Chapter 5

“You got away from there rather quickly.”

That was what it seemed to say.

The next day, after waking, Dam Yun made inquiries through every possible channel. In the end, he discovered that the extraordinary encounter he had experienced was a type of divine art known as Mongro. It was said that the higher one’s cultivation, the more profound the practitioner, the more flawlessly they could unfold a dream realm (Monggyeong) within a dream—one that was indistinguishable from reality.

If that was the case…

Then just who was the extraordinary man who had drawn Dam Yun into that dream?

The answer came to him before long.

“Captain Dam, come forth! His Highness, the Master of the Moon Palace, has bestowed gifts upon you, along with a spiritual weapon!”

Together with an astonishing number of gifts, the beautiful spear he had seen in his dream truly found its way into Dam Yun’s hands.

The spiritual weapon called Paegeuk was renowned on the battlefield for techniques capable of overwhelming countless soldiers and ghosts alike.

Yet there was another quality that captivated Dam Yun even more.

It possessed illusion magic.

As long as he held Paegeuk, he could cloak evil spirits in illusions, sparing himself from ever having to look upon their grotesque appearances again.

It fit perfectly with what he had complained about in the dream—that ghosts frightened him because he hated seeing their horrifying forms.

The Master of the Moon Palace…

…was none other than Prince Mokjin.

Only then did Dam Yun truly realize that he had genuinely entered Mongro and met the imperial prince.

Among the mountain of rewards, one unusually heavy bundle caught his eye. As he unfolded the silk wrapping, a red Bihyu carving appeared, and alongside it, a letter slipped onto the floor.

“I hope we meet again at Yumong Pavilion.”

The instant he read those words, Dam Yun realized something.

In the dream, the prince had never called him Captain Dam.

Instead, he had called him—

“Soyun.”

The prince had already known that Dam Yun was serving as Captain Dam’s substitute.

“Forget the empty formalities, Soyun. Is there nothing you wish to ask me?”

Prompted by the prince’s quiet voice, Dam Yun abruptly returned to the present.

The memory occupying his thoughts until moments ago had been of their first meeting years ago.

Before him sat the prince, wearing the same broad, carefree smile as he had back then.

Something he wished to ask…

Dam Yun recalled the sort of topics people of high status usually discussed. He had already inquired after the prince’s health and well-being.

Should he ask after his household instead?

But to casually speak of the women of the Moon Palace or the imperial descendants as though they were ordinary family members would be unbearably disrespectful.

Fortunately, there was one matter he had already intended to bring up.

“I don’t think General Tae and I are compatible.”

Seeing that the prince had opened the conversation for him, Dam Yun cautiously voiced his grievance.

“It seems he has no desire to provide the soldiers with even the smallest thing. I merely requested that moonstones be distributed, yet the order I received was to seize moonstones from Hwanguk instead.”

Ever since meeting Mokjin at the age of sixteen, Dam Yun had always served in military camps where moonstones were plentiful.

That was, at least, until he was assigned two months ago to the mountain fortress under General Tae’s command.

Hwanguk was already dedicating enormous resources to supporting the frontier—enough to dispatch even Azure Dragons there.

Under such circumstances, not even being supplied with basic moonstones was absurd.

To make matters worse, General Tae continued issuing tactical orders that were no better than pouring water into a bottomless vessel.

There was no possibility that the soldiers could continue enduring under such conditions.

“The evil spirits that appear in the wilderness are strange as well. Spiritual weapons, fire techniques, even spirit-banishing rituals… none of them have any effect.”

“They are truly…”

“…beyond comprehension.”

Merely speaking of the evil spirits caused Dam Yun’s mind to drift back to the first night he had encountered them.

As though being dragged back into a nightmare, he momentarily lost himself, failing to notice the brief stiffness that crossed Mokjin’s shoulders.

When he finally looked up again, all he saw was the prince’s usual gentle smile.

“…Are the evil spirits truly that frightening?”

Mokjin asked quietly.

“You concern yourself over nothing. Do you think I would leave you in such a dangerous place?”

“I assure you, the evil spirits of the frontier will not cause you even the slightest harm.”

A warm hand slowly brushed across Dam Yun’s cheek.

“You are far too timid. Do you know how much I have worried about you?”

“I gave you the Bihyu, Paegeuk, and even the Yeongcheon Art, yet it still isn’t enough?”

“Shall I grant you more spiritual weapons… or perhaps another formation?”

