The Old Man from the Demonic Cult
And then, with her complexion noticeably improved, Su Hwa-seon rose to her feet.
“Still, you can’t stop your son from getting married, can you? I want to see your bride too.”
“Haa… I was the fool for worrying.”
Yoo Eunhyeon muttered in disbelief, but deep down a wave of relief washed over his face.
It was only natural. After nearly a year of her poor health, Su Hwa-seon had regained her former robust vitality.
“Fine. Since you’ve recovered, let’s just set aside the lie for now.”
“Just for now?”
“Of course. I’ll never let you lie to me again, so don’t even think about stacking up more of them. And there’s a much more important issue.”
“What is it?”
“Wherever someone who was just hurting goes, they go. Come with me.”
Yoo Eunhyeon stood up with firm resolve, refusing to hear any objections. Su Hwa-seon, sensing the worry in his heart, offered a warm smile.
“Eunhyeon, that place is difficult for you to reach. I’ll go myself—it’ll be faster and safer. And if you leave too, who will tend to the crops?”
“But…”
Yoo Eunhyeon started to shout at her, then paused.
He knew all too well. All farming had its proper time, and missing the season could ruin everything they had worked so hard to grow.
Seeing his hesitation, Su Hwa-seon smiled again.
“Don’t worry. I’ll come back as quickly as possible. With a son here, how long would this mother leave the house unattended?”
Yoo Eunhyeon could say nothing, stunned as Su Hwa-seon gently stroked his head and back as if to reassure him.
In her words, she was only visiting her natal home, but to Yoo Eunhyeon, left alone, the worry ran deeper.
“After I return… well, I’ll do everything I can for you. Even if it’s a promise, I can’t lose you like your father did.”
“What will you do?”
“I’ll tell you after I return. Be sure to look forward to it.”
Without answering his question, Su Hwa-seon simply smiled and lightly ruffled Yoo Eunhyeon’s hair.
He was curious, but he refrained from pressing further. Her illness came first.
“Sigh… I guess there’s no help for it. But please be careful on the way?”
“Of course I will.”
Smiling benevolently at the pouty Yoo Eunhyeon, Su Hwa-seon soon packed her things and left the house the next day.
*
“It took a month… I should have asked where my in-laws’ home was.”
Just in case, Su Hwa-seon had never told Yoo Eunhyeon anything about her natal home since he was little.
The only thing Yoo Eunhyeon knew was that her family sent expensive tonic herbs from time to time.
And then, just as he was leaving, his grandfather Yoo Pyo-gyeong had muttered:
“Heh heh. I never thought I’d see a Murim family’s medicinal herbs in this mountain village. It’s all thanks to your mother-in-law!”
“A Murim family… I hope it’s not some evil bunch…”
Yoo Eunhyeon frowned, repeating the words.
He had heard of ruthless groups that killed for profit among Murim warriors.
But he quickly shook his head. Su Hwa-seon had married an ordinary farmer like his father; she couldn’t possibly be a villain. Thinking so would be filial ingratitude.
“It must be some harmless Murim family. How many Murim families are there in the world anyway?”
No matter what, Su Hwa-seon had gone, and all Yoo Eunhyeon could do was wait. Now that he was no longer a child dependent on his parents, he strode toward the fields.
When waiting for something, working was always the fastest way to pass the time.
*
And about a week had passed.
Shuaaaa!
A fairly heavy rain was pelting the surroundings, stirring up a racket. Farmers had endless work day and night, but rain changed everything.
They only had time to clear irrigation ditches to prevent the soil from washing away and to maintain the farming tools.
With nothing else to do, the day passed relatively leisurely.
“Whoa, the weather’s finally nice. Man, I hated being stuck indoors, but now that I’m free I’m bored out of my mind…”
On a high spot overlooking the orchard and fields, Yoo Eunhyeon opened a book inside a shabby thatched hut small enough for one person.
Though it had once been used as a storage shed, it was still suitable for one person to stay.
“Haaaam…”
After reading for a bit, his focus drifted and he let out a loud yawn.
It wasn’t because the content was hard or he couldn’t understand it. In fact, he had simply read too much and grown bored.
The book had the title Farmer’s Heaven-Enduring Method, Rooted in the Earth, Nurtured by Man’s Labor written on the cover. His grandfather Yoo Pyo-gyeong had written it, and his father and mother had revised it countless times until completion. In short, it was filled with the essence of farming passed down through three generations of the Yoo family. How could it not be boring?
He read one line, yawned, looked outside, read one line, and before long he closed the book.
“That’s enough. Time to go home.”
