Why Do You Keep Turning Up Here...? (3)
The Sword Venerable’s qi caused Gu Yangcheon’s quarters to tremble. Elder Yi immediately spread his qi and enveloped the quarters with it.
It was rough and fierce. To think the qi of a sword cultivator without even a sword in hand could be this sharp.
‘They say dragons grow larger as they age. That saying certainly fits him….’
A drop of sweat rolled down Elder Yi’s chin.
This was merely the qi that had leaked out through the Sword Venerable’s shaken emotions.
One of the three greatest masters under heaven.
The Sword Venerable was clearly proving that the name was no empty title.
“You’re crossing the line, Guryun.”
“You know better than anyone what my words mean, Senior.”
A master’s field of vision was broad. If a master on Elder Yi’s level used all his qi, he could survey half of the Gu Clan within the range he was capable of perceiving.
He could not immediately grasp the every movement of someone like the clan head or the Sword Venerable, but he could tell what everyone else was doing.
The presence of a person was conveyed far more clearly to a martial artist.
That was why Elder Yi knew.
“You must have known from the beginning. Why pretend otherwise?”
Elder Yi thought of Wi Seol-a.
She was a young girl with impossibly beautiful features, but that was not how Elder Yi saw her.
There was nothing there.
He could not sense even the slightest trace of the presence a person was supposed to possess in Wi Seol-a.
A sense of awe, or perhaps fear.
Those two contradictory words came to mind whenever he looked at Wi Seol-a.
She possessed none of the things a human being ought to have. And yet, inside the completely empty Wi Seol-a, something else filled her to the brim.
Was it light, or darkness? At Elder Yi’s level, he could not see that far.
But if he was the Sword Venerable, could the Sword Venerable not see it as well?
“What is that child’s true identity, Senior?”
“My granddaughter is human, Guryun!”
The Sword Venerable slammed his hand down on the table.
With a sharp crack, the table broke and collapsed, and in that instant, the Sword Venerable’s qi exploded.
The resulting impact struck Elder Yi’s body, which was wrapped in qi to protect the quarters.
But he did not show it.
Swallowing down the blood boiling in his throat, Elder Yi continued speaking.
“Do you think that if you find the Divine Healer, you’ll be able to fill that child with something else?”
The Divine Healer was an old man who could presumptuously be called a physician sent by the gods, but could he truly do something like that?
Even when Elder Yi had once faced the Dark King, whose presence was so faint that one might not notice him approaching from behind—the former master of the Cheolya Assassination Squad and the man once called the king of assassins—it had not been this faint.
What was strange, however, was that something else filled Wi Seol-a inside.
It was fundamentally different from the innate true qi every human possessed, or the qi filling one’s dantian.
Elder Yi felt an incomprehensible infinity within Wi Seol-a’s body.
‘What in the world is that…?’
To a human being, ignorance was fear. Elder Yi had undoubtedly felt fear when looking at Wi Seol-a.
What could possibly be inside that little child? He was curious, but he did not want to know.
His instincts told him so. That was something he must not open.
“Is that why you’ve taken to hiding away at this late age? Because you’re afraid others might see her?”
How would another martial artist see Wi Seol-a? What if they saw her the same way Elder Yi did?
There were probably only a handful of martial artists in the Central Plains capable of seeing such a thing in Wi Seol-a to begin with.
But they were not nonexistent. If they were to discover Wi Seol-a’s secret as Elder Yi had, how would they judge it?
How would they interpret the unknowable thing they saw in that little girl?
Of course, judging by the Sword Venerable’s expression, that did not seem to be the only reason. Still, Elder Yi felt he could ask no further.
A tingling sensation rang out behind him.
It felt as though dozens of invisible sword tips suspended in the air were all aimed at Elder Yi.
There was nothing in the Sword Venerable’s hands.
But there was no doubt that every one of those swords belonged to the Sword Venerable.
Was this the Heart Sword—the highest realm a sword cultivator could reach?
As someone who was not a sword cultivator, Elder Yi could not know.
“If I ask any more, it seems you’ll cut this junior down without hesitation.”
“Guryun, the reason you are still alive is thanks to that as well, so do not take offense.”
