Chapter 22: In the Jianghu, One's Body is Not One's Own (11)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 22: In the Jianghu, One's Body is Not One's Own (11)
When Yeon So-wol opened his eyes that morning, he muttered a single sentence, still half-lost in the remnants of a dream.
“Finally… I’ve been set free.”
The moment the words left his lips, he realized how strange they sounded.
“Hm?”
Set free from what?
Was I in prison or something?
The dream was already evaporating, leaving his mind like morning mist. With no idea why he’d said such a thing, Yeon So-wol started to sit up.
“Ah.”
Then, he realized.
“Light… I feel so light.”
It was as if he’d been freed from heavy shackles. As if he’d shed a suit of constricting, leaden armor.
It felt as if he had finally, truly found his own body.
“My senses, too…”
What he saw. What he heard.
It was like escaping a cramped, dark prison cell into the open air. He felt as if he could see the spirits dwelling in all things—as if he could reach out and touch the very essence of the world.
The world was vast. Vivid.
Even if he had upgraded his monitor and audio system to high-end models costing thousands of dollars back on Earth, the clarity wouldn’t have compared to this.
What in the world…
What had he been seeing and feeling all this time? How had he lived in such a dull, sluggish body?
“Incredible.”
Goosebumps prickled his skin.
This was the result of Self-Cultivation. Once he had polished his vessel, he saw himself anew. He hadn’t even begun circulating the Soft Willow Art yet, but his qualitatively transformed Twelve Standard Meridians were already warming his entire body.
Still immersed in the sensation, Yeon So-wol practiced the Soft Willow Art and then washed himself. Even the feeling of water on his skin was a revelation.
“Water! This is what water feels like! Ahh.”
He was experiencing a sensory miracle, a total awakening in a world far from Earth.
“Hm. This incense has a surprisingly murky after-scent.”
Clearly sensing the lingering notes of a fragrance he had never noticed before, he stepped outside for his morning greeting.
“There will be no morning greeting today.”
Kang Mu-hyeok, the eldest of the Three Gentlemen of Pungryu, was waiting in front of his quarters.
“Why not?”
“He is resting.”
“…Is he very unwell?”
The memory of Lee Yu-baek’s pale face from the day before surfaced in his mind.
“Don’t worry. I saw him, and it looks like he’ll recover completely with some rest. That’s all he’s doing.”
“That’s a relief.”
Despite his words, Yeon So-wol’s heart felt heavy. He had been bewildered yesterday, but with the passing of a day, Lee Yu-baek’s resolve became clearer.
The lighter his body felt, the heavier the weight of gratitude on his heart became.
“Are you going out today?”
“Yes. I was thinking of looking for a new incense. And perhaps having some spring clothes made in advance.”
“Right. It’ll be the fourth month soon.”
Kang Mu-hyeok nodded and clasped his hands behind his back.
“Brother. Could I see your Flying Wind Drift?”
“My Flying Wind Drift?”
“Yes.”
Tap.
Kang Mu-hyeok kicked off the ground.
Shwaaaaa!
Dragging one foot along the dirt, he moved as nimbly as if skating on ice, carving a perfect circle with a radius of about ten feet.
“Jump as high as you can. I’ll attack you. Don’t dodge—just block. And whatever you do, don’t leave this circle.”
So suddenly?
Yeon So-wol was a bit puzzled but didn’t ask why. Small courtesies were what built reputation and goodwill in this world.
“Yes.”
“Good. Jump. As high as you can.”
“Understood.”
Huuuuu…
As he exhaled a plume of white smoke and deepened his Fire Phase, his body quickly heated up. A savory fragrance spread through the air, even more aromatic than before.
His cultivated Twelve Standard Meridians were on a completely different level now. Achieving Fire Phase was incomparably easier, and his bones—being so close to the meridians—had been refined to an unbelievably light degree.
Thump!
He kicked off the ground. His body was weightless. It felt just as light as when Lee Yu-baek had forcibly refined him and thrown him through the air.
Whoosh!
With a simple push, he soared. He flew past the pillars, past the interlocking brackets of the eaves, and higher still than the black-tiled roof.
“As I thought. The Fourth Stage. Good. Now then.”
Whoosh!
Kang Mu-hyeok leaped up after him. Instantly catching up, he flicked his palm out and gave him a light push.
Thwack! Thwack!
The attacks weren’t fast, so blocking them wasn’t the issue. The problem was that blocking in mid-air sent his body reeling, throwing his center of gravity completely off balance.
“Whoa, whoa!”
Yeon So-wol tried his best to hold his ground. Instinctively, he varied the Fire Phase in different parts of his swaying body. He made the parts being pushed heavier and the parts that weren't lighter, doing whatever he could to maintain equilibrium in the air.
Thud!
He landed on the ground.
Outside the circle.
“Again.”
They started again.
Thud!
He was outside the circle once more.
“Again.”
After about ten tries, Yeon So-wol finally managed to partially control his Fire Phase and land without being pushed out of the circle.
“He actually did it.”
Kang Mu-hyeok, who rarely showed emotion, had visibly shaken eyes.
“With this, your Flying Wind Drift is halfway past the Fourth Stage. You have one foot in the Fifth Stage.”
The Fourth Stage makes one lighter. The Fifth Stage makes one stable. It was the stage where a martial artist could find stability in mid-air by partially adjusting their body’s weight in response to the wind or an opponent's force.
In truth, Kang Mu-hyeok had only been half-convinced when he suggested the test; he hadn’t expected Yeon So-wol to succeed so quickly.
“To pull this off with just your instincts… Your genius-level Qi Sense truly shines when it comes to Qinggong.”
