Wangya Ju draped a heavy arm around Gongsun Yeong’s shoulders, clinking her cup against the other woman’s with reckless abandon.
“Possessing a Solar Physique, is this truly the extent of your ambition? You rascal! It is a tragic waste of your constitution!”
“I don’t know why you are so frustrated with me. For what it’s worth, at this level, I’m…”
“…You should be unifying the Murim! If you have a Solar Physique, shouldn’t you be chopping off the Heavenly Demon’s head like you’re slicing radishes?”
“Ey, damn it, I can’t do that!”
Both were thoroughly inebriated. They spoke informally, discarding etiquette and propriety as if they were cumbersome outer robes. Perhaps Wangya Ju didn’t mind the breach of protocol; even as Gongsun Yeong showed annoyance, she laughed heartily.
“Ideally, a martial artist should attempt to push a mountain with their sword. How can one who cannot even push a mountain discuss the world?”
“Does pushing a mountain with a sword mean blowing it away with a Hardened Qi Sphere?”
“No. Just stabbing a cliff without using internal energy.”
“Who does that? It would be better to stab a wooden dummy.”
“I did!”
Wangya Ju thumped her chest with a clenched fist.
“Generally, a martial artist must do that much to discuss the fate of the world. Even if others say you have lost your mind, that degree of madness must accompany you. Madness is precisely what opens the path to unifying the Gangho! The path of hegemony that grasps both heaven and earth.”
Gongsun Yeong shook her head. “I do not need the world.”
“Oho?”
“I will live assisting my sister by her side.”
“A child with too little ambition compared to her constitution.” Wangya Ju grabbed Gongsun Yeong’s chin, tilting her face up. “I wonder how I can bring a general like you into my palace. Surely, if you were to mount a horse, you are hero material that would make the world weep.”
…I…
Jin Cheon-hee watched from a distance, sweat beading on his forehead. Those were words that would make Clan Head Gongsun Hyeon vomit resentment from the fires of hell if she heard them. He quickly interjected, forcing his way between the two inebriated women.
“Hahaha, please accept the cup I offer.”
“Tch. One Light under the Heavens. Quick-witted indeed.”
Please spare me, Jin Cheon-hee pleaded internally. If she gets kidnapped to the Imperial Palace like this, I will be killed by Sister Gongsun Hyeon.
Until now, he had thought Wangya Ju was simply laying some diplomatic groundwork, but this was practically a three-minute instant kidnapping in the making. He had never imagined she would take such a liking to Gongsun Yeong.
With considerable effort, he managed to pry them apart.
The King sang songs of jubilation over His Highness’s recovery. Conversely, Jin Cheon-hee felt his soul withering away.
Adjusting the atmosphere with practiced ease, he steered Wangya Ju toward the King and placed Gongsun Yeong in the care of the Senior Physician pebbles, effectively finishing his traffic control duties. As he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, standing alone for a brief moment, Han-bing approached his side.
“We promised to drink together when I recovered completely.”
Jin Cheon-hee smirked. “Yes. We promised.”
“It is the first time I am drinking, but it tastes terrible. I cannot understand why everyone goes crazy for it.”
“One or two cups are fine, but you should still refrain from excessive drinking for a while.”
“I told you. It tastes bad. That is why you are drinking sweet rice drink instead of alcohol too, aren’t you?”
Jin Cheon-hee smiled awkwardly and nodded.
“Does… it show that much?”
“Perhaps due to my constitution, I am quite sensitive to scents. Since a sweet aroma keeps drifting from your cup instead of the sharp scent of alcohol, I could not help but know.”
A dog’s nose, indeed.
Come to think of it, his master was also sensitive to scents. Was this a common symptom among people with Severed Meridians? Since such nuances weren’t written separately in medical texts, there was no way to confirm it, but since both the Nine Yang Severed Meridians and Nine Yin Severed Meridians heightened the sense of smell, it was a plausible theory.
“In that sense, what scent pouch do you use?”
“Pardon?”
“I wanted to ask you before. The scent is good. It is subtle, as if it is there and not there.”
