Chapter 1179

Bow Saint reacted at once.

As if she’d expected it, she kicked off the ground and retreated. At the same moment, she thrust a palm wreathed in white Force toward the source of the sound.

Boom!

A blinding flash engulfed the sand dune where she had stood alone.

No, there were two of them now.

An uninvited guest had arrived.

How could I make such a mistake…?

Normally, she could keep track of everything within twenty-odd zhang¹ without even drawing on her internal energy. Yet she hadn’t noticed an enemy approaching until they were within a dozen zhang¹. Bow Saint bit her lip.

She’d been too deep in thought. Her heart was more unsettled than ever, and that had surely played a part.

But none of it excused her carelessness. Not here in Xinjiang.

If there were two consolations, the first was that the enemy’s stealth technique was worse than she’d expected. The second was…

“Gwaaah!”

With a strangled scream, the enemy flew into the distance and landed with a wet smack. The back of the figure sprawled there looked rather familiar.

More familiar still was the dreadful stench that had come barging in ahead of him like a thief.

…That smell.

As an archer, Bow Saint had eyesight second to none. This time, she hadn’t needed it. Her nose had recognized him first.

The stench was so awful she feared smelling it in her dreams. She wondered how she had failed to notice it until now.

Suppressing a wave of nausea, Bow Saint watched the uninvited guest groan and get to his feet.

“Why are you here?”

There was a trace of suspicion in her voice.

Then, as always, he left her dumbfounded.

“Gah! An enemy! It’s Dark Heaven!”

“…”

“Reveal your mask and take off your identity! How dare you ambush this lady! Do you not fear the Lord of Heaven?”

Bow Saint couldn’t hold back any longer. She spoke up, stunned from beginning to end.

“You’ve got it backward.”

“What?”

“You take off a mask, not your identity.”

He wasn’t wearing a mask, either, but she saw no point in explaining that. Even if she went through his mistakes one by one, he’d forget by tomorrow—no, within a shichen.²

That man, who referred to himself as “this lady” without a second thought, was Great Sir.

At least he knows Dark Heaven is the enemy.

Bow Saint sighed inwardly. Just then, Great Sir finally recognized her, and his eyes widened.

“Wait, why are you here, Young Lady?”

“First, I’m not young enough to be called that. Second, that’s my question for you. I already asked it.”

She added quietly, “And I still haven’t heard an answer.”

The Force around her hand had vanished without a trace, but appearances could be deceiving. Several jiazi’s³ worth of internal energy continued to circulate within her, faster and more quietly than before, ready to unleash its full power whenever she wished.

One mistake was enough. If she’d made the same mistake twice, she would neither be known as Bow Saint nor have survived the Great Faction War.

“I thought you were supposed to scout somewhere else. Am I mistaken?”

Bow Saint held on to her suspicion.

They called him Great Sir for convenience, but he was an eccentric whose true identity no one knew. Great Sir himself could barely keep his mind straight. How could anyone else know who he was?

He remembered neither his name nor his past. Even when the Fire King, Jeok Cheongang, had declared, “This’ll bring back memories from before you were born,” and treated him to a thorough pummeling, nothing had changed.

There was only one thing Bow Saint knew for certain about him: he had inherited the martial arts of an orthodox sect.

His internal energy is undoubtedly pure. But that alone isn’t enough to put me at ease.

Most of the traitors recruited by Dark Heaven had belonged to orthodox factions. The Murong Family, one of the Five Great Families, had been rotten from its roots. What mattered wasn’t the martial art but the heart of the person who practiced it.

Besides, Great Sir is a Supreme Peak master. I came across information about him while I was staying at the Imperial Palace, but… no one ever managed to establish what he’d done in the past.

Even so, she hadn’t objected when he joined their group, for two reasons.

First, though he’d joined them late, Great Sir had risked his life alongside them in Gansu and Qinghai. They had built a fair measure of trust by now.

Second, even if he was a hidden blade planted by Dark Heaven, he posed no threat to them now.

As far as Bow Saint could tell, Great Sir had only just entered the Supreme Peak realm. An extraordinary achievement in its own right, but compared with the rest of their group, only was fair.

Too blunt to be a hidden blade. Too careless to be a spy.

That was why she’d kept him close. She understood so little about him that, even now, she couldn’t quite let go of her faint suspicion.

Great Sir stared blankly at her for a moment, then suddenly clapped his hands.

“Oh, right! I came here because of you, Young Lady.”

“What do you mean?”

“About half an hour ago, I finished scouting the area like I was told and went back to the carriage. I hadn’t even sat down before I got kicked out again.”

His voice had been half tearful. Now he lowered it.

“You know the fellow with the bright red beard and the temper to match? What was his name?”

“…Great Hero Jeok Cheongang?”

“Great Hero, my foot. If that man’s a Great Hero, then this lady’s a fairy. Anyway, he was furious and told me to hurry up and find you. Sounded like something important had happened.”

Bow Saint felt the tension go out of her.

“What’s this important thing?”

