Instead of answering.
He kept walking.
Along the snow-covered road.
Alone.
The two of them watched Unhwi’s back.
Seol Yeonhwa quietly said,
“...I’m worried.”
“So am I.”
“He says he’ll go alone.”
“We cannot stop him. You and I both know that bastard’s personality.”
Seol Yeonhwa let out a sigh.
“Even so...”
“We have to trust him.”
“...Then why are you staying here?”
“There is something I must settle with my maternal grandfather.”
“Ah, the surrounding search?”
Seol Muryun nodded, then looked again in the direction Unhwi was walking.
Until Unhwi’s back grew small.
And until it vanished completely.
The two watched in silence.
***
When Unhwi returned to the lodging, he found Chief Seong waiting while stamping his feet.
A hollow laugh escaped him.
It seemed that excessive worrying of his could never be fixed.
“Ah! Young Master.”
“What is it?”
“This time, it truly is urgent.”
“Speak.”
“They say something strange is happening near the Chaotic Heaven Gate.”
“Something strange?”
“Yes. Chaotic Heaven Ones have appeared, but they are not attacking. They are simply standing there.”
Unhwi’s eyes narrowed.
“Simply standing there?”
“Yes. They say there are even Chaotic Heaven Kings among them.”
“...”
“They are currently in a standoff, but it is so bizarre that no one knows what to do. Commander Ma of Windwall is also there, and he says if they move, he will move immediately, so he is gathering every force in Windwall.”
This truly was urgent.
“Let us go.”
“Yes.”
Thus, the four set out.
Unhwi, Chief Seong, Ju Soa, and Namgung Wonyang.
The four of them raced toward the Chaotic Heaven Gate without even a carriage, using lightness arts.
Their speed was tremendous, and Namgung Wonyang, whose realm was the lowest, only stopped when he was nearly out of breath.
Near the Chaotic Heaven Gate.
They had arrived.
There, hundreds of martial artists stood tensely.
Bang Seokun and Ma Suhyeok hurried over with urgent expressions.
“Mysterious Snow Palace Lord! This place is dangerous!”
Unhwi shook his head.
Then, without a word, he looked to one side.
There stood dozens of Chaotic Heaven Ones.
Some held weapons, and some did not, but the most important thing was this.
There were no fewer than five figures who appeared to be Chaotic Heaven Kings.
But it was strange.
Just as Chief Seong had said, they did not move.
They simply stood there.
As though waiting for something.
“How long have they been like that?”
“Since five double-hours ago.”
“They have not attacked?”
“No. Not at all. They are only standing there.”
Unhwi walked toward the clearing.
“Young Master!”
Chief Seong hurried after him.
“It is dangerous!”
“I know.”
Unhwi did not stop walking.
He entered the clearing.
He walked toward the Chaotic Heaven Kings.
He drew closer.
Ten rods.
Five rods.
Three rods.
He stopped.
He looked at the Chaotic Heaven Kings.
They were looking at Unhwi as well.
Empty eyes.
However.
Something was different.
Unhwi sensed it instinctively. Someone behind them had created this situation.
“Is there still more you wish to learn?”
“Grrr...”
“Judging by the look of it, you seem to have been waiting for me. Let us get to the point.”
At Unhwi’s words, one Chaotic Heaven King began to move.
Step by step, with slow strides.
Toward Unhwi.
Behind him, Chief Seong drew two daggers and shouted,
“Young Master! Step back!”
But Unhwi raised a hand and stopped him.
“It is fine.”
“But...!”
“I said it is fine.”
The Chaotic Heaven King approached.
One step.
Two steps.
Then it stopped at a distance of one rod.
It looked at Unhwi.
And slowly opened its mouth.
“...Co... me...”
A voice.
A Chaotic Heaven One had spoken.
Everyone’s eyes widened at this extraordinary situation.
It was something absent even from the records.
It made no sense.
“...Fol... low... me...”
A rough voice.
A broken voice.
But clear words.
“Where?”
When Unhwi asked, the Chaotic Heaven King raised its hand and pointed to the center of the clearing.
The place where the Chaotic Heaven Gate opened.
“...To... that... place...”
“...”
“...He... waits...”
“Who is waiting?”
“...Our... mas... ter...”
“Master?”
“...Our... mas... ter...”
The Chaotic Heaven King’s voice cut off.
Its head dropped.
It no longer moved.
But it did not collapse.
It simply stood there.
Unhwi understood.
They were messengers.
They had been summoned to call him.
Unhwi’s eyes narrowed.
It could certainly be a trap.
If he entered, he might die.
But this was also an opportunity.
An opportunity to learn the truth.
It seemed the time to carry out the decision he had made before had come sooner than expected.
Unhwi drew the Trueflame Heavenly-Spirit Sword and walked toward the clearing. The Chaotic Heaven Ones moved aside, and he naturally reached the center of the clearing.
There, the surrounding energy suddenly began to ripple, forming a small gate.
A gate just large enough for one person to pass through.
Compared to the Chaotic Heaven Gate in the records, it was barely anything at all.
Unhwi walked toward it.
One step.
Two steps.
“Young Master!”
Chief Seong shouted.
But Unhwi did not stop.
He kept walking.
Into the hole.
One step.
Two steps.
And so he entered the darkness.
His vision vanished.
Sound vanished as well.
