Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 93

Nangseon Gi Hwan Dam – 92

Inevitably, Sanguan had to embrace Yoho once every fifteen days.

It wasn’t particularly difficult.

‘If it benefits, then it’s a gain.’

Yoho’s intentions were roughly understandable.

She seemed to believe that if bodies grew closer, so would hearts.

He was inwardly displeased, but if it fixed the Six Spirit Pagoda, it wasn’t a bad deal.

For Sanguan, Baeksan was, on a small scale, his spiritual home, and on a large scale, his domain.

Sanguan’s wish was to become a divine immortal.

Becoming a sacred beast was his deepest desire, so he would often leave Baeksan in the future.

Therefore, he had to prepare in advance.

The Six Spirit Pagoda was just the beginning.

He had quite a few treasures.

The Giryung brush and Blood Collapse Water for drawing formations.

And various spiritual herbs and sacred trees.

Not to mention elixirs.

He would use each of these to gradually fortify Baeksan.

‘And myself…’

Thus.

Time flowed like a river,

cascading like a waterfall.

10 years later.

The Six Spirit Pagoda was fully restored.

Holding the repaired Six Spirit Pagoda in his hand, Sanguan ceaselessly chanted spells.

Soon, he floated it into the air and formed hand seals, causing the six-story pagoda to split one layer at a time, flying in all directions.

The pagoda flew to the four corners of Baeksan and positioned itself in the appropriate locations.

Standing in the air, Sanguan slightly opened his mouth and released six strands of Bongak Blue Flame.

The thread-like blue flames plunged into the pagodas like lightning, and the six divided pagodas blazed with blue fire.

The Six Spirit Pagoda soon transformed into small towers and settled into place, and only after seeing this did Sanguan exhale a small breath.

“If anything ever happens, shoot your blue flame into the tower. Doing so will activate the Six Spirit Pagoda and destroy the enemy.”

“I understand.”

Yeona had ascended to a flying immortal in the past 10 years.

This was possible thanks to the assistance of the elixirs and pills he had given her.

Sanguan shared some advice and small talk with Yeona above Baeksan before descending.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Below, Yoho was holding her chin high, and Sanguan smiled faintly at the sight.

Sanguan had been embracing her whenever he had time for the past 10 years.

He knew well why she was acting like this.

“Why aren’t you embracing me?”

She snapped sullenly as he stared at her. Sanguan shrugged and hugged her, patting her gently.

“You could have just embraced me first.”

She used to embrace him first for about half a year, but at some point, she started acting like this.

She got angry, asking why she had to hug him, and it became like this.

“By the way, how long do I have to keep hugging you?”

“The Six Spirit Pagoda is one of the Seven Immortal Treasures, and repairing it was quite arduous for me. I suffered for 10 years, you know.”

Among the treasures, the Seven Immortal Treasures were special. Just repairing one consumed 10 years.

But he also wondered how long this would have to continue.

“Do I have to keep hugging you for the rest of my life?”

“It will end when my lord gives me his affection.”

“That will take longer than I thought.”

Unlike before, he didn’t dislike it that much.

People’s hearts are truly simple.

Could his heart have changed after hugging her once every fifteen days for about 10 years?

It was quite a mysterious thing.

It seemed to be the same for her as well.

She also started burying her face in his chest whenever she was embraced.

As if she didn’t want to be seen.

And after the hug, she would disappear with Shukuchi [a technique for instantaneous travel].

“How absurd.”

Sanguan thoroughly surveyed Baeksan.

Below Baeksan, several Daoist immortals flying on swords could be seen, and spiritual beasts with wings were flying around.

This might be the only place where humans and spiritual beasts formed friendships and lived together.

Small and large incidents occurred, but most were peacefully building up their cultivation.

It had been 10 years since he had lived in Baeksan.

It was now time to leave.

Baeksan was a place with many memories.

But now, the person who occupied most of those memories was gone.

That’s why Sanguan missed her.

