Book 27 Chapter 11

Destroy the misunderstanding!

-Break!

The first is quick, the second is slow, and then the third is impermanence, and after impermanence, formlessness?

It was extremely dangerous to just stand there and wait for the mysterious blade. Even if the sword was an old, rusted sword, what was the point of having a blade in the hands of a nobody? In the hands of a master, a blade of grass could be enough to slay an enemy. A simple stick could be transformed into a mighty sword in the hands of a master. Moreover, there was something called sword steel. Gumkang could turn any dull sword into the strongest sidewalk. If you were an unknown, it didn't matter how many sword cores you had, it didn't matter if you had any or not.

"Oh, and I'll make you a promise. I'm not going to wear a saber. I haven't used it in a hundred years. I'd be embarrassed if I forgot to use it, so I won't."

Do you usually forget things like that?

It was a thought that flashed through everyone's minds for a moment.

"I can't hear you, but it's a complaint."

She's not one to turn down a favor, and she doesn't forget to reciprocate.

"Then in return, you go first this time!"

Not wanting to give Mu Mu any more room to focus, Bi Ryuyeon moved. Bi Ryuyeon's robe was stripped off, and she stretched forward, five streaks of thunderbolts shooting out from her fluttering sleeves. Along with countless golden threads.

At the same time, Bi Ryuyeon's fingers began to play thunderbolts over the shimmering brainstorm.

Lightning Blade Sword Qi

Righteousness (奧義)

Chapters of the Wind Cloud Thunderbolt

Thunder River Valley (雷光流河曲)

Waves of golden, shimmering strings spread out like a net, crashing over the nameless like a tidal wave. The music, gentle at first, had turned into a raging torrent. Every single strand of this lattice of light in the sky contained a sharp qi, and when it touched, it cut through even steel like a cut on a sharp sidewalk.

"this…… this……."

For the first time, the nameless pupils wavered as they watched Bi Ryuyeon perform her ceremony. For the first time, the pupils that seemed unshakable in the face of anything wavered.

There was a momentary pause in the nameless movement.

It wasn't because I was overwhelmed by her herbivory.

Suddenly, I felt a pounding headache.

But the pause was brief. His body moved again.

Third Call

Formless Sword (無形劍)

Boom!

With a crystal clear sound, a flash of light split the heavens and earth in two. At the same time, it severed the net that had enveloped them on all sides.

"……!"

Even Bi Ryuyeon couldn't help but be surprised when his aura was broken by a single, rusted blade. The Thunderbolt Stream Descent was a technique he had been practicing for the longest time. It was also one of the first auras he had mastered. He was overjoyed when he mastered it, and he hadn't neglected to cultivate it ever since.

"No way……."

But a pact that has never been broken has been broken. The most unforgiving oath of all, broken by a nameless, rusty sword. Even the most courageous Bi Ryuyeon could not help but be dismayed. Whether it was because he was caught off guard or because his mind had opened up, he was completely vulnerable for a moment. It wasn't impossible for a martial artist of her caliber to see through that hole and bring her to her knees, but it was Ming who did.

"Boom!"

After the single sword slash through Bi Ryuyeon's brain, Mu Ming knelt on the ground, clutching his head in agony. A headache that felt like it would crush his skull. He had never experienced such pain before. Visions flashed in and out of his mind, like worship objects revealed by the light of a thunderbolt cutting through the darkness before his eyes.

The wind blew. Bi Ryuyeon's bangs blew in the wind, revealing a pair of golden, glowing eyes beneath. For a brief moment, a nameless gaze met those pupils.

"Kaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Mu Ming suddenly screamed like a madman.

"Captain, are you okay?"

Startled, Zhang Ziyi called out to him in contemplation. But Mu Myung did not answer, except with a scream, and then he shrank back.

You've passed out.

"What the hell is going on?"

Bi Ryuyeon looked down at the fallen Mu Ming and muttered to herself.

Clearly, it was you who was in danger earlier.

He was caught completely off guard by the shock of having one of his jutsu, which he used as naturally as breathing, shattered.

He could poke as many holes as he wanted. He had a severe case of forgetfulness, but he was certainly skilled. He was not one to miss such an opportunity.

And then he falls down…….

At this point, there was only one thing to say.

"Gotcha!"

* * *

The spirit watched helplessly as the fallen nameless man was carried in.

The unspoken words she'd heard a moment ago were ringing in her ears like tinnitus, refusing to leave.

"A tree without roots is not a tree after all, and such a tree cannot bear fruit, because it has already forgotten what it is supposed to bear."

'Tree without roots…….'

The nameless words didn't just apply to him. She, too, was acutely aware of her own incompleteness.

His memories were riddled with holes, and he now suspected that even those memories were made up. A tree with false roots was worse than a tree without roots.

A false memory means you've lived a false life. No, you haven't even lived it, because it's just a fabrication.

'False memories… false goals… false lives…….'

He said.

Something inside you is telling you to find yourself. That something inside you is nagging you to make your imperfect self whole.

