The cart moved slowly.
The sound of the wheels on the dirt road was steady, like a cold pulse that never stopped. Saō Hyun's body trembled slightly with every motion, yet he felt no discomfort. He was tired to the point where the shaking felt more like confirmation that he still existed.
He sat inside the cart facing Shin Ri.
The man sat upright, his back straight without tension, his hands resting calmly on his knees, his eyes fixed on the road through the narrow gap in the curtain, as if he already knew it. His hair was almost entirely gray — not pure white, but a dark ash-gray, like ancient dust that had settled over years. He was neither tall nor short, neither thin nor full… as if he had deliberately chosen to have no defining feature.
Saō Hyun thought that this was what frightened him most.
That he did not draw attention.
That he resembled ordinary people far more than he should.
He watched him secretly, with the gaze of a child who does not know how to read faces, but can feel their weight. Shin Ri's face was calm, its lines few, his eyes slightly narrow, and within them was an unsettling depth — as if they were not looking at things, but through them.
Suddenly Shin Ri spoke without turning.
"You stare at me a lot."
Saō Hyun froze slightly.
"I… I'm sorry."
Shin Ri smiled a very faint smile.
"Don't apologize. Looking is how children understand the world."
He paused, then said,
"What do you see?"
Saō Hyun hesitated.
Then he said,
"I see… a man who doesn't look strong."
Shin Ri chuckled softly.
"Have I disappointed you?"
Saō Hyun shook his head quickly.
"No… I just… expected the strong to be different."
"How so?"
"Bigger… or frightening… or loud."
Shin Ri said,
"Loud strength is the first to die."
He paused.
"True strength does not need to be seen."
Saō Hyun looked at him for a long moment.
"Is that why you hide it?"
Shin Ri turned to him for the first time since the cart had begun moving.
He looked into his eyes.
Then he said quietly,
"Do you think I hide it?"
Saō Hyun grew flustered.
"I… I don't know."
Shin Ri smiled.
"Then that is good."
A pause.
Then Saō Hyun said,
"Where are we going?"
"To the south."
Saō Hyun's breath quickened slightly.
"The south… isn't that where…?"
He stopped.
Shin Ri said,
"Finish."
"Isn't that… the land of the demonic sects?"
Shin Ri did not deny it.
He said simply,
"Yes."
Saō Hyun's mouth opened slightly.
"But… you don't look…"
He stopped.
"You don't look like one of them."
Shin Ri said,
"Have you seen them?"
Saō Hyun shook his head.
"I've heard about them."
"And what have you heard?"
"That they kill children, eat hearts, and laugh while doing it."
Shin Ri was silent for a moment.
Then he said,
"Have you seen that happen?"
"No."
"Have you seen someone who did that?"
"No."
"Have you seen someone who knows someone who did that?"
"No."
Shin Ri said calmly,
"Then why do you believe it?"
Saō Hyun lowered his head.
"People say so."
Shin Ri said,
"People say everything."
A pause.
"If you do not see a person with your own eyes… do not believe the story."
Saō Hyun remained silent.
Then he said,
"But… what if it's true?"
"Then you will see it yourself."
"And if it's false?"
"Then you will have saved yourself from unnecessary fear."
Saō Hyun was silent for a long time.
Then he said,
"Are you from a demonic sect?"
"I am from the Sect of the Sky Demon."
The name trembled inside Saō Hyun.
It felt like a stone falling into his chest.
"Sky… Demon?"
"A name only."
"But it's frightening."
"The sky is frightening too — yet it is above everyone."
A pause.
Then Saō Hyun said,
"Are they evil?"
Shin Ri looked at the road.
And said,
"They are human."
"And humans with power."
"And power reveals what was hidden."
"Some are bad, some are good, most are simply… ordinary."
Saō Hyun asked,
"And you?"
"I am… a man who chose a long road."
A pause.
"And now… I have chosen to take you with me."
Saō Hyun looked at him.
"Why me?"
Shin Ri said,
"Because you did not ask me why I am."
Saō Hyun grew confused.
"I don't understand."
"People usually ask: why are you strong? Why are you here? Why are you different?"
A pause.
"You asked: are you kind?"
Saō Hyun looked down.
"That was the most important thing."
Shin Ri said,
"And that is what makes you something that can be shaped."
A pause.
"Power without a heart is a catastrophe."
"A heart without power is a tragedy."
"And you… you have a broken heart."
"And what is broken can be reshaped."
Saō Hyun swallowed.
"Does it hurt?"
Shin Ri smiled faintly.
"Very much."
Saō Hyun was silent.
Then he said,
"I'll endure it."
The cart moved for a long time.
The road changed.
The trees grew taller.
The air grew warmer.
The scent changed.
It was no longer cold earth, but plants, mud, damp life.
Saō Hyun said,
"The road is different."
Shin Ri said,
"We are getting close."
"What does getting close mean?"
"It means you will not be an ordinary child anymore."
Saō Hyun looked at his hands.
"I was never ordinary to begin with."
Shin Ri said,
"True."
A pause.
"But now… you will not be allowed to be weak."
At last they arrived.
The mountain was there.
Tall.
Black.
Like a fixed shadow on the horizon.
The sect was not a city.
It was carved into the mountain itself.
A massive gate of dark stone, etched with unclear carvings, as if time had erased their meanings and left only their feeling.
The cart stopped.
Shin Ri stepped down first.
Then Saō Hyun.
Saō Hyun stood before the gate.
He felt very small.
Small before stone, before mountain, before a road whose end he did not know.
He said softly,
"This… is frightening."
Shin Ri said,
"This is honest."
He approached the gate.
Placed his hand upon it.
Pushed slowly.
The stone moved.
A heavy, deep sound came from it.
As if the mountain itself were breathing.
The gate opened.
Shin Ri looked at Saō Hyun.
And said,
"Enter."
"From now on… your life will no longer be yours alone."
Saō Hyun hesitated for a moment.
Then he walked.
He crossed the gate.
And the air inside was different.
Heavier.
Deeper.
As if saturated with something unseen.
Shin Ri said behind him,
"Welcome… to my dwelling."
And he entered with him.
And the gate closed slowly behind them.