Chapter 122: The Age of the Young (7)

Eunsong realized something was wrong.

Soyak was climbing up while supporting Jeonggang.

Which meant...

Grand Master Jeonggang was being supported by that small child.

“...What in the world...”

Eunsong stood rooted in place and tried to interpret reality.

But he simply could not understand it.

Grand Master Jeonggang was an absolute master of the martial world, a martial artist who had reached the middle stage of the Transformation Realm.

And yet he was being supported by a fourteen-year-old girl?

It would not be an exaggeration to say he was someone who could reach the summit of South Peak from the foot of Mount Hua in a single dash.

What in the world had happened?

“...Great Grand Master?”

“Enough. Where is Myeonggon?”

“Master does not seem to have heard the news yet. He should come out soon. No, more importantly...”

Eunsong glanced at Soyak’s complexion.

Her face had regained its original color.

And that was not all.

The presence flowing through that small, slender body had become more refined and firm.

What in the world...?

He could not understand the situation at all.

Had exhausting all of her Innate True Qi somehow acted as a rare opportunity?

That could not be.

Though Innate True Qi was something martial artists rarely used even in the moment of death, the martial world was vast, the Central Plains had a long history, and masters were as numerous as grains of sand.

Among them, people who had used Innate True Qi?

There were too many to count.

Had even one of them ever experienced something like this?

As far as Eunsong remembered, absolutely not.

Then how had Soyak returned to her original realm—no, risen to an even higher one than before?

At that moment, the aged figure of Grand Master Jeonggang entered Eunsong’s eyes again.

And a terribly ominous, horrifying assumption about something impossible rose in his mind.

“Great Grand Master, don’t tell me...”

“It is something that cannot be undone anyway, Eunsong. I need to rest for a while. When Myeonggon comes out, tell him to come to my quarters.”

“No, Great Grand Master. Great Grand Master?”

Grand Master Jeonggang smiled faintly.

He already looked as if he no longer had the strength to continue the conversation.

He had climbed Mount Hua with that body.

Most likely, he had not been carried up on Soyak’s back.

But he must have felt it.

How rugged Mount Hua, one of the Five Great Mountains of the Central Plains, truly was.

When he had been a martial artist with internal energy, he had flown up in a single step like a crane.

But now, that could no longer have been true.

Because Soyak understood Grand Master Jeonggang’s condition, she quietly bowed her head to Eunsong.

It meant she was asking his forgiveness for the discourtesy of being unable to greet him properly.

“...Yes. I will visit with Master around tomorrow.”

“Yes, Eunsong. I will send Soyak back safely, so do not worry.”

“It is not Soyak I am worried about...”

Eunsong started to continue, then swallowed the rest of his words.

Then he simply lowered his head.

Jeonggang patted Eunsong’s shoulder.

Then he left with Soyak.

*****

Eunsong returned to his residence with powerless steps.

The sun had not yet set, so the children remained there, still training.

When Eunsong arrived, Cheonjeong’s eyes widened.

Because Soyak had not come with him.

In that instant, all sorts of terrible imaginings filled his mind.

Unlike the other children, Cheonjeong had heard the full story of what had happened to Soyak.

Had she... died?

Or had there been an even more horrifying result?

Cheonjeong stopped that thought for a moment and shook his head.

Then he asked Eunsong directly.

“Did Soyak... come back?”

“She did. If you go to Flower-Haze Hall a little later, you will be able to see her.”

“Yes...?”

She had not come straight here?

His eyes showed that he could not understand.

Eunsong quietly looked at Cheonjeong, then sat on the wooden porch and murmured.

“It seems it is taking time because she is supporting Great Grand Master Jeonggang.”

“Ah, is that so? Soyak is supporting Grand Master Jeonggang... Yes? Who did you say was supporting whom?”

Cheonjeong’s eyes widened again.

The other children were the same.

Cheongak, Cheongu, Cheonju, and Cheonhwa all seemed to think Eunsong must have misspoken.

Unfortunately, he had not.

“I did not say it wrong. It seems Soyak climbed Mount Hua while supporting Great Grand Master Jeonggang...”

“What in the world happened?”

Cheonjeong asked in a murmur, but Eunsong could not answer.

This time, even he did not know the full story.

Then what about the other children?

Eunsong decided that, before confirming what had happened between Grand Master Jeonggang and Soyak, he should first tell the other children the whole situation.

“All of you... gather here.”

At Eunsong’s words, Cheongak, Cheongu, Cheonju, and Cheonhwa all clustered together in front of him.

