Бадамлянхуа (17)

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Like any other day in the desert, the sky is clear that day.

"Seo Eun-hyun, stop wandering around."

I realize I have been aimlessly pacing in front of Cheon-saek City upon hearing Kim Young-hoon's reprimand.

"Sorry. I'm just... quite nervous."

"What's there to be nervous about? You're ridiculous, really. Tsk tsk..."

I sigh deeply.

'Is this the right thing to do?'

Is it right to offer my affections to someone?―I've told you before, haven't I? There's no waste in the world, just things that haven't found their fate or connection.

―That means, if the right fate touches it, anything can become a beautiful craft. Right?

I recalled her words.

'Being with you is so comforting.'

It’s so peaceful and happy that sometimes it feels like a dream.

I, who has always been abandoned by fate, realized through her words that the proper fate I had never reached was indeed with her.

'Even if swept away by time, even if the connection eventually fades...'

If the connection, the feelings, reach each other, can't they create something beautiful?

'Even if I have to return again someday, and everything disappears...'

Her presence heals all the pain and wounds I have ever experienced.

People live with wounds.

For over 700 years, I have only lost connections.

I will continue to lose them again.

But...

―People of Byeokra like glass. It's easily made from desert sand, and though its true value is not seen in the dark, it reveals itself in the light.

I am nothing more than dust, a grain of sand.

But she is unequivocally my light.

Therefore, in this life, even if only for a moment, I am determined to shine with her.

'Even if you're not the same person in the next life.'

My feelings have grown too large. I will burn brightly in this life.

I steel my resolve and lift my head.

"You've made up your mind, I see."

Kim Young-hoon smiles at me knowingly.

"Yes."

Whoosh!

Cheongmun Ryeong and Buk Joong-ho approach, each on their flying artifacts, landing in front of me at the gates of Cheon-saek City.

"Daoist Seo, finally we'll see you and Cultivator Buk live happily ever after. I thought I'd go mad with frustration, but is today the day it finally happens?"

"I've been holding back from grabbing you by the collar and forcing an engagement with my daughter, but it seems there's finally some progress."

Buk Joong-ho chuckles.

"Just do the wedding now. Oh, right. I'll prepare everything for the ceremony."

"...There's no need for that..."

"Don't you dare argue with your future father-in-law!"

He spoke sternly.

"Cultivator Cheongmun Ryeong, if Daoist Seo confesses to my daughter, take them to Yeon's tomb. Let them make their eternal vow in front of her grave. I'll prepare everything for the wedding there."

"Ah, but..."

"Go on, hurry."

I try to protest, but Cheongmun Ryeong and Kim Young-hoon hold me back while Buk Joong-ho excitedly flies off to his wife's tomb.

"Ha ha, you poor thing. Just get married already."

"Is a wedding something to decide so hastily?"

As I look bewildered, Cheongmun Ryeong and Kim Young-hoon laugh heartily.

"Daoist Seo, we've seen you and Cultivator Buk together for 10 years, and it was obvious you like each other. Isn't it rather late to officially become a couple?"

"But..."

"What 'but'? Everyone in Cheon-saek City already thinks you two are a married couple, so it's better to make it official now."

After enduring their unsolicited advice, I’m finally released.

While they were holding me,

Whoosh!

A bee puppet flew out of Buk Hyang-hwa's workshop, carrying a formation disc and a small wooden box, and flew off into the distance.

'What's that?'

As I wonder,

Thud, thud.

Buk Hyang-hwa slowly approaches from afar.

"Ahem, then I shall leave now."

"I’ll be going too. Daoist Seo, do your best."

Kim Young-hoon and Cheongmun Ryeong vacate the place for Buk Hyang-hwa and me, and she comes up to me.

"Daoist Seo, may I ask what you wanted to say?"

"That is..."

I hesitate.

She smiles warmly.

"Eun-hyun Orabeoni, are you feeling hot? Your face is red. I've learned a bit of pulse reading from you; shall I do it for you?"

