A Good Person Is One Who Feeds You Well! (1)
“It puts us ill at ease if our benefactors leave like this,” the villagers said, having come crowding out to see them off.
Baek Cheon smiled gently at the gathered faces.
“Your gratitude is more than enough. But we have matters to attend to, so we can’t remain long. I hope you’ll understand.”
“Still, if you leave us now...”
Everyone looked lost, torn between regret and gratitude. The village chief in particular wore an expression of near reverence as he gazed at the Mount Hua disciples.
They had cured the sickness, so the village ought to repay that kindness—but instead of taking anything, these people had handed over even the grain they had left.
When even the North Sea Ice Palace was breathing down their necks, receiving help like this was enough to blur one’s vision with tears.
“Please forgive us for not recognizing our benefactors at first and for treating you so rudely,” the chief said, bowing again and again.
“...Please don’t do that, old sir.”
Baek Cheon hurriedly stopped him as the chief kept lowering his head.
They had been suspicious to the end, but once they opened their hearts, their gratitude was even greater than that of people from the Central Plains.
Only... Baek Cheon’s face darkened a little as he glanced past the chief.
As expected, they don’t look very well.
It was only natural.
They had managed to treat the strange illness, but that didn’t mean the village’s situation had improved.
The epidemic that had struck them was, in the end, born of the North Sea’s conditions.
Unless things in the North Sea changed, there was no reason to think something similar wouldn’t happen again at any time.
Even if they hadn’t fallen ill, they were still in a position where they couldn’t eat properly. The problem had never been only the sickness.
Baek Cheon looked at them with heavy thoughts, then bowed deeply.
“We’ll be on our way now.”
“Yes, benefactor. If you head north from here, you’ll find the North Sea Ice Palace.”
“Thank you. Then...”
Just as the Mount Hua disciples took hold of the cart, the villagers watching them raised their voices.
“Travel safely!”
“Thank you so much!”
“Please stop by when you return. We’ll truly give you a proper feast then.”
The Mount Hua disciples waved back at them and began pulling the cart.
For a long while after they left, Dang Soso kept looking back, her face still uneasy.
“Will they be all right?”
“...They should be fine for a while. Baek Ah worked itself half to death yesterday and filled the storeroom to the brim.”
“...I didn’t think it would be that similar in that respect either.”
They had only praised the little beast a few times because it had an uncanny talent for hauling in huge catches. Inspired by the praise, Baek Ah had then leaped into the water on its own and brought back one massive fish after another.
After that, it kept staring at everyone with those gleaming eyes, as if asking, Why aren’t you praising me more?
“I can’t tell whether it’s smart or stupid,” Dang Soso muttered.
“Like a certain someone, you mean.”
Baek Cheon let out a sigh.
In any case, thanks to Baek Ah, they had been able to fill an entire storeroom to bursting.
It was a little regrettable that Hye Yeon’s face had grown more and more woeful as a result.
Still, what could be done? He had volunteered for it himself.
In any case, if they wanted to eat fresh fish from now on, the villagers would have to do the fishing themselves—but with the fish already stored away, there wouldn’t be much trouble staying fed for a while. The cold weather also meant there was little risk of it spoiling.
“I heard the village chief is planning to share the fish they caught with the other villages too,” someone said.
“Hmm. Then that’s a good thing.”
Baek Cheon nodded quietly. Han Yi-myung’s words came back to him: in a place this harsh, people couldn’t survive without helping one another.
“But even that has its limits. Amitabha.”
“Indeed.”
At that moment, Yoon Jong, who had been listening to the worried exchange, spoke up quietly.
“Is there anything else we can do for them?”
“There he goes again. He’s got that disease again!”
At that moment, a small hole in the cart’s canopy rustled, and Chung Myung poked his head out.
Right beneath his chin, Baek Ah also thrust out its head with great pride.
“What, you want to just settle down and live here?”
Haaack!
“...No, that’s not what I meant...”
A beast and a person—no, one beast and one man—were hissing at him at the same time.
“What? You trying to sell swords again? A single-blade sword would fetch a pretty penny, wouldn’t it?”
Haaaack!
“W-why are you bringing that up again?”
Yoon Jong’s face turned bright red in an instant.
“I was just... wondering if there was anything we could do to help.”
“Can’t help.”
“Huh?”
At Chung Myung’s suddenly low voice, Yoon Jong looked at him, a little startled.
“I mean, sure, helping out is easy enough.”
“...”
“But that’s only a moment. Not long after, things would be the same again.”
