Side Story 64. Yi-gang, Cheongho, Ahim (3)

He wanted to run to Yi-gang right away.
Cheongho thought that, but he could not put it into action.
He had no choice.
Right now, tens of thousands of people gathered here were staring tensely at Yi-gang and the Sphinx.

The Sphinx was enormous, and Yi-gang, standing before it, looked as small as an ant before a person.
Yi-gang’s expression was also extremely serious.
For now, Cheongho stood still and watched to see what Yi-gang was trying to do.

The Pharaoh looked at Yi-gang and muttered.

“Please, please do not be deceived… that vile monster is endlessly cunning.”

Cheongho, standing beside him, could not understand that language, but at least he could feel the desperation contained in those words.

Yi-gang slowly approached the Sphinx.
He got close enough that if the Sphinx merely swung its paw, it could crush Yi-gang to death.
For a moment, tension lingered.

Then the Sphinx slowly began to lower its head.
It looked as if a person were greeting someone, as if it were showing respect.

“Uwaaaaaaaa!”
“Waaaaa!”

And the watching crowd let out cheers.
Even the Pharaoh, who should have maintained his dignity, swung his fist in joy.
It seemed whether or not the Sphinx showed respect was important.
The Pharaoh soon jolted in surprise and raised his hand to quiet the people.

A cold silence settled over the place again.
The Sphinx opened its mouth amid the silence.

“Will you challenge the riddle?”

Astonishingly, the Sphinx asked in the language of the Central Plains.
Yi-gang answered leisurely.

“As expected of one said to be knowledgeable in all things, you even know the language of the Central Plains. I accept the challenge.”

The retainer standing beside the Pharaoh promptly interpreted the conversation between Yi-gang and the Sphinx.
Cheongho also listened intently to the conversation between Yi-gang and the Sphinx.

“If you answer the riddle correctly, your wish will be granted. If you are wrong, you will lose your life. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Then what is your wish?”

A monster that granted wishes. Was this not an exciting conversation, the sort that might appear in an old tale?
Many had wished to answer that Sphinx’s riddle and obtain all the wealth and glory under heaven.
But Yi-gang spoke of a completely different wish.

“Leave this Egypt forever. What I want is for you to return underground, to where you came from.”

A person who knew the language of the Central Plains interpreted Yi-gang’s words.
Then soldiers with loud voices proclaimed that wish once more.

“Uwaaaaaaaa!”
“Waaaaa!”

And countless people in the crowd let out cheers all at once.
All of them wanted the Sphinx to disappear from this place.

Here, in this distant land, Yi-gang was somehow carrying the hopes of countless people on his back.

“Very well. I accept.”

The Sphinx accepted that condition.
It even seemed relaxed, as if certain that Yi-gang would never solve its riddle.

Then the riddle was given.
It was the question that had made countless people throughout history into the Sphinx’s meals.

“In the morning, it has four legs…”

The moment those words came out, Cheongho cheered inwardly.
It was a question Cheongho knew the answer to as well.
It was a riddle Yi-gang had once explained to Cheongho.

“…At noon, it has two legs. In the evening, it has three. What is it?”

A person crawls on all fours as a baby, walks on two legs when grown, and walks with a cane when old. The answer was a person.
But sighs broke out around them.

“What in the world does that mean?”
“This is the first time we have been able to directly witness and record the Sphinx’s riddle…”
“Do you know the answer? A monster whose number of legs keeps changing?”
“My apologies, but… I do not know. Perhaps there is such a creature among the monsters of myth.”
“Even you, called a sage, do not know. What are we to do? Even if that man showed power beyond that of a human, we do not know whether his knowledge is that deep.”

The Pharaoh and his retainers conversed like that, worrying over what the answer might be.
But Cheongho had no way to understand the language of Egypt, so he could only clench his fist.
Fortunately, Yi-gang immediately gave the answer.

“The answer is a person.”
“…The reason?”

