By Zephyria 
After Biryoo’s visit, Young-pa became quiet. Lee Shim had a servant peer through the hole in the wall to look inside. The report came back that Young-pa had sat with his eyes closed for a while and then lay down to sleep.
Wudam was extremely pleased, though he wondered what kind of sorcery Biryoo had used. Lee Shim also did not know the exact details, but for now, he considered it a relief.
The next day, Young-pa woke up early at dawn and left the Pacheondang headquarters. He returned after training in the valley for two shijin, and while he was at it, he washed his body and laundered his clothes in the flowing stream.
“Welcome back, Brother. I cleaned your room while you were out.”
Lee Shim greeted him with a smile in front of the annex. The destroyed walls and debris of objects were no longer to be found in the room. The wall had been blocked with appropriately sized stones, and the air was warm from a fire lit in the brazier. Clean clothes for Young-pa to wear had also been prepared.
“Move quickly. Our brother is hungry, so bring out the table fast!”
Lee Shim directed the servants to set an enormous dining table. Half of the side dishes were meat, and there were three plates of honey cakes. After Young-pa cleanly emptied the breakfast table, which was laden to the point of the legs bending, he called him.
“Come in, earthworm.”
“Yes, sir!”
Lee Shim, who had been lingering in front of the annex, flew inside like an arrow.
“Did you enjoy your meal, Brother?”
“I did.”
“Is there anything else you need….”
“About the day I visited the treasure vault. I thought Master Neungui would be running wild after eating you and Biryoo, but the whole house was silent. Tell me everything that happened in detail.”
Lee Shim’s heart dropped, but he maintained a fake smile.
“T-that day? There wasn’t, uh, much going on. Master Neungui! Yes, Master Neungui was a bit bothersome, but his skills were just mediocre.”
“I heard there were ten serpents attached to this place. What happened to the other nine?”
“Eight of them were inside that vicious fellow Neungui. They were all just pathetic silk snakes; it was almost embarrassing, yes.”
Lee Shim spoke with a bold face, but cold sweat ran down his spine. He trembled inwardly, fearing Young-pa might see through his lie.
‘If I get caught, it’s over.’
That day, Biryoo, drenched in blood before the heap of eight severed heads, had warned Lee Shim.
‘If you reveal what you saw today, you will regret it.’
Lee Shim had learned that even a threat delivered in a dry tone could be terrifying. Since then, he had faithfully kept Biryoo’s warning.
Fortunately, Young-pa was lost in thought and did not suspect Lee Shim.
“Indeed, the serpent I faced was also a small fry. Then, did you handle the remaining one well?”
Lee Shim gave a very long-winded account of how he killed the last serpent inside Woo-pyeong’s corpse, but Young-pa showed little emotion.
“Was there nothing suspicious about Biryoo?”
“Huh? Why… why do you ask that? Do you believe that he must, absolutely… show some suspicious behavior, Brother?”
“That fellow knows too much. There isn’t just one or two strange things about him. Looking at the way he speaks, he doesn’t seem human at all. I wonder if he truly is a Divine Spirit of some mountain or river….”
Young-pa, who had been staring at the floor, raised his head.
“By the way, ‘that person’? Since when have you been so polite to Biryoo?”
“Eeeeh? Have you forgotten that I am a lesser dragon who is naturally polite to all ten thousand people? Besides, you know well that I don’t like that un-un-unprincipled fel-fel-fellow….”
“Why aren’t you answering, earthworm? I asked if there was anything suspicious about Biryoo.”
Lee Shim put all his effort into making his eyes look sincere.
“I looked over Biryoo from start to finish as you requested, Brother, but there was nothing different from usual. He struggled to kill the eight serpents, but fortunately, they weren’t strong, so he barely managed the exorcism. While Biryoo’s skills are quite useful, they are nothing compared to yours. Besides, isn’t that even thanks to the necklace that amplifies power?”
“I thought so too.”
As Young-pa fell silent, Lee Shim’s heart pounded with anxiety. However, there was no sign of suspicion on Young-pa’s face.
“You would have no reason to tell a lie.”
“Of course, of course! Am I not your loyal lackey, Brother!”
Lee Shim breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking he should change the subject quickly, he brought up a curiosity that had not left his mind for several days.
“What happened to Baemttong, Brother?”
