I Have No Right to Speak of Forgiveness to You, but (1)
Wi Lip-san kept glancing back over his shoulder. After hesitating for a long while, he carefully turned to the sect leader beside him and spoke.
"Um... Sect Leader."
"Yes?"
Hyun Jong met his eyes and asked, "What is it?"
"If we’re going to Hwayeong Gate, I think we should probably split off from here."
"Hoho. Yes, of course."
At those words, Hyun Jong nodded quietly.
"But, Leader Wi."
"Yes! Sect Leader!"
"Wouldn’t this be as good a chance as any to show your disciples what Mount Hua looks like?"
"Of course. Not only I but my disciples have long wished for it. But if we keep following along like this, I worry we might become a burden to the main sect for no reason..."
"There’s no need to worry about that."
Hyun Jong smiled warmly and was about to continue when someone abruptly cut in from behind.
"Leader Wi brought back so much money from Shaolin this time—what burden are you talking about? Don’t worry about a thing."
"...."
It was Hyun Young.
Hyun Jong’s face twitched slightly.
He could at least have phrased it more tactfully. Why did that man have to turn everything into money the moment he opened his mouth these days?
Well, actually, he had always been like that. The only difference was that before, he snapped because there wasn’t any money, and now he applauded because there was.
"And then..."
"Hm?"
"Where did the young disciples go? I haven’t seen them since this morning."
At Wi Lip-san’s question, Hyun Jong wore a faintly bitter smile.
"They went to do what they had to do."
"...."
Seeing the heaviness in his expression, Wi Lip-san did not dare ask more.
"More importantly..."
Hyun Jong glanced toward the rear.
"The road ahead will get a little rough, so make sure you guard the carts properly. If anything happens to them, or if even a penny goes missing by the time that fellow returns, there will be hell to pay."
Wi Lip-san, who had frozen for a moment, shuddered hard. Then he hurriedly nodded.
"Don’t worry, Sect Leader. I’ll guard them so tightly not even a single copper coin will roll away."
"I’m counting on you."
After finishing his conversation with Wi Lip-san, Hyun Jong looked up at the distant sky.
Then Hyun Sang, who had been listening quietly from the side, asked cautiously, "Sect Leader."
"...What is it?"
"It was right to send I-seol away. But was there really any need to send the children with her?"
At that question, Hyun Jong let out a low sigh before answering.
"Those children need to see it as well."
"...."
"If they are truly to become a source of strength, then they must understand one another. Someday, they will lead Mount Hua. I only hope that by then, they will be able to understand I-seol’s pain."
Hyun Sang quietly nodded.
Yi-seol...
Hyun Jong closed his eyes for a moment and softly recited a Daoist name under his breath.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
How far are we going?
Baek Cheon frowned slightly as he watched Yu I-seol running ahead of them. They had set out at dawn, yet the sun was already slowly sinking beyond the western mountains.
And still, Yu I-seol showed no sign of stopping.
Mountains, huh.
Everything ahead of them was mountains, so there was no telling which mountain she meant.
Baek Cheon realized anew that he knew almost nothing about Yu I-seol.
Dang Soso was the daughter of the Dang Family head, Jo Gul came from a wealthy merchant house in Sichuan, Yoon Jong had become an orphan as a child and been taken in by Mount Hua’s elders, and Chung Myung...
He’s just a beggar. A third-rate bastard.
But as for Yu I-seol, he knew almost nothing.
She was the sort of person who rarely spoke about herself. Only after Chung Myung arrived did her words increase a little. Before that, it was common for her to go a full month without saying more than two or three words.
He had thought that simply being fellow disciples of Mount Hua was enough, but now that he was following behind her like this, he found himself unexpectedly curious about her past.
And Chung Myung’s past, too...
"...How is this still so far?"
"Get off me, you bastard!"
"Nice mouth you’ve got there."
"Sasuk! This bastard won’t get off my back! Please do something about him!"
