“Do you like him that much?”
Dana was lying on the bed, while Seo Daeryong stood gazing at the baby in his arms. He was a man who had raced home the very moment the Hwangcheongak ended.
“I do. More than words.”
Five days ago, Dana had given birth to a son. Only now did Seo Daeryong realize that bearing a child was no ordinary matter. He had thought it a simple thing—one became pregnant, and one simply gave birth—but only after watching from beside her did he understand how truly difficult it was.
“Stop staring already.”
Despite his wife’s attempts to stop him, Seo Daeryong had no intention of putting down the baby in his arms. This was the same man who, on the first day, had trembled all over in fear that he might drop the child.
“You must eat promptly and go to your martial arts training.”
“I shall stay just a moment longer. Ah, the lad just smiled. That’s right. I am your father.”
Even as he held his son, it felt unreal. To think that he had truly become a father? He could no longer tell whether this was a dream or reality.
“It is truly a blessing he takes after you.”
The boy looked exactly like his mother. He had worried about what he would do if the child resembled him and had a gloomy face.
“I had wanted him to look like you.”
“What are you saying! Had he done so, how could you bear the resentment he would feel later?”
“What is so bad about you?”
“I like things as they are. I am truly glad to have such a handsome son who takes after you.”
“The shape of his mouth looks exactly like yours.”
Seo Daeryong mimicked the baby’s mouth. Seeing the child directly like this was entirely different from when he had been in the womb.
“Son! Our handsome son!”
Then a voice came from behind.
“Already showing off your son?”
Seo Daeryong turned around in surprise to see Geom Mugeuk standing there.
“Young Cult Leader!”
“Congratulations, Daeryong.”
“Young Cult Leader! I have become a father!”
Though he should have first asked whether the Young Cult Leader had returned safely, Seo Daeryong could not contain the surge of emotion that welled up at the sight of him. He felt exactly the same emotion that women felt upon seeing their own mothers.
Geom Mugeuk approached and looked at the baby.
“He is worth showing off.”
“Wouldn’t you say I have succeeded?”
“A great success. What is his name?”
“We have named him Yeongha.”
“Seo Yeongha. It is a good name.”
Geom Mugeuk offered congratulations to Dana as well.
“Lady Dana, my congratulations. You have worked hard.”
“It is all thanks to the Young Cult Leader.”
She meant every word. It was also something her husband said every time he opened his mouth—that if not for the Young Cult Leader, she would never have known such happiness in her life.
Geom Mugeuk handed Seo Daeryong some medicine he had procured.
“I asked a favor of Physician Ma to specially prepare this. It will help your wife with her postpartum recovery.”
“Thank you, Young Cult Leader.”
Seo Daeryong and Dana bowed respectfully together, expressing their gratitude.
“Would you like to hold him?”
“Yes, I ought to hold him, since he is your son.”
Seo Daeryong spoke quickly as he handed over the baby.
“You must support his neck and head well. Cradle him with your arm like this, and use your other hand to support his waist and bottom. Yes, like that. Relax your strength.”
But as if to show that the worry had been needless, Geom Mugeuk held the baby with practiced ease.
“Surely there is nothing you cannot do? You need not be good at this as well.”
“You speak thus because you do not know. I am expending an enormous amount of internal energy right now.”
Just in case, a soft, cloud-like energy swirled around the baby.
Seo Daeryong spoke to the child.
“Little one, greet him. This is the Young Cult Leader.”
As if he had truly understood those words, the baby broke into a bright smile.
A smile naturally formed at Geom Mugeuk’s lips.
“Yeongha, congratulations on being born to good parents.”
After handing the baby back to Dana, Geom Mugeuk asked Seo Daeryong,
“How does it feel to be a father?”
“I am still bewildered.”
Geom Mugeuk promised Seo Daeryong the greatest gift.
“When the child has grown, I shall open his Ren and Du meridians.”
Seo Daeryong and Dana started in surprise. Opening the Ren and Du meridians required the expenditure of internal energy, and because the process was extremely dangerous, it was never done for anyone outside the family.
“Young Cult Leader! Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
It meant that Geom Mugeuk regarded the child as a true nephew. That was why Seo Daeryong was as overjoyed as when Hyeolcheon Doma had opened his own Ren and Du meridians; no, he was even happier than he had been then.
Even in the midst of it, Seo Daeryong did not forget to make a quip.
“I already cannot repay you with generations of loyalty alone, yet now I receive generations of love.”
It was truly a grace he could never repay, even with his death.
“I shall watch my child grow and find the way that suits him to raise him well.”
If those had been the words of advice given before the child was born, now Geom Mugeuk offered new counsel.
“I once heard this saying: raise your child as though they were a guest. Just as we do not treat guests rudely, treat your child with kindness and respect as you raise them. And just as guests eventually depart, regard your child, too, as someone who will one day leave. It means treat them well, but do not be bound by them.”
