Why Are You Alive?
The child born with a heavenly affliction delivered a statement so shocking it flipped the entire hall upside down. People doubted their own ears. Why are you alive? How could those words possibly be spoken to the benefactor of the family? No matter how bold and refreshingly unconcerned with rigid etiquette the Hebei Paeng Family’s traditions were, there were still limits.
Though no voices rang out, for some reason it felt as if everyone could hear screams disguised as sighs echoing in their heads. Did I truly hear that right? Have my ears finally gone bad with age? So the rumors are true—the Ghost Gates have opened and sorcery has reached its peak! They said being born with an unclosable Heavenly Gate destined one to become a fool. How cruel the heavens are!
Such thoughts flickered across their faces, yet deep down they all understood this was nothing more than an escape from reality. To utter such blasphemous words toward the family’s savior—the man who had saved the family head’s eldest daughter Paeng Ha-ryeong and the family head’s brother Paeng Mu-ho. No one could even begin to think how to salvage the situation.
Yet the actual recipient of the near-insulting venom, Namgung Woo, was thinking something entirely different.
What is this?
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over him. Those words were not a simple curse meant to peel away the annoying man clinging to the sister she favored. They stemmed from a far more fundamental question.
Just as Namgung Woo used his Blue Serene All-Seeing Eyes to disassemble a person’s essence, energy, and spirit from their very origin, this girl—Paeng Ye-ryeong—had perceived something within him. Or rather, since she likely did not possess the Blue Serene All-Seeing Eyes, “felt” was the more accurate word.
Yes. The girl had recognized an incomprehensible mystery in Namgung Woo. And there were several such unfathomable aspects about him.
What exactly did she sense? That I’m a person from another world? The foreign knowledge even I struggle to fully grasp? This body? Or the greatest power I possess—my eyes?
Whatever it was, Paeng Ye-ryeong was different.
Namgung Woo released their clasped hands, lowered one knee to the ground, and brought himself to eye level with her.
“What do you mean by that?”
It was not Paeng Ye-ryeong but Moyong Hye who answered.
“Benefactor, please forgive her rudeness. Ye-ryeong sometimes says things that make no sense…”
Moyong Hye, radiating apology as she defended her daughter, suddenly felt her clothes being tugged and turned to look at Paeng Ye-ryeong.
“Ye-ryeong?”
“We’re the same.”
“Pardon?”
Moyong Hye narrowed her brows, clearly asking what that was supposed to mean. But Paeng Ye-ryeong’s interest in her mother ended there. Facing Namgung Woo directly, she answered his question.
“What do I mean? You… noticed it too, right? The benefactor of that sister over there? Didn’t you?”
We are the same. Didn’t you notice?
At Paeng Ye-ryeong’s counter-question, a faint blue light settled in Namgung Woo’s eyes. The Blue Serene All-Seeing Eyes manifested, visualizing the elevated dimension connected to Paeng Ye-ryeong’s wide-open Heavenly Gate.
“…Yes.”
Moyong Hye looked back and forth between the two as they exchanged what sounded like a Zen dialogue, yet she could not grasp the meaning despite the simple words they used.
“Benefactor? Ye-ryeong? What exactly are you two talking about? Please explain it so I can understand. Um… a little more simply, if you would.”
“Simply? Hmm… it’s exactly as it sounds. We’re the same. Our constitutions. Touched by the heavens.”
“What?”
Moyong Hye’s face drained of color, her eyelids trembling violently.
The same? That was impossible. There were only three possible fates for those born with an open Heavenly Gate in contact with the heavens. If they walked the path of obedience, they might luckily receive a divine calling and become a shaman. If they walked the path of defiance, they would learn the arts of the left path and become a sorcerer. If they could walk neither, the only future that awaited was idiocy.
Yet Paeng Ye-ryeong had walked neither path. They had already concluded she was too close to the heavens for human hands to intervene. Since no divine calling had come, she should have taken the path of defiance, but it was now too late. That was why the Paeng Family had sought answers from the outer heavenly power of the Ghost Gates.
And now this girl was saying the man before her was the same as her.
Born with the cursed heavenly affliction that drove one mad before the age of intellect, yet he had surpassed that fate and lived normally well into adulthood. That meant this man was living proof that Paeng Ye-ryeong could survive—a rope of hope that had suddenly dropped right in front of them.
It was too sudden, without any omen, an answer that had appeared out of nowhere. Because of the suspicion that what she was seeing and hearing might not be real, Moyong Hye could not even properly feel joy.
The others felt the same. Even Paeng Ha-ryeong—who had harbored hope that Namgung Woo might improve her sister’s prognosis through some mysterious method like what he had done for her—was utterly stunned. There was no need to speak of the rest.
Yet as if the state of everyone else was irrelevant, Paeng Ye-ryeong spoke with perfect nonchalance.
“I asked the wrong question at first. How are you alive?”
“…That is.”
Namgung Woo paused, suddenly realizing that even he did not yet fully understand his own body. Although he had performed occasional self-examination, he had never exerted his full power—raising all three types of divine energy stored in his three dantians to completely manifest the martial arts and abilities he possessed.
The same applied to the Blue Serene All-Seeing Eyes. The moment he had pushed its power the furthest was when treating Paeng Ha-ryeong. Even that had been far from drawing out its full potential.
Not knowing himself completely, how could he perfectly know another? It was a question too premature to answer with confidence.
