To Farm Is to Fight
When So Biwon refused to let the matter rest and pressed stubbornly for the reason, Yoo Eunhyeon scratched his head for a moment before answering.
“Wasps are dangerous insects to people, true enough—but they’re just as dangerous to other insects. There’s no one else here but me, so if I simply keep clear of them, they take care of those damned pests that chew through our crops. No need to go out of my way to kill them. If I kept bees it might be different, but I don’t mess with that side of things.”
“Using the barbarian to control the barbarian… subduing an enemy with an enemy. Truly excellent. Young Master never moves carelessly where nature is concerned.”
“No, it’s really not anything that grand…”
So Biwon nodded as though he understood perfectly, yet of course Yoo Eunhyeon harbored no deep thoughts about nature or strategies of pitting foe against foe.
It had been the same with Sa Unsik. Yoo Eunhyeon simply could not understand what on earth these people were learning from farming. They had only talked about how to work the land. He himself had gained a little insight along the way, but it had been insight into farming and nothing more. Yet two men who looked every bit like peerless masters of the martial world were bursting into admiration of their own accord, leaving him thoroughly bewildered.
“No. As one who has taken refuge in both the Dao and the Buddha, this old man must respect a heart that refrains from killing.”
This time, though, So Biwon’s words struck a nerve. That, more than anything, was talk from a man who knew nothing at all.
“I hate to say it, but Daoist Master, you understand nothing of the true nature of farming.”
“Nothing?”
So Biwon’s eyes shifted slightly at Yoo Eunhyeon’s words. There was no offense in the look. In truth he was a Daoist and a monk, and he knew nothing of farming.
He had simply become interested in the young man’s talk of farming’s essence.
Sa Unsik had clearly seen something in Yoo Eunhyeon worth drawing into the Demonic Cult. As someone seeking to confirm that very thing, So Biwon could not take the answer lightly.
“As you said, Daoist Master, the most important thing when farming may well be never going against nature. Farming itself is a matter of reading nature’s flow and borrowing its strength without opposing it.”
“Hoh. That runs parallel to martial arts as well.”
Perhaps because he had spoken with Sa Unsik not long ago, when Yoo Eunhyeon put it that way So Biwon nodded once more.
“But when you actually farm, it isn’t some lofty purpose of never opposing nature’s flow or fretting over killing. It’s nothing but a struggle for survival.”
“A struggle? You mean a fight?”
“Daoist Master, do you know how many lives must be sacrificed just to grow a crop?”
“Are you saying Young Master himself commits the killing?”
“Of course. Take the insects I just mentioned. Leaving wasps aside, there are more than a dozen kinds of pests alone that bore into our crops.”
“That many?”
When So Biwon asked again, Yoo Eunhyeon gave a short, dry laugh.
“It differs with every crop, and with every part—fruit, leaf, stem, root, even the soil. You have to catch those things all year round. I’d wager I’ve killed a good few thousand of them at least. And are pests the only problem? Up on this mountain you’ve got wild boars and deer after the crops, to say nothing of crows and sparrows—do you have any idea how many birds there are?”
Yoo Eunhyeon’s voice rose, climbing past complaint into something close to anger.
“And underground there are always moles and field mice after root vegetables like the potatoes I gave you a while back. Weeds that choke out the crops don’t even need mentioning. In twenty years of farming I’ve taken more lives than I could ever count.”
“Indeed. That would be so. Haa… even if one lives with nature and farms within it, the fact that countless lives are sacrificed in the process is truly curious.”
Only then did So Biwon seem to grasp the point; a low murmur escaped him.
“It’s only natural you wouldn’t know. Most people think farming means living peacefully as nature’s friend. But as you yourself just said, the reality is the opposite. Farming is the work of remaking nature to its absolute limit.”
As Yoo Eunhyeon launched into that long discourse, So Biwon stared at him in complete silence, as if he had swallowed honey and lost the power of speech.
Yoo Eunhyeon wondered briefly whether he had been a little rude, but since nothing he had said was wrong he decided to finish what he had started.
“To borrow nature’s strength you have to adapt to it, yes—but sometimes you also have to fight. Of course if you just thrash around you’ll never beat nature, so you need to know your own strength and choose and focus accordingly.”
So Biwon was clearly listening with full attention, yet he still offered no reply. The sight reminded Yoo Eunhyeon of how Sa Unsik had looked while speaking with him not long before.
Memories of that earlier conversation rose unbidden, and Yoo Eunhyeon began talking almost without realizing it.
“I fought a lot. I set myself against nature so I could walk my own path. I tried to win by sheer force. But that never worked. Sometimes you fight, sometimes you choose to yield… so long as you keep focused on what you truly want and never forget it, that was enough.”
His words, a little more ordered than they had been with Sa Unsik, were as much for himself as for anyone else.
And then, still listening in silence, So Biwon’s eyes suddenly flared with light. He threw his head back and laughed aloud.
“Heh-heh, heh-heh-heh-ha! Yes. Young Master is entirely right. Without realizing it this old man had sealed himself inside a mold and sunk into one place. For the sake of cultivation and tempering I emptied out everything unnecessary, focused, and raced along a single road… yet that very narrowness of vision kept me from even choosing the essence I sought, from seeing it at all.”
