Childhood Friend of the Zenith

༺ A Tale From Long Ago ༻

This is a tale from long ago.

It’s a story that many have forgotten, a legend very few remember as a fairytale from a distant past.

In a world where only martial arts and alliances mattered, a time when the existence of the Gate of Demons were yet unknown.

In an era where only the strongest survived, lived a man who longed for a different world.

The man who didn’t originate from this land desired to go back to the land that he came from.

He prayed that he could return to the world he used to live in before.

The man had that desire for a very long time and without being able to endure time, he tried to open the path by burning his own flames.

A path that led to where he came from.

After a very long time passed, the man finally found a way to open that path.

It was similar to the way he arrived in this land, but it was a bit different.

The man shouted out of joy.

He didn’t hide his hope that he had from thinking that he could go back now.

In the end, he succeeded in opening that path, but the man had to fall into despair when he saw what was in front of the path that he opened.

Because the path that he opened by tearing apart the dimension, wasn’t the pathway that he hoped for.

Furthermore…

That path brought calamity.

The man had to collapse to the ground when he saw the calamity spill out of the crack that he made.

Not only was he unable to go back to the world that he so desired to go back to, but due to his selfishness, he also left a huge problem in the world.

The name that was given by the future generation…

The crack that spilled out monsters by ripping the space apart…

Was called the Gate of Demons.

This was the biggest twist that brought the biggest change in the world and it was a calamity that was left unsolved even after centuries passed.

The sins committed by the man named Fire Dokkaebi were passed down to his descendants and his descendants were responsible for the sins he caused.

******************

A few hours later.

After passing the Misty Mountains, I was on my way back to the Gu Clan.

Not all of the things that happened in the Black Palace were dealt with, but because of how the Gu Clan was affiliated with the Orthodox Faction, they had to do that after the Murim Alliance arrived in the mountains.

And because of our priority being us taking Gu Huibi back to the clan safely, after leaving key members who would clean up the mess there, the remaining members of the clan were headed back to the clan.

And now, I was facing a very embarrassing situation.

Because I kept struggling, Namgung Bi-ah asked me.

“…Is this difficult…?”

“Yeah, very.”

“Then… should I hug you…?”

“No, please don’t do that. I’m already embarrassed enough right now.”

After putting aside my headache, I rubbed down my face.

The gazes that I could feel from around me also played a big part in making my ears red.

‘…Fuck.’

The reason why I felt this embarrassed.

It was because Namgung Bi-ah was carrying me on her back right now.

It was soft, and every time the wind breezed by, Namgung Bi-ah’s hair slapped my nose.

‘…Why does it have to smell good.’

Her flowery scent that I could smell bothered me.

Did she put on something?

As my instincts were making my nose focus harder on the scent, Elder Shin spoke in a sour tone in my head.

[You are having the time of your life, huh.]

‘…Does it really seem that way?’

[Obviously. Isn’t it weirder for you to hope that it doesn’t seem that way?]

After hearing his grumbles, I let out a fake cough and looked the other way.

There was nothing but fog in the other direction, but I couldn’t look forward anymore.

‘Hmm?’

As I looked in the other direction, I felt a strong gaze from a short distance behind me.

The one responsible for the gaze was Gu Huibi who was also being carried on someone’s back like me.

One difference though was that Namgung Bi-ah was carrying me, but Father was carrying Gu Huibi.

It seemed very awkward.

The fact that Father was carrying someone on his back was already surprising.

But to think that that someone was Gu Huibi of all people.

‘Why is she looking at me like that?’

But as if that awkwardness didn’t bother her, she glared in my direction.

No, she was definitely glaring at me.

Gu Huibi glaring at me like that when she already had fierce eyes made it extremely scary.

[Now do you understand? The way you little shit looks at someone feels just like that.]

‘…Why insult me all of a sudden?’

Ignoring the Elder Shin who didn’t miss a chance to insult me, I wondered why Gu Huibi was making those eyes.

‘Why is she acting like that when she’s the one who said she didn’t want to?’

She kept insisting that she didn’t want to be carried by Namgung Bi-ah even if she died, which was why Father chose to carry her.

So then why was she staring at me like that?

‘Does she think I want to be carried like this?’

Gu Huibi was in a state where she couldn’t move recklessly due to the Demonic Qi inside her body.

And for me, because of the recoil that I felt, it was hard for me to use my Qi right now.

Judging by the feel of it, it would be like this for a few more hours.

Because of that, Namgung Bi-ah threw me on her back after judging that I needed support.

Namgung Bi-ah was a martial artist who reached the peak realm to begin with, so it wouldn’t be heavy for her to carry me on her back, but the sight in front of me made me feel very uncomfortable.

[If that’s the case, you should’ve just asked someone else to carry you.]

