"Haah...... haah......"
Woo Geom-san lay spread-eagle on a flat rock, gasping for breath.
He stared down at the boulder field he had just scaled, wearing an expression of disbelief.
Now that he had cleared the boulder field, the pain hit him all at once.
Every ounce of strength had drained from his body; he could not so much as twitch a finger. Even so, a smile lingered on his lips.
The sheer elation of having conquered this brutal terrain under his own power.
Baek Ho-yang regarded him and spoke.
"You did well climbing up. The rewards will not be small."
"Yes! I learned a great deal."
Woo Geom-san labored to sit up as he answered.
Intense heat radiated from his overworked muscles.
His whole body trembled and ached as though being torn apart, but that itself was proof of growth.
Pain like this he could endure without complaint.
Woo Geom-san sat on the rock and steadied his breathing. Before long, the surrounding qi began flowing into his body.
The qi cooled the heat burning within and eased his fatigue.
Woo Geom-san did not need to will it — it moved of its own accord.
He did not try to control it.
Left alone, it moved naturally to restore balance.
Once his depleted energy had recovered to some degree, Woo Geom-san spoke.
"Shall we get moving again?"
"Let us."
The two resumed their march toward the destination.
They had crossed roughly three more high, treacherous peaks when a flat basin opened up before them.
Ringed by towering summits, the basin was quite spacious.
A village sat at its center.
It held perhaps a hundred households — a small settlement.
"Ah!"
The moment he laid eyes on the village, a gasp escaped Baek Ho-yang's lips unbidden.
It was the hometown he had longed for, for so many years.
No matter how deeply cultivated a Daoist he was, the sight of his homeland after so long was enough to shake his heart.
He stood beneath a large pine tree and gazed blankly at the village.
More than sixty years had passed, yet his hometown had not changed one bit.
As if time itself had stopped, it preserved the exact image from his memories.
To calm his surging emotions, Baek Ho-yang closed his eyes.
Sensing his feelings, Woo Geom-san kept his mouth firmly shut.
A breeze swept in and shook the pine above them, carrying the thick scent of resin.
In that moment, Baek Ho-yang found himself reciting a verse, almost without meaning to.
Decades of wandering, and I return to lean alone upon a pine.
The old mountain stands unchanged, yet all of human life has turned to naught.
Moss-covered stones still know the old footprints.
The wind through the pines sounds just as it once did.
The dust upon my sword hilt remains unwiped.
Yet tears well in these old, weary eyes.
"Haah."
Having given voice to his heart, Baek Ho-yang let out a low sigh.
Now that he was actually home, a wave of fear rose unbidden in his chest.
The village was the same, but whether anyone remembered him was another matter entirely.
If not a single person knew him, what would he do? The thought alone was terrifying.
He almost thought that facing the Heavenly Mandate Society in battle had been easier by comparison. But he could not stand here forever, paralyzed by fear.
He forced the anxiety down and spoke.
"Let us go."
"Will you be alright?"
"What choice do I have? I have come all this way. I cannot very well turn back because I am not alright."
Baek Ho-yang's steps toward the village were heavier than at any point in their journey.
Woo Geom-san followed quietly from behind.
Though Flowing Void Steps could have carried him to the village in a flash, Baek Ho-yang did not use them.
He had no desire to flaunt his martial arts, nor to startle the villagers.
He wanted to enter as naturally as if he had left just a few days ago and was simply coming home.
Carrying that wish, Baek Ho-yang approached his hometown with care.
A sizable creek ran before the village.
"Kyaaaa!"
"Hee hee!"
Two small children who looked remarkably alike were splashing and playing in the water.
They appeared to be about six or seven years old, flinging water at each other and laughing.
Lost in their game, the children did not notice Baek Ho-yang and Woo Geom-san until the pair had nearly reached the creek bank.
At the appearance of strangers they had never seen before, the children's eyes went wide.
"Wh— who are you?"
After a moment, the boy managed a dazed question, while the girl turned and sprinted toward the village, crying for her mother.
The arrival of outsiders to this village deep in Mount Cheonbaek was the first such event in decades.
The children had never once seen an outsider in their lives.
Their shock was only natural.
Understanding their fright, Baek Ho-yang spoke gently.
"Do not be afraid. This old man is from this village too."
"Huh?"
"Do you know the house at the center of the village — the one with a large dead tree?"
"Dead tree?"
"A tree that died after being struck by lightning. A tree so large that two people stretching their arms wide could not reach around it. That is the house where this old man was born."
"You mean the Village Chief's house?"
"The Village Chief?"
Baek Ho-yang's eyes lit up.
In the yard of the house where he was born and raised stood a great tree. It was so large that two adults extending their arms could not encircle it. The tree had been struck by lightning during Baek Ho-yang's childhood and died.
So massive that even dead it could not be removed, it had been left standing in the yard.
"The house with the dead tree belongs to the Village Chief?"
"Yes! The man named Baek who lives there is our Village Chief."
"Is that so?"
At the child's words, relief washed visibly over Baek Ho-yang's face.
If the man's surname was Baek, there was a strong chance he was related.
That was when it happened.
"Outsiders have entered the village?"
"Strangers, here?"
Murmuring voices accompanied a group of villagers emerging from the far side of the creek. The girl had brought the adults.
The villagers carried axes and pitchforks in their hands.
