< Episode 580 > Welcoming the Night.
Some time had passed since I arrived in Hanam.
Roughly a month. That much time had gone by, and the season was heading toward the height of summer.
Among those days, one early morning.
I was meeting Sinui and receiving a medical examination.
Sinui, who had been focusing on taking my pulse for quite a while, opened his closed eyes and spoke.
“Hmm. Truly a strange matter.”
“Is something wrong?”
Finding Sinui’s reaction unusual, I asked, and Sinui spoke to me with an expression of fascination.
“To think you’ve improved this much in just a month. I cannot fathom what kind of body this is.”
“Isn’t it because you are treating me well?”
“Hehe, you speak utter nonsense. What treatment have I even done?”
“...”
He wasn’t wrong.
He had taken my pulse and prescribed medicine, but he had said it wouldn’t help much.
In truth, the medicine hadn’t been particularly effective either.
“I had estimated that even if I was being conservative, it would take half a year…. It seems I won’t need to see you for that long.”
“Is that so?”
Unlike my own expectation that it would take about three months.
Sinui had said half a year at first.
I had wondered if it would really take that long.
Fortunately, it seemed my prediction had been correct.
…Which meant.
‘It means even Sinui cannot properly figure out my body.’
In the end, it meant I was the only one who could truly see my own condition.
It wasn’t exactly certainty. However, if Sinui didn’t know, I felt that no one else in the world would know either.
Anyway.
Since there was no need for further pulse diagnosis, I straightened my clothes and slowly tried to rise from my seat.
At that moment.
“Are you getting along well with Hyeok?”
Sinui asked.
It was a question he had hardly asked for nearly a month.
“Yes, we are getting along well.”
Yes, and he was probably getting along very busily at that.
“…I see.”
“If you are worried, shall I send him back?”
Of course, it was mere lip service. I had no intention of returning Jegal Hyeok to Sinui.
Jegal Hyeok had done better work than I expected.
He was one of the most necessary people for me right now, so I was in no position to send him away.
Even if Sinui asked for him back, I had no intention of giving him up, but I said it anyway.
Upon hearing this, Sinui looked at me and let out a hollow laugh.
“That will do. Since it is what that child wishes, interfering that far would be pointless.”
“...”
I looked at Sinui at those words.
Despite having raised Jegal Hyeok with such care, Sinui seemed rather carefree in this regard.
That was a bit unexpected.
“Just make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”
“…We don’t do anything that would get him hurt. I’m just having him help with some light odd jobs.”
A lie.
I planned to do so as much as possible, but I couldn’t be certain.
“And….”
Sinui tried to add something but hesitated.
His expression was filled with hesitation.
Seeing that, I sighed inwardly.
Because I knew what Sinui was trying to say.
“If it concerns you, shall I arrange a meeting for you?”
“...”
“If you wish, I will speak to that fellow as well.”
The “fellow” here referred to Cheol Jiseon.
He would probably enter Hanam before long, and it would be a simple matter to arrange a meeting then.
The reason I said I would speak to him rather than bring him here was because I myself was not certain.
He was someone who would normally say he knew everything.
But he was different when it came to this matter.
‘He even had an outburst.’
Seeing how he had yelled at me to just kill him, things wouldn’t go as I wished.
And.
Sinui likely knew this as well.
“…That will do.”
He probably spoke like that because he had resigned himself.
“…Yes. I understand.”
Hearing that, I decided not to bring up the matter any further.
I could push it if I wanted to.
‘No need.’
If it was something Cheol Jiseon avoided, I didn’t particularly want to force it out either.
I merely thought about it.
‘There is definitely something.’
Something tied Sinui and Cheol Jiseon together.
That was what I was certain of.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
I offered Sinui a polite bow and stood up.
There was nothing more to talk about, so I had to be going.
‘I should do some training and stop by the merchant guild.’
Since my body had recovered to some degree, I needed to start training in the morning.
If you don’t use your body, it grows dull.
It was about time to warm it up once.
