Root (4)
Root (4)
Trees that have not fully grown cannot possess consciousness.
It was only natural. If every single newborn blade of grass spoke its thoughts, the ears of all the Jang-i-jok would have gone deaf. These Gromwells should have been the same.
However. The voices of the Gromwells hummed and rolled around my ears.
-It's stifling. It's too hot, I can't breathe.-
-My roots are itchy, but the soil is so muddy that even if I move them, I'm still stuck.......-
-Nutrients keep gathering at the roots...... If it stays like this, even if a flower bud forms, I won't be able to bloom...... What should I do?-
As far as Dohwa knew, there was only one case like this: when the grass is growing in a very painful environment.
The Cheonma-hyeolsa was like that.
The memory of every blade of grass growing on the dying land screaming was still vivid to Dohwa.
These young blades of grass were letting out screams comparable to that.
It was practically abuse.
"You."
Her voice trembled. Her ears stood stiffly upright, and she was flushed with anger, her edge sharp.
Right now, Dohwa.
Was very, very angry.
"H, how could you do this......?"
Dohwa considered all grass and trees to be grateful and friendly beings.
To Dohwa, nature was like a mother who filled her hungry stomach, and a shelter that became a shade to block the sharp, scorching sun of midsummer.
They were essential beings to the world, helping the world breathe with roots that stretched deep beneath the earth.
Without grass and trees, Dohwa could not live.
This was no different for humans.
Without trees, they couldn't build houses.
Without firewood, they couldn't light fires.
And when they were sick, they couldn't find medicine to heal.
"I'm not forcing you to make friends with the grass and trees. You shouldn't, either. Because you aren't of our clan. But. At the very least, you shouldn't treat them carelessly."
"C, carelessly, you say......?"
Dohwa's voice was as cold as frost. It actually felt like the surrounding temperature had plummeted. Dang Myeon opened his mouth with great difficulty, trembling. He wore an expression that said he had absolutely no idea.
And in fact, he really didn't know.
'I, I clearly raised them exactly according to the methods I learned from the seniors who came down from the Mount Hua Sect, so what on earth is the problem?'
They said grass likes the sun.
So, he laid out Sun Stones that emitted light in dark places to hold the sunlight, making sure they were exposed to the sun without a single moment of rest.
And what about the soil where the Gromwell took root?
He had planted the Gromwell by soaking the soil in water ground with medicine, fearing that if they miraculously became able to bloom, they wouldn't be able to because of a lack of nutrients.
He was confident that even the ginkgo tree on Mount Song that supposedly lived with Dalma for several hundred years wouldn't have received such treatment. Yet, the Supreme Patriarch of this family, whom he thought would naturally praise him, was scolding him like this.
It was a situation that was incredibly bewildering for Dang Myeon.
This was the same for Dohwa.
"Y, you— do you really not know what the problem is?"
Dang Myeon nodded his head stupidly.
"You grow Gromwell, which blooms in dark and cool places, in an environment like this, and what? You don't know......?"
"Doesn't grass like the sun......?"
"Agh......!"
Dohwa grabbed the back of her neck. Where on earth did it go wrong? Where should she even start pointing things out?
The harsh light of the Sun Stones is used to induce the Gromwell's purple pigment to gather at the roots, preventing it from forming flowers. Before it can even bloom, it becomes a body that cannot reproduce.
And what about the soil soaked in medicine?
Just as poison can become medicine if used well, medicine can become poison if used well.
Excessive nutrients in the soil acted negatively on the Gromwell.
Rich nutrients cling to the purple pigment gathered at the roots, hindering proper circulation, and since nutrients only cling to that purple pigment, the purple color becomes even darker.
He wouldn't be able to obtain the original sunset-purple color of the Gromwell. He'd be lucky to get a muddy purple.
Stare—
Dohwa stared blankly at Dang Myeon, who was standing there stupidly.
With his rugged body like a Tiger who had become human, his hesitant way of reading her expression didn't seem like he was lying. If so, it meant he really didn't know.......
She was angry, but they didn't do it on purpose.
