Bow Ghost.

One of the beings beyond heaven, and a woman who, despite standing outside the martial world, had saved the Central Plains more times than anyone could count.

They said any arrow she loosed could punch through the horizon and strike true like a ghost no matter the distance.

They even said that the Heavenly Demon himself had nearly lost his life to her archery again and again.

She had reached a realm worthy of ghosts, and so they called her Bow Ghost.

...And on top of that.

Maybe it was because of her strange-colored eyes.

Or maybe she was simply beautiful enough on her own.

Whatever the reason, Bow Ghost’s most famous epithet was greatest beauty under heaven.

Just how beautiful did a woman have to be to earn a title like that?

As a man, I had wondered that instinctively more than once.

Today, I finally got my answer.

She’s disgustingly pretty.

That was the first thought that came to mind the moment I saw the woman sitting in front of me in that half-transparent form.

Not that it mattered how I said it. I had fairly high standards.

The women around me were all beautiful to begin with. My sister Bang Seojin was, and so were Mo Yong Yeongsun and Yu Yeon.

When you spent your life surrounded by women who drew eyes wherever they went, your standards naturally rose.

What the hell is that?

This was on a different level.

...How can someone be that beautiful?

So a person really could look like that.

The only other time I had ever felt something like this was when I looked at Father. That was how sculpted she seemed.

No, maybe not.

In her current state, calling her human at all felt questionable.

I was staring at her with that thought in mind when—

—How strange.

Bow Ghost shook her white hair as she spoke to me.

—That isn’t the kind of look I wanted from you.

“...What kind of look were you hoping for?”

—Normally, someone would be shocked by this situation.

She waved her translucent hand as she said it.

—Not by my appearance.

“...”

She seemed to have noticed that I’d been startled by her face.

But even after hearing that, my reaction was still mixed.

“I doubt that. Most people would be shocked by your face first.”

That was just the kind of face she had. Anyone could tell at a glance.

—Hahaha. How flattering. Even if it is something I’ve heard all my life.

She was the sort of person who knew perfectly well how beautiful she was.

I did too. Once you looked a certain way, there was no avoiding that awareness.

“...I’ll ask first.”

Right. Bow Ghost being absurdly beautiful was one thing.

“Why were you looking for me?”

How had she found me in the first place?

That was what I needed to ask.

—You’re not going to ask about this state I’m in?

“There isn’t much point. I can tell well enough without asking.”

What was there to ask?

It wasn’t as though this was the first time I’d seen something like it.

I shrugged.

“It’s not even that remarkable.”

—Oh?

Bow Ghost smiled at my answer.

For a second, I nearly got flustered just from looking at her face.

From what I’d heard, she should have been an old grandmother by now, so how in the world was she maintaining that youth?

No matter how slowly martial artists age...

This went beyond that.

She looked no older than me. Thirty at most.

—Not remarkable... That’s an interesting thing to say.

Ignoring her reaction, I stepped forward.

“Do you need something from me?”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Or is it the Sword Saint—my master—you’re here for?”

—Hm.

The moment I brought up Yoo Cheongil, Bow Ghost’s expression shifted oddly.

—That’s a different question than I expected. Most people would ask how I was there.

“Ah, I was going to ask that too... but if I do, will you actually tell me?”

—Haha.

Bow Ghost laughed coldly, then answered.

—Perhaps after we talk a little longer.

She won’t tell me.

I was sure of it.

Or maybe it was simply more convenient to assume so.

—Will you sit beside me?

“There isn’t really a beside when you’re like that, so I’ll stay standing.”

She had come here by sending out a spirit form in an out-of-body projection, and nothing more.

Out-of-body projection.

If you trained your spiritual energy to an extreme degree, you could use a method like that.

Your body remained asleep while only your mental and spiritual self was sent out.

It was dangerous.

Because it meant your soul had temporarily left your body.

And that meant your body was left behind, empty.

An empty body.

And if the empty shell in question belonged to someone who handled spiritual energy—

It became a tempting meal for other spirits.

A body with spiritual energy still clinging to it was a rare vessel to them. Something precious.

Which means...

If she had left that body behind—

Someone had to be guarding it.

And that was probably the Death King.

Now the situation made sense.

If the projection is this clear, she can’t be all that far away.

The clarity of an out-of-body projection reflected both the caster’s spiritual energy and the distance involved.

Judging by that alone, Bow Ghost wasn’t far from here.

—Hm.

While I was piecing that together, Bow Ghost suddenly drifted toward me.

The distance closed so quickly that I took a step back on reflex.

“What was that...?”

—Your eyes are very pretty.

What was this, flirting?

The thought crossed my mind for an instant, but I knew better than that.

Especially in a situation like this.

—They’re different in quality from the others in the Azure Moon Sect. You know that yourself, don’t you?

“...Do I?”

I narrowed my eyes.

I said it lightly, but I knew.

I knew my Moon Eye was different from everyone else’s.

Of course it is.

I had consumed the divine pill, and the Azure Moon Heart Art inside me was different in the first place.

That was probably why.

—Yes. They look so much like Yoo Cheongil’s. No... perhaps identical would be the better word.

“...”

A cold emotion brushed through her voice as if she were recognizing something.

Killing intent.

There was no way I could fail to notice it.

As those eyes studied me from up close, her hand reached out.

Just before her translucent fingers touched my cheek—

“I don’t much like being compared to ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) people.”

I widened the distance again.

“And if it’s that man, I like it even less.”

—He’s your master, isn’t he?

