The Youngest Disciple of Mount Bongnae
In his early childhood, Seong-jin arrived at Mount Bongnae during the early spring, while the air still held the biting chill of winter.
The mountain wind was cold enough to make one's skin crawl, and even when the sun reached its zenith, his breath continued to mist in the air.
His father had left him there and departed.
Young Seong-jin kept his place beside the Go board, despite the freezing cold.
The immortal playing the game paid no mind to whether the child was shivering or not, remaining entirely focused on the board.
He looked like a rock carved into the shape of a man.
A figure that seemed as if it would remain unchanged even as the ages passed.
Perhaps, even when autumn arrived and fallen leaves covered the Go board, he would not change.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, the immortal finished counting the stones and reviewing the match, then rose from his seat.
“Follow me.”
Seong-jin followed him without a word.
The immortal led him along a mountain path, but because the trail was frequently blocked, they often had to detour through the tall grass.
After walking for quite some time, they arrived at a dilapidated hut.
“This is where you will stay.”
“Understood.”
“Do you have any other questions?”
“I was only granted permission to stay here, so it is my responsibility to make a life for myself. I am in no position to complain about my lodgings; I am merely grateful.”
The immortal looked at Seong-jin with an indifferent expression.
Seong-jin suddenly felt a blade-like aura emanating from the rock-like immortal, but the sensation vanished in an instant.
“Do not leave the hut once the sun sets.”
“Yes.”
“When morning comes, come to the place where I play Go. I will teach you where to draw water and how to find food.”
“Yes.”
Having said that, the immortal left as if there were no further explanations to be given.
Left behind, Seong-jin began to tidy up the hut.
There was much to be done in the long-neglected dwelling.
First, he swept away the dust and cobwebs that filled every corner, then pulled the weeds that had grown thick even inside the house.
Naturally, it was not a task that could be finished in a single day, and soon the sun began to set.
Once the sun went down, Seong-jin entered the room and curled his body up.
The cold wind, which had been chilly even during the day, brought with it an icy frost the moment the sun disappeared.
There was not even a small brazier in the hut.
Perhaps it was because immortals had no need for heating.
However, Seong-jin was not an immortal, and he had to shiver alone in the freezing room.
He drifted into sleep from exhaustion, only to wake up from the cold, repeating the cycle.
Every time he woke, staring into the continuing darkness made it feel as though the night would never end.
Eventually, Seong-jin, who had spent the night wide awake, went out to the Go-playing spot as soon as the sun rose.
When Seong-jin arrived, the immortal was already playing Go, looking as if he had been sitting there since yesterday.
Just like the day before, the immortal only spoke after finishing the game.
“When you need water, use the lake over there. If you are hungry, forage for herbs belonging to the five pungent vegetables, but do not hunt animals.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any questions?”
“What should I call you, Immortal?”
“My Taoist name is Sunyangja.”
“Understood.”
That was the end of the explanation.
“Show him the way.”
The final words were not directed at Seong-jin.
“Yes, Master.”
A girl playing Go opposite the immortal responded to the command.
With hair and eyes as black as pitch, and draped in robes even darker, the girl sat cross-legged on a rock. Despite being barefoot, there wasn't a single grain of sand on her, let alone calluses.
The girl climbed down from the rock and said to Seong-jin.
“Follow me.”
The mountain path, which had no trail, was difficult to walk barefoot, but the girl moved ahead as if it were nothing.
After bowing to the immortal before leaving, Seong-jin followed the girl.
The girl walked leisurely as if she were out for a stroll, yet she moved with strange, rapid speed.
Panting as he followed, Seong-jin called out to her.
“Can’t you go a little slower?”
“Huh? But I’m not even using the Earth-Shrinking Technique. If you hate walking, should I transform into a bird and fly?”
“I’m not a Taoist, so I can’t use magic like that.”
“You’re not a Taoist?”
The girl shoved her face toward Seong-jin’s chest, sniffed him, and then widened her eyes in surprise.
“It’s true? You don’t have the Immortal Bone? He took on a new disciple, and it’s just a regular human?”
She then scanned Seong-jin from head to toe, her expression clearly displeased.
Seong-jin was also dumbfounded by the girl’s attitude, which had changed 180 degrees.
“I was so happy thinking I’d finally stop being the youngest! You’re just a common human, and you dared to try and order me around like a servant?”
“No, I didn’t order you to do anything.”
“Forget it. Humans are all liars. I’m not going to listen, so don’t even talk to me.”
With that, the girl covered her ears with both hands.
However, she seemed intent on fulfilling her role as a guide, as she continued to lead him, adjusting her pace to Seong-jin’s stride.
Seong-jin followed her in silence.
The lake they arrived at boasted a scale so vast that the horizon was visible, much like the sea.
In the center of the horizon floated a massive lotus flower, so large that even from a distance it looked like a house, making his sense of perspective dizzying.
“I brought you here, so that’s enough, right? I’m leaving now.”
The girl said that and turned to leave.
“Wait.”
“Why now?”
“What is your name?”
“Seo-heun. Seo for dawn, heun for morning.”
She was as beautiful as a fairy.
However, every word that came out of her mouth was hateful; it seemed impossible to grow fond of her.
‘With a face like a fairy and the mouth of a street thug, even her beauty loses its luster.’
In the meantime, Seo-heun disappeared, leaving Seong-jin behind.
Seong-jin did not bother to hold her back.
