Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Heavenly Secrets
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'Does he just like being around other people...?'
Come to think of it, she recalled how he seemed particularly afraid of being left alone.
The boat incident was the prime example.
She'd chalked it up to fear from the dangerous situation at the time, but looking back now, it seemed like he had a deep terror of being isolated without knowing what was happening around him.
Even more than most people.
'...Still, I need to keep my distance once we're back.'
She could excuse it when it was just the two of them like now, but he had originally lived in Shaanxi, so he must have acquaintances there.
After that, there'd be no need to worry.
No matter how much she harbored feelings for him, being overly protective wasn't good.
He was a full-grown adult, after all.
...Even if his appearance made him look less like an adult and more like a boy.
Judging age by looks was something she wouldn't do—not to others, and especially not herself.
She was already used to it, thanks to her old comrades.
"It might be rude to ask, but is there a reason you hide your face?"
She spoke while gazing at his face, shrouded in mysterious darkness inside his hood, invisible to the eye.
One might expect such an enigmatic look to unsettle her, but oddly, it didn't.
It just felt like, Ah, I see, and that was that.
She wondered where he'd even gotten that bloodstained cloak, but more than that, she was curious why he'd go to such mysterious lengths to conceal himself.
She knew what lay beneath, and it was nothing to be ashamed of showing others.
"No particular reason. My face is just ugly... ah."
A question bloomed in her mind at his words, cut short midway.
Ugly? If his face was ugly, then everyone in the Central Plains was hideous.
Flutter, flutter.
"Come to think of it, you already know what I look like, don't you?"
He grasped his hood with one hand and shook it lightly.
She caught a glimpse of his ear peeking through the swaying fabric.
"Guess that excuse won't fly then. It was my go-to for customers anyway."
"...So you told them you hide your face because it's ugly?"
"Yeah. Easiest reason by far. No one questions it much. Who'd argue with someone saying they're too ugly to show their face?"
"Hmm..."
That tracked.
What could anyone say to a man claiming he hid because he was ugly?
"So the real reason is something else?"
"Yes. My master gave me a prophecy."
"A prophecy?"
"She said to hide my face. That it'd bring me great calamity later."
"Hmm..."
Calamity because of his face.
To her eyes, at least, there didn't seem to be any issue.
No, she's his master. She must have seen something I couldn't.
She wasn't a true Daoist, nor had she specialized in reading heavenly secrets, so she figured there must be something beyond her knowledge.
His master had taught him how to read them, after all, so there was likely intent behind it.
"I see... Sorry about that."
"Ah, it's fine. I don't really mind."
It was an apology for unintentionally glimpsing his face during that so-called 'treatment' in the past.
Thinking back on it, that moment kept replaying in her head.
A body so slender and fragile it was hard to believe it belonged to an adult, matched perfectly by his face—it lingered in her mind.
'...Hoo.'
She'd even had to pinch her nose shut to hold herself back for a moment.
Her mental discipline should have been ironclad by now, yet ever since meeting him, controlling herself had grown harder.
"Want me to show you again?"
His words in that moment nearly snapped her restraint.
"I-is that okay?"
"Well, you've already seen it. And it's just us here—what's the point of hiding? It's not like it'll wear out from looking, or like I slathered honey on it."
It wouldn't wear out from looking, true, but she couldn't fully agree about the honey part.
He had a similar allure.
Like a bee drawn to nectar-laden flowers, his face pulled at her reason.
'...Ah. So that's what she meant.'
Only then did she grasp the meaning behind his master's words.
Probably something like that.
Meaning, showing his face would drag him into all sorts of troubles with women.
Indeed, back when he'd met little So-yeon, he hadn't been hiding it...
'...A wise woman.'
She inwardly paid respects to his nameless master.
"So, shall I? Say the word if you want to see. It's my first time chatting with someone outside who knows my face."
"...No one else has seen your face?"
"I don't think so. Oh, I did promise one person."
Flinch.
Promising to show his face?
Just hearing it sent an ominous chill through her.
She'd only seen it by force of circumstance—he'd never intended to show her.
