Chapter 73
“This isn’t something I brought up to blame you.”
It was obvious, but my words weren’t meant to shame him. If he was going to come and go to train, that would be fine — but if he was going to eat, sleep, and train here, then at least his sleeping arrangements should be stable. That thought is what prompted me to speak.
In the state the house was in now, it looked like it would be hard to keep out even wind, let alone rain.
Maybe later, when his body gets stronger, it’ll be different — but not yet.
“If you keep trying to endure harsh conditions with a body that hasn’t been trained enough, you’ll break down and that will only make your training less effective.”
Only then did Dongchil seem to understand my meaning. His eyes softened a little and he nodded earnestly.
“Even if we can’t build a grand house, at least we should make a proper sleeping place. Until then, I’ll sleep outside and come in only to train.”
Just from how he offered a solution without being told, I could tell Dongchil was clever. I felt a warm smile at the thought of how he might grow from here.
At that moment, Sogeom — who’d been trailing closely behind me ever since we arrived — stepped forward as if waiting for the cue and said,
“If you need help building the house, I’ll help.”
“Uh? Who— who are you?”
Only then did Dongchil notice Sogeom; his eyes widened. Come to think of it, they were strangers. From Dongchil’s perspective, that was surprising — he wouldn’t have expected me to bring someone new into this place. If it weren’t for the Hunchunseong situation, I wouldn’t have brought Sogeom here at all. But since things were as they were, I decided to take it lightly.
“You’re not exactly a guest — consider yourself an uninvited visitor who’ll be staying here for two days starting today.”
Sogeom’s lips stuck out in a pout, but I ignored it. Up to now he had indeed been a perfect uninvited guest. If he didn’t like that, he needed to prove himself — show that he was worth keeping here.
“I may be young, but I’ve learned many practical skills by watching others. Leave it to me and I’ll at least make you a shelter that keeps out rain and wind.”
There’s truth to the saying that confidence persuades people. He didn’t look like someone who could do that work at first glance, but his boldness made it believable — not only to me but to Dongchil as well.
“Oh! Then may I ask you to do that? I’ll help earnestly.”
Dongchil, who had seemed shy before, stepped forward proactively. I smiled at that; I had worried Dongchil might feel uncomfortable, but with this I could trust him to leave Sogeom in charge.
‘It’s probably best I guard the outside,’ I thought.
I’d planned that from the start. Given the case with the Imugi, I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of an unauthorized presence sneaking in.
‘If I go out and put the stele into the road pouch…’
When that happens, I could feel a little safer. As long as I myself wasn’t targeted, no one could intrude into Jaho-wang’s beech (bi-cheo). In other words, the stele in the road pouch would act as protection.
“Alright, then I’ll come back in two days — you two get along until then.”
Sogeom looked momentarily flustered, but soon nodded. He understood: having come this far with me, he had no choice but to trust me.
“Then I’ll see you in two days.”
“I’ll train hard and wait!”
With farewells from Sogeom and Dongchil, I left the place. Going out was instantaneous, unlike when we came in. Someone might have broken into the Geumhwa Trading House in the meantime, after all. Fortunately, nothing happened from the moment I left Jaho-wang’s beech until I took out the road pouch and put a stele inside it.
I exhaled and muttered to myself, “I hope nothing happens from now on.”
That was unlikely, I thought.
I looked around the room briefly, stepped out of the quarters, inspected Geumhwa Trading House, and then made a new decision.
“If we can’t avoid conflict, it’s better to change location.”
This matter had nothing to do with the trading house’s dependents. To avoid involving them, moving was inevitable. So the remaining question was where to go for two days. Surprisingly, the answer came easily.
“There’s no need to stay in one place for those two days.”
Two days wasn’t long. Rather than hiding in one place, it would be better to keep moving through uninhabited areas. That was my judgment.
“Come and try to chase me, then.”
To avoid having others worry when I vanished, I walked slowly to the main gate so everyone could see me leaving. I told the guard at the gate that I’d be away for two days, then used my method and left the place. Not at full speed, but fast enough.
Perhaps because of that—
‘There doesn’t seem to be anyone following me for now.’
It felt like I’d run about half a Shijin, but nothing problematic happened. Still, I didn’t want to take any chances, so I kept using half-Shijin to move through forests and mountains that had few people, and only then did I stop my method. I checked again and sensed nothing. If someone were tailing Sogeom, they should have followed by now.
