The Carp Beneath the Waterfall
I heard that after I came out of the guard room, Dang Bo and Dang Hye were asked whether that was the thing they had chosen.
Seeing their reaction, for a split second I wondered if I had made the wrong choice, but I shook the thought off almost at once.
After that, there were too many things inside the Dang Family to sort out to let me dwell on it.
Dang Bo’s first priority had been to have the second son, Dang Ho-yeop, tied up.
The answer he gave after being interrogated was simple.
“Father! I don’t know anything! That chicken mask was the first I’d ever seen it. I only believed my older brother when he said he’d hand over the young family head position!”
Dang Ho-yeop’s expression was heart-wrenching, but Dang Bo’s face was colder than ice.
Dang Ho-yeop’s greatest crime had been committed without his even knowing it.
All the poisons Dang Ho-yeop had presented to Dang Bo over the years had been mixed with Shinnong.
No matter how ignorant he claimed to be, he had still helped kill Dang Bo.
Dang Bo personally destroyed Dang Ho-yeop’s dantian and expelled him from the Dang Family.
After that, it became difficult even to catch sight of Dang Bo or Dang Hye.
There had been treason within the clan. How could they not be busy? And besides, I was about due to head for Mount Song, where the Orthodox Coalition Meeting would be held.
I had taken a great deal from the Dang Family.
“I got the invulnerability to poison, and this protective armor too. I’m not even sure if it’s a divine weapon, but still.”
I gave the armor a light tap.
I had gained poison immunity, a protective armor that might even be a divine weapon, and the Dang Family as a strong ally.
By the time evening fell, I decided to leave the Dang Family under cover of darkness.
“The hospitality’s nice, but it’s a pain in the ass.”
Ever since I’d become their benefactor, they bowed every time they saw me. Even when I went out into the Dang Family grounds, they lowered their heads.
At first they’d only given me sharp looks, but now they were so openly courteous it was almost uncomfortable. I wanted no part of that kind of nuisance.
I opened the guest room door and stepped out of the Dang Family halls. But someone was standing at the main gate. Then I heard a sharp voice.
“Where are you sneaking off to like a rat?”
“I’m heading back now.”
“And you’re leaving without saying goodbye?”
It was Dang Hye.
“We’re going to see each other at the Orthodox Coalition Meeting anyway. You looked busy too.”
“You really are heartless.”
“Heartless? Hearing that from you is, well... kind of ridiculous.”
“Shut up.”
“Yeah. That’s more like Dang Hye.”
I gave a faint smile and walked past her.
“How’d you even know I was leaving now?”
“Secret.”
I turned my head slightly to look back at Dang Hye. Her face was as expressionless as ever.
“You saying that makes it no fun.”
“No, Baek Mugeuk. You saying it wouldn’t be fun either.”
“Fine, fine. Then I’m off.”
“The family head told me to pass along a message.”
“The family head?”
“He said to let him know if the Dang Family is needed at any time. He’ll help wherever he can.”
“That’s it?”
“He said the protective armor you took with you is called the Martial God Armor.”
“Martial God Armor?”
“He said it was a protective armor the first family head received as a gift from a distinguished benefactor. That’s all he asked me to tell you.”
“A distinguished benefactor? Who was that?”
“He only said ‘a distinguished benefactor.’”
So it was the protective armor worn by the Dang Family’s first head.
I hadn’t even heard of it in my previous life.
I was just starting to feel a little surprised when—
“……”
“What?”
I heard Dang Hye mutter something under her breath.
When I asked her again, she clicked her tongue.
“Looks like your hearing still hasn’t fully recovered.”
Then she lifted the corners of her mouth just slightly and turned back toward the Dang Family.
“Tch. That’s all.”
I took in the cool night air and began to walk away slowly.
“I’ve still got some time. I should think about how I’m going to convince those old fogies at the Orthodox Coalition Meeting.”
As my steps lengthened, my thoughts kept piling up.
“First, I should stop by Mount Ryang.”
My pace quickened.
* * *
- A mountain village in Mount Ryang.
