Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 299

Tales of the Spirit Blade – Part 2, Episode 8

She thrashed about as if trapped in a swamp, a place where nothing could be seen and nothing could be heard.

But she screamed.

She shouted at the top of her lungs.

But no sound escaped.

She opened her mouth and moved her vocal cords, but her voice didn’t reach anyone’s ears.

Nevertheless, she continued to struggle through the swamp that bound her, as if searching for something.

How much time had passed?

Suddenly, her vision cleared.

When she began to see again.

She realized that her body wasn’t trapped in a swamp.

It was slimy and sticky, but these things were alive.

No, it was ambiguous to call them alive.

They were things that had been dead for a long time.

Lost souls who had lost their reason and only craved life.

They had been dead for a long time, but they craved life more than the living.

The swamp was something else entirely, not even ghosts, but a place where they had gathered and stuck together.

Looking at it, she thought it was similar to the organs she had seen when she first burst open a threadworm’s belly as a child.

These tangled things were like organs that looked like a spider web had been torn apart when the belly of a threadworm was cut open.

It was endlessly grotesque, but there was no child who would frown at the sight of it.

Far away.

It was a space where the entire world seemed to be made of ghosts.

Looking at it, she realized.

What she had rushed into.

Even now, she was trapped in the swamp of ghosts, unable to properly support her body.

As soon as she moved her lips to chant the Seonmun [a type of Buddhist scripture or mantra], the swamp clinging to her receded.

But only for a moment.

As if the brief retreat had been a lie, they rushed back in like a tide.

They surged in, slimy like a swamp, trying to swallow her.

She couldn’t easily shake them off, as they possessed stronger resentment and sorrow than expected, exerting a powerful force.

The number was countless.

Just as puddles gather to become ponds, ponds gather to become lakes, and lakes become seas, so too were they.

She regretted it.

She didn’t know it would be this bad.

What on earth could someone do to have so many things mixed together in one body?

She couldn’t dare to imagine.

She couldn’t shake off the things that clung to her body like mud.

She sank like that.

No, she was about to sink.

It was then.

Her body shone faintly.

Golden light spread out, illuminating the world.

The black swamp that had covered her retreated as if in a panic.

Golden waves fluttered.

As soon as she saw it, she remembered.

The immortal who appeared in the middle of the sea of mist, creating golden waves.

Only then did she remember.

Why she was here.

What she had to do.

If not now, there would be no chance.

She threw herself forward.

She flew for a long time and felt it.

This black swamp, deep inside.

She found the place where a part of her was located.

And at some point.

She saw it.

It was as calm as a ripple.

Or as fierce as a wave.

She saw it.

The life of a woman.

The woman met a man.

It was a man she knew well.

The atmosphere was a little different from now.

The man seemed somewhat impatient and lacked composure.

The woman didn’t like him.

Rather, she belonged to the side that disliked him.

The man was always selfish and somehow unlucky.

When she saw him swaying others with just a few words, she sometimes felt he was amazing, but she also felt disgusted.

That’s right.

The woman hated him.

When they had a fistfight, she felt relieved, but only for a moment.

The uneasiness was not resolved.

She felt annoyed for no reason.

That’s because he was always impatient.

He seemed relaxed at first glance, but he was always in a hurry, as if being chased by something.

The woman hated him.

But why?

When he was in mortal danger.

The woman unknowingly saved him.

At that moment, she realized.

‘I’m going to die.’

Realizing that, she also realized.

The man was still in danger.

When a complete death called out to the woman.

The woman thought.

Since she had taken his death instead, she hoped he wouldn’t die.

Even though her vision spun and she touched the ground, she saw the man with a dazed face.

At the same time, many emotions swelled up.

Like a bud about to burst.

Like a glass bead about to break.

Maybe that’s why.

The reason why the woman opened her eyes again as something else.

When the woman opened her eyes again.

He was alive.

And he became stronger.

But the woman was no longer the woman he knew.

The woman became his subordinate, called by another name.

She was angry.

She couldn’t follow the natural order of reincarnation and became a vessel containing ominous energy.

And she was reduced to an existence that was neither alive nor dead.

The woman deeply pondered her fate and her reborn life.

She was Geummyeongjisu [a name], but not Geummyeongjisu, and at the same time, she was alive but dead.

She was angry that she couldn’t reincarnate properly and became neither one thing nor the other.

She even thought about pulling out her soul and throwing herself into the cycle of reincarnation right now.

But even if she did, there was no way she could follow her already disappeared soul.

For a while, she was just angry.

When she saw that unlucky face, anger surged like a wave.

For a while, she was just angry.

She couldn’t control her emotions. She didn’t know if it was because she had the body of a Jiangshi [a type of Chinese hopping vampire or zombie] or because there was a defect in her soul.

Anyway, she wanted to do that, and she did.

But as usual, time cooled her hardened heart, and her emotions were gradually forgotten from her memory.

Then one day.

One day, no different from yesterday.

Suddenly, the woman thought.

Since her last attachment made her live this life, there was nothing to blame.

She was wielding stronger power than when she was alive. As she was angry and training to achieve an inexplicable revenge, she became like that before she knew it.

And that wasn’t just her.

The man was the same.

He was no longer being chased.

She thought.

‘It’s not bad.’

Although he was committing the taboo of accumulating demons and evil, all of this would soon become his power to ascend to immortality.

If she could be by his side, who would soon ascend to heaven and become an immortal, it wouldn’t be a bad life either.

The goal of a cultivator is ascension, so if she thought about it carefully, there was nothing bad about it.

He had always tried to strive and had defeated the approaching enemies.

He was no longer the unlucky man of Yeonggyeol [a place name] she had met when she was alive.

