Archive of Our Own

Nothing changed, but also everything did.

Just like in the past, that demon stood on top of a mountain of corpses, allies and enemies blurring together that he can no longer tell which is which. He looked down on them with that sort of untouchable air in his figure, as if he was looking at mere bugs that the feeling of his eyes digging into them made his blood boil.

There are dead people all around him. But the difference was—these people…there are less than before.

No, could it just be because there are more people who willingly came into the battlegrounds with them? Martial artists who, despite the long, tiring wars that they had to fight, one after another, still took up the blade and moved forward to face one last wall that attempted to take their peace from them.

Everything was red.

But this red…at least this time, it blurs with everything else.

For a painter, it must’ve been a devastating set of colors. Blue and pink and gold and black…it would’ve decorated a canvas from one end to another, painting a horrifying yet awe-striking picture of both struggle and resistance. For the bards and poets who will tell the tale for many generations to come, they’d have woven together an intricate and masterful tale of horror, enticing people who have enough time to spare to listen.

But for them, who stood on the very land of what once must’ve been a lively town…it was nothing of the sort.

Claaaang!!

There was the sound of a sword colliding against something that doesn’t quite sound metallic, but there are ten of the Magyo charging straight towards him that Cheong Myeong cannot spare the energy to look and check. His mouth had barred into a sort of animalistic grin, teeth stained with the same red substance that he can taste in his tongue. His sword, too, can no longer reflect the surroundings like a mirror can, too covered with the dripping blood and the petals that clung close as if in reassurance.

He can faintly feel familiar presences around him. Just a few feet away, Namgung Dowi had grit his teeth despite the blood pouring down his nose, tirelessly displaying the Emperor Sword that his family has always been proud of. Somewhere ahead, the golden light of Buddha pushed back some of the oncoming enemies, filtering the amount of Magyo that they would have to face in a short amount of time. Multiple energies all around whizzed across the battlefield like a storm, bringing with them a whirlwind of plum and snow blossoms, a sight that no one in the past would’ve thought would ever happen at all.

All these little details, he was acutely aware of. After all, there is no one in this world who can read the battlefield as well as he can.

Sogok! Sogok! Sogok!

Each blood thirsty swing of his sword leaves another spraying of blood, bathing him in the metallic scent that would’ve left a normal person hurling. But the normal people are nowhere to be found in the battlefield, the very few who survived already having taken refuge as soon as people came to help them.

He beheads another believer who had been endlessly chanting their stupid praises for the Heavenly Demon. The head comes flying through the air, dropping down in a painful way if only it could still feel such things. Then, due to the fiery nature of the battlefield, the person that was passing by did not even make a move to avoid it, simply stomping down and carelessly crushing the face into a pool of blood.

Squelch!

Cheong Myeong ignores it, eyes burning and glaring as he looks at the being who sat watching indifferently as everyone fought.

This bastard who, after having already ruined one life, seems eager to try to ruin another one.

It burns.

The anger in him burns so fiercely that it makes his skin crawl. No matter how much his cool qi tries to reassure him and ease the fury that was swelling in his chest, it only proved to be nothing but futile.

Immense hatred and resentment. It crawled up to him and squeezed tightly at his throat until he was having trouble breathing and his eyes had ultimately become bloodshot.

Not anymore.

Not on my watch, you fucking bastard.

And so, Cheong Myeong, who has never felt so alive as that very moment, came rushing forward, replaying a scene as if he had rehearsed it a hundred times in the past.

Once upon a time, Im Sobyeong pushed him aside, having noticed the worsening condition of his body and spoke to him words that no one else had the audacity to tell him.

“You’re still alive. So stop living like a ghost who has already died.”

At the time, Cheong Myeong had heard the words, but refused to understand them. Because he, who carries a burden heavier than the sky itself, simply cannot live when he should’ve died a long time ago. Despite not actively telling this to himself, it was a philosophy that has already found its way into his very being for a long, long time.

And then death waved at him in the face once more, an old friend at this point. It was as cold and as lonely as it had been the first time. It isolated him just enough for him to believe that he truly was alone in this world. It made him realize that all this time, just…even by a little…

He wanted to live.

If not for the sahyung and sajaes that has gone ahead before him, if not for the person that has been his one and only friend, if not for the Mount Hua that lives only in his memories—

At least…at least he wanted to live for everything else.

There’s still a lot to do. The disciples that looked up to him for guidance, the young and old leaders of that generation that would’ve been hopeless had he not come forward, the innocent people that he’s seen suffering and crying for help…he thinks to himself, 

Ah. These guys still need me too.

It didn’t matter to him then, even if it meant tearing his body to pieces or gritting his teeth just so the anguish and suffering never comes forth into existence. Cheong Myeong was a sword, he was Mount Hua’s sword, which means that no matter how painful and tiring it gets, he absolutely must remain unshakeable.

And then…

It was still a stark image in his mind. Soso, face covered in tears and desperation, shaking him and yelling at him despite the intense trembling in her hands and the true terror that reflects in her eyes. He knows everyone else is there too, watching him quietly but undoubtedly sharing the anguish that Soso displayed as they realized just how much he’d tried to bear by himself, in silence.

Who do you think you are?

You’re not the only one protecting Mount Hua. You’re not the only one fighting. So please, for the sake of whatever being is looking down and watching us, please just for once in your life—

You’re human , sahyung. Every bit human as all of us.

Stop throwing yourself away.

Her words, which would’ve normally flown past him, had stung in more ways than he thought it would. Cheong Myeong, who had been far too weak after fighting against his inner demons for who knew how long, heard the voice of someone else overlapping her sobbing words.

It’s been a while, he thinks to himself, as his delirious eyes caught the gaze of the ghost of his sahyung, who stared back at him with the same expression that everyone else has been looking at him with.

You’re an idiot, Cheong Myeong-ah.

For once in this second life…you should know when to take a rest.

And then he was laughing.

He was laughing so hard that the battlefield had slowly come to a stop, cooling rapidly as everyone slowly realizes what had happened. Cheong Myeong, on top of the corpses where the body of the decapitated Heavenly Demon sat, laughed endlessly, loudly, baring out to the world the relief and satisfaction that has come flooding his being.

Everything hurts.

There was another gaping hole in his stomach, from a strike that he was careless enough to get hit by. There was a mockery in his figure too, in the arm that was blasted away just like what happened to his Jangmun Sahyung a hundred years ago. Blood drips down his face from his temple, his hair had been cut short when he had to dodge a wave of energy that tried to cut him down, and one of his eyes had been rendered completely useless.

