"what?!" i yelled at danggu.
"do you have any idea what you have done? jang uk can die" yul said.
"master heo said nothing would happen, what is this all about?" he nervously asked.
we were standing at the entrance of jeongjingak. cheonbugwan's men came here to bring the news of an official duel between jang uk and the crown prince.
we went to the prison where jang uk was held in.
"uk get up. you need to get out of here right now" yul said.
"wae? (what is it?)" he irritatedly asked.
"there is no time to explain, if you do not go, you will lose your arm" uk furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "ani (no), you could even die!"
"what?!"
"young master. things have gotten serious. stay here and you might lose you arm or life. will you still do nothing?" mudeok told him.
so naksu did this. i should have known better. i facepalmed.
uk looked at me for an answer and i nodded.
"you will also go with them?" yul asked.
"yes, i want to make sure that they are safe"
we were now on the dock with a boat already waiting to sail. naksu must have planned this beforehand since she is so ready.
"lie low until the dust settles. uncle would not approve of this but we will handle him". danggu said.
"you sure you do not need anything else?" yul worriedly asked.
"no young master, we are going to my former village"
"sari village was it?" he asked for confirmation as she nodded.
"take care" yul and danggu said in unison while we smiled at him.
soon the boat started sailing.
"why bring that when we are fleeing?" uk looked at his sword which was in naksu's hand.
"because you need to train" i answered.
"train? are we going there to train?" he glanced at me "did you cause all this?" he asked her in disbelief.
"i only played a part. you finally budged when you we said you were in danger"
he scoffed.
"what? i do not need a pupil who would not improve. just die if you are not going to anything"
"naksu" i warned her.
"you have poisoned me once again, my crazy master"
"jang uk, we will go where i used to train. brace yourself" he seemed confused, "there will be no warm baths, cozy beds or food that is seasoned well to your liking"
"is sari village that scary?" he asked.
"sari village was where mudeok was from" i said.
"naksu's hometown is danhyanggok. that is our destination" she added.
"how far do we have to go?" uk complained, "this bracelet weighs a ton. master, you pupil is exhausted. i am done. i am too tired to go any further" he stopped on his track.
"we are the ones carrying all the luggage" i said, irritated.
"i am your young master and you are my maid. this is your job"
"so i am your master and your servant to your liking?"
"ofcourse" she scoffed. "i did not know such a place existed outside the city.
"this is a place so rugged and remote that even echoes cannot be heard, hence the name danhyanggok" i said.
"aaaahh-" he shouted, his voice followed by loud echoes. "i hear the echoes just fine"
"it was a figure of speech" i snapped at him.
"the name is just a bluff. ah, i am hungry"
"up there is where i used to live. you will eat what i provide for you and sleep where you collapse after a day's hard training" she ordered him.
"what is this? i smell chicken"
i smelled around, "he's right"
"do they sell chicken here?" he asked.
"who would sell chicken here?" she also started smelling.
"you smell chicken too, right? i am telling you, i am sure it is chicken. i love chicken" he started climbing up, "aigoo, how did you climb up here? someone must be cooking chicken nearby. come on down. why are you up there?"
"see i told you it is chicken" he ran towards the cooking food.
naksu was shocked to see her former home like this.
"i told you i smelled chicken. it is so nice here!" he went inside the hut.
i stepped forward.
"i vividly remember, this hut was all burnt. how is it fixed? why are all these things here?"
i was just as confused as her.
"mudeok! there is even a bath here!" he yelled from inside the hut.
we entered the hut.
"there are tons of things to eat, and the bathtub is nice too. master you had a pretty place to live in. did you really have to scare your pupil like that? you are one weird- oh! there is a blanket too"
i looked around. this place was indeed stocked up with food and other necessary things.
naksu glanced at me, "these are not mine, someone else is living here. who could it be?" she stepped out as i followed her. "is it a man?"
suddenly a dog barked at us. it did not seem an ordinary one. he was about to bite her but i stopped it beforehand.
"stop little one. stay still" it followed my command at once. "you must be the owners dog. where is your owner, go him bring to us" with that the dog went away.
"it can not be one of danju's men seeing that he or she is not hiding themself"
"we will find out soon" i answered her.
it was night time now. rain was showering like anything. uk and naksu had already been sleeping. i was at the back of the hut.
"why did naksu's soul get trapped in the maid's body? could it be what i think?"
my train of thoughts was interrupted by what seemed like footsteps creating ripples in the rain water. i carefully peeped out to see what was going on.
"are you saying that there is a soul shifter inside?" he asked the dog, "how interesting"
the dog. so it was the soul of sapsali. no wonder it aggressively barked at naksu.
the man entered the hut. he now stood infront of naksu who was soundly sleeping on the bed while jang uk was on the floor.