Later in the afternoon, I had some business to ask of the Baekhwa Merchant Guild.
‘I need to send some letters.’
It would be quick if I used the assassin squad.
They had their own work to do. Since these were letters that needed to be sent through more orthodox channels, I had to visit the merchant guild.
Recalling my busy schedule, I immediately turned to leave my quarters.
“Ah, hey.”
Sinui called out to me. Was there something else?
“What is it?”
“Is something the matter?”
“Pardon?”
“Your expression does not look very good.”
“…Ah.”
At Sinui’s words, I touched my cheek.
I wondered what my expression looked like.
I wasn’t sure of the exact situation, but if so, I knew the reason.
“…It’s nothing.”
Probably.
“I slept poorly.”
The problem was the dream I had last night that I couldn’t remember.
******************
Free from Sinui, I headed to the training ground.
It seemed Madame Mi had done well in arranging my quarters, as there was a separate training ground inside the residence.
It was just the right size for physical training.
I wouldn’t be able to unleash hwagong, but that alone was sufficient.
Let me just loosen up a bit.
Thinking so, I went to the training ground, but.
“Huh?”
There was already someone there.
Wondering who it could be, I checked, and it was Dang Soyeol.
Dang Soyeol was sitting still on her knees in the center of the training ground, eyes closed.
‘Hmm….’
Seeing that, I let out a gasp of admiration.
At the same time, tension settled into my body.
The problem was the qi filling the inside of the training ground.
A density suffocating enough to take one’s breath. Moreover, the densely packed qi was all extremely cold.
How should I describe it?
Pure killing intent.
That seemed to be the most fitting expression.
‘…Damn.’
The killing intent mixed with qi filled the surroundings, yet within it, a clear order could be felt.
This meant Dang Soyeol was controlling all of this qi herself.
That wasn’t the only surprising thing.
‘With this much qi.’
Not a hint of toxic qi could be felt within it.
Since Dang Soyeol was born into the Dang Clan, the qi she used definitely contained toxic qi.
But in the qi filling this space now, no toxic qi could be felt.
My body had reached the state of invulnerability to all poisons, so I was immune to toxins.
On the contrary, I could feel poison even more clearly.
For sure, there wasn’t any toxic qi in this qi right now.
This meant….
‘It means she has reached the level of controlling toxic qi.’
It meant her realm had risen to the point where she could extract and use toxic qi from her energy.
‘And all in just two years.’
She had been at the threshold of the Hwagyeong, barely at a level where she seemed on the verge of reaching the pinnacle, so the fact that she had come this far was nothing short of astonishing.
Moreover, it wasn’t just that her realm had risen; if she had reached the level of controlling qi with such precision,
‘What kind of training did she go through?’
I couldn’t even fathom what kind of Shura battlefield Dang Soyeol had crossed through.
I looked at Dang Soyeol with somewhat subdued eyes.
She was still regulating her breathing with closed eyes, seemingly quite focused, perhaps not knowing I had come.
Seeing that, I had to click my tongue in regret.
‘Training is out of the question.’
Judging by her appearance, she seemed to be at it for quite a while longer.
I could take up a corner and train if I wanted to, but I didn’t particularly want to.
I turned around.
Yes, I’ll train after I go out and come back.
That was my intention.
I came outside and headed straight for the district.
The Baekhwa Merchant Guild was located in the center of the district, so I had to walk a bit from the residence.
It was still early morning.
It was the time when the sun was barely rising, but the district was bustling as always.
Perhaps they were starting to cook now, as delicious smells began to waft through the air.
The streets grew noisy with people preparing their goods.
It was the same morning as always.
I walked quietly through the gaps between them.
Why was it?
Normally, I would walk while looking around and glancing at things.
But now, for some reason, I didn’t want to see anything.
‘Something feels off.’
My stomach felt bloated and stifled.
That was also the reason I had come out without training, using Dang Soyeol as an excuse.
I could have done it if I wanted to, but today, for some reason, I hadn’t wanted to.
