Chapter 3. Dream Awakening (3)
Since Dae-Woong had years of experience running an inn, he managed to quickly dispose of his embarrassment and guide the guests to the best seats left.
"Tee-hee."
The girl with large eyes and distinctive double eyelids continued to smile and giggle at Woo-Moon. Perhaps she found the scene she had seen as soon as she entered the inn funny. Just like any adolescent girl of her age, once she burst into laughter, she couldn't hold it in.
Dae-Woong should've felt bad since she was laughing at his son, but he didn't. After all, it had been so long since he had last heard the laughter of a young lady.
"What would you like to order?" Dae-Woong asked.
In response, the old daoist looked at the girl.
"Ah! Hmm... Ahem, ahem. Please bring a bowl of plain noodles without meat for him, and I'd like to have a bowl of chicken noodles with meat dumplings."
At the bright girl's words, Dae-Woong smiled pleasantly and nodded. "Alright, please wait a minute."
After Dae-Woong entered the kitchen to deliver the order to the cook, the old daoist frowned. "They'd likely feel offended if you laugh like that, Doa. You have to abstain from laughing even if the situation is funny."
Doa answered with a big smile. "Alright, I'm sorry, Old Sect Master! But what can I do? It was hilarious. Honestly, it was funny to you too, wasn't it? Hehehe."
When Doa tucked her hands back and stuck out her tongue to act cute, the old daoist could no longer resist bursting into laughter. "You little girl... Hahaha."
The old daoist, Jin Won-Myeong, continued to look and smile at Doa warmly.
Doa then noticed Woo-Moon out of the corner of her eyes. He was looking at the landscape painting, completely mesmerized.
'Is there anything special about that landscape painting?' Doa looked at it with curiosity, but she didn't find anything out of the ordinary.
When she tilted her head, Won-Myeong looked toward where Doa's gaze fell—an ordinary piece of landscape painting on the wall.
'I'm sure it's nothing special, but...'
"Oho!" Won-Myeong's eyes grew bigger. He rose from his seat and walked toward the landscape painting.
Woo-Moon's eyes widened seeing Won-Myeong standing next to him staring at the landscape painting.
"Oh, I don't know who drew this, but the artist properly utilized the classical drawing technique. It shouldn't have been long ago when this was painted, but the drawing itself is amazing."
Since Won-Myeong was generally interested in calligraphy and painting, he wanted to look at the landscape painting in more detail. However, the food was already being served at that moment.
"Old Sect Master! Please return to your seat and eat."
"Oh, yes. I'm coming."
The landscape painting was interesting to Won-Myeong, but it couldn’t compare to a pleasant meal with Doa, who was the disciple of his own disciple—a grand-disciple of his, in other words.
Just then, Dae-Woong suddenly recalled the package that he needed to send to his neighbor. However, since he couldn't go because he had guests, he decided to order his incompetent son to do it.
"Kid! Deliver this to Moon's family. Make sure you say thank you, alright? This order's already late, I was supposed to have this delivered to them by lunch, so hurry up!"
"No, Daddy! If I go, you're going to throw away the painting."
Woo-Moon's words made Dae-Woong flinch.
'He's weirdly sharp at times.'
"I'm not going to throw it away. Hurry up and go."
"If you promise not to throw it away, I'll go," Woo-Moon responded.
"Hey!" roared Dae-Woong.
‘If you make a promise, you should never break it.’
Those were the first words Baek Jin-Jin told him after she had given birth and started raising their children. She firmly stated that she hated people who broke their promises the most and that she wouldn't raise her sons like that. As a result, all members of their family valued keeping their promises more than anything else.
Dae-Woong had firmly abided by those beliefs and principles since then. The words of his wife, who was more precious to him than his own life, had become his lifelong belief.
"Sigh... Yes, I promise not to throw it away. Go and come back quickly."
"Alright, Daddy!"
Woo-Moon felt that he shouldn't leave the landscape painting for some reason, but in the end he thought it would be okay since his father had promised. He took the things Dae-Woong handed him and headed out for delivery.
After Woo-Moon left, Won-Myeong, who was eating noodles, felt something awry. The landscape painting he had seen earlier piqued his interest.
'Something about it seems unusual. What is it? Why does it keep bothering me?'
