The Strongest Farmer

004 The Guardian of Mount Sumbing

The next morning, Jaka stretched out his muscles before beginning the ascent. The air still bit at his skin. A thin veil of fog clung to the trees, while the faint, distant calls of roosters and wild birds echoed through the woods. Taking a deep breath, he let the crisp mountain air fill his lungs.

Thanks to his grueling days working in the fields, his body was more than conditioned for the trek to the summit.

He started up the trail with a steady, measured stride.

Steep inclines, tangled roots, jagged rocks, and patches of slick mud did little to break his momentum. A few hours in, sweat began to soak through the back of his shirt, but he maintained a consistent rhythm.

Every now and then he paused, just long enough to take a swig of water, admire the sprawling view below, and push forward again.

The higher he climbed, the more the world quieted down.

The wind grew sharper. The trees became sparser. The sky opened up above him, so vast it felt as though the distance between him and the clouds was shrinking with every step. His body ached with exhaustion, but his mind slowly emptied out.

The crushing weight of the factory, the endless rumors, the stack of job applications, and the sheer uncertainty of his future, all of it felt like it was being left behind, piece by piece, at the bottom of the mountain.

Nine hours later, Jaka finally breached the summit.

He decided to camp out for the night.

Usually, the peak would be dotted with other hikers, especially in weather this clear. But tonight, for some inexplicable reason, he was entirely alone. No other tents. No bursts of laughter cutting through the dark. Not even the muffled hum of distant chatter. There was only the night wind, the endless expanse of the sky, and a profound, heavy silence.

Strangely enough, Jaka didn’t feel like anything was wrong.

It was almost as if he had always belonged in the quiet isolation of the peak.

Wrapped tightly in his jacket, he sat by his tent, his gaze drifting out toward the horizon. From way up here, the city lights below were nothing but a scatter of glowing pinpricks against the dark earth.

Villages looked like faint clusters of starlight. The winding roads were just thin, delicate threads occasionally traced by the passing headlights of a solitary car.

The wind brushed against his face.

It was freezing, yet oddly soothing.

For the first time in what felt like forever, the tightness in Jaka’s chest finally unspooled.

"This isn't so bad," he murmured, his eyes still fixed on the world below. "I'll have to come back sometime. With Dina, obviously."

He could vividly picture her standing right beside him, chattering away as usual, probably complaining about the freezing cold, yet sporting a massive, beaming smile at the view.

The thought alone was enough to tug at the corners of his mouth.

But just as the tranquil silence settled over the peak once more, a voice suddenly cut through the air right behind him.

"I couldn't wait much longer, so I called you here today."

Jaka froze.

Every muscle in his body locked up instantly.

The voice wasn't loud, but in the dead silence of the mountain, it rang out with terrifying clarity. It wasn't the voice of some late-arriving hiker. It was too calm. Too close. And entirely unfamiliar.

His heart immediately slammed against his ribs.

Swallowing hard, he slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder.

Standing right behind him was an old man dressed entirely in white, a serene smile resting on his face.

His hair and beard were stark white, swaying gently in the night breeze. His clothes were immaculate, far too pristine for someone standing at the peak of a rugged mountain. There wasn't a speck of dirt on the hem of his garments. Not a single trace of exhaustion on his weathered face. He simply stood there, as if he had been waiting in that exact spot for a very long time, waiting for Jaka to notice him.

At first glance, he just looked like an ordinary grandpa.

But Jaka wasn't an idiot. No normal person could sneak up behind him at the summit of Mount Sumbing on a night this quiet.

Beyond that, there was a distinctly unnatural aura radiating from the old man.

It was hard to put into words. There was no glowing light, no dramatic mist, no shifting shadows. But the very air around him felt fundamentally different. The space he occupied seemed calmer, heavier, and impossibly older than the world Jaka knew.

Faced with a situation like this, Jaka forced himself to keep his cool, even as his heart hammered a frantic rhythm in his chest.

He wasn't the type to easily buy into the supernatural. But he also wasn't foolish enough to pretend he didn't see the bizarre reality standing right in front of him.

Jaka slowly got to his feet.

His legs were coiled tight with tension, but he refused to take a step back. His eyes locked onto the old man, sharp and guarded. If this guy had bad intentions, Jaka severely doubted his own ability to fight him off. But at the very least, he wasn't going to roll over and show fear.

"Who are you?" Jaka finally demanded, his voice dropping lower than usual. "Why are you here?"

The old man offered a faint smile.

It wasn't mocking. Nor was it entirely friendly. It was the smile of someone who knew a great many things, including things Jaka couldn't possibly fathom yet.

"I am the guardian of this mountain," the old man answered, his tone smooth and undisturbed. "And I called you here because I wish to speak with you."

Jaka went dead silent.

For a split second, his brain simply short-circuited.

The guardian of the mountain? Called him here?

The words sounded completely absurd. But then Jaka remembered that sudden, inexplicable urge that had driven him to climb the mountain without any real reason, and a cold shiver slowly crawled up his spine.

The night wind howled, blowing harder.

Beneath a vast canopy of stars, Jaka stood face-to-face with the mysterious old man, while the entire summit of Mount Sumbing plunged back into a silence that felt infinitely deeper than before.

To be continued...