"Y-you made that kind of promise?"
"Yeah. A friend who helped me out a lot. I said I'd show her after my round trip to Anhui... but things turned out like this suddenly."
"A 'friend,' you say?"
"Yep. Friend. I guess she got super curious since I always hide."
"By any chance, a woman...? No."
She almost asked if the friend was a woman, then stopped herself.
What kind of ugly jealousy was this?
If he said friend, it was a friend—jumping to assumptions wasn't right.
Rumble.
"The weather's weird today. Sky's clear, but it keeps thundering from somewhere..."
"...Seems like it."
Thunder echoed from outside just then.
The visible sky was cloudless and bright—thunder from a clear sky.
The phrase 'bolt from the blue' came to mind.
'...Brings back old memories.'
They'd clashed plenty, but she'd been a comrade who'd had her back.
[These goddamn vermin—worse than bugs, and there's just so fucking many of 'em...!]
[...]
The Kunlun Daoist had a foul mouth that sparked frequent friction with her, but she was still a precious comrade.
We all knew her bark hid a soft heart, despite her words.
That's why Shin-too teased her the most.
When he did, she'd draw her sword in rage... and he'd flee with exaggerated gestures...
In the heat of brutal war, it was one of those rare sparks of vitality.
Though she never appreciated being our laughingstock.
Rumble!
Yes, this thunder.
On the battlefield, when it roared, you'd look and find her wreathed in blue lightning...
"...Huh?"
"...Look, clouds suddenly..."
Gazing at the sky, she saw familiar clouds and blue lightning.
Her comrade's symbol, unseen since the war's end.
"...Ye Sochen?"
A familiar aura emanated from the clouds.
Unchanged from twenty years ago—her comrade's energy.
She knew her comrade was there.
But alongside that aura...
Flinch.
...Immense hostility.
And that hostility was aimed at...
"H-heek...!"
He was there.
Realizing it, she moved fast.
Using Air Grasp, she flung him to the back of the carriage as far as possible, then leaped out and drew her sword.
By the time she emerged, her comrade—cloaked in blue lightning—was already right in front of her.
Behind her stretched a trail of blue lightning reaching to the clouds.
An old comrade reunited, but no words were needed now.
Martial artists had their own ways.
Shiiiing.
She swung at the blue blade humming with lightning's speed.
No need for specific forms.
Both she and her foe had realms where every swing embodied enlightenment's essence.
Beyond the shackles of fixed stances.
Claaang!
Their swords clashed, a clear ring spreading out.
And around them...
Kraka-kraka-krak!
Blue lightning scorched the plum blossoms' fragrance.
Skreeech.
"Long time no see, Sword Empress! You haven't aged a day!"
"And you... you've gotten even younger!"
Clang!
She swung to push her back.
Her comrade landed lightly, as if expecting it.
"Really been ages. How many years? Fifteen?"
"Over twenty."
"Ah ha. That much time since we wiped out those mosquitoes? Time flies when you're holed up in Kunlun."
Twenty years.
A long time, yet neither had aged a bit.
"So, how've you been?"
"Haha, great, of course. So much to tell you, I'd share it all if I could."
Her voice and tone unchanged from back then, yet exhaustion laced it somehow.
'...Her, exhausted?'
She who'd fought three days straight without sleep, fresh as ever.
For her to feel fatigue—what had happened in those years?
"But why are you here?"
More importantly, the present.
She gripped her sword, eyes wary on her comrade.
She'd confirmed the hostility toward him behind her.
No matter who, she wouldn't let anyone swing at him.
And her comrade's reason left her stunned.
"Isn't there some arrogant fortune teller here who dared mock the Lord of Heaven and Earth?"
"..."
"To insult Him like that... I'd love to punish it with death, but He only asked for a light 'lesson,' so I held back."
"What do you...?"
Seeing her speak of Heaven and the gods like distinct beings with personality, she couldn't help but falter.
People said things like 'Heaven wills it' or 'the gods decree,' but those were mere concepts.
Yet she spoke as if...
...treating it like a true god.