It seemed reasonable to view it as a mistake stemming from the ignorance of a clan that couldn't hear the voices of the grass.
That didn't mean the act was forgiven, though.
'For the sake of survival' was the pretext for cultivating land, and the Jang-saeng-jok didn't even welcome humans who dug up grass to eat. The Jang-i-jok were the ones who considered even wild grass to be a life.
She had no intention of forcing such clan traits onto humans, but Dohwa thought this was wrong.
"If you're going to use grass to sustain your lives, shouldn't you at least know how to handle it properly? It seems Yeong-yeong failed to teach you."
Dohwa shifted the blame to Yeong-yeong. It was Yeong-yeong's fault. She had taught them so many things, so why were they doing this?
"For now, everyone step back. So-young, you go back for a moment with Gyeom, too."
"Yes."
"Understood."
"What about me......?"
So-young and Gyeom slipped back.
"You need to be here. Since ancient times, Gromwell has disliked damp places and preferred areas with good ventilation and no sunlight. Listen carefully. I'm going to test you."
Dohwa instructed Dang Myeon, who would be managing the Gromwell cultivation site from the next day.
"I will listen until the end."
"Your attitude is good."
Thump!
Dang Myeon opened his eyes wide! and listened intently to Dohwa's words, his ears wide open as if he were a Jang-i-jok.
"Many spiritual grasses don't like warmth very much. It's because the energy they hold is immense, so they emit heat themselves."
The words she spoke were imbued with divine energy.
"First, let's manage the energy of the young grass."
Dohwa's pupils sank into the color of a deep forest.
The grass, which shouldn't have the sound of life, was feeling pain and groaning. How exhausted they must have been.
Haa—
Dohwa let out a long exhale. As she rolled up her sleeves and lightly brushed the marble wall, the cold energy of the stone began to rise sharply along her touch.
It is called Yin Energy.
It was the energy that minerals hardened beneath the earth, never receiving the sun, inherently possessed.
It was a skill Dohwa had mastered while living with nature for hundreds of years.
Sua—
She was wrapped in the cold energy drawn from the stone walls on all sides, and the transparent early spring air transformed into a frosty wind.
Pakang, pakang—!
In an instant, the Sun Stones, which were packed into the ceiling and emitting light like the noon sun, were filled with Yin Energy.
The Sun Stones that had lost their light were packed together, contrasting with the bright marble walls, filling the space with a strange glimmer like a quartz cave.
"Uh......?"
Dang Myeon made a stupid sound.
Sun Stones do not lose their light unless they are artificially broken. Unless night comes. But the moment the Supreme Patriarch placed her hand on them, the Yang energy dwelling in the stones vanished in an instant.
Dohwa didn't stop there.
"Come here."
With a short call, she gently placed her hand on the soil and lightly brushed it off.......
Suhaaaa—
The medicine that had been muddying the soil reacted to Dohwa's call and swelled up. Pop, pop, opening breathing holes, and whoosh! The medicinal energy was sucked in.
-What, what......? It suddenly got cool.-
-My roots don't hurt either. I can move them around!-
The mournful cries of the Gromwells subsided, and pleasant, languid voices were heard. Only then did a smile return to Dohwa's lips.
-But...... can I bloom? I've already sent too many nutrients to my roots.......-
"Of course you can."
Dohwa whispered, gently swaying the Gromwell leaves.
"The hands of the friends here don't seem to know how beautiful the flowers you bloom are, so why don't you show them?"
Hoo—
Dohwa blew a light breath, just as she had done to So-young.
The Gromwells, whose roots had been abnormally enlarged, all twisted their bodies at once. The murky purple energy that had been clinging to every leaf traveled up the stems and soon formed in the flower buds.
Immediately after, they formed buds. And all at once, they burst into flower.
Paaaa—
The Gromwell flowers, which had bloomed the nutrients they had accumulated into five-petaled purple flowers.
Pollen scattered in all directions, sparkling like stars that had fallen while following the Milky Way. The surroundings were a purple color, deeper than a sunset and more mysterious than the night sky.
Dohwa stood in the middle of that sunset.
