Righteous Spirit Soaring to the Heavens
That night, Cheongwol dreamed.
In the dream stood an old man, and when she looked closely, the old man was none other than her own grandfather.
Grandfather!
Joy flooding her heart, she dashed toward him in a single bound—yet something was wrong.
No matter how she hurried her steps, the distance between them refused to close; instead it only seemed to stretch farther and farther away.
She tried to draw inner energy from her dantian to unleash her lightness skill, but it was useless.
With her inner energy utterly unmoving, Cheongwol had no choice but to pant as she ran.
Grandfather! Wait a moment! Don't go!
Her heart pounded as if it would burst, and her legs ached as though they would snap.
Still Cheongwol did not stop.
Her only blood relative.
If only she could be held once more in the embrace of the family she longed for.
Yet perhaps out of pity for a grandchild burdened with a cruel fate, the grandfather merely drew farther away, wearing a sorrowful expression.
Grandfather! Grandfather!
Before she knew it, Cheongwol had become a little child, collapsed face-down on the ground and weeping.
Even knowing there was no one left to wipe those tears away.
She simply cried because it hurt too much.
Until not a single tear remained to fall.
"Cheongwol Miss! Cheongwol Miss!"
Someone calling her name with desperate urgency pulled Cheongwol's eyes open.
The one who had hauled her up from the depths of that sorrow was none other than Ak Seo-a.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
Though she herself must have been startled, Ak Seo-a looked utterly at a loss, her face full of worry.
"...Sorry. I must have been noisy."
"That is hardly the issue. What manner of dream could make you weep so?"
"It wasn't a nightmare. If I had to say... it was a good dream."
Gulping down the water bottle she had left by her bedside, Cheongwol recalled her grandfather's face from the dream.
Having seen that longed-for face even in sleep, whatever the contents, it was closer to a good dream than a nightmare, was it not?
"Is that so? Then that is a relief, yet..."
Though they had known each other less than a full day, Ak Seo-a was gazing at Cheongwol with sincere concern.
Hwi was similar. No—was Hwi a little more prickly?
Remembering her first meeting with Seomun Hwi, Cheongwol roughly wiped the moisture from her lips with the back of her hand.
"Want some too?"
Though she was not particularly thirsty, Ak Seo-a did not refuse and accepted the bottle.
"My thanks."
Watching Ak Seo-a carefully sip the water, Cheongwol let out a small snort of laughter.
I think I understand why Senior Brother Unhak was so good to me.
When she had first arrived at the Kongdong Sect, she must have looked to Unhak exactly the way Ak Seo-a looked now.
"...It seems the sun will rise soon. We don't know how long it will take to reach the village, so shall we pack up and set out?"
In truth it was still the deep hours of dawn, far from daybreak, yet Ak Seo-a nodded once more.
"Understood. Being a mountain stronghold, the sleeping place was not particularly refreshing. And we must carry the chest as well, so it would be better to depart early."
She had kept someone awake with her sleep-talking, and now she claimed the bed had not been refreshing.
And on top of that, she still remembered to take the chest?
Without thinking, Cheongwol pinched Ak Seo-a's cheek.
"...Cheongwol Miss?"
"You're annoying. Not a lot—just a little."
Between steep cliffs on either bank, a rapid current raced fiercely.
Walking carefully along the river so as not to be swept away, they at last came upon a waterfall that truly deserved to be called a scenic wonder.
"Cheongwol Miss! Look there! That must be the famous waterfall!"
Even from a considerable distance, the cool wind blowing from the falls already tickled the tips of their ears.
"I don't know for certain, but it seems right. If we keep following this path, a turquoise lake should appear."
"A turquoise lake! I wish to see it at once!"
At Ak Seo-a's thoroughly excited face, Cheongwol smiled and nodded as well.
"No reason to simply pass by after coming this far. Let's go slowly and look around as we walk."
"Understood!"
The moment the words left her mouth, Ak Seo-a sprinted toward the waterfall.
What exactly she claimed to understand was unclear, yet after three days of growing somewhat accustomed to the creature called Ak Seo-a, Cheongwol found she did not particularly mind.
As long as the kid is kind-hearted, that's enough.
Whether she had given up or simply decided to think positively, Cheongwol watched Ak Seo-a's retreating back with a fond expression.
Half a shichen later, just as Cheongwol had said, a vast turquoise lake unfolded before their eyes.
"Truly wondrous. How can lake water be so clear..."
As Ak Seo-a observed, the lake was transparent enough that the bottom could be seen with perfect clarity.
Sunlight shattered across the ripples and scattered like silver powder; that light dyed the stone floor and the scales of the tiny fish swimming above it in pure silver.
There was, however, one further peculiarity they did not yet know.
"Ugh! Ptooey, ptooey!"
The water that formed the lake was saltwater—and extremely salty.
No—more than that, does one normally drink lake water?
Looking at Ak Seo-a, already submerged to her knees, Cheongwol let out a hollow laugh.
Just then, a low, gentle laugh drifted from somewhere nearby.
"You appear to be first-time visitors. It is no exaggeration to say that Wuhuahai is made of salt."
