“Are you leaving already? Without staying a few days to rest from your journey?”
Tang Hye-seo, with her shoulders and neck wrapped in a thick fur coat, turned her eyes north, toward Mount Zhongnan.
“Even if we leave now, a round trip to the Zhongnan Sect will take a fortnight at the earliest, and a month if we’re late." "If it snows again in the meantime, we could be trapped in the mountains, so we have to hurry.”
Gwang-hyo tightened his collar and spoke.
“The sect leader here is a man whose heart burns with a cold cruelty. He is not ordinary, so watch from a distance and, if things go wrong, find a way to survive.”
“Do you know something? The sect leader’s aura was certainly not normal.”
“The reasons a sect thrives are usually similar, but the reasons for its fall are each unique. If you don’t want to be played by others, take a step back and protect your own people.”
After offering this strange advice, Gwang-hyo boarded the carriage first. Tang Hye-seo suddenly held out her hand.
“I’ll hold your hand once before I go.”
I was about to say it was fine, but I suddenly remembered that I had unintentionally upset her yesterday. Only when I took her small, white hand did a smile spread across Tang Hye-seo’s face. Tang Hye-seo squeezed my hand with force.
She stared down at our newly clasped hands for a moment before speaking.
“This is the first time I’ve held someone’s hand so tightly since Geum-myo.”
“Geum-myo?”
“A cat I raised at home when I was young. It was a pretty, aloof cat with a yellow coat and white patterns." "It hated being touched by people, so no one could pet it. Once it climbed onto the roof, it wouldn't come down.”
Tang Hye-seo’s eyes narrowed as if she were looking at a distant place.
“But when it was time for that little one to give birth, it would always come find me and cry. Only when I held its paw would it calm down and have its kittens. It was a strange one…”
Tang Hye-seo’s expression, as she reminisced, was tinged with deep sentiment, making her look wistful. It was a heartwarming story, but it happened in the Tang Clan of all places. Thinking from Geum-myo’s perspective, I felt I could understand why it avoided people.
“Could it be because you used poison on the cat? Or threw a hidden weapon at it?”
Tang Hye-seo scowled and snapped.
“Why would I use poison on a cat? Even if it’s the Tang Clan, we wouldn’t do such a thing…”
“You didn’t?”
“... I used a little, but it was for medicinal purposes.”
As expected, she wasn’t called the human viper for nothing. Tang Hye-seo stared at me with her inscrutable, thoughtful eyes.
“Are you still scared of me?”
I had noticed long ago that Tang Hye-seo had feelings for me. Even with no experience, I wasn't so dense as to not know that. Why had I been so hesitant with Tang Hye-seo?
Was it because of the Tang Clan's venomous fangs? Was it the fear that it would not end well? Perhaps it was because she wasn't in the hometown I envisioned.
I had never dreamed of a future other than returning to my hometown and living as I used to with Sister Soso and the other villagers. I had never even considered that something else might be possible. A poignant chapter of my life had sorrowfully come to a close.
Yesterday's sunset cannot light up today, and even when memories end, life goes on. I didn’t know where I should go, but I had grown too big to remain huddled in the memories of a childhood that would never return. It felt like, only now, a place for Tang Hye-seo had appeared beside me.
I felt like Geum-myo, who had avoided her all this time, but finally let her hold its hand. Although I didn't know what would be born of it…
“I’m not scared.”
That much was certain. As if my sincerity had reached her, Tang Hye-seo smiled brightly. She let go of my hand, as if she could now leave with peace of mind, and boarded the carriage.
I followed the carriage out the main gate to see them off. I watched blankly as the carriage passed the distant market lined with buildings and disappeared onto the main road before returning to the sword school.
* The Western Shadow Sword Sect was in such a dire state that it wouldn’t have been strange for them to take down their sign right then and there. In this large and spacious sect, only eight people remained, including my sister and nephew.
All the servants had left, and the vast farmlands and businesses managed by the sword school had long since passed into others' hands. The pavilions and buildings were also held as collateral by a merchant guild. Sister Soso sighed and closed the thick ledger.
“We have a little something from the mountain fortress, so we can cover this month’s interest and living expenses.”
Bandits don’t live with gold, silver, and treasures piled up in their fortresses. If their warehouses had been full, they wouldn’t have come down with blades in this cold weather to block the road.
