Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Ju Yeoryeong naturally assumed that the Hermit Taoist would be startled and turn around.
But the Hermit Taoist neither turned around nor even flinched.
‘What the hell? Did he not hear me?’
Baffled, Ju Yeoryeong raised her voice and said again.
“So Cheong finally spoke!”
“......”
“Hey! Did you suddenly go deaf or something?”
Only when Ju Yeoryeong shouted did Kwak Yeon respond.
“I heard you.”
Ju Yeoryeong asked in disbelief.
“Then why didn’t you react at all?”
Kwak Yeon finally turned around, his back to the window.
“I was surprised. And glad.”
Ju Yeoryeong looked at his indifferent expression and was left speechless.
“That’s your surprised and glad face?”
“Isn’t that just how I usually am?”
“Seriously...”
Utterly dumbfounded, Ju Yeoryeong shook her head vigorously and went on.
“...You really pull all kinds of stunts. Anyway, aren’t you curious how So Cheong started speaking?”
“How did it happen?”
“She told her mother she was hungry.”
“I see.”
Ju Yeoryeong sighed inwardly at Kwak Yeon’s tepid reaction.
‘Haa! What a boring man.’
She had hoped to create a touching, dramatic moment—but the entire plan had fallen flat.
‘I’d have better luck talking to a stone statue.’
Having had enough of the Hermit Taoist, Ju Yeoryeong gave up entirely and said,
“It was a lie.”
“......”
“Actually, So Cheong asked Mister Wang why we weren’t coming anymore.”
At those words, Kwak Yeon understood the reason So Cheong had opened her mouth.
Because the people who used to come every day suddenly stopped, she grew worried.
He had known that So Cheong speaking was only a matter of time, but realizing that her first words came out of concern for them left him with a strange feeling.
“Anyway, let’s go.”
“......?”
“We’re not leaving this place just like this, right?”
Ju Yeoryeong abruptly turned and opened the inn room door as she added,
“Don’t even try to say no. I can see it all over your face.”
****
At the entrance of Wang Cheolgo’s yard, Kwak Yeon came to a stop.
Parting ways was always difficult.
Over the past few days, Wang Cheolgo’s family had felt like his own. That made the pain of the farewell all the greater.
Ju Yeoryeong, already walking into the yard ahead, turned around and asked,
“What are you doing, standing there?”
“......”
“Sigh. You really turn into someone else in times like this.”
She let out a quiet sigh and continued,
“Still, it’s better to say goodbye properly. And besides, we’ve come this far already.”
Urged along by Ju Yeoryeong’s firm tone, Kwak Yeon finally stepped into the yard—and just then, Wang Cheolgo came rushing out from the shed.
“Taoist-nim, you’ve come? We were waiting, wondering if you’d come back.”
Soon, the door opened, and So Cheong’s mother came out, holding So Cheong by the hand.
They had all been craning their necks, waiting for Kwak Yeon to return.
So Cheong’s mother, eyes swollen from crying, bowed deeply to Kwak Yeon.
“Taoist-nim! Truly... thank you. Thank you so much.”
Finishing her bow, she quickly ushered the child forward.
“So Cheong, go ahead and thank him too.”
She wanted to show her benefactor the child speaking with her own mouth.
But So Cheong hesitated and could not bring herself to speak.
Wang Cheolgo, wearing a troubled expression, said,
“Taoist-nim, I’m sorry. She speaks just fine when it’s only us around...”
“It’s fine. Of course she’d still be shy around others.”
“Still, you healed her, Taoist-nim...”
“Brother Wang, really—it’s all right. Please stop bowing already.”
“I truly... feel so sorry. And so very grateful.”
As Wang Cheolgo lifted his head, his eyes shimmered with tears.
Kwak Yeon bit his lower lip hard before opening his mouth.
“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave. These past few days...”
He couldn’t bring himself to say “have been happy.”
“...I’ve been more indebted than I intended.”
“Indebted? Absolutely not, Taoist-nim!”
Wang Cheolgo hurriedly waved his hands and added,
“We’re the ones in your debt. Your kindness is so great, yet we couldn’t offer you a thing... truly, truly, we’re ashamed.”
Kwak Yeon shook his head.
“There’s no need to feel that way. Honestly, I received more from you than I gave.”
“Oh, come now, what are you saying...”
Wang Cheolgo’s eyes widened as he spoke.
“Taoist-nim, please stop by again someday. I can’t offer you anything now, but I’ll raise silkworms diligently and at least prepare a set of clothing for you.”
A warm feeling spread through Kwak Yeon’s chest.
“Clothing made from silk spun by Brother Wang’s own silkworms—I already look forward to it. I’ll be sure to visit.”
“You really promise, Taoist-nim?”
“I do.”
Seeing Wang Cheolgo’s face light up made Kwak Yeon smile as well.
He realized that partings weren’t always bitter.
‘Because it’s only through parting that you can promise to meet again someday.’
With a much lighter heart, Kwak Yeon said,
“Well then, we’ll be off.”
As Kwak Yeon offered a formal bow to Wang Cheolgo and his family, Ju Yeoryeong approached So Cheong.
“So Cheong, take care, okay?”
“......”
So Cheong opened her mouth slightly, then nodded.
“Can I give you a hug?”
Nod, nod!
Ju Yeoryeong crouched and gently embraced the child, patting her on the back before rising again. Then, she suddenly turned to Kwak Yeon and said,
“You should hug her too.”
“I’m fine.”
Since goodbyes are best kept short, Kwak Yeon turned away in haste.
