Watching Eyes
All of this was because the Heavenly Killing Star of the age had never appeared.
That single line from Jo Harang drowned the room in silence.
And those purple eyes, glittering as she said it. She tossed the words out as if they meant nothing, yet cold sweat slid down my spine all the same.
"Miss Jo Harang, what do you mean by that? That the chaos in the Central Plains is because the Heavenly Killing Star never showed up?"
Ilhong leaned in with her tiny face, cutting in. She looked utterly lost, as if the absence of the Heavenly Killing Star ought to be a good thing.
"It's not that simple."
Jo Harang scratched her cheek and went on.
"The Heavenly Killing Star is a slaughter-mad demon the heavens send down when the evil karma of mankind reaches its peak."
As the bearer of the Purple Micro Star she had trained under Song Ryeong and clearly absorbed a great deal of lore. According to her, it was not merely a person driven mad by a star's influence, but something closer to a divine agent of punishment carrying heaven's will.
"Once the Heavenly Killing Star appears, it starts massacring without distinguishing righteous, heretical, or demonic. It tries to wipe out every living thing, root and branch."
In other words, good or evil, strong or weak, high-born or low—everyone got swept away equally. As if a colossal bomb named Death had been dropped square in the middle of the Murim.
"It's pure, indiscriminate slaughter. And in the process of painting the Central Plains red, the forces that throw the world into chaos get swept away with everything else."
So because that culling had not happened for nearly a hundred years, evil was once again free to run wild. She described it the way one might describe a great flood that razes villages yet leaves the soil fertile, or a typhoon that circulates air and water and ultimately benefits nature.
"Whoa, the Heavenly Killing Star is that serious? One person on the level of a natural disaster…"
Ilhong muttered, looking as if she could not quite believe it. She was busy feeling relieved that such a horrific age had never arrived—unaware that the very subject of the story was sitting right next to her. If she found out, she would probably faint on the spot.
"Yeah. That serious. The bastard kills everything without discrimination. And the longer it takes to put him down, the stronger he gets—until no one can handle him. That's why, in those times, every faction has to join forces to take him out."
Jo Harang nodded as she continued. Even factions that had been at each other's throats would unite for survival when a natural disaster walked among them.
Right. In a way, even the Blood Sect Leader or the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult fell short of the true public enemy of the Murim. And that public enemy was me.
A bitter smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
"There was a massive blood calamity about a hundred years ago too. Our Jaha Sect's founding master was caught up in that catastrophe, as far as I know."
Song Ryeong's own master had also been swept into the disaster of the previous Heavenly Killing Star.
…
At Jo Harang's words the red fingers inside me twitched and stirred, as if they had just remembered something.
"Anyway, things like that used to happen every hundred years at the shortest, or every few centuries at the longest."
According to the old tales, sometimes the star was put down early and the disaster stayed minor; other times it ballooned into a vast blood calamity.
"It was utterly horrific at the time, but afterward a strange coexistence and peace would settle in."
After the rain the ground hardens—same idea. The Central Plains would be tempered into a single will.
She laid out the history of the Heavenly Killing Star in front of me like some old master reciting ancient lore. Then she stroked her smooth chin and furrowed her brow.
"But for the celestial signs to have already announced the Heavenly Killing Star's arrival, and for the ominous star to have lost its light like this… that's a truly rare phenomenon."
Her eyes pierced the blue sky beyond the window, full of puzzled light.
"Mujin, why do you think that is? Why, against heaven's will, has the Heavenly Killing Star never even appeared?"
Her voice was gentle, yet that innocent question set my heart hammering.
Even Salsung flinched and made the fingers tremble.
"Beats me… I don't know the first thing about ominous stars or Heavenly Killing Stars or any of that."
"…Hmm. Really?"
Jo Harang's lips curved in a subtle way. Why was she looking at me like she already knew something?
That playful little smile alone was enough to make me deeply uneasy.
Purple Micro Star… sworn enemy… eliminate…
Thin fingers scribbled something in frantic haste—in short, a mad suggestion to kill the Jo Harang standing right in front of me, immediately.
Leave it to a former Heavenly Killing Star; the second there was a gap she started screaming for blood.
But that was the express route to waking the ominous star I had worked so hard to suppress. Not a chance. I crushed her with the Seongun Simbeop.