"I need to know who I am, what I am, before I can move forward, to define what I want to do, what I will be."

Each nameless word became a sharp arrow, piercing the spirit's chest. His words, lingering like tinnitus, were shaking her to the core. She had to admit, she was afraid of being found out to be false. That she was afraid of being found out to be a liar. That she had been blind to the fact that something was wrong with her now.

-That you've been afraid to find out who you really are!

The memory of being a spirit was refusing to let her doubt herself anymore, for she knew that to deny herself everything she remembered now would be to deny her very existence as a spirit.

It was refusing to find the real me.

To give all of myself to Him, to believe that my body and spirit belonged to Him, whether I had been a single person or anything else.

"Does that mean it's all a false memory too?

But there was something strange about her. The look in her eyes when she was being received at the lakeside, hiding her identity, when she revealed her name as 'Eunmyeong', and again when she revealed herself as her master. And the sensation she felt when she saw those eyes.

"Does that mean that feeling is also false?

The feeling was not her memory. It was a tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling, tingling.

"What's that feeling like……?

It was clear that she would not call the feeling loyalty. If this was the first time she had met this person, why did she feel such a sense of longing? Could it be that the feeling was based on my own experience with a different memory than the current one?

"I want to check it out!

She wanted to find out what that feeling was, no, she had to find out, because it was too heartbreaking to keep secret.

There was a certain feeling that came over her when she saw Na Yerin. It was the opposite of the unfamiliarity she should have felt when she first saw her. She had been told that she was from the Sword Pavilion, her nemesis, but now that she didn't trust her memories, it could all be a lie.

Indeed, the nameless person she'd heard earlier hadn't been wrong, she couldn't help but realize.

"I guess I was broken too……."

I realized that I'd rather be amnesic than have a false memory.

The spirit was sadly forced to accept the fact that he was so precarious and insecure.

In order to find your true self, you have to have the courage to break who you are. Only when she could break free of the shackles of memories that others had instilled in her would she feel like she could take another step forward.

"Do I think I can…… have the courage to break with who I am?"

Then there was a slender hand resting on her shoulder.

"Of course you can, you're not broken, you're just forgetting."

When she turned to look, there stood a faintly smiling Na Yerin. She had already recovered enough to pull herself to her feet.

"Yerin……."

She was stunned by the words that slipped out of her mouth; she had just called Na Yerin's name so casually.

"Yes, sister. It's me, Yerin."

The corners of Na Yerin's eyes moistened as she called him by his familiar name. She felt her heart clench at the sight of it. I don't want to see this child cry, her heart was telling her.

The way he felt when he thought of Eunmyeong, and the way he felt when he thought of Na Yerin. It was a different kind of emotion, but it was definitely a pure emotion that didn't rely on mental memories. Even if everything else was a lie, that feeling was an unchanging truth.

Who am I? Which version of me is real? And who is that person to me?

She looked straight at Na Yerin and said.

"I'm not sure who I am yet. I can't trust my memories, so everything is jumbled. But I'm going to try to find it now, using this feeling in my heart as a guide……. Can you help me?"

Na Yerin nodded, clasping the hand the spirit held out to her with both hands.

"Of course, I'll help her find herself. I'll definitely help her find herself."

She didn't know what lay ahead of that step, whether it would be a dog or a spirit, but she was determined to take it.

"It's a sisters' reunion…… and you two are meant to be together, although not as much as me and Yerin."

Na Yerin's head snapped in the direction of the voice. There stood Bi Ryuyeon.

Na Yerin didn't ask how he was here, nor did she question why Ryuyeon, who wasn't even an emissary, was here.

Yes, she was vaguely aware that Bi Ryuyeon had been by her side the entire time. Ever since she had left the Heavenly Martial Academy, she had never felt his absence, so she had never questioned the fact that he had come here to rescue her.

Bi Ryuyeon and Na Yerin's gazes met.

"……."

But no words came out of her mouth.

No words came out of Na Yerin's mouth.

The two men stared at each other for a long moment.

It wasn't that I didn't have anything to say. He had so much to say that he didn't know what to say.

What the heck am I supposed to say?

He wasn't the type of person to ask for advice, but right now he wished he had someone to teach him.

Should I start by apologizing for being late, ask how you got away from Seocheon, or congratulate you?

It was his duty to rescue her, to pull her out of the pit of despair before she suffered something worse. That's what he'd come to this island to do, and that's what he'd fought and won.

But somehow she seemed to pull herself out of that despair.

His heart was a mixture of pride and curiosity for her, and regret that he hadn't saved her sooner.

But in the end, it was the overwhelming joy of having her back by his side that filled his heart above all else.

We're back.

It was as if a part of him that had fallen away had come back to him. It was like being incomplete was finally complete. Memories of feeling like something was missing, of the gap, of the unfulfilled need, of the constant anxiety and restlessness, fade away.

Bi Ryuyeon forgot all his words and looked into her eyes in silence.

