It Is All Right Now.

The man said his name was Deok-yeong.

He lived in these mountain depths, cutting wood.

He had a lovely wife and children as cute as rabbits.

They were not affluent, but there was no lack in putting food on the table.

Deok-yeong believed his life was a happy one.

At least, until very recently.

“While talking with my wife at night, I felt something was strange.”

“Strange in what way?”

“What my wife said did not match my memories. At first I thought one of us was simply mistaken and let it pass. But it was not that.”

The group quietly listened to the woodcutter’s story.

“No matter how hard I chased my memory, I could not recall the day I met her. On top of that, in the past I was not a woodcutter but a merchant. I do not know since when I have been with her, nor why I am chopping wood now.”

In the end, he had secretly fled with the children.

The woodcutter covered his face with both hands. Through his fingers, his bewildered eyes showed plainly.

Beside him, two children were looking up with innocent eyes.

“Then, those children are…?”

“These children are indeed mine. I am sure she came to steal my children away from me.”

The woodcutter pulled the two children into his arms.

Sensing his anxiety, the children also began to whimper.

“D… Dad.”

“Do not worry. Your father will protect you no matter what.”

Leaving the woodcutter be, the group turned away.

“What do you think?”

Jeon Pyeong asked.

“What is there to think. That fellow is simply mistaken. Human memory is not all that accurate.”

It was Bong Seok. As befit someone from the Beggars’ Union, which dealt in information, he understood well how unreliable human memory was.

Jeon Gwang also nodded.

“The elderly who come to our sect sometimes show similar symptoms.”

He was talking about dementia. The man looked too young and healthy for that, yet it was not unheard of.

“It is not that.”

It was Seo Jong-dae. With a bored expression, he scanned the woodcutter.

“For dementia or amnesia, he is too logical. It does not sound like a lie either.”

At Seo Jong-dae’s words, the group nodded.

He was right. Jeon Pyeong glanced at Seo Jong-dae.

He had noticed the woodcutter’s presence almost at the same time as Jeon Pyeong, faster than the juniors or Bong Seok.

‘…I had only been paying attention to Young Master Gyo.’

Seo Jong-dae’s skill also did not seem ordinary.

“We still have a long way to go.”

They had to go as far as the provincial capital in Sichuan. Gyo-ha’s destination was elsewhere, but it was not far from Cheongdo.

Yet Jeon Pyeong could not easily open his mouth.

At that sight, Bong Seok let out a sigh.

“If it bothers you, just take him as far as the village. It is only half a day from here. He can figure it out from there.”

That was the most rational way.

“Let us go.”

“Huh?”

At the sudden words, the group turned their heads.

Gyo-ha was staring fixedly at the woodcutter and his children.

At that, Seo Jong-dae also looked them over again.

However, they only looked like a loving father and his children.

“I will go. If you are in a hurry, you can go on ahead.”

Gyo-ha said, looking back at the Mount Hua disciples.

“…What?”

Bong Seok asked back. Unlike the Mount Hua disciples, he had no choice.

“Do you mean to become some kind of wandering hero. I even doubt that wife really exists.”

He spoke urgently, but Gyo-ha did not even act as if he had heard.

He had no need of Bong Seok’s opinion.

“No. We are curious as well. It will not take long, so let us go together.”

At Jeon Pyeong’s words, his juniors nodded.

“Good grief.”

Bong Seok despaired, but no one cared.

Once they had settled on a course, Jeon Pyeong approached the woodcutter.

He looked the most trustworthy among them.

The woodcutter hesitated at the suggestion of going back to the place he had fled, but only nodded once he heard that Jeon Pyeong was a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.

Though he lived deep in the mountains, he had heard of Mount Hua’s reputation.

Thus the group moved on, following the woodcutter.

The woodcutter’s home was not far.

As they soothed the crying children and walked, a small hut came into view.

The group could see a woman working at the hut.

She was not alone.

“…Did you have more children?”

The woodcutter glanced at them, then nodded.

“Yes. Those children followed their mother, so…”

He had not been able to bring them. As he spoke, his face was stained with guilt.

By the woman’s side were two brightly smiling children.

A young girl and boy.

Counting the children with the group, there were four in all.

They resembled each other enough that one could see they were siblings.

By this point, the woodcutter became the suspicious one.

Could they really not be husband and wife.

The group looked to Gyo-ha with eyes asking what to do now.

However, Gyo-ha was not there.

He was already walking forward.

“Wait.”

The group called out in haste, but it was already too late.

“Who is… honey?”

“Dad!”

The woman, wary at the appearance of strangers, saw the woodcutter and smiled.

It was a bright smile as if she were seeing her true husband.

“You were gone, but it seems you went to bring guests. You should have told me.”

“Y, yes. Sorry.”

At her words, the woodcutter gave an awkward smile.

Even so, the way he stayed pressed close to Jeon Pyeong showed what he was feeling.

“Do not stand there. Please, come in.”

Following her guidance, the group entered the hut.

After a while, a dish filled with fruit was brought out.

“If I had known in advance, I would have prepared something, but this is all I have. I am sorry.”

“Not at all. We were the ones who came suddenly.”