Seo Daeryong repeated Geom Mugeuk’s words in his heart.
“I shall keep them in mind and raise him well. But as for this guest, I do not know if I can send him away.”
Yes, that is why everyone ends up telling their fifty-year-old children to be careful of carriages.
“Later, you will say this to me: ‘Young Cult Leader, you have no idea how vast the gap is between theory and reality! Children, I tell you!’”
Seo Daeryong and Dana, who were listening, laughed together.
“Come to think of it, I have been so preoccupied with my child that I failed to ask after my master. I heard he did not return with you this time.”
“He decided to tour the martial world a while longer with the Sword Venerable.”
“Please tell him to take his time.”
“Why? So you can shirk your martial arts training and play with the baby?”
Instead, Seo Daeryong steeled his resolve.
“No, I shall train twice as hard from now on. Ten times as hard.”
Geom Mugeuk believed it—that Seo Daeryong would truly become a good parent.
“I shall take my leave now. Lady Dana, take good care of yourself.”
Seo Daeryong caught him with a regretful hand.
“Young Cult Leader, it has been so long. Please stay for dinner.”
“I have a dinner engagement with my father. I shall be on my way.”
Lastly, Geom Mugeuk greeted the baby nestled in Dana’s arms.
“Our little nephew, welcome to the world. Grow up healthy and strong.”
After Geom Mugeuk left, Seo Daeryong said to the baby,
“Do not grow up to be like your father. Grow up to be like the Young Cult Leader.”
Then Dana spoke firmly.
“No, grow up to be like your father. Mother prefers that by far.”
* * *
Geom Mugeuk went to his father’s bedchamber.
He waited in the room for a while as his father changed his clothes.
There was something that caught his eye above all else: a hanging scroll on one wall depicting his older brother and himself. Beside it were the floral pajamas he had gifted, neatly folded.
On the display stand next to that stood dolls. From a doll of his father to a doll of the Demon Venerable, and dolls of Geom Mugeuk and Geom Muyang.
Had he not grown close to his father, this was something he would never have known for his entire life—that his father was the kind of man to hang such things in his room, wear floral pajamas, and buy these dolls to set out.
At that moment, his father entered the room.
“Some conspiracy is afoot. The painting, and these dolls as well—I think my brother was drawn and made to look more handsome.”
“When coincidences overlap, should we not suspect that they may become fact?”
Geom Mugeuk turned to his father, smiling. How much the man adored his firstborn son.
“I am hungry, Father.”
“Let us go eat.”
Because they had made plans in advance, dinner was already prepared.
“It has been a while since I have had the food of the Cheonmajeon chefs.”
It was a dinner with his father after a long time.
While eating, Geom Mugeuk told his father about what had happened during this expedition. The important matters had already been heard through the Tongcheongak, but he added thrilling flesh to the skeleton with details that only he could provide.
“But did you know that the Saber Demon and the Sword Venerable harbored feelings for one another?”
At that, his father nodded.
“Oh, do not speak of it. The Saber Demon elder cared for the Sword Venerable so much that I was treated like a nuisance.”
“You must have been quite the scoundrel yourself. I consider it fortunate if you did not tease the Demon Venerable.”
“You misunderstand me, Father!”
“So, where did the two of them go?”
“They went to Taihu.”
At the word Taihu, a faint smile formed at Geom Ujin’s lips. He remembered the time when four people, together with Gwonma, had met there in the past.
Sensing that there was some story behind that expression, Geom Mugeuk asked,
“Have you been to Taihu?”
When his father nodded, he said,
“Next time, let us all go together with Brother. Let us float a boat on the lake and share a drink with your sons.”
Geom Mugeuk continued. This time, it was about the enemies.
“…They summoned the souls of those they had faced until now at the Ghost Soul Valley. They were able to do this because they gave an unprecedented miraculous medicine called the Cheon-ui Spirit Pill to one who uses Yin techniques.”
He then explained in detail the battle that followed. Of all his accounts, his father showed the greatest interest in the stories of combat and martial arts.
“…And so I finished them off completely.”
“You annihilated them with the Heavenly Demon Annihilation?”
“Yes. Even when their heads were severed, their souls did not vanish.”
“You were able to control the Heavenly Demon Annihilation?”
“Yes, to a certain extent.”
Perhaps thinking that his son had not yet reached that level, his father confirmed again.
“Still, it cannot have been easy to use indoors.”
Now was the moment to speak of the Space-Time Transference Technique.
“That is why I used a secret technique.”
“A secret technique?”
Geom Mugeuk subtly began to recite the mnemonic chant.
“Can you guess what kind of mnemonic chant this is?”
