Chapter 72. Before the Sky Grows Too Dark
After washing up and changing clothes, I sat at the table in the main hall and looked at Cha Seongtae and Hoyeon Cheong again.
“Seongtae, go to the back and bring some liquor. Three cups.”
“Yes.”
When Cha Seongtae set down the liquor and placed a cup in front of each of us,
I looked at Hoyeon Cheong.
“Hoyeon Cheong, listen carefully.”
“Yes.”
“I still don’t care whether you’re Yu Sacheong or Hoyeon Cheong. I don’t care whether you really are a martial artist of the Hoyeon Sword Family, or a martial artist from some other force plotting schemes in the jianghu. You’re just a prisoner unlucky enough to get caught by me. From now on, you do exactly as I tell you. Understood?”
Hoyeon Cheong answered briefly.
“Understood.”
I took out the Flash Dagger I had brought with me and stabbed it into the spot at the center of the three of us.
Thunk!
Cha Seongtae and Hoyeon Cheong looked at me, wondering what my intention was.
I pointed at the Flash Dagger.
“This is how life-and-death duels are done in our neighborhood. From now on, if conversation doesn’t work, we’ll use that to stab each other to death.”
Cha Seongtae was about to say something with a laugh, but after checking my expression, he immediately shut his mouth.
I stated what I wanted.
“From now on, I’ll give you one hundred and eight days. Hoyeon Cheong, you will transmit to Cha Seongtae every martial art you know aside from sword arts, movement arts, and internal energy cultivation methods.”
Hoyeon Cheong’s eyes widened, and Cha Seongtae hurriedly looked at me.
“……”
Of course, Hoyeon Cheong probably had plenty to say. Some bullshit about how it was forbidden to pass them down to anyone outside the family, no doubt. But after seeing the Flash Dagger stuck in the table, he couldn’t easily open his mouth.
Instead, Cha Seongtae replied with a bewildered expression.
“Sect Leader, how am I supposed to learn all of that bastard’s martial arts in one hundred and eight days?”
“Seongtae.”
“Yes.”
I stared steadily at Cha Seongtae.
“Do you want to die? I believe I said this was a life-and-death duel.”
“Ah……”
“Ah?”
“No, sir.”
I explained the daily schedule to Hoyeon Cheong, who remained silent.
“This is the Black Rabbit Gang, so you two will rise when the Mao hour (卯時, 5 a.m.) begins. Eat breakfast and train, eat lunch and train, eat dinner and rest. During rest, you’ll have free time, but if you go out, escape, or run away, I’ll apply the rules of the life-and-death duel and kill you myself. If you don’t like that, pull out the Flash Dagger right now and stab me.”
“……”
“Hoyeon Cheong, since I took your internal energy, during rest time you can spend it recovering your internal energy or simply rest as you are. Do as you please. I’ll say it again: one hundred and eight days. Long if you call it long, short if you call it short. I’m not telling him to master everything. However, after one hundred and eight days, Cha Seongtae had better be stronger by one hundred and eight days’ worth compared to now.”
“How are you going to measure being stronger by one hundred and eight days’ worth?”
I replied to Cha Seongtae’s question.
“If you don’t like it, pull out the dagger and stab me.”
“It was just a question.”
Hoyeon Cheong finally asked me this.
“One hundred and eight days is barely enough to transmit even a single sword art.”
“That’s none of my concern. Cha Seongtae may be a bastard who only wastes food, but he isn’t an idiot. Whether you teach him broadly, or wait until he’s familiar with sword arts before teaching him something else, is entirely up to you. Handle it yourself.”
Hoyeon Cheong replied without realizing it.
“Our Hoyeon Sword Family……”
“I don’t care what your family is like. If you hate it, pull out the dagger and kill yourself.”
Only then did Hoyeon Cheong shut his mouth and even close his eyes for a moment.
I said to the two of them,
“There are quite a few things in life better than dying. If you don’t want to teach, die here. Seongtae, if you don’t want to learn, you die here too. Don’t waste food. If you hate this and hate that too, pull that out and come at me. I’ll kill you.”
This time, Cha Seongtae tilted his head back and closed his eyes as well.
I spoke to the two bastards creating this dogshit mood.
“Just try saying, ‘I don’t want to.’ I’ll be the first to pull out the dagger.”
Cha Seongtae raised his hand.
“I like it.”
I looked at Hoyeon Cheong. Hoyeon Cheong’s lips twitched before he barely managed to answer.
“I will teach him everything.”
I glared at the two of them, then nodded.
“Now we’re finally getting somewhere.”
I pulled out the Flash Dagger, cut my finger, and let my blood drip into the liquor bottle. Then I held the Flash Dagger out to Cha Seongtae.
