Chapter 165
When I slowly gathered my energy and opened my eyes, it was early evening.
Sunset streamed through the paper doors.
My senses had become so astonishingly sharp that they felt unfamiliar. As I flexed my fingers and toes, I heard Yeon Ryang chuckle softly.
I slowly turned my head and found him watching me with his chin propped on one hand.
Puzzled, I scratched my cheek.
“The sun hasn’t even set yet? I thought at least half a day would’ve passed.”
“Much more than half a day. It’s been four days, my lady.”
“What? Four whole days?”
My mouth fell open in disbelief. I had occasionally felt as though I had slipped beyond the constraints of time and space, but I had no idea four days had passed.
Now that he mentioned it, the shadows beneath Yeon Ryang’s eyes were nearly black. It seemed he had watched over me without sleeping a wink.
“Ahhh, I’m sorry, Brother! Were you awake the whole time? You must be exhausted. Hurry and get some sleep.”
“Exhausted? It was entertaining.”
A look of deep satisfaction entered his eyes as he answered. I had seen that expression somewhere before.
“Brother. Just now, you looked exactly like my grandfather.”
“Hm? In what way?”
“He looked at me just like that the day I formed my core. The exact same way you’re looking at me now.”
“Haha. He must have been proud of you.”
That was the problem. Why were you looking at me like a grandfather watching his granddaughter perform at a children’s recital?
Suppressing a hollow laugh, I slowly pushed myself upright—then shrieked at the impurities dripping onto the floor.
“Ah! What is this?!”
“A natural phenomenon proving my little sister’s achievement.”
“I-I’m going to wash! Brother, air out the room!”
Clamping a hand over my nose, I shouted and bolted from the room.
*****
For the next few days, I focused on dissolving the spiritual energy still lingering in my energy channels.
My body had definitely changed.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to say my energy had stabilized. My limbs felt stronger, and I could control every tiny muscle far more freely than before.
Even Yeon Ryang seemed fascinated by how much I changed each time we sparred.
Of course, I still had a long way to go before I could keep up with him.
“Should we stop here for today?”
After being gleefully battered by the flat of his sword and sent rolling across the ground, I groaned and stretched an arm toward him.
“Brother. Don’t you want some meat? Fresh meat that doesn’t stink, not dried meat.”
“You want to go hunting?”
“Yeah. It may be winter, but we should still be able to catch a rabbit or something, right?”
“Sure. Let’s go. Your brother will dress it for you.”
Yeon Ryang readily agreed and prepared to leave.
After we left the hut and wandered along the mountainside for a while, I spotted houses in the distance.
“Looks like there’s a village.”
“Seems so. It doesn’t look very large.”
“We should avoid that direction. No need to run into anyone.”
We were talking as we turned away when I noticed the backs of two children crouched on the ground.
They {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} looked about six or seven years old and were eating something together.
I assumed they were sharing a snack, but when I looked more closely, I frowned and doubted my own eyes.
They were holding dirt in their tiny hands. The children were melting frozen white clay in their mouths and eating it as though it were a treat.
Yeon Ryang spoke with a pained expression.
“That’s Guanyin clay.”
“Why are they eating dirt?”
“They’ve run out of food to survive the winter, and even the weeds by the roadside have withered. They’re hungry. They have to eat dirt just to dull the hunger. That kind fills your stomach surprisingly well.”
“Brother, you sound like you’ve eaten it before.”
Yeon Ryang gave an awkward laugh and looked away. The sight of him fidgeting with his earlobe left me speechless.
No way...
“Y-You’ve eaten it? Really?”
“Haha. That was a long time ago.”
I jumped in shock, then hurriedly covered my mouth and watched his expression.
I knew he had suffered such hunger that even as an adult, he struggled to control his appetite. But I had never imagined he had once been forced to fill his stomach with dirt.
...I still know so little about Yeon Ryang.
I fidgeted with my fingers as I studied him. He seemed unable to tear his eyes away from the children eating clay, and his expression was grim.
“Let’s bring some rice, Brother.”
“Hm?”
“You’ll feel awful if we leave them like that. If they keep eating that, it’ll block their intestines. Their bodies will swell, and they’ll die.”
Yeon Ryang waved his hands in alarm at my suggestion.
“No. You don’t have to do that.”
“What do you mean, I don’t have to? I’m not proposing charity. I’m saying you should feed them well and forget about it instead of looking at hungry children and remembering the past. You think I don’t know you? If we walk away, you won’t sleep tonight. Planning to have another nightmare?”
“...”
“We brought plenty of food, and we have fasting pills too. It’ll be fine to share a little. Let’s at least make them some thin porridge.”
Yeon Ryang hesitated, his lips parting and closing, before his gaze softened.
“Nothing escapes my little sister’s eyes. You’re practically a ghost.”
“Of course. Who did you think you were fooling? Let’s go get the pot.”
“Yeah. Let’s.”
Yeon Ryang nodded and looked back at the children, his expression heavy.
