Chapter 4: i’ll go find you

“Yu-won, tonight was wonderful as well.”

Warm sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the bed where Yu-won and Ha-yeon lay after a night of passion.

She smiled, gazing at his face, exhausted from their lovemaking.

Was he as talented in bed as he was in martial arts? Yu-won’s vigor was astounding, enough to satisfy the desires she had accumulated over long years.

Looking at his face, memories of their time together flooded back.

Ha-yeon had believed she would live her life alone.

At first, she had only been mildly interested in the child she had taught for a month, now a member of the Heavenly Demon Guard.

But her gaze kept returning to him.

His constant presence in her thoughts led her to make him her personal guard.

As her guard, Yu-won’s eloquence and actions charmed her.

She had never experienced romance, never found conversation enjoyable, but with Yu-won, there was only comfort and pleasure.

It was inevitable that she would fall for him.

A late bloomer’s passion is a force to be reckoned with.

Time with Yu-won became addictive.

She could no longer imagine life without him.

He had to be by her side.

Only in his presence could her frozen heart that, could she truly be herself.

Then, one day, an incident occurred.

The Martial Alliance sent a letter proposing a truce.

Ha-yeon, who valued her time with Yu-won more than conquering the martial world, agreed to meet, traveling alone to the designated location.

She had assumed they wouldn’t resort to treachery in a village with hundreds of witnesses, especially one representing the righteous sects.

She believed they would uphold the righteousness and harmony they so loudly proclaimed, at least at a meeting meant for peace.

She was wrong.

The Martial Alliance Leader, who was supposed to come alone, arrived with numerous masters of the peak of Supernal and Transformation Realms.

And the meeting place, where Ha-yeon had entered first, was filled with a potent airborne poison.

Realizing the trap, she immediately escaped, but even the Heavenly Demon, immune to most poisons, couldn’t function normally after inhaling such a potent toxin.

Her movements restricted, she weakened under the combined assault of numerous masters.

“Such cowardice… is this the righteousness and harmony you preach?”

“…”

No one answered. Everyone present knew their actions were wrong.

But the Heavenly Demon was too powerful.

If they didn’t kill her now, she would become even stronger and destroy the Martial Alliance, establishing demonic rule. This was their only chance.

They gathered here, sacrificing their righteousness and potentially their lives, for a better future for generations to come.

And their plan almost succeeded.

Dozens of masters attacked the poisoned Heavenly Demon, all but two perishing.

But Ha-yeon was left without the strength to even lift a finger.

“To push me this far… impressive. You could never have killed me otherwise.”

The Martial Alliance Leader, missing an arm and a leg.

“I salute your strength. I will grant you a swift death.”

The Shaolin Abbot, his intestines spilling from a gaping wound in his stomach, yet still alive.

Both were mortally wounded but retained enough strength to kill the Heavenly Demon.

‘Is this the end…?’

She had lived a life without regrets, proud of her actions, leaving no unfinished business.

Yet now, she felt a longing stronger than anything she had ever experienced.

‘I want to see Yu-won.’

She had told him to trust her and not to follow her.

If he had any respect for the Heavenly Demon and understood the chain of command, he would never appear here.

Just as she resigned herself to death, thunder echoed through the clear, cloudless sky.

Rumble.

Boom!

The same sound as the lightning she had once witnessed with Yu-won.

The difference was that this lightning was tinged with ink.

And it was aimed not at a tree, but at people.

The two masters, already accepting death, were too weakened to react to the sudden lightning.

Their bodies vanished in a cloud of dust.

“It’s alright now. I’m here.”

She saw his face, a face that shouldn’t be here.

‘Is this a hallucination?’

No. Yu-won held her collapsing body and spoke.

“You were gone for so long, I got worried and came to check… I guess I wasn’t wrong to come?”

She had allowed him to speak informally when they were alone, but she had never permitted him to come here. She had to punish him for defying her orders.

There was only one punishment she could give him.

