The First Guests. (2)

Yu Jinsan purchased the manor after much deliberation.

The price was reasonable, but above all, his granddaughter liked it.

There was no inconvenience in living there at all.

Everything was perfect, except for one thing.

‘During the day it’s full of yang energy, so why is the yin qi so strong at night?’

Yu Jinsan paced the yard with his hands clasped behind his back.

The atmosphere at night was completely different from the daytime.

Was it because it sat between mountains and valleys? The heavy humidity even carried a sense of eeriness.

But what did it matter? If he didn’t pay it any mind, that was that.

‘I’ll buy some lanterns at the market tomorrow morning and hang them up.’

There were no other problems.

After walking once around the manor, Yu Jinsan went back into the main hall’s sleeping chamber.

When they’d been wandering, he had slept with his granddaughter, but now there was no need to do so.

So he had set up a separate bedroom for his granddaughter on this floor.

She should be asleep by now.

Lying on the bed, Yu Jinsan turned onto his side and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders.

After a short while with his eyes closed,

He heard his granddaughter’s voice. What could be wrong at bedtime all of a sudden?

‘…Hm?’

From upstairs Yu Seol came rushing down and wrapped her arms tightly around her grandfather’s back and neck from behind.

‘Grandpa, I’m scared~’

Yu Jinsan, being smaller than his granddaughter, coughed as if he couldn’t breathe.

‘Ugh! What’s wrong? Did you see something strange?’

‘…No. I’m just really scared.’

Yu Jinsan snorted and laughed; he remembered what the fortune teller they’d met on Mount Asama had said.

‘If there were ghosts they’d run away at the sight of our Seol. Didn’t he say General Guan Yu is behind you? What is there to fear?’

’“The general will protect me?”

‘Yes. That fortune-teller said so then, didn’t he? Don’t worry.’

’“Mister Man-ho?”

‘Yes. Long ago Emperor Liu Bei of Shu was an ancestor of our family. His sworn brother General Guan Yu supposedly came to you to keep the bond of brotherhood.’

Although the shaman called Man-ho had said that, Yu Jinsan didn’t believe it.

He had only said it to soothe his granddaughter.

‘Then who watches over grandpa?’

‘I’m fine, old man here. Go on up and sleep.’

Yu Jinsan waved his left hand behind his back as if to say not to worry.

But Yu Seol, not reassured, buried her face deep into her grandfather’s back.

‘I want to sleep next to you, grandpa.’

It was almost laughable.

He was a martial arts warrior who had learned peerless arts, yet he was afraid of ghosts that didn’t even exist.

Yu Jinsan closed his eyes again.

He could hear his granddaughter’s breaths a bit ragged; it seemed she couldn’t fall asleep.

‘Didn’t you say you wanted a house? If you regret it, say so. We can sell it again, that’s all.’

‘No. I’m going to keep living here.’

She had been running around saying how nice it was just during the day.

It did feel a bit eerie at night, but so what?

With time and adaptation, it would be fine.

‘Child, starting tomorrow let’s tend a little vegetable patch in the backyard.’

‘Okay, sounds good.’

A pleased smile spread across Yu Jinsan’s face; old memories came back to him.

He remembered the days they stayed in an abandoned hermitage on Yangju Mountain—tilling the fields with his aged body and his granddaughter who was then a baby.

‘But to clear and cultivate the land you’ll need some hands. That’s a concern.’

‘I’ll bring a few people.’

‘Who? You can’t force innocent people to come and work.’

‘Don’t worry, grandpa. I’m not a bad person.’

At that, Yu Jinsan recalled what his granddaughter had said a few days earlier.

She had said that although grandpa was a bad person, he didn’t bully the weak.

He found it absurd in retrospect and asked her as if to argue.

‘You said grandpa was bad before, right? So are you the only good person, Seol?’

Yu Seol didn’t deny it; she smiled mischievously.

He couldn’t say anything to that smiling face.

Yu Jinsan sighed, turned his head, and closed his eyes again.

The Defeating Blade Clan had as many as five sparring grounds of varying sizes.

Most of them began to get crowded from early morning; those who were diligent took the best spots.

The people who came out at this hour were predictable.

They were the children from Mount Emei being raised as the next generation for the Blue Dragon Troops.

Most were only ten to fifteen years old, but they trained with more passion than the Defeating Blade Clan’s usual disciples.

No one forced them; it was likely just the habit instilled by training at Mount Emei.

‘Haap! Haap!’

‘Iyap!’

Shouts echoed from all over the sparring grounds.

And among them, one child walked with hands behind his back, surveying a particular spot.

After a moment, Yu Seol, who had been watching silently, called out toward that place.

‘Mandu (Dumpling), Cheong Pung, Du Yoo, Baek Gu! Come over here.’

Yu Seol remembered all the children’s names.

She had no choice; except for Cheong Pung, she had named all of them herself.

The four who had been pointed out stopped their training and shuffled over.

They were a year or two older than Yu Seol, but none felt awkward; among the heterodox factions, martial skill defined rank.

Instead, the children’s faces showed clear signs of nervousness.

‘D-did you call us?’

Yu Seol unfolded her right hand from behind her back and beckoned them to come.

‘Training isn’t done like that. I’ll teach you.’

The children looked at each other’s faces.

What luck; an unrivaled master with insight would teach them personally? It was practically a fated opportunity.

‘Is that… really okay?’

‘R-right now?’

Until now Yu Seol had only beaten them at the sparring ground; she had never actually taught them.

It was strange and made them anxious.

