Chapter 26 - Act 4. The Bamboo Tube Beauty (7)

"If you're done resting, let's get moving."

The two rose to their feet. It was already early evening, but Cultivators needed only about two watches of sleep a day. With their search limited to a week, they needed to make the most of their time.

Yise decided to search the mountains, marking each peak on a hastily procured map of the area. They would begin with the hazes of spiritual energy visible to his spirit sight, concentrating on those locations first. Grotto-heavens were more likely to form where spiritual energy flowed abundantly.

He considered splitting up to search, but soon changed his mind. If an independent Cultivator they encountered turned hostile, having an advantage in numbers might at least make their opponent hesitate before attacking.

* * *

And so the fourth day of their search arrived. In the mornings, they visited the Daemudo outpost to review the information Hong Sadeuk had gathered and get some sleep. After a brief rest of roughly two watches to recover their strength, they searched mountains ever farther afield. That was their entire routine.

It was not physically taxing. The problem was the lost cultivation time. Unable to train properly, Yise grew restless, tormented by the waste of time. Indifferent to his frustration, time marched on, and the fourth day ended with nothing to show for it.

"We've come quite a way. Going back and forth would waste more time now. Let's camp out for the remaining few days and search more thoroughly. The spiritual energy feels denser throughout this area."

They had grown accustomed to traveling together. While Yise prepared their sleeping arrangements, Seol Ryeong lit a fire and readied some fasting rations for a simple meal.

"Sure. Ughhh. Somehow I feel we're going to spend the whole week wearing ourselves out for nothing..."

"Then we'll have to accept that as her fate."

"Oh! You're starting to sound like a proper Daoist."

Seol Ryeong chuckled. These past few days together seemed to have brought them considerably closer.

After easing his hunger with the fasting rations, Yise sat cross-legged. Seol Ryeong watched him quietly. From what she had seen over the past few days, he could only be described as a cultivation fanatic. Apart from eating, sleeping, and relieving himself, he never wasted a single moment. Whenever he had even a little time to spare, he invariably began cultivating to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Her spirit sight could already detect a substantial increase in his spiritual energy compared with before they left Daemudo. In many ways, her fellow novice was someone worth emulating.

After he had spent some time wholly absorbed in cultivation, he opened his eyes, and Seol Ryeong spoke.

"Yise, are you enjoying life at Daemudo?"

"It's been too short to really call it a life there... but I'm reasonably satisfied. Though I don't like having no one to teach us."

"Right. That's true. Fending for ourselves is all well and good, but cultivation feels a little... like grasping at clouds."

"If a sect takes in disciples, shouldn't it assign them masters and establish proper master-disciple relationships? Having people who train together become fellow disciples under the same master would give them more of a sense of belonging and bring them closer. I don't understand why they don't."

"The higher-ups say resource allocation leaves them no choice but to make us compete... but the system itself probably has something to do with Daemudo's origins."

"Daemudo's origins?"

Yise tilted his head at her explanation.

"Daemudo originally formed when the sects operating in the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula united. A sort of overarching sect, you could say. The sects that our current Hall Masters belonged to—the Bright Moon Sect, the Heavenly Circuit Society, the Spirit Mountain Manor, and others—came together. Their core disciples preserve their own traditions under the name of the Eleven Inner Halls. As for the disciples who don't belong to those halls, they have no choice but to let them loose with minimal supervision. They need a replenishing supply, after all."

"Sounds like an organization that could split apart like a sheet of paper if things went wrong."

"Which is why you could say we're bound together more by contracts and bindings than by loyalty. I don't like it either. It feels so cold."

Seol Ryeong chattered away, sharing what she knew in an unbroken stream.

"It's nice how much you know. I suppose that comes from growing up in a distinguished family."

"... R-right. Thanks."

She was unaccustomed to such sudden, candid praise. She faltered briefly and averted her gaze.

"What's your family like?"

"The Seol family is..."

A wistful look crossed her face, as though she missed them, before she broke into a playful smile.

"I'll tell you when we're closer."

* * *

On the sixth day of the search, Hong Sadeuk finally brought them a meaningful lead.

"Someone at an herbal medicine shop in Green Forest Village, about fifty li northwest of South Mountain Village, reports seeing a man matching the description. This was about a fortnight ago. They say he resembled the portrait but looked to be in his fifties, so he seems very likely to be the independent Cultivator you're looking for."

Yise and Seol Ryeong exchanged glances. If he looked around fifty, then he was likely a Cultivator of mediocre or poor talent, as they had expected. Cultivators looked far younger than their actual age as their realms rose, and reaching Foundation Establishment brought a complete bodily transformation. As Seol Ryeong had predicted, he was probably stuck at the first minor threshold, unable to progress.

