Chapter 203 — Supper
Even though a long time had passed since the sun had set, the red glow had not disappeared.
The sunset did not remain in one place.
Along the ridges, its color shifted little by little.
The depth of the sky changed depending on where one looked, and even the same evening unfolded in entirely different light.
Standing on the flat ground of Oryang Mountain made that difference even clearer.
The western sky remained deep crimson, and above it, violet slowly spread upward and mingled with the darkness.
The distant overlapping mountains sank like black shadows, while the remaining light seeped like water between them and flowed long.
The wind had cooled more gently than during the day, leaving a low, settled sound each time it touched the blades of grass.
Human speech naturally dwindled, and only breath and footsteps grew distinct.
As the boundary where heaven and earth met blurred, it felt as if only this place lingered for a while in a different time.
Looking at this sunset, one felt that the reason he had stayed on this mountain lay here.
Yeongu asked, "Is the sunset here like this every day?"
"Today it has spread more widely. Those clouds have a great influence."
"It is truly beautiful."
"I thought a soldier would be an iron-hearted type with dried-up sentiments, but it seems that is not so."
"Are you not giving me food? When it is time to eat, one must eat."
"Please wait a little. The person who helps with the work will arrive soon."
"You had someone helping you?"
Yeongu had thought the boy did everything himself and had found it admirable, but a short while later, a woman who looked like a bodhisattva from a hermitage came up.
There was another small house below, and she helped from there.
She wore loose white hemp clothes above and below, yet her beauty was far from ordinary.
She did not look like someone doing rough work in the countryside.
Rather, she seemed like a person of noble birth who had changed briefly into comfortable clothes.
She spread out what she had brought on the low wooden platform.
A table for three was neatly set with rice, soup, and five side dishes.
The table was low and orderly.
The rice bowls and soup bowls were placed in front, and behind them the side dishes opened to the left and right in balance.
Dark wooden vessels and plain earthenware were used together, and though none of it was ornate, it carried a sense of dignity.
There were not many side dishes, but each color was distinct, quietly harmonizing with the white rice.
Salty and mild dishes, soft and chewy things, were arranged as if supporting one another.
The table, set without excess, held a power that did more than fill the stomach.
It also settled the heart of the one seated before it.
"I thought there would only be mountain greens…"
When Yeongu muttered, Oryang answered.
"There are many greens, and this and that as well."
"Who is she?"
He pointed to the woman going back down the side path.
"Ahaha. I am still young, so there are many things I cannot do. She is someone who helps with the work."
"She is beautiful."
"She is."
He did not answer anything clearly.
When he spoke of how Yeongu had to return to Jin, he had explained each word with precision, yet now he had returned to a way of speaking that brushed things aside.
"Several immortals advised it. They said being alone would be too difficult. I was fine, but… that is why I keep someone here. She too is a learner, a scholar in training. She is not a slave."
"Ah."
"Let us eat."
The three sat facing one another and ate.
For Dorogan, it was a bewildering experience.
It had only been a few months since he had become a slave, yet this treatment was utterly different from what he had received since then.
More than anything, he was surprised to be treated as an equal human being.
He had possessed the self-awareness that he too was the same kind of human being, but he now realized anew how quickly he had grown accustomed to being socially looked down upon.
Self-awareness is one's own thought, but human beings live within society.
Above all, glimpsing the life of an immortal came as a great shock.
They read the heavenly current and thought of the well-being of all people through it.
They lived simply, with almost nothing, yet everything was clean and neat.
Eating and sleeping were the same, yet there was something entirely different.
When they spoke to one another about what they had studied, they debated with strict precision over matters that seemed as though they should differ little.
As Dorogan was trying to grasp things he could not put into words, Oryang handed Yeongu a book.
Yeongu asked, "What is this?"
"Ancient tactics."
"I am reading the military classics."
Oryang appeared to think for a moment, then took a bite of rice and spoke.
His cheeks rounded, making his face very cute.
