“No? Why?”

-It’s speculation, but the transference formation you experienced wasn’t just any transference formation.

“What on earth does that…….”

-Moving across thousands of li of space without will is never an easy task.

Using magic arts to force something on a person is the same as crushing the opponent’s consciousness and gaining the upper hand with one’s own consciousness to perform an action.

“Isn’t moving through space the same? Isn’t it similar?”

-Completely different. Shall I give an example.

Nakcheon, who explained lightly, continued.

-Think about having to walk five steps. If you make yourself move by your own will, moving five steps isn’t difficult. Isn’t that right?

“It’s not just not difficult…… It’s just incredibly easy.”

-Right. Then if someone grabs your hand and pulls you to make you walk five steps?

“……Well.”

It would require more strength than walking on your own.

Watching Baek Risan answer, Nakcheon nodded and continued explaining.

-Forcibly transferring a person isn’t at the level of pulling their hand, but rather like pushing the back of someone who’s resisting and not trying to move. It naturally requires dozens of times more effort than moving five steps on your own.

“But I and my companions don’t really know magic arts.”

-It doesn’t matter if you don’t know about magic arts. Magic arts are the formalization and schematization of human consciousness. Unless you’re a human whose brain is completely dead and lacks even unconsciousness, all humans possess a certain level of resistance to magic arts.

“Is that so?”

-Yes.

Primal magic arts originate from strong obsession.

Nakcheon, who explained that even if the upper dantian isn’t open, everyone possesses resistance to magic arts, continued.

-I estimated that the number of transferees was at least several hundred. Perhaps it could be thousands.

“Yeah.”

-Forcibly moving that many people thousands of li precisely is impossible for a human magic practitioner. So they must have used a loophole.

“Loophole?”

-They must have used a method of weaving threads of connection and sending people to where they’re connected. The region of origin. Or bloodline. People. They must have sent them using such things as mediums. The reason you were in the center of Daemak is for that reason. Since the Divine Maiden’s bloodline to Magyo has been severed, the only medium remaining for you is the Great Seal.

The Great Seal, which originated from Cheonma and passed to the Divine Maiden, is literally a device no different from the Divine Maiden’s reason for existence. If they knew Baek Risan was of the Divine Maiden’s bloodline, they could specify the location to which he’d fly.

“That’s the case for me, but not for other people, right?”

-Correct.

Nakcheon, who nodded in affirmation, waved his hand. At the same time, dark smoke unraveled into the air in threads.

-Unless there’s a medium with deep connection like the Great Seal, people tend to be drawn to people. Connections shine more brightly between humans than with geographical features.

“That means…….”

-It’s speculation, but the majority of transferees probably transferred to Magyo. And the remaining portion also transferred to settlements.

“Bindu and this child transferred to a location in Daemak where there are no people.”

-It means the bloodline of your clan that connects to them has been severed.

-There was no connection remaining except for that place. That’s all.

Nakcheon, who declared this, turned his gaze.

-I can’t say there are no severed bloodlines, but if it’s a bloodline that connects to the Central Plains, there wouldn’t be many. However, if you enter Magyo, you’re someone who can’t avoid confinement.

-So we must search the settlements first. Even if we enter Magyo, it would be better to gather information from the settlements.

“I understand, but…”

Baek Risan, who thought for a moment, asked Nakcheon a question.

“Nakcheon, if what you say is true, the settlements all receive support from Magyo.”

-That’s correct.

“Then, isn’t visiting settlements also dangerous? If I’m discovered, I’ll be in big trouble.”

-It’s fine.

“Why?”

-Because we can just block the medium that transmits news.

Now. We’ve arrived.

Nakcheon, who replied as if it were nothing, made a small sound as he stepped on top of the sand dune. And the scenery shown to Baek Risan who climbed on top of the sand dune.

-This is the settlement Oyeon.

Nakcheon spoke calmly with his back to the desert spring so massive it could be called a lake.

-One of the four axes in charge of the south of the Great Seal.

I was able to meet Gonryunseon as soon as I entered Kunlun Sect.

“Why are you only coming now?”

“……What?”

I blinked blankly at Gonryunseon’s appearance getting angry as soon as we met, then asked back. Then Gonryunseon trembled his beard.

“Where have you been dawdling instead of coming quickly!”

“What on earth do you…….”

“I mean exactly what I said. You brat! If you had come just a little faster, we could have prevented the threads of connection from being tied!”

Tsk. We could have gone more easily.

Gonryunseon, who spouted words whose meaning I didn’t know and clicked his tongue, turned his head and took in those who followed me. Gonryunseon’s appearance giving his gaze to the Sipcheon beyond the masters of each sect.

“There are many faces both welcome and unwelcome. It’s been a while. You brats.”

“……Brats, you say. Sect Leader!”

A Kunlun Sect Taoist, startled by Gonryunseon’s radical words and actions, bowed his head in shock. However, Gonryunseon made a displeased expression looking at that Taoist’s appearance and shook his head.

“I’m two hundred years old. You foolish fellow. Even if you brought those bastards’ great-great-grandfathers, they’d look like little kids to me, so can’t I call them brats?”

“Even so…….”

“Even considering seniority, even considering age, this side is superior. Martial power differs, but…… Well, this side has the upper hand now. So it’s fine. More than that.”

Gonryunseon, who paused briefly, stared directly at me. Eyes that seemed to burn brightly.

“You came to ask me for help.”

“Yes.”

“What help do you want?”

“I’d like you to read the heavens. Where the transferees who fell to Daemak are, how we can rescue them.”

“Ha, you want me to divulge celestial secrets?”

“You don’t need to read the center. I’ll somehow handle that myself. What I want is just the branches.”

“If you climb up the branches, you reach the center. Even if it’s just branches, it’s something that influences a person’s life, so do you think you’ll be unharmed after divulging such things?”

“Even if I’m not unharmed, you must do it.”

“No need.”

“People’s lives are at stake.”

“Lives.”

Gonryunseon, who chuckled at my words, shook his head. The words that followed.

“Your words are smooth. But why should I do that?”

“It’s worldly affairs anyway. People living and dying are all the providence of nature.”

Humans die eventually. There’s no need to deliberately prevent that.

I let out a deep sigh looking at Gonryunseon saying that. If he came out like that, this side had its means.

“Do you really think that?”

“I do. I don’t know what thoughts you have, but there doesn’t seem to be a need for me to help to the point of falling ill.”

“Then what about this?”

“……?”

“Please help me.”

“……So I’m saying I won’t help.”

“If you don’t help.”

I’m also of the Divine Maiden’s bloodline all the same.

I quietly stopped breathing and stared at Gonryunseon for a moment. And the words that followed.

I spoke a threat.

“I will release the Great Seal.”