Chapter 863: I Want to Remember What You Were Like at This Time

TL: FoodieMonster007

An unexpected person stood at the door, his back turned.

"Young Cult Leader!" Jang Ho greeted.

Geom Mugeuk, who had been looking up at the sky, turned to Jang Ho and smiled brightly. "General Jang, I came hoping for a cup of tea."

Jang Ho tensed. Why is he here this early in the morning? At my residence? Did something happen?

"Please, come in," he said anxiously.

"Then I'll impose." Geom Mugeuk stepped inside. The interior was neat and well-organized, much like Jang Ho's personality. "Is it right for a man living alone to have such a clean house?"

"I'm rarely home, so I don't have time to make a mess."

Geom Mugeuk looked around while Jang Ho brewed the tea.

"I'm not sure if the tea will suit your taste…" Jang Ho mumbled.

Geom Mugeuk shook his head. "It's perfect."

"…Is there something going on?" Jang Ho asked. He doubted Geom Mugeuk had come just for tea this early in the morning. As expected, there was a reason for the visit.

"I came to ask a favor of you, General Jang."

"Please, tell me," Jang Ho said sincerely. Just one favor? At this point, I could grant him ten, no, a hundred favors. I would even give my life if he asked.

"Draw my face."

"Pardon?"

"I want to leave a portrait of myself as I am now."

Jang Ho frowned, puzzled. "Doesn't our Cult have many painters with excellent skills?"

"I want to be remembered in a painting drawn by you, General Jang."

"……" Jang Ho frowned, feeling troubled.

"You drew my back, so now you have to draw my front."

Jang Ho finally understood. He had once drawn and gifted a painting of Geom Mugeuk's back as he stood on a cliff, and had promised to draw his front view when his skills improved. Geom Mugeuk hadn't forgotten. The look in those eyes made it clear this was a sincere request. "My skills are lacking, but I'll do my best," he said.

He led Geom Mugeuk to his workshop. Several paintings lay across the table, each one demonstrating skill that went far beyond a mere hobby. Among them was a painting of Lee Ahn he hadn't yet given her, and one of Seo Daeryong as well.

"Why haven't you given these paintings to them?" Geom Mugeuk asked.

Jang Ho replied bashfully, "I just drew them as practice."

"They're too good to be just practice. It's a waste to let them sit here."

Jang Ho flinched. He had actually wanted to give them as keepsakes but had always felt too embarrassed. He never thought they were good enough to be gifts. "…Please sit there."

Geom Mugeuk sat in a chair, and Jang Ho began to paint from a short distance away.

As he worked, that day naturally came to mind. It sometimes surfaced when he painted, the memory of Geom Mugeuk holding out a brush, paints, and paper to him.

Since that day, painting had quietly shaped his life. The moments he spent with a brush in hand were his only respite from the constant danger and missions that came with being the Demonic Army General.

At first, he had consciously painted subjects far removed from the murim. Painting was a brief escape, a time to rest.

Now, however, he painted freely. He drew his Demonic Army subordinates, the demonic statues at Headquarters, martial artists training in the practice yard, even the faces of comrades who had died in battle. What had once been a hobby had become a source of solace.

Before long, the painting was finished.

"This painting is too flattering!" Geom Mugeuk praised.

"That's because you're handsome, Young Cult Leader."

Geom Mugeuk grinned from ear to ear as he studied it. "Don't you ever draw my brother!"

"May I ask why you wanted me to paint you?"

"Won't this painting sell for an exorbitant price? It's a painting of the Young Cult Leader by none other than the Demonic Army General of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. It'll be worth whatever one asks for it."

"Haha!" Jang Ho laughed at the joke.

Of course, that wasn't the real reason for the painting. Geom Mugeuk explained more seriously, "After killing the Celestial Killer Star, I'm about to start living my own life. I want to preserve what kind of expression I have, what kind of look is in my eyes when I see people at this moment."

Jang Ho froze. The meaning behind the painting was far greater than he had imagined. "You entrusted such an important painting to me?"

"It's because it's that important that I entrusted it to you." Geom Mugeuk looked at the painting again, pleased. "I absolutely love it."

"I'll wrap it up for you." Jang Ho wrapped the painting in a thin leather cloth to prevent damage, folded it carefully, and handed it over.

Geom Mugeuk tucked it into his shirt pocket. "I'm leaving. Don't see me out. Thanks for the painting!"

As he left the workshop, he added one last thing.

"When I become the Cult Leader later, draw me again. Sitting perfectly on the grand throne."

"Yes! I'll draw you even more handsomely then!"

After Geom Mugeuk left, Jang Ho turned his head casually, then flinched in surprise.

He laughed helplessly. The paintings of Lee Ahn and Seo Daeryong had vanished!

"Are my eyes this droopy? They're not, right?" Seo Daeryong asked.

Geom Mugeuk drew his sword, angling the blade so it reflected Seo Daeryong's face. "I think they are."

Seo Daeryong stared at his reflection and sighed self-deprecatingly. "When did I get so old?"

CLACK!

The sword slid back into its sheath.

