Chapter 220: Omen. (7)

The Murim Alliance of Hanam.

Further in, Shaolin Temple.

The unusually noisy winter has passed, and now it is spring.

It is the season when flowers bloom in full glory, beginning their stirrings.

The time when frozen rivers thaw and the hard, solidified ground awakens.

Such changes have also come to Shaolin Temple.

Amidst the wide, tranquil ancient trees.

A deep plum blossom fragrance gently settles.

Tuk-tuk.

As if welcoming it, a water wheel turned, making a sound.

Behind the wide lake filling Shaolin Temple.

In a small, built residence, Cheonan, the Abbot of Shaolin Temple, was gazing at the lake with his eyes closed.

The spring breeze flowed.

Cheonan, who had been quietly exhaling, suddenly opened his mouth.

“It’s fortunate you look healthy.”

The old, dry voice traveled on the wind towards the woman standing behind him.

Her dry white hair had disappeared, replaced by vibrant black hair.

The woman, whose dantian radiated a plum blossom fragrance that filled the surroundings.

It was So Yi, the Sword Master of Hua San, the Plum Blossom Sword Empress (梅花劍后).

“Have you been well since then?”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t been particularly healthy. Khkkh….”

The old man’s thin, aged voice indicated that his remaining life was not long.

Every time the woman took a light step, the surroundings filled with the scent of plum blossoms.

Sensing that, Cheonan gently opened his eyes.

“I heard you went through something unpleasant, but it seems you endured it well.”

“I had the help of many people.”

“Yes, yes, that must be your fortune too.”

Wrinkles filled the corners of his eyes.

Cheonan smiled as he looked at the Sword Empress.

“Is Plum Blossom Immortal doing well?”

“He is in good health. As always.”

“Well… that friend was always like that.”

On the table before Cheonan, besides his own teacup, another teacup was already placed.

As if he knew the Sword Empress was coming.

The Sword Empress looked around Cheonan and then asked him.

“If I’m not mistaken, Gyukgeukcheonbong doesn’t seem to be around… Are you alright?”

Gyukgeukcheonbong.

One of the Central Plains’ Hundred Great Masters from Shaolin Temple.

He was the current bodyguard of Cheonan.

“I asked him to step away for a moment.”

“Are you alright?”

“If it’s the Sword Empress of the world, then by all means.”

Cheonan chuckled lightly and took a sip of tea.

Following suit, the Sword Empress also moistened her throat.

“You might not know it, but I am currently in a state of great wonder.”

The Sword Empress’s gaze reacted to Cheonan’s words.

“Cause and effect are things that humans like us cannot interfere with, but the eyes bestowed upon me allow me to see them, even if only briefly.”

“Yes.”

Cheonan is able to see things that cannot be interfered with, nor dared to be seen.

Because he can see calamities that are yet to unfold, they are called the Eyes of Heaven.

“…It is thanks to these eyes that I can steadfastly sit in the position of Abbot, even in this insignificant body, and live in luxury unbecoming of my station.”

“Luxury unbecoming of your station? That’s absurd.”

The Sword Empress shook her head at the Abbot’s words.

The reason he could sit in the heaviest position, constantly seeing calamities, and deal with the occurrences of the True Demon Gate openings in each region.

The Sword Empress knew it was thanks to the old man before her.

“In the past, after seeing and hearing much, I realized one thing.”

“Please tell me.”

“What is seen by these eyes never changes.”

The future seen through Cheonan never changes.

This was like the immutable law the Abbot had experienced throughout his life.

If he saw a Demonic Gate opening, it would surely open someday.

If he saw a calamity occurring, that calamity would definitely happen.

That is what Cheonan (天眼 – Heavenly Eye) was.

“Therefore, in a way, these eyes are like a calamity to me.”

Things that cannot be stopped cannot be stopped, no matter what.

Knowing that countless people would die, yet being unable to do anything, was truly a calamity for the Abbot.

The Sword Empress listened silently to the Abbot’s words, then expressed a question.

“Is there a reason you are telling me this story?”

“Yes. A very important reason.”

No tea dripped into the already empty teacup.

Only the quiet wind flowed around them.

