Domunhyang, who had never once drunk alcohol, was displeased that the first drink of her life was being poured by Yongyu, but at this moment, she was a guest who had come to Yongyu’s eastern residence.
Unable to brazenly refuse what a host offered a guest, she silently accepted the cup Yongyu held out to her, and Yongyu carefully poured wine into the cup she raised.
A very faint, nearly transparent pink liquor overflowed from the gourd bottle, filling the cup to the brim.
Mixed within the piercing aroma of the alcohol that stabbed into her nose, she could detect the scent of ripe apples and delicate flowers. Surprised by how vividly clear the fragrance was, Domunhyang unknowingly closed her eyes and savored the bouquet without drinking the wine in her cup.
‘Ah… before the scent of fruit and flowers, something… the scent of rough smoke.’
The faintly mixed scent of smoke strongly stimulated her sense of smell, making the following fragrances of fruit and flowers feel all the more vivid.
Thinking it wondrous, Domunhyang—who had been watching Yongyu pour wine into his own cup—noticed that the inside of the gourd bottle Yongyu held was pitch-black.
‘Ah. He burned the inside of the gourd with fire to imbue the wine with the scent of smoke.’
The scents of fruit and flowers were likely trapped within the wine itself. However, the scent of smoke seeped out when the wine was poured from the gourd.
That was why the fragrance of smoke gently brushed past her nose first, followed by the true, hidden aroma of the wine.
‘How marvelous.’
It was obvious from the fact that this was her first time, but Domunhyang had never consumed spirit wine.
The sect would have diligently provided her with spirit pills—why would she bother drinking something like spirit wine?
Since Master Geum Soryeo had boasted several times about the spirit pills she distributed, emphasizing that they were incomparable to things like spirit wine, Domunhyang had always regarded spirit wine as a crude thing consumed only by those who couldn’t obtain proper elixirs.
‘That’s what I thought… but I think my opinion might be changing a little.’
Thinking so, Domunhyang slowly tilted her cup.
Yongyu’s wine wound around Domunhyang’s tongue with astonishing smoothness.
The wine swirled gently in her mouth, spreading its fragrance and flavor throughout in an instant. That aroma and taste traveled up her tongue and throat, instantly captivating her mind.
As her mind became intoxicated by the sensation the wine provided, traces of spiritual energy gently spreading throughout her body stimulated a cultivator’s senses, giving her a euphoric feeling.
“Ah…”
The very first drink went down her throat more easily than water. It was incredibly delicious, and it felt wonderful.
Feeling as though she were quietly floating on clouds, Domunhyang naturally held out her cup, and Yongyu smiled as he poured her more.
“How is it? The spirit wine I brewed.”
“Hmm. …I’ll be honest. I dislike you, but this spirit wine… I quite like it.”
Yongyu gave a bitter smile at Domunhyang’s blunt words, her judgment slightly clouded by the alcohol reaching her brain.
Until moments ago, she had shown her displeasure through her expression without voicing it, but now she was saying it outright.
“By the way, it will take some time for Elder Geum Soryeo to finish speaking with our elder. Why did you come now?”
Domunhyang spoke after taking another cup.
“Master told me… to build a rapport with you. And she told me to prepare so that we can move to the eastern quarters immediately once your residence is transferred to Haedan Peak.”
Saying so, Domunhyang withdrew a small pouch with a jade token attached from her sleeve and held it out.
“This is a storage pouch. It may be only a third-layer artifact, but it should be more than enough to move all the luggage in these eastern quarters. Please take it, Senior Brother Yong.”
“Ah, no. I cannot accept something like this.”
“My master favors geniuses. If you continue to display brilliant talent and outstanding aptitude, she will hand out things like this as if they were nothing. I myself have about five storage pouches I don’t even use.”
Domunhyang continued to hold out the storage pouch, telling him not to worry about it, and Yongyu gratefully accepted it, carefully tucking it into his robes.
‘…’
Domunhyang saw how carefully Yongyu cherished and stowed away something given by another.
And she recalled how he had declined in surprise moments earlier.
Those behaviors… were as different from Yongyu’s usual self as this surprisingly delicious and pleasant wine she was drinking.
