Chapter 2 …
Meanwhile, in the pavilion where the Four Heavenly Gods-and-Demons had disappeared, a chilling sound began to come from the body of the young man who lay there alone, asleep.
Crack—.
Click—.
Creak—.
With the sounds of bones, the youth’s body gradually began to contract, and before long he had become a perfect newborn baby.
His original clothes draped over him like a blanket. A black shadow fell over the little baby who was breathing softly in sleep.
Grrrr—.
It was a tiger.
The tiger came close to the baby, sniffed him, then grabbed him in its mouth and started running.
They ran a long distance. The baby woke and thrashed about. With fists like little ferns, he struck the huge tiger’s head — and the tiger’s head flew off as if severed with a snap.
Thud—.
The headless tiger slumped to the ground, and the baby fell in front of it.
Another black shadow rushed toward the falling infant. The shadow swooped down and snatched up the baby, then flew straight up into the sky.
It was a gigantic eagle. Clutching the baby tightly so it wouldn’t slip, the eagle shot off to somewhere unknown.
Night had fallen over a certain sect. A middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky with a sigh.
Behind him, a woman was at the ancestral hall, performing a solemn ritual and praying with all her heart.
“Great spirits of heaven and earth, please—please grant me a son. I beg of you. I beg you.”
Her voice was full of earnest pleading.
Because he understood how desperate she was, the middle-aged man watched her with a complicated expression.
Feeling restless, he looked up at the sky again and had the strange sensation that something was falling through the air.
“…Huh?”
He focused his sight — his eye-power — to make out whatever it was.
“Th-That…”
Rubbing his eyes, he looked again at that strange thing. Even after a second look, it seemed he had seen correctly.
Then, as if coming to his senses, he sprang toward it.
Whoosh—.
Leaping high into the air, the middle-aged man snatched whatever was falling. His face filled with a look of disbelief.
As he slowly descended, the woman approached him.
“Master. W-what is that?” she asked.
“Ah… a baby…”
“Huh?”
“Th-the baby… it was falling from the sky.”
The wife looked up at the heavens, covered her mouth with gratitude, and wept.
“Master… it seems the heavens have answered my prayer.”
It sounded ridiculous. A baby sent down from the sky? That shouldn’t happen. Still, this looked like a baby with some fate attached to it.
Just as he bent to look again, the woman snatched the infant from the middle-aged man’s arms.
“You shouldn’t hold a baby like that,” she scolded gently, then cradled it with careful, tender hands.
The sound of the baby’s heartbeat was audible; the woman shed tears of joy.
“Master… this is our son.”
Seeing the woman so overjoyed, the middle-aged man couldn’t bring himself to say no. He had watched how many hardships she had endured up to now.
He looked at the child in her arms. For some reason the baby seemed to resemble him. Could this really be a child sent down by the heavens for them?
He found himself growing fond of the baby. No — it truly felt like his own child.
Yes. This is destiny. A fated connection from heaven.
Perhaps the reason they had no child until now was so they could meet this one. Thinking that, he studied the baby’s face more closely.
“Master, look. Don’t you think he looks a little like us?” the woman said.
“Seems so,” he answered.
It really felt like the child belonged to them now, and the feeling cheered him.
“Master, please give him a name.”
“A name, huh…”
He glanced up at the sky, deep in thought. Because the child was a precious one sent down from above, he couldn’t give just any name.
After much deliberation, the middle-aged man clapped his hands as a good name came to him.
“I will name him Wi-gang — meaning one who steadfastly inherits heaven’s righteousness.”
“Jeok Wi-gang. I like it. As you said, Master, our son will surely be someone who acts with great justice.”
“I am Jeok Ri-hyeon, and she is Yuhwa-yeon — of course he will be our son, is that not so?”
Yuhwa-yeon smiled at Jeok Ri-hyeon, then looked at the baby again.
“How strange. Even though he fell from the sky, he’s sleeping so peacefully. He doesn’t look ordinary.”
“Hahaha. A child descended from heaven. If he were ordinary, that would be the odd thing.”
“Oh? Master, open your eyes.”
“Oho! Where?”
‘Ugh. What is this? Why is it so noisy?’
The uproar woke the baby. When he opened his eyes two huge faces looked down at him.
He was startled.
What is this? Giants?
He tried to swing his fist, but his hand looked like a little fern.
‘Huh? What’s going on? Why is my fist like this?’
Feeling something strange, he stared up at the two giant faces. Had those authors done something to him? If so, they’d regret picking him — he was ready to lash out — when a kind voice he had never heard before reached his ears.
“Our son. Have you opened your eyes now? Hehehe.”
Son?
“Hohoho. Look at his eyes. I have never seen such beautiful irises. Wi-gang, it’s mother. Mother.”
Wi-gang? Who’s that? Mother?
“Hehehe. I am father. Father.”
Father?
Did he have a mother and father? He tried to remember, but there was nothing.
Yet the longing was strong. To have parents — that was something he had wanted so badly.
