Vol 1 Chapter 1 – Heukcheon Pt 5

That kind of attitude, always shrinking back, always asking permission to breathe, was burdensome. He had never imagined that one day he would deal with someone like this so personally.

“I never told you that you were forbidden to ask questions.”

Even though Kang Oh had told him he could ask questions if he wished, Woo kept his lips tightly shut.

Kang Oh seemed unsurprised. After finishing with the ointment, he wiped his hands.

“Use the new axe I brought. Since you claim to be such a faithful servant, you should not go against your master’s wishes.”

Strictly speaking, Woo belonged to Jinrang. But there was nothing improper about Kang Oh giving him orders.

It would have been a problem only if he had tried to command someone truly under the Lord of Heukcheon direct service. But Woo was only a servant.

Only. In other words, not important. Just another disposable life.

“I keep coming here because you are on my mind.”

And yet, despite everything, Kang Oh’s eyes kept returning to him.

Woo looked up instinctively.

Kang Oh was looking down at him. The force of that gaze made his heart drop, but even so, he could not bring himself to look away.

“I plan to keep coming until I stop worrying about you. So try not to fall ill again like last night. Stay well.”

Though he claimed to be concerned, there was no softness in Kang Oh’s voice. It was blunt, devoid of gentleness.

Woo’s eyes trembled faintly. It was not from joy.

“You… you are not supposed to be here…”

“Where I choose to be is for me to decide. That is not something you should have a say in.”

Kang Oh had drawn a clear line.

He had already understood the kind of person Woo was. Rather than seek agreement, he had decided it was better to simply inform him. Whenever he tried to show a little kindness, Woo would shake his head as if to reject it. Seeing him go still like this made Kang Oh feel his choice had been the right one.

“You will follow the Lord’s orders and cut down the trees on this hill. While you do that, I’ll be satisfying my curiosity.”

Woo lowered his head.

“I… I receive your command.”

Now that things had come to this, all he could do was wait. Either the Third Overseer would show up, or Kang Oh would eventually lose interest.

But the unease in Woo’s chest only deepened.

---

Kang Oh was waiting for someone at the edge of the mountain path. There were things he needed to confirm.

One of his subordinates from the Honamdan had sent word, so it should not take long. Even while waiting, his thoughts drifted back to Woo.

In truth, Kang Oh had only pretended to leave. He had remained nearby, within reach of the hut.

He could not forget how Woo had tried to return the salve, even at the cost of burning himself. That image clung to him, vivid and persistent.

And yet, after watching for a while, Kang Oh could not help but think it was absurd. Woo kept chopping away at the trees with that loose, barely functioning axe. There was no one watching him. He could have taken breaks, found shortcuts. But instead, he worked himself to the bone. It was almost painful to watch.

Last night, the scent of blood and pus had drawn wolves near the hut. Kang Oh had driven them off, flashing his presence like a blade until they fled into the dark. He could have killed them all. That would have silenced their howls, and Woo would have assumed Kang Oh had no more reason to stay nearby.

Not that Kang Oh ever intended to take orders from a servant, but still, he could not help scoffing at his own behavior. He was trying not to upset Woo. That alone was absurd.

His body moved on impulse, his eyes constantly drawn back to him.

Was that dogged determination truly just part of Woo’s nature?

That night, faint groans began to slip from the hut. They were unmistakably sounds of pain.

Kang Oh caught the strained breaths woven into them. His sharp hearing picked up everything, but he remained still. He did not want Woo to know he was nearby.

Then, Woo staggered out of the hut, took a few sips of water, and collapsed beside the fire.

Kang Oh stood up immediately. There was no longer any point in waiting.

Woo’s face was twisted in pain, red with fever. With the wound on his back, the burn on his arm, and the strain of working nonstop, his body had reached its limit. The fever was burning so high it felt as if his life might slip away at any moment.

As he turned him over, Kang Oh noticed the damage on Woo’s hands. His palms were rough, blistered, and raw. It had to be from that axe. He must have gripped it over and over, adjusting his hold and striking down again and again. No wonder his body had given out.

