Chapter 322. What Happiness Is There for a Man of the Jianghu?

Im Sobaek arrived at the rear garden and drew in a deep breath.

“The night air is pleasant.”

I, too, breathed in my fill of the night air. It was a cool day, a fine night for a stroll. We passed through the rear garden and followed a narrow path, walking as though we were heading for the mountain behind the estate.

At this scale, it seemed they had dug into the mountain to create a cavern.

Before long, a dead-end wall covered in vines appeared. There, Im Sobaek slightly raised the sword at his waist and pushed it into a particular spot.

The vine-covered wall shifted aside, creating a narrow space through which one could enter and exit.

As we entered the vault, the smell of dust stung the tip of my nose. It was quite dark inside.

When Im Sobaek pulled a cord beside the door, a rectangular stone panel opened above, and moonlight squeezed its way into the vault. It was the first time I had ever seen even a window made of stone.

In any case, it seemed to have been made for ventilation.

Perhaps it had been a long time since Im Sobaek had last come to the vault as well, for he looked closely over the floor and the surroundings.

My first impression of the Murim Alliance’s vault was, unexpectedly, that it resembled a general goods store.

There were Buddhist statues, unidentified sculptures, old works of art, musical instruments, antiques whose uses could not be discerned, and weapons gathered together on one side.

Rather than a vault, it simply felt like a storeroom.

I looked at an old sculpture and said,

“…Why is something like this here?”

“Spoils of war, I suppose. They’re so old that I don’t know well either. While fighting various forces, when the Alliance acquired things with artistic value, it seems some were disposed of and others were piled up here one by one. The former alliance leaders must have had their own tastes as well. The truly old items have no records, and from a certain point onward, there are records. Look beneath it.”

As Im Sobaek said, when I looked beneath the sculpture, a brief description was attached there.

Suddenly, I checked the floor where the moonlight was shining.

If people had not come in for a long time, I expected clumps of dust to be rolling around, but perhaps someone cleaned the place from time to time, because no dust or hair was immediately visible.

Then I thought I heard the sound of water, so I looked ahead and saw something like a ditch dug into the floor, with water trickling through it. I asked Im Sobaek,

“Is it for fire prevention?”

“Most likely.”

Looking at it, the ditch seemed to divide the sections. Once we crossed this ditch, the material of the floor changed to wood. A wooden floor had been laid down, the sort that made one feel as though one ought to take off one’s shoes before entering. Since it was made of joined planks, it creaked with every step.

From here onward, it was a library.

The walls to the left and right were entirely covered with books.

What sort of books could there be so many of? Rows of old, dingy-looking volumes were packed onto the shelves, and most had things like era names written on them.

Were they something like the chronicles of the Murim Alliance?

As we went a little farther in and looked around, strange stair-like structures rose here and there. Guessing their purpose, they were stairs that also served as chairs one could sit on to read books. Of course, they were also ladder-like structures that allowed one to climb up and take out books from higher shelves.

Im Sobaek looked at one section of the library and said to me,

“The things here were difficult to read.”

“What are they?”

“Books recording atrocities that truly happened in the past. Records of evil, one might say. The people of the era before Confucius were especially cruel. In other words, events that are not even treated as history have survived here. By now, there is likely no one who remembers them, nor anyone who possesses records of them. They must have been forgotten. It seems human nature was far crueler than we know.”

“Mm.”

“This Murim Alliance, too, seems to have been created and destroyed repeatedly. They say the Murim Alliance was a death-defying corps that killed forces or heinous individuals who committed massacres on a scale that humans should never carry out.”

“A death-defying corps… Somehow, it seems the first Murim Alliance must have been small in scale.”

“It likely was. It must have been formed when only a few experts from different sects joined together in common cause. In any case, if you focus on reading the books on this side, you come to feel disgust toward humanity itself. I think it may be right to get rid of these books someday, but I have not decided. I wondered whether such a personal choice of mine would be too arrogant and presumptuous.”

I looked at Im Sobaek.

“Just how cruel were the people of old for you to say that?”

“Beyond what you can imagine. So much so that killing one another in a duel with swords feels romantic by comparison. There were especially many evil and unorthodox practitioners who killed without regard for age or sex in pursuit of martial arts.”

Listening to Im Sobaek, I looked around the library and finally stopped in front of books related to martial arts.

As I stared silently at the countless martial arts manuals, Im Sobaek came closer and said,

“Many of the old martial arts are strange. Many can no longer be learned now. In some, the course of energy circulation and breath regulation is completely different, and there are also many evil arts that make one wonder whether they can truly be called martial arts. Then who do you think still possesses and trains in the greatest number of such martial arts?”

I looked at Im Sobaek.

“The Demonic Cult.”

