Family
Dawn had not yet fully banished the darkness.
Faint light seeping through the window softly illuminated the room.
In the center sat Cheongwol in the lotus position. She finished a gentle exhale and slowly opened her eyes.
"Hah..."
She rolled her head lightly from side to side to loosen the stiffness in her neck, then rose and approached the desk.
Letters covered nearly half the surface—every one of them sent by Seomun Hwi.
How many times had she read the same words over and over?
She ought to have grown tired of them by now, yet Cheongwol still unfolded each letter with the same fluttering expression as the first time.
They held everything from trivial daily news to the affairs of the Central Plains, yet not a single line had been dashed off carelessly; each was filled with painstaking care.
Hwi...
If she thought about it carefully, they had spent barely more than ten days together.
A man of Seomun Hwi's standing could easily have dismissed it as a fleeting affair.
That he remembered her instead left Cheongwol simply grateful.
There was, however, one thing that weighed on her heart.
She lowered her gaze slightly and looked down at the body that was no longer the one she had known.
What if he finds it unpleasant...
After the man she had been became a woman's body, even Unhak—who had been like a sworn brother—had kept his distance for a time. The thought of Seomun Hwi's reaction filled her with quiet dread.
In truth, Unhak had merely been too embarrassed to approach, and Cheongwol had misunderstood.
...No. I won't know until I face Hwi myself.
Staring at the letters he had sent, she forced herself to shake off the anxiety that had settled in one corner of her chest.
This was the same Seomun Hwi who had written steadily for more than two years.
He might be startled at first, but she was certain he would still treat her as a friend—whether she was a man or a woman.
Yes. It's Hwi, after all...
Trying to hold only hopeful thoughts, she tilted her head back—and her eyes fell on the bronze mirror Soga-yul had left for her.
Eyes washed in pale gold.
Features that had never been coarse, now refined to an even finer delicacy.
A chest that carried a heavy, undeniable presence.
Thighs that held flesh more stubbornly than the rest of her, and slender limbs.
Gazing at the woman in the mirror whose eyes met her own, Cheongwol murmured without thinking.
"Nothing about this is easy, is it?"
The woman only smiled faintly, as if in quiet agreement.
When the sun stood high, Unhak's voice came from beyond the door.
"Daoist Cheongwol."
"Just a moment."
Cheongwol carefully folded the letter she had been reading, set it aside, took up the luggage she had prepared the night before, and stepped outside.
Unlike his usual smiling self, Unhak regarded her with a face tangled by many emotions.
"Did you rest well last night?"
Though excitement had kept her tossing and turning, Cheongwol smiled quietly and nodded.
"Yes. I closed my eyes for a little while and it was already morning."
"I'm glad to hear it."
Unhak set off toward the Sect Leader's residence, and Cheongwol followed.
"Time truly flies in an instant. It feels like only yesterday that Daoist Cheongwol first came to the Kongdong Sect, and already the day of departure has arrived."
"...I remember. You scolded me quite a lot back then."
"What? No—you're inventing things that never happened again."
As Unhak flustered with an expression of pure injustice, Cheongwol giggled.
"You raised your eyes just like this, didn't you? 'Daoist Cheongwol, do you even know what you're saying right now?'"
Her stern imitation of him was so funny that Unhak finally burst out laughing as well.
"I did. But you know now, don't you? How completely flustered I was at the time."
"I know. If I'd been Senior Brother Unhak, I'd have thought, 'What kind of madman is this?'"
"Exactly right."
At his ready admission, Cheongwol laughed too.
They laughed for so long that before they knew it they stood before the pavilion that housed the Sect Leader's quarters.
"Daoist Cheongwol, please take this."
Unhak drew a small pouch from his robe and held it out.
"What is it?"
When she loosened the drawstring and looked inside, emotion surged up so suddenly she nearly choked.
The pouch was filled with well-worn silver coins.
"...Senior Brother Unhak."
"It isn't much, but better than nothing, wouldn't you say?"
Not much?
Having spent the past two years at his side, Cheongwol knew at once.
That amount of silver was nearly everything Unhak possessed.
She forced back the tears that threatened to spill and held the pouch out to him again.
"...I can't accept this."
"Why not?"
"Because this is...!"
