Darkness Returns (1)
Muk Bi stared at Ki Woo-hee with a puzzled look.
Ki Woo-hee’s face had turned deathly pale. She had just finished her tea and was rising to head to bed, but she had frozen in that exact position.
Muk Bi’s expression grew serious as well.
“Physician?”
“……”
“Physician!”
“……
Yes.”
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling ill?”
“No.”
Ki Woo-hee let out a deep sigh.
“It’s nothing. It’s not that.”
“Then why…?”
“I suddenly felt a bit off. It’s probably just my imagination, so please don’t worry too much.”
“Are you sure you’re really okay?”
Ki Woo-hee smiled. It was a beautiful smile, yet for some reason Muk Bi found it strangely awkward.
“I’m really fine. Even if I were sick, would a physician not be able to treat herself?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“Don’t worry. You should head back and rest as well, Department Head Muk. You’ve worked hard protecting me all day.”
Muk Bi smiled.
“Not at all. If anything, I’m the one who troubled you by making you listen to my chatter.”
“No, not at all. Really.”
“Hoho, then get some proper rest. My room is right next door, so don’t forget to call me immediately if anything happens, alright?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll be going. Rest well.”
With that, Muk Bi left the room.
Thud.
Ki Woo-hee collapsed onto the bed right where she stood.
Her complexion turned pale once more. In her beautiful, shining blue eyes, sorrow, fear, and an unidentifiable sympathy swirled together.
“……
Young Master Yeon.”
Spiritual Eyes allow one to see what ordinary people cannot.
It is an innate ability—more precisely, a supernatural power. Because it cannot be explained through medicine or martial arts, it can only be described with the plain, overused term “divine mystery.”
Her Spiritual Eyes were special.
Having suffered from all kinds of masked people since childhood, she had wished to see into others’ true hearts.
Thus, her Spiritual Eyes would tell her whether someone’s words were true or false.
Of course, it didn’t activate all the time. Like receiving divine revelation in fleeting moments, this uncontrollable power would reveal the truths and emotions she sought.
And recently, the person whose inner thoughts Ki Woo-hee wanted to know most was Yeon Hojeong.
But her Spiritual Eyes did not work on him. In fact, they didn’t work on Yeon Wi either.
Those who had surpassed human limits in martial arts and developed their spiritual power enough to erect an absolute barrier around their upper dantian could not be seen through. Her innate ability was remarkable, but it was not omnipotent.
However, at this very moment—
She could see it. She could feel it. It was the first time she had perceived someone’s emotions from such a great distance, yet she had no time to feel surprise.
Drop. Drop.
Clear tears slid down both of Ki Woo-hee’s cheeks.
No one would ever know why she was crying.
Except for the one person her Spiritual Eyes had captured.
“Huk! W-what the hell is this?!”
Ga Deuk-sang’s mouth fell open.
The entire area had become a sea of flames. Fortunately, the fire hadn’t spread far enough to engulf the village, but if it wasn’t extinguished quickly, the blaze would easily double in size.
“Damn it! Move! Forget stealth or caution—just hurry!”
“Yes!”
Over two hundred members of the Beggars’ Sect, gathered through their lightning-fast information network, scattered in every direction. They were carrying dirt and water.
Though it was well over a hundred li from the Martial Alliance, considering the vast size of the Central Plains, it was actually quite close. That was why so many beggars had been able to assemble so quickly.
Booom! Boooooom!
Yeon Wi descended directly into the center of the fire and unleashed palm strikes in all directions.
The absolute inner energy of the Sword Limit Qi perfectly protected him from the intense heat. While smoke is often more dangerous than fire, the breath control of a master far surpassed the imagination of ordinary people.
Without even pausing to breathe, Yeon Wi used his powerful palm force to suppress the flames at terrifying speed.
“Truly incredible.”
Ga Deuk-sang clicked his tongue in awe at Yeon Wi’s calm majesty.
This wasn’t something achievable simply by having strong martial arts. Without the eye to instantly identify the fire’s weak points and the ability to read the flow of flames, such an absurd feat would be impossible.
“Ugh, the fire qi is too intense. It’s hard to sense anything. Where the hell is Young Master Yeon?!”
Swish!
Ga Deuk-sang leapt to the top of the largest intact tree nearby and scanned the surroundings.
Suddenly his eyes widened. He had discovered a strange trace on the ridge of the eighth peak, now a sea of fire.
‘Why only there?’
Everywhere else was burning, yet that single spot had been carved out in a perfect circle. From this distance, that size meant roughly a twenty-jang radius had been spared from the demon flames.
Ga Deuk-sang shouted.
“Patriarch Yeon! Northeast!”
“I know.”
Even from quite a distance, Yeon Wi’s calm voice gently pierced Ga Deuk-sang’s ears. His inner power was truly formidable.
“I’ve sensed Hojeong’s energy. He seems far more intact than expected. In that case, our priority right now is to contain the fire first.”
“More of our sect members are on the way! We can handle it!”
“I know. I only plan to extinguish the flames at the core to speed up the suppression. It’ll be over soon, so don’t worry.”
“Ah, yes!”
Yeon Wi’s words were accurate.
The moment he seized the heart of the blaze, the flow of fire qi was severed. Even artificially created flames were still flames; by cutting the energy vein in the middle, the fiercely burning inferno faltered greatly.