No.
He was not curious about that bastard’s past. Knowing would only give him a headache.
Just as the sun finally slipped completely beyond the western ridge, Yu I-seol at last stopped running.
She stood at the foot of a large, rugged-looking mountain and turned to look back at them.
"Here."
"...You want us to go up?"
She answered only with a nod. Baek Cheon readily said, "Then let’s climb."
That was when Chung Myung spoke in a lazy voice.
"But what the hell are we doing, running all day just to climb a mountain? It’s getting dark."
"You weren’t the one running, you bastard!"
When Jo Gul exploded at him, Chung Myung dropped his gaze slightly.
"Sahyung, sahyung."
"What?"
"I’m doing this because I think Sahyung’s lower body is a bit lacking, and I wanted to train it for you. If you keep being this uncooperative, I might have to bring you a suitable rock to carry."
"...I’ll escort you comfortably all the way to the mountaintop."
"Tch."
Yu I-seol glanced at Chung Myung, then immediately started climbing the mountain.
The rest followed after her.
Dang Soso, who had been right behind her, moved closer and asked, "Sago. Do we have far to go?"
"Not to the peak."
At the quiet answer, Dang Soso nodded and carefully studied Yu I-seol’s expression.
Others might not be able to detect anything beyond that impassive face. But in Dang Soso’s eyes, her expression was clearly hardening little by little.
She doesn’t seem upset.
And yet there was something complicated in her feelings.
Joy. Longing. Faint melancholy. Sadness.
It was the first time Dang Soso had seen such a range of emotions surface on Yu I-seol’s face.
What on earth is up ahead that could shake Yu Sago this much?
Yu I-seol had always maintained a steadfast heart. Even Chung Myung had once said that, as a swordswoman, her mindset was the finest in Mount Hua.
Dang Soso’s curiosity only grew stronger.
As if to answer her unspoken question, Yu I-seol’s pace gradually slowed.
She lowered the speed of her movement technique, ran lightly for a while longer, and then began to walk. Those following her matched her pace.
Tap. Tap.
The trees thinned little by little, and the dense forest slowly began to disappear.
What finally came into view for the Mount Hua disciples was a broad clearing that was, on the surface, nothing particularly special.
"...Junior Sister?"
Even at Baek Cheon’s puzzled call, Yu I-seol gave no real answer. She only kept walking as though entranced, her gaze fixed on one point.
Thinking she might not have heard him, Baek Cheon tried again.
"Junior Sister, what exactly is this place...?"
"Sasuk, please wait."
But a low voice came from behind him.
"There..."
"Hm?"
At Yoon Jong’s voice, he narrowed his eyes.
And then...
Ah...
He shut his mouth.
Where Yu I-seol was headed stood what looked like a small earthen mound, slightly raised from the ground. Its height was so low that one would barely notice it without careful inspection.
....
It was a grave.
A small grave made in the middle of the mountain.
The moment he saw it, he understood why she had come here.
Rustle. Rustle.
Every time Yu I-seol took a step, the sound of grass being crushed beneath her feet scraped into everyone’s ears.
The chirping of insects.
The wind brushing past.
Even the soft sound of grass underfoot.
Nobody dared open their mouth.
At last, Yu I-seol reached the grave and quietly stared down at the mound before speaking in a low voice.
"I’m back."
Her eyes slowly closed.
"...Father."
Crackle, crackle.
A campfire burned in front of a ramshackle hut that looked on the verge of collapse.
Those who had repaired the hut, which stood some distance from the grave, quickly unpacked their things to spend the night there.
"Brr, it’s cold."
Chung Myung shivered his shoulders and sat close to the fire.
Then he glanced at the hut, which looked like it might crumble any second.
How long had it been neglected?
Five years? No, that was too little for it to look this old.
At least ten years, I’d say.
There were signs that someone had patched it up now and then to keep it from collapsing, but it was obvious no one had lived here for more than a decade.
