episode_0123

The Eastern Sage visited our dwelling.

“Welcome, Sage. It’s been a while! I should have visited you first… Thank you for coming.”

“Well, it has been a while, young man. Oh no, I mean, should I call you ‘Bu-ma’ now? Haha… I can’t speak so freely anymore.”

“Oh..! Sage..! What’s between us… Even Princess Hee-sun is comfortable with you calling her that… Please treat me the same way. I prefer it.”

“Haha, alright, I understand.”

Phew… Even esteemed individuals enjoy teasing for no reason… It feels somewhat similar to my interactions with Gil-yong, the old man?

I invited the Sage to our home for one reason: to learn about Seon-gi properly.

I realized the necessity of learning about Seon-gi.

Why did I… Ahem…! In my haste, I panicked and foolishly wiped my tongue as if to hide Hee-sun’s messed-up face… Hm….

Even though I was in a rush, coming up with that excuse in that situation was just ridiculous….

When Hee-sun mentioned easily wiping away her face with Seon-gi, it felt like a blow to the back of my head.

It was shocking that despite using Seon-gi for impossible tasks all this time, I hadn’t even thought about Seon-gi at all.

She even openly used Seon-gi on her eyes, claiming she could see in the dark.

Perhaps it’s because I grew up in a world without Seon-gi.

Moreover, just because it’s this world doesn’t mean Seon-gi is common or ordinary….

After falling here, I spent over ten years shooting arrows, making fire with flint, and living without Seon-gi.

So, not considering using Seon-gi to solve problems when they arise might have been somewhat understandable…

But just because it’s understandable doesn’t mean I should settle for it.

Now that I’ve gained this magical power of Seon-gi with boundless potential, limiting its use to only a high-quality night vision scope is absurd! This is unacceptable!

Furthermore, with a mountain of problems to solve once I descend to the surface, I must learn how to wield this power to expand the scope of what I can do.

That way, I can better protect myself and my family.

I’m grateful that the Eastern Sage came so willingly.

Originally, I intended to learn from Hee-sun, but….

After briefly contemplating, Hee-sun suggested that learning from someone like the Eastern Sage, specialized in healing people and making clothes with unique Seon-gi, would be better than learning from herself.

“So, you want to learn about Seon-gi?”

“Yes, Sage, I want to know what Seon-gi is, how to use it, what it can do, and what its limitations are.”

“Hmm… Very specific. Alright… You seem like an easy student to teach. Good, first we need to assess your capacity. Ah! Over there seems suitable. Please have a seat comfortably.”

“Yes.”

To designate a separate seating area in this spacious place… It seems like something substantial is about to begin.

And talking about ‘capacity’ and ‘seating’….

“Oh… This is so exciting! The Sage looks completely mystical, like a character from a martial arts novel! No, is it a fantasy novel? Who cares! It’s stimulating a man’s fantasies like this!”

With a slightly fluttering heart, I walked to where the Sage pointed and sat down.

Ah! We are in Do-hee Hall’s garden.

Remember that place we rested last time? Where the children played around the altar and the shrine.

The garden is so vast, the kids always come here to play hide-and-seek and tag, never getting tired of having fun all day long.

Fortunately, today was an important day, so Heeseon took everyone out for a leisurely outing to avoid any interruptions…

“Well then, from now on, I will place my hand on your back, so don’t be too startled. It shouldn’t hurt… That’s what ‘Seongi’ is all about. Since you might wonder why this is happening, let me briefly explain that you need to make this contact to read the flow of your internal Seongi!”

“Yes! Please don’t worry, Elder.”

Surprised! This feels like Jin Gi-do! To actually experience this!

…I struggled to contain my excitement, wanting to jump around like a dais.

…

…

Hmm… Honestly, I was a bit disappointed.

Nothing special, huh?

All that talk about energy flowing through the meridians, blocked acupoints, life and death gates, wherever the energy gets stuck, and I thought enduring that pain while following the lead of the energy master would lead to some intense experience…

So, I was expecting some discomfort but…

What’s this… Just feeling a bit warm, nothing else?

And despite the Elder placing their hand on my back for quite some time, there was hardly any response no matter how much time passed…

As I silently endured the boredom, the Elder finally spoke up.

“Hmm… Seems like you were in a very dangerous situation?”

Huh? What do you mean, Elder?