“Hahaha. I don’t use anything in particular. Just soap. I made it with a scent Master doesn’t find offensive.”
His master disliked scents that were too sweet or too refreshing, and pungent scents were out of the question. Finding a decent fragrance amidst those restrictions had been a challenge.
“I should import that soap as well.”
Han-bing nodded and poured his alcohol into Jin Cheon-hee’s cup.
“This will mix with the sweet rice drink?”
“Try drinking it, and if it is acceptable, let me know.”
“Well, alright.”
The two men touched their cups together. A clear ring resonated through the noisy hall.
“Thank you for saving me,” Han-bing said softly.
“Don’t mention it.”
Good night. Good day.
Snow was still falling in the Ayesha Kingdom. Chasing away the biting scent of winter with the warmth of the cup, Jin Cheon-hee laughed.
A patient being healthy was a happy thing. It was a happy ending, the first he had seen in a long time.
***
The next day.
Jin Cheon-hee received a royal edict from the King.
This was a nation that did not implement the civil service examination system. As a result, the divide between nobles and commoners was distinct, and status discrimination was significant. Although it was an honorary position, Jin Cheon-hee received a title roughly equivalent to a Count.
Generous, aren’t you? Well, I don’t know if I’ll ever come back.
Still, it might be helpful when selling Ondol to the Ayesha Kingdom later. He was considering exporting various dried foods alongside the heating systems. If the title carried that much weight, it would smooth the path for trade.
As he was setting out on the road, a voice called out from behind.
“Yo!”
Looking back, Prince Han-bing was visible, his steps far lighter than before. A few attendants trailed behind him.
“Uh, what is the matter?”
“Since my benefactor says he is going to the Northern Sea Ice Palace, I intend to go together.”
“Pardon?” Jin Cheon-hee’s eyes widened.
Han-bing continued, “The Northern Sea Ice Palace is my sect. If I let them know I became this healthy thanks to you, they won’t be able to treat you poorly.”
With His Highness accompanying me, I don’t think they could treat me poorly anyway.
The leadership of the Northern Sea Ice Palace hadn’t been shot in the head. They wouldn’t commit the madness of mistreating a guest who arrived with their Prince.
“Then let us go together.”
“Hm!” Han-bing grinned and added, “By the way, Sweat-Blood Horses are impossible for the journey to the Ice Palace.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“The cold there isn’t sane. I will show you a better means of transport.”
***
Far away, a group advanced north toward the frozen, pure white earth.
And from a distance, eyes watched them.
“The cast has all gathered in one place. Now… let the play begin.”
***
The Northern Sea Ice Palace lay much further north than the borders of the Ayesha Kingdom.
Normal land was no longer visible. Only a landscape filled with snow and ice stretched out endlessly. It resembled the Arctic continent Jin Cheon-hee had once seen in documentaries.
How do people live in a place like this? Did they really have to go this far north?
He couldn’t understand how people endured this environment. Even wrapped in a polar bear fur hat, fur cloak, and fur layers top and bottom, his teeth clattered uncontrollably.
Bark bark bark!
Bark bark!
Grrrr—Bark!
Currently, His Highness’s party, including Jin Cheon-hee, was moving by dog sled. Jin Cheon-hee alone rode on Hwanggu’s back, while the rest were transported on the sleds.
In a terrain like this, riding horses was impossible. Setting aside the fact that hooves were ill-suited for the ice, finding fodder was a logistical nightmare. It wasn’t for nothing that dogs accompanied humanity when reaching the South Pole for the first time in his original world. Dogs could join the hunt if necessary, taking down beasts like seals between meals. Their fur was triple-coated, unlike horses, allowing them to endure the biting frost.
Furthermore, perhaps because this was the Murim, the sleds pulled by dogs slightly smaller than Hwanggu moved with incredible speed.
Hwanggu was excited.
Awooooo—!
Hwanggu claimed himself as the alpha of the pack, and the local dogs acknowledged him as such. The smartest dog stood at the lead as a guide, and Hwanggu ran beside it, guarding the formation.
