The broken ribs would need another month or two before they healed properly.
Until then, Yeong-woo could barely move.
After losing their commander, the Jurchensdid not descend again.
The war was not over, but without battle the camp felt almost peaceful.
Scouts were sent far out to watch the enemy's movements.
Repairs and improvements to the fortress defenses continued day after day.
Lee Hui-song also dispatched a group of light cavalry to conduct deeper reconnaissance near the enemy's main force.
About half a month later,
Baek In-gyeomvisited Yeong-woo's quarters.
"Memorize this."
"What is it?"
"I have no interest in explaining something you will not understand."
"Just memorize it."
It was a single small sheet of paper.
Tiny characters filled the page from edge to edge.
It described what to do, what not to do.
Yeong-woo immediately realized what it was.
A heart method—a breathing discipline he had only heard about in rumors.
How to sit.
How to breathe.
What thoughts to hold.
What sensations to observe.
All of it written in dense, meticulous script.
Baek In-gyeom spoke again.
"I will explain it once."
"Yes, sir."
He recited it from memory.
Every single character.
Then he explained its meaning and made Yeong-woo repeat it.
Whenever Yeong-woo successfully memorized a line,
they moved to the next.
Yeong-woo read each line, nodded casually, repeated it a few times, and continued.
They studied for one shijin.
Strangely,
the soldiers who usually wandered in and out of the quarters were nowhere to be seen.
Someone had clearly arranged something.
Baek In-gyeom did not leave.
He simply waited.
Eventually Yeong-woo asked,
"Aren't you leaving?"
"I will leave after you memorize it all."
"How could anyone memorize all of this?"
"You were doing it just now."
"That was because we divided it line by line."
"Then combine the lines."
"You'll have it."
Yeong-woo shook his head.
"No human brain is made to memorize something that long."
Baek In-gyeom looked at him calmly.
"No."
"It was made exactly for that."
"Now begin."
"Let me do it next time."
At that moment,
Baek In-gyeom's expression turned cold.
"How many 'next times' do you think a life contains?"
Yeong-woo blinked.
"This situation is new to me."
"Yes."
"It is the first."
"And it will never come again."
A man may take pride in his own work.
But that pride can appear ridiculous to others.
Because they belong to different worlds.
What is absolute truth in one world
may have no value at all in another.
At that moment,
Baek In-gyeom seemed to belong to such a world.
"I will memorize it gradually."
Baek In-gyeom shook his head.
"Then I cannot explain why I cannot leave this heart method here."
"You're taking it back?"
"Of course."
"We do not wish this method to spread in the world."
"So that's why you want me to memorize it now?"
"You may understand the meaning later."
"For now, memorize it."
"Besides, you agreed."
"Yes, but…"
Yeong-woo felt the wall of his own limitations.
Some things simply could not be done.
Memorizing something like this felt impossible.
If his mind had truly been that capable,
would he be here now,
serving as a mere fortress archer?
Baek In-gyeom asked quietly,
"Do you refuse?"
Yeong-woo raised his hand quickly.
"It is not refusal."
"I fear my ability may not reach it."
"Try."
"Teacher…"
"If you refuse, I will leave."
At that moment,
the paper in Yeong-woo's hand had already returned to Baek In-gyeom's hand.
Yeong-woo had not even seen the movement.
"Why take it back?"
"If you cannot do it, I reclaim it."
Those simple words struck him like the ground collapsing beneath his feet.
The opportunity was vanishing.
Perhaps forever.
Some people could argue and bargain until they obtained what they wanted.
Others could not.
"A—Ah, that is not what I meant."
"I will do it."
As Baek In-gyeom turned away,
the sheet of paper slowly floated through the air
and returned to Yeong-woo's hand.
Yeong-woo stared.
Empty-Air Grasp.
The technique of drawing an object through the air by force of internal power.
A skill possible only for those who had reached the extreme heights of internal cultivation.
Yeong-woo's eyes widened.
He tried to rise, but pain crushed his chest.
"Ah—!"
"Begin," Baek In-gyeom said calmly.
"If you study this method, the pain will lessen."
"Yes."
The sheet of paper was no larger than two palms.
Yet the tiny characters filled it entirely.
Yeong-woo memorized them desperately.
Whenever he misunderstood something,
Baek In-gyeom corrected him immediately.
Another shijinpassed.
Baek In-gyeom watched patiently
as the stubborn young soldier struggled to memorize.
What had seemed utterly impossible
slowly became real.
At last,
Yeong-woo memorized it completely.
"Recite."
"Yes."
The paper flew back to Baek In-gyeom's hand.
Then,
before Yeong-woo's reluctant gaze,
it burst suddenly into flame.
If you were going to burn it…
you could have just given it to me.
It showed how seriously they guarded their teachings.
"Recite it again," Baek In-gyeom said.
"Before you forget."
"A man's memory rarely survives beyond a moment."
"Yes."
Yeong-woo recited feverishly.
After hearing him repeat it three times without the paper,
Baek In-gyeom quietly disappeared.