So That Was It (2)
Han Cheong-un's lips curled upward.
I thought I still had a long way to go...
It was a miscalculation.
Even if he lacked martial prowess and experience, it seemed the core essence of a person did not change.
Tang Jin's scolding pulled Han Cheong-un back just as his heart was about to collapse under the weight of guilt.
Just as he had done countless times before.
"The vice leader is right."
"Of course I am."
"I can't just give up like this. I'll do everything in my power."
"That's the spirit."
As Han Cheong-un regained his drive, Tang Jin nodded in approval.
"So, what's the plan now?"
"The art of war says that to capture the general, you must first shoot his horse."
"And?"
"I'm thinking of making a private deal with the Mount Hua Sect."
"A deal? A private one with the Mount Hua Sect?"
Tang Jin looked skeptical.
To strike a deal with a colossal entity like the Mount Hua Sect, ordinary terms would never suffice.
"Do you have some kind of leverage?"
"I do."
Han Cheong-un's lips curled up into a smirk.
"Leverage they absolutely cannot refuse."
After sending Han Cheong-un away, Baek Su-ah fell deep into thought.
I'm sorry. I... I cannot be with you anymore.
The moment she saw Han Cheong-un again, her heart had trembled.
How could she ever forget him?
How could she forget the man who had stolen her heart? If she followed her desires, she would have joined him immediately. But...
She couldn't.
In this moment, having regressed through time, she now had something she absolutely had to protect.
"Su-ah..."
"Master."
At the faint voice from behind, Baek Su-ah hurriedly turned around.
Standing there, forcing herself upright, was an old woman who looked so frail she might crumble at a touch.
It was Elder Hyeon Yu-seol, one of Mount Hua's elders and Baek Su-ah's master.
Baek Su-ah rushed over to support her.
"The wind is cold."
"It is fine. Staying cooped up inside was suffocating."
"..."
"Help me over there."
Baek Su-ah silently took her master's hand and guided her toward a plum blossom tree about ten paces away.
Though her master struggled even to walk that short distance, she had once been one of Mount Hua's greatest swordsmen. She was also the savior who had raised her when even her own parents had abandoned her, calling her a child possessed by a ghost.
Baek Su-ah.
She was born with the innate ability known as the Dragon Eyes.
And that alien power had robbed her of a normal life.
A child who could peer into the hearts of others was too heavy a burden for ordinary people to accept.
Even if those people were her parents.
When Baek Su-ah was six years old, her father carried her up a mountain on an A-frame carrier.
After walking for a long time, they arrived deep in the mountains, where not even a trace of a human path remained.
Setting his daughter down, her father spoke.
"Su-ah, stay here. I will come back for you soon."
She knew.
Her father's words were a lie.
Her eyes could clearly see his emotions.
Fear, love and hate, a sliver of guilt, and a sense of relief that far outweighed it all...
"..."
She did not open her mouth.
In her experience, every time she spoke, her parents' minds crumbled further.
She simply watched her father's back as he quickly walked away.
Once he vanished completely from sight, she sat down, pulling her knees to her chest, and curled up.
She just had to stay here.
If she stayed, things would go exactly as her father wished.
A few hours later, the sun set, and darkness blanketed the mountain.
It was the hour when wild predators began to hunt.
To the beasts of the mountain, a defenseless child left alone was barely even prey.
She was more like a sacrificial offering.
And the one that came to claim this offering was...
Growl...
A massive bear.
Even at the appearance of a bear as large as a house, Su-ah was not afraid. She only thought:
I hope it doesn't hurt too much.
That was all.
Since she was someone who shouldn't have been born in the first place, dying was only right.
Her only wish was that it wouldn't be too painful.
Growl...
Facing her slowly approaching death, the young girl's eyes held no emotion whatsoever.
They were completely hollow.
Finally, the moment the bear opened its maw wide to tear into the girl's tender flesh...
Slash!
Roar!
With a flash of light, the bear shrieked in agony.
