The Sound of Burning Distractions
At the mention of the name So-so, the old man’s mind instantly replayed the chattering voice of a young girl. "I made a friend recently. Her name is So-so. It’s a common name, right? Anyway, here’s how we became friends..."
"That Shin So-so, she’s really something! Ugh... I just went to the latrine for a moment, and she ate my meat bun without even asking!"
"Deok-sam and Jeom-rye left the chores to me... Ah, I didn't do it alone. I was with So-so..."
If the Shin So-so who belonged to that sharp, shrewish voice was the same girl he knew, the old man reasoned that Seo-ah must be nearby as well. He pushed off the ground, and in an instant—a feat that would have stunned any onlooker—he vaulted from the depths below all the way to the main gate of the Gyomaguan.
A massive crowd had gathered before the gate, and the old man could not hide his bewilderment at the sight. 'Is the graduation ceremony already over?' But that couldn't be right; the main gate was bolted shut. The people gathered here were nothing more than servants who hadn't learned martial arts and students of the Gyomaguan. There was no sign of the warriors who had come to scout for talent, nor the instructors and masters who should have been conversing with the children.
It was noisy, but the atmosphere was not one of graduation or a bright future; it was dark and damp. Above all else...
'The smell of blood?'
Jin Cheon-hoe felt a surge of anxiety and looked down at the night-luminescent pearl in his hand. Its glow remained faint. The Divine Maiden did not seem to be among this crowd.
"Please, just open the door for a second! We’ll let you close it again right after, so please!"
"Do you think that makes any sense right now? Get lost before I kill you!"
The desperate pleading of a maid and the sharp, shrewish roar he had heard earlier pierced the old man's ears. The one pleading so desperately must be the girl, So-so. The old man decided that finding the Divine Maiden was secondary for now. He had to find Seo-ah, who might be in danger. According to the Left Guardian’s prophecy, the Divine Maiden would not die, but the same could not be said for Seo-ah.
The old man headed toward the source of So-so’s voice. There, he saw two maids glaring at each other, two young men and women who had lost consciousness, and one young girl sitting in a lotus position, suppressing internal injuries.
The old man stepped between the two glaring maids.
"Excuse me. By any chance, do you know a girl named Seo-ah?"
"Who the hell is this old geezer...!"
Deok-sam, already suffering from a headache due to So-so’s reckless behavior, was about to snap at the man who had suddenly intruded. Of course, the moment she saw the old man’s massive frame, she swallowed those words. So-so, however, looked at the old man at the mention of Seo-ah.
"Huh?"
The massive frame. The grey hair. The blunt tone. Even though Seo-ah had tried to hide her martial arts from her, So-so easily realized the old man’s identity. When Seo-ah wasn't around, she had coaxed Baek-ak into telling her about the old master who had taught Seo-ah martial arts, and the description matched perfectly.
"You’re the one who taught Seo-ah martial arts! You’re him, right?!"
The old man nodded. Finding someone who could finally help her, So-so’s emotions welled up, and she continued, struggling to hold back her tears.
"Th-there was an attack. Seo-ah... Seo-ah! She helped us, but she couldn't get out from inside, and..."
Death never becomes familiar. I had thought the same thing when the White-Clad Man’s head was severed earlier. Thinking about it now, perhaps the reason I can’t get used to death, among many other reasons, is because I have already experienced it once before.
The feeling of having everything you’ve built over a lifetime stripped away. The void, like a deep, bottomless pit. It was a sensation I could never forget. And for the first time in her life, Seo-ah was bestowing that horrific sensation upon another with her own hands.
The White-Clad Man stared at her, his eyes wide, a dagger buried in his throat. He looked as if he couldn't believe it.
"Kuh... Kuh-heok!"
There was no time to hesitate. Seo-ah snatched the sword from the hands of the White-Clad Man, who would now slowly wither away. It was easy, as his grip was already losing strength. Seo-ah didn't falter. With a horizontal slash, she severed the White-Clad Man’s neck.
Without even looking back at the end of a life, Seo-ah lunged toward another White-Clad Man who was enraged by the loss of his friend.
"You bastard, how dare you!!"
Rather than attempting the poorly learned Swift White-Shattering Sword, Seo-ah executed the most basic and simple movement she had learned from the old master. Because the sword path was simple, the White-Clad Man blocked her strike without issue. But there was one thing the White-Clad Man hadn't anticipated: he never imagined that such a small frame could possess the overwhelming strength to crush him.
