Chapter 273

We have to head to Mount Hua.

A full day passed after I heard about the sudden change in schedule.

I needed more time to figure out whether my body had any problems left, and even if it didn’t—

I need time to clean things up.

It wasn’t like we could just depart right away when the Martial Alliance itself was this busy.

“Over there! Be careful when you stack that!”

“Move!”

They had to deal with the Alliance’s collapsed buildings, for one—

“People coming through!”

“Prepare a room!”

And the medical station was still insanely busy treating the injured.

It really was one of those stretches where you couldn’t catch your breath.

The memorial hall set up inside the Martial Alliance never stopped seeing people come and go. There were heaps of those who’d died in the assault.

And among them were members of the junior generation too.

Today’s first schedule item was coming to meet them.

“We’ll pay our respects.”

Led by Jegal Jin at the front, everyone bowed their heads.

In front of us, neatly stacked wooden tokens ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) were piled high.

So many names were written there.

And every one of those names belonged to the dead.

“......”

In a still atmosphere, everyone held a moment of silence.

Quiet. Silent, and then even more silent.

In a situation where you couldn’t even breathe too loudly, I closed my eyes and lightly furrowed my brow.

Even if no one else could hear it—

—I don’t want to...

—I don’t want to die...!

—Save me... please, save me!

To my eyes and ears, the things that shouldn’t be seen and shouldn’t be heard were pressing in anyway.

...Damn it.

This is why I hate it.

When someone dies in an accident, resentment always follows.

And that resentment eventually becomes a spirit’s obsession that stays behind.

This is the Central Plains.

A land of blades and blood.

Their deaths could only have been rougher here. Of course lingering thoughts would remain.

To me, this place was another hell.

—Why do I have to die here!? I still have so much I have to do...!!

A scream rang out.

—I want to live... Father... Father!!

A spirit clung to the father who’d come to see them, forcing himself not to cry.

—Someone... someone, please...!

The cries that cut into you were desperate.

Fuck.

I swallowed the curse.

There is no death that “had to happen.” There never is.

There’s no life that “should’ve died.”

Every single one of them had circumstances.

Every grudge has a reason.

Every life has a will.

But in front of death, everything was equal.

Why did I—the one still alive—have to listen to that contradiction?

At first, it felt unfair.

Now I didn’t even have the energy to think that.

It was fixed karma.

From the moment I was born with eyes like this. From the moment Grandma called it karma I couldn’t escape.

And especially—

From the moment I realized I still had Moon Eyes even in this life.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t escape it.

So now, all I could do was accept it.

While I kept my head bowed and ignored the voices—

TAP. TAP.

A touch hit my shoulder.

I opened my eyes right away.

“You’re really sinking into it. Unexpected.”

It was Jegal Jin.

“...Is it over?”

“Yes.”

At his words I looked around. Plenty of people were still there, but they were only lingering because they hadn’t been able to pull themselves out of their emotions yet.

“Phew.”

I let out a breath.

“Let’s go.”

I followed Jegal Jin outside.

Unlike the people and the lingering thoughts inside, the world outside was bright.

The moment I saw the light, the tension eased, and I could finally breathe.

This is exhausting.

No matter how many times I go through it, it never gets better. And I guess that doesn’t change even after coming back to life.

If there was one thing I wished—

Don’t become malicious ghosts.

I only hoped their resentment wouldn’t deepen that far.

Just that.

While that thought was in my head—

“You came ou—t...”

Someone at the entrance greeted Jegal Jin and me.

Jegal Jin’s brow creased slightly when he saw him.

“Small Moon Unit Leader?”

“...Strategist. My respects.”

“And you’re here... ah.”

Like something clicked, Jegal Jin nodded.

“I see. You said you would guard the child. You’ve had a hard time.”

“It’s nothing.”

The Small Moon Unit Leader answered with a faint smile.

“I’m only doing what I must, as ordered.”

“Is that so? As expected, your resolve is impressive.”

Jegal Jin agreed with a blank face.

The atmosphere said he didn’t agree at all.

Then, Jegal Jin stepped closer to me and spoke.

“Departure is this evening. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“I’m aware...”

Jegal Jin nodded at my answer, then disappeared, following the Unit Leaders assigned as guards.

SSSS—.

Departure is this evening.

Which meant, plain and simple, the schedule to head to Mount Hua.

Not daytime—night.

And on top of that, the schedule had been set in a rush.

Night...

I said I’d do it, so I had to do it, but it was too tight.

Because it was scheduled the moment I accepted.

How much time’s left?

Maybe one or two shichen.

If I actually measured it, it was about that.

“Hm...”

I’d already passed the word roughly to the people who needed it.

So now I needed to handle a personal errand.

Just as I was about to move—

“Ahem...”

The middle-aged man with me—the Small Moon Unit Leader—suddenly cleared his throat.

I turned my eyes toward him.

“What.”

I spat it out in casual speech.

For a moment his face stiffened when he heard it, but—

“What’s with that look? You pissed?”

I spoke to him like it was nothing.

Normally, it wouldn’t have been strange if my neck got cut on the spot.

