With the Wind (5)
She glanced at me for a moment, then spoke.
“…I understand. If Your Highness wishes for information, I will provide it.”
Together with her, we walked the palace corridors.
After some time, we reached the archive along with the queen and Yuk Yo.
The moment we arrived, the first thing she did was to dismiss all the ministers and guards, then lead us into a corner of the archive.
“Your Majesty, here…?”
“By now you must know what this place is. The many secrets of the Bongrae Kingdom…”
As the queen placed her palm against the wall in the corner,
FLASH!
The wall seemed to glow, becoming a pure white door that swung open.
Screeech—
The queen stepped through the doorway first, and we followed her inside.
“…!”
I could not help but gasp in shock at the scene that lay beyond the door.
ABYSS!
The entire heavens and earth were enveloped in pitch-black darkness!
Yet strangely, I could still discern what lay ahead of me within that darkness.
I had not activated any consciousness technique nor opened any special senses.
But the darkness itself was strangely navigable, as though I could see clearly.
This was a space that defied explanation.
And I had once entered such a space before.
‘This is the same space I experienced when I faced [that being]!’
It matched the sensation I had felt upon meeting the being estimated as a True Immortal at the very bottom of Bongmyeong-ju.
Thud, thud…
I followed the queen’s path, while Yuk Yo navigated the darkness with careful steps despite her confusion.
How far into the darkness had we gone?
Sparkle!
“…!”
Unlike our previous encounter with [that being], I saw a pure white light shimmering ahead.
Seeing the light, Yuk Yo quickened her pace toward it, while I deliberately slowed down, recalling the many warnings I had heard about approaching lights.
“Come here. What are you doing?”
“…Understood.”
When I hesitated, the queen looked at me with mild surprise and spoke.
We reached the area where the light was shining, and I finally understood what was producing that light.
“…Salt?”
It was, surprisingly, salt.
A small cauldron sat atop it, filled with salt, from which a pure white and gentle light emanated, bathing the surroundings in illumination.
Around us was the archive itself.
An archive surrounded by darkness.
The queen extracted three chairs from a side of the archive, handed them to Yuk Yo and me, then seated herself with the last one.
“Please sit. This conversation could grow tedious. I will have to ask for your understanding if I cannot offer you tea.”
“…It is quite all right.”
“Still, are you not uncomfortable?”
“It is very pleasant when one sets aside the darkness… and the light.”
I gazed at the white light seeping from the salt and raised my guard.
“Shouldn’t important matters be discussed in the darkness rather than under the light?”
My words drew a meaningful smile from the queen of Bongrae.
“Are you afraid of the light?”
“It is not fear of light, but rather a cautionary reminder.”
“I see you know whom to fear. The God of Light?”
“…!”
I was startled and rose from my seat, clutching my head while glancing between Yuk Yo and the queen.
Yet neither the queen nor even Yuk Yo reacted; they simply blinked.
Even…
‘Am I really fine?’
No matter how much immunity I had recently gained against high beings, it felt odd that simply mentioning them caused no reaction.
It was then that I felt my heart stir.
“The neck snaps when one stares too long at the peak of a great mountain. But if the mountain is partially veiled by clouds, the eyes can never reach beyond the clouds, and the neck never snaps.”
Her words told me this space was safe.
“Is it all right to mention it?”
“At the very least, me and my daughter. As for you two, I cannot say. If you are worried, do not mention it lightly.”
“…I understand for now. Then this light…”
I asked while looking at the white light seeping from the salt.
The queen smiled faintly and replied.
“The One-Axial Emperor… no, those who call him the Dreamer, were they not called the Lord of the Salt Mountain?”
“…!”
I was startled, but soon calmed.
After all, it made perfect sense.
Bongrae Island was clearly the domain of the Salt Mountain Lord, so calling him a god or the Liberator of the kingdom was only natural.
‘Wait, then what is the Wheel-Emperor?’
As I wondered, he clapped my shoulder to stop me.
It was better not to speak that name in the darkness.
“Ah, yes. I understand.”
I fell silent, having already experienced the consequences of carelessly mentioning such names through Jeong-ryeo.
The queen pointed at the glowing salt.
“According to the legends passed down, the Wheel-Emperor brought back a light from the realm of light. When he created this world, he illuminated it with the light he had brought, and they say he bestowed the remainder upon us.”
“…Then is all the light of this Bongrae Kingdom safe?”
Why had we come all this way into the darkness?
A sudden question rose in me.
But she shook her head.
“Light can go anywhere. Do you know how much external light flows in every time the Bongrae Kingdom connects to the outer world? The outer light has already mixed to a certain degree. The pure light of the Wheel-Emperor remains only here.”
I had heard that the day Bongrae opened, Haerin banned the light of the Goryeok Realm itself, but even that might not have been enough.
“Well… I understand. Then may I ask what I wish to know?”
“Go ahead. Answer as best you can, or I will recommend a book from the archive.”
She gestured toward the dark archive around us with a gentle voice.
