SYM 88

The first thing he felt was strangeness.

To face the past self that he had possessed. It was a different feeling than facing a mirror.

The surroundings were dark and the distance was quite far, but Eun-hyeon was sure that it was his body.

“…Wait a moment.”

Cheong-un darted towards ‘it’. Leaving Eun-hyeon behind. By the time Eun-hyeon reached out his hand, Cheong-un’s Divine Shadow was already far ahead.

Seeing that, Eun-hyeon bit his lip.

Cheong-un probably left him behind on purpose, thinking he might be in danger. Amhon were already guarding Eun-hyeon, so there was nothing to worry about.

“Un-ah…”

If he had to pick the one person here who needed the least amount of worry, it would be Cheong-un. Who would dare to harm the leader of the Demonic Sect, the one who received the title of Cheonma?

Cheong-un’s body, which had reached the realm of immunity to all poisons, could not be harmed by poison, and The Heavenly Demon’s Martial Arts could be called the best in the Martial World.

Then why was his stomach churning with such anxiety?

Eun-hyeon glared at the direction Cheong-un had run. He had a strange feeling that he shouldn’t leave Cheong-un alone like this.

Eun-hyeon started running. The more he moved his legs, the greater his anxiety grew.

He wasn’t running that fast, but he was already out of breath. The sound of air escaping from his weak throat leaked out.

“Damn it.”

Eun-hyeon stopped for a moment, caught his breath, and started running again.

It didn’t seem that far when he looked at it, but when he actually ran, it felt quite far.

Sweat flowed from his forehead, and his heavy legs moved as if faltering. Eun-hyeon was barely able to reach the place where he could see Cheong-un.

Cheong-un was standing in front of a white stone bridge.

Seeing Cheong-un’s large, sturdy back, he finally let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that nothing had happened yet.

Eun-hyeon didn’t know how powerful Cheong-un was, but there weren’t many leaders in the Demonic Sect who had received the title of Cheonma. He guessed that Cheong-un alone could destroy a decent clan.

Cheong-un knew he was here, but he didn’t turn around.

He slyly tilted his head to the side, trying to see his old body standing on the bridge, but it was hidden by Cheong-un’s bulk.

It sounded like someone was talking, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Cheong-un stood still, looking only ahead.

In the end, Eun-hyeon couldn’t stand it and approached Cheong-un.

“…Un-ah!”

Eun-hyeon had no doubt that Cheong-un would always answer when he called him. But no answer came back from Cheong-un. Eun-hyeon was quite embarrassed to see Cheong-un’s lack of response.

Could it be that he didn’t answer because he called him Un? He was in the form of Ha Yeo-un now, so maybe he didn’t answer because he called him Un so familiarly?

“Ha, Great Hero Ha?”

He wondered if he wasn’t answering because of the title, so he changed it to Great Hero Ha, but still no answer came back. No, not only that. Cheong-un stood still in that straight posture.

Eun-hyeon ran to the front of Cheong-un. His heart was pounding wildly. Even though he had come right in front of Cheong-un, Cheong-un did not look at Eun-hyeon.

“Un-ah…”

He grabbed Cheong-un’s arm and whispered softly. Then he turned his head and looked at the bridge.

“…”

Eun-hyeon couldn’t say anything for a moment.

As he got closer, he could clearly see the face of the person he had only glimpsed from afar. It was Seo Eun-hyeon, the Taoist of the Kunlun Sect that he had first possessed.

In an instant, a complex emotion that was difficult to express in a single word surged up. Nostalgia for facing his past self, anger at facing him in this form, and suspicion about the other person’s identity were all mixed up.

Seo Eun-hyeon and Namgung Eun-hyeon had different appearances, so he couldn’t call them doppelgangers, but Eun-hyeon felt like he was facing himself.

They say you die if you meet a doppelganger. Facing something that looked like his old self made him feel an unknown ominous feeling.

