I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 86

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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86.
Unable to bear the power, I had caused the collapse of Seonmun and the death of those I loved, and sealed myself away so as to harm no one else.
“You looked so lonely. Terribly so.”
The fact that Yeon-poong had destroyed Seonmun and killed countless people remained unchanged.
Yet her power was not something she had sought to obtain.
It was profoundly sorrowful that she should spend nearly a thousand years sealed away as the price for an unwanted power.
“And….”
It was just as I was about to ask about one of Yeon-poong’s more meaningful statements.
“Enough.”
“….”
I realized that Baek Un-jin had deliberately cut off my words and closed my mouth.
It felt as though he was telling me not to speak of it in front of Eun Hui-gyeom.
“I will investigate the woman myself.”
“Yes.”
“And for now, it would be best if neither you nor Hui-gyeom left the Seonmun. Not until I give permission.”
I had not expected him to impose a travel ban even on Eun Hui-gyeom.
“To that extent?”
“Yes.”
It seemed an excessive measure for an order given without explanation, yet neither Eun Hui-gyeom nor I could press further.
Baek Un-jin’s expression had hardened coldly, unlike his usual demeanor.
We simply nodded without asking more.
After returning from Unbyek Rim, Bikyun Pavilion seemed to have regained its peace.
Yet Baek Un-jin had taken to disappearing alone with increasing frequency.
Neither Eun Hui-gyeom nor I knew where he went or what he investigated.
When he returned after days away, only the faint scent of ink lingered on his robes.
Several more months passed.
Spring faded, and the oppressive summer came and went.
Even then, Baek Un-jin did not lift the travel ban on Eun Hui-gyeom and me.
We occasionally met to spar or cultivate our realms together through shared breathing exercises.
Autumn deepened.
It was around the time when the plum blossoms of Cheong Woo Seon Mun began to shed their leaves.
“Another disciple has disappeared from Chui Ok Gok Mun.”
It was what Eun Hui-gyeom said the moment he sat down at the breakfast table.
I paused my chopsticks and looked up.
“What?”
“An elder heard it yesterday. Last month it was a Yeon-gi-gi disciple, and now it’s Chukgi-gi disciples.”
“Did it happen at Unbyek Rim?”
“I’m not sure about that.”
It was not a mission, nor had there been friction with other sects, so it was unusual for disciples of the Jeongmun Paldae to disappear.
Even more so, for disciples from a single sect to vanish in concentrated numbers within a single year.
“I think Master Baek mentioned something similar happened last month too. Didn’t you know about it, Sister?”
I was forbidden from going outside, but moving about within Chingwoo Immortal Sect itself was not prohibited.
It seemed Eun Hui-gyeom had frequently heard news of Chui-ok Valley Sect and the outside world from senior disciples he’d grown close to within the sect.
I hadn’t known that disciples from Chui-ok Valley Sect had been disappearing continuously since then.
“…Yes.”
I hadn’t known.
To be precise, since returning to Bikyun Pavilion, no rumors about Unbyek Rim had reached my ears.
It wasn’t as though I had avoided hearing external news through other senior disciples either.
If what Eun Hui-gyeom said was true, it was as if information about Chui-ok Valley Sect had been deliberately kept from me.
‘Surely not.’
I decided to dismiss the thought that Baek Un-jin might have done such a thing as too far-fetched.
After all, even when senior disciples heard outside news, the information each possessed varied.
‘Has Yeon-poong awakened again?’
No.
Something felt wrong.
She was certainly worn down by loneliness, but she was not someone who would randomly abduct disciples from the sect simply because of that loneliness.
Ha Gyeong-un was captured because he resembled a certain man far too closely—it was something she had done without realizing it.
The spirit of Yeon-poong I had witnessed was remarkably clear.
Unless something went terribly wrong with her own circumstances, she was absolutely not someone who would harm another.
“Sister?”
“Oh, yes.”
Eun Hui-gyeom looked at me with a worried expression.
I picked up my chopsticks again.
“…So what’s Chui-ok Valley Sect doing about it?”
“For now, there’s only word that they’re conducting an internal investigation. But it seems there’s been no significant movement. Perhaps they don’t think it’s a serious matter….”
Even among the Jeongmun Paldae, not all sects shared the same disposition.
Since each sect had its own atmosphere, there was nothing to be done if Chui-ok Valley Sect treated it as a minor issue.