Choa, Yeona, and Yoho were in Baeksan, so it wasn’t lonely.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t miss the person who was absent.

To him, Hwaran was.

Like family.

“10 years is short yet long.”

With deeply sunken eyes, Sanguan gazed down at Baeksan and stood there for a long time.

The wind was a truly desolate autumn.

Colorful autumn leaves danced this way and that, carried by the mischievous wind.

It was a red maple leaf.

The leaf was large and beautifully colored.

The maple leaf fell from the tree and flew around Baeksan for a while, dancing.

Was it really the maple leaf that was dancing?

Or was it the wind colliding and intertwining?

There was no answer to the question that suddenly came to mind.

He simply watched the maple leaf mingling with the wind for a long time.

The maple leaf seemed like it would never fall to the ground, flowing with the wind.

But eventually, the end came.

The wind carrying the maple leaf dropped it to the ground.

Numerous maple leaves that had already fallen were in the vicinity.

A bright red maple leaf among the faded fallen leaves.

In just a day or two, that too would fade and become no different from the others.

The maple leaf simply becomes a fallen leaf.

That maple leaf was just like himself.

When riding the wind, it felt like he had the world below him, but due to the wind’s fickleness, he plummeted to the ground.

Isn’t our life like that too?

Every moment is an adventure and a choice.

And there are countless instances where one’s head is at stake due to those choices.

So how could it be any different?

“When will I come back here after leaving?”

He didn’t know.

Whether it would take ten years.

Or a hundred years.

An inexplicable sense of unease clung to him like a leech, gnawing at him.

If this worsened, a Simma [inner demon] would arise.

Not only would a disease arise in the mind, but it would also affect the body.

“A demon (魔) arises in the heart (心).”

For those walking the path of Dao, Simma was something to always be wary of.

Sanguan was no exception.

He took a deep breath and circulated his energy.

But he soon stopped circulating his energy.

It was because of the woman caught in his spiritual sense.

Opening his eyes, he saw a pure white woman in the distance picking up the maple leaf.

Her white hair fluttered in the wind, and as she swept back her hair, her blue eyes met his.

A smile formed on her lips, and she raised her hand and waved.

As if she was very happy.

“Husband!!”

Sanguan stared at her with a dazed look before smiling deeply.

In her other hand, she held a red maple leaf.

It was a truly radiant maple leaf.

* * *

“Aren’t you going to see her?”

Choa asked while nestled in his arms.

10 years had passed, but her beauty remained unchanged.

“Aren’t your words and actions different? Holding me so tightly while saying that.”

He chuckled, and she bit his neck with her teeth, saying he didn’t understand a woman’s heart.

“Having one or two wives isn’t a flaw for a handsome man like you. What can I do? It’s my fault for having such a wonderful husband.”

She also knew that he went to embrace Yoho once every fifteen days.

What Choa was saying was that since it had been 10 years, he should take her as his wife.

But that was a trap.

Sanguan knew very well that Choa was just saying it once.

“Really? Then I can go to her residence right now, and you won’t have anything to say?”

He said playfully, and she pinched his chest with a sulky look.

“You’re so mischievous!”

“But we still have to come to a conclusion.”

“Huh?”

Choa’s eyes widened.

“What affection would there be to share between her and me? Don’t give me that look. Nothing has happened for 10 years.”

“Are you saying there’s something else to share besides affection?”

There were other things he could share.

“Since it started as a transaction, the ending should also be a transaction.”

It was an incomprehensible statement, but Choa closed her mouth and snuggled deeper into his arms.

As if she didn’t want to let go.

“Are you leaving?”

She was really quick to catch on.

“There’s a promise I made.”

It had been 10 years, but it was necessary.

The Inner Core and Soul had merged to create a Spirit Core, but it was quite difficult to handle.

In the first place, the Division Union Seal was a secret art among secret arts that divided the soul and shared consciousness.

