Chapter 991

Whenever I lost consciousness or fell into a deep sleep, I found myself caught up in some kind of dream. It was nothing unusual anymore.

Someone once said dreams were a window into the mind. Worries I hadn’t managed to shake and memories that still lingered would mix together and surface as the illusion we called a dream.

Everything in this world had a cause or a reason. Dreams were no different.

Right.

That had to be true.

At least, as far as I knew.

But then why…

Why am I having this dream?

I blinked slowly. My vision was a blur.

Everything was hazy.

Unlike my other dreams, which had been horrifyingly vivid, I couldn’t even make out the illusions around me.

Then someone spoke, and I finally understood why I felt so groggy.

“Looks like you’re awfully sleepy, little guy.”

Sleepy.

As the realization sank in, I lifted my head.

No—my head lifted might be more accurate.

The blinking of my eyes, the movement of my head, even the voice slipping between my lips now—none of it was under my control.

“Yeah. I’m sleepy.”

The voice sounded muffled, as though I were underwater, but one thing was clear.

I was a child.

Young enough that hearing myself whine didn’t feel strange at all.

That answered one question, but another took its place.

Who was the unfamiliar man indulging the child’s whining?

I’ve never heard his voice before.

A voice wasn’t an ID card. I couldn’t expect to recognize someone the instant I heard him. Still, anyone who appeared in my dreams ought to be familiar to me.

But everything here was strange. The voice coming through the haze. The scene playing out slowly, like a TV screen full of static.

Then I heard the child speak again through lips that weren’t mine, and I understood where that strangeness came from.

“Dad. Can I go to sleep?”

If I’d been able to speak of my own accord, I would have groaned.

What I’d just realized was that startling—and that hard to understand.

Dad?

No. That couldn’t be.

I could turn the oldest drawer of my memories upside down and shake it, and I still wouldn’t find a memory like this.

The faint memory I had of my father’s voice sounded nothing like the man I was hearing now.

Which meant this was—

Not my memory.

Just then, an inexplicable chill ran down my spine.

Then the unfamiliar man the child had called Dad spoke close to my ear.

“Have a good dream, my son.”

A warm hand stroked my hair. His voice was gentle.

As my vision plunged into darkness, the man’s final word echoed faintly.

“…a.”

It was faint, but I’d heard it clearly.

A father speaking to his son. Calling him by name.

And at that moment, my thoughts ground to a halt with the shock of something I’d never expected.

Fwoosh.

Light poured down from beyond the pitch-black darkness, wrapping around the child lost in deep sleep.

No—around me.

If someone asked me what I usually saw first when I regained consciousness, I’d say the ceiling.

Or Hyuk Mujin, snoring in a corner under the pretense of standing guard. Or Jeok Cheongang’s face as he waited by my side for me to wake.

This time, it was none of those.

“Hah… hah…”

I sprang upright and gasped for breath.

Was this what it felt like to be on the verge of suffocating?

My newly regained vision wavered like melting candle wax. Voices from every direction thundered in my ears.

“Medicine King…! Come here! Hurry!”

“…tain, Captain!”

“What the hell…!”

Was I still dreaming? Or was this real?

I couldn’t tell. I kept batting away the hands reaching for me, acting on instinct through the confusion.

Then someone seized my shoulder.

Even in the middle of all that, I could feel the strength in that hand with perfect clarity.

It hurt a little, but an unfamiliar warmth came through that hand, too.

Shaa…

My rigid body slowly relaxed.

Only then did I realize whose energy was flowing along the acupoint pathways known to just two people in this vast world—the Extreme Yang qi flowing through me.

“…Old Master.”

I let the words out with the breath I’d been holding. A voice I knew all too well answered.

“Stay just as you are for a moment. Just a moment.”

I closed my eyes as Jeok Cheongang told me to.

I reminded myself that this place I was in was real, not an illusion, and slowly calmed my heart, which was pounding without pause.

How much time passed like that?

After a while, I opened my eyes to a world that was quiet and clear.

And to a familiar face watching me with concern.

“You fool. Are you finally coming around?”

I hesitated before answering his abrupt question.

“More or less.”

“So not quite.”

“Could you hit me hard once?”

“What?”

“Just once. Don’t hold back at all. Put your whole heart into it.”

“……”

“Please.”

At my solemn request, Jeok Cheongang sighed and raised his fist.

“Fine.”

Whoosh.

White flames sprang up around his tightly clenched fist.

As I watched him prepare to fire off a move from the Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist without further discussion, I spoke calmly.

“Wow, that’s hot.”

