The nuances of human emotions are truly delicate.
Originally, Tang Sobaek and I were nothing more than mere acquaintances.
Though there was one time during this chapter when I was on the brink of perishing and sought her counsel just once.
In no chapter have Tang Sobaek and I ever deepened our relationship. Besides, wasn’t Tang Sobaek the one who secluded herself in the Tang Family Manor for a long time?
…That point is slightly suspicious. How could a woman with such great wisdom have stayed hidden all this time, not venturing into the martial world and not showing her face to the world even during the war?
Taking into account that Tang Sobaek was barely ten years old during the Great Purge, it may not be unreasonable. But still, it’s a bit suspicious.
Clunk-.
I slipped my hand inside my coarse clothing, feeling a small box nestled in my bosom.
It was a gift given to me by Tang Sobaek last night. She told me to open it only after we parted ways.
Although she didn’t divulge its contents, the spicy fragrance wafting from the box made me guess what it contained.
“Amazing.”
“Master.”
“Why did Tang Sobaek give such a thing to our son-in-law? I cannot understand it at all.”
“She probably had her own reasons. Since it won’t harm me in any way, I think I should just accept it with gratitude.”
“Will there ever be cause to use it?”
Woo-yong Jin’s peculiar voice could be heard. He seemed to have doubts about the item Tang Sobaek had left behind.
“Well, life is unpredictable, isn’t it? It might prove useful someday.”
“Hmm… It’s not just about its utility—it’s about possessing something that can save lives. Having it is like holding a life in reserve.”
“Even an emperor cannot obtain this.”
“True words. However, I am a bit worried. Precious things tend to attract trouble.”
I caressed the box without taking it out. Jin was right. Something that even an emperor couldn’t obtain implied something that even an emperor would covet.
One shouldn’t display such an item lightly, even if no one is around.
“As long as I don’t bring it out, it shouldn’t be an issue.”
“How naïve. The day and night spirits know secrets about you that even you are unaware of. How can you possibly keep it hidden forever?”
“Fine, if you go to such extremes to find out, there’s nothing I can do. But even if someone insists I hand it over, I won’t give it up easily. It’s a gift imbued with someone’s sentiments. Even if the emperor asked for it, I wouldn’t hand it over.”
“Hmm… True. Who can take what’s yours? You could even divide a nation with your strength if pushed.”
“…Why would you suggest tearing a perfectly good nation in two? Don’t be ridiculous.”
Why does he have to say such alarming things by way of example? It’s unsettling.
Anyway, aside from his nagging, he’s a perfect elder. His nagging is a fatal flaw that overshadows all his other virtues.
*
Walking alone along the night path, Tang Sobaek paused momentarily, feeling an inexplicable emptiness.
Even though she had lived almost entirely alone, there’s something undeniably hollow about the absence of someone who had been there and then left.
Lifting her head, she gazed at the ashen sky. The moon hanging high in the heavens appeared so lush.
Tang Sobaek stared at the night sky intently, as if penetrating it, observing what lay beneath.
Beneath the night sky lies the grand records of Heaven, the history diary of this world.
Heavenly Qi (天記).
The thing Tang Sobaek loved most, her only pastime.
The only thing of joy in this unbearably monotonous world. A vast celestial library far surpassing ordinary books.
Only she, among the vast Central Plains, has the ability to read this colossal record so vast that even the Registers of Life and Death from the underworld would pale in comparison. Despite reading for years, she had yet to reach the end.
“Feels refreshing.”
Even last night, Tang Sobaek had been reading Heavenly Qi in the dead of night when everyone else was asleep. Having been living the life of an owl for years, she hardly ever slept.
In the courtyard, as she was in deep concentration reading the Heavenly Qi, she sensed someone behind her. Turning slowly, she saw a man cloaked in white hair and clear eyes standing there like a ghost.
Of course, he wasn’t a ghost. He was very much alive. He just looked eerily pale for lack of vitality.
The man approached Tang Sobaek. She turned and greeted him with a faint smile.
“Can’t sleep?”
“I’m a little restless thinking about leaving tomorrow.”
“Do you feel reluctant?”
“A little.”
“Haha, life is always filled with regrets.”
While speaking with the man, Tang Sobaek continued reading the Heavenly Qi without stopping.
It might be challenging for ordinary people to think and talk differently, but it wasn’t so for Tang Sobaek. She had mastered the art of voice overlay, after all.
“Strange.”
She was reading a section in the Heavenly Qi where the man was fighting the Heavenly Demon with all his might.
Within the Heavenly Qi, he suffered greatly with his body disintegrating. Though in the Heavenly Qi it was depicted that way, the man was standing beside her, gazing at the night sky together.
It was an incongruous feeling.
“You’ve done me a favor. Even if we part ways tomorrow, I will never forget.”
“Favor? What favor?”
“Didn’t you save me at the bottomless pit of Mu Tian Valley? I never forget favors received.”
“Oh, so that did happen.”
In a place beyond Byul Rak’s sight, Tang Sobaek chuckled.
It was absurd. If the man hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t be alive now. Looking at it from another angle, was she not one who had given gratitude to the whole world?
By now, she could afford to be a little arrogant.
That “favor” was nothing but something natural to take pride in, yet he remained humble.
Was it his innate nature, or did it change with the environment? The man just didn’t have the character to be like that.
“I should be the one who’s grateful.”
“What?”
“Thanks to you.”
She hesitated to say “because of you, this world exists.”
Instead, Tang Sobaek smiled silently. The man followed and smiled too.
The cool, refreshing night air caressed their robes gently, tickling their skin. Returning to the Tang Family Manor would mean she would be alone again, or perhaps endure the antics of the half-mad Poison King.
