The next day dawned pale. The gray sky stretched like a veil over the trail, and the damp ground bore the marks of the previous night. Jin woke up with stiff muscles and a whirlwind mind. His body still felt the echoes of the battle, and the Qi within him pulsed irregularly, as if it had been stirred too much.
Chi did not appear immediately that morning. An unusual silence hung between them, as if the spirit was also digesting what had happened.
Jin walked alone to a shallow stream, washed his face, and observed his reflection in the murky waters. His eyes no longer carried only youth and anger. Now, there was something deeper. A new weight.
Mu Hwan approached silently. The veteran escort stopped beside him, saying nothing for a while.
— You faced him alone — he murmured, finally. — And you made him retreat. I've never seen anything like it.
Jin didn't respond. He just ran his fingers over the recent scar that cut across his side. A reminder.
— Baekho is preparing the group. We'll leave as soon as the horses are ready. — Mu Hwan hesitated. — He wants you at the front.
That sentence echoed louder than expected. Jin nodded slowly and stood up.
During the march along the trail, the gazes cast toward Jin had changed. There was respect, yes — but there was also fear. They didn't know what he had faced. They only knew he survived. And something about that aura, that silence between steps, made the others keep their distance.
Chi only appeared late in the afternoon, while Jin stood guard on a rise near the makeshift camp.
— You did what few would have done, kid — he said, appearing seated on a rock, arms resting on his knees. — But don't be mistaken. That was just a seed.
Jin looked at him, tired but calm.
— I felt it. Something in him... it didn't just want to kill me. It wanted to observe me. Measure me.
Chi nodded.
— Because you carry something inside you that attracts that kind of creature. The Saisei no Chi isn't just an inheritance — it's a beacon. And now, they're looking at you.
A heavy silence hung between them.
— I don't know if I'm ready — Jin confessed, for the first time in a long while.
— No one is. — Chi smiled, but there was sadness in his eyes. — But you're moving forward. And that's enough.
At the end of the trail, when the caravan finally saw the distant walls of Jeonghwa again, a silent relief spread through the group. But for Jin, there was no going back. He knew he had left part of himself in the forest — and brought another part back.
Baekho awaited him at the entrance to the city. Upon seeing him, he lifted his chin and said: — Officer's Hall. Tomorrow. At dawn.
It wasn't an invitation. It was a summons.
And Jin knew: from then on, his journey would no longer be just about survival. He was about to walk the paths where legends were written with blood and sacrifice.