His tone was blasé, but Chung Myung’s face was deadly serious.
“What changes a life isn’t someone else. It’s yourself.”
At those words, everyone stared at him with their mouths hanging open.
“What?”
“...No...”
“You’re suddenly saying something right for once.”
“Amitabha. The sun did rise in the east, though.”
“Hey, you little—”
Chung Myung glared at them.
“...Tch. Forget it. Why am I even talking? Just hurry up and run.”
He clicked his tongue and ducked back into the canopy.
The Mount Hua disciples exchanged odd looks with one another.
He really is a strange one.
Just two days ago, when they had encountered the Demonic Sect, he had made their hearts go cold with fear. And now he was acting like nothing had happened, just the same as always.
With a dry laugh, Baek Cheon urged his fellow disciples onward.
“We’ve wasted too much time. We have to reach the people we left tied up before the Ice Palace does. We’ll move quickly and rest later.”
“Yes, Sasuk!”
“Understood, Sahyung.”
“Let’s go!”
Everyone began dragging the cart with renewed force.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“That’s...”
“Looks like it.”
“...That took forever.”
“They weren’t kidding about it being the Ice Palace.”
The Mount Hua disciples let out breathless exclamations as they looked at the massive structure in the distance.
Its outer walls were blindingly white.
Beyond the enormous barrier, which alone seemed enough to crush the spirit, a castle rose so high it seemed to pierce the heavens. Seeing a fortress built in a style entirely unlike the Central Plains made it clear they were truly in the North Sea.
If the buildings of the Central Plains were vast and grand, the North Sea Ice Palace was sharp and towering by comparison. Like the walls, the castle’s pristine white surface blended with the surrounding scenery until it looked like a palace carved from ice itself.
“Incredible. To build something like that in a place like this...”
“Indeed.”
Given the bitter cold and the unforgiving terrain, building a fortress like that could not have been easy. Even that one castle alone made it clear just how much power the North Sea Ice Palace commanded in this frozen land.
“Hmm.”
“Hmmm.”
Yoon Jong looked faintly crushed as he spoke.
“I don’t know why, but it’s a little frightening. I feel sort of overawed by it...”
Seeing that side of him, unlike his usual self, Jo Gul burst out laughing.
“Hah! Sahyung, what are you talking about? It’s just a building.”
“What would a spoiled rich boy know?”
“...”
Yoon Jong shot him a sharp look. Jo Gul flinched and quickly turned his eyes toward the far-off mountains.
Baek Cheon found himself just as awed as he looked at the castle.
“So this is the North Sea Ice Palace.”
He was still staring at it dazedly when he caught himself, stopped the cart, and began rallying the others.
“Everyone, stay alert. Palace Lord Beast has already sent word ahead, but no one knows how they’ll react.”
“Yes, Sasuk.”
“At worst, we may have to run. Keep that in mind and be careful.”
“Yes.”
Tension settled over the Mount Hua disciples’ faces.
Not only was their relationship with the Ice Palace uncertain, the Demonic Sect was also involved. Of course they were on edge.
“Well then...”
“Brrr. It’s cold.”
At that moment, there was a rustling sound, and Chung Myung leaped down from the cart, wrapped head to toe in fur. He then started walking lazily toward the front.
“It really does look like an ice castle.”
Having offered a comment so brief it was practically dismissive, Chung Myung turned back to his fellow disciples.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
“Right!”
The Mount Hua disciples, smiling faintly, quickly steeled themselves and moved toward the Ice Palace. With the snowstorm having passed, the white outer wall looked even more colossal and majestic than before.
Standing before the enormous gate at the center of the wall, Baek Cheon knocked.
“Is anyone there!”
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
Normally, the main gate of a sect this size would be guarded by sentries. But whether because of the cold or because they thought no one would venture this far north, there was no one in sight.
Thud, thud, thud!
“Anyone there! We’ve come on business to the Ice Palace!”
There was no answer.
Just as Baek Cheon frowned and was about to knock again, a metallic clang rang out.
Clank!
The heavy iron gate began to open slowly.
Grrrrrrk.
As the massive gate moved, it gave off a grating, twisting metallic sound. The noise scraped unpleasantly at everyone’s nerves, and they all grimaced without meaning to.
At last, through the gap in the half-open gate, a person in pure white clothing appeared.
These people really do love white, don’t they?
The building was white, and so were their clothes. Add in their pale skin, and the whole thing felt just a little eerie.
“What business brings you knocking at the gate of the Ice Palace...”
