Seongheon was plainly burning away his final spark.

And everyone who looked at him felt relief.

Mount Hua’s finest and loftiest plum tree had risen again. They still needed his roots, and they still needed his shade.

Everyone wanted that ancient tree not to fall.

Yes.

He was an ancient tree.

I could feel that in the eyes of the others.

“......”

Sect Master. Sect Master.

Amid the people calling out to him so fervently, I looked at him in silence.

His life force was scattering.

It flowed and spread so far that no hand could ever gather it back in.

Like water pouring through a broken embankment.

His end was already showing itself.

“Heh heh heh.”

Seongheon stroked Yuyeon’s back as she clung to him.

“Why are you making things so hard on this old man?”

Even while laughing breezily, Seongheon was smiling as though he truly liked this.

[That grinning face is ridiculous. He gets one decent disciple and he’s that overjoyed? What a damn spectacle.]

Muttering that, Yoo Cheongil glanced at me.

[...Tch.]

Why are you looking at me?

The way he clicked his tongue was absurd.

Was he expecting me to do that too?

[Don’t say anything so horrifying.]

I’ll pass too.

What nonsense.

There was no way a relationship like that could exist between us.

After Seongheon spent a long while patting Yuyeon on the back—

“My junior brothers.”

Seongheon called for his fellow disciples. The elders.

“Yes, Sect Master.”

“Senior Brother...”

“I’ll hear what happened later, so would you step out for a while?”

“What do you mean by that—!”

“Why would you do that?”

At the elders’ protest, Seongheon looked at me.

Huh?

Just as I wondered why he was looking at me—

“It’s because I have something to discuss with the Moon Hero in private. I ask this of you.”

At the mention that he had something to discuss with me, the elders flinched.

Apparently that was enough.

They slowly backed away and gave us room.

“...Understood.”

“Please take care of yourself...”

The elders withdrew, and the disciples followed, reluctantly making space.

Last of all, Seongheon spoke to Yuyeon, who was still holding him.

“You too.”

“......”

Yuyeon’s face looked the same as always, but unlike her expression, her movements showed clear reluctance.

That was unexpected.

I thought she would listen the moment he said it.

Just as Yuyeon started to step back hesitantly—

“Yuyeon.”

“......”

Seongheon spoke to her.

“Take good care of the sword I gave you.”

“......”

Yuyeon heard that, nodded, and left.

If he meant a sword, then he was talking about the Plum Blossom Governance Sword.

That thought crossed my mind, and then—

Wait.

Something was wrong.

My eyes widened as I looked at Seongheon.

They had to.

The fact that the Plum Blossom Governance Sword had been passed to Yuyeon...

The current Seongheon was not supposed to know that.

It had happened while he was a living spirit.

And yet he knew.

Which meant—

“...Sect Master. Don’t tell me.”

CREEEAK—!

The door shut on its own.

WHOOOOOSH—!!

A barrier spread through the room.

“Sit.”

Energy meant to block sound spread out through the chamber, and Seongheon spoke to me.

Hearing that, I carefully took a seat.

At that contradictory moment, when an uncomfortable kind of ease settled over the room, I asked him first.

“You remember it?”

“I do.”

“......”

He remembered what had happened while he was a living spirit.

At that answer, I paused.

...How does he remember it?

I narrowed my eyes in confusion.

The answer came quickly enough.

And then—

“It seems I truly have reached the end.”

Seongheon himself appeared to know the answer too.

...The quality of his soul as a living spirit and the soul inside his body now aren’t all that different.

If becoming a living spirit happened when his body deteriorated so badly that he lost consciousness—

Then now, his condition had worsened so far that it was not much different from death.

When a human being stood on the edge of death, sometimes that person saw things that should never be seen.

Seongheon’s condition was exactly that.

Then—

“There is much I owe you thanks for. Truly. And so, if ever I had the chance, I wished to do this.”

As Seongheon spoke, he moved.

The moment I saw it, my eyes went wide as lanterns.

