Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Chapter 199

Kwak Yeon, seeing the Wuyi Sect’s mountain gate from afar, remembered when Hyeonhae Taoist had handed him a bundle of draft notes.

“The Sage left these with me to give you.”

He had not imagined that the Sage Taoist would leave him the draft notes he had scraped together so stubbornly.

He had not started well with the Sage, but their end was a warm bond.

Thanks to it, he had learned the lesson that any bond is what one makes of it.

‘What will the Sage say when he sees me the day I take orders?’

It might be that they would be awkward and look away for a while.

Kwak Yeon meant to begin by offering thanks first.

“Stop there!”

Before the gate, two Taoists in blue robes barred the way of Kwak Yeon and Chwi Dugae.

“Who are you, sirs?”

From their keen eyes, it was clear they were Taoists of the martial vein who had trained in the martial arts.

It was not usual for Taoists to wear swords while guarding a temple gate, so Kwak Yeon felt a slight foreboding.

Chwi Dugae, perhaps thinking the same, flicked a sidelong glance at Kwak Yeon and spoke toward the Wuyi Taoists.

“I am the man called Chwi Dugae, Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan.”

At the words Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan, the two Taoists’ eyes went round.

“Are you truly the illustrious Sub-Branch Master Chwi Dugae of the Beggar Clan?”

Though the Wuyi Sect could make itself heard in Fujian, in the Central Plains its footing was no more than that of a mid-sized border sect.

For that reason, a visit by a Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan—the foremost great house under heaven—could not but be astonishing to Wuyi Taoists.

Even so, there was no cause to react this strongly.

“Being a begging beggar, ‘illustrious’ does not suit me, but it’s true this man is Chwi Dugae.”

To their excessive reaction, Chwi Dugae put on a joking air, then pointed to Kwak Yeon and continued.

“The one traveling with me is a disciple of Wudang Mountain.”

The eyes of the two Wuyi Taoists grew twice as large as when he had said Sub-Branch Master.

“Gasp!”

Seeing that one of the Taoists even sucked in a startled breath, Chwi Dugae knit his brows slightly.

‘So these fellow Taoists look down on a beggar?’

Compared to the identity of Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan, even if he was from Wudang, he was but a Taoist.

Of course, if they had recognized the realm of the Dark Cavern Taoist, he could understand it. But the Dark Cavern Taoist had not yet introduced himself.

“I am Kwak Yeon, lay Taoist of Samryeong Palace of Wudang Mountain.”

When Kwak Yeon joined both hands in a clasped-fist salute, the two Taoists of the Wuyi Sect brought their palms together and greeted him.

“Taoist Kwak, please come in.”

“We were in fact waiting.”

“......?”

Kwak Yeon was taken aback at their words welcoming him.

So was Chwi Dugae. Only, he was a little satisfied to realize there was another reason the two Wuyi Taoists had shown an even bigger reaction when they heard “disciple of Wudang.”

‘So Wuyi has been waiting for someone from Wudang. Naturally not this Dark Cavern Taoist, but still.’

Naturally the question why arose, and the answer came at once.

‘Something has happened to that Wudang Taoist named Sage who was cultivating at Wuyi!’

Seeing Kwak Yeon’s darkened face, Chwi Dugae grew worried in turn.

“Taoist Kwak, let us bring you inside first. Ah, we will bring in the Sub-Branch Master as well.”

One Wuyi Taoist went ahead of Kwak Yeon and Chwi Dugae through the gate.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

He led them to the guest hall and hurried away.

Left alone together in the guest hall, Chwi Dugae spoke obliquely to Kwak Yeon across the low table.

“Younger Brother Kwak, don’t be so uneasy. Surely nothing great could happen inside a temple.”

Kwak Yeon nodded.

“I think so as well.”

So he answered, but once foreboding had risen, it could not be held in check.

Sensing Kwak Yeon’s tangled mind, Chwi Dugae forced a joke.