“When I heard you were coming. It was the greatest shock to me.”

“May I ask the reason?”

To the Sword Empress’s question, the Abbot paused briefly before answering.

“You… are someone who shouldn’t be in this land right now.”

“…”

To the Abbot’s answer, the Sword Empress showed no reaction.

As if she had expected it.

“You’re not surprised.”

“You told me before I headed to the Demonic Gate, Abbot. That you hoped I wouldn’t go.”

The past when the Sword Empress decided to head to the Demonic Gate herself to resolve her doubts.

At the last moment she met the Abbot, the old man had told the Sword Empress.

That he truly hoped she wouldn’t go.

“It didn’t take long for me to understand the meaning of those words.”

The Abbot had known what was about to befall the Sword Empress.

The Sword Empress was certain it must have been so.

“So the reason you looked surprised seeing me is because of that?”

“I saw your end.”

The beautiful young woman vanished, replaced by the Sword Empress transformed into an old woman who looked like she could die at any moment.

The sight of her body crumbling, splitting, and disintegrating without lasting long.

It was a truly pitiful sight even for the Abbot to see.

And the time when that should have happened.

Was likely not far from now.

It certainly should have been.

“Your Sect Leader even blushed, which is rare to see.”

“…”

“You know too, don’t you? That Plum Blossom Immortal cares for you.”

“Yes. I feel apologetic.”

Asking why she hadn’t said anything despite knowing.

The Abbot vividly remembered Plum Blossom Immortal expressing his anger towards him.

The gaze of cause and effect does not change.

It was the immutable law the Abbot had discovered through countless struggles and desperate efforts over the past decades.

Therefore, he had thought the Sword Empress would be the same.

“…Yet you stand before me now. How is that possible?”

“Is it that you don’t like that I’m alright?”

“How could that be… Rather, I think it’s fortunate, so much so that my heart trembles.”

He had thought it would never change.

Therefore, it was fate.

Even regarding the blood feud that would occur.

He knew it would happen, but he couldn’t know the outcome.

So he could strive.

If the end of the blood feud was destruction.

Would the Abbot still have tried just as hard to stop it?

He already knew the answer.

It would not have been so.

“May I ask, what happened to you?”

At the Abbot’s question, the Sword Empress thought of someone.

Her disciple’s older brother.

The fierce-looking young man who saved the Sword Empress.

“…If the Abbot’s words are true.”

If, as he said, her death by accumulating demonic energy was certain.

That young man was clearly the one who changed such a fate.

“How could that be possible?”

Is it because they were born into the Gu family?

The blood relatives of the Gu family, who possessed exceptionally brilliant talent.

The current family head, Gu Cheol-un, was a monster who displayed overwhelming talent from his days as a late-bloomer.

From his first appearance, he was on an unapproachable level.

This remained the same until he accepted the position of family head and distanced himself from the Central Plains.

His children were the same.

The eldest daughter, Gu Huibi, had already established herself as the foremost late-bloomer.

The second child, Gu Yeonseo, rarely made public appearances, but there were many rumors that her talent was outstanding.

Her disciple, Gu Ryeong-hwa.

“She’s only just beginning to bloom now.”

She knew this from teaching and living with her directly.

That Gu Ryeong-hwa also possessed outstanding talent in martial arts.

Especially compared to wielding a sword.

Her ability to perceive and react to an opponent’s movements was excellent.

The Sword Empress was certain that her talent was sufficient to succeed her someday.

This means that currently, none of the Gu family blood relatives lag behind; they are all sufficient to be called geniuses.

“But.”

Compared to the young man who came to her mind, the Sword Empress thought these three were still far lacking.

The True Dragon (眞龍) Gu Yangcheon.

Gu Cheol-un’s child, and the young man certain to ascend to the position of next Young Family Head.

With an appearance resembling a chivalrous hero in his youth.

He was a young man with even greater talent.

“Wouldn’t the phrase ‘gifted by heaven’ suit that child the most?”

Although it might be slightly excessive, the Sword Empress felt even this was insufficient for Gu Yangcheon.

What was it like when she saw the Sword Dragon being raised at Hua San?

