Chapter 124 - Beyond the Door You Opened

The Ghost Adept was busy tidying his study.

He took out every book to dust it, moving them from one shelf to another and expending his mental energy on an arrangement no one else would care about.

After arranging the books, he placed winter daphne around the study and put water on to boil for tea. That was when Im Hyang arrived.

"Young Master Seo."

"Miss Im. Welcome. I haven't tidied up, so the place is a mess."

Anyone could see that he had just cleaned until everything gleamed, but Im Hyang smiled and pretended not to notice.

"You have so many books."

"There used to be more. I've put a great many away."

"Even these are an enormous number. I didn't realize you read so much."

The Ghost Adept was delighted.

"This one here is in the author's own hand. I received it from him right here in this room. And this one—I traveled all the way to Tibet to obtain it. If you're interested in learning about ghosts, this is the book to read. Shall I lend it to you?"

"Oh, um. Yes."

He pulled out the book and handed it to her.

"You'll find it very interesting. Oh, if you enjoy it, try this one too."

"No, that's all right."

"Now, this book here..."

The Ghost Adept went on explaining his books. He was so excited that Im Hyang couldn't bring herself to stop him, and simply listened. But when his explanation dragged on too long, she spoke.

"Shall we have some tea?"

"Oh, I'll make it."

He was as full of warmth as the water bubbling away.

He could never forget the day he first saw her.

He had attended a banquet for promising young martial artists somewhere, and, as usual, he had remained on the fringes.

Even if they weren't deliberately excluding him, he felt they were subtly looking down on him. Their prejudices against the Ghost Gate were part of it, but more importantly, he wasn't the sort of person who mingled easily. What did they all have so much to talk about? What were they so eager to boast about?

Feeling stifled, he went outside and found Im Hyang there. He thought she was a beautiful woman with a captivating air about her. Then she spoke to him first.

["Not very good, is it?"]

He was flustered. She was the first woman to speak to him at that day's banquet.

["The banquet, I mean. The musicians today, the wine... the people here, too."]

Speaking so freely to someone he had never met was something he couldn't even imagine doing.

["I'm Im Hyang of the Im Sword Family."]

["I'm Seo Gong of the Ghost Gate."]

["Oh!"]

He regretted it at once. He shouldn't have named his sect. Even if he did, he should have waited until they had talked a little longer.

But her response surprised him. If anything, she showed interest.

["I've heard a lot about the Ghost Gate."]

["What have you heard?"]

["That it's an incredibly mysterious sect."]

He wanted to talk a little longer, but someone inside called for Im Hyang.

["They're calling me. I'll see you later, then."]

She went back inside first. After waiting a little while, he followed.

He saw Im Hyang in the distance, talking amid a circle of martial artists. She was popular.

She noticed him and waved. That drew the eyes of the people beside her toward him, but she smiled without a care.

Even after returning home that day, he kept thinking about her for a long time. For a while afterward, he diligently attended banquets.

Having taken great care over the tea, the Ghost Adept brought it over and said with a smile,

"If there are any books you'd like to read, borrow as many as you want."

* * *

Yi An spoke to me as she gazed at the night sky by the window.

"Young Master? Do you know the most common wish people make when a shooting star falls?"

"What is it?"

"Apparently, it's 'Ah! Oh! Damn it!' Things like that."

I laughed at her words.

"My eyes and mouth are quick. I'd never miss one."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Just watch."

We both stared up at the night sky, determined not to miss our chance to make a wish. Then Yi An spoke out of the blue.

"That was the first time I'd ever brought up my parents."

She had mentioned them while talking with Im Hyang at the inn.

"I'd wanted to tell you about them at least once, Young Master. It seemed like a good opportunity, so I said it."

"I thought that might be the case."

"Well, then. Please comfort me."

"Comfort you? The truth is, I don't know much about the bond between parents and children either. You know how it was. My mother died when I was young, and my father is about as taciturn as a man can be. So I don't really know what to say to you."

