35 — Then There Is Only One Way. (5)

“Don’t you think the terrain’s been getting steeper for a while?”

“I guess so?”

“This mountain’s huge. What mountain is this?”

“What?”

Yoon Jong gaped and looked back at Jo Gul.

“Mount Tai, Mount Tai! You don’t know the most famous mountain in the world?”

“Huh? This is Mount Tai?”

Jo Gul looked around in admiration.

“No wonder I felt some kind of sacred aura from it.”

Yoon Jong shook his head.

“I’d be less frustrated if you knew nothing. You don’t know what you should know, but you know things you don’t need to…”

“Anyway, isn’t it important that you know something?”

“…Yeah.”

Let’s leave it at that—otherwise it’ll drive me mad.

At that moment, So Jung-Gyeong, who’d been leading them deeper into the mountain, went pale.

“You lot… ahem. Ugh…”

“No—why’re you acting like that all of a sudden?”

“Shall I give you some water?”

When Baek Cheon offered his water bottle, So Jung-Gyeong hesitated, glanced at it, then took it and drained it in one gulp.

“Kha.”

So Jung-Gyeong shook his head and regarded the Mount Hua disciples with a baffled look.

“Aren’t you all tired?”

“What?”

The Mount Hua disciples looked confused. So Jung-Gyeong, bewildered, said,

“Usually, first-timers faint at Mount Tai’s steep sections… But to see people chatting as they follow along—this is a first.”

He had even quickened his pace without noticing.

The Mount Hua disciples cocked their heads; they didn’t understand what he meant.

“Steep… what did you just say?”

“He said the terrain’s steep.”

“Does he mean the steep part is coming up now?”

So Jung-Gyeong let out a hollow laugh.

“Is this terrain nothing to you?”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘nothing.’ It’s just a mountain, isn’t it? Literally just a mountain.”

…

So Jung-Gyeong fell silent, then, as if remembering something, continued.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve heard Mount Hua in Shaanxi is the most treacherous. Maybe because Taoists settled there, it’s different.”

“Heh heh. Thank you for the compliment, but…”

The faint smile left Baek Cheon’s face and his shoulders slumped.

“To be honest, it’s not like any of us wanted to live in a place like that.”

“That’s true.”

“Wouldn’t it have been nicer if it were flat ground…”

Watching the Mount Hua disciples turn suddenly gloomy, So Jung-Gyeong laughed hollowly. These guys were completely unpredictable.

“Anyway, we’re seeing a lot of strange things today.”

“What else could be different?”

“Mount Tai is famed for its tigers; in sparsely populated stretches you expect one or two to appear. But today I can’t even hear a tiger’s howl. Is that the Taoists’ mystic power?”

“Ah, that’s not a celestial being but because a marten is protecting us.”

“Huh?”

So Jung-Gyeong blinked. What did he mean a marten was protecting them?

“There—it’s coming now.”

Raskkkk.

So Jung-Gyeong turned toward where Baek Cheon pointed and rubbed his eyes as if in disbelief.

‘Marten?’

He thought he heard something dragging in the forest, and a white marten poked its head out of the bushes.

“No, that is… huh?”

The marten stood on two legs like a person, with something caught in one front paw.

“Kuhng…”

A tiger almost the size of an ox was being dragged along, the marten gripping a tuft of fur on its forehead. The fur around the tiger’s eyes was wet.

“A tiger.”

“Yeah. It’s a tiger.”

“It’s still wide awake, isn’t it?”

“My, he must’ve been beaten so badly…”

The marten hauled the tiger forward and dumped it at So Jung-Gyeong’s feet, then pressed its front paws to its sides and stuck out its belly as if showing off.

“W-what on earth is this…?”

Baek Ah raised its forepaw to its snout and mimed drinking.

“It seems like it’s asking for payment for the liquor.”

“I think it’s like, ‘Got another bottle of that liquor? If we skin this one’s pelt, that’ll pay for it…’—that’s the impression I get.”

…

So Jung-Gyeong looked at the Mount Hua disciples with a face that said he’d like to ask a thousand questions.

Of course, none of them had an answer.

“Well… it might be hard to understand, but just let it be. We ourselves can’t make sense of this creature either.”

“…Confucius warned against startling wonders, didn’t he.”

So that’s why. So that’s why…

You have to live long to see things. Who would’ve imagined seeing a tiger trembling and dragged in by a tiny marten?

“What should we do? Should we skin it?”

“Is that really necessary?”

“A tiger isn’t exactly an animal that helps people, after all.”

“That’s true, but…”

As a Confucian, he disliked creatures that harmed people, but this tiger looked far too pitiful.

“…Just let it go.”

Screechhhhh!

“…Give me back my liquor.”

Clack!

Baek Ah shook itself and laughed, then flicked the tiger’s rump with its tiny hind foot. Terrified, the tiger fled without looking back.

So Jung-Gyeong, who’d watched in silence, spoke hollowly.

“…If I go tell anyone about this, no one will believe me.”

“They probably won’t.”

“Ugh.”

So Jung-Gyeong shook his head. How could so many odd things happen in a single night?

“By the way… Grand Scholar.”

“Just call me ‘Elder’ like you usually do.”

“But how…”

“Aren’t they Taoists who don’t meddle in worldly affairs? There’s no need to impose worldly laws on you. That suits me fine, too.”

“Even so, no matter how Taoist you are, you’re not completely free of worldly rules. One should observe what must be observed…”

At that moment, Chung Myung, riding on the cart Jo Gul pulled, shouted exasperatedly.

“Old man! Are we there yet? How much farther? If I’d known, I would’ve at least eaten before we left! Elders have no sense of time!”

