The Road Back to Mount Taesan
“What on earth are you talking about all of a sudden? If you leave, what happens to the herb gardens?”
Yeo U-hui’s voice rose sharply at Ju Yu-ryeon’s unexpected remark. Clearly nothing of the sort had been discussed beforehand; she immediately furrowed her brow and glared. Ju Yu-ryeon, however, merely shrugged as if it were no concern of hers and spoke up.
“The fields will be fine without me. Ever since the Toryeong Juseo disappeared, Eunhyeon’s been managing them for a full year—I only give simple instructions now. We can probably leave them alone for a while.”
“Is that true?”
Yeo U-hui turned to Yoo Eunhyeon and asked again.
Since nothing Ju Yu-ryeon had said was actually wrong, Yoo Eunhyeon nodded.
“As long as the Toryeong Juseo doesn’t show up again, five years or so should pass without any real trouble.”
“Really? Well, if my nephew says so about the herbs, then I suppose…”
After everything that had happened, Yoo Eunhyeon now enjoyed absolute trust when it came to farming. Yeo U-hui nodded in acceptance at his words and turned her gaze to Su Hwa-seon.
“Hwa-seon, what do you think?”
“I don’t mind. The more lively it is, the better for me. And wouldn’t it be better to head into the mountains than to sit around here like this?”
“I’m only worried that if I let her loose to send her up that mountain, she’ll run around causing even more chaos. You know perfectly well what she gets up to when left to her own devices.”
“You really think she’d go that far when she’s with me?”
“Well… all right. Do as you please.”
In the end, Su Hwa-seon’s words seemed to be the decisive factor that swayed Yeo U-hui’s heart.
While the two women talked, Yoo Eunhyeon jabbed Ju Yu-ryeon in the side.
“What sudden wind blew this idea into your head?”
“The situation in the Murim is looking pretty unstable, so Mom’s decided to stay at the family estate for a while. She’s got plenty of enemies on both the righteous and demonic sides, so it’s not surprising. All the more reason I need to escape. If you leave too and I’m stuck here with Mom, I might actually go crazy.”
“…You’re something else.”
Hearing that, Ju Yu-ryeon winked at Yoo Eunhyeon as if to say it was no big deal, looking utterly cute as she did so.
The content of her words was anything but cute, and Yoo Eunhyeon frowned, but fortunately Yeo U-hui seemed not to have noticed.
An unexpected traveling companion or not, after a full year away from home, Yoo Eunhyeon was finally setting out on the road back to his hometown once more.
Even if they had been somewhat prepared, a minimum amount of time was still necessary.
Yoo Eunhyeon packed lightly, then paid his respects together with Su Hwa-seon to the various relatives of the family he had come to know over the past year. Last of all, they sought out Su Gyeong-tak.
“So. You mean to leave.”
Su Gyeong-tak, whom they had not seen in some time, looked healthy enough, though a touch worn with fatigue.
“I’m sorry, Grandfather. I should have been of more help at a time like this.”
“Nonsense. You are a married-out son-in-law, after all. You were never counted among the family’s strength to begin with. Looking at the current state of the Murim, that place may actually be safer than here. On the contrary, I am glad we can send you somewhere safer.”
“I’m not sure anywhere is truly safe in a situation like this.”
“Mm… now that you mention it, there is a piece of information that has been bothering me a little.”
When Su Hwa-seon offered a bitter smile and that remark, Su Gyeong-tak nodded as if something had just occurred to him. Hearing it, Yoo Eunhyeon asked quietly from the side.
“What information?”
“People are gathering near Mount Taesan, I hear.”
“Why?”
“Rumor has it some sort of mineral vein was discovered… There are factions on the move, but it does not seem to be any direct action by the Cheonmumaeng or the Demonic Cult, so I did not look into it too closely.”
“Is that so?”
It was the first Yoo Eunhyeon had heard of it, and he tilted his head. Su Hwa-seon continued from beside him.
“It’s happened before. People flocked in claiming they were going to dig for gold or silver or whatever.”