“I do not know what you’re thinking, Senior, or why you continue to keep that child by your side. Nor do I care.”
He had no interest in what others thought. Life was already too burdensome when all he could do was look toward the path he himself had to walk.
That was Elder Yi’s belief.
“If you were the Senior of old, you wouldn’t even have worried.”
In Elder Yi’s eyes, the Sword Venerable was in a precarious state.
He could feel that the sword known as the Sword Venerable, which he had believed would never rust, had been dulled by a heart demon.
The pillar of the Orthodox Faction, the heavens of the Orthodox Faction—the Sword Venerable was called such things, and he was worthy of those names.
Elder Yi had once even held awe for the heavens contained within that frail body.
But what about now?
He could see cracks slowly forming in those once lofty heavens. Looking at the Sword Venerable, Elder Yi spoke.
“If you say that child is human, then I’ll think of her that way. If you intend to keep her by your side, then do as you please. My opinion is not what matters here. However…”
Leaving the broken table behind, Elder Yi rose to his feet.
To fulfill the clan head’s request, he had to leave for the Namgung Clan immediately.
“Do not regret the path you’ve chosen, Senior. Nothing would be more pathetic than that. Though you know that better than anyone.”
Not long after Elder Yi left the quarters, the Sword Venerable’s qi vanished.
Having withdrawn the qi that had been standing so sharply on edge, the Sword Venerable soon covered his face with one hand.
‘Is that child really human?’
Elder Yi’s words echoed in his ears. Was she really human? His granddaughter was certainly human.
The Demonic Realm.
That was where the Sword Venerable had found Wi Seol-a. The Sword Venerable had erased those memories.
From the moment he first met the child. The moment her lovely lips had taken in what was his, the moments they had walked through the fields hand in hand.
Each and every one of those moments told the Sword Venerable that Wi Seol-a was human.
Whatever Wi Seol-a possessed, even if she was destined to stand at the center of the blood calamity that would soon descend upon the world—
All he had to do was cut such a fate apart. The sword he had honed and polished had been made for that purpose. The Sword Venerable swore it upon his blade.
Whatever Wi Seol-a was. Whatever the blood calamity was.
For the sake of his granddaughter, the Sword Venerable could burn away without hesitation even the wretched life he had left.
The Sword Venerable then carefully began gathering, one by one, the pieces of the table he had smashed.
“I’m sorry….”
Even after living for so many years since his birth, he still could not control a single emotion. The Sword Venerable once again felt that his cultivation was lacking.
What if Wi Seol-a was not human?
Whatever she lacked as a human, it could simply be filled.
If necessary, he would even offer up his own life.
The Sword Venerable was prepared to do so.
Several hours later.
The Sword Venerable belatedly realized that Wi Seol-a had disappeared from the clan.
******************
How long had we been traveling by carriage? My butt was beginning to ache.
When I looked outside, the sun had already set. Since we would soon be entering a forest road, it was about time we took a rest.
The carriage soon came to a stop, and we began preparing to camp. There was a valley nearby, making it a good place to spend the night.
Maybe it was because I had been sitting for so long, but my entire body ached.
For some reason, Muyeon had a haggard look on his face. Then he suddenly declared that he was going to train, took his sword, and disappeared somewhere.
He said he would return before taking the watch, so he could do as he pleased.
The servants began preparing the meal, while I stood in a field not far away.
How much farther was it to Sichuan?
Even if it took no more than absolutely necessary, there had to be several days left. As always, this damned enormous land took forever to cross.
It was not for nothing that the Murim Alliance had once tried to tame demonic beasts capable of gliding through the sky.
Of course, just like with the Antlered-Horn Hound, the attempt had ultimately failed.
In the end, the Murim Alliance had concluded that taming demonic beasts was impossible.
‘…The Heavenly Demon was different, though.’
Ironically, the Heavenly Demon had been able to do what the Murim Alliance could not despite years of research.
The Heavenly Demon had tamed demonic beasts.
At nothing more than the sight of him breathing, demonic beasts lowered their heads.
Even a massive demonic beast capable of swallowing an entire clan’s main hall in one bite was a docile lamb before the Heavenly Demon.