Won-Myeong quickly finished his noodles, jumped out of his seat, and walked over to it.
'Profound energy? Yeah, that's it!'
The landscape painting had some kind of profound energy he couldn't recognize. He was very surprised, both as a member of the murim and a daoist.
'What is this landscape painting? How does a simple painting hold such strong remnants of profound energy?'
While thinking so, he suddenly noticed a part of the painting.
A bird was holding a worm in its mouth, but it didn't look satisfied. It was staring at the larger worm the bird next to it had caught.
Instantly, Won-Myeong's mouth dropped agape.
"Oho..."
The unknowing realization and enlightenment had allowed him to break through the ninth wall of the Peerless Immaculate Divine Arts, which had held him back thus far.
A sudden pleasant wind emerged, flowing around him.
"Whoa...." After taking a deep breath, he recovered his senses and looked at the landscape painting once more.
He still didn't know why this mystical energy was present in this landscape painting. However, he had achieved a breakthrough in his martial arts simply by comprehending the maxim "the grass is greener on the other side." It was a saying that was well-known by all, yet this painting had allowed him to comprehend its very essence.
'Knowing an adage is different from comprehending it, as I could see from my own situation. And if I let my mind wander to another section, that landscape painting would have given me a different realization accordingly.'
The enlightenment he had gained was as minuscule as a firefly in front of the full moon in the light of the entire landscape painting. Upon realizing that, Won-Myeong became certain.
'This is a priceless treasure for any daoist cultivator!'
Just then, Dae-Woong passed by him.
"Excuse me, Inn Master."
"Yes?"
At that moment, Won-Myeong thought, 'Surely they aren't aware of this landscape painting's value.'
There was no way they could ever know the potential of the martial arts in this painting. This was clear to Won-Myeong, as none of the people in this inn showed the characteristics of someone who had learned martial arts.
The landscape painting had great value for Won-Myeong, but it was just a simple drawing that was worth nothing to these people.
Won-Myeong's greed, which he thought he had already abandoned in the past, resurfaced in his heart. He felt apologetic to the owner's son, who was clearly attached to the painting, but he thought that this result was inevitable.
'Pearls cast before swine ought to be retrieved and given to those who rightfully deserve them.'
"Can you sell this painting to me?"
Dae-Woong's eyes flashed wide open. It was a good opportunity to dispose of the painting, which he found difficult to deal with. The buyer was a daoist too, so something like an unknown curse wouldn't befall him. On the other hand, he wondered if this was a painting of really high value.
"It's a tough situation, but...."
As Dae-Woong blurted out his words because he felt sorry for Woo-Moon, Won-Myeong interjected.
"If you're in need of money, why don't you sell it to me? How much do you want? Name your price."
"Hmm. Five gold taels...?" Dae-Woong answered, wondering if that was too high. Of course, it was right to call for a higher price when bargaining, but if that was too high, it could backfire.
"Five gold taels? Alright. Hold on a second."
Dae-Woong was surprised. Won-Myeong truly looked like he was going to buy the painting at that price.
Won-Myeong looked at his purse and turned around.
"Doa, didn't you say you had two gold taels? Give them to me."
"If I lend it to you now, you have to pay me three gold taels later."
"Fine, just hurry up. Come on."
"Alright!"
Won-Myeong quickly handed Dae-Woong five gold taels, three of which were his and the other two from Doa.
Dae-Woong received the money, overjoyed that he managed to sell the painting for an unimaginable price.
'Oh, heavens. FIVE gold taels!'
Dae-Woong's hands trembled at the unthinkable sum of money. But then, he remembered the promise that he had made to his son. He felt uncomfortable breaking a promise which he himself knew should be upheld. However, the inn's deplorable finances and his wife's expensive medicine left him with no other choice.
'I feel bad for Woo-Moon, but if I buy him some meat with this money, it should all work out. And if he considers things even a little bit, he'll be happy, because I'll be able to buy his mother's medication with this.'
Dae-Woong hurriedly rolled up the painting and handed it over to Won-Myeong, concerned that the latter would change his mind. "Here you go. Please have a safe journey."
Dae-Woong seemed to be in a hurry for Won-Myeong to leave.
