Jin Ha-gun withdrew his hand from the doll he was about to stand up.

Scratch, scratch.

The sound of wood carving resumed.

Normally, his master wouldn’t have cared whether the doll was standing or lying down.

Who was this doll to deserve such treatment?

Jin Ha-gun looked down again at the fallen doll.

For some reason, his gaze kept returning to it. Though he didn’t dare to stand it up, he gently turned over the doll that had been lying face down.

In that instant, Jin Ha-gun was startled.

The wooden doll was himself. Though finger-sized, he instinctively knew it was him — the clothes, the hair, everything.

“Is this me?”

The sound of carving stopped at the quiet question.

“Yes, it’s you.”

Jin Ha-gun looked at his master with a puzzled expression.

‘You say it’s me, yet you tell me to leave it lying down?’

He understood now that his master knew about what had happened in Honam.

‘Still...’

He wished she would just get angry. Feeling scolded was worse than being outright rebuked. What had his master been thinking while carving this doll, and leaving it lying there? An unfamiliar feeling of disappointment and distance crept in.

‘I thought she would understand why I did it.’

Surely she must be unaware of the full circumstances from that day.

“The son of the Cheonhwa Sect leader killed innocent people.”

His master continued carving without a word. She seemed to be telling him to go on.

Jin Ha-gun could not speak the most important part of the explanation: that giving up the Cheonhwa Sect was his grandfather’s test. If he said that, it would mean his master had not even realized it was a test.

“Because Geom Seon intervened, I had {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} no choice.”

His master said nothing, whether because she already knew or thought it was just an excuse.

Before, Jin Ha-gun would have been restless and begged for forgiveness.

But now he simply stared at his master.

‘What would Geom Mugeuk have done?’

Perhaps because he had thought about Geom Mugeuk all the way back, the thought came to him like a strange kind of lie.

He recalled Geom Mugeuk’s face — smiling brightly at him.

―Let’s have a drink!

One thing was certain: Geom Mugeuk would have handled such a moment with a smile.

Yes, getting excited is losing.

Jin Ha-gun said calmly,

“I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

Suddenly, the carving stopped.

Baek Cheon-gyeong slowly raised her head and looked at Jin Ha-gun.

In the past, his heart would have pounded as if it would burst, but strangely, he was not afraid.

A flicker of interest appeared in Baek Cheon-gyeong’s eyes. She sensed that her disciple was different from usual.

She put down the doll she was holding and stood up.

Then she slowly walked toward Jin Ha-gun.

He quietly watched her. Before, his mind would have raced ahead, thinking how to appease his master’s anger.

But now, a different thought filled his mind — the words of Geom Mugeuk etched deep in his heart.

―Have you ever looked your grandfather squarely in the eye?

Jin Ha-gun looked at his master approaching.

Her eyes, footsteps, hand movements, and even her expression.

‘Unfamiliar.’

Baek Cheon-gyeong’s gaze, which had been fixed on her disciple, shifted to the doll lying on the display.

“Were you upset that your doll was lying down?”

Jin Ha-gun answered calmly,

“Because it’s the first doll my master made for me.”

Baek Cheon-gyeong stood the doll upright.

“Is that enough?”

Jin Ha-gun looked at the doll for a moment, then laid it down again.

“No. This time, I was defeated by Geom Mugeuk. It should lie down.”

As if expecting that response, Baek Cheon-gyeong nodded.

“Yes. Somehow, you should have taken the Cheonhwa Sect with your own hands and saved them.”

Jin Ha-gun silently looked at Baek Cheon-gyeong. It still felt unfamiliar. Now that he thought about it, he had never looked her face closely like this before, neither when looking at his master nor his grandfather. He had always just glanced over.

“When a war breaks out someday, hundreds of righteous faction members could die by the Cheonhwa Sect. Will you bear that responsibility?”

Before, he would have immediately knelt down and begged forgiveness, feeling the weight of those words.

Now, however, he did not feel that way. Instead, a different thought arose.

‘Why bring up such an extreme example of something that hasn’t happened?’

Suddenly, Geom Mugeuk’s words came to mind.

―The one who connected you and the Cheonhwa Sect leader does not want you to become the alliance leader.

At the time, he thought it nonsense, but now a small doubt was growing in his heart.

“My thoughts were short-sighted.”

At that, Baek Cheon-gyeong’s expression softened somewhat.

