The Strange Heads Emerging from the Field
"It's because of my father. Now that the research is progressing, he'll never want to leave this place."
At those unexpected words, Yoo Eunhyeon narrowed his eyes. Ju Yu-ryeon took a moment to steady her breath, then let out a long sigh and went on.
"Father never backs down until a job is finished. He won't let go until he's decided there's no path forward — that the problem is truly unsolvable. And when progress is showing like it is now, that goes double."
"Still, we can't just give up like this. We have to persuade him somehow."
"You think I haven't tried? Nothing I say gets through to him. I even made up an excuse that something had come up at the Uiseon Suga, and he still didn't budge."
Having heard that much, Yoo Eunhyeon let out a low sigh. Ju Yu-ryeon and Yeo U-hui's faces had darkened noticeably — proof enough that she wasn't lying.
"There's another way, isn't there? If he won't leave because the research isn't finished, then we simply help him see it through to the end."
After a brief silence, Yeo U-hui spoke. There was not a trace of hesitation in her manner, as though she had been through this dozens of times before. Ju Yu-ryeon frowned and asked back.
"Do you have a method?"
"We can't know how far along he is, so I intend to go look for myself and decide. Whether that research is completed or goes awry is up to your father."
Yeo U-hui answered with complete composure. Ju Yu-ryeon closed her mouth for a moment, then snorted a quiet laugh.
"Fine. Then I'm coming too. Two of us is better than sending you alone."
When Ju Yu-ryeon rolled up her sleeves, a flicker of amusement passed through the room. But it didn't last. Ho Won-jik suddenly tilted his head and asked a question.
"Then what should the two of us do?"
"You two wait here. I've prepared rooms for each of you, so staying here will be far better than going back to the inn."
As though that was exactly what he'd hoped for, Yoo Eunhyeon nodded. Yeo U-hui continued calmly.
"We'll be on our way, then. It shouldn't take long."
With that, Yeo U-hui turned and left with Ju Yu-ryeon. The remaining two said nothing further and drifted off to their respective rooms.
It had already been two days since they'd left the task of persuading Ju Wongong to Ju Yu-ryeon and Yeo U-hui and begun passing the time at leisure.
"I'm starting to get bored myself."
Yoo Eunhyeon muttered under his breath. He had never been the sort who enjoyed wandering about, but sitting still and doing nothing made him itch with restlessness.
He walked over to the window and looked outside.
Sunlight lay quietly over the courtyard. The wind was gentle, and the clouds drifted by at a leisurely pace.
It was a peaceful scene. But that very peace felt stifling to him now.
"Two days is rest enough."
He had spent his entire life alongside the earth. Rise with the sun, rest when it set — that rhythm was carved deep into his body. With those hands idle for two full days, of course he was restless.
Come to think of it, I heard the Dang Clan grows its own medicinal herbs as well.
A clan that dealt in poisons and medicines would surely keep herb gardens to cultivate their own materials. Even the Uiseon Suga maintained vast herb fields — the Dang Clan would be no exception.
Looking around a bit while I'm resting shouldn't hurt.
Once the thought took hold, Yoo Eunhyeon rose without further hesitation and quietly opened the door.
Outside the lodging, he wandered the surroundings for a while with no particular destination. Simply walking, feeling the wind, breathing in the scent of soil — even that seemed to ease the tightness in his chest a little.
But only for a moment. His steps soon stopped.
"……Hmm?"
An extremely faint sensation had brushed against his consciousness. It wasn't the wind, and it wasn't the ground trembling. It was more like a single unfamiliar breath seeping in from somewhere.
Yoo Eunhyeon's brow slowly drew together.
Just now, for certain……
A strange feeling made him hold his breath. Then he slowly opened his senses.
The energies around him grew clear one by one. The flow of the wind, the moisture in the soil, the minute tremble of grass blades — everything soaked in through his skin.
It's definitely natural qi……
The breath of life that flowed from earth and water, grass and trees. An energy all too familiar to him.
And yet something about it was subtly off. For natural qi, it felt artificial — as though someone had forcibly manufactured and pasted it on.
There was no energy like this when I came here before.
The strangeness that wouldn't quite resolve made him search his memory. But no matter how hard he tried to recall, nothing came to mind. In a way, that was only natural. Until recently, there hadn't even been energy worth sensing in this place.
Could it have appeared only recently?
Standing still for a moment, Yoo Eunhyeon closed his eyes. Then slowly, very slowly, he expanded his awareness, seeking the origin of the natural qi's flow.
