A Medieval Knight in a Martial Arts Novel – Chapter 55

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Shrine
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…My hand was numb.

“Mmm…”

William opened his eyes to a soft sensation crushing his right palm, and saw Hye-ryeong using it as a pillow.

He was certain they had been quite far apart before falling asleep, so when did they get so close?

Seeing that they were barely 3 feet apart, it seemed that Hye-ryeong would end up in his arms if she rolled over just once. That would be troublesome, so he needed to pull his hand away.

However, if he removed his hand, Hye-ryeong’s head would clearly fall, so William first subtly drew out some aura and wrapped it around his arm.

He supported Hye-ryeong’s head with his hand that is now strengthened. As the compressed part of his palm returned to its original shape after his aura flowed through it, it gradually pushed Hye-ryeong’s head away.

Only then did he feel the blood flowing back into his hand.

Indeed, such problems could usually be solved by using aura.

If it couldn’t be solved, one should first consider if this is caused because they lacked the sufficient aura to do such actions.

Anyway…No, never mind.

William averted his gaze from her cleavage, which was more exposed than usual due to her dishevelled clothes, and looked up at the sky. The ambiguous pre-dawn night sky was filled with silver stars.

As for Constellations… honestly, he couldn’t make out any constellations shapes no matter how much he stared, since he didn’t know how to read them.

What constellations were there again in the sky?

Since hardly any stars were visible in Seoul’s night sky, he couldn’t remember well even when looking at the stars floating in this clear sky.

The only ones he could recall were the Big Dipper and the Heavenly Evil Star that appeared excessively in wuxia novels, but he had no idea what they actually looked like.

“Mmm…”

Hearing a sound from beside him, William turned his attention back to Hye-ryeong to see her changing positions with a furrowed brow, as if uncomfortable.

Her chest naturally moved with gravity, forcibly drawing his gaze.

Though no skin was visible due to being wrapped in countless layers of bandages, that slight movement alone was dangerously enticing.

To be frank, if they had been alone, he might not have been able to resist touching her.

…Sigh.

He needed to get a grip.

William sighed as he felt the moist sensation on his palm.

At this rate, her saliva would pool in his hand and overflow. He carefully turned his body, supporting Hye-ryeong’s head with his left hand, and slowly pulled out his right hand.

Ugh, how sticky.

Next time, he would have to sleep further away.

Whether it was a beautiful woman’s saliva or not, having his hand covered in drool was not a particularly pleasant experience.

“…There was a stream nearby, wasn’t there.”

Where was it again? William surveyed his surroundings, his sticky hand spread out.

His sight briefly landed on his sleeping companions and the one man among them sitting quietly.

Geonsam.

As William rose, Geonsam turned his head towards him, glanced at Hye-ryeong, then looked away. Perhaps he thought it would be impolite to stare.

William carefully adjusted Hye-ryeong’s position and covered her with a blanket up to her neck. The blanket’s contours naturally revealed her figure quite blatantly.

Her figure was difficult to conceal even if he tried.

She was just too well-endowed.

Gradually, Hye-ryeong’s breathing became more even, and her expression became more peaceful, as if the blanket had eased some of her chill.

At this rate, she wouldn’t notice even if someone carried her off. William neatly arranged Hye-ryeong’s disheveled hair with his left hand and stood up.

“…Do you happen to know which direction the stream is?”

“…”

That way, is it? William turned in the direction Geonsam pointed.

The trees blocking the moonlight in front of him waved their arms in the cool breeze, creating an eerie atmosphere. It felt like something could jump out at any moment.

Of course, from a martial artist’s perspective, most ordinary beasts weren’t a threat, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

Although tigers or bears could still be threatening if they suddenly appeared.

Even with internal energy, one could lose their life from a small mistake against such creatures.

However, beasts generally had good instincts and rarely attacked martial artists unless provoked.

Is this the place?

After walking for about 5 minutes, William marveled at the sight before him.

In front of him was a stream – too small to be called a river, but with a definite presence.

Was this the kind of hidden natural beautiful scene people spoke of? Watching the moonlight flow along the stream’s water felt like looking at a scene from a painting.