By now, it was impossible to see Woo as someone simply lacking will.

Pain breaks people. Only those with a reason to endure it hold on.

Kang Oh raised his neck and reached into his robes. He found a silk pouch and took out a round medicinal pill. Jinrang had always worried his disciple might return injured, so he packed him with tonics. This one was brewed to bring down fever and restore the body, made from rare herbs.

He pressed the pill to Woo’s lips, but he couldn’t swallow. His breathing caught, and the pill slipped from his mouth and rolled away.

Kang Oh took another, placed it in his mouth, and leaned in.

Their lips met.

He told himself it was only to give the medicine.

But something lingered in that brief touch. A strange familiarity. And It clung to him like memory.

He couldn’t explain it. He had never let anyone close. Woman or man, he kept his distance. Even when noble families pushed their heirs toward him, he turned away. He didn’t want senior disciple Mo Yong Yuun thinking he was building a faction.

Woo’s body trembled. Kang Oh pushed away the thought and let his tongue reach deeper, guiding the medicine down his throat. Even unconscious, Woo swallowed it with a gulp, and his chest heaved as if short on breath. Kang Oh finally drew back, a faint sense of reluctance catching him off guard.

This wretched body, why did it stir him?

He frowned and straightened up. Every time they met, Woo dropped to the floor in submission, never speaking his mind clearly. Everything about him felt slow, restrained. The type of person he usually found tiresome.

It wasn’t his looks. Even under moonlight, that face was far from handsome. A jagged scar twisted one side as if he’d been badly burned. His body was frail. He had no martial strength. If he were a cultivator, perhaps there’d be something intriguing in testing him, but there was nothing of the sort.

Then what? Pity for a servant?

Kang Oh scoffed at himself. He wasn’t someone who overflowed with emotion. When he’d seen the scars on Woo’s back, his first reaction hadn’t been compassion. It was the thought that whoever dared to use violence in broad daylight under Heukcheon’s name needed to be punished.

Then why was he still lingering near Woo?

He had just returned from sending a challenge to a Southern master and exchanging blows in a duel. Work was piling up in Heukcheon, yet he remained here, in the mountains.

His gaze dropped to Woo’s face again, a flicker of cold introspection passing through him. There was no allure in that sleeping face, no spell to explain his presence. After all the commotion, the way Woo slept, breathing softly, only looked pitiful. When his eyes lowered further, he saw his hands. Blistered, torn, splintered.

He let out a low breath.

“This is madness.”

Even as he muttered, Kang Oh bent down and picked him up, carrying him back into the hut. He clumsily pulled the blanket over him, then used lightfoot movement to head toward the nearest village. He returned with a new axe. The woodcutter who lost it would likely be surprised, but the coins left behind would ease the confusion.

It was just an ordinary tool, barely worth a single silver piece. But compared to what Woo had been using, it was far better. Kang Oh removed the old axe from the stump and drove the new one in its place. The blade, still blue and sharp in the first light of dawn, looked just right. At least with this, Woo wouldn’t shred his hands just to split a branch.

“Th, third disciple !”

The Third Overseer dismounted hastily upon entering the mountain trail leading to Woo’s hut. Though his mind was filled with questions about why Kang Oh was there, instinct took over. He bowed first, without delay.

“It’s been a while,” Kang Oh said evenly. His face remained unreadable, without a trace of warmth or surprise at the sudden encounter.

“Did you come here to wait for me?”

Something felt off. It wasn’t unusual for the Third Overseer to greet Kang Oh with deference or try to support him in all manner of things. But this was the first time Kang Oh had ever spoken to him first.

Just as he did with the lord of Heukcheon, the Third Overseer always made a point to show particular respect to Kang Oh. There were even times when it felt as though the master’s favor tilted more toward the youngest disciple than toward the eldest. Anyone who had served the lord long enough would have noticed how evident his affection for Kang Oh was. Jinrang, who rarely held back his temper even with his first disciple, Mo Yong Yuun, became unusually patient and gentle when standing before his youngest.

