Spring of Mount Hua(4)
Spring of Mount Hua(4)
Before anyone realized, the sun was slowly setting, dipping lower and lower.
The glow of sunset draped over the mountain ridges flickered auspiciously. At times it seemed to take on a subtle purple hue, and at other times it looked as though flames were creating a heat haze.
In any case, it was truly dreamlike.
Dohwa tapped her legs briskly and settled her body onto a stump. The day was coming to an end.
Very, very quickly.
Along with the day, the liveliness of the marketplace was also fading.
"Business is finished for today! That—the fabric shop next door, the Jang family's place, is still open, so go over there."
"Clearance sale, clearance! Selling jang soup cheap!"
The wind that had been carrying the voices of various people passed by like a faint whisper, brushing the tips of her ears, and the loud voices of the crowd merely swirled around like background noise.
'I'm tired.......'
Her legs hurt, and there was a ringing in her ears....... Having folded her ears back to walk around, even her earlobes were sore. It had been truly exhausting, but.
'It was enjoyable.'
Unconsciously, Dohwa smiled softly. Today had been that enjoyable.
Today, Dohwa tried dangwa for the first time, and tried bingdanghoro for the first time. She recalled the sweetness of sugar that she had forgotten, and revisited the sharp fragrance of Sichuan pepper.
That all those first experiences were shared through the hands of Yeong-yeong, with that friend, made it all the more meaningful.
Dohwa thought.
'How wonderful it would have been if Beom, Baem, Dalma, and Sambong had been together too. I miss the old friends who have left.'
Sunset, with its unique warmth and dreamlike quality, has the power to make a person sentimental. For Dohwa, it became a catalyst that brought to mind the friends who had departed for the heavens.
Dohwa remembered them, but they could no longer remember her.
She felt regretful and also heartbroken.
[Such is the way of the world.]
Even the tactless voice of the sky could not soothe her heavy heart. Why, after spending the day so joyfully, was she sinking into sorrow......?
Since it was something she herself didn't understand, she forced herself to change the subject and spoke to Soyeong and Yuryeon.
"It was enjoyable. So much so that the day felt short. It's thanks to you two. Thank you for playing with me. You must have been busy......."
"We're not busy at all."
"It was fun for me too!"
"Thank you for saying that. In any case, I had many truly wondrous experiences today. The world has changed so much, and it's so noisy and brilliant......."
The light in Dohwa's eyes grew hazy as if shrouded in mist, yet it also carried a faint radiance. She was tracing back through her memories.
She was thinking of her first day upon falling into the Murim.
Yuryeon thought.
'It must be the mystery of a race whose time of living differs from that of humans.'
Dohwa's voice spread softly.
"Long ago, this was a land where there were none, no Danggata and no merchants like those. I don't know when it developed this much. Though they say it's the way of the world, seeing it firsthand feels new."
"We live in the Gangho."
Yuryeon, who had been licking a round lump of sugar, kicked at the empty air and said. With a characteristic slurred way of speaking, she spoke intelligently, yet the sense of dissonance did not feel awkward.
"People often liken this Gangho to the Jang River, because the flow of the Gangho is just as fast and cannot be defied."
"Struggling not to be swept away by that fierce current."
"In the deep, swift waters, we try to leave our mark. That mark deepens and deepens, and at some point, the torrents spill over, forming pools—"
"And become gang and ho, the Gangho (rivers and lakes)."
Beside her, Soyeong wiggled her fingers and chimed in. The two exchanging words back and forth came naturally. Dohwa nodded with a somewhat ambiguous expression.
Since she neither lived in the same span of time nor lived in the Murim, it was difficult to perfectly understand their words.
"So you're saying that the basic stance of the Murimin is to struggle within the flow of time that sweeps by as swiftly as a fierce current."
"That's correct. Clans like the Jegal and the Dang seek the preservation and prosperity of their family lines, while sects like Mount Hua, Wudang, and Shaolin carry out and spread their teachings."
These were the words of those who live directly in the Gangho.
Dohwa nodded. They were precious words. Their meaning was deep as well.
A race that lives a short time. Her own old race—
In a different sense, because Dohwa lived a span of time they could not fathom, they sought to prove themselves and strove to leave themselves upon the world according to their own convictions and aspirations.
"Truly...... beautiful."
Her gaze glistened with a green sheen. From the stump that had been cut long ago, a single new sprout bloomed.
Dohwa spoke.
"I hope that your time may also become meaningful thanks to me. Just as you have been for me......."
"I've heard that the Jangi tribe senses time differently from us. Yet you say you still had fun, so that's a relief. If you remember us, then we can live on the longest in the Gangho."
"Being remembered is like that."
It sounded as though she was saying, couldn't Dohwa just remember her old friends? Could it be that she had read her heart? It felt like a consideration that was both unexpectedly touching and joyful.
With shimmering eyes, Dohwa nodded.
Human emotions are truly strange. They flip and change so quickly, like the palm of a hand.
"Let's go now. Hyo might have already arrived. Gyeom said I didn't necessarily have to meet them, but I should meet the Mount Hua Sect envoy once."
"Is it because of the headache?"
"That's right."
"Then we'll return to the Dang Clan now. We must take the Fire Carp, so that my friend can survive."
Having reminded herself of the purpose, Jegal Yuryeon took the lead and walked.
How far did they walk like that?
When Dohwa, along with Soyeong and Yuryeon, entered the entrance of Danggata, the scene that greeted them was truly bizarre.
Pok, pokpok—
"Amcheoldaeju, do something about these birds! Is it right to tie them up with ropes and leave them like this?"
"How should I know? I don't get pecked."
