Bandits (2)
Two days into my stay at the village, I was now attempting to master the energy of the Tiger Dragon Body Pill.
It wasn't as if the time spent catching bandits was precious to me, but lying around idle didn't sit right either. So I had set about the task of making the partially melted energy of the Tiger Dragon Body Pill — the portion I'd absorbed back at Byeokrando — entirely my own.
Ansong looked worn out from guarding my meditation, but that was none of my concern.
That's exactly why I brought him along.
Escorting, guarding, combat, farming, cooking, laundry, cleaning — these would all be Ansong's duties from now on.
If I was only this demanding now, then once I actually threw myself into closed-door cultivation, Ansong might well have it harder than I did.
Should I have brought Nari along too?
Wang Inho had flatly refused to let me take any attendants, so I'd given up on the idea — but looking back, maybe I should have dragged her along whether he liked it or not.
Whew.
Regret could wait. I exhaled once, shook off the stray thoughts, and refocused. With that many wandering thoughts, it wouldn't be training at all — just sitting there with my eyes closed.
After concentrating for a long while and contemplating my dantian, I could see it: the energy of the Tiger Dragon Body Pill, clinging sticky and stubborn to the outside.
So this was the melted portion, presumably.
Stuck to the surface of the dantian rather than absorbed inside it — which meant it hadn't been fully integrated yet.
I circulated my internal energy quickly, warming the dantian, and the pill's energy began to melt away bit by bit. The liquefied energy flowed straight into the dantian and was absorbed.
Feeling my internal power grow, I glanced to the side of my dantian and saw it — a single massive sphere. The energy of the Tiger Dragon Body Pill itself.
It's huge.
Its size startled me every time I looked. Moyong Hu had said he stole it when he left his clan, and I could only imagine the chaos that must have caused.
Amazing that the Moyong Clan's patriarch didn't kill him for it. With an elixir this valuable, most would accept a man's death as fair price. Thinking about it, the young Moyong Hu must have been quite the hot-blooded fool.
Once again marveling at just how extraordinary the Tiger Dragon Body Pill was, I kept warming my dantian — and before I knew it, every last sticky thread of that clinging energy had been absorbed.
With a strange surge of elation, I gazed into the depths of my dantian — and jolted in shock.
What is this density...?
From absorbing only a fraction of that energy, my internal power, once a clear blue, had taken on a slightly darker hue. That was how much denser it had become.
Which meant the same amount of internal energy, unleashed now, would carry far greater force. I was half-mad with the urge to test it right this instant.
So thinking, I opened my eyes and rose from my seat. Time to ask Ansong for a friendly spar.
"Ansong!"
Grroowl.
The moment I shouted, the door slid open and Ansong and Seonhwa entered the room.
Hm? Seonhwa?
"What's going on?"
When I gave Ansong a look that demanded an explanation, he laid out the whole story.
"This young lady brought your meal."
Sure enough, I could see Seonhwa holding a small dining tray. I walked straight over and took it from her hands, and she gave a small bow before turning to leave.
"Honestly, you. When a child brings you a tray, you take it from her."
When I scolded Ansong for his lack of tenderness toward the girl, he put on an expression of wounded innocence.
"Every time I try to take it for her, she just clutches it tighter and won't let go. What am I supposed to do?"
"Worried I'd eat your share too, were you?"
"That's exactly it, my lord."
Looking over the food on the tray, I saw there was no meat. Well, of course not — what village like this would have meat? If any had existed, the bandits would have stripped it long ago.
I set the tray down and decided to fill my stomach first. But as I ate, Ansong kept staring at me with a strange look in his eyes.
"What? Want some?"
"Pardon? No, my lord. It's just... you're eating it so heartily."
"Really? I don't see anything here I can't eat."
"It's a far cry from what you usually eat, is it not?"
That was Ansong's point. Going from the usual lavish meals to a plate of nothing but greens overnight — wasn't that uncomfortable?
If I didn't have the memories of my past life, I might have reacted exactly as Ansong expected. But for someone who'd lived before, this was actually a pretty decent meal.
We northerners ate plenty of meat, true — but was it delicious? Absolutely not. It was either tough as leather or so drenched in grease it scrambled your senses. One or the other, always.
Compared to that, the meal Seonhwa brought was more than edible.
I didn't even thank her, though.
Next time I saw her, I'd have to say something.
After finishing my meal, Ansong and I headed out to the courtyard. It was time to discuss the effects of the Tiger Dragon Body Pill.
"The pill has such an effect, my lord?"
"It does. I've never felt internal energy this dense."
As I spoke, I drew my energy upward, and a faint but distinctly dark-teal aura rose around my body.
"This...!"
Astonished, Ansong swept his eyes quickly over my aura. Then he fell silent, closing his eyes as if lost in thought.
A moment passed. At last, Ansong half-opened his eyes and spoke.
"Young Lord. Try channeling your internal energy into your sword."
I followed his instruction and poured my energy into the blade. The sword, which would normally have glowed blue, now shimmered a deep teal.