Yu Seol smiled brightly and nodded.

‘I won’t hit you, so come at me quickly.’

Each child had at least first-rate skill; among them, Cheong Pung had reached the brink of the Peak level.

Cheong Pung was first to seize his wooden sword and leap forward.

In an instant, the wooden sword arced toward Yu Seol’s throat.

Yu Seol smiled and twisted her torso slightly to the right.

By a hair’s breadth, the wooden sword skimmed past Yu Seol’s chest.

Cheong Pung, having missed that, clenched his teeth.

But there was no follow-up attack; only Yu Seol’s finger tapped his flank.

‘Your flank is open. You must attack and defend at the same time.’

At that moment Yu Seol took a step back to the left.

As if on cue, a wooden sword dropped from the sky behind him.

It was Mandu’s surprise attack.

Yu Seol easily evaded and lightly pushed Mandu’s back with her palm.

‘A surprise attack should be as fast and as stealthy as possible.’

No sooner had she finished speaking than her head snapped to the side.

At the same time, a fist appeared from behind her shoulder.

When Baek Gu’s attack whistled past, a gust swept across Yu Seol’s face, tossing her hair.

‘Hehe. That felt refreshing.’

This time Yu Seol’s fist unleashed a blast of air toward Baek Gu.

She emitted no internal qi; just wind.

Yet it came with a gale and sent Baek Gu flying a good distance.

‘Ugh.’

Although it was a four-on-one spar, it was far too one-sided.

But the four children grew increasingly exhilarated.

Yu Seol was guiding their hands and giving them insights.

The chaotic sparring continued, and the nearby children watched with envy.

About another hour passed like that.

Yu Seol executed a footwork technique and slipped back.

‘That’s enough!’

Only then did the sparring end.

The four children came over with bright expressions.

‘Thanks, Seol.’

‘I think I’m stronger because of you.’

Then Yu Seol said with a meaningful look.

‘You guys, want to come with me somewhere for a bit?’

There are no free lunches in this world; the children already knew what was coming.

‘W-where?’

‘W-with us?’

Yu Seol grabbed their backs and led them toward the main gate of the Defeating Blade Clan.

‘Hmm~ You’ll see when we get there.’

The market in Ho County was always full of food stalls.

In the early morning market, the children sat circled around a vendor’s stall.

‘Have you ever tried this? My grandpa says it’s a delicacy from Zhejiang Province.’

Yu Seol tore pieces from a smoked chicken and heaped them into the children’s bowls.

‘…It’s delicious.’

‘I’ve never had anything like this before.’

‘Wah~’

Yu Seol smiled contentedly at the sight of the children enjoying the food.

‘But my cooking is even better. Want to come over to my house? I’ll make something tasty for dinner.’

‘We left before we even got to talk though?’

‘I’d like to go, but what if our uncles worry?’

As if expecting that, Yu Seol gave a small smile.

‘Don’t worry. I already told Uncle Baek Gyu in advance. He said you can play and sleep over as much as you want.’

Cheong Pung’s eyes lit up as he asked,

‘We can sleep over?’

‘Yeah, really. Let’s go together, make a little garden, and eat delicious food. How about it?’

These were children who had spent most of their lives devoted to training.

They didn’t know what a garden was, but it felt like an exciting adventure.

Faced with an offer they couldn’t refuse, the children nodded without hesitation.

‘I’ll come.’

‘Me too!’

‘This will be fun…’

Yu Seol looked at the children with a triumphant smile.

‘Grandpa, I brought friends!’

At his granddaughter’s shout, Yu Jinsan appeared from somewhere wearing a straw hat pulled low.

Gripping a pitchfork and with his trousers rolled up, he looked like the son of a rural farmer.

‘Hello, grandfather!’

‘Oh, yes. Cheong Pung is here too?’

Cheong Pung had been the strongest child in Mount Emei’s training; Yu Jinsan had named him and sent him to fetch his granddaughter.

Seeing how much Cheong Pung had grown gave him an inexplicable pride.

‘Grandpa, we’ll help.’

‘Alright. Our Seol has such good friends.’

‘Yeah. Where should we start?’

Yu Jinsan rubbed his waist and glanced around.

His gaze fixed on the spot where he planned to make the sparring ground, specifically on the winged goat statue standing there.

The more he looked at the grotesque thing, the more he hated it and wanted to smash it quickly.

‘Guys, move that goat statue over there. I’ll go inside and prepare some snacks.’

Today his granddaughter felt especially reassuring.

‘As expected, our Seol takes after grandpa; she’s good at household work too.’

Entering the kitchen, Yu Jinsan took out the Hami melon he’d bought earlier.

With strong sweetness and a crisp texture, it had once been a luxury fruit offered to emperors.

He gripped the kitchen knife and was trimming it when suddenly,

a huge crash sounded from outside.

It seemed Yu Seol had punched the goat statue to pieces.

All that remained was to clear away the debris.

He was about to return to his work when suddenly,

‘Grandpa!!!’

It was his granddaughter’s urgent shout.

What on earth had happened? Yu Jinsan set down the knife and ran outside.

‘What’s the matter?’

His granddaughter and the other children all looked pale.

They were all pointing at the ground where the statue had stood.

‘G-grandpa…’

Squatting to inspect it, Yu Jinsan was startled and nearly fell over.

‘W-what is that!?’

An animal carcass was half-buried in the ground, protruding out.

It was so mangled that it was hard to tell what it had been.

But how was it that the thing was moving?

It writhed wildly, as if it would burst free at any moment.