I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 87

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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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87.
There was nothing for it but to conclude that I had torn up my own training journal.
Im So-ha’s expression gradually grew cold.
“The day before, a young disciple greeted me. I responded, but what I said was not what I intended to say.”
“What did you say?”
“I cannot recall the exact words. I only remember that the child’s face turned pale as they heard me, and they withdrew.”
After that, the young disciple avoided Ha Gyeong-un.
And that was merely a warning sign.
“When I wake at night, there are times when I find myself seated in meditation posture, my energy channels reversed without my knowledge.”
“Reversed….”
That was dangerous even for practitioners, and if done carelessly, one could fall into demonic possession.
No sensible practitioner would deliberately reverse their own energy channels.
“I can say with certainty that I have never done such a thing. And then I heard the song again.”
As soon as the song reached my ears, my body felt miraculously restored, and everything returned to normal.
Im So-ha grasped the essence of what Ha Gyeong-un was trying to convey.
“That sound is protecting you, isn’t it?”
“That is what I believe. However, that sound has been growing fainter with each passing day.”
I have no memory of the times when the sound is absent.
What would become of me if the sound were to cease entirely?
I am sitting here conversing with Ha Gyeong-un, yet it may not be Ha Gyeong-un at all.
The terror of possibly becoming something that exists yet does not exist has weighed heavily upon me of late.
“When I am not myself, I cannot promise whose hand I might reach for.”
….
“That is what frightens me most.”
My clenched fists trembled violently.
The room fell silent for a long time. The tea had long since grown cold.
After a considerable pause, Im So-ha released a deep sigh.
“Why didn’t you tell me this…a little sooner.”
“I feared you would not believe me.”
What was happening to me was scarcely believable, even to myself.
“I once attempted to trace the source of the sound. But I realized I need not follow it—I already know where it comes from.”
The north.
The sound emanates from Unbyek Rim.
“I must reach Unbyek Rim before the sound fades entirely. Please, I beg your permission.”
Ha Gyeong-un bowed deeply.
“Very well. But you will not go alone—absolutely not. You have no idea what state you were in last time. Your soul was half-severed from your body. Had Yoo Susa not risked his life to bring you back, you would not be sitting here now.”
….
“If you must go, I will accompany you. And….”
Im So-ha trailed off, then released some of the tension in her shoulders.
“Let us seek whatever aid we can muster.”
“Help in what way?”
“Your junior’s master is Elder Baek, the Great Abbot of Won-yeong-gi. We should be able to seek at least minimal guidance from him.”
“A monastery practitioner from Gyeoldan-gi privately meeting with a Great Abbot from another sect… that’s not an easy matter, is it?”
Im So-ha smiled faintly.
It was a smile that seemed somewhat weary.
“Still, what choice do I have but to go?”
***
It was a morning shrouded in unusually thick fog.
I had just arrived at my room and taken a seat when Baek Un-jin invited me to come have tea.
Eun Hui-gyeom hurried to find Baek Un-jin’s quarters.
“Master, Im So-ha, a practitioner from Chui Ok Gok Mun, has come to visit.”
“Without any prior notice?”
“…Yes. She came with Ha Gyeong-un, I’m told.”
“Bring them in.”
Baek Un-jin glanced at me once, then nodded quietly.
I went out to the garden of Bikyun Pavilion with Eun Hui-gyeom.
Im So-ha, whom I hadn’t seen in some time, was unchanged.
Behind her, standing about half a step back, was Ha Gyeong-un.
“…Ha Gyeong-un.”
Our eyes met.
Ha Gyeong-un approached and knelt before me.
“Ha Gyeong-un? Why are you doing this? Get up.”
“Yoo Dou. My master told me. You risked your life to save me.”
“That was…”
“I am truly grateful. I will repay this debt for the rest of my life.”
His forehead touched the earth of the garden.
It had been nearly a year.
I had heard that Ha Gyeong-un was safe, but this was the first time I had seen his face.
I never imagined I would see him kneeling before me the moment we met.
I knelt down before Ha Gyeong-un.
“Ha Dou.”
Since he had called me by that name, I called him the same.
“I’m truly relieved you’re alive.”
Ha Gyeong-un slowly lifted his head.
