Chapter 86
It was something she had heard from Jegal Haesu.
It was something that Wolya Yoseon often mentioned.
Soso asked him in a trembling voice:
“Wolya… are you Yoseon?”
“People call me that.”
“…!”
It really was Wolya Yoseon.
Soso had many questions she wanted to ask: what that vision was, why she had seen it, and whether the man and woman were truly the Heavenly Demon and the Golden Priestess from fifty years ago.
The energy flowing from his dark red eyes was far from gentle. This man was surely a malevolent being.
Seeing many facets of him, Soso suspected he might be the Heavenly Demon, Wija Kang. Strangely, she felt certain of it.
“What was that vision? Why did you show me such a thing? Do you know my situation, Yoseon?”
“That was not me showing it to you. You saw what you were meant to see.”
So even Wolya Yoseon himself didn’t know what she would see?
“Am I connected to the Golden Priestess from fifty years ago? And is her name ‘Hanga’?”
“You…”
Wolya Yoseon pressed his lips together, as if refusing to say more.
The brief silence felt like an eternity.
After a while, he spoke again, his words icy.
“The moon isn’t full tonight. As for Jegal Haesu, who sang Hanga’s song to summon me, you will see him tomorrow.”
“I…!”
“Meeting you was not my will—it was Coral’s mischief.”
The tiger called Coral let out a small, sharp roar: Kaaang!
“Leave. If you stay in this space, you will see visions you cannot bear.”
“W-wait…!”
Startled, Soso desperately called to Wolya Yoseon, but it was useless.
His figure blurred and then disappeared. Even the dark space she had been in transformed into smoke and scattered.
No time had even passed, and Soso found herself back in the corridor she had originally been in.
Tap tap tap!
The sound of hurried footsteps approached.
Looking toward the source, she saw Jegal Haesu and Namgung Jin, both drenched in sweat.
“Soso!”
“Sama!”
The two men rushed to her and hugged her tightly at the same time.
“Why did you take so long to wash your hands? We were worried.”
“Sama, where on earth have you been?”
Their grip was so strong that Soso could not think to break free.
She had no choice but to quietly speak from within their hold.
“I… I think I met Wolya Yoseon.”
These words were particularly shocking to Jegal Haesu.
At the base of a high mountain behind the entrance gate, where no one ventured, appeared a white-haired man and a tiger cub.
It was Wolya Yoseon, who had confronted Soso moments ago.
He gazed at the bright moon and let out a heavy sigh that seemed to sink into the ground.
The tiger, observing his sigh, spun twice midair: whish!
Then a remarkable thing happened.
The tiger transformed into an adult man.
Even with short hair, his aura remained extraordinary. Wolya Yoseon called this fierce energy the “tiger’s energy.”
“Master, may I really let her go as she is? You’ve been searching for her all this time, haven’t you?”
Five years ago, at the horrifying scene of the Qingseong Sect’s annihilation, after failing a desperate soul-transference technique, Wolya Yoseon had been searching for her ever since.
He had nearly given up, unable to find her… and yet, as if by fate, she appeared before him.
“Coral. I did not just let her go. Now that I know which body she has entered, I can observe her.”
“But if we leave her be, might she once again become entangled with a malevolent being like that one…?”
“I hope not, but what can I do? I have not reconciled with Hanga myself. There is no room for me to interfere. Too much time has passed.”
His younger sister, Hanga, had left without reconciliation. Though he always longed for her, she was gone forever.
Wolya Yoseon smiled bitterly.
“But Coral, how did you know that woman was the one I was looking for? I didn’t expect you’d even bring her into the Phantom’s Memory.”
Phantom’s Memory.
It was the name of a false space Wolya Yoseon had created.
It was a type of illusion that allowed anyone entering it to see what they must not forget and must know.
He often lured certain seekers into the Phantom’s Memory to observe their recollections.
“Master, I am not just any ordinary beast. That girl radiated an extraordinary energy—mystical and powerful.”
“You truly live up to your spirit animal.”
“Ha ha. But in fact, I was more convinced that she was the one that Mumeong had met, rather than the one you sought. Otherwise, her energy could not be explained.”
“……”
“Mumeong’s encounter with her was quite fascinating. That is why I lured her here using the Phantom’s Memory, wanting her to meet you.”
“I thought it was very interesting myself.”
