Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Encounter with the Past
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“Who are you, Young Master Heuk?”
“What do you mean, who am I? What kind of strange question is that?”
“Think about it carefully. Do you really know who you are? Have you ever felt like someone else was inside you?”
“...?”
“Tell me.”
“There is a lost time, yes.”
“Be more specific.”
“Around the age of fourteen, I went through something big. But from that day on, I can’t remember anything before it. Fragments appear in my dreams sometimes, but I never paid much attention.”
“What was this big event around age fourteen?”
“It was a freezing winter day. I fell into a well. Half-asleep, half-awake, I spent the day like that, and then the well cover opened with torchlight shining in. That’s my earliest memory. But...”
“What is it?”
“While I was unconscious just now, I had a dream. It was something I’d never dreamed before. And it was so vivid. Like it happened yesterday.”
“So it was true.”
“What do you mean?”
“It seems someone placed an unknown seal on your spirit body that day. That’s why Old Man Mu’s sorcery, powerful as it was, didn’t work on you for so long.”
“What nonsense is that?”
“The blue rope around your spirit body that I saw—that was the seal. No doubt about it.”
“Why would anyone put a seal like that on a nobody scholar like me?”
“You weren’t a scholar back then.”
“Even so, there has to be a reason.”
“The seal that severs memories is called a Soul-Binding Seal. Generally, its purpose is one of three things. First, to make one forget their identity. Second, to make one forget everything they’ve seen, heard, and learned. Third, to make one forget painful memories from the past.”
“...!”
Childhood only goes up to before age fourteen. Not remembering it doesn’t hinder life, and I wasn’t that curious anyway, so I never dwelled on it.
Truthfully, everyone’s childhood is much the same. As a boy, I probably just ran around the hills and fields with friends, catching frogs and such.
But hearing it was deliberately sealed made Heuk Do-san’s resentment surge out of nowhere.
“Who the hell...?”
“I can’t tell that far. But don’t worry too much. The seal on your spirit body was pure and clean. It means it was cast to protect you, not harm you. And your memories will return soon.”
“Why do you say that?”
“For some reason, the seal’s power is weakening. Your spirit body breaking free from your flesh to wake me is proof. It might have started long ago. Even making those wilderness survival tools for the mercenaries.”
“Why bring up the survival tools?”
“You said you learned all sorts of skills from the old mercenaries, right? Making fire, reading the stars, using moss growth to find directions, crafting clothes from wolf hides, bows from deer antlers and brambles, even kites to cross icy valleys.”
“...?”
“But were they really all learned from the mercenaries? Or perhaps, without realizing it, you taught the mercenaries? Or maybe they gave you a cue, and you drew out knowledge from your forgotten past?”
“...!”
“We’ve only traveled together for about ten days, yet the knowledge you’ve shown surpasses what any mercenaries could teach. And you’ve barely scratched the surface, I’m sure. With that vast store, you could found your own house.”
Heuk Do-san felt like he’d been struck on the head with a hammer. Now that she mentioned it, it did seem that way. He had definitely learned countless survival skills for war from the mercenaries.
But he had also uncovered and shared equally vital techniques and knowledge.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
At first, he thought his own craftsmanship was just a bit exceptional.
There’s a saying: all rivers run to the sea. And reading every book in White Deer Academy’s library had subconsciously combined battlefield necessities.
But now, he wondered if that wasn’t the case.
‘Who the hell am I?’
The question arose for the first time.
Who am I?
What kind of people were my parents?
“Perhaps you’re a descendant of a military strategist house unknown to the world—or one that must remain unknown.”
A military house descendant?
It could be.
But if the house was already destroyed, what use was that? He couldn’t turn back time.
“Would that change my life now?”
“Pardon?”
“The past is meaningless. Whether someone put a weird seal on me or not, if it’s not going to kill me young, who cares? What matters is getting out of here alive.”
“...?”
“With that in mind, let’s talk again. At the cave entrance, when we hit the Odd Gate Formation, drawing blood from my palm snapped me out of the hypnosis. Maybe if I do it now?”
“The Odd Gate Formation at the cave entrance and the sorcery Old Man Mu cast in the cavern are related but different in power. If it were the same, Yeom Jin-sang wouldn’t have fallen to it from the start.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“See for yourself.”
Heuk Do-san turned to look at Yeom Jin-sang, sitting between Seventh Star Lord Gong Cheon-ak and Hyeon-gak.
He hadn’t noticed earlier, but a dagger was embedded squarely in his left shoulder. Fortunately, it wasn’t a vital spot, and the bleeding had stopped with the dagger still in place—no danger to his life if pulled and treated.
But the dagger’s hilt looked familiar.
“Why is that...!”
It was the one he’d thrown at the freak in the pitch-black cavern.
Thud!
The heavy sound made him think it had hit.
The old monster must have used Yeom Jin-sang as a shield.
Too short a distance to react after hearing the dagger cut the air.
How had he responded so nimbly in that utter darkness?
Come to think of it, something else was off.
The old monster had come right up to his face and observed him for a long time. Like scanning him with his eyes.
They say when internal energy reaches its peak, one is unaffected by heat or cold, darkness or light.
