The Mindset of Doing Nothing
The day after I killed the Daena, I diligently began my daily routine as the leader of the Black Cat Sect.
The good thing about being a leader is that on days when I don’t want to do anything, I don’t have to do anything at all.
Today, I had no intention of bothering my subordinates, threatening them, or giving them various orders.
After washing up and having my meal, I did nothing at all.
With a firm resolve to actively do nothing, I donned the black ceremonial robe of the sect and headed towards the inner courtyard.
My subordinates, who had finished their breakfast, were practicing under the sharp gaze of So Gun-pyeong.
I ignored So Gun-pyeong’s greetings and the greetings of the other subordinates as well.
I simply stood with my hands behind my back, silently watching them train.
It was a sunny day.
With every gentle breeze, petals from unknown flowers danced in the air.
I glanced up at a few trees planted on the outskirts of the courtyard.
They were beautiful trees adorned with white and pink flowers.
I didn’t know their names.
While I was familiar with many martial arts and herb names, I always seemed to forget the names of flowers and trees.
They simply wouldn’t stick in my mind.
Sometimes, I would forget the name of a flower I had seen just a few days prior.
The same went for the flowering trees in the inner courtyard of the Black Cat Sect.
I was just admiring their beauty.
As my subordinates kept glancing at me standing under the flowering tree, So Gun-pyeong spoke up. “Focus.” “Yes.” I too focused and looked up at the flowering tree.
There were many petals scattered on the ground.
I walked around, avoiding the petals for a moment.
As my subordinates resumed their training, I moved about, catching the petals that fluttered down with the breeze.
Who could have planted such beautiful flowers in the courtyard? Whoever it was must have been a genius.
From the moment my subordinates began to sweat, I settled down in the spot where the most petals had fallen and closed my eyes.
I began to circulate my energy.
Though it wasn’t a long time, I was growing stronger, and my subordinates were also becoming stronger as they continued their external training.
I drew in the energy of the heavens and opened a path with my internal technique, circulating it within my body and stacking it in my dantian.
A few petals that fluttered down landed on my head.
By the time So Gun-pyeong shouted a few times, there was a depth to the cries of my subordinates.
Life is, after all, a series of pains.
How much time had passed? As soon as I began to find the energy circulation tedious, I stopped and opened my eyes.
It seemed quite a bit of time had passed, as my subordinates were sprawled out on the ground, taking a break.
I stood up and drew my black sword.
As I suddenly drew my sword, my subordinates’ eyes widened.
Holding the black sword, I wandered amidst the falling petals.
Since the petals fell without any pattern, I occasionally stabbed between the petals with my sword.
It was a futile and meaningless act.
But that was fine.
Everything starts off without much meaning.
In front of my subordinates, I swung my sword, blending with the petals.
Even when So Gun-pyeong resumed training a little later, I continued to swing my sword.
I stabbed between the petals and chased after them, catching them on the back of my sword.
Then, I tried to cut a petal that was falling particularly lonely.
The petal seemed to mock me as it drifted away.
Life is, after all, a continuous series of failures.
Thus, I repeated cutting, brushing against, hitting, and placing petals on the back of my sword.
A gust of wind blew, causing a shower of petals to fall.
I created a suction force beneath the falling petals, causing them to scatter in the air.
I pulled the scattering petals back onto my sword.
The method was simple.
While holding the black sword, I injected a very weak suction technique.
The blade, with a slightly stronger pulling force than the wind, became the master of the petals and charged forward.
After a while, I heard So Gun-pyeong’s voice, judging that my subordinates’ focus had become too scattered. “Pause for a moment, take a break.” Now So Gun-pyeong sat down with the subordinates, watching me.
I mixed the technique with the suction technique, forgetting both the technique and the suction method.
I simply moved joyfully and pleasantly with the fluttering petals.
When I felt somewhat accustomed to the weight, movement, and influence of the wind on the petals, I began to cut the falling petals while injecting the energy of the neck technique into the blade.
The pink petals were cut cleanly.
The white petals were also cut cleanly.
I twisted them with the wind and inscribed characters into the air among the patterns of petals.
One, two, three.
Up to this point, it was easy, but I gave up on four.
I succeeded with the characters for person and heart, but I gave up on heaven as it was too difficult.
My technique had not yet reached the heavens.
I swung my sword to the best of my ability.
Next, I repeated stabbing.
I stabbed at the petals with the tip of the black sword, but the petals always seemed to escape alive. “Stabbing petals is this difficult.” The petals were so light that it was hard to make a decisive move.
Moreover, this kind of stabbing didn’t suit the sword.
After failing dozens of times, I returned the black sword to its sheath.
At that moment, So Gun-pyeong called out to me. “Leader, catch!”
As I turned around, So Gun-pyeong threw a sword at me.
The moment I caught the sword he threw, I drew it out.
It felt much lighter than the rather heavy black sword, a regular longsword.
I began to swing the sword and focused on stabbing the petals.
I used the neck technique, then the flame technique, and switched to the heart of the fighting technique.
When three consecutive attempts failed, I moved lightly without injecting any energy at all.
I moved like a petal.
I swung like the wind.
With the intention of playing with the petals, I moved and, while stabbing the very center of a petal that was tilting its head at me, I simultaneously halted all my movements and breath in an instant.
One petal was stuck on the tip of my sword.
Suddenly, looking down at my subordinates while holding the sword down, I found them all smiling with their mouths shut.
I laughed along with them.
When someone who had been failing succeeds, it’s only natural to smile.
I looked at the flowering tree that had worked so hard to scatter petals for me.
“What kind of flowering tree is this?”
It seemed like such a ridiculous question that everyone answered in unison.