“Yes, that’s enough. Now you must find a way to reclaim the Cheonhwa Sect.”

“I will think on it.”

Baek Cheon-gyeong returned to her seat. Before resuming carving, she said one word.

“The alliance leader would have wanted that as well.”

Scratch, scratch.

Until the end, Jin Ha-gun’s thoughts and hers did not align.

‘Would he have really?’

His grandfather had genuinely rejoiced when he gave up the Cheonhwa Sect. Because he had tried to see his grandfather clearly, he had been able to read that feeling. Otherwise, he would have nodded and accepted these words just now because he had not truly seen his grandfather.

Today, Jin Ha-gun finally understood how important Geom Mugeuk’s words about seeing clearly truly were.

‘Leaving everything aside, shouldn’t we never forgive someone like Seochung? Because we are the righteous faction. And among the righteous faction, I will become the Murim Alliance leader, and she is the master of that leader.’

After meeting Geom Mugeuk and returning, his master seemed different.

Or perhaps today, his master herself realized she was someone very different from what he had perceived.

That night, Jin Ha-gun had a nightmare.

He was chased all night by a shadowy figure whose face he could not see. No matter how much he ran, the figure knew his location and pursued him.

Even now, far behind, the figure followed.

He was too exhausted to run.

In a state of despair, he trudged forward, passing by people who stared at him.

Among them were familiar faces. Those he had trained martial arts with in childhood, even some rivals. People he was not close to. Why did these people appear? Nightmares always summon those long forgotten.

He passed them and kept moving. Meanwhile, the dark shadow chasing him came ever closer.

He thought he would die then. Suddenly, someone called to him.

―Alliance Leader Jin!

Looking up, he saw Geom Mugeuk leaning on the second floor railing of a tavern, looking down at him.

―Come up and have a drink.

He smiled brightly, just like at their last parting.

He climbed the stairs to the tavern’s second floor, as if mesmerized. He was glad to see him.

Standing together on the railing, the dark shadow that had chased him stopped at the tavern entrance, unable to enter. He sensed that even the terrifying shadow was afraid.

Then Geom Mugeuk suddenly said the words he had told him in the banquet hall.

―That’s why we exist. If not us, who else could stop such a bastard?

At that moment, Jin Ha-gun awoke from the dream.

“Hoo.”

Soaked in sweat, Jin Ha-gun sighed deeply.

It was not strange that Geom Mugeuk appeared in his dream. He had been thinking of him constantly since their meeting.

But the choices he had made in the dream were foolish. He had only run away helplessly. Whether fighting directly, leading the Execution Squad, or seeking help from his grandfather — he should have taken active action and made choices. Instead, he just ran.

What made him angrier was that at the end, he had given up everything. He vividly remembered that moment of despair, trudging along aimlessly.

Shaking off the nightmare, he suddenly sat up in bed.

Jin Ha-ryeong was surprised by Jin Ha-gun’s visit.

“You’re doing things you don’t usually do, big brother?”

Recently, Jin Ha-gun had rarely come to her place.

“People can change.”

“Don’t change too much — it’s scary.”

Jin Ha-gun looked around and sat down. Since his brother wouldn’t have come just like that, Jin Ha-ryeong asked with some tension.

“What about what you went for?”

“Failed.”

“Your face doesn’t look like it.”

“It was half failure, half success.”

Jin Ha-ryeong looked at him as if asking what he meant, but Jin Ha-gun said nothing. Even he did not know what was right or wrong.

“How was Geom Mugeuk?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t say that — tell me.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know that person.”

Jin Ha-ryeong nodded.

“You saw him well. That person.”

She, too, could only answer like that if asked what kind of person Geom Mugeuk was.

Then Jin Ha-gun unexpectedly asked.

“Ha-ryeong, have you ever experienced something you just couldn’t understand?”

Jin Ha-ryeong looked at him in surprise.

“Right now.”

Jin Ha-gun smiled faintly.

“I’m asking seriously.”

Had she ever experienced such a thing? Ah, yes, she had.

“When I met Geom Mugeuk, I couldn’t understand everything back then.”

“How did you get past it?”

“I didn’t get past it. I was swept away by Geom Mugeuk.”

Now even Jin Ha-gun could precisely understand what that meant.

Jin Ha-ryeong knew. The wave of change had come into her brother’s life. She didn’t ask if it was because of Geom Mugeuk. He wouldn’t admit it even for pride’s sake.

