The Tip of the Sword Is Not Straight (2)
‘You damn bastard….’
[Please stop swearing so much…. You’re a Daoist, yet why is your mouth so foul?]
‘You truly are the most shameless man under heaven…. Even after entrusting something like this to an old man, you don’t even have the decency to feel embarrassed.’
[You don’t even pay rent. Surely you can help out a little.]
‘I wish you’d just go out and die….’
Old Man Shin’s lamenting never seemed to end. Even as he grumbled, Old Man Shin eventually took hold of the sword.
‘I will definitely take this body away from you someday, so remember that.’
[Are you a righteous thief? Giving me a warning notice in advance.]
Control of the body passed over to Old Man Shin.
According to Old Man Shin, he said he couldn’t do this very often.
Judging by the current situation, however, that didn’t seem to be the case.
‘There was no lie in what I said. I truly cannot remain in your body for very long.’
The posture in which he held the sword changed, as did his breathing.
It was a truly fascinating experience.
As had happened the last time, I could feel a great many things.
Could this, too, be an enlightenment? If so, what was I supposed to gain here?
‘You could have simply fought without drawing a sword. Was there some reason you went out of your way to entrust it to me?’
A reason, huh?
[Who knows?]
Partly, I had chosen it because it was the more extreme option, and partly because I had said those things to make him lower his guard.
After all, no one in the world would know that Old Man Shin was residing in my body.
‘I assume you don’t think your chances of victory are low simply because he is a martial fighter. You are not so lacking in judgment as to think that.’
[I know.]
I had to fight a spar without using qi. To do that, I thought it would be better to draw a sword and provoke Namgung Jin.
In the end, things had gone as I expected, but there was one part I found somewhat disappointing.
‘You’re disappointed that you can’t fight. After pushing all the work onto me, you’re disappointed now…. Shall I switch with you even at this point?’
So I was a martial artist after all. Faced with a battle against a strong opponent, a little greed had welled up inside me. I knew this was not the time, so I forcibly suppressed it.
[No. Please, I beg you.]
‘Tsk….’
Old Man Shin stood still and stared at Namgung Jin. He must have been furious indeed, for he showed no intention of relaxing his deeply furrowed brow.
“How did I end up attached to a brat like this…. Shin must truly be dead.”
The old man slowly raised the sword. A strange light entered Namgung Jin’s eyes as he watched.
Namgung Jin asked,
“Have you ever learned the sword?”
Had he sensed something from merely this unremarkable posture? It was proof that the title of Sword King was no exaggeration.
Since I had to answer, I quietly whispered to the old man.
[Long ago.]
“…Long ago.”
[I learned a little, just for fun.]
“J-just, just for fun, I learned a little.”
[Old Man…. Your manner of speech.]
‘Do I have to use honorifics with that young brat?!’
Old Man Shin’s remaining pride would not permit such a thing, but fortunately, it did not cause any problems.
Rather, it seemed to help provoke him further, as Namgung Jin’s expression twisted fiercely.
“To treat this as a game until the very end.”
[He seems quite angry.]
‘…Who do you think that is because of?’
“I wonder how long you can keep up that attitude in front of me. Very well, just as you wish, I shall take your arm for sure.”
Wooooong—
The sword Namgung Jin had drawn began to hum quietly. That was a sword cry.
They said that once a swordsman reached a certain level, the process of becoming one with his sword would begin. It was not a technique created by using qi.
Unification.
The more completely a swordsman merged with the sword in his hand, the louder the sword would cry.
In that case, a sword cry was ultimately the starting point of Sword-Self Unification, the dream of every swordsman, and proof that a swordsman had entered the proper path.
‘Not a bad resonance.’
Even as Namgung Jin’s sword cried savagely, Old Man Shin was calmly appraising it.
‘Compared to that fellow Myeong, the difference is like heaven and earth, but this is a well-tempered body.’
[Myeong?]
‘There was a man like that. A talentless bastard who used the Namgung name and chased after women.’
…Could the Namgung fellow Old Man Shin was talking about be Namgung Myeong?
