Chapter 18

Sanmayajinha (三昧眞火) is a technique that only the most accomplished martial artists can barely use, which involves igniting fire from one's bare hands. Naturally, it was too much to expect from Jeong-yeong, a young and inexperienced guard.

“No, I was just joking...”

“No, I am sorry, but I haven’t reached that level yet...”

“Oh, no.”

“Is this really a phoenix?”

At Hwaryun’s question, everyone present fell silent.

Until now, talking about a phoenix might have been half serious and half in jest, but facing such a strange phenomenon made it hard to dismiss it as just a joke.

‘Is it really a phoenix?’

“No, even if it were a real phoenix... How could a chicken suddenly turn into a phoenix? They are different species... Not all birds are the same, right?”

In fact, he had some suspicions. When spiritual energy accumulates, it can turn into a spiritual creature, and he had been drawing out waves of spiritual energy from his body and feeding it to the chicken.

But others wouldn’t know that. The idea that he had turned the chicken into a phoenix was just Hwaryun’s joke.

“Even if that’s true... Is this place suitable for it?”

Hwaryun muttered. He didn’t seem to genuinely believe that Yeon had created a phoenix.

‘But if it’s like this...’

Yeon swallowed hard.

He had thought of something similar among the various methods of feeding his spiritual energy to others.

The idea of raising a spiritual creature and taking its inner core.

He never imagined a chicken could become a phoenix.

‘This is really difficult...’

But when he tried to imagine it in detail—like feeding the inner core of a black moon—he found it wasn’t as easy as he thought.

Feeding and raising something with affection and then eating it wasn’t something he could do with a normal mindset.

Even just letting it go made him feel so down.

‘The plan to get the inner core of a spiritual creature is abandoned.’

Yeon folded his heart and looked back several times as they descended the mountain. The glow of the phoenix (?) was still flickering beyond the forest. Jeong-yeong, leading the two children, also had to look back several times with a face that tried to suppress his surprise.

“Will our Black Moon... be okay?”

“Wherever it goes, it will probably be the king, don’t you think?”

“Still... No, let’s hurry.”

Yeon tried to suppress his hollow feeling and quickened his pace.

The hollow feeling was hollow, and it seemed he should hurry down the mountain as Hwaryun suggested.

‘The speed at which spiritual energy accumulates...’

Since ascending the mountain, he had felt his breath being choked by the spiritual energy, and Seong-gyeong had told him that the speed at which spiritual energy accumulates had really increased.

Spiritual Energy: 45

Help: In places where nature is alive, spiritual energy accumulates faster.

In his past life, the reason he had tried to go to a deep mountain temple for recuperation and ended up spitting blood and fainting was all because of this!

‘Aaaa! Get down! Get down!’

Yeon shook the sleeve where the status window appeared, inwardly shouting. It wouldn’t make the value go down, but he tried anyway.

“Huh?”

Yeon stopped and shook his sleeve again. The landscape beyond the sleeve didn’t change.

“Mew...”

“Huh?”

“Huh.”

Under a half-dead tree, in the bushes, there was a clump of white fur. Jeong-yeong approached it cautiously first.

Yeon peeked out from behind and focused his gaze.

“A cat?”

When Jeong-yeong gently moved the bushes with his sheathed sword, a scrawny kitten appeared.

The kitten was so small that its meow sounded more like a squeak.

Its dirty white fur, round ears pressed down, and it looked up at her with big, blue eyes, crying weakly.

Jeong-yeong said softly, with a sympathetic tone.

“It was probably abandoned because it was weak.”

“What should we do...?”

While Yeon was feeling sorry, the kitten struggled to move its weak legs and approached her hand.

“Huh, huh...”

Startled by the sudden approach of the kitten, Yeon flinched, and the kitten cried even more pitifully. It was surprising where it got the strength to cry from such a small and frail body.

“Oh, oh...”

Yeon made a sad face and looked back and forth between Jeong-yeong, Hwaryun, and the kitten.

“Is it okay to leave it here?”

“...If we leave it, it will probably die.”

Jeong-yeong said with a sad voice. Yeon looked at the kitten with a sad face. The kitten clung to her feet.

“Oh, oh...”

“Just leave it. A kitten like this probably won’t live long even if we take it.”