“Sect Master...!”

As if it weren’t enough that he lowered his head to me, Seongheon began to bow.

“Please don’t do this.”

I hurried over and tried to stop him, but Seongheon was firm.

“Thank you. For saving Mount Hua, and for doing what this worthless old man could not.”

“No...”

“Thank you...”

“......”

Seongheon would not move.

There was no helping it.

I swallowed and stepped back a little.

Then I returned his bow.

[Hmph.]

With Yoo Cheongil’s scoff in the background, Seongheon and I straightened up at the same time.

“I, Seongheon, Sect Master of Mount Hua, greet my benefactor.”

“......I, Bang Seongyeon of the Blue Moon Sect, greet the Sect Master.”

Only after we finished that belated exchange of courtesies did Seongheon let out a dry laugh.

“There is still something over there that I meant to give you.”

“Something to give me?”

“Yes. Things I was unable to hand over before.”

“......”

I turned my eyes.

At the tip of Seongheon’s finger stood a small box.

“That is...?”

“Will you open it?”

I walked over and picked up the box.

Inside it—

“...!”

There were a couple of books.

This was—

“No way...”

“That’s right.”

The title written on the books was Secret Medical Immortal Manual.

Which meant—

“They are what my other name left behind.”

They were books containing the Medical Immortal’s techniques.

“...Ah... but why are you giving this to me?”

Why give this to me?

I was bewildered.

Ah, wait.

“Surely you’re not telling me to learn it.”

Was he telling me to study this and inherit the Medical Immortal’s legacy?

That was truly impossible.

So I narrowed my eyes and asked, and—

“Ahahaha.”

Seongheon laughed loudly.

“Surely not.”

“Whew...”

Thank God it wasn’t that.

“Then why...?”

Then why was he giving me something like this?

Just as that thought arose—

“There will be a use for it. Though it does not suit me, I lived while building up quite a bit of empty fame. I trust a place to use it will present itself soon enough.”

“......”

That much was true.

Few people in the world didn’t know the Medical Immortal.

This was the medical art of the man said to revive even the dead.

How much money would this fetch if I sold it?

“How would I even know how to use this?”

“It doesn’t matter how you use it. I trust you.”

“......”

He trusted me.

At those words, I clicked my tongue inwardly.

That was the kind of thing I had the hardest time with.

“And.”

Seongheon pointed behind him with his thumb.

“Don’t forget to take what we promised before, either.”

“Our promise?”

“You said you would take it if you defeated my disciple.”

“...Ah.”

Yoo Cheongil’s legacy.

We had fought over that.

Right.

I had forgotten about that part for a moment.

“You may take the black robe whenever you like. But if possible... I hope you can give it to my disciple.”

“So I’m not supposed to sell that one.”

“Ahahaha... Still, shouldn’t at least one decent thing be left behind?”

“......”

“I ask this of you.”

“Yes... I will.”

That much of a favor, I was willing to grant.

Though I didn’t know when I would hand it over.

“Thank you.”

“...It’s nothing.”

That was how my conversation with Seongheon ended.

There was nothing more to say.

Faced with someone whose life was coming to an end—

There were far too few words I could possibly offer.

*****

Beneath the lamp that barely still held its flame, Seongheon spoke as he watched the light gradually dim.

“My disciple.”

“......”

In the now quiet room, Seongheon called softly.

At that, Yuyeon looked at him.

“Did I not say you may go sleep now?”

“......”

Yuyeon shook her head faintly.

She meant she would stay.

“Heh heh. It is hard for a person to sleep when someone is present. Go back now. It is late.”

The day had passed so quickly.

Since morning, people had come and gone to see Seongheon after he awakened.

Everyone prayed for his recovery.

Everyone longed for it.

Since such a calamity had befallen Mount Hua, they wanted him back on his feet as soon as possible, even if it was only a day sooner.

The physician had said it clearly.

This was undoubtedly a miracle.

“If you go and get some sleep, won’t that let this old man recover too?”

“......”

