"What will you do now?"
Night had fallen. Jo Yeon lit a fire in the cave and asked her.
In response to Jo Yeon's question, Ha-eun seemed to ponder for a moment before replying.
"My goal...was to avenge my master. My master told me to do whatever I wanted once my revenge was over...but my heart feels complicated"
"What's there to feel complicated about? Just do what you want."
"I want to follow my master's path. But at the same time...I don't want to follow it."
"What do you mean by that?"
At Jo Yeon's question, Wol Ha-eun touched her mask.
"I...was born with a disability. Though now, after undergoing a complete transformation, I've separated my fingers, I was born with my ring and pinky fingers on my right hand fused together. On top of that, after suffering from a plague, I lost my parents and was left scarred with pockmarks all over my face...since I was young, everyone called me a beggar woman and spat on me, keeping their distance."
Twitch!Jo Yeon unintentionally flinched at her story.
"Because of my ugly appearance, everyone despised me, and just looking at someone would make them claim I'd pass on curses and plagues, so they wouldn't even let me look at them property. I was even threatened that they'd sew my eyes shut. But when I was twelve, my master came to our village, and he cleared out the heretical sects that were extorting the villagers and trafficking drugs."
Crackle...
Jo Yeon listened quietly as she spoke.
"Everyone would scream in disgust and yell if they met my gaze. But my master, instead, took me as a disciple simply because I kept staring at the tip of his spear. He didn't discriminate against me for my appearance or my disability and treated me the same as the other disciples he met during his heroic deeds."
Ha-eun continued to fiddle with her mask.
"He was a righteous man. But that righteousness made him the target of jealousy from other sects...eventually, those who called themselves cultivators, accepting bribes from the sects, began to...burn my master's clan to the ground."
Shudder...
Her fingertips trembled.
"The clan was set on fire, and my master, after being ambushed by the cultivators, had his dantian destroyed, becoming a cripple. The cultivators mocked him and threw master's crippled body into the midst of the very people who envied him before disappearing..."
"..."
Crunch...
Jo Yeon clenched his teeth. As a cultivator himself, he knew all too well which cultivator faction had assaulted Wol Clan.
The Jo Clan!
It was his very own clan that had ruthlessly trampled on his friend's life!
"I rushed in and swept aside the other martial artists, carrying my master on my back while escaping. It was in that process that I got scars on my face and why I now wear a mask, but...I have no regrets. I saved my master. After that, I nursed him as he hovered between life and death, and whenever he regained consciousness, he taught me martial arts. I swore vengeance. I vowed to eliminate every vile target of my revenge with my own hands."
Jo Yeon ran his hands over his face.
"But my master, in his final moments, told me this, 'I hope that you don't end up like me'...that's why I want to do heroic deeds righteously like my master, but at the same time, I don't want to become like him as I must honor the wish of my master who hoped for me not to up like him. What...should I do?"
"...First, I must apologize to you."
Jo Yeon stood and bowed his head toward Wol Ha-eun.
"Your master. The cultivators who crippled Wol Bi's martial arts...shamefully, they were members of my clan."
The truth spilled from his mouth.
The truths of the cultivation world.
And the circumstances that led the Jo Clan to become involved in the matter...
"I...will apologize on behalf of my shameful clan. No, no...I give you my apologies."
"..."
Ha-eun looked at Jo Yeon with a complex gaze.
For a while, silence lingered between the two.
Under the dark night sky, inside the cave where the bonfire burned.
In that moment, Ha-eun hit Jo Yeon.
At first, she hit him with controlled emotions, but gradually, the blows intensified to the point where Jo Yeon's face began to bleed.
After hitting Jo Yeon for some time, Ha-eun eventually knelt before him, sobbing uncontrollably.
Jo Yeon gently embraced her, as if trying to comfort her, and Wol Ha-eun clung to him tightly and wept aloud.
The hunchedback man and the disfigured woman cried by the fire, remembering the martial artist who had connected them, their tears flowing through the night.
The next day arrived.
