Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Jang Geon, who was about to rush into the forest right away, abruptly came to a halt. It was because someone was running toward him from the forest first.

“Jang Geon!”

It was Bi-rang. Approaching Jang Geon with light, trotting steps, she looked around and let out a soft exclamation of awe.

“Is all of this…”

In the middle of the forest trail, dozens of bladed weapons of various sizes, thrown by Dang Gyeon-sang and deflected by Jang Geon, lay scattered all around. Added to that was the freshly decapitated corpse as well.

“…It’s over.”

Jang Geon merely nodded his head without a word. Bi-rang quietly observed Jang Geon, then spoke as if suddenly remembering.

“Ah! The antidote! We need to find the antidote for the poisoned people!”

“Are the hired swordsmen alive?”

“…We didn’t kill them all.”

He had expected as much. The warriors utilizing spirit energy would have easily subdued the swordsmen in a confined space.

“There is no need for that. That bastard was bluffing.”

“Huh? Bluffing? You mean it was a lie?”

Jang Geon spoke as he approached Dang Gyeon-sang’s corpse.

“The hired swordsmen were in an excited state, so they fell for it easily, but poison powerful enough to kill people by merely scattering it casually in the air is rare. It is extremely expensive and precious. Unless one is rotting in money, it’s not something to be used at any random moment.”

While Bi-rang watched from the side, Jang Geon rummaged through Dang Gyeon-sang’s pockets. He had intended to rummage through them after helping the tribe people, but since he had already dealt with the matter, he might as well finish his business.

From Dang Gyeon-sang’s pockets, aside from the ones he had already thrown, another bundle of hidden weapons poured out. Other than that, a small money pouch and a tiny square paper envelope were everything. Nothing that could hint at his identity was visible.

Jang Geon picked up the small paper envelope and looked inside. He saw another paper that was yellow with splotches of red. Pulling it out, he found five or six paper talismans. As Jang Geon examined the talismans, wondering what they were, Bi-rang, upon seeing them, suddenly recoiled in shock and stepped back.

Jang Geon asked.

“Why are you acting like that?”

“T-That. What is that?”

Seeing Bi-rang pointing at the paper talismans, Jang Geon wondered if he had missed something and examined the talismans back and forth. However, it was nothing more than unintelligible characters written in red ink on yellow paper. Jang Geon could feel nothing from it.

He held up the talisman to show Bi-rang.

“…Is this what you are talking about?”

“Ugh! Get that away!”

Bi-rang was startled and recoiled in disgust. It was as if telling him not to thrust such a filthy and wretched thing toward her. Jang Geon found it absurd. To his eyes, it was merely paper.

“…Why are you doing that?”

“Can’t you feel it, Jang Geon? That paper is something terrible. It’s… I can’t explain it, but it’s goosebump-inducing and nauseating… Argh, anyway, don’t even think about thrusting that toward me!”

Jang Geon wondered if there was something wrong with himself, focusing internal energy into his eyes and even sniffing the paper. However, he could feel nothing other than the musty scent unique to old paper. He even infused internal energy directly into the talisman itself, but nothing happened. It merely grew somewhat stiff, as any other paper would.

“I have no idea what’s what.”

Shaking his head, Jang Geon put it back into the paper envelope. At any rate, One-Eyed Cloud would likely be able to explain it better than Bi-rang. Jang Geon gathered up the money pouch, the other profit, and stood up from his spot.

“Let us return.”

* * *

Out of thirty hired swordsmen, exactly half, fifteen, were dead. The rest had their weapons confiscated and were crammed inside a fence erected on the outskirts of the village, with broken bones or swollen faces. They sat together with gloomy faces, walking on eggshells around the tribe people. Bi-rang was applying splints to the injured inside that fence.

As Jang Geon watched Bi-rang and the swordsmen, Red Wind approached his side.

“Your clothes are somewhat torn. Are you unhurt anywhere? To my eyes, that single pitch-black fellow seemed far more dangerous than those thirty swordsmen.”

“It was nothing much.”