"Hem, hem..."

Imitating myself, she looks at my face and laughs brightly.

'So this is how it feels...'

During this time, she had been clenching her teeth and pretending not to know about my emotions.

And now, I feel like my emotions have been exposed to her.

It feels like I’m being teased, but it’s not a bad feeling.

"Miss Hyang-hwa, it seems you are feeling hot too. Your face is all red."

"Ah..."

She seems surprised for a moment, then chuckles.

We both chuckle at each other.

"Shall we take a walk for a while, Miss Hyang-hwa?"

"Yes, Eun-hyun Orabeoni."

We strolled around Cheon-saek City.

The ordinary mortals and cultivators of the stores in Cheon-saek City greeted us.

I wandered around the market with her, buying and eating food, and looking at the shops.

Since Buk Hyang-hwa's father, Buk Joong-ho, was the supervising cultivator in charge of Cheon-saek City, we even climbed the city walls to view the desert.

"The desert is really hot. The air is so dry that even when I try to create water with the Water Surpassing Path, it hardly gathers... I thought I was going to die when I crossed it before."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, if Miss Hyang-hwa hadn’t given me water, I would surely have died of thirst."

I remember the first time I drank water from Buk Hyang-hwa.

Of course, the Buk Hyang-hwa who first gave me water is not the same as the current Buk Hyang-hwa.

'No, that's not right.'

In fact, thinking about it, the Buk Hyang-hwa I met the second time and drank water from, is not the 'current' Buk Hyang-hwa either.

My Her is the Her of this moment.

'Maybe...'

I am afraid of the disappearance of time.

That's why I am afraid of forming connections and having feelings.

However, thinking about it, humans actually change every moment, every second.

Therefore, a human from one second before and one second after are actually different beings.

That's why I have always distinguished the people I met in each return from the people of previous returns.

'Even if people change, the heart should not. Have I just been too afraid until now?'

After all, all humans die.

If there is a meeting, there will be a parting.

However, I was too afraid of the pain of parting that I might not have seen the feelings of the present.

'Well, even if I return again someday...'

I made up my mind.

'From the moment I decided to be with her, all the events that have happened are already in my heart. All the events that will happen in the future will also become one with me in my heart...'

I decide to confess these feelings.

"..."

"..."

Of course, even after making up my mind, it’s not easy to verbalize it.

Strangely, it’s hot.

My face is turning red.

Buk Hyang-hwa is the same.

Cultivators always covered their skin with a protective method, so the harshness of the sunlight and the heat are not a big problem.

Qi Building cultivators naturally form defensive Gang Qi with their Pure Spiritual Force, making them even tougher than ordinary cultivators.

But no matter what method I use, I can’t do anything about this heat.

"Um..."

"Orabeoni..."

We both tried to speak at the same time and then chuckled again.

"You go first."

"Well, actually... I have something prepared for Eun-hyun Orabeoni."

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the bee puppet appears, leaping through space in front of us.

Whoosh!

The flapping of the bee puppet’s wings cools the heat between us.

In the forelegs of the bee puppet, there are two fans.

Buk Hyang-hwa grabs the two fans and hands one to me.

"Twin Immortals Dance, do you remember the dance we did that time?"

"I remember."

"In a few days, there will be a small festival in Yeon-do City far away, would you like to dance there again?"

"Oh, you were impressed by the dance we did back then."

"Yes. I really wanted to dance with Eun-hyun Orabeoni again."

"Ha ha, now that you mention it, I also want to dance with Miss Hyang-hwa again. But..."

I look at her and say,

"If we're going to do the Twin Immortals Dance, wouldn't it be better to go back to Shengzi and dance there? Let's set up the formation in Serving Command Palace with Daoist Cheongmun and go to Shengzi. Let's visit the village we protected together again."

"That's a great idea, but actually, I've prepared a gift for you in Yeon-do City."

