Homecoming and the Cold Iron Flute
Do you know the heart of a father trudging home on a freezing winter day, breath fogging the air as he carries a whole fried chicken in his hands despite his trembling body? Of course, Cheong did not. She had no children. Still, she suspected it felt something like this. With a massive bundle slung over her shoulder like a wandering peddler, her steps up Sinnyeo Peak were light as air. Anyone who saw what was inside that bundle would have mistaken her for a peddler of sweets for young girls. She had spent every last coin on candies and hair ornaments. Thanks to her wealthy friends, her purse had been fat to begin with, and she had not exactly been stingy with it either—though that was not the only reason.
In this era, if Cheong had pulled out her own money, Paeng Daesan and Namgung Sinjae’s reputations would have been ruined. What kind of men from the Five Great Clans would let a woman pay for them? So when she had cheerfully declared “My treat!” the two of them had nearly jumped out of their skins, frantically insisting she put her money away. That was why the gift bundle she carried now could rival the generosity of a certain red-robed, white-bearded elder from another world who once handed out free treats to children everywhere while preaching equality.
The disciples guarding the main gate of the Sinnyeo Sect spotted her and waved excitedly.
“Ah, Great-Grandmaster! Great-Grandmaster has returned!”
“Great-Grandmaster! Welcome back!”
Their pure joy was obvious. Cheong’s heart warmed, though she still found the younger disciples a little intimidating.
“Yeah. You’ve all been working hard. Here, take these.”
Cheong reached into her bundle and somehow produced several sugar candies wrapped in yellow paper. She pressed a piece of hardened sugar on a bamboo stick into each girl’s hand.
“Whoa, candy! Thank you so much!”
“We’ll enjoy it! Great-Grandmaster is the best!”
Sweets were serious business for women. Cheong herself had once been an ordinary office worker who did not particularly care for them, but she understood now. There was a kind of ecstasy only something unbearably sweet could give. The sweetness that rinsed the mouth with tea and then filled it again was nothing short of the drug the Central Plains permitted. In truth, other drugs were not exactly illegal either; ancient, uncivilized China had yet to establish proper laws or enforcement rules regarding controlled substances.
“Thank you, Great-Grandmaster!”
She greeted the bright-eyed youngest disciples, the auntie-level elders with proper bows, and even the second-generation disciples who were still running around. Cheong handed out candies to every sect member she met as she crossed the grounds. With no woman of higher rank to stop her, her steps were bold and unstoppable.
Her sweet home appeared before her eyes. Real estate in the Central Plains was not exactly booming, but the feeling of having one’s own house was still intoxicating. That was when a girl who had been lying on the handmade bench Cheong had built suddenly sprang up and charged headfirst into her.
“Unni!”
But Cheong was a master. She was long past the level where she would fall for such an obvious ambush.
“Why’d you dodge…?”
“Who are you? This is the residence of the Outer Elder, Seomun Cheong. How dare a mere disciple set foot here without permission? For the crime of failing to recognize your sect’s senior, I shall personally bestow candy upon you.”
“……?”
Cheong pressed a piece of candy into the girl’s hand. The girl’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ah. That line? You… don’t tell me. Were you Jangmyeong?”
“That’s too much.”
Cheong had every right to feel wronged. The Jin Jangmyeong she remembered had been a rather handsome-looking child rather than a pretty one. In just half a year that little kid had turned into a lovely, adorable girl, so of course she had not recognized her at a glance. Still, why was her height the same? Was the Sinnyeo Sect not feeding her?
“You fooled me completely. You’ve got quite the scheming mind.”
“I never fooled anyone……”
Regardless, Cheong began gushing.
“Wow, you got so pretty I didn’t recognize you! Our Jangmyeong, you’re beautiful! Cute! Lovely! Gorgeous! Like a flower! Like a celestial maiden! Whoa, you’re a full-fledged young lady now, a real young lady! Completely a young lady!”
“……? So before, I wasn’t a young lady……?”
Jin Jangmyeong tilted her head. Was this not the part where she was supposed to be fed candy? A wave of disappointment washed over her, and her cheeks puffed out in a pout. The heartfelt reunion scene she had always imagined was nowhere to be found.
“Forget it. I’m leaving.”
“Ah, wait a second. I bought you a present. Especially for our Jangmyeong, and it was pretty expensive, so don’t go blabbing about it to the others, all right?”
Jin Jangmyeong’s ears perked up.
“……Especially?”
“Let’s see. I put it over here somewhere……”
Cheong rummaged through her bundle. A moment later, a glittering golden leaf hairpin appeared. It was one of the hair ornaments favored by women of the Central Plains, a type secured by two prongs that extended from the decoration. The golden leaf, with veins shaped like a leaf skeleton, had green jade stamens attached. It was not large or flashy, but dainty and cute.
Jin Jangmyeong’s eyes widened.