His voice was as gentle as one soothing a child.

Nor were his words empty promises.

Paegeuk alone had proven that much.

Ever since receiving the spear at sixteen, the difficulty of every battlefield Dam Yun faced had changed dramatically.

Before obtaining Paegeuk, he had gone to war only because he had no choice.

His title before Heavenly Ghost had been Asura.

That nickname had originated from those days.

His heart trembled in terror at the hideous appearance of ghosts, yet the martial techniques engraved into his body remained unchanged.

Whenever anything came before him, he cut it down without discrimination.

The sight of him rampaging through the battlefield was said to resemble an Asura itself.

There had even been times when his own allies were nearly caught in his indiscriminate swordsmanship, for which he received severe punishment.

On another occasion, a commander named Bangryeong, acting out of spite, had sent Dam Yun alone on an extermination mission.

Instead of dying, Dam Yun single-handedly annihilated nearly a thousand ghosts, earning fame throughout the army.

From that day onward, he became known as the Heavenly Ghost.

“I have already received more than I deserve and can only be grateful.”

“Still… it troubles me that the soldiers have neither spiritual weapons nor moonstones.”

“General Tae’s reasoning is not entirely without merit.”

“They are condemned criminals, not innocent soldiers.”

“Then…”

“…are you telling me to abandon the army and return alive by myself?”

The words escaped Dam Yun’s mouth before he could stop them.

He startled himself.

He had openly spoken against his lord’s wishes.

Yet Mokjin’s expression did not change in the slightest.

Instead, he simply replied,

“That answer pleases me more than anything.”

“Then do exactly that.”

“…”

Surely…

…he was joking.

Dam Yun’s eyes slowly shifted.

Things were not unfolding the way he had expected.

 

“Surely…”

“He must be teasing me.”

Dam Yun’s eyes slowly shifted.

Somehow, things were not going the way he had hoped. After silently moving his lips for a moment, Dam Yun decided to bring up something more personal, hoping he wouldn’t sound too foolish.

“General Tae… took one of my belongings as well.”

“The red Bihyu carving.”

Whenever people from the Dam household came to visit, they would take back every reward Mokjin had bestowed upon him—strings of pearls, furs, bolts of red silk, and countless other gifts—bringing them all back to the Dam estate.

Everything, that was, except for the items the Dam family deemed too worthless to bother taking.

Among all of those gifts, the Bihyu carvings used for Vermilion Arts were the only things Dam Yun had managed to protect until now.

“The very first Bihyu Your Highness gave me…”

“The one that bit my head…”

The moment he said it aloud, Dam Yun realized how foolish he sounded, and his face flushed bright red.

Perhaps because he was talking about what had upset him the most, his mouth simply wouldn’t stop.

His thoughts drifted back to the red Bihyu.

When he had first been invited to Yumong Pavilion, the little beast had playfully chewed on his head before later being bestowed upon him in the form of a red crystal carving.

“Were you that heartbroken?”

Mokjin let out a quiet chuckle.

“Don’t concern yourself over it.”

“You possess far more than that, don’t you?”

“If it’s Bihyu ornaments you want, I’ll give you as many as you like.”

“I shower you with all sorts of gifts, yet you can’t bear to part with even that one?”

Pretending to scold him, Mokjin gently stroked Dam Yun’s head.

Naturally, Mokjin already knew that the Dam family had been taking every gift he bestowed upon Dam Yun.

Dam Yun’s father, the Lord of the Spirit Commandery, was a greedy man who hoarded wealth and concubines far beyond his station.

That was precisely why Mokjin had continued gifting Dam Yun Bihyu carvings from the very beginning.

Whether one disappeared…

Or ten.

As long as Dam Yun still possessed one, Mokjin would always have an excuse to summon him.

Adorably enough, it seemed Dam Yun had somehow managed to protect every single Bihyu carving until this latest incident, when the Dam family finally succeeded in taking one.

As far as Mokjin was concerned…

It hardly mattered.

Even if Dam Yun felt miserable now, he could simply replace it with something even better later.

He intended to lavish Dam Yun with such unimaginable wealth and honor that the treasures piled inside the Dam family’s storerooms would seem insignificant by comparison.

So much wealth…

That Dam Yun would eventually forget a mere carving had ever existed.

When…

When would this child finally return the feelings that burned so painfully inside him?

Truthfully, there was another reason Mokjin had not simply retrieved the carving for him.

He was a little resentful.

