Chapter 129: What You Trampled On / The Path You Have Tread (17)

With a dazed expression, I walk through the city.

Shhhhhhhh...

The sound of rain somehow feels pleasant to my ears.

And at the end of the path, in the rain, stands the person I dreamed of.

No, perhaps it's more accurate to say she is floating.

"Hyang...hwa..."

With my throat parched and voice dry, I call out to her.

A whirlwind of thoughts storm through my mind.

"How...?"

Suddenly, I feel a gaze and look to the side.

There is no one there.

It seems to have been an illusion.

She smiles gently.

[How? I became a wandering spirit, waiting for Orabeoni.]

"Surely... back then..."

I still remember the moment when her spirit ascended to the heavens.

Suddenly, she glances where I had looked and smiles at me again.

[But isn't there something more important?]

"..."

Right.

One died, and one survived.

But our hearts are still connected.

I immediately understand what she means.

[In Yeon-do City, I wanted to dance with Orabeoni, but it seems we end up dancing here.]

"...Please wait just a moment. I will prepare immediately."

I draw the Colorless Glass Sword from my waist and pour all my strength into it, infusing it with spiritual power.

Wo-woong!

The Colorless Glass Swords were originally made as gravestones for the people living in Cheon-saek City.

Following my will, three thousand glass swords return to their respective graves.

After that, I reach out my hand towards her.

We smile at each other without words.

As we have no fans, we mimic holding one and take our positions.

There is no music, but we dance slowly to the symphony of the rain, matching each other's steps.

Our fingertips brush each other, as neither of us hold a fan.

I take three steps to the left, completing a circle.

She moves just like me, circling around, and our fingertips brush again.

The living and the deceased dance slowly through the raining graveyard, where glass swords are planted.

Wo-woong...

The spectating souls slowly turn into orbs of light and ascend to the heavens one by one.

Cheongmun Ryeong, Buk Joong-ho, and countless friends and neighbors, excluding Kim Young-hoon, appear.

As their souls disappear, the rain gradually stops, and the clouds in the sky begin to recede.

Just like the festival back then, I bring my hand to her face.

Without the veil, my fingertips lightly brush her face.

Our fingertips touch again.

The sky is purple.

The sunset is fading, and the night sky is beginning to rise.

We take three steps to the right, completing another circle.

Our fingertips brush several times, and finally, we return to our original positions.

Drip, drip...

Tears fall.

Surprisingly, it's not the black tears I have shed for 200 years.

For the first time in 200 years, I am crying clear tears.

I look at Hwang-hwa in a daze.

"I can't imagine living in a world without you."

In the next life, perhaps for countless lives,

I might just commit suicide without thinking.

"I just... want to die."

I want to kneel before the heavens.

Begging with my hands, pleading,

Please, please kill me.

Now, I truly wish to die.

'If I die in this life, maybe I can meet her in the Netherworld.'

But death beyond this life is not permitted for me.

The moment I try to reach the Netherworld, I will be sent to the next life.

Just because I'm in front of her, I am barely holding back from weeping and begging.

And then.

She lightly presses my cheeks with both hands.

[You can't.]

"Hyang-hwa... A world without you is a curse. Just being alive is a curse."

[Then, were the moments we spent together also a curse?]

She smiles and asks.

I tremble and shake my head.

"It wasn't."

[Then, was everything I left behind also a curse and suffering?]

She points at the Colorless Glass Swords and asks.

I shake my head again.

[Then...]

She closes her eyes and brings her lips towards mine.

She kisses me.

I stand stunned, feeling her cold, surreal lips for a moment.

After she pulls away, she asks,

[Was what I just gave you also a curse?]

"...No, it wasn't."

Hyang-hwa embraces me.

[Whether I became a wandering spirit or someone opened the gates of the Netherworld, I came here for one reason.]

Hearing her next words, I feel as if something that had been buried deep within my heart for 200 years is being cleansed and swept away.

[I love you. Not being able to say it directly was my lingering regret.]

I embrace her, releasing the words that have knotted in my heart.

"I love you, too."

The human heart is indeed peculiar.

As I utter the pent-up words and read her feelings in the rosy hues of intent, I realize the hidden aspect of the Yin Soul Ghost Incantation.

Perhaps a realm unknown even to its creator.

No, rather, a realm I discovered by far surpassing the creator.

Wo-woong!

The black curse spells that have been attached all over my body begin to reverse.

Even if a person's life is filled with pain and curses.

If the hearts of people connect and understand each other.

Maybe that… can be an endless blessing.

The black curse spells reverse all at once, revealing what was hidden.

"Hmm?"

In the ruins of the black castle, where Yuan Li had died.

Core Formation cultivators still scavenge through the remains for the treasures Yuan Li had hidden.

"The Nascent Soul old monster's abode keeps yielding more treasures."

"We almost died, but it was worth it... But where did Cultivator Seo Ran go?"

One of the cultivators looked for Seo Ran.