“It’s a plum tree.”
“Oh, is that so?”
I simply named it to remember the moment I stabbed the petals.
“Then let’s call it the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.”
So Gun-pyeong asked, seemingly curious.
“Have you completed a new sword technique here?”
I looked around at So Gun-pyeong and my subordinates and replied.
“No, it’s just the beginning. I just blended with the petals and got a feel for it. There’s no completion in martial arts. If you swing it every day, you’ll gradually improve. You all should practice when the petals fall a lot. But it’s better to use a sword for this practice.”
So Gun-pyeong, who was using the jade flute, asked, “Is it difficult with a saber?” “It’s fine if you’re not going to stab. But the highlight of the process I just demonstrated was the stabbing. Still, it doesn’t matter whether you wield a saber or a sword in the process. What’s more important is to swing it every day.” I asked, feeling hungry. “Is it meal time now?” “Yes, it’s already lunchtime.” “Let’s eat.” So Gun-pyeong looked around and said to me, “The meal should already be prepared inside. Please go ahead.”
I was about to enter the main hall when I was startled and stopped.
It seemed Hong Shin had been watching from the platform all this time. “Sister Hong.” “Yes, Great Senior.” “To think you were peeking at my unique martial arts, you truly are a thief…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the word ‘thief.’ Hong Shin replied, “Plum Blossom Sword Technique? Isn’t that a bit weak for a sword technique name?” “Should I call it the Daena Sword Technique?” “The plum blossom will last longer.” “Let’s just eat.”
Hong Shin looked at the falling petals and replied, “I’ll watch a bit longer from here. You go ahead.” I looked at Hong Shin, who seemed ready to dash out among the fluttering petals, before entering the main hall.
The meal was already prepared.
However, Jin Hae, who had stayed with me like a guest, was waiting for me with a feast before him. “To think you were so busy watching the meal that you couldn’t even peek at my unique martial arts, truly…” I almost let the words ‘piglet’ slip out.
Watching Jin Hae, who was only gazing at the meal, made it hard to say ‘pig.’
Jin Hae nodded. “Please eat, Great Senior. Today, there are completely new side dishes.” The man who had settled in the Black Cat Sect to eat, that was Jin Hae.
Anyway, today I had no intention of bothering my subordinates or my disciples, so I sat down and began to eat.
While eating, Jin Hae asked me, “Is Sister Hong not eating?” I replied with a puzzled expression.
“You were the senior?”
Jin Hae nodded as if it were obvious.
“Yes.”
“But why did you get slapped?”
“I’ve thought deeply about that point as well. Is this really a normal situation? No. It wouldn’t happen in a prestigious sect. A sister slapping her senior? She should be expelled. But we’re not a prestigious sect, are we? We’re somewhat of a dark sect. In a dark sect, could a sister slap her senior? You dare? I might have to teach you a lesson soon. While I was thinking that, I was told that I had my energy taken by the Great Senior. Sister Hong’s energy is quite deep, you know. This isn’t an easy matter.”
I dozed off for a moment while eating. “…” If I had focused solely on eating, I wouldn’t have dozed off, but listening to Jin Hae’s words made me sleepy.
I vaguely heard Jin Hae’s voice. “Great Senior?” “Huh, huh?” “You seem tired.” “Oh, yeah. Let’s eat.” While eating, Jin Hae’s words suddenly came to mind, and I asked, “So to summarize, you like Hong Shin, right?” Jin Hae replied with a puzzled expression. “Are you dreaming?” “Isn’t that so?” “No way. How could a fat guy like me have any thoughts about someone?” “What nonsense is that?” “Do you understand the heart of a fat person, Great Senior?” “You have to be fat to understand.” “Then don’t say anything.”
After a moment, I suddenly looked at Jin Hae.
“Wow, you really eat well.”
Jin Hae, picking up his pace, splattered rice grains everywhere.
“Having my energy taken by the Great Senior, I need to eat a lot. Eating is gaining.”
“The logic of a glutton is like an invincible sword. It means you’ll eat no matter what.”
“Invincible logic? I haven’t even started. The youngest son of the Geumsan Merchant House, with endless funds, and if I lose weight… The men of the world can’t handle it. If you have everything, you’ll face envy and jealousy. You have to be moderate.”
“So you’re the youngest son of a chaebol family.”
“Yes.”
“No wonder you seem like the youngest. That’s why you got slapped.”
Having decided not to do anything, I found myself teasing my disciples less than a day later.
After finishing my meal, I went back to the platform in the inner courtyard.
Jin Hae, perhaps having resolved to lose weight, put down his chopsticks and followed me out.
I crossed my arms, keeping an eye on the situation unfolding in the inner courtyard.
Jin Hae, who came out late, looked around with a dazed expression. “Why are the subordinates acting like this?”
The subordinates who had returned from their meal were all swinging their swords, trying to knock away the petals during their break.
Among them were So Gun-pyeong and Hong Shin… So Gun-pyeong was sitting cross-legged in the spot where the most petals had fallen, looking extremely serious.
Hong Shin was swinging her sword with a flower stuck in her hair.
Jin Hae let out a sigh. “They’ve all gone mad.”
I sat on the platform, looking at my subordinates and sister with a serious expression. “Good. They’re doing well.” Jin Hae sat down beside me and said, “It’s like the Mad Rabbit Gang.” I looked at my subordinates and sister, who were having a great time, and cheerfully hummed a song. “Among the swaying flowers, I can smell the fragrance of the plum blossoms.” With nothing to do, Jin Hae listened, nodding a few times before clapping along to the rhythm.
My subordinates danced with their swords among the petals.
I sang, and the plump disciple added to the cheer with his clapping.
It was a joyful scene.