Heavenly Peaks, Ten Thousand Valleys. That was another name for Mount Ryang. It was that kind of rugged, towering terrain.
The first time I came to Mount Ryang had been when I was being chased by the masked men in my previous life.
“The rice balls I ate here were seriously good.”
I wandered through the village, briefly lost in memory.
Then something caught my eye.
A man carrying a fishing rod on his back.
You might ask what was so surprising about a man carrying a fishing rod, but if that rod was five times the size of a normal one, wasn’t it worth a look?
The man was walking with a fishing rod as big as his own body on his back. Along with him came the villagers’ murmuring.
“That man’s off fishing again.”
“Yeah, I know. They say when he was young he was one of the best anglers in the Central Plains.”
“He’s lost his wits. Plain and simple.”
A fisherman using a giant rod. For a moment, I was interested.
Gurgle.
But filling my stomach came first.
I found a nearby inn and ordered food. How decent could an inn be in a mountain village like this?
“One bowl of noodles and one dumpling.”
“Yes, sir.”
The owner hurried into the kitchen and brought the food out quickly.
While I ate the noodles, I asked him, “Where’s the Flaming Dragon Waterfall?”
“Flaming Dragon Waterfall? What business do you have there?”
“I heard the scenery was nice, so I thought I’d take a look.”
“I see. If you head out of the village and climb a little farther up the mountain, you’ll find it.”
I stuffed the noodles and dumpling into my mouth and started up the mountain. I could have used lightness kung fu and reached the top in no time, but I didn’t.
Maybe about a quarter of an hour had passed when a stream of water began to flow. Just as the owner had said, there was definitely a waterfall nearby.
There was a reason I’d come here.
Flaming Dragon Waterfall. In that place, there was a rare spiritual beast known from ancient times: the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari.
A spiritual beast said to have lived for ten thousand years. If I wanted to call it a spiritual beast or a legend, I could, but it was really just a carp.
A crazy carp that spewed out yang energy, though.
In my previous life, while being chased by the masked men, I had stumbled across the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari by chance. And I had taken its inner core.
This time too, I planned to claim the inner core of the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari. With that inner core...
Plunk.
I heard the sound of water. I turned my head reflexively. It was a pond, formed where the water from the waterfall had pooled.
And in front of that pond sat a man fishing with a massive rod.
I was about to pass him by, but his appearance intrigued me, so I sat down beside him.
“Mister. Any luck?”
“Shh!”
The man stared at the float and murmured softly. Then he said in a low voice, “Keep quiet. You’ll scare all the fish away.”
“I’m curious what you’re trying to catch with such a huge rod.”
Even after my question, the man kept his eyes on the float.
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you. I’d settle for you not laughing at me.”
“I won’t laugh. So tell me.”
“No.”
It was a clear refusal. But I wasn’t the kind to give up over something like that. I took a deep breath. Then I shouted, “Tell me! What are you trying to catch?”
“Hush! I said be quiet!”
“I’ll keep asking until you tell me. What are you fishing for?”
The man turned his head sharply.
“The Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari! I’m fishing for the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari.”
“The Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari?”
I stared at him. His gaze drifted back to the float, and a mocking smile touched his lips.
“Didn’t I say you’d laugh?”
“I’m not laughing. I’m just surprised. There really is a Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari here?”
I was genuinely shocked. How did he know there was a Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari here?
“You’re lying. You talk like that, but I’m sure you’re laughing at me inside.”
“I stake my honor as a martial artist on it. I didn’t laugh.”
The man turned and looked at me for a long moment.
A moment later, he spoke slowly.
“There is a Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari here.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I saw it with my own eyes. I was drunk, though.”
“Couldn’t you have just seen it wrong because you were drunk?”
He held up three fingers and said with obvious pride, “I’ve been feeding a fishing rod for thirty years. Someone like me doesn’t just see things wrong.”
“Is that so?”
When he finished speaking, the man turned back to the fishing rod. For someone who’d been fishing for thirty years, he hadn’t caught a single fish on that hook.
