Chapter 9
Sacheon, an unknown forest.
The area was surrounded by trees..
The climate around here may be warm, but the snow has melted..
“I'm here?”
Joo Seocheon looked back as if he was popular..
“Dokbong, no, should I call you matriarch??”
“Stop because it feels like your arms are going to get skinny..
I might get angry and throw poison in your face..”
“Aren’t you going too far just because you became the head of the family?.”
“Stop talking nonsense. rather than that……”
Tang Hye looked at Ju Seocheon and the people around him..
“I sincerely congratulate you on becoming the head of the family..”
Shinui raised his hand and offered a polite congratulations..
I turned my eyes again and saw a girl right next to Sinui, who had not yet reached adulthood..
It was a major who was a ghost..
“What are you planning to do by borrowing a crew of drivers??”
Tang Hye raised her left hand and showed a ring-shaped dharma treasure..
“Well, this and that.”
Joo Seo-cheon approached Dang-hye and showed his palm..
Tang Hui looked down at the palm..
“what's the matter?”
“……no.”
Place your left hand on top of your hand while biting your lip slightly..
When my hands touched, I felt warmth..
I thought this might be the first time we held hands like this..
The ring worn on the ring finger slowly falls off..
I could see the marks left from how long I had worn it..
Tang Hui stared blankly at the scene, then suddenly bent her fingers and squeezed them..
“what's the matter?”
Joo Seocheon asked curiously..
“say.”
“what?”
“Tell me what you're going to use it for.”
I do not know why.
However, I felt like I had to ask..
“I'm thinking of changing the major's mind..”
“Major?”
Danghye made a surprised expression..
“Is it possible?”
“I'm not sure, but I think it will work out somehow..”
“The side effects are?”
“hmm……”
Joo Seocheon answered silently..
Only then did Danghye understand why Shinui was accompanying him..
“Since it uses innate energy, how could it not be there?.”
Sinui answered on behalf of Joo Seocheon..
Even if the results may be hopeless, lawmakers must tell the truth..
I couldn't lie..
“It's a miracle that you're alive.”
“I know.”
Joo Seocheon smiled bitterly..
“Still, I can't help it……”
“Do not be ridiculous!”
Joo Seo-cheon was startled by Dang-hye's voice..
“Why are you doing this??”
Danghye muttered as if she couldn't understand..
“You've been making every effort to stop the Amcheonhoe for a very long time, and you've given up part of your life for this purpose..
To put it bluntly, revenge wasn't the goal, and you're crazy to go this far to help people you have nothing to do with.?”
Amcheonhoeju did not understand Ju Seocheon until the end..
No, no one will understand.
I don't know if it was his lover, his teacher, or his death penalty that made him want to get revenge, but it wasn't like that either..
It was an obsession that I could not understand..
“Even if you take a break, no one will say anything. Don't sacrifice any more. I want you to get rewarded for everything you've done..
Spend time making love with Nak So-wol.
Living while being praised as a superior and swordsman!
How did I give up on you?!”
“you……”
“Do you know how painful it was when I lost you in the Battle of Jeongma? Listen carefully, Joo Seocheon.”
Tang Hye folded Joo Seocheon's hand with both hands..
“I am… … i don't want to lose you.
I can't lose someone I love again.
Please, stop..”
From the corner of my eye, water droplets ran down my cheeks..
Joo Seo-cheon looked at Dang-hye in silence, then raised his other hand and gently stroked her cheek, wiping away her tears..
“don't worry. Because I won't die.”
“lie.”
“It's not a lie. I'll promise. You won't believe me?”
Joo Seo-cheon made eye contact with Dang-hye and smiled softly..
Should we say they are teacher and disciple?.
Looks like Yu Jeong-mok.
“Please do me a favor, Danghye. trust me.”
“Are you really… … I know you're cowardly?”
Danghye was resentful of herself..
Did they say that when it comes to love, the person who falls in love first is the weak one?.
My heart was shaken when he stroked my cheek and smiled while asking me a favor..
My pride was hurt by the fact that I was harmed even though I knew about it..
“Are you ready??”
“yes. Let's get started right away. If something goes wrong, please look at this child first, not me. please.”
Joo Seo-cheon left Dang-hye and went to So-ryeong..
The Major, as usual, stood there as if he had no soul..
‘Discipline of the driver is more important than the method of separating spirit and thought..
