Yeon’s Heart (3)
“Now, what shall we do?”
Night had fallen. Jo Yeon sat before the flickering fire in the cave and asked her.
Ha-eun pondered for a moment, then replied.
“…My purpose… was to avenge my master. Master said that once revenge was complete, I could do as I wished… but my heart is complicated.”
“What’s there to complicate? Just do what you want.”
“I wish to walk the path of my master. Yet… I also wish not to.”
“What nonsense is that?”
Ha-eun gently touched the mask she wore.
“I… was born with a handicap. Now that I’ve undergone Hwan-gol-tal-tae and my fingers have fallen away, I was born with the little and ring fingers of my right hand already joined. Then I caught the plague, lost my parents, and my skin became pocked and scarred… From childhood I was called a beggar woman and spat upon. Everyone hated my ugly face and believed that simply looking at me would spread curses and plague. I was even threatened with eye-sewing. But when I was twelve, a master came to our village and exterminated the crooked sects that extorted unreasonable tributes and smuggled weak pills.”
Thud… thump…
Jo Yeon listened in silence.
“Everyone shrank from my gaze and shouted at me. But the master not only pitied me but took me as his disciple simply because I kept staring at his spear tip. He never discriminated against me for my looks or my disability and treated me exactly like his other righteous companions.”
Ha-eun continued to caress her mask.
“He was a righteous man. Yet others envied his virtue, and the righteous ones began to resent him… and the righteous ones began to burn his family.”
Clatter… clatter…
Her fingers trembled.
“The family was burned. Master was defeated in the righteous alliance and his dantian shattered, turning him into a cripple. The righteous ones mocked him and cast the broken master aside among those who envied him… and vanished.”
“…”
Crunch…
Jo Yeon gritted his teeth.
As a righteous one he already knew exactly who the family that had attacked Wol-yeon’s sect was.
The Jo Clan!
It had been his own clan that had cruelly trampled his sworn brother!
“I threw myself into the fray and knocked down the other righteous ones. While carrying Master I suffered a burn on my face. That is how this scar was left and why I wear a mask… but I have no regret. I saved Master. After that I nursed him as his breath grew faint, and whenever he regained clarity I learned martial arts from him and swore revenge. I would personally slay every wicked target of vengeance.”
Jo Yeon rubbed his face with both hands.
“Yet at the very end, as he lay dying, Master spoke those words. ‘I hope you never become like me…’ Because of that, I wish to walk the righteous path like Master. Yet I must also follow Master’s wish to never become like him. So what am I to do?”
“…First I must apologize to you.”
Jo Yeon rose and bowed his head toward Ha-eun.
“You are my master. The righteous ones who shattered Wol-bi’s martial arts… are shameful, yet they are members of my own clan.”
The truths poured from his lips.
The truths of the righteous sect.
And the reason the Jo Clan had become involved…
“I… apologize for my shameful clan. No, no… I apologize.”
“…”
Ha-eun looked at Jo Yeon with complicated eyes.
For a while silence hung between them.
Beneath the dark night sky, inside the cave where the campfire burned high.
Ha-eun struck Jo Yeon.
At first her blows were restrained, but they grew steadily fiercer until blood poured from Jo Yeon’s face.
After pounding him for a long while Ha-eun finally knelt before him and wept bitterly.
Jo Yeon gently embraced her as if to comfort the weeping girl, and Wol-ha-eun hugged him back and wailed loudly.
The bent-backed man and the scarred woman, remembering their master, cried before the fire all night long.
The next day dawned.
“I am sorry for last night.”
“Nonsense. I am the one who should apologize. I failed to notice him sooner.”
“…No. It is my fault for not controlling my emotions… If senior was sad too, then I could not control my own heart…”
She fell silent for a moment and glanced at Jo Yeon.
“What will senior do from now on?”
“I… Well, I shall wander the jianghu as always.”
“Then… I shall follow you. I shall protect you from now on. It is also my apology for yesterday.”
“Hmm, so you will guard me?”
Jo Yeon looked at her with amusement in his eyes.
Then, suddenly, he asked with a mischievous smile.
“In that case, would you like to become my disciple? The records say that Five Qi Consorting with the Origin yields the Five Elements Spiritual Root like our righteous ones, allowing us to train the righteous sect technique. I can teach you that.”
The same question he had asked Wol-bi!
She hesitated.
Jo Yeon wondered how she would reply.
Ha-eun shook her head after a moment’s thought.
