Fundamentals(3)
Fundamentals(3)
The night was deep.
Hwi-jeok hwi-jeok.
Dohwa sat in the pavilion at the peak of Dangsan mountain, idly swinging her feet.
Moonlight struck her white skin, brushing against her flesh with a faint white glow, creating a rather mysterious atmosphere. So-young was by her side.
The aftereffects of the Divine Art hadn't faded yet, so she had to breathe life into her even while she slept.
"How did she grow up to be so pretty and cute?"
Dohwa muttered, patting the belly of So-young, who was breathing softly—saegeun saegeun. A physique that fit perfectly in one arm, those tiny little hands, those slender limbs...
There wasn't a single flaw; she was lovely.
Every time she looked at her, she couldn't help but smile. Gyeom-i had also grown up quite handsomely.
I wonder what Tiger and Snake's hands are like.
"I want to go see them quickly, but why do I only have one body..."
It was then.
"Ugh—"
Perhaps her muttering was too loud; So-young mumbled in her sleep, then wiggled over and flopped down right next to her. It was very close.
"Pfft—"
Dohwa let out a laugh without realizing it.
Seeing her sleep without a care in the world next to her was different from Yeong-yeong's sleeping habits, so it was fun to watch.
'Yeong-yeong would kick as a default and even punch me, so I had a hard time, but how is So-young sleeping so quietly?'
He-juk he-juk.
The smile wouldn't leave her face. She had smiled so much that the corners of her mouth were aching.
Still, it was good.
She also thought of Tiger and Snake.
On days when there was thunder and lightning, Snake and Tiger used to sleep stuck right to her side just like So-young.
The two of them used to ask her to sing lullabies, too. Should she sing a lullaby for So-young—
'No. She might hate it if I treat her too much like a child.'
Like Gyeom-i. Since it would be nice for the three of us to sleep together, I tried to put him to sleep, but he must have been embarrassed about something, as he cleared his throat—kum-kum—and ran away.
Like that, So-young might hate it too.
Don't children who want to look grown-up usually pretend to be adults like that?
'They're all just kids...'
The time she had lived far exceeded several hundred years.
To Dohwa, Gyeom-i and So-young were all just newborns. Shin-ung felt like a little brother...
She wished everyone would act spoiled like So-young.
Like Yeong-yeong, Snake, and Tiger, too.
However, Dohwa was a Jang-saeng-jok who knew how to understand the hearts of such children. Dohwa thought. If So-young heard a lullaby and her pride was hurt, and she ran away like Gyeom-i...
'Absolutely not. She might even tear up.'
Therefore, she decided not to sing a lullaby. Being able to pat her so she could sleep soundly was satisfying enough.
Of course, if So-young had heard, she would have kicked herself in regret.
To-dak, to-dak.
How would Dohwa know? She just smiled brightly and kept patting So-young.
The night was deepening endlessly.
The sky twinkled with a bumpy texture.
The stars, embedded densely like white lanterns in the black sky, were so close they felt like they could be touched from the peak of Dangsan mountain. Dohwa stared blankly up at the night sky for a long time, and then.
Kko-reu-reuk—
She suddenly realized she was hungry.
Only then did Dohwa look for the tea table Gyeom-i had left behind.
It was right next to her, but she had been so distracted she hadn't thought to eat.
Dal-kak.
Dohwa opened the lid of the round bowl on the tea table. Neat food, spread out like flower petals, came into view.
It was a dish made by neatly arranging wild strawberries, cherries, and miscellaneous vegetables she had brought down when she left Dangsan, served like a Sinseollo. She didn't know the name. It was a dish she was seeing for the first time.
'Is that lettuce, cabbage, and carrots...?'
Dohwa was sluggishly picking out only the wild strawberries and cherries with her chopsticks when a flapping sound—pu-deu-deok—was heard from far away.
It was a sound approaching from the vicinity of Dangsan to Dangsan mountain. It was very small.
It was a Sparrow.
Dohwa asked in a voice full of delight.
"Sparrow! I heard you sprained your wing while drying my body with Peacock back then. Is your wing okay now? Should I apply some ointment...?"
-Jaek, jaek-jaek-jaek-
The Sparrow that landed on her shoulder whined incessantly.
Asking who on earth told her this. Dohwa chuckled and waved her hand.
"The wind told me."
-Jjae-ae-ae-ae-ae-aek!!!-
"You hate the wind? If you hate the wind, what can you do? You can't do anything. Don't get angry, do you want to eat some grass here? You must be tired from the trip."
It hadn't been long since she left Dangsan, but it felt like she was having a conversation after a very long time.
After exchanging a few jokes.
Hu—
The Sparrow let out a big yet small sigh, and the sound of it pecking—kok—at a cabbage leaf was heard.
Tuk, tu-geu-reu-reu—
Dohwa spat out a cherry pit and asked the eating Sparrow while softly brushing—sa-rak sa-rak—the hair brushing against So-young's ear.
"Sparrow. It's quite far from Dangsan to here, is there anything happening on the mountain?"
-Jaek-jaek-jaek-
"Nothing at all? No sick friends?"
-Jaek, jjae-i-aek, jju-aek!-
The Sparrow glanced at So-young, then came to her ear and chirped—jaek-jaek—a whisper. Dohwa nodded at the Sparrow's words.
"Fox told you to deliver a message to me?"
-Jaek!-
The Sparrow nodded.
-Jjik jaek-jaek jjik-jjuk-jaek.-
"So... a gathering of the entire Murim world is being held in a few months, and if I go there, Tiger and Snake will come too? And Sambong and Dalma's sects are coming too?"
