The Question of Internal Power
Swallowing the words that had risen to his lips, Yoo Eunhyeon gave a polite bow. “Then, to the master who was with us?”
“If he had acted alone, he would have needed to figure it out for himself. But since he was with So Siju, isn’t it best to simply ask him directly?”
“That’s… I see.”
So Biwon’s words carried not a trace of contradiction. Eunhyeon nodded.
“I had no intention of taking up much of So Siju’s time. Should the opportunity arise and it doesn’t inconvenience you, I would be most grateful. It would never be a bad thing for him, either.”
“Yes… well, just talking is fine. Let me see….”
Yet even as he conversed with Sa Unsik, Eunhyeon found it natural to speak with others. He didn’t consider the exchange anything unusual.
He didn’t know exactly what relationship existed between Sa Unsik and So Biwon, but since they weren’t enemies, he saw no reason to worry.
Sa Unsik, too, seemed the sort of man who would not concern himself with such matters.
“The reason I’m alone here is that this is enough. The Lord’s visit was purely by chance. He mentioned looking for good scenery.”
So Biwon had only come for news of Sa Unsik. Eunhyeon quickly set aside his own circumstances and began to speak slowly of the Lord.
“The scenery… yes. I truly haven’t seen a place as fine as this. But what, exactly, do you suppose he found here?”
“I had planned to leave right away, but after a few words of conversation and some book-reading, he decided to stay.”
“A book? What book?”
“This one.”
Eunhyeon held out the book that contained his own farming techniques. So Biwon accepted it at once and leafed through the cover.
“Nongja Cheonjihadaebon, the line from Minsu Jiseongya in the Han and Shu annals.”
Muttering the passage, So Biwon skimmed the whole book in a moment and handed it back.
It wasn’t a very thick volume to begin with, and he hadn’t read it in any great detail.
Still, the lord had been lost in thought. When he raised his head and looked at Eunhyeon, he asked, “Could you tell me, in detail, everything you spoke of with him?”
“I don’t remember the details….”
Time had passed, and Eunhyeon’s memory was never the strongest. Still, he did his best. He recounted the events of that day as accurately as he could.
So Biwon’s expression shifted subtly while he listened, then grew strange. “Oh ho… farming and martial arts… I see. Indeed.”
Eunhyeon couldn’t quite grasp what he meant, yet he sensed that both Sa Unsik and So Biwon had found inspiration in the farming stories.
“After you stayed, what happened next?”
At the question, Eunhyeon began to describe the events that followed Sa Unsik’s stay. He could not be perfectly clear, but the conversation they had shared left a lasting impression, so he spoke in some detail.
He omitted the martial arts parts because Sa Unsik had told him to keep quiet about them, and everything Sa Unsik had tried to coax him into after their talk was also buried.
“The expansion of thought through selection and concentration… ah. It is a pity I could not see the situation clearly then. Yet enlightenment varies with circumstance and person… what remains certain is that farming is the root of all under heaven, and that principle is contained within it.”
“I… see.”
He had guessed the connection to martial arts, but the grandeur of So Biwon’s words made Eunhyeon tilt his head. “Perhaps you felt the same.”
“After that, what became of you?”
“I thanked him and left. He asked if I would follow, but I refused. I have to stay and farm here.”
“Indeed? Hmm… so he gave up so easily?”
So Biwon’s gaze grew meaningful. Eunhyeon felt a small flutter in his chest.
Clearly, So Biwon knew more about Sa Unsik than he did.
“I urged him several times, but I refused again.”
“Then….”
So Biwon’s expression hardened. He fell silent for a moment, then murmured, “He may have been in danger.”
“What?”
“No. That is all I meant. It would be better if you did not know.”
When Eunhyeon asked why, So Biwon shook his head and smiled faintly. “Only a man’s concern, nothing more.”
After a moment of contemplation, eyes closed, he offered an unexpected yet, in some way, obvious proposal. “Young lord, if it is no trouble, this old man would like to stay here for a few days.”
The request came suddenly, yet Eunhyeon nodded without hesitation; it was the second time he had heard it, after all.
“Of course.”
“Heh heh. You do not ask why?”
So Biwon sounded surprised at Eunhyeon’s easy agreement and asked again.
Eunhyeon answered with another question. “What must I help you with?”
“Nothing of the sort. I have no intention of interfering with what you do.”
“Then there is no problem. There is nothing here to steal, and I cannot simply refuse a guest.”
Sa Unsik had felt oddly awkward, but So Biwon had felt none of that unease. Moreover, Eunhyeon was simply the owner of an empty house and could not abandon his duties.
“Heh heh. Your words are wise. Then I will trouble you a little.”