“I am grateful, but no. I have only one master. And I already know martial arts.”
“Hahahahaha!”
Jo Yeon smiled with satisfaction at the similar answer.
“Good. I apologize. Do as you wish. I will continue wandering the jianghu, and you may do as you please while following me.”
“Understood. I will follow senior and walk the righteous path as much as possible. By following senior I will not meet Master’s tragic end, which will also honor his final wish.”
“Do as you like. But I am a righteous one and cannot stay long in a village of criminals. You will spend more time in mountains and rivers than you expect. We will often fight demons and monsters rather than crooked sects or bandits. Now that I have pushed aside three major sects at my own will, I must send a beast pill to my clan to fill the merit. …Is that all right?”
“It is fine.”
“Then follow me.”
Thus the two departed on their journey.
A righteous one and a righteous woman roamed the land after avenging.
Byeokra Kingdom, Yeon Kingdom, Seongje Empire…
They roamed everywhere and slain the creatures that harmed humans.
Corpse puppets, fox spirits, cannibals, black corpses, white skeletons, mad sea dragons, and more.
The two dealt with every vile thing they encountered.
Kwoong!
Ha-eun pulled her spear from the head of the mad sea dragon that spat lightning from its entire body.
“Hah, strong.”
“Are you all right?”
Jo Yeon handed her a recovery pill as he approached.
Five years had passed.
For several years they had roamed together slaying monsters and had grown quite close.
From master’s friend and friend’s disciple…
The two had grown closer.
A righteous one and a righteous woman.
One person and another person.
Colleagues had become close.
Jo Yeon applied the ointment to Ha-eun’s wounds.
“Hmm, the wound is quite deep. The ointment won’t work. We have run out of recovery pills… Let’s spend one night in a nearby village and make a bit more.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
Ha-eun glanced at the approaching Jo Yeon and slowly pulled back her head.
Somehow her neck had flushed a little red.
The two colleagues boarded the flying technique together and arrived at the village.
“W-welcome! Immortal lords! Please come to the Oath Village at once!”
“Oath Village… what a fine name.”
“Would you like to stay in our village tonight? We have a place.”
“Yes! We will stay at our house. However… may I ask one favor of you immortals?”
The two looked at each other and answered the village chief.
“Tell us what the favor is.”
“Ah! There is a huge black snake on the mountain behind our village that eats people. Dozens of people have already been swallowed by it… Please slay the black snake for us!”
The two nodded at once.
“Very well. We shall slay it right now.”
“Good. First let us rest one night and recover our strength.”
Their opinions differed slightly.
Ha-eun said.
“We must slay the black snake quickly so the villagers can live in peace.”
Jo Yeon shook his head.
“You are not yet healed. Treatment and fighting are best done slowly.”
“It is fine. This wound is… something I can endure for a while. From the testimony it is only a low-grade beast at the Foundation Establishment stage. We can take it quickly.”
“Hmmm…”
Jo Yeon looked at her and nodded after reading the resolve in her eyes.
“If that is your will…”
The two set off for the mountain behind the Oath Village to slay the black snake monster.
Kugugugu!
The black snake charged with vicious eyes.
Ha-eun used Void Step and dodged its attacks while aiming her spear through the scales and tearing its body with strong qi.
Jo Yeon floated his technique artifacts around and pushed the snake back.
The fight was going smoothly when…
Kyahaaa!
The snake whipped its tail like a whip.
The tail pierced the sound barrier in an instant and tore into Ha-eun’s wound.
“Kuk!”
Ha-eun cried out and the snake rammed into her with its body.
Kwa-aang!
She hurriedly wrapped herself in protective qi but the mask shattered.
“Euu…!”
Ha-eun panicked at the disappearance of her mask and looked at Jo Yeon.
Her face flushed red with shame.
In that moment the black snake charged again and Jo Yeon quickly stepped between them.
“Die!”
Fwoosh!
Jo Yeon exhaled flames from his enraged face.
The snake’s life force fell.
But in an instant the snake, nearly losing consciousness, rushed at Jo Yeon.
Kwaak!
The snake’s fangs tore into Jo Yeon’s skin.
Jo Yeon’s skin split and poison spread inward as he grimaced in pain.
Ha-eun screamed and sprayed her spear qi while the black snake finally pierced its face and fell asleep.
Ha-eun lifted Jo Yeon and used Void Step, returning to the Oath Village with a pale face.
“No, don’t die!”
Usually she could not even move properly without the mask, but at that moment she ran without a care.
