What the hell!!
I jumped up and down in place with an insane sense of relief the moment Cheongwol defeated Dang Soran.
I even accidentally grabbed the uncles' thinning hair and shook it.
No way, why did Cheongwol beat Dang Soran!
How did she win!!
This means no sparks will fly my way!!
Heart Demon too... Ah!
"Ah, Uncle!"
"S-Seojin. Let go of my hair first..."
"How many times do I have to tell you? It's the Shaoyang Sword Technique."
"Th-that? It wasn't something else?"
"Something else what?"
"Well... Last time you mentioned something about Extermination Sword."
"Hey, kid. That was just for fun."
Right? She beat her in the spar without even using Extermination Sword?
I'm going crazy.
It felt like winning a life-or-death coin flip.
One thing was certain: no one in this space was happier than me.
Every time Cheongwol was pushed back, I don't know how hard I gritted my teeth.
Afraid Extermination Sword would come out.
In the original story, that violent sword technique injured some spectators watching from close range.
It continued until Soun subdued the rampaging Cheongwol.
How fortunate that didn't happen.
That's why I dragged the uncles who wanted to watch from the front to the back.
"I didn't know you'd be this happy. You should've come out sooner."
Gwak Du Uncle chuckled, smiling since I was so pleased.
I let out a sigh of relief, calmed my shocked emotions, and looked at the stage.
I even had the illusion of making eye contact with Cheongwol sporadically, but it must have been just that—an illusion.
She clasped her hands in greeting to everyone who had watched her and smiled.
Gwak Du Uncle said.
"A phoenix has descended upon the Emei Sect. What will they call her? Sword Phoenix? Azure Phoenix?"
Gu Yeong Uncle added.
"No matter what they call her, it won't take long for Shaolin to bestow a title. With news this big..."
The Tang Clan Leader, Dang Jeokcheon, walked up onto the stage.
He wasn't that big, but seeing Dang Jeokcheon in person, his charisma was impressive.
...But come to think of it, that guy dies painfully too.
...By Cheongwol's hand, same as always.
Well, maybe the future has changed a bit, so I shouldn't think too deeply.
...
...Suddenly, such a thought occurred to me.
This won't cause a butterfly effect, will it...?
Thinking about it, how could it not? The appearance of the Demonic Cult's Seven Heavens has been delayed...
My joy at this unexpected result was short-lived.
...Now, with no idea what results this would bring, a sudden fear gripped me again.
...It'll be fine, right?
No, Cheongwol that wicked bitch not becoming an even worse bitch is a good thing, isn't it?
Even when Dang Jeokcheon began speaking to wrap up the spar, I couldn't hear a thing.
Once the anguish started, it rolled on endlessly.
...
"Huh."
Then, suddenly, Dang Soran entered my view.
Where had that proud smile gone?
...The protagonist's greatest ally trudged off the stage with a grave expression.
Gu Yeong Uncle must have seen it too, as he whispered beside me.
"Tch. Poor young lady Dang Soran. Her Heart Demon mustn't worsen."
I swallowed hard.
"...Huh?"
****
Two days had passed since the spar ended.
Cheongwol was spending time at Hyeonbi Rock on Mount Emei, the cliff near the Emei Sect.
This Hyeonbi Rock was her personal retreat that she had discovered.
A place to escape the stifling Emei Sect and her senior brothers' jealousy... a place to get some fresh air.
Once, she had practically lived here, but after her Heart Demon grew, she hadn't come.
It wasn't like staring at the open scenic view would unravel her knots.
To vent that violent Heart Demon, she had to move her body.
But lately, things were different.
She had started spending time here at Hyeonbi Rock again.
Not because the scenery had changed or it suddenly helped with her Heart Demon.
From this small cliff closest to the village on Mount Emei, the village was clearly visible below.
And when she sat on the edge, squinting her eyes... far away, his Leather Room came into view.
Han Seojin's Leather Room.
By some stroke of luck, the front of the Leather Room was visible from here.
Sometimes, she could even see his movements.
He's eating dinner.
...I should eat too.
Cheongwol began scooping up the rice balls she had brought from the Emei Sect.
She knew it.
That watching him like this was a bit strange.
But what could she do?
For Cheongwol, doing anything else felt more unnatural.
Should she go flatter her senior brothers?
Pretend not to hear the gossip that reached her ears and endure?