He became a man who looked down on the world.

And she believed without a doubt that he would become an immortal.

A realm like a dream to cultivators. She thought that even the last arduous path that everyone feared was possible for him.

Because he was that kind of man.

He solved things that seemed impossible somewhat easily, and he solved things that seemed easiest in a difficult way.

Sometimes she couldn’t understand it, but that’s why she thought it was possible.

Because it was him.

Because it was him.

It was difficult to describe her emotions, but she cheered him on without even realizing it.

‘I couldn’t rise, but I felt proud that he, whom I saved, was rising so high.’

That thought was dominant.

But the crisis that seemed like it would never come came to him once again.

It was spatial divine power.

Before she could even do anything, he was swept away.

At the same time, she felt it.

She knew that something connected to him had been severed.

She was furious.

He was a man who would achieve greater heights, awaken more things, and accomplish many things.

Such a person was defeated in vain.

As soon as she saw that, anger began to boil from the depths of her heart.

She decided to burn her last soul while fighting the Jisuns [a type of powerful celestial being].

Anyway, it was a body that had already died once.

If she could burn this body and avenge him, that would be enough.

The woman released the soul trapped in the sword, absorbed it all, and emitted a powerful force.

In the last moment, prepared for annihilation.

She realized once again.

That she cherished him.

And that his goal had become her goal. To stand quietly by his side, having achieved his goal. Only that.

That’s all she wanted.

She realized.

She wanted his life, not her own.

She seemed to have changed, but she hadn’t, and he, who felt indebted to her, also seemed to have changed, but he hadn’t.

She wanted his life until the end, and she wanted to be by his side.

But now she couldn’t.

When he disappeared, strangely, there was no lingering attachment.

If there was only one thing left….

And.

That was the end of the memory.

She was embarrassed. It was a memory that was her own but not her own.

She could understand it, but she couldn’t empathize with it. That memory was not her own.

It was just the memory of a small divided soul crouching in the black swamp.

She touched the crouching soul.

The soul seemed to be charred black.

The whole body was black and unsightly, as if only ashes remained from being burned.

She put her hand on that divided soul.

Then, the soot spread from her hand to her whole body.

She screamed.

All sorts of emotions of anguish, pain, and resentment were mixed together.

It was something that had a mixture of longing for life, fear of death, and ugly hope.

Her eyes were filled with fear.

She was scared.

She was afraid and scared of everything her divided soul had experienced.

For a moment, she even wondered if she should live like this.

But the hesitation was momentary.

She gritted her teeth and reached out her hand again. Then, the golden light faded and a piercing scream echoed.

The black swamp writhed as if enjoying the scream and gathered again.

It was then that the charred divided soul raised its head.

The divided soul, which had been staring blankly at her, handed something to her in her hand.

The thing in her hand was a small bead.

She immediately realized that it was a perfect jade.

The divided soul whispered to her.

‘Take this with you.’

The divided soul’s body was crumbling.

The divided soul, crumbling like dry leaves, was contaminated by all sorts of things.

In comparison, the perfect jade was clean.

If she took this with her, she would be able to fill the lacking soul.

This perfect jade has the power to do so.

It was wise to leave the divided soul here and return with the perfect jade.

But she didn’t.

She looked at the perfect jade and threw it away, breaking it.

Why?

Towards the divided soul who seemed to be asking, she quietly reached out her hand.

‘I can see it.’

At her one word, the divided soul.

Geummyeongjisu grabbed her outstretched hand.

* * *

The woman who had been sleeping in her bed suddenly opened her eyes.

“Have you awakened?”

Beom was guarding her side.

“Ah….”

“A month has passed.”

A month had passed since she had not woken up from her sleep.

“…I see.”

Beom’s face was expressionless, but his eyes could not hide his curiosity.

“Have you regained your soul?”

“…Yes.”

She didn’t know how she did it.

It was reckless.

But the result was not bad.

The corners of her lips curved roundly.

“What should I call you?”

His voice contained a strange sense of anticipation.

She knew the reason.

But unfortunately, she had no choice but to dash his expectations.

“I am only Saha, the acting head of the Sa clan. Please call me Sa So-seon.”

She saw the memories of the divided soul, but that doesn’t mean she is Geummyeongjisu.

She just saw it.

She is Saha, the acting head of the Sa clan.

Saha.

“Is that so.”

The answer was short.

But she thought that regret and disappointment were deeply embedded in the answer.

At least, that’s how it was for her.

“I have many questions. Can you tell me?”

Saha wore a subtle smile.

The man who she thought was a subtle immortal had become an easy-to-understand man in an instant.

She didn’t dislike that so much.

If she were to argue whether she liked it or not, it was relatively closer to the good side.

“What did you see there?”

Saha rolled her eyes and pondered.

Her face showed a hint of composure, and Beom did not miss it.

It was different from before.

It seemed like nothing had changed, but it was different.

A smile spread across Saha’s lips.

Her eyes smiled as well, wondering what she was thinking.

And she said.

“I saw a man.”

“A man?”

“Yes. What I saw was a man, and I only saw the man until the end.”

At her answer, Beom’s face became strange.

Soon, Saha covered her mouth and chuckled. Beom was the first to know that she was a woman who could smile so brightly.

And it was a smile that resembled someone somewhere.

After that.

Saha began to tell him step by step what she had experienced and seen.

What she had seen.

She slowly unraveled what she had felt.

Beom listened to it calmly.

He frowned as if in pain, and narrowed his brows as if he couldn’t understand.

But when the story was over, he smiled bitterly and sighed deeply.

“Seriously, she’s a troublesome woman.”

Unlike what he said, his expression looked a little relieved.