"Tactics must now change as well. Those who are deeply versed in previous tactics know how one will act simply by watching what is done. If new techniques have been introduced, then methods of battle suited to them will be needed."
"We are doing well…"
"Create an overwhelming difference in fighting power."
"That is what I have done so far."
"That is why I am telling you to read it. If there is even one thing worth considering, it will be worthwhile for me."
"Ah… I still have to read the military classics. I have not finished them yet."
"Read this first."
"Understood."
That was how the conversation went.
Oryang recommended something, and Yeongu pushed back, but in the end, he accepted it.
"Do I not need to look at your martial arts? Master is looking after you, is he not?"
"You know him. He only says one word at a time."
Baek In-gyeom's teaching was not especially kind.
There were many times when he demonstrated once, said, "Follow it," and then left.
At first, he had taught with considerable care, but over time, his teaching grew more concise.
Sometimes he wrote down a few characters and said, "Memorize it."
When he said, "Try it," he watched closely, but gave no clear yes or no.
That had to be understood as a command to work harder.
Yeongu did not know whether that counted as looking after him.
The corners of Oryang's mouth rose.
Thinking that a being hundreds of years old lived inside a child's body felt strange and made one cautious.
"He has always been that way."
"It is his personality, yes?"
"It is his method."
Yeongu had originally meant to steer the conversation toward the idea that their master was blunt, but Oryang confined it to another meaning: method.
Not a single word from him came out casually.
"In truth, compared with the teaching, my progress is too slow. My head suddenly became better, but it is still hard to keep up. So even though Master teaches me and watches over me, there is little progress."
"I understand what you mean. Before, he taught you in detail, but after your perception awakened, he began speaking briefly, yes?"
"Yes."
"That is because he knows the change that came when your middle dantian opened. You describe that by saying your head became smarter."
At the words that his middle dantian had opened, Dorogan was startled.
That was not something just anyone achieved.
Meanwhile, Yeongu was startled that Oryang knew it without even taking his pulse.
"How did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That my middle dantian opened."
Oryang smiled faintly.
"It is written on your face."
Yeongu asked again.
Ordinarily, once food was served, Yeongu lost himself in eating, but now every moment felt precious.
He had too many things he wanted to know.
And here, he could ask everything he had found too difficult to ask Master and receive answers.
"What happens if the upper dantian opens?"
"Mm. The upper dantian is a little different."
Oryang set down his spoon and looked at Yeongu.
After choosing his words for a moment, he opened his mouth quietly.
"When the upper dantian opens, what changes first is sight."
He lifted his hand and lightly indicated the empty air.
His fingertip drew a soft curve.
"You do not see the surface, but the flow. When you look at a person, the expression does not appear first. The energy appears first, and the emotion and condition can be read at a glance."
Yeongu's eyes narrowed slightly.
Oryang continued.
"That is why the way one thinks also changes. One does not calculate at length. Judgment forms before worry, and one moves as though one already knows."
He took a short breath and went on.
"What one has learned and what one has experienced do not act separately. Tactics, martial arts, and experience are bound together and operate all at once. The explanation becomes short, but the action becomes precise."
He lifted his spoon, took a bite of rice, and spoke calmly again.
"The way one uses energy also changes. It is not a matter of using great force. One uses only as much as is needed. There are fewer misalignments, and timing falls into place."
Yeongu said nothing.
"The flow outside is also read. The momentum of the battlefield, people's intentions, and the direction a situation will lean are revealed in advance. Before the clash, the outline of the result has already formed."
Silence flowed for a while.
Oryang's voice lowered once more.
"But something changes in exchange."
"Reality grows a little distant. Emotion does not rise immediately. First, one sees and judges. Only afterward does one feel."
He tilted his head very slightly.
"That is why speech becomes short. It feels as though there is no need to explain at length."
Oryang lifted his spoon again.
"In the end, the upper dantian is not power."
He paused briefly, then added,
"It is the eye that reads the world."