“Yes. We also have the goal of making secret manuals with methods of martial growth that cross certain lines of humanity disappear from the world. That goal is not the goal of the Alliance members.”

“It is a goal given to the alliance leader.”

Im Sobaek nodded.

“But if we were to erase such records and such a past right now, it would be difficult to oppose the demonic forces. It would be unsettling, you could say. We must know our enemy, after all. In the end, we have no choice but to store them in a vault like this. That is why the library you are looking at now contains more old demonic arts and lost martial arts than martial arts of the White Path.”

“Methods of martial growth that cross the line, you say.”

“Try to guess.”

“Methods such as gaining true qi through killing or slaughter, I suppose?”

“Correct. If such methods spread, there will always be someone who insists on trying them.”

“Why do things like this never disappear?”

Im Sobaek looked at me.

“I do not know. Is it something that can only coexist, like light and darkness? Or is our method wrong? Perhaps more time is needed. It may be that only the forms of killing change, and that it will never disappear forever. Even so, we are the ones who must prepare.”

I confirmed with my own eyes the library within the Murim Alliance, which was said to contain more demonic arts.

They were demonic arts that could not be destroyed because they might prove useful when dealing with the demonic path, and that left me with a strange feeling.

In any case, I was now personally seeing the Murim Alliance’s vault with my own eyes.

Perhaps this place was of a higher rank than the library managed by the scholars. To begin with, the level of security was different, and it possessed the martial arts of forces that the Murim Alliance had destroyed.

I had no choice but to ask Im Sobaek something I had wanted to ask.

“…Who manages this place?”

When Im Sobaek did not answer for a moment, I looked at him. Im Sobaek asked me in return,

“Manages?”

“Yes. Even if it is only the person in charge of cleaning…”

“There is a chief officer and a deputy officer. In any case, someone must manage the list of items possessed here, and someone must check the overall state of preservation of the vault. It cannot be entrusted to just anyone. Of course, they were already in charge even before I became the alliance leader.”

“I see.”

Only then did I realize who the managers of the vault were. Im Sobaek saw my expression and asked,

“Do you know who they are?”

I nodded.

“Yes. Chief Strategist Gongsun Sim and Strategist Gongsun Wol must be the chief and deputy officers. Other than the alliance leader, the only people who must know many of the Alliance’s secrets would be the strategists.”

By coincidence, the two of them were also master and disciple.

Im Sobaek acknowledged it in an even tone.

“That’s right. Moreover…….”

Im Sobaek seemed about to say something, then shut his mouth. I immediately sealed my own muzzle as well and pricked up my ears.

“…….”

After waiting through three or four breaths, footsteps came from outside.

One person.

The sound of unhurried steps gradually grew louder, and then a voice came from the entrance of the archive.

“……Alliance Leader, are you here?”

Im Sobaek answered.

“I am here.”

I observed Im Sobaek’s expression as he clearly refrained from speaking informally.

The footsteps continued, then became the sound of someone stepping onto the wooden floor. A man I had never seen before suddenly appeared and looked at Im Sobaek and me.

He looked far too hale to be called an old man. However, most of his hair was white, with strands of black mixed in here and there.

“You had a guest with you.”

Im Sobaek nodded and introduced me.

“You must have heard of him. This is the Hao Clan Leader, Lee Jaha.”

Im Sobaek introduced the man who had appeared to me.

“Chief Strategist Gongsun Sim.”

I cupped my fist toward Gongsun Sim.

“This junior, Lee Jaha, greets the Chief Strategist.”

Gongsun Sim returned the courtesy and replied.

“Clan Leader, it is a pleasure.”

Gongsun Sim slowly looked around and said,

“The archive is a place outsiders are not allowed to enter. It seems the Hao Clan Leader has decided to join the Murim Alliance.”

Im Sobaek answered.

“That is not the case.”

Gongsun Sim said with a somewhat surprised expression,

“Ah, not yet? If the Alliance Leader trusts you, then I have no choice but to trust you as well. Instead, I will record your name on the list of those entering and leaving. It is in the same vein as managing the archive’s items, so please understand.”

Im Sobaek nodded.

“The Clan Leader said he wished to see it, so I brought him here, but we were just about to leave.”

Gongsun Sim waved his hand.

“Please look around as much as you like, and if the Alliance Leader permits it, you may borrow something as well. Just let me know later what you took.”

This time, I answered.

“These are precious books. How could I take them away to read? I will only look around.”

Gongsun Sim nodded, then pointed to one side and said,

“Over there are many records that are difficult to read. They are records that interfere with self-cultivation, and you could even fall into qi deviation while reading them, so you must be careful. Originally, when an honored guest comes, I should be the one to guide them……. In any case, since you are with the Alliance Leader, it would be rude of me to disturb you. Alliance Leader, I will take my leave.”

