Sangun

From the moment he was born, Hahnul enjoyed wandering the mountains, often humming to himself with a relaxed air. His parents worried he lacked the fierce spirit expected of a tiger of his lineage. But Hahnul didn't care. He preferred leisure over quarrels and dreamed only of living in quiet harmony on the slopes of Mount Tai.

One day, Hahnul encountered a Divine Beast who had embraced the energy of the tall Mount Tai, and that Divine Beast offered him a drink. Hahnul accepted the stranger's offer, and, because the stranger never offered his name, Hahnul began calling him "Nobody," which the stranger did not mind.

"Nobody" taught Hahnul how to make blessed water by combining various medicinal herbs. When the time came, "Nobody" returned to the embrace of Mother Nature, and Hahnul followed in his footsteps to accept the energy of Mount Tai and reach enlightenment, becoming a Divine Beast himself.

The beastkin who worshipped on the mountain took to calling him "The King of Mount Tai" or, in local parlance, "Sangun"but Sangun did not care to have any followers. Eventually, he made a home for himself in a liminal space between heaven and earth, a place he called the "Azure Orchard."

The Kumiho Divine Maiden came looking for Sangun. Long ago, her ancestor had sacrificed her life to become a Divine Pillar, mending the Wound of the World and ending the war against the Void... and her descendants had served the God of Fate ever since. Sangun pitied the current Divine Maiden. As he valued his freedom and life of leisure, he saw the Divine Maiden's life as suffocating.

The Divine Maiden suggested forming an organization to look after the people of the Far East, but it seemed to be a suggestion born from her duty as the Divine Maiden, rather than out of genuine compassion. Sangun perceived that the establishment of the Council of Empyrean Fangs was meant to ensure the Divine Beasts didn't abuse their powers.

Sangun said she could use his name in support of the new organization if she would tell him her name in return. Though slightly startled, the Divine Maiden eventually answered: "Miho."

The Divine Beasts gathered and formed the Council of Empyrean Fangs. The Divine Beasts who dwelled in Kurogane and Cangtian, nations of the Far East beyond the borders of Baek-Ah, were not enthusiastic participants, but they could not stop the Council's founding, since Frost Storm Howlett and Great Sage Wukong supported it.

For his part, Sangun didn't notice much difference, council or no council, save for occasional pressure from the other Divine Beasts to avoid reckless use of his powers. But, because none of them could pull rank on him, none of them dared to defy him.

Sangun was intrigued by Miho's choice to suppress the Divine Beasts' might for the sake of the people... And he was puzzled that she never abused her immense power to glimpse the fates of others.

Sangun didn't understand Miho, yet he found himself unable to look away from her. She was so different from him, and that made him more and more curious about her.

This initial interest frequently drew him to the flower fields of Duskhaven to watch her tend the flowers. He didn't realize that his fascination was gradually turning into love, for to him, love was nothing more than a fleeting affliction, reserved for those whose lives were much shorter than his.

Even telling her his true name, which he hadn't shared with anyone since becoming a Divine Beast, had felt no more significant than a passing whim.

And now, Miho was the only person in the world who ever called him "Hahnul".

Although Sangun had initially offered only his name in support of the formation of the Council of Empyrean Fangs, he spent a surprisingly considerable amount of time working for Miho and the Council. The first thing he did was put an end to the lengthy civil war in Baek-Ah.

The land of Baek-Ah had long been plagued by clashes between humans, dokkaebi, and beastkin. Sangun and Miho worked side-by-side to reconcile divisions among the beastkin, calm the aggressive impulses of the dokkaebi, and offer them both a chance to settle down in the province of Surah. So long as they remained there, their freedom would be assured. He also bridged misunderstandings between humans and beastkin to foster peace.

As a result, the people of Baek-Ah came to respect both Sangun and Miho, and the land was unified at last.

Miho remained cautious of the Divine Beasts' power growing too dominant. She feared that the people would lose their will to make choices for themselves if they came to rely too much on the judgment of the Divine Beasts. Once the situation in Baek-Ah stabilized, she tried to minimize her involvement.

She allowed the dokkaebi to rule the villages in Surah by might. While the other Divine Beasts on the Council saw this as a threat to unity and urged intervention, Sangun chose to wait and observe.

Though he didn't fully understand Miho's intentions, he respected her vision and wanted it to play out. Miho believed that the dokkaebi were worthy of respect, and thought other species could relocate to Namryung and Muwon while leaving Surah to the dokkaebi. Whatever the outcome, she hoped they would find their own solution.

However, the dokkaebi betrayed that trust. Their leader, Duoxini, defied their agreement and began to expand his territory beyond Surah. In response, Sangun immediately mobilized the Council and sealed Duoxini and all the dokkaebi in a shrine.

It was both a stern warning against future rebellion and a punishment for betraying Miho's trust in them.

The Kumiho Divine Maiden does not reproduce naturally. Instead, she uses the divine power accumulated over the course of her life to conceive a single heir. Miho kept to this pattern, giving birth to a daughter who would one day take up her mantle.

When Sangun visited the Shrine of Nine Fates, Miho had a newborn in her arms and a smile on her lips unlike any he had ever seen her wear. She asked Sangun to name the child, and, looking down at Miho as she gazed at her daughter with an expression of pure love, he named her "Mina".

