Rebirth of the Heavenly Demon

Chapter 2 – Reincarnation (2)

When I opened my eyes again, this time there was an unfamiliar old man beside me. His face was covered in pockmarks and he had a small frame, but the energy in his eyes was not to be taken lightly.

He too was someone I had never seen in my life.

Good heavens! Haven’t I woken up from this dream yet?

I had never experienced such a vivid dream, let alone one so continuous.

As if he had been waiting for me to wake up, the old man immediately spoke.

“You should be ashamed of yourself.”

That’s not what I need to know. Why on earth do I keep having this dream?

I slowly sat up and looked at the bronze mirror hanging on the wall.

It was the face of that young man I saw earlier.

This time, I examined the face more closely.

Though there were bruises and wounds here and there, it was quite a handsome face. The eyes held a youthful vigor typically seen in immature youths.

And it strongly resembled the woman who had hit me earlier.

She really is this young man’s mother.

“She is…”

“She?”

“No, never mind.”

“Never mind?”

The old man frowned, seemingly displeased by my manner of speaking.

How can this be a dream when the other person’s displeasure is conveyed so vividly?

I reached out to touch the blanket covering me. The texture of the fabric felt real.

“Yesterday’s events were truly disappointing.”

“I don’t remember anything.”

I knew nothing about this young man’s life.

Instead of concern, the old man openly mocked me.

“Yes, that’s just like you. You never take responsibility for anything.”

Those words angered me. Even though I knew they weren’t meant for me but for this young man, I felt angry.

In my previous life as the Alliance Leader, I had a few principles I lived by.

Rewards and punishments should be clear, revenge should be certain, don’t blame circumstances for difficult situations, don’t rely on subordinates’ loyalty, and always take responsibility for what needs to be done.

I had never once shifted my responsibilities onto others. As a human, one might lose a fight or do something foolish. But shouldn’t one still have a sense of responsibility? That’s how I had lived my life.

Seeing my face harden, the old man looked at me contemptuously, as if looking at someone who had just farted, then stood up.

“You… are a disgrace to this family.”

The old man slammed the door shut and left the room.

What on earth did this guy do to get beaten up as soon as he woke up and receive such treatment?

Suddenly, fatigue washed over me.

Yes, when I wake up after sleeping, I’ll return to my original self.

I fell asleep again.

I thought I would wake up as the Alliance Leader after sleeping.

But when I woke up in the evening, I was still in the form of the unfamiliar young man. The red sunset light coming through the window was ethereal, but reality was not.

Now I could be certain.

‘This is not a dream.’

Yes, it definitely wasn’t a dream. No matter how deep a dream might be, it’s impossible not to distinguish between dream and reality.

Then, could I possibly have fallen into a qi deviation?

But I had never heard of such a qi deviation. Was there anything about martial arts that I didn’t know?

This isn’t a symptom of qi deviation. Nor is it a hallucination.

I have been reborn as this young man.

While retaining all the memories of my previous life as Cheon Hajin. In other words, I have reincarnated as a different person.

How can such a thing happen?

In my seventy years of life in the martial world, I’ve experienced all sorts of unbelievable things, but reincarnation?

I quietly looked up at the sky. The fluffy clouds tinged with red sunset light were no different from usual. That’s why the question I had now felt even more desperate.

Why are You making me go through this?

Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that I have reincarnated. How did I come to remember everything from my previous life? I clearly remembered all the past events of living as Cheon Hajin, the greatest under the heavens and the leader of the Martial Righteous Alliance.

My memory had become a mess shortly before I died.

Is this some kind of compensation for that? Or is it the power of a young brain? Now I remember everything. Even the smallest details from long ago are all clear.

I remember the day Baek Pyo had his son.

His face, flushed with joy. I even vividly remember the wrinkles around his eyes. How could I have forgotten his son’s age when I remember all this? How could I have forgotten whether it was a son or a daughter?

Now that I think about it, it’s absolutely impossible. At the time, I couldn’t make proper judgments, as if I were under the influence of some drug.

In other words, it could mean that my death wasn’t a normal death.

Was I assassinated by someone?

If so, is this reincarnation heaven’s consideration for me to take revenge?

…If not that?

I was sitting on the porch in front of the room, looking at the setting sun beyond the wall.

An unfamiliar face, a body as heavy as water-logged cotton, unfamiliar spaces and unfamiliar people.

Everything is unfamiliar.

It feels like if I close my eyes and open them again, I’ll be back in the Grand Scholar’s chair in the Alliance Leader’s quarters. Like Gal Saryang will open that door and enter with a pile of work.

Just then, the door opened and someone entered.

It was a man with a mild expression who looked to be in his mid-twenties.

“Oh? You’re awake.”

Until now, several people had passed by here, but they all just bowed formally and hurried past as if escaping. This was the first person to approach and speak to me.

The man walked over and sat down beside me.

“Didn’t I tell you? I said you could never win against a woman, no matter what. You trained for five years under a famous master, right? Please listen to me next time. I was scared to death running while carrying you on my back, worried something might happen.”

“Who are you?”

“I’ve heard that they say you’re pretending to have lost your memory. Well, no one will believe it, but you did well. If you hadn’t, you would have been beaten to death by the Madam. At times like this, you’re quite clever, but that day, why couldn’t you judge the situation… No, never mind. You’re just pure-hearted, young master.”