‘There was an enormous pile of books. Even shortly before I arrived… not long after defeating Munyu, he had been training.’
Because she had heard about Yongyu from Munyu, she had thought he was nothing but a good-for-nothing who only tormented others and paid no attention to cultivation.
But the Yongyu she met and spoke with in person was too courteous to be called a delinquent. He knew how to be considerate and care for others, and he seemed to work tirelessly where no one could see.
Other than books for training, spirit plants, and tools for brewing spirit wine, there was nothing in the eastern residence (after possessing this body, he had cleared everything away out of annoyance), and up close, Yongyu’s hands were covered in dirt because he had to till the fields and tend to the spirit plants and herbs without a single tool.
He had washed his hands when serving the wine, but washing them had instead revealed numerous hidden scars and calluses. That was absolutely not the appearance of someone who didn’t work hard.
‘It seems he has truly mastered a Buddhist cultivation technique. Someone with a wicked heart shouldn’t be able to learn it.’
More than anything, the auspicious spiritual energy unique to the Buddhist cultivation technique Yongyu practiced was dispelling the prejudices and ill feelings she had harbored toward him.
“It’s nice to see you drinking well. Here, let’s drink more.”
Perhaps because he was in a good mood from receiving the storage pouch, Yongyu put on an honestly bright, innocent smile.
As she stared at the messy, shaggy hair and unkempt beard that completely masked that bright smile, Domunhyang spoke as if she had just remembered.
“You should tidy your hair and beard. My master detests disciples walking around with a slovenly appearance.”
“Ah. Then next time……”
“No. I’ll just do it for you.”
Saying so, Domunhyang drew a stream of water from her finger. The water wriggled like a snake, flew toward Yongyu, and in an instant cut and tidied his hair and beard.
“To think such a delicate spell existed……”
When Yongyu, recalling his own Yeolgak technique, exclaimed in admiration at the delicate stream of water that cut only his hair and beard precisely, Domunhyang broke into a pleased grin.
“Hehehe.”
Once his hair was all cut, Yongyu’s bare face was revealed, and Domunhyang’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘Ah. He’s handsome.’
She felt she understood why Munyu had always cursed about him going around with a shameless face, pestering female disciples.
His features, slightly bold in a masculine way, were neat yet possessed delicate nuances, making him look like a statue someone had meticulously carved.
The way he carefully touched his suddenly shortened hair and stroked his now smooth, clean-shaven chin had an somehow delicate quality about it, befitting someone who raised spirit plants and herbs.
Most of all, his eyes.
Deep, pure pupils partially shaded by the shadows of his eyelids due to his profound features captured her gaze.
She couldn’t possibly think of him as a malicious person who only beat and tormented others.
Partly because Domunhyang had unconsciously styled him to her own tastes while cutting his hair and beard, Yongyu’s revealed appearance dug deep into her heart.
‘But… it wasn’t just Senior Brother Yu—the others spoke ill of him too.’
Domunhyang hesitated.
Should she believe the rumors about Yongyu she had heard from others? Or should she trust her own impressions of the man standing before her now?
Her head muddled, Domunhyang drank her wine first.
As she drank, the pleasant feeling spread once more.
“How does one use the storage pouch?”
“First, bleed on it so it recognizes you as its master……”
Having heard the instructions, Yongyu dropped a single drop of blood onto the storage pouch.
Then he placed a nearby book into the storage pouch.
“Ohh.”
Surprised, Yongyu’s eyes went round as the book, much larger than the pouch’s opening, was smoothly sucked inside. Afterward, he delightedly put books in and took them out, stored and retrieved various objects, enjoying the storage pouch over and over.
“Oh. Oh! Ooh. How amazing. Wow……”
Since it was his first time using a storage pouch, and indeed his first time seeing a magical artifact itself, Yongyu found it utterly wondrous how objects slipped in and out while defying the laws of physics, and he laughed without realizing it, overcome with joy.
‘Ah, how cute.’
At Yongyu’s childlike demeanor, Domunhyang unconsciously had that very thought.