*****
The children had initially been wary of the strange adults, but once we deliberately lit a fire where they could see us and brought the rice to a rolling boil, they began edging closer.
They clutched their stomachs and swallowed hard, apparently unable to resist the savory aroma spreading through the air.
I beckoned to the child who was holding tightly to the younger one’s hand.
“Hey. How old are you?”
“Nine.”
“And your younger sibling?”
“My little brother is six.”
“I see. Is your house far from here?”
“About fifteen minutes on foot... It’s faster if I run! It doesn’t take long if I run!”
“Then could you go home and bring bowls and spoons for the porridge? It should be ready by the time you get back.”
“R-Really? Yes!”
The child nodded frantically, hurried over to whisper something to the younger one, then dashed away in excitement.
“You can go slowly. You’ll fall.”
“Yes!”
The child answered bravely and bounded down the mountainside like a rabbit.
The little brother left behind stared up at me with round eyes.
His clothes appeared to be hand-me-downs from an older sibling. They hung loosely from his body, making him look even more emaciated.
I approached him with a smile.
“What’s your name?”
“Malsaeng.”
“You’re the youngest?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to wait with me until your sister comes back?”
When I sat beside him and asked gently, his wariness seemed to fade. He began mumbling about himself and the village.
I listened to Malsaeng’s stories while waiting for his sister to return, only to find myself somewhat taken aback.
The child coming back in the distance was not alone. She seemed to have gathered every child in the neighborhood. Seven or eight of them were climbing the mountain with her, each carrying a rice bowl.
“...Hm. I didn’t expect this.”
“Haha. Good thing we brought plenty of rice. We’ll have to make another pot.”
Yeon Ryang shrugged and stirred the bubbling porridge.
*****
When the entire pot of porridge was gone, disappointment appeared on the children’s faces.
They exchanged glances for a long while before the first child we had met clutched her empty bowl and spoke hesitantly.
“Um... can we come again tomorrow?”
I glanced at Yeon Ryang. He looked away and pressed his lips firmly together. Unable to tell whether he liked the idea or disliked it, I thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Sure. Would you like to come tomorrow too? Around midmorning. After the sun rises... come when the shadows fall this way. Understand?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But you have to bring your bowls and spoons.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
The child bowed deeply, then beamed and ran to her younger brother.
Her face was incomparably brighter than before as she chattered and took Malsaeng by the hand, leading him down the mountain.
“Brother, let’s clean—”
I was about to suggest cleaning up when the lonely look on Yeon Ryang’s face made me swallow the rest.
He watched the place where the children had disappeared with an expression I had never seen before.
Had I done the wrong thing? Maybe I had only made him remember the past.
I watched him anxiously.
After standing in silence for a long time, Yeon Ryang slowly lowered his gaze to his own hands.
He murmured,
“Once things settle down... maybe I should open an inn somewhere quiet.”
“An inn?”
“Yeah. I could invite the local children and feed them. This is actually... rather nice. Not bad.”
Fortunately, it seemed he had not minded what happened today. Only then did I relax and answer as I normally would.
“That sounds more like an orphanage than an inn, Brother.”
“If you feed people and give them somewhere to sleep, it’s an inn.”
A smile rose on Yeon Ryang’s face as he answered casually. He looked a little relieved.
“Feeding children is fine, but I’m against the inn, Brother. What place attracts more martial artists than an inn? There’d definitely be fights every day. You wouldn’t have a single piece of furniture left intact.”
“You may be right. In that case, I’d have to borrow the weight of my little sister’s name.”
“You’d sell me out?”
“Like Miss Jang. I’d spread the word that a daughter of the Tang Clan owns five percent of the inn. Then nobody would dare touch it.”
“Ahaha. What kind of plan is that?”
His eyes curved as he laughed at me. Deliberately acting spoiled, I clung to his back.
“Brother. Carry me.”
“Hm? Now?”
“My legs hurt from climbing the mountain. Carry me.”
Yeon Ryang snorted at my childish demand and bent down. He lifted me easily onto his back, then chided me.
“What are you going to do if a grown woman keeps climbing onto men’s backs whenever she pleases? At this rate, you’ll never get married.”
“Then I won’t. Who cares? I can just live with you forever.”
“You always talk a good game. The moment some handsome man appears, you’ll cast your brother aside and run off with him. I know it.”
“Who says? That’s not true. You’re all I need.”
“I doubt that. Give it another year or two, and you probably won’t even want to spend time with me. ...That’ll be lonely. They say you don’t notice what fills a place until it’s gone. What will I do when my little sister gets married and leaves me behind?”
“I told you I’m not getting married. Why do you keep saying that? What’s the point of marriage? I don’t need some husband who’ll only cause me grief.”
“All right, all right. Let’s live together for a thousand years.”
Yeon Ryang chuckled and walked at an unhurried pace. Bickering with him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face against his broad back.
I hoped that what happened today would bring some comfort to the child he had once been.
And that he would no longer dream of the nightmares of his past.