"How dare a mere beast attempt to harm a human?!"
A sharp, ringing voice echoed.
When Baek Su-ah raised her head, she saw an elegant woman standing under the moonlight, glaring at the bear.
A faint, scarlet sword qi fluttered around the blade in her hand like plum blossom petals.
"Beautiful..."
It was a dreamlike beauty she had never witnessed in her life.
Baek Su-ah spoke without realizing it.
In the end, the bear retreated.
Its wild instincts had warned it that this was an opponent it could never defeat.
Once the bear fled, the killing intent vanished from the woman as if it had never been there. Then...
"Are you alright, child?"
The woman reached out to Baek Su-ah, who was cowering behind her.
"Are you hurt anywhere? Why are you alone in a mountain like this?"
"..."
"I will take you back to your parents. Do you know where your home is... Oh?"
It was then.
Baek Su-ah threw herself into the woman's arms without thinking.
The moment she saw someone showing her pure affection and love for the first time in her life, an uncontrollable impulse drove her into that embrace. And then...
"Waaah..."
She cried.
She just wept endlessly.
The woman was flustered by Baek Su-ah's sudden outburst, but soon began to gently stroke her back.
The woman who saved Baek Su-ah that day was Hyeon Yu-seol, the Single Blue Flower and an elder of Mount Hua.
After taking Baek Su-ah back to her home and learning the truth, she decided to adopt the pitiful child.
Thus, Baek Su-ah became a disciple of Mount Hua.
After becoming a disciple of Mount Hua, she tried her best to hide her ability, but it was quickly discovered.
Yet, her master accepted even that part of her.
"It will be difficult for you to live among ordinary people. Until you can control your ability on your own, it would be best to live away from the main sect."
And so, her master left the main sect of Mount Hua.
She took her to a secluded area of Mount Hua, built a thatched cottage, and lived there alone with her disciple.
There, she taught her martial arts and trained her to control her ability.
For the first time in her life, Baek Su-ah felt peace and happiness. But then...
Cough...
"Master!"
Misfortune always strikes without warning.
Her master fell ill.
Normally, martial artists lived much longer and healthier lives than ordinary people.
Especially for someone of a Mount Hua elder's caliber, their average lifespan easily exceeded a hundred years, unless they died in battle.
Yet, even such martial artists were not immune to severe illnesses.
They hurriedly summoned physicians to check her condition, but none could even identify the cause of the illness.
They tried using spiritual medicines from the Medicine Hall, but it was to no avail.
Ultimately, in the year she turned twenty, her master passed away.
They say the death of a parent feels like the collapse of the heavens.
She wept bitterly, feeling as if her entire world had truly crumbled.
After completing the three-year mourning period, she intended to spend the rest of her life in the cottage filled with memories of her master. But...
"Senior sister, the Sect Leader is summoning you."
"What is it?"
"The Great War between the Orthodox and Demonic Factions has broken out. All Mount Hua disciples are to enter wartime status immediately."
The world would not leave her in peace.
Swept up in the massive tide of the Great War, she fought on the front lines as a disciple of Mount Hua.
And it was there that she saw him.
"If we retreat here, who will protect the commoners? Evacuate? They are farmers who live off this land. Don't you know that telling them to abandon their homes is no different from telling them to die?"
At first, she thought he was an eccentric.
She found it absurd to see someone who was merely a low-ranking warrior of the Wulin Alliance arguing so fiercely with his superior.
But her Dragon Eyes saw the truth.
He is... sincere.
He was different from those who mindlessly parroted what they were taught. He was different from those whose words did not match their actions.
That man was truly throwing his life on the line for the sake of righteousness.
So that is what they call a true hero, she thought.
Her first impression was one of curiosity and admiration.
But that was all.
Their second meeting occurred much later, during the Second Great War.
By then, he had risen from an nameless low-ranking warrior to someone with a formidable reputation in the Jianghu.
They said he had attained a new enlightenment in the north and mastered his own unique martial arts.