He let out a deep sigh and swept back his hair.

Only then could he begin the story.

*****

Around the time Eunsong was telling the other third-generation disciples what had happened at the Zhuge Household...

Soyak was entering Grand Master Jeonggang’s quarters while supporting him.

That hand had once patted her back when she had hiccups.

Now, seeing it tremble faintly, she did not feel good.

“...Are you truly sure I only need to escort you this far?”

“Go back. Eunsong will be worried.”

“But...”

Jeonggang planted the branch Soyak had picked up for him as a substitute cane against the ground.

Then, with his other hand, he waved through the air.

“I told you to hurry back.”

“...Understood. I will come see you again tomorrow with Master.”

“Do so. Ah, before that, there is something I should tell you in advance.”

“Something to tell me...?”

When Soyak tilted her head, Grand Master Jeonggang quietly bent down to meet Soyak’s eyes.

“If Eunsong or Myeonggon asks what happened, do not answer. Tell them to come see me tomorrow.”

“You want me not to answer them?”

“Yes. Now go.”

It was a request she could not easily understand.

Soyak bowed deeply to Grand Master Jeonggang.

Then she slowly began descending again from Jeonggang’s quarters.

The evening sunset was glowing red.

It had taken an age to climb Mount Hua.

And then it had taken another age to go from Mount Hua’s main gate to Jeonggang’s quarters.

Grand Master Jeonggang could no longer use lightness arts.

His stamina was no longer as excellent as it had once been, either.

Of course, he was still better off than an ordinary old man.

After all, he had a body built by steady training.

But that was all.

No matter how much he had trained, an old man’s body was bound to reach its limits.

And on top of that, Grand Master Jeonggang likely did not have much life left.

Only then did Soyak realize why Grand Master Jeonggang had made that request of her.

To inform her master and Great Grand Master of Grand Master Jeonggang’s death and sacrifice with her own mouth...

That would be difficult.

Grand Master Jeonggang did not want Soyak to feel that guilt.

“...You do not need to be that considerate of me.”

Soyak murmured softly as she descended the peak.

Of course, Soyak intended to honor Grand Master Jeonggang’s request.

If he had considered her feelings, accepting that consideration was also the proper duty of one beneath him.

*****

By the time Soyak reached Eunsong’s residence...

Eunsong heard the footsteps outside and ran out in his stocking feet.

Then he crouched down and examined Soyak’s body.

“Are you all right? Are your injuries fine?”

“I am all right thanks to the Medicine Sage. The Thousand-Year Purple Shell given to me by the Family Head of the Zhuge Household was also useful.”

“More importantly, more importantly, your Innate True Qi...”

Eunsong asked with trembling eyes.

It seemed he had already reached a certain conclusion.

The Medicine Sage was a divine physician who was even called the Hua Tuo of the present Central Plains.

How many lives had been saved through the secret arts and pills made by his hands?

During the last great war, the one who cut off the Heavenly Demon’s head had been the Sword Sovereign, but the Medicine Sage’s existence had been immense in holding the front line.

Eunsong had even seen him mend a shattered dantian and severed heart-veins.

Had Namgung Byeok not ultimately become a master at the beginning stage of the Transformation Realm and risen as one of the Reverse Heaven Society’s great strengths?

Because the Medicine Sage had performed such feats, as if impossibility itself did not exist...

Eunsong thought that even his own absurd conjecture might be possible.

“That is...”

Soyak hesitated for a moment.

To speak about her Innate True Qi and recovery, she would have to speak about Grand Master Jeonggang as well.

But Grand Master Jeonggang did not want her to be the first to explain it.

“...Grand Master said you should come hear it from him directly tomorrow morning.”

“...I see.”

For a moment, pity passed through Eunsong’s eyes.

If Jeonggang had told her not to reveal it from her own mouth...

That meant Eunsong’s conclusion was probably correct.

Then he too had to follow his Great Grand Master’s wishes.

“You did well. You are safe now, so rest a little and recover from the journey. But why did you come here instead of going straight to Flower-Haze Hall?”

“...I just felt I should stop by and see Master first.”

Soyak hesitated, then barely managed to answer.

Eunsong laughed faintly and stroked her small head, mussing her hair.

Time would flow cruelly.

In a few years, even stroking her head like this would become an overfamiliar thing for him to do.

“Is that so?”

“...It is.”

“Then sit here a while and look at the moon before you go. The moon is very bright tonight.”