Father and Daughter
Qingcheng Mountain, where the dense stands of ancient pines and bamboo forests never lost their verdant green through all four seasons.
Crossing the mist-shrouded Yuexing Lake, passing Zhaoyang Cave—the eastern cavern—and Tianshi Cave, where the Celestial Master was said to have once preached, at last the Shangqing Palace, which enshrined the Supreme Lord Lao, came into view.
"You've come?"
Before the Shangqing Palace stood an old man with narrow eyes and protruding cheekbones.
Even at a glance, he was no ordinary stubborn figure.
"Qingcheng never changes, no matter when one visits. With scenery so splendid and the Taoist temples so majestic yet refined, the Sect Leader must be quite content."
The one receiving the greeting was likewise an old man whose voice carried an easy composure; looking closely, he was the very man who had previously invited Cheong-wol and Ak Seo-a to sit with him in the pavilion.
"I am grateful, but Qingcheng's true worth does not lie in its outward appearance. What matters is the people—and more important still is the spirit we have preserved."
"When Kunlun said much the same before, it rather struck a chord."
"...As you say."
After a brief exchange of greetings, the two slowly stepped inside.
"I was quite surprised upon receiving your letter. We had scoured the entire Central Plains without finding a single trace of him. I had long assumed he had hidden himself beyond the frontier and simply forgotten about him."
"They say the darkest place is under the lamp—exactly so. Who would have guessed that for all those long years he had been living with his face concealed by the art of disguise?"
"Even so, I never imagined he would be working at an inn. Without the Beggars' Guild, such minor oversights certainly show."
"Don't even mention those beggar bastards. Just thinking of them makes me sick."
A short while later, upon opening the door and entering the room, the portraits of the Supreme Lord Lao and Lü Dongbin first caught the eye beyond the burning incense.
"Incense smells much the same whether Taoist or Buddhist. Though the teachings differ, the way of revering one's superiors is no different, is it?"
"Strictly speaking, in Buddhism there is no one to enshrine."
The old man called Sect Leader replied calmly, then strode past the incense burner toward the one bound to the chair.
"I say this just in case, but three of my disciples died and five were seriously wounded just to keep this one alive. We did our best, so do not blame us for how things have turned out."
The hair was disheveled and deeply bowed, and the wounds exposed above the clothes were hideously stained with dark, dried blood.
"Well then, I shall take my leave."
When Neung Hwa-un, Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect, left the room, the one who had been bowing slowly raised their face.
Though blood- and sweat-matted hair clung to the features, making them hard to discern clearly, it was unmistakably a woman.
Wulin Alliance Leader Yu Baekheon.
From the mouth of the man who had never wavered in anything, a rare deep sigh escaped.
"...If only you had fled far away. Had you hidden yourself beyond the frontier, today's events would never have come to pass. At the very least, if you had not crossed the Yangtze..."
At the voice laced with sorrow, the woman barely managed to open her mouth.
"...Father."
At the thin voice that seemed ready to break at any moment and the irregular breathing, Yu Baekheon's face grew even darker.
"So I am still a father to you, it seems."
Raising his hand to check several pulse points, black blood gushed from the woman's mouth.
Thanks to that, her breathing stabilized for a moment, but from her condition it was clear this was no more than a final flicker of life.
With a complicated gaze, Yu Baekheon gently stroked her hair as if handling a child.
"Though you were only my adopted daughter, I raised you with no less affection than a true child. That, I believe, even you cannot deny."
"...I know."
"And so... if we were to meet again like this, there was something I always wanted to ask."
The question he had repeated over a hundred times in his dreams, holding his daughter's hand.
At last those words carefully left Yu Baekheon's lips.
"Baek-yeong. Why did you betray this father of yours?"
The woman barely swallowed the blood-tinged saliva with her torn throat.
"Because Father's jianghu... is a jianghu where far too many must shed blood..."
Yu Baekheon unconsciously let out a low hum.
"...And so you let that man go?"
"I sent away the child who was in his arms."
"You should not have done so. Look at the result of ruining everything with a moment's pity. The orthodox martial world is not merely divided—now they are pointing swords at one another."
Their gazes intertwined in the empty air.
"Now more blood will flow than even you feared. Perhaps it will cover the entire Central Plains. Had you not let that man go that day, none of this would have happened."