Kang Oh, perceptive like a beast, had always sensed this favoritism. It might have been the reason he began distancing himself from the main sect once whispers started about him gathering a following equal to that of the heir apparent. To avoid fostering a faction, Kang Oh kept only the Honamdan close. Composed of individuals with no strong background, they had nothing to do with inner struggle. By doing so, he made it clear he had no desire for the sect leader’s position.

What puzzled the Third Overseer even more wasn’t Kang Oh’s rejection of wealth and power, but Jinrang’s unwillingness to push it onto him. The master could have declared him as successor at any time, leaving Kang Oh no choice but to obey. Yet Jinrang left his youngest disciple completely free.

He never demanded anything from Kang Oh.

And yet, love always comes with expectations, whether in affection or in material return. But Yae Jinrang gave endlessly, as if Kang Oh were his own son.

Because of this, the martial artists who held some of Heukcheon’s power were left wavering in confusion. The official successor was Eldest Disciple Mo Yong Yuun, yet Jinrang’s affection clearly leaned toward Third Disciple Kang Oh. Even so, the Third Overseer had been firm from the very beginning. Since his loyalty lay solely with the Lord of Heukcheon, he decided to place all his bets on the disciple his lord kept closest to heart.

“The Third Overseer who manages Heukcheon’s internal affairs has come quite far, hasn’t he?”

Kang Oh picked up his cherished sword, Dansa, which stood beside him, lips parting as he spoke.

“This place is part of Heukcheon’s domain as well. I came under the Lord’s orders.”

The Third Overseer bowed his head deeply as he spoke, the very image of humility. The savage face that once looked ready to snatch rats barehanded was gone, as were the rough words. He looked impeccably tidy. Kang Oh stared down at him with a blank face.

“While I was hunting here, I caught sight of a servant who claimed to be in Master’s service.”

“Pardon? Yes, the one called Woo is here.”

Startled by the unexpected question, the Third Overseer’s eyes widened. He jerked his head up before bowing again.

“Why is he here?”

“Did you handle Master Yae Jinrang’s possession on your own whim?”

That voice, sharp as a blade of frost, sent a chilling sting down the back of the Third Overseer’s neck. It was killing intent, cold and cutting. For someone like the Third Disciple, there was no need to act with hostility. His very presence was enough to inspire fear.

The Third Overseer had lived twice as long in Heukcheon compared to Kang Oh and had survived more than his share of trials, yet even he instinctively shrank back. He had no ability to withstand the aura of someone born with extraordinary talent and backed by the lord, who had poured endless spiritual medicine into him.

“Th, there’s no way I’d dare do that.”

“Then why was the one who claimed he was ordered to cut down trees on this mountain carrying a blunt axe?”

Ah, damn it.

A cold sweat broke across the Third Overseer’s back. The order to fell trees had only been an excuse to send Woo here. Handing him a worn-out axe had been his own clever idea. He thought it would be satisfying to see the bastard who dared to offend the Lord of Heukcheon end up with his palms ripped open. And if the axe head flew backward from the loose handle, or dropped and crushed his foot, it would just be called an unfortunate accident.

“Th, that’s…”

“Heukcheon wouldn’t have assigned a budget for a task only to waste it. So, was it your embezzlement?”

Cold sweat trickled down the Third Overseer’s back as Kang Oh latched onto that single point.

“N, no, of course not. Before assigning anyone to the job, I personally inspected this mountain area… the living conditions were poor, so I ended up using the entire budget just to prepare basic necessities… In the process, I prepared supplies that didn’t meet the third disciple’s standards. Please punish this foolish old man for his incompetence.”

The Third Overseer immediately prostrated himself. He had calculated that if he humbled himself this much, Kang Oh would not punish someone under the command of the Lord of Huekcheon.

“So you admit your guilt.”

The Third Overseer clenched his teeth. He had reached this position through sheer cunning. Though he had trained in martial arts, his skills had never improved significantly, so the only way to survive was by perfectly judging where to stand and whom to follow.

He had always been sharp in sensing the moods of powerful men like Master Yae Jinrang. Within just a few months, he noticed that the lord held contempt for the servant he had brought under his command. Although he did not show it openly, it was obvious that his hatred was bottomless, and though he would not lay hands on the servant directly, it was clear that he wished for Woo to suffer.