“Really? I’ve never heard of that.”
“You were still very young, and there was no need for you to know. Most of them turned around and left once they realized it wasn’t profitable. This will be the same. No need to worry about it.”
Su Hwa-seon spoke as if it were nothing of consequence, but Su Gyeong-tak shook his head.
“I did not investigate the exact location, but the general area seems close to your home. Nothing good will come of getting entangled, so please be careful.”
“Even if something happens, it’ll just be a bit noisier while we farm. We’ll be fine.”
When Su Hwa-seon dismissed it once more, Su Gyeong-tak said nothing further. She was still his precious daughter, but she was now the mother of a grown son. Moreover, Su Hwa-seon’s martial arts ranked among the best even within Uiseon Suga; ordinary troubles would pose no problem for her.
“Have you packed enough Yongseoldan?”
“Several years’ worth. The recent herb harvest has surged, so it should be fine.”
“Mm. I heard about that as well. Our Eunhyeon put in the effort, did he? Truly my grandson. He has been a tremendous help.”
Unlike Yoo Dong-gi, who had only occasionally offered advice before leaving, Yoo Eunhyeon had poured real effort into the farming for a full year. As a result, the production of herbs needed for Yongseoldan had soared. Combined with the stockpiles set aside because of the Toryeong Juseo, there would be no need to worry about Yongseoldan for some time.
Having finished their final farewells to Su Gyeong-tak, the two of them gathered their belongings and left Uiseon Suga at once. Then they set their feet once more on the road toward their hometown of Mount Taesan after a full year away.
The journey went smoothly. The territory of Uiseon Suga was practically Ju Yu-ryeon’s front yard, so of course there was little danger.
After that, the road toward Mount Taesan was familiar to Su Hwa-seon, so there was no risk of losing their way.
Yoo Eunhyeon himself was no longer a first-time traveler, and having walked the path once before, he no longer had any reason to be as tense as he had been when coming with Yeo U-hui.
“Still, there sure are a lot of people who look pretty fierce.”
Compared to their own easy progress, however, the state of the Murim did not seem particularly peaceful. Just as Yoo Eunhyeon muttered, the number of martial artists roaming the surroundings had clearly increased—and they belonged to both the righteous and demonic paths without distinction.
“Don’t mind them. In the Murim, sticking your nose into other people’s business never ends well.”
“Who said I wanted to stick my nose in? I absolutely do not want to get involved either.”
At Su Hwa-seon’s light warning, Yoo Eunhyeon shuddered as if the very idea were absurd.
Considering everything that had happened so far, he naturally wanted nothing to do with any of it—not even the tip of a hair.
“But will things really go the way you want?”
At Yoo Eunhyeon’s reaction, Ju Yu-ryeon lifted the end of her sentence with a strange little smile. Yoo Eunhyeon looked at her as if to ask what she meant, but she only pretended not to notice.
“Yu-ryeon has a point. To be honest, the makeup of our little party… in a word, we look like easy targets.”
“Easy targets?”
“To put it precisely, it would not be strange at all if someone picked a fight with us first. Look. Even the basic composition is one man and two women. That alone makes us look worth bothering, doesn’t it? And you and I, Eunhyeon—at a glance we look like a country boy and an ajumma who’ve spent their whole lives farming in the sticks and know nothing of the world.”
“It’s not wrong, but…”
At Su Hwa-seon’s rather blunt assessment, Yoo Eunhyeon frowned lightly. He could accept the part about farming in the countryside, but he did not think he was old enough yet to be called an ajusshi.
“And Yu-ryeon is a beautiful young lady in the bloom of youth, so there will be plenty of men who try to hit on her.”
“Oh my, Auntie. Calling me a beautiful young lady? You’re still so youthful yourself, and your looks are still very much alive—you should be the one worrying.”
“Oh my, our Yu-ryeon. You do know how to say the sweetest things. Hohohoho!”
Watching the two women praise each other and giggle, Yoo Eunhyeon muttered as if he could not believe it.
“What about me?”
“You, Eunhyeon… well, you’re a young man.”