The Wulin Alliance had entrusted him with a combat squad.
He was the first in the history of the Wulin Alliance to start as a low-ranking warrior and rise to the position of squad leader. And...
"I am Baek Su-ah of Mount Hua. I have been ordered to join the Annihilation Squad."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Baek. I am Han Cheong-un."
Thus, their second connection began.
As members of the same squad, their bond grew deeper.
"Lady Baek, are you alright?"
"Fall back. I will handle this place."
"Stay close behind me. Don't look at anything else—just focus on my back and run."
He had saved her life multiple times.
When did it start?
Her feelings toward him had gradually shifted.
What began as curiosity turned into trust, and over time, that trust evolved into something far more special. She wanted to confess her feelings honestly, but...
"Oh, Sister Baek, you're five years older than the leader? I had no idea. You look so young."
"Lady Baek, what a coincidence. What are you doing here alone with the leader?"
"Leader, would you like to spar with me today... Oh? Lady Baek, you were here too. I'm sorry, I didn't see you. I hope I'm not interrupting?"
There were far too many interruptions.
Just thinking about it now made her grit her teeth.
If not for them, things would have surely gone well...
Well, those other women probably thought the same thing.
He wasn't a playboy, but he was a man blessed with so many women around him that he could rival any notorious dandy.
If falling for such a man was a sin, then she was guilty, but...
In any case, she had been unable to confess her feelings to him until the very end.
The final battle.
It was reckless.
But even knowing it was reckless, they did not run. Because they trusted the leader's decision, they followed him willingly.
A miserable failure? Perhaps...
The resentment and harsh words she had thrown at him back then were not her true feelings.
Even as she lay on the ground spitting blood in her final moments, she had not resented Han Cheong-un.
She had only felt regret.
If she had known it would end like that, she should have at least confessed her feelings...
When the spring breeze dances and the plum blossoms fall,
I pray you will remember my heart.
Watching his retreating back, she had quietly closed her eyes. That was the last thing she remembered. But...
"Huh?"
She had regressed.
At the same time Han Cheong-un regained consciousness, she too realized she had returned to the past.
It took some time to process the reality, but she eventually accepted it. And...
What should I do? What on earth should I do?
She agonized.
She didn't know the reason.
But what was clear was that she had been given another chance.
Her heart urged her to run to Han Cheong-un immediately. But...
Cough... Cough...
"Master."
"I am fine. But why is your face filled with such worry?"
"...It's nothing."
She couldn't leave.
The point in time she returned to was when her master's illness was already advanced.
According to the original history, her master had barely a year left to live.
Leave behind a master who might pass away soon?
She could not bring herself to make such a choice.
In the end, she chose to stay at Mount Hua.
Even without me, he has many people by his side. But Master has only me...
It was a conclusion reached through deep anguish and conflict.
And though that resolve wavered for a moment when he suddenly appeared before her...
I have no choice.
She had firmly pushed him away.
Because her master was just as precious to her as Han Cheong-un.
It would be a lie to say she had no regrets, but the choice had been made. Now, everything would flow into the past...
The next day.
Baek Su-ah went to see the Sect Leader upon receiving his summons.
Waiting for her there were...
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Baek. I am Han Cheong-un, the Sect Leader of the Extreme Dao Sect."
"And I am Tang Jin, the Vice Leader."
Why on earth are these guys here?
Before the bewildered Baek Su-ah, the Sword Immortal of Mount Hua spoke with a solemn expression.
"What I am about to say must be kept in the absolute strictest confidence. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sect Leader. I will keep it in mind."
"Good. Baek Su-ah, disciple of Mount Hua, hear my command."
"Please speak, Sect Leader."
"You are to assist these two in exploring the hidden cave of the Shadowless Divine Thief and retrieve the Zaha Divine Sword within."
"...!"
The hidden cave? The Zaha Divine Sword?
In that instant, Baek Su-ah realized.
I've been had. He had that card.