The Ancestress's Regret (2)
I twisted my mind around a dozen possibilities.
Why was I even chasing Seo Hyul? Had I failed at honest self-assessment? Or did [she] track me automatically regardless of my excuses? Cutting off a leg? If [she] was on my trail, severing one limb would still leave me useless. Should I fight? How the hell had she followed me here…
My thoughts spun in chaotic loops.
Then suddenly we stood before the portal city of the Other Races, the place where Jeon Myeong-hoon had begun his return lightning tribulation.
“Huff… heh…”
Only then did I finally grasp [her] true nature.
‘Ah…’
[She] had not come for me at all.
Only her left arm.
The severed left arm had broken free and wrapped around my leg, dragging me along.
I let out a sigh of relief and seized the arm gripping my leg.
“What… what is that?”
“It’s… it’s [her] left arm?”
Jeon Myeong-hoon looked bewildered. Kim Yeon’s face drained of all color.
I wiped the cold sweat from my brow and shook my head.
“That’s the strongest puppet part owned by Goe-gun. There’s nothing to worry about. It isn’t for attacking, and honestly, not even for pursuit.”
Uuuuung!
I activated the Gimyoseongsimjeon and connected with [her] arm. Inside, Goe-gun’s will—now devoid of madness—resided.
‘So that’s it. A teaching relic for his disciples.’
Though he could no longer teach from afar, the mad Goe-gun still wanted to impart even a sliver of wisdom for his pupil.
In that short time, [her] left arm had absorbed every scrap of knowledge about the Wondrous Castle, the various applications of the Gimyoseongsimjeon, and the manipulation methods of all his puppets.
And finally, the trigger for the ultimate technique—Yeon-ui Yeon.
Tzutszutsut—
I read the consciousness within [her] left arm.
Gradually I became entranced, drinking in his words.
“Disciple.”
I suddenly saw an old man seated before me in a vision.
“You already know I will resent you. You will hate me to your very core. You may not even consider me your master. All I can offer is an apology. Yet… even so, I must entrust you with the task I was never able to complete.”
A wave of genuine remorse washed through Goe-gun’s voice.
“I will not ask you to forgive me—that would be too much. Instead… use me. Just as I used you, now use the knowledge I have given you to grow and strengthen as much as possible. From what I have observed of you, I know you also have something you desire and someone you love.”
He smiled at me with that sorry expression.
The intense Gimyoseongsimjeon in my mind somehow showed me a scene behind him.
It was a gnarled ancient tree.
No— a skeletal, leafless tree stripped bare by a brutal winter.
Countless pink ribbons hung from its branches.
‘Ah…’
What kind of sight was this?
I didn’t understand it fully.
But I could sense it was somehow tied to the next stage of the Gimyoseongsimjeon.
“In this wondrous and beautiful world, I hope you find what you seek…”
Zutszutszut…
I stared at the beautiful, eerie vision without blinking.
Then, at some point—
“Hah!”
I jolted and shuddered.
It was an eerie feeling.
This was the message Goe-gun had left behind in [her] left arm.
And as I looked at it, a lightning bolt of realization struck me.
Goe-gun’s awakened comprehension inside the arm had lit a fire in my own mind.
‘So… right now my consciousness is definitely unstable.’
Only then did I realize the worry I had felt from my clone, Seo Lip, was not an overreaction.
If not for Goe-gun’s awakening, I might have died and come back without noticing.
‘Thank you, Master Jo Yeon.’
I bowed mentally to Goe-gun, then looked at Kim Yeon.
“Yeon-ah. While operating the Gimyoseongsimjeon, grip this left arm.”
“Eh?”
She obeyed without hesitation.
Her own Gimyoseongsimjeon connected with [her] left arm, and she too received the message.
For a while she said nothing. Then she bit her lip.
Her emotions were complex.
Goe-gun had molded her almost like a torture tool and used her.
If I had arrived even a little later, her mind might have broken.
But the message left by “Goe-gun” was separate from “Jo Yeon.” The eerie comprehension contained within it was enough to shake any human heart.
Kim Yeon chewed her lip for a moment, then turned her face away.
“…So… are we staying here?”
“No. We’re taking the portal to the Human Alliance’s territory.”
“Then go there. I… just want to move.”
“Alright.”
Jeon Myeong-hoon and I left the spot and returned to the Human Alliance.
* * *
“Phew… thank goodness.”
I exhaled in relief and looked at the sweat on my palms.
When my main body had been captured, I had done nothing and simply observed from the side, so my hands were covered in sweat.
But fortunately I had escaped Goe-gun as well, and through the Gimyoseongsimjeon I had already detected the mental instability.
Yet for some reason an unease lingered in the corner of my mind.
‘Is it just mental instability?’
And the only thing my main body had done was “detect” the instability—it had not “treated” it.
I had to fix it somehow.
‘I’ll keep watching.’
I made the decision and headed for the Black Ghost Valley.
Since the main hall of the Black Ghost Valley lay inside the Seopmyeong Ship, I simply entered the ship and searched inside for the Ghost King’s office.
“Ratio. You haven’t forgotten my request?”
[Yes. I’ll ask a few things and leave immediately.]
With my current realm and position I could not possibly meet Gang Min-hee directly.
But the Ghost King Ratio, an elder of the Heavenly Person stage, would likely accept a meeting request right away.
Knock knock—
I knocked on the door of the Ghost King’s office.
After a while a black ghost poked its head out from the top of the door.
[What business do you have?!]
Ratio then stepped out from my body and spoke.
[I have come to meet the Ghost King of the Ghost Dao Holy Mother, Gang Min-hee. Open up.]
[Yes, my lord!]
The doorman ghost immediately dropped to its knees upon seeing the Ghost King and thrust its head inside the room.
