Chapter 8: The Ghost House
On the promised day, as dusk fell, Seo Cheongi came to Seokheon’s small garden with another fellow disciple, Mujin. One wore a worried expression, the other an excited one.
“Brother Mu, this is Brother Seok, Seokheon. He is the last disciple of our Seo family’s secluded elder.” Regarding the ancestor known as Taoist Seono, the Seo family said that aside from the core members of the clan, all were secluded elders, and Seokheon had also told Seo Cheongi that he could simply call him by his Dao name, Seokheon, from now on. Seo Cheongi did not understand, but did as he was told.
“Hello, Brother Seok.” Mujin was tall with deep-set eyes, giving him a loyal and earnest appearance.
“Brother Seok, this is Brother Mu, Mujin. He is my father’s fifth disciple. I am closest with him.”
“Hehe, Brother Mu is very polite.” Seokheon replied, cupping his hands in salute.
Seo Cheongi approached Seokheon and spoke in a low voice.
“Brother Seok, are you alright?”
Seokheon smiled and said, “Brother Seo, there’s nothing for it but to do what I can do well.”
Seo Cheongi stepped back and looked at Seokheon; perhaps Seokheon’s calm demeanor gave him confidence, for he smiled and said, “Since it’s come to this, let’s be off.”
Seokheon had finished his preparations that afternoon. He put all the talismans into the hidden pockets of his robes and sleeves. He prepared several sheets of some talismans, and for talismans that were not easy to use, he prepared only one. He sorted them by type so that he could reach the ones he needed to use first. After a moment’s check, he confirmed that nothing was missing and nodded, then took Seo Cheongi and Mujin out with him.
On the way, Seokheon and Seo Cheongi chatted casually. Mujin hardly spoke and appeared taciturn. That was likely why Seo Cheongi had brought him along.
When they arrived near the ghost house, they saw five people standing outside the gate from afar. Three men and two women. Seo Cheongi’s expression changed and his steps halted.
“Damn it, why is Bigyeong here?” At that moment, the other party spotted them too, and a miss in a red outfit, red like a chili pepper, jumped up and waved at Seo Cheongi. Realizing he couldn’t avoid her, Seo Cheongi greeted Seokheon briefly and went over.
Among these five people, the one who drew the most attention was a slender miss of about seventeen or eighteen, wearing a light purple skirt. Her beauty was outstanding. Also, that red-clothed miss was relatively petite, with large eyes and a small nose; she looked about fourteen or fifteen, lively and peculiar. The remaining three men stood a short distance away. Led by the young man in the middle wearing a pale shirt, whose face had turned somewhat pale, they were far more handsome than Seo Cheongi. The two men behind him were both stout middle-aged men with exceedingly fierce bearings.
“Hey, it’s Seo Cheongi! Telling me not to come with Bigyeong unnie for something this fun!” The red-clothed miss shouted at Seo Cheongi as he approached.
Seo Cheongi quickly held out his hand. “Seventh sister, it’s this brother’s fault. I was worried the ghosts would fall for you girls.” The miss in the light purple skirt looked as though she wouldn’t let the red-clothed miss off lightly and began to speak, so he hurriedly pulled her and answered first. “Could it be that Brother Sehyeong once again considered everything thoroughly, while the two of us were simply too curious.” After speaking, she smiled apologetically.
Watching her smile from the side, even Seokheon found it a bit dazzling. Seeing this, Seo Cheongi saw no need to say more.
“Bigyeong, why do you still call me Sehyeong? We’ve known each other for so long; you can just call me Cheongi. If I’d known you were curious about this, I’d have brought you along already.” As he spoke, he approached and pretended not to see the ladies.
Bigyeong frowned as she saw Seo Cheongi approaching, then looked around and noticed Seokheon and Mujin standing nearby. So she asked Seo Cheongi, “Brother Cheongi, who are these two?”
Seo Cheongi suddenly spoke quickly without introducing them. “This is the last disciple of our family’s elder, Brother Seok, Seokheon. This is my father’s fifth disciple, Brother Mu, Mujin. Our companions for today.” At that moment, the three men who had been standing somewhat far away approached and heard Seo Cheongi’s introduction. Among them, that scholar in white laughed heartily and said, “Brother Cheongi, so this is the ‘expert’ you’ve brought. Truly, heroes are born from youth. Now, let me introduce you. This is our Commander of Swords, and this is Blade-Bearer. They are both figures of great renown in the martial world. Everyone, do get acquainted, haha.”
Seo Cheongi’s face turned pale upon hearing the introduction, and only after a long moment did he speak. “So you were the ones who swung your blades on Gamdongdo and killed your seniors, but your juniors failed.” The red-clothed miss, seeing Seo Cheongi’s reaction, her face darkening, spoke sharply to the scholar.
“Hamunhwi, what’s with that face? We’re all making a bet here. What’s the big idea of you bringing your house’s elders and experts! Our fifth brother is someone who follows the rules, you know.”
“Lady Geum-ui, you mustn’t speak so rashly in front of Lady Bigyeong. I don’t know when this rule was decided. When I made a bet with Brother Cheongi, there was never a rule saying we couldn’t bring elders.” Hamunhwi said triumphantly.
“Now, now, little sister, stop. Brother Seok. This is the foremost successor of the Okhwamun main branch, Lady Maeng Bigyeong. And this is the seventh sister of our Seo family, Seo Geum-ui. Though this family moved to Nakgyeong thirty years ago, so you all haven’t seen her since they don’t visit often.” Seokheon cupped his hands to greet the two girls and was about to speak when Hamunhwi cut in again.