‘…I agree with that.’

Why did I have to realize that now?

Maybe my head wasn’t working properly as it was filled with other thoughts.

[That’s just an excuse!]

‘…Could you just stay quiet for a moment please?’

[Hmph.]

Elder Shin seemed to be in a worse mood than usual today.

I made fun of him last time, but it seemed like there was another reason for him to be like this.

What a nasty personality he had. Shouldn’t he have a very understanding personality as a Taoist?

Anyway, putting aside Elder Shin’s words and my current situation where I was being carried on Namgung Bi-ah’s back, I couldn’t afford to focus on such things right now.

Because my head was filled with other things that I had to focus on.

‘The Lord of the Black Palace and the Heavenly Demon…’

Just thinking about those two was difficult enough.

Why did the Palace Lord have the Heavenly Demon by his side?

And why was the Heavenly Demon with the Palace Lord in such an appearance?

I had to think about those things.

As the Heavenly Demon itself said, it came from the Gate of Demons, but the Heavenly Demon already existed in the world in a childlike appearance.

And furthermore, what were their goals?

Everything was different from what I heard in my past life, so how could it not be complicated.

‘…The Black Palace was destroyed a few years later by the hands of the Murim Alliance.’

That’s what would surely happen in the future, but after seeing what happened earlier, I started to have different thoughts.

‘…Perhaps.’

They weren’t destroyed by the Murim Alliance.

But instead, maybe they pretended to be destroyed?

‘If that’s the case, what happened to the Palace Lord?’

If that happened, did the Lord of the Black Palace really die in my past life?

If the Black Palace wasn’t destroyed by the Murim Alliance, but they pretended to be destroyed…

Where did the Palace Lord go in my past life?

‘The Black Palace is the root of the Demonic Cult.’

After confirming that the key members of the Black Palace were the ones who joined the Demonic Cult, I knew for sure that the Demonic Cult created and led by the Heavenly Demon originated from the Black Palace.

‘What do they want?’

I couldn’t understand.

The reason why the Heavenly Demon attacked the world was to prove that it was the absolute of the world and to cleanse the tainted world, it said.

‘Did those words have a different meaning?’

By this point, everything was doubtful.

If I thought about how the Heavenly Demon wasn’t a mysterious existence, but an existence that already existed in the world to begin with, it only made it harder for me to understand.

‘Moreover.’

Its face was almost identical to Wi Seol-Ah’s.

In my past life, it wasn’t exactly identical.

Due to the differences in the atmosphere and its energy, they felt very different from one another, but at this point of time, it wasn’t just their face that looked similar.

Not only did they have a similar physique, but if I ignored its skinny look, they looked almost the same.

How could this be a coincidence?

‘…Is the Heavenly Demon related to Wi Seol-Ah?’

Or it could be the other way around, that Wi Seol-Ah was related to the Heavenly Demon.

If that was the case, I had to think about the Sword Venerable.

The Sword Venerable treated Wi Seol-Ah like his own granddaughter, but there might have been a hidden problem in that statement.

No, I was already sure in my mind that the Sword Venerable had a secret of some sort.

‘Damn it.’

All of the things I knew became twisted into a mess.

So much that I didn’t know where to start to solve the problems.

If there was one thing that I was really sure about in all of this…

‘It was that the current Heavenly Demon had a problem.’

That was it.

The reason why I was so sure of this went back to the information that Gu Huibi gave me, and the moment when I faced the Heavenly Demon.

Gu Huibi said that the reason the Palace Lord captured her was so that the Heavenly Demon could absorb something from Gu Huibi, but she told me that the Heavenly Demon couldn’t do it.

‘She said… that it wasn’t possible anymore.’

To be more precise, she said that she couldn’t eat it anymore.

Also, in the moment when I met the Heavenly Demon, the words that the Heavenly Demon whispered as it stared at me.

-Mine.

That’s what the Heavenly Demon definitely said while staring at me.

It was possible that it was saying that to the Demonic Qi inside my body…

‘But that probably wasn’t the case.’

I was certain of this through my intuition.

I thought in my mind while rubbing my stomach.

About the Demonic Art that was tainted in my body.

It was the Demonic Art that the Heavenly Demon gave me in my past life and it was a curse of a power that followed me stubbornly even through my regression.

Demonic Absorption.

In the past, I simply thought of this power as a process of absorbing Demonic Qi from Demonic Stones to make it my own, but at this point of time, it absorbed all types of energy that weren’t limited to just Qi.

And it even made it so that the energies inside my body didn’t clash with one another by making them flow peacefully inside.

‘I thought that maybe there was a change in my Demonic Art after regressing…’

But it didn’t seem like it was that simple.