"Woo-hyoooooo—!"
The sight of the Mount Hua Sect envoys, tied together like dried yellow corvina, being pecked at frequently by hawks, owls, and horned owls. They had been tormented so much that the neat Mount Hua martial uniforms were stained with bird droppings and feathers.
In places, they were even frayed.
"......?"
"The dignity of the Mount Hua Sect has fallen to the ground."
"It's not easy. That Maeyeonggeom has......."
Dohwa stared blankly at the sight, then suddenly recalled what she had told the birds last night.
'......I'm sure I only told them to be quiet?'
Dohwa's ears bent again suspiciously. Woo-hyo, delighted to see Soyeong, came running over, and the gazes of the Mount Hua Sect envoys, Maeyeonggeom, and the birds also turned this way.
A silence descended. Everyone except Woo-hyo.
"Agassiiiiii!!"
A man who had married into the Dang Clan, and had maintained his purity without causing a woman trouble once even as he became an uncle in his forties.
She had heard he was a master who practiced the Dang Clan's secret arts.
True to being the most loyal confidant of the Sichuan Tang Clan, he performed three grand bows at the feet of Soyeong and Dohwa, chop-chop-chop, and with an old-fashioned gesture, guided the party.
"Hyo-ya."
"Yes, Taesang Gaju-nim! Ask anything."
"Why are they tied up? Gyeom said the Mount Hua Sect envoys brought a precious gift......."
"Those bastards worse than beasts."
Woo-hyo's face reddened as if it would burst at any moment. His impression had been a mix of guilelessness and ferocity, but right now, he was literally huffing like a bomb about to explode.
Dohwa flinched a little and nodded slightly.
"They dar-r-r-ed, to insult the most august Taesang Gaju-nim of this Dang Clan. I, Woo-hyo, a hidden dagger of the Dang Clan and the Daeju of the Amcheoldae, could not stand by and watch, and thus had them bound."
"Uh, uung......."
Dohwa, struggling to hide her flustered expression, quietly approached the Mount Hua Sect envoys. The hawks and owls stopped their pecking and fluttered over to Dohwa's side.
They each rubbed their faces against her and perched on her body, so much so that one could not imagine they were the birds that had been tormenting the Mount Hua masters just moments ago.
Maeyeonggeom lamented with an expression of his soul having left him.
"Huh...... Is this woman truly the Taesang Gaju of the Dang Clan......? The one who gave rise to that bastard Namgung Haeak......?"
"Elder-nim, isn't something off here? This is more like seon-gi......."
Jin Seo-hwi said.
Every time Dohwa took a step, nameless wildflowers bloomed and withered repeatedly at her feet. The energy of nature—
Some call it life force, and in Daoist sects like Mount Hua, they call it seon-gi.
Then, what is seon-gi?
It is an energy that is refined only upon reaching the pinnacle of Daoist training. It is something that can only be handled when one's inner energy training, called the Fire of Enlightenment, has surpassed extremity and reached a state of purity.
The mind must be without a single speck of wickedness—
The energy of the realm of the immortals, living in harmony with nature.
To put it simply, it means a realm that can only be reached by never once committing an evil deed in life, and living together with nature for a lifetime.
'Someone like her truly raised Namgung Haeak?'
It was wrong.
The Elder-nim was definitely wrong.
One must speak things that make sense.
'It's just that Namgung Haeak is a damned bastard in the world, and it's reasonable to see that she bears no fault whatsoever.'
And if Jin Seo-hwi could recognize it, Maeyeonggeom would naturally recognize it as well. He thudded his head to the ground!
"I, having been blinded, dared not recognize the immortal (seonin) and wagged my impudent tongue! Please, I beg you, at least look after the young disciples of Mount Hua!"
Dohwa was flustered.
'Immortal? Impudent tongue? When did I ever say I'd kill anyone?'
That's right. Until just now, the birds had been pecking as if they would kill him.
Dohwa gently stroked the birds and asked. Why did you do that? The birds chirped in chorus.
"You're saying you did it to punish him because he called me a witch?"
-jjaek, u jjeot!-
"......I, I apologize!"
The old man—Maeyeonggeom—slammed his head against the ground again with a thud! A look of bewilderment spread across Dohwa's face. Isn't it possible to say a bad word or two in life?
"F-first, raise your head. Let's go inside and talk."
How had it come to this?
She had only been sleeping soundly, irritated at being woken by the commotion, and had merely meant to warn them to be quiet.
Dohwa's tipsiness swirled around.
'I miss Baem and Beom.......'
Pressed down by clouds, plum blossoms that had not yet bloomed surged upward and vanished with a dragon's rising roar. The sword glare of the Namgung Clan Head flashed once.
Kwaaaaang—
A monstrous explosion burst.
It was to the point where sunlight and moonlight coexisted together. A sword move that momentarily twisted space itself.
"Hear me, Sect Leader of Mount Hua."
The mountain peak was as vast as a plain. The stone mountain peaks that had once upheld the sky had all been beheaded by a single sword, becoming as flat as enoki mushrooms.
'This is not the realm of a human.'
Yayul Hyeon lowered his head, wiping the blood dripping from his arm.
"......Speak your command."
"From now on, Mount Hua shall be a secular clan of the Dang Clan...... Hmm, no. This might be burdensome for Dohwa-nim. Since I haven't even met her yet...... Very well."
His vertically elongated pupils gleamed brilliantly. A sinister, snake-like smile sent chills down his spine.
"Go and meet her in person. I don't care what kind of skills you obtain...... It's the expression on her face. At all costs, make a smile settle upon it. All you have to do is tell me that at the next Daoist Association."
"......Understood."