Cha Seongtae also dripped his blood into the liquor bottle.
Then Hoyeon Cheong dropped his blood in the same way.
I picked up the liquor bottle containing the blood of all three of us and filled the three cups.
“This liquor contains the blood of three men who staked their lives and fought a life-and-death duel. In accordance with this oath, for one hundred and eight days, Master Hoyeon Cheong will teach martial arts to his disciple Cha Seongtae with sincerity, devotion, soul, and effort, and for one hundred and eight days, Disciple Cha Seongtae will learn Master Hoyeon Cheong’s teachings with passion and sincerity. I, I Jaha, as the presiding party of this oath, swear to Heaven, Earth, and all divine spirits that if these two men take lightly the duty of men who made a promise through a life-and-death duel, or show an insincere attitude, I will end the rest of their lives with the Flash Dagger.”
Cha Seongtae’s face turned pale as he listened to my oath.
Hoyeon Cheong was doing nothing but gulping down his saliva over and over.
I looked at the two of them, then raised my cup.
“Do you two swear to keep this oath?”
“I swear.”
“I swear as well.”
I gave a big nod.
“Drink.”
The three of us downed the liquor mixed with blood. I set down my cup and spoke with a pleased expression.
“Good. Harsh training begins tomorrow, so today, let’s share a final supper.”
Cha Seongtae replied,
“There’s no one to cook right now.”
“That’s true.”
The maids had left for Ilyang County, and most of my subordinates were still at the Cloud-Rain Society. I propped my chin on my hand and pondered for a moment.
I had killed Master Su and killed Old Lord Iryong too, but figuring out how to handle dinner right now was the difficult problem.
‘What a pathetic bastard……’
Cha Seongtae said,
“Should I go out and buy something?”
“Why? So you can run away?”
Just then, the door to the main hall flew open and Hongsin appeared. However, I did not look at Hongsin’s face; I fixed my gaze on what my junior sister was holding.
Hongsin slightly lifted what she held in her hand with a calm expression and said,
“Eldest Senior Brother, have some dumplings. I bought them on the way.”
I let out a sharp “Sseup……!” and then applauded Hongsin. When I clapped with a solemn expression, Cha Seongtae also nodded and brought his palms together.
Hong Sin replied as she looked around.
“What’s with everyone?”
I held out my hand to Hong Sin.
“Excellent. Hurry over and sit.”
“Yes.”
When Hong Sin untied the wrapping cloth on the table, dumplings appeared from within, showing off their pale, lovely forms.
Hong Sin chattered on.
“I didn’t know what you liked, so I mixed half meat dumplings and half vegetable dumplings. They were selling sweet-and-sour tenderloin nearby too, so I bought some as a side dish for drinks.”
I wiped away tears with one hand for a moment before replying.
“Excellent. From now on, the Four Divine Generals shall be Baegin, Cheongjin, Baegyu, and Hong Sin.”
“All of a sudden?”
“Let’s eat.”
As I chewed on a dumpling, I spoke to Hoyeon Cheong, who was sitting still.
“You eat too.”
“Yes.”
After answering carefully, Hoyeon Cheong reached for a dumpling.
While eating the dumplings, I said casually.
“If the results are lacking after one hundred and eight days, the two of you can expect to die by my hand.”
Cha Seongtae replied while eating a dumpling.
“Yes, understood.”
Hoyeon Cheong also replied.
“Understood.”
As I ate the dumplings like some beggar bastard living under an overpass, I said to Hong Sin.
“Can’t you make noodles? The ingredients should be in the kitchen.”
Hong Sin replied with the relaxed attitude of Guan Yu promising to return after beheading the enemy general before the wine cooled.
“Would you like me to? I’ll make some after I eat this.”
Afraid that Hong Sin might change her mind, I nodded several times.
“I’d be grateful if you did.”
“All right.”
Cha Seongtae bowed his head slightly toward Hong Sin and said.
“Please make mine too……”
“Well, if I’m making them anyway, I should make a lot. I’ll include the Chief Steward’s too.”
Suddenly, Hong Sin, Cha Seongtae, and I all looked at Hoyeon Cheong. Since Hoyeon Cheong was a prisoner, he was in no position to ask Hong Sin for anything. Even knowing that, the three of us waited for Hoyeon Cheong to speak. It was a kind of silent pressure, as if to say, if you don’t say anything, there’ll be none for you.
In the end, Hoyeon Cheong replied in an indifferent tone.
“I am fine.”
I clicked my tongue.
“Bullshit. Junior Sister Hong, make enough so we can all eat together.”
Hong Sin, holding a dumpling in her hand, stood up with a smile.
“All right.”
