“Unfortunately… I’ve forgotten.”
“……?”
“It’s been five hundred years, and my brain has rotted away. I did try to remember, but it’s just not coming back to me.”
“…Are you deliberately hiding this from me?”
“Ha ha.”
The Sword Sage emitted a calm smile that gave nothing away.
“In fact, it doesn’t really matter.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s not how, but why you should ask. Why did I do all this for you? Isn’t the intention what matters?”
“You seem to have something specific you want to say to me.”
The Sword Sage took the conversation in an artificial direction.
Since I had no particular right to say anything to him, I simply followed his lead.
“Why did you do it?”
“Just one thing I wanted to say.”
“What is that one thing?”
“To accumulate virtue and live a good life. That’s all.”
With that, the Sword Sage raised his hand.
The Sword Sage’s hand beckoned towards me, almost as if signaling me to come closer.
Thud.
“Accumulate virtue and live a good life, you say.”
As I approached the Sword Sage, I moved my lips to speak.
Leaning close to my ear, the Sword Sage whispered.
“Have you… experienced death? Do you know where people go after they die?”
In a voice so faint that no one else could hear it, he continued.
“Yes, I’ve been as far as the underworld.”
“Indeed. Usually, when someone dies, they go to the underworld and undergo nine trials. Afterwards, they are either reincarnated or sent to hell. Do you know where this old man, who has dedicated his life to justice, ended up?”
“Please enlighten me. Where did you go?”
“My final destination was hell.”
“I see.”
“You’re not surprised.”
The Sword Sage made a slightly astonished expression.
“Lately, I’ve been realizing that the boundary between good and evil is inherently blurry.”
“Indeed, nothing in this world is certain—all actions are like that. The killings that I thought were acts of justice? They were simply the savage acts of man killing man.”
“Did you regret protecting the Central Plains martial world from the Yin-Yang Sect?”
“I do not regret it. If I hadn’t protected the martial world back then, the world of martial arts today wouldn’t exist, would it?”
“The martial world today doesn’t really seem worth protecting.”
“Then let’s change that. If I hadn’t protected it back then, wouldn’t there be no one like you now? Ha ha.”
There was no easy way to counter that.
Because I don’t regret protecting people like Soeun Yu or Su-a Namgung either.
“Anyway, when I went to hell… Ha ha, it truly wasn’t a place one could endure. Hell isn’t called hell for nothing.”
“Didn’t you overcome countless trials? And yet you’re saying you couldn’t endure?”
“Hell is a place where unimaginable hardships await. Most people like us yearn for death, but after experiencing death and going to hell, my perspective changed.”
“Hmm.”
The Sword Sage, leaning in almost touching me, said,
“Therefore, I rewound the world. I lived through another phase. Since I had to commit murders to save the Yin-Yang Sect, I studied how to escape from hell. That’s how this retreat was built. Though I ended up as a Jiangshi, I managed to avoid hell, didn’t I?”
“You said earlier that you had something important to tell me.”
“Consider it a bonus.”
“Hmm.”
There’s definitely something he’s intentionally hiding from me.
To create such facilities out of fear of hell…
Well, though improbable, it’s not entirely impossible either. But it’s hard to believe that the Sword Sage, an absolute master and fellow regressive, would have done such a thing.
“I’ve heard that living as a Jiangshi is extremely painful. Even if you wanted to avoid hell, there was surely no need for you to become a Jiangshi.”
“I can handle it. Maybe it varies from person to person.”
“…Are you just making excuses?”
“Are you feeling unwell today? It must be your mood.”
Looking at him with a suspicious eye, the Sword Sage simply smiled.
Is he truly convinced by the old saying that spitting on a smiling face is bad luck?
If that’s the case, then fine. At least we’ve both fallen together in degree.
“The conclusion is to live a virtuous life. Don’t unnecessarily create hardships by going to hell as I did.”
“Is that the reason you dragged our conversation this far?”
“You have many years left to live, no? If you only tread the path of justice for the rest of your life, who knows? The judges of the underworld might look kindly upon you.”
It feels more like a one-sided lecture than a conversation.
Since prolonging this exchange seemed meaningless, I was just about to ask for the location of the Eternal Rebirth Pill and leave.
– Ask about my younger brother as well.
“Sir, do you think there’s a connection between your younger brother and the Sword Sage?”
– Yes, so stop hesitating and ask. Asking a question isn’t that difficult, is it?
Seeming to have searched the chambers thoroughly and found no results, Woo-yong Jin said,
“By the way, Grandmaster.”
“Why is that?”
“Grandmaster, are you acquainted with a person named Woo-yong Jin of the Heavenly Strength Sect? If my knowledge is correct, you both lived during the same era…”
“Ah, Woo-yong, my old friend. He was quite an eccentric fellow. Why are you asking about him?”
“Not about him directly, but do you have any knowledge regarding his younger brother?”
Upon receiving my question, the Sword Sage tilted his head, pretending to have no knowledge at all.
“Younger brother? I know nothing about his younger brother, so why ask me?”
“Never mind.”
Seeing his truly unknowing reaction, I silently called out to Woo-yong Jin in my heart.
‘Master.’
– Hmph, I was certain he would be here… Could that insolent woman have lied?
‘…’
– Tsk, when I see her next, I’ll have to give her a good scolding. How dare she lie to her elder.
He appeared to care little about the situation.