When Im Sobaek nodded, Gongsun Sim looked at me.

“Clan Leader, I will see you again.”

I once again showed him proper courtesy.

“Chief Strategist, please take care as you go.”

“Yes, then.”

Gongsun Sim slowly turned around and walked away. Naturally, I watched the way Gongsun Sim walked with close attention. His back was straight, both lines of his shoulders were even without the slightest tilt, and his gait remained steady until he disappeared.

As I continued staring after Gongsun Sim…….

Im Sobaek, who looked as if he had deliberately arranged this meeting, studied my expression and said,

“Clan Leader, sit down for a bit.”

“Yes.”

I sat on the stairs, and Im Sobaek also sat down a little distance away. While both of us listened to the sound of the footsteps growing farther away, we exchanged idle words.

“The first time I came here was before I became Alliance Leader.”

“Ah, so it was not a place only the Alliance Leader could enter no matter what?”

“Of course, the previous Alliance Leader brought me in. There were many secret martial arts manuals and many fine weapons, but to be honest, I was not interested. So I asked the Alliance Leader at the time. Alliance Leader, why did you bring me here? When I said that, he laughed for quite a while. His mouth was rather rough, and he laughed while cursing up a storm. ‘This is a place others can’t enter even if they try, and you’re asking why I brought you?’ That sort of thing.”

I listened closely to Im Sobaek, nodding from time to time.

“……At the time, the Alliance Leader had not recovered his former martial arts. He must have been anxious and frustrated, but he was such a strong person by nature that he rarely showed it.”

“It must have been after the incident in which he was gravely injured.”

“That’s right. As we looked around, he pulled out a book and handed it to me, telling me to read it. Then he also pulled out a book, sat on the stairs, and quietly read. I sat on the floor and read the book the Alliance Leader had recommended to me.”

For some reason, I felt as though I understood the previous Alliance Leader’s intent.

Im Sobaek continued, his expression recalling that time.

“……It was a record of evil. A record of slaughter, too. It was a book with illustrations. As I read it, I found it terribly difficult to keep reading. There was one horrifying picture drawn in great detail. While staring at it, tears came to my eyes without my realizing it, and I looked at the Alliance Leader. Why on earth was this old man telling me to read something like this…… Thinking that, I closed the book. Then the Alliance Leader also quietly closed the book he had been reading, looked at me with an unprecedentedly serious expression, and said,”

I nodded.

Im Sobaek said in an even tone,

“Sobaek, you will have to take on the role of Alliance Leader.”

Im Sobaek let out a sigh and looked around the archive.

“……I thought, what kind of bullshit is this? Damn it, I should have refused back then.”

I burst into a chuckle at Im Sobaek’s way of speaking.

Im Sobaek said to me,

“Why are you laughing, man? I’m telling a serious story.”

“So you had no interest in the position of Alliance Leader at all.”

“None.”

“There must have been a reason.”

Im Sobaek said,

“Jaha, the Alliance Leader is not a person who can live like a person. I knew that even before then. Even if you want to cry, you cannot cry, and even when you want to laugh, you often have to hold it in. Even after receiving a report of a subordinate’s death, you must handle the matters that need to be handled that day. You must either be an extremely brazen person or an extremely steadfast one. I was neither. I had long watched the previous Alliance Leader suffer as well. That made me want to do it even less. I simply wanted to return to my hometown someday……and live leisurely, like a man who had returned after succeeding.”

“Yes.”

“I knew that if I became Alliance Leader, I would have to give up even such feelings and simple dreams. If you rely on liquor, you become a drunkard. If you are intoxicated by anger, you become a tyrant. If you are blinded by money, you may become an Alliance Leader who uses the Alliance to pile up wealth. The Alliance Leader must simply be the Alliance Leader, but that is no easy thing. If you marry and make a family, you must increase the guards……and if you remain wary of all these things, then only the life of the Alliance Leader remains. Do I look happy to you?”

“…….”

For a moment, I lost focus and failed to confirm how far Gongsun Sim’s footsteps had receded. As I began to suspect that he might be nearby, having deliberately muffled his footsteps and presence, I felt as if I could not breathe. For now, I had no choice but to shake my head in response to Im Sobaek’s question.

“Alliance Leader, what happiness is there for a person of the jianghu? It’s enough to just drink ourselves senseless from time to time.”

Perhaps my words struck him as absurd, because only then did Im Sobaek let out a chuckle as well.

“Is that so.”

“Yes.”

Im Sobaek asked me like an older guy from the neighborhood who had gotten drunk.

“Jaha, what about you? Are you happy with your life now?”

“Being alive is something in itself. It isn’t bad.”

Im Sobaek smiled faintly.

Needless to say, while we chatted, we did not mention Gongson Sim even once.