Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 494

Romance of Nangseon – Part 2, Episode 203

Late dawn.

A time when even the night falls into a deep sleep, endlessly darkening.

In a corner of the Ministry of Rites’ pavilion, a woman was enjoying a drink under the brightly rising moon. It was none other than Ju Gyul-gyeong, also known as Great Heavenly Martial General Ju Yak, and Ho-ri, a close friend of Cheonbeom.

“Why didn’t you follow? You could have gone with him.”

Cheonwoe Yang-gun, having approached unnoticed, looked down at her.

Ho-ri glanced at him, then picked up the wine bottle and refilled her glass.

Pouring.

The shimmering wine reflected the full moon.

“I’m good at waiting. I can only wait, whether then or now… I’m just waiting.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.”

“I’m not telling you so you’ll understand. Just take it as it is.”

At the cold response, Cheonwoe Yang-gun considered leaving, but he hesitated.

Because she knew better than anyone what Cheonbeom was planning.

“You’re not curious about me; you came because you’re curious about Beom.”

“If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t be standing here. So, answer me: Can my son-in-law ascend [achieve immortality and enter the celestial realm]? If you had gone instead, I wouldn’t be so anxious… Why didn’t you go, even though you cherish him so much?”

Ho-ri took a sip of the moonlit wine and replied.

“Because I’m afraid.”

“Afraid? Of what?”

“…I can’t help but be afraid. San… I was also responsible for what happened to San.”

Her face contorted.

Twisted beyond recognition.

As if she would burst into tears at any moment, as if in great pain.

But soon, she returned to normal.

As if nothing had happened.

“I asked something unnecessary.”

Cheonwoe Yang-gun tactfully averted his gaze and looked up at the sky.

In the dark dawn sky, there were stars and the moon, but the man who filled her heart seemed to be absent.

“San… will ascend. He’s the kind of guy who has no choice but to.”

“What do you mean by ‘has no choice but to’?”

“Look over there.”

She was pointing at the moon.

The son moon [a smaller, fainter moon-like object] next to the mother moon.

It emitted a dazzling light.

A light bright enough to illuminate the night sky.

* * *

It’s not an illusion.

Nor am I trapped in a dream realm.

I could instinctively tell.

The warmth of the girl’s hand holding mine. The rustling bushes and the swaying vibrations, the flying grasshoppers.

And the appearing cumulonimbus clouds and the various buildings situated on them.

I had no doubt that all of this was real.

“San! Hurry, hurry!”

A girl I’ve never seen before.

A mysterious girl who keeps urging me and trying to take me somewhere.

But for some reason, I knew this child’s name.

“Rin.”

Her name is Rin.

Ju, Rin.

“Huh? Why?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“You’re boring. Let’s go quickly.”

I was dragged by Rin to somewhere.

We passed through clouds, crossed a river where starlight mingled.

Then she took me to a palace-like mansion and stopped me at a place where a feast was taking place.

“San, let’s eat quickly! If you don’t eat now, the other disciples will eat up your share!”

Disciples.

As I heard that word, several faces began to emerge.

The disciples who had been together.

And the master.

Ah, that’s right.

I had three masters.

Today is the day the masters are leaving.

A feast day to commemorate the day they ascend to a higher sky.

“What’s this, San and Rin? Where have you been? I’ve already eaten your share.”

A boy with a sword strapped to his back.

A boy who loved swords so much that he was called Sword Idiot.

Sword Idiot was also close to San and Rin. They had grown up together since childhood, serving the three masters.

“What are the masters saying? But who is that child?”

Rin noticed a child sitting next to the master in the middle of the three masters sitting on the platform.

“Her hair color is like seaweed?”

Sword Idiot said thoughtlessly as he tore off a piece of meat.

As he said.

It was a girl with verdant hair.

The master pushed the girl’s back and gestured towards us.

So the girl hesitated and approached where we were.

Rin greeted the girl with a bright smile, but Sword Idiot had no interest.

In addition, a guy with a bow and several other disciples came close.

They also knew.

That the seaweed-haired girl had become the masters’ new disciple.

Many people were interested in her, but soon their excitement seemed to fade away, and they turned away.

When asked where she came from, she replied that she came from the Lower Realm, and upon hearing that, the children frowned and all turned their backs with awkward smiles.

They avoided being with those from the Lower Realm, saying that impure energy from the Lower Realm would mix with them.

Because of that, she became withdrawn, and in the end, only we remained by the seaweed-haired girl’s side.

“Hey San, what do you think of her? You’re good at figuring that out.”

It was a boy with a bow on his back.

A generous guy with an animal fur draped over his shoulders.

His name was Ye-dong.

“Well, she’s just unfamiliar right now, but she’ll soon get used to it and beat up the guys who are badmouthing her behind her back, wouldn’t you say?”

“Hmm, she doesn’t seem like she would at all… Okay. San, I’ll trust you since you said so. Hey, Seaweed Hair. What’s your name? I’m Ye-dong.”

