The Path to the Goddess Peak
Seomun Cheong stepped out of the cave. The weather was clear, and the entire sky burned a vivid crimson with the glow of sunset. Since she had entered around evening, she had spent a full day and night inside. If it were up to her, she would have stayed longer to properly consolidate her gains, but her stomach was growling, her throat was parched, and lingering any longer risked draining her stamina and inviting danger. Besides, the frail Jin Jangmyeong could never endure as long as she had. Though exhausted, aching all over, and sore in places she didn’t even want to think about, this moment—when her dantian was brimming with energy—was the perfect time to attempt another escape.
The sun was setting in the west, so north had to be that way. She would run straight north for a while, then head west at some point. Eventually, she would spot a big mountain and assume it was Mount Wu. However, Cheong had severely underestimated the mountains of the Central Plains. To a cultured modern Korean, a “mountain” meant a gentle hill with rounded ridges and soft peaks. To the people of the Central Plains, a mountain was closer to an insurmountable obstacle that dared humans to overcome it. Moreover, Mount Wu had originally been called the Wu Gorge—a long stretch of river flanked by sheer cliffs on both sides. For that reason, at some point between the forest and the fields, a wall-like barrier suddenly blocked part of her view.
What the hell is that… a mountain range? Which part of it is Mount Wu? And how am I supposed to find the Goddess Sect in all this? Do I have to comb through the entire range?
For a moment, her vision went black.
“Excuse me, do you happen to know where Mount Wu is from here?”
“Don’t know.”
“Yeah, figured. So, should I head over there?”
At the foot of the mountain, a cluster of dark rooftops came into view. It was one of the common clan villages of the Central Plains.
“Ugh, places like that usually have terrible people…”
The remote villages of the Central Plains were absolutely not gatherings of peaceful, pastoral folk quietly living out days no different from the last. The very shape of the village proved it. Built into the mountain slope, the lower houses formed a defensive wall while the upper structures doubled as watchtowers and command posts—a literal miniature fortress. It was an old Central Plains tradition: when they ran short on people, they would raid neighboring villages and kidnap them. Women were married off to bachelors, while men were enslaved. The treatment of those slaves varied wildly depending on the village’s relationship with the captives—ranging from somewhat friendly servants to literal punching bags for stress relief.
Villages near the main roads or cities would laugh it off, saying, “Oh, that was ages ago. Who lives like that anymore?” But in more isolated areas, the practice continued. It was one of the shocking realities Cheong had witnessed during her wanderings.
Cheong slowly approached the front of the village. Houses were connected by a massive gate—basically a castle gate. A burly man sitting atop it jumped to his feet.
“Omo, what’s this? Ghost or human?!”
“I’m a human.”
“If it’s a ghost, it’d say it’s a ghost!”
“Then what should I say?”
“Gogosi… Hmph. What kind of trickery is this!”
Cheong let out a heavy sigh.
“Never mind. Are there any outsiders in the village?”
“Outsiders? None. Who’d come to a place like this?”
Cheong felt somewhat relieved. It seemed those black-clad bastards hadn’t reached this far.
“Then, since I’m here now, can’t you let me in?”
“With that face? No chance, ghost lady.”
“Ugh… Then can you at least tell me where Mount Wu is?”
“Mount Wu? Why’re you looking for somewhere so far? Go that way for about two days and you’ll see the tallest peak—that’s Goddess Peak. The area around it is all Mount Wu.”
“Oh. Goddess Peak.”
Goddess Sect. Goddess Peak. It fit perfectly.
“By the way, could I rest here for just one day?”
“Hmph.”
“Or at least give me a few cold dumplings. The kid’s been starving.”
“Hee… Is that a baby on your back? Not a hunchback?”
It was the first impression of a Central Plains man seeing a K-style baby carrier for the first time. Cheong’s sharp ears caught the man’s mutter.
“A ghost with a baby is bad luck…”
Why does he keep calling a perfectly normal person a ghost?
Cheong ground her teeth, unaware of her own appearance. She had rolled around, been drenched in rain, crawled through mud, and crawled out of a hole in the ground. By Central Plains standards, she looked closer to something inhuman. But by a stroke of heavenly luck, that very appearance earned her sympathy. The people of the Central Plains had always been more generous to ghosts than to living people. There might be no dumplings to spare for beggars, but there was always meat to offer before a Buddha statue. Chase away a person and that was the end of it, but if a ghost took offense and latched on, it would haunt the family for generations.
“Just wait right there! I’ll bring something right away.”
“If there’s warm soup, that’d be nice too. It was cold all night.”
“You sure ask for a lot!”
“Oh, and if there’s any alcohol…”
“We’ll see about that!”
After the man disappeared into the village, Cheong untied Jin Jangmyeong and plopped down on the spot. As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Jin Jangmyeong slipped into Cheong’s arms and settled in.
“What the— You’re heavy.”
“It’s cold.”
“Tsk. With a body this weak, what are you even good for?”