He couldn’t see well enough to say for sure, but Seo Eun-hyeon seemed to be smiling at him. At that moment, a creepy sensation that was hard to describe spread all over his body.

…Smiling.

What on earth was that?

When he first heard that someone who looked like his past self was walking around, he thought it might just be someone who looked alike.

But it wasn’t. That was definitely Seo Eun-hyeon.

How could Seo Eun-hyeon be alive and moving? Did the real Seo Eun-hyeon in this world come back after he died?

Eun-hyeon clenched his fist tightly in anxiety. He tried to come to his senses, feeling the pain of his nails digging into his palm.

If the real Seo Eun-hyeon had found his body and returned, what should he do?

According to the original story, he would have ill feelings towards Cheong-un.

But now, all the stories were over and Cheong-un had become Cheonma.

An extra villain who appeared briefly at the beginning and then disappeared could not possibly do anything to Cheong-un.

But what if he had all of his memories as well…?

Just thinking about it made cold sweat run down his back.

Or that Seo Eun-hyeon could be an Undead controlled by the Hongbaek Sect.

Undead generally had no reason, but he had seen that the Undead of the Hongbaek Sect could already communicate with each other. Undead that imitated humans could also be possible.

He couldn’t jump to any conclusions.

In a short moment, countless possibilities flashed through Eun-hyeon’s mind.

In any case, it was clear that he had to catch that Seo Eun-hyeon.

At that time, Seo Eun-hyeon, who was standing on the bridge, suddenly turned around and started running.

Eun-hyeon was surprised and unknowingly tried to go up to the bridge as well.

At that moment, Cheong-un’s hand quickly snatched Eun-hyeon’s waist.

“Uh…!”

Seo Eun-hyeon moved at an amazing speed and disappeared into the darkness in an instant.

Eun-hyeon frowned at the fact that he had missed Seo Eun-hyeon in front of his eyes, and then belatedly realized that it was Cheong-un who had caught him.

“Ah, Un-ah! That guy is running away! Shouldn’t we chase him?”

“…It’s okay for now.”

Eun-hyeon turned his head to Cheong-un and opened his mouth slightly. Cheong-un’s eyes were red with burst blood vessels, and his lips were tightly closed.

Eun-hyeon examined Cheong-un’s pale face.

Over the current face, the face of Cheong-un from his childhood, who had hidden to escape the pursuit of the Demonic Sect, overlapped.

“What happened? Is your body not feeling well? Or, did that… guy do something to you?”

Eun-hyeon almost bit his tongue when he said that guy.

Cheong-un didn’t say anything and just looked at Eun-hyeon before shaking his head.

“No… Nothing happened. It’s just that seeing Master’s appearance after a long time seems to have surprised me a little.”

…Master.

Since the person from before had Seo Eun-hyeon’s body, it wasn’t wrong to call him Master. But when he used the title Master to refer to something other than himself, he felt a strange displeasure.

Eun-hyeon forced his face, which was about to frown, to smooth out and looked at Cheong-un.

“Un-ah… Did that guy say anything strange to you just now? I don’t know what that guy said, but that guy is not the one you remember. The words that guy said have nothing to do with you.”

Cheong-un was silent for a moment. He pressed his eyes as if he was tired and then sighed.

“Yes… I know. I know it well. It seems like we’ve had enough of the Night market, so let’s go back.”

Cheong-un hugged Eun-hyeon without saying anything else. Eun-hyeon carefully hugged Cheong-un’s neck in return.

Cheong-un lightly kicked off the ground. And in an instant, the view changed.

It wasn’t the first time he had been carried by Cheong-un, but something felt uncomfortable today.

Swish, swish.

Eun-hyeon closed his eyes, leaning his head against Cheong-un’s chest, feeling the air rushing past him.

Cheong-un’s heartbeat felt a little faster than usual.

He felt like an ominous something was coiling beneath his feet.