Swish!
Having finished his task, Yeon Wi shot straight toward where Yeon Hojeong was.
‘Are you alright, you fool.’
Even for Yeon Wi, detecting Yeon Hojeong’s energy from this distance would normally be difficult. It was only possible because their internal energies shared the same root, making him more sensitive to it.
Whooooosh!
As Yeon Wi closed the distance in an instant, he suddenly felt a suffocating humidity.
Despite the fierce fire, the moisture here was incredibly thick. It made no sense.
‘Is this the source of the water qi Hojeong mentioned? The Black Tortoise energy?’
Bang!
When Yeon Wi landed at the origin of the humidity, he finally saw his son.
‘……!!’
Yeon Wi’s eyes trembled.
Crackle! Roooar!
The threatening sound of flames burning from quite a distance tickled his ears.
The sky was dark, but the surrounding area was bright from the fires blazing everywhere. Yet the place Yeon Wi was looking at seemed so dark that neither firelight nor moonlight could reach it.
Yeon Hojeong was there.
His body was drenched in blood. In his hand, he held an axe dripping with gore.
His hair, disheveled from the intense battle, was soaked and clung wildly to his neck and shoulders. It was an utterly miserable sight.
Yet Yeon Wi could not easily take a step forward.
Shhhhhhh.
Like an illusion, or perhaps a phantasm.
Around Yeon Hojeong—who stood covered in blood, axe in hand, gazing up at the sky—darkness wandered like mist.
It was undoubtedly an illusion. Yet even knowing that, the terrifying darkness did not fade.
Drip. Drip.
The sound of blood and flesh falling from the axe and striking the ground echoed eerily.
It was an overwhelming scene.
Neither the inferno, the moonlight, nor the thunder could penetrate the place where Yeon Hojeong stood.
He stood cloaked in darkness. In that illusory domain where not a single ray of light entered, only he existed in perfect solitude.
Yeon Wi’s gaze deepened.
“Hojeong.”
His son—the child who had lived an extraordinary past and future before returning.
What was he looking at while standing in that inhuman place? What thoughts filled his mind, and what future was he seeing?
Even Yeon Wi, who had begun to fully understand his child and was living a more exemplary life than any parent in the world, found it difficult to read his son’s heart right now.
But one thing was clear.
‘Are you sad?’
His son was grieving.
He didn’t know why. If the boy had been roaring in rage with screams of fury, he would have been worried but would have understood.
But sadness? Why was his son grieving so deeply?
Was he mourning the bitter fate of having to live a blood-soaked life again after returning to the past, upon facing an old enemy once more?
Was he sad that he could no longer become a demon like before? Or was he grieving because he realized he had already strayed from the righteous path?
Just why was his son so sad?
“You’ve come.”
Yeon Wi flinched and looked at Yeon Hojeong.
At some point, the darkness that had been circling his son had vanished. In its place was his exhausted son’s bitter face.
Yeon Wi walked toward Yeon Hojeong.
Step. Step.
The father’s footsteps were heavy, as if reflecting his own heart.
The distance between father and son was not far at all. Yet to Yeon Wi, it felt as vast as ten thousand li.
As he slowly closed that seemingly endless gap, Yeon Wi’s gaze moved past his son.
‘……!’
There lay a man who had been brutally destroyed.
Shockingly, the man—who had already lost any semblance of human form—was still alive. It was impossible to tell how he had been tortured, but despite his limbs being torn into dozens of pieces and his abdomen split open, he was still breathing faintly.
It was a truly horrific sight. It looked like the remains of a corpse a beast had torn apart and left behind.
‘…….’
Yeon Wi closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, his son was standing right in front of him.
Yeon Wi asked calmly.
“How is your body?”
“I’m fine.”
He had expected that answer. Yet for some reason, Yeon Wi found his son’s voice strangely unfamiliar.
Yeon Wi looked once more at the person who was not yet dead—or rather, who could not die.
Twitch. Twitch.
He was still alive, but not for much longer. His breath would likely stop before half an hour passed.
Yeon Wi’s gaze returned to Yeon Hojeong.
The bitterly sorrowful face from before had now become completely expressionless. One could even say it had grown numb.
Whatever it was, it was no longer a human face. It was like looking at a wooden puppet that merely resembled a person.
‘…….’
There were so many things he wanted to ask. So many things he wanted to hear.
After quietly observing Yeon Hojeong, Yeon Wi took the axe from his son’s hand.
Clang!
The battered hand axe fell carelessly to the ground.
Yeon Hojeong looked at his father.
“Father?”
“It’s a hideous thing. Holding something like that seems to have made your face just as hideous.”
It wasn’t hideous because it was an axe. It was hideous because it was soaked in blood, filled with the vengeful spirits of unknown enemies and the rage Yeon Hojeong had poured out.
Drop. Drop.
Even Yeon Wi’s hand, which had held the axe, became covered in blood. But he paid it no mind.
With his clean hand that was free of blood, Yeon Wi took his son’s hand.
“Let’s go.”
He led Yeon Hojeong toward the Martial Alliance. Yeon Hojeong followed, holding his father’s hand as he was guided.
While following behind his father, while being led by him, “he” did not say a single word.
It was not a beautiful night.