abcnovels
Chapter 175:
Chapter 175:
Chapter 175:
Chapter 175
The old man in yellow came out to the backyard of the empty temple.
The place had been abandoned for a long time, and weeds grew everywhere in the yard.
The old man leaned back and looked at the distant mountain range beyond the broken fence.
The huge mountain range that twisted and shook was truly vast and solemn.
The sun slowly sank behind the irregular horizon above it.
The red sunset spread like a fire on the straw roof, and the blurred boundary collapsed with the burning light.
The mountain and the sky became one.
“Master.”
Behind the old man, a man in black clothes with his face covered approached.
He was the subordinate who had told him the location of Seo Su-min and Kang Yu-ra when he had talked to Yu-hyun a while ago.
The old man answered without looking back.
“Yes, vice-leader. What is it?”
“Are you sure it’s okay to leave that young man alone?”
“What do you mean?”
“I still don’t understand. Why did you suddenly bring that young man here, and reveal important information to him? If something goes wrong, our operation could…”
“Our operation could fail. Is that what you mean?”
“…That’s my opinion. I’m sorry if it was out of line.”
“Hehe. No, it’s not. I can understand why you think that way. The others might be worried too. Maybe they think this old man has gone senile. I should have given you a simple explanation.”
“Who is that young man?”
The vice-leader was curious.
He had a unique hair color that was hard to see in the Central Plains, and he exuded a unique aura that did not suit a wandering warrior.
The vice-leader felt it instinctively when he saw him.
That man was a different kind than anyone he had ever seen in his life.
He felt a sense of crisis about him.
“What do you mean who? He’s just a wanderer. Just a much more peculiar one than the usual wanderers, that’s all.”
“…I don’t know why you trust him.”
The vice-leader was worried about that.
It was true that he and his subordinates trusted and followed the old man in yellow.
He was their leader and the master of this group after all.
Hwang An-jun might have aged, but he was still a respected warrior, and he had a deeper mind than anyone else, so he never handled things carelessly.
The vice-leader and his subordinates all trusted the old man in yellow.
But, no matter how generously he looked at it, his actions today were beyond comprehension.
The old man in yellow stroked his beard and laughed.
“Vice-leader. Do you know this? I’ve always used my head to live in this world.”
“Yes? What do you mean by…”
“Just listen. I always tried to read the hidden schemes behind someone’s kindness, and I always worried and thought about whether someone might be hostile to me or our sect. I always prepared for any contingency. That’s how I’ve lived until now.”
“…”
“But, what we’re going to do from now on has nothing to do with that. It’s something that can only be seen as treason if we make a mistake… Yes. We wrapped it up as justice, but in the end, it was nothing more than personal desire.”
The old man in yellow looked back at the vice-leader.
His deep eyes that could not read his intentions stared at the vice-leader.
“We’re living for our own desires at the end of our lives. What difference does it make if we add one more thing to that?”
“Master. This is not desire! This is surely for justice…!”
“Vice-leader. Be honest with your feelings.”
The old man in yellow shook his head and leaned back again.
“We swore to live for the sect, and for the sect leader. But since the atmosphere of the sect and the sect leader started to diverge, we had no choice but to choose one of them.”
“That’s…”
“We made our choice in the end. But can we really call what we’re going to do justice? Can we call it justice to point our swords at our own sky?”
“…”
“Vice-leader. In the end, we’re living according to our desires. Not just us. Everyone is like that. Maybe even what we believe to be justice is just desire.”
“Master. How can you say that? I’m afraid that the morale of the troops will drop.”
“How can humans live only by great ideals? It’s natural to live according to your desires as well. That’s why it was. I asked that young man according to my instinctive desire.”
“No matter how impulsive you are, there must be a reason, right?”
“A reason.”
The old man in yellow laughed bitterly and recalled when he first saw Yu-hyun.
A handsome young man with a naive face and a unique hair color.
And yet, he was a sharp-eyed and smart man.
And, when he first saw him.
He felt a familiar energy from him.
“Just.”
The one he trusted and followed.
The one he had to point his sword at now.
“I felt nostalgic.”