His eyes glistened with moisture.
I helped Ha Gyeong-un to his feet and led him and Im So-ha to Baek Un-jin’s quarters.
Baek Un-jin sat sipping tea.
A breeze from the wide-open window stirred the hem of Baek Un-jin’s long robe.
Im So-ha bowed deeply with a respectful salute.
“Please forgive my rudeness in coming unannounced. The matter is urgent, and I wished to hear your esteemed counsel, Senior.”
“That is my opinion.”
“The situation is rather complicated.”
“Sit.”
Im So-ha and Ha Gyeong-un took their seats.
I brought tea and refreshments for them both.
“I’ve heard that Chui Ok Gok Mun has been in turmoil.”
“Yes. It’s a similar matter, but with some differences.”
“Differences?”
Im So-ha took a sip of tea, then drew a deep breath.
She glanced toward Ha Gyeong-un.
When Ha Gyeong-un nodded reassuringly, Im So-ha calmly recounted to him everything that had transpired.
The mysterious woman’s voice continued even after leaving Unbyek Rim.
Whenever the sound grew distant, Ha Gyeong-un found himself committing strange actions without awareness.
He had even reversed the flow of his vital energy.
Baek Un-jin did not interrupt once.
When Im So-ha finished, a prolonged silence settled over the room.
“Yeon-seo. What do you think?”
Baek Un-jin’s question was directed at me, unexpectedly.
I took a moment to consider what had happened to Ha Gyeong-un.
“I believe what remains within Ha Susa is a lingering trace of the woman who took him. As for me…”
I still do not know exactly what kind of person Yeon-poong is.
What I witnessed was merely fragments of her memories, nothing more.
I understand that one cannot judge an entire person based on such fragments alone.
And yet.
“I sensed no malice. I believe Yeon-poong taking Ha Susa’s spirit was an accident.”
“An accident.”
“She was alone for over a thousand years. And Ha Do resembled the man she loved deeply. If Yeon-poong had meant to harm Ha Do, the sound would not have echoed in a way that protected him.”
“Is there a reason the sound is fading?”
I paused for a moment.
Yeon-poong had sealed herself within Unbyek Rim because she could not control her own power.
Since Ha Gyeong-un left Unbyek Rim long ago, the sound may have been gradually weakening.
But separate from the sound itself, I was troubled by the actions Ha Gyeong-un performed when the sound cut off.
“I believe the seal is weakening.”
Baek Un-jin set down his teacup and nodded calmly.
“Im Susa.”
“Yes, Great Susa.”
“You did not come seeking my opinion—you came hoping to take my disciple with you, did you not?”
“I would not presume to ask such a thing. But should this matter grow larger, it will cease to be the concern of Seonmun alone. I came to inform you of this first.”
“Our relationship does not seem to warrant such consideration.”
Baek Un-jin’s piercing words made Im So-ha flinch.
Even as I listened, I hadn’t expected Baek Un-jin to speak with such cold indifference.
It felt as though I were glimpsing the original Baek Un-jin—a version I had momentarily forgotten.
“That is… well…”
“Let me ask you this. If the woman who took Ha Gyeong-un away had been an ancient immortal of Chui Ok Gok Mun, what would you do?”
Im So-ha flinched at the unexpected question.
Baek Un-jin’s gaze unexpectedly turned toward me.
“You said you witnessed a massacre within those memories.”
“Yes.”
“Nok-myeong Jeonja, they called him. Long ago, he was renowned as an unparalleled cultivator of Chui Ok Gok Mun—a prodigy without equal. Do you know of him?”
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard that he vanished without a trace just before achieving the rank of Bi-seung.”
Such a brilliant talent failing to achieve Bi-seung was tantamount to shame upon the sect itself.
Yet the reason his name remained in the records was precisely because no cultivator of Nok-myeong Jeonja’s caliber had ever appeared in Chui Ok Gok Mun again, despite his failure to ascend.
Im So-ha’s eyes widened in astonishment—she hadn’t expected such a name, known only within Chui Ok Gok Mun, to emerge from Baek Un-jin’s lips.
Im So-ha’s shoulders trembled as she reconsidered the question Baek Un-jin had posed to me moments before.
“Wait… surely you don’t mean…”

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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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