"If you don't like the painting, I'll take it back," Geom Mugeuk said.

"I like it. I really like it." Seo Daeryong hugged the painting tightly, afraid it would actually be taken away. It was a painting by Jang Ho, after all, and it fully captured the warmth of a drinking companion while making him look far more handsome than he was in real life. "General Jang's painting skills are amazing."

"Keep it safe and leave it to your son as a family heirloom. It'll sell for a fortune later."

"Of course! As expected, the only one who looks out for my finances is our Young Cult Leader!"

Geom Mugeuk glanced at the mountain of documents piled across the desk in the Sanzu River Hall office. The papers alone were proof that Seo Daeryong was still buried in work. "How have you been lately?"

"I work, train in martial arts, and when I go home, I play with my kid. It's frighteningly the same every day. Yesterday is today, and today is tomorrow. It feels like I'm trapped in a formation." Seo Daeryong reached out a hand as if pressing against the walls of that formation. "Aren't you leaving the Cult? It'd be even better if you're going out to have fun."

"Why?"

"Please take me with you when you go!"

Geom Mugeuk agreed without hesitation. "Okay, let's go."

"Really?"

"Go say goodbye to your son. Tell him his father is going out to have fun, so he should grow up well. Tell Young Lady Dan to keep up the good work raising the kid all by herself. If you're going to abandon your wife and child, you should play without any regrets."

Seo Daeryong sighed and shouted, "When will I get to have fun?!"

"Look forward to your next life."

"……" Despite his complaints, Seo Daeryong face was full of joy. "Actually, I'm so happy these days. So happy that I wonder if I deserve it. S-Sometimes I get scared that this happiness will disappear in an instant."

The fear had grown even greater since he'd had a child. It wasn't that the work was hard. He was afraid of some unknown misfortune, of something happening to his child or wife. His naturally gloomy personality hadn't gone anywhere. The growing happiness simply fed his anxiety.

Geom Mugeuk knew this side of Seo Daeryong better than anyone. "Have you forgotten who you are?"

"Who am I?"

Geom Mugeuk cleared his throat as if preparing for a speech. "You're a power-hungry and ruthless man who loves only one woman, a rebel who raises his hand when everyone else is silent yet is also a pacifist, an impulsive person who made a life-changing decision over a drink at an inn, a duel tournament champion who is also annoyingly fun, the next Blade Demon who has opened the Conception and Governing Vessels, and my right-hand man with a pure soul who now even has a son."

The moment he heard those words, Seo Daeryong felt a surge of emotion. "You have all of that memorized?"

"Of course!" Geom Mugeuk said proudly. A few more lines had even been added to his description. The part about having a pure soul was something the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman had once said, and he had remembered it and folded it in. "You were there at my beginning, so you will be there at my end. You will adorn the finale with me, so don't be anxious."

Seo Daeryong smiled brightly. "Hearing you say that makes me truly happy."

"Your anxiety is all gone now, right?"

"No, the happiness grew, so I became more anxious."

Geom Mugeuk laughed, and Seo Daeryong laughed along with him.

"…I'll be leaving now." Geom Mugeuk turned to go.

Seo Daeryong called out from behind. "Why did you come today?"

"I came to give you the painting."

"Is that really all?" Seo Daeryong repeated suspiciously. For some reason, he felt Geom Mugeuk hadn't come just to deliver the painting.

Geom Mugeuk's gaze was gentle as he looked back at his friend. "I want to remember what you were like at this time."

He left the room after those quiet, cryptic words.

"Remember what?" Seo Daeryong shouted.

The reply came from far outside.

"Your droopy eyes, obviously!"

As Geom Mugeuk walked away from the Sanzu River Hall, someone was waiting for him. It was, surprisingly, the Crescent Moon Faceless Warrior.

"I came to see you because I have something I wish to ask, Young Cult Leader," he said. The trembling in his eyes behind the mask showed he had mustered great courage to come here.

"Speak," Geom Mugeuk said.

"I heard that the Ghost Shadow Squad assassins will all be leaving soon."

When Cha Yiran decided to leave, her subordinate assassins followed her decision. She had let them choose freely, either to start a new life or follow her to the end.

The problem was the Seventeenth Bridge, the woman he loved.

"I want to continue living as one of the Faceless Warriors. I'm afraid that if I tell her how I feel, I'll be forcing her to make a choice."

"Are you afraid she'll leave?"

"No. If that's the case, I intend to let her go very respectfully." The Crescent Moon Faceless Warrior shook his head. What troubled him wasn't rejection, but forced acceptance. "What if we live here together as the Faceless Warriors, and she becomes unhappy later on?"

Geom Mugeuk grinned. A Faceless Warrior worrying about such things already proved how much he truly liked the Seventeenth Bridge. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Somehow, I felt that you would know what I should do, Young Cult Leader," the Crescent Moon Faceless Warrior replied nervously. He had witnessed firsthand just how sharp and perceptive Geom Mugeuk was during the world's number one beauty pageant, and the Young Cult Leader had even arranged a private meeting between him and the Seventeenth Bridge back then. "If you hadn't let us meet that day, we wouldn't have been able to come this far."