"I'm the same, actually. In the past, when you were struggling because of the Cult Leader, I wanted to comfort you. But how could I, when I didn't know anything about it? Instead, everything I should have learned from my parents, I learned from you."

"We grew up together with runny noses. What could you have learned from me?"

"But you were the one who wiped mine. I learned a great deal from you, and I relied on you."

I started to say something comforting, then stopped. We simply stood together, looking up at the night sky.

"By the way, how is the operation coming along?"

"I'm thinking it over."

"We need something to shake things up!"

"Like what?"

"How about kidnapping Miss Im and having Young Master Seo rescue her?"

"Someone will get hurt if we try something that clumsy."

"A man and a woman need a little excitement between them!"

"Yi An, think of the most thrilling moment in your life. Did it involve kidnapping, rescue, or anything like that?"

"... No."

"It probably didn't for other people either."

The thrills in my life had come from everyday moments. Most of them, too, had come from something someone said to me.

Things my father had said, things Yi An had said, things Seo Daeryong, Jang Ho, and the Demon Supremes had said. Things the Wind Heaven Cult Leader or Go Wol had said, and things I had said myself...

Those countless words were accumulating, changing my life. I wasn't someone who changed easily, but my life was changing.

"That's why I'm going to keep talking to him."

At that moment, a shooting star streaked across the night sky.

Ah! Please... Argh! Damn it!

* * *

A few days later, I rented a charming estate and invited the Ghost Adept and Seo Jin over, to repay their invitation to the recent banquet.

The Ghost Adept had already grown more fond of me, and Seo Jin likewise felt warmly toward Yi An, so they both readily accepted.

It was a modest banquet with only the four of us and delicious food prepared by a skilled cook, but the Ghost Adept preferred this sort of atmosphere.

While Yi An and Seo Jin talked, I spoke with him.

"Thank you for inviting us."

"Not at all."

After chatting about this and that, I casually brought up his marriage.

"Are the wedding preparations going well?"

"Very well, thank you for your concern."

"Sometimes I envy married couples."

"What do you envy about them?"

"They know each other so well, don't they? One look in the other's eyes, and they know what that person is thinking. They know how the other will judge a situation and act. I think it would be wonderful to have even one person like that in your life."

I needed to bring the Ghost Adept back down to earth. Right now, he was floating through the heavens. I had to get his feet on the ground so he could calmly look at the woman before him.

"When you look at Miss Im, can you tell what she's thinking?"

He seemed to consider it for a moment, then shook his head.

"Honestly, I still don't really know."

I said nothing, giving him a little time to think about that.

I wasn't in a hurry.

I left the subject of marriage there and won his favor by talking about ghost arts. Learning the Art of Space-Time Transposition had given me a deep understanding of secret arts in this field, so our conversation about ghost arts flowed smoothly. With my Divine Art of Flattery added to the mix, the Ghost Adept became utterly absorbed in talking with me.

Even after that day, I made every effort to see him.

He was busy, but we didn't need to meet for long. Enough time for a quick cup of tea was all it took.

Some days, I waited in the reception room of his house, circulating my qi through the Heavenly Demon's Body-Protection Art.

Whenever we met, we'd talk about various things before I brought the conversation around to marriage or women again.

At first, my repeated visits made his suspicions plain: 'What's with this fellow? We shared one meal, and now he's acting like this? What is he after?' But as time passed, he grew quietly fond of our conversations. He had never had a single friend in his life, after all.

Although I had begun with a purpose, I too gradually came to enjoy talking with him. I needed my Divine Art of Flattery less and less.

"My junior sister tells me you shouldn't be too good to a woman."

"Why not?"

"I suppose it's because, if you're good to someone ten times and fail once, they'll feel hurt. That's human nature."

"Then couldn't you be good to her all ten times?"

"Don't people's hearts change as the years pass?"

"Mine won't."

"You're human too, Young Master Seo. You'll change."

"I'm different! I'll never change!"

Whenever he grew stubborn like this, I wanted to leap at him and shout,

'You did change! You really do change! Ugh, forget it. Forget it. Just rip it off. Rip it off.'