Dam Yun was so hopelessly oblivious that Mokjin had spent years suffering heartache he had never imagined he’d experience.

In Mokjin’s eyes…

Dam Yun was endlessly lovable.

And endlessly exasperating.

“…Then you’ll have to make it up to me.”

Dam Yun reluctantly gave in.

“You know I’m rather greedy.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll fill your hands until they’re overflowing.”

Leisurely, Mokjin admired Dam Yun’s utterly transparent expression.

He had observed him so obsessively over the years that he could read every emotion hidden beneath Dam Yun’s playful words.

It was only a single carving.

Yet Dam Yun’s eyes shimmered as though mourning something irreplaceable.

Unable to endure it any longer, Mokjin leaned forward.

He kissed the corners of Dam Yun’s lips, forced downward into a pout.

Then the bridge of his nose, wrinkled in dissatisfaction.

Only with tremendous restraint did he suppress the urge to claim the soft lips—pink as though stained with flower petals—that had never once permitted another person’s touch.

Instead…

He continued placing gentle kisses upon the precious treasure wrapped in coarse, worn clothing.

At last, he leaned close and softly pressed his lips against Dam Yun’s tender earlobe.

“Even if it’s only a small creature…”

“Don’t become attached to it.”

Receiving all those kisses, Dam Yun found himself speechless.

It certainly felt as though he was being showered with his lord’s affection…

Yet somehow…

It also felt strangely hollow.

Would Prince Mokjin ever openly stroke his head like this in front of General Tae?

Probably not.

The prince’s gaze, fixed on him from such an uncomfortably close distance, seemed only to regard him as though he were an amusing little thing to dote upon.

Then Mokjin spoke again, making Dam Yun feel that perhaps he truly had been asking for too much.

“You’ll be leaving the battlefield soon.”

“And you won’t be seeing General Tae again.”

“So why concern yourself with him?”

That was what Mokjin said.

Leaving the battlefield.

That was the very reason Dam Yun had pledged his loyalty to the prince.

Half of his life had been consumed by endless slaughter.

His father had shown no intention of honoring their agreement.

Dam Yun had become too famous.

The prince knew all of this.

Two years earlier, Mokjin had made him a new promise.

And now…

He was finally giving him a definite answer.

“I’ll… be discharged from military service already?”

Dam Yun’s face lit up at once.

Taking his hand, Mokjin lightly pressed a kiss against it.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Could it be…”

“The reason you’ve been so busy all this time wasn’t only because of the Festival of the Ten Thousand Gods…”

“…but because of me?”

“That’s right.”

“The troublesome little creature standing before me has certainly been responsible for part of it.”

“Did you think the Festival of the Ten Thousand Gods was my only headache?”

“Though, admittedly, it did cause me no end of trouble.”

“Seriously… who expects someone to drain all the water from an entire valley…?”

Lost in thought, the prince’s expression darkened slightly.

But a moment later, Mokjin shook his head, dismissing the tangent before it could continue.

“At the very latest…”

“In half a month…”

“You won’t need to wield Paegeuk anymore.”

“Of course, there’s no need to return it.”

“It belongs to you.”

“Ah!”

“I am deeply grateful!”

“So happy, are you?”

“I’ll finally have some free time as well.”

“That means we’ll be able to see each other every day.”

The prince’s smile deepened.

“Can you come again tomorrow?”

“Come during the Hour of the Monkey.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Mokjin whispered those final words.

Once again, there was far too much tenderness in his voice.

Dam Yun was so stunned that he forgot the joy he had been feeling only moments earlier…

And failed to answer.

Footnotes

1. Bihyu (비휴) — A mythical guardian beast related to the Chinese Pixiu. Mokjin gifts Dam Yun Bihyu carvings as both protective charms and personal keepsakes.
2. Vermilion Arts (주금술) — A mystical art that utilizes specially prepared objects, such as Bihyu carvings, as ritual mediums or catalysts.
3. Yumong Pavilion (유몽루) — Literally “Dream-Wandering Pavilion.” A place closely associated with Mokjin and the dream meetings between him and Dam Yun.
4. Hour of the Monkey (유시, 酉時) — One of the traditional East Asian time divisions, corresponding roughly to 5:00–7:00 PM.
5. Paegeuk (패극) — Dam Yun’s legendary spiritual halberd. Mokjin reveals that Dam Yun will soon no longer need it, implying that he will be leaving the battlefield.