"So you want me to take responsibility?"

"……" The Crescent Moon Faceless Warrior went flustered.

Geom Mugeuk enjoyed his reaction. Alright, since he came all this way so bravely, I should say something as helpful as possible. However, Crescent Moon, when it comes to women, you and I are not so different.

He asked, "You said you were afraid of forcing a choice on her, right?"

"Yes."

"This time, force the choice."

"???" The Crescent Moon Faceless Warrior stared at Geom Mugeuk, surprised.

Geom Mugeuk elaborated, "Say, 'I can't give up on either, so only your choice remains.' Force it like that, but tell her this in advance. 'I'm forcing you to choose now, but later, you will force me to choose.'"

"What kind of choice are you talking about?" the Crescent Moon Faceless Warrior asked. It was not a choice he had considered.

"Eloping together, of course!"

"!"

"Tell her to be sure to say it before things reach a point of no return, after enduring and enduring a hard life. 'I'm so tired and sick of this Faceless Warrior's life. I made the choice back then, so this time, you choose!'" Geom Mugeuk smiled. "I've said it in a complicated way, but it means to live the life of a Faceless Warrior once without regrets, and then run away together."

The Faceless Warrior's eyes curved into a smile behind the mask, shaped just like a crescent moon. He bowed his head in deep gratitude. "Thank you so much, Young Cult Leader."

In that moment, Geom Mugeuk finally understood why the man used the crescent moon symbol. He watched him turn and walk away.

Right, is it really the parting that is unbearable? It is ending things without being able to say anything, without being able to make a choice, without being able to do anything properly that leaves regrets and lingers in the heart.

Lee Ahn sat lost in thought in her room, turning over the memory of Cha Yiran's earlier visit. She had come to say her farewells, telling her that she had decided to leave with the Sword King.

"I'll come visit the inn next time."

"It's an expensive inn, so make sure you earn a lot of money."

As Cha Yiran was about to leave, she had turned back.

"Can I say something not as a subordinate, but as a fellow woman?"

And then, the last thing she said.

"That heart, isn't it about time it started beating for real?"

Lee Ahn knew exactly what she meant. Easy for you to say. You know full well whose heart it is!

Her complaint slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Even though you know how many people's lives and deaths depend on the owner of that heart…"

"Who depends on who?" a voice came from behind her.

Lee Ahn spun around. Geom Mugeuk stood behind her. "Young Cult Leader!"

"Someone could rob the whole house and you wouldn't even notice. What were you thinking about so deeply?"

Flustered, Lee Ahn said whatever came to mind first. "You don't know that a Captain has more work to do than the Young Cult Leader, do you? I have a mountain of things to worry about. Oh, Martial Artist Ak and Martial Artist Cha are leaving soon."

"Yeah, I heard from Ak-hyung."

"Oh, you met him?"

Geom Mugeuk nodded. "He said he'll contact me when he opens the inn. Normally, I'd go with him to scout for a location and help build the inn, but since Young Lady Cha is going with him, I guess there's no need to worry."

Thinking of the Sword King and Cha Yiran, Lee Ahn felt that the connections between people were truly unknowable. She had met them as enemies, then became master and disciple, participated in the world's number one beauty pageant together, became friends and subordinates, and now they were leaving as strangers again.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"To find the real Lee Ahn."

"Ah, the Alluring Inn has opened a new branch, right? I'll have to have a drink to take off my mask again."

"No, farther than that."

"?" For a moment, Lee Ahn's eyes sparkled. Could it be?

"Let's go get some fresh air in the Central Plains."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yes, just the two of us."

Her expression brightened with a joy she couldn't hide, and seeing it made Geom Mugeuk feel twice as good for suggesting it.

"Pack your things."

Lee Ahn ran to the closet and threw it open.

SLIDE!

A small, pre-packed leather pouch sat waiting inside.

"You had all your travel stuff prepared?"

"You always ask to leave so suddenly, so I've learned to keep it ready in advance."

"Let's go. Give me your bag."

Lee Ahn hesitated. "Wait! I need a little more time. How long can you wait?"

"One hour?"

"Please wait outside!"

Geom Mugeuk went outside, and she moved like an arrow.

One hour later, Lee Ahn stepped out of her room. She wore the gorgeous clothes she had bought during the world's number one beauty pageant, her makeup carefully done. She looked truly beautiful and captivating.

"It's been a while since I've gone out, so I dressed up a bit," she said, but feeling his fixed gaze on her, she asked cautiously. "Is it too much? Should I change and wear a bamboo hat?"

"No. I told you to live with this face. You've been too sparing with it until now. Let's go and use it properly this time."

Lee Ahn shrugged playfully. "Are you sure? This is a world's number one beauty pageant finalist's face. No getting jealous later."

"You'd better not get jealous when all the pretty female martial artists are lining up for me."

The two of them faced each other and smiled brightly.

"Off to the jianghu we go!" Geom Mugeuk declared energetically, walking out alongside her.