The journey with Pyeonjung was immensely enjoyable.

On the carriage he skillfully drove, I practiced Cheonma Hoshingong, and we stopped by a tasty inn to eat. Whenever we saw a scenic spot like on the way here, we’d halt the carriage and admire it together. We saw a rainbow rising beyond a waterfall, and over a drink, I listened to stories about the life of a coachman.

When we finally arrived at Maga Village, I paid him even for the return fare.

“There are many fierce demonic martial artists around here, so it’s dangerous to carry passengers back. This money isn’t for you but to buy at least a set of clothes for the kids, so don’t disregard my sincerity.”

Pyeonjung’s face showed he had so much to say, but he left it at that one sentence.

“I will look forward to the day I get to serve you again.”

I doubt I will ever see this man again, but who knows how fate works. Maybe someday I’ll ride in Pyeonjung’s carriage again when his hair has turned white.

“Travel safely.”

After sending Pyeonjung off, I entered Maga Village.

“Ah, this is good! This smell!”

The distinct scent of Maga Village greeted me. I finally felt like I had returned home.

“Little Pill Master!”

The one who ran over to me from that direction was Jo Chunbae of the Pungnyu Tavern. He ran so eagerly that I worried he might fall.

“Owner, how have you been?”

“When did you return?”

“I just arrived. Seeing you first makes me think today’s luck is very good.”

“Oh, don’t say such things! It’s nothing.”

He waved his hands dismissively but wore a broad smile. Seeing Jo Chunbae made my return feel truly real.

He was on his way to the tavern, pushing a cart loaded with ingredients.

“So you buy the ingredients yourself.”

“Of course. I pick every fresh ingredient myself. Come, let’s go.”

As Jo Chunbae tried to push the cart, I sat him down on it.

“Let’s ride together.”

I sat side by side with Jo Chunbae at the front of the cart.

Blinking, he asked, “If both of us sit, then who will push the cart?”

“It’s pulled by heart.”

Thinking I was joking, Jo Chunbae laughed.

“I’ll push for you. Try riding my cart for the first time!”

Just as he was about to get off, the cart started moving on its own.

“Oh! It moves by itself!”

Of course, I was using the Huh Gongseop-mul technique to move the cart. Jo Chunbae was amazed and kept exclaiming.

“I’ve been in the tavern business since childhood and experienced everything, but this is a first.”

“Honestly, it’s my first time, too.”

“Should such precious internal energy be used for something like this?”

“That precious energy always ends up being used only on rubbish. This is actually the most valuable use so far.”

Jo Chunbae looked at me and said, “If I were a martial artist, I would definitely serve the Little Pill Master.”

“I don’t want that.”

I smiled at Jo Chunbae, who tensed as if worried I’d misspeak.

“Then there’d be no Pungnyu Tavern, right? Even if you’re not the owner, there are many underlings.”

A deep smile spread across Jo Chunbae’s lips.

Thus, we arrived at Pungnyu Tavern.

I went up to the second-floor seat where I always sat to drink.

“Is this still left empty?”

“Yes, it’s reserved for the Little Pill Master and special guests.”

“Isn’t the owner losing out this way?”

“I’ve struggled all my life not to lose such losses. Now I have to enjoy things like this too.”

Jo Chunbae looked contentedly at the signatures of martial sect masters engraved on the wall.

I looked at the place with him and was surprised.

“Father left one too!”

“He came about a month after the Little Pill Master left the sect.”

“He came alone?”

“Yes, he came twice, both times alone.”

I pictured Father sitting alone here drinking. Leaving a signature here surely wasn’t an easy thing. How could I dislike him? Truly, Father is Father.

“Would you like a drink?”

“I have to pay respects to Father first. I’ll drop by later.”

“Then I’ll see you later.”

My steps quickened as I left Pungnyu Tavern. Seeing Father’s signature made me miss him even more.

At the gate of Cheonma Hall, Jeokyeon, the head of the guards, waited.

It seemed news of my return had already spread.

He quickly scanned me from head to toe, checking for injuries.

