The Teacher’s Grace Is Like Heaven

14 – The Netherworld (3)

Yeon-ah, do you remember that day?

* * *

Red eyes, colored with hatred, fixed on him. The old man laughed bitterly.

I never wanted such intense attention. How did it come to this, perhaps because I was not good enough. If only I had been better as a teacher. If I had been more observant…….

Then, none of this would have happened. The old man stretched out his hand. The sword that had fallen so far was now in his hand.

But he does not lament. He does not regret. Just doing the best he could in the time he had.

His eyes turned to her. She found herself averting her gaze. For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to continue to look into those eyes that were so straightforward.

“Don’t look at me like that!!!”

It was a blood-curdling scream, or perhaps just a scream of shame, and she forced herself to her feet.

Already stretched to the limit, her body creaked like a wooden doll, but she didn’t care. I must kill it now.

If I don’t, something will break! Kill it! Kill it! Tear off its arms! Cut off its ankles! Slit its throat and take its spinal cord!

The murderous voice kept echoing in her head, and she gave in to it, as she always did. She opened her eyes.

The ever-present darkness was in front of her. She could see nothing. She felt no warmth. She was always alone.

No one understood me, and I could not speak to anyone. Such is the karma of a thousand lives. Only it understood me.

‘What are you waiting for?! Kill him at once! He’s just an old man!’

In the darkness, with no one around, she was alone. But there was nothing wrong with that.

So, instead, she rejected the light, rejected the warmth, rejected the touch. She rejected the touch that was offered. I was afraid of losing it.

‘An ominous sign. That something like that came from my body.”

“Don’t look! Don’t turn your head this way!”

‘…….’

She chose to live strictly alone, so she could perform the karma of a thousand deaths without any guilt, because she was alone in the first place.There was no one to mourn when he was dead, not even himself! It was like that from the beginning, always like that. Cursed, dreaded, monster, monster, monster.

“What’s with the eyes?”

“Can’t we just kill him? Why do we have to eat him?”

“Our boss’s taste is for children, so we’ll have to sacrifice him.”

“I’m sure he’ll just rip his head off.”

‘…….’

Even his parents turned away. Even the woman-hungry animals called her ominous. Everyone threw stones at her. No one offered her a hand.

I understand. I thought I was ominous, too, because I was. A monster with the karma of a thousand deaths, because that was her karma.

‘She’s certainly talented, but…… she’s a bit reluctant.’

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‘Hmm, let’s keep some distance.’

‘…….’

Even the Muriel didn’t fully accept her. Of course, her talent was immense, and they outwardly honored her,

but many were jealous and envious of her reluctance. Most shunned her. Even in the forest, she always stood alone.

‘You, you are the problem, without you……! Without monsters like you!!!’

‘Don’t be so resentful. It’s just what our Sovereign Lord wants.’

‘If you die obediently, we’ll give you more than that in the afterlife.’

And when envy and jealousy explode, this is what happens. She would kill the being herself and remove it from her sight, but she did not resent it.

Rather, she smiled. It felt like a decade’s worth of weight had been lifted, and her red eyes soon sparkled with joy.

“You brought this on yourselves.”

I couldn’t help it. He’d had enough of those excuses. He had simply enjoyed killing people too much.

It’s just as well, isn’t it, I’ve become the monster they said I was, and now the apostles of justice will come and slit my throat.

If so, I’ll gladly become a monster and kill people. With that, he let go of the last of his reason. I have killed countless people.

Still, she was alone, and no one understood. And it was the same now. It must have been.

“Indeed, that was the problem.”

Out of the darkness, where no one else entered, came a voice, but it was not the voice that had always spoken to her.

Finally, she could look up. A young man stood before her. A young man with black hair and a strong body.

Nothing about him had changed. He looked the same as he did the day he saved her from the bandits, she said.

“Uh, how did I get here…….”

“I didn’t get here by myself.”

“?!”

Someone was holding her hand, a hand she thought no one had ever held before. The warmth that flowed from hand to hand was very warm.

But it was not unfamiliar; she had felt it before.

“I am not here,” the middle-aged man answered. “From the beginning, I have been here.”

“……!!!”

“Only now do you see me.”

The middle-aged man, full of wrinkles and graying hair, was now a gaunt old man. At the same time, she saw.

countless nails in his chest. They were nails as thick as her forearms, and she wondered what they were.

The Master, now an old man, finally drew his sword. But even then, he did not release his grip. He continued to hold it.

It contained no description, and no form appeared. But, nevertheless, it carried the weight of a mountain.

The sword of Mount Taishan, a man with nothing, who stuck to a single path. A sword that has no brother, a sword that can overwhelm any brother.

無形劍

無形劍

Something has been cut with certainty. Something was torn away, that’s what it felt like, but it didn’t hurt. Rather, it was a pleasant sensation.

Bi Yan blinked. The so-called demon had completely disappeared. And in front of her, the old man had lost his grip on the sword.

He had let go of the sword he had never let go of before.

“Master! Master, wake up, Master!”

“Do not be sad. It’s just time to go.”

“Why? Why did you have to do this to me……!!!”

Even if it was true blood. There are countless people who are unworthy of blood relatives.

They weren’t even true blood relatives, just a vague relationship between master and disciple. It was just a vague relationship between master and disciple that was unilaterally cut off by one party.

But he was always thinking of his pupil. He wrote to him again and again, visited him in person, and then, at the end, it happened.

I couldn’t understand. Why? Why? How could he do this? But then she realized the answer. Something covered her head.

It was the hand of a scrawny old man. Rough and scarred, it stroked her hair. The old man smiled and answered.

“How can a master triumph over a pupil?”

It felt like a thunderbolt had struck him in the head, and he thought it was a lame excuse. At first, I thought the ugly excuse was ugly.

But it’s true. He said that there is no parent in this world who can win over a child. If you really think of it as a child, if you really love it, then you will be able to fulfill it…….

Even if that bastard is a thousand year old demon. Even if that child is a thousand-year-old demon. She would continue to worry.

A hand came up to her body, a place no one had ever touched before, a place she was reluctant to touch. She hated touching herself. It was like being a child again, and she hated it.

But the Master’s first touch, so crude, was warm and reassuring. Soon, something began to flow from his eyes.

“You have nothing to fear. All your sins are due to my immorality.”

“What are you talking about, how is it your fault?”

“I will take all your sins. So…… do what you think is right.”

“……Master?”

There was a shout, but the old man heard nothing. He had already accomplished what he wanted, so there was no need for regret.

“My dear child, you have been a treasure to me above all others.

You certainly don’t remember that day. Slaying a band of bandits, as any good warrior would do.

But for me, it was something more special than anything else. I had not made a name for myself as a martial artist, nor had I achieved anything.

Taking you on as a pupil was, at first, merely out of compassion.

But as I watched you grow, I was proud of you, even though I had nothing to show for it. But it didn’t matter, as long as I could see you grow.

Do you remember that day, my dear, do you remember it?

If you do, forget it now, for the memory of it is the greatest pain of all for you.

I’ll take all the bad with me.

So…… may you only remember the good from now on.