The prospect was already giving her a headache.
“I had many things I wanted to say when I met you.”
“Things you wanted to say?”
“For instance… how were you able to endure those hard times so well? But now that I’m facing you, I’m not that eager to ask anymore.”
“…”
Tang Sobaek’s meaningful tone left the man momentarily flustered. She continued speaking as if it all held no significance, gazing up at the sky.
“I also wanted to ask how you obtained that ‘ability’… I could never quite understand Sword Sage just from reading. But now that I’ve met you, it all makes sense.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t need to. It’s now meaningless.”
“Is that so? Though I don’t know what it is, it’s a relief to hear that you’ve resolved what you had on your mind.”
With that, the man placed his hand on Tang Sobaek’s shoulder and patted it gently.
It was a comforting gesture. For a moment, Tang Sobaek felt a sense of camaraderie she had never felt in her life.
When she began to master characters and realized the principles of the world, she couldn’t relate to her peers. When she started to see through the hypocrisy of those who approached her due to her being the Tang family’s daughter, she lost interest in conversing with the outside world.
Occasionally, she toyed with them and made fools of them, but that also only lasted a short while. Once she could see through the contents of people’s minds, she lost all interest in worldly human matters. That was the start of her seclusion.
Fortunately, the Tang Family Repository was filled with countless books. Treatises on war, history, philosophy, geometry, literature, verses, mechanics, meteorology, and more. Almost all the academic subjects existing in the Central Plains were compiled there. Even forbidden texts of the Daoist sect were secretly stored through back dealings.
Almost no sect in the current martial world was unaffected, but the Tang family was especially notorious.
“…Do you often place a hand on other people?”
“Are you suggesting I should?”
“Hmm, I recommend you avoid it unless necessary. Don’t set fire to young maidens’ hearts unnecessarily.”
“Haha, your praise is too much.”
“Sorry, that wasn’t praise.”
His light gesture somewhat ruffled Tang Sobaek’s heart.
“Is your Eternal Life Pill all gone?”
“I have no need for anything else.”
“Hey, you never know. What if you encounter dangerous situations and your life hangs in the balance?”
“Seems like excessive concern to me.”
“Remember the time at Mu Tian Valley? Such incidents aren’t guaranteed to never happen again.”
“That’s true.”
Unaccustomed to such consideration, Tang Sobaek fingered the Eternal Life Pill in her bosom, or rather, the box containing it.
“Anyway, this thing doesn’t have much use now… I’m worried. Giving it to father will only result in him wasting it.”
Tang Sobaek had no special sense of justice. She wasn’t someone who liked to bestow kindness on others. She was essentially far removed from moral righteousness.
However, perhaps because the most ethical person in the world was standing beside her right now.
Or perhaps the mystical atmosphere of dawn, which subtly affects one’s emotions, was influencing her.
No one will ever know whether it was the person or the environment, but Tang Sobaek suddenly felt an odd impulse, a strange urge mixed with uncharacteristic benevolence.
“Should I offer it…? If I give it to father, he’ll waste it as usual. But if I don’t give it, I know he’ll make a fuss… so it’s a dilemma.”
Her calculative perspective also wasn’t completely absent.
Though the Eternal Life Pill can resurrect even the dead, that’s only if they retain a lingering warmth. How could one feed it to someone who has been dead for years, with not even a corpse remaining?
Of course, if she returned to her original state, Tang Sobaek could do it. Having already experienced bringing the dead back without the Eternal Life Pill, she certainly could. But doing so would break her contract with the Underworld Messengers, and she herself would meet death.
She wasn’t willing to accept death for someone who had passed away according to natural law. Even if it were her mother, it would be the same.
“Well, considering how I managed to obtain this, I can’t let father waste it indiscriminately. I’ll tell him that I barely survived and return for now. As a daughter, he wouldn’t have much to say either.”
“Here.”
With a great resolution, Tang Sobaek handed the Eternal Life Pill in her bosom to the man. On seeing it, he hesitated for a moment.
“…Why are you giving this to me?”
“Use it well. If I keep it, it’s pretty much useless.”
“Wasn’t that the reason you went to Mu Tian Valley?”
“I’m fine. I’ve already gathered treasures from Mu Tian Valley. So it’s all profit for me.”
That was true. Different from others, Tang Sobaek’s sack was the only one filled with gold and gems.
“Hmm… Can I really accept this?”
“Ugh, stop hesitating and take it before I change my mind. Why must you procrastinate like this?”
“I would accept a gift, but if not, it’s inappropriate to accept items from others without cause…”
“Then consider this a gift. There, done? A gift of gratitude.”
The man continued to hesitate, but Tang Sobaek persistently offered it.
In the end, with reluctance, he accepted. His voice dropped lower.
“…When did I do something for which I deserve your gratitude?”
“Didn’t you rescue me?”
“Then, when exactly did I rescue you…?”
“Hey, stop asking so many questions. It’s embarrassing me.”
‘This is in gratitude for making me feel human warmth for the past few days. For providing me the first-ever sense of not being lonely. Only, that’s all.’
The man thanked her sincerely to the end. He even bowed his head deeply, though he was much younger than her.
“Alright, if you insist so much, I’ll accept it. Thank you very much. Remember, I’ll never forget this gift.”
“Ugh… I feel faint…!”
Tang Sobaek wanted to distance herself quickly.
It was clearly a refreshing night breeze, yet why did her face feel so flushed?
Even now, a day later, recalling the night still makes her face warm.
Even with her martial intellect, she couldn’t comprehend why.
