Chapter 31. The Imugi’s Wish (2/2)
But Cho Ryu Hyang should’ve been careful. The thing inside was bigger than he had thought, and it was very much real. Jo Gi Chun felt the formation’s power using clay proxies. Because of that, Jo Gi Chun experienced what happened inside indirectly. However, Cho Ryu Hyang was taking on the energy head-on.
That’s why the moment he came in, he looked up. He felt a presense there. And the moment he did so, he opened his mouth in surprise.
“…….A dragon?”
Cho Ryu Hyang, believing that his eyes were broken, tried using the Faultless View of The World multiple times. But the thing in front of him did not change. It wasn’t an illusion.
‘It can’t be true!’
How could such a giant being exist? Cho Ryu Hyang’s brain stopped processing because he was so overwhelmed by the sight in front of him. He was frozen.
He knew that things inside a formation tended to move a bit away from reality at times. But this was too much. How could a living being exist like this? This wasn’t even possible! While Cho Ryu Hyang was standing there in shock, ‘It’ moved.
Shashasha–
The dragon’s body smoothly slid off the stalagmite on the ceiling. The two red horns resembling a crown, and the black, scales resembling obsidian. Lastly, the pair of golden eyes that seemed to stare straight into one’s soul. Those two eyes held incomparable joy at the moment.
[It’s been a thousand years.]
Dragon. No, the imugi made a satisfied expression. At the same time, Cho Ryu Hyang stumbled backwards with a pale face.
‘It spoke?’
Cho Ryu Hyang thought that at this point, he was used to strange and mysterious things. But this was on a completely different level.
[I kept my promise, human.]
When the giant being approached him, Cho Ryu Hyang couldn’t breath. The aura the imugi exuded from its body was too powerful. Cho Ryu Hyang began to slowly walk away. But while he did so, he noticed something extremely strange.
‘I can’t…… see the number.’
Even though the monster was clearly real, it didn’t have a number on itself. Unreadable. Since something like this had never happened before, Cho Ryu Hyang was extremely confused. The imugi spoke whilst looking at that.
[It is time for you to complete your promise, human.]
The moment the imugi stopped talking, one of the scales under its chin began to glow in red.
Voom–
Cho Ryu Hyang simply stood there, listening to the sound ring throughout the cave.
surawang_31
Dokun–
‘What’s this?’
Cho Ryu Hyang pressed on his chest with his hands. His heart began to beat extremely fast. Right then, the old man in his brain, spoke.
[He’s still very stubborn. To think that he was waiting for a thousand years……]
At that time, Zhuge Liang made that promise on a whim. No, to be more accurate, he made the promise because it was interesting. He saved a dying being and made a pointless promise. But that promise eventually found its way back to him, a thousand years later.
It was quite surprising, but at the same time, Zhuge Liang was amazed by the imugi that managed to keep the promise for a thousand years.
‘He said that humans forget promises easily?’
It was true. Zhuge Liang could only admit it. Humans easily made promises, and easily forgot them. He couldn’t do anything about that.
Zhuge Liang faintly smiled. He expected it once he saw the stone column outside, but to think the one in the formation would really be him. When he was thinking that, the boy asked him a question.
‘Do you happen to know something about that monster?’
Of course he did. But Zhuge Liang didn’t say anything. Things would only get annoying if he spoke.
But Cho Ryu Hyang wasn’t an idiot. The boy managed to find out that the two had a sort of a relationship with each other. Cho Ryu Hyang was about to ask that question, but Zhuge Liang was one step faster.
[Greenhorn, you must fulfill a promise in my stead.]
What promise? The moment Cho Ryu Hyang thought this, Zhuge Liang responded.
[You see that scale over there?]
The scale that turned red from heat. Strangely, it was a scale that faced an opposite direction from all the other scales. When Cho Ryu Hyang saw it, he could begin hearing the sound of his heart in his ears.
Dokun– dokun–
‘Eh?’
Cho Ryu Hyang tightly held onto his chest. The area on his chest where the heart was located began to feel like it was burning. Zhuge Liang just kept on talking as if he didn’t know what was going on.
[That is the Reversed Scale (逆鱗). It is a crucial ingredient an imugi needs to become a dragon.]
It’s a ingredient that imugis need to become dragons? Zhuge Liang nodded.
[It is the ingredient used to make the Dragon Ball (如意珠). ]
Dokun– dokun–
Cho Ryu Hyang’s heartbeats began to get louder. And once Cho Ryu Hyang’s couldn’t hear anything other than his heartbeat, Zhuge Liang began to talk to the imugi, whilst looking straight at the being with Cho Ryu Hyang’s eyes.
[In the past, I have given you a name. I gave you a new life. And now, it seems I will be giving you a chance to ascend.]
The black-scaled imugi.
The imugi could see a faint trace of the human from a long time ago, inside the little boy’s eyes. A strange, proud human that wouldn’t bow down to anyone. But thanks to this man, it would be able to get another chance to ascend.
[It’s been a while.]
Zhuge Liang smiled at the imugi’s words. It seemed that he’d have to change his opinion about the imugi being a lowly life form. After all, the imugi was the only being so far that was able to understand his teachings perfectly. Plus, it was still alive, and it was able to recogize him in this state. That guy was pretty good. Zhuge Liang fiddled with feathered fan in his hands, and replied.
[It really has, hasn’t it, Tian Nu.]
Tian Nu (天怒: Heaven’s wrath). It was the name Zhuge Liang made for the imugi. The imugi spoke while looking at Zhuge Liang.
[I fulfilled the promise I made with you.]
A promise even Zhuge Liang forgot about.
[He’s still very intelligent, I see.]
A long time ago, there existed people who could understand the words of Zhuge Liang. One was the imugi in front of him. The other was Pang Tong (鳳雛). These two were the only true friends Zhuge Liang had, the people he could talk to about math without holding back at all.
[I waited a thousand years so that you would be able to meet that boy.]
A little at a time. A tiny amount…… The imugi had been using a miniscule amount of energy over the years to let the two meet.
[Now, fulfill my wish.]
The imugi’s wish. Its wish was all too clear. And Cho Ryu Hyang had the power to fulfill it.