Of course, even so, his realm would be much higher than that of the two newcomers to the cultivation world. At least for now.

But one thing was certain. The gap between them and their unknown counterpart was small enough to feel within reach.

* * *

Green Forest Village was roughly twice the size of South Mountain Village. They headed straight for the herbal medicine shop, where the physician greeted them with a smile.

"I was told you would be coming, honored Daoists."

Hong Sadeuk set a bundle of silver coins before the elderly physician and invited them to ask whatever they wished. After checking the bundle, the physician's smile grew brighter still.

Yise again expressed his gratitude for all the help, material and otherwise.

"Thank you. Please keep a record of your expenses, and I'll repay you later."

"Haha. To Daemudo, worldly money is no more than stones lying in the street. Whatever I spend, the main mountain will reimburse, so please don't worry."

So he wasn't spending his own money. That was a relief. Yise resolved to repay this debt once he grew stronger, then addressed the physician.

"What was the man wearing?"

The physician seemed reluctant to divulge information about a patient, but a pointed glance from Hong Sadeuk soon had him readily recounting everything he remembered.

"Nothing particularly unusual, I believe. Fairly neat white clothing... loose Daoist robes like yours, if I recall correctly."

Loose-fitting clothing was typical of Cultivators. Naturally so, when they needed to hide all manner of ritual implements about their persons.

"What medicinal ingredients did he buy?"

"Let me see... Mostly mountain herbs, I believe. Fish mint, white atractylodes roots, yin-dispelling grass..."

They received a list of ingredients, but it was difficult to determine his purpose. A Cultivator would hardly be trying to bolster his health with ordinary tonics; most would be ingredients for pill refining... But pill refining was an immensely broad and varied discipline. Apparently, there were many attempts to make something even from ordinary people's medicinal herbs, which did not qualify as spiritual herbs.

"He hasn't given up cultivating yet."

"Strictly speaking, he's only lived half his lifespan. It's a lot to hope for, but some people do find fortuitous encounters in their later years."

Having experienced one fortuitous encounter already, he apparently continued to hold out hope.

"Do you happen to know which direction he went after leaving?"

"I'm afraid I don't..."

"I see. Oh, can your shop obtain midwinter grass?"

"Midwinter grass? Isn't that poisonous?"

The physician stared at Yise in surprise.

"Don't answer a question with a question. Just say whether you can obtain it."

The physician flinched at Hong Sadeuk's interruption and nodded.

"How much would you need...?"

Yise held up all ten fingers.

"At least ten roots."

"I can provide some right away, but I'll need to ask the nearby shops for the rest. Shall I try...?"

"Please do."

Yise readily agreed, and Hong Sadeuk interjected once more.

"I'll give you people to help. Have it delivered within one watch."

"Yes, of course."

He was a little heavy-handed. Yise gave Hong Sadeuk an acknowledging glance, then asked,

"May I also use your brazier and cauldron?"

The physician's eyes darted about as he gauged Hong Sadeuk's reaction. Then he nodded, looking on the verge of tears.

"Shall we wait at the tavern across the road until the ingredients arrive? Let's get something to eat."

"Certainly, Cultivator Yise."

Unlike Hong Sadeuk, who agreed readily, Seol Ryeong sounded appalled.

"You're eating again?"

"We're not going there to eat again. We're going to gather information. Kim Siwon might have stopped by, and even if he didn't, the tavern doors are always open. Someone might be able to tell us which direction he went."

Of course, he would eat too. Yise saw no need to add that.

As soon as they left the medicine shop, Hong Sadeuk approached Yise and spoke in a very cautious tone.

"Cultivator Yise. It would be best not to show ordinary people too much respect. Personally, I'm simply grateful to receive such consideration, but you must uphold the dignity of Daemudo and its disciples to keep them from entertaining foolish notions."

"Thank you for the advice."

"You'll grow accustomed to it in time. One high-ranking Cultivator once said that the higher your realm rises, the more ordinary people look like insects endlessly leaking impure energy."

Hong Sadeuk laughed heartily and entered the tavern opposite the medicine shop.

After eating his fill, Yise showed the tavern keeper the independent Cultivator's portrait. She did not remember his face, but she did recall a man wearing white robes. Not many people went about dressed that way, she explained, so he had stuck in her memory.

"Which direction did he go?"

"Let me think. Was it this way? No, that way. He definitely went that way."

She pointed northwest. Several peaks rose in that direction. The terrain was rugged, but if they began their search deep in the mountains, they should find him soon enough.

Yise thanked her, took a talisman from Seol Ryeong's ritual-tool pouch, and offered it as a token of his gratitude.

"This is a talisman to ward off misfortune."

"This damned Daoist is earning good karma with someone else's talismans..."

He really did learn useless things far too quickly, Seol Ryeong grumbled.