Around her, all the physicians within Tanggata had gathered in small groups, though she didn't know when they had arrived.
"I, is this...... a Gromwell flower?"
Dang Myeon muttered, losing his soul.
Were the Gromwells, which had never bloomed a flower and were called by the derogatory term 'root-grass' within Tanggata, plants that bloomed such beautiful flowers?
Since the founder of the Tang Clan, they had raised and recorded Gromwell for over a hundred years.
'There was no record of such a flower. How could a mere weed that we only dug up for its roots.......'
"It's pretty...... Ah."
So-young tried to touch a petal but stopped her hand.
It was a nobility so great that she felt sorry to even dare touch it.
Only then did Dohwa lower her ears, which she had held stiffly, and look back at Dang Myeon. The Medicine Hall Master, Dang Myeon, was already bowing his head to the floor.
The angle was unusually sharp.
Dohwa heard the voices of the flowers in the purple flower field.
-We bloomed......!-
-I was worried about whether I could bear seeds now. Thank you, Dohwa-nim.-
-Thank you!-
The cheers of the flowers huddled together were cute and happy sounds. Spiritual flowers live eternally through their seeds.
The flower blooms, and the fallen seeds become that flower again in that spot, blooming infinitely. That is how the symbiosis between humans and medicinal herbs was achieved.
Herb gatherers protect the colonies where medicinal herbs grow and harvest the fully grown ones.
Medicinal herbs receive human protection and take root in that spot. This is the reason why the Jang-i-jok are wary of humans but do not dislike them.
Because they, too, were ultimately a part of nature.
"Isn't it pretty? This is what a flower is. It's not just the Gromwell; all grass, spiritual herbs, and vegetation are like this. Trees are the same. If you want to take the fruit, raising them completely comes first."
"Thank you for bestowing your teachings upon us."
They were people who were usually the epitome of martial artists.
Dohwa's eyes softened. There were many martial artists in the Tang Clan who would have made Sambong and Dalma laugh heartily if they had seen such juniors.
It's not easy to face one's own faults and accept learning.
Gyeom is like that, and So-young is like that.
Even Myeon here.
Yeong-yeong must have excellent luck with her grandchildren.
"Also, I have clearly realized my sin."
Dang Myeon, kneeling toward Dohwa, swallowed his sobs—hic, hic—and poured out his words.
"We only coveted the color this grass produced, and didn't even know if it was breathing. We blindly believed it was the method told by the seniors of the Mount Hua Sect, and we have been killing these beautiful flowers for decades!"
"The reason humans are special is that they live short lives. They realize things faster than us, and their repentance is also faster. For that reason, many of my kin like humans."
I do too—
Dohwa liked people, as long as it wasn't for the peculiar noise that occurred when many gathered.
She was also a human, after all.......
The reason was that such rapidly changing attitudes provided a novelty that the Jang-i-jok could not feel.
'Although the number of people I've interacted with so far is less than twenty!'
They were Martial Gods who followed Sambong and Dalma respectively, and she remembered them coming for days on end, acting grumpy and demanding she give them that Dan-yak.
'I wonder if they're doing well—'
I think one of their names was Yayul-hyeon.
* * *
"......Who is talking about me? Why are my ears itching? Anyway, you said it was a failure?"
"Yes, Sect Leader."
Tap, tap—
The person who tapped the thousand-year-old plum tree seat made a hmm— sound of contemplation.
"Why? The Tang Clan shouldn't have the capacity for that? Clearly the Divine Physician...... the Dark Heavenly Demon...... talking about that woman makes my blood boil. Anyway, isn't it an empty husk?"
"There is a rumor that the Tang Clan's Supreme Patriarch has manifested."
"......What? The teacher of that Heavenly Emperor?"
Sweat trickled down his forehead. It was enough to dampen the plum blossom embroidery on his chest.
"Let's take our hands off the Tang Clan. We might die."
To that Namgung, that is.
After acting all dignified for a while, he hurriedly added one word.
"Also, form an envoy group packed with Jaso-dan and all sorts of things! We need to score some points before we get on their bad side."