Chapter 75: Between Snow and Summer (1)

Upon entering the cabin, Geomhu seemed to be asleep, only exhaling breaths.

Seeing that, I carefully sat in the empty spot.

Sinui rummaged through a drawer, taking out medicine and bandages to prepare.

A wound like this should regenerate quickly for a martial artist with inner energy in their dantian.

“You aren’t thinking that, are you?”

“…Ah, no, I am not.”

So quick to notice….

“Just because you’re a martial artist doesn’t mean you can survive even if your neck is severed or your heart is ripped out.”

Sinui said that while applying the wound-healing ointment to the back of my hand.

A stinging sensation occurred for a moment, but after a few wraps of the bandage, it was fine soon enough.

“I thought you would know that even better.”

“…Yes?”

“What happened outside?”

“…!”

Sinui’s sudden question left my words stuck in my throat.

Did they ask because they knew something? It was unlikely, given Sinui’s serious expression.

How did they notice? I was careful not to get any blood on me.

I considered pretending ignorance, but since I’d have to tell Maehwaseon eventually, and Sinui would find out quickly anyway, it wasn’t something I could hide.

In the end, I spoke up with a slight smile.

“There was a bit of trouble. I saw some guys targeting the cabin.”

“…Did they use assassination techniques?”

“Yes, from what I saw, they seemed like people from the unorthodox sects.”

“…”

Sinui’s expression towards me subtly shifted to one of pity.

Why the look? Was it because I looked young?

‘Though I actually was young.’

“…Is this your first time?”

“What do you mean….”

“I mean, is this your first time killing someone.”

Sinui’s words left me speechless, unsure of what to say.

I wondered why Sinui looked at me that way, and it was for this reason.

The aftermath hadn’t ended yet, and my hands were trembling slightly, and Sinui’s expression upon seeing it was unusual.

Seeing that, I only had one thing I could say.

“I’m alright.”

Perhaps it was my body’s shock, but I couldn’t calm down strangely, though I wasn’t thinking much of it.

Did he think this was his fault?

He was an old man with more compassion than I expected.

Perhaps that’s why he chose to be a physician.

“It was something you had to experience someday.”

Even if Sinui was a physician who valued life and took responsibility, he wouldn’t tell me to cherish all life.

It was especially meaningless talk for a martial artist.

So Sinui was probably just wearing a bitter expression.

“There were groups lingering near the cabin. If you go back and tell Maehwaseon, she will take care of it.”

“Thank you.”

I showed a surprised expression at Sinui’s thanks. It felt like he wouldn’t say something like that at all.

As if reading that from my expression, Sinui frowned.

“What’s with that rotten expression, you punk? Did you think I was the type who wouldn’t offer thanks?”

“…No, it wasn’t like that.”

“Not like that, my ass. Don’t even think about lying anywhere else; how can your face show so much?”

‘…Does it show that much?’

[Your face gives away the answer, so just stay quiet.]

‘…Hmm.’

Is it really that much? I thought I’d been doing a good job of not showing it.

It seemed the treatment was finished, so I thanked him and prepared to get up.

“…Train your body, but not excessively, and if possible, eat mostly vegetables.”

I paused at Sinui’s sudden words.

When I looked at him, wondering what he meant, Sinui kept clearing his throat and urged me to leave.

Finally, standing blankly in front of the cabin I’d half-been kicked out of, Shin Noyah spoke.

[It seems like he said that because of the energy inside your body.]

“Ah.”

I said I wouldn’t do anything, but did he want to subtly let me know?

As expected, he seemed like a person with more compassion than I thought.

[Speaking of which, what do you plan to do about the energy inside your body?]

‘What else can I do? They say I have to live praying it doesn’t explode.’

[Didn’t you hint last time that you had a way?]

At Shin Noyah’s words, I bit my dry lips.

I had an idea of what it might be, but I was still contemplating it.

Time didn’t seem to be on my side, so I had to make a choice soon.

“Hey.”

As I stood there blankly after coming out, Gu Ryeonghwa spoke to me.

“Is the treatment all done?”

“…As you can see.”

Gu Ryeonghwa was holding a kitchen knife and carving something.

What is that… a potato? It was carved so much it was hard to recognize the shape, and I wondered if I should really pick it up and bite it.

Meanwhile, Gu Ryeonghwa had a face focused entirely on slicing that one thing.

After slicing potatoes like that for a while, he suddenly spoke to me.

“…Are… you okay…?”

I tilted my head and answered Gu Ryeonghwa’s question.

I could see his gaze subtly directed towards the back of my hand.

“Are you worried?”

As if my words displeased him, Gu Ryeonghwa retorted defensively.

“Who said I was worried! If the treatment’s done, I’m just telling you to disappear from my sight quickly.”

“I was going anyway, so don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried…!”

His shouting was noisy, so I just ignored it.

Gu Ryeonghwa’s chirping flowed naturally out of my ears, and I immediately took steps to return to the Hwasan Sect.

After returning straight to the Hwasan Sect, I explained the situation to Maehwaseon.

