27. I Still Can't Stand Complicated Things
Yi Yeok returned to his room before dawn broke.
So Rim brought him water for washing and a fresh change of clothes. Without asking a single question, she helped him bathe, comb his hair, and dress.
She gathered up his clothes—stained with dirt and blood—and carried them out. A little later, Ju Taek arrived to pay his respects.
"Did you rest well through the night, my lord?"
"Of course."
Apparently sensing nothing out of the ordinary, Ju Taek took up his post outside the door, standing guard.
"Lord Loyal Hound, you're putting in hard hours on my account, up from the crack of dawn."
Yi Yeok drawled at the burly silhouette of Ju Taek through the door.
"I am merely doing my assigned duty."
"The Grand Madame's eightieth birthday celebration is coming up soon, isn't it? Once that's behind us, you'll finally be freed from this tedious assignment."
Ju Taek did not answer.
But Yi Yeok had the feeling he was smiling.
"And of course, I'll be free as well."
"Is it truly your intent to refuse entry into the sect, young master? This is a fine opportunity. An opportunity to change your fate."
The rumor that Yi Yeok had been personally nominated by the sect had apparently already spread like wildfire through the clan.
"Strange question. Yi Pyeong—and the clan head, for that matter—want me to stay right here, not go off to some sect."
Ju Taek fell silent. He deliberately affected a coarse manner, but Yi Yeok was no ignorant street thug acting on whim alone. He understood his position and the role others wanted him to play, and he made decisions about his own life only after long, careful deliberation.
"I've overstepped again. Please forgive me."
"Oh, it's fine. You do your job well enough. Take, for instance, my little outing last night—you'd have reported that to the clan head, wouldn't you?"
Once again, Yi Yeok had the sense that Ju Taek's shadow was smiling.
"Had I noticed, I would most certainly have reported it. But I was aware of nothing."
Yi Yeok chuckled.
"You know, you're a surprisingly decent sort. If I ever end up with subordinates of my own, I'm hiring men like you."
"I'm grateful for the praise. But young master—if you do come to stand at the head of men someday, I would advise against calling your underlings 'loyal hounds.'"
"Really?"
"I understand there's no malice in it. But even if the heart behind the loyalty is true, who would want to be a dog rather than a loyal general? Calling your men dogs is no different from insulting yourself as their leader."
Yi Yeok paused, lost in thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Fair point. I apologize for calling you a loyal hound. I promise I won't use that name going forward."
Once more, the shadow of Ju Taek seemed to smile.
* * *
A short while later, in a wing of the Yi estate.
Seol Chong, who had been staying in the guest quarters, showed little surprise at Yi Yeok's visit. Yesterday's refusal, as Yi Pyeong had explained it, was nothing more than a flash of hot temper—surely he couldn't truly mean to turn down a sect's nomination.
But what came out of Yi Yeok's mouth was not an acceptance.
"Seol Chong, would you happen to know how many immortal sects exist in this world?"
It was an unexpected question, but Seol Chong answered with his usual gentle smile.
"I didn't take you for the curious type. Then again, the sects are almost entirely unknown to common folk, so it's only natural to wonder."
Seol Chong began his explanation calmly.
"The immortal sects are broadly divided into two great powers: the Do-mun, the Daoist Factions, and the Bul-mun, the Buddhist Factions. There are also the Demonic Factions, along with the ghost and demon sects, but compared to the two great powers, they're barely a handful."
Yi Yeok's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"The two most eminent sects among the Daoist and Buddhist Factions are the Sacred Dao Immortal Sect and the Great Thousand Buddha Sect. Few among us cultivators truly know their inner workings—I myself included. It is said they only reveal themselves when a matter of great import to the immortal realm arises, the Sacred Dao Immortal Sect leading the Daoists, and the Great Thousand Buddha Sect leading the monks."
Seol Chong continued his explanation fluently.
"Beneath them stand the high-tier immortal sects. The Cheonho Immortal Sect, the Guryeong Immortal Sect, the Jareung Immortal Sect, along with Tasa Temple, Gwanseong Temple, Samsaeng Temple, and so on..."
The Guryeong Immortal Sect! Yi Yeok's gaze wavered.
"Don't tell me you've heard of it?"
"Ah, the name was just so peculiar. Guryeong, of all things... Nine Spirits. Is it some kind of fortune-telling house?"
Seol Chong found Yi Yeok's reaction a bit odd, but he soon smiled and carried on.
"The character 'gu' means nine, the number of supreme exaltation. It expresses their power to shake heaven and earth. Though it's true they are also famed for their divination. They are said to be masters of the craft."
Yi Yeok nodded.
"Beneath them are the mid-tier immortal sects. Among them is the Yiyun Sect, to which I and your brother Yi Pyeong belong, and..."
Yi Yeok continued nodding along, but in truth, the words were going in one ear and out the other. He had already obtained everything he wanted.
"...and that's about the extent of it. As you can see, joining a sect opens up a great many choices for you."
Just then, Yi Pyeong walked in.
"Little brother—have you changed your mind?"
The delight in his voice was a performance, but a faint flicker of unease lurked in his eyes.
Yi Yeok ignored him entirely and spoke to Seol Chong instead.
"Seol Chong, thank you for your kindness in explaining all this. I'll give the matter serious thought once more."
Still not granting Yi Pyeong so much as a glance at the main house, Yi Yeok walked out of the guest quarters.
* * *
'Joining a sect opens up a great many choices for you.'
Seol Chong's words.
The world offered many things to choose from. Yi Yeok himself, at least for the past eleven years, had lived by nothing but his own choices.
But looking back on it now, slowly and carefully, he couldn't be certain he had truly lived as he chose. Desperate to escape the suffocating shadow of the clan, perhaps he had simply drifted wherever the current took him and rationalized it all as his own decisions.
Back in his room, Yi Yeok shook his head to scatter the thoughts. He couldn't stand forcing himself into tangled dilemmas that refused to yield an easy answer.
Then, quite suddenly, one thing struck him as odd.
According to Seol Chong, the sect Yi Pyeong belonged to was the Yiyun Sect. And according to the information he'd gathered last night, that woman belonged to the Guryeong Immortal Sect.
If she had struck some kind of deal with Yi Pyeong, why hadn't she taken him to the Guryeong Immortal Sect instead?
"Strange."
Was there a conspiracy far more tangled than Yi Yeok imagined? And yet eleven years ago, Yi Pyeong, for all that his talent for the immortal path had just begun to bloom, had been nothing more than a sixteen-year-old boy.
Once again, it was a tangled mess of a question with no easy answer in sight. But try as he might, Yi Yeok could not shake the thoughts loose.