"Now swing it. It will be completely unlike anything you've felt before."
Whoosh! Shraaak!
I swung the sword through empty air, and it let out a keen whistle of parted wind. Then, along the arc of my swing, the ground split open in a shallow, perfectly straight line.
"Whoa!"
One simple swing, and my sword wind had gouged the earth.
"Young Lord. Are you familiar with sword qi — gangi?"
"Ah. Yes."
Sword qi, usable only by masters at the Peak Realm and beyond, wielded power on an entirely different order from ordinary energy. A blade wrapped in sword qi would shatter one wrapped in mere internal energy the moment they crossed.
"If I may offer my theory, my lord — the Tiger Dragon Body Pill seems to not only increase the sheer volume of your internal energy, but also grants it the property of drawing itself together."
"Drawing itself together?"
"Precisely. Think of it as your energy having gained the tendency to tangle and clump into itself. And that—"
"—works on the same principle as sword qi."
"Exactly."
Sword qi was the state achieved when energy was gathered and compressed to its absolute limit. And to reach that state naturally, one required a deep understanding of energy itself — without the enlightenment they spoke of, it was impossible.
But by grafting that clumping property onto my energy, the Tiger Dragon Body Pill had made it behave something like sword qi — that was Ansong's explanation.
In short, all of my energy had effectively become sword qi.
"For now it's only an approximation, but once you've absorbed the pill's energy in its entirety, my lord, it may well transform into true sword qi."
"Insane."
"Yes. This is completely insane."
An elixir that turned ordinary energy into sword qi. Now I truly wondered why the Moyong Clan's patriarch hadn't killed Moyong Hu on the spot.
That Moyong Hu. He handed me something this precious?
Once my closed-door training was done, I'd have to bring him back some proper gift.
"Young Lord. Shall we spar? Watching that, my body's itching for it."
I'd been eager to try out this pseudo–sword qi myself, so I gladly accepted Ansong's challenge.
After trading blows for the better part of an hour, it was I who tired first and lowered my sword. Ansong said he'd go sharpen my blade and headed back inside.
Exhausted, I flopped down on my back right there on the packed earth. It had been a while since I'd moved my body this hard — my muscles were already starting to ache.
I'm thirsty... is there any water around?
I turned my head this way and that without getting up, but no water anywhere. My throat had gone past dry and into burning, and there wasn't a drop to be had.
I wanted to call for Ansong, but whether it was the thirst or what, all that came out was a dry croak. Nothing for it but to wait until he came back out.
Pat, pat.
I heard footsteps approaching beside me. Wondering who it was, I turned my head — and there was Seonhwa, walking toward me carrying what looked like a wooden bowl.
What's she here for this time?
As I simply watched, she came to a stop in front of me, knelt down, and held the bowl out. Still lying flat, I gripped the base of the bowl and took it.
Slosh.
Water?
Whatever was inside the bowl rippled and sloshed — it looked like water. Had she actually gone all the way to the well to draw it just for me?
The question why? floated up, but gratitude came first. I opened my mouth to speak — and no sound came out.
"Khh. Khh."
"......."
Dammit, how embarrassing.
I hurriedly propped myself up and gulped down the water. Barely had the thought I might actually survive crossed my mind before I opened my mouth again, determined to give proper thanks.
"Thanks. You went to the well and drew this just for me, didn't you?"
"......."
"Um... hello?"
"......."
Why wasn't she saying anything?
Seonhwa just kept looking at me without a word. Could it be... she couldn't hear?
I expressed my thanks the only way left — by gently patting her head. If she couldn't hear, then I would have to speak with my hands.
Stroke, stroke.
Only when my hand finally stopped did Seonhwa rise to her feet. Then she held something out to me — a single cloth.
"What's this?"
When I took it and asked, she, unsurprisingly, turned and walked away without a word. Staring blankly after her retreating back, I examined the cloth in my hand.
Unlike the grimy rags you'd typically see, this one looked clean. Presumably, I was meant to wipe my sweat with it.
A week passed like that. To test out this pseudo–sword qi, I kept sparring with Ansong, and every time, Seonhwa would bring me water or a fresh cloth.
At midday she came with a meal as well, so I had her sit and eat with me. She was flustered at first, but soon enough she was quietly going about her chopsticks.
The four days the headman had spoken of were long past, but the days had been pleasantly full, and I had no real complaints. Today, as always, noon rolled around and I set about tidying my room.
Because every time Seonhwa brought a meal, she cleaned up the mess before she left. I didn't want to put her through that kind of work — so the room had to be clean before she arrived.
"Seonhwa is a little late today."
"Is she. Think she tripped somewhere? That girl's got a clumsy streak."
"Perhaps, my lord. Shall I go check on her?"
"No need. I'll step out for a moment myself."
I had just finished straightening the room, gathered my sword, and was about to head out —
"Young Lord!!"
Someone was calling me from a distance. There was something urgent, something deeply wrong in that voice, and my eyes met Ansong's. His face went rigid as he rose to his feet.
Swords in hand, the two of us kicked through the door without a word between us.