…The pre-dawn atmosphere was making him overly sentimental.

William sighed and dipped his hand in the stream. The ice-cold water cooled his hand.

After washing off all of Hye-ryeong’s saliva, he shook his hand and sat on a nearby rock, zoning out for a moment.

The cold water had fully woken him up.

Taking the opportunity to wash his face as well, he became completely alert.

“…Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I’ve had time alone like this.”

His empty words were swallowed up by the sound of the flowing stream.

William turned his head in the direction the stream was flowing. The stream continued endlessly out of sight.

It was probably flowing towards Dongting Lake in the eastern Hubei Province.

As he stared blankly at the stream, lost in idle thoughts, he felt his is being healed by the sight before him.

After gazing at the stream for a long while, William took out the first volume of the Shadowless Divine Thief’s secret manual from his chest.

…Maybe he should read a bit more of the manual.

Even if he couldn’t understand it, he should at least memorize it all and slowly digest it over time.

If he kept studying, he should be able to grasp some clues to help him, even if it was difficult to digest any of the content at first.

He wasn’t sure if a thief’s qinggong would suit him, but it should be more useful than a mediocre qinggong, given that it was a renowned technique even in the martial arts world. At least it was better than not knowing any qinggong at all.

William carefully opened the first page.

[This humble one is from the Golden Sun Sect…And is known to the public as the Shadowless divine thief…]

Can thieves be considered as martial artists in the martial arts world?

The two-volume secret book began with the Shadowless Divine Thief praising himself; the beginning was filled with content boasting about the items he stole. The five-page introduction was full of self-aggrandizement, with him proclaiming “This is who I am!” I found the beginning to be terribly boring, so I quickly skipped past it.

Who in the world would want to read someone else’s boasts multiple times?

William continued reading the manual. Normally, he would have been overwhelmed and lose focus, but fortunately, thanks to the language-related perk he had gained when transmigrating reading wasn’t difficult.

Although there were many archaic expressions typical of old books that made understanding challenging.

However, perhaps because it was written by a thief, it was relatively straightforward compared to some other books in this world.

Even Western arts manuals are often attached with a strange rhetoric that makes it painful to understand them.

Why did he have to study Plato’s philosophy to practice martial arts?

Why did he have to memorize the Bible?

…Sigh.

What was the point of reminiscing about the past?

He should memorize at least one line of the secret book.

William focused on reading the secret book.

Unfortunately, However, he couldn’t finish reading the book.

He closed the book and tucked it into his chest.

It was because he sensed a presence on the other side of the stream.

He sensed a human presence among the trees. Though it seemed quite far away, the instincts he had honed on the battlefield hadn’t dulled and allowed him to sense this presence.

“Who’s there?”

William gently placed his hand on his sword hilt and slightly spread his legs. He was ready to draw and swing his sword at any moment.

Did the presence he sense really belong to a human?

Or did it belong to an animal instead?

There was no response from the other side.

Only the sound of rustling could be heard.

The presence was steadily approaching him.

Should he attack first? Or wait?

The time for him to make a decision was brief.

If something suddenly jumped out, he would have to cut it down immediately. William began to slowly draw out aura from his mana core.

Not knowing the level of the potential enemy, he had to be prepared.

Soon, clear blue aura covered the blade of his sword.

“Come out.”

Whether his words were heard or whatever was out there had intended to come out from the start, an unexpected human intruder emerged from the bushes. The intruder silently stared at William with a face full of bewilderment.

William could only stare back at the intruder, feeling a vague sense of déjà vu.

He felt like he had seen this woman somewhere before.

“…Ah.”

What is she doing here?

“…Where is this? I was just taking a walk-”

That’s what he wants to ask.

How did she get here when it’s quite a distance from Wuhan?

Had he changed the plot too much?

The woman with greyish hair who started asking questions as soon as she emerged from the bushes looked at William while trying to figure out how she got here.

As far as he knew, there were only two women with greyish hair in the original work.

Judging by the fact that she didn’t seem much younger than him…

William rubbed his forehead at this unexpected encounter with the original work’s heroine.

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I wonder what will the heroine be like?