“Yu-won…”

Her voice, barely a whisper. Yu-won leaned closer to hear her.

“Yes…?”

Ha-yeon softly declared,

“Marry me.”

He would spend his life with her, a woman inexperienced in love.

That was Ha-yeon’s punishment for Yu-won.

She mustered her remaining strength, kissed his lips, and lost consciousness.

Eight years after their marriage, just 30 minutes before Yu-won’s 30th birthday.

Lying in the same bed, Yu-won spoke to Ha-yeon.

“Ha-yeon, do you remember?”

“?”

She looked at him, lying naked beside her.

“When I asked you to marry me, I told you I would die at 30. I asked if you would still marry me.”

She nodded.

“Didn’t I say I had no intention of being with any other man, that I would love you for the rest of your life, no matter how long or short it may be?”

He looked sorrowful.

“Don’t say that.”

“What…?”

“I’m going to die in 30 minutes. After I die, you, a master of the Transcendent Realm, will live for centuries. It’s selfish of me to ask you not to forget me.”

She should have laughed it off, told him not to joke, that he couldn’t die while she was here.

But his expression was too serious.

Like someone truly about to die.

“Why…?”

“I was afraid to tell you, but I’m not from this world. I was reborn here through a power granted by a god in another world, and my lifespan is 30 years. And when I go to my next life, I’ll forget all the emotions I gained in this one…”

She wouldn’t have believed anyone else.

But the man she loved most, wearing the most serious expression, was telling her his life was ending. How could she doubt him?

“Is there no way to stop it…?”

“I’ve thought about it, but there’s no answer… Unless I become stronger than the god who gave me this power, how can I possibly stop it?”

Inevitable death was approaching.

He could no longer maintain his composure.

Tears flowed from his eyes.

“Ha-yeon… I don’t want to die… I’ve worked so hard… I’ve built so much here… You’re here… Why do I have to die… Why…!”

Anguish welled up.

Too much had happened, too many people he had come to care for, too much love he had found.

The woman he loved most was right here.

One sentence from the Five Lives Trait echoed in his mind.

[Memories transfer to the next life, but emotions do not.]

He would have to live his next life without this overwhelming love, without these emotions.

The thought terrified Yu-won.

He dreaded the thought of himself looking back on these memories with indifference.

He couldn’t imagine not loving her anymore.

As he wept, Ha-yeon pulled his head into her embrace.

“Yu-won.”

She called him tenderly.

“Yes…”

Soothed by her voice and heartbeat, Yu-won responded.

“You said this life isn’t your last, right?”

“Yeah…”

She smiled.

“Then I’ll find you.”

“What…?”

“I’ll find a way to reach you, no matter where you are, what you’re doing… so don’t tell me to stop loving you.”

Her expression turned serious.

“Don’t make a fool of me, the one who loves you more than anyone.”

He had been so concerned with her feelings that he hadn’t considered her own.

He had thought of her being left alone, but he had presumptuously judged how she would feel.

He apologized, his voice choked with tears.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean…”

She interrupted him.

“I didn’t say that for an apology. I’m telling you to trust me, the one you love, and the one who loves you.”

Trust.

That’s what she wanted from him.

“You’ll lose your feelings for me? What does that matter? I’ll do everything in my power to make you fall in love with me again. So stop crying.”

She smiled brightly at him. Seeing her go to such lengths, Yu-won forced a smile back, determined not to let her see him cry until the very end.

“Okay. I’ll trust you, Ha-yeon.”

His last words before vanishing from the martial world.

As Yu-won’s breath ceased, his body dissolved into dust, leaving no trace behind.

Only silence remained in the room, the warmth lingering in the sheets the only evidence of his presence.

After Yu-won disappeared, Ha-yeon wept.

Tears of blood, shed for the first time in her life, stained the sheets crimson.

“Wait for me.”

No matter where he was, what he was doing, she vowed to find him again.

She swore it on her heart.