"i would not have recognised her without your help since her soul has no malice" he said to his dog. "you will be better off dying in my hands than to run wild and be petrified"
he formed energy on his palm and then morphed it into a sharp ice spike. energy now surrounded mudeok's body. then he suddenly discarded the energy causing the ice spike to vanish.
"a great soul has shifted into this body. she should have run wild by now, judging how weak the body looks. how is she still fine?"
he put his hand on her forehead.
"i feel no energy around her. where did it all disappear to?" he regained his posture, "who are you?"
by this time, now uk and i were standing behind him, both of our swords were unsheathed.
"and you are?" uk asked him, "step away from mudeok. he hesitantly took his bracelet out.
"jang uk!" i yelled at him.
his arm became uncontrollable and he started attacking the man, only to fail. the man stopped him without even the need of a sword. uk once again attacked, but he rolled into the ground because of the powerful energy. he stood up but with a snapping of the man's fingers, he was pushed out of the hut.
the sounds of the thunder cut the sounds of the instense fight. without wasting any more time, i used my energy to stop both of them. it was really hard to stop the man.
"ssaum-eul meomchwojuseyo (please stop the fight)" i ran towards uk. "gwaenchanha? (are you ok?)"
the man put his cane on uk's shoulder, "that sword was given to the cheonbugwan's gwanju by the king. and you also are not an ordinary priestess. who are you both? what are you doing with a girl like her?"
"jang uk go and check up on mudeok" he nodded and went away.
the rain had now stopped. the man and i were sitting outside the hut.
"he is who you think he is" i caught the attention of the man.
"what do you mean?"
"he is jang uk, the son of jang gang or should i say the king's star" he looked surprised.
"how did you know?" he attentively asked.
"i thought you would have recognised me by now, hemp master lee" i bowed to him, "it is an honour to meet you"
"do you really not remember anything?" master lee asked mudeok.
"no, did you two fight?" naksu asked.
"yes they did" i answered.
"did you win?"
"ani (no), i lost. he was too powerful" uk reasoned.
"i knew it"
"what is the relation between you two, are you married?" master lee asked while petting sapsali. i laughed at his question.
"no!" they answered in unison and continued their bickering.
he looked at his dog, "they must be married"
"i told you, we are not!"
master lee was cooking food while we three were sitting. uk was drinking tea.
"the fire is weak" master lee remarked.
with the movement of his hand, the log of wood snapped in half.
"his body must be filled with energy, judging by his strength" naksu said as i nodded. "he must have mastered jipsu"
"jipsu? that means he is as strong as me. no wonder it was not easy to fight him" i smiled at him.
master lee put the logs in the fire and increased the fire.
"he is using his energy to control fire. he is far above the ryusu level" she said, surprised.
"ryusu?" he hesitantly chuckled, "he is stronger than me. i could have gotten badly hurt"
"the rain has soaked my clothes" master lee stood up. again, with the movement of his hand, the hanged clothes dried up in no time.
jang uk's eyes widen as he is wonderstruck.
"he has mastered chisu. he dried his clothes so easily. he is a master of the higher levels of chisu"
"a mage beyond the level of chisu? i could have died" he nervously drank his tea.
"it is nice and dry" master lee said. he looked at uk and took the kettle from him. "do not drink the tea. you drank the entire kettle?"
"yes?"
"are you alright? do you feel unwell?"
i took the cup from uk and smelled it, "did you brew poisonous herbs?" he took it back and smelled himself.
"not poisonous herbs, rather chaste herbs"
"chaste?"
"uh oh"
"chaste herbs? you mentioned picking herbs that grow only in danhyanggok, did you mean chaste herbs?" naksu asked.
"do you know what chaste herbs are?"
"i heard mages drink tea made of chaste herbs to lower their libido so they could focus on mastering their spells" she replied.
"lower their libido? what is that?"
"your sexual desire, one of the five desires of human" i told him.
"what? sexual desire?" he asked in disbelief.
"chaste herbs cut off-" he stopped for a second, "the energy that causes humans to have sexual desires"
"i heard about a mage who reached a high level of sorcery by cutting off his libido and mastering spells. they say he only wears clothes made with hemp fabric, which is why they call him, hemp master lee"
"you do know a lot of things for a mere maid"
she stood up "i am honoured to have met a mage who has reached such a high level. here is a proper greeting, hemp master lee" and bowed to him as he smiled.
uk however was frozen. his gaze was fixed at the cup. "does that mean my libido has been cut off?" he got on his knees, "no, no way, that cannot happen. please help me" he begged him.
"a single pot of tea is not enough to cut off your libido" i told him, smothering a smile.
"are you sure? tell me the truth!"
"yes it is the truth. if you are so worried, i will make a tonic for you to boost it back"
"thankyou" he sighed in relief, "my greetings to you hemp master lee" he bowed to him.