Chapter 362: The Final Memory (1)
Illusory Illusion Witch, apparently quite upset at being rejected before she had even confessed, grumbled all day long... but anyway, the preparations proceeded steadily.
By the time a diagram in a form familiar to me had taken shape, the others also began arriving one by one to help Illusory Illusion Witch with the preparations.
“Ohh. So it could be used like this too. Well, the result is what matters, so what does the process matter? Using chicken blood is a little unpleasant, but this much is.......”
“I-it’s not chicken, it’s pig...... and the other day White Moon Sword Lord defeated the Heart Demon inside the Demon Bell, didn’t he...... Ah, and that part isn’t drawn wrong, but it’s a little inefficient. You should do it like this.”
At Zhuge Bu’s words, Illusory Illusion Witch shook her head as though she had seen something absurd.
Yet Zhuge Bu, the one who had been scolded, instead looked even brighter.
“At last! At last I’ve met someone I can actually communicate with! And in this field, you’re even a step above me!”
“Hiiik! W-what is this all of a sudden? You’re getting in the way, so please shut up. And if I’m clearly a step above in this bizarre technique that’s neither properly Daoist nor Buddhist, then in other areas you’d have to be several levels more impressive, you know?”
Illusory Illusion Witch recoiled at Zhuge Bu’s loud words. Even so, she did not fail to mention that she was far superior.
And as a bonus, she also stole glances at me to gauge my reaction.
Anyway, Zhuge Bu made a fuss and acted annoyingly, Illusory Illusion Witch shrank back in exasperation, and Divine Monk Jeong Hyeon silently finished his own work.
Not long after, when the preparations for the technique were complete, the rest of them arrived at just the right time.
Not only Tang Sowol, Seol Lihyang, and Seo Mun-Hwarin, but even Tang Jincheon and the Murim Alliance Lord.
Even those who should have been busiest right now with matters inside the Murim Alliance had made time to come.
“I’m grateful that you came, but is this really alright?”
“To be honest, it is not. But isn’t this important for my son-in-law? More than that, if what Miss Seol and the Lady of the Seo Mun Clan said is true... then this will be the last time. Even if I’m busy, what choice do I have? If I don’t want my daughter to hold this against me for the rest of my life, I have to make time even if there is none.”
“...”
Because of the excuse of mental restrictions, Seol Lihyang and Seo Mun-Hwarin had not said much, but Tang Jincheon was hardly a man without sense, so he had probably understood enough.
If someone realized something in the next round, it would surely be Tang Sowol.
In the case of the first two, although they had recovered quickly, they had still shown considerable emotional agitation when they first woke up. Tang Jincheon was probably worried about that.
“It will be alright. The Heart Demon of mine that had somehow been inside the Demon Bell has disappeared... but if anything, it is better that the Heart Demon is gone, so there is nothing for it to cause trouble over.”
“I hope so.”
Tang Jincheon nodded with a faint chuckle. From behind him, Tang Sowol peeked her head out.
“Have you finished talking? Preparations are done on this side as well, so all that remains is for Young Hero Cheon to come.”
“Yes. We just finished.”
“Then please come this way.”
Tang Sowol tugged at my arm with a playful smile. I let myself be dragged along, and there I found a diagram far more complex than before, ritual implements that looked to be twice as many, and though it was still only in the preparation stage, a considerable force could already be felt from it.
When I took a quick look with the Heavenly Insight Eye, a flow unlike anything I had ever seen before was unfolding.
“Is this a current of water? No, not that. If I had to say, it’s closer to a school of fish...”
The movement of the qi flowing around the formation was peculiar. Qi that moved actively, each strand differently, as though alive.
And yet the overall direction still followed a fixed path toward the original purpose.
“Ugh. This is cheating. It’s a scam. What kind of eyes like that even exist in this world? And even with eyes like that, you neglect techniques and train only martial arts....…”
Illusory Illusion Witch looked at my eyes with a face dripping with lingering regret, but the moment our gazes met, she lowered her eyes as if nothing had happened.
“But unless it’s someone on White Moon Sword Lord’s level, it’s a treasure that’s difficult to handle. Hehe...”
“Don’t laugh. I’ll grow attached.”
“Ehehe...”
“This time the fake laugh is too obvious, so it has the opposite effect.”
Illusory Illusion Witch made a sulky face, as if she had no idea what rhythm she was supposed to follow, but only for a moment.
Soon she composed herself, cleared her throat once, and began explaining on behalf of everyone.
Among those here, only Zhuge Bu and Illusory Illusion Witch had delved deeply into techniques. And since Illusory Illusion Witch was far above him in both seniority and skill, this was only natural.
“To begin with the conclusion, not much has changed in the larger framework compared to before.”
“It looks completely different to my eyes.”
“Ah, of course, I mean from the standpoint of the three who will actually be seeing the memory.”
As if already used to it, Tang Sowol, Seol Lihyang, and Seo Mun-Hwarin each found their places, already sitting in a half-reclining posture.
After checking them once more, Illusory Illusion Witch continued.
“Instead, you’ll be able to see things you couldn’t see before. Perhaps... you may even receive more than that.”
“Things we couldn’t see? More than that? The first thing that comes to mind is the obscured face.”
“Uh, um. As for that part, White Moon Sword Lord’s mental restrictions activate most strongly there, so I can’t say for certain... but yes. I do think there’s a possibility. But that wasn’t what I was trying to say.”
“Then what were you referring to?”
“The Demon Bell is originally a vessel that contains not a person’s memories, but heartscapes. It’s just that once someone reaches the Flowering Stage, their greatly expanded heartscape changes into something like memories, and that is what we have been making use of.”
“I heard that last time.”