The chicks he so painstakingly raised, bless them, and the heads of the various martial arts sects and families, they’d slowly tried to get up. But they also suffered devastating wounds of their own, so it might take a while before they would be able to move an inch from where they are.

There was roaring all around him. The remaining Magyo, who had yet to leave this world, turned their angry gazes at him, not nearly as close to demonic as their worshipped being could be, and tried to attack him for what he had done.

The head of Cheon Ma laid unblinking next to his feet, forever staring back at him with that haunting red eyes of his.

He knows how fiercely everyone else had fought again, trying their best to make sure that no one else would reach him. It was almost impressive how close they’d gotten, only to be left collapsing, unbreathing, about an arm away from him.

It was a cold battlefield. But at the same time, he can feel the activity.

Beggars ran back and forth all over the place, passing information that the war had finally ended. The medical team that was led by the Tang Family swept through the grounds, immediately identifying who else could be saved and who needed immediate treatment. There are people who had passed him, heading straight to the Family Heads and Sect Leaders, who are arguably one of the most important figures at that place. And some…they walked up to him, nervously and almost scared, assessing his laughing figure and trying to see what must be done.

But here’s the thing: Cheong Myeong knew his body more than anyone.

He was already familiar with it. In fact, he had waved at it and crossed the river at least four times in his entire existence. The danjeon that he had painstakingly built all those years ago was already cleanly blown off along with his guts. It was already a miracle how he can still stand and laugh like this.

(To everyone else who had seen him, he really was an impressive person.)

He can feel someone rushing to him, pushing past her family members that had hesitated at the sight of his hopeless condition. His samae, proudly wearing the uniform of Mount Hua and a far cry from the caged jewel they had first met in the Tang Family estate, brought out her acupuncture needles and tried her very best to salvage…whatever could be salvaged of him.

“Dad!” she cried out, her face scrunched in concentration as she tried to hold back her tears. “Where’s the Gaju? Someone bring him here now!”

There was desperation in her voice. This time, her hands no longer shook. Faintly, Cheong Myeong had stopped laughing to let out a small smirk. There was a little sense of pride that was blooming in his chest.

Tang Bo… He thinks to himself. Do you see this? Hasn’t your descendant grown up to be so dependable as well?

There was choked laughter. Soso screamed at him to stop wasting his energy, but he didn’t hear it.

Unlike you, huh?

He waited for a bit, trying to see if the voice of his friend would echo back at him, scolding him as well for throwing his body into such a state that anyone else would’ve given up helping him.

But the problem was that Tang Bo, possibly the best person suited for fixing his shredded body, has already passed on.

Tang Gunak, too, somewhere in the group that was trying to circulate their qi in order to recover quickly. He admits that while his medical skills were impressive in this generation, it wasn’t nearly enough to bring a person back from certain death.

(If it was possible, then his sasuk wouldn’t have suffered as much as he had, right?)

…

He can hear someone yelling this time. They joined Soso in her frenzy, but at least she was stable enough that she could snap at them and tell them to move away unless they want to be stabbed by her needles as well.

“Sahyung, sahyung, focus on me, please !” she begged him, trying her best to pass on some qi to help boost his healing. Hey, haven’t you always been a monster who can recover even with your arm partially torn off? What are you doing, smiling like an idiot instead of healing yourself?

She turned her head around to look at her family members. “What about that technique…the balancing of Yin and Yang that we did the last time after Haenam? We…we can do that again, right?”

“Soso.”

“Something…someone… Move?! Hey, what are you all doing just watching?!”

“Soso…”

“Sahyung—you shut up! I told you so many times to quit throwing yourself into danger! Look where it got you! You’re just as bad as sasuk!”

“...Soso.”

“You—”

She choked on her own tears, which had fallen even without her permission. There was a hand pushing away her hands that was trying to pass on energy. Cheong Myeong laughed again to himself, finding irony in the situation that was similar to the past.

(Except in the past, it was him who was passing on the qi, and that Tang brat who was pushing him away.)

“That’s enough.”

A hush fell over the battlefield.

Cheong Myeong, with a genuine smile on his face that was rarely actually ever seen, looked for the echo of something in the face that looked back at him. Although he didn’t find the exact thing he was looking for, the impression was similar enough that he found himself nodding in satisfaction.

Cheong Ma remained dead near his body. But unlike in the past, Cheong Myeong wasn’t the only person to witness his fall.

Right here was the entire cultivation world watching, right? This generation of Mount Hua, whatever remained of the Great Sects and Families, the beggars who would surely spread the word to everyone else, starting the great story that people will surely talk about for the years to come.

Before his very eyes, the seedlings he’d sown and tirelessly cultivated had finally grown into proud, sturdy trees that he had hoped it would be.

Was there…was there no greater reward than that?

“It’s alright now. With…with this much…”

It hurts to talk, his speech a little slurred and ragged now. But he had to say it.

“Just—Just grow properly…or I’d come…and b…break your heads.”

From here, he can see them. They all looked at him in denial and horror, as desperate as Soso was looking. Yun Jong looked at him solemnly and in regret, Jo Geol in denial as if he didn't believe whatever he was seeing with his own eyes. The monk Hye Yeon had brought his hands together, chanting that Buddhist prayer that he ever gets tired of saying. Jin Geumryong watched him, this time with silence and respect as he knew what was going to happen. And Yu Iseol, she glared at him so much that anyone who doesn’t know her enough would’ve thought she hated him, if not for how tightly she was clenching her fists that her knuckles turned white.

His eyes flitted to the side. Next to Namgung Dowi and Tang Pae and Lee Songbaek stood his sasuk, who was watching him with his mouth opening and closing, face so pale and so far away from the regal and neat person that he has always been.

This person, too, despite everything thrown his way, how impressive must he be to somehow crawl his way back among their ranks and fight by them? With what he did…surely it will be enough for Mount Hua to welcome him back.

This time with the people he’s leaving behind…he can close his eyes without worry and rest comfortably.

“What are you saying, ah?!” Soso scolded him, refusing to cry at all. “What are you saying? Don’t talk like that. We’re all coming back to Mount Hua after this, okay? Hey! Where’s dad? I told you to come get him!”

Tsk. So stubborn. She really was influenced greatly by the sect.

From behind the Tangs that crowded him, finally, he saw the very people he had been longing so dearly to see.

