A Hairbreadth from Disaster
While Mount Emei hesitated before a crossroads with no right or wrong, Ak Jiho spent three days clashing spear-tip against sword-tip with the sect’s third-generation disciple, Seonhwa.
Their sparring was so perilously fierce that even the onlookers held their breath, yet neither of the two combatants showed the slightest wavering in their eyes.
-Whoosh!
When Seonhwa leaned back sharply to evade an offensive that had taken on the faintest variation, the spear blade above her sliced through empty air with a razor cry.
Ranna-chal, the essential method of spear work: twist and push back, pull and pin down, then drive straight in to pierce.
It was the very backbone of spear arts, the principle said to underlie every advanced martial technique.
And yet Ak Jiho’s Ninety-Six-Handed Frenzied Wind Spear twisted the subtleties of Ranna-chal, unleashing a storm of ceaseless change as it battered forward like a gale.
“Ungh...!”
The spear tip boring in was sharp; the arcs that swept outward were fierce as a cyclone, radiating a momentum that seemed ready to swallow Seonhwa whole.
No matter whether I open the distance or close it, everything is his domain. The hand gripping the shaft shifts with every instant, knocking my sword aside.
On the first day, she had tried to break through with footwork and decide the match in one blow, only to lose. On the second, she had avoided the front and targeted his blind spots, but that had failed as well.
And today, on the third day, she had tried to win by force—and still it was no use.
For his spear tip flowed like a river guided by water, and whenever an opening appeared, it became both sword and saber, driving her back relentlessly.
“I thought Emei Sword Arts were a martial art where delicate swordplay and supple footwork worked in harmony, but looking at your domineering momentum, miss, it doesn’t seem to be only that.”
Perhaps because three days of sparring had made them more at ease with one another.
Ak Jiho wore a relaxed smile and deliberately spoke in a refined, formal tone as he looked at Seonhwa, who had her brows knit tight in irritation.
“...Today, I really do think I should press the young lord’s obnoxious face into the ground once, just to feel better.”
The gentle look she had worn at the foot of Mount Emei’s mountain gate was nowhere to be seen now; Seonhwa clicked her tongue and spat out something harsh.
“If you can manage it, then do.”
“...This is unbelievable...”
She bit her lower lip and glared, but her gaze was still fixed on Ak Jiho’s feet, refusing to let them slip from view.
If he showed even the smallest opening, she would immediately carve the Buddha’s mercy and teachings into his bones.
Yet it seemed today, too, was not a day for the Buddhist law to be dispensed.
“So you were here.”
At the voice of his uncle, Ma Taesang, who had come to Mount Emei with Ak Jiho, their sparring came to a halt.
“I hear your elder sister is climbing Mount Emei. She’s accompanied by someone she introduced as a close friend.”
---
Of all people, to hear that his sister had come and still have his face go rigid like that.
It wasn’t something an outsider should have cared about, but Seonhwa’s curiosity stirred, and she naturally trailed after the two of them.
If I’m stuck living among monks, I might as well have something entertaining to look at.
And a little while later, a woman slowly walked toward the three of them.
“...”
Her eyes were cool and sharp, with an amber gaze that flickered strangely beneath them.
Her skin was so perfectly pale it seemed untouched by any blemish, and her full, heavy bosom stood out with striking clarity.
Her thick thighs contrasted with her narrow waist.
Even if one searched the whole of the Central Plains, it would be hard to find such beauty. Seonhwa’s eyes widened.
“That lady is really the young lord’s sister...”
She asked it in disbelief, for the woman’s appearance was far too different from what she had imagined. But Ak Jiho, it seemed, wore much the same expression himself.
“...Where is my sister?”
What was that supposed to mean? Seonhwa turned her head back to the woman in front of them, only to see something flinch before slowly emerging from behind her.
“...”
Another woman, one not quite as beautiful as the first but certainly lovely enough to be called a beauty, appeared before the three of them with a face full of fear.
Her gaze was cast low as though she had been crushed by her own timidity, and her face had gone so pale that Seonhwa tilted her head in confusion.
Surely no one in Mount Emei would treat a guest so carelessly.
What on earth had caused that woman to make such a face?
As a variety of explanations flashed through Seonhwa’s mind, the woman in front of them bowed first.
“I’m Cheongwol. I met Seo-ah on the mountain path, and we traveled here together.”
At that, the three of them hurriedly bowed in return.
“I’m Ak Jiho, the young lord of the Shandong Ak Family.”
“Ma Taesang, leader of the Shandong Ak Family’s Thunderous Flight Squad.”
“Seonhwa of Mount Emei’s third generation.”
Then all eyes turned to the woman standing behind her, and she, too, raised a trembling hand.