“The child who played foolishly with you has disappeared. Forget that memory.”
“I thought so…. The young master kept saying strange things… just in case….”
Although they hadn’t traveled together for long, Lee Shim had grown fond of the child. Thinking that the little one had suffered all their life only to die in a terrible state made him feel pity.
“Still, it’s a relief that he at least got to eat his fill on the way… I suppose….”
“Wipe your tears. You look pathetic.”
“Hic, that little thing… what did he do wrong…. Please, tell me he didn’t die horribly, Brother….”
“He didn’t die. That child was the Southern Vermilion Bird who had lost their power. They simply returned to their original form.”
“T-that was true!”
Lee Shim was so surprised that his tears and snot vanished instantly.
Thinking back now, Baemttong was a child with strange aspects. Lee Shim recalled the forest fire he saw when he first met Baemttong and the child’s monstrous appetite. Still, the Southern Vermilion Bird!
“Then did you know from the beginning and bring him along, Brother?”
“I wasn’t certain. I only guessed after seeing the child’s body. Those wounds were not at a level a human could endure.”
“Baemttong! Oh, my baby…. I’m so glad you didn’t die!”
Young-pa curled up one corner of his mouth.
“I would love to see you call Yeon Mu-geum that.”
“Then can we meet our Baemttong again?”
“The moment you utter that name, you will turn into a pile of ash.”
Lee Shim was very confused, but he felt at ease just knowing that Baemttong had not died.
Silence lingered for a while. Looking at the man before him, Lee Shim finally recalled the ancient hero said to have startled the heavens and shaken the earth. The hypothesis he had once laughed off as nonsense now seemed plausible.
“Brother, may I ask you one thing?”
“What?”
“Among the things Master Neungui babbled, there was a mention that you were a human hero of the past. Could it be that….”
Before he even heard Young-pa’s answer, Lee Shim realized the truth.
“T-then… the one who split Manisan while courting Black Tortoise and White Tiger was actually—!”
Young-pa’s expression turned fierce, and he flipped the dining table. Bowls and plates flew past Lee Shim’s ears. If Lee Shim hadn’t instinctively ducked, his face would have been flattened.
“Who the hell babbled such a thing!”
“I-I-I didn’t make it up… many people….”
Lee Shim pressed himself flat against the ground to avoid his wrath.
“Fuck, courting! Haha, hahahaha!”
Young-pa laughed so loudly the whole house seemed to shake. Lee Shim watched anxiously as his fingertips crushed and dug into the floor.
“I’ve never heard such a half-witted story! Besides, it wasn’t those bastards who split Manisan, it was me.”
As if his anger hadn’t subsided, he dug up the ondol stones beneath the floor and threw them against the wall, and Lee Shim moved his head this way and that to avoid the debris.
“You… split a mountain, Brother?”
“I aimed a final strike, squeezing out all my spiritual energy, at Black Tortoise, but I failed, and only the innocent mountain ended up like that.”
Young-pa shouted at the top of his lungs that he should have killed Ji Seo-gu back then.
Lee Shim shuddered while lying prone, goosebumps covering his entire body. In other words, the crude man before his eyes was the divine realm that had swept through the world three hundred years ago.
‘Perhaps… if it’s this man, he might truly be able to take revenge on Black Tortoise.’
He had been dragged along by Young-pa against his will, but as it turned out, he was a heavyweight worth aligning with. Choosing Biryoo when Dae Mang and Biryoo faced off had also been a brilliant decision in the end; Lee Shim wondered if he had some divine power for unconsciously choosing the best option.
Leaving Young-pa to vent his rage at the air, the man eventually calmed himself down.
“That’s enough storytelling for now. Get out.”
“Yes, sir.”
After Lee Shim left, Wudam visited this time. He repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Young-pa. He promised that Young-pa, Biryoo, and Lee Shim could live in this house for the rest of their lives and that he would provide whatever support he could.
“Master Young-pa is the benefactor of my life. I will repay this debt until the day I die.”
He performed a deep bow to Young-pa, as if to a parent, and took something out from his robe.
“I have memories from when my body was taken over by the head of the training center. In the treasure vault, you showed interest in this, leaving aside the valuable treasures.”
Young-pa stared blankly at the fan Wudam politely offered. His hand trembled slightly as he took it and unfolded it.
