Chapter 81. We See No Openings.

The swordsmanship of Ouyang Wuji, as organized by Giseongja, consisted of eight forms in total. Since I could roughly imitate the first four, I counted them as already learned.

One. The Long Sword Form was the act of sending qi outward.

Two. The Short Sword Form was the act of compressing qi.

Three. The Ten Thousand Swords Form was the act of scattering sword qi like a rain of flowers filling the sky.

Four. The Drawing Sword Form was the principle of unleashing the preceding three forms while drawing the sword.

However, the latter four forms of the Mugeuk Sword Art were difficult even for me.

Five. The Thunder Sword Form. It said the sword qi turns into a thunderstorm, but how am I supposed to do that?

Six. The Wooden Sword Form. It said to perform five consummate techniques with a wooden sword, but shouldn’t the wooden sword break under normal circumstances?

Seven. The Qi Sword Form. It said to perform every consummate technique without a wooden sword, and at that point I no longer knew why one bothered learning swordsmanship at all.

Eight. The Martial Pinnacle Form. It was written that the sword, mind, and inner power were to be exploded all at once, but this form was so absurd that even I had nothing to say.

After reading through it three times, I neatly, without regret, and swiftly gave up on the latter four forms.

A man who gives up immediately when something cannot be done—that is me.

Giseongja’s explanations were so brief that if I tried to force myself to learn them, I would suffer qi deviation four times over. This senior always explains things briefly.

It might be because his own level is so high, or it might be because he believes there is no point in explaining in detail.

There was something I realized while learning martial arts in my previous life as well.

Some things can be learned easily the moment I see them, while certain martial arts or specific forms cannot be learned because they do not suit my way of thinking, my personality, or my level of understanding.

The important point is that I was never a perfect human being to begin with.

As written in the Golden Turtle Wandering Art, I only needed to grow a little stronger day by day. Clinging stubbornly to what cannot be done and digging into it by force does not lead to good results. There are many ways to become stronger, so there was no need for me to obsess over the latter four forms.

I intended to take a slightly more flexible and relaxed approach toward martial arts than I had during my days as the Mad Demon.

‘Let’s not force what cannot be done.’

I placed the black iron in a rather expensive-looking box, put the unidentified ring on my middle finger, and then went outside.

Was it because I had read the book over and over?

Before I knew it, dawn was breaking.

I took an unopened jar of Du Kang wine from the kitchen, then sat at an outdoor table and blankly watched the sunrise for a while.

Jaha at sunset was one thing, but even when the sun rose, I thought the color of the sky was strange. It was as though, when yin and yang changed shifts, light shone from the hands they held tightly between them.

In any case, whether at dusk or at dawn, that mysterious cluster of light always resembled my name, Jaha (紫霞).

I stopped my idle thoughts and sentiments, then read Giseongja’s postscript written at the end of the secret manual.

「Did Ouyang Wuji’s swordsmanship seem impressive? Even a man like that suffered seven complete defeats at my hands.」

After drinking a cup of Du Kang wine, I read on as though conversing with Giseongja.

“How splendid.”

「Then am I the greatest under heaven? No. As far as I know, there are other experts at a level similar to mine. Every person grows old and dies, so how could one boast of being the greatest under heaven for a single moment in time? If I did not cross hands with those experts and spent my whole life only managing my health, then outlived them, would that make me ascend to the position of greatest under heaven? By then, I too would soon grow old and die. In summary, words such as greatest under heaven are futile. If, while wandering the world, I were to meet an expert stronger than myself and discuss martial learning with him, that too would be my fortune and joy. How could victory or defeat be more joyful than raising the level of martial learning higher? Martial arts are, by nature, something to be cultivated slowly over a long period of time. Those who hurry meet a fate in which they harm themselves, just like Ouyang Wuji. Descendant, will you walk the path of the demonic way to gain power in a short time, or will you grow stronger day by day and become a completed knight-errant? Consider it. No matter how strong a person of the jianghu becomes, he cannot defeat a knight-errant with an unyielding heart. I know many will not agree with my thoughts, but that is what I believe.」

“Hmm, a mere knight-errant?”

What was with this sudden theory of the knight-errant (俠客論)?

These days, the very word knight-errant had all but vanished from the world, yet Master Giseongja, a man of old, was bringing up knights-errant.

If these were another person’s words, I would have let them pass in one ear and out the other, but I could not do that.

Because they were none other than Giseongja’s words.