“Am I overthinking this?”
Thinking that way is exactly the moment when one ought to be wary.
“But knowing that, I can’t let my guard down.”
I chuckled and resumed moving. But unlike before, I didn’t travel quickly. Slow but certain — I chose a way of moving that left no trace. Thanks to that, night passed and morning came with no incident. I had gotten through one of the two days safely.
“So far, so easy.”
But there was no guarantee things would remain so. As the sun rose, complications in travel increased. Although I’d been moving through areas that should be hardly frequented, I nearly ran into people several times.
“Here too?”
Even while deliberately traversing a cliff on a mountain path — a sheer cliff that even herbalists climbing to gather ginseng would avoid — I sensed movement. Not one, but three presences. I hadn’t seen them directly yet, but the sense suggested two adults and a child. On paper that could be a normal family, but the fact they were here — essentially on a precipice — made no sense.
I considered briefly whether to avoid them or pass boldly. My instinct said it was right to avoid them, but that would require backtracking. Then a thought struck me.
‘What if this is really a trap?’
Always avoiding might not be the correct answer. Maybe the enemy placed people thoughtfully so I’d avoid them and be herded somewhere or buy time.
I retraced the path I’d taken in my mind. Thinking that way did make it look suspicious, but it was only circumstantial — there was no proof. The decision was not difficult in the end.
“If what’s ahead is truly a trap, then it’s already too late to go back.”
That meant the enemies were already ahead of me — no need to double back.
“Then there’s nothing to do but break through head-on.”
Hoping it was merely coincidence and that my worry was groundless, I quickly passed the precipice. Before long, the three people I’d sensed came into view. Seeing them, I couldn’t help but sigh. I had secretly hoped it wasn’t them.
‘If I’d been right, I wouldn’t even be allowed to hope so.’
As I first sensed, it was a young adult man and woman and a child. The problem was that the three were standing on the brittle branch of a thin tree growing precariously on the cliff edge — all three on a single branch. That meant each of them was a formidable expert.
“At least it’s not a Paewang-class spirit beast out to greet me,” I thought. If it had been a Paewang beast on this cliff, I’d be in trouble. People were easier to deal with — why? Because I’d faced many of them before, even in narrow cliff paths like this. And there was one more favorable sign.
“Ah — they’re puppets.”
A blank, expressionless face and emotionless empty eyes. It was identical to the way Sogeom looked in the spiritual sight. Someone had subdued them. Realizing that, I opened my spiritual eye. I half hoped the worst, but—
“Looks like today isn’t your day to die.”
What I’d taken as good news wasn’t really. The fact that there was nothing visible in them meant they weren’t at death’s doorstep yet. Another interpretation was that I wouldn’t be able to kill them — or would have to hold back. I suspected the former.
“No choice, then.”
No sooner had I thought that than the cliff began to tremble and collapse: rumble! boom! crash! The cliff shook and started to fall. It wasn’t a natural quake. Something burst out of the ground.
“Golden head?” I wondered. I’d hoped so, but the creature wasn’t that. It looked vaguely similar, but differed completely in color and size. Red fur, red eyes, and a body larger than an ox. Another mole-like spirit creature had appeared, which made me snort.
‘I had a feeling this might happen.’
After the Paewang-class spirit, another formidable spirit had shown up. Not Paewang-level, perhaps, but clearly troublesome. And now—
“Seeing this, I understand how handsome Geumdu must be.”
They resembled Geumdu, but Geumdu was far better-looking. Even if the new beast was ugly, it was still a spirit creature. The newly emerged one — which I mentally called Redhead — began to rampage as if it understood me. It dashed back into the hole it had made and started knocking down the cliff in earnest.
I had wondered how mole-family spirit creatures fight. The answer came in that moment, and it was not a welcome revelation. If I stayed still, I’d be crushed or fall to my death.
“Is it too late to apologize?”
Regret would be meaningless now; it showed no sign of stopping. I had two choices: jump off before the cliff collapsed completely and hope to survive by miracle, or force a path through before everything fell. Choosing the former would leave me praying for survival, so naturally I chose the latter.
Just then, as if expecting my move, the three who had been blocking my way flew toward me. They wouldn’t be flying at me out of friendliness. “Ching! Ching! Ching!” — they drew weapons in unison. Seeing that, I unsheathed Myeoraek as well.
“No choice now. Since it’s come to this…”
I decided to take this chance to test the martial art I’d recently learned.
