Bok Taejin put away the jade gourd, cradled the seeds in one hand, and awkwardly scratched his head with the other. "These were left to me by my master. I didn't realize there were so few at first."
It wasn't a complete lie.
Im Beomhyeon believed him and snorted twice before casually filling in one of the holes he had just dug.
"Alright then! Since there's so little, let's spread them out a bit. Let's hurry up, get this done, water them, and then head up the mountain!"
The soil had only been tilled yesterday, so it was soft enough to dig by hand.
Before long, all eight seeds were planted.
Bok Taejin personally watered them, and only after finishing did he and Im Beomhyeon finally head up the mountain.
The mountain path wasn't easy to walk, and Im Beomhyeon moved quickly.
Bok Taejin struggled to keep up, and although he noticed many strange plants along the way that he wanted to examine, he didn't dare slow down for fear of losing track of Im Beomhyeon.
He wasn't sure if Im Beomhyeon was walking so fast because he was upset about what had happened earlier or because their destination was particularly far today.
Either way, he wasn't inclined to ask Im Beomhyeon to slow down.
Yesterday, when they went to the lakeside, most of the path was flat, and Im Beomhyeon had walked at a much slower pace, being considerate of him.
By the time they finally reached the mountainside, Bok Taejin was already gasping for breath.
The narrow path led to this point, where multiple forks appeared—one continuing up the mountain, another leading to the left, and yet another veering right.
Near the fork in the road, there was a relatively flat, large rock.
Im Beomhyeon stopped and pointed at the rock. "Sit here for a bit. I'll go find some water for you."
Without waiting for Bok Taejin's response, he quickly strode down the right-hand path.
This area seemed to be along the mountain ridge, with dense shrubs obstructing the view.
As soon as Im Beomhyeon walked off, taking a slight detour, Bok Taejin lost sight of him.
He could only shout that he'd wait there and then sat down on the rock, still panting heavily.
He almost felt like he had sprinted up the mountain—Im Beomhyeon was just that fast.
Thinking back to yesterday's land-clearing, Im Beomhyeon had been just as formidable.
Although the land behind Im Beomhyeon's house was fertile and not too hard, making it easier to cultivate, the key to the speed of the work was Im Beomhyeon's sheer strength.
As Bok Taejin pondered this, he also began to consider whether he should visit the village to check what kinds of farming tools the villagers used.
Maybe he could even think of ways to improve them for this world.
One thought led to another, and soon he was contemplating crops again.
There were too few white radish seeds, and it would take several more days before he could draw more from the Spirit Seed Respiratory.