Just that, nothing more.
That was all.
***
Kwon Jia and Kang Hye-rim stole the clothes of the people who were secretly watching them and changed into them.
Black clothes that covered their whole body.
Even their faces were only visible through their eyes, making it hard to identify them.
Kang Hye-rim checked her body and said.
“Thankfully, it’s not too stuffy. So what do we do now?”
“They were watching us and observing the situation around us. They must be from the intelligence department of the Devil Sect. We’ll blend in with the others and gather information. That’s our goal.”
“Are you sure we won’t get caught?”
Kang Hye-rim was worried about that.
She knew that these intelligence agents usually used codes and other security measures.
“It’ll be fine.”
Kwon Jia said that and showed her a letter she had taken from one of the black-clothed people.
“…What is this?”
Kang Hye-rim couldn’t read the Chinese characters on it.
Kwon Jia realized that and quickly explained.
“It’s a document they had. The gist of it is… because of the war, they’ll focus on moving as fast as possible rather than delivering information through secret passages. That’s what they say.”
“Oh, um. Don’t they usually pay more attention to security when there’s a war?”
“You can’t look at martial artists from a modern perspective.”
“Oh, right. But how did you know this? It’s amazing. I can’t read it at all.”
“…I studied it.”
It was thanks to her memories of her previous life, but she dodged the question.
Kang Hye-rim looked at Kwon Jia with envy and jealousy.
She was pretty, good at fighting, and smart.
She was the opposite of herself.
Kang Hye-rim unconsciously compared herself to Kwon Jia.
‘I have nothing to be proud of except being the first one to enter White Flower Management.’
She felt more miserable as she contrasted herself with Kwon Jia.
‘She’s the one who suits Yu-hyun’s side.’
‘I am…’
“Let’s move first.”
What woke her up was Kwon Jia’s firm voice.
They had to find the rendezvous point written on the letter and move there.
Kang Hye-rim looked at Kwon Jia’s back with a complicated gaze.
***
Yu-hyun looked at Seo Sumin who was trembling and asked.
“What do you feel? When did you start feeling it?”
“Since we came here.”
‘Here?’
Yu-hyun thought that the gaze she felt was his reading ability.
But Seo Sumin said that she felt it since they came here.
Yu-hyun came into this world of thoughts after some time had passed. There was no one else who came in before him when he checked the CCTV. The same went for other collectors or tellers.
That meant.
‘The mastermind who created this world of thoughts is watching us all the time?’
He couldn’t see him, but he felt his gaze. Even if he was an amazing collector, he couldn’t completely hide himself from Yu-hyun’s ability to read ‘books’.
That meant that he wasn’t a collector.
‘The only thing left is a teller who is watching from another dimension.’
If he was a teller who was watching from the room of the observer, even Yu-hyun couldn’t find his book. His ability to read books was limited to those who entered his sight.
‘Yeah. Some unknown guy helped create this world and is watching us all the time?’
Yu-hyun realized then.
This place was a very special execution ground made to kill Seo Sumin.
And Yu-hyun was an unwelcome guest who entered the execution ground without fear.
‘This is bad.’
No, maybe he wasn’t even an unwelcome guest.
If the Twilight Curtain teller was involved in this, he would surely be one of his targets too.
‘Things are going downhill.’
Another enemy besides Agael.
This world was a joint work of Daesung Army Paradise and Pentagram Division teller.
Maybe even now, when Yu-hyun thought he moved as fast as possible, it was what the enemies expected.
Yu-hyun immediately called Baekhyo who was flying in the sky.
He didn’t need to bother Baekhyo anymore since he found Seo Sumin.
Hoot.
As soon as Baekhyo landed, he climbed on Yu-hyun’s shoulder and rubbed his head.
Yu-hyun gently stroked Baekhyo’s head. Baekhyo closed his eyes and enjoyed Yu-hyun’s touch.
“Is it your pet?”
Seo Sumin asked cautiously as she looked at Baekhyo.
“Yes. His name is Baekhyo. He’s cute, right?”
“What a beautiful owl.”
“Would you like to touch it?”
Hoot.
“Baekhyo says it’s okay.”