Kyaaaak.
The fingers danced in agony, and I could almost hear the scream.
"So the Heavenly Killing Star has its own reason for existing, then?"
Ilhong asked, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. She had only ever thought of it as some devil-king out of old stories, and now she was discovering an unexpected side.
I listened quietly, then decided this was the moment and tossed a question at Jo Harang. When else would I get to ask something like this so naturally?
"Harang. Just hypothetically—if someone really close to you suddenly awakened as the Heavenly Killing Star… what would you do?"
She seemed to think it over carefully. Her long lashes lowered for a moment, then the purple eyes rose again.
"If a dear friend became that way against their own will… it would break my heart. I'd probably lose my mind from the grief."
"…Oh. Yeah?"
In the expression that said even imagining it hurt, I saw a spark of hope.
But she immediately added, firm as iron:
"Still, I'd have to kill them. If you wait too long the damage snowballs."
"…"
Her "you've still got to do what you've got to do" attitude left me speechless for a second.
She might look like she lived simply, without overthinking, but the core of her was clear and unshakable.
Whether that was good news for me was another question entirely.
You idiot…
Today Salsung's insults seemed to sink especially deep into my chest.
My fate felt like a ship thrashing through rough seas. Please, just don't let the situation we just talked about ever come true.
"Harang."
"Yeah? What?"
She turned toward me, long black hair swaying. In the sunlight pouring through the window her silhouette glowed beautifully.
"You're on my side, right…?"
I was pretty sure I had asked her this a few times before. Asking it now felt completely different.
Jo Harang seemed to take it as some friendly reaffirmation ritual; she grinned and lightly punched my chest with her fist.
"What's with you? I've told you over and over—I'm always on your side. 'One team.'"
Even if I did something that turned the whole world against me, she would stand with me at least once.
The absolute trust in her eyes left me with a tangled, heavy feeling—joy and anxiety knotted together.
"Boss, me too! Me too!"
Not to be outdone, Ilhong thrust her hand up and shouted. The heir of the Haomu Gate making sure I knew she was on my side as well.
At this rate I was going to have to work even harder never to let them find out I was the Heavenly Killing Star.
"Yeah. Thanks…"
The reception hall of the Eunseong Merchant Group was filled with lavish décor and the faint scent of fine wood.
Hwang Geolgae stepped in with Park Chil and stared blankly at the luxurious side dishes and liquor bottles laid out before him.
Eun Hwaran had prepared the reception with care, yet he could not bring himself to reach for any of it.
"So a new Heavenly Demon has been born…"
Hwang Geolgae muttered low.
"Yes, Sect Leader. That appears to be the case, as far as we can tell."
The ultimate of the demonic path. The sovereign of all demons.
News that the demonic practitioners of Sipmandaesan had welcomed a new Heavenly Demon was a major variable that would shake the Central Plains. Hwang Geolgae let out a quiet hum of thought.
The birth of a Heavenly Demon had always brought a storm of blood to the Central Plains, large or small.
If this was true, the already precarious peace of the Central Plains was now a candle in the wind.
"More of these damned worries come flooding in. This is exactly why this old man tried to set down the burden and climb past the wall…"
A lonely shadow settled over Hwang Geolgae's wrinkled face.
Signs that the future of the Central Plains would be painted in blood were beginning to show, and the situation had grown too grave to simply watch any longer.
And at the same time, the insolent words of his disciple flickered through his mind.
That it was not the world around him that was disordered, but the inside of his own heart.
Somehow that shameless remark from his unfilial disciple had stabbed him straight in the chest.
"You're telling this old man to pick up the responsibility he already set down? The little brat really does talk big."
He opened a callused palm. Over the deep furrows left by the years, a faint starlight qi drifted.
"Perhaps true enlightenment comes not from discarding, but from accepting."
He set down the liquor bottle he always carried, the one he claimed was for meeting the Primordial Heavenly Lord. As if he were casting off the weight on his heart at the same time, his shoulders strangely lightened.
"Heh… so that was it after all…"
His voice was low, yet it carried a deep resonance.
By once again binding himself to the mundane world he had abandoned and fled, he had gained a profound insight and a small enlightenment.
Because of it, he suddenly realized that the distant realm of the Profound Realm had, absurdly enough, drawn right up to the tip of his nose.