However, Hwaryun’s voice was cold, which he had never heard before. When Yeon looked back at Hwaryun in surprise, the boy grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the kitten.

“You couldn’t even send a chicken away and ended up crying. If we take care of this kitten and it really dies, what will you do?”

It was a harsh statement, but it was actually a considerate one. And with those words, Yeon, despite her sad face, made up her mind.

“You’re right... There’s nothing we can do.”

“Huh?”

Hwaryun’s eyebrows rose when Yeon, who had heard his words, gently picked up the kitten.

“Sister!”

“I can’t just leave it to die and see it die later.”

“What will you do if it really goes wrong later?”

“What can I do? Cry and make a fuss, that’s all.”

Hwaryun’s eyebrows shot up, and his lips curled.

“Do as you please. If you cry until your eyes are swollen, I’ll play with you as much as you want.”

“Hwaryun. As a friend, you should comfort me. And don’t say that Hwang will go wrong from the start.”

“Already named it?”

Yeon started to descend the mountain carefully, petting the kitten that was burrowing into her sleeve.

‘It seems to be getting better with a little bit of spiritual energy...’

“Hey, hey... Ah, no, Miss Yeon! You should look ahead while descending, not at the cat. Sister! Sister! Look ahead!”

“Master! Master!”

“I’m looking! I’m looking ahead!”

* * *

Yeon blinked her eyes and listened to the servants’ chatter ahead.

“A phoenix appeared, really? Did you see it?”

“I saw it! That’s why there’s such a commotion! I thought I was going to fall backward.”

“Wow, a phoenix appearing in the Danmok family. Is this a sign that we will become the greatest family in the world?”

“Hey, hey, don’t get carried away. You might ruin the big picture.”

“Am I not allowed to say anything? Does everything I say ruin things?”

“You! Last time, when we were gambling, you said it was a sure thing, and what happened?”

“Well, that was... Just shut up.”

Everyone in the family was engrossed in the story of the phoenix’s shadow, even Nurse Jang!

“Wow. A phoenix appeared, Master. It seems it will protect you and help you grow up safely.”

Nurse Jang, who had laughed at Yeon’s dirty clothes and asked if she had been playing in the garden early in the morning, spoke in a gentle tone.

“...A phoenix? Really?”

“Yes. Everyone in the family saw the golden feathers shining through the morning sun.”

“...Everyone saw it?”

Yeon tried to say something but stopped.

When she glanced at Jeong-yeong, who had returned to guard the residence, he was biting his lip tightly.

“Yes, yes. From what I heard, the whole Hangzhou is in an uproar. Such... Oh! This child...”

Nurse Jang, who had been speaking, suddenly noticed the white kitten in Yeon’s arms and widened her eyes.

In the meantime, Yeon had cleaned the kitten and fed it various things and put it to sleep.

“Oh! Nurse. It seems to be a kitten abandoned by its parents. I’m going to raise it.”

Although he was worried that this kitten might also become a spiritual creature like Black Moon, he was more worried that it might suffocate and had been gently blowing spiritual energy into it.

Nurse Jang, who had been silent, tilted her head.

“Is... it a cat... really?”

“Huh? Yes!”

Yeon nodded vigorously. Nurse Jang tilted her head and then closed her eyes with a smile.

‘It’s a cat, so it can’t be a tiger, right?’

It’s not like a phoenix would appear in the family’s back mountain in the morning and a white tiger would appear in the master’s arms in the morning.

“You should take good care of it. It might die quickly without you.”

Yeon nodded in agreement.

* * *

Even Chef Jang in the kitchen of Wolyoungjae was engrossed in the story of the phoenix.

He seemed to have completely forgotten about losing a chicken.

However, even amidst the commotion, children’s interests are set.

“Sister, sister!”

The door opened quietly, and two children approached on their knees, trying not to be noticed by the people around them.

“Bia, Ryeon, you came?”

Danmok Bia, who had quickly scanned the surroundings, climbed onto her sister’s bed and hugged her tightly.

“Sister, Uncle gave me Longsu Tang (Dragon Whisker Candy) for memorizing the characters well today.”

“Really? Did you enjoy it?”

Danmok Bia nodded and took something out of her arms.

When she unwrapped the thin cloth, three white Longsu Tang, made by pulling melted sugar into thin threads and rolling them, appeared neatly.