Baekhyo was usually wary of strangers, but he didn’t seem to mind Seo Sumin, who was still a student.
More than that, Baekhyo was also a spirit animal, and he instinctively sensed Seo Sumin’s anxious state of mind.
“Then… just once…”
Seo Sumin cautiously touched Baekhyo. She gasped in awe as she felt the soft feathers tickling her fingertips.
“Ah.”
She realized her blunder too late and blushed, closing her mouth. But her hand didn’t stop. She even hugged Baekhyo to her chest.
Seo Sumin realized for the first time that she liked cute animals so much. Her young body was instinctively reacting to the adorable creature.
And as she kept stroking him, she felt more calm and stable.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“…Just a little more.”
Yoo Hyun confirmed that Seo Sumin’s mood had calmed down and thought, ‘Animal therapy is not popular for nothing.’
In the end, it took an hour for Seo Sumin to fully relax.
The sun had set and darkness had fallen around them. Kang Yura was still unconscious and showed no signs of waking up.
“I guess we’ll have to spend the night here.”
“Are the rescue teams not coming?”
“I don’t think so.”
Usually, when a sudden world of thought occurred, rescue teams would be dispatched, but Yoo Hyun knew that wouldn’t happen.
“Why?”
“Don’t you feel it yet? This place is not a natural world of thought. It’s a place that someone created with some scheme. They’re probably hiding near the entrance outside right now, related to this incident.”
“…So this is how it ends?”
“At least we’re lucky.”
“What’s so lucky about this?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
Seo Sumin’s expression soured at Yoo Hyun’s confident words.
Her eyes said, ‘What are you talking about?’
Yoo Hyun asked.
“No. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re trapped in a trap and you say you’re lucky? How can I trust you?”
“There are two more people besides me. Oh, right. I forgot to contact them.”
Yoo Hyun thought he should contact Kang Hye-rim and Kwon Jia first, after briefly explaining the situation. He trusted them to get out of here safely.
“Since this happened, we have no choice but to clear this world ourselves. Or escape as soon as possible by joining forces.”
He knew where the entrance was, so it wasn’t impossible.
But Yoo Hyun soon discarded his careless thought. This place was literally a trap. The enemies were not fools either. They wouldn’t let them escape easily.
They had to show them something they never expected.
For example.
‘Clearing this world.’
To do that, he needed information about this world of thought.
“Tell me.”
“What do you mean?”
“This place. You know it, don’t you? It’s made from your memories, so even more so.”
Worlds of thought are made by the power of stories.
Actual history that exists.
Works that are created by someone.
Rumors that circulate among people.
In the mixed world, all these things are stories and have power. Worlds of thought are worlds that are realized by these things gathering and accumulating.
Even this martial arts world, which had nothing to do with Earth, could be created as long as Seo Sumin’s memories existed, who had once lived here. And it actually did.
‘They targeted that and deliberately sprouted the seed near her.’
It was an action they would never take if they didn’t know Seo Sumin’s past life.
“You’re not going to keep your mouth shut in this situation, are you? If you want to live…”
Yoo Hyun pointed at Kang Yura, who was still unconscious.
“And if you want to save her…”
“…”
“You’ll have to spill everything.”
Seo Sumin bit her lip.
She still felt suffocated every time she breathed in this place.
“…This place is my nightmare world, created to kill me. And you think you can survive here?”
“I told you before. There is always a way. This fight is worth trying. But for that, I need to hear your story, Su-min. You don’t have to trust me. But there is one thing. If you really want to save your precious friend Yura, you have to make a decision.”
“Do you think it’s possible?”
“It is possible.”
“You are…”
Su-min smiled weakly.
Yu-hyun felt a chill at that sight. When they had talked on the back mountain, she had said something like this.
She was a truly terrible person.
But this time, the words that came out of Su-min’s mouth were the opposite.
“You are a very stubborn man.”
“…”
“I understand. I can’t keep suffering miserably forever.”
On a dark night.
In a narrow room where no light entered, Su-min revealed her past.
She was once a heavenly horse, an absolute being.
But now, she was a wounded and fallen story.