Spring Scenery (4)
Spring Scenery (4)
Big cities like Nanjing are overflowing with food, so I'm in a great mood.
Back when I lived in the Heavenly Mountains, sweet food was rare, so even I or the Sect Leader could only eat it once in a very long while.
I sat on a chair in front of a decent street stall and nibbled on a meat bun I'd just bought.
While doing so, I blankly watched the people passing by.
Back when I was at the Academy, I was flooded with offers to become a disciple.
Like a cat in an old box waiting to be adopted, countless offers to join various sects were indifferently placed in front of me.
The fact that I had talent anyone would covet must have played a part, too.
But as with many things in the world, the reason is simpler than you'd think.
It's because I'm a pushover.
What sect would happily accept someone snatching away their enforcer—no, their cherished disciple?
Most people wouldn't even dare utter such words, if only because they're afraid of the backing.
But the Changun Sect was a different story.
It was a small-time place that was treated as practically half-Evil Faction.
I pushed away the people telling me to become their disciple, citing loyalty to my master and whatnot, but thinking back now, I just didn't like those people very much.
Anyway, back then, I wasn't treated very well at the Academy.
The Academy is a place where you're only treated like a human being if you have talent, obviously, and either have a high-and-mighty master, a good family background, or a purse stuffed with silver coins.
In such a place, I, who was practically an orphan from a half-Evil Faction, was busy getting pushed around here and there.
It was a good thing So-ha was stuck to my side; if I had been walking around alone, someone would have inevitably picked a fight with me.
I'm talking about those high-and-mighty young masters who love traveling in packs so much that they even go on to establish the Murim Alliance later.
Because I was someone they could beat up without consequences, and they treated me like a son of a bitch who had taken So-ha through unfair, Evil Faction-like methods.
Back then, I just kept my mouth shut and took the beatings.
My master wanted to return to the Diancang Sect so badly, and... there was already a lot of talk about So-ha, so I thought if I acted like a hooligan too, it would make things difficult for many people.
Still, those matters were resolved quite neatly later on.
I didn't tell the few kids who were kind to me, "You, go to the latrine for a moment; you were really good to me," and then cause a massive commotion by spraying sword energy in the classroom... I just, well, by converting to the Demonic Cult, I naturally ended up seeing their faces a lot more often.
I guess this is why people say you need to join a big corporation.
Even people I thought I'd never see again came crawling over just to see my face once.
Anyway, the Academy has something similar to a dormitory called a 'Jae' (Hall).
Maybe because it's a place where they've scraped together only those deemed promising in the world, the facilities are quite excellent.
Every room was assigned as a spacious private room, and young masters or ladies who had been raised so preciously that they'd never dipped a finger in water would even bring several of their family servants with them.
I was always alone in my spacious room, though.
Back when I was at the Changun Sect, I was always busy taking care of the sect members and robbing merchants, so I never had any free time.
Besides, it was bigger than the room I shared with ten people when I first entered the Changun Sect.
Anyway, today, I opened the door thinking I'd just lie on the bed without a single thought and rest comfortably all day, but...
"Ah, you're here."
I opened the door handle that had pricked me slightly when I touched it and walked into the room, and the scent of sandalwood brushed past my nose.
So-ha was sitting neatly at the table placed in the middle of my room, with a teapot set on it, reading an old book.
"It's been a while. I was waiting for you."
"......Here?"
"Sit. I've brewed the tea you like."
"White tea... you mean."
So-ha nodded lightly without a word.
"Anyway, did you have a safe trip? Is the Sect Leader doing well?"
"Yeah, they're doing well."
For now, I'm the Sect Leader of the Changun Sect, so it's not exactly a lie.
So-ha smiled brightly at my bland answer and lifted the teapot.
And then, she slowly filled my teacup.
"You suddenly prepared something like this, do you have something to talk about?"
"I have plenty to talk about. My uncle still wants to separate you and me and connect me with the Namgung Clan, or someone somewhere hates you. There's a lot of talk like that. But, I don't want to talk about those things right now."
Steam rose from the tea poured into the cup.
"Come to think of it, even though we were always stuck together, I don't think we had much time to talk like this. Just being together was so good, though."
The girl showed me a faint smile.
However... it was so faint that I wondered if it was even a smile.
Somehow, my nerves, which had been on edge until just a moment ago... felt like they were calming down.
Actually, I might not want to live as a Murim person like this.
I feel sorry for Shinnyeo-nim, but I don't really have any desire to revive the Divine Cult.
When something rises, something else is bound to decline, and in that process, countless people die.
And... that won't just be something that passes by; it will become my business.
I don't want to get blood on my hands again.
I'm a selfish person.
I don't want to make someone happy by getting someone else's blood on my hands like some altruistic person.