Everything vanished.
Only darkness remained.
But Unhwi continued walking forward.
How long had he walked like that?
He saw light ahead.
A faint light.
He drew closer.
The light grew larger.
And so Unhwi arrived.
In a certain space.
It was extremely wide, and also enormous.
The sky could not be seen, nor could the walls.
An endless space.
And at its center, there was something.
A massive form.
Unhwi approached it.
As the distance narrowed, the form became clear.
A person.
No, something that had once been a person.
He was seated on an ancient, worn-out chair.
That existence was undoubtedly a Chaotic Heaven One.
A massive body.
But intelligent eyes.
—...At last... you have come...
A voice.
Slowly.
Lowly.
It echoed.
—...I have waited...
***
Whether one examined the records.
Or gathered information on the way here.
There had never been a single case like this among any of them.
The Chaotic Heaven Kings guiding the way earlier had been the first such event in history, something no one had ever imagined.
And yet now, a Chaotic Heaven One was speaking, there was someone controlling them, and he was even showing clear emotion.
Whether in his previous life or this life, Unhwi, who had lived a certain number of years and reached a high realm, was rarely surprised by ordinary matters. But this time was an exception.
Without the slightest exaggeration, he was greatly shocked right now.
What in the world?
“Who are you?”
At Unhwi’s question, the Chaotic Heaven One raised his hand.
White frost flowed from his mouth.
—Stop... There is no need to pretend you do not know...
Unhwi closed his mouth as he was.
From experience, in cases like this, the other party often offered information one way or another.
He had thought it right to simply match the rhythm, and sure enough, he was correct.
—How is “his” plan progressing? Is it nearing completion?
“...”
—...No answer. Surely it must be going well. If it is that man, and not someone else... he is not one to waste time on meaningless things. However.
The Chaotic Heaven One raised one index finger.
It was a gesture stopping Unhwi, who had been about to open his mouth, and Unhwi accordingly closed his mouth as he was. The Chaotic Heaven One continued.
—We do not wish to wait any longer.
“What do you mean, you do not wish to wait?”
—Exactly as I said... I wished to see the great undertaking begin, and I wished to see it end as well. Greed, perhaps. But my desire to witness the result of that greed with my own eyes was great. That man’s promise... was the conviction and the result that would carry through my will, and the will of us “Murim people.” But now...
“Are you weary?”
—...I am weary. The controlled Murim people, the uncontrolled Murim people, the one who had to control them for five hundred years was me alone. I tried to see whether there was anyone else who could possess reason, but there was none. In the end, it must be the result of the Murim War... no, of the Thousand-Year Chaos.
The Thousand-Year Chaos was a name that came about because a thousand years of history had vanished due to the war that occurred seven hundred years ago.
That existing war was called by many names.
The Murim War, the Righteous-Demonic War, the Righteous-Evil War.
It was a fight to which none of those names felt out of place, and at that moment, Unhwi sensed it.
The conversations that would follow from now on would be stories completely unknown to Murim.
That was correct.
—Five hundred years ago, he opened space and said to me that he would wash away his mistake.
“...”
—I did not think it would take this much time, but that too must have been because of his conviction. I understand it all. With my heart, with my head, with my flesh, and even with my mind, I understand everything... but now, I too am weary.
After thinking for a moment, Unhwi asked in a quiet voice,
“Precisely what are you saying you are weary of?”
—The waiting of five hundred years was something I endured because I knew him, but that waiting has grown far too long, and further still, it has begun changing into a wait without promise. Then is it not right that I change as well?
Looking at Unhwi, who had fallen into thought again, the Chaotic Heaven One said,
—Do you know who I am?
Unhwi raised his head.
The expression of the massive Chaotic Heaven One seated in the chair had remained expressionless from beginning to end, but there was no way Unhwi could fail to notice that his tone and atmosphere had changed.
For that reason, Unhwi was not flustered by his next words.
—You are not someone sent by Baek Docheon.
Unhwi smiled faintly.
“Did you not already know?”
—...
“You must have been suspicious from the very beginning, and that is why you sent a Chaotic Heaven King to me.”
—Hah...
“Not once, but twice, perhaps even three times or more. You must have changed your mind midway and sent them back... so for now, let us say twice.”
—...
“Yes. I will speak honestly. I do not know what this situation means at all. I thought I knew a certain amount about the man named Baek Docheon, but after having this conversation, that thought is breaking apart. Just who is Baek Docheon?”
—...
Unhwi noticed that the Chaotic Heaven One’s attitude had changed subtly.
Unhwi immediately continued speaking.
“You must wish to kill me. But if you do, many things will become tangled.”
The Chaotic Heaven One’s eyes began to waver.
—What do you mean, tangled?
“Everything you are thinking of.”
—...So you are not someone who knows nothing at all.
“If I knew nothing, I would not have accepted the invitation, nor would there be any reason to continue this conversation.”
—...Who are you?
“I am a Polar Heir of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace, my name written with the characters for Un and Hwi.”
—Are you the next Palace Lord?
“No. I am the youngest, and the next Palace Lord is someone else.”
—...A person of your caliber, and one who reconstructed the world with the Heavenly Earth Origin Spirit, could not possibly have been pushed aside by anyone. In the end, it must mean you have no intention of sitting in the Palace Lord’s seat.