“I’m glad you returned safely.”

Though he must have been angry I went alone to the Gangseo Branch, his eyes showed relief at my safe return.

“You have to get used to this. The road ahead is long.”

“No matter what, it’s hard to get used to.”

That was true. If I died, they would bear all responsibility.

I asked Jeokyeon as he turned to leave.

“How are your eyes?”

“They’re fine.”

“Let me see.”

He obediently took off his blindfold without fuss. Looking at the redness in his eyes, it seemed his training had progressed in the meantime.

“If you get past this hurdle, you’ll enter a stage where the pain lessens.”

I placed my palm over Jeokyeon’s eyes and gently infused internal energy.

“I know best when the Little Pill Master’s martial arts realm changes.”

“Does it feel different?”

“Yes, it’s different from the last time you examined.”

His eyes were subtly sensing changes even I could not feel.

“When do you find time to train?”

“Though I look like I’m slacking, I’m surprisingly diligent. Even riding here, I trained Cheonma Hoshingong on the carriage.”

Though he said that, I doubted the training on the carriage alone caused the changes. Maybe it was when we watched the sunset with Pyeonjung. Maybe when I placed the coin in Juyang’s hand. Maybe when I listened to Branch Master Ho-gyeong’s troubles.

I still believe this.

Only when life changes, when a person changes, does martial arts change.

Finally, the father I wanted to see sat far away.

Striding the path of blood, I walked to the foot of the Grand Master’s platform. Father guarded the main sect unchanged.

“I'm back. Have you been well?”

I bowed to Father in respect.

Whenever I leave and return, I always visit Father first. It’s happened many times already, and though the greeting is the same, each time the feeling and my heart toward him differ. The more time passes, the more glad and fond I become.

“You always come back with blood on your hands.”

In Honam, in Gangseo. There were no excuses.

“That’s because I take after you.”

A sneer flickered on Father’s lips. That sneer, long unseen, was so welcome.

Father has changed a lot too. From start to finish, he watched from the Grand Master’s platform.

“Let’s go for a walk.”

These days, he likes walking with me.

I left Cheonma Hall following Father. We walked the winding path through the back garden.

“I met a skilled coachman and found many excellent inns. There were hidden restaurants I never expected. I’ll take you to all of them later.”

I didn’t speak of the dead in my hand. He would have learned about everything through Tongcheongak anyway. What I wanted to tell Father was this.

Where the scenic spots were, where the nice tarugas could be found. How people live. Just as Father came from the Grand Master’s platform to this garden, I wanted us to go out together to the Central Plains.

“Do you know how much interest is being charged in Yeomwangchae these days? They’re crazy.”

I told him about Yeomwangchae and the talks I had with the Demon Sword Corps martial artists.

“If you send gifts to the Demon Sword Corps directly, their morale will rise a lot.”

“I see.”

When Father answered simply, I couldn’t help but joke.

“The discrimination is too much.”

“What discrimination?”

“You’re so different as the Scholar and as the Little Pill Master.”

“You should be different. So you know how precious your position is. Why? Should I treat you like before?”

“Back when your handsome face almost got bruised by the style of Father? No thanks!”

I liked moving toward a new relationship with Father.

Father paused, looking toward Daechunsan Mountain in the distance.

And what I wanted most to say was this.

“Next time, go on an outing with me.”

“When I move, the martial world trembles.”

“Then let it tremble. Stop guarding Cheonma Hall and now… go guard your own life, Father.”

I felt Father flinch at that.

I don’t wish for Father’s martial world expedition to become a war. I wish his expedition to be a joyful journey.

“I want to play with you, Father.”

Father silently stared at Daechunsan Mountain far away.

Yes, who wouldn’t want to go out? The burden of that position can only be known by sitting there.

“You have a daughter with Kwonma.”

“I was surprised too. Didn’t expect Master to make that decision.”

“You weren’t involved?”

“I like to meddle in everything, but not this time. It’s a parent-child matter; how could I dare interfere?”

“That was unexpected.”

Who else but Father would be surprised?