“Masters and disciples having a bad relationship isn’t exactly unheard of.”

—Hahaha...

Bow Ghost smiled coldly.

—You speak as though you had been standing right beside him.

“...”

Was she fishing?

I narrowed my eyes at the odd remark.

—I can feel the trace of that damned bastard on you.

So she wasn’t fishing. Damn it.

Only then did I understand.

A creepy energy brushed across my body.

Just brushed.

It didn’t burrow inside.

That much, at least, was fortunate.

—That is why I came to find you.

“...”

That was the worst answer I had been expecting.

Yeah.

This was going to be troublesome.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

—Really? I suppose you might not. I hope not, myself.

It was a baffling thing to say.

I was listening a little more closely, trying to understand what she meant, when—

—That idiot of a man may have burned hot, but he never looked like the sort to leave lingering attachment in this world.

Bow Ghost’s gaze turned savage.

—And that is how it should be. If it were not, I would have hunted him down myself and torn his soul to pieces.

“...”

That was genuinely chilling.

Not his limbs. His soul.

From my point of view, that was much more terrifying.

—If it wasn’t Yoo Cheongil, then who was it that played tricks?

“...”

—I do not think it was you who did that to my disciple and to me. I’ll admit you were born with precious eyes, but you do not look like someone with enough power to pull off something like that.

Oh.

That made me inwardly admire her a little.

Half and half.

Half because she had realized it hadn’t been me, but the Heavenly Demon.

And half because—

She thinks I couldn’t do it?

The surprise only went halfway.

I swallowed the laugh that tried to come out.

Though from the look of it, a little of it showed.

—Why are you smiling?

“Ah, sorry. I just didn’t expect you to notice.”

—Really? Then that means something is attached to your side.

Bow Ghost looked around me with those clear eyes.

—I don’t actually see anything.

“There’s no one standing next to me.”

—Is that so?

She didn’t look convinced.

Still—

So she really can’t see him.

Bow Ghost couldn’t see the Heavenly Demon.

That much was a relief.

Was it?

Yes. It probably was.

“So then. Why did you join hands with that Young Cult Leader?”

—Ahaha...

Her expression shifted slightly at my words.

—I thought you would ease into that more slowly, but you went straight for the heart of it.

“That’s what I came here to ask. Did you decide to make common cause with him?”

—...Make common cause?

At my question, the air suddenly turned heavy.

I swallowed dryly before I even realized I was doing it.

Her displeasure had weight.

—With the Demonic Cult? I would sooner forgive Yoo Cheongil than join hands with those revolting wretches.

Those are even comparable?

Just what had Yoo Cheongil done to her?

I wanted to know, but—

“...Then why?”

What Bow Ghost had to say now was more important.

—We merely each had something the other needed. Ah... yes. “Joined hands”? I suppose that would not be entirely wrong.

“You needed something from the Demonic Cult?”

This was the same woman who had been radiating hostility only moments ago.

And now she was saying it wouldn’t be wrong to call it cooperation.

There was something subtly off about that contradiction.

—Your eyes are full of questions.

“Yes. Because that’s how you made it sound.”

—I trust neither the Demonic Cult nor anyone else. To me, the people of the Central Plains are all the same. Surely you know better than anyone how foolish it is to trust human beings.

“Me?”

—Yes. Someone like you, who can see what others cannot. The Heavenly Demon, I, all of us arrived at the same conclusion.

“Hm.” 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Distrust of people.

A fundamental hostility born from being able to see souls.

I understood what she meant.

More often than not, those who could see such things hated humans more than the spirits—spirits who were cleaner, and more honest in how they moved by instinct.

Because humans were the ones who lied to themselves, betrayed each other, and gave birth to evil ghosts.

Most of the ones I had known were like that.

But—

“Forgive me, but don’t lump me in with the rest.”

—What?

“I don’t dislike humans very much.”

There were some I despised.

But I did not hate humanity itself.

My grandson.

Grandmother had once told me that.

Do not hate people. If you must hate something, then hate the circumstances that turned them wicked.

Do not hate people.

It was a funny thing to say.

Even those circumstances were made by people, so how was I supposed not to hate people?

That had been my question when I was young.

Now, though, it was different.

Not that I had fully understood.

More that I had come to accept it.

You lived.

And kept living.

And at some point, that was simply what happened.

—...Perhaps you still have too little soot on you.

“No. I’m blackened past saving. I just burned a little differently.”

This time, I smiled.

And with that, the need to keep talking had diminished a little.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

—One more thing?

“That thing you said earlier.”

—Earlier?

“You said I didn’t look like I had the power to do something like that.”

The part where she said I couldn’t do what the Heavenly Demon had done.

That came back to me.

—And why bring that up?

“Because I think you’ve got the wrong idea. I thought I’d correct you.”

The reason I could stand here in front of Bow Ghost without flinching.

I reached out toward her.

At the same time, I loosened the ring wrapped around my heart ever so slightly.

Tap.

—...What?

My hand touched Bow Ghost’s body, which was closer to spirit than flesh.

The instant her eyes widened—

“Sorry, but—”

WOOOOOOOONG—!!!!

The baleful force erupting from my soul pierced straight through Bow Ghost.

“If it had really been me, it wouldn’t have ended with something that mild.”

BOOOOM—!!!

—...!!!!

Bow Ghost’s body shook violently.

Appearing before me in spirit form—

That had been her mistake.

Because I—

If it wasn’t a human, but a ghost...

Could toy with even a god.