But someone tugged on the hem of his robe.
“...?”
Turning back, Kwak Yeon saw So Cheong clutching his robe.
Ju Yeoryeong nudged him with a glance.
“She wants a hug.”
“...!”
“Why are you being so stingy about it? Just give her one.”
She was the very image of that saying—“Worse than the scolding mother is the sister-in-law who meddles.”
Kwak Yeon hesitated, then bent down and opened his arms.
“...!”
So Cheong stepped into his embrace.
Kwak Yeon silently wrapped his arms around her.
Since leaving home, this was the first time he’d held anyone.
The child’s warm body heat spread through him, and he could clearly feel the rhythm of her heartbeat.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Unlike before, it beat steadily, calmly.
‘The scar has formed a solid knot now.’
Kwak Yeon soon realized that his own heartbeat had synced with the child’s.
It felt like their two hearts had become one.
“...!”
Then, in a soft yet distinct voice, he heard:
“...Thank you.”
In that instant, it felt as though a bright light surged through all his meridians and vanished.
Whoosh!
Kwak Yeon realized the lingering grey remnants in his meridians had completely washed away.
****
“You cried earlier, didn’t you?”
Not long after leaving Wang Cheolgo’s home, Ju Yeoryeong suddenly asked.
“I saw it all. Don’t try saying something got in your eye—it’s unbecoming of a Taoist.”
“......”
“Still, it was a good look.”
“...?”
When Kwak Yeon glanced at her, Ju Yeoryeong replied with a chilly face.
“Don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying you looked cool. Just that the moment itself looked nice.”
For once, Ju Yeoryeong’s sarcasm didn’t irritate Kwak Yeon.
Perhaps it was because his heart was so full.
He realized he had grown—like a silkworm waking from its slumber.
‘Here in Sangjeon Village, I took a brief but deep sleep.’
A sweet sleep he hadn’t wanted to wake from.
There had been a nightmare or two in it, but it was nothing compared to the endless torment of his youth.
‘How many more sleeps will I need to sprout the wings of Mugeuk Level...?’
Still, the fact that Ju Yeoryeong’s sharp words didn’t bother him much proved something.
It was true what they said—the world reflects the heart.
She seemed more like a mischievous younger sister throwing a tantrum.
“Why are you staring at me so creepily?”
Ju Yeoryeong snapped, jolting Kwak Yeon back to himself.
Sister, my ass...
“I’m just not good at making facial expressions. I ask for your understanding, Lady Ju.”
As he offered a formal apology, Ju Yeoryeong now stared at him in return.
“Why are you staring at me like that, Lady Ju?”
“It’s just... you feel unfamiliar. Hard to believe someone could change this much in just two days.”
“...!”
‘She sensed the growth of my Honwonmusang Technique! Just like last time when she sensed the flow of my Jinwon True Qi...’
Once again, Kwak Yeon realized Ju Yeoryeong’s sensitivity was extraordinary.
‘Was she born with it? Or does her sect’s martial art particularly sharpen spiritual sense?’
He couldn’t rule out the latter—especially considering the elderly white-haired woman who had projected her aura beyond fifty jang.
Kwak Yeon was gradually realizing that the white-haired elder, Ju Yeoryeong’s master, was indeed a high-level practitioner who had mastered the realm he’d just awakened to.
So her warnings hadn’t been mere bluffs.
Just then, Ju Yeoryeong abruptly asked,
“So where did you go, exactly?”
“I was running an errand.”
“Who sent you?”
“Grand Scholar Seol.”
That much, Kwak Yeon saw no reason to hide.
“What kind of errand?”
“......”
Ju Yeoryeong narrowed her eyes playfully and said,
“What kind of errand would make you throw away perfectly fine clothes and buy new ones?”
“......”
“Well, I get it. No reason to tell a useless tagalong like me, right? But do you know, Hermit Taoist-nim? You’re the kind of person who absolutely cannot stand not knowing something.”
But Kwak Yeon remained silent, which only made Ju Yeoryeong sulkier.
“Fine. I won’t ask more about that errand. But I have to ask this.”
“...?”
“Why do you insist on wearing those gray Taoist robes? I saw your ritual pouch—you’ve got plenty of fragrant herbs in there. Since you were buying new ones anyway, couldn’t you have chosen something nicer?”
“What’s so wrong with gray Taoist robes?”
“They’re too plain! Even if you can’t dress as sharply as the young lord of the Danmok Clan, you could at least wear something with a little color. Oh! Since you’re from the Wudang Sect, white would suit you well too.”
Kwak Yeon quietly stared at Ju Yeoryeong as she vented her discomfort out loud, then asked,
“Lady Ju, why are you so upset?”
“Who said I’m upset?”
“You don’t realize you’ve been butting heads like a calf with growing horns?”
“You really—!”
Ju Yeoryeong shrieked.
“What kind of comparison is that? Calling a grown woman a calf with horns?!”
“My apologies. That was a poor choice of words.”
At Kwak Yeon’s ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) immediate apology, Ju Yeoryeong was left adrift again, seething inwardly.
It takes two hands to clap—yet this man apologized at even the faintest sign of friction.
Irritated, she asked curtly,
“Anyway, where are you headed now?”
“To Deokseon Market.”
“Hmph! Of course, you’d answer so politely. So very proper, as expected of a Wudang Taoist. Even when it’s pointless.”
Kwak Yeon let out a quiet sigh and replied,
“It’s not pointless. I’m going because of the errand.”
He also had something to hear from the Grand Scholar.