I was concerned he might cause a ruckus given his earlier excitement when the topic of his brother was brought up.
Fortunately, it seemed he wasn’t planning on making a scene.
“Alright, I see. Where is the Eternal Rebirth Pill?”
“It’s in the bottom drawer on the right side. When you open it, you’ll find a box with two pills inside. Take it.”
Clank…
Following the Sword Sage’s instructions, I opened the drawer and found the box.
I checked inside briefly before putting it inside my robe.
Then, holding onto Hong Ryun who was still hanging there, I prepared to depart quietly.
“Grandmaster, we shall take our leave.”
“So soon?”
“I would love to have a more enlightening conversation with Grandmaster, but the time allotted to me isn’t plentiful.”
I didn’t add that it was due to Gayoung Jin.
Since the Sword Sage did not stop me but instead waved goodbye, I assumed it was permissible.
“Byul Rak, are you leaving now?”
“Yes. Let’s return, Jade Flower.”
“Got it… did you get everything you wanted?”
Click.
“Yes, indeed. It’s fortunate that everything worked out.”
Seeing the box I held in my sleeve, Jade Flower followed me with a look of relief.
Tang Sobaek left silently, ignoring formalities, and followed close behind.
“Brother, are you leaving?”
As we were about to leave, Bin Namgung momentarily blocked my way.
“Yes. I’ll make sure to fulfill your vendetta, so you can rest peacefully in paradise.”
“Yes! Thank you, Brother, for relieving my worries!”
“Haha!”
Responding with great vigor, Bin Namgung stepped aside to see us off.
“Benefactor, shall you just leave the treasures here?”
“If we need them later, we’ll come back to fetch them.”
“Hehe, if that’s what Benefactor says, then let’s do as you wish.”
Thus, we…
Though it wasn’t a long time, subjectively, it felt like we spent a considerable amount of time in Mucheon Ravine.
Lifted our heavy steps to leave.
*
As Byul Rak and Jade Flower, Hong Ryun, and Tang Sobaek were leaving the sanctuary,
The old Jiangshi, Sword Sage, was watching their backs silently.
-This is absurd!
As they departed, Tang Sobaek sent a mental message while retreating.
-You said if we bring Sword Sage, you’d tell us everything, but here the two of you are whispering privately.
Despite lacking any internal energy to use for mental transmission, the Sword Sage simply listened.
-Still, I somehow managed to eavesdrop, focusing my hearing power. Since I was supposed to tell you everything, I have no complaints.
While sending this mental message, Tang Sobaek turned back her head.
The Sword Sage nodded in agreement with a gentle smile.
-Though, you lied quite a lot, didn’t you? What you told me and what you told them were entirely different, I was a little surprised.
-You told me that you built Mucheon Ravine and this sanctuary to tell something to Sword Sage, but suddenly it was about fearing hell?
-So, you probably shouldn’t reveal what you told Sword Sage to me. Shouldn’t you have lied to me from the start then?
The Sword Sage’s expression hardened upon hearing the continuous mental message from Tang Sobaek.
He looked as if he had just realized a mistake.
Seeing this, Tang Sobaek smirked.
-Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. There’s no benefit for me telling it.
-But what was the ‘accumulate kindness’ you told to Sword Sage? Was that really your purpose? Was living five hundred years only to give that message?
Questioned with a challenging tone by Tang Sobaek,
The Sword Sage slowly nodded.
-…I didn’t know living virtuously would be this important.
“…”
There was no response.
Tang Sobaek hurried to join the group, who was now stepping out of the sanctuary.
While doing so, she sent a message without looking back.
-Yeah, it was quite interesting to know about that.
-If there’s another chance, we’ll meet again. Spend your days well with those souls.
Clang!
A little while later, the metal door of the sanctuary shut completely.
Excluding the wall that was blasted open due to the “chain explosion” earlier, the sanctuary returned to its form as a complete sealed chamber.
Inside it, with the spirit of Bin Namgong returning to the bottle, the Sword Sage once again became the sole occupant.
In this lonely sealed room, the Sword Sage reminisced wistfully about the brief meeting with the people he had encountered after hundreds of years.
“Is this alright…?”
And then he remembered the “little girl” from a very long time ago, whose memory was now even fading.
“I delivered the words you asked me to emphasize to Sword Sage… but I think he has started to suspect something.”
The little girl who used to appear during his dreams, emphasizing the need to hide from Heavenly Qi.
“Anyway… I have done my part, and I trust you will handle the rest…”
Perhaps because it had been truly a long while since he encountered people, the Sword Sage was unusually lost in deep contemplation.
“I’ve even told the child from the Tang family about Woo-yong Jin’s younger brother, which is of concern. It’s already beyond my control…”
The little girl, Tang Sobaek.
The next reminiscing target was his descendant Byul Rak.
“Remarkable.”
Abandoning the Namgung name but unmistakably of Namgong heritage because of his distinctive blue eyes,
The overwhelming might that emitted from his entire being defied measurement, making it impossible to even estimate his martial realm.
Surprisingly, the legendary martial arts prowess that even the peak form of his younger days couldn’t compare to.
“Someone who has regressd nearly ten thousand times, they say. It’s natural I, a child stuck at ten, couldn’t even approach his level.”
However, the true astonishment lay elsewhere.
“Even stronger than the one called Sword Sage…”
The legendary hero described in grand detail by the little girl in his dream.
“Heavenly Horses… I wonder what kind of beings they are…”