“What kind of nonsense is that? The Fire Gate Clan’s martial arts have always been hot.”

“If I can feel the heat, I think I’ve definitely come to my senses.”

Jeok Cheongang shook his head.

“Doesn’t look like it to me.”

“On second thought, I think I’m all right.”

“You said to put my whole heart into it.”

“Not to this extent.”

“Weren’t you the one who asked?”

“If you were going to take me that seriously, you should’ve refused three times first. Isn’t that only polite?”

“You lunatic. Do you think I’m Zhuge Cheongang?¹ Quit flapping that mouth and brace yourself.”

Despite his words, Jeok Cheongang lowered his fist. He flicked his hand, and a water bottle on the bedside table shot toward me.

“What are you waiting for? Drink.”

“Thank you.”

I drained the full bottle without stopping for breath.

The cold water ran down my parched throat. At last, I felt like I could breathe again.

“Whew.”

“Well? Can you tell whether you’re dreaming or awake now?”

“More or less.”

At the same answer I’d given before, Jeok Cheongang clenched his fist again.

“And now?”

“…Wow, I’m awake! Definitely awake! The whole world is beautiful! I’m so happy to be alive!”

“Good. You’re finally back to the reckless little brat I know.”

“Was I not a moment ago?”

“Do you really have to ask? You woke up and immediately started thrashing around like you couldn’t tell up from down, so I sent everyone else out.”

“Hmm.”

Now that I thought about it, that did sound familiar.

I’d been overwhelmed with confusion and had instinctively fought off the hands trying to hold me.

Besides, the proof was right in front of me.

“What a mess.”

I muttered as I looked at the fragments scattered everywhere, their original forms lost. Jeok Cheongang nodded emphatically in agreement.

“A hell of a mess.”

“Did I do this, too?”

“Half right, half wrong.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Your eldest brother was the one who made a scene. Built like a mountain, bawling his eyes out and insisting he couldn’t leave. I had no choice but to deal with him myself.”

I stared at Jeok Cheongang, eyes wide.

“Did you kill him?”

“Want me to kill you first?”

“No. I’m joking.”

“I’m not.”

“Oh.”

A long time ago, I would’ve clutched my ass like it came with built-in dynamite and started counting down. Not anymore.

I gave a quiet laugh instead of answering. Jeok Cheongang clicked his tongue.

“Damn it. Now you really do think I’m worth less than dirt.”

“Come on, you’re sulking again. You know that’s not true.”

“Know what, my ass. More importantly… what caused this?”

The question came with a brief pause, his voice trailing off.

I opened my mouth, feeling the sweat that had soaked my back.

“It was just a dream.”

“What sort of nightmare?”

“No, it wasn’t exactly a nightmare… I don’t know. It was a strange dream. I can’t really describe it.”

Even as I answered, an odd feeling crept over me. I frowned.

What is it?

It felt strangely familiar.

But the sudden sense of déjà vu vanished when Jeok Cheongang spoke again, his voice grave.

“Tell me more. That nightmare could be a trace of the Heart Demon lurking inside you.”

I pushed aside my brief hesitation and answered.

“I don’t think so. It was a memory.”

“An unhappy memory can leave a trace of the Heart Demon, too. I’ve seen people trapped by their past until it destroyed them.”

I knew what Jeok Cheongang was worried about.

In modern terms, it was something like trauma.

For a Murim martial artist to break past their limits and reach the highest realms, powerful internal energy and martial arts weren’t enough.

They also needed the mental enlightenment gained through cultivating the mind.

Whether their path was good or evil, they had to reach an understanding of their own to keep walking it.

And for those who had begun that training, an unhealed illness of the mind could be devastating.

Like Old Master suffering from the infirmities of old age after losing Jopil. No—Jangcheon.

So Jeok Cheongang’s concern wasn’t an overreaction.

The world knew the Fire King Jeok Cheongang for a temper like hellfire. But inside him lay the caution and wisdom honed over many long years.

This time, though, I could answer him without hesitation.

“It’s not the Heart Demon.”

Jeok Cheongang’s expression hardened. I met his gaze and slowly continued.

“Because the memory I saw in the dream wasn’t mine to begin with.”

“What do you mean, it wasn’t yours?”

I swallowed a trembling breath.

And I remembered the man’s voice, faintly reaching the child as he fell into a deep sleep in that hazy dream.

No—the voice of another father.

“Have a good dream, my son… Taekyung.”

It was my memory, and at the same time, the memory of someone I could only call you.

Jin Taekyung, Third Young Master of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.

The Shame of the Family, and the original owner of this body.