If it was Namgung Myeong, the One-Thunder Sword, he had been one of the five heroes who had slain the Blood Demon alongside the Hwasan Sword Immortal and prevented a catastrophe.
Perhaps my guess had not been wrong, because Old Man Shin clicked his tongue and continued.
‘Tsk. Rather than drinking together after death, I have to grapple with that damned bastard’s descendant.’
At Old Man Shin’s words, I suddenly felt a pang of guilt. I hadn’t really felt it before.
‘This rotten bastard, really.’
[But are you going to be all right?]
‘…What are you talking about?’
[Even if you don’t use qi…. Your opponent is who he is.]
‘Hah. You handed this over to me with a “go ahead and tear me open” attitude, and now you’re worried?’
Old Man Shin spoke to me as if he found me ridiculous. He was not dismissing my abilities. It was just that he would be borrowing my immature and inadequate body, rather than his own, and I wondered whether he would truly be all right.
‘Stop worrying about useless things.’
At the same time Old Man Shin spoke, Namgung Jin lowered his sword and said,
“Come, little brat. I shall yield you ten moves—”
Namgung Jin, who had been about to speak arrogantly, could not continue.
Wooooooong—!
The ringing that bored into his ears was too loud. It was a much deeper and more sonorous resonance than the sound coming from Namgung Jin’s sword.
The weighty sound, as though some enormous bell had rung nearby, was resounding from the sword in Old Man Shin’s hand.
Old Man Shin said,
‘Brat, remember who I am.’
Namgung Jin’s astonished expression did not enter my sight.
The surroundings were already filled with the old man’s presence. How could he create such an atmosphere without even using qi?
Even if I brought the realm I had reached in my previous life with me, I could not display such overwhelming power.
I had not known the difference in the quality of our souls could be this great.
While marveling at the old man’s presence, a question arose in my mind.
‘Other than time itself, there is no one who can stop me.’
Just how far had Old Man Shin’s realm reached?
And, more importantly—
How had a martial artist of this level ended up with his soul trapped inside an evil artifact? That was the greatest mystery.
‘I am Shin Cheol, the Hwasan Sword Immortal.’
Wooooong!
******************
There were geniuses in this era who were called the Generation of Meteors.
But in the past, there had also been people known by similar titles.
Geniuses did not care what century they were born in. Nor did they heed the seasons; stars were always destined to shine in the night sky.
Namgung Jin had been one of those people.
The younger-generation master Namgung Jin, who had been called the Sword Dragon, had not needed much time to inherit the title of Sword King.
At the time, it had been the natural progression.
The title of Sword Dragon had belonged exclusively to the Namgung Clan,
and the same had been true of the title of Sword King.
If a strange talent named Yeongpung had not appeared in the present day, there would have been no reason for Namgung Cheonjun not to receive the title of Sword Dragon.
Namgung Jin had never doubted that he would ascend to the heavens.
His grandfather had not earned the name Sword Venerable, but he had been called Heavenly Venerable, meaning one who had ascended above the heavens.
Namgung Jin had never believed that he would be unable to reach that place himself.
His characteristic arrogance was backed by ability, and thus there was no fault in calling it the way of tyranny.
He would one day stand alone above the heavens. Namgung Jin of that time must have judged himself to be more than capable of doing so.
If only that bastard had not existed.
‘…Even your remnants have followed me this far to torment me.’
The autumn night remained cold. The faint white breath escaping from his mouth was proof of that.
Namgung Jin’s emotions slowly settled with it.
He took in the boy standing before him with his eyes. The boy looked exactly like Gu Cheol-un had in those days.
Foolishly, Namgung Jin had even once gathered information on the boy.
He was Gu Cheol-un’s son. That alone had been enough to rouse a little interest.
His talent was unimpressive, and he was lazy and indolent. He had even heard that the boy’s violent temper was not easy to tolerate.
He had fathered an unprecedented genius called the Sword Phoenix, but it seemed he had no luck with sons.
That was what Namgung Jin had thought as he drank alone in the middle of the night.
That had been only a year ago.
Then what, exactly, was the monster standing before his eyes now?
