Reminiscence 3: Ghosts of the Burning Village
"......"
Memories surfaced as he walked the path. People changed, but nature did not. He quickened his pace alongside Cheon Sohyang, yet the place they trod remained the same.
The dirt road where he had sworn revenge. The scenery of reeds, trees, and the distant sky felt familiar. Eerily so.
A chill crept into Jang Cheon's heart, growing by the moment.
It might be coincidence. How many clans had been wiped out in the murim world? Those seeking vengeance outnumbered the sands of the Yangtze, their grudges as deep as its waters.
But,
"Ajussi, over there... it's Simha!"
"Yes. I see it too."
A small village turning to ashes. People fleeing with screams. It was too much like that day.
Jang Cheon's eyes glazed over.
The man he had killed here on this day was named Cheon Sangyeon. A distant relative of Cheon Yomyeong, he had risen to the Elder Council through sheer ability despite being from a branch family. Minister of War was no low office. Even the Cheon Family couldn't send just anyone to manipulate his connections. The Seomun Family had long coveted Jang Cheon's fields, and the Cheon Family's fox had the means to grant that wish.
For cleanup, he visited Simha often. So Jang Cheon had killed him in his hometown. He burned the entire village that had shamelessly clung to the Seomun Family.
His vision blurred. Past and present began to overlap.
"Ajussi!"
Cheon Sohyang hurried to keep up behind him. She didn't know where to go. She had never heard the details of her master's past, nor why they came to this village.
But one thing she knew: the Jang Cheon now was not in his right mind.
"Ajussi, wait a second!"
She followed the lone-walking Jang Cheon. Calling his name yielded no response. He simply walked slowly somewhere.
Then, a voice echoed from somewhere.
「You've worked hard. Now, be on your way and vanish.」
A voice she had heard once before. In Seongdo's underground, the sound that had led her to that strange place.
Cheon Sohyang's eyes grew hazy. So warm, so natural.
Her steps slowed. The distance from Jang Cheon widened.
But then, the girl pinched her cheek hard.
"Not falling for it twice!"
Pain. Dull agony. Even as her cheek reddened like a mask, it felt distant. Her body swayed, reality slipping away.
This wouldn't be enough. Her opponent wasn't human. A pathetic disciple not even at Transformation Realm couldn't hope to fight back.
Then? Abandon that man? Because she could do nothing?
".......!"
She wasn't that kind of person.
Clarity flickered back into her eyes, and she seized the moment, raising one hand high.
Slap!
「Vulgar wench. You have nothing to my liking!」
Her cheek burned. Her mind snapped alert.
The girl dashed forward. She chased after the calmly walking Jang Cheon.
No, not satisfied with that. Hesitating a moment, she—grabbed his arm.
"......?"
Her master turned to her. The gaze felt off. Not the complex look he always gave her.
Regret, pain, pride, satisfaction, warmth. Those mingled in his eyes.
Cheon Sohyang was innocent but not foolish; she cherished them.
But not this gaze.
For the first time, she faced Jang Cheon's cold stare.
"What."
Terrifying. A threat from a Manifestation Realm warrior. As if he didn't even know who she was.
And with that, her old fear tightened around her.
She was her master's enemy. Even without deeds, it was so.
He had taught her everything, but she had given nothing back.
She returned his family arts. Taught the reckless girl how to live as family head. Drew his sword to save her in crisis.
But I... can give nothing.
Probably forever.
「Realizing it now, you pig of a girl? When do you think Jang-rang will discard you?」
Sweet whispers seeped into her heart, stirring collapsed guilt.
「If you have any shame, shouldn't you vanish quietly now? How long do you plan to be a burden on his ankle?」
"I......"
She clung to her fading mind. Circulated her qi with effort.
Super First Rate meant Sword Aura Realm. One should know and control their body like the palm of their hand.
Yet despite all the flowery words, the girl remained powerless. Utterly so.
No matter what she did, it changed nothing.