On the day he erased the Mount Hua Sect from the Central Plains in my previous life, the Heavenly Demon had appeared riding an enormous demonic beast through the sky.
Could someone who could even tame demonic beasts truly be human?
“Could someone capable of doing that really be human?”
Just thinking about it made me break out in a cold sweat.
I had to stop thinking about it. For now, I needed to focus on the matters before me.
To clear my mind, I wrapped my body in qi. I had continued training in my own way, but my reserves of internal energy were far too small to improve in such a short time.
It seemed it would still take a long while for the Nine Flame Wheel Technique, which remained at two stars, to advance to three stars.
The physical aspect was an issue as well, but setting that aside for the moment, the most urgent problem was my amount of internal energy.
I had felt it during my spar with Gu Jeolyeop as well.
Because my internal energy was woefully insufficient, there were things I could not do.
That was an issue directly connected to my life in actual combat.
I stepped forward with my left foot and thrust my fist out.
Bang!
The fist I thrust out rapidly made the sound of air exploding.
Just that one movement made me feel the internal energy rush out of my dantian.
I bore it and linked into the next technique.
From my arms to my legs, then from my legs back to my arms. Because of my inflexible body, the movements did not flow naturally into the forms I wanted.
Even so, my qi had to move fluidly.
In the end, martial arts existed in the realm of sensations remembered by the body.
A martial artist’s realm did not easily reveal itself to one who was unprepared.
In other words, I simply had to train relentlessly and repeat the process.
After repeating the same movements several times, a tingling sensation was already ringing through my lower abdomen.
It meant that my internal energy was exhausted.
“Whew…”
As though spitting out the last dregs, I expelled the final traces of qi with my breath.
Though I had trained only briefly, my entire body was already drenched in sweat. My lack of internal energy kept holding me back.
Thoughts of the Demonic Dao Heaven-Devouring Art kept passing through my mind.
It was the fastest and easiest method.
If it was true that demonic energy did not accumulate in the body, then there was probably no better internal technique for building internal energy.
But—
“I barely escaped, and I don’t want to crawl back into that fucked-up path.”
Even if demonic energy did not accumulate, it was still the Heavenly Demon’s martial art.
I could not properly confirm whether demonic energy accumulated from absorbing only a couple of demonic stones.
More than that, I simply did not want to become involved with that place again.
‘Not yet… Not yet.’
This was a curse. If regression was a blessing, then a curse must have come attached to it.
At the very least, I needed to investigate and verify it properly.
How much time had passed since I began training? About an hour, perhaps.
I soon stopped the short training session, and when I halted the Nine Flame Wheel Technique that I had been circulating continuously, the night wind felt especially cold.
The nature of the internal technique should have made me less sensitive to the cold. If it felt this chilly, it was probably because I was soaked in sweat.
I returned to the campsite, asked for a change of clothes, and headed toward the valley.
I wanted to be lazy, eat, and collapse, but I still wanted to maintain the nameplate of a scion of a prestigious clan, so I needed to at least put on a show.
Just as I was dragging my feet toward the valley to dip them into the water—
“Eeeeeek!”
My head whipped around at the ear-splitting scream.
It had come from the supply wagon containing the ingredients.
Wondering if something had happened, I immediately sprinted toward the wagon.
What was going on? Had bandits attacked? I had heard that bandits had nearly disappeared since the Demonic Realm Gate appeared.
As I approached the wagon, a servant was peering toward it, his face pale with fear.
“What happened?”
Muyeon and the other escorts had already gathered after hearing the scream.
“I… I saw something moving inside.”
The servant answered in a slightly trembling voice.
“Inside the supply wagon?”
Had some wild animal crept inside after smelling the food? If possible, I hoped it was something edible.
An escort soon brought a lantern and shone it into the wagon.
Something moved inside.
From the rustling sounds, it did not seem to be a small animal, so the escort drew his sword.
And then, what appeared in the light was—
“Mm… Hm…?”
None other than Wi Seol-a, a carrot clutched between her teeth.
I stared at her for a long while, unable to open my mouth.
…Why do you keep turning up here?
‘…Ah, my life.’
The situation looked as though it had gone spectacularly to hell, and for the first time in a while, a headache began to throb.