After traveling forty to fifty li south of Liaoyang, the land opened wide.They moved into Liaodong the moment the summons was issued.The smell of the plains thickened in the air.
The fields, turning into autumn, had hardened.Under the horses' hooves came a dull, steady resonance.
Camp banners fluttered in the wind.At each banner tip, a red seal-mark stood out, sharp and unmistakable.
Park Seong-jin loosened the reins.
"This should be it."
The moment he stopped, a sentry approached.The man swept his gaze over Seong-jin once, then straightened into formality.
"Your name?"
"Sunui Army veteran bowman, Park Seong-jin."
The sentry's expression changed at once.His posture lowered.
"We've been expecting you.The Jungnangjang said to bring you in as soon as you arrived."
Inside the tent, autumn sunlight cut through drifting dust.It spread in pale gold.
In the center of that light sat Lee In-jung.
He looked thinner than before.His eyes, however, had not dimmed.
He rose.
"You've come, Park Seong-jin."
"Loyalty."
Seong-jin bowed.
Lee In-jung studied him for a long moment.
"You've changed."
"Pardon?"
"You're a different man."
His voice was low.
"When breath changes, the eyes change.When the eyes change, even the way you fight changes."
Seong-jin lowered his head.
"I studied in the mountains."
"Yes.You went to Guwol Mountain.Good."
"Yes.I met Elder Yi-wol-gun."
A brief smile crossed Lee In-jung's lips.
"…I was there once, too.A place that feels like the homeland of the heart."
His tone was calm.As if he had known Seong-jin would be there.
How did he know?That had been my own decision—quiet, private, almost existential.
The tent fell silent.
"If you studied there,"Lee In-jung continued,"you've already finished half of it."
Outside, soldiers hauled supplies.Metal armor clinked.Horses snorted in the stables.
Yet inside the tent, all sound felt distant.Time seemed pinned in place.
"Now you have to go again."
"To where?"
"Officially, to the northwest.Beyond the Black River—Heukha (黑河)."
"The remnants of the White Lotus are gathering again.There are also reports the Northern Yuan's troops are moving."
A faint tremor passed through Seong-jin's gaze.
"A full-scale war?"
"Not yet.Only a declaration."
Lee In-jung looked toward the edge of the tent.
"But if Naha-chu (納哈出) moves,and the Great Khan's army moves,we will soon be standing on the knife's edge."
He looked back at Seong-jin.
"That's why I called you."
Seong-jin bowed.
"Loyalty."
It was more than obedience.It carried trust.
On the battlefield, trust becomes responsibility.
Even so, a quiet pride rose in his chest.
"Transfer him into my direct command."
"Yes, sir!"
Seong-jin lifted his head.His eyes were deeper than before.
Outside, wind passed.Drums sounded.
News of a new campaign spread through the camp.
*
Seong-jin hesitated.
"May I ask…what is your relationship with Elder Yi-wol-gun?"
"I learned from him."
Short.Solid.
"Then… were you his disciple?"
The corner of Lee In-jung's mouth moved.Not quite a smile.
"I was not good enough to claim that."
"There was learning.But not depth."
"I did not remain long.I only stood there for a while."
Seong-jin knelt quietly.His posture was that of one before an elder brother in the path.
"The times were different,but we served the same teacher."
Lee In-jung looked at him for a long while.
Not surprise.An old memory loosening.
"I see."
A door opening.
"I stepped onto the battlefieldwhen I should have been studying."
"And I never returned."
"Study has its season.Miss it, and insight comes too late."
"What remainsis reflection."
Seong-jin lowered his head.
"There was no rebuke in the words.Only concern."
"I don't want you to become like that."
"Do not miss the season."
"People cling to places.But timing matters more."
"When the moment comes,do not let it pass."
"They say after a hundred days,something the size of a mustard seed appears."
"That is when it must be done."
"At other times,effort is useless."
"Yes."
Lee In-jung noticed.Seong-jin understood the seed.
It showed in his bearing.
"Rank and position are dust on the wind."
"Do not place your heart there."
"Study."
"You must reach Daeseong (大成)."
Seong-jin bowed deeply.
He had never aimed that far.Survival had been enough.
"Thank you for your teaching."
Silence.
"The fact that you came down from Guwol Mountain,"Lee In-jung said softly,"means the study has already begun."
"Carry it on in the world."
"The world, too, is a place of study."
"But keeping a constant heart is not easy."
"There are many temptations."
Seong-jin raised his head.His eyes held a deeper light.
Outside, drums thundered.
"When this fight ends,"Lee In-jung said,"we should return to the mountain."
He laughed quietly.
"I don't know if I can."
"Then let's go together."
Lee In-jung did not answer.
He knew the bindings of rank and duty.He knew temptation.
The world itselfwas temptation.