1038 - Childhood Friend of the Zenith

As I approached the porch, I sat beside her. I didn't look at her face; I just gazed straight ahead. The scenery from inside was different from what I saw outside. Sitting on the porch somehow offered a different view. Observing it, I vaguely realized, 'It was designed with this intention.' The scenery I'm seeing was crafted for someone to sit here and enjoy. The cultivated trees and garden. The roughly made pond with colorful carp within. From where I sat, I could perfectly see the water mill and the surrounding stream. Everything was a painting. Moreover, 'It was arranged to look beautiful precisely from this spot.' They had crafted it with such care. To ensure that the viewer experiences peace and richness. Such thoughts emerged as a warm feeling enveloped me. The wind blew through. My hair fluttered as leaves danced in the air. Following them with my eyes, I naturally fixed my gaze on the sky. The sun was setting, with clouds lightly draped over it. Watching this, I came to realize something else. 'It doesn't move.' Neither the clouds nor anything floating in the sky moved. Even though the wind was blowing like this. 'I see.' I nodded, comprehending the truth within the scene. 'This is a created space.' A place not of reality, but of creation. Whether the result of some spell or another power, I couldn't tell. 'This isn't a place that really exists.' It was a space without worldly existence. Understanding this, I looked at the Heavenly Demon. She seemed to be staring straight ahead with somewhat sleepy eyes. What was she seeing with those violet eyes? I found myself curious but ignored it, calling out to her. "Hey." "Hmm." The Heavenly Demon responded without looking at me. "Did you create this place?" It was only after I spoke that her gaze turned towards me. Why was it? The moment our eyes met, I felt the urge to look away. I don't know why. It was just a thought that crossed my mind. She answered without a change in expression. "I don't know." "...You don't know?" "Yeah. I don't know." "Then, what is this place?" She uses it without knowing herself? She goes out of her way to open a dimension and doesn't even know what this place is. I couldn't understand. And furthermore, 'Why didn't the past Heavenly Demon want to show this place?' Why did the Heavenly Demon in my past life refuse to reveal it? After all, it's just a decorated garden with one small house. "This is home." Her answer to my question was the same as what I'd heard before coming. "Home..." Indeed, anyone could see it was a home. "That's not what I'm asking." "Then what?" "What is this place for?" What purpose does it serve? That was the question. Remembering the Heavenly Demon's words, it seemed she entered this space when I wasn't around. 'It was the same in my past life.' The purple dimensional gate. I recalled the Heavenly Demon tearing through dimensions, walking out with an aura of supreme arrogance. 'Is this the place she stayed?' It didn't fit. This space didn't suit the being I knew. A ruined wasteland beneath a distorted, dried-up sky. The supreme above all demons. Even the three venerable ones of Zhongyuan couldn't withstand her and fell in defeat. 'Did she create a place like this behind the dimension?' I couldn't make sense of it. 'Is this something that has changed in this life?' Could the dimension the current Heavenly Demon opens be different from that in a past life? That seemed most reasonable. Otherwise, 'For what?' For what reason did the Heavenly Demon frequent this place? I couldn't fathom it. Then, "Nostalgia." She spoke as she looked at me. "Nostalgia?" "Nostalgia." "What do you mean by that?" "This place is nostalgia." Nostalgia. An absurd word. I frowned, looking around. The beautifully decorated garden and the seemingly old but maintained house. This place is nostalgia? What about the planted flowers? They could never have grown naturally. "Did you decorate this garden?" "No." "Then who did? Is this how it originally looked?" "I don't know." "...Are we even having a conversation?" There wasn't a single straight answer. I stared at the Heavenly Demon in disbelief. Perhaps she just didn't want to answer. 'Yes, she's the strange one.' I didn't understand how or for what this space was created, but I assumed that this life and the past life must be entirely different. That must be true. 'There's no way that Heavenly Demon stayed in a place like this.' Just recalling her invoked terror and intense presence. I didn't understand why she'd become like this in this life, but she wasn't someone who would stay in such a place. 'And expressing it as nostalgia.' The way she expressed it was too vague. What exactly does she miss? And even if she does miss something, there's no reason to yearn for a place, not a person. I stood up. "Shall I go inside?" "Ah." As I tried to enter the house, she widened her eyes and let out a sound. What was that? Was she telling me not to go in? If so, I wouldn't go in, so I looked at the Heavenly Demon, but she only glanced at me briefly without saying anything more. Was that permission? I passed the porch and headed inside. The building wasn't large. Even among the renowned houses, it seemed smaller—a 'gu' family. It was smaller than even my room in that house. There might be, at most, two small rooms. It was a tiny house. I grasped the door handle and pushed it open. Creak. The door opened without effort. The inside revealed itself to me—a room slightly stained in an orange hue from the setting sun. 