If I just do nothing like this, maybe I can live as if nothing happened?
That text about remembering... in the end, only I saw it.
It might have been an illusion I saw right before I died, or a misunderstanding.
"I have something to tell you."
So-ha said in a somehow gentle voice.
"What is it?"
"That's right, what was I going to talk about?"
So-ha's gaze moves slightly toward behind me.
Actually, I might have just had a bad dream for a moment, and I might be able to get along well with So-ha again like this.
It's not that there aren't things blocking my path, but...
"Please die."
Seogeok!
The sound of air being torn as a blade flies horizontally, sharply ripping through the empty space behind my back.
Instinctively, I twisted my waist to draw my sword, but my body was incredibly sluggish.
In the end, a cold blade dug into my back and sliced through.
I looked to see who had cut my back, and it was the youngest daughter of the Namgung Clan.
She raised her sword high again and swung it mercilessly from top to bottom.
I managed to draw my sword, but I couldn't put any strength into my body, and my internal energy wouldn't gather, so far from blocking it, I was sliced clean from my shoulder to my waist.
It seems like a fortunate situation that my body wasn't cut in half, at least.
So-ha, who had been sitting in front of me, also slowly stood up and drew the sword she had tied to her waist.
"You should have just died quietly with that just now."
"......Ha."
Somehow, it's hard to even breathe.
"If your neck had been cut... at least you could have gone without pain."
My body won't move well.
Seeing as my internal energy won't gather in the first place, I think I've been poisoned.
"Since you're not dead yet, shall we chat a bit? You probably won't understand what I'm saying, but when I made my decision, you were already dead."
So-ha knocked away the sword I was holding and slowly approached.
"Sometimes, I used to think that. That I should have cut ties with you sooner."
And she stabbed my ankle deeply and kicked me, knocking me over.
"I don't know about Father... but Uncle and the elders always said that as long as it wasn't you, I'd be happier with anyone else."
Before she even finished speaking, So-ha stabs my chest.
I think she pierced my lung; I can't speak.
I don't think I couldn't speak just from being stabbed a little before.
It must be because of the poison.
".......Pfft... pffft, pfft, ugh-pfft, look at this state! Haa... I should have done this sooner. It was so hard waiting here."
So-ha held her stomach and laughed like a crazy person for a long time.
Then, she suddenly straightened her face and looked down at me with blank eyes.
"Anyway, did you kill everyone in the family? No. I don't want to hear it."
Before I could even answer, So-ha pulled the sword out of my chest and brought the tip to my neck.
Unfortunately, this time I hadn't even visited the Diancang Sect yet!
Right now, I really want to talk.
It's not because I'm at a disadvantage, I'm just a person who has always liked talking peacefully.
"Come to think of it, it was only novel when we first met; as people said, I should have been with another man.
A relationship that creaks from the beginning couldn't possibly flow properly, could it?"
I can't even answer.
Because she started pushing the blade into my neck very, very slowly.
While staring straight into my eyes.
You said let's talk!
I want to talk too!
Every time I breathe, the sound of air leaking out, along with drops of blood, starts splattering around.
"...Can't you suffer, or at least struggle a little?"
The woman from the Namgung family, who couldn't watch anymore, strides toward me.
And she roughly pushes So-ha's shoulder aside and raises the sword she was holding high.
Then she brought the sword down heavily from top to bottom.
My vision spins.
After my head fell off my neck and rolled around on the floor, I found out that you don't die immediately just because your neck gets cut off.
That wasn't information I wanted to know.
The last thing I saw before I died was the Namgung family woman clicking her tongue and spitting curses at So-ha.
"...Crazy bitch."
Like that, my consciousness slowly faded.
[ED. Chungyeong]
[Although the Young Sect Leader of the Changun Sect disappeared from the Academy, it didn't become a big topic of conversation.]
[Who would care about some bandit, even if his talent was a bit outstanding, given his background?]
[Since the Changun Sect had long since disappeared, no one looked for that man.]
[Fifteen days passed like that... and the Young Sect Leader of the Diancang Sect realized that something was seriously wrong after receiving the letter sent by the Sect Leader.]
[But what can you do.]
[Isn't it meaningless to look for someone now when there isn't even a grave to visit?]
[Non-existent branch.]
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[The accumulated karma has exceeded the threshold.]
[Key figures entangled with you remember your actions.]
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I have a bun in my hand.
I look down at it blankly, and since it would be a problem if the bun gets cold, I slowly stuff it into my mouth.
Feeling the sensation of meat juices bursting in my mouth, I blankly watch the people, when a person who looks like So-ha catches my eye.
Without realizing it, I stroke my neck.
"Ah, shit."
"...Is it that tasteless?"
"No, it's because it's delicious."