I debated what to ask, then turned to her.
“Did Yuk Rin ever enter this archive?”
But her answer was a shake of the head.
“This archive only allows those who know the Wheel-Emperor to enter. The door at the entrance itself cannot even be perceived. The Emperor set it up that way. There are a few additional restrictions, but they are minor… and he himself never set foot here because he did not know the Wheel-Emperor.”
“…I see.”
It was an entrance condition far more formidable than expected.
‘To enter, one must know the Imperial Immortal.’
Among the mortals, only Seo Hyoel and I would stand a chance.
I shook my head and continued with the next question.
It was a seemingly minor but crucial question.
“…Why are the people of this kingdom human?”
The queen of Bongrae looked as though I had bitten into a raw onion.
“Ah… I see you do not fully understand. Where should I begin explaining…”
If I asked someone from Earth the same question—“Why is the dominant race of Earth human?”—they would give me the exact same stare.
But I, who had lived for thousands of years in this world, knew the truth.
In this world, the human race was far from a noble existence.
It was simply one among countless intelligent species, and because of their cruel nature, they had claimed one of the six pillars of the Heavenly Tribe without the backing of any sage in the Gwanghan Realm.
It was remarkable, yes, but it was not a special race.
A perfectly positioned, perfectly dominant species.
That was the human race.
Yet the Bongrae Kingdom was different.
How did countless species enter Bongrae-do and fulfill their roles in the world, yet all walk the kingdom in human form?
‘Yuk Yo is a half-human, half-sea-dragon dragon race here, and Jin Ma-yeol is a Tuma clan member yet perfectly human.’
Of course, various demons filled the world, but having the ruler be “human” felt slightly unnatural.
Upon hearing my explanation, the queen appeared thoughtful for a moment, then spoke.
“I do not know much about that. To us, this is simply the natural order of the world… but I do know where some information on the reason the ruler is ‘human’ is found.”
She pointed toward one of the archives.
It was filled with bamboo slips.
“Read those pieces of information. There should be something you desire there. Perhaps.”
I rose and took out the bamboo slips.
‘What is this…?’
It was a kind of myth document.
Among them, the book Bongrae Giseol Dam recorded the origin of the Bongrae Kingdom’s world in a few lines.
—In the primordial era, a world filled only with dreams existed.
—The Wheel-Emperor, feeling pity for it, with the help of the Wheel-Emperor, Xuan-gu, and the Heavenly King, created a brand-new sky.
—The Wheel-Emperor rolled his wheel and led the good souls beneath the new sky, while the three Heavenly Kings performed countless miracles to create a land where we could live.
—The primordial giant Xuan-gu received a request from the Wheel-Emperor and secured a promise that snakes would never enter this land.
‘Xuan-gu?’
I looked at the familiar name and examined the description of the being.
—When Xuan-gu made his promise, his shadow became the flesh of the souls and gave birth to us. We have two eyes and two ears…
It was a description of humanity.
Though the size of the Xuan-gu mentioned was quite large.
The first giant to cover the entire sky with one hand.
That was Xuan-gu.
The content of the bamboo slips ended there.
I noticed a bamboo slip explaining Xuan-gu.
—He is the most sacred of beasts.
—He is called the god who presides over all contracts and vows.
—It is said he reigns over all naming as the Master of Names.
‘Xuan-gu Paper!’
Only now did I understand why the contract paper most revered in the Goryeok Realm was called Xuan-gu Paper.
The sacred being who presides over all contracts and vows was Xuan-gu himself.
Yet suddenly my heart stirred again.
‘Wait, have I just learned the true name of a great being?’
Rustle, rustle…
This was fine here, but if I remembered that name even after leaving…
‘I will be watched… I will be watched… I will be watched!’
Beat, beat, beat…
I calmed my trembling heart like a pine tree and continued reading the bamboo slips, discovering one reassuring fact.
It concerned a being recorded in a bamboo slip other than the one I had been reading.
—Hae-tae
—He is another sacred beast.
—He is the beast who holds the position symbolizing all peace and tranquility…
‘In these bamboo slips, the xian beast is described as a “sacred beast.”’
The name used to represent the xian beast was not its true name, so there was no problem in knowing it.
In other words, the name “Xuan-gu” referred to the race of this being, not its true name.
And from here I learned yet another thing.
‘That the dominant species of the Bongrae Kingdom became human because of a being named Xuan-gu…’
Just as xian beasts become black dragons, emerald dragons, and so on.
If humans become xian beasts, their name gains the prefix “Gu.”
CRACK—
After resolving what I needed, I rolled up the bamboo slips once more.
While I read, the two seemed bored; Yuk Yo tried to push one chair aside, and the queen scolded her for it.
I interrupted their conversation.
“You have been of great help. May I ask my next question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Regarding the Wheel-Emperor. I believe you know a great deal about it.”
“That is correct.”
“I may feel like I am committing blasphemy, but please answer. Is the Liberator truly dead?”