Episode 426. It Will Be Quite Awkward for a While.
“Absurd.”
The White-Clad Scholar glared at the blank paper with a displeased expression.
Since mastering painting, never had his brushstrokes felt as blocked as they did today. In martial arts terms, it felt like a form he had practiced countless times was flowing unnaturally, leaving him open to a counterattack.
The White-Clad Scholar took a deep breath and calmed his mind.
Because he had no desire to become a fool who fell into demonic deviation simply because his painting was blocked. But by the White-Clad Scholar’s usual disposition, martial arts and painting were one and the same, so it was both bitter and unpleasant.
‘Where did it get blocked?’
When he calmly examined the reason…….
Absurdly, he could not recall his junior sister’s smiling expression.
Thus, he belatedly realized that being unable to paint his junior sister’s smiling face was not a matter of skill, but simply a matter of memory.
Had Junior Sister Jin truly never smiled brightly even once?
Impossible…….
How could a person live without smiling?
When he fumbled through old memories like a galloping horse lantern, surprisingly, Jinhyang had never smiled brightly while looking at him.
A bitter taste suddenly spread through his empty mouth.
‘Just how much did she hate me, that she never smiled for me even once?’
Cheonak approached and spoke.
“So you’ve finally reached the realm where you’ll pick a staring contest even with an object. Congratulations.”
The White-Clad Scholar snorted.
“It’s not a staring contest. I’m one-sidedly glaring at it.”
Cheonak looked around at the blank papers scattered all over the floor.
“Why are you throwing a fit today of all days?”
“Art is mostly time spent glaring at something, and at such times, the mind is the very essence of madness. What would a human who only lifts lumps of iron know?”
As soon as Cheonak sat at the table, a hollow laugh escaped him.
“What are you trying to draw?”
“I was trying to draw my junior sister’s smiling visage, but thinking about it, there was never a time when she smiled brightly while looking at me. Does this make any sense?”
Cheonak nodded.
“Since she hated you, there would have been no reason to smile for you. No, she probably snorted every time she saw you. ‘That unlucky Baekga punk……’ like that.”
“She was always cold. But she must have smiled in front of others. What I’m saying is, why don’t I even have that memory? It makes no sense.”
Cheonak nodded.
“There was.”
“Really?”
“How could I forget?”
The White-Clad Scholar held out a brush toward Cheonak.
“I see. As expected, you are the unchanging problem-solver for scholars, both then and now. Draw it in my stead.”
Cheonak stared blankly at the White-Clad Scholar.
“Why should I?”
“The one who remembers should draw it.”
Cheonak snorted.
“I hated your useless miscellaneous skills, so I kept all such skills at a distance. Is it not the most useless thing in the world?”
The White-Clad Scholar grinned.
“The most useless thing in the world…… Can you be certain?”
“Yes.”
“And you were the one who hung that most useless painting in the world in the most prominent place.”
“I did so because it was a painting of our junior sister.”
The White-Clad Scholar answered immediately.
“That is the essence of art. Making one want to keep looking. The reasons may differ for each person, of course. Anyway, since hating miscellaneous skills is your freedom, I shall continue to respect it. But as you are the only one who now remembers our junior sister’s smiling face, I am asking you to draw it. Is this request so difficult?”
“Baekga, there is a time for obsessing over miscellaneous skills too. Have you been at this for days?”
“I’m asking you. Learn some miscellaneous skills. Put down that lump of iron. The world is certainly not made of iron alone. To the eyes of the world, who would look more normal? You, who lift nothing but lumps of iron day in and day out.”
The White-Clad Scholar pointed at himself.
“If you compare me, who is familiar with art, painting, and music. Naturally, it would be me. If obsessing only over lumps of iron and training were the correct answer, then you, the problem-solver for scholars, should have ultimately defeated the Haomun Leader or the Cult Leader. What was the reality?”
“Tch.”
For a moment, Cheonak recalled the expression when Jinhyang smiled. It was definitely an expression he remembered clearly.
Cheonak, who pondered briefly, answered.
“Fine. I shall draw it.”
“Really?”
“In exchange.”
“Of course, those words had to come out.”
“You said you would bring the disciple, so why is there still no word?”
The White-Clad Scholar let out a sigh.
“He exists, but I’m contemplating because he’s too kind. Where in the murim could I possibly use a kind fellow? He’s so naive that even compared to Habok……”
“He may be unsuitable for learning your cunning martial arts, but my martial arts are different. If he’s a naive one, you should bring him to me first.”
“How are you going to make one who can’t even kill a single ant into that great wandering knight?”
“If he can’t even kill an ant, you must bring him all the more.”
“Why? I might end up killing him out of frustration while teaching him.”
“Everyone can step on and kill an ant, so such a person is utterly common. Rather, one who cannot kill is better.”
“Are you saying a fool is better?”
“Something like that.”
“The Haomun Leader was no fool. He was closer to being clever.”
Cheonak said.
“That one is also not the type to step on and kill an ant. The disciple we take in does not necessarily have to become a wandering knight of the current era. But only such a fool would have a greater likelihood of teaching the next wandering knight. The wandering knight the Leader speaks of is not a common stone by the riverside. It is only natural that he is rare.”
The White-Clad Scholar let out a sigh.
“Since when did you become the Haomun Leader’s underling? Damn that wandering knight, I’m sick to death of it. Why are you so thoroughly dyed in his colors? When you first saw him, you clearly tried to beat him to death. Show some restraint. The reason I haven’t brought him quickly is that I judged you have been too beguiled by the Leader’s words.”
“The conclusion is that there is no need to distort the Leader’s words. Ultimately, it is fortunate that we did not kill him.”
A sigh escaped the White-Clad Scholar.
