“You’re playing word games? If you don’t have an appointment with him, then how—”
“He likely already knows I came here.”
“......I never sent any letter.”
Unhwi smirked.
“You served him for all those years, yet you know him less than I do.”
“......”
“His eyes reach the entire martial world.”
“......Hah......”
“If I came here, he will come here as well.”
“......Tch. Fine. There are rooms upstairs, so take any room and sleep if you get tired.”
“Understood.”
Cheolhyeon went back downstairs.
Unhwi waited again.
Silently, he lifted his cup and took a sip.
It was bitter, but it went down his throat.
Warm.
Time passed.
How much time had passed?
Footsteps sounded.
Slow steps coming up the stairs.
Unhwi set down his cup.
The door opened.
A man entered.
Mid-sixties.
White-haired.
But his eyes were deep.
Indescribably so.
The Heavenly Wayfarer.
Baek Docheon.
He looked at Unhwi.
As if he had expected him to come, he gave a strange smile.
Unhwi smiled as well.
The Heavenly Wayfarer sat across from him.
“Did you wait?”
“Yes.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer picked up the liquor and poured himself a cup.
Then he took a sip.
Set it down.
Silence settled.
A very long silence.
The wind blew, and the window shook.
The Heavenly Wayfarer spoke first.
“You are truly an extraordinary man.”
“I doubt that.”
“Mm?”
“Is there not someone even more extraordinary than I am?”
Unhwi’s gaze was fixed on the Heavenly Wayfarer. The Heavenly Wayfarer let out a small laugh.
“Excessive praise.”
“You should know better than anyone that it is not.”
“Hmm...... Is that so? I am not sure.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer drank and continued briefly.
“I am only doing what must be done.”
“Is that something that must be done even while hiding your real name?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer shook his head.
“Regrettably, I did not hide my real name. I merely abandoned it.”
“Abandoned it...... You know better than anyone in this world that abandoning a name is no easy thing.”
“Of course I know.”
“What are you aiming for?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer did not answer.
It was not simply that he did not want to.
It was because he judged that Unhwi did not have the “qualification.”
Unhwi read that.
“I will change the question. Are you Baek Docheon?”
“I think you will have to change it again.”
“Is there a reason?”
“Because I will not answer. Heh heh heh.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer truly seemed to be enjoying this situation.
Unhwi knew it too. Once the Heavenly Wayfarer made up his mind, he would never change it, no matter what.
At this rate, he would never answer the question Unhwi wanted.
Even so, he had indirectly revealed several things, so Unhwi intended to be satisfied with that for now.
“What did you learn?”
At the Heavenly Wayfarer’s sudden question, Unhwi answered.
“I met Zhuge Xian.”
“......I see.”
“Beyond the Chaotic Heaven Gate.”
“......”
“He said to hear it from you directly.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer closed his eyes and sighed.
“That friend...... has suffered greatly.”
Then he looked at Unhwi and asked,
“You must have more to ask.”
“I do.”
“Then ask.”
“Who are you?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer smirked.
“Did I not say I would not answer?”
“But you are answering indirectly.”
“That is true.”
“Then answer directly as well.”
“For some reason, I dislike that.”
“Is there a reason?”
“A reason...... Mm. Would it sound strange if I said I do not yet want to give up the pleasure of this subtle conversation with you?”
Unhwi shook his head.
“It does not sound strange.”
“Then that is enough.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer lifted his cup.
Unhwi lifted his as well.
The two naturally drained their cups.
“Zhuge Xian must have had a message for me. Will you tell me?”
“He asked me to tell you that he is tired of waiting without promise.”
“Without promise...... That friend, honestly...... The preparations are still in full swing...... I already felt sorry, and now I feel even sorrier.”
“What answer should I deliver?”
After thinking briefly, the Heavenly Wayfarer picked up the liquor and poured it into Unhwi’s cup.
“Every person carries something. A great cause, atonement, a promise.”
At the Heavenly Wayfarer’s sudden, meaningful words, Unhwi listened solemnly.
He continued.
“If one abandons that, one is not human. One is a beast.”
“I agree.”
“The promise with him will gain meaning through the result created after a long time, but it seems that friend has already grown exhausted.”
“Is it impossible to understand?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer shook his head.
“I am the sinner. How could he be?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer tapped the cup and continued in a quiet voice.
“Will you tell Zhuge Xian this?”
“I will listen.”
“All waiting eventually comes to an end.”
And then.
“You chose for yourself in order to preserve your own worth.”
Tap, tap.
“So face the result of that choice.”
When he finished speaking, silence flowed.
A heavy silence.
Unhwi felt the weight of those words.
Telling a man who had been imprisoned for hundreds of years to face the end.
That meant accepting death.
But at the same time—
it was liberation.
Unhwi slowly nodded.
“You are telling me to become the blade.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer’s eyes curved.
He seemed truly delighted in that moment.
“Understood. I will tell Zhuge Xian that.”