She lifted her head to protest, but Unhak only wore his usual good-natured smile.
"It's the same in other sects, but in the Kongdong Sect as well, when a disciple first sets out into the jianghu, the senior brother is the one who looks after them. Haven't I always said Daoist Cheongwol is just like our youngest junior sister?"
"..."
Seeing her face on the verge of tears, Unhak stepped closer and gave her shoulder a light, reassuring pat.
"So this is simply what I ought to do. I don't know what path you'll walk from here, but never forget that Master and I will always be on your side."
Cheongwol kept her head bowed in silence for a long while before she finally managed to speak.
"...Thank you. Senior Brother."
Looking at the junior who only called him Senior Brother on the day she left, Unhak grinned.
"The ranks are all mixed up now."
When Cheongwol approached with reddened eyes, Soga-yul wore an expression that said she understood perfectly.
"Feeling the sting of parting now that the moment has come? That's why you should have stayed."
"...If I remained any longer, it would only make things difficult for you, Sect Leader."
At those words the tiresome faces of the elders rose in Soga-yul's mind, and her expression crumpled of its own accord.
"You knew?"
"I overheard once or twice while coming and going."
"So you only saw the shameful spectacle of old men."
Soga-yul frowned and clicked her tongue.
She had gone to such lengths to keep Cheongwol's presence unnoticed.
Yet somehow the elders had come day after day, demanding to know whether an outsider had truly learned the martial arts of the Kongdong Sect.
Of course Cheongwol had studied Soga-yul's exclusive arts rather than the sect's own, so there should have been little trouble—but the elders had clearly sensed her talent and would have tried to bind her to the Kongdong Sect without fail.
All without realizing that Cheongwol was a spark that might one day swallow the entire sect.
"...Master?"
Lost in thought, Soga-yul was pulled back by Cheongwol's voice.
"Forgive me. The faces of those greedy old men make my blood boil. Well then—do you have a destination in mind?"
Cheongwol shook her head with an awkward smile.
"I was just wondering where I ought to go."
"I thought as much. Take this."
Soga-yul gave a short laugh and drew a small box from her robe, placing it in Cheongwol's hands.
It was the very box Cheongwol had once offered as her grandfather's keepsake.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
"Did you not say he left only a letter for me? What lies inside was left for you."
"For me?"
When Cheongwol carefully opened the box, she found the flower-shaped jade of transparent green she had seen before.
As she tilted her head at the jewel, Soga-yul closed her eyes gently.
"...It was your mother's, the letter said."
After those words neither of them spoke for a long time.
Cheongwol stood frozen in place as if she had turned to stone.
"Mother's... thing...?"
"It was written so in the letter that person left—along with the instruction that it be given to you on the day you set out for the Central Plains."
An item left by parents whose faces she had never once seen, and for that very reason longed for with aching intensity.
Cheongwol could find no words.
What else was there to say?
She could only stare at the jade that shone with such beautiful light while her heart felt as though it might tear apart.
Understanding that pain, Soga-yul carefully laid her hand over the box.
"It did not say what sort of people your parents were, so I cannot know. But as far as I am aware, those capable of such craftsmanship number only a few in all the Central Plains."
Forcing down the tremor in her chest, Cheongwol asked,
"What... kind of people?"
"First go to the Dang Clan in Sichuan. Even if they did not make it themselves, you will be able to learn whose hands it has passed through."
"The Sichuan Dang Clan..."
Cheongwol nodded slowly, closed the box, and slipped it into her robe.
"Yes. I will."
Once Cheongwol had regained some composure, Soga-yul realized the true moment of parting had arrived.
"Do not forget. Unless it is a matter of life and death, you must never unfold the Sunflower Manual before the eyes of others."
"Yes."
"Nor are you to reveal your surname. Before you speak of the Im Clan, think twice—no, three times. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"And..."
Repeating warnings she had already given many times, Soga-yul firmly impressed upon Cheongwol every caution she would need in the Central Plains.
When at last she finished, Cheongwol turned to face her fully.
"...You ungrateful child. Will you truly abandon this old master and leave?"
"If I can, I will return here as soon as possible."
To Soga-yul, who looked at her with eyes full of worry—
to her master, who had become no different from family—
Cheongwol offered a deep, formal bow filled with sincere gratitude.