After laughing heartily for a time, So Biwon recovered enough to speak again in a calm voice.
“Indeed… now I see clearly what that man gained in this place. If we have obtained the same thing… then it seems the fate of the world has not yet fallen into anyone’s hands.”
“What do you mean?”
From the sound of it, So Biwon, like Sa Unsik before him, had gained something—yet the very person who had supposedly given it to them could only stare in confusion.
He had merely answered questions about farming. Somehow those answers had been of great help to both Sa Unsik and So Biwon.
Naturally the two of them would not be this delighted simply from learning how to farm. As martial artists, whatever they had grasped must concern the martial arts themselves; even Yoo Eunhyeon could guess that much.
And in fact, when he had applied farming techniques to the training of internal energy, had it not helped him enormously?
“If I call it a principle it would sound too grand. Yes—something I had forgotten would be better. ‘Farming is the great foundation under heaven.’ Truly a fitting saying. Heh-heh-heh.”
Ordinarily So Biwon’s emotions drifted by like passing clouds, hard to pin down, yet the joy he felt now was plain enough even for Yoo Eunhyeon to read.
Well, if it’s good, it’s good.
He had never intended it, but the knowledge that his words had helped someone was not an unpleasant feeling.
From that day on So Biwon shut himself away in the thatched hut they had given him.
Whenever Yoo Eunhyeon passed the nearby fields he saw the old man sitting motionless in lotus posture, eyes closed. At a glance he did not so much as twitch, and one might have wondered whether he was dead—but Yoo Eunhyeon could now sense internal energy. Feeling the vast power circulating through So Biwon’s body, he clicked his tongue inwardly.
Like Mount Taesan rising into the sky. The internal energy I have is nothing. If I get cocky just because I’ve got a little energy and start showing off in front of martial artists, I’m finished…
The next day So Biwon reappeared near Yoo Eunhyeon while he worked.
For someone who had “shut himself away,” a single day was not long at all.
“This old man has received a great favor from Young Master. Is there anything you desire? If it is within my power, I will grant it.”
Yoo Eunhyeon stopped what he was doing, straightened his back, and regarded the old man steadily.
He had the odd feeling he had heard something similar not long ago. He asked in return,
“Something I desire?”
“Just so.”
Unlike Sa Unsik, who had tried to stir desire, So Biwon simply asked for a wish, pure and straightforward.
The situation was the same as with Sa Unsik, so he ought to have grown used to it, yet Yoo Eunhyeon found himself even more at a loss. Then as now, when someone suddenly asked such a thing there was little ready to answer with.
Most people would want money or power, but money and power were only means to obtain what one truly wanted. A man who had never possessed either was hardly going to live with concrete desires already decided.
“It isn’t that I have none…”
Still, with Sa Unsik’s precedent in mind, he did not simply answer that he wanted to farm well or that he wanted to quit.
What he wanted most right now was for Su Hwa-seon to return. More time had passed than when Sa Unsik had been here, so the wish was sharper than ever.
Yet for the same vague reason as before, he felt reluctant to say it to So Biwon.
So Biwon seemed safer than Sa Unsik, but there was always the chance of something going wrong.
“Heh-heh. I understand. If Young Master had put greed first, you would have followed that man without a second thought.”
“It isn’t really that either…”
So Biwon spoke as though Yoo Eunhyeon had transcended the dust of the world, yet Yoo Eunhyeon himself knew better than anyone that was not true.
He had simply never thought deeply about such things. Given enough time to consider, desires might well surface.
“A pity. Then even if this old man wished to take Young Master into his service, you would not leave, would you?”
“Me?”
When So Biwon, after Sa Unsik, said the same thing, Yoo Eunhyeon’s eyes went wide as if to ask why on earth they kept doing this.
“Young Master’s talent is extraordinary. Would you not join me for the peace of the martial world?”
“No.”
This time the answer came sharp and final. So Biwon smiled at him.
“Heh-heh. I thought as much. I only asked. Still…”
The smile faded; So Biwon seemed lost in thought. He furrowed his brow slightly, then shook his head.
“No. I cannot be like him. If it is the orthodox path, I will simply do my utmost in accordance with chivalry.”
Still murmuring, So Biwon left Yoo Eunhyeon frowning, unable to grasp his intent.
Yet the proposal that followed was enough to make even Yoo Eunhyeon pause and consider.
“Young Master. What would you say to this old man introducing you to someone?”
“Someone?”
“Yes. One of my disciples… I believe the two of you would get along well.”
Unexpected, yet on reflection not a bad offer.
“Well, no harm in becoming friends. As you can see, human connections are painfully scarce around here.”
“Heh-heh. Of course friendship cannot be forced into existence… yet the two of you might still be of help to each other, might you not?”
Unlike Sa Unsik, who had spoken as though he would grant anything no matter what, So Biwon at least understood that human relations required give and take on both sides.
And put that way, Yoo Eunhyeon felt more at ease. Compared with talk of marriage, the suggestion carried almost no burden at all.
“All right. That much I can do…”
Thinking so, he nodded readily. So Biwon regarded him, fell into thought once more, and then made yet another unexpected proposal.
“Young Master. Would you care to learn a few moves of martial arts from me?”