Chapter 206 — Seeking Sohee's Teacher
Only after nearly staying up all night did they manage to close their eyes for a little while.
By the time the sun had risen high in the sky, the two men descended the mountain.
Oryang followed them down to the foot of the mountain and saw them off.
"Where shall we go?"
"Let us go to Han Sun-uk. He said I must go in person."
"Loyalty."
Yeongu let out a pointless sigh.
He had thought it would be enough to go back and swing his sword a few times.
The work placed in his hands had grown larger and larger.
It had already gone far beyond what the newly risen Jin of the Jurchen could bear.
The portion laid upon Goryeo was even heavier.
A few words from men like them would not move the flow.
The world did not work that way.
More than that, the chest of that young boy contained a vast sea.
He held the realm under Heaven within himself.
In a world where even taking care of one's own body left one short of breath, he held the realm under Heaven.
At first, it had seemed like light meddling.
As time passed, respect rose within Yeongu's heart.
He had only needed to gain a few pieces of necessary knowledge and wisdom.
What he now held in his hands was far more than that.
Its weight settled deep into his chest.
A sigh flowed out through that gap.
Yeongu asked, "Where should we go?"
"He said Suan Mountain."
"Do you know it?"
"I do not."
"You heard it with me."
"I have not been in Goryeo for long."
"That is true. But then, neither have I."
"No…"
"I left home at fifteen and came back from time to time, but… phew."
Dorogan nodded with a sudden sense of sorrow.
"I will ask around and find it."
"Try over there."
Yeongu pointed toward an inn.
"Would they know there?"
Because Dorogan had said he had not been in Goryeo long, Yeongu felt a need to explain something.
"Those people are innkeepers. They do not merely buy and sell goods and horses. They have a tight grip on people and information too. Something like a road is nothing to them."
"Loyalty."
At some point, this man had begun responding like a soldier.
Of course, Yeongu was used to it, but here, in the world where ordinary people lived, it felt as though one should not do that.
Dorogan entered the inn.
On the wooden floor of the inn, luggage had claimed its place before people.
Bundles of silk, sacks of grain, leather brought in on horses, and salt were piled along the walls.
People squeezed themselves in among them and sat.
The smell rose as it was.
On the breeze, dust, sweat, and the breath of animals mingled together.
Merchants who had come from far away leaned back against one another.
Strangers gathered under one roof and talked.
The innkeeper had opened his ledger and was writing down people and goods together.
Where they had come from, what they had brought, and whom they were going to see.
"Who are you?"
"I came to ask directions."
Dorogan spoke politely.
He hoped the other man's tone would follow that thread.
"Is this a place for asking directions?"
The end of the man's words came out roughly.
"I ask because I thought you would know well."
"I do not know. Wherever it is you are looking for, I do not know."
The beads of the abacus struck together sharply.
There was force in his fingertips.
The irritation piled within him bounced out as it was.
Dorogan remembered the face of his master, who had told him to ask here.
"I have not even asked yet."
"I have no mind to tell you."
The innkeeper pointed at Dorogan with the end of his chin.
Soon the slaves approached and blocked his way.
A large man lowered his head while taking a stance one step back.
"Something unpleasant has happened, and the master is not in good temper. You should ask elsewhere."
Then he pushed him out with his bulk.
"What hospitality…"
Yeongu saw Dorogan being forced back.
He stopped walking and looked toward them.
Many tangled thoughts pressed heavily down inside his head.
Unsorted information had piled up in layers.
Fatigue settled deep in his chest.
Standing beneath a tree with sparse leaves, he steadied his breath, and his body trembled faintly.
Sunlight fell here and there, breaking the shadows apart.
Through that, he looked that way again.
His person was being pushed out.
Without even having time to think about what was happening, he spurred his horse.
The horse gave a short cry and shot forward.
He cut across in front of Dorogan, who was being forced outside.
Only then did the two slaves raise their heads.
When their eyes met his, they each took a step back.
"Why? What is going on?"
The two slaves closed their mouths.
No words came.
This was not something that should have grown this far.
"That is… well…"
The large man stammered.
The end of the banner pole in Yeongu's hand was wrapped in cloth.
The bluntly pressed end caught his eye.
If that cloth were removed, there would be a blade underneath.
Yeongu shouted low.
"Why are you pushing a man out? He only went in to ask for directions. Speak."
Seeing signs that the matter would grow larger, Dorogan stepped forward.
He held out a hand to stop him and lowered his voice.
"The owner says something unpleasant happened, and he is in poor temper."
Yeongu shouted even louder.
"Then now something unpleasant has happened to me, and I am in poor temper. Tell the owner to come out."
He crossed the courtyard of the inn and met the owner's eyes.
"Is it you? The owner in poor temper?"
Slaves stepped forward to block him, but it did no good.
As the horse pushed in, they stepped back, then shifted aside.
Yeongu advanced with the end of the banner pole lowered forward.
The people who had been near the owner on the wooden floor scattered in every direction.
The height of a man on horseback was oppressive.
And under the pressure that he might swing at any moment and smash everything apart, their flesh seemed to tremble.
Only then did the owner understand what had gone wrong.
He rose from his seat.
"Well, that is, I…"
"Come down."
Yeongu pointed to the yard with the tip of his chin.
The frightened owner hurried down in his socked feet and knelt in the yard.
Yeongu asked, "Where is Suan Mountain? Which way should I go?"
"I will tell you."
He quickly called a slave and ordered him to guide them to Suan Mountain.
Yeongu found fault even with that.
"You said you would tell me."
"Ah, yes. That is so. Forgive me. I will guide you myself."
Dorogan was dumbfounded.
Yeongu had not even swung a blade, yet people were overwhelmed by him.
Dorogan glanced back, and Yeongu's face was cold and detached.
He truly looked as if he might kill someone.
When had his face ever been like this?
The face that usually looked ordinary and thoughtless had changed, and it was fearsome beyond measure.
The innkeeper ran out in his socked feet.
Yeongu followed behind, and Dorogan quickly went to mount his own horse.
"Yes, yes, this way."
Bowing from the waist and gesturing with his hands, the innkeeper explained the road.
He told them to go through this place and that.
Yeongu gave no answer.
He only stared straight at him, so the innkeeper went ahead.
He must have thought he had to guide them farther.
He ran in quick little steps.
Unable to endure the pressure of Yeongu's silence, the innkeeper guided them all the way to a place where Suan Mountain could be seen.
"That is Suan Mountain there. Yes, yes, that is it."
"Find Han Sun-uk."
"Ah, yes. I know him. I do."
Yeongu pointed toward the mountain with the tip of his chin.
The innkeeper began running again.
Salty tears ran down over the sweat and dust mixed on his face.
After they went on for another half hour or so, they came upon a wall patterned neatly with earth and stone.
"This is the place. Yes."
"You have worked hard."
"I am sorry. Thank you."
"Do not do that again."
"Yes."
"Go."
"Yes, yes."
He was almost no different from a gangster.
If there was one difference, it was that Yeongu had made no particular demand.
The man had moved on his own.
That was how frightened he had been.
Later, people said it had felt as though a mountain lord—a tiger—was roaring beside them.