The courtyard of Dustcloud Sect had never known silence like this.
The breeze moved as always, stirring the branches.
Wheee...
Plum petals spun down like drifting blades.
Baek Sun-Ho stood still atop the wall, eyes fixed on the figure at the gate below.
The man wore travel-worn robes and a hood lined with raven feathers. But what made him inhuman wasn't the way he moved—it was the face beneath the hood.
There wasn't one.
No mouth. No nose. Smooth skin stretched across his skull like pale clay. Only a glowing ink circle sat on his forehead—black fire etched into flesh.
Yeon So-Ri's boots tapped across the stone as she joined him.
Tap. Tap.
"That's…"
"The Mark of Silent Division," Sun-Ho muttered. "Didn't think I'd ever see it again."
Her daggers hissed free.
Fshk.
"Why's an assassin from one of the Inner Shadow Halls standing in our cabbage courtyard like he's waiting for a tea party?"
Sun-Ho's gaze sharpened. "Because he wants me to see him."
And then—he vanished.
Fwip.
Inside the Courtyard
The wind skipped.
Tup... tup... tup...
Footsteps echoed behind them.
The assassin now stood at the center of the courtyard, robes untouched by wind, posture perfectly relaxed. His head tilted slightly, as if curious.
The younger disciples nearby froze. Even the chickens stopped pecking.
Yeon So-Ri was already in motion, blades circling her like silver comets.
"Move, and I put holes in parts of you that haven't been named yet."
Sun-Ho raised a hand.
"He's not here to fight."
The assassin raised his palm and drew a circle in the air. As his finger traced the air, fire erupted from nothing.
Zzzzzz...
A ring of dark flame shimmered into being—silent, but seething with heat.
The sky above the ring warped. Words formed from smoke.
"You are not the only one who returned."
The wind died.
Whmmmm...
Yeon So-Ri's blades lowered half an inch.
"What the hell does that mean?"
Sun-Ho didn't answer right away.
Because his core—deep inside, where the soul and spirit met—shifted.
Kwak.
A hairline fracture echoed inside him, like something ancient remembering how to breathe.
A name, long buried, flashed in his thoughts.
The Black General.The one who died screaming.
Flash of Memory
A battlefield. Ten thousand swords. Fire licking up a forest of banners. Blood soaking through silk robes and steel-plated boots.
And a man. Towering, armored, grinning mad with rage.
"Return me to nothing, you coward!"
Baek Sun-Ho's own blade—then longer, purer—pierced that heart.
In the present, his fingers twitched.
If he returned... so did others.
The assassin bowed, slowly and deeply.
Then vanished.
Pop.
No smoke. No sound. Not even a scent left behind.
The Sect Reacts
Baek Sun-Ho turned, expecting confusion—maybe fear—from the disciples watching from the shadows.
Instead, there was silence.
Six young students stood with mouths slightly open, eyes wide. One of them—a boy named Jin—whispered,
"That thing bowed to Senior Sun-Ho..."
"Wasn't it supposed to kill him?" said another.
Yeon So-Ri glanced back at them, an amused smirk dancing across her lips.
"You kids still think he's just some lucky cabbage-hauler?"
Baek Sun-Ho cleared his throat. "Back to drills. This isn't a bedtime story."
But none of them moved. They just kept looking at him.
Not like before.
Not like someone barely above them in rank, not like the odd senior who occasionally fixed pipes and swept courtyards.
Now… like something larger. Something different.
It made his skin crawl.
I hated this part before. The worship. The fear. The distance.
Later That Night
The fires in the lanterns burned low. Yeon So-Ri sat with him atop the east cliff, where the trees bent toward the moonlight.
"I've seen fighters," she said. "I've seen teachers, killers, mercenaries. But nothing like that today."
He didn't speak.
She tossed a pebble over the ledge.
Plunk.
"I know you're strong," she continued. "But there's something else. Something behind your eyes. Like you've… seen too much."
Baek Sun-Ho stared at the sky. Quiet. Distant.
"Because I have."
Yeon So-Ri didn't ask more. She leaned back, resting her arms behind her.
"You think others are coming?"
He nodded.
"Definitely."
A Little Further Away – Shadows Move
In a dim tavern far from Dustcloud, a man covered in travel dust sat beside a fireplace. He stirred his tea once, twice, then dropped a black feather into the cup.
The liquid boiled immediately.
Hssss.
From the rising steam, a name drifted into the air like smoke.
Baek Sun-Ho.
The man smiled behind his hood.
[End of Chapter 5]