‘I have plenty to do right now.’
From now on, he had to survive here on his own strength.
Repairing the house, acquiring food, securing a water source—living in the mountains, cut off from human society, meant he had to do everything himself without trading with anyone.
Fortunately, the water issue seemed to be resolved somehow.
Splash!
Seong-jin approached the lakeside and washed his face.
The water was freezing, its chill still lingering, but it was clear and clean enough to see the bottom of the lake.
He took a small sip; it wasn't fishy and felt refreshing, so it seemed safe to drink.
Seong-jin immediately found a gourd nearby, hollowed it out, and filled it with water.
The gourd had been left abandoned through the winter because there was no one to harvest it; while he couldn't eat the contents, he could use it as a water bottle.
‘He told me to stay inside the hut at night.’
For now, it was just enough water to drink, but later he would need to make a proper container so he could carry it back to the hut.
Fortunately, the distance between the hut and the lake was not very far, so the travel itself didn't seem like a problem.
“Well, the immediate need for water is solved. What’s left is food.”
Sunyangja had told him to forage only for herbs belonging to the five pungent vegetables.
“Since the immortal said so, there must be a reason.”
The sun sets quickly in the mountains.
This is because the high ridges block the sunlight early.
If he wanted to return to the hut before sunset, the remaining time would be tight just for searching for herbs.
Seong-jin decided to look for herbs between the lake and the hut as he returned.
“Ugh.”
There were no paths made for humans in the mountains where immortals lived.
The terrain wasn't necessarily treacherous, but climbing up and down a place that was essentially a remote mountain wilderness was no easy task.
Fortunately, Seong-jin had learned some Lightness Skills, so he could manage to navigate the mountain by following his footwork.
While scouting the path, Seong-jin discovered something that looked like rabbit droppings.
Having found tracks nearby, Seong-jin began to follow them.
“Sunyangja forbade hunting, but there is always a reason for the paths animals take.”
If he followed the path where herbivores foraged, there would surely be grass that the animals used for food.
The place he arrived at, following the rabbit’s tracks, was a clearing in the mountains.
“I’ve come to the right place.”
Nearby, there were signs of rabbits gnawing on grass.
It wasn't the five pungent vegetables he was looking for, but if rabbits were eating it, wouldn't it be safe for humans to eat too?
Thinking that, he looked at the chewed leaves, and they looked familiar.
“Isn’t this ginseng?”
Although it is not easy for a beginner to identify a plant just by looking at the leaves, Seong-jin, who had practically lived in pharmacies due to his illness since childhood, could recognize medicinal herbs.
It was wild ginseng.
And not just any, but ginseng that had absorbed energy over an immense amount of time in a sacred mountain untouched by human hands.
Seong-jin marveled at the sight, then shook his head.
“He told me to forage only for herbs belonging to the five pungent vegetables.”
What use was a miraculous medicine when he was desperate for food?
Miraculous herbs were such that the energy required to dissolve their medicinal properties was greater than the energy they provided; eating them would only fill his Dantian, not his hunger.
Besides, Seong-jin had an illness and couldn't use medicine recklessly, so there was no reason for his eyes to be drawn to such things.
As Seong-jin turned around, an old man dressed like a beggar stood there.
“Who are you, old man?”
“I am called Lee Cheol-goi.”
“If you are Lee Cheol-goi... do you mean Tieguai Li?”
Although Seong-jin was not a Taoist, as the child of a martial family, he had heard many legends of figures like Zhang Sanfeng or Bodhidharma.
Tieguai Li was one of the Eight Immortals representing Taoism, an immortal who appeared as a beggar.
He was especially famous among martial artists, as the founder of the Beggar Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects, was none other than Tieguai Li.
That was the reason why a gathering of beggars could occupy a seat among the Nine Great Sects, which were all composed of sects standing at the pinnacle of the Taoist and Buddhist worlds.
“Do you not believe me?”
“No. Where I am currently standing, why would I doubt it?”
To have a legendary immortal standing before his eyes was a situation that would make an ordinary person faint, but to Seong-jin, who had come all the way here in search of the land of immortals, it was nothing new.
“You seemed to recognize the true value of that ginseng, so why did you just turn away?”
“Because it is not mine.”
“Even though it has no owner?”
“I am a body that will die soon anyway, so what could I gain from eating that?”
“A body that will die soon? And a fellow like that came to Mount Bongnae to prolong his life through the distortion of time?”
“I did not come here to prolong my life.”
“Then?”
“I came here to die.”
Seong-jin said firmly.
“It is said that for a child to die before their parents is the greatest act of unfilial piety. I was born with a weak body and only caused my parents worry, so I came here to die quietly so that I might avoid that unfilial act and pass away after them.”
At Seong-jin’s words, Lee Cheol-goi closed his mouth.
Even Lee Cheol-goi, who had a terrifying face like a Vajra Guardian protecting a temple, seemed overwhelmed by those words.
Was he not saying that because he had been an unfilial son his whole life due to being born sick, he would die quietly in a place where his parents could not see him?
To hear such words, like those of an old man who had lived his whole life, coming from the mouth of a young child was enough to leave even an immortal aghast.
“Did you truly come to Mount Bongnae for such a reason?”
“Yes.”
Lee Cheol-goi opened his mouth only after a long silence.
“...Have you eaten?”
That was the first meeting between Seong-jin and Lee Cheol-goi.