As soon as the Sword Empress saw Yeongpung, she thought of Hua San’s revival.

He was a child possessing such overwhelming talent and character.

She was convinced that if that child bloomed his talent as he was, Hua San would surely produce the number one under heaven in the future.

Not only the Sword Empress, but also Plum Blossom Immortal, the Sect Leader, felt the same.

But.

The Sword Empress had to change her mind upon seeing Gu Yangcheon.

Although her affection for the Hua San child remained.

To place Gu Yangcheon and Yeongpung on the same level would be like hell for Yeongpung.

“That child is a monster.”

Several months had passed since she last saw his face, but.

Even just by listening to the stories of her disciple’s older brother, which her disciple chattered about.

The Sword Empress could tell.

That child was already beyond the level that could be placed among the late-bloomers.

Just as Gu Cheol-un was in the past.

Gu Yangcheon’s power was too outstanding to place him among children who had only just started running.

Even among the geniuses called the ‘Generation of Meteors’.

Gu Yangcheon was like a raging inferno swallowing everything.

Before long, the Central Plains would be filled with Gu Yangcheon’s name.

He was like a sea too vast to be contained in a vessel, inevitably overflowing.

To the Abbot’s question, the Sword Empress took a moment of silence before replying.

“I don’t think I can tell you.”

Because it seemed Gu Yangcheon wanted her to keep this a secret.

The Sword Empress decided to do so.

“…Is that so.”

“I apologize.”

“No, it’s alright.”

The Abbot did not demand an answer from the Sword Empress afterward.

Because he saw the determination in the Sword Empress’s eyes never to speak of it.

He could only feel regret.

“He shows me so much, yet doesn’t show me this.”

Where exactly did the change occur?

The Abbot was curious about that.

“Now, may I ask you something, Abbot?”

The reason the Sword Empress personally dragged herself to Hanam in the first place.

There was a reason she had run tirelessly, drawing upon her life force.

“Yes, the reason you sought me out, there was one.”

“Sometime ago, you told me I owed you a debt, Abbot.”

“That’s right, thanks to you, many lives were saved.”

The matter where the Sword Empress, upon the Abbot’s request, risked her life alone to find and resolve the True Demon Gate opening that no one else could approach.

This was not something the Sword Empress herself considered as owing the Abbot a debt.

After all, the Abbot had also intended to save many people.

However, at this moment, she had to bring up even such old matters.

“…Then, I dare to ask.”

“Speak.”

“Abbot, do you remember the past? When the Divine Dragon Unit and the previous Alliance Leader headed towards the Demonic Gate?”

“…”

The Abbot closed his mouth at the Sword Empress’s words.

Because these words were like a dagger lodged in the Abbot’s heart as well.

The Sword Empress looked at the Abbot’s reaction and slowly posed her question.

“What exactly happened in the Demonic Gate of Taechen (胎天)? Do you know, Abbot?”

There are four major types of Demonic Gates known in the Central Plains.

Among them, Taechen is the place with the least information, and also where the Sword Master and the Divine Dragon Unit headed in the past.

To the Sword Empress’s question, the Abbot nodded.

“I know.”

At the Abbot’s affirmation, the Sword Empress bit her lip slightly. It was something she had desperately hoped wasn’t true.

“Before, when you asked me, I didn’t answer because it was something you didn’t need to bear.”

“What do you mean…”

“I don’t know what you saw when you went to the Demonic Gate. However, what you saw and what the Sword Master saw were likely different.”

At the Abbot’s words, the Sword Empress recalled the giant tree that blocked the sky, which she had seen in the Demonic Gate in the past.

For some reason, she didn’t have complete memories, but it was definitely a tree.

A giant, rotten, dried, purple-hued tree.

It was so enormous that its upward-reaching branches obscured the sky.

With no leaves left, it was a long-dead ancient tree that felt devoid of any life.

That was the world the Sword Empress had seen.

Already collapsed and rotten.

It was a world that best suited the word ‘destruction’ (滅亡).

But does that mean what the Sword Master and the Divine Dragon Unit saw was different?

“Then, what the Great Master said…?”

Gu Cheol-un had spoken in response to the Sword Empress’s words as if he too had seen the same thing.