“Yes, yes..? I was in danger?”

“Yes, a spirit entered you. And it felt like a very malicious one.”

….

Suddenly, my heart grew uneasy.

Ah… This must be it.

The malevolent spirit the tiger mentioned.

I knew it wasn’t a great situation, but until now, straying emotionally a bit off course occasionally seemed to be the only issue, not something serious…

Was it actually very dangerous?

Sigh… How nice it would be if the fairy tale world only had cute and whimsical things…

Like a cat kingdom, how warm and happy that would be?

Why do these filthy and eerie stories like malevolent spirits keep popping up!

Lately, things like a pale hand keep appearing and…

Ugh, still gives me chills..!

Just as I managed to calm my troubled mind because of that hand…

“Uh… You seem to be talking about malevolent spirits, is it really serious? Apart from getting emotionally intense in specific situations, there hasn’t been a big issue.”

“Hmm…”

It seemed the Elder was deeply contemplating my question, laying a hand on my back and letting out a sigh.

“…Elder?”

“Oh! Right, sorry, was lost in thought… Malevolent spirits… yes… malevolent spirits imply evil intentions… Hmm… To answer your question… it’s serious but delicately balanced…”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Originally, at this point, you should have turned into a malevolent spirit and remained so… but your Seongi is subtly maintaining a stable balance here. And…”

I roughly understand Seongi, but what’s this ‘Yogi’? Hmm… Heeseon vaguely mentioned it last time…

“I had to think long and hard because the balance between Seongi and Yogi alone couldn’t explain everything.”

“What part are you referring to?”

“Yogi, in essence, is an unfavorable energy when it comes into contact with humans. No matter how much positive energy a person has, avoiding becoming a demon or ghost is not easy, especially avoiding impulses. Because whether Seongi or Yogi, they are both deeply connected forces with our emotions. But you have too much Yogi. Too much.”

“Uh… Elder? Seongi, Yogi, I don’t know much about them, but… roughly speaking, they seem like opposing forces. Is there no neutralization or something?”

“About half of what you’re thinking is correct. The energy itself is balanced by harmonizing. That’s why you can remain human. However, what I mentioned was about emotions. No matter how noble a sage may be, humans are creatures of emotion. Even the kindest person can feel anger, sadness, and pain.”

“……”

“The energy of goodness is very warm and slow. It subtly and slowly colors people. But the energy here… is cold and fast. That’s why humans are vulnerable here. Those intense emotions and impulses are closely linked to primal desires, so they easily devour the subtle emotions of goodness.”

“……”

“Both of them, like your state, hold a delicate balance. The energy of goodness devours the energy here. Yes, it could even be called purification since here is so vulnerable to goodness. However, the emotions here devour the emotions of goodness. It’s an irresistible temptation because it stimulates one’s original desires.”

…I began to grasp somewhat of what he was talking about.

And somehow, Hwiseon’s face came to mind as the elder spoke…

“So, the fact that there is a balance of energy within you is a very dangerous situation. If goodness is weak to the energy here, yet goodness still cannot consume the energy here.”

“It seems that I lack more goodness than the energy here. Since the energy here is vulnerable to goodness, even if there is a bit less goodness, a balance could have been achieved. However…”

“That’s right. It’s good that you understand quickly. Goodness is vulnerable to the emotions here, so your emotions, already lacking in goodness, should easily be consumed by the energy here. However… you haven’t been consumed yet.”

Ah… thanks to you again…

“Someone guided your impulses in the right direction. I don’t know what impulses you have. It varies from person to person. For some, it could be the desire to kill, for others, material desires, or perhaps gluttony. Think carefully. Was there someone who steered your impulsive actions in the right direction?”

“Yes… there was.”

Although various desires may be mixed, my biggest impulse is probably lust.

A dominant and coercive instinct faithful to the male’s nature…

Perhaps…

I could have become a criminal who couldn’t overcome that impulse, terrorizing and raping women.

All that would remain at the end would be the pain of nameless women.

Fortunately, there was someone who embraced that impulse entirely under the name of love.

She said she enjoyed those rough and coercive actions… turning them into simple marital acts.

In the end… she conceived a beautiful new life.

Thanks to her, I could become a father, not a criminal.

Hwiseon.

My wife.

That person… saved me from becoming a tiger.