“Waaah……”
“Pretty, right? Ahem, ahem. I picked it up while I was out. Your family doesn’t have anything like this, does it? Spring potatoes…… not that I’m comparing it to that.”
“What are you talking about.”
Her words were curt, but her face was beaming.
“Put it in for me.”
“Hey. Do you not have hands? Or feet?”
“Hurry up.”
She was a bit old for acting spoiled, but Jin Jangmyeong had never really had the chance to act spoiled with anyone before, even after joining the sect. Cheong’s heart softened and she gave in.
“Well, you’re cute, so I’ll allow it.”
Having learned the proper way to wear hair ornaments, Cheong carefully slid the golden leaf hairpin into the right side of Jin Jangmyeong’s neatly tied hair.
“Hehe……”
“Huh? Just now……”
“What?”
Cheong tilted her head. Had she misheard? It had sounded like an extremely sinister laugh…… Strange. She could have sworn she heard it.
“It’s nothing. I should go see Master now. Want to come with me?”
“No.”
Jin Jangmyeong’s expression turned serious. That was that, and this was this.
“Our Jangmyeong is so decisive. Couldn’t you at least pretend to think about it?”
“I don’t want to.”
“Fine. Do what you want. You’re a real pumpkin-head.”
After unpacking and picking up the gift bundle again, Cheong left the thatched cottage. Behind her, Jin Jangmyeong’s face flushed red as she fiddled with the golden leaf hairpin on her head. Of course, Cheong’s eyes were facing forward, so she remained blissfully unaware.
“Master~ Your disciple has returned~”
“Haah. A grown woman, yet you still drag out your words like that without any dignity? And this is the disciple I raised. Tsk, tsk.”
Seomun Su-rin clicked her tongue. Cheong translated it as her master being glad to see her back.
“Hehe……”
“Stop smiling like that. Everything I taught you has gone straight down the drain.”
Even as she said it, Seomun Su-rin could not hide the smile on her face. She looked into her disciple’s eyes and nodded.
“Your gaze has become much clearer. It seems you did not cause any trouble while you were away. I was worried your murderous nature might flare up again, but it appears my concern was unnecessary.”
It was a ridiculous misunderstanding. Seomun Su-rin had no idea that the legendary Mucheon-daeje had single-handedly cleared away all the murderous aura Cheong had accumulated. She simply felt relieved that the faint trace of killing intent she had seen before Cheong left was now completely gone, meaning her disciple’s journey must have been peaceful.
“Ah, Master. Your disciple brought you a present too.”
“A present? Your safe return is already more than enough.”
“It’s a flute. You seemed to break them sometimes.”
Cheong pulled out the Boksinjeok she had hidden behind her back. Seomun Su-rin’s expression grew complicated. Calling it a flute was generous; it looked more like a lump of metal that had been abandoned halfway through forging.
“This is……”
“It’s called the Boksinjeok.”
Seomun Su-rin let out a quiet laugh.
“Haha, sometimes your jokes are actually funny. You were always going on about the Wolgwang-geom, and now you’ve taken a liking to naming things? So, where did you pick up the name Boksinjeok?”
Cheong smiled with that same blank, innocent expression she wore when she truly knew nothing. Seomun Su-rin’s face hardened.
“What……? You’re serious……?”
Cheong kept smiling brightly. Seomun Su-rin examined the ugly flute again. Now that she looked closely, it was surprisingly heavy for its size. A faint chill emanated from it, and its body had the dull luster of a night sea. There was no mistaking it—this was ten-thousand-year cold iron. If a flute were made of ten-thousand-year cold iron, there could only be one in the entire world.
“No…… Where did you obtain such a divine artifact? I heard it was buried together with the Heavenly Empress in her tomb.”
The Boksinjeok was famous as the beloved instrument of Cheonhu Seol Neungcho, the greatest woman in the martial world during the last great war between the righteous and demonic factions. It had also been the token of her marriage vow with her husband, the legendary blacksmith Ban Chi. Cheonhu had openly declared that when she died, this single flute would be enough to be buried with her. When she performed her final ablutions and was laid to rest in a place unknown to others, the flute was naturally buried with her. That was the divine artifact everyone knew.
For reference, in the Central Plains, “golden-powder ablutions” was a grandiose way of saying retirement. And retirement was indeed a grand affair for martial artists. Grudges in the martial world were complicated, especially those born of vengeance. So if someone suddenly announced, “I’m retiring, so let’s forget all our grudges~” would their enemies clap and give a thumbs-up as they watched them leave? Of course not. They would charge in with swords drawn, determined to kill. Golden-powder ablutions was the formal ceremony that settled even those grudges in one go. Naturally, not just anyone could perform it. That was why it deserved such a grand name.
Of course, Cheong, who knew none of this, spoke with a bright smile.
“Ah! So that place really was the Heavenly Empress’s tomb.”
Seomun Su-rin’s expression grew grave.
What in the world had her disciple been doing while wandering the martial world?