The guard’s words stopped abruptly as soon as he recognized the Mount Hua disciples’ faces.
“Outsiders?”
“...”
Chung Myung glanced sideways at Yoon Jong and asked, “Do we stink or something? How’d that old man tell we’re outsiders just by looking at us?”
“...Across the whole North Sea, I don’t think there’s anyone who dresses like you.”
“...”
Even as they spoke, the guard’s twisted expression didn’t ease in the slightest.
“How dare outsiders set foot in the North Sea, let alone knock on the gates of the Ice Palace. You must have a death wish!”
As his voice rose, white-robed fighters began spilling out from inside without waiting for any order.
Chung Myung asked again, “Were they seriously standing around in the cold out here all this time? Wow, they really have nothing better to do.”
“...Chung Myung. Please, just...”
Yoon Jong barely managed to suppress the urge to slap Chung Myung’s mouth shut. What in the world was in that bastard’s head that made him ask things like that at a time like this?
No matter how long you knew him, Chung Myung remained impossible to understand.
The fighters who had rushed out now surrounded the cart in an instant.
Ching! Ching!
Then, in unison, they drew their swords and pointed them at the Mount Hua disciples in open threat.
“P-please wait a moment!”
Baek Cheon raised both hands to show he had no intention of fighting. Then he said hurriedly, “It’s true that we’re people from the Central Plains, but we did not enter without permission. We came here at the introduction of the Palace Lord of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace!”
“...Beast Palace?”
“Yes.”
The leader frowned.
“And how could Central Plains people possibly come by an introduction from the Beast Palace? Don’t speak nonsense just because you can!”
“It’s true! You’ll find out if you check.”
When Baek Cheon firmly repeated himself, the guard stared at him intently with eyes full of suspicion.
“You’re sure about that?”
“Of course.”
“If what you say turns out to be false...”
At that moment—
“Ah, just go inside and check already! We’re freezing to death, so how much longer are you going to keep us standing out here?”
His head snapped to the side.
Seeing Chung Myung half-crouched and trembling in the cold, the guard let out an incredulous breath.
But Chung Myung still didn’t stop talking.
“It’s obvious you’re not the one who can decide this anyway, so stop wasting everybody’s time and go already.”
A faint murderous glint entered the man’s eyes.
Baek Cheon shut his eyes tight.
I should’ve hit him before I knocked on the gate.
Why hadn’t he stopped that mouth beforehand? Why?
It was far too late for regret.
And yet the guard nodded, sheathed his sword again, and said, “Wait here.”
“...”
For a man who had just been provoked, his response was far too obedient. Before Baek Cheon’s confusion could even fade, the guard turned and headed back inside.
“...They’re more reasonable than I expected.”
“Of course.”
Chung Myung answered indifferently.
“If the North Sea Ice Palace is like the imperial palace of the North Sea, then the palace lord is basically a king to them.”
“Right.”
“A lowly soldier can’t decide on his own to deal with something a king might have accepted after hearing from a foreign king. If he did, his head would be off his shoulders before he knew it.”
“Ah... So that’s what you meant by saying he wasn’t ‘of the right level.’”
“What did you think I meant?”
“I just thought you were insulting him.”
“...”
Chung Myung’s brow twitched, but Baek Cheon straightened his shoulders with obvious dignity. He was in the right. That wasn’t his fault. The meaning of a sentence changed depending on who said it, did it not? Even if Chung Myung spoke the truth, it was only natural that it didn’t sound like truth coming out of his mouth.
Then Chung Myung said quietly, “Sasuk.”
“Mm?”
“Stay alert. If we don’t hear good news from inside, we’ll have to start swinging swords right away.”
At that, Baek Cheon nodded. The other disciples’ expressions also hardened.
A moment passed.
Tap, tap.
The one who had gone inside came rushing back out in a panic.
“All of you, put your swords away!”
At his command, the North Sea fighters hurriedly sheathed their blades.
“Open the gate! Palace Lord has accepted these people as guests of the North Sea!”
The fighters dashed to the gate and began swinging it open wide.
“Our apologies. Please come in.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Just as Baek Cheon was letting out a sigh of relief, thinking things had gone well, Chung Myung muttered,
“So they’re inviting us into a tiger’s den.”
“...”
Baek Cheon could see the corner of Chung Myung’s mouth curling upward.
“Fine by me. Whether I end up as the bait or you end up as the pelt, we’ll find out soon enough.”
With a thin, dangerous smile, Chung Myung walked calmly toward the open main gate of the Ice Palace.