“...I’m Ak Seo-ah, the eldest daughter of the Shandong Ak Family.”
Only then did Seonhwa realize that she was Ak Jiho’s sister, and she glanced around the area.
Ma Taesang, outwardly composed but inwardly unable to hide his embarrassment.
Ak Jiho glaring at his own sister as though she were his enemy, for reasons Seonhwa couldn’t tell.
And Cheongwol, glaring back at Ak Jiho with a fierce, almost hostile look.
Finally, Ak Seo-ah herself, trembling like a leaf in the wind.
Seonhwa looked at the four of them, each seemingly tangled in a complicated story, and spoke heavily.
“...Then, I suppose it’s about time for me to go read the sutras...”
---
In the suffocating atmosphere, Seonhwa adjusted her posture pointlessly, trying to calm herself.
She had tried to excuse herself by saying she needed to read the sutras, but of all days, the foot traffic through the area had suddenly dried up, and there wasn’t a single convenient person in sight.
In the end, she couldn’t just leave the four of them there alone, so she had intended only to guide them to an empty room. Yet somehow she had been swept along by the mood and ended up sitting with them. It was, frankly, a ridiculous farce, born of such distraction that she had no time left to think about Seonhwa at all.
“Do you know how many people have suffered because of your willful behavior?”
While everyone else remained silent, Ak Jiho was the first to speak, shattering the quiet.
His tone was like that of an elder admonishing a junior, not a brother addressing his sister, and Seonhwa looked at him in surprise.
“Jiho. Have you already forgotten my words?”
Ma Taesang tried to step in and stop things before they grew more serious, but it was no use.
“I’m mindful of Uncle’s words, but there’s nothing to be done. If someone else in the family had done the same, would you have just looked away and let it pass?”
There were surely reasons behind Ak Seo-ah’s actions, too, but as Ak Jiho said, public and private matters had to be kept strictly separate.
In the end, Ma Taesang stepped back with a look of resigned surrender.
“...If that’s how it is, then keep it to a reasonable level.”
Of course, if it went beyond that, he intended to step in and mediate at any time.
But Cheongwol moved one step ahead.
“There are always circumstances before and after every event. The young lord should know better than anyone why Seo-ah acted that way.”
Ak Jiho then slowly shifted his gaze from Ak Seo-ah to Cheongwol.
He had already been irritated by the image of his sister clinging so close to Cheongwol’s side, and it had been rubbing him the wrong way all along.
“...This time, since you’re my sister’s friend, I’ll let it pass. But please, miss, refrain from meddling in another family’s affairs. I don’t even know why you came all the way in here in the first place.”
Ak Jiho’s answer was the textbook one, not giving an inch, and Seonhwa felt as if her breath had stopped for a moment.
Fortunately, Cheongwol immediately snapped back with equal sharpness.
“Is bullying and humiliating your sister part of the family’s affairs? My experience in the jianghu is still too shallow, I suppose—I hadn’t realized. Please forgive me.”
At Cheongwol’s sarcasm, which invoked the family so pointedly, Seonhwa stiffened, thinking things were about to go badly. Unexpectedly, however, Ak Jiho met her head-on just as fiercely.
“However you look at it, yes. Now that you understand your lack of awareness, I hope you won’t repeat the same mistake elsewhere. If one fails to learn from the past, one is no different from a beast.”
“That’s a fine saying. But I do wonder whether you know that even beasts cherish their families.”
Was this what a real contest between experts looked like?
By now, their argument was no longer mere words but a life-and-death duel in which each exchange aimed directly at the other’s vital points, and sweat gathered at Seonhwa’s fingertips.
Moreover, Cheongwol’s rudeness had crossed the line long ago, yet the only reason Ma Taesang beside them continued to watch in silence was clear enough.
That rudeness had been committed for the sake of none other than the eldest daughter of the Shandong Ak Family, Ak Seo-ah.
In the jianghu, and among martial artists, a single word could make sworn brothers closer than blood or turn them into mortal enemies.
And yet, simply because she was a friend, wasn’t it admirable to see a young miss standing alone, proudly facing the great power of the Shandong Ak Family?
Only the fact that her opponent was the Shandong Ak Family’s own young lord weighed heavily on Ma Taesang’s heart, but for now it was still within the bounds of what he could tolerate and let pass.
Though the faces of the two people hurling killing intent with their tongues looked nothing like they were within any bounds at all.
“You hurl cutting insults at others without hesitation, and yet when your own turn comes, your face can’t even endure it. So then...”
Just as Cheongwol was pressing the attack again,
Ak Seo-ah, who had been keeping her mouth closed until now, gently tugged at Cheongwol’s sleeve and shook her head.
“...It’s all right now.”