How long did he stand like that? Gradually the direction of the energy began to take shape. Faint but unmistakable, a current stretched long in one direction. Only after gathering his senses did he open his eyes. He turned his head toward the source of the energy.
That way.
Fortunately, it wasn't far — a distance that wouldn't take even a quarter of an hour at his stride.
The thought had barely formed before his feet moved first. He was a man who had lived his whole life as a farmer. A body that noticed even the slightest change in the soil. He couldn't simply turn his back on natural qi this warped and walk away.
"I'm only going to check. Just check."
Yoo Eunhyeon quietly murmured the words, though no one was there to hear them. Then he set off straight toward the direction from which the energy flowed.
How long had he been walking? The once-hazy energy grew steadily clearer. It soaked into his skin so distinctly he no longer needed to use his senses deliberately — a concentrated mass of energy gathering somewhere. It was the natural qi he had felt countless times, and yet somehow it left him with an unpleasant feeling.
Then Yoo Eunhyeon's eyes narrowed slightly.
There's someone.
Having spotted a human figure, he stopped short. Not far away, a person stood in the shade of a tree. At a glance it looked as though they were slacking off, yet they constantly scanned and watched the surroundings.
So this really isn't an ordinary place.
With a quiet click of his tongue, Yoo Eunhyeon moved again. But this time he completely concealed his presence and lowered his movements further. Having come this far, being discovered would make suspicion unavoidable.
After that he continued deeper, avoiding the eyes of people. The closer he drew to the source of the energy, the more ambushers came into view one by one. At the forest's edge, beside walls, and behind piles of stone — people were hidden everywhere. They didn't show themselves openly, but personnel were densely stationed throughout.
It looked as though they had formed a perimeter centered on some particular target. Only then was Yoo Eunhyeon certain his suspicions had been correct.
What on earth are they hiding that they're guarding it this tightly?
As he slipped through the tight security, he cocked his head. At this point, the thought of turning back was starting to cross his mind.
But right then, the energy surged once more. This time, following the natural qi, he felt a sinister energy as well. His gaze hardened again.
This…… isn't something I can just walk past.
He thought no further. His body moved first. Lowering his form, his footsteps became light as a shadow. He moved with held breath, slipping past the gazes of the sentries. Whenever the wind shook the leaves, he took a step in time with the sound. Whenever someone turned their head, he seized the gap for another step. Careful — but without a single inch of hesitation.
After several such movements, his view suddenly opened. The brush blocking his path parted, revealing a wide clearing.
Yoo Eunhyeon's steps halted right there.
"So this is it."
His gaze slowly moved forward.
And in that moment, he could feel his own heart give a very fine beat. The place where the energy gathered most densely — that place now lay spread before his eyes.
What unfolded before Yoo Eunhyeon was none other than a field. Neither particularly large nor small, the furrows were laid out in straight lines, and the soil was well tilled. On the surface, it was an utterly ordinary plot of cultivated land.
His gaze slowly swept over the field.
The color of the soil, the moisture, the depth and spacing of the furrows — all of it was neat. Perfect enough that even Yoo Eunhyeon couldn't find a flaw to pick at.
But only for a moment. His brow twitched, ever so slightly.
No. How can this be?
The texture of the life-energy flowing from it was twisted somehow. As though something that ought to be alive was forcibly holding its breath. His gaze dropped a little lower and began examining the crops.
At regular intervals along each furrow, something was planted in orderly rows. Fairly large fruits hung heavily from them, looking for all the world like plump pumpkins ripening.
Something's wrong……
For pumpkins, there were no leaves or vines to be seen. All that rose above the soil were round, bulging masses. To get a closer look, Yoo Eunhyeon stepped nearer.
Then the wind brushed past. The damp smell of soil touched his nose. And mixed within it, one scent so faint it nearly vanished — a smell that was familiar and yet stirred a deep, instinctive revulsion.
The moment he finally recognized the source of that smell, Yoo Eunhyeon froze solid where he stood.
……Blood.
And the smell of very old blood at that.
His gaze slowly settled on the nearest one.
A round shape half-emerged from the soil. Dirt clung to it, making it hard to recognize at first, but when the wind brushed past again the soil fell away bit by bit, and something slowly revealed itself.
It was a human head. Drained of all color, deathly pale — unmistakably a human head. In rows stretching beyond the end of sight, human heads were planted at regular intervals along every furrow, like seeds.
Faced with that sight, Yoo Eunhyeon's lips parted, very slowly. His breath caught trembling in his throat, and the voice carried on that tremor slipped out almost like a whisper, brushing past on the wind.
"……Just what in the world is going on here?"
The wind blew once more. In that wind, dozens of strands of hair stirred faintly all at once.