Episode 7
Chapter 3: Muryeonggwan (1)
His fingers dug into the wall as small lines appeared one after another.
At that, Yugwang and Mijin, who had been eating, looked over in shock.
Drawing on wood with his fingers.
“Yugwang, Mijin. This inn is a truly remarkable place. Later, when you become masters, you must return to this inn.”
Having left those meaningful words, Seonu picked up his spoon and chopsticks and resumed his meal.
The old innkeeper, seated in a chair, stared blankly at him.
Thud! Thud-thud-thud!
The assassins who had climbed onto the roof collapsed one after another atop it.
Fearing he would wake Yugwang and Mijin, who were sleeping soundly, Seonu gathered the assassins in his arms and leaped away.
Seeing that assassins had boldly found their way here to attack, it seemed there were more than just one or two roaming about.
After dumping the bodies in the forest and returning to the inn, Seonu let out a sigh and stopped walking.
“I terribly hate people who spy on others’ every move like rats.”
At Seonu’s words, a man who had been hiding in the darkness revealed himself.
“I am deeply sorry. I was not trying to spy intentionally.”
The one admitting fault and answering was the one-armed young man who had been sitting in the inn during the day.
“Then go inside and rest.”
Seonu spoke briefly to the young man and entered his room.
The one-armed young man moved his lips as if to say something to Seonu, then shook his head and went into his own room.
* * *
“Shall we start the day with some vigor?”
At Seonu’s morning greeting, Yugwang and Mijin offered awkward smiles.
Their faces betrayed their thoughts—that today would be difficult as well—which made Seonu smile.
Having found a suitable clearing, Yugwang and Mijin unfolded the Oho Danmundo with their heavy sabers.
Seonu also performed the Oho Danmundo alongside them.
Teacher and disciples moved together.
Although he knew there was a man secretly hiding and watching, Seonu deliberately pretended not to notice.
When their arms felt about to fall off, Seonu’s voice telling them to stop rang out, and Yugwang and Mijin let out rough breaths as they lowered their blades.
He knew Mijin would be struggling more than Yugwang, but Seonu permitted no leniency.
He regarded her not as a woman, but as a fellow martial artist.
The break was longer than usual.
Finding this strange, Yugwang and Mijin looked at Seonu.
“Training creates the difference between those who can focus more or less based on the results they produce. This time, use the sabers you normally wield and perform the Oho Danmundo with internal energy.”
At Seonu’s words, Yugwang drew the wide, long saber hanging on his back.
Mijin drew the sleek Uyeopdo from her waist.
Yugwang and Mijin performed the Oho Danmundo toward the empty air.
As they executed the forms, their eyes held not mere surprise, but awe.
With every technique they performed, blade wind rose naturally.
Having completed all the forms, Yugwang and Mijin bowed their heads to Seonu with no small admiration.
“Thank you, Master.”
The lingering doubts they had harbored about their teacher vanished without a trace.
“You still have far to go. The blade wind must rise even fiercer. And you must cut through that wind and subdue it. Only then can it be called the true Oho Danmundo.”
He had heard this from his grandfather and known.
That the Oho Danmundo was a great blade technique capable of subduing even the wind.
But only now did he come to understand its true meaning.
“I have trained with you until today. From now on, I leave your training to you. Push yourselves to your limits. Do you understand?”
A sterner voice than ever before issued from Seonu’s mouth.
“We will give it our very all.”
Having passed that hurdle and returned to the inn in high spirits, Seonu saw the one-armed young man sitting at a table, tilting his wine cup.
Seeing that the man had secretly hidden and watched them, then hurried back to the inn and even ordered alcohol, Seonu nearly laughed out loud.
Seonu sat in the seat across from the man.
The one-armed man looked at Seonu as if he were a strange person.
“I told you last night. I said I hate rats.”
At Seonu’s cold warning, the man’s face flushed red.
“It was not intentional.”
“Who would believe it was unintentional again, especially after watching for so long?”
“My apologies.”
When the man apologized, Seonu called the owner to bring another cup and pushed it forward.
“What pleasure is there in drinking alone?”
At Seonu’s words, the man raised his left hand and poured wine into the cup.
“What business brings you here?”
“I came here three years ago as well.”
Hearing the one-armed man’s answer, Seonu thought he understood his feelings.
This man wanted to enter that Muryeonggwan, just like the orthodox sect’s prodigies.
Seonu downed the wine the man had poured in one gulp, then poured wine into the man’s cup in turn.
“You wish to enter that place.”
“What skill would a wanderer like me have to enter there?”
“If there is no way, it is wise to give up.”
“Even so, after three years, one inevitably comes here.”
“From whom did you learn martial arts? You must have had a master.”
“It was my father. He has passed away.”
The man downed the cup Seonu had given him and poured wine into Seonu’s cup again.
“That place is not so great either.”
“I know. But one can still dream, can one not?”
Seonu liked the man’s answer very much.
With a man like this, it seemed worthwhile to forge a connection.
If the man lacked a Muryeong Pae, Seonu would have stolen one from another to give him, but it just so happened that he had one to spare.
“What is your name?”
“I am Hwang Doyeong.”
“Do you have any intention of hiding your family name?”
Perhaps thinking it an unexpected question, Doyeong stared intently at Seonu’s face.
“Answer me. Do you have such thoughts?”
“What does hiding it matter?”
“Then from now on, you are Paeng Doyeong.”
Seonu looked at Hwang Doyeong—no, Paeng Doyeong—and smiled brightly.
Doyeong found Seonu’s smile almost too dazzling.
“This is Hwang Doyeong—no, Paeng Doyeong. He is Yugwang’s younger cousin.”