"But..."
In the woman's eyes that seemed about to go out, the dying flame flared fiercely one last time.
"When I saw the blood of the innocent, how could I help the nausea rising? In that moment I realized. Father's righteousness... can never coexist with the righteousness within me."
"...They are ones who, possessing such power, hid it and did not even put forth a great cause. If this is not a crime, then what is?"
Even after more than twenty years, at the completely unchanged figure of her father, the woman's eyes wavered complexly.
"Even if Father's words are right... the child was without any sin, was he not? Moreover... he was not even a child of the Im Clan..."
Unable to finish her words, the woman's eyelids slowly closed.
Sensing the final moment approaching, Yu Baekheon carefully caressed his daughter's face, not as Alliance Leader but as a father.
"I heard you lived with a martial artist from the Dang Clan. Was he a decent fellow?"
Even the woman, in this moment, laid everything down and, as a man's child, smiled faintly.
"He may not have been to your liking... but to me he was the best of men. Truly..."
The father wiped the tears that had gathered at his daughter's eyes and slowly nodded.
"If you liked him, then he would certainly have pleased my heart as well."
"Would... he have... If that were truly so... it would be good..."
At last, when the woman's eyes closed completely, Yu Baekheon gently drew her shoulders into an embrace.
"Go rest first. Before long this father will follow after you."
Upon entering Chengdu, Cheong-wol felt a mood quite different from anything before.
Sturdy men passed by shouting with loads on their shoulders, and the hawkers' cries of merchants tangled and struck the ears.
It was a truly suffocating sight, with no room to set foot no matter where one looked.
Cloth merchants shook out silk with a snap, and every tavern flung open its doors, spreading the scent of wine.
Barely managing to slip through the gaps, the end of the main road finally came into view.
Thinking that just a little more walking would free them from this hellish clamor, the moment they turned the corner—
What unfolded before their eyes was a sea of people like the ocean itself, and Cheong-wol froze as if nailed to the spot.
"Miss Cheong-wol! Are you all right?"
"Seo-a... I feel like I'm going to die of dizziness..."
As Cheong-wol staggered and showed weakness for the first time, Ak Seo-a supported her arm as if urging her to take heart.
"Just a little more strength. The Dang Clan is right before our noses."
"Huh...?"
All she could see were black heads of hair; blocked by the crowd, she could not tell where it was at all.
"Look over there."
Following Ak Seo-a's fingertip, Cheong-wol discovered a gate soaring high even from afar.
Though distant, its imposing presence came through clearly.
The only problem was that by normal means, it was a distance they could never reach within the day.
"...Shall we just come back next time when it's less busy?"
She tried to slip her feet away with an awkward smile, but Ak Seo-a shook her head and would not release her arm.
"This humble one is also coming this way for the first time, but from experience, the moment Miss Cheong-wol hopes for will not come no matter how long one waits. Moreover, I do not know what you are so worried about."
Then she took out the clan head's token she had carefully kept in her bosom and waved it before Cheong-wol's eyes.
"Right here! We have this clan head's token!"
Had there ever been a day when she looked so reliable?
Cheong-wol straightened her shoulders proudly and followed Ak Seo-a as she forged through the crowd toward the Dang Clan.
Of course, in the process, sharp glares poured from the surroundings.
But if only they could escape this place, such glares meant nothing to Cheong-wol.
Thus, walking with the majestic air of a triumphant general returning home in glory, they reached the entrance, but of course the Dang Clan martial artists frowned deeply and blocked the two.
"This is the first time young ladies have so boldly tried to cut in line. Go to the end and line up again."
"I was so dumbfounded I couldn't even think to stop you. Aren't you young ladies ashamed?"
Even at the scolding words of the martial artists, Ak Seo-a was not the least bit cowed.
Rather, she held out the gleaming clan head's token and opened her mouth with utmost confidence.
"This humble one. Eldest daughter of the Shandong Ak Clan."
The clan head's token, together with her arrogant yet utterly composed demeanor.
What further confirmation was needed?
The martial artists briefly exchanged glances, then soon nodded.
And then, toward Ak Seo-a who wore a triumphant smile on her lips, they calmly spoke.
"Miss. The entrance for distinguished guests is on the opposite side."