Had such a thought occurred under normal circumstances, she would have thought herself mad and slapped her own cheek, but Domunhyang, having already consumed more than a bottle of wine, thought nothing of finding Yongyu adorable.
Just as intoxicated people firmly believe they are not drunk, Domunhyang was convinced there was nothing wrong with her as she happily continued drinking.
Domunhyang, who possessed a water spiritual root and loved water, simply enjoyed the act of drinking something so delicious, and Yongyu, who had originally drunk wine like water while training, also gulped it down thoughtlessly.
‘It’s fun drinking with someone after so long.’
That was his only thought.
The continuous drinking paralyzed both of their reason, gradually drawing out deep innermost thoughts they had never shared with others.
“I have five martial brothers. All are geniuses taken in by my master. But because they are not water spiritual root possessors, only I became my master’s direct disciple and inherited her cultivation technique.”
“I see.”
“Perhaps because of that, my martial brothers envy me every time. Watching them push me away and resent me is exhausting. The other Haedan Peak disciples also trust and follow them, whom they have been with for decades, more than me, who rose to a high position despite being younger……”
Domunhyang revealed the loneliness she felt, the anger toward those who hated and envied her, and the deep scars accumulated in her heart.
“I’m sick of being told I’m young. I have already passed the age of twenty. In the mundane world, wouldn’t this be the age to start a family and have children? Yet they constantly point out that I’m young, ignore what I say, and dismiss my opinions.”
Thud! Domunhyang slammed her cup down on the table as if her temper had flared.
After venting her anger with that gesture, she slumped her shoulders and let out a deep sigh.
“That’s why I like Senior Brother Yu. Despite possessing five spiritual roots and having less talent than me, he never envied or resented me—he accepted me as I was. So when I heard you were bullying Senior Brother Yu… I hated you so much. I even slightly hated my master for telling me to get along with someone like you.”
Having spoken that far, Domunhyang tossed back a cup with an exhausted expression and let out a deep sigh.
“It seems I am a person with much hatred in my heart. Though I said things about my martial brothers, I think I am the same as them.”
Yongyu looked at the struggling Domunhyang and spoke.
“The reason you suffer so is because you have worked that hard, is it not?”
“Pardon?”
“You must have worked hard to repay the kindness of the master who took you in. Even with a single spiritual root, reaching the Foundation Establishment realm in a mere ten years is no easy feat.”
Yongyu drank a cup to wet his throat and continued.
“You must have truly worked hard. Without even time to form bonds with others, you poured everything into cultivation. Because you tried too hard, Miss Do, you seem to have grown neglectful of tending to your own heart.”
“Tending to my heart?”
“Indeed. Though the path of cultivation is about accumulating the Way and deepening one’s refinement, how can a person live only like that? There must be times when you want to do nothing but play all day, times when you question why you must train so arduously, and moments when the affairs of the world feel empty and you wish to let everything go.”
“……”
“Nothing in this world remains unchanged—are human hearts any different? Nevertheless, you have comforted yourself and worked hard until now. That is truly remarkable.”
Saying so, Yongyu poured wine into Domunhyang’s cup.
“So stop being so hard on yourself now, and love yourself.”
“……”
“No matter who else in this world hates you, even if you feel yourself to be a pathetic and wretched person, at least Miss Do, please love yourself. If there is truly a love in this world that knows no bounds, is it not the love one holds for oneself? Therefore, you need not struggle to love yourself.”
Domunhyang quietly took Yongyu’s words to heart, shedding tears as she silently tilted her cup.
As cups were emptied and more words exchanged, as more time passed together, the distance between Yongyu and Domunhyang gradually closed.
The two, who had been drinking across from each other, were soon sitting side by side, whispering and drinking together. Their bodies heated by the wine made their hearts burn as well.
Yongyu thought Domunhyang was beautiful.
Domunhyang, too, could not deny that she felt affection for Yongyu.
Though it was more likely affection between people rather than romantic love between man and woman, her reason paralyzed by alcohol made Domunhyang incapable of normal judgment.
Moreover, compounded by her rebellious feelings toward the martial brothers who called her young……
Before long, the two tore down the paper-thin wall standing between them and pressed their bodies infinitely close together.