Chapter: 04
Yeonwoo stared fixedly at Unhyeon.
“The Central Plains?”
“Yes.”
He could not stop the corruption of the Demonic Cult.
But surely he could at least save one child who had been caught up in it.
“Didn’t your mother tell you? The Central Plains are filled with delicious food.”
“…!”
Yeonwoo’s eyes grew round.
“That’s right! We’re going there?”
“Yes. I’ll let you taste all the finest delicacies of the Central Plains. I’m sure you’ll love them.”
“I want to go!”
There was no reason for Yeonwoo to refuse.
If someone was going to take him to a place overflowing with delicious food, why would he say no?
“When are we leaving? Tomorrow? Right now?”
The moment he heard the words “delicious food,” Yeonwoo became so excited that he tugged on Unhyeon’s sleeve.
“Now? Huh? Right now?”
Unhyeon chuckled and gently stroked the boy’s head.
“Not immediately. My body hasn’t fully recovered yet. In my current condition, even crossing the mountains won’t be easy.”
“Aww…”
Yeonwoo pouted.
But the Central Plains were far away.
Throwing a tantrum wouldn’t change that.
“We’ll leave once I’ve recovered. It’s a long journey to the Central Plains, so I’ll need quite some time to heal.”
Yeonwoo’s expression brightened almost instantly, and he nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay! Then I’ll gather lots of good herbs for you, Grandpa! Eat them and get better quickly! Got it?”
“Yes, yes.”
Unhyeon burst into hearty laughter.
The next day.
The two of them left the house before dawn.
At a fork in the forest path, they waved goodbye before heading in separate directions.
Yeonwoo went off to gather medicinal herbs for Unhyeon, while Unhyeon searched for a suitable place to cultivate his internal energy.
From that day onward, Unhyeon devoted himself entirely to healing his internal injuries and restoring his inner energy.
True to his promise, Yeonwoo brought back herbs every single day from somewhere unknown, and Unhyeon consumed them to recover.
Occasionally, astonishingly enough, some of the herbs Yeonwoo brought were actually spiritual herbs.
Compared to the treasures stored within the Namgung Clan, they were merely low-grade specimens.
Even so, spiritual herbs were priceless treasures that ordinary people would never see even once in their entire lives.
Yet a little child kept bringing them back.
“Where did you find this?!”
Even when Unhyeon asked in shock…
“I found it on the way.”
That was always the only answer.
Yeonwoo himself didn’t seem to think it was anything special.
For a moment, Unhyeon considered secretly following the child.
But in the end, he decided against it.
Instead, he focused on healing his internal injuries and restoring his cultivation using the spiritual herbs Yeonwoo brought him.
Three days passed like that.
“Hmm.”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A pair of tiny feet fidgeted restlessly.
Standing before Yeonwoo was a towering cliff.
His gaze was fixed on a small flower blooming halfway up the sheer rock face.
“It smells really, really good…”
He had known for quite some time that the plant gave off an incomparable fragrance unlike any herb he had smelled before.
But climbing such an enormous cliff was simply too difficult.
Now Yeonwoo stood before the impossible challenge he had always avoided.
“If Grandpa eats that, he’ll get better faster, right?”
Then Grandpa would recover quickly…
And they’d be able to go to the Central Plains sooner.
The Central Plains must have tons of delicious food.
“Grandpa promised he’d let me eat lots of tasty things.”
So he had come all the way here.
But…
How was he supposed to climb up there?
Tap tap tap tap tap.
As he stood there holding his chin and pondering the problem once again—
“What are you doing here?”
A stranger’s voice suddenly came from beside his right ear.
Standing to Yeonwoo’s right was a man who had approached without him noticing.
The man had bent down to match the child’s height and was also stroking his own chin thoughtfully.
He wore a white half-mask that concealed his eyes and nose.
His black hair shimmered silver beneath the sunlight.
His skin was flawless and pale, his nose straight, and a playful smile rested on his lips.
Although the mask hid much of his face, it could not conceal his remarkable good looks.
“I’m trying to figure out how to climb up there.”
“Why do you want to climb it?”
“There’s a really good herb up there.”
“A good herb?”
“Hmm…”
The man looked carefully toward the cliff.
His eyes narrowed for a moment.
Then he let out a quiet chuckle.
“You’re right. I can feel an unusual aura from it.”
Yeonwoo spun around and shouted,
“It’s mine!”
The man’s eyes widened slightly behind the mask before curving into a smile.
He crouched down completely, resting his chin on one hand.
Meeting Yeonwoo’s serious, glaring stare, he said,
“Well… whoever finds it first owns it. You found it, so it’s yours. I have no intention of taking it.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“Then help me.”
The man’s shoulders shook with laughter at the boy’s lightning-fast change in attitude.
“Sure!”
The next instant—
Whoosh!
