Chapter 140 – Blurry, Suddenly (10)

Removing the tattered clothes and laying them on the floor made the end of today’s training all the more real.

The black uniform, soaked in blood. No one could tell whether the dark stains were from sweat or blood.

Yet, after completing such rigorous training, seeing my shredded uniform brought a sense of accomplishment, as if I had truly seized the day. A subtle smile formed at the corners of my mouth, betraying my excitement.

“Descend slowly, and do not use your power at your own discretion.”

“I understand. But do you also put Cheondo through this same kind of training?”

As I responded to the elderly man who had started down the mountain path before me, I couldn’t help but inquire directly.

“Why are you curious about that?”

His cold response came swiftly. I shrugged and smiled awkwardly.

“I was just curious. More than anything, I don’t really know what kind of person Cheondo is to me.”

My unparalleled master. The person who took me in when I had nothing.
To say they “picked me up” may sound odd, but it would be strange not to phrase it that way.
Heaven was willing to risk her life for me, her disciple. Not many people would stake their lives on a bond formed in just a few weeks.

A person I’m grateful for.
The elder gazed down at me for quite some time before speaking without any emotion.

“A person of what sort? Well, are they perhaps your betrothed?”
“Eh? No, not that.”

I was momentarily taken aback by the unexpected jest.
It wasn’t meant in that sense. Had they ever harbored such a question themselves? The thought crossed my mind, but the elder continued to speak impassively.

“Heaven knows how to corner herself well. She’s incomparable to someone as clueless as you.”
“You seem to know your daughter quite well, don’t you?”
“Are you attempting to engage in wordplay with me?”
“Perish the thought.”

There are, in fact, many people who possess this kind of disposition.

A father so strict that he can’t properly express a single emotion is a cliché, the kind that appears in dated dramas. Heaven, in the present world, missed her father. He wasn’t without affection, even in the way he treated her.

If one looked closely, he laughed quite a lot. He just tried to suppress those emotions as much as possible.

“…This is a different matter, but I heard you withdrew from Do-won. Hong-Yeon told me. What’s the reason?”

I unraveled the questions I had about him one by one. Beating around the bush wouldn’t work with him, so I asked as directly as possible.

“It’s not something you need to concern yourself with. Didn’t you come here for training?”
“I’m just curious.”

Certainly, returning as things are might not be a bad idea. In terms of growth, it had indeed been an extraordinary accomplishment.

However, nobody knows if that’s truly the only reason I came to the past.

Even the World Tree of Time had only vaguely suggested that its purpose was to send me back to the past.

“As I mentioned before, there isn’t a specific purpose. However, if I depart without knowing this, it seems my future dreams will be tumultuous.”

“A man who doesn’t even sleep is cursed.”

The old man turned his back and took a pause.

I patiently awaited a response, seated on the rock.

“The reason I created Do-won was to seek rest, not to increase my workload.”

I was well-informed of the origin of Do-won from the previous investigation.

“Is that the answer?”
“What else do you want to know?”
“Well, isn’t there a dream you wish to achieve so fervently that you’d abandon Do-won? There must be a reason to create a successor.”
“What a bothersome way of speaking. Fine… a dream? Huh, it has been quite some time since that was mentioned.”

Before long, the old man spoke.

“I have a dream.”

Those words.

I heard a sentence composed of just four characters, yet a piercing sense of déjà vu resonated in my chest.

– I have a dream.

These were Heaven’s words, spoken in purgatory. Various emotions had coalesced within them, making the phrase seem almost out of the blue, let alone the meaning it held.

My frustration grew when no further explanation was given. I wondered if these words were simply a recitation of her father’s.

I respectfully adjusted my posture and sat down.

“The reason I became the Heavenly Demon is to kill those I don’t like, whether they’re part of the world tree or human.”
“People you don’t like?”
“Hypocrites. I’ve seen too many good people die without reason. That’s what I hated.”

The old man spoke.