Thanks to that, the Spirit Core was also divided into several strands, so it couldn’t be simple.

But Sanguan had managed to control it, though not perfectly, for 10 years.

That alone was a great benefit.

Thanks to that, the time Hwaran’s soul could endure was only half left.

’50 years left, huh.’

But he wasn’t impatient.

‘Sword Spirit Island (劍靈島).’

A place that anyone who wielded a sword dreamed of.

The graveyard of all swords.

And the place where their birth began.

Sanguan had to go there.

Three days later.

Sanguan met Yoho, had a bout of fighting, and left Baeksan.

That fight was so intense that it shook Baeksan, and it continued day and night, but everyone pretended not to notice.

It was because they clearly heard the resentful screams they made while fighting.

Most of them were curses, but there were definitely others that weren’t. They were demanding affection or insisting on having a conjugal union right away.

Most of the words were embarrassing, so everyone only spoke with their eyes and never uttered them out loud.

“You didn’t do anything for 10 years, just hugged me! And now what? You’re saying you have something to do, so you’re leaving!?”

“You told me to hug you.”

“This… you…! Ugh!!”

Sanguan sighed as he looked at the devastated surroundings. As if a typhoon had passed through, all the trees were either cut down or uprooted, and huge holes were created, or peaks were half-destroyed and collapsed.

“Sigh.”

How could he not know her heart?

He could tell just by the way she treated him.

So she must have expected quite a bit.

“Are you trying to make my blood dry up?”

“Of course not.”

“Then are you enjoying it?”

“What is there to enjoy when it’s not enjoyable?”

“Then why are you doing this!! I only asked for affection because you’re a man with a wife! Don’t you know! I have a mission that is more important than anything else!”

Of course, he knew.

“I did something unnecessary! I want to slap myself from 10 years ago!! Even though I made that promise, you’re still the same, but I’m the only one…!”

All he could do for her, who couldn’t bring herself to continue, was to offer her his embrace. Sanguan hugged her and whispered softly in her ear.

She widened her eyes in surprise.

But soon, she frowned and turned her back abruptly.

“Go away. I don’t want to see your face.”

Sanguan smiled bitterly.

But soon, he disappeared without regret, turning into a streak of light.

Yoho squeezed her eyes shut.

Soon, she turned around urgently, but all she saw was a cloudless sky.

* * *

“Why aren’t you going?”

Yeona asked, puzzled.

She was asking why she wasn’t following him.

It was a question that only Yeona, who knew her heart better than anyone else, could ask.

“What would I do if I followed him? I want to stand by my husband’s side, not be a burden.”

10 years had passed, but her cultivation was stagnant. She had barely reached the late stage of a Flying Immortal with the elixirs he had given her, but that alone was not enough to ascend to a Celestial Immortal.

In the first place, her divine power was unique, so Baeksan, which was full of Yang energy, didn’t suit her.

But she couldn’t return to the Ice Palace either, so she was anxious.

She had vowed to become an immortal, but only she was standing still. In such a situation, how could she say she would follow him?

“But it’s strange that Yoho-nim is also staying. Is it because of what happened the other day?”

“Hoo- Maybe so. I don’t know what my husband did, but….”

It was then.

The space rippled, and Yoho, with an unpleasant expression, appeared.

“That husband of yours told me to protect you and watch over your cultivation. Seriously. I’m speechless. Is he usually like that?”

“…I wonder.”

She seemed upset, but Choa shrugged it off nonchalantly.

She wondered what he was doing to cause such a commotion.

Choa sighed softly.

She was, as expected, a burden.

“A deal is a deal. Know that I will be protecting his wife and helping with her cultivation.”

“A deal….”

Choa seemed to know what that deal was without asking.

She knew very well what she wanted from her husband.

“Yes. That’s how it is.”

Yoho grumbled for a long time before returning, and Choa looked sadly at the hairpin in her hand.

Unlike before, the hairpin had several jade stones embedded in it.