Namgung Jin could not understand.
Wooooong… wooooong….
“This is impossible…!”
A sword cry rang out.
It was undoubtedly a sword cry. Even as he heard it and recognized it, he could not readily believe it.
‘That’s impossible.’
Even if one had reached a certain realm, producing a sword cry and not producing one were two entirely different matters. It was difficult even for a swordsman who had endured training bordering on torture.
Moreover, Gu Yangcheon was a martial fighter. In his gait, his breathing, and even the way he used his qi, he had stood at the complete opposite end from a swordsman.
But now?
‘…Everything has been reversed.’
His breathing, his movements—everything had changed. And he did so with such familiarity, as though he had always been that way.
Had he been hiding his abilities… his martial arts? What could that small, young brat possibly have been hiding them for?
He was not even old enough to develop abilities worth concealing in the first place.
Perhaps he had done something absurd to the sword, but that was a sword of the Namgung Clan.
Namgung Jin had personally seen him pick it up from the martial artist lying on the ground.
“You said you would yield me ten moves?”
At the sound of Gu Yangcheon’s voice, Namgung Jin’s breathing faltered.
“I have no intention of refusing that. Think it over again before you regret it.”
His manner of speaking had changed subtly, but Namgung Jin had no time to dwell on that.
Ten moves. Under normal circumstances, he should not even have been a match for three moves, let alone ten.
The difference in realms was one thing, and the difference in the domain of enlightenment was another.
Their positions as martial artists were entirely different.
That should have remained true even without qi.
They saw different things and felt different things. That was how it should have been.
But now? What about now?
Namgung Jin should have felt the strangeness of being unable to convince himself.
Crack. A harsh sound came from the corner of Namgung Jin’s mouth. Was he afraid? Of a mere brat younger than his own son?
The Azure Heaven Sword King?
‘That’s impossible.’
He denied it. No—it had to be impossible.
“You seem to be playing some cheap trick.”
At Namgung Jin’s words, Gu Yangcheon’s expression grew somewhat awkward. Namgung Jin could tell, for Gu Yangcheon’s face was filled with disappointment.
“He is different from Myeong. What a shame.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing.”
With that, the sound stopped coming from Gu Yangcheon’s sword.
The sword cry had ceased.
The night wind continued to blow coldly, but the emotions boiling within him did not cool so easily.
He wanted to send his sword flying at once and sever all four of the boy’s limbs, but he forcibly endured the impulse.
If he exploded here, everything would be ruined.
So he had to endure it.
However, he could not overlook the boy’s presumptuous behavior, acting as though he did not know his place.
‘He said I was to take his arm, didn’t he?’
That had been the condition. Namgung Jin forcefully lowered the corners of his mouth, which had begun to rise.
The boy had been acknowledged by Gu Cheol-un himself as the next clan head. No matter who he was, it would be difficult for Namgung Jin to do such a thing.
‘I will cut it.’
He would cut it cleanly, so that it could be reattached with ease.
Namgung Jin knew that the Divine Physician was staying with the Gu Clan. It was rather openly known, as though they had no intention of hiding it.
He did not know how a Divine Physician who had once stayed with the Namgung Clan before going to Shaanxi had come to enter the Gu Clan alongside that boy, but—
If the Divine Physician was there, he would not need to hesitate when it came to teaching the boy a lesson.
“I shall yield you ten moves.”
“Hmm…. Are you certain?”
“How laughable. Who do you think you are to worry about now?”
“…Indeed. How did I end up like this?”
Even as he lamented as though nursing some deep grievance, Gu Yangcheon raised his sword.
Tap!
He rested the sword on his shoulder and began to move with a careless gait. It was an utterly insolent motion.
‘Was I mistaken?’
Until a moment ago, his breathing and movements had been those of a perfectly trained swordsman, but they had vanished in an instant, as though even that had been a lie.
If this was how he intended to act, then why had he wagered his qi in the first place?
Was this simply the impoverished thinking of an immature child?
While Namgung Jin thought this, Gu Yangcheon continued walking toward him in silence.
He was full of openings. No matter where he swung his sword, it seemed he could kill him in a single blow.
