Bok Taejin didn’t have much of a martial arts foundation.
Watching the villagers pound at, all he could perceive was a sense of powerful, overflowing physical beauty.
Im Beomhyeon kept shouting nearby—complaining one mont that soone was swinging their pestle with too much force, then that soone else’s stance was wrong, then that soone else should lift the pestle a little more to the left and strike a bit more to the right when it ca down...
Jeong Daehu was the first one among the at-pounders to put down his pestle and walk over.
After wiping the sweat from his face with a cloth that was tucked into his waistband, he pointed to a pot of at that had just finished cooking.
"Beomhyeon, why don’t you co pound this batch a bit?"
Bok Taejin had a phrase pop into his head: You do it if you’re so good at it.
Im Beomhyeon chuckled and gave Bok Taejin a push. "I just walked all the way down the mountain and back. I’ve got no strength left. If you want soone else to help you, let Taejin do it. It might as well teach him at the sa ti."
Jeong Daehu laughed and smacked Im Beomhyeon on the shoulder. "Forget it. The at you pound tastes good. If Taejin does it, it really won’t be strong enough."
While they were talking, another person took a break and turned their head with a grin. "Co on now. Even if Beomhyeon hadn’t gone to the market today, there’s no way he’d lift a finger on at that wasn’t cooked by Second Uncle."
The sound of at pounding gradually slowed as everyone chatted for a bit. So even began asking Im Beomhyeon whether their own at-pounding technique had any issues.
Surprisingly, Im Beomhyeon answered each question patiently.
He had truly watched everyone’s movents, so no matter who asked, they received a response.
The only difference was that so people were told they were fine, while others got roasted—told their whole set of movents was utterly useless.
Of course, there were very few in either extre, maybe fewer than five combined.
Most had only partial issues. After hearing his corrections, they either thought it over seriously or hurried back to correct their form while practicing.
This ti, Bok Taejin finally started noticing a few things.
There was a starting movent when villagers pounded the at. Their feet shifted slightly throughout, and there were indeed specific techniques in how the pestle was lifted and brought down.
He nudged Im Beomhyeon with his elbow. "Don’t tell this is so kind of martial arts routine?"
Im Beomhyeon scoffed. "Took you long enough to figure that out? It’s a staff technique. Great for pounding at—or for pounding sticky rice cakes and New Year mochi!"
Bok Taejin hadn’t thought too much of it at first, but then Im Beomhyeon continued, "Back in the day, I learned this staff technique just to beat people more easily. Hah, never thought teaching it for pounding at would work so well. If I’d known, I’d have learned more of it back then."
Evening was fast approaching.
Once all the at that had been cooked that day was pounded down, it would be ti to eat.
Except for two n still finishing up their assigned at batches, the rest were setting up tables and chairs. The won, having more free ti, were preparing bowls, dishes, and chopsticks.
Second Uncle brought Yoon Areum over to find Bok Taejin.
As dusk settled, it beca harder for Yoon Areum to spot him from a distance. Only once she was standing right beside him did her unease begin to fade—but even so, she tightly clutched his sleeve.
Im Beomhyeon took a deep breath and wrinkled his nose. "Second Uncle, how much did you feed Rumi? Aren’t you worried she won’t be able to eat dinner later?"
Second Uncle looked a little awkward and, for once, started counting on his fingers. "It shouldn’t be that much, right? Just the at porridge, the walnut kernels, so jujubes, and the dried duck at. Just those four things, right?"
"That’s not much?" Im Beomhyeon stared at him. "How much dried duck at did you give her? The mont she walked over, I could even sll chopi scent from her!"
Hwayang Village didn’t have any chili peppers—only chopi.
But the flavor of chopi was vastly different from chili peppers, so Bok Taejin had been wondering whether it was possible to get chili peppers from the spirit seed storage or perhaps find so in another area.
When he visited the market earlier that day, he’d kept an eye out for anyone selling young livestock or seedlings, but unfortunately, he hadn’t found anything he needed.
Second Uncle was even more flustered after Im Beomhyeon’s questioning. He lowered his head and muttered, "It wasn’t that much, really. Just half the bag of dried duck at."
Im Beomhyeon sucked in a sharp breath. "Wait... was it the bag with the embroidered number five on it?"
Second Uncle glanced at him and gave a tiny nod.
Im Beomhyeon staggered back two steps and cried out, "That bag held an entire duck!"
Second Uncle couldn’t take it anymore. "Why are you yelling so loud? What if you scare Rumi? So what if she ate half a duck? You have a problem with that? That duck was Seo Sowoo’s, wasn’t it? If Seo Sowoo hasn’t said anything, why are you shouting? Just because you’re loud doesn’t an you’re right!"
The more he talked, the more confident Second Uncle beca, and his voice gradually rose.
From the words exchanged between the two, Bok Taejin more or less pieced together what had happened. He quickly turned around to face Yoon Areum, who had been following close behind him the whole ti.
"Rumi, tell your master—did you eat a lot of food today?"
Yoon Areum shook her head.
Bok Taejin let out a breath of relief. What he was most worried about was that she might’ve eaten too much too quickly after long-term hunger and poor nutrition, which could upset her stomach.
But then Yoon Areum nodded.
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