Cheong Mun and Cheong Jin both shook their heads at him, exasperated and tired. From behind them were the rest of his annoying sajaes and samaes, people who would point fingers at him and try to tease him but ultimately come running back to him when they needed help. His sabu-nim too, whom he used to laugh at heartily whenever he sees him let out a long-sigh, and his sasuks and sagos who would discreetly let him out of his punishment early if he played his cards right. They all stood waiting for him to come with them.

He can’t hear quite well, but he can read the words that were being said on Cheong Mun’s lips.

Let’s rest now, Cheong Myeong-ah.

A relieved grin seemed to have been stuck on his face.

“Cheong Myeong-ah—”

“Sajil. Sajil, don’t close your eyes.”

“Commander! Hey! What do you think you’re—”

“Sahyung? Sahyung, what’s wrong?”

And his body finally collapsed, dead and unseeing.

In his first life, Cheong Myeong regretted wasting his time by living as he wanted, like a wayward child that never knew how to settle down. He spent some time in the middle of life and death, thinking back on his past and what he could’ve done better for things to not happen as it had.

Maybe it was a form of salvation when he was brought back to life, even though at first, he had seen it as a curse. But Cheong Myeong knew it was a chance to right his wrongs, to repent for the responsibility that he had failed to live by.

This life, he thinks…there’s no more regrets.

…No, that was a lie.

Actually, as he spends this next time staring at the rewind of his entire second life, feeling both bittersweet and warm feelings that had come to shake what was left of his consciousness, he realized there might be a little something left.

I just wish…I’d seen them grow up a little more.

(What a greedy bastard.)

The afterlife was more normal than he thought.

There was something warm and comfortable underneath him. Cheong Myeong’s eyebrows scrunched together as he relies on his senses, a little confused by everything. After being in a war for so long, the feeling of something as soft as a cloud almost felt foreign to him.

His eyes opened to a bright room.

“Eurk…”

Groaning slightly and covering his eyes, he waited until he had fully adjusted before removing his arm. The place he was in really was so unfamiliar that he ended up tilting his head and contorting his face to an ugly expression.

No…where is this? Where is Jangmun Sahyung?

He was about to jump out of the bed, when he noticed there was something draped over him. A brief look down confirmed that he was covered with a thick blanket, the thickest one he has ever seen in his life. It was so warm that he almost forgot what he was going to do.

Uh? Well, the afterlife was nicer than he thought?

But it’s a little strange. He didn’t think it would be like this. What he expected was to wake up crossing the river, or maybe living his next life as a tree or something, just like the cycle of reincarnation that his Jangmun Sahyung would constantly nag him about.

“Kekekeke…I get it now,” he laughs to himself as he tosses away the blanket. “I have lived my life as an exemplary Taoist that I was given the best of the best. Of course! That’s how it should be!”

He can’t wait to find everyone and laugh at their faces. In the past, they would point at him and tell him that he’s definitely getting the worst afterlife due to how insanely he lived his life. But look just where he was right now? Waking up in the most comfortable place? No, if he looks around just for the slightest bit, anyone could easily tell that everything in this room was made of expensive things! It’s fine if he cannot feel any qi in his spiritual veins, he won’t need it anymore anyway! He’d just go back to living however he wants this time!

Busy laughing to himself and skipping around the room wiggling his fingers with a greedy look as he stared at the gaudy furniture, Cheong Myeong almost didn’t notice when the door opened.

There was a woman standing on the doorway, staring at him blankly and dropping the bowl that she was holding in between her hands.

…

…

…

They’d stared at each other for a long time. Cheong Myeong’s face was stuck in that unpleasant expression, since he doesn’t know how to react this time.

Then, as if finally coming to terms with what she saw, the woman turned around without picking up her bowl, screaming.

“Madam! Madam! The young master is awake!”

Huh?

Uhm…What?

Cheong Myeong watched her go with a dumbfounded expression on his face, slowly lowering his hands.

Young master…who?

Him?

Hiiiiim?

Y—young master?!?!??!?!?

What kind of afterlife is this?!

It was only when heavy footsteps that sounded like a stampede came rushing to his room did Cheong Myeong flinch in realization. A large group of unfamiliar people burst inside with another woman in the lead. She went straight for him, smothering him in an embrace and almost suffocating him with the thick smell  of her perfume.

????????

N—No, what’s this? How can this random person completely engulf him like this?

“Oh, my precious son!” The weird old hag cried, somehow managing to not ruin the thick makeup that colors her face. She rubbed her face into his, and he tried to lean back uncomfortably but was only brought closer. Hey?????

“You’re really okay! You worried me and your father for a while back there?”

“Uh???”

“You must’ve been so scared, yes? It’s alright now, my baby! Your mother was sorry for neglecting you! This time…I will never let you leave my sight!!”

Uhm, excuse me, lady???

Who on earth are you?!?!?!??!?!?

It took a while for Cheong Myeong to understand. But once it did, he cannot help but want to sink into the ground and just kill himself for the third time.

This is, in fact, not the afterlife.

Life is truly, really unfair.

Zhuang Zhou, you bastard!!!! You never mentioned any of this in your scriptures!!

First of all, Cheong Myeong is, in fact, not dead. Which was ridiculous. He had already lived two full lives, both of them spent fighting the damned Heavenly Demon who doesn’t know how to sit still.

He momentarily froze at this realization. He remembered the young Buddha from the Potala Palace delivering to him the news about how his fate had become interwoven with Cheon Ma. Could it be…the reason why he was alive again when he should’ve died was because that bastard will live again sometime in the near future?

…No. No way, right? No way?

This is ridiculous! How many people have died every time he comes back to life?! Can’t he just stay dead?

No, but…thinking about it, that guy did not say the same things he had before he was killed on top of the mountain of corpses. No, from what Cheong Myeong could remember, as much as he hated recalling that hateful face, he only smiled in satisfaction and allowed the blade to reach his throat, resigned to the fact that he could no longer move.

Then…could it be the cycle of life that Taoism keeps talking about?

Argh! Thinking about it in his first—no, it’s the second one, right? Thinking about it back then had been useless, so mulling it over now would be even more so!

He shook his head and scratched his cheek thoughtfully.

Second thing that he understood was the fact that he wasn’t a beggar this time around. No, it was too far from being a beggar.

It was as if some upper being had been eavesdropping during the time he was complaining about being born penniless even in his second life. When he woke up this time around, he was the young master of a rich family in the trading industry. According to the conversations he’d eavesdropped in when no one was paying attention, it was also likely that his family had ties with the emperor himself.