I thought I was just going to deliver a letter lightly, but upon suddenly hearing that I had killed someone, I saw Maehwaseon’s face stiffen slightly.

“I apologize.”

Maehwaseon’s first words with her stiff expression were an apology.

I told her it was fine.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to mention anything about me overusing my hands.

If anything, it was just checking again later.

After confirming the situation and deciding to send disciples for cleanup, the conversation ended, but Maehwaseon’s expression didn’t easily relax.

“…We need to search more thoroughly.”

The fact that they came so close, and that we couldn’t capture one of them who escaped.

That Sinui was looking after Geomhu was a fact known only to a very few, including the sect leader.

Since I, an outsider, found out in the process, it wouldn’t be strange for me to be the most suspected person if an incident occurred, but Maehwaseon didn’t seem to think that way.

Especially considering the recent incidents where Hwasan Sect disciples were disappearing one by one.

‘Could that also be the work of Heugyagung?’

I didn’t know the details, but somehow I felt like it was.

I wanted to know what they were up to at this time, and how they could possess an aura similar to demonic energy, but…

There wasn’t much way to find out right now.

There were too many restrictions to move around myself.

“Child.”

“Yes.”

I answered Maehwaseon’s call.

As if she had finished organizing her thoughts, Maehwaseon returned with a relaxed expression.

Even in such a bad situation, to be able to compose herself like this again….

I felt a sense of admiration in that aspect.

“You’ve worked hard…. Keeping you here longer would just tire you out, so I’ll come find you later with something I can give you.”

“Something you can give me?”

“Since an outsider got caught up in Hwasan’s problems, it’s only right that I take responsibility, isn’t it?”

If you put it that way, couldn’t you say it’s my fault for flipping out, subduing them, and burning them up? But since she offered something, I shut my mouth tight.

‘I can’t refuse if she’s giving it.’

Thinking that, I greeted Maehwaseon and left her quarters.

I was told Hwasan would handle the rest, so there was no problem.

Most importantly, the only damage to my side was practically the scratch on my hand, so I considered it fortunate.

[This world feels quite diluted, doesn’t it?]

I could somewhat understand Shin Noyah’s words.

To be precise, it might just be Hwasan, but it was true that the current world was more peaceful than the one I experienced later.

‘Though even that won’t last much longer.’

A few years at most.

It was a point where only a few years remained until that damn time arrived.

After finishing an errand, it was roughly a little past lunchtime.

Upon entering the lodging, the servants were busy with chores.

‘Where is Wi Seol-ah?’

Now, I habitually looked for Wi Seol-ah upon arrival; was it as I predicted this morning?

Wi Seol-ah was diligently doing chores among the servants.

From within the group, she must have spotted me, as she smiled brightly and waved.

I waved back casually.

If Wi Seol-ah was here, perhaps Geomjon was too, but Geomjon was nowhere to be seen.

She couldn’t have come alone.

It wasn’t right for me, in my position, to worry about Geomjon, so I just went into the room thinking they must be busy with something.

I thought Namgung Bi-ah might still be sleeping, but the room was completely empty.

“Where did this one go now?”

The bedding was neatly folded, suggesting she’d left a while ago….

Does she even have anywhere to go at Hwasan?

As I was looking around, a passing servant relayed information.

“Young Lady Namgung went up towards the back mountain.”

“The back mountain? What is she doing there?”

“…Well, I saw her take a wooden sword. I suspect she might have gone to train.”

“…Ah, I see. Thank you.”

“Yes, yes!”

At my thanks, the servant flinched.

I thought things had gotten a little better recently, but was the awkwardness still there?

[If a servant flinches at a simple ‘thank you’… just how much of a bastard have you been?]

‘…Hmm, I suppose I was a bit harsh.’

I was trying to consistently reflect on my actions.

Fortunately, I hadn’t caused bigger accidents by coming to this slightly earlier era.

‘If I had come just 1-2 years later….’

What would have happened then?

…I didn’t want to imagine it.

After watching Wi Seol-ah diligently hang laundry, I headed towards the back mountain where Namgung Bi-ah had gone.

It wasn’t so much that I had a purpose, but rather I was curious why that dense girl had gone up there.

Climbing the mountain, which looked nauseatingly high just to look at, using my inner energy felt slightly strenuous, perhaps due to the morning’s battle.

Whoosh-!

As I made my way up, climbing the trees, a tingling sensation started to be felt throughout my body.

Namgung Bi-ah had a presence that seemed somewhat faint, excluding her appearance, but like in my past life, there were times she exuded a particularly distinct personality.

-Hooook! Hooook!

When holding a sword, Namgung Bi-ah was a completely different person.

Her usual blank gaze disappeared, leaving only a single renowned sword standing there.

Finding Namgung Bi-ah wasn’t particularly difficult.

I found a small clearing, and in its center, Namgung Bi-ah was wielding her sword.

Perhaps I wasn’t the only one who had come, as I saw disciples from the Hwasan Sect around.

There are quite a lot…?

‘Are they watching?’

