A Dog Catches a Rat
What's going on?
Yeop Pung had never seen Geumban this agitated. A heartbeat later, a surge of powerful golden energy erupted from within the Golden Disc. It sank deep into Yeop Pung's mind and coiled around the root of his soul, as if wrapping him in a living shield.
What is this?
He had no idea what was happening. Geumban's reaction, though, told him everything he needed to know: there was something inside Heukgu that defied imagination. For a creature that ordinarily sneered at the entire world to look this grave...
"It's done. Wake him."
Geumban's words were clipped and spare. Yeop Pung obeyed, carefully stirring the soul seal that bound him to the sleeping Heukgu.
"Heukgu? Heukgu?"
Nothing. Yeop Pung narrowed his eyes and raised his voice.
"Heukgu? Yun Hwan says she'll feed you Sweet-Scented Osmanthus Cake!"
A stir. Heukgu's soul-wave came into sharp, unmistakable focus. The rat lying dust-caked on the azure stone gave a full-body shudder, then shook himself awake in a cloud of grit.
In the same instant, a completely different energy came roaring up the soul seal that joined them. It was a strange, profound, and deeply mysterious black force — not especially powerful, but utterly unlike Profound Qi. Something new.
What is this?
Yeop Pung's heart lurched. He had never encountered a black energy that stood beyond the Five Elements Profound Qi. If he had to compare it to anything, it was a match for the power of the Golden Disc living inside his own body.
Then the golden energy still wrapped around his soul moved. Like a loyal warrior throwing itself in front of its master, it charged the black force head-on. There was no violent explosion, but the two energies tangled and fought inside Yeop Pung's mind. A moment later the gold folded completely around the black and sank, carrying it, into Heukgu's body.
"It's done..."
Geumban's voice was thick with delight.
"What's done?"
"None of your business."
Excuse me? You just put your hands on my spiritual beast and it's none of my business? After everything we've been through, you have to ice me out right to my face?
Yeop Pung grumbled inwardly.
That was when Heukgu's voice arrived in his mind.
"Master? Master, you're back! Cough, cough... Why is there so much dust?! Brother Tiger? Old Man Armor! Didn't you follow the duty roster? You were supposed to clean!"
This little...
Watching Heukgu clamber up in a daze on the azure stone, Yeop Pung understood everything. The rat had clearly been asleep for a very long time. Brother Tiger and Old Man Armor had vanished ages ago, yet nothing in Heukgu's manner had changed at all.
What had happened in all that time? What was that mysterious energy — and what had Geumban just done to him?
While Yeop Pung turned the questions over, Heukgu staggered upright, shook the dust from his coat, and looked up at his master with bright, glittering eyes.
Those eyes!
Shock hit Yeop Pung a second time. The moment that gaze landed on him, his entire soul gave a faint, involuntary tremor. Heukgu's pitch-black pupils held a strange, almost sorcerous power. It was not especially strong — but the old Heukgu had never possessed anything like it.
Is it connected to that bizarre black energy?
Heukgu, utterly oblivious to his own transformation, bunched himself to hop down. The instant he put force into his legs, a thunderous crack split the air, and the long slab of black profound stone behind him shattered to pieces.
What—!
Heukgu yelped and toppled over. He sat down hard, flailing for balance, and his four plump claws gouged hideous furrows in the stone floor as easily as if it were wet clay. The slab split open like drought-cracked earth.
"What is this?"
Heukgu stared at his own tiny claws as if they belonged to someone else.
"Did I get stronger in my sleep? M-Master, my body's overflowing with power! Ah — that's right, where's Brother Tiger? Old Man Armor? Are they slacking off again? Don't be angry, Master. I'll go chew them out right now!"
Chew them out? Chew who out?
Yeop Pung's brow furrowed as he looked at the clueless rat. Heukgu clearly had no idea what had happened to him.
"Hold on, Heukgu. Can you tell me how long it's been since I last left?"
"Huh?"
Heukgu thought for a moment.
"How would I know? Ah — Sister came by a few days ago. She said you'd already been gone nearly three months, so... it's been a while, I guess..."
Only three months? So he fell asleep a mere three months after I left? Then what on earth happened?
Three months. Three months. Wait—
A thread of light flashed through Yeop Pung's mind.
Three months. Don't tell me...?
Heukgu's fur stood on end. He snapped a wary look toward the mouth of the cave.
"Master, something strong is coming!"
"What?"
"Heh heh. Don't worry, Master. I'm not the old me anymore! Stay right there. I'll take care of it!"
"Wait!"
