An Unwelcome Homecoming
After a night of grueling training, Lee Yeok finally broke into the late stage of the Five Spirits Realm.
Such rapid progress was thanks to the effects of the Heaven Origin Immortal Soul Pill he had taken earlier, a substantial amount of which still lingered in his body. Lee Yeok judged that those residual effects alone would carry him through to the very peak of the Harmonization Stage of the Blood Realm.
Once the sun had fully risen, Lee Yeok cut swiftly through the forest. His destination was Unso City, two hundred li southeast of Jinseong.
Around noon, Lee Yeok showed himself on the streets of Unso City.
His expression grew complicated. There was something familiar in a few of the sights, but his memories of leaving home at the age of six were hazy. What faintly surfaced was only this: that he had collapsed from hunger and exhaustion, and that when he woke, he was already riding on the back of that old geezer.
Eleven years had passed since then. All that time, he had gone out of his way to avoid coming anywhere near Unso City. Only now, on the verge of turning eighteen, was he returning for the first time.
Lee Yeok knew that even if he hadn't run away, he was destined to be cast aside.
Unlike his older brother, he had failed to awaken an innate Blood Spirit, and so he could never be raised as a successor.
His father had regarded such a son as a stain on the family name. The firstborn had shown not only an innate Blood Spirit but exceptional talent besides, and so the father must have expected the same of Lee Yeok. Perhaps those expectations had grown so towering that anything short of them could only be seen as disgrace.
Lee Yeok settled onto a bench near the road and whiled away the hours until sunset. Only then did he reluctantly set his feet in motion.
He made his way toward the Lee clan's estate. Even after reaching it, he stood staring at the place for a long while. Perhaps thanks to his son's success, its scale and opulence rivaled the city lord's own residence.
A sudden flicker of shame washed over him at the thought that he, too, belonged to that family. In a household like that, excellence was taken for granted, and the smallest mistake made you a criminal.
Worse, even if you strove with everything you had and still weren't good enough, that too became a sin. You had to endure the ridicule of the rest of the clan — sometimes even of the servants.
Lee Yeok had no intention of walking in through the front gate. No one would recognize him as a grown man anyway, and it would only stir up needless commotion.
He walked along the outer wall, vaulted over it in a single bound, and followed his memories toward his grandmother's quarters.
More than a decade had passed, but at least his grandmother's residence and the grounds around it remained exactly as they had been.
In a pavilion beside the garden pond, an old woman sat gazing absently at the water. She was the mother of the current head of the Lee clan of Unso City, and in name the most senior elder of the entire family — the Matriarch.
"Any news?"
The Matriarch asked with something like a sigh. The maid who had served her for the past several decades, Im Yeong, answered quietly.
"We are still searching. Not long ago, a traveling merchant reported seeing a young man resembling the young master near Jinseong, so we sent people in haste — but with no word since, I fear..."
Suppression and fury flickered across the Matriarch's eyes.
"If only I hadn't been away at that time, would they have dared lay a hand on my grandson so carelessly! They never even uncovered the truth of it... How cruelly must they have hounded that poor child, that he finally left home at last..."
Her voice caught in her throat, and she could not finish.
"Surely nothing terrible has befallen him..."
Im Yeong offered what comfort she could.
"Please don't worry yourself, Matriarch. Wasn't the young master clever and brilliant beyond his years even as a child?"
The Matriarch let out another long sigh.
"Yes, that's true. Even if he wasn't suited to be a successor, he was a sharp boy who would have carved out a fine place in the world. If he lives still, he would have grown into a man his father could never match..."
Then, without warning, she brought her hand crashing down on the armrest in fury.
"If anything has happened to my grandson, then even if he is my own son and the head of the Lee clan... I will never forgive that man!"
At that very moment, a figure dropped lightly down from the wall across the garden. Im Yeong immediately noticed the intrusion.
"Who goes there! How dare you trespass on the Matriarch's quarters!"
Lee Yeok paid her no heed and strode forward.
"Guards! Is there no one—"
The Matriarch raised a hand and silenced her.
"Quiet now."
"Matriarch? But—"
Lee Yeok had already slipped inside the pavilion. His eyes brimmed with tears that he struggled to hold back at the sight of his grandmother, grown so much older than he had imagined.
"Grandmother..."
Only then did Im Yeong realize who he was, and her eyes went wide. He had grown beyond all recognition, yet up close, the shape of his eyes and the line of his mouth still carried traces of the boy from eleven years ago.
"You... you wretched boy! The most unfilial wretch under heaven! How dare you—"
Lee Yeok dropped to his knees and bowed low.
"Your unfilial grandson greets you, Grandmother. Forgive me for troubling your heart all these years."
The Matriarch flung her mouth wide open as though to scold him further. Im Yeong wore a worried look — so sudden a swing of emotion could not be good for a woman of such advanced years.
At last, tears spilled from the Matriarch's eyes. At her beckoning, Lee Yeok drew close.
"You've come back... finally, you've come back... What better gift could there be for this old woman? Come closer still. Let Grandma have a good look at your face."
She seized Lee Yeok in a fierce embrace, pulled back to confirm it was really his face, then clutched him tight again — over and over.
"How, how could you go all those long years... without sending word even once?"
"I feared I would only bring you trouble."
"Oh, you wretch. Did it never once occur to you what your grandmother's heart was going through? You've grown so much... so much."
It took a long while before the Matriarch could recover even a measure of her composure and the dignity befitting a great elder.
"Why did you not come in through the front gate?"
Lee Yeok answered with a smile.
"I wanted to see you the very moment I could, so I climbed the wall."
Im Yeong spoke up, startled.
"The guards patrol every quarter with utmost vigilance. However did you get in, young master?"
Lee Yeok gave an awkward grin.
"I just... snuck in."
The Matriarch studied Lee Yeok in silence. Her wisdom let her read his heart plainly. He had shown his face only for her sake — he had no wish to return to the family itself.
Yet she chose not to call that out. He had only just come home; in her haste, she might well ruin everything. First she would keep him at her side, soothe him gently, and slowly ease open his heart.
"Worry no more and trust only in your grandmother. The false accusations laid upon you — this old woman will see them set right. Who would dare slander my own grandson!"
Lee Yeok only gave a bitter smile.
"All of that is behind me. I no longer spare it a thought."
The Matriarch stroked his face.
"You've grown so thin. How did you live these eleven years? I'm sure there are countless stories to hear. Ah — Yeong-ah, hurry and go prepare something for our grandson to eat. Quickly now."
Im Yeong answered and hurried from the pavilion.
"I lived well."
Lee Yeok was silent for a moment before continuing.
"There is nothing in particular to tell. I met a good person, and they took care of me."
"Is that so. I am grateful, truly. Where might this benefactor be found? I must go pay my respects in person and give my thanks. How could I ever forget such a debt?"
"They are away on a long journey at the moment. When the chance arises, I will introduce you."
As though terrified that Lee Yeok might vanish again at any moment, the Matriarch gripped his hand tight and asked about this and that. Lee Yeok only smiled and gave vague answers.
Then an enraged voice thundered across the garden.
"You despicable wretch! What do you think this place is, that you come creeping back as you please!"
A middle-aged man stormed in, several attendants at his heels, his ferocious glare raking over Lee Yeok. In the lines of his face, there were traces of the same features Lee Yeok wore. Behind him stood Im Yeong, her expression fraught.
Lee Yeok's face hardened to stone.