However, Won-Myeong hesitated for a while because he felt something pricking at his conscience. As such, he eventually unfastened the old sword sheathed at his waist and put it on the table.
"I don't think I've paid enough, so please take this sword as well. And..."
"Old Sect Master, that sword...!" Doa let out a shrill cry upon witnessing Won-Myeong hand over the old sword to Dae-Woong. Her eyes were larger than ever. However, Won-Myeong just pushed the old sword toward Dae-Woong without hesitation or even looking at Doa once.
"I'll explain the details later, Doa. Stand down for now."
"Eh?! But there’s no way! It's the Divine Frost Sword! How can you give it to—"
"Doa! Be quiet."
"Hmph, this is ridiculous."
Dae-Woong didn't know the value of this old sword, but his heart was pounding hard. Listening to the conversation between the two, he could somewhat guess as to the worth of the sword. It had to be significant.
'This old daoist has got to be the god of fortune. He already gave me five gold taels, and now he's also handing over such a precious sword.'
Won-Myeong left with the landscape painting in his hand. Doa trailed behind him, sulking.
After a while, Woo-Moon entered the inn.
"Dad, I'm ba—"
His eyes turned toward the empty wall. The landscape painting was no longer there.
Woo-Moon's eyes, which had always been blank, suddenly gave off a cold gaze.
'He burned it, didn't he? If it's thrown away, I can just look for it. If it's torn, I can put it back together even if it's hard. However, there's nothing I can do if he burned it.'
"Cough, hmm. Ah, you're back." Dae-Woong faked a cough.
Woo-Moon looked at his father with an icy stare. "Where's the landscape painting?"
Dae-Woong's eyes grew bigger. Woo-Moon didn't look as stupid as he usually did. Clearly, his son wasn't happy. He had broken a promise, after all.
"I-I don't know."
"You do! What did you do? Did you burn it?
"No, punk!"
"Did you tear it apart?"
"No."
"Did you throw it away?"
"No."
Woo-Moon could figure out better than anyone else whether Dae-Woong's words were false or not—his father was evidently telling the truth, but not the whole truth.
Just then, Woo-Moon suddenly remembered the guests that had come earlier. At that time, he had been in a dreamy state, but his memory remained relatively detailed because of the landscape painting's uniqueness.
'The daoist was interested in the landscape painting.'
"You sold it, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
Dae-Woong's exclamation convinced Woo-Moon. His eyes turned to the sword on the table. After picking it up, Woo-Moon held out his palm to his father.
"Give it to me."
"W-what do you mean?"
Woo-Moon didn't know about the family finances, because Dae-Woong kept his worries to himself and never informed his son. He also had been in that dreamy state because of the landscape painting, which forced him to live as a fool.
If he had known the reason behind this sale was his mother, he would have given up the landscape painting, but alas, Dae-Woong did not have the leisure to explain it to him now.
"They paid you money, didn't they? Give it to me quickly."
"I don't want to, punk!"
"Then you'll be in trouble. What will you do if Mommy hears you lied to me and sold the landscape painting?"
Gasp!
"Hand it over."
Although he hesitated for a while, Dae-Woong ended up giving the money to Woo-Moon with a sigh.
"When did you sell it? No, when did that damn daoist leave?"
"About half an ho—"
Before Dae-Woong could finish his sentence, Woo-Moon opened the door of the inn and ran out.
Dae-Woong felt as if he had been inside a dream, being questioned like this by his son who had been acting like a fool for quite a while now.
"Huh... What's wrong with him all of a sudden?"
Woo-Moon ran quickly toward the city gates. He could roughly guess where the old daoist, Won-Myeong, was heading. He had heard it many times in the past in his subconscious: Go-Ryang Pyeong, where two Absolute Masters would compete.
They had to be heading in that direction.
"Damn scammer! You think my priceless treasure is only worth this much? We'll see about that!"
After passing the city gates, Woo-Moon saw Won-Myeong and Doa in the far distance.
Woo-Moon wasn't out of breath, even though he hadn’t stopped to rest for even a moment. As he closed in on them, he took a large breath before shouting, "STOOOOOP!"
The young man himself was surprised by his own thunderous shout. His voice was louder than a tiger's roar, making him wonder if this was what a cry of a legendary Great Peng or Azure Dragon sounded like.