As I drank alone, I carefully mulled over Giseongja’s theory of the knight-errant.

Why on earth?

Was he saying a knight-errant was stronger?

The contents of the book were too brief to immediately resolve the questions I wanted answered. When I suddenly looked toward the Phoenix VIP room, Baek Soa and Heuk Soryeong, whose acupoints had been released, were poking their heads out and our eyes met squarely.

I asked.

“Trying to run away?”

The two ran over to me and answered in the tone of reporting for duty.

“We came out to see if the fire had gone out.”

“We came out to see where you were, young master.”

I pointed to the seats across the table.

“Sit.”

“Yes.”

As soon as the two sat down, I asked without preamble.

“What do you think about knights-errant?”

Heuk Soryeong answered.

“I don’t think anything of them. Don’t they not exist these days?”

Baek Soa answered as well.

“When I was young, I learned that knights-errant were admirable people.”

I scratched the back of my head, then gestured at the Du Kang wine with my chin.

“Just drink.”

“Yes.”

“Wine has its own proper taste when drunk while watching the morning sun. You have to drink it in the most pathetic state in the world to truly taste it, that’s what I’m saying.”

After drinking a few cups with the two whose names contained the characters for bright and laughter, I told them the sobriquet I had made up on the spot.

“From now on, I’ll lump the two of you together and call you Heuk-Baek Soso (黑白昭笑). The meaning of the characters also happens to be ‘brightly smiling,’ so your mission, the two of you, is to always smile brightly.”

Heuk Soryeong and Baek Soa looked at each other, then answered at the same time.

“Understood.”

“Until my subordinates arrive, I will briefly enter meditation……”

I took the Flash Dagger from my robe, stuck it into the table, and spoke in a serious tone.

“If you see an opening, stab me.”

“…….”

After appointing Heuk-Baek Soso as sentries, I entered meditation. If I had taken an aphrodisiac, I would have had erotic dreams, but in my dream I was getting beaten by the Mad Monk again.

There are times like that.

Times when you can hear yourself snoring while asleep, I mean. A man who hears his own snoring even while dreaming—that is me.

When I suddenly opened my eyes because my posture felt uncomfortable, I placed an empty chair in front of me and propped my legs on it. As I suddenly looked at the two with half-lidded eyes, Heuk-Baek Soso opened their mouths.

“Please sleep comfortably.”

“We see no openings.”

Closing my eyes, I answered.

“……That is me.”

I began snoring again. This time, I went to sleep with the mindset that I would beat the Mad Monk to a pulp.

* * *

“Young Master, I think you should wake up.”

The moment I heard Heuk Soryeong’s voice, I nodded with my eyes still closed.

“Did I meditate too long?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“It was appropriate.”

I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth and looked around. The atmosphere was murderous for broad daylight.

A short distance to the left, the Black Cat Gang’s subordinates, including the Four Divine Generals, stood in a line. To the right, a group of jianghu men in matching attire were glaring at the Black Cat Gang. Judging from their atmosphere and dress, they were from the Nanming Society. Jopal, the inn waiter among them, pointed at me.

“That one over there isn’t the leader. That man is the leader.”

“That bastard?”

The man who had led the Nanming Society warriors here glared at me.

I yawned, then said to Heukbaek Soso.

“You two, go stand on the left. They’re my subordinates.”

Heukbaek Soso hurried to their feet and moved toward the Four Divine Generals. Still half-asleep, I gulped down Dukang wine on an empty stomach.

Drooling, hair all matted, and drinking liquor the moment I opened my eyes—I had achieved a level of patheticness with no rival under heaven.

The Nanming Society executive who had come to inspect the Narak Society asked me.

“Are you the leader?”

I pointed across from me and replied.

“As you can see. Sit.”

With the two sides facing off, the Nanming Society executive walked over alone and sat opposite me.

Naturally, a staring contest began.

I had trained in the staring contests that ugly men learned before they even grew up ever since my days as an inn waiter, so I rarely lost.

The bastard who blinked first said,

“I am Nan Yanfeng of the Nanming Society.”

His surname was the same, so he seemed to be a relative of the society leader. I looked at my subordinates, then revealed an identity that seemed suitable.

“I am the leader of the Black Cat Gang.”

Nan Yanfeng narrowed his brow and replied.

“Are you Great Rakshasa’s disciple?”

“I’m the man who killed Great Rakshasa.”

“I see. What about Ouyang Fu?”