At Red Wind’s worried tone, Jang Geon smiled faintly and answered so. Though he was a fellow with hidden weapons, demonic arts, and various tricks, in the end, his neck had been severed by a single sword strike of Jang Geon’s, so it was fair to say it was nothing much.

“Haha. If you say so, then so it must be.”

Red Wind understood that light joke, chuckled, and nodded his head. He then looked at Bi-rang and the captured swordsmen just as Jang Geon did, and spoke.

“Thanks to you, we were able to get through this incident without anyone getting hurt. Thank you, Jang Geon.”

“It is not over yet. We will have to summon the Martial Alliance Branch Head and explain the situation.”

“Still, no one else will die or get hurt in that explanation, will they? That Central Plains person, was it Gang Ryung? The initial unfair transaction document was found in his pockets, and we have those swordsmen as well, so we can prove it was self-defense. Then that is enough.”

“Do not forget what I told you before either.”

“Securing absolute ownership of this valley? I understand. I will surely do so.”

Jang Geon nodded and turned his body. Red Wind called out to him.

“Where are you going? Aren’t you hungry? It’s time for a meal.”

“I must meet One-Eyed Cloud.”

Red Wind spoke with a smile.

“Come so you aren’t late for the evening feast.”

Without answering, Jang Geon merely turned his head slightly, nodded, and walked away. Red Wind turned his eyes back to the prisoners, caught Bi-rang’s gaze, and had to go help her.

Bi-rang, who had summoned her uncle with a glance alone, watched Jang Geon’s receding back. Thinking that those broad, sturdy shoulders looked somewhat lonely, she soon pondered how to naturally sit beside him during the evening.

Watching Bi-rang, who had called him over only to blush while lost in her own thoughts, Red Wind gently shook his head. He felt that the time had come for his niece to leave his care.

Leaving them behind, Jang Geon walked straight toward One-Eyed Cloud’s tent. Arriving near the tent, he was about to call One-Eyed Cloud from outside. However, before he could, a low voice sounded from inside.

“Come in.”

Jang Geon entered, wondering if shamanism even granted X-ray vision through tents. Inside, he saw the colorful decorations he had seen before, and One-Eyed Cloud with a clean face unlike before. He had both eyes wide open. A bonfire in the center of the tent flickered, illuminating those two eyes.

“Let me start by offering my thanks, Jang Geon. Thank you so very much. Thanks to you, the matter ended without a single member of our tribe getting hurt.”

“I already said this to Red Wind as well, but it is not completely finished. You will have to call the Martial Alliance Branch Head to secure self-defense and ownership of the valley.”

One-Eyed Cloud smirked at the words Jang Geon spoke as he sat down.

“Everything will turn out well. Our peaceful life in this valley will continue.”

Jang Geon stared for a moment at One-Eyed Cloud’s two eyes, glittering white and red, which sounded somewhat like a prophecy and somewhat like hope. Then, pulling out the small paper envelope from his pocket, he spoke.

“It seems the gold of this valley was not their true objective after all. It was merely an excuse to drive the tribe people out of this place. The most dangerous fellow had this in his pockets. Yet Bi-rang reviled it greatly upon seeing it. Could you check what this is?”

One-Eyed Cloud silently reached out his hand and accepted the paper envelope. Then, with cautious and slow hands, he pulled out the talismans contained within. He thoroughly examined those talismans, about five in total, one by one.

Having examined all five, he slipped the talismans back into the envelope and extended it toward Jang Geon. His lips, which had been tightly shut all that time, opened only after Jang Geon accepted it.

“Those five function as one, a spell woven with extremely sinister power. Now I know what they truly wanted.”

Jang Geon waited for his mouth to keep opening, but One-Eyed Cloud, having spoken up to that point, merely stared silently at the bonfire, lost in thought. Wondering why he was like this today when he had been so talkative last time, Jang Geon eventually opened his mouth first.

“What is it?”