I was no mere maid. I was a genius who had formed a dantian in a single day. A genius who never forgot a sword path once seen. I was a warrior hovering between the third and second class, possessing fifteen years of internal energy from consuming medicinal herbs.
The White-Clad Man blocked my sword, but he groaned as he felt the weight behind it.
"Guek!"
The initiative shifted to me. Of course, I didn't think I could kill the White-Clad Man in front of me easily. Fortunately, I wasn't alone.
"Dan-ryang!!! Now!"
Dan-ryang sprang from the bushes and thrust her sword toward the White-Clad Man, who was busy blocking my attack. Perhaps it was because she was the child of a True Cult member, even though she hadn't learned internal cultivation methods? Dan-ryang’s sword sank accurately and cleanly into the White-Clad Man’s waist without a hitch.
The White-Clad Man staggered back in panic. Seo-ah didn't hesitate; she swung her sword again to end a second life. Her whole body, her insides, were burning hot. Yet, her mind was cold. Something seemed to rise from within at my action of cutting off another’s breath without hesitation. Because Seo-ah understood the concept of death better than anyone, she knew: I don't want to die.
The sword was straight, but Seo-ah’s mind was complex. They weren't the absolute villains of the novels we imagined. They were ordinary people who felt pity and discomfort at my wretched state. People who couldn't refuse the orders from above. People who had to swing their swords because their own necks wouldn't be safe if they let me live. People who cherished their own lives. People just like me.
What if I had begged for my life? What if they had agreed to let me live? No, even from the start, what if I had followed Dan-ryang’s advice and stayed hidden in the bushes, even at the risk of danger? Would I not have killed them? Such assumptions were meaningless.
Seo-ah instinctively knew that the way to survive at the highest level was to cut their throats, and that remained true even if they had shown her kindness. Seo-ah cut their throats. Because she cherished her own life more than anyone, because she was no different from them, and because she was Seo-ah, who wanted to avoid the danger of death as much as possible, she had cut their throats.
Ah... such assumptions are truly meaningless. I only swing my sword to survive. Seo-ah’s heart didn't feel even a little bit lighter. However, deep within her mind, something seemed to be burning brightly.
— Crackle. Crackle.
The sound of a bonfire burning something reached her ears. That sound is the sound of my distractions burning away.
With an expressionless face, Seo-ah cut the throat of the remaining White-Clad Man. To survive.
"Uwaaaack!"
Seo-ah was belatedly emptying her stomach, suffering the aftereffects of her first kill. It wasn't because of some convenient reason like regret or being plagued by guilt. Honestly, unless one were a psychopath, anyone would feel a sense of revulsion at taking another’s life. The warriors of the Murim had simply gone through this process so many times that the revulsion had faded into nothingness.
Seo-ah wiped her face, cleared her mind, and stood up. Dan-ryang stuttered.
"Your... your hair."
"My hair?"
Seo-ah looked into the stream. Her appearance wasn't much different from what she had seen in the past. Her skin was dark, and her face was still covered in blemishes. However, if there was a difference, it was that her face was haggard with exhaustion, and while she had only had a few grey hairs before, an entire section of her hair had turned white.
"What is this?"
Had her hair turned white from the sudden stress? In truth, she thought the possibility was slim. Perhaps, since she had learned the Demonic Cult’s martial arts, the side effects were only now beginning to manifest on the surface.
'This isn't... it doesn't just change my hair color, does it? It doesn't mean I age every time I use internal energy, right?'
Like those martial arts that consume innate true qi to become abnormally strong. Having killed two second-class warriors within a week of learning martial arts, it was a reasonable thought to have. But Seo-ah quickly dismissed it. First of all, she had never felt her aging accelerate while using internal energy, and above all, it came from the belief that the old master would never have taught her such a vicious demonic art.
Seo-ah said, "It's nothing."
"R-really? Are you sure you're okay?"
"Don't worry. More than that, let's get out of here quickly."
If by any chance other White-Clad Men discovered them, she might find herself wanting to reach for even such extreme demonic arts that consumed innate true qi. Seo-ah and Dan-ryang followed the stream and climbed the mountain.
Not even a quarter of an hour after Seo-ah and Dan-ryang had climbed the mountain, the Third Squad Leader of the raiding party looked down at his squad members, who had become cold corpses.
"There are two attackers..."
Looking at the traces, it didn't seem like much time had passed since the battle. The Third Squad Leader began to trace the attackers' path upward.