As I fell silent, Eun Hui-gyeom’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Sister, you’re not thinking of going again, are you?”
“….”
“Master told you not to leave the sect. This time I’ll really carry you and keep you from going.”
“…I’m not going.”
“Really? You really won’t leave?”
“I won’t.”
I reassured Eun Hui-gyeom repeatedly throughout the meal, telling him not to worry.
Though I was concerned about Yeon-poong, I would not rush off to Unbyek Rim immediately.
The weight of Baek Un-jin’s request held as much importance to me as my promise with Yeon-poong.
***
Chui-ok Valley Sect, Yeong-hyeon Hall.
“It cannot be.”
Im So-ha’s refusal was absolute.
“I cannot permit you to return to Unbyek Rim. You must remember the condition you were found in last time.”
“I am aware.”
Ha Gyeong-un, sitting with composed posture, answered calmly.
Even after returning to Chui-ok Valley Sect, he had been forced to remain bedridden for another month due to the instability of his soul.
Im So-ha had only recently believed she could finally set aside her worries regarding Ha Gyeong-un.
Im So-ha, seated across from him, exhaled a frustrated sigh.
“Why are you doing this?”
….
“There must be a reason for this.”
Im So-ha understood that Ha Gyeong-un was not the sort to speak of returning there without cause.
Ha Gyeong-un, who had kept his eyes tightly shut, opened his mouth as though seized by resolve.
“Since that day, I have been hearing a voice.”
“A voice?”
“Yes. A woman’s voice. I cannot discern the words, but it resonates within me like a melody.”
At first, I had attributed it to my body not yet being fully healed.
Yet as time passed, the voice did not fade.
“A woman’s voice… Is that not the same voice you heard when you were entranced at Unbyek Rim?”
“It appears to be.”
“And you are saying you hear that voice even now, here within the sect.”
A grand barrier had been erected within the main grounds of Chui-ok Valley Sect.
Even a practitioner of considerable spiritual power could not breach the grand barrier of Chui-ok Valley Sect alone.
Moreover, this barrier possessed the effect of blocking and purifying external sorcery and curses.
It was a grand barrier that had endured through thousands of years of Chui-ok Valley Sect’s history.
This meant Ha Gyeong-un was hearing such a voice while remaining within Chui-ok Valley Sect.
“I must inform the Elder Council at once—”
“I already have.”
Ha Gyeong-un cut off her words first.
“I reported it to the Elder Council beforehand.”
“Why did you not tell me first!”
“I did not wish to burden you with worry. And the elders said it was merely an auditory hallucination arising from my meridians not having fully recovered. The Spiritual Master also said the voice would soon fade and that I should not be anxious.”
Im So-ha could not definitively say that assessment was entirely wrong.
It was not uncommon for practitioners whose souls had suffered grave damage to suffer from auditory hallucinations for a time.
“…Yet you believe otherwise.”
“Yes.”
Ha Gyeong-un fell silent for a moment.
His gaze settled downward.
In that brief span, Ha Gyeong-un’s thoughts grew turbulent once more.
I had rehearsed this moment dozens of times, yet when reality arrived, a hesitation that defied articulation hung suspended in that breath of silence.
“Please don’t think it strange.”
“There’s nothing strange about it. Speak freely.”
“When I hear the sound, I am myself.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Im So-ha struggled to comprehend the words.
So the problem wasn’t the hallucinations themselves?
“While the sound persists, I breathe as myself, I think as myself, and I move according to my own will.”
“You’re saying there are times when you’re not yourself?”
“There are moments when the sound grows faint. At first, it lasted only a few breaths, but sometimes it stretches beyond half an hour.”
Yeong-hyeon Hall had called it a sign of improvement, but Ha Gyeong-un’s assessment differed.
“When the sound ceases…I have no memory. It seems as though I did something, yet I have no recollection of doing it.”
Im So-ha’s pupils trembled.
At Unbyek Rim, she too had lost an entire day’s worth of memories.
“Tell me everything.”
Im So-ha straightened her posture and listened intently to Ha Gyeong-un’s account.
“It was four days ago. After finishing my training, I returned to find my training journal—which should have been on my desk—torn and scattered on the floor. I have no memory of tearing it. Yet my door was locked when I left, and it remained locked upon my return.”
“….”
“I was the only one who entered that room that day.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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