Geom Mugeuk began to recite the mnemonic chant of the Space-Time Transference Technique. After he had finished reciting it to the end,
“Do you recognize it?”
“It seems like a demonic art of the Blood Cult.”
“You have guessed roughly correctly. I shall recite it once more.”
“That is enough. I have already memorized it all.”
Geom Mugeuk stared at his father with a shocked expression.
“You memorized it all in one hearing?”
“Yes.”
“Impossible! I cannot believe it.”
At that, Geom Ujin recited the mnemonic chant exactly from beginning to end.
“You are truly remarkable.”
Furthermore, his father had accurately guessed whose martial art it was.
“Is it the Wind Heaven Cult Leader’s martial art?”
“How did you know?”
“Judging by the mnemonic chant, it is clearly a demonic art of extreme ascension, and in the present age, he is the only one who has mastered a Blood Cult demonic art of that level.”
“That is correct. It is the martial art of the Wind Heaven Cult.”
Truly, when it came to martial arts, his father was born with a heaven-gifted talent.
“What martial art’s mnemonic chant is this?”
“The reason I was able to use the Heavenly Demon Annihilation to my heart’s content earlier was precisely because of this martial art.”
After a brief pause, Geom Mugeuk revealed the identity of the mnemonic chant.
“It is the Space-Time Transference Technique.”
The Space-Time Transference Technique was a martial art that Geom Ujin knew of as well.
It was the exclusive martial art of the Wind Heaven Cult Leader; he had never imagined his son would know it.
“I know of the Space-Time Transference Technique as well. That person taught this to you?”
“Yes, when the Wind Heaven Cult Leader first came to our cult, I had the opportunity to receive his instruction.”
“You must have had a reason for reciting this mnemonic chant for me.”
How quick-witted he was.
“Yes, I dearly wished to teach this secret technique to you as well, Father. I have already obtained the Wind Heaven Cult Leader’s permission.”
Because if one became proficient enough to open the Space-Time Transference Technique in an instant, it would be the surest method to escape a moment of crisis.
“I refuse.”
Just as expected, his father refused flatly.
“I wish to take a walk with you in a new space.”
“The inside of an illusion technique may look nice, but it is suffocating.”
“That is not so. It is exactly like reality. No, it is more real than reality. And how useful a martial art this is! You will understand if you see it for yourself.”
Snap.
Geom Mugeuk unleashed the Space-Time Transference Technique.
A blue plain unfurled around them. Because he had entered this place alone, he must have looked as if he vanished in an instant before his father’s eyes.
‘Will you still say it is not useful?’
It was precisely at that moment.
Rip!
The space before his eyes tore open, and something burst through.
Astonishingly, it was the Heavenly Demon Sword.
Screech.
The world of the Space-Time Transference Technique was torn straight through, and his father entered through that tear. Astonishingly, he had destroyed the Space-Time Transference Technique.
“Did you see a method to destroy it?”
To Geom Mugeuk’s shocked reaction, Geom Ujin replied with a look that said it was only natural.
“Did you not know that no demonic or heretical art works before the Nine Transformations Demonic Art?”
This was the might of the Nine Transformations Demonic Art that had achieved Twelve-Star Grand Completion. The Nine Transformations Demonic Art at Twelve-Star Grand Completion could even tear through the Space-Time Transference Technique.
Through the torn area behind where his father had entered, the outside world was visible. He had opened the Space-Time Transference Technique countless times until now, but such a sight was completely unfamiliar.
“Father, you can enter, but others cannot, can they? In a moment of crisis, it can become a useful refuge.”
His father spoke with a puzzled look, as if asking why he should hide.
“There is no occasion on which I would flee.”
At his father’s resolute attitude, Geom Mugeuk finally unfolded his strategy: provoking his father’s competitive spirit.
“The Wind Heaven Cult Leader told me he mastered this martial art in three days. He said no one would ever break his record.”
The corners of Geom Ujin’s lips rose in a sneer. Even though he clearly knew he was being provoked.
“How long did it take you?”
“I am the Heavenly Martial Vessel, after all.”
“I asked how long it took.”
Geom Mugeuk had known from the start that the Wind Heaven Cult Leader’s time would not provoke him. Naturally, his father would think he could master it faster than the Wind Heaven Cult Leader. What his father cared about was his son’s record.
Originally, it had taken exactly two double-hours. But mastering it in two double-hours was impossible even for his father. Because he might not even attempt it from the beginning.
“It took six double-hours.”
He presented a time worth challenging for his father.
Forgive me for the white lie! Father, even if you say you will learn it but not use it, that is fine. Please, at least learn it!
“Father, you cannot compare yourself to me. Simply breaking the Wind Heaven Cult Leader’s record would be remarkable enough—”
His father cut him off and set a time.
“Let us meet again in five double-hours.”