Phoenix's Shadow and the Stray Kitten
Sammae True Fire was a technique that only peak masters could barely manage—one that ignited flames from bare hands. Naturally, it was impossible for Jeong Yeong, still a green escort warrior.
"No, I was joking…."
"Not at all. I'm sorry I haven't reached that level yet…."
"Ah, no, it's fine."
"This really isn't a phoenix, is it?"
At Hwaryun's question, everyone there fell silent. Up until now, talk of phoenixes had been half-serious, half-joking. But facing this bizarre phenomenon, it was hard to dismiss it as mere jest.
A real phoenix?
"No, even if it is a real phoenix… how does a chicken you've been raising suddenly turn into one? The breed… the breed's different. Not all birds are the same bird, right?"
Truth be told, she wasn't entirely without suspicions. Spiritual energy naturally transformed things into spirit beasts when accumulated, and she'd been feeding it to Heukwol in waves from her entire body.
But the others didn't know that. The idea that she'd turned it into a phoenix was just Hwaryun's joke.
"That's true, but… maybe this place has good feng shui?"
Hwaryun muttered. He didn't seem to seriously believe Ryeon had created a phoenix either.
But if that's the case…
Ryeon swallowed dryly. Among the ways to feed her spiritual energy to those around her, she'd once considered something similar.
Raising a spirit beast and harvesting its inner core. Though she'd never imagined a chicken reaching phoenix level.
This is gonna be tricky…
But when she tried to seriously picture it—for instance, eating something like Heukwol's inner core—it wasn't as simple as she'd thought.
It was no easy mindset to slaughter and eat something you'd raised with affection, feeding it meal after meal.
Even just letting it leave felt this heartbreaking.
Scrap the spirit beast inner core plan.
Ryeon gave up the idea. As they descended the mountain, she kept turning back several times. The phoenix(?)'s glow still flickered beyond the trees.
Jeong Yeong, leading the two children ahead, also couldn't help glancing back, his face stiff with swallowed shock.
"Our Heukwol… she'll live well, right?"
"Wherever she goes, that one's bound to be queen, don't you think?"
"Still… no, let's hurry."
Ryeon quickened her pace, trying to shake off the hollow ache. Hollow was hollow, but as Hwaryun said, they needed to get down the mountain fast.
The spiritual energy buildup rate…
Since climbing the mountain, her breath had felt choked by spiritual energy, and sure enough, Seon-gyeong confirmed it was filling up much faster.
That was why, in her past life, trying to recuperate in some deep mountain hermitage had led to coughing blood, passing out, and all sorts of misery!
Uwaaaah! Down! Get down!
Ryeon shook her sleeve where the status window had appeared, screaming inwardly. Not that it would make the number go down.
"Huh?"
Then Ryeon stopped, shaking her sleeve once more. The scenery beyond didn't change.
"Meow…."
"Huh?"
"Huh."
Under a half-dead tree, in the bushes below, there was a clump of snow-white fur.
Jeong Yeong approached cautiously first. Ryeon peeked from behind, peering closely.
"A kitten?"
Jeong Yeong gently parted the bushes with his sheathed sword, revealing a scrawny kitten. Its mew was so faint it sounded like a squeak.
Matted white fur, drooping round ears—it let out a frail cry, lifting blue eyes to meet hers.
Jeong Yeong murmured softly, voice full of pity.
"Looks like it was abandoned because it's too weak."
"What do we do…?"
While Ryeon fretted, the kitten struggled to move its paws toward her hand.
"Wha, whoa…."
Startled by the sudden approach, Ryeon flinched, and the kitten mewed even more piteously. One wondered where it found the energy in that tiny, flat body.
"Ah, ahh…."
Ryeon made a miserable face, glancing between Jeong Yeong, Hwaryun, and the kitten.
"Is it okay to just leave it?"
"…If we leave it, won't it die?"
Jeong Yeong said sadly. Ryeon stared at the kitten with a pout.
It clung right to her feet.
"Ah, aigoo…."
"Just leave it. Ones like this die nine times out of ten even if you take them."
But Hwaryun's voice was colder than she'd ever heard. Surprised, Ryeon turned to him, and the boy grabbed her hand, pulling it away from the kitten.