And above all, unlike Paeng Ye-ryeong, Namgung Woo had the leisure and consideration to look at those around him.
“It seems too early to discuss here.”
Namgung Woo rose, lifting his knee from the ground.
“Ah…”
Seeing the undisguised disappointment on Paeng Ye-ryeong’s face, Namgung Woo lifted his gaze and met eyes flushed deep red with a longing more intense and profound than any he had ever seen.
“You must have many questions, but perhaps it would be best to take some time to breathe?”
“……Benefactor…”
Moyong Hye’s voice was thick with moisture.
She did not know. Namgung Woo did not know. Could he even guess? The pain of a mother who could not protect her child? The ecstasy of finally discovering hope?
Not even a minute or second could be wasted. She wanted to grant Paeng Ye-ryeong a future this very instant. Perhaps she had overtaxed her mind. Simply taking steps that were not even half her normal stride made Moyong Hye’s body sway.
“Mother, for now it would be best to follow the benefactor’s suggestion.”
“Yes, let’s go inside first. The benefactor must be exhausted after traveling all the way from Beijing to Tianjin the very day after arriving.”
Paeng Ja-ryeong and Paeng Ha-ryeong supported the staggering Moyong Hye from either side. Even Paeng Ye-ryeong, who usually acted without regard for others, was different this time. As if to reassure her mother, she wrapped her arms around her and nestled close.
With all three children trying to calm her, Moyong Hye took a deep breath and settled her excitement. She had been so overwhelmed that even the breathing technique she had cultivated her entire life had collapsed.
“…I showed an unsightly display.”
“Not at all.”
“As the matriarch I should be guiding you personally, but it seems I cannot. Ha-ryeong, could you guide the benefactor to the guest quarters in my stead? Would that be acceptable, benefactor?”
“Of course.”
When Moyong Hye bowed deeply, Namgung Woo returned the gesture. After Paeng Ja-ryeong gave a silent bow to Namgung Woo and left supporting his mother, Paeng Ha-ryeong took Namgung Woo’s arm and gently pulled him along.
“Please come this way. I’ll give you a simple tour of the residence.”
After the welcoming ceremony that had turned into quite a commotion finally ended and they entered the guest room, the Yang brothers simultaneously burst out with everything they had been holding back.
“Captain, what the hell just happened?”
“Can you really treat her? It sounded like you share the same constitution. Is it some kind of blocked meridian condition?”
“Both of you, calm down. Even I don’t know for certain yet.”
Yang Kvae and Yang Jeong, realizing they had overreacted, cleared their throats at Namgung Woo’s words and sat down.
“Still, I was genuinely shocked. I’d heard the Paeng Family’s precious daughter Ye-ryeong was ill, but Captain, are you some kind of immortal? Is there anything you can’t do?”
“Exactly. They say the young master of the Paeng Family never shows emotional disturbance, but did you see him earlier? He was completely out of it when you were talking with the youngest lady, Captain.”
“Ah~ that. I saw it too. I started wondering if his title of Unshakable Blade Lord was even accurate.”
Paeng Ja-ryeong was called Unshakable because he never wavered and the Paeng Family itself did not move. Despite coming from the Paeng Family, he was so smooth and composed that people even said he seemed more like someone from the Moyong or Jegal families.
Even a man like that had failed to maintain his composure in the previous situation.
Yet Namgung Woo did not find their reactions particularly welcome.
“This is troublesome. The expectations have grown far too high.”
“True. If you end up saying you can’t cure her after all this, it’ll blow up in our faces.”
“Brother, what are you even saying… She said you share the same constitution. That means the Captain has already overcome it, so what’s the problem?”
“Are you stupid? The Captain is a once-in-a-millennium genius. He hasn’t said it outright, but he’s at least mid-Transcendent Realm. Mid-Transcendent at twenty-six? I only know two monsters like that. But look at that Paeng Family girl. Her martial foundation is so weak she’d probably collapse if I even tapped her.”
“Will you watch your language? This is the Paeng Family’s…”
“Ah, the Captain isn’t saying anything, which means there are no eavesdroppers, right? Don’t you trust the Captain? Huh?”
Yang Jeong lost to his brother’s verbal barrage once again. It was irritating, but Yang Kvae’s words always had some plausible basis that made them hard to refute.
“Don’t worry. It seems there are no monitors here anyway.”
“The Paeng Family is known for being bold like that. Any other great family would have attached escorts or people to ‘help with guidance.’”
“Only the Huangbo Family is probably similar to the Paeng Family in that regard.”
The Seven Great Families that dominated the Orthodox Murim. There had once been Eight including the Namgung, but regardless, the Huangbo Family was a martial house renowned for its straightforwardness alongside the Paeng Family.
“Rather than talking about the families, I’m more curious about what you said earlier. You know two people who reached mid-Transcendent Realm in their twenties?”
“Ah, that? One from the Orthodox faction and one from the Unorthodox. In the Orthodox there’s Ha-gyeong Jin-in of the Qingcheng Sect, and in the Unorthodox there’s the leader of the Black Dance Union, Dan Un-ak…”
Yang Kvae’s fragmented lecture on Murim common knowledge echoed through the guest room.
Meanwhile, as soon as Paeng Ha-ryeong finished guiding her guests and entered the inner quarters, words from two people flew toward her.
“Ha-ryeong, come here and sit down for a moment.”