Squeak—
I entered with suppressed tension.
Whoosh—
The Ghost King’s office was cold.
Not just the qi of the five elements, but a bone-deep chill born from death itself seeped into my soul.
Gang Min-hee’s office was quite dark, and green will-o’-the-wisps danced around.
In one corner she sat on the floor drawing a diagram with ink, completely ignoring my presence.
I looked at her and wondered if she truly hadn’t changed at all.
‘When there are two people working together, the work always comes first.’
Her face was hollow-eyed, like someone who had pulled all-nighters for days before arriving in Deungsunhyang. She looked tired.
I hesitated, then opened my mouth.
“Mr. Gang, my lord whom I serve requests a meeting with you.”
At those words Ratio jumped out of my body and coughed.
[Heh-heh. It is the first time I’ve met the Ghost King, Mr. Gang. I am Ratio, the Ghost King of the Ghost Dao Holy Mother.]
Only then did Gang Min-hee stop drawing and look this way.
Whoosh—
I felt the atmosphere inside the room grow even heavier.
“…What is your business, Senior Ghost King?”
Gang Min-hee’s voice was small and weak.
If an ordinary person heard it, they would think it belonged to someone timid.
But Ratio heard it and the ghost body he wore trembled violently as if it might collapse.
[Uh… heh… heh… It’s nothing special…]
‘What…’
I scanned my surroundings with Myeong-gak and shouted.
The moment she opened her mouth, the Myeong-gak itself shook, and cracks appeared in every corner of the Underworld boundary, swelling and shrinking like they were breathing.
I did not carry death in my own soul, but I could sense that in the art of commanding death she was overwhelmingly superior to me.
[This boy here, Seo Lip, is a newcomer to the Black Ghost Valley.]
“That’s only natural since the Ghost King has taken him in.”
[He’s still a disciple. Even the elders of the Nether Palace are keeping a close eye on him.]
“I see.”
[In that case… could you perhaps bring this boy into the Ghost King’s office?]
Gang Min-hee looked at me with an expressionless face and asked.
“How many public merits do you have?”
I answered awkwardly.
“I… don’t have any yet. There’s one mission I’m on, and once it’s completed I’ll receive four hundred points.”
“Is that so? Fill one thousand and come. Or reach the Heavenly Person stage and I’ll give you a directorship.”
At those words Ratio coughed again.
[Heh-heh… The public merits system is important, but look at this boy. He possesses monstrous talent in the Ghost Dao Holy Mother technique, and out of respect for my face…]
“Senior.”
Whoosh whoosh—
Gang Min-hee stared at Ratio with an expressionless face.
An eerie chill burned in her eyes.
“If you keep speaking like that, I will report it to the Ghost King’s office and handle it according to the sect rules. Please do not cause problems by violating the internal regulations of the sect.”
[Uh… uh… uh…]
Ratio trembled violently under Gang Min-hee’s gaze as if his soul were about to shatter.
I watched and smirked inwardly.
‘That personality… it’s still the same.’
Honestly, I was a little surprised.
One and a half years ago, after arriving in Deungsunhyang.
Because of the incident that had happened back then, she had begun to obsess over “rules.”
I suppose I should call it FM?
Originally I was the one who enforced rules more strictly, while she ignored them.
“If you have nothing more to say, please leave. You’re disturbing me.”
She gestured toward us.
Then a sinister ghost wind blew in and pushed us away.
But I stuffed Ratio into my body and stepped forward instead.
“Forgive my rudeness, Mr. Gang. I am Seo Lip, the ghost disciple recently arrived at the Black Ghost Valley.”
“Hm.”
She looked at me as if I were a bother.
“A person or a ghost? Hard to tell. You’re too dark; I can’t even see your real face. You do have great Ghost Dao talent, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give you special treatment. Get out.”
“Ah, my lord whom I serve hoped for that, but I came to ask Senior about something else.”
“…What?”
I recalled the events from one and a half years ago, before I fell into Deungsunhyang.
“Mr. Gang, are you responsible for communicating with the main body of the Underworld?”
“That’s correct.”
One and a half years ago.
She had made a massive blunder during a large-scale project and received an enormous scolding.
“There is one thing I’m curious about… is the person standing in front of me right now… the main body?”
“No. This is a clone. The main body is still in the ‘shortcut’ location, absorbing the qi flowing in from the Underworld and stabilizing his realm.”
“Stabilizing his realm?”
“The main body has reached the Four Pillars stage, after all. Ah…! Now that I think about it, that’s confidential….”
Gang Min-hee pressed her temples with her fingers as if her head ached.
“Well, once the shortcut realm is opened it will be known anyway, so it doesn’t matter… Still, just in case, don’t go telling people.”
“Yes.”
“…Strange. Where did we meet before?”
“I don’t think we have. Why do you ask?”
She stared at me for a moment, then stood up from near the diagram and collapsed onto the chair beside her.
“I wonder… it’s strange that I’m telling you this confidential information after only seeing you for the first time. Actually, even the shortcut is confidential, so we shouldn’t talk about it lightly… Well, fine. You’ve broken my concentration anyway… Since it’s come to this, I’ll rest for a bit.”
Snap!
The moment she snapped her fingers, the green will-o’-the-wisps brightened and lit up the entire room.
“If you have something to ask, ask away.”
I asked while looking at the unchanged Gang Min-hee.
“I would like to ask about the Underworld itself.”
“You’re interested in the main body?”
“Yes.”
One and a half years ago.
Because of the mistake she made, a disciplinary committee had been held. Fortunately she escaped major punishment, but the shock had been enormous.
And on the day of the next company outing after the committee.
We had dated early in our careers, broken up, and on that day we decided to get back together.