…

So Jung-Gyeong silently turned and looked at Baek Cheon.

“…Taoists are supposed to be free from worldly rules, after all.”

“Call me ‘Elder.’”

“Yes…”

So Jung-Gyeong sighed and asked,

“Are you asking about something like that small Taoist hall?”

“Yes. We’ve come quite a distance; how much farther must we go?”

“We’re almost there.”

“Really?”

Baek Cheon looked around, bewildered.

‘They’re saying we’re already here?’

All he could see was dense forest and, between the trees, a massive cliff standing like a barrier.

“What’s supposed to be here?”

“Come this way.”

The old man gestured and approached the cliff. Unlike Mount Hua’s sheer faces, this wall stretched vast and ochre, almost like a Great Wall.

What on earth could be behind such a cliff?

“What’s on that cliff… huh?”

Baek Cheon’s eyes widened.

The old man pushed aside the bushes growing at the base of the cliff, revealing a small cave hidden beneath it.

It wasn’t very large, but it was big enough for a person to stoop and pass through.

“Wow… I didn’t know a place like this existed.”

“Really?”

The Mount Hua disciples looked at each other, astonished.

“We should go through here.”

So Jung-Gyeong, who led the way, calmly beckoned, and the Mount Hua disciples exchanged glances.

“Shall we go?”

“Let’s at least go and see.”

“Alright.”

They nodded and followed So Jung-Gyeong into the cave.

“Ugh.”

“It’s narrow.”

“It’s pretty long. This way?”

They bent at the waist and pressed deeper into the cave.

“Ah, don’t push!”

“Isn’t it too dark in here?”

“Why is it so winding like this?”

“Uuugh.”

After struggling through the narrow tunnel, a white light appeared in the distance.

“Oh, that’s the exit!”

“Oh!”

The disciples shouted and hurried forward. Dazzling light poured in.

The sight that met them left everyone’s mouths agape.

“Wow…”

“What is this?”

“Good heavens…”

Those who emerged from the cave stared at the scene before them with dumbfounded faces.

The first thing that came into view was a large lake in the center.

Around the vast, tranquil lake—too perfect to be man-made—quaint pavilions sat like a painted scene.

Willows drooped around the water, rare flowers and herbs bloomed, and colorful trees harmonized with the modest pavilions.

“…Is this Shangri-La?”

“Looks like a village, though.”

It was more fitting to call it a painting than anything else.

Overwhelmed by the sight, the group kept looking around.

“…It’s huge.”

Who would have thought such a village lay behind that vast cliff? It was astonishing and disorienting.

No matter how ignorant they were of Mount Tai, how could such a place exist without rumors spreading through the Central Plains?

“Elder, where is this?”

So Jung-Gyeong smiled faintly at Baek Cheon’s question.

“It’s nothing special. Just a village made by scholars with nothing better to do.”

…

“We call it Hidden Recluse Pond. The world knows it by another name, namely…”

“The Confucian Grove.”

So Jung-Gyeong turned and saw Chung Myung leaning against the cliff, staring at the village. Something awkward twisted across his face; Chung Myung smirked and spoke.

“Right, Elder?”

“Yes.”

Baek Cheon tilted his head at So Jung-Gyeong’s answer.

“Confucian Grove?”

“Yeah. The Confucian Grove.”

“…I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it.”

Chung Myung smiled contentedly at Baek Cheon’s admission.

“Isn’t the first question whether sasuk even knows anything to begin with?”

“I don’t want to hear those words from you!”

Baek Cheon snorted, sighed, and scanned the others.

“Have any of you heard of it?”

“Amitabha.”

Hae Yeon answered first.

“I’m not sure, but I’ve heard that just as Buddhist monks practice martial techniques, some Confucian scholars study martial skills too.”

“…Confucian scholars?”

“Yes, elder. And I heard that the faction of Confucian scholars who cultivate martial skills are called ‘The Confucian Grove.’”

“I see.”

Baek Cheon hardened his expression slightly.

“So this is a martial arts sect?”

Tension flickered across everyone’s faces, but Hae Yeon shook his head without hesitation.

“I don’t think so. From what I know, they’re different from martial factions. You can’t call them a formal sect. ‘The Confucian Grove’ is just a general term for Confucian scholars who practice martial arts.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ve never heard of them living separately in a village like this either.”

Baek Cheon nodded as if convinced. Just as he was about to ask So Jung-Gyeong for an explanation, Chung Myung made a short sound.

“Hmm.”

All eyes turned to Chung Myung.

Chung Myung stepped away from the cliff and scanned the village before him with a strange look.

“After dragging people all this way…”

His gaze landed on So Jung-Gyeong, who only returned an inscrutable smile.

“So this place is that ‘Confucian Grove.’”

“There seems to be some misunderstanding.”

So Jung-Gyeong shook his head and said briefly,

“I haven’t exactly hidden anything from you. It’s just that the way to solve your problem happens to be here.”

Chung Myung snorted, the sound half a laugh.

That was probably true. He hadn’t lied exactly; he’d just omitted details.

However.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Chung Myung nodded coolly and strode forward.

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

Baek Cheon, following, asked cautiously. Chung Myung shrugged.

“What else can we do? Now that we’re here, we should check what’s here. And…”

Chung Myung’s gaze sharpened.

“He doesn’t look like the sort to mess things up for no reason.”

“He won’t disappoint. Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.”

So Jung-Gyeong nodded once and led the way forward.

Yoon Jong, about to follow absentmindedly, paused.

‘Huh?’

He stared at So Jung-Gyeong’s back, puzzled.

‘Have we… ever said Chung Myung’s title out loud?’

A strange unease pinned Yoon Jong’s gaze to So Jung-Gyeong’s retreating figure.