“Dreams are nothing special. The dreams we have as children usually don’t come true. It’s that kind of dream.”

“I longed for a world without evildoers, where the virtuous could freely express their will without any burden.”

Considering the name Heavenly Demon, it was undoubtedly a tale of grasping at elusive clouds.

A dream that only the very young would entertain.

“Is it strange?”
“A great deal for a Heavenly Demon.”
“In the past, I truly believed it could be possible. Back then, I thought that with enough power, I could achieve anything. It was such a youthful dream.”

A world without villains. An utterly preposterous notion.
Yet, I understood the sentiment.

“I do not disregard it. When I was young, I too proclaimed that I would create a better world to live in and even become a politician.”

Thinking back on it now sends shivers down my spine.
Why did I ever entertain such thoughts?

I chuckled and sighed simultaneously.

“Did you say the same thing to Heaven?”
“Ha, I spoke about it at length. I used to speak of it with such fervor, as if thorns filled my mouth. However, I never urged her to follow that path.”
“That’s a relief. But why did you have those thoughts? It doesn’t seem like there was any particular impetus.”
“…You certainly have many questions.”

“I hear it often.”
“Are you talking about the turning point?”

The old man unexpectedly opened up and shared his story candidly. Perhaps the fact that he came from the future played a part in his openness. Or maybe he felt a complex emotion knowing that I was his daughter’s disciple. It might have also been simply due to the bond we formed by exchanging blows.

“Turning point… yes, that’s what I meant. You must have heard that I was an outcast from my family.”
“Yes, that’s why you left home.”
“That’s right.”

The old man stroked his wrinkled chin as he reminisced about the past.

“When I first left Dowon, I was lost. It was a time when I knew nothing, had nothing, and had no power.”
“No power? You mean in that area?”
“Very few people are born with innate talent in martial arts. Heaven, that poor child, was too frail at first. My daughter would even cry as she picked flowers.”

What a charming story.

The old man’s face softened slightly as he spoke of his daughter.

“Anyway, after leaving home, I had to live in the mountains like a wild beast. Of course, there was no way it could work out well for a hapless child like me trying to make a home in the mountains. Bitten by a wolf, I was on the brink of death… That’s when I received help. He was such a gullible fool.”

I listened closely to the old man’s words and watched his back.
The morning sun, which had just begun to rise, illuminated the path before him.

“He saved a child like me, who had nothing to do with him, and took care of me day and night. I bled and suffered for two nights, and it was a miracle that I survived.”
“He must have been a remarkable person.”
“Remarkable? Heh, he didn’t even know what lay ahead of him. He had been swindled out of his life’s savings and was living while paying off his debts.”
“Ah.”
“In the end, he died. I don’t really want to talk about the reason. It’s just too foolish.”

Being kind is one thing, but he was far too naive.

Such heart-wrenching incidents are still all too common these days.

Cases of trusting and helping one’s friend only to be scammed in return.

Nowadays, when such stories appear in articles, it’s common to see comments on the internet mocking them as foolish. They say it’s because they’re stupid that they get scammed.

“He was an imbecile. I kept encountering people similar to him. Their stupidity was infuriating.”
“Yes.”
“Those who took advantage of such fools live smugly, and it was truly detestable to witness.”

A life led without restraint.
He had killed all those who displeased him, all those who obstructed his path.

As the elderly man spoke, he retrieved a smoking pipe from his bosom and placed it to his lips. Golden smoke rose, illuminated by the sunset’s glow.

“There’s more than just that. Having lived for over a hundred years, I found myself wanting to do something about those imbeciles.”

– Tap, tap.

As he tapped the smoking pipe against a massive rock, the ashes inside were dislodged.

“After killing those madmen, everyone began to call me Heavenly Demon.”

“Your dream didn’t come true?”
“How could I achieve such a dream? I didn’t even set a proper goal; it was merely a way to vent my anger.”

That’s right.

“When I regained my senses, there were far too many enemies. Killing indiscriminately, it turned out that all the famous and influential ones were rotten to the core.”