“Huh? Ah, ah. Right. I must tell you. My mind briefly blanked at the thought of holding a feast this evening for the first time in a long while. Do you know how long it has been since we last held a feast? It’s the first time since Shaking Tree and Hasty River got married two months ago. Originally, we held one at least once a month. We will tear into stored meat and drink wine bought from the lower village. What was it called again? Bamboo Leaf Green? There was one I bought by giving away two clean deer hides, and that was quite fine. Red Wind has a few bottles stashed away, so this feast will be quite something to see…”

Jang Geon unknowingly let out a sigh and scratched his eyebrow with his thumb. One-Eyed Cloud, who had been speaking fervently, saw that, gave a small fake cough as if feeling embarrassed.

“…Dear me. The only things that increase with age are wrinkles and talk. For me to blabber on with unrelated talk before our savior.”

He gave another fake cough and continued speaking.

“Though you never got to meet them, there is a Spirit residing in this valley. It is the Being that opens the chests of our warriors and grants me inspiration. That Being is a part of nature and the whole of it, while simultaneously our ancestor and our descendant. That Being always teaches us life’s wisdom and joy, cheering on the happiness of giving and love for one another. In truth, the reason we refuse to leave this valley is also because that Being is here…”

Having spoken up to that point, One-Eyed Cloud raised his head and looked up at the sky through the round smoke hole open in the tent’s ceiling. He looked up at the sky like that for a long while before opening his mouth again.

“…I have heard stories like that. That in your land, beings like our Spirit are called spirit creatures. And that you forcibly drag out those beings who merely live peacefully in nature, slit their bellies open, and consume them. Solely for the advancement of that thing called martial arts.”

Jang Geon thought he knew what he was trying to say.

“The purpose of that spell is to drag the Spirit down to the earth and inflict pain upon it. It is a sinister power that wounds the soul and scatters the will. It is only natural that Bi-rang felt revulsion. Since she is scheduled to become the next shaman after me…”

One-Eyed Cloud continued speaking as he looked at the sky splitting into red and dark blue.

“It seems Swift Crow sold information along with the valley after all… At any rate, that spell is yours now. Since you obtained it by defeating an evil person, it is only right that you use it as you see fit… My only selfish request is that you do not use it here. Other than asking you not to harm the Being we love and who loves us… I have no further advice to give.”

Jang Geon toyed with the paper envelope as he listened to his words. If it was such a dangerous item, since it was currently nothing more than paper, there would have been a way for One-Eyed Cloud to immediately toss it into the bonfire when Jang Geon handed it over. Handing over an item that threatened their Spirit to an outsider like Jang Geon without any preparation seemed almost irresponsible.

However, Jang Geon felt that this was the maximum respect One-Eyed Cloud could show, and that even if it was an item capable of killing them, it was their way not to handle it carelessly since it did not belong to them.

Therefore, without hesitation, Jang Geon tossed the item, which could have allowed one to capture a spirit creature somewhere even if not here, straight into the bonfire visible before him.

One-Eyed Cloud’s eyes widened.

“…I heard that martial artists stake their lives on spiritual elixirs made from spirit creatures.”

“I don’t stake mine. Besides, I don’t even know how to use it.”

Jang Geon dusted his hands off and stood up from his spot. At that somewhat transcendent appearance, One-Eyed Cloud spoke.

“Are you… leaving? Right now?”

“It seems all the work I have to do is finished.”

“Leaving tomorrow after having dinner would be…”

Jang Geon lightly cupped his hands together to clasp fists toward One-Eyed Cloud.

“If I do, my feet might unwittingly grow heavy, causing me to stay for a long while. I cannot impose such a burden.”

“Where is the burden in you staying? As far as you are concerned, you may stay here as long as you like.”

“Farewell, One-Eyed Cloud. I shall see you again next time.”

One-Eyed Cloud’s lips twitched at Jang Geon’s farewell before he spoke.

“…I understand. Safe travels, Jang Geon. Thank you so very much for what you have done for our tribe and our Spirit.”

Jang Geon gave a subtle smile, turned around, and left the tent. One-Eyed Cloud cupped his hands together just as Jang Geon had done and offered a farewell toward his back.

Emerging from the tent, Jang Geon walked straight toward his own tent where Jojo would be tied. Since he did not have much baggage to pack, he would be able to depart immediately.