"You came all this way because you couldn't let go of one chicken, and now you're sniffling. What if you nurse this kitten and it really dies?"
Harsh words, but they showed he understood her heart. And with that, Ryeon steeled herself, still pouting.
"Yeah, you're right… Nothing we can do."
"Huh?"
Hwaryun's brows shot up as Ryeon, clearly having heard him, carefully scooped up the kitten anyway.
"Nui!"
"I can't bear to watch it die later, so I can't just let it die now."
"What'll you do if it really goes wrong later?"
"What else? Cry my eyes out."
Hwaryun's brows flew up, then his lips pursed in a pout.
"Do whatever. I'll tease you plenty when your eyes swell like carp."
"Ryuni. Friends comfort each other. And don't jinx Whitey already."
"You named it already?"
Ryeon stroked the kitten burrowing into her sleeve and began descending carefully.
Feels like it's perking up with a bit of spiritual energy…
"Ha, seriously… Ah, excuse me, Young Miss Ryeon! Don't watch the kitten—watch where you're going down. Nui! Nui! Look ahead!"
"Baby Miss! Baby Miss!"
"I'm watching! I am looking ahead!"
* * *
Ryeon blinked wide-eyed, ears perked to the whispers of the servants ahead.
"A phoenix appeared? For real? Did you see it?"
"Saw it! That's why I'm a mess! Man, I thought I'd fall over backward."
"Heavens, a phoenix at the Danmok estate. Isn't this a sign it'll become the world's top clan?"
"Hey, don't get ahead of yourself. You'll jinx the big things."
"What, can't I say anything? Everything I say ruins it?"
"You bastard! Last time with the three shells game, you kept yelling 'it's this one, it's this one!' and look what happened?"
"That was… argh, just shut up then."
The whole estate buzzed with talk of the phoenix's shadow. Even Nanny Jang ssi!
"Heavens. They say a phoenix appeared, Baby Miss. Must be watching over you to grow up safe and sound."
Nanny Jang ssi, who'd laughed earlier thinking Ryeon had been playing in the garden since her clothes and such were dirt-covered, spoke in a subtle tone.
"…A phoenix? Real?"
"Yes. All the estate folk saw golden feathers flashing through the morning sun."
"…Everyone saw?"
Ryeon opened her mouth to speak but closed it. Glancing at Jeong Yeong, now back to guarding her quarters, she saw him biting his lip hard.
"Yes, yes. Word is all of Hangzhou's abuzz. And… oh my! This little one…."
The nanny, mid-sentence, finally noticed the white kitten in Ryeon's arms and widened her eyes.
Ryeon had cleaned it spotless, fed it bits of this and that, and put it to sleep in the meantime.
"Ah! Nanny. It's an abandoned kitten, I think. I'm gonna raise it."
She wasn't without worry that, like Heukwol, this one might turn into a spirit beast too. But right now, she feared it might keel over any second, so she'd gently infused it with spiritual energy.
Nanny Jang ssi tilted her head after a pause.
"That… is a cat… right?"
"Yeah? Yeah!"
Ryeon nodded vigorously. Nanny Jang ssi cocked her head, then smiled softly, eyes crinkling.
Of course it's a cat. What else, a tiger?
As if phoenixes appearing on the estate's back mountain at dawn meant white tigers would show up in the young miss's arms by morning.
"Take good care of it. It might die quick without you."
Ryeon nodded in agreement.
* * *
Even Jeon ssi in Wolyeongjae's kitchen couldn't stop talking about the phoenix. Completely forgetting the one chicken they'd lost.
But amid the clamor, children's interests were set in stone.
"Nui, Nui!"
The door opened quietly, and two kids crawled in on knees, trying not to get caught.
"Bi-ya, Ryun-ya, you're here?"
Danmok Bi glanced around furtively, then clambered onto his sister's bed and hugged her tight.
"Nui, Uncle said I memorized my letters good and gave me dragon beard candy."
"Yeah? Did it taste good?"
Danmok Bi nodded eagerly, pulling something from his bosom. Unwrapping the thin cloth revealed pure white dragon beard candy—three neat rolls of thinly pulled, sugar-spun threads.