Chapter 931: So in the end.

It was the night when the new moon bloomed.

The endlessly sunken clouds felt unusually close.

And the grass spreading beneath them, freed by the moon, somehow felt crisp and clear.

It was that kind of day.

Because the moon was clear.

Because the sky was beautiful.

Because the wind was beautiful.

And.

“Isn’t it pretty?”

Because I liked you.

A day when the two of us would watch the moon like that.

That was today.

“Yes, it’s beautiful.”

I wasn’t speaking while looking at the moon.

If I had to be precise, I was speaking while looking at the night sky.

A sky where stars were spread out in full bloom.

Flowers bloomed in the fields with life.

And flowers bloomed in the sky as stars.

Then what could be blooming on your face?

It was a thought I often had while looking into her eyes.

“Oh my?”

The woman laughed at my words.

“…You still say wicked things, even after all this time.”

“What wicked thing did I say?”

Even thinking back, I never did.

I looked at the woman as if wronged, but she smiled her characteristic smile and said to me,

“It’s a wicked thing.”

“…What.”

“Because the words you speak keep me alive. They’re truly terrible and wicked words.”

I couldn’t understand.

She would often say incomprehensible things like this.

And what’s more, with such a sad expression.

“Why are you crying?”

I asked, stroking her white cheek.

“I’m not crying.”

The woman replied, holding the back of my hand.

The touch was cold.

Her body was always like that.

That’s why she would often come into my arms.

She said that since she was cold and I was warm, she could feel a little more comfortable embraced in my arms.

And that she could live to see tomorrow that way.

The woman would say things like that.

“Hey.”

“Speak.”

The woman embraced in my arms pointed to the sky with her hand.

“What do you see?”

I tilted my head up to look at the sky. Was she asking me to say everything I saw?

After watching quietly for a moment, I said,

“I see the night.”

“And?”

“There are stars contained within the night. And clouds embracing them.”

“And?”

“There’s also the moon rising above it all.”

“And then?”

“I don’t know.”

I said everything I could see. Honestly, I couldn’t find anything more if she asked.

Hearing my words, the woman rolled her eyes.

It was an action she did when she had many worries.

I liked that, so I just stared quietly.

“Then, I suppose it has to be the night.”

The woman brought up a completely random statement.

Hearing her words, I frowned and asked,

“…What do you mean?”

“The first thing you saw was the night, wasn’t it?”

“…”

Isn’t that just what’s visible the moment you look up?

I tried to say that, but…

“Then I’ll have to go with what I saw first.”

The woman sometimes said strange things like this, so I thought this was just another one of those times.

“…What exactly are you trying to say.”

What could the night sky possibly mean out of the blue?

I couldn’t understand.

“From now on, I will become your night.”

“…What.”

“If that happens, you’ll think of me every time you see the night.”

“…”

“Maybe you’ll think of me just by looking at the sky itself.”

What is night, what is sky?

The woman kept bringing up incomprehensible words.

“Please don’t forget me, even if it’s like this.”

“…”

Hearing her words, I stared blankly at her.

The reason I didn’t nitpick her nonsensical story was probably…

…because her expression was somehow earnest.

“…Alright.”

So I promised.

“You are the night to me.”

I said I would think of you every time I saw the darkened night.

That’s how we promised.

“Really?”

The woman laughed at my words.

However, even while seeing that smile, I felt something strange.

‘Why.’

Why are you still crying?

I thought, looking into the eyes of the woman forcing a smile.

“I’ll believe you.”

I embraced her, feeling sorry for her trembling shoulders as she spoke, but…

“As always.”

For some reason, I didn’t feel like I was holding her.

It felt like embracing empty mist. Regrettably, it seemed like it would just dissipate.

If I held her tighter, she seemed like she’d break.

If I let go, she seemed like she’d disappear.

“…I’ll believe you this time, too.”

The woman said, beneath the sky.

“…Alright.”

To those words, I could only reply.

It was the only thing I could do for the woman I was holding.

As I held her like that for a moment…

“…Hey.”

The woman said to me.

“Call my name.”

“…”

Hearing her request, I smiled slightly without realizing it.

Is this really something to call a request?

I can do this much anytime. Whether it’s a fleeting moment or eternity, if you want it, I’ll do it whenever.

With that thought, I tried to speak, but…

“…”

For an instant, my mouth felt stuck shut.

I couldn’t remember.

What was the woman’s name?

Why couldn’t I remember? With a strange feeling, I urgently looked down at my embrace.

“…Huh?”

There was nothing left in my embrace.

The woman I had been holding until just now had vanished without a trace.

“…Huh….”

What is this?

What was I just holding? I was definitely holding something.

Why can’t I remember anything?

I looked up at the sky with trembling eyes.

“…”

And what I saw was only the night, with nothing left behind.

************

“What the hell are you.”

I said, gripping her small shoulders tightly.

“What happened to you.”

I looked at her chest.

Not only were the clothes she wore torn here and there,

but blood was flowing from them.

‘…Sword wounds?’

Judging by the state, they were sword wounds. And they looked quite sharply inflicted.

‘What the….’

Where on earth did she get wounds like these?

She went out saying there was something to see, so what is this situation?

As I was checking Cheonma’s body with focus…

“…It hurts….”

Cheonma said, slightly grimacing.

Hearing that, I said irritably,

“Of course it hurts, you crazy thing. Wouldn’t it hurt looking like this?”

“…No… my arm… hurts.”

“What?”

Hearing her words, I looked at Cheonma’s shoulder.

My hand was gripping her shoulder tightly.

The moment I realized that, I snatched my hand away.

“…”

Why was I holding this?

