Mourning at the White Plum Palace
In the White Plum Pavilion Palace, where the Huashan Sect Leader resided, Jaheo had shut himself away for the seven days and nights that Yeong-hwa, Hyeonsong, and Hagun spent calming the Huashan Sect.
Candle stands lit every corner of the White Plum Pavilion Palace, and in the center lay a shabby coffin.
Beside it knelt Jaheo in mourning robes.
The Huashan Sect Leader simply stroked the coffin with a vacant expression.
Tears welled in his eyes.
"Myeongjeong… do you remember?"
Jaheo wiped the corners of his eyes with a rough hemp sleeve.
"When I first took you as my direct disciple."
He gave a bitter smile.
"I was so taken with that clever light in your eyes."
His face was lost deep in the past.
"Even when the other elders opposed…"
His soliloquy continued without pause.
"You seemed so dependable to me."
His voice trembled.
"Only after I became Sect Leader did I learn that the seat is not won by martial talent alone."
He tended the coffin with every touch as if it still lived.
"That is why I hoped you would succeed me."
Drip— drip— drip— drip— drip— drip—
Jaheo's tears soaked the floor.
"So why… why did you do it…?"
He clutched the coffin and sobbed.
"Why did that sharp brilliance of yours grow so clouded?"
His cry shook the White Plum Pavilion Palace.
"Was your longing for Wol-yeon truly so deep?"
Thud— thud— thud— thud— thud—
He struck the coffin with one resentful hand.
"Why did you not simply speak honestly to me?"
His tears wet the plain coffin lid.
"I took you in as a child and taught you as if you were my own son."
He gazed at the coffin and sighed without end.
"Do you know what it did to me… to become your master and still have to drive a blade into you…?"
Boom—
At the height of his grief the doors of the White Plum Pavilion Palace opened and Yeong-hwa and Hyeonsong entered.
In Yeong-hwa's hands was a formal robe embroidered with white plum blossoms.
Hyeonsong could find no words at the sight of Jaheo, yet Yeong-hwa strode boldly inside.
He took his place at Jaheo's side.
"Sect Leader Jaheo."
"Please… leave me be."
"Remove those mourning robes!"
At Yeong-hwa's blunt command Jaheo glared as if he meant to kill him.
"Taoist Yeong-hwa!"
"Does the Huashan Sect have no discipline?"
"It does. Yet—!"
"Speak!"
Jaheo's lips quivered, pale.
"You are still too young to understand!"
"Understand what?"
At that Jaheo pounded his own chest and poured out his sorrow.
"My… my son… like…"
Yeong-hwa cut him off at once.
"He was not your son!"
Hyeonsong tried to restrain him, but Yeong-hwa's words came without hesitation.
"How can a man who tried to murder his own parents be called a son?"
Jaheo's head dropped beneath the rebuke.
Yeong-hwa pressed on.
"Did you mean to die in his place, Sect Leader Jaheo?"
"That is…"
"Would you have surrendered the entire Huashan Sect to save him?"
"I… I…"
"Speak!"
Yeong-hwa took Jaheo's trembling hands.
"I could not."
Jaheo slowly steadied his ragged breathing.
He wiped his tear-streaked face with a mourning sleeve.
"I am the Huashan Sect Leader…"
"That is correct."
"I am Snow-Plum Sword Sovereign Jaheo."
"Indeed you are."
Yeong-hwa moved behind him.
He stripped the mourning robes from the still-hesitant man.
"You must draw a clear line between public duty and private feeling, Sect Leader Jaheo."
Seeing this, Hyeonsong swallowed his own tears and helped.
"The Huashan Sect is in crisis at this very moment."
Hyeonsong laid the discarded mourning garments atop the coffin.
Yeong-hwa himself dressed Jaheo in the formal robe embroidered with white plum blossoms.
"Right now the Huashan Sect needs Sect Leader Jaheo more than anyone."
Silence stretched between them for a moment.
With eyes closed, Jaheo quietly asked,
"Taoist Yeong-hwa… is even the Heavenly Crossing Rite impossible?"
"Even if we performed it, the weight of his karma would prevent salvation."
"I see."