That was just ridiculous! It was like striking a gold mine! Him, who had to work for money all his life, was finally born with a golden spoon in his mouth!

He wasn’t an orphan this time, born in a family with the last name Cheong. It was a bit incredible to think about, because for the longest time, Cheong Myeong had no family but Mount Hua.

…That’s right. Mount Hua…

He doesn’t know yet how many years had passed this time, but no one was answering his questions. He would’ve jumped out of the walls long ago, if it wasn’t for the constant scrutiny of guards watching his every move. Seriously, it was so stuffy!

Still, knowing just who he had left the sect to, he hoped that things hadn’t gone too badly.

Now, why should he hurry when he can just rest comfortably in this expensive family home? Although it is a bit bizarre, he still thinks he deserves this a little bit.

“Kekeke…I’ll come check in on the brats after a while. But for now, let me take my time.”

…Or at least that’s what he planned on doing.

At that moment, the door opened again, disturbing him from his attempt to melt into the bed. The same girl who first saw him wake up, whom he later found out was a servant of the family, came inside the room in tears. Apparently, everyone in the household was treated so well, almost like a family that no one took offense in this behavior unless it was becoming harmful or disrespectful.

“Young maaasterrrr!” she cried as she ran over to him, holding a letter in her hands. “I know that you don’t remember very well, but please do not take anything written in this to heart!”

Uh?

That’s right, this was another thing that he had realized.

Since the body he woke up in, compatible as it is with his soul, still had a family, he ended up having to sell the idea that he cannot remember anything. It only worked in his favor that the kid that this person originally was got into a tragic accident that his lie worked so well.

And from what he knows…it happened because of the very contents of the letter in his hands.

Cheong Myeong of the Cheong Family,

I am ashamed to be of inconvenience to you at this point in time, especially after having heard that you have recently recovered. However, I hope you would also understand my position. This relationship has been forced on us in the beginning, and as children, we were too naive to have any say in it. So right now, I am humbly asking the young master to call off this marri—

The letter crumpled under his hands.

Cheong Myeong threw it aside as if it was on fire. There was a sour look on his face.

“No, is that bastard crazy?!”

“Y–young master!”

“I don’t care who he is, who does he think he was? Does he know who I am? What I did? Aigooo, how dare a yangban like him send me that letter?!”

“Young master, please calm down!” The servant begged him, almost getting on her knees. “Please do not feel too bad! Although the young master Tang has been asking for the annulment of the engagement for quite a long time now, do understand that we don’t have to listen to his words! So please calm yourself and—”

“Wait, who?”

“—write back a polite response declining his—Huh?”

Cheong Myeong, who had been shaking with rage not too long ago, turned to her with a pale face, as if he was about to pass out again.

“ Who am I engaged to?”

“...Young…Young Master Tang Bo of the Tang Family?”

“.... WHO?!?!?”

He almost fell off the bed in his hurry to grip the woman by her shoulders, close to shaking her wildly in disbelief. His heart had dropped when he heard the name, and it was now racing so fast that he felt like he was going to puke.

“What on earth—How am I engaged to that bastard? How can this be? No, no…in the first place, how is he alive? Is he alive? Huh? Does this make sense?”

“Y—young master….!”

“This crazy guy…And what’s with this letter? No, that doesn’t matter. Marriage? Marriaaaaage? With that guy?! What kind of world am I living in?!”

“B—But…!”

“Hey, you!” He let go of the woman to point at her, then at the letter. “I don’t care who’s writing it. Send back a letter telling them I’m cancelling this engagement!”

“Yes!...I mean, huh?!”

“What the hell? Who does he think he is? Why would I marry that leech? No, in the first place, it might not be him? I would never marry anyone I don’t even know!”

“No, but, young master….” his servant looked at him, eyes teary as she listened to his ramblings. Could it be that his accident caused something to go wrong in his head? How could he be calling off the engagement now , when he so vehemently opposed it in the past?! “Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

“But…” she sniffed again, looking at him worriedly. “You loved him so much that you jumped off the moving carriage for him and hit your head when he rejected you. How can this be happening?”

“...I what?!”

Turns out that the ‘Tang Bo’ that he was engaged to really wasn’t the Tang Bo in his memories.

No, it was just a family who coincidentally had the same last name. He also found out that it has been about ten years since the last war, and during that time, the names of the people who contributed greatly to the last two Magyo Wars became a household name not just in Kangho but for everyone in the Central Plains. So it was no coincidence that he, who was from the Cheong family, was given the name Myeong. His family jumped at the opportunity as soon as it was given to them.

So the other person, too, was named Tang Bo after the Dark Saint.

What a frustrating life. In the end, he cannot escape the ghosts of his past, even after reincarnating all the way in the new Hangzhou that has recuperated successfully from what happened in the past.

He really asked someone to write the letter about the annulment of their marriage, because having his own handwritten letter was something that the bastard trying to marry him really doesn’t deserve. When he first brought this matter up to his new parents, they had immediately rushed him to the doctor to have him checked if he was truly not yet okay. They stared at him like how his servant looked at him, in extreme disbelief since they cannot believe he really was over his obsession with the Tang Family’s second son.

The thing is, of course he was over it! He was literally a different person altogether! He hadn’t married anyone in his first and second life, he sure as hell refuses to marry anyone in this one!

It took a bit of convincing, but they really allowed him to send the letter. They got an eager response back in which it was stated that this Tang Bo person will come by their home in order to officialize the cancellation of their engagement. Cheong Myeong thought it was troublesome, but his parents insisted that it was a necessary process so he reluctantly agreed.

Which was how he found himself being attended to by their family’s servants. He was stuck in their clutches for a good amount of time, dressing him up with the finest clothes that he once looked at Jo Geol resentfully in the past for, and had his face powdered and decorated with so many things he almost choked on it.

By the time he was free from their clutches, he felt as if his energy had been sapped from him.

“Crazy…”

He didn’t know living as a rich person could be like this!

“I take it back…let me live as I used to! Sahyung, help me!”

Unfortunately for him, the voice of his sahyung didn’t respond to him at all.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Cheong Myeong slumped over the table and mourned his situation.

Earlier, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and had enough time to examine the current body. It was different from the slightly softer features of his second life, and lacked the roughness of his first body. The person that blinked back at him was someone who had just reached his twenties, handsome, not having a single blemish on his face despite not cultivating. His jaw was sharp and his eyebrows perfectly arched. It was the face of someone who never had to worry about material things nor starvation because his family can provide it to him at a snap of their fingers.

