At the break of dawn, Geom Muyang stood anxiously at the entrance to Daecheonsan, where they had agreed to meet.
His heart had been trembling, and he had spent the entire night tossing and turning.
A hunt with Father.
Back when Geom Mugeuk had gone hunting with Father, he had wondered about it.
What had they talked about in the mountains?
At the time, he had hated his younger brother, so he had worried about what sort of wedge Mugeuk might have driven between him and Father.
Now, he was going on that hunt himself.
At that moment, Geom Muyang’s eyes gradually widened.
He was startled to see Geom Mugeuk walking toward him.
More precisely, he was startled by the pack Mugeuk was carrying on his back.
“Are you moving house?”
He really was carrying a mountain of luggage on his back.
“You only think that because you don’t know, Brother. Everything is necessary.”
He had tied one bundle after another on top of a large leather bag. Cooking utensils, a gourd flask, a dagger for dressing animals, even an axe dangled from it.
With three people going, there was even more luggage.
By comparison, Geom Muyang carried only a single small leather bag. Even that was less than half full. He had wondered what he ought to bring, but there was not much to pack.
“Don’t mind me. Just think of me as a porter!”
“Let’s split the load.”
“It’s fine. You have to attend to Father.”
That was what Mugeuk had said when the two of them met, but the moment Geom Ujin appeared, he began to play the victim.
“Oh, it’s so heavy. If your younger brother is carrying this much, surely an older brother could offer to take some of it.”
Of course, that did not work on Geom Ujin. The eldest son had obviously offered to share the load. That was precisely why Mugeuk was playing this little prank. By now, Muyang could see right through him.
“Muyang, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Geom Ujin took only his eldest son into consideration and led the way up the mountain.
“Please give me your leather bag.”
“It’s fine.”
Father had also brought a small leather bag today. The first time he had gone hunting, he had come empty-handed.
What had he brought?
Geom Ujin walked at the front, Geom Muyang two or three steps behind him, and Geom Mugeuk at the very back.
Mugeuk deliberately lagged far behind.
So that Father and his older brother could speak comfortably.
Father and his older brother climbed the mountain path in silence, occasionally exchanging a few words. Muyang could have listened if he tried, but he did not.
Instead, he listened to the calls of mountain birds, the sound of water flowing along the valley, and the wind. He listened to insects chirping and leaves rustling.
The path changed from dirt to stone, and then, beneath the sunlight filtering through the leaves, became a jeweled road.
How long had they been walking like that?
“Shh.”
At Father’s signal, everyone held their breath.
Father pointed in one direction and asked his eldest son,
“Can you see it?”
Geom Muyang opened his eyes wide and searched ahead, but he could see nothing.
“Close your eyes and feel.”
“Yes.”
Geom Mugeuk understood. Father intended to teach his older brother how to release qi, just as he had taught Mugeuk during their previous hunt.
“Send out only a single thread of energy. Slowly, without breaking it. Slowly, like a silkworm spinning silk.”
All experts manipulated qi and used it to sense their surroundings.
But they did not think of drawing it out like thread and sending it ten or twenty zhang away. Without knowing the essential formula of carrying qi upon the wind, it was impossible.
Just as he had, his older brother must be experiencing something new now.
“It broke. Concentrate and try again!”
“Yes!”
Geom Muyang faithfully followed Father’s instructions.
When had he last spoken with Father so closely about martial arts? It had truly been a long time.
“Release your qi as if you were slowly unwinding a wound thread.”
It was a difficult and tense situation, yet it was not as uncomfortable as he had expected. Father was different when teaching martial arts from the way he felt while seated on the grand chair.
‘Was Father always this talkative?’
He had seemed like the sort of father who would say, “Figure it out yourself,” and turn away. But when it came to teaching martial arts, he was meticulous.
‘So this is what my younger brother felt from Father.’
Perhaps this was why Father had suggested the hunt—to let him experience this feeling as well.
That spending time with Father was not as uncomfortable as he had thought.
“Now, carry your qi upon the wind.”
At first, there was only a single thread. But later, dozens of strands of qi would stretch in every direction and spread out like a spiderweb. Geom Mugeuk had already reached that level.
“Again!”
Unlike Mugeuk, who had managed it with ease, his older brother was unable to master it quickly. Even so, he had to realize it for himself. Especially when it came to manipulating qi, one had to understand and accept it in one’s own way for it to truly be effective.
Father did not grow impatient. He waited for his older brother.
Yes, this was probably what was normal. He had simply learned too quickly.
Geom Mugeuk silently watched Father, seated on a rock as he guided his older brother.
Seeing that sight, his heart inexplicably swelled, and he turned his head away.