-Jaek.-
The Sparrow puffed out its chest proudly.
"That's great."
It had been hard enough for Dohwa to come from Dangsan to Tanggata.
If the wind and the world hadn't whispered the direction to her, she might have ended up on some remote island instead of Tanggata.
'Maybe it's because I've only lived on Dangsan, but finding my way is so hard...'
Dohwa turned her head sheepishly.
Tiger went north, and Snake went south.
Dalma and Sambong's sects were located on Songsan and Wudang mountain, but she didn't know their exact locations.
If she listened carefully, she would hear the sounds of those mountains, and if she followed the sounds, she would find them, but...
Dohwa couldn't be sure if she could arrive safely.
But to think that worry could be solved in an instant!
It was truly a cause for joy.
'I wanted to stay in the Tang Clan longer, so this is fortunate.'
Staying at the Tang Clan until the day that event starts and going up together meant no worries about getting lost, and no need to travel with the wind with no promise of arrival, so the justification was good too.
Dohwa finished her meal and settled down next to So-young with the Sparrow, which was preening its feathers.
"You must be tired from the trip, so sleep and go during the day."
Sleepiness was slowly creeping in, and she had filled her stomach with cherries and wild strawberries. Since it was clear she would be busy from the next day, it was best to sleep quickly.
* * *
Early dawn.
Dohwa sipped the dew that had formed on her collar and sent the Sparrow off. So-young had already woken up and was fastening her collar tightly.
"Did you sleep well? It's still early spring, so I hope you weren't cold last night..."
Ja-bak ja-bak, Dang Gyeom, who had walked up the mountain path, offered a morning greeting.
"The land here is good, so I slept well. The ground and the forest were so vibrant, it felt like I was the one gaining energy."
"I'm glad you were comfortable."
Gaining energy.
She must be talking about Tona (breathing technique).
'She is truly amazing. The energy of Dangsan mountain is so miraculous that even those renowned Taoists marvel at it.'
Dang Gyeom nodded with a subtle look in his eyes. She is called an immortal. Indeed, even a single word was extraordinary. Look at that calm demeanor.
Her energy waves were so calm that one couldn't believe she had absorbed the raw, natural energy as it was.
'How does she manage to refine her energy so purely...'
It was a state called Banbak-gwijin, and her Banbak-gwijin was surprisingly natural.
This is the level that is revealed plainly in daily life.
One couldn't even guess what it would be like if she unleashed it to the extreme.
It must be a level that looks down on all sorts of strange powers and spirits.
'Truly a miraculous connection. For our founder, and for the current Tang Clan.'
Dang Gyeom recalled the Divine Art he had seen the day before and pointed down the mountain.
"They say the preparations are complete."
"Then let's go."
Dohwa walked ahead energetically. So-young ran over—do-do-do—and stood by her side as if it were natural, and Dang Gyeom followed, clearing his throat—keum-keum—with his hands behind his back, perhaps trying to save face in front of the servants.
How far down the mountain had they come?
Passing the familiar Tang Clan buildings they had seen yesterday. Through the morning mist that hung on the mountainside and settled down.
The white Medicine Hall building came into view.
Sa-ppun, sa-ppun.
Unknown wildflowers poked their heads out—ssok-ssok—on the dirt path Dohwa stepped on. Dangsan mountain was reacting to Dohwa's mood.
Dang Gyeom and So-young, following behind, felt as if they were serving a fairy from the Supreme God's Palace.
It meant it was incredibly miraculous and mysterious.
All the more because of the strange sense of fulfillment filling their bodies.
"This is it! The, the Medicine Hall that Yeong-yeong made...!"
Dohwa's voice trembled like a child's. It was because her emotions welled up at the thrill of facing the traces Yeong-yeong had left with her own hands after a hundred years.
""We greet the Supreme Patriarch.""
Starting with Tanggata, everyone in the Tang Clan who held the title of physician had gathered.
The number reached a whopping one hundred, and they lined up in front of the Medicine Hall and bowed deeply to Dohwa. Dohwa made an awkward expression and hurriedly hid her expression like Dang Gyeom.
It was because she didn't want to look foolish to the people in the territory and the hands of her friends.
""It, it is fine.""
Dohwa used clumsy condescending speech and pushed through the crowd into the Medicine Hall.
'Gasp.'
So-young saw the tips of Dohwa's ears turning red like a carrot and flapping, so she raised her arm, covered her back, and scurried—hu-da-dak—into the Medicine Hall building after Dohwa.
Inside the Medicine Hall building. The first place Dohwa headed was where the herbs used for medicine were.
"This place is! The...?"
Dohwa's words were cut off unnaturally.
At the same time, her ears, which had been red and flapping—pa-dak pa-dak—instantly drooped like a puppy soaked in water.
"..."
"Uhm, Supreme Patriarch...?"
The silence lengthened. So-young called Dohwa with an anxious look. Dohwa was standing with her mouth wide open—tteok—and was kneading the soil where the plants were planted.
So-young watched that sight carefully.
"Gasp, gasp— I apologize for being late. I am Dang Myeon, the elder who oversees the Medicine Hall."
He was a burly, muscular middle-aged man.
Dohwa glared at him with a vicious—pyo-dok—look and said.
"The Gromwell."
"Ah~ You know about Gromwell! It's top-grade, grown in soil fed with plenty of medicine, with Sun Stones laid out to keep it warm and maintain a warm state at all times..."
"I'm telling you, it can't breathe."