Woman
When Cheongwol opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Bi-dong, transformed into a landscape buried beneath masses of ice.
"...?"
While the great ritual was underway, what on earth had happened to make Bi-dong end up like this?
Still puzzled, she had just begun to look slowly around her when she heard the sound of something cracking not far away.
-Crack
The sound grew louder and louder, and before long it burst with a sharp report, scattering snow and shards of ice across the floor.
"Haa... haa..."
The one who broke free of the ice was none other than So Gayul, and her face was pale as she gasped for breath.
If I’d been even a moment later in surrounding myself with protective qi, I could have been in serious trouble. What on earth is this...?
After she’d gotten her breathing under control, she hurriedly looked around.
Cheongwol knew So Gayul was searching for her, so she strained her throat and called out with difficulty.
"...Master?"
So Gayul whirled toward the sound, then strode over with an expression as though she had seen a ghost, seizing Cheongwol by both arms.
"Cheongwol, are you all right?"
Her hands clamped tightly around Cheongwol’s arms and shook her.
So shocked she had forgotten even the dignity of a sect leader, she stared wide-eyed and spoke in a frantic voice.
In that, Cheongwol could feel her master’s affection, and so she smiled as brightly as she could to keep her from worrying.
"Yes. I think I’m fine. My voice seems a little strange, though. Ahem."
Cheongwol raised a hand and felt at the throat that had been producing such an awkward voice ever since earlier.
"It doesn’t feel like my voice at all. How should I put it... it seems too thin, maybe, or too high... Ah, could this be the price of the great ritual?"
Since she had clearly opened her eyes again, Cheongwol assumed the ritual had succeeded without incident.
So she spoke lightly and looked to So Gayul, but her master’s expression had become even more horrified than before.
"You... you..."
"...?"
Seeing an expression on her master’s face she had never witnessed in her life, Cheongwol finally sensed that something had gone terribly wrong.
But what, exactly, was wrong?
True, her voice had become a little strange, but with time it would return to normal.
Besides, her body felt light as a feather, and vitality kept surging through her without end, so the ritual didn’t seem to have gone awry.
Ah, did I maybe end up with some terrible scar on my face?
If so, that would be a little disappointing, but she was a man anyway, so it wouldn’t really be a problem.
A true man ought to have a few thick scars on his face, just like Grandfather.
As she pictured the old man’s rough, smiling face, Cheongwol lifted a hand and felt along her own features.
My eyes are fine, so no issue there, and my nose is still where it should be, and my mouth and jaw too... yes, nothing wrong. Seems fine to me.
She tilted her head, confused by her perfectly normal features, and was just about to check her ears too when, just in case, she felt an unfamiliar heaviness in her chest.
"...?"
It was too distinct to mistake for a knot of muscle or some muscle that had pulled strangely.
She couldn’t simply pretend not to notice, so Cheongwol slowly lowered her head.
"This is..."
The instant she faced that white, soft-looking flesh, Cheongwol’s face drained of color.
That which ought to belong to a woman—why was it on her?
"What in the world..."
-Thud
Unable to bear the reality before her, Cheongwol finally lost her wits and pitched forward as if collapsing.
If only the great ritual had not yet ended.
"Cheongwol! Pull yourself together! Cheongwol!"
So Gayul caught her falling disciple and called out to her, but Cheongwol did not fully regain consciousness until two days later.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When she opened her eyes and stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling, Cheongwol still believed she was trapped in a nightmare.
For how could it be otherwise, when the pressure resting on her chest had not gone away?
Thinking it truly was an unusual dream, she let the sleep flooding over her drag her back under and closed her eyes again.
Even when she opened them a second time, the same ceiling still looked down at her.
Can you have the same dream more than once...?
The weight on her chest remained, and even her breathing felt strangely constricted, but Cheongwol soon shut her eyes once more.
I suppose you can...
And when she opened them a third time, Cheongwol screamed until the room itself seemed to shake.
No, no, no!
With a face that looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment, she fumbled between her legs again and again.
Why, why isn’t it there? Could the great ritual have gone wrong? Did Master cut it off while I was unconscious?
It was a thought that would have sounded quite unjust to So Gayul had she heard it, and Cheongwol’s breathing grew more and more ragged.