“Although I haven’t seen the emperor yet, I already know how unfair this life is,” he mumbled to himself. “While there are people crawling in poverty, money just rolls into my palm even if I sleep like this. And the worst part is that I cannot buy alcohol with it.”

It was truly the biggest shame of this life. And he was someone who used to foam at the mouth when he saw the Namgung Family’s ledgers.

Anyway, after this annulment situation, he should be at least a little more free. So as soon as he is able to, then he will definitely find some time to build a danjeon again and build back his strength. Living as such a weak person feels a little unsettling for someone like him, who was a master in both of his lives.

It was a little past lunch time when the Tang Family’s carriage arrived.

They must’ve tried not to draw as much attention as possible, but the obvious condition of their carriage gave them away. The townspeople turned their heads and whispered amongst themselves as they passed by and stopped in front of the Cheong Family manor.

Cheong Myeong purposely made himself late, not really willing to give the bastard who dared marry him the time of day. From what he was told, it seems like the original goods had met his fiance in the past when they were kids, but it hadn’t gone well so they stayed separate until recently, when the naive Cheong kid found himself foolishly falling for the guy who won’t spare him a second glance.

What a ridiculous story. The thought of having to act like a lovesick moron made Cheong Myeong want to hurl.

He reluctantly stood up when the same female servant—whom he still hadn’t asked the name of—went inside his room to urge him out, shooting him concerned glances as if she was worried that he would change his mind as soon as he saw that yangban again. But Cheong Myeong remained unfazed and just walked as slowly as possible to where everyone else was waiting for him.

There was a young man sitting firmly on the table with his parents. His face had a boyish charm to it, short light brown bangs framing his face in a complimentary way. He had his hair halfway tied up in a bun, and he exuded a kind of energy that made Cheong Myeong’s eyes narrow.

He was a master. He would recognize the feeling of qi anywhere.

So the person he was engaged to knew a bit of martial arts. Still, how odd that he was more involved in the matter of the common people and the emperor rather than with Jianghu.

Their eyes met, and he saw that person falter for the slightest moment. But Cheong Myeong kept his uninterested expression on his face, barely glancing at him and sitting down on the spot that was left for him. His mother glanced at him, nervously sipping her tea.

“My darling,” she began. “Did something happen?”

“No,” he responded curtly, glaring at the Tang brat that was looking at him without stopping.

What’s with this guy?

Was he wondering why Cheong Myeong suddenly lost interest in him after, ahem, if he was using the words of the servants as reference, he threw himself off a carriage after being rejected again for the nth time? Tsk. What a waste of time, really.

Cheong Myeong was an old man anyway. There was no way he’d look at these kids that way anymore, regardless of their gender.

The conversation that happened was very one-way. Cheong Myeong made it apparent that he was greatly uninterested in it by staring at his nails and at everything in the room, except for his parents and their visitor. Surely, that’s enough to convey his thoughts on this marriage?

However, unlike what he was expecting, just as they were about to finalize it and kick this Tang brat out of their manor, he suddenly shot up and grabbed Cheong Myeong’s wrist with a strange expression on his face.

“...I changed my mind.”

“...Huh?”

“Let’s not cancel this. Please, please, please, let’s get married.”

“...”

“...”

There was silence in that room for a while.

During that time, Cheong Myeong, who was about to burst from being forced to sit through this entire thing wearing these uncomfortable clothes and face paint, ended up bursting with his face red and standing up while slapping the hand away from his wrist.

“Who does this bastard think he is, huh?”

If anything, he sees his parents’ horrified faces at his language.

Too bad, his hands were already swinging before he could think about it.

“Young master—”

“Kick him out.”

“But this is the twenty-eighth day—”

“Tell him I don’t want to see him.”

“...Of course.”

He watched her scurry away awkwardly to deliver the news to the unwanted pest that wandered inside their home. Cheong Myeong lets out a heavy sigh and drops the wooden sword that he has been swinging previously.

After the infamous day of him beating up the second son of the Tang Family, people had been talking about how horribly their attempt at matchmaking had failed. However, there was something more stunning than the news of their fight, and it was the fact that after it happened, Tang Bo hadn’t stopped, not even for a day, coming to visit the Cheong Estate, begging him not to cancel their engagement.

What the hell? Wasn’t this the guy who apparently sent a request for an annulment so many times in the past that their fireplace had been burning so brightly even during the winter?

Every single time, he was turned away. But that brat’s spirit did not break.

Cheong Myeong was right. It seems like anyone with the same name as the leech-like person in his first life would have the same sticky personality, regardless of the timeline.

But that’s not what matters.

Actually, Cheong Myeong developed his danjeon halfway through the month and was allowed to pick up a wooden sword to train himself. His mother had been in tears when she saw him sweating and slowly building up muscle mass, but they somehow knew that there was nothing that they could do to stop him from what he was attempting to do. In fact, they supported him enough that they tried to hire an instructor to help him. It was all useless, since he easily beat that person with one hand behind his back.

Since he wasn’t blind nor deaf, he knew about the wondrous looks and awed whispers of the people whenever they saw him practicing. They must’ve thought he was some sort of sword prodigy, for knowing how to handle a sword so well without needing to learn from another.

No, it was because I was the Plum Blossom Sword Saint in my first life.

Sometimes, his gaze would move towards the eastern side, looking into a place that was too far from his reach.

Mount Hua was so far away from him that he didn't know the situation very well. But there are some rumors here and there that he was barely able to catch. The new sect leader was apparently a good person, so much that the people praised him all the way to the heavens. The prestige of the disciples who had fought in the war was so high that there is no one in the world who doesn’t know of them.

The Five Swords, the Gaju and the Sogaju of the Families, and the rising stars of each sect.

And.

Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword.

How bittersweet. 

Even ten years in the future, it seems that the people, unlike the first time, never allowed their tales to be erased in the background.

Jianghu has been turning out for the better now. It was becoming more similar to the Jianghu that he envisioned that it would be. He was sure this was happening because the chicks he so carefully raised made sure to keep a firm eye that everything will turn out fine.

One day, maybe he should check out how they’re doing.

“You…you crazy malko bastard—”

He raised his head at the sound of an unwelcome voice intruding on his thoughts. There was the unpleasantly familiar face of his ex-fiance, who had climbed up the wall after probably being tossed out of the place for the…twenty-eighth? Time.

He raised an eyebrow and coldly said, “It seems you’ve gotten tired of living.”

“No! Come on, Hyung! How can you reject me so cruelly? Aren’t I your fiance?!”