“You may stay here, but on the very top of that mountain is a poor thatched hut. The Lord stayed there while he was here… what will you do?”
Eunhyeon had added the detail because he sensed So Biwon’s curiosity about Sa Unsik.
So Biwon’s eyes opened slightly, and he nodded as if he had been waiting for it. “I hoped so. I would be grateful if you would.”
“Do as you please. How will you eat?”
“I could not possibly receive hospitality. Fasting is familiar to me; you need not worry.”
So Biwon waved both hands in modest refusal.
It was true that martial artists could go days without food, yet Sa Unsik had caught and eaten every meal from wild game. Still, Eunhyeon did not press the issue.
Left with a vague unease, he watched the sun set.
*
The next morning, after finishing his preparations, Eunhyeon slid open the door of the hut. As he stepped outside, a familiar figure stood waiting. So Biwon.
“I will trouble you today.”
With those words, So Biwon followed him. Since Sa Unsik had done the same, there was no suspicion. Eunhyeon began his work in silence.
Quiet…
Unlike Sa Unsik, who would occasionally ask questions, So Biwon simply watched him work without a single word.
Thinking about it, the Lord was quiet at first too. Well, he would figure it out.
There was nothing wrong with quiet, and he had lived it before. Eunhyeon focused on his tasks and ignored the visitor.
*
The morning after, when Eunhyeon woke, he stepped outside and noticed So Biwon was nowhere to be seen. He glanced toward the thatched hut.
“Is something the matter?”
He muttered, then turned his gaze away.
He might show up like a ghost again at any time. I have my own work to do.
By now he knew that just because something was invisible, it was not far away. He returned to his labor.
But the day passed without So Biwon appearing. When the work was nearly done, Eunhyeon wandered toward the hut as an afterthought.
No one was there.
Yet the old mattress where So Biwon had slept the previous night lay neatly spread on the floor.
He didn’t leave, did he…?
Still without success, Eunhyeon stepped outside and spotted So Biwon climbing the path below. He sat on a stone by the trail, leisurely smoking a pipe, dressed much as he had been on their first meeting.
Eunhyeon, descending, was greeted by a smile. “Heh heh. Were you worried and came to check?”
“I thought perhaps you had left.”
“I went to attend to some business. I said I would stay; I could not simply slip away without a word.”
“There was no need. You are free to come and go as you like.”
“I am grateful for your consideration.”
“It is nothing. Please make yourself comfortable. Then I shall take my leave….”
He needed only to confirm So Biwon had not departed before heading down. But at that moment So Biwon exhaled a thin wisp of smoke and spoke in a tone that felt almost like a grasp. “Young lord, would you spare me a moment?”
“Yes? What is it?”
Eunhyeon asked lightly, thinking he would be asked to help with the farming again.
The question that followed was not what he expected. “Have you begun to cultivate martial arts?”
It was not phrased as something demanding, yet Eunhyeon could not answer easily.
He had felt this feeling before.
A question asked while the other already knew the answer… this was So Biwon’s way.
He could not lie without suspicion, so he gave a half-truth. “Why do you ask?”
“No special reason. Yesterday I watched your movements and realized they were beyond what an ordinary person could manage. I simply wondered.”
Eunhyeon realized too late what So Biwon had been doing.
Even when he left, he could see me. He was watching me the whole time.
Deciding not to lie, he nodded. “I have not actually learned martial arts. I only perform the inner energy breathing technique that has been passed down in my family.”
“Indeed? Young lord, did the Lord teach you that breathing method?”
Eunhyeon understood at once that this was the question Sa Unsik had wanted answered. The warning—or was it a threat?—echoed in his mind: Do not speak of it to anyone.
Therefore he had no choice but to lie. “No. It is only a breathing technique passed down through the family. It helps with farming, apparently…”
“Hmm… I understand. The scenery here truly resonates with martial arts as well.”
So Biwon’s eyes met his. Eunhyeon kept his mouth shut; there was nothing more to say.
After a long moment of silence, So Biwon smiled and exhaled another plume of smoke. “Indeed. Your attainment of internal energy is impressive. In such a short time… it is truly remarkable.”
Eunhyeon shrugged as if it were only to be expected. “Yes, that’s right.”
…Farming and martial arts. Who would have guessed. Truly. Why did I have to stumble into this? I really must be more careful.
So Biwon bowed his head slightly in apology. “I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable. But there is a reason for this.”
“What reason?”
“I cannot say what you saw, but he… Sa Unsik is a villain. I only wanted to make sure he could not harm you.”
Eunhyeon’s eyes widened in surprise. “Harm me?”
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