Relic
Breathing in the early morning air, the two of them left the inn, and it was not until the sun had climbed high overhead that they finally reached the entrance to Mt. Kongdong.
Kongdong Martial Arts Stand Guard in the Western Frontier
Cheongwol drew in a ragged breath as she stared up at the stone stele engraved with the words declaring that Kongdong’s martial arts protected the western border.
"So we’re here?"
"Yes. If we wait, someone will come."
And sure enough, not long after Seomun Hwi spoke, a Taoist priest in a blue robe approached them from the direction of the mountain.
"This poor priest is called Unhak of the Kongdong Sect. What brings you to Kongdong?"
Having introduced himself first, Unhak, too, was met with proper courtesy from Seomun Hwi.
"I am Seomun Hwi, young clan leader of the Seomun Clan."
"I heard a distinguished guest was coming to the Seomun Clan before long. So this is the day, then."
"I’m little more than a young fool of the martial world."
At Seomun Hwi’s modest reply, Unhak’s lips curved in a faint smile.
"It is widely known that young Clan Leader Seomun’s martial prowess has already surpassed the level of the younger generation. But this one here is...?"
When Unhak’s gaze turned to Cheongwol, standing beside him, Seomun Hwi answered as though he had been waiting for the question.
"This is my close friend, Cheongwol. She happened to have business here in Kongdong as well, so we came together."
"Ah, then she is the young clan leader’s close friend. What brings Cheongwol-do to Kongdong?"
Cheongwol seemed to think for a moment before looking at Unhak and speaking.
"I came to meet someone named So Gayul."
At the name, Unhak’s once-calm eyes sharpened in an instant.
"Do you realize what you’ve just said, Cheongwol-do?"
At the abrupt change in atmosphere, Seomun Hwi looked back and forth between Cheongwol and Unhak.
Who on earth was this So Gayul, to make Unhak, who had seemed so kindly and mild-mannered, react like this?
But Cheongwol herself did not know who So Gayul was, either.
"I’m sorry if I was rude. But..."
Cheongwol reached into her clothes and drew out a worn, crumpled sheet of paper, looking down at it in her hand.
"I have to deliver my grandfather’s last words to her."
---
"Please rest here for a moment. I’ve told her that the young clan leader is here, so it shouldn’t be long."
"Yes. Thank you very much."
"No need for thanks."
After exchanging a few brief words with Seomun Hwi at the door, Unhak turned to Cheongwol.
"...I did pass along Cheongwol-do’s words as well, at least."
"That alone is enough. Thank you."
Cheongwol shook her head as if to say no more was needed, and Unhak answered with a faint smile of his own.
"If you run into any trouble, please come to the hall down below. I’ll let the people there know in advance. Then..."
After reciting his Taoist salute, Unhak left them, and Seomun Hwi stared after him in disbelief.
Because the So Gayul Cheongwol was asking for was none other than the Kongdong Sect’s sect leader.
Not only had she carelessly spoken the courtesy name of another sect’s leader, she had even asked for an audience by invoking a connection that was uncertain at best.
Had Unhak not been a good man, it would not have been strange at all for the whole matter to explode into a scene of accusations that she had tried to deceive the sect.
And if that had happened, he who had vouched for Cheongwol’s identity would certainly have been barred from setting foot in the Kongdong Sect as well.
Perhaps that was why he understood.
"...Sorry."
Feeling that she had caused Seomun Hwi trouble, Cheongwol lowered her head and entered the room with a dejected face.
"Haa..."
The thought that he had nearly ruined the Seomun Clan’s business made Seomun Hwi’s heart sink, but once he saw how forlorn Cheongwol looked, he could not bear to leave her like that.
She had only wanted to deliver her grandfather’s last words. What was so wrong about that?
In the end, Seomun Hwi let out a small sigh and followed her into the room.
Cheongwol was seated on the bed, gazing absently at the old sheet of paper she had taken out in front of Unhak, her eyes distant and soft.
As though she were trying, with all her might, to hold on to the memories she had shared with her grandfather before they slipped away for good.
"Is that your grandfather’s testament?"
At Seomun Hwi’s question, Cheongwol looked up at him in surprise, as if she had not even noticed him coming in.
After a moment, Cheongwol, having steadied herself somewhat, nodded slowly.
"...Yes. This is all I have left of my grandfather now. He did leave one other thing behind, but... that wasn’t meant for me."
Carefully folding the paper, Cheongwol tucked it back into her clothes.
"But I think Grandfather didn’t want me to see this."
"Why do you say that?"