He ignores the pang in his chest as he hears the name used to call at him.

“Yah! Who’s your Hyung, ah? Get out of this place before I really hit you!”

“Don’t be so mean! I was really sorry! Me of the past was an idiot! Don’t kick me out!”

“Haha…” he laughed incredulously. “Look at this shameless guy?”

“Hyung? Wa—wait, Hyung-nim…what are you—”

“I told you to get out!”

He threw his wooden sword with crazy accuracy. Tang Bo dodged for his life, missing by a few inches with cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

“Aiyahhh, Hyung-nim! Really! This is worse than having your Jangmun Sahyung blackmail me out of the sect!”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Tang Bo, who just realized that his words had slipped, immediately covered his mouth with his sleeves.

“Forget that.”

“Who did you say?”

“Uh? What are you saying? You must’ve misheard.”

“...”

They fell into an awkward staring contest with each other. Cheong Myeong’s hands twitched, and Tang Bo’s eyes momentarily fell down to look at it out of instinct.

“...You.”

There was a dreadful feeling that crept up the air. Tang Bo felt goosebumps in his skin appear, and he went to swallow the bile in his throat.

“...Yes?”

“ Who did you say earlier?”

“That was just—”

“If you dare lie to my face, I will really kill you this time.”

The other person lowered his head, not daring to meet his eyes. But a sudden realization came over him, and his gaze shot back up with wide-eyed surprise.

“Then, if you’re reacting like this, then I was right!”

“What?”

“It’s Hyung-nim! It’s my Dosa Hyung-nim!”

Cheong Myeong’s heart skipped a beat.

Whether it was because of the nickname, or because the person who was saying it bears the same name as a precious person in the past, he’s not quite sure. But all the same, he narrowed his eyes threateningly.

“You—”

—And was unprepared for the figure that tackled him to the ground.

“Why, this brat—?!”

Tang Bo laughed heartily, clinging tightly to him and seemingly intent on not letting go. He seemed to have forgotten his caution from earlier, from how much he was clinging to Cheong Myeong’s waist.

“Hyung-nim, it’s you, right? The Plum Blossom Sword Saint of my past life?”

He almost hit the top of the brat’s head out of surprise.

“Huh?”

“It’s me!” Tang Bo explained, looking up at him with his eyes positively shining. “Tang Bo, your dongsaeng, yeah? The Dark Saint? Do you remember? Aigoo, you can’t just forget, right, Hyung-nim?”

“You’re…you’re…who?”

“Me? Tang Bo? Come on, Hyung-nim?”

Cheong Myeong, who doesn’t know how to react to this sudden information, hit him so hard that he found himself losing consciousness.

About two years after he woke up into his third life, Cheong Myeong was finally allowed out of the family manor. The downside, however, was that he was only allowed as long as he was accompanied by Tang Bo.

As soon as it was confirmed that this Tang Bo, although he has a different face than the past, was the same one from the past, he reluctantly had to allow him inside the house more often. He really wasn’t lying when he said he missed this leech-like bastard during his second life, so having him here now definitely eased the loneliness that was slowly starting to build up again.

There was one thing he was more interested in, though.

“How did you know?”

Tang Bo, who had just woken up after he got hit, looked at him with dazed eyes and smiled foolishly.

“When Hyung-nim came inside the room the day that we were going to cancel the engagement.”

“Huh? How?”

“It’s because Hyung-nim’s vibe has always been different,” he shrugs. “The brat that that body used to belong to wasn’t similar to yours at all. You came in and stared at me like I was a bug. It was an expression I was so familiar with that I almost started crying on the spot.”

“No, what’s wrong with this kid?”

“And I thought that since I was reincarnated into a stranger’s body, how could it be impossible for the same thing to happen to my Dosa Hyung-nim? After all, he’s always been superior to me. That’s why I decided to stick by to figure out more if I was right.”

Cheong Myeong shook his head in disbelief. “Then why are you so insistent on the marriage even when you knew?”

“...Hahaha…”

“Bo-ya?”

“No, let’s just forget that bit, Hyung-nim.”

This guy has also become strange since reincarnating, huh?

“Don’t worry, I will make sure to properly ease you into it this time so you accept the next time I propose.”

“???”

Anyway, their dynamic drastically changed after that. So much that the entire Cheong Family felt a whiplash. Suddenly, the guy who had rejected their child cruelly in the past was chasing him around like a lost puppy while Cheong Myeong, who wouldn’t even spare him a second glance after his accident, drank in the attention like a flower to the sun.

It took a while, but this development was later accepted so their families began to secretly discuss their marriage once more. But the two remained oblivious to this fact for a while.

When Cheong Myeong asked if he can leave the manor to visit other places, he was only allowed to go under the condition that Tang Bo comes with him. They are still a bit overprotective of him after the incident of him jumping off a moving carriage…even though that really wasn’t him.

Tang Bo, himself, was more than eager to come with him. When they were alone, he mumbled with a happy face that they were finally fulfilling their promise of travelling with each other back in their first life. When those words reached his ears, Cheong Myeong made sure to kick his shin as hard as he could.

Unfortunately for them, or maybe for the people that dared to disturb him, their travels were interrupted by some bandits that was probably too far from any Nokrim base. If they were part of those guys, then there was just no way that they would be robbing civilians like this.

There were other people with them at that time, some who came to escort them and some just travelled along because they believed in safety in numbers. The escorts, unfortunately, had been too slow in front of two people who were known as Twin Saints in the past.

The Sapa were quickly disposed of. Cheong Myeong and Tang Bo resumed to the carriage, oblivious to the staring of the people at them.

Finally, one cannot help but burst out, “Young masters, did you actually come from a prestigious sect?”

“Huh?”

“Both of you had been unfazed when the attack came. Could it be that you’re both secretly disciples studying under a sect?”

Tang Bo covered his mouth in an attempt to not burst out laughing. Cheong Myeong only watched them with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

“Weeeell, we’re not. But danger is not uncommon when travelling, right?”

Tang Bo had to bite his sleeves just to stop himself from laughing too loudly. Maybe that excuse could’ve been believable. But the problem was, Cheong Myeong was so terrible of a liar that his expressions were making it obvious that he’s not being truthful!

“Ei, it’s really okay to be truthful, sohyeop. We really won’t judge! Which sect was it?”

“No, we’re really not…”

“The swordsmanship was so beautiful! I don’t know much about sword techniques, but I might consider enrolling my son into your sect!”

“...”