Just before she was overwhelmed by confusion and fear and slipped into unconsciousness again, the door was flung open and So Gayul rushed in.
"Cheongwol! You’ve come to your senses?"
"...Master..."
When she met So Gayul’s face in the midst of such confusion, Cheongwol could hold back no longer and burst into tears.
"I... I... what am I supposed to do now..."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"The ritual was completed successfully. There are a few minor issues, but that is all."
Looking at the Cheongwol who was no longer quite the same, So Gayul forced herself to speak with feigned calm.
"Minor issues?"
"...Is Sunflower Manual not a peerless divine art? Compared to obtaining such a supreme art, these are minor issues. Wouldn’t you say?"
"..."
"..."
When Cheongwol stared at her without saying a word, So Gayul could no longer endure it and averted her eyes.
"There are occasionally martial artists who change eye color while training in martial arts. If you think about it that way, it isn’t such a strange thing."
"..."
"And what of your voice changing a little? I think it sounds just right now."
"..."
When Cheongwol continued to remain silent, So Gayul finally shot to her feet.
"I’m telling you, I didn’t do this! A blizzard suddenly started during the ritual, and when I came to my senses, you were like that!"
"I understand, I do."
"Understand, my foot! If you understand, why are you staring at your master like that?"
At last, unable to hold back any longer, So Gayul lost her temper and shouted. Only then did Cheongwol slowly lower her eyes.
"...I’m shocked too, you know. I opened my eyes and this is what I—what this body looks like..."
At Cheongwol’s feeble, threadbare voice, So Gayul quickly recovered her composure.
As Cheongwol said, she was surely the one most confused right now.
So Gayul pressed hard against her throbbing temple and sat down again.
"I’m sorry to repeat myself, but that is truly all there is to it. Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly, and then suddenly it all began to go wrong."
Even now, it seemed the shock and confusion from that moment had not fully faded. As she spoke, So Gayul could feel once more as though her heart were tightening in her chest.
"An endless chill gathered around you, and a blizzard began to rage inside the cave. Then when I came to my senses, you were calling for me."
At the mention of a blizzard, Cheongwol thought of the woman she had encountered within the hallucination, but she did not mention it aloud.
She had no certainty that it had been real in the first place, and even if it had been, she did not know how to explain it.
That she had lost consciousness during the ritual because she couldn’t breathe properly, and then a mysterious woman had helped her awaken?
Even to her own mind, it sounded like nonsense that would be dismissed out of hand.
"And as for you becoming a woman..."
So Gayul flicked her gaze toward Cheongwol.
Her face was now so much thinner that the lines of it had become almost faint.
The throat that had once protruded slightly was now completely gone from view.
And, unlike when she had been a man, the chest now stood out with unmistakable presence.
There was also the faintly thicker line of her thighs and the wider spread of her hips, all of which fell into So Gayul’s eyes.
So the only thing that’s hardly changed is her face...
A man had become a woman, yet aside from the sharpening of her features, there was almost no difference in her face.
So Gayul wore an expression of utter disbelief as she continued.
"It is very likely that this was always the nature of the ritual. Think about it. It is a ritual that changes the body into one suitable for practicing Sunflower Manual. And besides, Sunflower Manual is a heart method that draws upon powerful yin energy."
Indeed, the more she considered So Gayul’s explanation, the stranger it became.
"Then what about having to cut off the male root... could that too have..."
"That part probably means that since you would become a woman anyway, it doesn’t matter. Better to be a woman than a cripple, after all. Of course, there may be those who would not think so."
As she said that, So Gayul looked at Cheongwol.
"And what about you? Wouldn’t it be better to live as a woman than as a man without the male root? You’ll come to understand naturally once you live as one, but life as a woman isn’t so bad."
Even with So Gayul’s question, Cheongwol could not answer yes.
Even though her master herself was a woman.
"It would certainly be better than living in a body like this... but still..."
As Cheongwol kept biting her lower lip with an aggrieved look on her face, So Gayul finally let out a soft sigh.
"I suppose I can’t expect a fellow who was a man until just a little while ago to accept at once that he has become a woman overnight. Still..."
So Gayul rose and headed toward the door.
"You would do well to adapt to that body, even if you have to force yourself. That is, if you still harbor any desire for revenge."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