Jaheo gave a bitter smile.
"Is there anything left I can do for Myeongjeong?"
"Nothing but cremation."
Having accepted reality, Jaheo let his head hang weakly.
"And the elders?"
"Sect Leader Hyeonsong is personally extracting the Blood Jade fragments, but progress is slow."
Yeong-hwa watched him as he continued.
"Fortunately the elders' internal energy is profound; they are sealing the blood qi with Huashan heart methods."
"So the worst has been weathered."
"Yet if the Sect Leader lends his aid, the work will finish far sooner."
"You mean the True Qi Taoists?"
"I do."
The grief that had clouded Jaheo's eyes cleared; the familiar light returned.
"It must be done. Taoist Yeong-hwa is right."
"I am glad you have returned to us even now."
Hyeonsong, who had remained quiet, stepped forward.
"Senior Jaheo."
Jaheo took his hand with genuine feeling.
"I am sorry, Hyeonsong. I have no face left to show you."
"Please do not say such things."
"The Huashan Sect will never forget this day."
"Senior Jaheo…"
"Should the Wudang Sect ever have need, I will stake everything this sect possesses and come to its aid without fail."
Hyeonsong saw the resolute light in Jaheo's eyes and nodded.
"If that is Senior's will…"
For a long while they clasped hands.
Then Jaheo released him and spoke to Yeong-hwa.
"Taoist Yeong-hwa."
"Yes, Sect Leader Jaheo."
"May I entrust the cremation to you?"
"Do not worry."
Yeong-hwa clasped his fists in a steady salute.
"I will do everything within my power."
"I leave it in your hands."
Jaheo and Hyeonsong swept out of the White Plum Pavilion Palace, their formal robes fluttering.
Boom—
The doors closed and silence settled over the hall.
Yeong-hwa drew a silver bell from his waist.
He shook the shamanic bells hard and closed his eyes.
Jingle— jingle— jingle— jingle—
A mantra spilled from his lips.
"In the North stands the Black Emperor Divine General…"
Ssssssssssshhhhhh—
Crash— crash— crash— crash—
Every window of the White Plum Pavilion Palace burst open and a sudden chill flooded in.
Every candle flame that had lit the hall snuffed out at once.
Yeong-hwa continued the mantra without pause.
The cold became a blizzard; the snow-wind blackened and soon shaped itself into human form.
A deep, resonant voice reached him.
"It has been a long time."
A middle-aged man appeared, seated atop the shell of the Black Tortoise, a long pipe clamped between his teeth.
He wore a long, beautiful black beard and fine loose hair.
The martial immortal looked upon Yeong-hwa with a kindly face.
Golden armor clad him; a golden sword hung at his side; behind him the Taiji coiled and stirred.
It was none other than Hyeoncheon Sangje.
Kraaaaaaang—
The Black Tortoise that bore him gave a pleased cry at the sight of Yeong-hwa.
Black serpents around the tortoise glided forward and rubbed against the boy.
"You seem to have grown close to the Black Tortoise already."
Yeong-hwa opened his eyes.
They had turned pure black.
"H-Hyeoncheon Sangje?"
"What is it?"
"Are you not the chief among the Five Directional Deities?"
"Well… one could say so."
Hyeoncheon Sangje puffed steady clouds of smoke from his pipe.
The moment he heard that answer Yeong-hwa roared at him.
"Then why did you simply stand by and watch this happen?!"
Hyeoncheon Sangje's eyes flew wide at the sudden outburst.
"You insolent brat!"
He stroked his beard and thundered,
"You know as well as I do! When another god oversees a clan or sect…"
"I know! I know!"
Yeong-hwa looked as though he refused to listen.
"But this was too much!"
"Urgh… that is only how it appears through human eyes…"
Hyeoncheon Sangje scratched his head and began to explain.
"Look honestly. If that child Wol-yeon had accepted the Vermilion Bird, none of this would have occurred, would it?"
"You want her to take that damned Vermilion Bird's divine tether?"
"Well, the Vermilion Bird's temper is foul, yet it would not have led her down an evil path."
"And what of Taoist Myeongjeong, whom the Vermilion Bird corrupted?!"