Which means someone was living here ten years ago.
Strange.
Living on a mountainside was not as easy as it sounded. Especially not on ground like this, which was wholly unsuited to habitation. It was the sort of place where one would either push oneself to the brink for penance or hide away as a criminal who could not face other people.
Chung Myung gazed at Yu I-seol in silence.
And she must have lived here in the past.
Probably together with the owner of that grave.
Only the crackling of the fire continued indifferently. Nobody could bring themselves to speak.
Just as the atmosphere began to feel like it was pressing down on them, the Mount Hua disciples, excluding Yu I-seol, started staring intently at Baek Cheon.
...What?
Ask her already.
....
Finishing their silent exchange, Baek Cheon let out a long sigh and opened his mouth with a slightly awkward expression.
"Junior Sister."
"Yes."
"That grave from earlier...?"
"...It’s my father."
"Ah, I see... Hm."
Baek Cheon glanced at the disciples as if to ask, Enough?
But everyone immediately glared back and shook their heads.
Damn fools.
What kind of person kept digging here after hearing that?
Baek Cheon cleared his throat awkwardly and tried again.
"Then, Junior Sister, did you once live here with your father?"
"Yes."
It was a short answer. He hesitated slightly, then clenched his eyes shut. To be honest, now even he could no longer hold back his curiosity.
"This doesn’t seem like a place where people could really live. How did you end up staying in a place like this?"
Yu I-seol lifted her head. Then she stared directly at Baek Cheon.
A little flustered, Baek Cheon hurriedly added, "Ah, no. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. It’s not something that matters now anyway."
The moment he finished speaking, Yu I-seol suddenly sprang to her feet.
Baek Cheon flinched.
"No, Junior Sister, I didn’t mean—"
But instead of replying, she stepped into the hut and abruptly began digging at the floor in one corner.
Huh?
Using only her hands, she quickly dug into the dirt and pulled something out.
It was a wooden chest, half-rotted with age.
Ignoring the dirt that smeared her hands and clothes, she carried the chest out carefully and set it down before the Mount Hua disciples.
"This is..."
When everyone stared at it, Yu I-seol opened the chest.
Inside were books, packed in tightly.
Books?
Secret manuals?
But none of those many texts seemed to bear anything that could be called a title.
Then Yu I-seol began removing them one by one. Her movements were indifferent.
After setting down dozens of volumes, her hand suddenly paused for a moment. But then she reached back into the chest again.
She pulled out two books.
One of them looked like a tattered mess, as though torn apart and stitched back together piece by piece.
Chung Myung’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Among the tatters, black stains were visible here and there, and he immediately recognized them as old dried blood.
And the other one...
"Junior Sister... that is?"
A half-burned book.
No, it was so badly burned that calling it a book at all was almost generous—just scraps of paper clinging together by force.
On the front, only a few blurred characters remained, likely once the title.
Twenty-four. Plum. Method.
It was incomplete, but those few characters alone were enough to guess the identity of the text.
"...Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art."
Everyone was unable to hide their shock.
The secret manual for the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art, the very thing their sect had searched for so desperately, was right here. Of course, more than half of it had burned away, so it could no longer truly be called a secret manual.
She looked at the books in her hands for a moment, then quietly laid them on the ground.
Then she sat down, stared at the campfire, and finally spoke.
"My father..."
Her voice, flowing out quietly, sounded more subdued than usual.
"My father was a disciple of Mount Hua."
Yoon Jong swallowed dryly.
Yu I-seol’s voice, unlike her usual self, seemed to pull him in.
"A disciple who ran away from Mount Hua. A man who did not want to live as a disciple of Mount Hua. So he abandoned the sect and fled."
"...."
"And yet..."
Yu I-seol quietly closed her eyes.
"He was never able to truly forget Mount Hua. Even after leaving it behind, he could not bring himself to abandon it until the very end. So..."
She was a foolish man.