Chapter 120: The Identity of the Man in Black
SHWAAAAAA!
With the deafening roar of the waterfall tearing at my ears, I twisted my body in midair.
The instant I looked down...
my entire body stiffened.
A massive plunge pool gaped below me as if waiting to swallow me whole.
At its center, deadly currents churned in a violent whirlpool.
If I fall into the middle, I'm finished.
Memories from before my regression flashed through my mind like lightning.
Back when the Demonic Cult and the Righteous Alliance had fought an all-out war in Falling Death Valley...
the gorge above this waterfall had been right at the heart of the battlefield.
Among the Righteous Alliance martial artists who had been pushed back by the Demonic Cult...
some had thrown themselves from the waterfall as a final desperate attempt to survive.
Most of them vanished without a trace.
Their bodies were never even found.
But not all of them died.
A very small number survived.
Those survivors were later discovered in unexpected places.
And when they spoke about what had happened back then...
they explained how they'd lived.
If you want to survive, ride the current near the edge.
There is a stream that flows diagonally along the outer cliff of the plunge pool. If you catch it... it leads into a waterway beneath a gap in the rock face.
And now...
I was betting everything on the testimony I'd heard from those survivors.
If I kept falling like this...
I'd land right in the middle of the plunge pool.
And if that happened...
I'd die like an idiot.
I needed to get as close as possible to the cliff where the waterfall crashed down...
away from the center of the pool.
I only get one chance.
I gathered qi in my dantian.
At my current level...
walking through the air like with Air-Stepping was impossible.
But if I compressed my qi and released it from the tip of my foot just once...
...I should at least be able to change direction.
If I wanted to live...
I had to bet everything on that single burst of force.
Holding my breath, I exploded the qi gathered at my foot.
BOOM!
The recoil pushed my body sideways in midair.
My falling trajectory twisted.
It worked.
I had moved about one ja away from the central whirlpool.
That small distance would decide whether I lived or died.
The next instant...
my body slammed deep into the plunge pool.
CRAAASH!
An impact like my entire body was being shattered crashed through me.
My breath stopped instantly.
Freezing water rushed into my ears.
Even with my eyes open...
I couldn't tell which way was up or down.
Caught in the violent current...
my body flipped over, slammed into something, and was swept sideways again.
The impact was strong enough that losing consciousness would've been completely natural.
But I gritted my teeth.
If I pass out, it's over.
I forcibly held onto my fading consciousness.
My arms and legs were being tossed around uncontrollably underwater...
but even then...
I never lost track of the direction the current was carrying me.
Fortunately...
I wasn't being dragged toward the center.
Wrapped in the outer current...
I was being pushed toward one side of the cliff.
At least I'm going the right way.
The problem was what came next.
That edge current could become my path to survival...
but it could just as easily smash my body against the cliff.
One bad impact and I'd lose consciousness.
And then I'd be finished.
The survivors said... they were swept into a waterway beneath a gap in the cliff.
I forced my eyes open.
And then—
There!
The cliff directly ahead.
The lower part of the rock face sank inward.
Beneath the white foam...
there was a dark opening.
Part of the surrounding current was being sucked toward it.
That was the path the survivors had spoken of.
But then...
I realized something.
At this rate, I wouldn't reach it.
The direction my body was being swept was slightly outside the entrance.
If I kept drifting like this...
I'd pass right by the gap.
No.
I desperately scanned the cliff ahead.
Then I saw it.
A rock jutting out through the foam.
Instinctively...
I knew I had to grab it.
I had only one chance.
The current dragged me lower.
Now.
I clenched my teeth and reached out.
Then—
SNAP!
My hand clamped around the edge of the rock.
Kugh...!
A scream erupted inside me.
The current pulled at my body like it wanted to tear me apart.
It felt as if my arm would be ripped straight out of its socket.
Pain surged through my fingers as though every joint was breaking one by one.
But I couldn't let go.
I tightened my grip and twisted my opposite shoulder.
I bet everything on that tiny bit of momentum.
My body swung sideways.
And finally...
I turned toward the entrance of the hidden waterway.
In the process...
the upper part of my robe caught on a jagged stone protruding from the cliff.
RIIIP!
The fabric tore away completely and vanished into the current.
The shredded cloth floated for only a moment before disappearing into the foam.
I didn't care.
I'd found a way to survive.
Got it!
But just before I was fully sucked into the waterway...
my shoulder and back slammed violently against the cliff wall.
CRACK!
My vision flashed white.
It felt like my shoulder had shattered.
A tearing pain ripped down my back.
And at the same time...
my body was sucked into the waterway beneath the rock gap.
I survived.
But the relief lasted only a moment.
The impact against the cliff was catching up with me.
And my breathing was becoming desperate.
I'd reached the limit of how long I could hold my breath.
My body grew heavier.
My vision shook.
No...
I can't end here....
Moyong Seong.
Moyong Cheonhwi.
The Righteous Alliance.
Until I cut their throats with my own hands...
I could never die here.
I have to survive...
No matter what....
But despite the strength of my will...
my vision kept darkening.
Inside the cold, pitch-black waterway...
I felt my consciousness slowly slipping away.
When I opened my eyes again...
the first thought that came to mind was—
White.
I was standing in the middle of a snowy field.
Snow crunched beneath my feet...