I raised my thumb as I watched Hong Sin head to the kitchen. Once again, I found myself realizing that a jianghu crawling with nothing but men was no different from hell.
When I glanced at Hoyeon Cheong, perhaps because a dumpling had gotten stuck in his throat, he hurriedly gulped down some liquor, then suddenly started shedding tears like a lunatic.
I shook my head and looked at Cha Seongtae.
“What a damn scene. Good grief. Are you crying because the dumplings are too delicious?”
“Mm.”
Cha Seongtae was about to join me in teasing Hoyeon Cheong, but then he shut his mouth with a bitter expression. It seemed a little strange to mock the person he would have to call Master from now on.
Hoyeon Cheong said.
“That is not it. In any case, I will try to teach him well.”
At any rate, while waiting for the noodles, I tormented Cha Seongtae to my heart’s content and kept tormenting Hoyeon Cheong as well. Even I began to suspect there might be a devil inside me. Well, if I had been such a good man since my past life, I would have been called by some epithet like Sword Immortal. But my epithet was the Mad Demon, you see.
“Seongtae.”
“Yes.”
“Your good days are over, aren’t they? What are you going to do? Pahahahahaha.”
A little while later, the four of us ate noodles. After filling my stomach with dumplings and then eating noodles on top of that, drowsiness began to creep in. After neatly drinking every last drop of the broth, I stood up.
“I’m going to sleep for a bit.”
“Yes.”
As I headed outside the main hall, Cha Seongtae asked.
“Where are you going?”
“To sleep.”
“Outside? Why?”
“Because I feel like it.”
I went out to the inner courtyard and lay down beneath a plum tree where petals had fallen, using my arm as a pillow.
The sun was setting in the sky, and night had not yet arrived.
A violet glow briefly filled the heavens.
A sky that was neither bright nor dark.
The time in which I could see the color of the sky that shared the same meaning as my name flowed by in silence. Before the sky grew too dark, I closed my eyes first.
To the people I missed, I sent my greetings in advance.
Because if I happened to meet them in a dream, my heart would ache.
Everyone else was fine.
The bastards I wanted to beat to death, the bastards I wanted to torment, the Mad Monk, the Left Envoy of Light, the Alliance Leader, the masters belonging to the Three Calamities, and even the pathetic scum who had beaten me in martial arts gambling……. Thinking that such bastards could appear in my dreams as much as they liked, I tried to sleep.
As I thought that the people I truly wanted to see should not appear in my dreams, I fell asleep. Stray thoughts, impossible to tell whether they were dreams or memories, brushed past briefly like the afterglow of sunset.
.
.
.
“I shall hand this over to you.”
“Why?”
“It is something I no longer need.”
I looked at the monk’s staff the Mad Monk held out to me.
“I’m not a monk. How am I supposed to use this?”
A crescent-shaped blade was attached to the head of the monk’s staff the Mad Monk used. The Mad Monk turned that blade with his hand, then detached the chunk of metal from the shaft.
“If you’re going to give it to me, give me all of it. Why are you taking that off?”
“Your killing intent is too thick, so edged weapons are confiscated. The shaft itself is also an excellent weapon. One might call it a weapon like an unbroken conviction.”
“It really won’t break?”
“If your conviction breaks, you’ll be as good as dead too, so there’s no need to worry.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means exactly what I said.”
Feeling bewildered, I grasped the metal staff the Mad Monk held out. The staff alone weighed over sixty geun, making it a weapon that no one who was not of the jianghu could have wielded freely in the first place.
I looked at the Mad Monk’s expression, then asked.
“Where are you going?”
“I must return.”
“You’re leaving all of a sudden?”
“It is a journey because there is a place to return to. I have filled myself plenty, so now it is time to go empty myself again.”
“What is it called if you have nowhere to return to? Like me.”
“Why would you have nowhere to return to? Come find me anytime, and I’ll start by shaving that unsightly hair of yours clean off. You hate that too, don’t you? Don’t go flapping that mouth of yours and end up dying in some ditch somewhere. If your chest ever feels stifled, come find me anytime. You worthless bastard. I’m off.”
The Mad Monk vanished, kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake.
He was such an unpredictable man that the sudden parting did not even surprise me.
Yet when the man who had been dragging me around by force abruptly disappeared, the emptiness brought by that freedom was immense.
When I suddenly looked around, the only thing left at my side was a lump of iron nicknamed Unbreakable Conviction.
With the heavy lump of iron slung over my shoulder, I stood alone in the wilderness and looked around for a long while, but there was nowhere in particular I had to return to.
My heart was no different from the wilderness, so I headed back to the jianghu. Though I had nowhere to return to, there were still bastards left in the jianghu who needed to be beaten to death.
The sky was growing darker and darker.