If I use regression with this law, maybe I'll get it back.’
Joo Seocheon sat facing the major and held his hands..
‘Jin Won-bun.’
Pure white hair was flying.
The innate energy, the source of the soul and body and the beginning of matter, has flowed out..
Joo Seocheon gently closed his eyes and remembered the conversation he had with Eui-ui not long ago..
‘I lost my martial arts skills?’
‘yes. It's not all, it's part of it, but even if I tried to learn it again, it was impossible..’
‘Well, he survived even after turning back time and using the Innate True Qi, so that's something that can happen..
My life is on the line, so let’s move on..’
‘What do you think will happen if you use it one more time??’
‘trying to commit suicide?’
If you use Congenital Jingi, you will die..
Even if heavenly luck reached him, he was a ruined person..
However, Joo Seocheon was relatively fine..
‘Is it because the side effects of Jungdomangong were applied, or the side effects of Seoncheonjingi were also strangely applied?.’
Since congenital diagnosis is still an unexplored area, the exact reason was not known..
I was just guessing..
“I really don't understand.”
Sinui looked at Joo Seocheon and Major and muttered..
“Even though this old man is not a martial artist, he knows very well that martial arts is worth more than life to a martial artist..
Even more so, isn’t it a power close to a god that saved the martial arts world?.
But I decided to give it up to save one girl.?
I couldn't understand so I asked.
But do you know what I answered??”
Sinui frowned and recalled.
‘It never existed from the beginning..’
Joo Seocheon separated Major’s energy and thoughts..
There was nothing due to thought or thought that should have been in the mind..
Joo Seocheon returned this accident to the past..
It is not a record engraved in the brain..
heart meaning soul.
Returns the ghost killed by Ghost Gok to the past..
time goes backwards.
regress.
And as a side effect, martial arts disappear one by one..
Joo Seocheon instinctively knew.
I can't learn anything new anymore.
If you lose what you already have, you won't be able to find them..
Ilwol Shrine, Ghost Shingong, Nokanmandokgong, Manjunggeom, Cheolposam, Tangeomum, Jeoneum Ipmil, Yonghu, Haenam Ildoryu, Suingong, Ganggyeokkwon, Gongjinjang, Jungsobo, Jungdomangong, Jin Wonbeon.
And Jashingong, who was another foundation, also disappeared..
There was no hesitation in that action..
I threw everything away without a single thought..
In Taoism and Buddhism, it is taught that if you give up everything, you will reach enlightenment or enter nirvana, but you would not be able to do that..
That's because there are still so many regrets left..
Maybe I will become an ordinary person.
But it still didn't matter.
Actions come with responsibility.
”I have been using the major to my heart's content as an excuse to save the martial arts world..’
It doesn't work to say that there is nothing you can do..
‘I don't know what will happen next. You may fail, and you may lose not only your martial arts skills but also your life..
But that doesn't mean you can't try.’
What I didn't lose in the end was the Plum Heart and Plum Sword Techniques..
I lifted my eyelids and saw the major..
“Major……?”
Joo Seocheon asked with some anticipation..
“……”
“cow… … Ryeong-a……”
My heart sank..
My hair turned completely white.
“what… … What is a hero?……”
My hands feel weak.
My body was shaking..
“What is a hero?!”
I pretended not to know the darkness of political factions..
I said there was nothing I could do and moved on..
I made excuses to save people..
“Sword body? hero? Don't be like that!
I am, in the end, I am just Joo Seo-cheon!
It's just Joo Seo-cheon, nothing.!”
Every time I gave an order to the major, I felt disgusted with myself..
“what……”
Sreuk.
Joo Seocheon opened his eyes wide as he tried to continue speaking..
A delicate, thin finger rose up my right cheek..
“I'm so sad……?”
I raised my head that was down.
There was a girl there who didn't know what to do..
“If Gokju is sad... … I'm sad too.”
“iced coffee……”
“Gokju?”
“Ahhh!”
wobble!
Reach out and hug that body.
I hugged it and gave it strength, as if it would break, as if it would break..
And at that moment, I burst into tears.
I don't know why.
I'm not sure if it's relief or joy..
Joo Seocheon cried while being hugged by the major..
As if I were a child, I cried out loud and sobbed..
Suddenly, I realized that it had been a long time since I cried..
I always had your back.
I followed your back because I wanted to be like you..
How is it?
Can I walk with you too??