But that means superior ability in extremes compared to mortals—not literally immune to cold or seeing in pitch black like daylight.
No one in the world, no matter how great, can see in perfect darkness without a shred of light.
The old monster was no exception. The lamp here proved it. If he could see perfectly in darkness, no lamp would be needed.
Yet his movements in the cavern clearly required seeing them plainly.
‘How the hell did he do it?’
“Any problem?”
“Too complicated to explain.”
“...?”
“Anyway, it means only that old man can wake them.”
“Yes.”
“So we have to catch him and make him talk, come hell or high water.”
“Or drag them all out.”
As she spoke, Bing-seol pointed to the others.
Seventh Star Lord Gong Cheon-ak with his towering frame and massive muscles, Hyeon-gak nearly as tall but fat, then Yeom Jin-sang and Dang Yak-ran. Heuk Do-san was dumbfounded, speechless.
“Better to interrogate him.”
“It’ll be dangerous.”
“Better than getting caught dragging these guys and dying.”
“I don’t know about you, but if it’s Young Master Heuk, you could pick one, carry them, and run. That’s the surest way to survive right now.”
Bing-seol was saying Heuk Do-san could escape with Dang Yak-ran on his back, and they’d both live.
“Are you testing me?”
“I’m giving you a chance.”
“Why?”
“Because the opponent has mastered the Ten Myriad Great Heaven Palm.”
“...!”
“No one will blame you. You’ve already shown us heavenly righteousness. That alone earns our gratitude.”
‘Heavenly righteousness?’
Heuk Do-san suddenly recalled his father’s words from the dream while unconscious.
‘Righteousness is noble and wise. Heaven created man and gave him nobility and wisdom, so acting with righteousness is heaven’s law. Do not avoid the hard path because it’s rough, nor the shadowed path because it’s fearful. That is heavenly righteousness.’
“Even so, running without a proper fight isn’t my style.”
“You already fought once. And lost.”
“Drop it.”
Deciding to stay in the cave, the question remained: how to catch the old monster.
Bing-seol sighed deeply and said.
“Head-on is impossible.”
“Agreed.”
“So we need a sneak attack, but...”
“That’s impossible too.”
“Why?”
“First, nowhere to hide in this chamber. Second, I tried and got wrecked. In one hit.”
“One hit?”
“Embarrassing, but yes.”
Thinking this far, Heuk Do-san’s earlier doubt resurfaced.
“When was this lamp lit?”
“Since we came in.”
Lamps burning oil always produce faint soot. Thus, beams in old halls blacken.
Looking up, the stalactites pointing down were blackened with soot. Meaning the flame burned constantly.
“It’s too strange, no matter how I think.”
“What?”
“When the fight broke out in the cavern, it was pitch black all around. But he saw us like it was broad daylight. If his night vision is that good, why light a lamp here?”
“Having good night vision doesn’t mean darkness isn’t uncomfortable, right?”
“Could be the opposite. Once accustomed to dark, even faint light might bother the pupils. Like bats avoiding daylight.”
“It depends on what the body’s adapted to.”
“That’s why it’s weird. The old man’s vision in the cavern exceeded human limits. Yet here he lights a lamp? Even with luminous stones reflecting plenty of light?”
“Why does that matter now?”
“If his dark vision relies not on pure eyesight but something else, removing it turns him blind.”
Bing-seol was startled.
Now that she thought, it made perfect sense.
She chimed in.
“In darkness, cues to read movement could be scent, air currents, presence. But to see like daylight... only light.”
“Light?”
“That’s my guess.”
So simple and clear.
That’s why it was overlooked.
Heuk Do-san pondered briefly, then jumped up and shed his fur garment. He approached the lamp and said.
“It’ll go dark for a bit.”
No sooner said than he draped the fur over the lamp. Light vanished, plunging the chamber into pitch black.
But nothing happened—no cues revealed. Staring intently in case he missed, still nothing.
“Nothing’s happening.”
“I see.”
Deeply disappointed, Heuk Do-san reached to remove the fur. Then Bing-seol grabbed his throat.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Step back a bit.”
“Why?”
“Hurry.”
He stepped back as told. Glancing down absentmindedly, Heuk Do-san’s eyes widened.
As his foot shifted, faint light leaked from his sole. In such darkness, even tiny light stands out.
But the bluish glow from his sole was more like qi than light. So faint, he’d have missed it without actively seeking.
Heuk Do-san quickly flipped his foot. As expected, faint bluish qi emanated across his sole.
“What is this?”
“Phosphorescence. The true nature of will-o’-the-wisps seen near old graves. It arises naturally as animal bones decay—the only substance that glows without external light.”
“I know what phosphorescence is. But why is it on your soles, Young Master Heuk?”
“Not just mine—everyone’s.”
At his words, Bing-seol flipped her own foot. Bluish qi glowed faintly.
Not just her. Faint glows came from where the seated others’ soles should be.
“He read our movements from this.”
“Where did it come from?”
“Must’ve scattered it somewhere on the cavern floor leading here. Anyone entering steps in it.”
“My god, right on the money.”
“Good. Now we might catch him.”