At last they reached the village. Ha-eun brought the only doctor, the bookseller’s son, to treat Jo Yeon.
The bookseller’s son treated Jo Yeon.
Ha-eun waited outside while chewing the dried meat until he finished.
The bookseller’s daughter wandered around with a picture book, glancing at the treatment place. Yet they never spoke to each other.
And surprisingly the treatment was quick.
The black snake spread poison often, so the antidote was always in the village.
“Hmph, no need to rush so much. I can treat it with the natural detoxification of Foundation Establishment. That level…”
“Ah…! That’s good.”
Ha-eun smiled brightly and Jo Yeon stared at her face for a moment with a dazed look.
She startled and covered her face.
“Ah, ah… please do not look at the… face.”
“Hmph…”
She hurriedly borrowed a white cloth from a nearby woman and covered her face with it.
Then, to move past the embarrassment, she quickly changed the subject.
“A-alright, your body is quite weak. You could have dodged faster if you knew basic martial arts when the snake rushed at the end.”
“Um… that’s true, but as a righteous one mixing inner power with technique power slows my cultivation.”
“You can learn some simple outer power and basic forms, can’t you? I’ll teach you.”
The topic seemed to please her, so she went with Jo Yeon to the village center.
Ha-eun held her spear in both hands while Jo Yeon borrowed a folding fan from an old man passing by.
“Even if you don’t use weapons in battle, practicing your footwork will help a lot. Watch and copy me.”
“Um, all right.”
As the sun began to set, the two men and woman practiced martial arts that looked like dance.
Every time Ha-eun moved her spear, Jo Yeon’s fan moved in perfect sync.
Following her movements, Jo Yeon copied her exactly.
Ha-eun spun three times to the right and Jo Yeon followed with three spins.
The ends of Jo Yeon’s fan and Ha-eun’s spear brushed together three times.
Ha-eun looked at him and said.
“You follow well. Let me teach you the footwork and the penetrating form. Like this…”
The two practiced the dancing martial arts in the center of the village for a while.
As the sun lowered more spectators gathered.
The Byeogang Spear, perfected through Wol-bi and then Wol-ha-eun.
The technique was beautiful.
Watching the two men and woman move together, regardless of their forms, was quite pleasing to the eye.
“Very well, let us begin again from the start. This time senior will attack in the middle.”
The forms unfolded once more.
Jo Yeon seemed to dance along with her for a moment.
Then in an instant…
Tha!
He moved quickly and reached his hand toward Ha-eun’s face.
“Eh…!”
Ha-eun tried to dodge but Jo Yeon’s will twisted the trajectory and she could not avoid it.
In that moment Jo Yeon’s hand pulled away the cloth covering Ha-eun’s face.
“Ah, no…”
Ha-eun panicked but Jo Yeon threw the cloth away and laughed.
“I want to see your face.”
Ha-eun’s face burned red as she spoke in a voice trying to crawl away.
“It… it’s impossible. You… won’t like what you see.”
“It is fine.”
Jo Yeon smiled brightly.
“It is beautiful. That appearance also…”
His voice was soft yet it rang clearly in the center of the village.
The villagers all cheered and applauded.
Yet the two men and woman blushed while looking only at each other.
Ha-eun wept.
The bent-backed man and the scarred woman had each become smiling and crying faces.
Ha-eun wept.
Yet she never stopped practicing the forms of the Byeogang Spear with Jo Yeon.
With tear-streaked face Ha-eun told him.
“…Good. Then… shall we keep dancing with each other as we are?”
“You are beautiful.”
They continued dancing until night fell and the moon rose, when their dance finally ended.
The village chief approached the two immortals who had saved the village and bowed.
“Thank you for saving our village, immortal lords. Lady immortal… thank you for slaying the black snake. I will remember this kindness forever. Tonight’s dance shall become the traditional art of our village to be passed to future generations. The entire dance you showed is the pride of our village and the entire region! Once more… thank you!”
The two men and woman smiled shyly at each other after hearing the chief’s words.
Jo Yeon laughed brightly.
“If you wish to pass it on, please try to make it last for a thousand years… no, for ten thousand years into the future!”
“We shall. You immortals will be able to see the tradition of our village even in a thousand years!”
After speaking the chief swallowed hard and looked at them.
“Ah… and if you wish, we shall empty our entire house tonight.”
Both Jo Yeon and Ha-eun blushed and burst into hearty laughter.
Thus, that day the two destinies became one.