Chapter 122: A Peculiar Lesson
“What did you just say?”
My voice rose before I realized it.
Startled by my tone, the old man flinched.
“U-Ugh! Friend is angry! Scary! I won't play with you anymore!”
He hunched his shoulders and backed away.
...I overreacted.
But there was no way I could simply ignore the word Flow.
I looked straight at him and asked again.
“Old man.”
“You said you knew the ‘Flow.’ What exactly did you mean?”
The old man blinked blankly a few times.
Then he slowly opened his mouth.
“Flow is flow.”
“Water flows. Swords flow too.”
He pointed toward me.
“Friend's sword has a Flow too.”
"..."
I couldn't help sighing.
It sounded less like he knew the same Flow I was thinking about...
and more like he'd simply attached the word to whatever happened to be in front of him.
I got serious over the ramblings of a senile old man for nothing.
Of course...
he wasn't just some ordinary senile old man.
He was a monstrous expert who had broken my sword path with a single pebble.
Still... this is strange.
The vision I'd seen earlier suddenly came back to mind.
The clash between True Immortal Cheongun and Heavenly Demon Dokgo Cheonyul.
And now...
this unidentified old man I'd encountered inside the Demonic Cult's headquarters.
For some reason...
it felt as though all of this might somehow be connected.
But my thoughts didn't get very far.
“Friend! What are you doing all by yourself? Play with me!”
The old man's voice from across the room broke my train of thought.
“Haa....”
I let out a short sigh.
Then asked,
“Old man. What's your name?”
“My name?”
He stared blankly up at the ceiling.
Then tilted his head.
“Don't know.”
“What is my name?”
He grinned.
“Friend, you tell me.”
"..."
This was getting frustrating.
“Haa. Then why are you alone in a place like this?”
“Do you really not remember anything?”
The instant I asked...
the old man's expression hardened.
“There is something I have to find.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Something you have to find?”
“But I still haven't found it.”
His voice turned low.
“That's why I'm being punished.”
I immediately asked,
“Punished? What does that—”
Before I could finish...
the old man suddenly grabbed his head.
“U-Ugh... I don't want to talk about it.”
“It hurts... thinking makes my head hurt.”
His face twisted.
“It hurts!”
BOOM!
The old man suddenly punched the nearby stone wall.
The impact shook the entire chamber.
BOOM! BOOM!
He struck the wall again and again.
The blows were so powerful that stone dust rained from the ceiling.
At this rate, he's actually going to collapse the place.
I hurriedly shouted,
“A-All right!”
“If you don't want to think about it, then don't!”
The old man stopped immediately.
As if nothing had happened.
He breathed heavily for a moment...
then raised his head and looked at me.
“Friend.”
“I really don't have to think about it anymore?”
Then he grinned like a child.
“Then it doesn't hurt. Hehehe.”
I stared at him blankly...
then rubbed my face with one hand.
What the hell is wrong with this man...?
He was seriously going to drive me insane.
After calming myself down...
I examined the stone chamber more carefully.
At first, I'd only noticed the fasting pills.
But after checking the corners...
I found wound medicine too.
Wound medicine and fasting pills.
Judging from the supplies...
this place didn't seem like a prison.
And the old man didn't look like someone who had simply been abandoned either.
With this much medicine and food...
someone outside was at least making sure he stayed alive.
Who?
And why?
No matter how much I thought about it...
I couldn't find an easy answer.
Then—
“Let's keep playing!”
The old man called out again.
“Are we done with the bet already?”
There it was again.
I didn't answer.
I wasn't in the mood to humor him.
Even so...
the old man kept talking excitedly by himself.
“You gave up because it's too hard to beat me in the bet!”
Then he waved both hands toward me.
“Then I'll help you!”
I glanced over.
Help me?
The old man pointed at my sword.
“Practice a little more and friend can beat me too.”
I frowned.
“Practice?”
“What do you mean?”
“I'll help you.”
He grinned.
“Then friend can win the bet.”
He pointed again at my sword.
“Do that sword thing you showed me earlier.”
“I'll tell you what's wrong with it.”
I stared at him for a moment.
Come to think of it....
This old man had broken Snowstorm Spiral Shatter with a single pebble.
He might not be sane...
but when it came to martial arts, he was the real thing.
There might actually be something I could learn from him.
And right now...
I had no idea how to leave this stone chamber anyway.
In that case—
I might as well take whatever I can get.
I exhaled slowly.
“Fine.”
“Let's hear it, then.”
I looked at him.
“Show me what you can teach me.”
The old man jumped in delight like a child.
“Good! Good!”
I asked,
“What do you want me to do?”
He answered immediately.
“Friend just swings the sword in front of me!”
I got to my feet and adjusted my grip.
“Understood.”
“I'll do as you say.”
I was just about to perform the Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword—
“No! No!”
The old man frantically waved both hands.
I frowned.
“What now?”
“Friend tells me everything before swinging the sword!”
My eyebrows drew together.
“What does that mean?”
Instead of explaining...
