Chapter 138

Hwan Bija, having heard Ha Do-yeop’s words, stiffened his face and asked.

“Is it true that your parents went missing here on Hundred Ghost Mountain?”

“Yes. I set out to find my elders…”

“Hmm.”

Gyu Guja, puzzled by Hwan Bija’s reaction that differed from his expectations, asked.

“Why is that, elder brother?”

“You — your name is Ha Do-yeop, was it?”

“That’s correct.”

“Come with me.”

When Hwan Bija stood up, not only the A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan but also the External Protection Troops members who had been listening while drinking Rose Wine could not contain their curiosity and followed.

Not far away was a sunny southern slope, and there were two burial mounds placed side by side.

Ha Do-yeop looked at Hwan Bija with an incredulous expression.

“These are the graves of your parents.”

“…Yes?”

“I made them.”

Ha Do-yeop’s eyes trembled.

“When they were alive, I had met them. Perhaps it was about ten years ago? It was the day I went to the remote part of Hundred Ghost Mountain to perform a rite for the spirits. A shabby-looking man and woman were wandering the mountain and ran into me. They were exhausted and seemed glad to meet someone on Hundred Ghost Mountain. I was in the middle of performing the rite, so I didn’t notice their presence. During the spirits ceremony, the spirits’ power is strong and no one can approach. By the time I came to my senses, they had already incurred the wrath of the spirits whose rite had been disturbed.”

“…”

At the heavy tale, everyone fell silent and watched Ha Do-yeop’s reaction.

Ha Do-yeop asked Hwan Bija.

“Was my parents’ passing… a terrible one?”

“No. It wasn’t like that. Though I failed to save their lives, they met death with their minds intact. Just before dying, they were able to exchange a few words. I…”

Hwan Bija said.

“I remembered their faces.”

He remembered the poor couple whom he had helped long ago.

In Hwan Bija’s life, memories of saving someone’s life and helping others were not many.

“They said: ‘A mountain keeper finishing his life on the mountain has no regrets. It is fortunate that before dying we could meet our benefactor and express our thanks. It’s all the will of Heaven.’ And they added this one line.”

“What…”

“But elder, I don’t know if fate will permit it, yet there is a child you saved long ago. If by chance our child meets you, tell them that we will depart without regret. Tell them we love them.”

Hwan Bija remembered that father’s last words that day exactly, not a single syllable off.

Those who follow the path of mighty force, perhaps even more than Buddhist monks or others, believe in connections and fate.

Because they are closer than anyone to the inexplicable mysteries of the world.

“Ah!”

Hwan Bija struck Ha Do-yeop’s shoulder and exclaimed.

“It’s a temporal bond! Fate is a wondrous thing!”

The child whose life he had saved in his youth grew up to become a warrior, and by chance met him again and became a companion on Hundred Ghost Mountain.

The child’s parents were buried on this Hundred Ghost Mountain, so Hwan Bija, without even realizing it, had saved the child and taken the parents’ lives.

Should this be called a bad fate? Or a good bond?

Because I saved his life, should I be honored as a benefactor? Or, because I took his parents’ lives, should I be regarded as an enemy?

No one knew. It was merely a tangled bond.

“Did my parents pass without pain?”

“I swear on the name of the Ghost Taoist that they passed peacefully.”

“…Thank you.”

Ha Do-yeop stepped forward to the graves and bowed toward his deceased parents.

Once, in gratitude for giving birth to and raising him.

A second time, filled with the devastation of an unfilial child who could not be with his parents at their deaths.

And once more, a bow with a wish that they return to a good place and be at peace.

When he raised his head and suddenly looked back, he saw other External Protection Troops members following him and bowing in the same way.

Ha Do-yeop felt his eyes sting.

“Well now…”

Hundred Ghost Mountain was climbed with the prayer that if only the bodies could be found, nothing more would be needed.

But even when faced with his parents’ graves, the resentment in his heart was not eased.

Such is the deceitful heart of a person.

Ha Do-yeop thought.

Originally, resentment doesn’t get resolved inside the chest but is poured out of the body.

By sobbing, by tears.

“Thank you.”

Ha Do-yeop bowed once more toward the External Protection Troops members.

And he also bowed his head toward Hwan Bija, who had made the graves.

“Thank you, elder.”

“…If your parents had not come looking for me, they might not have died. Do you resent me?”

“There are three reasons. First, you did not call my lost parents. Second, it was my parents’ fault that they disturbed the spiritual rite. And finally, how could I resent the one who personally prepared graves for my parents? So please accept my thanks.”

“…”

Ha Do-yeop also gave a deep bow to the A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan.

The four mighty, monstrous beings, old and ugly and living under people’s scorn, could not say a word as they received a person’s bow.

“Isn’t the manor lord curious?”

“About what?”

“Why Hwan Bija called Ha Do-yeop out.”

Bukgung Yoon did not follow the others and sipped the remaining Rose Wine in her cup.

“Then why don’t you go see, captain Yeon? You’re usually so meddlesome.”

“I must stay by the manor lord’s side.”

“…Everyone’s gone, though?”

“Isn’t the Ghost Valley Manor Lord still here?”

Bukgung Dam-deok was clearly listening to this conversation.

