“Are you here?”
“......”
“Information just ca. As of now, Ming Heorim is passing through ngcheng. He’s still moving slowly—two days at the earliest.”
“Got it.”
“Just in case, after noon tomorrow you should wait near the mouth of the hermitage entrance.”
“All right.”
“Then.”
The Wild Wind Pavilion runner vanished.
Leaning against a tree with his arms folded, Yeon Hojeong let out a sigh.
“Nothing for it.”
Ming Heorim had to be caught. Not because of any deal with Mo Yonggun or fa, but because it was certain he’d cause trouble soday.
With Ming Heorim’s talent, he would master the counterfeit Divine Art of Death as quickly as Ming Cheon. If he learned it without even realizing his own change, many unrelated people might be hurt in the future.
And as a grandmaster of the Four Spirit Arts, Yeon couldn’t simply leave it be.
“Muk Bi... heh. The world doesn’t go as one wills.”
He had sprinted for Eight Dukes Mountain without looking back the mont he learned Anhui Blood Bow—Muk Bi—was there. But he hadn’t imagined this sort of brawl would be raging within the organization she belonged to.
For the mont, he had spared a life...
‘I can’t just drag her off by force.’
If she’d been planning a blood incident, he ant to hear her out fully and then decide whether to let her be or to help. Afterward, he had even thought to make her his person again.
If she was staying on Eight Dukes Mountain for no special reason? Even then, he planned to persuade her sohow and bring her under him.
It wasn’t because of Muk Bi’s talent or their past ties. To stop the Cult of Lewdness, he needed a force she knew well. In truth, in the past, the one who had made the most strategic use of Muk Bi had been himself.
But in circumstances like these, hauling her away by force would be hard right now.
Yeon Hojeong stepped out into the street and headed for the Cheongsa House rear court, second floor.
“Ah, you’re back.”
“How’s the child?”
The middle-aged physician sighed.
“The dangerous pass is behind us. She’s congenitally frail, and on top of that she was poisoned by a vile toxin.”
“Well then—can you detoxify it?”
“Difficult, but not impossible. Only, we must raise her overall condition as well, so it will require quite so ti. We’ll have to see how she recovers, but at least a year.”
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“That’s still fortunate.”
“Fortunate—most fortunate indeed. Had you co a day or two later, she would have crossed a river she could not return from. Heaven and earth watched over her.”
“Her father labored much. It seems his devotion reached the heavens.”
“Ah! I see. Hm? Where is her father, then?”
Yeon gave a bitter smile.
“Who knows.”
With that, he headed for the room across the way.
“Hah... hah...”
Baek Gungcheon lay on the bed.
His whole body was drenched in cold sweat. Every wound had been treated, yet his life-force was spent.
Was it the shock? Or the hollowness? He was losing strength at a rapid pace.
Staring down at Baek Gungcheon in silence, Yeon Hojeong turned his back.
Drip.
Muk Bi—no, Baek Hyang—was crouched in a corner. Her eyes were brimming with tears.
“...It’s because of .”
“What is?”
“If—if I hadn’t had talent...!”
Yeon shook his head.
“Your circumstances are none of my concern.”
It was a cold line. Baek Hyang looked up at Yeon through wet eyes.
Seeing those eyes, an unspeakable feeling surged through Yeon.
‘Dead.’
Her eyes were dead.
In the midst of writhing with grief and regret, the light of emotion in her gaze was gradually fading.
If that light went out completely, those would be Muk Bi’s eyes.
Muk Bi knew responsibility and duty, but those were, quite literally, like trained reflex.
Only when she mingled with Yeon and the warriors of the Black Emperor’s Citadel did she more often show emotion. In ordinary tis, she still didn’t give her heart to others.
A thought struck him.
When she heard that he had perished together with the Cult Lord of Lewdness—what had Muk Bi thought? How had she accepted the death of her liege—and perhaps the one and only friend she had?
Yeon’s mouth opened of its own accord.
“You’re not that kind of person.”
“...Pardon?”
“You were never quick to show emotion. But you weren’t without it. If anything, you were a martial artist with a hotter heart than anyone.”
Even through thick sorrow, puzzlent stirred in Baek Hyang.
What is this young man saying?
“I liked you. Because, at least then, you knew how to choose your own life. Though the path was painful, you never once complained.”
“Wh-what are you...?”
“I didn’t know your past. I didn’t know it would be like this. But to pry further would only be ddling.”
“...?”
“The past is just the past. I only wanted to fix a past that would beco a horrific future. To do that, I needed a different from the of the past.”
“...?!”
“I’ll ask you. How do you want to live?”
Baek Hyang’s eyes shook wide.
How did she want to live? No one had ever asked her that.
From a childhood she didn’t even rember, she had held a bow, and as if it were natural, she’d drawn a string. After that, her life was determined as a ghost archer vying to be Yi God.
It had been a life simply lived as it was. That was normal. She’d never thought in any other direction.
“I’ll put the question another way.”
“......”
“Do you believe in that being they call ‘Yi God’?”
“......!”
“I thought as much. Neither you nor that archer on the bed believes in the existence called Yi God. And yet you try to beco it. Without knowing what it is, without believing in it.”
Shock washed over Baek Hyang’s face.
Yeon let out a sigh.
“If, by chance, you want to find a new life, stop by a Beggars’ Union branch and give them my na. I can’t take responsibility for your life, but I can help to a degree. I’ll take compensation, of course.”