There were quite a few people gathered, perhaps watching Namgung Bi-ah’s movements.

Meanwhile, Namgung Bi-ah was training nonchalantly amidst the gazes of so many people.

A tingling aura pressed down on the surroundings.

Namgung Bi-ah, holding her sword, created an atmosphere like walking on needles.

The secret technique of the Namgung family that I briefly saw during our first meeting after regression.

Emperor Sword Form (帝王劍形).

Nimble movements, incomparable to her younger brother’s, unfolded from Namgung Bi-ah.

The emperor’s energy flowed along with her flexible movements, pressing down on the surroundings.

[…Impressive.]

It was Shin Noyah’s exclamation, similar to when he watched Yeongpung.

To be honest, Namgung Bi-ah’s level seemed higher than Yeongpung’s to my eyes.

Unlike the Namgung family’s sword techniques, which contained swift swordplay and sharpness.

Namgung Bi-ah’s movements were fluid and beautiful.

If I had to describe it, it looked close to a sword dance (劍舞).

Because I knew the enlightenment she must have felt at the tip of that sword, and the sword path she could obtain as a result.

The wing-like movements she swung to reach the result looked even more arduous.

Frankly, I found it unbelievable that Namgung Bi-ah could maintain the framework of the Emperor Sword Form amidst such movements.

It made me reconsider the talent Namgung Bi-ah possessed.

Like Yeongpung, Namgung Bi-ah, and indeed most of the later disciples called geniuses now.

They were already shining on their own.

‘Unlike me at this time.’

[This era is no different from Yongso.]

I nodded in agreement with Shin Noyah’s sentiment.

Although it was her sword path that I had seen for so long and so many times, the tip of the sword Namgung Bi-ah displayed now had a different aura.

The cruelty that Magyeonhu possessed was absent; instead, purity and elegance were hidden within.

‘…Beautiful.’

There were no other words I could say.

Literally, her sword path was beautiful.

Crack-

Namgung Bi-ah, swinging without pause, stopped her sword dance simultaneously with a very faint noise.

-Ah….

Sighs flowed from the mouths of those watching.

It must mean it was that perfect.

Namgung Bi-ah’s gaze turned towards the direction of the noise.

I was there.

‘…Damn, I stepped on this.’

I tried to be careful, but I must have stepped on a twig without realizing it.

Amidst the vague reproach in the eyes of the onlookers, Namgung Bi-ah was solely looking at me.

Perhaps due to the continuous strenuous movements, beads of sweat had formed moistly on her forehead.

She didn’t seem to care, merely wiping the sweat threatening to run down her chin with her sleeve.

“…Huh?”

Namgung Bi-ah, who had been maintaining eye contact, suddenly widened her eyes as if startled by something.

Then, she threw aside her wooden sword and ran towards me.

Namgung Bi-ah grabbed the hem of my clothes with both hands, pulled me close, brought her face near, and sniffed.

“…What the! Why are you doing this!?”

I tried to push her away in confusion, but Namgung Bi-ah was persistent.

For some reason, her expression held confusion, and despair?

‘Why does she look so desperate?’

Namgung Bi-ah, who had been wriggling in my embrace with trembling eyes, seemed to calm down slightly, pulling back to create some distance.

Then, as if her legs gave out, she suddenly collapsed.

“What on earth is wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

“Thank goodness….”

After sniffing for a long time like that, her expression relaxed, as if she felt relieved.

Was it my imagination, or did the cold sweat flowing now seem more than the sweat from wielding the sword?

It seemed to be flowing too profusely, so I gently wiped it with my clothes.

Then, Namgung Bi-ah clasped my hand with her trembling one.

She carefully pulled my grasped wrist and brought it close to her nose.

I wondered why she was acting like this.

“Do I smell?”

Does it smell like sweat? Something happened earlier, but I didn’t exert myself that strenuously.

To my question, Namgung Bi-ah quickly shook her head.

“…It doesn’t smell like anything.”

There was an inexplicable sense of relief in Namgung Bi-ah’s words as she said that.

After lingering like that for a while, Namgung Bi-ah staggered and got up.

Inside, I probably agonized hundreds of times over what to do, whether to pull my hand away or say something.

In the end, since she looked serious, I decided to just leave it be.

[If you had chosen another option there, you wouldn’t be human.]

“Is your training finished?”

“…Yeah.”

“Is it okay if you don’t do more? It seems like there’s still plenty of time.”

“…Since you’re here, I won’t do it anymore.”

Does she mean she won’t do it anymore because I’m here?

I wondered if there was a need for that, but trying to understand Namgung Bi-ah’s thoughts was always a losing game for me.

Namgung Bi-ah quietly turned back, picked up her wooden sword, and approached me.

“Your hand… is it hurt?”

“I just grazed it a little.”

It felt like everyone I met asked about it.

Namgung Bi-ah, who had been observing it intently, spoke with a voice tinged with regret.

“…I was going to ask you for a sparring match.”

“…”

…Suddenly, I felt fortunate that my hand was injured.