Then Yi-gang added the explanation that matched the answer.
It was extremely plausible.
The Pharaoh and his retainers, who had been worried until just a moment ago, looked as if they might start dancing for joy..

“That is correct.”

As expected, the Sphinx answered reluctantly.
Since Yi-gang had won, would the Sphinx spread its wings and disappear?
Suddenly, the Sphinx threw out unexpected words.

“Next is the second riddle.”
“…Second?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t hear anything about that.”
“You simply didn’t hear it. From the beginning, there was never only one riddle.”

It was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
Yi-gang also looked displeased, and the Pharaoh and the crowd began to pour out boos outright.
The Sphinx did not quietly listen to them.

“Silence!”

Then beams of light shot from the monster’s eyes.

Kwaaaaang!

The beams swept across the ground in front of where the crowd had gathered.
That ground melted bright red and gave off heat.
The frightened people immediately fell silent.

“Will you give up without solving the riddle?”

The Sphinx seemed satisfied by the sight of the frightened crowd, but Yi-gang was not frightened at all.

“Say it.”
“Very well.”
“There are two sisters. The elder sister gives birth to the younger, and the younger gives birth to the elder. Who are these sisters?”
“……”

Yi-gang couldn’t answer immediately.
Cheongho also grew tense. He had never heard a riddle like this.
A cold silence settled over them, and finally, Yi-gang opened his mouth.

“Day and night.”
“The reason?”
“The goddess of day is Hemera, and the goddess of night is Nyx, is she not? To think you would give such a riddle.”
“…That is correct.”

A louder cheer than before burst out.
People even shed tears and embraced one another.

No one expected the Sphinx to pour cold water on their joy once again.

“Good, then the third riddle.”
“Are you joking right now?”

Yi-gang immediately shot back.

“Will you give up?”
“Forget giving up. How many riddles are there?”
“That is for me to decide. This time, I have not decided yet.”
“I knew it’d be like this. You are a complete thug. You need a beating to come to your senses, don’t you?”

Cheongho laughed when he heard Yi-gang’s way of speaking.
He had never spoken that way before. Was it because this place was far from the Central Plains?
The Pharaoh demanded an interpretation, but the interpreter could not interpret it properly and floundered.

“Do you wish to die, mortal?”

The Sphinx’s two eyes shone bright red.
The people screamed, thinking the beams would be fired once again.

Instead of answering, Yi-gang held a sword in one hand and a vajra that had appeared from somewhere in the other.
Soon, his white hair fluttered in every direction, and his body began to rise into the air.

Jjeojeojeong!

Lightning from a clear sky struck his entire body.
Yi-gang spoke while emitting blue light from both eyes.

“Do you want to get beaten, or will you just get lost quietly?”
“……”

The red light vanished from the Sphinx’s eyes.

“Congratulations on answering all the riddles correctly, human.”
“……”
“Then, farewell.”

The Sphinx spread its wings and began flying away.
Yi-gang shouted without withdrawing his aura.

“If you come back again, I won’t let you off.”
“……”

The Sphinx clearly nodded, if only slightly.
Only after it flew completely far away and became a dot did Yi-gang release his aura.
The moment he landed on the ground, the people finally let their joy erupt.

“At last, we can control the flooding of the Nile River.”
“Ah, O gods!”

The people chanted Yi-gang’s name.
The pronunciation was awkward, but hearing tens of thousands of people call Yi-gang’s name was a heart-pounding spectacle.
They approached Yi-gang to express their gratitude and celebrate this moment.
And at the very front was Cheongho.

Until now, he had stayed still because Yi-gang seemed to be facing an important moment.
But his patience ended there.
No one seemed able to see Cheongho or even hear his voice, but that didn’t matter.
Cheongho called Yi-gang’s name at the top of his lungs.

“Yi-gaaang!”

He had not expected him to hear it.
But among the tens of thousands in the crowd approaching him, Yi-gang saw Cheongho precisely.

“…Cheongho?”
“Yi-gang!”
“Cheongho, Cheongho, it is you!”