“I’ll ask again. Who are you?”

“And young master, please start training in martial arts seriously this time. It’s not right to keep getting beaten up by women, no matter what.”

“I’ll ask one last time…”

“It’s Gwang-du[1], Gwang-du! This isn’t funny! Stop pretending to have lost your memory!”

“Gwang-du? Crazy head?”

“You know, so why are you acting like this?”

“Did you really use the character for ‘crazy’ in your name?”

Seeing my surprised face, he finally seemed to realize something was really odd.

“Of course not. It’s the character for ‘light’. ‘Crazy head’ is what you used to say to tease me. Why are you acting so strange today?”

“I really don’t remember anything.”

“I told you, this joke isn’t funny.”

“It’s true.”

“Really?”

I nodded to the half-doubting fellow. After staring at me with narrowed eyes for a moment, he casually asked.

“Do you remember the money I lent you before?”

“How much was it?”

“Two nyang.”

Being the type who can’t stand being in debt, I immediately searched my pockets and handed over two nyang.

Staring at the money in my hand, Gwang-du’s eyes widened as he spoke.

“Good heavens! You really don’t remember, do you?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re the type who never pays back borrowed money. What on earth happened? Did you take a direct hit to the head?”

“It seems so.”

“What did Elder Jong say?”

“Who’s that? That old man from earlier?”

“Gasp! No matter how reckless you were, you always feared Elder Jong. You really don’t remember.”

“Just answer my questions. Maybe I’ll remember as I listen. Who was that old man from earlier?”

“He’s the physician and steward of the main house. He’s also your father’s sworn brother.”

“By ‘father’, you mean my father?”

“…Why are you like this? I’m really starting to get scared now.”

“He looked much older than father to be sworn brothers, though?”

“Didn’t you say age doesn’t matter for martial artists?”

“Who says that?”

“All within the four seas are brothers, right?”

What nonsense about all within the four seas being brothers. That’s just a saying that maximizes the good side of the martial world.

There’s no group more discriminating than martial artists. They discriminate based on age, sect, faction, skill, gender, seniority, region of origin. Whether you’re from the main family or a branch family, whether you use a sword or a saber, whether you’re left-handed or right-handed, whether you practice external or internal martial arts, they even discriminate based on the color and pattern of martial arts uniforms.

“What did he say when you told him you couldn’t remember?”

“He didn’t believe me.”

“Of course.”

“The old man’s reaction was quite indifferent. What on earth did I do?”

“Where should I start?”

It seems the trouble I caused wasn’t just one or two things.

“Start with the most recent. First of all, why am I injured?”

Gwang-du let out a long sigh with a look of exasperation.

“You went to meet Miss Song, got rejected. You got angry, then got drunk and went back to make a scene. Then Miss Song came out, and as you were saying nasty things to her, you got beaten like a dog… Sigh.”

“Who’s Miss Song?”

Gwang-du wore a blank expression again.

“You’re asking who Miss Song is?”

“Yes, who is she?”

“Song Hwa-rin[2]. The heiress of the Song clan. She’s the most beautiful person in Shandong[3]. She’s smart and strong in martial arts too. She’s really perfect, but she has one fatal weakness.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re her fiancé.”

“What?”

“You two were betrothed before birth.”

There are two cases where prenatal betrothals occur. Either the parents are really close, or it’s a strategic decision.

“She really has the worst luck in husbands.”

“Do I often hit you usually?”

Gwang-du flinched in surprise.

“Ah, no. Why are you asking such a thing?”

“Listening to you talk is making my hands itch strangely.”

Gwang-du laughed awkwardly and said.

“Haha. The relationship between you and me is stronger than a prenatal betrothal.”

“It doesn’t seem like that at all.”

Anyway, I could tell that the young man had a close relationship with this Gwang-du.

“But why did she hit me? If we were betrothed before birth, I would think we’d have been close since childhood.”

“It was like that when you were young. You two played really well together. But five years ago, the young lady left for Qinghai to train in martial arts. She’s only been back for a few days.”

“Her heart changed in the meantime.”

“You changed a lot during that time too.”

Gwang-du let out a sigh full of regret.

“What about the trouble I caused before that?”

“You lost a lot of money falling for gambling scams, spent a lot of money on courtesans, got into fights while drunk, ran away from home saying you didn’t want to train in martial arts, caused a fuss trying to gain fame in the martial world…”

“That’s enough.”

I didn’t need to hear more to understand what kind of person this guy was.

“But my mother only hit me once on the back of the head?”

If it were me, I would have half-killed my child, if not worse.

“In short, what kind of person am I?”

“Can I be honest?”

“Now’s the time. This is your chance.”

“You’re trash.”

Suddenly, I remembered the question I asked Gal Saryang on the day I died.

That day, Gal Saryang answered like this:

“You are the martial world itself.”

Overnight, I woke up transformed from a hero of the martial world to human garbage.

Gwang-du, who had quickly stepped back a few paces after calling me trash, tilted his head curiously. It seemed strange to him that I remained calm after hearing such words.

“It seems you really did have a near-death experience.”

Close, but not quite.

I really did die and come back to life.