As he replied with a smile, Jeon Pyeong’s eyes quickly swept over the woman.

She was a village wife one could see anywhere. Nothing about her stood out.

Then he suddenly noticed something strange.

Gyo-ha was sniffing around the woman.

“Young Master?”

At Jeon Pyeong’s question, Gyo-ha tilted his head and sat down.

Yet even after sitting, he kept sniffing this way and that.

“…You are quite unique.”

“Ha, ha.”

At the woman’s words, the group could only give awkward laughs.

However, even Gyo-ha did not continue forever. After sniffing for a while, he quietly began to eat the fruit.

“By the way, what is your relation to him?”

There was a hint of wariness in the woman’s eyes.

As the group hesitated for a moment, Seo Jong-dae spoke calmly.

“We lost our way, and your husband helped us.”

It was so natural it was as if he had prepared it in advance.

The woman seemed to sense nothing odd and nodded.

“Ah, I see. The mountains are dangerous, so you must be careful.”

“Yes. If not for your husband, we would have wandered for a long time. By the way, you are just as beautiful as we heard. He boasted about you so much.”

“Oh my. Truly?”

The woman’s eyes went round.

The woodcutter beside her grew flustered, but Seo Jong-dae continued talking naturally.

“He said your cooking is that good.”

“This man said such needless things to the guests.”

The woman rolled her eyes. Even that looked completely natural.

The woodcutter could only smile awkwardly.

And the group could only stare at Seo Jong-dae in surprise.

“How did you two meet?”

At Seo Jong-dae’s question, the woman spoke with a smile.

The story they had already heard once from the woodcutter now flowed from the woman’s mouth just the same.

The group exchanged looks.

While they were listening to the story at length, it became dark outside before they knew it.

“It has gotten this late already. Since it is late at night, why not rest here before you go?”

It was not easy to let strangers stay.

Yet as they spoke, she must have realized they were not bad people, and she offered first.

Even the woodcutter beside her nodded.

Of course, the reason he wanted them to stay was different from hers.

The group’s gazes naturally turned to Gyo-ha.

Jeon Pyeong was the eldest, yet it was practically Gyo-ha who was leading the group now.

“Then we will be in your care.”

With Gyo-ha’s words, their lodging was decided.

A small shed beside the hut.

The couple wanted the group to sleep in the hut, but the group refused.

They could not trouble them that much.

Even if they had a spare room, having strangers inside would weigh on their minds.

They also needed a space where they could speak among themselves.

A narrow shed.

Yet compared to sleeping outdoors, even this was something to be grateful for.

Huddled together, the group recalled what had happened earlier.

“She does not seem like a bad person.”

If anything, she was closer to a good person. She did not seem fake either.

Her attitude toward the woodcutter had also been genuine.

“The man’s memory must be wrong.”

Bong Seok spoke as if it were nothing.

“If they never married, how were the children born? He says the children really are his, does he not. It makes no sense.”

The others nodded as well.

No matter how they thought about it, the only strange one there was the man.

“No. That person did not lie.”

Gyo-ha spoke as he tore at the jerky the woman had given them.

“Then do you think the woman is lying?”

Jeon Gwang asked back, but Gyo-ha shook his head.

“The woman did not lie either.”

The group’s expressions grew puzzled. If so, what was the problem?

After swallowing the jerky, Gyo-ha spoke.

“The beggar said it already. If they did not marry, how did the children appear.”

Pointed out, Bong Seok blinked.

“At first I suspected one of the two. But neither of them had that smell. Even though the house is overflowing with it everywhere.”

“What do you mean…”

Bewilderment showed on the others’ faces, but Gyo-ha was not looking at them.

“Now, how about you come out.”

“…!”

“…!”

At Gyo-ha’s sudden words, the group’s expressions hardened.

When they turned around, they saw something wriggling in the darkness.

Soon a small shadow crawled out of the dark.

The group’s eyes widened at the sight.

“You are…”

It was the very girl who had been with the woman.

The daughter of the woodcutter and the woman.

“Young lady. It is not proper to eavesdrop on conversa…”

“Jeon Gwang.”

Jeon Gwang tried to scold her gently, but Jeon Pyeong grabbed him.

When he turned his head, Jeon Pyeong was shaking his head with a stiff face.

Not only Jeon Pyeong, the other members of the group also had stiff expressions.

Jeon Gwang soon realized why.

‘I did not sense her presence.’

Most of the people here were first-rate masters.

Yet aside from Gyo-ha, none of them had noticed the child’s approach.

‘Come to think of it, it was like that earlier as well.’

Because the situation had been so sudden, he had let it pass, but when they met the woodcutter earlier, he had felt only the woodcutter’s presence.

The child scanned the group, then stopped on Gyo-ha.

“Get out of our home.”

A cold voice with no warmth.

It was not only her voice. Her expression was just as indifferent, unlike when they had seen her in the hut.

“Our family does not need your so-called help.”

“The one who called us was your father!”

Bong Seok snapped back. At his words, the child nodded.

“I know. But it is all right now. Father has recovered. So when morning comes, leave the house.”

With those words, the child turned around.

The group stared in bafflement at the spot where she had left.

And the next day.

The group was able to understand what the child had meant by saying it was all right now.