As Jang Geon walked toward his tent like that, he crossed paths with the tribe people. Busy preparing for the feast, adults, children, and warriors alike all lightly greeted him and smiled. Jang Geon returned their greetings as he walked slowly. And looking at them, he wished, just as One-Eyed Cloud had said, that they could continue to live a peaceful life.

Arriving beside his tent, he saw that Jojo looked somewhat plump, having played around without running for a few days. As if guessing the situation from Jang Geon fitting the saddle, the fellow snorted and let out a complaint for no reason.

“Hey, brat. Isn’t playing around for a few days enough? Don’t you feel yourself gaining weight?”

At Jang Geon’s words, Jojo shook his head even more lamentably and let out deep sighs. It was as if saying no matter how much he played, he still liked playing.

Just then, the sound of a child giggling merrily was heard. When Jang Geon turned his head, a tribe child was sitting on the tree stump where Jang Geon used to sit, resting his chin on both hands and smiling.

When their eyes met, the child giggled once more and asked.

“He’s so funny. Super smart. Just like a human.”

“…Rather than smart, he’s crafty.”

Jang Geon felt a strange feeling as he gave the answer he had once given before. He was facing the child, but it did not feel like he was looking at a child. Seeing Jang Geon’s expression, the child smiled again.

“That expression is funny too. You’re funny too.”

Those golden eyes were truly innocent like a young child’s, yet sparkling with ancient wisdom like an old man’s. The child smiled like that for a moment as if giving Jang Geon enough time to examine him thoroughly, then abruptly asked.

“Are you leaving?”

“…Yeah. My work here is finished.”

The child playfully nodded his head while resting his chin.

“You are a wanderer. The road is the floor of your house, the sky is the roof, and you are that house’s sole pillar. A pillar standing alone. That’s quite cool.”

Jang Geon thought he knew what entity he was facing right now. The Being that opened the chests of the tribe’s warriors, the Being that taught love and wisdom.

“Thank you, wanderer. For helping the children so they didn’t get hurt. And for not harming my friends by simply burning that up.”

Facing the Spirit of the valley tribe, Jang Geon merely smiled subtly.

“…Because that paper smelled. I felt like if I carried that in my pocket, I would smell like that too.”

“Mm-hmm. Well, true. Nobody likes a smelly person. The person who made that must be really unpopular.”

Smiling softly and making a joke at Jang Geon’s answer, the Spirit in the form of a child soon hopped up from his spot. Then he came up to him and thrust out a tightly closed fist.

“What is it?”

“Take it. A good person must always be rewarded.”

When Jang Geon brought his palm beneath that fist, the Spirit placed something on top of it.

“Originally, I intended to open your chest like the children. But I thought you might dislike that. So I just prepared that instead.”

Checking his palm, a small bead was placed there. When touched, unlike something sparkling like a pearl, it was squishy.

“You’ll be able to store it in your belly.”

A spiritual elixir? A spiritual pill? Though Jang Geon did not know what to call it, he could tell it would be good for his body and internal energy. So when he turned his eyes toward the Spirit to offer his thanks, there was already no one in that spot.

After staring at the spot where the Spirit had been for a moment, Jang Geon tucked the bead into his pocket. He intended to find a sunny spot somewhere, consume it, and digest it with his mental cultivation method. Jojo, who had been quiet when the Spirit appeared, thrust his head into his chest, sniffing at his pocket.

“Get out of the way, you brat. You played and ate to your heart’s content, and now you’re coveting even this?”

Pushing Jojo away, Jang Geon finished securing the saddle he was fitting and mounted up. Then, staring quietly at the bustling village, he soon lightly nudged Jojo’s flanks and clicked his tongue. Recognizing the signal, Jojo trotted out of the village.

Seeing him leave the village, the tribe people watched his receding back with bewildered expressions. And by the time Red Wind and Bi-rang heard the news and rushed over, they could only see his receding back departing far down into the valley below.

The tribe people who were preparing for the feast all came out and silently watched the departing wanderer beneath the reddening evening sunset. Dozens of people gathered to look at one place, yet it was extremely quiet.

They substituted a quiet farewell for a spoken one, remaining silent until he grew so distant he could no longer be distinguished even as a dot.