One hundred years after a Kumiho Divine Maiden bore an heir, she would ascend to the heavens, never to return to the world below. Such was her inevitable fate. There was no room for sorrow or regret in this natural order.

A year after Mina's birth, monsters began to appear in the land of Baek-Ah. Since facing them without the power of Divine Beasts would cause many losses, Sangun and Miho led many battles to quell the rising tide. Each time, Mina was left alone at the Shrine of Nine Fates.

Miho did not want Mina to be alone. She did not want her to live a lonely life, not just during this period of war, but also during her near-millennia term as Divine Maiden. This feeling was something wholly different from her general benevolence or the sense of duty that propelled her to form the Council of Empyrean Fangs and care for the people of the Far East.

If Miho were to give birth to another child, her life would end short of its natural thousand years. She would also forfeit her chance at ascension, and her final moments would become a permanent goodbye.

Clearing away the turbulent thoughts that clouded his mind, Sangun spoke with his usual calm.

"Follow your heart.

You've lived your whole life bound by duty as Divine Maiden.

And... it would be nice for Mina to have family."

Thus, Miho gave birth to Narae, Mina's younger sister. Sangun dedicated himself to protecting Miho's remaining life force, for she only had three years left. He wanted those years to be wholly hers so that her newborn child would grow up with some memories of her.

That was all he wanted.

As usual, Sangun joined Miho at the annual Sacred Soul Ritual at the Homecoming Garden. With no formal role, he found a quiet corner to lounge in, sipping blessed water and staying out of sight.

When Miho's mesmerizing divine summoning dance reached its climax, all hell broke loose.

The leader of the Snakes, Naun, who had played a major role in the war against the monsters, unleashed a thick, toxic fog that quickly filled the Homecoming Garden.

Amid the chaos, Sangun tried to find a way to keep everyone safe, but there was only one option: to force the spreading poison back to its source.

Sangun reversed the venomous aura back onto Naun. Miho tried to purify the poison as it rushed into him, but it was too late. The venom had already taken hold, leaving the Snakes' leader blind.

Once things settled down, Sangun heard about the injustices Naun and his kin had endured.

Despite their tremendous contributions during the war against monsters, they had been cast into a toxic, unwanted land. Learning this, Sangun was shaken.

He had always lived freely on his own terms. The thought of being forced into a home dictated by others made him feel ill. He could understand Naun's rage. And now, he regretted turning Naun's fury back on him, causing him to lose his sight.

In all the many years of his life, he had never felt such a harrowing sense of guilt as he did now.

One day, Miho came to Azure Orchard and handed Sangun her trident. It was her divine weapon, Fate's Embrace, which enabled the Kumiho Divine Maiden to fulfill her role as a Divine Pillar.

Quietly, Sangun accepted it.

He knew what this meant.

Miho would soon leave this world...

...and she would not be ascending to the Immortal Plane.

Even though her death was drawing near, Miho smiled the same way she always had, with the same smile she'd worn when she first held Mina in her arms and looked lovingly into her eyes.

And just like that, Miho left.

That was it.

Miho's departure changed surprisingly little about Sangun's life. He spent his days lounging in his pavilion, sipping from his gourd. Sometimes, he left the Azure Orchard to go sailing or wander the mountains.

Sometimes, he could scarcely believe that Miho was no longer in this world.

He felt like, if he made his way to the Shrine of Nine Fates, she would still be there, waiting for him.

In the course of his wanderings, Sangun came across a bold human.

His name was Leeho. At first, Sangun watched him from afar, intrigued by the carefree way he swung his spear. It made a good distraction from the grief of losing Miho.

To Sangun's eyes, Leeho's problem was clear. The spear techniques he'd learned didn't suit him. Leeho was the type of man who needed to embrace nature and learn on his feet in real combat. Nothing short of a do-or-die situation would improve his skills.

At first, Sangun thought him foolish, but he did appreciate that Leeho never gave up.

Thus, Sangun decided to help Leeho so that he could finally reach his true potential.

Leeho did not recognize who he was dealing with.

Regardless of whether it was due to ignorance or apathy, Sangun wasn't offended.

"Maybe people like this are why Miho cared so much about the mortal world,"

Sangun thought.

After speaking to Leeho, Sangun began to travel with him. He made him rest on a sailboat and drink blessed water so he could better embrace the energy of nature. He even took him to dangerous mountains where he had to fight for his life against wild beasts and youkai.

Slowly but surely, Leeho's combat skills improved, and soon enough, Sangun was satisfied with his progress.

And, in the same course, Sangun's deep grief lifted slightly.

His connection with Leeho helped Sangun feel grounded again, but it wasn't enough to heal his grief.

A year passed, and then another year... and the weight in Sangun's chest only grew heavier. It gnawed at him from the inside.

Eventually, his yearning for Miho festered into dark thoughts.

The Divine Maiden lives for everyone but must bear her solitude alone... Such a life was unjust from the start.

What value was there in Baek-Ah, or even in the Far East as a whole, if its citizens demanded such sacrifice?

But whenever such thoughts occupied his mind, the image of Miho pouring out her love for the people of Baek-Ah would also swim into focus.

These contradicting emotions began to tear Sangun apart from within.

Ultimately, he decided to confine himself at Azure Orchard.

There was no telling what he would do under the pretext of seeking justice for Miho if he ever got out.