Smile at the envy- or jealousy-tinged encouragement from the second-generation disciples?
Play with the third-generation disciples who annoyingly clung to her because their masters were her senior brothers?
Deep down, Cheongwol wanted not to watch him like this creepily, but to just go into that Leather Room and spend time there.
Not for any SM play. They'd bicker a bit, but she'd rather be by his side having honest conversations.
But it was Han Seojin who told her not to come near.
Keeping the promise like this was already something.
Besides, it wasn't surveillance.
Just watching what he was up to. Not trying to delve into his world.
Sitting here at Hyeonbi Rock, feeling the pleasant breeze, she could meditate.
Regulate her breathing technique for a bit.
Then watch what he was doing.
And like this, Cheongwol could rest in a peace she had never felt before.
Her Heart Demon still writhed in a corner of her chest, but she was endlessly grateful that its power had weakened so much.
Just recently, she had massacred bandits near Noryeong Valley.
Fought the Sect Leader and screamed from the mountainside.
Now, all that felt like distant past.
She could predict there would be more hardships ahead.
She had ultimately refused the phoenix title, so no nickname yet.
But the news would spread across the Central Plains, making expectations for her even heavier.
Still, it was okay.
Han Seojin... so...
...
...friend. Yeah, having just one friend made it bearable.
As long as he stayed by her side from now on, it wouldn't be too hard.
...
...But wait.
...Why exactly can't she approach for ten days?
He was so happy when she won the spar.
He worried and thought of her so much, so why force the act of pretending not to know?
He said he hated martial artists, but he was close with Beggars' Sect beggars.
...
"Haa."
Of course, she didn't completely fail to understand.
Their first meeting was right at that slaughter site.
Cheongwol suddenly started regretting that moment.
If she had held back just a little then, would he not have set such firm boundaries?
...
...No. If not for that day, they wouldn't have crossed paths at all.
Still, dissatisfaction was dissatisfaction.
She wanted to talk about the spar even briefly, but couldn't.
Cheongwol kept watching Han Seojin's Leather Room, where flies buzzed around.
Han Seojin seemed bored too, slouched in a chair in front of the shop, eating something.
She could even see him scratching his head vigorously now and then, as if悩着.
She scanned around his Leather Room.
Located on the village outskirts, no one seemed to approach the shop.
...
...Should I go for a bit?
With the big event of the spar, maybe Han Seojin would welcome her this time.
****
...
"Hah!"
Dang Soran awoke from a nightmare.
Her heart pounded madly, cold sweat dripping down.
Unsure why this overwhelming terror visited her, she reflexively reached for her weapon.
"Soran."
Then, a gentle voice flowed in.
Turning her head, Dang Jeokcheon was by her side.
"...C-Clan Leader."
"It's fine. Calm down."
...
"...You shouldn't have sparred. I thought you might sense something..."
Dang Soran shook her head.
"It was what I wanted. You... did nothing wrong. It's all my fault."
...
The fear from the nightmare subsided briefly in her father's presence.
But staying like that longer made her feel suffocated.
In front of her father, she always felt guilt.
Especially because he was so kind.
Perhaps she feared her ugly nature being exposed.
...
"...I'll go get some air."
"Soran, if there's anything your father can—"
"—I'm fine."
Dang Soran said as she rose from her seat.
And fled the room like a fugitive.
.
.
.
Dang Soran had never once grown up in deprivation.
Eldest daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan. Precious as jade in a golden leaf.
Born precious, raised precious.
She had never even been scolded.
From infancy, her cute appearance captured the elders' hearts, and as she grew, her bold curiosity and cheerful personality charmed even the servants.
No one frowned upon seeing her toddling around on tiny feet.
Wherever she went, flowers of laughter bloomed.
That's why, perhaps.
Whatever Dang Soran wanted, it became hers.
"Father! Soran wants some sweets!"
"I want those earrings!"
"Clothes! I like that outfit!"
"Father. I want to raise a puppy."
"I have a wish, Clan Leader. Will you grant it?"
There was no refusal to her words.
Just by wishing, the world fell into her hands.
Thinking back, the reason Dang Soran wanted so much was ultimately her innate disposition.
She had known for a long time.
That there was something missing in her heart.
A small, deep hole that nothing could fill.
Even if she asked the clan for what she desired and obtained it... Dang Soran had never truly been happy.
Everything was just momentary curiosity.