A fierce gust of wind swept through the area.
The swirling dust forced Yeonwoo to shield his face with his arm.
As the dust slowly settled and the wind calmed…
Yeonwoo lowered his arm.
“There.”
The flower that had been blooming halfway up the cliff was now in front of him.
“…!”
Yeonwoo’s eyes sparkled.
He eagerly grabbed the spiritual herb the man was offering.
“Wow!”
He picked it so easily!
Wow!
“Don’t you have anything to say?”
Keeping his promise, the man handed over the herb without hesitation, then proudly puffed out his chest and shrugged.
Yeonwoo looked up at him with shining eyes.
“Thank you, Grandpa!”
Then he immediately turned around and ran toward home.
He wanted Unhyeon to eat the herb as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the man watched the child disappear into the distance.
One corner of his eyes twitched.
“Grandpa…?”
That evening.
Unhyeon returned home with noticeably lighter steps.
Hanging from his waist was a dead pheasant.
‘I actually caught a pheasant. How fortunate.’
That boy, Yeonwoo, loved pheasant meat more than anything.
I wonder if he’ll be just as happy this time.
Thinking about the child jumping up and down in excitement made Unhyeon smile unconsciously.
‘Once we reach the Central Plains, there will be food far more delicious than this.’
What kind of expression would Yeonwoo make every time he tasted those dishes?
Knowing him, he might even cry from amazement.
With that thought, Unhyeon prepared the meat and built a campfire.
While he lit the fire, the sun gradually set, and the dimness of evening settled over the land.
“Yeonwoo is rather late.”
The boy finally arrived just as the flames began dancing over the campfire.
Unhyeon looked into the distance.
Beyond the gate, at the end of the road, the faint presence of a child was slowly approaching through the darkness.
Unhyeon stood up to greet him.
He reached for a torch, but before he could light it, the sound of rapid footsteps—
Patter, patter, patter!
—came rushing closer.
A smile spread across Unhyeon’s face.
‘He’s that happy just because I’m coming out to meet him.’
He really is still a child.
Unhyeon also walked lightly toward the gate.
One hand rested behind his back as he stood waiting for Yeonwoo.
‘I wonder if he’d like a hug.’
Smiling, he stretched out his hand.
“You’re quite la—”
“Something smells delicious!”
Whoosh!
Something shot right past him.
It was Yeonwoo.
“Wow! Bird meat! Bird meat!!”
A lonely breeze gently fluttered the hem of Unhyeon’s robe.
He stood there for a moment with one hand awkwardly outstretched.
Then, as though nothing had happened, he calmly clasped his hands behind his back and walked over to Yeonwoo.
The boy stood in front of the roasting pheasant with both fists tightly clenched, bouncing excitedly in place.
“You’re much later than usual today.”
“Yeah! I went really far away!”
“What kind of herb did you gather to be so la—”
At that moment, Unhyeon’s movement froze.
His gaze had landed on the small sack Yeonwoo had carelessly tossed onto the ground.
An extraordinary aura, unlike anything before, was flowing from inside it.
‘This…’
He didn’t even need to open it.
Whatever was inside was an incomparably rare spiritual herb—
Something so precious that even the Namgung Clan itself might possess only one.
His hands trembled as he picked up the sack.
He slowly opened it.
The instant he saw what lay inside, he nearly stopped breathing.
“Th-This is…”
The Azure Cloud Grass!
A miraculous spiritual herb that grew only upon unreachable cliffs where no human hand could reach.
It was said that consuming it purified one’s internal energy and granted the equivalent of sixty years of cultivation.
An unimaginably rare treasure that even the greatest masters of renowned sects and noble families might never see in their entire lives.
“Wh-Where… where did you find this…?”
This wasn’t something that could simply be explained with, “I found it on the way.”
Until then, Yeonwoo had been staring only at the roasting pheasant.
He finally turned toward Unhyeon.
“Oh, that?”
Just as Yeonwoo pointed toward the sack and was about to answer—
“…!”
In an instant, Unhyeon’s expression hardened.
He moved beside Yeonwoo in a flash and gently covered the child’s mouth.
“…?”
“Yeonwoo.”
The boy looked at him in confusion.
“Go inside for a while.”
“Why?”
“Just for a little while. Don’t come out until I tell you to.”
Grasping both of Yeonwoo’s shoulders, Unhyeon looked him straight in the eyes.
“Do you understand?”
“Mmm…”
The seriousness in Unhyeon’s gaze was unlike anything Yeonwoo had ever seen.
He hesitated.
I don’t want to go inside.
I want to eat the bird meat.
“If you listen to me, I’ll give you both pheasant legs.”
“Okay!”
Yeonwoo immediately dashed into the house.
Only after confirming that the door had closed did Unhyeon slowly stand up.
‘Two… No. Three.’