“No matter how pressed one is, oughtn’t they at least serve a cup of plain water to men who have just climbed the mountain?”

Having said “pressed,” Chwi Dugae clicked his tongue. He had only stoked the unease.

‘Should I not have come along?’

He had never imagined it would become such an uncomfortable visit.

In the silence, time dragged like three autumns in the span of a quarter hour.

—Tap! Tap! Tap!

At last, hasty footfalls sounded outside the guest hall, and the door opened.

A Taoist of early elder years, with a clear, pure look, entered, and both Chwi Dugae and Kwak Yeon rose at once.

“Welcome, both of you. Sub-Branch Master, and Taoist Kwak. This poor Taoist is Woljeong, who serves as Guardian Elder of the Wuyi Sect.”

Since the office of Guardian Elder stood in the same rank as Sect Master, Chwi Dugae offered a punctilious bow.

“The Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan pays respects to Woljeong Zhenren.”

Kwak Yeon waited for his sworn brother to greet first, then made his obeisance.

“Kwak Yeon, lay Taoist of Samryeong Palace of Wudang Mountain, greets Guardian Elder Woljeong Zhenren.”

“Be seated, all.”

They waited for Woljeong Zhenren to take the center seat, then sat in turn.

“For what instruction have you come to this sect without notice, Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan?”

When one intends to visit another sect, giving notice in advance is the etiquette between sects. All the more so if one bears an office within a sect.

If one came without doing so, it could be taken as slighting their sect, or as coming to demand an answer about something, as now.

Even aside from that, it was uncomfortable to expose the unprepared inside of a sect as it was.

“Woljeong Zhenren, do not trouble yourself over this beggar.”

Despite the barbed question, Chwi Dugae went on with a brazen face.

“I dropped by to pay respects, following a friend.”

Woljeong Zhenren started.

From the Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan, instead of a formal apology like “I regret the discourtesy,” came a surprising word.

For the Sub-Branch Master, famed for an odd temper, to call someone a friend with his own mouth!

Woljeong Zhenren now saw anew the young hero before him, said to be a lay Taoist.

‘There was reason Wudang sent so young a Taoist.’

He had been puzzled when the gate wardens reported that Wudang had sent a very green young Taoist, but seeing the background of Chwi Dugae, that doubt was resolved.

Still, he had to confirm, so he asked toward Kwak Yeon.

“Taoist Kwak, I am told you cultivated at Samryeong Palace of Wudang Mountain.”

“That is so.”

Thinking that the disciple line of Samryeong Palace—the very emblem of clarity—did not mix like water and oil with the Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan—the very byword for grime—Woljeong nonetheless came to the point.

“We have been waiting for someone from Wudang to come any day.”

“Guardian Elder, with respect, I am not someone sent by Wudang.”

At Kwak Yeon’s answer, Woljeong Zhenren asked again, slightly startled.

“Truly you did not come at the Main Mountain’s summons?”

“While wandering the rivers and lakes cultivating as a layman, I came to Fujian and sought to visit this sect to see my senior brother, the Sage.”

“Ah! So it is.”

Seeing a flicker of disappointment pass over Woljeong Zhenren’s face, Kwak Yeon could not but ask.

“You say you were waiting for someone from Wudang. Did something befall the Sage?”

Guardian Elder Woljeong Zhenren of the Wuyi Sect spoke with a troubled look.

“Truly, I do not know how to tell you this.”

It was a most sorry thing to say to one who had come into a deep, remote range to see his senior.

All the more so with the Sub-Branch Master of the Beggar Clan clearly listening, which made it more awkward.

Woljeong Zhenren decided not to mind—it would be known to the world sooner or later, and a general account had already been sent to Wudang—and opened his mouth.

“First, I must tell you that the Sage is not at this sect at present.”

“Are you saying the Sage has left Mount Wuyi?”

For Kwak Yeon, it was a question asked with a quiet hope. He hoped there was no other trouble.

“That is so, and not so. In truth, it is closer to not so.”

“......?”