"I apologize about last night."
"No, it is I who should apologize for not paying more attention sooner."
"...No. It was my fault for not controlling my emotions...Senior must have been grieving too, yet I couldn't even manage my own feelings..."
She stopped mid-sentence and looked at Jo Yeon for a moment.
"What will you do now, Senior?"
"I...well, I think I'll continue to roam the martial world."
"In that case...I will follow Senior. I will stay by your side and protect you. It is also my way of atoning for what happened yesterday."
"Hmm, you're going to protect me?"
Jo Yeon looked at her with amused eyes.
Then, suddenly, he playfully asked her a question.
"In that case, how about this? Why not become my disciple? From what I read in the records, Five Energies Converging to the Origin can give one the same Five Elements Spiritual Root as us cultivators. You can train in cultivation methods, and I could teach you."
The same question he had once asked Wol Bi!
At his words, she hesitated for a moment.
Jo Yeon thought to himself.
How would she respond?
After some contemplation, Ha-eun shook her head.
"I appreciate the offer, but I decline. I have only one master. Besides, I still prefer martial arts."
"Hahahahaha!"
Jo Yeon laughed in satisfaction at her answer similar to Wol Bi's.
"Good, I apologize. Do as you wish. I will continue to wander the martial world, and you can follow along, doing whatever you like."
"Understood. I will follow Senior from now on, and I will do heroic deeds as my master did, within my limits. If I follow Senior, I won't meet the same end as my master, so I will also be fulfilling my master's final wish."
"Do as you please. Just know, as a cultivator, I will not stay long in mortal villages. I'll be spending more time in the rivers and fields than you might expect. I'll often be dealing more with monsters and demon spirits rather than heretical sects or bandits threatening the people. After all, I've recently crushed three large sects on my own accord. I'll need to send the Inner Core of demon beasts to the clan to accumulate merits...will you be alright with that?"
"I'm fine with it."
"Then, come along."
And so, the two began their journey.
A cultivator and a martial artist who completed their revenge roamed every corner of the land.
Byeokra, Yanguo, Shengzi...
As they traveled from place to place, they eliminated monsters that harmed humans.
Jiangshi, Fox Demon (매구), Man-Eating Ghost, Black Snake, White Bone Ghost, a maddened Sea Dragon, and others.
[TL/N: 매구, or Mae Gu is a Korean Fox Demon. It is said when a fox lives for a thousand years, it becomes a Mae Gu.]
The two of them roamed far and wide, ridding the world of evil beings.
Kung!
Ha-eun withdrew her spear from the head of a maddened sea dragon, which had been spewing lightning from its entire body.
"Phew, it's strong."
"Are you alright?"
Jo Yeon approached her and took out some healing pills.
Around five years.
After traveling together for several years, eliminating monsters and demons, the two had grown quite close.
From the relationship of a master's friend and his disciple...
They grew closer.
As a cultivator and a martial artist.
As one person to another.
As comrades.
Jo Yeon applied a healing talisman to Ha-eun's wound.
"Hmm, the wound is pretty deep. The healing talisman won't be enough. We've also run out of healing pills...let's spend the night in a nearby village and make some more."
"Understood. Thank you."
Looking at Jo Yeon drawing closer, Ha-eun slightly tilted her head back.
For some reason, the nape of her neck was slightly flushed.
The two comrades arrived at a nearby village, riding together on a flying magic artifact.
"H-Heok! You must be Immortals! Welcome to Seoak Village!"
"Seoak Village, what a nice name. We seek lodging for the night, do you have room for the two of us?"
"Oh, yes! I will gladly host both Immortals at my home. But...may I ask a favor from the Immortals?"
At that, Jo Yeon and Wol Ha-eun exchanged glances, then spoke to the village chief.
"Tell us your request."
"Ah...! In the mountain behind our village, there lives a giant Black Snake that devours people. The number of people who have already entered that Black Snake's stomach is already well into the dozens...I beg thee Immortals to capture that Black Snake!"