This was the first time outsiders had entered the village in decades.
With no way to know what intentions the strangers might harbor, they had grabbed the nearest weapons and come out.
From among the villagers, a sturdy man who appeared to be in his late forties stepped forward.
His solid build and piercing eyes were striking. He held an axe in his hand.
He pointed it at Baek Ho-yang.
"State who you are and where you have come from. While I am still asking politely, you had best explain your purpose in entering our village."
"Would you happen to be this village's chief?"
"I am!"
The man raised his axe as he answered.
Baek Ho-yang's gaze softened as he looked upon him.
The more he studied the man, the more he saw a resemblance to himself.
"Is your surname Baek as well?"
"How do you know my family name?"
"Because I, too, bear the name Baek."
"What do you mean? I do not understand."
"My name is Baek Ho-yang. I was born and raised in this village."
"You are from our village? Wait — did you just say Baek Ho-yang?"
"I did. It is the name my father gave me."
"Might your younger brother's name have been......?"
"Baek Ho-gyeong. He had a large mole on his right temple, and the neighborhood children used to taunt him for it. Every time they did, I would grab a stick and chase them down."
"Good heavens!"
The Village Chief's eyelids trembled.
He dropped his axe to the ground, hardly aware he had done so.
In ten years of leading the village, he had grown steadfast enough to take most things in stride — but not this.
Baek Ho-gyeong had been his grandfather.
His grandfather had a prominent mole on his right temple. And in life, the old man had spoken his elder brother's name countless times, longing for him.
That brother's name was Baek Ho-yang.
"You are truly Baek Ho-yang? The one who left to become a Daoist......?"
"I am."
"Your humble descendant Baek Do-gyeong pays his respects. My grandfather's name was Baek Ho-gyeong."
"You are Ho-gyeong's grandson?"
"I am."
"Where is Ho-gyeong? Surely he has not......"
"He passed away twenty years ago."
"Haah."
Baek Ho-yang let out a heavy sigh.
He had already suspected as much.
He was Baek Ho-yang — only a man of his cultivation could stay healthy past eighty. Ordinary folk struggled to live past sixty.
Reaching sixty was considered longevity in this world.
"And Ho-jeong?"
"Grandmother passed away ten years ago."
"Of course."
Baek Ho-jeong had been Baek Ho-yang's younger sister.
He still vividly remembered her pigtails — they had been endearingly cute.
"Are any of Ho-jeong's descendants still in the village?"
"Yes! They will come running the moment I call."
"Good. Then she left behind blood of her own."
Baek Ho-yang exhaled a faint sigh.
Baek Do-gyeong spoke.
"This is no place to linger. Please, come to the house. I will show you the way."
"Before that, I would like to visit my parents' graves and pay my respects."
"Our grandfather and parents are laid to rest in the same place. Allow me to guide you."
"Your parents as well? They have passed?"
"They passed within the same year, two years ago."
"Hah. And I never saw their faces......"
Baek Ho-yang lowered his head.
It finally struck him how long he had been away from this village.
His parents, his siblings, and even his nephew — all gone from this world.
Had Baek Do-gyeong not been here, who would have remembered him at all?
Baek Do-gyeong led Baek Ho-yang to a hillside behind the village.
On the sun-drenched slope sat a small cluster of graves.
They held his parents and his siblings.
"Hoo."
Before the graves, Baek Ho-yang released a heavy breath.
He had spent a lifetime in training and considered his heart steadier than anyone's — but before the graves of his own flesh and blood, he could not maintain his composure.
For a long time, he caressed the grave mounds in silence.
Woo Geom-san stood at a distance, watching without a word.
He knew that at times like these, clumsy consolation was worse than simply leaving the person be.
Baek Ho-yang remained kneeling at the graves for a long while.
With his head bowed, silently stroking the mounds, he looked as though he were conversing with the dead.
When the waiting began to grow restless, Baek Ho-yang brushed the dust from his knees and stood.
In the short time he had spent there, he seemed to have set down a burden. His expression looked lighter.
"I am sorry for the long wait."
"Not at all. Of course you should take your time."
Baek Do-gyeong waved both hands as he answered.
"I intend to stay in the village from now on. Will you allow it?"
"You mean to return for good?"
"Yes. I plan to remain here until my final breath."
"Then please come to my home. We have plenty of empty rooms."
"Would that not be a burden on you?"
Baek Do-gyeong waved his hands again.
"Please do not say such things. My grandfather charged me with a solemn duty: should the day come when you return, I was to receive you with the highest care."
"He said that?"
"He did! So please, stay with us. I will make certain you are never troubled."
"Your words alone are enough to warm my heart."
Baek Ho-yang smiled gently.
Baek Do-gyeong regarded him with a somewhat abashed expression, then shifted his gaze to Woo Geom-san.
"And who is the boy?"
"My adopted grandson."
"Adopted grandson? You mean he is your grandson?"
"He is."
No sooner had Baek Ho-yang finished speaking than Baek Do-gyeong strode over to Woo Geom-san and extended a hand.
"Good to meet you, brother."
"Brother?"
"If you are my great-uncle's grandson, then you are like a brother to me. Call me 'elder brother' from now on."
"Ha ha ha."
Woo Geom-san gave an awkward smile at Baek Do-gyeong's jesting.