'Nothing particularly unusual...' The interior was typical, like something you could see anywhere. My eyes were immediately drawn to the unmade bedding. One single bedding. Big enough for two people to sleep together. There were traces as if someone had just been lying there. 'No warmth.' Only traces remained. Next to it, on the small table, there were two teacups. I went closer to inspect. Inside the cups, there was a little remaining tea. 'One is empty and the other left untouched.' Looking at the place, it seemed like two people used to stay here. The arrangement and traces of furniture suggested as much. Since the Heavenly Demon had called it a home herself, it seemed like it was a place she frequented. Then. 'Who is the other person?' Who else stayed here? I had no way of knowing. I continued to survey the interior with my eyes. It truly was an unremarkable room. As I looked around further, something caught my eye. 'Hm?' There was a drawer. Normally, I wouldn't have aimed to open something closed. 'What is this?' Seeing it, I felt compelled to open it. No, I sensed I absolutely had to open it. So I reached out and grabbed the drawer. Creak. I slid the drawer open, catching a glimpse of what was inside. 'Clothes?' Neatly folded clothes. But. 'They're small.' The size was particularly small. They were clearly not clothes for an adult. This meant they weren't adult-sized clothes. That is. 'Are they children's clothes?' They looked like the kind of small clothes a very young child, not older than five or six, would wear. More than that. 'They're unfinished.' Whether they were in the process of being made or not, the threads weren't tied off, as if they were cut short. They were incomplete. With that in mind, I reached out to touch the clothes. Thud-!! The drawer slammed shut, blocking my hand. A glance over revealed it was the Heavenly Demon. "You can't look here." Her words were firm. Hearing them, I silently gazed at the Heavenly Demon. Just to stop me from touching clothes? She seemed oddly urgent. It felt like something that shouldn't be shown. 'They're just clothes, though.' They're just clothes. Moreover, unfinished and left as they were. I wondered if there really was a reason for her urgency. 'On the flip side.' I didn't have much reason to insist on seeing them, either. Reflecting on that, I stepped back slightly. "Alright. Sorry for intruding." "......" To my words, she nodded. I turned and left the house. There wasn't anything else left to see, besides, 'I don't want to stay.' I didn't want to linger in that space. I brushed my hand over my chest. It felt stifling. Suffocating and strangely hollow. And it ached. I shouldn't remain. That feeling climbed up to my throat. It was a strange sensation. Why did I feel this way? That's why, as soon as I stepped out into the yard, I asked the Heavenly Demon. "Hey." "Hmm." "This place. Have I been here before?" "......" She hesitated upon hearing my question. I caught her reaction. "What is it, that reaction? Have I been here before?" It was an implausible question. I knew better than anyone that I hadn't been here. Neither in my past life nor in this one. I had never been to this place. Besides, even if I asked the Heavenly Demon now, she wouldn't know. "But somehow, I know this place, don't I?" Knowing the answer, I asked her regardless. "Answer me." "......" Incredibly, she remained silent. Why couldn't she answer? Why was I even asking? I couldn't even understand myself, but the words had already left my mouth. "What is this place? Why do I know it?" Thump-! I grasped her shoulders. Small and fragile enough to fit entirely into one hand. Feeling that, I looked at her inquisitively. She trembled and was about to utter, in a murmur... "I can't." Crack-!! "...!?" Her face stiffened, and as she slapped my hand away, she clutched her own throat. "What the..." Suddenly grabbing her own neck? I stared at her in confusion. "I mustn't be greedy, right?" She said. Though it seemed directed at me, it felt otherwise. "This mustn't be done." She spoke as she slightly smiled. That sight gave me chills down my spine. 'That smile.' I widened my eyes. The smile, the gaze. 'Could it be...?' Thoughts rose, making my body tense up. At that moment. "See you later." She smiled and drew a line in the air. Rumble--!! "Damn-!" The dimension began to collapse and I was caught in it. Rumble--!!! I tried to escape, but by the time I realized it, Rustle--. I was back at the place with the Divine Tree in Maureum Cavern, precisely where I was speaking with the Heavenly Demon. "Haa... Haa..." My body was inflamed with heat, forcing me to sweat profusely. In my mind's eye, the gaze and smile lingered. It was her, for sure. "...Heavenly Demon?" Not the clueless woman I’d known in this life. But the Heavenly Demon who reigned like a disaster in my past life. ### Comments **공명참** *2024.10.19 08:30* Is there something within the Heavenly Demon herself, or is it the past Heavenly Demon? 0 **연우** *2024.10.31 04:01* Was this their haven in a past life, or even before that? 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