“You seem to live well alone in the world, but you were lonely. What about you? Would you like a daughter?”

To my surprise, Father nodded.

“If I disappear and a daughter is born?”

Father nodded even more firmly.

“That’s too much!”

I was happy to act silly before Father after a long time.

“Follow me.”

Father led me deep into the back garden of Cheonma Hall. Passing all the external defenses that deny intrusion, through secretly deployed formations, we finally saw the destination. It was my first time here, and I was startled by the sign.

Cheonma Boggo (Heavenly Demon Treasury).

Father had brought me to the Demon Sect’s treasure repository.

“Ah! I’ve never been here before.”

Following Father inside, countless weapons gleamed sharply, and medicinal elixirs and herbs gave off all sorts of alluring scents. Gems like Yamyongju and Pidokju sparkled endlessly.

As a martial artist, my eyes first landed on the weapons and elixirs.

Swords, sabers, spears, as well as axes, wheels, sickles, rulers, fans, brushes, needles… Every kind of divine weapon was displayed. Each would bring a storm of bloodshed when wielded in the martial world.

But that wasn’t all. The elixirs included no treatment of the thousand-year-old snow ginseng. Top-grade elixirs and herbs of the ten-thousand-year snow ginseng class were classified and stored according to their yin and yang properties.

There were also separately stored elixirs—eight in number.

“These here are elixirs to be given immediately to the demon warriors if war breaks out.”

Besides, there «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» were poisons and secret weapons for war. The secret weapons were forbidden golden dragon weapons, and the poisons were mass-casualty toxins capable of killing hundreds or thousands at once. Seeing the expensive intangible poisons stored by the bottle made my heart shudder. When war breaks out, these poisons will be delivered straight to the Poison King.

Is that all? One side held a pile of body armors. Though stacked, they looked like cheap martial robes, but each was a rare body armor hard to find in the martial world. These too would be distributed to demon warriors and organization leaders if war broke out.

Father was preparing for war thoroughly.

Father, I respect you deeply, but no war.

Father knows my feelings. Yet showing me this is his way of persuading me: this is the path you and I must take.

Then Father unexpectedly said,

“Choose one from these.”

Words I never expected followed.

“A gift from me to the Little Pill Master.”

Being an unexpected gift, I was even more moved.

Since becoming Little Pill Master, I’ve heard the title countless times, but now I truly felt like the real Little Pill Master.

“Can I really choose anything here?”

“When you become Cheonma, it will all be yours anyway. But for now, only one.”

Choosing one of these precious treasures made my heart pound. Which of these would help me the most?

I passed by the weapons and elixirs and walked to another place.

“Where are you going? There are no elixirs there.”

Father assumed I would pick one from the elixirs since the Black Demon Sword, the second-best sword after the Cheonma Sword, was there, so weapons weren’t needed.

“Somehow, I feel there’s something better over there.”

I continued looking at the various artifacts as I walked. There were cushions that replenish yin energy, censers that boost yang energy, mechanical dolls that perform martial arts, and dancing female statues. The mechanical doll’s martial art seemed peerless, and the dancing statues seemed to perform exquisite footwork.

But I kept passing by.

Though there were many precious, splendid, and strange things, none drew my heart.

Just as I was about to turn away, something caught my eye.

It was a palm-sized square lump of metal.

“What is this?”

“It’s called a Bigwe (Secret Chest).”

Since it’s called a chest, it should be a box, but no lid was visible anywhere.

“What is it used for?”

“I don’t know.”

I looked at Father, and he shook his head with a truly puzzled expression.

“It’s been passed down in the main sect for some time. No one has uncovered what it’s for or how to use it, only that it will open only for the destined one.”

“And you?”

Father nodded.

“To me, it was just a lump of metal.”

It opens only for the destined one.

Could this feeling drawing me now be that fate?

I wanted to choose this. More than anything else, this dull lump of metal attracted me.

Though I knew very well it might not be fate, still, among all these treasures, I wanted to pick this.

The hesitation didn’t last long.

“I will take this.”