- The Four Great Disciples of the Hwasan Sect, Ju Seo-cheon -
* * *
(extroversion 1)
time goes by.
The snow-covered ground that dazzlingly reflected the sunlight gradually melted away..
The winter that felt unusually long ended with the era of war coming to an end..
As the morning dew began to form, the curtain of night cleared beyond the horizon, and a faint light signaled the arrival of the hour..
“Phew……”
Take a long breath and exhale.
I felt the positive energy of life filling my body..
‘After all, doesn’t the lost martial arts come back?.’
Ju Seo-cheon lost most of his martial arts due to the side effects of consuming Jin Won-beon and Seon-cheon Jin-gi..
Afterwards, I tried to acquire it again just in case, but in the end I couldn't get it back at all..
‘In the case of Simbeop, it does not respond even if you recite the phrase or chant it. If you try to use the sword technique, your body won't follow and you'll suddenly stop in the middle as if you've forgotten it. It's a little disappointing.’
Joo Seocheon slowly opened his eyes with regret..
“……”
If you didn’t sense any presence around you, say “Ugh!” I would have fallen backwards while screaming..
Joo Seocheon spoke while looking straight ahead with a look of bewilderment in his eyes..
“Major, what are you doing??”
“Gokju… … I'm looking at you.”
The major answered while squatting down..
“I know that. No, I said it before, I'm no longer a singer..”
Master of the Ghost Valley is a title granted only to those who have practiced the Ghost God Art..
Therefore, like other martial arts, Ju Seo-cheon, who lost his ghost magic, was no longer a Gokju..
“……”
The major tilted his head slightly to the side..
His expression was as expressionless as always, but he seemed to be speaking as if he couldn't understand..
“It's true that my feelings returned because I was refusing the command of the Ghost Gokju.……”
If the absolute command of the ghost god had remained, he should not have refused the command to ‘not call me Gokju’..
However, even after several days passed, the major continued to call him Gokju, and even when I pointed this out, he just blinked as if he could not understand..
‘Aside from the rejection, his facial expressions and emotional expressions are no different from before, so it's hard to tell if he's returned properly..’
He said with his own mouth that he was sad, and he also showed strange behavior at times like before, so it was clear..
However, since there was no change in facial expression, I couldn't help but feel worried..
Joo Seo-cheon seemed lost in thought for a moment, was silent for a while, and then smiled and stroked the major's head..
“Even if you tell me to go back to Ghost Valley, I won't, and you're rotting me to the end..”
After I regained my senses, I returned to the ghost song several times, or tried to console myself by telling myself to live as I wanted, but it was no use..
The major said nothing and stayed by his side as he always had..
“Gokju, because of me… … It hurts inside?”
Looking up with both eyes raised, he looked like a child afraid of being scolded by his parents..
“No way. It's a joke so don't worry too much.”
Who could look at this child and think that he was synonymous with cruelty and fear, and that he was an assassin only known in legend??
“By the way, I was planning to call you and you came right away..”
“……?”
“From now on, I will teach you the art of ghost magic..”
Even though it was a loss of martial arts, it didn't mean that I had forgotten the old rules..
Joo Seo-cheon delivered the advice to Major..
“I wanted to return everyone's hearts to their original state... … I'm really sorry I couldn't do that..”
Joo Seocheon let out a bitter smile mixed with regret and regret..
The major was not the only one sacrificed in the name of saving the martial arts world..
There were ghosts other than her too..
I felt like they wanted to return to being strangers, but they didn't have the ability to do so at the moment..
“How you use the ghost magic is up to you. It's good to pass it on to someone, but it's also good to learn it yourself and become the next ghost singer... … At the very least, I hope people who have suffered heartbreak like you will leave it alone..”
nod.
“Please keep in mind that this is a request, not an order..”
The major didn't know whether he knew how Joo Seo-cheon was feeling, but just blinked his eyes with a deadpan expression, as always..
I had to take comfort in the fact that the word ‘honmyeong’ did not come out of my mouth..
Joo Seocheon came down from the mountainside..
The major did not follow like a shadow like before, but walked at the side..
Before long, the back door of the party house was visible..
When I opened the door and entered, there were Tang family warriors standing in two rows..
“Meet the Swordsman!”
It was a time of peace, not war, and the warriors of the Tang Dynasty looked very disciplined..
It was an attitude that clearly showed who the current head of the family was..