To make a big score, one would have to attack a large fortress belonging to the Green Forest, but such places were well-defended and not easy to plunder. How did it come to this? When I heard the story from Geuk-hwan in the Western Village, I just accepted it as it was.
But having come here myself and met the sect leader, I couldn't understand why the sect was collapsing. The Baek Cha-hyeon I saw yesterday was not a martial artist so weak of spirit that he would fall into ruin out of despair because the whereabouts of his father’s killer had become unknown.
On the contrary, he seemed like the type of person who would burn with a fierce desire for revenge and scour the Central Plains to its very ends.
“Did things really get this bad because the sect leader was indulging in wine, women, and gambling?”
Tang Hye-seo had been suspicious of the grassy scent on the sect leader’s body. Gwang-hyo had warned me of the cold cruelty in the sect leader's heart. From what I saw, the sect leader was far from a wastrel.
Sister Soso’s thoughts were the same.
“The Sect Leader is not that kind of person. He was in shock for a while after the former Sect Leader passed away, but he soon picked himself up. He's still chasing the killer. So am I…”
Sister Soso bit her lip with a determined expression.
“We all feel the same way. We cannot leave until we have avenged our chief instructor, our great brother.”
Song Chu-gi resolutely declared his intention to remain until the very end. The other three disciples, Lee Ho, Wang Se-won, and Jeon Hyeon, also nodded with grim faces. I understood their resolve, but I was skeptical.
If it was impossible when the sect was intact, how could it be possible now? It was a hopeless situation, but still, the Western Shadow Sword Sect had a place it could lean on.
“Have you asked the Mount Hua Sect for help?”
“We have. The Sect Leader himself has visited Mount Hua several times…”
Even for a lay disciple sect, they had a strong bond forged over many years. If the Mount Hua Sect turned a blind eye when they were harmed, not only would its prestige suffer, but other lay disciple sects would surely become anxious.
One of the reasons lay families paid huge sums of money to have a great sect as their backer was to receive protection in times like these. To reassure the lay families, they needed to make an example by punishing the killer. For them to remain silent for years meant they had been abandoned.
The chief instructor must have been one of the top masters among the disciples. The former sect leader’s martial ability must have also been considerable. He was attacked in a secluded place, yet there was not even a trace.
The Underworld Information Clan, which made its living on information and tracking, had also failed to identify the killer. Whoever it was, they must be a considerable master. Perhaps the Mount Hua Sect knew the identity of the killer.
If it was an existence they couldn't handle, or one too troublesome to confront just to protect a single lay disciple sect, they might just be burying the matter… Could the sect leader, with the martial arts of a lay disciple, truly face such a killer?
The sect leader was an only son, and his wife had passed away a few years ago. The only blood relative he had left was the young master, who was cooped up in the training ground. As I was helping my sister with the household chores, the young master called for me, wanting to see my face.
“A pleasure to meet you. I am Baek Seok-hun, the young master of the Western Shadow Sword Sect.”
He was a man with a strong impression, with fierce eyes and a rugged jawline. He was in his mid-twenties and, perhaps taking after his mother's side, bore little resemblance to the sect leader. I bowed my head with a polite cupped fist salute.
“I am Jeong Dae-cheon.”
Baek Seok-hun studied me intently with an interested expression.
“Your aura is stern and your posture is straight, better than most of the younger generation. What is your school?”
“I am a wandering swordsman without a school to speak of. I was just lucky enough to be guided by an unnamed master.”
When the martial artists from the Qingcheng Sect I met in Zhongqing heard I was a wandering swordsman with no roots, they immediately lost interest. The young master was not like that. On the contrary, his eyes sparkled like a boy’s. “If you are a wandering swordsman, you must have been all over the Central Plains, no?
Where is the city called the Western Village?”
“It is in the southern part of Zhongqing.”
“Zhongqing… I heard it is the City of Fog. Is it really that hazy?”
“The Yangtze River flows there and there are many lakes, so it is always shrouded in fog. You can count the number of bright, clear days on one hand.”
“You must have seen the Cloud Dragon then?”
When the fog is extremely thick, if you climb up high and look down, the entirety of Zhongqing looks like a white dragon writhing. The people of Zhongqing elegantly called it the ‘Cloud Dragon.’