‘I thought it felt familiar.’
The white folding fan belonged to none other than Yeongparang. He used to carry this fan in his sleeve. He would write complex spells in layers on the surface and the bamboo slats, then touch them to perform sorcery. He hunted monsters to steal their power, and with that power, he raised winds, collapsed mountains, and stopped waterfalls.
Three hundred years had passed since then. Over time, the densely written characters had faded, and the bamboo slats had crumbled. Although it could no longer function, the white folding fan was evidence of those days.
“This fan was a prized possession of Elder Wubaek, the first clan head of Pacheondang. However, there was a fact the serpents did not know, Master.”
Wudam added with a smile.
“I heard from my grandfather that the fan originally belonged to his close friend, Yeongparang. Isn’t it exquisite that you share the same name?”
Instead of answering, Young-pa traced the curved ribs with his fingertips.
“I heard Elder Wubaek founded Pacheondang out of the sorrow of losing his friend. It seems he used the character ‘Pa’ in the clan name to commemorate Yeongparang.”
“The name of that clan was originally Salcheondang—the Kill-the-Heavens Party.”
“Pardon?”
“It meant the intention to kill the deities.”
“Now that you mention it, I think I’ve heard such a story somewhere.”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
Young-pa recalled memories from the distant past.
It was an era of chaos. Every village where humans lived suffered from serpents. Children were snatched away overnight, and men and women were slaughtered. It was frequent for entire villages to be massacred.
Those with the power to resist joined forces to form groups. They took in the powerless and protected them fiercely. Their influence grew as they practiced sorcery and hunted monsters.
Yeongparang believed that merely defending was not enough. He defined the cause of the problem as the existence of the deities. Black Tortoise, who sent subordinates to plunder humans; White Tiger, who did not correct the order of the mortal realm; and Vermilion Bird and Azure Dragon, who stood by while humans suffered. It was only natural that he reached the conclusion to eradicate the four symbols.
‘Come to think of it, it’s become much easier to live than before.’
Young-pa gave a bitter smile.
He didn’t know what had happened while he was trapped underground, but the villages he had seen recently were peaceful. The dream of achieving safety and freedom for humans. Yeongparang’s will had been broken and frustrated during his lifetime, but it seemed his wish had been fulfilled after his death.
Above all, the person sitting before Young-pa was evidence that the world Salcheondang had envisioned—a world where children could be raised without worry—had arrived.
‘Did he say he was Wubaek’s thirteenth-generation descendant?’
Young-pa looked at Wudam closely once more. The young man with a slender body and a kind face had nothing in common with his ancestor, who was said to be like a bear.
“You don’t resemble Wubaek.”
Young-pa realized he had made a mistake by blurting it out unconsciously.
“I mean… I think I heard somewhere that the man had a grand presence.”
Fortunately, Wudam did not look at Young-pa with suspicion. Instead, he smiled and said.
“I am his descendant, but not by blood.”
“What do you mean?”
“Elder Wubaek neither married nor left children. Instead, he raised orphans as his own and gave them his surname. That is why there are so many Wus in this area.”
Young-pa nodded. He vaguely understood why Wubaek had lived such a life.
“Whether blood is mixed or not, you are his descendant. Wubaek would be proud to see you.”
The conversation finally came to an end. Young-pa folded the fan and put it in his robe.
“I will take this folding fan.”
“It would be an honor if you would accept it.”
Wudam bowed his head with a bright smile. As he was about to leave after greeting him, Young-pa stopped him.
“I have two requests.”
“What are they? I will grant anything.”
“First, I need some travel funds to go on a short excursion.”
“I will prepare plenty so that you may travel comfortably, Master.”
Young-pa averted his gaze from Wudam, whose eyes were sparkling. Then he muttered lowly.
“Second… in Amak, Geum-dongi’s sick mother and siblings are living. Ensure they live without want for the rest of their lives.”
Wudam took out Geum-dongi’s belt from his robe with a sad expression.
“I will gladly do so and deliver the keepsake as well.”
Left alone after he departed, Young-pa sank into thought.
Yeongparang may have been a noble hero, but it was difficult to say that Young-pa, who had been split and stripped of half, was the same person. It was because Black Tortoise had taken his noble character. What he had left for Young-pa instead was anger.