Will I be a bit happy if I get that? Will I be happy if that comes into my hands?
But nothing lasted long.
She was a child who knew no satisfaction.
She didn't even know where her own desires came from.
Having never labored to obtain anything, perhaps she couldn't assign special value to anything.
Others might call it a full belly's complaint... but to Dang Soran, it was a firm anguish.
Dang Soran's world changed after the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly.
There, she finally discovered two things that could fill her emptiness.
One was the cheers of the Central Plains folk from flaunting her martial prowess.
In truth, she had vaguely known this sensation even before the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly.
When she trained and defeated opponents, the following applause and praise tickled her heart.
In that brief moment, it felt like her empty heart was filling—an illusion.
Thinking about it, cheers aren't something you can obtain just by wanting.
That's why it seemed all the more real, and perhaps she immersed herself in martial arts chasing that illusion.
In the end, at the end of that blind obsession, Dang Soran was called Phoenix.
And the other one...
...
...Only on that day did Dang Soran truly see herself.
The successor of the Zhongnan Sect who originally held the phoenix title.
When Dang Soran defeated her and stole the phoenix title.
...When she took what was someone else's and made it her own.
...
...The shocking fulfillment she felt then, she couldn't believe.
So intense and vivid, it felt like the center of her heart was hotly filled.
Before she knew it, she who had no standards of her own was living parasitically on others' standards.
Only when she possessed what others cherished did she feel its value.
It felt like filling one compartment in her empty heart.
Her own world didn't exist; she felt warmth in others' worlds.
And with that fulfillment came the Heart Demon.
Was I such an ugly person?
A monster who only rejoices in taking others' things?
Raised among kind elders, affectionate parents, obedient siblings... why am I the only one so twisted?
It was an ugliness she couldn't reveal.
How disappointed would Father be if he knew.
How would the elders' attitudes change if they found out.
Locked in her room, she kept repeating to herself.
This can't go on.
I must fix this ugly nature.
...That girl earlier, clutching her sister's hairpin so dearly. How fondly she looked at it.
Please snap out of it.
This isn't you.
Why take others' things?
...That merchant in the city, working hard for red silk.
"Stop...!!"
A scream escaped.
Dang Soran had collapsed in place before she knew it.
Clutching her head like tearing it, her whole body trembled.
"Please... stop..."
Then, suddenly wondering if someone saw this, she jerked her head up and cautiously looked around.
Coming to her senses, she was somewhere in the Mount Emei village.
Fortunately, no one was nearby.
She gritted her teeth and repeated the story.
The tale of the Taoist who was born ugly but hid it his whole life until death.
She would live like that too.
And that would be it.
No matter how hard, she would.
It was still okay. She had realized this ugliness and taken nothing.
...
However... if possible... please, someone...
...
"Huh?"
As she thought that, what happened next was pure coincidence.
Someone lightly landed on the roof of a shop ahead.
Dang Soran couldn't not recognize the figure.
Emei Sect's Thousand-Year Flower, Cheongwol.
Dang Soran instinctively erased her presence and watched Cheongwol's actions.
Cheongwol looked around with an extremely cautious expression.
An unfamiliar expression Dang Soran had never seen.
Why are you, at this hour... here...
Some sensation stirred Dang Soran.
Intensely enough to make her forget even her recent anguish.
Cheongwol lightly descended from the shop roof.
Then, the young man slouched out front, sighing, startled and fell backward.
"W-Whoa...!"
He hurriedly stood, looked around frantically, and shouted as if angry.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to come...!!"
"...Hmph."
Cheongwol ignored him and headed lightly into the shop.
The young man, who had been holding his forehead, followed her similarly.
And the Leather Room's door closed.
...
Clearly a secretive rendezvous.
Witnessing it, Dang Soran froze and thought.
Who was that man?
...Lover?
...No way. Nothing less suited Cheongwol than a lover.
Besides, no way Cheongwol would like that shabby-looking man unless she was mad.
...Then...
...
...Dang Soran felt Cheongwol's biggest recent change most closely.
During the spar, her Heart Demon was so faint it barely registered.
The sword path swept by passion had settled calmly, and the excessive force had softened into fluid elegance.
How did she do it?
How did Cheongwol bring about that change?
How did you do it? How did you escape?
Dang Soran rose from her spot.
In her eyes burned not confusion or fear, but desperate longing.
Harboring that longing, she quietly stepped toward the Leather Room.