That was the end.
When Unhwi rose from his seat, the Heavenly Wayfarer looked briefly flustered.
A truly rare sight.
“You intend to leave like this?”
“Yes.”
“Mm. Then before you go, will you hear my proposal?”
“A proposal?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer smiled gently.
“There is a place for you in the Blood Heaven Sect.”
“......”
“Will you transfer your allegiance?”
Ordinarily, he would have refused.
He still had things to do in the Snow Palace.
But this time was a little different.
“I have conditions.”
“......Mm? Conditions?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“I will ask exactly two questions.”
“Questions......?”
“You must answer those questions with the truth and nothing else.”
“......”
“I want clear and direct answers, not indirect answers like now. Otherwise, I will not transfer my allegiance.”
The corners of the Heavenly Wayfarer’s mouth curled upward.
He was a white-haired old man, but he was never someone to be underestimated.
This man was the Martial Supreme.
No one could approach him.
After the Thousand-Year Chaos ended, among all martial artists in this world, the word “Supreme” had always belonged to this man.
Even supreme masters who had reached the pinnacle were called “martial artists close to the Supreme,” or “martial artists aiming for the Supreme’s seat.”
A being who turned geniuses into mere ordinary men.
A man who could easily face five masters of the pinnacle and still smile.
Unhwi knew him.
And the Heavenly Wayfarer also knew Unhwi to a certain degree.
“I have felt this before, but your thoughts are both ingenious and extremely direct.”
“Do you dislike it?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer shook his head.
“It is not that I dislike it. Rather, you are different from everyone I have seen, so I find you deeply interesting.”
“That is praise.”
“It is praise.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer relaxed his legs and rested his chin on his hand.
“Listen.”
“Yes.”
“Even if you hear the truth from my own mouth, will your path change?”
“It will not.”
“Why?”
“Because that is not something I need in order to exist as myself.”
For a moment, the Heavenly Wayfarer was at a loss for words.
That was not wrong either.
Whether it was the value Zhuge Xian sought to fulfill, or the value the Heavenly Wayfarer sought to fulfill—
from Unhwi’s perspective, it was ultimately someone else’s matter.
“How cold.”
“It is not cold. It is realistic.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer burst into laughter.
“Do you not know yourself?”
Unhwi’s expression did not change.
“You have already saved countless people. I thought that might become the cornerstone of what you intend to do, but even that seems difficult. The land under your administration in Yangryeong is considerable. It belongs to a large city on the level of a Blood Heaven Sect branch. Noh Cheonmyeong, a master of Unity of Heaven and Man, is a martial artist soon to approach Manifestation of the Boundless, and his relationship with you seems strong. But the rest are not.”
“What made you think that?”
“Is that the second question?”
Unhwi shook his head.
“It is not, so do not try to dodge for no reason.”
“Heh heh...... Fine. I will play along. But......”
This time, the Heavenly Wayfarer’s mouth drew an arc.
“Do you trust me?”
Unhwi silently stared at him.
“Even you likely do not know the proper answer. I am truly curious about the basis for thinking I will tell the truth.”
After briefly stopping, the Heavenly Wayfarer looked into Unhwi’s unwavering eyes and continued.
“Will you answer?”
“Yes. It is simple. Because I know what gives Elder Cheon pleasure.”
“Pleasure.”
“Yes. You know everything that happens in the martial world, but not once have you interfered.”
“That is true.”
“You enjoy watching. And you are also curious about what result it will create.”
“Hmm......”
“You keep faith and value promises. A man’s word weighs a thousand pieces of gold, and I always keep the words I speak.”
“That sounds like you are asking whether I will not keep mine.”
“It is both an answer and a question.”
“Heh heh......”
This much was enough.
“But this exchange is truly difficult.”
Unhwi shook his head.
“It is not difficult. This is the first question.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer pushed his cup aside, crossed his legs, and looked at Unhwi.
“Ask.”
“Who am I?”
Truly—
the Heavenly Wayfarer had not expected that question.
And he immediately understood the intent behind it.
He thought for a moment.
The Heavenly Wayfarer certainly pursued pleasure.
But a man like Unhwi tempted him. He wanted to keep him close.
Then there was no helping it.
In a serious voice, the Heavenly Wayfarer slowly opened his mouth.
“The one who reconstructed the world through the Primordial Spirit of Heaven and Earth.”
“You knew.”
“How could I not?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer smiled softly.
“Now then, will you ask the second question?”
Unhwi answered.
“I will not ask the second question now.”
“......Mm?”
Unhwi moved, then stopped before the railing.
“I will ask it later. The second question.”
“......Then transferring your allegiance to the Blood Heaven Sect?”
“That too will happen when I ask the second question.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer blinked.
“I will take my leave.”
Unhwi removed his hand from the railing and slowly descended to the lower floor.
Left alone—
the Heavenly Wayfarer stared at the empty Go board and let out a hollow laugh.
“I was had.”