Had he sensed the emotion of that moment?
As Geom Mugeuk gazed at the mountains layered one behind another until they met the sky, he felt Father’s gaze upon him.
Mugeuk slowly looked toward Father. Their eyes met in the air. In Father’s gaze was the meaning, You arranged this well.
“Teaching me was fine, but teaching Brother instead must be driving you crazy, right?”
At those hateful words, Geom Ujin strode toward Geom Mugeuk.
“There is always someone else who drives me crazy.”
Father stopped right in front of him and asked coldly,
“Do you have nothing to say to me?”
His eyes said, I know everything. Geom Mugeuk flinched and avoided his gaze.
“You knew?”
“Of course!”
Mugeuk understood. Father had realized that he had passed the Heavenly Demon Bodyguard Technique on to his older brother.
“Weren’t you supposed to be unaware?”
Unless his older brother activated the Heavenly Demon Bodyguard Technique, there had been no reason for Father to notice it. The technique was impossible to recognize by sight alone.
‘Ah! He knew because he had achieved the twelfth-star perfection!’
Geom Mugeuk cried out,
“Brother forced me to teach him! He said he would kill me if I didn’t!”
“……”
“Ah, if he’d really gone that far, then he would have asked me to teach him the Nine Hells Demonic Art.”
Since he was still in the wrong, Geom Mugeuk dropped to his knees and begged.
“Father, please let it go just this once! Brother, come over here and beg, too!”
“Why are you dragging your brother into this?”
And just like that, he tried to let his brother escape.
“The situation was urgent. A powerful enemy who used Soul-Subduing Arts might have threatened Brother. Just imagine what would have happened if someone with an unpleasant personality like his had also fallen victim to Soul-Subduing Arts. Good grief, I wouldn’t have been able to stand by and watch.”
Geom Muyang should have reacted with disbelief, but he quietly walked over and knelt beside Geom Mugeuk.
He thought that remaining still and not drawing attention to himself might help the situation.
But this was about the Heavenly Demon Bodyguard Technique. He could not leave everything to his younger brother.
“I’m sorry.”
Geom Ujin asked Geom Muyang,
“Did you know it was the Heavenly Demon Bodyguard Technique when you learned it?”
“No.”
Geom Ujin wore an expression that said he had expected as much, but Geom Muyang defended his younger brother.
“My younger brother did it for my sake.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at his older brother with deep emotion, but at the sight of Father’s sharp gaze, he hurriedly lowered his head and shouted,
“Please forgive me! Please let it go just this once!”
Geom Ujin looked down at his two sons and said quietly,
“I cannot let it go for nothing.”
He would forgive them, but not without extracting a price.
Geom Mugeuk raised his head abruptly.
“Fine. I’ll do anything you order. Anything except unifying the martial world!”
Beside him, Geom Muyang lifted his head and said,
“I’ll accept even unifying the martial world.”
Geom Mugeuk turned to him.
“Joking at a time like this? Brother, you’ve really changed.”
“I’m not joking.”
Yes, Mugeuk knew he was not joking. If Father wished it, his older brother would willingly stand at the vanguard of the Great Demonic War.
Whether it was because of his older brother’s answer, or because of what he intended to order them to do later, Father turned away with an inscrutable smile.
“Resume your training.”
“Yes!”
Geom Muyang rose and returned to his original position.
The qi-release training resumed.
They repeated it again and again.
How much time had passed like that?
At last, Geom Muyang released his qi and found the animal hiding in the distance.
“It seems to be a wild boar.”
Geom Ujin nodded with a satisfied expression.
Geom Mugeuk handed his older brother the bow and arrows hanging from his leather bag.
“Father must be hungry.”
* * *
“Brother, just start the campfire.”
Mugeuk had said he would take care of the rest himself, and he truly did.
The way Geom Mugeuk dressed the wild boar put hunters and chefs alike to shame.
He worked quickly and skillfully, then cut out the tastiest portions and skewered them on wooden spits.
Next, he took the seasonings needed for cooking from his leather bag.
He salted the meat and coated it with layer upon layer of his special sauce, deepening its flavor. The meat began to roast, filling the air with a delicious aroma.
Watching him, Geom Muyang was secretly astonished. They had camped in the forest several times on the way back to the Cult, but he had not known Mugeuk was this skilled. It was truly a dexterity entirely separate from his martial ability.
After he began roasting the meat, he started unpacking the rest of the luggage in earnest.
First, he opened the bundle he had carefully wrapped separately.
Whoosh!
A tiger hide spread out for Father. It was large enough for him to sit on and even lie down.
“Father, please sit here comfortably.”
Geom Ujin sat on it.