Yeon turned.
“My na is Yeon Hojeong.”
With that, he left the room.
Thud.
When the door closed, only Baek Gungcheon’s ragged breathing remained.
Baek Hyang stared blankly at the door.
It felt as if the storm that had raged had vanished in an instant. The words the storm left behind jumbled her head.
Just then—
“Khak! ...—ra.”
Startled, Baek Hyang looked to Baek Gungcheon.
“F-follow him.”
“Brother!”
She sprang up and stood before Baek Gungcheon.
“Are you all right? Are you coming to?”
“My wits... I’ve had them for a while now.”
Baek Hyang placed a hand to Baek Gungcheon’s chest.
“If you’re conscious, fix your posture! I’ll guide true energy into you and—”
“Don’t.”
“What?!”
“I know my body well. I’m going to die soon.”
Tears spilled from Baek Hyang’s eyes.
Baek Gungcheon took her hand.
“Hyang.”
“...Yes, brother.”
“Hyang, Hyang, Hyang.”
He called her na over and over.
At the plaintive voice and the warmth she felt for the first ti in so long, Baek Hyang bowed her head.
A wistful smile touched Baek Gungcheon’s stiff face—a smile that didn’t suit it.
“Do you rember? From when you were little, our brothers doted on you.”
“......”
“But at so point, the eyes of our brothers turned cold toward you. So did mine. Because we realized your talent far outstripped ours.”
“......”
“The elders saw your skill and postponed the contest. Because your talent was too precious. So the contest five years ago ended in a fizzle.”
“Brother.”
“But... didn’t that an we all had to die to your arrows? I hated that decision. And so I hated you all the more.”
Tears dripped onto Baek Gungcheon’s hand.
“Even so, I should not have hated you.”
“No. No, brother.”
“Rather than hating you, I should have left Sun-Piercing Valley.”
“...!”
“To beco Yi God, one must be prepared to die. That is the life of a ghost archer. But I °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° wasn’t prepared to die.”
Baek Gungcheon’s smile thinned.
“I lived by inertia. If I hated that, I should have left the valley; if I stayed, I should have accepted death.”
“......”
“The most radiant mont of my life was when I t my wife. And...”
Moisture gathered in Baek Gungcheon’s eyes.
“And when I learned I had a daughter.”
She wasn’t his daughter. But he had t her as a daughter.
The shock had been great, but Baek Gungcheon did not regret the life in which he’d staked his life for a naless girl.
“It doesn’t matter whether she was my daughter or not. What matters is that, if only for a mont, I lived as I wished. So I’m grateful to that child.”
“Brother...”
“Live the life you want. If you don’t know what you want, then go out into the world as I did. I hope you taste that rapture I felt.”
“Hhngh.”
Clutching Baek Gungcheon’s hand, Baek Hyang wept without sound.
He stroked her head. Who knew how long it had been since he’d last patted his sister’s head.
At the sa ti, he thought—
If only there were more ti, he would have stroked Garyeong’s head like this, too.
“Help sit up.”
Baek Hyang raised Baek Gungcheon’s upper body. He sat, leaning his back against the wall beside the bed.
“Hyang.”
“...Yes, brother.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen your archery.”
“Pardon?”
With a trembling hand, Baek Gungcheon pointed at his own heart.
Baek Hyang’s face went white.
“The rest died by my hand. Baek Sogyeong was the last.”
“Brother!!”
“There have been quite a few tis when the survivor of the Yi God Contest didn’t return to the valley. They’ll probably try to track you. But...”
Strength ca into Baek Gungcheon’s eyes.
“If it’s that youth, Yeon Hojeong, he can guard you for a ti. I saw that much power and possibility in him.”
“No! Absolutely not! How could I—by my own hand—!”
“You didn’t have even that much resolve?”
“......!!”
“Did you enter the contest without even that resolve? Did you hope to be the victor without dying, without killing? Then you should be ashad.”
“B-brother...”
“I made a promise to the youth nad Yeon Hojeong. To apologize to the Beggars’ Union. He said if I died, he would apologize in my stead, but that won’t do.”
Baek Gungcheon closed his eyes.
“I received great grace from him. I didn’t repay a whit. Then I at least want to keep my promise.”
“Hh-hngh!”
Baek Gungcheon smiled. Eyes closed, he looked terribly serene.
“I ask it of you.”
After shedding tears for a long ti, Baek Hyang suddenly stepped back.
Szzzz.
On the bare bowstring, a formless arrow seed to bud.
Admiration slipped from Baek Gungcheon.
“Formless Bolt! As expected—magnificent.”
Baek Hyang bit her lip.
“...I’m sorry, brother.”
“Loose it.”
“......”
“Now!!”
Baek Hyang squeezed her eyes shut.
She released the string.
TIIIIIING! Thud!
****
“Hah... hah...”
A man was panting as he climbed a dark mountain path.
His hair was disheveled, his clothes torn here and there. He looked every inch a ragged beggar.
But his movent was terribly swift. Even with his breath that ragged, he climbed without pause like a tiger.
‘I’m almost there!’
Elation surged in the man’s eyes.
‘The hermitage! I’m saved at last!’
Just then—
“Ming Heorim.”
In an instant, the man felt gooseflesh crawl over his entire body.
He turned his head toward the right, where the voice had co from.
There stood a youth, hands clasped behind his back—and in one hand, an enormous axe.
“I’ve been waiting.”
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