“There is no longer any Blood Buddha, nor the remnants connected to him, nor White Moon Sword Lord’s Heart Demon left inside the Demon Bell. In that case—”
“Don’t tell me its original function is restored?”
“Partially. So instead of simply seeing the memory, you may perhaps faintly feel the emotions White Moon Sword Lord felt at that time.”
“Hoh...”
Well, if the heartscape was being conveyed, then that possibility certainly existed.
But at this point, there was no option to stop now.
“You’re showing the entire memory as it is, so how much is there left to hide at this stage? I’m fine with it.”
“In that case... shall we begin right away?”
At Illusory Illusion Witch’s words, no one objected.
All preparations were complete, and perhaps because we had already done this several times, the technique was carried out before long.
As I marveled at the flow of qi visible through the Heavenly Insight Eye growing more and more violent, yet not threatening in the slightest, Tang Sowol, lying nearby, spoke with a faint smile.
“With this, I’ll be able to know the words Young Hero Cheon could not say to me.”
“That’s right.”
“And I’ll also learn who that person is, the one you unconsciously think of when you look at me, Young Hero Cheon.”
“Well. Yes, I suppose you will.”
I could not bring myself to say that it was her from before my regression, so I only gave an awkward nod. Tang Sowol lightly took hold of my fingertips.
“When that time comes, surely we’ll be able to speak of what comes next a little more than we can now.”
“Yes.”
That had already been more than five years ago. The time Tang Sowol had said that perhaps I was overlaying someone else onto her.
Of course, it had never become a major problem... but that was entirely thanks to Tang Sowol’s understanding.
And now, at last, I could set right the balance that had only been maintained by Tang Sowol’s grace.
“We definitely will be able to.”
Whispering softly, I curled my own fingers around hers.
And then the technique began.
***
Tang Sowol closed and opened her eyes while feeling the warm lingering heat at her fingertips, along with a faint but unmistakable pressure.
And what followed was—
“Huh???”
Not the falling sensation she had expected.
Ordinarily, as if diving into water, she should have needed to descend from a high place, plunging downward into memory, something that did not exist in reality.
But when she came to herself, Tang Sowol had already arrived in an unfamiliar space.
Of course, that did not mean something had gone wrong.
Seol Lihyang and Seo Mun-Hwarin were properly there beside her. They were merely puzzled by the different opening, just like Tang Sowol had been moments ago.
Seol Lihyang opened and closed her hand a few times, then placed it against the wall, and her eyes widened.
“What is this? The sensations are way too vivid.”
“Hm? What do you mean by that?”
Seo Mun-Hwarin tilted her head and copied what Seol Lihyang had just done. Then her eyes widened as well.
“Now that you mention it, it certainly is clearer than before!”
It was not as though they had felt some great sense of incongruity before either. But all three of them were martial artists who had reached high realms.
With senses that sharp, it had probably been unavoidable that there would be a strange slight alienness mixed in.
This time, however, it was different. It was as though only the location had changed while reality remained the same.
At this, Tang Sowol, who had briefly fallen into thought, reached out toward the wall. For a moment it seemed as though she were touching the surface, but then her hand passed through it all too naturally.
“Oh my. So this still works, at least.”
“No matter how vivid the sensations become, I suppose the fact remains unchanged that this is a memory that has already passed, and we are merely watching it.”
Seo Mun-Hwarin gave a bitter smile and slowly looked around.
It was a room of moderate size and moderate dignity, but fundamentally bleak to a fault.
This was exactly the sort of feeling the guest rooms Cheon Hwi usually used had.
There was not much luggage, he brought in nothing extra, and because he disliked decorating things lavishly, even the ornaments that had originally been there had been casually pushed off into a corner.
None of the three women had expected that instead of falling from the sky, they would suddenly come to their senses inside a room... but all three instinctively realized it.
There was no need to go far to find Cheon Hwi.
The moment they silently nodded to one another, a loud voice came from outside.
—Sword Demon! I am innocent! A spy of the Demonic Cult? Are you trying to pin such a false accusation on me because I am from the Murim Alliance! Do not forget the meaning of the Orthodox and Unorthodox Alliance!
At this, Seol Lihyang let out a snicker and said,
“If it’s someone worthy of being called Sword Demon, then there is really only one person, right?”
“Mmm. That must be so. However, the weight of the title Sword Demon would not be the same as in reality.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Seol Lihyang recall why Cheon Hwi in this memory—meaning before the regression—had been called Sword Demon, that bloody revenge tragedy, and awkwardly changed the subject.
“Th-then shall we first go out and see what’s happening?”
“Let us do that.”
As though reassuring the awkward Seol Lihyang, Seo Mun-Hwarin replied in an unconcerned tone and took the lead, passing through the door.
And the three women saw it. The defeated remnants, drenched in fatigue and depression, turning their anger not toward a powerful enemy, but inward.
Whether the room they had just been in was one of the few intact places, most of the buildings around it were collapsed or burned.
Surrounded by things made by human hands and ruined by human hands, people were crowding around another human being.
A martial artist of middle age, with white mixed halfway into his hair, a beard grown down to his chest, and, peculiarly, long eyebrows, dressed in Daoist robes.
The middle-aged man, clad in the garments of the Wudang Sect, shouted at those glaring at him with haggard expressions.
“When things do not go as you wish, you vent your anger on others instead! If the late Black Lotus Sect Lord saw this, he would have harshly rebuked you!”
Shing.
“You should never have said that.”
Cheon Hwi, now several years older than he had looked in the last memory, drew his sword.
Seeing those eyes sharpened to a chilling edge, Tang Sowol let out a sigh.
“Brother Cheon.......”
A considerable amount of time had clearly passed since the last memory.
And yet Cheon Hwi was still broken.