It wouldn’t be true for everyone, but not many people live a good and honest life throughout their entire existence. Both myself and this person are already individuals with somewhat compromised ethical values.

The old man stood, chuckling to himself.

“I thought only naïve fools surrounded me, but it turned out I was the biggest fool of all.”

Heavenly Demon – a name that seemed to be in stark contrast with his words.

“As I lived my life as I pleased, I’ve now come to desire rest, without any shame. I wanted to experience the joy others speak of when raising children. So, I returned to Do-won and settled down.”
“Is that why you created Do-won?”

“It grew of its own accord, a child picked up for amusement. After becoming the sect leader, I expanded this place.”

Hong-Yeon’s face surfaced in my mind.
She was picked up by the Heavenly Demon, wasn’t she? I knew there were a few more like her.

The old man turned and looked at me.

“I tried to transform this place into Do-wonhyang, but now it’s all over.”
“Do-wonhyang?”
“It’s a sort of legend passed down in the Peach Tree lineage. An ideal world… Do you understand if I put it that way?”

It’s abstract, but I get the general idea.
A utopia or heavenly realm, passed down in the Asian sphere. It must be something of that nature.

As I nodded, the old man exhaled a deep breath.

“If you wish to create it, you can.”
“Before that, Do-won will fall.”

Do-won is going to fall.
I was already aware that the future would be ruined, but it was oddly startling to hear the Heavenly Demon mention it.

“…Yes?”

“During that time, I made too many enemies. Whether I live or die, Do-won will become a target.”
“I suppose so.”

The accomplishments of the Heavenly Demon, or should I say a catastrophe?

There are far too many to list individually. It was as if he had nearly destroyed an entire nation, so naturally, there were more than just one or two individuals harboring a grudge against him.

“No matter how I try to prevent it, it will only be a matter of who dies less and who dies more.”
“Is that why you let go of Do-won?”
“No.”

Had I overstepped? The old man muttered without any expression.

“There was simply too much to do.”

Indeed, there must have been.

I recalled a passage I had once read in a book:

“In order to subdue the Heavenly Demon, numerous hunters, including those from the World Tree Foundation, participated in the war.”

There were two recent calamities in the world I lived in: King Mokryeong and the Heavenly Demon. At this point, the second catastrophe had not yet occurred.

The old man’s assertion that he had much work to do was likely in reference to the process of preparation.

‘…Is it all to save our Master?’

I do not know how many managed to survive there. One thing is certain—the family has been vanquished. Only three survivors are known to me.

‘Tsk.’

I clicked my tongue at the bitterness filling my mouth. In a way, the war he singlehandedly incited could be seen as a futile struggle.

From my vantage point, knowing the outcome, I had no choice but to think that way.

“I have discovered all that I was curious about.”
“If you hadn’t devoted yourself to Do-won, I wouldn’t be saying this. Tsk. Put an end to this foolishness.”
“Yes… well, I will make amends.”

He may call it foolishness, but I am already aware he secretly approves of my work in Do-won.

The old man, with his deeply wrinkled face, retraced his steps down the mountain path. I remained in place, silently pondering his words.

Dressed in the new clothes I acquired, I pondered once more as I descended the mountain.

-I had wished for a world where there were no evildoers, and where the virtuous could freely pursue their desires without any burden.

It was difficult to comprehend whether that was something the Heavenly Demon intended.

‘Well, as long as I do well, that’s what matters.’

Still, I didn’t feel too bad, as it seemed I had uncovered the secret Cheondo had been harboring.

Preventing the Heavenly Demon’s death was impossible, as was stopping Dowon from falling into ruin. Nevertheless, I intended to do what I could for the time being.

Gradually, I started to grasp the nature of this place referred to as the past.

‘If the present I lived in is a timeline that mirrors this past…’

I wasn’t certain, but that was the thought that crossed my mind. And if my conjecture was correct, there was still work left for me to do.