"Don't be too good to her. Out in town, the bad men are very popular."

"Oh! I've noticed that too. At banquets, I often wonder why women like men like that."

"So don't be too good to her. If you're not so good to her for a while, then treat her well once in a while, wouldn't she be moved? No one can do everything right every time."

"You have a point."

In his old age, the Ghost Adept had wanted so badly to talk with me. Back then, I had shared just one drink with him before leaving again to gather materials.

Let's talk to our hearts' content now, about everything we couldn't back then.

As time went on, I kept dropping in to talk with him like a mouse returning again and again to a pot of paste.

"You mean the date you need to go obtain an important material for your ghost-arts training falls on Miss Im's birthday?"

"That's right. Which would you choose, then?"

"Of course you should celebrate Miss Im's birthday."

"Even if it's an important material? Even if missing this chance means waiting three years?"

"Even then, there's no comparison."

If something like this ever happens, Ghost Adept, make sure you remember what you said today! Surely there's a difference between something you've never said and something you've said even once.

I tried.

I spoke as though I knew nothing, persuaded him, and urged him on. I gave him courage, hints, and information.

He had tried to betray me after I spent a lifetime gathering materials for the great art, intending to travel into the past himself. Even so, I was grateful that I had made it here thanks to him, and I kept trying to the very end.

Finally, on the day before his wedding, I met him one last time.

"I never imagined I'd be seeing you even today."

Having opened with that, the Ghost Adept revealed his honest feelings.

"To be frank, I still don't understand why you're so good to me."

He had held that question back for a long time. That he asked it now was also proof of how close we had grown.

"Didn't you say you liked Miss Im from the moment you first saw her? It was the same for me. Somehow, when I saw you, you felt like an older brother, like a friend. I felt fond of you. I have no ulterior motive. I've visited so often because I intend to leave again after tomorrow's wedding, and I don't know when I'll see you next."

His eyes were still suspicious.

I raised my hand high toward the sky.

"I swear to Heaven. If I'm lying, may the Heavenly Demon drag me away!"

The Ghost Adept waved his hands in protest.

"Stop! There's no need to make such a dreadful oath! I believe you. With an oath like that, I have to."

He held out his hand.

"Thank you."

"Congratulations on your marriage."

We clasped hands. Come to think of it, this was the first time I had ever held his hand, either before or after my regression.

The wedding took place the following day.

Yi An was excited, saying it was her first time seeing a wedding. As befitted a distinguished family, it was lavish and offered plenty to see. She made sure to watch every detail, and when there was something she didn't understand, she even asked the people conducting the ceremony.

Of course, she couldn't let herself become the center of attention today, so she wore a veiled bamboo hat and clothes that concealed her figure.

As the wedding drew to a close, I spoke to Yi An.

"It's time for us to return to the Cult."

"Yes, Young Master."

"Did you enjoy this trip?"

"I'll never forget it as long as I live."

The fact that she had even kept a written record of our travels showed me how much she had enjoyed them.

Yi An and Seo Jin said a reluctant goodbye. They seemed to have grown quite close. While I met with the Ghost Adept, Yi An had spent a great deal of time with Seo Jin. I had left Seo Jin's fate entirely in Yi An's hands.

I caught the Ghost Adept's eye as he greeted guests in the distance. I waved, and he smiled and waved back.

I couldn't know whether our connection would end here or whether we would meet again. Nor could I know what sort of life he would lead.

All I could do was hope that our conversations would bring changes to his life, and that those changes together would alter its outcome.

I don't know what lies beyond the door you opened today. Perhaps it holds nothing but the regret everyone speaks of, or perhaps a companion with whom you can understand each other with a single look into each other's eyes. But I have one request. No matter how hard things become, don't give up. Just as you waited for me all your life, don't give up on your own life until the very end. Beyond the door you opened for me, I too am moving forward like this without giving up, and I hope you will do the same. Ghost Adept, please be happy.

I left the Ghost Gate with Yi An.

"Come on, Yi An. Let's go home!"