"A gift..."

Suddenly, I feel a bit embarrassed about the gift I have prepared.

"Actually, I have also prepared a gift for Miss Hyang-hwa."

"Oh, what is it?"

I take out a Wood attribute spirit stone.

It’s my first magic artifact, created from the brief teachings I had received from Buk Hyang-hwa.

"Is this... a starfish?"

She asks teasingly looking at the form of my magic artifact, and I playfully respond while infusing spiritual power into the artifact.

"Have you ever seen a starfish like this?"

I’m not skilled enough to make a magic artifact that looks exactly like a flower in an instant.

However, I can engrave circuits in the artifact and infuse it with the desired spell.

And in such cases, I am confident.

Whooosh!

Wood spiritual energy shines brightly.

The spiritual energy of the Thousand Lustrous Forest Sea glows brilliantly.

At the same time, as the spiritual energy gathers, it transforms into the shape of a flower.

It’s a white magnolia.

"Since you gave me a quince flower yesterday, I will give you a white magnolia."

"Wow..."

The white magnolia, created with numerous spells.

Buk Hyang-hwa looks at the white magnolia for a moment, then chuckles.

"You... didn't make a magic artifact."

"Why can't you just compliment me?"

"You always give me advice when you see me using flying sword artifacts. Every time you say, 'That's not how you handle a flying sword.'"

"That's... haah."

While I’m flustered, Buk Hyang-hwa takes the magic artifact I made and carefully puts it in her bosom.

"Anyway, thank you. The circuits of the magic artifact are well made and concise."

"Thank you for the compliment... But don't you, Miss Hyang-hwa, prefer to make complex circuits?"

Wasn't saying it was well-made and concise a bit of an insult?

"Oh, that's just my style."

She says, looking over Cheon-saek City from the city wall.

"My maternal grandfather, Gongmyo Cheon-saek, fathered many illegitimate children, including my mother. Among them, those with the potential for cultivation were given the Gongmyo surname, but those without talent, like my mother, were not even given a surname and were cast out from the family like an unwanted child."

Her story continues.

"When he made magic artifacts, he used to make the circuits concise. It made them more versatile and much easier for the user. The complexity of the circuits I made so far might have been a kind of rebellion against my grandfather."

Suddenly, she strokes the bee puppet and says,

"But, you know what? Eun-hyun Orabeoni. After hearing from you, I successfully repaired the central circuit of this bee puppet. I thought the central circuit would be very complex, but it turned out to be surprisingly concise. The simplicity of those circuits cause changes, spreading into countless circuits and operating this puppet."

Somehow, its operating principle seems similar to human emotions.

I, too, had witnessed in Three Flowers Gather at the Summit how seven emotions  can create so many changes.

"Thanks to Orabeoni, I have grown, and I've been able to free myself from my strange rebellion against my grandfather."

She looks at me and smiles brightly.

"Thank you, Eun-hyun Orabeoni."

"...Me too."

I smile back at her smile and confess.

"I receive so much comfort from Miss Hyang-hwa. Thanks to you, the many wounds I have acquired in life seem to heal, and the pains of life seem to be forgotten every time I meet you."

Before I knew it, I had taken Buk Hyang-hwa's hand.

In this moment,

Everything is going well.

The day to obtain the Longevity Fruit is near.

There’s a high possibility of reaching the new realm.

This connection can be finally realized.

In this moment, I am deeply grateful.

She closes her eyes.

"I can't explain it, but to me, you are..."

I slowly, slowly move my face closer to hers.

"..."

"..."

"...Orabeoni?"

With her eyes closed, she asks in a trembling voice.

I hold her hand with furrowed brows.

"...Miss Hyang-hwa."

"Yes, Orabeoni!"

With a face full of expectation, she calls out to me with her eyes closed.

But I, tense all over, lift my face away from hers and ask,

"...Isn’t there a smell of blood coming from somewhere?"