“Is it devilish possession?”

“Yes, you rascal.”

The Grand Master added with a sigh in his voice.

“It’s fortunate we discovered it early, but above all, you’re young so you survived. Thanks to your limited inner energy, your vital energy wasn’t severely damaged.”

I blinked my eyes blankly a few times.

‘So that’s what falling into devilish possession feels like.’

The chilling sensation I felt before coughing up blood, the feeling of touching something that shouldn’t be touched, the sense of ‘something’ inside me convulsing, all of it…

“Stop! Stop thinking about it. Don’t think.”

“Ah.”

The Grand Master shouted with an even fiercer expression than before and took out an acupuncture case from his bosom.

“…I don’t like needles.”

“Shhh. Don’t speak.”

I grumbled once for no reason. Of course, it was useless.

Needles were inserted from my forehead to my neck, shoulders, arms, solar plexus, and various parts of my body. It didn’t hurt, but it felt a bit strange, like I was a butterfly specimen. After about an hour like that, the Grand Master removed the needles again, and only then did I regain my right to speak.

I finally remembered my disciple brother who had seen me coughing up blood and flailing.

“What about Ha Hyun? He must have been shocked.”

“Yes, that boy also drank some medicinal decoction and left. He couldn’t calm down at all.”

“Oh no…”

“I reassured him and sent him away, so just worry about yourself.”

Well, now is really the time to worry about myself…

Because the Grand Master had inserted needles into me, telling me to stop thinking about what happened just before I collapsed, I hesitated to recall that moment again.

But keeping this to myself in my head would be foolish.

This was beyond what I could handle on my own. For issues like this, the right solution is to confide in someone who knows more and better than me, and get help.

I turned to look at the Grand Master and reminded myself inwardly.

‘I may be 13, but he’s an adult, an elder of the sect, and my Grand Master.’

There are enough reasons to speak up.

“Grand Master.”

“Speak.”

“There’s something a bit strange. It’s about… what happened earlier.”

“Wait, for now you should refrain from talking about that…”

“If it feels strange, I’ll stop talking. But Grand Master, I think I should tell you while the memory is still clear.”

Seeing my serious demeanor, the Grand Master’s expression also became grave. He adjusted his posture beside me and leaned in slightly. I chose my words carefully.

“…So, I felt a sense of dissonance.”

That’s how I began.

The Grand Master listened seriously without interrupting. I spoke in a mumbling, slightly rapid tone.

“Actually, I’ve occasionally thought things were strange since last year. Every morning before circulating energy, I meditate, and during those times I often felt a sense of dissonance. I couldn’t tell where it originated from. But I thought nothing good would come from thinking deeply about it, so I always pretended not to notice, but…”

I unconsciously moved my hand a little under the blanket. It moves fine.

“Today, suddenly, I realized for the first time that there seemed to be some kind of… veil in my mind. It’s like it was always there but I only just noticed it. It didn’t seem to be protecting me, but rather like it was about to take root in me at any moment. I thought it might be related to the dissonance I’d been feeling, and there was no reason not to check it out, so I impulsively touched it and then.”

Suddenly a hand shot out and covered my mouth. I inhaled sharply and opened my eyes wide.

“Stop talking. You’ll undo all the calming I’ve done.”

The Grand Master said in a low voice with a serious face.

When I blinked my eyes a few times to signal that I understood, he finally removed his hand and laid me back down straight. The blanket was pulled up to my chin.

“I understand. I know what you’re saying, so from now on I’ll look into it a bit more. You stop thinking and just rest.”

“Is it a big problem?”

“No. And I won’t let it become one, so you don’t need to worry.”

This time the Grand Master’s hand covered my eyes.

I let out a small sigh and slowly closed my eyes. Thanks to the warmth on my eyelids, my mind seemed to settle a little.

Perhaps because I was exhausted, I was able to fall asleep again quickly.

I had a dream.

Though it was vivid like reality, I could clearly tell it was my dream.

The perspective was strange.

I was floating through the dream as ‘Ha Eun’.

‘Ha Eun’, who was soon to be me in the dream, looked a bit older than the body I currently occupy. The face reflected in the mirror appears to be about fifteen or sixteen years old.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about her daily life.

Like me, she practices mental cultivation and wields a sword, but each time she suffers from a body that won’t move as she wants and laments the insights that elude her grasp.

Perhaps because this was already a time when she was abnormally attached to her master, occasionally when she encountered Ha Hyun from afar, a flame-like hatred would flare up in her heart.

‘…I can understand having an inferiority complex, but to this extent?’

I thought only the obsession with her master was strange, but it seems her feelings toward Ha Hyun were equally beyond the realm of reason. Even ‘Ha Eun’ herself was struggling alone, unable to overcome her own emotions.

The dream continued on.

The days of this unremarkable girl unfolded rapidly, like watching a movie at double speed.

And then…

A familiar room scene appeared. It was the very room I’m using alone now, in the junior disciple quarters. ‘Ha Eun’ seemed to be using the room alone as well, as she was the only one in it.

In the room, ‘Ha Eun’ was collapsed on the floor, clutching her head.

Her hair was disheveled as if she had been tearing at it. It seemed she was enduring in a self-tormenting way, unable to scream out in pain, and it was difficult even for me, aware this was a dream.