At that Hyeoncheon Sangje burst into incredulous laughter.
"There is one thing you have wrong."
"What is it?!"
"Do you know who first picked up the Blood Jade fragment?"
Yeong-hwa's previously steady voice trembled.
"Surely not… Taoist Myeongjeong…"
Hyeoncheon Sangje lifted one corner of his mouth and took the pipe again.
"It was never the Vermilion Bird that corrupted Myeongjeong."
Yeong-hwa let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Myeongjeong merely offered a bargain to the Vermilion Bird when it appeared to reclaim the Blood Jade fragment."
"Then this entire scheme…"
"Was hatched by the boy called Myeongjeong. The Vermilion Bird simply accepted the game in exchange for that child's lifespan…"
"Then there is no way to persuade the Vermilion Bird?"
Seeing Yeong-hwa sink into gloom, Hyeoncheon Sangje reached out and stroked his head.
"Yeong-hwa. Do you think I am chief of the Five Directional Deities for nothing?"
At the majestic voice Yeong-hwa lifted his face.
"I have already prepared a scheme to break even the Vermilion Bird's stubbornness."
Hyeoncheon Sangje grinned as if the prospect delighted him.
"Follow me."
He gestured for Yeong-hwa to mount the Black Tortoise's shell.
The moment Yeong-hwa climbed aboard, the tortoise rose lightly and, surrendering itself to the snow-wind, carried them out of the White Plum Pavilion Palace.
Huashan lay surrendered to the frail light of a crescent moon.
Riding the Black Tortoise, Yeong-hwa and Hyeoncheon Sangje soon reached the Ancestral Hall at the peak of the Huashan Sect.
There the Vermilion Bird's divine tether still writhed, sealed by Yeong-hwa's Songmun Ancient Sword.
Hyeoncheon Sangje waved cheerfully.
"Well now, Vermilion Bird. Have you been well?"
At the voice the coiled, motionless Vermilion Bird poked its head out.
"Hmph. Why have you come this time?"
Only then did it spread its wings wide in greeting.
"Ah, my favorite little Taoist asked for help, you see."
The Vermilion Bird gave an unpleasant smile.
"There should be no room for you to interfere."
"Well, that is true enough."
"I have never once broken the laws of Heaven…"
It pointed one wing at Hyeoncheon Sangje.
"Therefore even you, chief of the Five Directional Deities, have no right to punish me!"
"Indeed, indeed. Your meticulousness remains unchanged."
Then Hyeoncheon Sangje drew his sword from its golden scabbard.
"However…"
A crescent smile curved his lips.
"This divine tether connected to you sits poorly with me…"
The Vermilion Bird's once-cool voice faltered.
"W-w-what are you talking about?"
"Mm, you know as well as I that a sealed divine tether may be disposed of however its sealer pleases…"
"That is true, but—!"
"Then this should do."
Hyeoncheon Sangje tapped the tether lightly with his sword.
"Yeong-hwa. Who is the worst martial talent in the entire Huashan Sect?"
Grasping the scheme at once, Yeong-hwa answered with admiring courtesy.
"There is a Huashan disciple who serves in the Medical Hall. His nature is upright, yet he has not the slightest interest in the sword."
"Good, good. That will serve."
Hyeoncheon Sangje drew a deep breath of pipe smoke and exhaled.
"Then the Vermilion Bird will have no more opportunities to cause trouble, eh?"
"Listen here, Xuanwu!"
Ssssssssssshhhhhh—
"I stand here now not as one of the Five Directional Deities, but as Hyeoncheon Sangje!"
He raised the sword and leveled it at the Vermilion Bird's throat.
"What you have done does not violate the laws of Heaven."
The kindly face twisted with fury.
"However much you may have regarded humans as insects, what you did abandoned the moral code of the Heavenly Realm."
A chill ran down the Vermilion Bird's spine before Hyeoncheon Sangje's majesty.
The bitter cold of the north wind mercilessly overwhelmed the Vermilion Bird's crimson flames.
"What will you do?"
The Vermilion Bird fell silent for a moment, regarding Yeong-hwa and Hyeoncheon Sangje.
"What is it you want?"