The word was still leaving Yeop Pung's mouth when Heukgu shot out of the cave like a bolt. The speed surpassed even the extreme limit Yeop Pung could reach with the Saint Spirit Physique.
Fast!
Amazement and irritation hit him at the same time. Heukgu had not spent a hundred years cultivating the way Yeop Pung had planned — but a hundred years of sleep had given the rat staggering power. That sprint alone had already broken past the ceiling of the Profound Realm. He was at the Spirit Realm.
All that hardship was worth it. I finally have a spiritual beast to rival the Spirit Realm itself!
The personality, unfortunately, had not improved by so much as a hair, and that was deeply annoying. Still a spark looking for tinder. Then again, of course he was. In Heukgu's memory, Yeop Pung had been gone for only three months. Expecting a complete rebirth in that span was asking too much.
Looked at that way, they had been lucky. If that mysterious black energy had not put Heukgu under for a hundred years, this whole venture might have failed all over again.
A familiar bark rang out from beyond the cave mouth.
Bone!
Yeop Pung knew at once who had come and bolted outside.
"Heukgu, stop! He's on our side!"
A yelp. A frantic burst of squeaking. A brief, violent scuffle — and then, just as quickly, silence.
Yeop Pung reached the cave entrance. In the moonlit clearing, Bone was rolling a large black lump across the ground with one forepaw, wearing an expression of keen interest.
Heukgu! How did you go down that fast?!
Squashed into a neat ball under Bone's paw, Heukgu looked up at Yeop Pung with a miserable face.
"Master, where did you find this monster this time? Please tell him to stop rolling me. My head — my head is spinning so badly..."
"Uh..."
Yeop Pung was speechless.
It wasn't even a cat. A dog caught a rat.
The walk back was silent. One man, one dog, and one rat, none of them speaking.
Bone had no choice but to be quiet — his jaws were full. He carried Heukgu like a prize of war and blocked Yeop Pung from coming any closer. Inwardly, though, he was puzzled.
Something's different about that cave. I was here a few days ago and there was nothing. Now this interesting rat turns up?
And what's with that Herb Garden? Did I see it wrong last time?
Ridiculous. The great Bone does not see things wrong. This is Yeop Pung and the rat's doing. Has to be.
He gave the limp Heukgu a couple of taps with a forepaw.
"Hey, rat. Why so quiet?"
What's he supposed to say with a dog's mouth around him?
Heukgu would have loved to twist around and glare, but he couldn't. All he could do was swing and sway and fight the roll of nausea in his gut.
He was bewildered too.
How long was I asleep? It feels like an enormous stretch of time went by. Brother Tiger, Old Man Armor, the pretty sister — where did they all go? Does this mean no more Sweet-Scented Osmanthus Cake...?
And what is this mysterious power inside me? It feels like — like I could do something tremendous at any moment.
What he could not understand at all was the huge creature carrying him.
With my current strength I could flatten a hundred dogs without breaking a sweat. So how did I end up crushed under this one's paw? This thing is way stronger than Master!
"Master, Master, please, just say something!"
Yeop Pung looked at Heukgu squirming in Bone's jaws.
Say what? Do what? I told you not to charge out there showing off. What's there to do about it now? You're just going to have to hang there for a while...
Only three thoughts occupied Yeop Pung's mind.
First: the Herb Garden and Heukgu had been discovered. What was he supposed to tell Old Man Maeng when they got back?
Second: Heukgu had survived a hundred years and come out formidable, but something about it was off. What was the true nature of that mysterious black energy? Geumban had his mouth shut tight and would not say a word. Tonight, once they were home, Yeop Pung would have to sit Heukgu down and go through everything that had happened.
Third — and most important — new training started tomorrow. Yeop Pung had no desire whatsoever to look at Sa Cheonseong's repulsive face again.
Before long the three of them were back at Luoyun Peak.
Old Man Maeng and Old Man Lee were in the courtyard, lanterns lit, a game of Go spread between them. They looked up at Yeop Pung and Bone and smiled.
"You're back?"
"Yes. I've returned."
Yeop Pung nodded as if nothing in the world were out of the ordinary.
Then both men noticed the rat dangling from Bone's mouth.
What is that? Why is there a rat?
Lee Sujol and Maeng Chang-haeng were no ordinary men. They saw at a glance the tremendous power hidden inside Heukgu's small body. This rat was clearly beyond the Profound Realm — so how had it ended up being carried in Bone's jaws like any common field mouse?
"What... is going on here?"
Maeng Chang-haeng looked at Bone.