"He never told me there was anything like this, not even until the moment he closed his eyes. And the contents aren’t even fully written."
With a faint smile, Cheongwol thought of her grandfather’s face—stern, yet always so devoted to protecting her.
"I’m not entirely sure, but... maybe he did it for me. Worrying over his grandchild was something he did to an almost unbearable degree."
Seomun Hwi, too, smiled faintly and moved to sit beside her.
"And yet you still came all the way here. Looks like you never did listen very well when your grandfather spoke."
"I guess I was enough trouble to give Grandfather a hard time."
The two of them were smiling at each other when, all at once, a hurried knock sounded at the door.
"Cheongwol-do! Cheongwol-do, are you in there?"
It sounded vaguely familiar, so Cheongwol rushed to open the door—and sure enough, Unhak, who had left the reception hall moments ago, was standing there, panting for breath.
"The sect leader is coming here right now."
---
The Kongdong Sect had originally been an alliance of eight sects based on Mt. Kongdong, formed to resist foreign powers.
Feilong Gate, Chuihun Gate, Hyeongong Taigeuk Gate, Gibyeong Gate, Talmyeong Gate, Chwimun, Sinhon Gate, and Hwaga Gate.
Under the banner of the Kongdong Eight Sects, the eight schools each contributed one of their treasured techniques.
And in time, there appeared within one of those sects a man who awakened all eight of those techniques. He was Bi Hongja, who later became renowned as the founding patriarch of the Kongdong Sect.
“Let the alliance become a single sect, and stand against our enemies.”
In accordance with Bi Hongja’s will, the alliance became one sect, the Kongdong Sect, and seven of the eight treasured techniques were forged into a single martial art.
Seven Harm Fist.
It was a fist art born from the combined energies of seven techniques, and the reason one of them had been left out was simple enough.
The human body could only accept seven kinds of energy at once.
Even so, Seven Harm Fist remained dangerous, so Bi Hongja used the energy of the remaining technique to create a sword art for future generations.
That was the very sword art that represented the Kongdong Sect of the present day: Subduing Demons Sword Art.
Who would willingly train in Seven Harm Fist, when this sword art was powerful enough to bear the name of subduing demons, and Seven Harm Fist carried the risk of death if one made even a single mistake?
In the end, Seven Harm Fist was gradually forgotten beneath the shadow of Subduing Demons Sword Art, but then, like a comet, someone appeared in the Kongdong Sect who had awakened it on her own just as Bi Hongja had once done.
Seven Qi Fairy So Gayul.
The one now seated before Cheongwol was the very protagonist of that story.
"So. You came looking for me because of your grandfather’s last words?"
As So Gayul’s voice rang through the room, Cheongwol felt as though her whole body were being pressed down under a mountain.
So Gayul had deliberately released a trace of her power, testing Cheongwol by pressing her with her aura.
"...Yes. I’m Im Cheongwol."
But after taking a steadying breath, Cheongwol gathered her own inner power and calmly began pushing back against So Gayul’s aura, inch by inch.
"...Not bad."
Sensing a familiar energy she had long since forgotten in Cheongwol, So Gayul drew her aura back and closed her eyes for a moment.
"They say there is nothing a human can do to command fate..."
At the cruel fate that had returned to her no matter how hard she had tried to avoid it, So Gayul let out a heavy sigh for the first time in a long while.
"From the way you call him your grandfather, you must be his grandchild. Is that right?"
"Yes."
Cheongwol nodded readily, but So Gayul still looked unconvinced.
"And yet how is it that you don’t resemble him in the least?"
It would have been unpleasant to feel her gaze sweeping over her from head to toe, but Cheongwol only gave an awkward smile.
As the woman had said, she and her grandfather truly did not resemble each other in any obvious way.
"My grandfather said I looked exactly like my mother."
"...Well, there’s no law saying a grandchild has to resemble that man."
So Gayul kept calling her grandfather that man, and Cheongwol finally asked her cautiously,
"Um... may I ask what your relationship with my grandfather was?"
At the question, So Gayul looked faintly startled.
"Did you come here after hearing something from your grandfather?"
"He never said a word. I came because of the testament he left behind."
As she said that, Cheongwol took a small box from her robes and held it out to So Gayul.
Seeing the box glowing with a soft blue light, So Gayul’s eyes began to tremble.
"The testament said to deliver this box to a woman called So Gayul of the Kongdong Sect. And if this So Gayul was not in the Kongdong Sect, or if she refused to accept it..."
Cheongwol placed her hand over the box once more.
"He said not to open it, and to throw it straight into the fire."