When Ye-dong asked, the seaweed-haired girl said.

“Seaweed Hair…? Are you talking about me?”

“Is there anyone else here with seaweed hair besides you…?”

The seaweed-haired girl strode up to Ye-dong.

Then she punched him in the face, knocking him down.

“I’m not seaweed. Wi. Shinwi.”

Ye-dong’s face was swollen.

“Ye-dong, are you okay?”

Ye-dong, who was staring blankly at the sky, looked at me and said.

“You were right after all. San… I’ll listen to whatever you say from now on.”

I just laughed.

“Ye-dong, wasn’t that just you being stupid, not San predicting it?”

“It’s better for me to do something than to do nothing. Sword Idiot. You idiot.”

“What? Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden?”

“You started the fight first. If you don’t want to taste my arrows again, you better shut your mouth.”

Sword Idiot and Ye-dong didn’t get along very well. But it was always like that, so I left them alone, and Rin approached Shinwi and treated her kindly.

Me too.

I treated her warmly.

Her appearance of knocking down Ye-dong with one punch was quite impressive.

I thought we could be good friends.

That’s how time passed for a while.

When we had time, we spent it together, helped each other with our training, and discussed things.

We grew day by day, and at the same time, we accumulated many memories.

“I think arrows are amazing.”

“What’s so amazing about arrows? If you just flick them away with a sword, they can’t do anything.”

“Should I see if you can block my arrows even when you’re sleeping?”

“Go ahead and try?”

“Stop it, you idiots.”

Ye-dong and Sword Idiot fought whenever they had a chance, and they ran to me, wanting me to judge who was more at fault.

“Isn’t Sword Idiot the one who’s wrong this time?”

I always seriously judged who was at fault, and Shinwi scolded me for being just a kind fool.

“I told you not to deal with fools.”

“Wi, don’t be like that. Men are all like that. Except for San, of course!”

Rin was just trying to enjoy the day as if everything was fine.

I didn’t think Rin’s way was bad, and I also liked Shinwi’s way of thinking.

I felt that everyone’s ideals about life could not be the same, and they shouldn’t be the same.

‘Because everyone is different.’

Even Sword Idiot said that the sword was the best and that all living things had their own sword.

Ye-dong said that the bow was the best, Shinwi spoke of the flow, and Ju Rin spoke of the night when everyone sleeps.

And me….

“What about San?”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard why San became a disciple.”

“That’s right. What about San?”

I hesitated at the disciples’ questions.

Compared to them, it was too insignificant, so I was ashamed to reveal it.

But I had to raise both hands and feet to the continued urging, and in the end, I revealed it.

“I am this.”

I gathered my two hands.

What bloomed from the gathered hands was a very small spark.

It was just a spark.

“It’s fire?”

“Fire is good. Fire is very important even when training the sword. San, there’s no need to be ashamed of fire.”

“That’s right, I’ve heard that fire is what conceives all life. That’s what the master said too.”

“That’s right. He said that the sun floating in the sky is also a ball of fire.”

The children comforted me.

I smiled and just answered like a fool that it might be so.

Only Shinwi looked at me without saying anything, but I thought that her personality was not one to say flattering things, so I didn’t bother to ask.

That’s how time passed again.

Flowing and flowing, the boys became young men, and the girls reached an age where the fragrance of women was abundant.

But only the appearance had changed.

We were the same.

In that land arranged by the master, we picked fruits whenever we were bored, filled our stomachs, and continued our daily training.

Sometimes we looked into the Lower Realm, created avatars and sent them down to cause accidents, and we grew.

And one day.

As usual. Thinking that the same days as yesterday would unfold, and continuing the tedious training indifferently.

The anomaly occurred.

“Master…?”

Kwaaaaaang!!

The heavens and earth were split, and the ground cracked.

Overwhelmed by the energy of defying the heavens, the sky and the earth were turned upside down, and the sea sprang up.

Later, we would call that sea Geonwonhae, and the five divided lands were called Seon, Su, Chung, Bung, and Sa.

Kuuuuung!!

Most of the disciples in place were overwhelmed by the waves of tremendous power, lying flat on the floor and unable to do anything.

“Keuk…!”

The master’s palace, located above the clouds, cracked and collapsed.

We fell from there.

We permeated into one of the five divided land masses and could not meet anyone for a while.

I spent a long time alone.

It was the first time this had happened.

But nothing changed.

All I had done since I was young was to receive the master’s robes and train. Even though I was alone in a remote place, what I did was no different.

I devoted myself to training even alone.

I was overwhelmed with loneliness.

I couldn’t meet the other disciples, but that didn’t mean I didn’t hear any stories.

Even those who were not gods were well-versed in the affairs of the world, and I accidentally became connected with them and formed friendships.

Many stories were heard.

The stories of the five divided land masses and those who settled there.

Power, and war. Slaughter. Death.

Status, tragedy.

Most of them were not good stories.

In those bad stories, my fellow disciples had permeated.

That’s when I felt it.

That I could no longer return to the days I knew.