“But hearing what she had seen, I now know that the one Mumeong met is indeed the person you’ve been searching for.”
How could fate connect them so?
Wolya Yoseon looked toward the forest, as if to confirm the truth.
“Mumeong, is the girl who travels with Jegal Haesu and Namgung Jin the one you mentioned?”
At that moment, a cute child leapt out of the forest path.
It was Mumeong, who had disappeared like smoke into infinity.
The child nodded vigorously in response to Yoseon’s question, affirming that this was indeed the girl.
“Ha ha… she was never visible when I sought her, yet as I gave up halfway, she appeared. And she is not even human, but a reflection spell.”
Wolya Yoseon gazed at the sky.
“Hanga, was this your plan?”
He called her several times, but there was no response. Surely she could have answered at least once.
He looked at the moon as if it were her, thinking:
‘Hanga, your blood relative is still alive.’
What should I do with that child? If you are watching us from there, show me.
But no matter how long he waited, no answer came.
Soso and her companions returned to the inn where Sawoo was staying.
They sat together, and Soso recounted what had happened.
When she described the visions she had seen, the two men were especially shocked.
Even hearing such strange tales, Sawoo remained calm as usual. Being unflappable, everyone accepted his attitude as normal.
“…I believe the man I saw was the Heavenly Demon.”
“You mean the Heavenly Demon from fifty years ago?”
“Yes. Not the one from the present.”
“Why did such a thing appear to Baek Soso? What was the nature of that illusion?”
Soso recalled what Wolya Yoseon had said.
“That was not me showing it to you. You saw what you were meant to see.”
“Yoseon said that it was a vision I was meant to see.”
Jegal Haesu, still in his female disguise, nodded slightly and spoke.
“Perhaps Sama really is connected to the Golden Priestess.”
“Does Baek Soso’s sect, the Shinbi Sect, have a connection to the Golden Priestess? Wouldn’t the sect leader know something?”
At Namgung Jin’s speculation, Soso and Jegal Haesu exchanged quick glances. They had completely forgotten the excuse they had made to cover things up.
“…He wouldn’t know. And there are things I need to handle in Hubei. I can’t return to where my sect is now.”
“Where is that?”
“Sa…cheon.”
It was not the fictional Shinbi Sect’s location, but where the Qingseong Sect had been.
Since she had revealed she was from Sacheon to Namgung Hyuk before, Namgung Jin wouldn’t find it strange.
“After finishing business in Hubei, it would be fine to stop by Sacheon.”
“Yes…”
Soso nodded weakly.
At that moment, Sawoo finally spoke.
“I know Sacheon well.”
“Sawoo, are you also from Sacheon?”
“Yes. I lived there a long time.”
“Interesting. Do you know the Yeolhwa Inn as well?”
“The inn famous for Yuxiang Rousi?”
“…! Yes!”
Soso had rarely visited inns in the bustling streets, staying mostly within her sect when living in Qingseong Sect.
However, on her birthday, she had once gone to the bustling streets with Youngwoo Gongja.
At that time, the place they visited was the Yeolhwa Inn, famous for Yuxiang Rousi.
Yuxiang Rousi is a dish of thinly sliced pork stir-fried with vegetables in a spicy-sweet sauce.
Since the virtuous Youngwoo Gongja did not eat meat, he had Yuxiang Tofu instead.
It had been an unremarkable meal, but Soso had never forgotten that day.
She remembered glancing at him as they walked, their hands brushing, the aroma of the Yuxiang sauce, his flushed face from not handling spice well…
…She wanted to see him again.
She missed Youngwoo Gongja.
Perhaps overwhelmed by a longing she could not measure, Sawoo’s face seemed to resemble Youngwoo Gongja’s, even though there was little resemblance.
“Do you like Yuxiang Rousi? Then we should go together sometime.”
“…I—”
“…”
“Yes. When we go to Sacheon, I will definitely visit that inn.”
Soso smiled faintly.
“Returning to Yoseon… he says he will meet Jegal Sawoo tomorrow night.”
“Me? Could it be because he heard Hanga’s song?”
“Seems so. Don’t worry; you can meet him calmly tomorrow.”
“Yes… I’m so nervous.”
“And I must meet him as well, to ask what he knows about me.”
For the first time since awakening in this strange body atop the everlasting snow-covered mountain, she felt she had a clue.
She could not afford to miss this opportunity.