"Hmm, not sure. He flew off in a hurry somewhere. Maybe he found something... I wonder what treasure he found to make him fly off so madly with that usually empty expression."

"That is curious... Well, it doesn't matter. We've gathered enough for ourselves anyway."

While they were rummaging through Yuan Li's residence, one of them sensed something unusual.

"Hmm? Wait, what's that?"

The Black Ghost Curse Banner used by Seo Eun-hyun to immobilize Yuan Li's body.

From the Black Ghost Curse Banner, a brilliant white light begins to emanate.

The sticks with black lumps that Seo Eun-hyun planted and left behind in the desert.

The lumps on those sticks began to shine white brightly.

And then.

Boom!

The lumps burst open, flowering like buds.

The blooming flowers are covered in pure white, each with six petals.

Boom, boom, boom!

Following the path Seo Eun-hyun had walked, hundreds of white magnolias began to sprout in the desert.

Boom!

I laugh, watching the white spells bloom from my body.

The white blessings appearing all around seem to have the opposite properties of the curse spells.

[Look at that, you're alive and even created a new method.]

"It's just the Yin Soul Ghost Incantation, expressed with the feelings I share with you."

[Ah, but it's completely different.]

We chat and laugh together.

It's my first laugh in 200 years, but strangely, it doesn't feel awkward at all.

[If I may suggest, as a fellow co-creator, may I name this method?]

"Feel free to do so."

She reaches out towards the floating blessings, which seem to be transforming into the shape of white magnolias.

[How about White Orchid Blessing Incantation (白蘭祝聖文)? Is that alright?]

I support her hand with mine beneath it.

"I will remember it."

We watch the blessings float into the sky for a while, and then our eyes meet.

Her soul is becoming increasingly transparent, rising into the air.

[I won't forget either.]

"...Yes."

I can't control my trembling voice.

Suddenly, I open my storage artifact.

I remember reading about it in Seo Ran's library.

"...The immortals of the higher realms, when they form a union, do this."

I take out the remaining bottle of White-Red Wine.

"Will it be alright?"

As she floats higher, she nods.

I rummage through my storage artifact.

There are no cups.

I have no choice but to pour half of the White-Red Wine in front of her grave as a substitute.

Then, I drink the remaining half in front of her.

Wo-woong!

As the White-Red Wine enters my nearly shattered Golden Core, its effects activate, reconnecting me with my dharma treasures.

Wo-woong!

The three thousand Colorless Glass Swords planted around begin vibrating.

And then.

As her soul turns into a small orb of light, losing its form and ascending to the sky,

The orb of light spins around in the air.

It's as if she's dancing the twin immortals dance with someone again.

Perhaps she's unconsciously recalling the memories of those days when she was alive, those happy moments, and their dance movements.

I watch the sky endlessly, then slowly sit down.

My strength is now fading away.

I take her norigae from my waist.

With the last of my strength, I heat her heirloom with Dan Fire, transforming it into a dharma treasure.

I close my eyes and hold the norigae deeply to my heart.

Whether it's the lingering effects of the White-Red Wine or the norigae itself, I feel a strong connection forming.

My strength begins to ebb away.

Yuan Li's last desperate cry echoes in my mind.

'What is the difference between a blessing and a curse?'

Maybe the difference between blessings and curses isn't life and death.

Perhaps, if the hearts of people connect, that is a blessing.

And if the hearts are severed, that is a curse.

This life has been hell.

But at the end of this hell, I connected my heart.

Maybe hell and heaven.

Curses and blessings.

Are determined by the connection between people's hearts.

With this realization, I escape from the last cry of Yuan Li.

"I loved you... Thank you. For sharing your heart with me."

With a faint smile, all energy drains completely from my body.

My meridians and Golden Core, which should have collapsed long ago, begin to lose their strength.

Thus, at the edge of hell, I close my eyes in heaven..

Wo-woong!

As Seo Eun-hyun closed his eyes, the Colorless Glass Swords scattered around started to rise into the air.

The swords, now strongly connected to their owner, begin to return to his body one by one.

The three thousand Colorless Glass Swords, returning to the Golden Core of the smiling passed Seo Eun-hyun, begin to impale his body one by one.

Suddenly.

Seo Eun-hyun's norigae and the three thousand Colorless Glass Swords simultaneously emit a bright light.

The mother of Buk Hyang-hwa.

The wife of Buk Joong-ho, Yeon's tomb.

There are two trees that have grown near the magnolia tree at the tomb.

The two trees, which somehow grew for over 200 years, bloom their flowers on the same day.

A quince tree and a white magnolia.

From each of the two trees, a flower falls.

The flowers of the two trees land on the altar prepared for a wedding ceremony 200 years ago.

And then.

Whooosh!

A gust of wind from inside the tomb carries the quince flower away from the altar, somewhere into the desert.

The white magnolia remains in place, while the quince flower flies off to the unknown.

This is Seo Eun-hyun's eleventh return.