At the village chief's request, the two immediately nodded.
"Very well. We'll go take care of it right now."
"Agreed, but first, let's rest for the night to recover our strength, and then we'll deal with it."
The two had slightly different opinions.
Wol Ha-eun spoke.
"Shouldn't we take care of the snake demon spirit even a day sooner so the villagers can feel more at ease?"
Jo Yeon shook his head.
"You're not fully recovered yet. It's safer to treat yourself first before confronting it."
"I'm fine, this kind of injury...I can endure a little longer. Based on the testimony, it's a demon beast barely at the Qi Building stage. We can catch it quickly."
"Hmm..."
Jo Yeon stared at her for a moment, reading the will in her eyes, and nodded.
"If that's your will..."
With that, the two immediately headed to the mountain behind Seoak Village to subdue the snake demon beast.
Kugugugugu!
The black snake demon charged at them with fierce eyes.
Ha-eun stepped on the air to evade the snake's attack, targeting the gaps between its scales with her spear, tearing into its body with Gang Qi.
Jo Yeon floated the magic artifacts he created himself, pressuring the snake demon.
It's when everything was progressing smoothly as the two fought the snake.
Kiyaaaak!
The snake demon swung its tail like a whip.
The tail broke the sound barrier in an instant and slashed deeply into Ha-eun's wound.
"Kughk!"
Ha-eun groaned in pain, and in that brief moment, the snake body slammed into her direction.
Kwaaaang!
She quickly enveloped herself in Protective Gang Qi to minimize the impact, but her mask was shattered in the process.
"Ugh...!"
Startled by the loss of her mask, Ha-eun glanced at Jo Yeon. Her face flushed red with embarrassment.
At that moment, the Black Snake rushed toward her again, but Jo Yeon swiftly stepped in between them.
"Ha!"
Huarurururu!
With a furious expression, Jo Yeon unleashed flames directly into the snake's mouth.
The snake's vitality quickly drained.
However, all of a sudden,
The snake lunged at Jo Yeon as it was losing consciousness.
Kwaak!
The snake's fangs grazed Jo Yeon's skin.
His skin tore, and the venom began to spread inside him, twisting his face in pain.
Panicking, Ha-eun thrust her spear, finally piercing a hole through the snake's face and causing it to fall into slumber.
Wol Ha-eun quickly picked up Jo Yeon and stepped in the air to rush back to Seoak Village with her face pale.
"N-No! You can't die!"
She was normally someone who couldn't even more properly without her mask, but at this moment, she didn't even pay it any heed and ran with all her might.
Upon reaching the village, she brought the village's only doctor, a scholar from the local bookstore, to treat Jo Yeon.
She arrived at the village and immediately brought the village's only healer, a scholar from the village bookshop, to treat Jo Yeon.
The bookstore scholar treated Jo Yeon.
Ha-eun anxiously gritted her teeth, waiting outside until the treatment was finished.
The bookshop scholar's daughter wandered around Ha-eun with a fairy tale book, occasionally glancing at the room where Jo Yeon was being treated. However, neither of them said anything to each other.
Surprisingly, the treatment was done quickly.
Since the Black Snake frequently spread venom, the village always had antidotes on hand.
"Hmhm. You didn't need to rush here so quickly. With a Qi Building cultivator's innate detoxification abilities, it would have healed on its own. For something like this..."
"Ah...! That's a relief."
Wol Ha-eun smiled brightly, and Jo Yeon stared blankly at her face for a moment.
Noticing his gaze, she flinched and quickly covered her face.
"Ah, ah...that, my bare...face. I'd appreciate it if you didn't look at it."
"Hm..."
She fumbled in a flustered manner, then hurried over to a nearby woman and borrowed a white cloth to cover her face.
Afterward, as if trying to move past the embarrassing situation, she quickly changed the subject.
"Th-That aside...your body is quite weak. When the snake made its final attack, you could've avoided it easily if you knew even basic martial arts."
"Well...that's true, but as a cultivator, mixing internal energy with spiritual power will actually slow down my progress in cultivation."