Yi-gang also ran toward Cheongho.
Cheongho ran toward him as well, and he leaped as if throwing himself forward.
Yi-gang caught Cheongho.

“Cheongho!”

Cheongho threw himself into Yi-gang’s arms.

“How did you get here!”
“You can see me?”
“Of course I can see you. I have eyes, so how could I not see you?”
“It has already been more than five years.”
“You have grown so much. So much.”

For some reason, Cheongho felt tears welling up.

“Why are you crying? Haha.”
“……”

No, he was already crying.
How could he explain all of it?
The journey he had left on because he wanted to become human.
The story of entering Azure Forest and meeting companions.
And the enemy called Ahim. The story of how powerless he had been before his tyranny.

But even without explanation, Yi-gang saw through everything.
As if he were not a human, but a god.

“Senior Brother Dam Hyun sent you, didn’t he?”
“Dam Hyun…?”
“Yes. I can feel Senior Brother’s power.”

The reason Dam Hyun had sent Cheongho here to Egypt.
His purpose was…

“It seems this is a situation where my help is needed.”
“That is right. Ahim, Guihon. That monster-like bastard beat me badly and killed people.”
“Yes, so that’s what happened.”

Yi-gang gave a bitter smile and stroked Cheongho’s head.
Rather than stroking it, it was more like he was roughly ruffling his hair. Cheongho stayed still.

“All right, let’s go together.”
“Can we go? It is very far from here to there.”
“It’s fine because Senior Brother opened the path. You are that very path.”
“How…”
“Just keep your eyes tightly shut.”
“They are shut.”

Cheongho squeezed his eyes shut.
When he was told not to peek, he quickly shut his eyes again.

Then came the feeling of being sucked away somewhere.

Tseutseutseu.

The crowd that had been running toward Yi-gang couldn’t help but be flustered.

“Where, where did he go?”
“The hero has disappeared!”
“Huh, what in the world is going on?”

Yi-gang, who had been there just a moment ago, vanished without a trace.
As if he had never been there from the start, nothing remained.

And the Central Plains.
Zhejiang Province.
In a mountain not far from Hangzhou, in a deep valley, lay the hideout of the Crimson Fighting Fiends.

Ahim lowered his hand as if irritated.
His right hand had been burned pitch-black.
Dam Hyun’s clone was vicious despite not even being his true body.
If Ahim had not possessed Guihon’s power, his entire body would have rotted away from the curse.

But now, his blackened hand returned to its original color in an instant.
Since he had dealt with the clone, there was now nothing blocking Ahim.

Ahim had shown interest in Cheongho.
But now, even his curiosity toward that Heavenly Thunder White-Tailed Fox had vanished.
He could simply split open the body of that unconscious fox and take his inner core.

Ahim’s knife-hand was covered in bright red Aura Qi.
It was the moment he was about to cut off Cheongho’s head.

“……”

Ahim flinched and froze.
It was not because Cheongho had slowly opened his eyes and met his gaze.
It was because his evolved consciousness had detected a certain sense of incongruity.
For a very brief moment, he felt as if the surrounding air had changed from a moment ago.

“Time… Someone altered time.”
“You are rather sharp.”

Ahim jolted in surprise and turned his head.
There stood a white-haired young man holding a sword.

“Who are you!”
“So you’re the one who did that to Cheongho.”

The young man, Yi-gang, glanced at Cheongho’s condition.
He was a wounded giant fox, but in Yi-gang’s eyes, he only looked like a small, pitiful child.

“How dare you, do you know who…”

It was the moment Ahim burst into anger.
Sword light flashed.

Seogeok.

Ahim’s waist was cut in two, and his body collapsed.
Yi-gang lightly shook the blood from his sword.

“You bastard, you, could it be…!”

It was a situation where he should have died instantly, but Ahim’s severed upper body instead burst into rage.

“You’re that bastard!”
“Yes, that bastard has arrived.”

Yi-gang smiled faintly.