I didn’t know how this happened, but the reason why the Heavenly Demon couldn’t do the thing that it was able to do before was because the Heavenly Demon’s power transferred over to me.

That was the only reason that I could think of right now.

After reaching this thought, I regretted more that I let them escape.

‘I really shouldn’t have let them go…’

If I had realized this earlier or if I had been more prepared, the outcome might have been different.

“…What’s wrong?”

Namgung Bi-ah seemed to hear me grinding my teeth, seeing as how she asked me in a worried tone.

After seeing her blue eyes, I shook my head.

“It’s nothing.”

I hid my emotion while staring at her.

There was nothing that I could do right now.

So going back to the Gu Clan was the utmost priority.

******************

After a few days, we arrived in Shanxi after escaping the Misty Mountains.

It was thanks to the fact that the distance was not too far and the fact that we went a bit overboard to return to the clan as soon as possible.

But no matter what it was, we safely returned to Shanxi, so that was enough.

When I stepped into the streets of Shanxi, someone called me from behind.

“Brother.”

I slightly turned my head after hearing Gu Huibi’s voice.

As soon as I did, I saw Gu Huibi’s face.

After all, it was only natural seeing as Gu Huibi was on my back right now.

Like I expected, I could move my body again after a few hours.

And since I could walk just fine, I didn’t have to be carried by Namgung Bi-ah anymore.

Namgung Bi-ah looked slightly disappointed as she let me down, but I didn’t want to feel embarrassed any longer.

However, the problem that came after…

-Since you’re fine now, you should carry me, right?

Was that Gu Huibi, who was comfortably transported by Father, immediately ordered me to carry her.

I obviously wanted to deny her with a sour expression, but…

-Carry her.

Due to Father’s strict words, I had no choice but to carry Gu Huibi.

‘…This fucking household.’

I thought that I became somewhat strong, but I was still way too weak to argue against Father.

[It’ll be a while until you can bark back to your father.]

I nodded to Elder Shin’s words.

I knew of Father’s strength.

Furthermore, I also knew that he was hiding his power as he resided in the clan.

‘But seeing it with my own eyes, he’s still the same as ever.’

He turned the sky red with heat and gathered Qi into his hand, thus showing his overpowering presence.

That power was way too absurd to be called a mere level of Hundred Masters of the World.

‘I still have a long way to go.’

It was also a moment that made me realize again how much I needed to improve.

Because of that, I frowned, and Gu Huibi who called me continued to speak.

“Isn’t it strange?”

“…What is?”

After the incident with the Marble of Celestial Captivation, Gu Huibi didn’t say anything even though I spoke informally to her.

Instead, she tried to change subjects because she was worried that I would bring up the marbles.

Of course, I didn’t plan to let that slide, so I planned to talk to her about it as soon as we returned to the clan.

“The people, their atmospheres feel strange.”

“Atmosphere?”

After hearing Gu Huibi, I looked around the streets.

This street was the first thing I saw after my regression, as well as the place where I met Wi Seol-Ah for the first time.

‘It’s strange, she says?’

For the atmosphere to be called strange, it felt similar to usual.

“What part feels strange to you?”

“Hmm… is it just my mistake?”

As if it didn’t matter, Gu Huibi let it slide and put her chin on my shoulder to be more comfortable.

“How about you walk yourself now when we came all the way here?”

“Brother, your sister is a patient, how can I walk that scary uphill with my feet?”

When I looked at Gu Huibi speechlessly, Namgung Bi-ah who was walking next to me, spoke up.

“…Then… Do you want me… to carry you…?”

Gu Huibi frowned as if she disliked Namgung Bi-ah’s words.

“You little? How dare you interrupt family members talking to each other.”

After hearing her sharp voice, I spoke to Gu Huibi.

“Why are you yelling at a girl who is trying to help you?”

“Brother… whose side are you on now? Are you really acting like this just because you two are engaged now?”

While staring at Gu Huibi who looked shocked, I thought to myself.

‘Seriously, what’s wrong with her…?’

I wanted to throw her to the ground right then, but I restrained myself since Father was here too.

Calming my mind, I looked around.

It was because Gu Huibi’s words stayed on my mind.

‘…Strange atmosphere huh.’

Just like she said, the street felt a bit different from usual.

But I didn’t know why.

However…

I learned the reason soon enough.

“…Huh?”

When we got back to the clan, the one who greeted us wasn’t Wi Seol-Ah, Tang Soyeol, or the Second Elder.

“Hello, Young Master Gu.”

She had long black hair, white skin, and sky-blue eyes that seemed ice-cold.

She was a beautiful lady with eyes that smiled slightly, and light red lips that had an alluring aura.

“We meet again.”

The Snow Phoenix, Moyong Hi-ah.

For some reason, she was in the Gu Clan.

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