While the two had been utterly absorbed by the lake, a middle-aged man had approached unnoticed and now stood beside them, speaking.
"I run a small inn near this lake. As it happens to be mealtime, might the guests care to ease their hunger at our establishment?"
Having offered a polite greeting and spoken so courteously, the middle-aged man seemed to be the innkeeper himself, out soliciting customers.
Yet where was the waiter, that the innkeeper should be doing the soliciting in person?
"No, we..."
Feeling something slightly off and about to refuse, she heard a sudden splash from behind.
"Uwah!"
Turning her head with a sinking feeling, she found Ak Seo-a sitting on the lake bottom, thoroughly soaked.
"...The stones on the bottom were far too slippery. I could not help it."
Sensing the ominous air radiating from Cheongwol, she hurriedly arranged her face into a pitiful expression and offered the excuse.
"...Shall I prepare a table for you?"
When the innkeeper carefully asked a second time, even Cheongwol had no choice.
"...Yes. Please do. And a dry cloth to wipe off the water as well."
"Of course."
Contrary to her worries, the inn looked a little aged, yet it was spacious and clean.
"Have you ever tasted Sichuan cuisine before?"
At the innkeeper's question, Cheongwol and Ak Seo-a both shook their heads.
"I've never eaten it."
"This humble one neither."
The innkeeper nodded as though he understood well enough.
"Then I shall instruct the cook to keep the spice as mild as possible. What would you care to order for the meal?"
"Hmm... Just whatever will fill our stomachs moderately. Since it isn't evening, leave out anything too oily."
"In that case I shall bring one plate of clear-fried shrimp and two plates of guoba. Clear-fried shrimp is shrimp meat stir-fried in oil, and guoba is the crisp scorched layer scraped from the bottom of the rice pot. Will that be acceptable?"
Even after hearing the explanation she had no real sense of it until she saw the dishes with her own eyes, so Cheongwol simply nodded.
"Yes. Please do so."
"Very well. I shall bring them shortly."
Once the innkeeper who had taken their order left the room, Ak Seo-a—wrapped in dry cloths—carefully gauged Cheongwol's expression.
"Cheongwol Miss. Are you angry?"
Cheongwol glanced sideways at her for a moment, then sharply turned her gaze away again.
"I'm not. If the inn had been shabby I might have been."
"That is a relief. I thought Cheongwol Miss was truly angry..."
"But if the food tastes bad I'll be angry. Definitely."
"..."
At Cheongwol's words, laced with a chill, the bright smile that had been about to bloom on Ak Seo-a's face tensed once more.
Finding the sight rather amusing, Cheongwol smiled faintly.
"Just kidding. Would I get angry over something like this?"
"...Truly?"
"I said so."
Only then did Ak Seo-a relax and let out a sigh of relief.
"Cheongwol Miss is surprisingly skilled at teasing people."
"Because there's someone fun to tease."
"Someone... surely this humble one?"
Looking at Ak Seo-a, who had stuck out her lower lip, Cheongwol playfully lifted the corner of her mouth.
"I won't tell you that."
Then, following the habit she had learned from her master Soga-yul, she propped her chin in her hand and slowly let her gaze wander.
The table, worn by years yet polished without a single stain.
The window frame whose old lacquer had peeled away yet still looked solid.
The ceiling, low and somewhat dim, yet free of even a speck of dust.
The interior of the inn seemed to have been touched by the owner's care in every corner; not a single thing was out of place.
The upkeep is quite good. But why is no one else here besides us? Even if the place is remote, I heard it was rather famous in Sichuan.
Just as Cheongwol was feeling that sense of incongruity, the door slammed open with a bang and black-clothed men wearing swords poured into the inn in a rush.
While those who entered first swept their eyes swiftly around the room, their footsteps were heavy and their auras thick with killing intent.
"Here—take some customers."
The man at the front scanned the surroundings once, then without so much as a glance toward Cheongwol and Ak Seo-a, called for the innkeeper.
There were roughly ten of the black-clothed men.
Yet their bearing was not that of people come merely to ease their hunger.
Every one of them radiated a rough, dangerous aura, and their faces were hidden beneath deeply pressed bamboo hats.
"..."
The innkeeper stared at them blankly for a long while, then as though all strength had left him, hung his head.
With slow steps he approached Cheongwol and Ak Seo-a.
"...I know it is truly shameless of me to say this, but... it seems we must close our doors for today. Therefore..."
That there was some circumstance could be read clearly enough from his tightly sealed lips and the fear lingering in his eyes.
Yet before Cheongwol could answer, Ak Seo-a sprang up from her seat and raised her spear high.
—Bang!!
The spear tip slammed hard into the floorboards, and a heavy resonance shook the air inside the inn.
In that instant, as every black-clothed man's gaze locked onto her at once, she squared her shoulders as though lifting her spirit and raised her voice.
"No! This humble one shall most certainly dine here! No matter what may occur!"
Her righteous spirit soared high.
And there was not a shred of hesitation in her actions.
That figure was indeed worthy of one who claimed to walk the path of the chivalrous hero.
"..."
The only problem was that Cheongwol was glaring at her with an even fiercer gaze than the black-clothed men.
"There aren't... any suitable inns nearby either..."