I scowled.

“…Why are you injured?”

What on earth was she doing to end up like this?

I asked, unable to comprehend.

“…”

Cheonma didn’t answer.

She just stared intently at me.

“What are you doing. Hurry up and answer?”

As I urged her impatiently, Cheonma tilted her head and said,

“Why?”

“What?”

At those words, my narrowed brow furrowed even further.

“Why what.”

“Why are you asking?”

“Why am I asking what….”

Right.

Why was I trying to ask this? The question was slightly wrong. This wasn’t it.

Rather than asking why she was hurt, I should have asked what she went through.

As if correcting myself, I started to speak again.

“What did you go through….”

“Are you worried?”

“…Aren’t you…?”

I stopped mid-sentence as if malfunctioning.

Cheonma stared intently at me and asked.

I met her violet eyes. The moment our eyes met, my eyes, my brow, everything contorted.

“Don’t talk crazy.”

“…”

“It’s not that I’m worried about your body; it’s that you were told not to cause trouble, and you show up looking like this, which is annoying.”

Yes, it wasn’t worry.

Since there’s work to be done here, I need to finish it as quickly as possible, and it would be troublesome if this damn thing caused any incidents.

That’s why.

“So just speak properly-.”

“You’re worried.”

“Just listen when I speak!”

Why is she interpreting it like that? I’m getting really heated.

Meanwhile, Cheonma’s lips are slightly upturned as if she’s pleased.

That was even more absurd.

“Why are you smiling?”

“I wasn’t smiling.”

“Don’t lie. You’re smiling right now.”

“I wasn’t smiling.”

“This is really…”

I almost grabbed her by the collar but stopped. I saw her injured and messed-up body.

“Shit.”

Pulling back the arm I was about to use, I asked Cheonma again.

“Stop talking nonsense. Speak properly. What happened?”

“…”

Cheonma mumbled briefly.

“Speak quickly.”

“I went to see someone.”

“What?”

See someone? That was an absurd statement.

“Who could you possibly see here?”

There’s someone Cheonma knows in Man-gye? That was unbelievable.

But to come back injured in that situation…

‘Means she fought, doesn’t it.’

Who on earth did she fight to appear like this?

As I pondered this question, Cheonma said to me,

“It was the one I saw last time.”

“…Last time, you mean…”

It flashed through my mind.

That Cheonma had gone to catch someone lingering around the Hwasan Sect.

But.

“That guy was around here too?”

“Yeah.”

“And that’s why you fought and ended up like this?”

“I made a mistake.”

Cheonma said it as if she felt wronged.

Yeah, I think so too.

The fact that Cheonma was injured was itself strange to me.

“I won’t lose next time.”

“…Next time, shmext time…”

I ran a hand through my hair.

Frustration welled up.

‘What is it.’

Around the Hwasan Sect, and here too.

It’s extremely bothersome that they keep being discovered.

Furthermore.

“Then how did you know to go find them?”

How did she find the watcher and go after them?

“Ah.”

At those words, Cheonma tapped her fist onto her palm and replied.

“I found them while following.”

“…Following what?”

“You.”

“…Me?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s fun.”

“…”

What should I do. Should I really hit her? Could I even hit her?

I genuinely pondered.

“…Anyway… so you found the one watching us and fought them?”

“No.”

“What are you talking about. You just said yes…. What?”

Cheonma was pointing at me with her finger.

I stopped talking mid-sentence, wondering what this was.

“What is this.”

“It’s you.”

“What?”

“I was watching you.”

Hearing that, I looked behind me. It was Gu-bong, looking flustered in the current situation.

‘So.’

Does Cheonma’s statement mean that even though she was with Gu-bong, the watcher was only looking at me?

“How can you be sure of that.”

We were constantly together, Gu-bong and I.

We didn’t even notice from when the tailing and surveillance began.

If this is the case, then either Cheonma is lying to me,

‘Or their stealth is so good I couldn’t notice.’

It’s one of the two. Whether it’s the former or the latter, it’s problematic.

If it’s the former.

‘Cheonma, whom I already don’t trust.’

If she were to lie to me on top of that… the situation gets complicated.

And if it’s the latter.

‘It becomes troublesome.’

It means they’re using powers I can’t grasp, or conversely, they’re just vastly superior in skill.

That alone is incredibly complicated.

‘Moreover.’

I look at Cheonma’s body.

‘Enough to injure Cheonma.’

She says it was a mistake herself, but that doesn’t mean she lacks skill.

Who could it be? If it’s a faction, then where?

Thinking about it, one being comes to mind.

‘…Could it be Mother?’

Mother, who doesn’t know me.

I wondered if it might be something she did.

“Ssk….”

As I fell into thought, biting my thumb’s tip in this unfavorable situation…

“But.”

Cheonma said to me.

“That one… was strange.”

It was a rather unexpected statement.

************

A forest far from the Yawoolgung Palace.

In a place densely covered with trees, a woman walked unsteadily, gripping a tree trunk.

Drip.

Every time the woman took a step, blood dripped.

What was strange was that the woman’s blood wasn’t red, but crimson.

“Hngh.”

The woman, walking unsteadily, soon slid down the tree trunk and collapsed.

“Hoo… hoo….”

She exhaled ragged breaths, calming her breathing.

Her ears and tail drooped as if expressing exhaustion.

Then, perhaps finding the black mask she wore stifling, she pulled it off with her hand.

As the mask came off, heat scattered.

At the same time, her hidden face was revealed to the world.

“Hoo… ugh….”

As the woman lowered her head deeply, her brown hair covered her entire face.

And through that gap.

The woman’s golden eyes briefly flashed.