At Ju Yu-ryeon’s words, Yoo Eunhyeon stared at her in silence, packing a great deal of meaning into the look. Ju Yu-ryeon turned her head slightly and muttered,
“Sorry. I’m not very good at lying.”
“This isn’t a lie—it’s called consolation.”
“I don’t think consolation is something you do with words.”
When Ju Yu-ryeon winked as she said it, Yoo Eunhyeon raised a hand with an expression of pure exasperation.
“Fine. Let’s console each other passionately for once. Just don’t go crying after you get hit.”
“Eek? You’re actually going to throw a punch?”
Ju Yu-ryeon twisted her body in alarm, but after a full year of living with her, Yoo Eunhyeon had already figured out this much.
Of course, to anyone who did not know the circumstances, he would have looked like the lowest sort of scoundrel beating a frail woman. Watching the two of them bicker so affectionately, Su Hwa-seon approached with a worried expression.
“You two really have gotten close over the past year, haven’t you?”
“Close? Who’s close with whom! Do you know the biggest lesson I learned while living with Yu-ryeon? Never be fooled by appearances. That’s it.”
“Why, you—!”
Yoo Eunhyeon dismissed it flatly, but Su Hwa-seon only continued to wear a strange little smile as if she still suspected something.
In any case, the three of them continued toward Mount Taesan, exchanging such frivolous banter.
And then it happened.
“Hahahaha! Hand over everything you’ve got! The women included, of course!”
As if the words they had just exchanged had not been empty talk after all, the moment they reached a lonely stretch of road, trouble finally erupted.
With a rough burst of laughter, five men appeared. They had even pulled on masks in a half-hearted attempt to hide their identities, but the greed filling their eyes was plain to see.
“Speak of the devil…”
Yoo Eunhyeon grumbled while glancing at Su Hwa-seon, yet the woman had the gall to hide behind him and tremble as if terrified.
“Kyaaaa! Bandits!”
Ju Yu-ryeon went a step further, letting out a scream and flopping onto Yoo Eunhyeon’s back as if frightened out of her wits. Caught off guard by the sudden weight, Yoo Eunhyeon’s legs nearly gave out and he staggered; seeing it, the bandits grew even more arrogant and shouted,
“Hand it all over and leave, and we’ll spare your lives!”
“What are you waiting for? Just give them everything. They said they’ll let us live.”
“Eunhyeon, Mommy’s scared.”
Ju Yu-ryeon and Su Hwa-seon prodded him in the side, urging him on, but Yoo Eunhyeon still showed no reaction. He turned his head slightly and ground his teeth.
“I heard all of that, so cut it out already.”
Just as Yoo Eunhyeon reached for the axe at his waist, five more men came charging out from the opposite side of where the bandits had appeared.
“Hold! No matter how chaotic the world has become, you would commit robbery against women in broad daylight? Even if Heaven forgives you, we will not!”
“What? Who are these mongrels? Do you have more than one life each?”
“We are disciples of the Hongryu Sect. We heard that villains like you have been running wild lately, relying on the Demonic Cult’s backing, so we came out on patrol—and look what we found.”
The Hongryu Sect disciples puffed out their chests as they spoke and shot oily, reassuring winks toward Yoo Eunhyeon’s party, who stood there blankly.
To be precise, the looks were aimed at Ju Yu-ryeon and Su Hwa-seon, but since both women were hiding behind Yoo Eunhyeon’s back, he alone had to endure the full force of them, and his stomach churned.
“Hongryu Sect? Some nobodies we’ve never even heard of dare block the path of us, the Surim Five Heroes? You’re all dead!”
“Pfft. Surim Five Heroes? What, are you fish that crawled out of some pond?”
For all their declarations that they would never forgive each other, the atmosphere somehow felt half-hearted.
One side seemed about to make the first move, yet weapons were already flying out before the words had even finished, and in the end both groups drew their weapons and plunged into the fight.
What the hell is going on all of a sudden?!
By the time Yoo Eunhyeon came to his senses, he was already stuck right in the middle of it.