But giving up and letting go? That, she had never learned from ajussi.
"I...... that's okay."
A strange heat rose from the back of her neck. The latent hot yang qi in her dantian erupted like a storm.
Was it the pure girl's will? Even if not, it didn't matter. Anything to bolster her resolve now.
For this man, I'll do what I can.
The girl asked steadily.
"Ajussi, where are you going right now?"
*
Her hand was warm. It hadn't been then.
Back then, he held a sword.
Not Heuk-yo. Jang Cheon had always been a swordsman, with his usual blade.
He had stained that sword with blood and walked through Simha. Seeking Cheon Sangyeon.
Toward the man hiding, trembling somewhere in the burning village.
So back then, no one was beside him. No one asking him such things.
"Where... are you going?"
She asked again.
Jang Cheon's eyes cleared. Her clear voice seemed to hold awakening power.
He looked at his disciple gripping his hand tightly.
"......Cheon Sangyeon."
Gone. I killed him. This fire isn't my doing. This village's fate isn't mine.
Jang Cheon finally recognized it. Possible because no outer god meddled in his heart.
He had simply been bewitched by the similar situation.
In his haste, he pulled her hand. Her light body followed with faint resistance.
In a burning village, the first priority was elsewhere. Especially if he was acting unseemly.
Jang Cheon pulled Cheon Sohyang into one-armed embrace and asked.
"Are you hurt?"
"Mmph."
"Stay still."
He infused pure qi into her pulse points. No anomalies in her body. Fortunately.
Only then could Cheon Sohyang wriggle free from his arms.
As her mind cleared, the situation came into natural focus.
The fire wasn't large. No people either.
Jang Cheon's senses spread through the acrid ash and smoke, probing every corner.
Soon, his keen perception locked onto a spot.
Things he had encountered once in the mountains. Three translucent fish parasitizing a human, clustered together. Some seemed dead, fallen to the ground.
Then he realized where it was.
Eerily coincidental. Too much so.
The house where Cheon Sangyeon had hidden. Once a mere home, now someone's manor. There, three minor outer gods clustered, devouring someone.
"Heuk-yo is calling me."
Crystal clear.
Jang Cheon strode forward. But not with the hazy, staggering steps Heuk-yo expected.
Firmly. Steadily.
Minding his disciple's hand gripped tight in his more than the overflowing echoes of the past.
Without hesitation, he pushed open the manor's gates.
"......Was this your doing."
On the manor's floor sat a woman. In a somewhat grotesque pose.
She lounged on some nameless youth's back like a chair. The youth had no head.
His corpse looked like suicide by beheading. The severed head lay rolled far away, eyes bulging in agony.
「It was.」
The woman answered. Legs crossed, chin propped on one hand—she smiled faintly.
The fish impaled in the youth's body like a straw seemed invisible to her, merely directing its gaze at Jang Cheon.
It had been a long time. Truly.
A moment to Heuk-yo, but eons to the man.
And Heuk-yo had never considered that time by his measure.
Thus, their first words were long prepared.
「I'm sorry.」
Sincere apology.
「Sorry I couldn't rescue you sooner. Sorry I didn't free you faster, couldn't plan a better reunion. Jang-rang, Jang-rang. My Jang-rang...」
She approached slowly.
Jang Cheon stood rooted.
Cheon Sohyang saw nothing yet, merely guarding quietly.
Heuk-yo liked that inwardly. Because the young wench couldn't imagine what she would do.
Heuk-yo drew before the frozen Jang Cheon, gently caressing his cheek with her hand.
「Ahh......」
This. For this alone, Heuk-yo would do anything.
No worldly pleasure matched this bliss.
Perhaps different standards applied to Heuk-yo.
Before Jang Cheon, she hadn't even recognized emotions.
Just descending for amusement, playing mask games as I-hwa.
「I'm happy to see you again, my Jang-rang. The Jang-rang who will avenge me against the world.」
Jang Cheon had left her an incurable scar. Its name was heart.