“M-me, am I going to hurt Yoon?”

“Whether in danger or not, it is the duty of a bodyguard to stay by their lord’s side.”

‘…For someone who is supposed to do that, he left me and went wandering quite a bit.’

Reading Bukgung Yoon’s gaze, Yeon Mujin spoke.

“When you were at Flying Swallow Manor, the External Protection Troops were there.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Bukgung Yoon drained the bowl of Rose Wine and looked at Bukgung Dam-deok.

“I didn’t follow because I was more curious about something else. Brother Dam-deok, may I ask you a question?”

“W-what is it?”

“Brother, why do you want to become the Family Lord. ?”

It was Bukgung Yoon’s bold question, emboldened by drink.

Her cheeks were flushed red, but her gaze was clear.

“W-why do you ask that?”

“I once asked Yun-ram brother the same question. He answered: ‘Because it’s the way to make the most money.’”

Bukgung Yoon and Bukgung Dam-deok burst into quiet laughter simultaneously.

“That’s the kind of answer that brat would give.”

“When I heard that, I suddenly wondered. So would Yun-ram brother be fine with not becoming the Family Lord so long as he could make the most money? What about the other brothers? As you know, our siblings are a bit… peculiar, right? Each of us is obsessed with different things.”

Bukgung Dam-deok nodded.

“The fourth brother wants money, the second brother wants martial arts, the fifth brother wants women, the sixth brother…”

“That one is an idiot. H-he was never fit to be the Family Lord. If he could laze about and eat, he wouldn’t refuse any position.”

Bukgung Yoon did not answer, smirking.

Whether she had wanted it or not, she had risen by taking the Sixth Young Master’s position.

Bukgung Yoon was not yet the kind of person to argue about that. Not yet.

“Brother Dam-deok, why do you want to become the Family Lord. ?”

“I…”

Bukgung Dam-deok raised his eyes and slowly looked around the mountain lodge.

“…”

He spent most of the year at this Hundred Ghost mountain lodge rather than in Taiyuan.

He unusually spent less time in the Shanxi region than his other brothers.

Within Shanxi Province, Taiyuan, and the walls of the Bukgung Family.

He was a stuttering, clumsy fool who watched the others’ attitudes and was often disregarded.

But at this Hundred Ghost mountain lodge, it was different.

Hundred Ghost Mountain Lodge is a place removed from the mortal world’s dust.

As monks hide in the mountains to escape vexations, eccentrics like Bukgung Dam-deok and the A-Bi-Gyu-Hwan, who were shunned by people, hid in this Manor Lord’s Hundred Ghost Mountain.

Here, the nonsensical becomes common sense and the grotesque is accepted as normal.

A place to escape the world’s pointing fingers.

This was precisely the Hundred Ghost mountain lodge.

“Actually, I don’t mind if I don’t become the Family Lord.”

Bukgung Dam-deok’s words were clear and without stutter.

Anyone becomes eloquent the moment they speak words long buried in their heart.

There’s no need to stutter, think, or elaborate. The words have been honed long ago.

“What I want to achieve as the Family Lord is equality. Equality where one’s strange appearance or peculiar abilities are not pointed at. Equality where you don’t have to hide from people’s eyes and live in secrecy. People often call the martial arts world one where the strong survive and the weak perish, but that’s not it. I’ve seen many times the way weaker ones look down on the strong. People call those who earn both fear and hatred revered.”

It was the first time he had spoken such a long speech without stuttering even once.

Because no one ever asked Bukgung Dam-deok what he sought.

Whoever came to someone bearing the Bukgung name always said the same thing.

‘I ask for something.’

No one ever asked in return.

“Then Brother Dam-deok, if equality were given, would you not care to become the Family Lord?”

“Y-yeah. I don’t care.”

He returned to his usual Bukgung Dam-deok self.

Bukgung Dam-deok gave a faint smile toward the troubled Bukgung Yoon.

“If I could fulfill the other brothers’ aims, do you think we could reach a result that satisfies everyone?”

“…A little, yes.”

“T-that is impossible.”

“Why?”

Bukgung Dam-deok raised one finger.

“It can’t be because of one person.”

Bukgung Yoon somehow felt she knew whom he meant.

“I-it’s Brother Kang-geon.”

The Bukgung Family’s eldest scion, Bukgung Kang-geon.

“I’ve heard much of the news coming from Flying Swallow Manor. Y-you, Yoon, that you are drawing the other brothers’ attention.”

Rumors of the Bukgung Family travel fast. Though they seem isolated behind high walls, even a single draft of air lets rumors spread uncontrollably quickly.

“M-Mok-min hates you, Yun-ram joined hands with you, Yeong-no brother protected you. E-even Bi-beom lost his position to you. Think about the things you’ve achieved in this short time.”

Bukgung Yoon wanted to deny that it was her merit.

Most were not things Bukgung Yoon did, but the misfortune behind her and the actions of Yeon Mujin.

But it was true that those deeds were remarkable.

“Y-you are shaking the solid order that the other brothers couldn’t disturb for years. And there is one person who would be most displeased.”

“Are you saying that’s our eldest brother?”

The Bukgung Family’s Third young lord nodded his head.