Chapter 2

## Chapter 2. What should I do with this...

One month.

A short time, or a long time.

It was enough time to accept the fact that I had awakened in another body, thought to be dead, and to adapt to the new body and environment.

"Try to explain yourself."

"What do you mean?"

When I opened my eyes wide and asked, the middle-aged man sitting in front of me raised his eyebrows dramatically.

He was Bai Wuxun, the father of this body and the head of Bai Wuguan.

"Are you really asking this?"

"Yes, I don't know."

At my confident answer, Bai Wuxun rubbed the back of his head.

I sat up straight and stared at him.

I was confident.

At least, I didn't remember doing anything wrong enough to need an excuse...

"Just now, Mr. Zhang from the fabric shop came. He said his son, who was sent to the martial arts school, came back half-dead."

"..."

"Still have nothing to say?"

"What's the problem with that?"

I raised my voice, almost defiantly.

"To learn martial arts, one must have the attitude and effort to carve one's bones and flesh. Only then is the time, money, and effort not wasted. Instead of being grateful and offering high-quality silk, you..."

"You brat!"

Slap!

For a moment, stars flashed, and a crisp sound came from my head.

It didn't hurt much, but it was unpleasant.

'Hmm. I can see it, but I can't avoid it.'

Even if I had the ability to avoid it, it would have been better for my well-being not to.

I didn't want to see my father, whose eyes were bloodshot, raging around.

"Making ten-year-olds do horse stance for an hour, and you expect gratitude? Where in the world is there a master who teaches such foolish training!"

Bai Wuxun, as if about to strike my head, swung the teaching rod in his hand threateningly in the air.

'But, in the Blood Sect, we did it every day...'

And even then, I had reduced it from two hours to one.

I didn't pull out their fingernails when they couldn't endure and fell, nor did I yell that there would be no dinner for those who collapsed.

Just because the kids in the past few days really wanted to learn martial arts, I taught them a bit more seriously.

'Just because they found it hard and ran to their parents to tattle? Really, kids these days...'

"Are you listening to me?"

"Back in the old days... Yes, I'm listening."

When I nodded brazenly, Bai Wuxun looked at me with a baffled expression.

"Do you think I don't know you're hearing one thing and letting the other go? After coming back from the dead, I don't know what you're thinking. Sometimes I wonder if you're really my son..."

This guy is really perceptive.

I bowed my head to this body's father, who was sighing deeply.

"I was short-sighted. I'll make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Shulong."

Suddenly, he called my name with a serious expression.

Bai Shulong.

The original owner of this body.

Twenty-seven years old.

A small martial arts school in a rural area, run by a father with no distinguished nickname, teaching neighborhood kids with no distinguished skills.

A life far, far away from the flying and soaring experts of the martial world.

A third-rate martial artist, at best.

"Yes."

At my simple answer, Bai Wuxun's expression darkened slightly. He hesitated a bit before continuing.

"I know you often space out after waking up. You must have your own worries. After all, you went through a big ordeal not long ago..."

One month ago.

Bai Shulong came back from the dead.

To be precise, Bai Shulong died, and I woke up in his body.

"If you have any worries, you can speak honestly. After all, I'm your only flesh and blood."

The only flesh and blood.

That's why I couldn't speak honestly.

'Your son, Bai Shulong, is dead.'

Bai Shulong was weak from birth.

He was born with a rare and unknown condition called "Jue Mai Zheng."

His mother, who was also weak, died a few years after giving birth to him.

Bai Wuxun, trying to save his son, sought out famous doctors and fed him all kinds of herbs, but...

'It was all in vain.'

In the end, Bai Wuxun moved to a rural area with good water and air to open a martial arts school for his weak son.

But his son...

"Do you still have ambitions in the martial world?"

"..."

Despite his weak constitution, Bai Shulong seemed to want to become a martial artist.

Even though he couldn't practice proper internal cultivation due to Jue Mai Zheng, he trained his body every day and searched for ways to cure his illness.

A few months ago, Bai Shulong finally obtained a manual of internal cultivation.

'Foolishly touching a demonic art.'

Demonic arts (Ma Gong).

Not all demonic arts are dangerous and have significant side effects, but the one Bai Shulong touched was one of the worst.

In the end, Bai Shulong collapsed, spitting blood, after overexerting himself in cultivation.

...No, he died.

It was a death he had prepared for.

[If I can't live a life without giving up my lifelong dream, I'll at least try to stir and die.]

A blood-stained note with these words was left where Bai Shulong collapsed.

After that, I woke up in his body, and a month has passed.

Waking up in a strange body, I pretended to have lost my memory and gradually learned about the story of the original owner of this body.

"Do you still... can't give up?"

"..."

As I didn't answer, Bai Wuxun's expression darkened.

He thought his only son, who had just survived a near-death experience, still couldn't let go of his futile dream.

I slowly opened my mouth.

"I don't know."

It was a sincere answer, not to reassure Bai Wuxun.