"You can at least learn some external method that don't use internal energy and basic movements, can't you? I'll teach you."
Seemingly pleased with the new idea that just came to her, she led Jo Yeon to the center of the village.
Ha-eun held her short spear in both hands, and Jo Yeon was handed a suitable fan borrowed from elderly passerbys.
"Even if you don't use weapons in combat, just learning how to move your body properly will help a lot. Try following me."
"Hmm, alright."
As the sun began to set,
The man and woman practiced martial arts that looked like a dance.
Each time Ha-eun's spear moved, Jo Yeon's fan followed.
Jo Yeon mimicked Ha-eun's movements exactly.
Ha-eun spun three times to the right, and Jo Yeon followed, spinning three times as well.
The tip of Jo Yeon's fan and the tip of Wol Ha-eun's spear brushed against each other three times.
Ha-eun looked at Jo Yeon and said,
"You're following along well. Next, I'll teach you footwork and a technique that lets you close in on your opponent. Like this..."
For a while in the center of the village, the two unfolded martial arts that resembled a dance.
As the sun gradually set, more onlookers gathered.
Through Wol Bi and perfected by Wol Ha-eun, the Paired Wings Spear was quite beautiful.
The sight of the man and woman moving in sync with their martial arts was pleasing to watch, regardless of the Heavenly Penalties they both carried.
"Alright, let's try again from the beginning. But this time, Senior, please attack me intermittently."
Once again, their martial moves unfolded.
Jo Yeon seemed to dance lively, following her.
Then, at a sudden moment,
Taat!
He moved swiftly, reaching for Ha-eun's face.
"Ah...!"
Ha-eun tried to dodge, but for an instant, Jo Yeon's intent twisted into an unexpected trajectory, making it unable for her to evade.
And in that instant, Jo Yeon's hand removed the cloth covering Ha-eun's face.
"Ah, no..."
Ha-eun was flustered, but Jo Yeon tossed the cloth aside and laughed.
"I want to see your face."
Blushing furiously, Ha-eun muttered in a voice barely above a whisper.
"No...you mustn't. It's too...ugly. It's not something worthy of being seen by you."
"It's fine."
Jo Yeon smiled warmly as he spoke.
"You're beautiful. That face as well..."
His voice was quiet, but it was clearly heard in the village center.
The villagers erupted into cheers and applause.
But the man and woman, both blushing, only looked at each other.
Ha-eun shed tears.
The expressions of the hunchbacked man and the disfigured woman both changed to a smiling face and a crying face.
Ha-eun cried.
Yet, even as she cried, she didn't stop performing the Paired Wings Spear's martial moves with Jo Yeon.
With her face covered in tears, Ha-eun spoke to Jo Yeon,
"...Alright. Then...shall us two imperfect people continue dancing together?"
"I told you, you're beautiful."
The two continued to dance, and finally, just as the sun had completely set and the moon was rising, their dance came to an end.
The village chief of Seoak Village approached the two immortals who had saved their village, bowing deeply as he spoke.
"Thank you for saving our village, Sir Immortal, Lady Immortal...Thank you so much for subduing the Black Snake. To make sure today's grace is remembered for times to come, we will have the dance the two Immortals have shown us as a tradition of our village, passed down to future generations. The dance the Immortals displayed will become our village's, no, the entire region's pride and tradition! Once again...thank you!"
The two of them glanced at each other and smiled bashfully at the village chief's words.
Jo Yeon smiled brightly and said,
"If you're going to pass it down, make sure to put in the effort so it lasts not just a thousand years...but tens of thousands of years into the future!"
"We will certainly do so. The two Immortals will be able to see our village's tradition even a thousand years from now!"
After finishing his words, the village chief swallowed nervously and then spoke in a more suggestive tone.
"Ah...and if you'd like, my house will be entirely vacated for the night."
At that, both Jo Yeon and Wol Ha-eun blushed deeply and burst into hearty laughter.
And so, on that day, the two connections became one.