When I said “childhood,” I tended to divide it by whether I had remembered my past life yet or not.
My meeting with Mo Yong Yeongsun was no different.
She was someone I met after I had remembered my past life.
Although our first meeting had led to the concept of a broken engagement and could easily have become an ill-fated relationship—
unexpectedly, it had not.
Can you see me?
The first ghost I ever saw after coming to this world.
That ghost just happened to be the woman standing behind Mo Yong Yeongsun.
Please, help me just once.......
She was the reason I stuck my nose into something I had sworn I would never do again in this life, even if I [N O V E L I G H T] died.
And she was also the reason I truly made up my mind never to do it again.
It was something I normally would never have done.
I had sworn that no matter what happened, I would not get involved.
Please save my daughter.......
But at that single, desperate, despairing scream, I ended up moving.
Should I not have done it? Did I regret it?
If asked that, the answer was no.
Yes. I did not regret it.
Was it something I should have done? Probably not.
But looking at the result, I still did not regret it.
I saved Mo Yong Yeongsun.
And as I let her mother pass on peacefully, I made a promise.
I want my child to be happy.
So please—
At the words that followed, I nodded.
I promised that I would.
Because I understood her heart, I, too, would do that.
I had promised as much.
But—
It seems.
I was slowly reaching my limit.
*****
I returned to the family estate at night.
It took some time for my reddened ears and my mood to settle back down.
Forcing myself to ignore that, I said to the others,
“......We will return to Henan. I have already mentioned it, but we will leave tomorrow morning at once. If not then, the day after.”
“That is rather vague.”
Silver Moon Sword asked. He meant that if it was morning, then it was morning, and if not, then the day after was an unclear way to put it. I knew that. Even to me, it sounded vague.
“There is something I need to confirm.”
There was something I needed to check, and I would know by dawn. Since I could not be certain right now, I had to delay the schedule a little.
“Then should we just prepare?”
“Yes. I will pass the word along...... but there is not much to prepare in the first place.”
“That is true.”
We needed something to prepare before we could prepare it. It had been the same coming here, and there was not really anything to take with us when we left either. What would there be to pack from this ruined household?
That is done, then.
The report was over.
I had asked my companions to prepare, and the Head Steward would take care of things on his own.
I had handled what needed handling at the Academy as well. Since we would receive help from the Mo Yong Family, there should be no problem.
As for the Hao Clan side.......
There was something that bothered me, but there should not be a major problem. I had dealt with it that way.
The other matters were more or less handled too.
All that remained was to leave.
And in that gap—
One last matter.
Something I had to do here.
To be exact, it was not something I absolutely had to do here, but it would be convenient to handle it before leaving.
*****
Night fell. I left the family estate and headed for the back mountain. The place I went was the altar I had made.
I entered the cave and checked the situation. Nothing in particular had changed.
I went inside and stood before the altar. Then I took out the item I had prepared inside my clothes.
A single yellow talisman.
I took it out and flicked it a few times with my hand. The blood I had drawn on it smeared slightly.
I had written it just moments ago, so it had not even dried properly.
My fingertip stung.
The owner of this blood was me.
I was not especially fond of using blood.
If I used an animal’s blood, the scale of the karma was reduced and the backlash that came to me was lower, so whenever possible, I used chicken or pig’s blood even if the efficiency was poor.
But this time, I could not do that.
Now—
It would only be effective if I used my own blood. Whether karma piled up on my soul or not, I had put in everything I could.
Shall we see?
I approached the altar and placed my hand on it.
After that—
JINGLE! JINGLE!
The sound of bells, which should not have been anywhere nearby, rang faintly.
This was a sound only I could hear. The soul-bell I had hung around the cat’s neck was letting me hear it.
I closed my eyes.
I had to concentrate. This was not something I could afford to miss.
......The bell is attached properly.
The cat whose arm had been cut off.
The bell hanging around Primal Origin Blade’s neck kept making noise for me. This was—
west.
It is west.
The direction of the bell’s sound was west. I could not grasp the distance. He was still moving quickly.
Tap, tap, tap. I touched the altar with my fingertips.
Then the force of the soul inside my heart grew a little stronger.
This was it.
This.
This will show me the path.
The Sky-Crushing Palace Lord.
It would show me where that bastard was.
The exact location. The distance.
I did not need to know that much. This damn land was too vast to understand in detail anyway.
It does not matter.
I could find out somehow.
It would be possible if Primal Origin Blade headed for that bastard’s destination like this. However—
If that bastard is someone I know.
There was a chance something unusual would occur.
I had done this knowing that. There was one reason.
Because then I can at least learn one thing.
I would gain one of the two, at minimum.
That was my goal.
*****
RUMBLE!
A man moved, tearing through the forest. It was Primal Origin Blade, one of Sky-Crushing Palace’s Four Kings, and now a man who had lost one arm.
He clenched his teeth and continued moving. His inner qi had begun to decrease more and more, but he did not care.
All he thought about was reaching his destination somehow.
That bastard—
He had to report that bastard. No matter what, he had to inform the Palace Lord.
Fortunately, there was no pursuit, and he was heading smoothly toward his destination.
Though the distance was still far, he would reach it in the end.
I must see the Palace Lord. After that—
He would report this truth and wipe that damned thing—
Moon Hero......!
He had to erase Moon Hero’s very existence. That bastard would surely become poison to the Palace Lord.
In Primal Origin Blade’s mind, Moon Hero—the man called Bang Seongyeon, inheritor of the Sword Saint—came vividly to mind, along with the sword path he had shown.