Then Jin Ha-gun asked about something unexpected.

“Do you still hold the Late Qi Gathering?”

“We do.”

“Many will come, then.”

“Who would come to see me? They come to show favor to grandfather.”

Jin Ha-ryeong invited the righteous faction’s late qi members in turns. It was more like managing them on the alliance level than a personal gathering. She was in charge of that.

“There’s someone I want to invite.”

“Who?”

Out of nowhere, Jin Ha-gun named someone.

“Someone we must see without prejudice.”

Jin Ha-ryeong was startled. He meant Geom Mugeuk.

“Why him?”

Jin Ha-gun answered,

“He needs help. Invite him as your guest, let him meet me by chance.”

He could not invite him directly. The future Murim Alliance leader could not ask for help from the demon sect’s Little Pill Master.

“Are you serious?”

Jin Ha-gun nodded. No wonder his sister was so surprised. Even he thought it was madness.

But instinctively, he felt the discomfort he sensed from his master was still stirring his crisis instincts. If he lived on not knowing like before, he might not notice, but the doubts blossoming in his heart were growing day by day.

This was no time to delay or to pridefully protect himself. He needed help. He needed an outsider who could objectively see the situation, not someone entangled in internal interests. He thought he must not be powerless like in his dream.

“Why?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Ask again. Is the Execution Squad leader really in a situation where he needs help from the demon sect’s Little Pill Master?”

Jin Ha-gun answered,

“Make it that your big brother is the one who needs help from your friend.”

It was nonsense even by his own standards. But instinctively, the dream pleaded with him — that he needed that person.

Jin Ha-ryeong hesitated. Even though this was the first request her older brother had ever made to her since she grew up, she hesitated.

She, too, had good memories of Geom Mugeuk. She wanted to see him again under that pretext.

But getting involved with her brother was another matter. The relationship between the future Murim Alliance successor and the demon sect successor was complicated.

So she was anxious. Was it okay to drag a demon into her brother’s affairs?

“Can you handle it?”

After a brief pause, Jin Ha-gun shook his head.

“Geom Mugeuk? No. Because he’s the one I need help from, it means I can’t handle it.”

Knowing the other party precisely, Jin Ha-ryeong felt relieved.

“That’s enough then.”

I was practicing the Si Cheon Secret Technique within the Time-Space Shift Technique.

Since my return, I had met many people and handled countless matters, but I had never forgotten that the most important thing was martial arts training. Whenever I had time alone, I devoted myself to training.

The Si Cheon Secret Technique was slowly improving — really slowly like a turtle. But I didn’t give up. I trained and trained, hoping for the day when suddenly my skill would leap to a new level. Of course, that day never came.

When I had to be among people, I closed my eyes briefly and practiced the Cheonma Body Protection Technique. Having only one step left to mastery, I trained with all my might.

Whenever I had a moment, I repeated the First Form of the Turtle Flame Demon Technique. With a Twelve-Star mastery of the Flying Sword Technique, there would be almost no opponent I couldn’t kill, but if one appeared, I intended to kill them with the First Form. So I repeated it again and again. I was so familiar with the Four Evil Spirits by now, I almost felt a kinship. Their stay was subtly lengthening.

After training, I took a short rest and saw Gwon Ma walking in the yard.

He stood tall at the edge of the yard, gazing at the distant mountain beyond the wall.

“Master.”

I stood next to Gwon Ma.

“Want me to guess what you were thinking?”

Gwon Ma looked interested.

“What do you think I was thinking?”

“You were thinking about the cliff, right?”

“Someone might think I’m crazy about destroying cliffs if they heard that. Why would I think of such a thing?”

“Because Master’s back said so.”

Gwon Ma looked at me, puzzled.

There are people who speak through their backs. My father, and Gwon Ma.

When I look at his back, I feel loneliness because I know how steadfast that back is. If it’s my father’s order, he’d walk alone without hesitation toward tens of thousands of enemies.

“Master, I don’t think the cliff should be destroyed.”

“Why not?”

“When would we ever clear that away? And the cliff looks cool the way it is.”

Gwon Ma smiled at me. I like this smile of his, which I rarely see.

At that moment, a martial artist from the Honam branch came and delivered a message. Surprisingly, it was from Jin Ha-ryeong.

―If anything strange or unexplainable happens in your life, be sure to tell me. That time is now.