‘It seems I worried for nothing.’
Gu Yangcheon came right up to him and moved the hand holding his sword with an impassive expression.
Wooooong.
At that moment, a sword cry rang out once more from the sword in Gu Yangcheon’s hand.
A jolt ran through him.
The moment he heard the sword’s cry, Namgung Jin felt a spine-chilling sensation run down his back. Gu Yangcheon’s sword was moving.
The sword sweeping down horizontally was slow. It traced a semicircle like the moon above, yet it was so unbearably slow that every minute movement could be seen.
The Namgung Family wielded swift swords. They wrapped lightning qi around their blades and lived in a flow of time faster than anyone else’s.
There was no way Namgung Jin, who stood above even such people, could fail to evade a sword this sluggish.
It should have been impossible.
Why wasn’t his body moving?
The night sky split apart along the tip of the sword as it slowly approached.
What unfolded from that paltry movement was a step more noble than anything else.
What was this? How could such insight emanate from a sword?
The stars split apart, and even the moonlight was cleaved in two. The countless meanings contained within that meager single stroke descended upon Namgung Jin.
Whoosh—!
An eternity-like span of time came to an end.
And the result left behind was utterly insignificant.
For Gu Yangcheon had merely swept his sword downward.
But it was not so for Namgung Jin.
Gu Yangcheon spoke in an unconcerned voice.
“I believe we made a promise.”
Namgung Jin, who should have been standing before Gu Yangcheon, was no longer there. Gu Yangcheon’s gaze, too, did not remain before him but was directed elsewhere.
Huff….
The sound of ragged breathing could be heard. It did not belong to Gu Yangcheon.
Several paces away from Gu Yangcheon, Namgung Jin was gasping for breath.
Cold sweat streamed down him. It was the aftereffect of his body tensing to its utmost limit.
“I believe we agreed not to use internal qi.”
Only then did Namgung Jin examine his own body at Gu Yangcheon’s words.
What surrounded his body was unmistakably lightning qi.
Namgung Jin stared at Gu Yangcheon with an astonished expression.
“What in the world….”
“As for the concession, I’ll pretend I never heard of it. To be honest, I would like to show you that much consideration as well, but unfortunately, it seems impossible with this feeble body of mine. I hope you’ll understand.”
The tip of Gu Yangcheon’s sword pointed toward Namgung Jin. The sword gave no cry, yet Namgung Jin had the illusion that he could hear one in his ears.
Things that had been invisible began to reveal themselves. Was it an illusion? To Namgung Jin’s eyes, Gu Yangcheon’s body seemed to have become a single sword.
‘Sword-Body Unity?’
Namgung Jin had to shake his head at the weighty name.
It was a realm even he had failed to reach. No—could it even be called a realm? His grandfather had said that it was a somewhat separate domain from the realms a martial artist could attain.
Then was that Sword-Body Unity? Namgung Jin wanted to firmly deny it, but he could not bring himself to reach such a conclusion.
“Your sword tip isn’t true.”
At Gu Yangcheon’s voice, Namgung Jin awoke from his thoughts.
“That’s what I once told a friend of mine.”
“Are you daring to lecture me…?”
“That part is similar. That madman gave me the exact same answer.”
“What the hell are you talking about…!”
“It’s nothing important. The times have passed, and many things ought to change, but…”
Gu Yangcheon’s advancing footsteps did not waver. His grip on the sword was still unsightly, yet the movement he had just displayed had completely tangled Namgung Jin’s thoughts.
Gu Yangcheon took one step forward.
“At least, that fellow would not have wanted things to change in this way. So I suppose I’ll have to clean up the aftermath myself. It’s become laughable. This was never supposed to be my role.”
“You bastard….”
Just as his crumbling self-esteem began to turn into rage, something sliced past Namgung Jin’s throat.
Namgung Jin clutched his neck and staggered backward. Contrary to the vivid sensation, his throat had not been cut.
“You would do well to stay focused. Otherwise, you’ll regret it.”
The moment he finished speaking, Gu Yangcheon’s sword once again cleaved through the air.