Hwang Geolgae now stood with one foot planted squarely on the boundary between the two realms.
"To shake this old man's heart with just a few words… no matter how I look at it, the brat is outrageous. Don't you think so, Park Chil?"
At that question Park Chil's face instantly brightened.
His eyes shone as he asked at once:
"Then, Sect Leader—will you lead the Beggar Sect again…?"
Are you done wandering and coming back? At the question, Hwang Geolgae gave a small nod.
"Yeah, you clingy bastard. Everyone's itching to put this old man to work."
"…Aaaah!"
The long-empty seat of the Beggar Sect's leader was to be filled once more. Park Chil shot to his feet and bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Quiet, you fool."
But the fact that he would have to work hard again did not seem entirely joyful; Hwang Geolgae dug at his ear and scowled heavily.
"Then I will inform headquarters of the Dragon Head Sect Leader's return, and announce to the entire Central Plains that Young Hero Dan Mujin is the official next heir!"
As if he had finally succeeded, Park Chil's face overflowed with excitement.
Hwang Geolgae waved a hand and snorted.
"That's not happening, you idiot."
"What? Why…?"
Hwang Geolgae leisurely picked at the side dishes prepared for him and continued.
"You said the Demonic Cult is on the move, didn't you? Looking at how they slaughtered our beggars, they're well aware of us. In their eyes the Beggar Sect still needs to look leaderless, chaotic, and divided."
In other words, they had to wage a kind of intelligence war.
Just as a martial artist hides thirty percent of his true skill against the unexpected, the Beggar Sect had to catch its breath for the sake of a greater scheme.
Don't be shortsighted—look far ahead. At that advice Park Chil's mouth fell open.
"Ah… of course!"
He nodded again and again in admiration.
The Dragon Head Sect Leader was already placing a move against that distant, invisible enemy rather than fretting over the sect's prestige.
"Dragon Head Sect Leader, your wisdom is truly…!"
"Ssshh. Spare me the worthless flattery."
"…Yes, sir."
He hated noise. Hwang Geolgae waved his hand and cut him off.
"Then is elevating Young Hero Dan Mujin as the next heir also being postponed?"
Park Chil had been watching Dan Mujin closely for a long time and had grown close to him; he was one of those deeply invested in the young man's rise in status—along with the First-Class Beggar who had been trying to get on his good side from early on.
"Yeah. We have to postpone it."
"Could it be that the young hero has somehow fallen out of your favor…?"
Park Chil asked carefully. Watching the two of them trade blows was so vicious that sometimes he wondered whether they actually got along.
Worried for his own path to advancement, he could not help asking just in case.
Hwang Geolgae laughed heartily and opened his mouth.
"No? That brat suits my taste more than anything. Stubborn as hell, full of grit, won't bow even in front of royalty, and has the heart of a chivalrous hero who cares for the weak—perfect material for the next heir!"
He had thrashed the boy for discipline every time he caused trouble, but deep down he held real affection.
If he hadn't, he would never have taken him as a disciple in the first place.
"…Sect Leader, then why?"
At the question Hwang Geolgae looked up at the sky beyond the window and murmured.
"As a disciple he suits me fine, but the fate surrounding him is no ordinary thing."
Being quietly regarded among the beggars as the de facto next heir was still manageable for now.
But once they publicly declared to the whole world that he belonged to the Beggar Sect, if the Heavenly Killing Star ever went berserk the fallout would crash down on tens of thousands of beggars.
That was why Hwang Geolgae had intended to take the responsibility alone as a mysterious wandering Daoist. Yet this brat's fate—where exactly did it intend to go careening off to?
"But the brat declared he would overcome his destiny, so as his master I have to watch over him."
He rose again and walked to the window. Day was already fading; the crimson sunset stretched his shadow long across the floor.
The boy had grown so well that he had even granted his master a small enlightenment.
So no matter how it all ended, he intended to watch until the very last moment.
Holding that resolve, Hwang Geolgae pulled the stopper from one of the liquor bottles Eun Hwaran had prepared.
"Sect Leader, now that you've returned, perhaps you should stop drinking…"
"Not a chance."
Hwang Geolgae snorted a laugh and, for all to see, gulped the liquor down in great swallows.