“...No.”

The Small Moon Unit Leader answered while trembling, like he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“If you’re pissed, say so. Want to go back to how it was, Unit Leader? We can act like the whole thing never happened.”

“......!”

The Small Moon Unit Leader’s eyes widened.

“No. Not at all. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable, Teacher.”

That last word—Teacher.

When I heard it, I slowly nodded.

“Then we’re good.”

Yesterday, I’d talked with the Small Moon Unit Leader in the training room.

The man who’d begged me to teach him Moon Heaven.

And the man Yoo Cheongil said had asked to be taken as a disciple.

Back then, Yoo Cheongil told me—if I was going to teach Moon Heaven to the Small Moon Unit Leader—

Fix his attitude when he learns.

He said to make sure that if I asked something of him, he’d listen.

So I did.

Though Yoo Cheongil had looked like something about it bothered him.

I’d argued back, and he’d only gotten more irritated.

Whatever. The result was good, wasn’t it?

Yeah.

The result was good.

The Small Moon Unit Leader became my disciple.

Calling me “Master” felt a bit much, so I told him to call me “Teacher.”

And he accepted.

He also accepted that he’d listen to whatever I said.

It was his will—throw away pride and everything else if that’s what it took to learn Moon Heaven.

Nice.

The Small Moon Unit Leader calling me “Teacher” and listening to me.

And in reality, outside of the Heaven-Beyond-Heaven, he’s top-tier.

An absolute master.

Out of countless martial artists, he was one of the monsters who wouldn’t even reach five hundred if you counted them.

And even among them, if you said “Small Moon Unit Leader”—

...He’d easily make the top hundred under heaven, wouldn’t he?

A hundred, even among martial artists enough to fill Mount Tai and have plenty left over.

True martial artists who climbed there by nothing but what they pursued and achieved.

The Small Moon Unit Leader was the kind of warrior who’d sit in the upper ranks even among them.

And that kind of person...

Just folds under my words.

Not bad.

“Um...”

“What.”

The Small Moon Unit Leader spoke to me carefully.

“So... when does the instruction start...?”

“We can’t do it inside the Martial Alliance, so we start on the way to Mount Hua. Isn’t that obvious?”

“......”

His fist tightened hard.

“What’s with that fist.”

“...It’s just a bit stiff.”

“That happens. You’re at that age.”

“...You little—”

“What?”

“...Nothing.”

I smirked and walked ahead.

Yoo Cheongil threw a warning at me, but I just laughed.

Honestly, it’s funny. What do you want me to do?

Right now, even dying wouldn’t stop me.

That was all.

*****

I went out into the county.

Like I said earlier, I had something on my schedule to handle.

Given my current position, I couldn’t really go out without a guard—

But—

If the guard is the Small Moon Unit Leader, it’s a different story.

With an absolute master guarding me, it’s a different story.

If the Small Moon Unit Leader moved with me as my guard, nothing mattered.

Thanks to that, I got freedom, which was great for me.

So while I was walking around the county freely—

“That’s Moon Knight...”

“Moon Knight?”

“My god...”

People’s attention snapped to me.

“He really has white hair.”

“...They said he was handsome, and he really is.”

“They said he looks like a pretty boy courtesan.”

“At that point, it’s just beautiful.”

Damn it.

I clicked my tongue inside my head.

Was it because my hair turned white? It felt like people could recognize me even more easily now.

At this rate, I really might have to wear a face veil.

Holding back a sigh, I kept walking.

Walk, and walk some more, and an inn appeared.

That was the destination.

The moment I arrived at the entrance, I saw martial artists standing guard.

They tried to block me, but once they confirmed my face, they hesitated.

“...Go in.”

“Excuse me.”

I started to enter the inn naturally—

“St—”

But a martial artist tried to stop the Small Moon Unit Leader instead of me.

The Unit Leader moved first, and the martial artist dropped unconscious.

“Ah. That was a mistake.”

The Small Moon Unit Leader spoke calmly.

“Wha—!”

The other martial artist immediately reached for his sword, but—

“He’s my guard.”

“......”

At my words, he froze in place.

“Unit Leader, stop.”

“......”

Even as I said it, the Small Moon Unit Leader already had his hand at the martial artist’s jaw.

When?

I didn’t even see him move.

But he’d already moved.

If I hadn’t stopped him, another martial artist would’ve gone down.

...He’s disgustingly strong.

I’d been acting reckless and loose, so I needed to remember: the person in front of me was a monster too.

Anyway.

“...We’re going in, alright?”

After I stopped them, I went into the inn.

Inside, there wasn’t a single person.

It was completely, perfectly empty.

Of course it was.

He rented it out.

Probably because the person I came to see had rented out the whole inn.

With that in mind, I searched for the person I’d come to see—

There he is.

I found him right away.

He was a man who stood out almost as much as I did.

“Clan Head.”

I called to the cold-looking middle-aged man sitting in the center.

At my voice—

“You’re here.”

A clan head of the Five Great Clans, and one of the Five Kings Under Heaven.

The White King responded.