So, the Third Overseer had trampled on Woo in front of the Lord. At first, he wasn’t sure if it was the right move. Cold sweat had already soaked his back. But the Lord had said nothing. That silence had been permission in itself.

Since then, the Lord of Heukcheon had begun to look his way more often. The same Lord who usually stayed within his quarters and gave orders through the First Overseer had started summoning the Third Overseer from time to time.

Confident in his growing favor, the Third Overseer began to abuse Woo openly and without restraint.

He thought he had done well. Up until this moment.

“Just now, you begged for punishment, but suddenly your expression changes again. Were you trying to mock me, the Third Disciple of Heukcheon?”

He was cornered. The Third Overseer, who had never seen Kang Oh exercise authority so harshly, now wore a tearful face, as if choking. He desperately wanted to run to Lord Jinrang and report everything. But it had been the Third Disciple Kang Oh who had followed closely after Woo, the very one the Lord had ordered to be removed.

Given the circumstances, going to the Lord would not solve anything now.

It must have been that Kang Oh showed interest in Woo first, and the Lord, displeased by that, gave the order to have that lowly servant removed. If the Third Overseer went to the Lord of Heukcheon now, the Lord would not shield him. Instead, he would surely accuse him for handling the matter in such a way. Lord Jinrang’s affection for Kang Oh had always carried a particular intensity.

“N, no, it wasn’t like that…”

To think he had spared that bastard’s life, only to suffer this humiliation.

For a moment, a flash of cruelty passed through the Third Overseer’s gaze. But that cruelty was not directed at Kang Oh, who was pressing him so hard, nor at Lord Jinrang, who had turned a blind eye to the abuse of the servant. It was all aimed at that mangy mutt Woo.

As someone serving the Lord of Heukcheon the Third Overseer’s entire world tilted in favor of those in power. That’s why he failed to see any fault in his way of thinking.

“Your tongue runs long. I have proof that the man who calls himself my master’s servant was beaten by your hand. How do you intend to explain that?”

Shiiiing—

Under the sunlight, the blade of Dan-sa gleamed cold and blue. The Third Overseer, who knew well how many masters that sword had drunk the blood of, felt a chill crawl up his spine. Even without building up a personal force of his own, Kang Oh’s individual strength was said to rival that of Eldest Disciple Mo Yong Yuun. Some even claimed that because of his natural genius, the sect leader favored his youngest disciple above all.

“T-there’s a reason, I swear…”

Sweat poured down the Third Overseer’s face as he struggled to explain. But no matter how hard he searched his mind, he could find no convincing excuse that would hold up against Kang Oh now. That mongrel had been an eyesore, so he kicked him. What other reason could there have been?

“A reason?”

Kang Oh’s eyes slowly followed the edge of Dan-sa. The Third Overseer felt the back of his neck grow cold and clenched his eyes shut. He burst into speech in a near-panic. He couldn’t let himself be punished like this.

“I’ve served Heukcheon for over thirty years. Thirty years! And in all that time, is it not my right to discipline a foolish and disobedient servant? Why am I being questioned this harshly? Has all the loyalty I gave to Heukcheon been for nothing?”

“With that palm-sized loyalty, are you trying to block out the sky?”

Even as the Third Overseer pleaded through tears, Kang Oh did not waver.

“If you truly believed that the cruelty in your hands, which drove Master’s servant to the brink of death, could be covered by thirty years of loyalty, then that is arrogance. The wealth and honor you now enjoy are the reward you received for that loyalty. Yet you used your position to strike at someone powerless. Your crime is great.”

The Third Overseer clenched his jaw.

“What are you going to do with me?”

“I wonder.”

Kang Oh said nothing more and slid Dan-Sa back into its sheath. He had drawn it only to intimidate. The Third Overseer, who had expected his head to fly or at least his tongue to be torn out, went limp with relief and collapsed on the spot. He sat there in a daze, rubbing at his neck. He glanced repeatedly at Kang Oh’s face, but the blank expression gave nothing away.