“......?”

At Woljeong Zhenren’s preposterous answer, both Kwak Yeon and Chwi Dugae widened their eyes.

“The Sage ceased to be seen at the Immortal Lodge where he was staying. And... he was not the only fellow Taoist at the Lodge who ceased to be seen.”

As Kwak Yeon and Chwi Dugae stared in bafflement, Woljeong Zhenren let out a low sigh and continued.

“That is to say, the fellow Taoists staying at the Lodge vanished all at once, one day.”

Unable to restrain his curiosity, Chwi Dugae asked in haste.

“Zhenren, how can Taoists staying at the Lodge be gone—no, have left—all on the same day?”

A temple is a place where people live; if one’s mind does not accord with it, there will be those who leave. Among them will be some who cannot be bothered to give farewells and depart like a midnight flight.

But Taoists at the Immortal Lodge all absconding in a body was something one could not so much as imagine, even in wild fancy.

And even if, by some one-in-ten-thousand, it were so, there is no way the Wuyi Sect would not know that many Taoists had left.

“Sub-Branch Master, that is why I said it was closer to not having left.”

“......!”

Woljeong Zhenren spoke calmly toward Kwak Yeon.

“Taoist Kwak, you will know from training at Wudang: our Immortal Lodge is somewhat apart from our main halls.”

Even of the same Taoist lineage, those fellow Taoists who come seeking to cultivate are outsiders. Thus, in any sect, one houses them apart at an Immortal Lodge.

That is, the Immortal Lodge is an external cultivation ground for Taoists who come to practice the Way.

“For that reason, we only learned of it after some time had passed. In any case, it was too strange, and also ominous, so this sect threw all its strength into urgently searching for the vanished fellow Taoists. Even so, we could find no trace.”

As he went on, Woljeong Zhenren’s face grew even more perplexed.

“Still, we sent disciples in all directions to search, and we waited a couple of months in hope there might be news. Thinking now, it was a hope that made no sense, but we even thought: were they kidnapped by bandits to demand ransom? At the time, this sect was grasping at such straws.”

Chwi Dugae fully understood the Wuyi Sect’s position, struck by a thing to make ghosts wail.

From the Wuyi Taoists’ standpoint, they would have wanted to call in a shaman {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} they usually scorned and ask for an augury.

“In any case, after a couple of months we found no sign, and there was no news. So we judged we could no longer delay and sent word of it to each Taoist sect, beginning with Wudang Mountain.”

At the Wuyi Sect, aside from the Sage, a disciple of Wudang, the other Taoists were Taoists of ordinary sects, so they had no special expectations of them.

Hearing Guardian Elder Woljeong Zhenren, Kwak Yeon now saw plainly why the Wuyi Taoists had been belted with swords on guard, and why they had looked at him with such astonishment.

From Wuyi’s point of view, even if Wudang did not form an investigation party, they would naturally expect to send a Taoist of hall-lord rank.

But in fact a green fledgling—a lay Taoist, at that—had come, so disappointment had turned into surprise.

At any rate, hearing that Senior Brother Sage had been caught up in some unfathomable affair and gone missing, Kwak Yeon felt his heart grow uneasy.

‘This is no time to sit in anxiety.’

Suppressing his heart pounding in alarm, Kwak Yeon asked,

“Guardian Elder, how many were at the Immortal Lodge at the time?”

“In all, twelve persons, including one Immortal of our sect, the host of the Lodge, and one novice.”

At the number, more than he had thought, Kwak Yeon asked again.

“Are you saying all twelve went missing?”

“The Lodge’s novice was down at our sect, and so escaped the misfortune—no, the disappearance. That day happened to be the day of the Spring Yang Grand Rite on the third of the third month, and we were short of hands.”

At the mention that the incident had occurred on the third of the third month, Kwak Yeon felt a dizzy distance.

It was when he had just come down from Wudang Mountain—more than seven months had passed.

‘Why has Wudang Mountain still not sent anyone?’