I see a pair of eyes that hold the luminous night sky, a pair of black eyes that no one who has seen them can ever forget, a pair of black jewels that look like they could be sucked in, and a pair of fine hairs stretched over them. Her eyelashes, painted with a master's hand, nay, a god's hand, squint to see if there is even the slightest loss of color, as if she will not tolerate a single hair.

Your gaze travels upward, taking in the richness of your hair, which is as black as jet-black, the elegant threads of ebony, the way it always smells, the way you have to fight the urge to bury your face in it, the way it feels irresistibly good when you run your fingers through it and let it cascade down between your five fingers, the way you squint to see if it's any duller than it was when you left.

At that moment, Bi Ryuyeon's brow twitched slightly.

For as his gaze traveled downward, past her upturned nose and red lips, to her cheeks, he noticed that they were slightly hollowed out, and that her red, plump lips had lost a bit of blood. It was proof that she had suffered a great deal, and it was also proof that she was currently drained of energy.

When Bi Ryuyeon looked at her with such intensity, as if she would hunt down and make pay all those who had done so, Nayarin stopped shaking slightly. Na Yerin's cheeks flushed slightly at the intense gaze. But subtly, she didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, her heart fluttered slightly.

After spending quite a bit of time inspecting Na Yerin's every inch, Bi Ryuyeon finally let out a long sigh of relief when she was satisfied that everything was fine except for her slight pallor.

"Phew, thankfully I don't think I lost anything."

I sweep my hand across my chest. I feel my anxious heart finally calm down a bit.

"Sure. It's only been a day, right?"

At her words, Bi Ryuyeon shook her head sternly.

"It may have been just one day for someone else, but it wasn't for me, and I don't want to have to live through something like this, never, ever, ever again!"

Much of what had happened over the past day, and how he had behaved, was missing from his memory. He was certainly not out of his mind.

"Ryuyeon, it's been a long time for me, too, but I had faith that she would come."

If she hadn't been so sure that Bi Ryuyeon was coming to save her, she wouldn't have been able to face her despair and fear.

"I didn't get to save Yerin. I was a little late, wasn't I?"

Bi Ryuyeon said with a slight hint of resentment. She was glad that Yerin was safe, first and foremost, but while she was happy and proud that she had escaped from his clutches on her own, she couldn't help but think of how much she must have suffered alone in the meantime. It was a shame that she hadn't been able to stand by her side and watch over her during that wonderful moment when she had made it through the nightmare of her past.

"I should have found Yerin sooner, I've always been bad at hide and seek, ahahahahaha."

Bi Ryuyeon scratched the back of her head and chuckled. Na Yerin shook her head vigorously.

"Ryuyeon is not late, she's just in time."

"Is that so? I didn't get to rescue Yerin from captivity, and I'm sorry for the trouble I caused her when I should have been there for her in her moment of need."

"No, you saved my life, and you're not completely out of the woods yet, are you?"

As she said, the rescue wasn't complete until they were off the island's shores. In a sense, this was just the beginning.

"Well, I guess I'd better get my act together now, then, to make up for my tardiness."

"Looking forward to it, Ryuyeon."

Na Yerin smiled slightly. It might seem like a very weak smile, but Bi Ryuyeon could tell it was a smile of total trust.

"You're getting stronger, Yerin."

She slowly approached Na Yerin. When she was finally within arm's reach, she wrapped one hand around Na Yerin's shoulder and hugged her, smiling slightly. Na Yerin didn't say anything, just quietly wrapped her arms around her.

You must have been scared. She must have been afraid. He must have wanted to run away, but she didn't. She was scared, but she faced the nightmares of her past, and she got up on her own, before he could reach out to help.

"Good job, Yerin. Welcome back."

By my side, I swallowed the words inwardly.

Na Yerin clutched at Bi Ryuyeon's clothes, her hands trembling as she clutched at the garment behind her back. It was as if she was silently sobbing.

"I'm back, Ryuyeon."

A single teardrop, like a crystal ball, rolled down Na Yerin's jade-white cheek. As she hugged Na Yerin as she floated away, Bi Ryuyeon thought.

Thank goodness. I'm so glad, I said.

And then I thought.

"Did they notice?

He realizes that the man's hands around him are now shaking.

Was it the tension? No matter how hard she tried to stop it, she couldn't stop the trembling. Why were her hands, which hadn't trembled when she was kidnapped, trembling now?

He didn't know it was fear. He didn't know it was fear.

Both fear and dread were buried together in the graves of his parents 'that day'. From then on, he felt no fear or terror. His fear had been consumed by the villagers falling one after another, by the bodies of his father and mother, boiling like lava and cooling like ice, by the maelstrom of death that he couldn't tell if it was a week or a month.

But now his hands were shaking.

The fact that she might have been lost without…….

His body and his mind were clearly proving that he was truly afraid and terrified.

Someone to make your imperfections perfect.

His precious…….

It felt like something that was missing was coming back together perfectly.

He had finally gotten his "precious" back.