He could never forget it.
That sword.
That sword path.
What kind of bastard is he?
It was something he should not have been able to reach at that age. One might see it, perhaps, but one could not feel it.
It would have cut anything.
Body-and-sword unity?
It was not something that ended with that.
That was—
Simply the heavens.
Something for which discussing realms was pointless.
A being standing near the very edge of what a martial artist could reach.
Even if two people were both called absolute masters, there was a gap within that category.
It meant martial artists of the same realm were not all the same.
Primal Origin Blade knew that better than anyone.
And yet—
That bastard is strange—
Could someone who was not even in the same realm give off that feeling? Primal Origin Blade could not believe it.
That was a monster.
It meant he was something alien whose true nature could not be understood.
I must report it.
He could not be left alone. He was already hostile to Sky-Crushing Palace by virtue of being the Sword Saint’s inheritor.
He had to give the information and have him dealt with while they still could.
With that thought, Primal Origin Blade was about to increase his speed.
[Primal Origin Blade.]
“......!”
At the voice that came from somewhere, Primal Origin Blade’s steps stopped.
[You seem busy.]
The air changed. At the voice he heard, Primal Origin Blade’s breathing faltered.
He immediately dropped to one knee.
BOOM!
A rough sound rang out as if his knee had been driven into the ground.
Primal Origin Blade lay flat and offered respect.
“......I greet...... the Palace Lord.”
Palace Lord.
At those words, wind surged.
SWOOOOOSH—!!!
It was a violent pressure of wind that shook the trees. Goosebumps rose all over Primal Origin Blade’s body under the raging gust.
He did not dare even raise his head. After he had been prostrating like that for quite some time—
[Raise your head.]
Permission was granted, and Primal Origin Blade raised his stiffened head and looked up.
“......Ahh.......”
Something made of a black shape was standing there.
It looked as if energy had gathered together and forcibly taken human form.
[Primal Origin Blade.]
“......Yes, Palace Lord.”
The Palace Lord of Sky-Crushing Palace.
Its heaven and its god.
Primal Origin Blade beheld the god he served.
[What happened to the task?]
At the question, Primal Origin Blade swallowed a groan and spoke.
“I apologize. A problem occurred, and I failed to properly accomplish the task.”
[The task......?]
“......The Sword Saint’s inheritor. Moon Hero interfered again.”
[.......]
At the words Moon Hero, the energy rippled.
[Moon Hero, is it—]
“Yes...... He killed my subordinates, and the matter with the Green Forest bandits fell apart. Fortunately, I recovered what the Palace Lord gave me, but...... I failed to complete the great undertaking. Please punish me.”
BOOM!
Primal Origin Blade slammed his head hard into the ground. Even as he repeatedly struck his head against the earth, his mouth did not stop.
“Moon Hero. That bastard is dangerous. He will surely become a threat to you, Palace Lord, so by whatever means, he must be dealt with—”
[Primal Origin Blade. Stop.]
He froze. At the Palace Lord’s command, Primal Origin Blade stopped speaking and moving.
[......You recovered what I entrusted to you.......]
The Palace Lord said that and approached Primal Origin Blade. As it drew closer, Primal Origin Blade trembled.
[......Hmm.......]
As if the black energy sensed something, it rippled more violently than before.
[I see.]
Laughter settled into the voice that followed. That voice sent chills through Primal Origin Blade.
The Palace Lord had laughed.
That fact struck him as a shock.
[So that was it?]
“......Palace Lord......?”
[You brought something interesting with you. I did not think I would exchange letters with you in this way—]
“......What do you mean......?”
[You have given me something precious, Primal Origin Blade. I will not punish you.]
“......Pardon?”
What was that supposed to mean?
He had given something precious?
He had failed the mission and even returned with his arm cut off, yet he would not be punished. If anything, that was strange.
Moreover, even while Primal Origin Blade warned that Moon Hero was dangerous, the Palace Lord did not seem even slightly concerned.
[Yes. As expected, it is you.]
Heh, heh, heh.
The Palace Lord laughed, and at that moment—
WHOOOSH!
“Gah!?”
The Palace Lord’s energy burrowed into Primal Origin Blade’s body. The energy that seeped through his entire body penetrated all the way to his heart.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH!
“Gggghhh!?”
Along with the feeling of something breaking, something inside his heart was pulled out.
It was tremendous pain.
“Cough...... Hah.”
In the end, Primal Origin Blade staggered and spat. There was nothing wrong with his body.
[Primal Origin Blade.]
“Hah...... Hah...... Yes...... P-Palace Lord......”
[I entrust you with a task.]
The Sky-Crushing Palace Lord did not order Primal Origin Blade to return.
[Go to Sichuan. Head there.]
There—
[Bring me the fragment of the Sword Saint.]
It commanded him to bring back the final thing it needed.
*****
“.......”
At dawn, I quietly opened my eyes.
I raised myself up and swept a hand through my hair.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue shortly. The sound of bells that had been ringing in my ear had stopped.
Hummm.
I realized the soul energy I had bound inside me had returned.
Even an unpleasant, ticklish sensation had seeped into it.
That meant only one thing.
“I was right.”
I had failed to find the location of Sky-Crushing Palace’s main stronghold.
But—
“As expected, it was that bastard.”
Now I was certain.
The Sky-Crushing Palace Lord.
That bastard’s identity was the one I had smashed to pieces in my past life.
The Heretic Cult Leader.
Comments