Cheong Myeong felt a bit helpless. He was careful not to make plum blossoms bloom. Except it was just impossible to get rid of the natural grace in the sweep of his sword. That was something that was engraved into his body for multiple lifetimes now.

“It really isn’t like that,” Tang Bo, who finally felt sorry for him, swept in to take control of the conversation. He explained that they were actually self-taught the entire time, and Cheong Myeong was truly a prodigy who was so good that he beat any instructor that tried to teach him. 

Those words made them fall in deeper awe of him. They began to compliment him unprompted.

Tang Bo saw the twitching of the other person’s mouth, who was always terrible at accepting genuine compliments so unabashedly said to his face, and sat back. He watched on with a soft smile on his face, feeling accomplished as he saw his ever-so-grumpy Hyung-nim lose in the face of genuine compliments.

Really, this guy…

It was impossible to hide it.

They came across disciples of martial arts sects here and there, all eager to prove themselves to the world and carelessly challenging anyone who looks the slightest bit suspicious. At least they weren’t as arrogant as they were in the past, they were definitely overzealous that Cheong Myeong felt embarrassed watching them go.

No, don’t talk like that when you don’t even have your basics down? Who’s teaching these brats? Fundamentals, ah! Focus first on the fundamentaaaals before trying flashy things!

It seems foolishness is something that will never get erased regardless of the generation. He resisted the urge to face palm. The next thing he knew, he was walking next to them, yelling at them and hitting their heads for doing stupid things.

“Yah! Do you want to die as soon as you step into the battlefield, ah? Come on, be my guest!”

“No…what sect are you from?”

“Huh? Sect? I mean, why should you have to know that?”

“...”

Tang Bo laughed at him again and dragged him away as soon as he was done nagging. Aigoo, Hyung-nim! How are we supposed to keep a low profile if you keep doing these sorts of things?

As for the disciples, they ended up staring blankly at each other, thinking about the same thing.

“...He nags like how our great sasuk does.”

“I thought I was the only one thinking that way.”

It didn’t take very long. A week after that encounter, a rumor about two wandering martial artists who knew more than they should’ve began circulating around Jianghu.

Naturally, said duo began arguing about whose fault it was.

“Me? Wasn’t it Hyung-nim who cannot help but nag those kids?”

“Huh? How can you blame me, you bastard?”

“Ah! I was wrong! Of course I was wrong!”

Anyway, it became a bit harder to travel inconspicuously. They didn’t stay too long in places with too many eyes, but the Beggars’ Union has always been far too sharp that they were easily recognized. More and more gossip about their existence started to spread all around, just enough that it reached the ears of the common people.

They only noticed something was wrong when they happened to be passing by in the middle of a street performance.

There was someone in the middle, singing to his heart’s content about some ballad. Some parts of it caught Tang Bo’s interest, so the two of them ended up stopping by to listen, asking the nearest person what this one is all about.

“Oh, you don’t know?” The cheerful resident laughed for a bit, then patted his shoulder. “It’s about two lovers who were separated in their first life during the war. However, because of their intense love for each other, they ended up finding each other in their next one, living a blissfully romantic life!”

“Where did this come from?” Tang Bo asked curiously, while Cheong Myeong yawned next to him. He didn’t seem very interested in the performance. In fact, it was getting into some rather explicit details about the lovers’ intimate life that he began to zone it out. He was a Taoist, he didn't care about those things.

“Why, it’s about the Plum Blossom Sword Saint and the Dark Saint, of course!”

The two people who happened to be said saints almost died choking on empty air.

“ What?!”

“That’s right, there’s been rumors lately about a duo going around like who those two have in the past,” the stranger sighed, thinking of the wonderful romance between the two saints. “Everyone has been talking about it. One of them would even so kindly give tips to travelling disciples, and everyone who meets them would always feel so lucky.”

Cheong Myeong looks a little more pink from embarrassment the longer the conversation goes. His eyes, this time, were firmly locked on the singing performer at the center, who was really getting into how the Dark Saint was bedding—

Oh, sahyung! Someone cut off my ears!

“That—That….!” Tang Bo was equally as speechless, covering his mouth the entire time.

“Isn’t it really romantic? Hey wait a second,” that person squinted at them. “Come to think of it, don’t you two look like—”

“Ahahahaha! Hyung-nim, we have to go!”

The two of them rushed off as quickly as they came, leaving behind a trail of dust in their wake. They person they had been talking to stared after them, mouth falling open in genuine disbelief.

A shaky hand pointed at the direction they ran off to.

“Th—that’s the reincarnation of the Twin Saints!”

“What?!”

“Why are you the one on top?!”

“...Hyung-nim, that’s really not…”

“No, this is crazy? What an insult! You’re just a brat, how can you be the one on top!”

“...”

No, shouldn’t you be making a fuss on why they’re writing ballads about us? Why are you more concerned about who is the dominant one?

Tang Bo, realizing the implications of this, almost died that day.

They had to come back eventually back to Hangzhou. Cheong Myeong’s family sent them a letter asking them to come back, because they were invited to the wedding of the Gaju of a prestigious martial arts family.

When he heard the news, Cheong Myeong laughed loudly and wondered which of those brats was getting married. However, seeing the seal of the Namgung Family, he ended up calming down as he realized what kind of situation this was.

Hm.

Namgung Dowi was getting married, huh?

Suddenly, it hit him again that it really has been ten years.

It feels a little too short for martial artists like them who live an awfully long time. But still, for those who had lived on since the war unlike him, those ten years had been a while ago.

He asked Tang Bo to come. He wasn’t aware of it yet, but there was a dormant fear in him that was a little afraid of seeing how much things had changed while he wasn’t present.

(The last time he was gone, Mount Hua was so close to disappearing from the world.)

They had gone on a long trip to head to Anhui. If it was in their past life, then the two of them would’ve been content with just running all the way there. But this time, they are coming not as martial artists, but as representatives of their families, who aren’t supposed to be involved with Jianghu and are only invited because of their ties with the emperor. They had no choice but to endure the journey.

Tang Bo had seen through his worries so easily. He sat Cheong Myeong down halfway through and asked, “What’s wrong?”

The swordsman carefully ran his hand over his sword that was cleverly hidden underneath the layers of his fancy clothes. The troubled look on his face worsened when his worries were acknowledged.

“I’m just wondering.”

“About?”

“How much those brats, who didn’t even know how to swing a sword properly in the beginning, had grown.”

It has really been a while.