“Just as I thought! It suits you perfectly! You look magnificent!”
When Geom Ujin extended a hand, the wild boar over the campfire turned by itself.
“Of course! Right now, making sure the meat doesn’t burn is more important than looking magnificent!”
Geom Mugeuk opened the next bundle.
“This is for Brother and me.”
He laid out two ordinary animal pelts, clearly distinguishing them from Father’s. He placed his brother’s seat a little closer to Father.
“Now, I prepared this as well.”
From his leather bag came a small wooden tea table that could be folded and unfolded. He placed it in front of Father. Next, he took out chopsticks and tableware that he had washed clean and set them before him.
Geom Ujin seemed to be enjoying roasting the meat. He kept turning it with psychokinesis so that it would not burn.
When the meat had browned to perfection, Geom Mugeuk cut off the softest and most delicious portion and brought it to Father.
“Please eat, Father.”
He also cut meat for his older brother and himself.
“How is it?”
“It’s acceptable.”
Father’s “acceptable” was the highest praise, equivalent to saying it was superb.
His older brother proved it.
His eyes widened, and his expression said it all.
It’s delicious?
Geom Mugeuk laughed.
“The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s Grand Duke caught it, the heir dressed it, and the Cult Leader roasted it! How could it possibly taste bad? If you say it’s bad, the entire family will be wiped out!”
At that, Geom Muyang laughed.
When he had tossed and turned all night from nervousness, he had never imagined the hunt would have such a pleasant atmosphere.
It was enjoyable. Meat eaten beside a campfire in the mountains had a flavor all its own.
“I’ll make it even tastier!”
Geom Mugeuk rummaged through his leather bag again. Geom Muyang watched to see what else would emerge.
“You can’t have meat without alcohol.”
This time, alcohol came out.
It was Father’s favorite liquor. Mugeuk had even prepared cups that had been washed clean, along with something chewy to eat as a side dish. He had been thorough in his preparations.
Just then, Geom Ujin extended a hand. The leather bag he had set beside him flew through the air and landed in his hand.
What was he planning to take out?
The brothers watched curiously.
“I brought a bottle as well.”
What Father took out was also alcohol.
Geom Mugeuk was puzzled. Since he had brought some the last time, Father must have assumed he would bring it again.
“What kind of liquor is it?”
Then words Mugeuk could never have imagined came from Father’s mouth.
“I brewed it myself the year Yang-i was born.”
“!”
Geom Mugeuk and Geom Muyang were both shocked.
But Geom Muyang was especially shaken by the revelation that Father had brewed it himself in the year he was born. At that moment, one word from Father filled his mind.
Yang-i.
When had Father ever called him Yang-i? He had heard it once when he was very young, and today was the first time since.
That was not all.
‘He brewed the liquor himself?’
Emotion surged through Geom Muyang’s heart. And not just any liquor—he had made it to commemorate Muyang’s birth?
And he had brought that liquor today.
“……Cult Leader.”
Geom Muyang’s voice trembled. It was the first time Geom Mugeuk had seen his older brother tremble like this.
Father lifted the bottle and said,
“Today, I came as your father.”
“!”
“Come here and accept a cup of my liquor.”
“……Yes, Father.”
Geom Muyang approached Father and respectfully accepted the drink.
“You come here as well.”
Geom Mugeuk also went over and received a cup. His older brother was trembling so badly that Mugeuk could not even make a joke.
Geom Muyang respectfully filled Father’s cup, and the three of them drank together.
“It’s truly superb!”
Geom Mugeuk exclaimed. It was not an empty compliment; the liquor really was delicious.
“This liquor is Brother’s friend. His drinking companion.”
The three of them passed the bottle back and forth until they emptied it. They drank it all freely, without sparing a drop.
Of all the liquor Geom Muyang had ever tasted since birth, this was the finest. He felt that he might never drink anything so delicious again for the rest of his life.
“When should we drink the liquor brewed in the year I was born? At our next hunt?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s excited question, Geom Ujin flinched.
“You brewed one for me too, of course, right? No matter how much you favor your eldest son, your second son is still your child. Right?”
At the Cult Leader’s ambiguous expression, Geom Mugeuk asked with an expression of dawning horror,
“Don’t tell me you didn’t brew it yourself and had Uncle Hui do it? Hui, go brew a bottle of liquor. He’s still your child, so we ought to commemorate it.”
As Father continued to wear that strange smile, Geom Mugeuk raised his voice.
“Don’t tell me you forgot even that, did you? Is that why you’re smiling so awkwardly? Please tell me that isn’t true! Tell me you at least bought some and had it brewed!”
And so, the first day of the hunt was drawing to a close.