“Dead.”

“Were you aware that Ouyang Fu was making tribute payments to our Nanming Society?”

“He revealed that before he died.”

Nan Yanfeng looked at me, then examined the Nanming Society’s forces. In terms of numbers, the Nanming Society had far fewer men. It seemed they had come in haste to assess the situation after hearing Jopal’s words.

Nan Yanfeng said,

“You’re young. Do you know what kind of temper our society leader has?”

“What kind of temper does he have?”

Nan Yanfeng touched his forehead as if suppressing his anger, then replied.

“Black Cat Gang Leader, you are to come to the Nanming Society in person and apologize to our society leader. If you don’t want this matter to grow bigger, that is the only way. Return to your gang, ask your subordinates what sort of organization our Nanming Society is and what sort of man our society leader is, gather information, then come. To apologize. Understood? If you refuse, then you and your people are at all-out war with the Nanming Society.”

“You want me to apologize?”

Nan Yanfeng pointed around the neighborhood with his finger and said,

“Do you think our society leader would be angered over some paltry tribute money or a Narak Society? Money is not important. Why did you kill Ouyang Fu without any special reason? Come and explain that. The blade of the Nanming Society’s leader does not discriminate. Whether it is the Demonic Path, the White Path, or even the same Black Path. Do not let this spread into killing and being killed.”

At the words “money is not important,” I already sensed that the Nanming Society was quite a powerful organization.

I said to Nan Yanfeng,

“Tell your society leader this. Ouyang Fu died by my hand because he was running crooked gambling. Whether he paid tribute to you or not, crooked gambling is a separate matter. He merely handed over part of the money he raked in through fraud to you people. If you knew and accepted it, then under the laws of the Martial Alliance, that amounts to aiding and abetting fraud. And if the Nanming Society helped with the operation, then you are accomplices in crooked gambling as well. So telling me to apologize is wrong. After you convey that point, add these words of mine.”

“What are they?”

I pointed at Nan Yanfeng with my finger.

“I’ll be at the Black Cat Gang, so have the Nanming Society leader issue me a courteous invitation in his name. Then I will go and discuss what happened this time with him. That idiotic nonsense about apologizing seems to have come from your own head...”

I pointed at the Flash Dagger still embedded in the table and said to Nan Yanfeng,

“Yanfeng, do you want to die here?”

“……”

Leaning my upper body forward, I said to Nan Yanfeng,

“Is the Nanming Society fairly strong? That is none of my concern. For your information, Great Rakshasa was even more arrogant than you before he died. You go back and relay my words to your society leader. Save your useless barking for your underlings. Got it?”

Nan Yanfeng glared at me, then swept his gaze over my subordinates. He must have been deliberating, but I had the feeling he wasn’t the sort of man who would recklessly die here.

Nan Yanfeng rose, let out a sigh, and said,

“We’ll meet again.”

I was originally a man who held grudges, so I continued mocking Nan Yanfeng, who insisted on acting tough to the very end.

“Yanfeng.”

Nan Yanfeng looked back.

“I spared your life once. Go.”

When I grinned, Nan Yanfeng whipped around with his face flushed bright red. Then the Nanming Society, who had arrived with such vigor, disappeared while maintaining a heavy silence. Of course, Jopal the inn waiter, whom I knew, followed those bastards.

Only then did I call So Gunpyeong over and say,

“Let’s recover all the funds from those women and the King of Gambling, then head back.”

So Gunpyeong nodded.

“Understood.”

I gestured for Ilbo, the inn waiter standing awkwardly, to come over. After handing Ilbo an empty cup, I poured him some Dukang wine.

“Good work.”

Ilbo grinned and answered,

“Thank you.”

Since all my junior brothers and subordinates were watching, I added a word.

“Finish cleaning this up and leave within one shichen. We’ll drink after we arrive at the Black Cat Gang. Keep that in mind. We made quite a lot of money today, so let’s drink grandly.”

I had said it to raise my subordinates’ morale.

But thinking about it, aside from waking up, drinking liquor, and giving that Nanming Society man a hard time, I had not really done anything today.

Being a leader is both this hard and this pathetic.

When I thought about it, if I were still the Mad Demon of my previous life, I would have killed not only Nan Yanfeng but also the subordinates he had brought and even Jopal.

Was the reason I did not do so because of my sense of responsibility toward my subordinates?

Or was I changing little by little?

For the moment, I could not know.