Just then, the rain seemed to ease. Thinking he could leave soon, he prepared to go back, but then he spotted someone climbing the mountain.
“Eh? A person?”
Yoo Eunhyeon rubbed his eyes in disbelief at the rare sight of a human shape.
After all, the only outsiders who ever came up this mountain were the merchants who bought crops—Chu Seo-gong.
“Mr. Chu is usually far away…”
But it wasn’t Chu Seo-gong’s time to come.
He had only just left recently, and if it had been for an urgent reason, his personality would have sent word ahead.
So Yoo Eunhyeon felt a flicker of unease, but he quickly pushed it aside.
With Su Hwa-seon gone, he was the master of this house. As the host, wasn’t it only polite to welcome guests?
With that thought, he hurried down to the house and started boiling water.
Kungh! Kungh!
When the water was fully boiling, a heavy knock sounded at the door as if he had been waiting.
“Who is it?”
Suppressing his trembling voice, Yoo Eunhyeon opened the door.
On the other side stood a tall middle-aged man. His gray tunic was neatly tied, back straight. From afar he might have seemed smaller, but up close he was taller than expected.
His gray hair was combed neatly, but the long beard flowing wildly below it looked as if he had forgotten the secular world. The light-green gourd at his waist swayed continuously, drawing the eye.
He seems like a person shaped by nature itself…
Yoo Eunhyeon, who had farmed for years, could easily sense the natural qi emanating from the man.
How can such a grand aura of nature flow from a human…?
Staring blankly at the man, Yoo Eunhyeon received a greeting accompanied by a peculiar smile that seemed to curve his mouth.
“I apologize for the intrusion. I am merely a traveler.”
Yoo Eunhyeon had just emerged from his daydreams when the man’s words pulled him back into thought.
As he had said before, he had never seen anyone climb this mountain except Chu Seo-gong. He had never even seen travelers pass by.
And what surprised him even more was that a moment ago rain had been falling, yet the man’s clothes showed not a single drop of moisture.
Wh-what? Could he be a ghost? But how is it possible for a ghost to have such clear qi?
As Yoo Eunhyeon’s face grew pale with tension, the man laughed heartily and said:
“Heh heh. You are indeed a passerby. But… the scenery here is so beautiful and the qi so pleasant that I stopped for a moment to take a look.”
“I see.”
He still wondered why anyone would pass through this place, but his personality wasn’t open enough to ask.
When Yoo Eunhyeon remained silent, the man looked around again and spoke.
“You seem to be someone who farms and lives here.”
“That’s right. My grandfather and father have worked this land for tens of years.”
“Indeed. Impressive. This spot on Mount Tae is surely the richest in natural qi. Water flows above and below, and the wind passes through the mountain ridges. There can be no finer place… I don’t know much about farming, but in a place like this, anything seems sure to grow well.”
“It grows reasonably well.”
Yoo Eunhyeon answered modestly, but the man added with the air of someone who already knew:
“Not long ago it wasn’t like this, was it?”
The man’s discernment was astonishing. It felt as if he were a local official surveying the land. With praise after praise, Yoo Eunhyeon’s tension slowly eased.
“Yes. My grandfather and father dug the soil by hand, carved channels for water, cut trees to open paths for the wind, and made sure the crops grew well.”
“That’s no small matter. It’s impossible without understanding the principles and flow of nature.”
“It’s not that grand.”
Yoo Eunhyeon had no way to know whether his grandfather had done it with such thorough calculation.
But looking at the records in the book, it seemed highly likely. After all, Yoo Eunhyeon had learned from the book how to sense the flow of natural qi, how to cultivate and nurture the land.
Just because my mother taught me doesn’t mean everything is possible…
Still bowing modestly, Yoo Eunhyeon was asked:
“May I meet the two people you mentioned a moment ago?”
“Why do you ask?”
Yoo Eunhyeon’s guard rose instantly.
“Good scenery and being a guest—shouldn’t one at least greet the host?”
Yet Yoo Eunhyeon still looked doubtful. Seeing this, the man explained:
“Do you know about Murim warriors and martial arts?”
“I’ve heard of them. People who can fly in the sky and split rivers and mountains…”
Yoo Eunhyeon had lived his whole life locked in the mountains farming, but he wasn’t ignorant of the world. Mount Tae was part of the Central Plains, after all. He knew of Murim.
“Heh heh. Not entirely wrong. If I want to, I can do anything. My name is Sa Unsik. I come from Daesan, a place tucked into the Qinghai Province.”
“Daesan…”
Yoo Eunhyeon’s eyes widened at the mention of Daesan.