I Pay My Respects to the Great General
Soun crossed the bustling courtyard and searched for Iso-gun.
He looked around and stopped a passing servant.
"Where has Aunt gone?"
"She does not seem to be here, Young Master."
He asked several more people, yet none could give a clear answer.
As he headed toward the inner quarters to find her himself, he felt something unfamiliar.
Or rather, something too familiar—an emptiness that pressed close.
A presence intimate and known, as though it had always been there.
At some point, he had begun to grasp situations by sensation alone.
It was called gi-gam, the perception of energy.
Every person carried a distinct signature, something like a private mark.
It reached him before voice or appearance—the subtle vibration of that energy.
He had learned to feel it with his body long ago.
It was a realm that opened only as one's cultivation deepened, yet sometimes it struck more clearly than visible truth.
The presence he sensed now was vivid, undeniable.
Soun's eyes widened.
He broke into a run.
His footsteps thundered through the narrow corridor as he passed the inner gate.
The half-open door of Aunt Iso-gun's chamber revealed two figures.
Faces he had longed to see even in dreams—Great General Jin Mugwang and General Lee Hui.
How many times had he wished for this sight?
He nearly rushed forward, then halted.
Lee Hui had promised to find the Great General—and he truly had.
That was the kind of man he was.
Soun slowed his steps.
Yes. This is better.
He advanced lightly, dropped to one knee before them, and bowed.
"I pay my respects to the Great General."
"Rise."
It was joyous—yet also the very event he had feared.
The General's return meant the moment could no longer be avoided.
They had feigned his death, yet the enemy now knew he lived.
An attack would surely come.
Political or military, it would come.
The General had returned home to protect what remained, to preserve at least one life if he could.
The concealment had reached its limit.
But Soun vowed silently: I will protect them.
A thousand words circled his mind, yet none passed his lips.
Before the General, respect bound him to silence.
Instead, he stared at the old floor tiles—fine cracks and polished surfaces magnified before his eyes.
There are moments when irrelevant details grow sharp while the heart storms within.
"You attacked Anyang County?"
The General's voice was tired yet gentle.
It was a report to be made.
Soun straightened.
"We drove off five hundred mixed troops of the prefectural army and the Embroidered Guard."
"Impressive. I hear you had fewer than a hundred."
Fatigue lay heavy in the General's tone.
Though seated, he seemed uncomfortable.
The brilliance in his eyes remained, yet exhaustion was evident.
The life of a fugitive had not spared him.
Perhaps he was forcing himself upright even now.
Behind him stood Iso-gun, and further back Mirang smiled faintly.
They seemed as though they might collapse at any moment.
Soun widened his perception of energy, then stopped.
He was no physician.
"The White Dragon Unit stands as before.
Though fewer in number, our strength is unchanged.
We crushed them swiftly."
"Well done. And thank you. I heard you protected our household."
"It was nothing—"
"There was good news… How long has it been?"
The General studied him deeply.
Within that gaze lay a depth impossible to measure.
How could one gauge a martial realm beyond one's own?
It was like peering into an endless abyss.
Jin Mugwang was startled by the sense of vast expansion in the boy before him.
"At some point, I crossed the boundary."
Both Jin Mugwang and Lee Hui were taken aback.
"If you have crossed a boundary, then surely… No. That cannot be."
The General looked to Lee Hui, then up at Iso-gun.
She stepped forward slightly, composed and graceful.
"It is so. He has reached Hwagyeong, Great General."
"Truly? Truly?"
Jin Mugwang rose in shock and joy, then faltered.
His leg failed him.
Pain, astonishment, pride, and relief twisted across his face.
He collapsed back into his seat.
His breath carried the faint scent of death.
Soun's chest tightened at the sight.
The pain of a loved one weighs heavier than one's own.
"I will guard you and the household from this moment onward.
There is no cause for concern.
No one else knows.
I did not speak of it to avoid complications.
If asked plainly—it is Hwagyeong."
"This changes everything…"
Their original plan had been born of desperation.
The pursuit by the imperial court had not ceased.
They had returned home only because troops were already being dispatched against Jin Manor.
There was no longer safety in flight.
But the presence of a Hwagyeong master altered the balance entirely.
One who stands beyond ordinary human limits reshapes all calculations.
A single such master outweighs a hundred.
"You appear greatly uncomfortable. Should you not lie down?"
Soun spoke gently and glanced at Lee Hui.
Lee Hui bore countless wounds.
Torn garments, dried blood, cuts layered upon cuts.
The sight weighed heavily on Soun's heart.
He swallowed his tears and vowed again to protect them.
"Yes… let us do so."
The General rose with difficulty and was led to his bed.
He could scarcely walk.
The energy Soun sensed within him was unstable—
That he had sat upright conversing at all seemed miraculous.
Plans would have to change.
The General had revealed himself.
The enemy would now strike openly.
The time of hidden maneuvers was over.
War would come in full force.
For a fleeting moment, Soun imagined assassinating the Emperor, the leader of the Black Blade, and the Chancellor.
If the source of corruption were cut away, would the world right itself like stars returning to their proper orbits?
Perhaps he possessed the strength to attempt it.
Would the world then find stability?
No man can calculate every consequence.
He had been taught that one must act with hope toward good outcomes, and that fulfilling one's duty is the proper course.
The future remained unseen.
For young Soun, it was not a ball rolling unpredictably.
It was a vast, indifferent force pressing against him.
We call it "the future" because it contains too much to name.