'You're asking if I have ambitions in the martial world?'

In my past life, I crossed the line of life and death every day in the Blood Sect, just to survive.

I practiced martial arts, killed people, and after being injured in my dantian, became a martial arts instructor to research and teach, all to survive.

But what about now?

'Do I really need to become a martial artist?'

Right now, I have five supreme martial arts in my head.

But becoming a martial artist also means putting my life at risk frequently.

'Live like that again?'

To me, who had lived a life on the edge of a blade until the day I died, that wasn't a pleasant prospect.

'Living a peaceful life teaching kids might not be so bad.'

The village where Jin Wuguan is located is a truly peaceful and quiet rural area.

Still, I didn't say, "I have no ambitions in the martial world," but "I don't know."

My answer seemed unexpected to Bai Wuxun.

He opened his eyes wide and asked again.

"Did you say you don't know?"

"Yes."

While this place feels comfortable now, like a vacation, I don't know what will happen in the future.

It's a new life.

There's no need to make hasty decisions.

"I'll think more about what I want to do in the future."

"..."

Bai Wuxun looked at me with a complex expression, seemingly relieved but also feeling sorry for his son who couldn't give up his dream.

I met his gaze without avoiding it.

"..."

Finally, he nodded heavily.

"Your body is still not fully recovered, so if anything feels wrong, tell me immediately."

"Yes."

"If you're going to make the kids do horse stance, you might as well throw a ball and have them kick it."

"..."

"Is this place a Shaolin Temple? If you keep this up, the few students we have will all leave."

Bai Wuxun waved his hand, indicating he didn't want to hear more.

I smacked my lips and stood up.

"Then I'll leave."

"Go ahead."

As I turned to leave the room, a sigh and a muttered complaint came from behind.

"I'm sorry. I can't do anything for you..."

I pretended not to hear and quickly returned to my room.

* * *

Back in my room, I took off my top and stood in front of the mirror.

It was a daily routine to check my body condition.

'You're a pampered young master who's never suffered a day in your life.'

Inheriting my father's tall stature, my limbs were well-proportioned.

Although I was thin for a man, my face was very handsome.

After consistently exercising since waking up, my body condition was not bad.

'If only the Jue Mai could be fixed, it would be a great physique.'

The problem was inside my body.

Already unable to properly circulate internal energy due to Jue Mai Zheng, my meridians were filled with impurities from the aftereffects of the demonic art.

This was the best it had improved in the past month of recuperation.

I couldn't help but sigh at the state of my internal organs, which were as rotten as anything.

"Tsk. Even a third-rate martial artist is better than this."

Right now, being a third-rate martial artist was a generous assessment.

At least a third-rate martial artist could use a tiny bit of internal energy.

Moreover, if left untreated, this body would die within three years.

'Is this a coincidence or fate... to have exactly Tian Yin Jue Mai?'

I knew the name of the condition Bai Shulong had.

Tian Yin Jue Mai.

A terrifying congenital condition that most renowned doctors had never even heard of, or if they had, couldn't treat.

Those born with Tian Yin Jue Mai usually don't live past thirty.

I looked at the young man in the mirror and sighed.

'You were destined to live a short life. Did you know that and struggle against it?'

Perhaps Bai Shulong instinctively felt his life was short and took an extreme gamble.

However, that gamble failed, and instead, my soul entered this body.

'I'll make good use of this body from now on.'

The dead are dead, and the living must live.

Fortunately, I knew the cure for Tian Yin Jue Mai.

Nitian Shen Gong.

A supreme martial art passed down only to the Blood Demon Sect's leaders, and one of the five martial arts in my head.

In the secret manual of Nitian Shen Gong that I found in the Blood Sect's martial arts library, it was written:

- Tian Yin Jue Mai is a body cursed by heaven,

- Nitian Shen Gong is a martial art that defies heaven.

- When the two meet, the blocked meridians become divine meridians, and the power to shatter heaven is obtained.

Grandiose, but to the point, it meant that Tian Yin Jue Mai was the best constitution to practice Nitian Shen Gong.

After all, the first Blood Demon of the Blood Demon Sect had Tian Yin Jue Mai.

'Might there be a connection between using Nitian Shen Gong before dying and waking up in this body?'

I could only speculate; I couldn't know for sure.

What was important was that I had the martial art and knowledge to turn Tian Yin Jue Mai into Tian Yin Shen Mai.

However, there was one problem...

I smacked my lips and muttered.

"No money."

Practicing Nitian Shen Gong requires a lot of money.

Not just a lot, but an enormous amount.

Herbal medicines known by name alone and the most skilled doctors in the Central Plains.

Various materials needed for major rituals.

Enough to bankrupt a well-known family in a region.

There was no way my father, who ran a tiny martial arts school in the countryside, had that kind of money.

"What should I do with this..."

Just as the handsome face in the mirror was furrowed with worry,

"Master!"

A scream-like call came from outside.