Cheong pulled Jin Jangmyeong close and rested her chin on the girl’s head.
“I hope they give us something tasty.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Me too.”
At first it hadn’t been so bad, but the moment food was mentioned, her empty stomach began rioting.
— Granny, it’s a ghost! A ghost with a baby!
— A ghost, you say? Let me see. If it’s just a lowly ghost, let it go on its way.
Cheong’s ears perked up.
If it’s a lowly ghost, let it go on its way. And if it’s not a lowly ghost?
Cheong channeled her qi into both hands. A faint blue glow shimmered with strands of azure energy. Come to think of it, while she was called an inspector, the terms Taoist, rights-holder, or investigator all sounded a bit off. If one’s qi could emit light on its own, that was the level of a Profound Master. The weapon merchant’s manifested form had been about as impressive as those glow-in-the-dark stars kids stick on bedroom ceilings.
— Omo, that’s no ordinary ghost.
— Granny, set a proper table!
— Make it a generous spread. If it latches on, it’ll eat the whole family alive. And make sure the kids stay inside. If they see it, they’ll get possessed. Stuff them in the back room.
Whoa, this actually works.
Cheong smiled in satisfaction. The results were roughly pleasing. They had stuck chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice like incense—whether that was meant to help her attain nirvana quickly, she wasn’t sure. There was a heaping bowl of rice, pickled vegetables, more pickled vegetables to go with the pickled vegetables, and a fish soup made from small fry. The hot broth on an empty, cold stomach melted right into her body.
Once her stomach was somewhat full, Cheong sipped the cloudy liquor that had been served. She had no concept of drinking as an accompaniment to a meal. Rice was rice, alcohol was alcohol. Because there was a baby ghost, they had also brought out some roasted snacks, which Jin Jangmyeong was happily crunching away on from within Cheong’s arms.
Rather than the cup of liquor rising and falling before her eyes, something else had captured Jin Jangmyeong’s attention.
“Your hand… is it okay?”
“It’s not that it’s not okay.”
The two fingers that had been dangling had somehow been set back in place. However, they were swollen like balloons and completely immobile. Jin Jangmyeong thought for a long time before speaking.
“Then it’s not okay…”
“Correct. It hurts like hell. Still, since everything else hurts at the same time, it doesn’t bother me that much.”
There was a hole in her thigh, the wound on her forearm that had been stitched before had reopened and was bleeding again. Mud had seeped into all her scrapes, making everything sting and itch like crazy. There wasn’t a single joint that didn’t ache, and dirt crunched in her hair. Paradoxically, being such a complete mess made her feel at ease. It was the same rugged spirit of reserve soldiers. The reason they could lie down anywhere—treating the sky as a blanket and the ground as a bed the moment they put on their uniforms—came from this very principle.
With her belly full, she sprawled out a bit, and before she knew it, the surroundings had grown completely dark. Cheong wrapped Jin Jangmyeong up again. The villagers had said it would take two days on foot, but at Cheong’s pace, it wouldn’t even take half a day. If she went at a moderate speed, she would arrive around dawn. She just needed to head for the tallest peak from there.
“We should arrive around dawn. Go to sleep, kid. You need to sleep well to become a beauty, so you should probably sleep all day.”
“What are you talking about? Then… then Unni would have to hibernate like a bear.”
Cheong flinched. It was a title she hadn’t heard before. She could feel Jin Jangmyeong squirming against her back. Since even a martial artist’s neck couldn’t turn 180 degrees, she couldn’t see the girl’s expression, but it was essentially a question. Is it okay to call you that?
Unni felt a bit strange for a guy, but in modern times, even men sometimes called each other that. Cheong let out a small chuckle.
Whatever. We’re heading to the Goddess Sect together anyway.
Even if they arrived, it wasn’t like Jin Jangmyeong would magically recover her health like some middle-school protagonist and become a comrade. Once Cheong dropped her off, who knew when they would see each other again?
“Sleep quickly. And don’t drool on my back.”
The pitch-black sky had gradually turned a deep navy. The chirping of birds could be heard. Though the sun had not yet risen above the horizon, its presence already dominated the dawn.
Cheong had worried she might have run too far during the night. But once she saw Goddess Peak, she realized it had been a needless concern. The peak stood so tall by itself that there was no chance of missing it. Still, realistically speaking, how was she supposed to climb that?
It was less a peak and more like a Goddess Tower. And even that tower seemed to rise once more from the mountain’s summit. Barely half of it showed any green at all. The rest was composed of vertically soaring gray cliffs. Still, if people lived there, there had to be a path up. As she searched for a hiking trail and moved further along the base, she rounded a corner at the edge of the slope.
Between two ridges lay a sunken depression. A path, compacted hard from constant foot and cart traffic, came into view. And at the end of that path stood two people.
That spear guy… from some clan… whatever his name was. She hadn’t bothered remembering it. And one extremely annoying ninja.
The moment Cheong saw them, they saw her as well.
He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Cheong recalled Nietzsche’s famous words that everyone knew.