But what the Abbot is saying now is different, isn’t it?

While the Sword Empress expressed her doubts.

The Abbot brought up the topic again to the Sword Empress.

“I cannot say much.”

“…”

“This is different from the connection or promise with the Sword Master.”

Is it like a taboo?

The Sword Empress thought it was different, despite being called a taboo.

“The reason the Sword Master headed to the Demonic Gate. Do you know about this?”

The Sword Empress nodded at the Abbot’s words.

The reason the Sword Master headed to the Demonic Gate was to save his daughter.

Although many people actually thought it was for the greater good.

Afterward, the Divine Dragon Unit that headed to the Demonic Gate suffered near-total annihilation.

Those who barely returned alive, with a few exceptions, took their own lives.

After this incident occurred.

The Sword Master stepped down from the position of Alliance Leader.

The Murim Alliance, which had been advocating the justification of investigating the Demonic Gate.

Stopped the investigation into the Demonic Gate.

Furthermore, they disbanded the Divine Dragon Unit, the main sword unit of the Alliance that had continued for centuries.

The Sword Empress wanted to know all the reasons behind this matter.

“What you are curious about is not only the reason Sword Master headed to Taechen, but also the reason the Murim Alliance stopped its direct investigation into the Demonic Gate…”

The Abbot gave the answer to the Sword Empress in a weary voice.

“It is because a god exists in the Demonic Gate of Taechen.”

The Sword Empress frowned at the Abbot’s words.

“What…”

“Furthermore, not just in Taechen. In other Demonic Gates too. Gods exist.”

“Abbot, what on earth are you talking about right now?”

“Gods?”

Could it be the same as the supreme beings believed in by other Taoist and Buddhist sects?

Considering that the one speaking now was the Abbot of Shaolin, a child of Buddhism.

It was a very strange story.

“If calling them gods is uncomfortable, you can refer to them as masters.”

“Masters…? I find it difficult to understand what you’re saying, Abbot.”

“Even if you don’t understand. There is no better term, the master of a world… or a being that is the world itself. If you don’t call them gods, what else would you call them?”

The Abbot’s complexion, as he spoke, had darkened considerably.

Then, the Abbot covered his mouth as if unable to speak further and coughed out.

Tuk!

Blood spurted from between the Abbot’s thin fingers.

“Abbot…!”

The Sword Empress hurriedly tried to approach the Abbot upon seeing the blood, but.

The Abbot raised his hand, halting the Sword Empress’s action.

“This is as far as I can speak.”

“…”

Seeing the Abbot wipe away the blood, acting as if nothing had happened.

The Sword Empress could no longer ask further questions.

Hiding her complex thoughts, she suppressed her frustration, biting her lip.

“Sword Empress.”

“Yes.”

“Do not try to find out.”

“…”

“If a miracle has come to you, please do not let it go.”

“Are you saying that trying to find out is such a difficult task?”

The Abbot said nothing in response to the Sword Empress’s words.

The Sword Empress immediately understood the Abbot’s reaction was affirmative.

In the silence that soon settled.

The Abbot and the Sword Empress could only exchange glances in silence.

---

Time passed.

The day before Gu Yangcheon entered seclusion.

Gu Yangcheon, who came out after finishing his training as always.

“…What do you want me to do?”

He had to frown upon seeing Moyong Hi-ah, who had disappeared for several days and suddenly appeared.

It was understandable, as Moyong Hi-ah had said something nonsensical.

“Didn’t you hear me?”

“No, I think I misheard.”

“Ah, I see.”

Moyong Hi-ah nodded as if resigned, then kindly told Gu Yangcheon once more.

“Please stay with me tonight.”

Gu Yangcheon’s eyebrows furrowed at her words, spoken with a smile.

And then, he had to reluctantly change his mind.

It wasn’t the first or second time that crazy people around him said strange things.

Since he wasn’t in his degenerate days anymore, he had to try and speak nicely.

“I’m sorry, but what do you mean by that?”

“Get lost.”

“…?”

“Ah.”

Immediately after speaking, Gu Yangcheon covered his mouth with his hand.

“…I said my inner thoughts instead.”

It was a mistake.