“Since a spiritual beast has taken the position of leader entirely, there is no need for the dogs to fight amongst themselves,” Han-bing noted.
“Do they fight when it is this cold?”
“Do people not fight when it is cold? Everyone is similar. Especially dogs in this region; they fight fiercely when challenging the leader for rank. Owners become skin and bones just trying to tear them apart.”
“Amazing.”
Only snow and ice existed as far as the eye could see.
“How do the guide dogs head to the Ice Palace without a compass?”
“That is because they were raised directly by the Northern Sea Ice Palace. If other dogs try to guide, they often spin in circles, perhaps due to sensory abnormalities. It is even more difficult because there are periods of White Nights, or conversely, the Polar Night where darkness reigns.”
“Even a sane person would lose their sense of direction.”
“That is so. Only those dogs can guide us wholly to the Northern Sea Ice Palace in this frozen land.”
At those words, Jin Cheon-hee finally voiced the question that had been plaguing him.
“Why on earth did the people of the Northern Sea Ice Palace settle in such a cold place? With their level of martial arts, couldn’t they have claimed fertile land anywhere they wanted?”
At Jin Cheon-hee’s words, Prince Han-bing retrieved a book from his bosom.
“Hm?”
“I intended to give it as a souvenir anyway, so this works out. It is an old book, but can you read Sanskrit?”
“Yes!”
As Jin Cheon-hee accepted it with shining eyes, Prince Han-bing smirked. “I knew you would like it.”
Jin Cheon-hee briefly dismounted Hwanggu and climbed onto the dog sled. Wrapping his body tightly with seal skin furs, he began to read slowly.
Time blurred as the sleds rushed forward.
The Northern Sea Ice Palace existed before the ancestors of the Ayesha Kingdom arrived. Although it wasn’t known exactly how long they had been settled, there was a record of them sending envoys to congratulate the founding of the Ayesha Kingdom. The religion of the Ayesha Kingdom had practically branched off from the Ice Palace; the official name was Zashchitnik (Protector), which translated to ‘Guardian Cult’ in the language of the Hua Empire.
Guardian Cult. A peculiar name.
Even so, although he scoured the book thoroughly, it did not explain why the people of the Ice Palace had settled in this wasteland. He hadn’t heard anything different from his master, either. In the novel Supreme Heavenly Demon, there were more large-scale battles than conversational exposition from Yeo Ha-ryoon. One had to converse to unravel a story, but in that book, the most frequent line was, “Enemy? Die!”
Ha, I miss our Ha-ryoon-ie. I wonder if he’s doing well.
Jin Cheon-hee was careful not to bother the guy fighting the Star of Heavenly Slaughter day by day, but he occasionally worried. After all, he was a reader of Supreme Heavenly Demon and a fan of Yeo Ha-ryoon.
They continued to advance while he studied the lore of the North. After running for five days, a massive body of water appeared on the horizon.
“Wow, is that a sea? A sea in a place like this?” Gongsun Yeong asked.
Prince Han-bing answered, “That is a lake. A lake as huge as a sea.”
“Aha.”
It was fascinating that such a colossal body of water existed here.
“Surprisingly, it doesn’t freeze?”
“The elders say hot spring water rises from underground. It is not warm enough to bathe in, but just enough to prevent freezing.”
Oho, I see.
They moved north along the boundary of the water, but the end was not visible.
“There are a few volcanoes nearby, right?”
“Correct. That is the peculiar point of this lake. So there are many legends, too.”
“How fascinating.”
“Many delicious fish live there, and there are stories that giant fish, huge enough to be called spiritual beasts, exist at the bottom.”
Bark!
Hwanggu barked loudly. Then Noe-jin, who was crouching in Jin Cheon-hee’s armpit, also made a squeaking sound.
“They say they definitely want to try eating a giant spiritual beast.”
“I heard spiritual beast meat is the supreme delicacy for fellow spiritual beasts. Probably so.”
Like that, they moved across the ice, conversing as they went.