When Seonu suddenly appeared in the clearing leading the one-armed man and spoke as if making a declaration, Yugwang and Mijin looked back and forth between Seonu and the one-armed man with bewildered expressions.
“He will enter that place with us. Any objections?”
Seonu asked with a slightly mischievous expression. After a brief moment of bewilderment, Yugwang extended his hand to Doyeong.
“I am your cousin, Yugwang.”
“I’ll be your elder sister. I’m your cousin, Mijin.”
When the two initiated the greeting first, Doyeong lowered his head with a bashful face.
“This younger brother, Doyeong, greets elder brother and elder sister. But when we are alone, I would prefer we treat each other as friends.”
At Doyeong’s greeting, smiles spread across Yugwang and Mijin’s faces.
His pride was strong, and he had considerable backbone—they liked him.
“We can’t have a gathering without alcohol. Youngest, go buy something delicious.”
As Seonu joked, Doyeong bowed his head with a face that said it was only natural.
“I shall return at once, Master.”
As soon as he answered, Doyeong rushed off, and Seonu explained the situation.
Yugwang carefully expressed his opinion.
“I do not mind accepting him as a younger brother, but whether we can truly trust that person is questionable.”
“My grandfather was too kind-hearted and was betrayed once. But Grandfather had the ability to clean up such matters. I am the same. So do not worry.”
At Seonu’s confident answer, Yugwang and Mijin nodded, seemingly reassured.
Even to them, it certainly seemed possible.
The abilities they had glimpsed until now belonged to Jang Seonu, a person completely different from themselves.
Doyeong went all the way to the market and bought lamb, boiled duck, and several bottles of wine.
He had bought so much that a great deal remained even after the four of them ate.
Perhaps because they could feel Doyeong’s sincerity in buying the food, the four conversed with laughter blooming for the first time in ages.
When the wine ran out, Seonu told Doyeong to demonstrate his sword technique.
Though tipsy, Doyeong did his utmost to demonstrate his sword technique.
After Doyeong finished his demonstration, Seonu handed over the great sword he had been carrying.
“Starting tomorrow, I will teach you a different sword technique. Learn it well.”
“I shall never forget this grace, Master.”
“See that you don’t. When you become great later, repay me most thoroughly. Understood?”
Having rested fully for a day, Seonu’s group ate breakfast and went out to the clearing to begin training.
Seonu taught Doyeong Seohong’s Pasansamgeom.
It was the sword technique that the Baekri family had taken, but that did not matter.
Studying Seohong’s sword technique would take quite a long time.
It was not a technique that could be immediately mastered.
“Watch closely. The technique I am teaching is Seohong’s Pasansamgeom.”
At Seonu’s words, Yugwang and Mijin, who had been training on the side, stopped in surprise.
“You two continue. You have the Oho Danmundo, so do not needlessly concern yourselves with other martial arts.”
“Yes, Master.”
As Yugwang and Mijin quickly turned and resumed training, Seonu continued.
“You, get ahold of yourself as well. I will demonstrate a few times, and if you cannot follow, you are simply going your own way.”
At Seonu’s merciless warning, Doyeong swallowed hard and focused.
“The first form is Pasanbyeok (破山闢).”
Finishing his words, Seonu hung the saber at his right hip and drew it with his left hand, thrusting into empty space. Then he immediately slashed left and right, spun his body, and swept the surroundings.
When Seonu stopped the saber, large and small trees beyond the empty space fell sideways with thunderous crashes.
At that magnificent and wondrous sight, Yugwang and Mijin, who were training, stopped in surprise yet again.
“You will all be able to do this later as well. Now train.”
Though Seonu spoke thus, Yugwang and Mijin could not continue their training.
It was the first time they had confirmed with their own eyes.
Just how great their teacher was.
As the three stood blankly, Seonu shouted abruptly.
“Get ahold of yourselves!”
“F—forgive us!”
As Yugwang and Mijin hurriedly bowed their heads and resumed training, Seonu demonstrated the first form of the sword technique to Doyeong again.
This time, he performed the demonstration slowly, explaining the meaning contained in each movement one by one.
“I did not formally learn Pasansamgeom, so I do not know it well. Furthermore, I am right-handed. But I know how the applications of the forms connect.”
A right-handed person who had not formally learned it could do all that?
Yugwang and Mijin listening in, and Doyeong concentrating directly before him, were left utterly speechless.
“Pasan Samgeom consists of three forms, but when subdivided, they multiply tremendously. Each individual form can be used separately, you see. Now, first—split the space.”
Extending the saber straight forward, Seonu continued his explanation of the form.
* * *
The gates of Bukjeongmaeng opened at the Jin hour.
Seonu’s group had arrived before the Myo hour—that is, from dawn—and waited at the very front.
When Yugwang suggested they go a bit more leisurely, Seonu refused outright.
The reason was that there seemed to be many formidable opponents this time, which made the group they would enter precarious.
The night before, Seonu had explained one method for the four of them to enter together.
It was to enter the Thirtieth Group.
Yugwang and Mijin were surprised, but since it was their master’s word, they had to agree, while Doyeong wore a face that said anything was fine.
Thus, they had woken the old man at dawn, eaten breakfast, and come out to wait like this.
The gate guards and group leaders guarding the main gate of Bukjeongmaeng merely laughed at this group’s absurd behavior.
There were such people from time to time.
Too excited from the day before, unable to sleep, they would come early to wait in advance.
As the Jin hour approached, prodigies gathered one by one at the main gate of Bukjeongmaeng.
And finally, the massive gates opened, and the civil officials and martial artists sitting in chairs before tables inside the gate revealed themselves.
Seonu entered at the head, followed by Yugwang, Mijin, and Doyeong.