“It’s impressive at first, but after seeing it a few times, it’s not that moving.”
“What about Hubei? Have you climbed Mount Wudang?”
“Our paths did not cross, so I could not ascend it.”
As if wanting to traverse the world in a single breath, Baek Seok-hun's questions were endless.
“What about Hangzhou? I’ve heard rumors that red-haired devils from across the sea live there.”
“I have seen a few.”
“Are those fellows really that big and good at fighting?”
“I’ve heard their methods are extremely practical. I’ve never fought one, so I don’t know for sure.”
“Is that so? I’d like to visit Hangzhou someday as well.”
Ending the long and rambling conversation, the young master tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. His worried face was full of a longing to fly freely over the sect walls and roam the world, like the nameless birds soaring in the blue sky. That would probably be difficult.
Even if the sect falls, the mission of revenge given to the successor will follow him until he dies. I suspected that half the reason he was cooped up in the training ground was probably due to the sect leader's coercion. That too wouldn't last much longer.
If they couldn't pay their debts, they would lose the sect's buildings as well. As I was gauging the atmosphere to make my exit, the young master made an unexpected proposal.
“If you don’t mind, would you have a sparring session with me?”
When I looked at him with surprise, Baek Seok-hun shook his head nonchalantly.
“I’m not making any progress by always facing the same people.”
“Would I be much of a stimulus?”
“I think you would. If we use wooden swords, we won’t get seriously hurt. What do you say?”
A sparring session with the young master of a Mount Hua Sect's lay disciple sect… It was tempting. No matter the sect, they don't pass down the true ultimate arts that contain the essence of their martial studies to lay disciples.
No matter how naturally talented the young master was, he would still be far inferior to the Plum Blossom Swordsman I saw at the inn on the way here. Still, it was a martial art with roots in the Mount Hua Sect.
Though it had fallen now, the fact that it had achieved considerable influence in its heyday showed that its martial lineage was by no means shallow. The opportunity to face the sword techniques of the Mount Hua Sect was not something that came by often.
It wasn't a life-and-death duel, and we would be using wooden swords, so there was no risk of anything going wrong.
“Then, I would be honored to receive your guidance.”
“Excellent. Pick one from over there.”
Baek Seok-hun’s face lit up as he opened a storage shed on one side of the training ground. Across from a display case holding several real swords, wooden sabers and wooden swords of various lengths and shapes were displayed. Baek Seok-hun picked up a wooden sword and walked to the training ground first.
I found a wooden saber as similar to a long blade as possible and followed him. We stood facing each other at a moderate distance.
“Let’s not bother with formalities and just fight freely.”
I thought he would let me have the first move, but Baek Seok-hun wanted to face me as an equal. It wasn't that he lacked confidence in his martial ability or that he thought highly of me. From beyond the wooden sword he held in his opening stance, his gaze shot toward me was extremely stern and serious.
I could feel his thoroughness, a resolve not to take any enemy lightly and to never let his guard down. I had occasionally encountered this type of swordsman in real battles. Their appearances and martial abilities were all different, but every one of them was tricky to deal with, making it difficult to land even a single blow.
I also calmed my breathing, grasped the long blade with both hands, raised it to eye level, and took the opening stance of the Heavenly Steel Saber Technique.
Thwack!
Without any need for a battle of wills, Baek Seok-hun kicked off the ground and charged straight at me. An experienced martial artist would have circled to the side to find a blind spot or forced a defensive move. The reason Baek Seok-hun charged head-on was not due to a lack of real combat experience.
Despite clearly not using inner energy, his movements were incredibly swift. He closed the distance in an instant, and his wooden sword thrust like lightning toward a vital point.
Twaack!
I took a step to the left with my footwork and struck with a secret art of the Heavenly Steel Saber Technique.
I had put enough strength into it to knock his sword away, but Baek Seok-hun kept his arm close to his body, skillfully twisting his wrist to let the force of my blade slide off and pulled me in. If I were pulled along, my center would be broken and my upper body would be exposed.
I flattened the wooden saber, pressing it close to the surface of his sword, and took a step forward. I spun, shaking off his wooden sword along its path, and immediately swung in a wide arc from left to right.
Whooosh