“The head of the house is too strong. It's not the front door, it's the back door, so you don't need to put in much effort..”
They say it can't be helped because the front door is the sign representing the party, but there was no need to do this at the back door..
If someone were to see it, they might mistakenly think it was some kind of important place..
The Tang family warrior hesitated for a moment at Ju Seo-cheon's words, but then opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind..
“I don't intend to criticize Geomshin's words, but would it be okay if I post a few words at the risk of being rude??”
“It's okay as long as you don't call me by the excessive nickname 'Geomshin'..”
Joo Seocheon answered with a slight smile..
Since the sword was only wielded using plum blossom sword techniques or relying on physical ability, the current nickname was burdensome..
“thank you.”
The Tang family warrior expressed his sincere gratitude..
“Ju Seocheon Grand Hyeop. Daehyeop is a great hero who saved the political faction, or rather the Jungwon martial arts group, from crisis..
If it had not been for the noble sacrifice of the Daehyup, the war would not have ended and many people would have suffered..
I and many others appreciate and respect you..”
“It's just like this friend said.”
The warrior next to me said with a look of respect in his eyes..
“I can assure you that our actions are not intentional..
We hope you know that even if we are just cleaning up this area or guarding the back door, we are paying our respects in our own way..”
“When I heard that Daehyeop often goes out to the mountain behind through this gate, Sega medical officers rushed to stand guard..
It's been over ten years since I took charge of the party, but this is the first time I've shown this level of enthusiasm..”
Musa smiled softly and continued speaking..
“It's not just warriors.
Not only direct and collateral blood relatives, but also servants and maids..
Although no one ordered it, we are working to ensure that the Daehyup feels comfortable..
Even those who complained that they didn't want to go to work couldn't believe their eyes when they got up early at half past the hour and had a meeting..”
Joo Seocheon couldn't say anything..
I was so filled with emotions that I couldn't express them in words..
“Can I know your name??”
Joo Seocheon asked in a quiet voice..
The warriors looked at each other, then drew an arc at the corner of their mouths and returned their heads to their original position..
“sorry.
I know it's against etiquette, but I won't answer..
As I said before, this is not an action to get something in return..
Just think of yourself as one of those who want to give back to Daehyeop..”
“Same goes for me too.”
I felt sincerity in his facial expression and attitude..
It felt like they really didn't want their names revealed..
Gratitude and respect, that was all..
Joo Seocheon made a blank expression as if he had lost his mind, but then drew a line around his mouth like a warrior..
“thank you.”
“no. I just did the obvious thing..”
After giving a handshake to the warriors, Ju Seo-cheon passed by while receiving their eyes full of respect..
As I entered Sega, I couldn't help but focus my attention..
Not long ago, this gaze was burdensome and uncomfortable at the same time, but at this moment, I was able to accept it with peace of mind..
However, not long after, Joo Seo-cheon smiled bitterly as he was faced with a situation where he was sitting on a thorn cushion..
“Oh my, who is this? As soon as he regained consciousness after a month, he started wandering around and cruelly trampling on the hearts of people who were truly worried.?”
This is what I heard as soon as Joo Seocheon entered the hospital room alone after ordering the major to run an errand..
Danghye sat down in the bedroom and gave a reproachful look..
I felt a poison that felt like it would kill me at any moment..
“It's because I want to get some air..”
As soon as Joo Seocheon returned the Major's heart, he lost consciousness and collapsed..
It was due to the consumption of innate energy..
Dang-hye's heart was crushed when Joo Seo-cheon could not come to his senses..
I couldn't sleep well at night, regretting that I should have stopped it then..
“Yeah, I couldn't help it..
What would I dare say to the great hero who saved the martial arts world?.”
Knock knock.
Tang Hui crossed her arms and tapped her fingers..
Even after Joo Seocheon came to his senses, he did not return to Hwasan for several days..
No, I couldn't go back..
This was because Danghye opened her eyes and pressured me to not let her go unless she received proper treatment and rest..
“don't be so angry.
I came out after hearing from Shinui that there was no problem with my body..”
Joo Seocheon smiled bitterly as if he was sorry..
“……”
Tang Hye made a complicated expression after hearing Joo Seo-cheon's words..
There was a mixture of relief and regret on his face..
“Party head.”
“It’s unfamiliar, so stop..”
Tang Hye reacted violently..
They said it was unfamiliar, but the true intention was different..
Comments