Still, I watched him. Then the man reached to the side, took out something, and handed it to me.
“Rather than staring at me like that, have this and be on your way. You’re disturbing my fishing.”
What he handed me was a rice ball.
“It’s fine.”
“I’m giving it to you because I don’t want to send you off empty-handed. Eat.”
I took the rice ball and bit into it.
It was good. And this taste—I knew it.
I turned and studied the man closely.
This man. Could it be?
“Got one!”
The man’s fishing rod suddenly went taut.
“Hup!”
The man’s arm swelled as though it were about to burst. He gripped the rod hard, then eased off, then gripped it again. How should I even describe the sight?
It was like watching a master of peak-level martial arts execute his craft with absurd ease. This man was a master. A master of fishing.
The tug-of-war between fish and man ended with the man’s victory.
“That pull felt light.”
It was a carp. A rather large one, too.
“Isn’t that a big catch?”
“Big catch?”
The man removed the carp hooked on the line and released it back into the pond. Then he cast the rod again.
Plop.
“Why would this rod be so huge? That thing is a minnow. Compared to the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari...”
In the man’s eyes, it seemed the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari was already there before him. I took that sight in and rose to my feet.
“Mister. Want to come catch the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari with me?”
“The way you’re talking makes it sound like you know where the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari is.”
“And if I do?”
“Impossible.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“If you knew, why would you tell me? I hear the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari’s inner core is especially good for martial artists.”
“It is. That’s what I need too.”
“Then what you’re saying now is a lie.”
I gave the man’s shoulder a light pat.
“You’ve got time to spare anyway. Who knows? Maybe I really do know.”
“Ha... you’re a stubborn one.”
The man packed away his fishing rod. Watching him, I smiled faintly.
“You’re not going to lead the way?”
“Come on, then.”
So we began climbing the mountain. Not long after, a vast waterfall came into view. It was the waterfall said to resemble a flaming dragon living and ascending to heaven.
Flaming Dragon Waterfall.
I stepped onto the torrent spilling down from the falls.
“You’ll fall in!”
I curved my lips and started walking across the water. Seeing that, the man gaped in utter disbelief.
“Water-walking? You’re an incredible master.”
“Not that incredible, but I do seem to be a master.”
I held out my hand. The man stared at it for a moment, then began to panic.
“I’m not a martial artist.”
“I know. But don’t you want to walk on water, mister?”
“......”
Fear filled the man’s eyes. The first time is always frightening for everyone.
“I think my arm’s going to come off.”
“Ah, what the hell.”
The man threw himself onto the water to take my hand. I hooked his shoulder over my neck and pulled his body in close.
Then I started walking.
Splash, splash.
The sound of our footsteps on the water spread out, mingling with the roar of the waterfall.
“Open your eyes, mister. You may never get another chance to walk on water.”
The man carefully opened his eyes. He stretched out a foot and set it on the water. At the splash beneath him, his eyes went wide.
“I’m standing on water!”
To be precise, he wasn’t really standing on the water. His feet were merely touching it.
“Let’s go.”
I tugged him forward and leapt toward the face of the waterfall.
“Too fast! The back of the waterfall is a wall! We’re going to crash!”
“A man who’s this scared has too much fear in him.”
“Aaaahhhh!”
The man’s scream rang out in every direction, and our bodies struck the curtain of water.
“Aaaahhhh!”
I let go of him. He rolled across the ground.
“Pull yourself together. Mister, you’re not dead.”
“What!?”
The man sprang upright and started patting himself down.
“Phew... I’m alive... But where is this?”
In the pitch-black darkness, he looked around wildly as though he couldn’t see a thing.
Of course, to my eyes it was as bright as day, but it would take him a long while to get used to the dark.
“Welcome. This is the...”
I ignited Samjae True Fire in my hand. Light pushed back the darkness and began to illuminate the inside of the waterfall.
“Pond of the Ten-Thousand-Year Hwari.”
The man’s eyes widened.
No, not just widened.
They widened as though they might tear apart.