“Now it has become impossible even if we tried to kill him. If you joined forces with the Cult Leader, could you kill him?”
“Hard to say.”
“Hypothetically speaking. I’m just asking out of curiosity. It’s not that I’m suggesting we kill him now, just curiosity.”
Cheonak tilted his head.
“The Cult Leader said the result would be the same even if he fought again, so now perhaps all three would die. Or the Cult Leader and I would be defeated. Even if we combined our strength, it would be difficult regardless.”
The White-Clad Scholar let out a sigh.
“The world has become utterly incomprehensible.”
“Baekga.”
“What?”
“At the very least, our disciple mustn’t lose to the Sect Leader’s disciple. This too must be the Sect Leader’s scheme, but if it is a contest, we cannot lose.”
“Day after day, ‘cannot lose,’ ‘cannot lose.’ I cannot fathom why such a fellow lost. And Sect Leader Hao never had the temperament to raise disciples well from the start.”
“Then what sort of temperament is he?”
The White-Robed Scholar scratched his forehead with a finger and answered.
“He is not the type to cling tenaciously to anything. Rather, the Sword Demon or Yukhap would likely teach disciples well.”
“What if Jaha teaches them properly? Then how would you feel if our disciples went around getting beaten all the time?”
“That would wound my pride somewhat.”
Cheonak nodded.
“Your habit is to calculate everything thoroughly at every turn. Do not calculate when it comes to disciples. You simply try teaching them first. If your logic were so outstanding, you should have defeated the Sect Leader long ago. If you do not wish to lose to Jaha again, the sooner you bring a disciple, the better. As you yourself believe, that fellow is always going around meddling in affairs here and there, so he will have less time to focus on his disciple than us.”
The White-Robed Scholar folded his arms.
“Let us strike a bargain. If you will learn to paint, I shall bring a disciple candidate in short order.”
“I shall agree, so vanish from my sight this instant.”
“Ah, but speaking of which. The Sect Leader said my disciple should be the likes of a no-gentleman, and yours……”
Cheonak spoke, looking at the blank papers strewn across the floor.
“It matters not. Bring that fool here first. A disciple the likes of a no-gentleman is not easy to come by. It is faster to bring a blank slate and teach him. Whether that fellow is a fool or a gentleman, I shall verify.”
“Very well.”
Only after the White-Robed Scholar had disappeared did Cheonak gaze intently at an intact sheet of blank paper.
The smiling face of his Junior Sister flickered above the blank paper, but he knew he still lacked the skill to draw.
Cheonak checked that no one was nearby, then rose and took the seat the White-Robed Scholar had occupied.
“Junior Sister, I have made a promise, but I shall be clumsy for a long while yet. Still, I shall endeavor to draw.”
Cheonak took up the brush and, strangely enough, drew a large circle on the blank paper.
It was a large circle drawn neatly in black ink.
He painted the lower half of the circle black with the brush. When he filled half with undulating, wave-like shapes, it became the Taiji at once.
Cheonak gazed at the Taiji and muttered.
“Watch well, all of you. I shall show that even in darkness, there is fragrance—for that Baekga fellow and me. That we scholars too can raise knight-errants. If it comes to pass……”
That was precisely the Taiji.
Cheonak intended to have the Taiji emblem drawn upon the robes of those who would become his disciples.
For they would be knight-errants raised by dark fellows like them.
As Cheonak gazed endlessly at the snow-white blank paper upon the dark waves, his Junior Sister’s bright expression arose more vividly than ever before, clearer than at any other time.
A moment later, the White-Robed Scholar appeared, having neatly changed into clean white traveling clothes, and spoke to Cheonak, who stood still as though frozen.
“……I shall be on my way.”
“Where are you going that you have changed your clothes as well?”
The White-Robed Scholar answered.
“Do you think a disciple candidate is some woodcutter from a nearby back mountain? Naturally, it is quite far.”
“Then why have you prepared your attire so thoroughly?”
“I am not going to fetch a slave, so I must observe propriety.”
“Where is your destination?”
The White-Robed Scholar replied curtly.
“Wudang Mountain.”
Just as he was about to turn to leave, the White-Robed Scholar finally set his eyes upon the emblem Cheonak had drawn.
“What is that emblem?”
Cheonak said.
“It is to be drawn upon the disciples’ robes. It is the Taiji.”
“Anyone can see it is the Taiji, but I ask what it means.”
“It is the emblem of our oath to raise knight-errants who can benefit the world. That I see things through to the end no matter what is my nature, so you must not take it lightly either.”
Having heard the explanation, the White-Robed Scholar slowly examined the Taiji emblem once more and laughed.
“It is a witless emblem that suits fools perfectly. I shall be on my way.”
Cheonak muttered.
“The greatest fool in the world is you.”
After the White-Robed Scholar disappeared……
Cheonak, who had been gazing at the Taiji, shifted his eyes to the blank papers scattered nearby.
Cheonak himself had already reached the pinnacle of external arts.
No matter how outstanding a disciple’s innate talent, or how long they trained, he thought it was nearly impossible for them to defeat him.
Yet he thought that a master’s role was, somehow, to make disciples surpass their master.
If so, the path of martial arts he had to pursue from now on was clear.
Cheonak murmured with the hope that his disciples would one day surpass him.
“I shall create a martial art of the soft overcoming the hard.”
That the soft could overcome the hard. He thought he would have to pursue martial arts of such inconceivably lofty heights that at the very least, his disciple might defeat Jaha’s disciple.
This was also a conclusion he could only reach because he was the most unyielding man under heaven. Lost in a trance, Cheonak reached toward the floor, and the messy blank papers scattered about split apart like the undulations of Taiji.