“How should I know? I told you, I didn’t even get to sit down. And after coming all this way, I got hit by your palm without a shred of mercy!”

“Sorry. I mistook you for an enemy.”

Great Sir was stamping his feet, apparently growing angrier as he spoke. Bow Saint calmed him, then slowly settled her internal energy.

She’d have to check his story when they got back, but he didn’t seem to be lying.

At least, not here and now.

“But what were you thinking about so deeply? You looked so cheerful from behind that I was going to call out, but I held back. That’s why you mistook me for an enemy, I suppose.”

Caught off guard yet again by his bizarre words, Bow Saint let out a quiet laugh.

“Did I really look cheerful?”

“You did. Standing there alone in the faint moonlight, you looked so bright and full of life… Hm. Did I get that wrong?”

“No, you’re right. What else?”

“You seemed to be muttering something, but I couldn’t make it out. Your voice was too quiet.”

That was a relief. It hadn’t been anything too serious, but it wasn’t something she wanted anyone else to hear.

It was her secret. No one could know it. And yet, someday, she would have to make a choice.

But Great Sir wasn’t finished.

“Who were you thinking about?”

Her foot stopped in midair as she was about to step forward. Slowly, she lowered it until it pressed into the sand.

“What do you mean?”

Bow Saint tried to keep her voice steady. Great Sir studied her.

His mind might be as clouded as an overcast sky, but his eyes were as clear and bright as a midsummer day.

“I don’t know, either. But… you were definitely missing someone. And you were suffering at the same time.”

“…!”

For an instant, Bow Saint’s eyes trembled.

His voice seemed to cut through her thoughts like a blade. Yet it wasn’t simply painful. It felt like cold water washing a wound left to fester far too long.

Perhaps that was why her lips, which had seemed sealed forever, suddenly parted.

Perhaps it was because the only person with her in this lonely desert beneath the dim moon was an eccentric who had forgotten his own name and would remember nothing by tomorrow.

Or perhaps that was all just an excuse.

“That’s right.”

“I knew it! What do you think of this lady’s eye for people?”

Great Sir looked as delighted as a child. Bow Saint laughed softly—a genuine laugh that would have startled anyone else in their group.

“You were right. So right I almost wondered if you were the same person I’ve known all this time.”

“It comes from experience. I don’t remember much, but I think I was quite popular in my younger days—with men and women, young and old. Anyway, who is it? This person you miss?”

“It’s a secret.”

“A secret? I like that.”

Great Sir rubbed his palms together eagerly and asked, “Were you in love with him?”

After a moment’s silence, Bow Saint shook her head.

“I respected and admired him. Like everyone else.”

“Oh, dear. It seems you never told him how you felt. What a shame.”

“I told you, that isn’t it.”

“Words are only words. When words and actions differ, the actions are the truth. You hesitated just now.”

“…!”

“Hesitation always leads to regret. And regret can sometimes lead to the wrong choice. But everyone has a chance to choose. You may not be able to gather up every drop of spilled water, but you can wipe it away.”

Was this what it felt like to have ice-cold water poured over her?

As though waking from a brief dream, Bow Saint stared at him with wide eyes.

“You…”

She wanted to ask who he really was, and how an eccentric like him could speak with such profound insight.

But before she could finish, Great Sir leaned in and whispered.

“So confess before it’s too late. Soon—no, today would be best.”

“What?”

“Oh, don’t take me for a fool. This lady knew it all along. You’re deeply interested in that ill-tempered man’s Disciple.”

For a moment, Bow Saint couldn’t make sense of what he’d said. Then she managed to speak.

“…You mean Jin Taekyung?”

“Of course I—hm. You said it was a secret. I’ll keep that part to myself.”

“…”

“There’s no need to be embarrassed. Just go for it. It’ll be a relief! Sure, that fellow’s good at martial arts and comes from a good family, but you’ve got nothing to envy there. I hear your family’s Escort Bureau is doing well, too.”

That explained everything. Even why a man old enough to be her son had been calling her Young Lady.

Bow Saint squeezed her eyes shut. She forced down a great many thoughts and feelings before answering.

“That isn’t me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I heard it from someone and everything… Hm?”

Great Sir stopped. He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve, then regarded her with sudden gravity.

“Why are you here, heroine?”

“…!”

“Oh, right. That ill-tempered man—no, Great Hero Jeok told me to bring you over.”

With the composure of a Bodhisattva⁴ on the verge of enlightenment, Bow Saint replied, “Let’s go. Now, please. I won’t even ask what’s so important.”

“I’m curious myself.”

But Bow Saint never reached true enlightenment. At Great Sir’s next words, she felt the thread of her reason snap.

“I wonder if something’s happened. Jin Taekyung was looking for you, too. He seemed full of energy after sleeping for a whole month.”

Bow Saint stood frozen like a statue as Great Sir ambled away.

He glanced toward the far side of the still-clouded sky and murmured, too softly for Bow Saint to hear through the hundred and eight afflictions⁵ crowding her mind.

“A downpour’s coming.”