After hearing that, Yuyeon hesitated.

Seongheon smiled as he watched the uncertain movement of her fingertips.

“Ahahaha...”

How long had it been since he had seen this child—so taciturn, so cold—grow this visibly awkward?

A quiet warmth rose inside him.

So Seongheon reached out and grasped Yuyeon’s wrist.

“My disciple.”

The old man called for his spring.

“......”

Only then did that cold spring look toward the shade that had sheltered her.

“Do you remember what this old man said to you?”

Which words did he mean?

That shade had hidden so much from her that she could not point to any one thing.

“Did I not say that this place was cold, and that we should go to spring?”

“......”

She remembered.

It was what he had told her the first ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) time they met.

“Did this place become your spring?”

“......”

Yuyeon nodded.

But—

“It did not.”

Seongheon shook his head instead.

“This place must not become your spring.”

It was not enough.

The spring that would come to Yuyeon could not be something this meager.

My spring—

Even this place, which was everything to him, had to be no more than this.

“I came from a place where plum blossoms bloom.”

Time had been like that.

He had lived and lived, spending all those years in the embrace of plum blossoms.

“I lived buried in their fragrance, and in the end, I too shall fall back into the embrace of plum blossoms.”

He had resolved to live without a single regret.

And yet—

“If there is one small regret in such a life...”

It would be the child before him.

“My disciple.”

My spring.

The spring who had pulled this old man out of the winter he made for himself as he struggled inside it.

“Find your spring.”

He hoped her spring would not be this place.

He wished for spring to bloom in full more than he wished for the greed of an old man.

“......”

Yuyeon gave no answer.

She did not react.

Find your spring.

At those words, someone had already come to her mind.

Not his shade.

And not someone who could truly be called a season.

If anything, winter or autumn would suit him far more than spring.

Yet at the word spring, Yuyeon thought of him.

Her eyes narrowed.

Why had he come to mind now, of all times?

And when he saw the change in her expression, the old man smiled.

“It seems, at least, that you recognized your spring.”

“......”

“Go now. This old man must sleep a little longer if he can. Starting tomorrow, I expect I shall be busy again.”

“......”

“Will you go?”

At Seongheon’s words, Yuyeon moved awkwardly.

Even as her body stepped out, her gaze remained fixed on Seongheon.

“Go on.”

At his clear dismissal, Yuyeon finally went outside.

Only then did Seongheon erase his expression.

Then he sat at the table beside him and picked up a brush.

“......Now then......”

Slowly, where no one would see, he began to write.

Beyond the quarters stood a single plum tree.

Its leaves had already all fallen.

Most likely, before the night left, even the last of them would drop.

That—

Seongheon knew better than anyone.

*****

“Get up.”

“......”

I heard a voice.

I scratched at my ear.

Who was it?

Light slipped through my barely open eyes.

It seemed to be telling me that it was morning.

I ignored it.

I wanted to sleep more.

But—

“I said get up.”

“Ah, damn...”

At the continued urging, I finally had no choice but to open my eyes.

I sat up, rubbing between my brows.

“Who exactly is doing this to m—”

I stopped mid-sentence.

It was Seongheon.

“...Sect Master. What brings you here?”

“What brings me here? It’s morning, so I came to see you, naturally.”

He said it with a bright smile.

Unbelievable.

“You could’ve just seen me later...”

I stopped speaking.

I looked into Seongheon’s eyes and felt that something was wrong.

Then I lowered my gaze.

“...Ah.”

Only then did I understand.

“Heh heh heh.”

His laughter was already growing faint.

[I told you.]

At that alien voice, the irritation vanished from my face.

Seongheon’s legs were indistinct.

And that could only mean one thing.

[I said he came to say goodbye.]

The largest plum tree in Mount Hua had fallen.

Seongheon, Sect Master of Mount Hua, one of the Heaven-Beyond-Heaven.

The Plum Blossom Single Sword, one of the heroes who saved the world.

It meant that his tree had, at last, fallen.