When Cheong Myeong first woke up, his first instinct was to run back to Mount Hua and do as he always had. The only thing that stopped him from doing so, apart from the obvious problems that came with this body, were the news of how well everyone has been doing so far.

In this life, they had really stood up on their own and raised their own sect without his presence. The world has also become so peaceful now.

He was proud, of course. But at the same time, he realizes he really has outgrown this time.

(There probably wasn’t a space for him anymore. After all, ghosts of the past should now remain as ghosts of the past.)

A warm hand took his clenched ones, which he didn’t even notice had been tense. Tang Bo rubbed circles into the back of his hand and smiled reassuringly.

“What’s there to be nervous of?”

“...”

Well, that was right as well. Maybe he was needlessly worrying about useless things. How unlike him.

It took two months and a half for them to arrive in Anhui. Just like everything else in the world, it really has already gotten back on its feet, after both the war with the Magyo and the Sapa.

There wasn’t much that happened in the wedding itself as well. They were separated from the people involved with martial arts. Their seats were set with other government officials who had stopped by as well to say hello to them and tried to make idle chatter. Some were curious as to why they hadn’t officially entered a sect, since they heard about Cheong Myeong’s prodigious talent. He had to hold back his scoff so many times until they were left alone.

From the corner of their eyes, he saw them.

Since they were at a distance, he can’t really observe very well. But their auras had become stronger by now, and older. Their youthful faces have matured, truly becoming beautiful and handsome men and women with the sturdy bodies that talked about their experiences. Just their group alone makes it seem like a group of heroes from a fairytale has come to grace the wedding.

Cheong Myeong looked away, smiling faintly despite the bittersweet smile on his face.

Those brats really grew up well. There was no need to come and hit their heads.

A few days after the wedding, someone came knocking on the door of the Namgung Family estate.

They have always been more than welcome to come, of course. But there was something tense about their expressions.

“May I have a look at the guest list?”

“Young master, guests have come.”

Cheong Myeong, who was about to set down the bottle of alcohol that he was planning to drink with Tang Bo at that time, frowned and turned his head. Even his companion seemed a bit annoyed at the interruption.

“Who?”

“I heard they are from a prestigious sect.”

Huh?

What are the Gupa people doing all the way in Hangzhou? From what he knew, there were only very few and small righteous sects situated in the area because it was mostly the territory of the Hao sect. Why would they seek out the Cheong Family?

Moreover, shouldn’t they come talk to his parents? Why are they informing him of this as if they were waiting for him?

Voicing the question out loud, the young servant bowed his head in embarrassment and said, “They specifically asked for the young master.”

“Me?”

Cheong Myeong exchanged suspicious glances with Tang Bo, before reluctantly taking the bottle with them. No, he refuses to let his plan of drinking be ruined just because some brats wanted to intrude on their time together.

The walk to where they are strangely felt like a long time. He could hear his companion following him easily even without having to ask for it.

The door opened to where their guests had been waiting. As soon as he saw their faces, Cheong Myeong’s casual expression froze.

There are seven people sitting there, looking equally as anxious as each other. The moment the two entered the room, their eyes turned up to them expectantly.

He knew them.

Of course he knew them.

There was now a massive scar on the side of Yu Iseol’s cheek, but she still looked at him with the quiet hopefulness in her eyes. 

Tang Soso, who has grown into a confident young lady, no longer had her hair in the usual twin buns, having tied them to a familiar ponytail instead. 

There are bandages wrapped around both of Baek Cheon’s arms, but he seems stronger than the last time he saw him.

Yun Jong looks a little more mature too. He doesn’t look like someone who would shake his head nervously when he had to face a decision.

Jo Geol lost his boyish charm, but he seemed a little more masculine now.

He was now in more casual clothes compared to the lavish attire he’d worn on his wedding, but Cheong Myeong cannot help but notice the similarities between Namgung Dowi and his father.

That monk, too, doesn’t look as innocent and easy to bully as he had in the past. But his head remained as shiny as ever.

It was a little difficult to breathe.

The faces of people he was determined to avoid during the wedding now showed up in his family’s living room, looking at him with bated breaths as if they were waiting for something. He sees Baek Cheon’s eyes flit towards the alcohol in his hand, shaking for the briefest moment.

In the end, Yu Iseol was the first one to speak quietly.

“Sajil.”

“...”

“Why didn’t you visit?”

Suddenly, his knees gave in and he fell to the ground.

Tang Bo’s voice felt distant, letting out an alarmed noise as he kneels down as well to check if he was okay. But his eyes were firmly locked on the brats that he once fought with and raised well. They looked back at him with a scared hope.

His reaction was enough of an answer. The first one to come was Tang Soso, crying on his shoulder. Something white also came from underneath Jo Geol's robes, jumping to his direction with a squeaking sound and immediately wrapping around his neck like Soso had, looking as if it was also crying.

Kiiiiiik!

His hand twitched slightly. This marten too...

“Sahyung! Sahyung, you bastard! Is it really you?”

"Kiiiik! Kiiiiiiiik!"

“...”

“You’re as heartless as ever! How can you not say anything when that Namgung guy got married?!”

“Hey, calling me like that…” Namgung Dowi tried to sound offended, but he was also caught up in his emotions, staring at him as if the stars which had been so unreachable was brought down enough for him to fish out of the skies.

“It’s you, isn’t it,” Baek Cheon asked, eyes not leaving him. “Cheong Myeong.”

“...”

Said person, who heard his name uttered by the people of his second life, only closed his eyes in resignation.

There was something brewing in his chest that he didn’t dare name. All the same, it left a suffocating feeling in him, and a pathetic wetness behind his eyes. Soso was still sobbing on his shoulder, unwilling to let go.

“How did you know?”

He hears the familiar chanting of Amitabha Buddha, something he didn’t think he would miss in his three lifetimes of existence.

Baek Cheon, still not moving from where he was sitting, gave him a helpless smile.

“What nonsense are you saying? How can we not recognize our sajil?”

…

From Tang Bo to these guys, who recognized him at first glance…

…Well, they’re all a little ridiculous.

Cheong Myeong lets out a laugh, patting Soso’s back as he does so and leaving Baek Ah to do whatever it was she was doing. Tang Bo had made sure to just watch quietly, knowing this isn’t the situation for him to intrude.

(He may have outgrown them, but these chicks still somehow end up seeking him.

Ten years.

No one can fill the void left by his absence.

Their sajil who raised them, the commander who led them—

How can they forget that?)

It doesn’t feel that bad.

-

end.