Chapter 127: A Suspicious Place
A flame...?
The moment I heard that word, an old line surfaced in my mind.
逐靑雲而行, 歷神妙之焰而歸.
Following the Azure Cloud, I went forth, and returned after passing through a mysterious flame.
The final line left behind by Immortal Yeonha.
The one Elder Hyeoneom had shown me.
And almost at the same time, another memory surfaced.
The vision I'd seen while unconscious.
True Immortal Cheongun.
Heavenly Demon Dokgo Cheonyul.
I had clearly heard it during their confrontation.
The final Flow.
Cheongun had said that Dokgo Cheonyul possessed it.
All of those thoughts overlapped at once with the single word...
flame.
I stopped walking and turned toward Goeong.
“Goeong! What do you mean by a flame?! Tell me more!”
My voice had apparently come out much louder than I'd intended.
Goeong's eyes widened, and he shrank back.
“S-Scary. Mujin sounds angry.”
“Ah.”
I immediately steadied my breathing and lowered my voice.
“Goeong. I'm not angry.”
“I'm just curious, that's all.”
“R-Really? B-But....”
Goeong moved his lips as though he wanted to say something...
then stopped.
He looked uncertain whether he should speak.
At that moment—
“What are you doing?”
Yeom Yuhwa, who had been leading the way, turned around.
Her face was cold as ice.
“Why does the Elder look like that?”
Getting out of here comes first.
I could talk to Goeong again later.
Right now...
leaving the stone chamber took priority.
“It's nothing.”
I gestured ahead.
“Let's keep moving.”
Yeom Yuhwa still looked suspicious.
I turned back to Goeong.
“Goeong.”
“If it's hard to talk about right now, think about it slowly and tell me later.”
Relief appeared on his face.
“O-Okay. Goeong will think more.”
Only then did his expression relax.
The fear and anxiety from moments ago disappeared...
and his usual innocent smile returned.
Once Goeong brightened, Yeom Yuhwa's icy expression softened a little as well.
Though her eyes toward me remained cold.
“...Then continue following me.”
Yeom Yuhwa turned forward again.
Goeong and I followed behind her.
Even after leaving the stone chamber...
the passage continued for quite some distance.
It looked like an ancient cave that had been buried for years.
Moisture clung to the walls.
Sharp stalactites protruded from the ceiling like blades.
Every footstep echoed heavily.
After walking for some time...
we finally reached a dead-end wall.
Yeom Yuhwa stopped.
Then she turned and tossed something toward me.
I caught it reflexively.
A black face covering.
She said,
“The Elder should wear one as well.”
“Please help him put it on.”
I nodded and looked toward Goeong.
“Goeong. You need to wear this over your face too.”
He accepted it, eyes sparkling.
“Huh?! Are we playing masks now?! Goeong likes it!”
I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
I'd expected him to make things difficult...
but fortunately, he seemed to think wearing a mask was another game.
Once it was on, he kept grinning at me.
“How is it? Does Goeong look cool?”
“Yeah.”
“Very cool.”
“Hehehe! I knew it!”
A moment later, Yeom Yuhwa spoke.
“If you're ready, we're going outside now.”
She approached the wall.
Her fingers slowly swept across the stone surface...
then stopped at one particular point.
And—
CLUNK! RRRRRUMBLE!
The wall slid sideways with a deep vibration.
Yeom Yuhwa checked the other side first.
Then spoke briefly.
“Then....”
She disappeared through the opening.
“Goeong. Let's go.”
I crossed through with him.
Whoa.
The moment I saw what was beyond the wall...
I stopped walking.
Another enormous stone chamber stretched before us.
But it was completely different from the place we'd just left.
The first thing that caught my eye was the ceiling.
It rose so high that merely looking up made my neck ache.
And the interior was just as vast.
Several hundred people could fit inside with room to spare.
It was large enough to serve as an armory...
or a massive training ground.
And yet—
Why is it so empty?
A place this large would normally be filled with something.
Weapons.
Furniture.
People.
Anything.
But this chamber wasn't.
The only people inside were me, Goeong, and Yeom Yuhwa.
Just the three of us.
And in the middle of that vast emptiness...
one thing immediately drew my attention.
A raised platform stood deep inside the chamber.
Atop it sat a single black seat.
It had clearly been made for one person.
But it was far too large to be an ordinary chair.
The height.
The backrest.
The armrests.
Everything about it felt exaggerated.
And strangely imposing.
A thought came to me.
This entire chamber felt like it had been built for whoever sat in that seat.
Almost as if the whole space had deliberately been left empty...
for that one place alone.
...What is this place?
I had no idea what it was...
yet the space itself made me feel strangely small.