At first he resented heaven. Why did others have parents and he didn’t?
That twisted him. He disliked seeing others’ happiness and retreated to the mountains. It was easier that way.
But now, there were two beings before him calling themselves his parents.
Wait. His hands had gotten small.
He looked down at his body and saw he was being cradled like he fit into someone’s hand.
That’s right. I’ve become a newborn.
‘What? Could it be? I… went back to the past?’
Everything around him was unfamiliar. That suspicion quickly turned into certainty.
‘So that’s it. I went back to the past. Jeok Wi-gang… so that was my real name.’
Jeok Wi-gang opened his eyes wide, trying to capture his parents’ faces in his memory, so he wouldn’t forget them again.
‘My parents… I missed them so much.’
Tears welled up. A cry burst from him. The emotions he’d held inside for so long broke through like a dam.
Waa! Waa!
“He seems hungry. Oh dear, I don’t have milk…” the woman fretted.
“Haah. I’ll quickly find a wet nurse. For now, soothe him with some gruel,” the man said.
“Yes, Master.”
Yuhwa-yeon patted Jeok Wi-gang.
“Our baby. Are you hungry? Come on, my little one.”
Jeok Wi-gang burrowed into Yuhwa-yeon’s embrace. The warmth of a mother’s body he’d never felt before was so cozy.
That coziness soon brought sleep.
Jeok Wi-gang fought desperately not to fall asleep, trying to imprint his mother’s face in his mind. He feared that if he woke up, all of this would vanish — as if it had been a dream.
In the end he could not hold out.
“Mom… don’t leave me…” he thought, clutching Yuhwa-yeon’s finger as he drifted off.
Yuhwa-yeon’s face, holding Jeok Wi-gang, was the happiest in the world.
The next day.
Jeok Wi-gang opened his eyes. The moment he woke he looked around. A new face stood before him.
“Oh? Madam! The young master has woken up.”
“Really?”
Patter-patter—.
Someone came running in a hurry.
“Has our Wi-gang woken?”
There was a face he had prayed would never disappear.
It wasn’t a dream. This was reality. I truly came to the past. He was so happy he couldn’t help laughing.
Teehee—.
“Oh my! Look, our Wi-gang is smiling. Isn’t he just so lovely?”
Yuhwa-yeon fussed excitedly.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Master! Our Wi-gang is smiling broadly.”
“Really?”
Whoosh—.
Jeok Ri-hyeon, making use of his lightness skill, moved in an instant to the cradle where Jeok Wi-gang lay. Seeing him smiling so brightly, a smile spread across Ri-hyeon’s face as well.
Just looking at him brought joy. How wonderful.
He’s my son. I will raise him so there’s nothing the world can envy us for. To do that I must grow the sect even more. If I’m to hand Wi-gang a sect he can be proud of later…
Jeok Ri-hyeon looked at Jeok Wi-gang and spoke affectionately.
“My son. This father will leave you a truly splendid sect.”
Then he stood and said to Yuhwa-yeon, “I’ll be a bit busy from now on. To greatly grow the sect, I can’t keep moving as I am.”
“Grow the sect?” she asked.
“I must leave a better sect for Wi-gang.”
“If it’s for that, I’ll help too, Master.”
“Hahaha! With my wife’s help I’ll have ten thousand troops at my back. I’m counting on you.”
“Oh you… Master.”
A beautiful scene. This was it — the world he had longed for.
Jeok Wi-gang vowed to himself that he would never lose his parents again. If anyone tried to take away this happiness, he would show them a power they had never seen before.
Lying in his cradle, Jeok Wi-gang thought of the brothers — those who had once called him ‘Daehyeong.’
He missed them. Whenever they hit him he felt wronged; they would sigh and say, “We were the Four Heavenly Gods-and-Demons once,” as if that was their pride.
They kept picking fights without getting tired. They’d tried every trick possible.
Still, it was fun. A place always quiet and empty finally became noisy — then it truly felt like a place with people.
His loneliness faded, and he wanted to treat them well. Yet they kept climbing up on him. Rank mattered. As the eldest, if someone had to know who was above whom, he’d make sure they did. So whenever they climbed over him he’d pat them gently, never hitting too hard. If he hit too hard they might die.
He had been strong since childhood. He couldn’t recall exactly how old he’d been, but once a tiger had tried to pounce and eat him. To survive he had thrown a punch with all his might, and when he came to his senses the tiger was gone and the trees that had been in front of him were all toppled.
That’s when he realized. The power he had was not ordinary.
The tiger hadn’t merely disappeared — it had been disintegrated without a trace.
From then on he tried to handle his strength carefully, because the villagers who raised him could be hurt. He used his power to cut wood and help the townsfolk.
One day, after returning from chopping wood in the mountains, he found his village in chaos. Bandits had come down to pillage. The villagers he loved began to be killed one by one.
He lost his reason in that moment. He ran at the bandits and threw a punch; with one blow the bandits began to vanish one after another.