“Oh my, Brother, why didn’t you introduce these two youths’ ‘heroics’ to me? Could it be that my martial arts are too lacking for a high position?” The two fierce middle-aged men behind him glared at Seokheon. Seokheon felt killing intent radiating from them. Such thick killing intent could only come from having killed at least a hundred people.
However, having practiced the Divine Observation Method for so long, this level of killing intent had no effect on Seokheon. Seokheon smiled, shook his head, and paid them no heed. He had been about to turn away, but used a small technique to cause those two vicious criminals a slight loss. Yet their appearances were not to Seokheon’s taste. If he was to have such feelings, he’d rather look upon the beauty Bigyeong and the little beauty Geum-ui. Of course, Seokheon was not some eternally young man. Since his current cultivation conduct was weighty and there were beauties present, it was enough to simply feast his eyes.
Maeng Bigyeong, seeing that Seokheon and Mujin didn’t respond, hurriedly mediated so Seo Cheongi wouldn’t feel awkward, and said with a smile, “Since everyone is here, let’s go in. Speaking of which, I’ve never seen a ghost before. I wonder if things will go as I wish this time.” Thus spoke the beauty. Seo Cheongi and Hamunhwi naturally had no objections. Seo Geum-ui would stay with her fifth brother. Maeng Bigyeong also naturally had to go with her close friend. Hamunhwi had no choice but to enter first with his two elders.
“Brother Cheongi, are those two really the ones who swung blades on Gamdongdo?” Maeng Bigyeong asked Seo Cheongi as they walked.
Seo Cheongi told her everything he knew. “Yes, a few years ago Father said that the Twin Slayers of Sword and Saber somehow offended Sword King Gok Hansu, one of the Eight Heavenly Kings of the Gwonjeon Faction, and were chased out like dogs from a funeral house. They fled to Yangju, sought refuge with the Ha Family Gate, and borrowed the power of the Seouru faction to escape with their lives.” Up ahead, Seo Cheongi and Maeng Bigyeong conversed. The girl Seo Geum-ui cleverly fell back a step and scrutinized Seokheon with curiosity.
“I told you, I’m Brother Seok. I’ve been around the clan all this time; why haven’t I seen you? I’ve seen Brother Mujin several times before.” Seokheon replied with the excuse the Seo family had prepared. “Our master is a secluded elder. He likes quiet and lives in the western alley of the city. Naturally, I live there with him.”
“Oh, I don’t know which elder that is, but after I return, I’ll pay my respects to each one. Which elder is your master again?” The little beauty in silk had a spirit of inquiry to the very end. Maeng Bigyeong also seemed interested in this matter. The sharp senses granted by Seokheon’s powerful soul training detected Maeng Bigyeong secretly shifting her attention. He had to realize that after hearing he was merely Seo Cheongi’s fellow disciple, she harbored little interest in him.
Seokheon’s expression turned serious as he said, “It has been almost a year since my master passed away.” As soon as these words fell, Seokheon felt Maeng Bigyeong’s gaze subtly return to him.
Seo Geum-ui clicked her tongue at the situation and said, “Sorry, Brother Seok. By the way, I don’t know what level you’ve trained your martial arts to. How do you compare to our third brother?” Seokheon thought this truly difficult to compare. Rather than speaking of martial levels, he spoke frankly. “When it comes to fists and footwork, Brother Seo is probably better.” He glossed over the matter of realms.
These vague words instead drew Maeng Bigyeong’s attention. Seokheon’s sharp senses detected that her gaze had subtly shifted to him.
The girl Seo Geum-ui seemed to have missed the absurd remark. “Then again, our fifth brother is a famous young prodigy in the martial world.”
Seokheon also smiled leisurely at the girl and said, “I wonder what realm Lady Geum-ui has reached in her martial training now.”
Hearing Seokheon call her so affectionately despite having only just met, Seo Geum-ui glanced at him sharply. But the question struck a chord in her heart, and she answered cheerfully, “I recently managed to break through the Yang Energy Stage.” She was full of pride, her face filled with an expression begging for praise and admiration.
Seokheon naturally obliged. “Lady Geum-ui is truly incredible. Even compared to your family’s fifth brother, you are no worse than he was at that time.”
Seo Geum-ui was delighted and began chatting with Seokheon. The girl had little sense of propriety, so by the time they entered the house and reached the main hall, she had even brought up the story of the White-Clad Young Master Yu Jong-un, one of the Four Young Masters of the Martial World, whom she admired. Young Master Yu had already become an adult at a young age, and was said to be the most promising expert to soon reach the Ipmigyeong realm—the martial arts realm corresponding to the Soul Exiting Boundary. According to Taoist Seono, the soul has grown to the point of exiting the boundary, but lacking a method to depart, it manifests in the body’s senses. He was handsome and multi-talented. The martial world’s esteemed experts had no eye for talent, not including him among the Five Great Masters.
Since the day had not yet fully darkened, entering the main gate, the entire house seemed very grand and not at all gloomy. It was only when they neared the main hall that Seokheon acutely sensed a faint, gloomy undercurrent.
Before entering the main hall, Seo Cheongi quietly fell half a step behind and spoke to Seokheon in a low voice. “Those Twin Slayers of Sword and Saber were infamous criminals on Gamdongdo back then. They wouldn’t bat an eye at murder and carried over a hundred killings on their backs. I remember our ancestor saying that even ghosts must avoid people with such heavy killing intent.”
Seokheon thought for a moment, then smiled and said to Seo Cheongi, “I have a way. I’ll earn great face in front of your sister Bigyeong.” And Seo Cheongi quickened his pace to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Maeng Bigyeong and Seo Geum-ui into the main hall.
Seokheon followed them in together with the taciturn youth named Mujin.