It felt like an inexplicable irritation enveloped my entire body.
‘What is it?’
What on earth was the problem?
Even I didn’t know.
How could a mere dream irritate me like this?
It was probably just an absurd dream like the ones I occasionally had.
‘Is it because I’m becoming impatient?’
Three months until I started my work.
No, now there was about a month left.
I thought I was calm about it, but perhaps I wasn’t, making me feel this frustrated.
I couldn’t really tell.
One thing I knew was this:
I somehow wanted to recall that dream.
From the moment I woke until now.
My entire mind had been focused on that dream alone.
‘I shouldn’t be like this.’
I had much to do ahead.
It felt like I was wasting time on something trivial.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
“This is all because I haven’t eaten.”
Yes, it seemed I was hungry.
Surely that was it.
I changed direction.
From my steps toward the merchant guild, I turned into a dark alley of Hanam.
I moved with the thought of filling my stomach first.
A slight doubt crossed my mind.
‘Then I should just go to a restaurant.’
I had naturally entered the alley, but why had I come here?
I had moved without realizing it.
It was a sight where no one would think there was a restaurant.
The crowds that filled the main street were nowhere to be seen.
The place was so deserted it was almost empty.
Still, I walked.
For some reason, my steps led that way.
Walking in a bit like that,
an old building caught my eye deep in the quiet alley.
“…What the…?”
Only upon seeing the building could I stop my steps.
Smoke was billowing from the gaps in the old building’s windows.
The scent mingled with the smoke made me tilt my head.
‘There’s something here?’
It smelled like food.
From a building at the end of such a back alley, the smell of food was coming.
Seeing that, I let out a hollow laugh.
“What kind of madman built a restaurant here?”
It was absurd.
Not a single person passed through this street.
To think there was a restaurant in such a back alley when there was a perfectly fine road.
Even as I thought that, my feet were already walking toward the restaurant.
The interior was ordinary.
To be exact, it wasn’t much different from the exterior.
The inside was as old as the worn-out building.
I could even see cobwebs hanging on that wall.
“Welcome.”
Hearing the voice, I turned my head to see an old woman with a bent back welcoming me.
No attendant was particularly visible.
“It’s morning, so we only have noodles.”
She spat out the words and went into the kitchen.
…I hadn’t even said I was going to eat yet.
“…Hmm.”
What should I do?
I had entered without even knowing why….
Somehow, I felt I had to sit down.
Yes, since I was here, I would eat.
I moved to find a table.
And though there weren’t many seats, and there were seats right in front and beside me,
I nonetheless moved my steps as if there was somewhere I had to sit.
It felt as though there was a specific seat I was meant to take.
The cornermost seat.
No matter how I looked at it, it was the most worn-looking place here.
Somehow, I felt I had to sit there. That was the feeling.
However.
Slurp.
Someone other than me was already sitting there.
She had already been eating.
Slurp.
With her small frame, she lifted a bowl as big as her face and inhaled the food.
She seemed not to care whether her hair fell into the dish.
Moreover, traces of several finished bowls were stacked beside her, not just one.
Seeing that, I had to widen my eyes.
It wasn’t that she ate a lot that was surprising.
I was already used to such things after seeing Wi Seol-a, so that wasn’t surprising at all.
The person sitting there eating was the problem.
“What…?”
I spoke while looking at the woman eating noodles without pause.
Then.
“Hm?”
The tips of her hands, which had been diligently moving her chopsticks, stopped, and the owner of the noodles looked this way.
Our eyes met.
“Oh.”
The woman reacted upon seeing me.
Her black hair swayed, and her beautiful purple eyes looked at me with a peculiar expression.
Then she set down her bowl and gestured toward me.
“Hello.”
“...”
I couldn’t say anything in response to the woman’s greeting.
No, it would be more accurate to say I couldn’t make any reaction at all.
And for good reason.
That I would run into the Heavenly Demon eating noodles in a back-alley restaurant like this—
No one in the world would have known.