“…I am still far from adequate. I don’t even have a clue how you moved like that when you drew the circle, Senior.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, Yeon So-wol humbled himself.
“You’ll be able to do that once you learn footwork. After you learn to control your weight with Qinggong, you learn how to properly apply that weight through footwork.”
“Ah.”
“But even at your current level, you won’t get caught by those three dog bastards. Even if you can’t fight them head-on yet.”
“You think so…? I heard they all started their martial arts training at least ten years before me.”
Yeon So-wol shuddered as he recalled the past. How many times had he almost died in just seven short months? The thought of people who had been doing this for ten years made him tense up automatically.
To say nothing of Kang Mu-hyeok, even Mo Cheong, the youngest of the Three Gentlemen of Pungryu, was faster and stronger than him. Even among second-rate martial artists, the difference in level was immense.
At that, Kang Mu-hyeok muttered.
“…I think there’s some misunderstanding. Well. You’ll see for yourself.”
He clasped his hands behind his back again.
“Master had a message for you.”
“Yes.”
Feeling strangely pleased, Yeon So-wol straightened his posture. Pleased by his earnestness, Kang Mu-hyeok relayed Lee Yu-baek’s words.
So-wol.
Don’t be ashamed of running away.
In this Jianghu, there are many times when you don’t have to win.
What’s truly shameful…
…is being too scared to say what you need to say.
That’s a bit pathetic.
So.
Say what you need to say.
And don’t go around getting beaten up.
“Ah.”
Though the words seemed a bit contradictory, they struck a chord in his heart.
“The Three Dogs of Xinxing will be gunning for you. But seeing your progress puts my mind at ease. Go out there with your shoulders squared.”
Pat, pat.
Kang Mu-hyeok patted Yeon So-wol’s shoulder and walked past him.
*
Weak Severing Sword.
It was the Achilles’ heel of Resentful Dog, Jeon Tae-gwang. To be called the Weak Severing Sword—the only one among the four direct disciples of the Severing Sword Sect who was uniquely weak…
“But does that mean you can take Resentful Dog for a joke? Has everyone forgotten? That Black Path bastard who came from the capital last year, acting all high and mighty. Didn’t Resentful Dog crush him all by himself?”
“He did. That’s right. Several of our own local Black Path guys, who were considered second-rate, got their asses kicked by him, but Resentful Dog smashed that guy with ease.”
“That’s my point. It’s the Three Gentlemen of Pungryu and the Three Severing Swords who are too strong for Xinxing County’s standards, not that Resentful Dog is weak.”
“That’s true.”
“But what good is it? All he does with that power is beat people up and break the headstones on other people’s graves…”
“Ah. The headstone. That was too much. To disgrace someone’s deceased parents like that just because he was angry.”
“The kid that happened to is a friend of mine. He still can’t sleep without drinking. Says he pounds his chest and cries every night.”
And so, the people of Xinxing County were both thrilled for and worried about Yeon So-wol.
“I heard that woodcutter from Annam shamed Mad Dog the other day, right?”
“What do you mean, ‘woodcutter from Annam’? He’s the protégé of the Great Hero Lee Yu-baek. You might not call him Young Master Yeon, but at least call him Yeon So-wol.”
“Ahem. Right. That Yeon So-wol. Anyway, I heard Mad Dog came at him foaming at the mouth, but he dodged him easily. He was polite to Resentful Dog and Smiling Dog, but they say he stared Mad Dog down to the very end. Ahh. It was so satisfying.”
“I felt so refreshed when I heard that story, too.”
“But for me… I’m satisfied, but I’m also worried. Do you think those dog bastards will leave Yeon So-wol alone now?”
“Oh my! They can’t. Our Young Hero Arang…”
“Arang? As in ‘Elegant Brightness’? What the…”
“You’ll know when you see him. You’ll see. How magnificent our Young Hero Arang’s bearing is.”
“Oh, please.”
“But she’s not wrong. When you see him in person, with his looks and his fragrance, he seems like an immortal… He gives off an unapproachable air.”
The spreading rumors flowed on and on, eventually reaching the ears of the Three Dogs of Xinxing.
“…Arang? Arang? People are still calling him that?”
Jeon Tae-gwang, the Resentful Dog known as the Weak Severing Sword, seethed.
“Ha? Haha? Ha? I was shamed? Me? By him?”
Mad Dog laughed, half-crazed.
“He’s so scared of getting his ass beat by us he can’t even step outside the martial arts hall. What’s with all this talk about a scared little mutt…”
Just as Mad Dog was about to work himself into a lather, Smiling Dog raised a finger.
“Oh? Hehe. He’s right over there.”
“What is?”
“Yeon So-wol.”
It was true. In the bustling marketplace, they could see Yeon So-wol examining some fabric.
Resentful Dog was the first to leap from the second-floor balcony of the inn. Using Qinggong, he dove lightly into the crowded market. A spicy, white smoke billowed from his mouth.
“Stupid bastard. He actually crawled out here.”
Mad Dog bared his white teeth and leaped after Resentful Dog, a sharp, burnt smell trailing him. Smiling Dog followed, snickering.
“Ugh!”
“Aack!”
“Kuh! What the—?”
“Eek!”
A commotion soon erupted in the crowded marketplace.
*
…Those nuisances.
Yeon So-wol, who had been examining fabric for his spring clothes, clicked his tongue as he saw the Three Dogs of Xinxing leaping through the crowded market, stepping on people’s heads and shoulders.
“Kuh!”
“Aack!”
“Huk!”
Lightening one’s body with Qinggong didn’t make one’s weight disappear entirely. For someone just walking along, having a dirt-covered shoe suddenly stomp on their head was bound to be a terrible experience.
But the three dog bastards of Xinxing paid no mind to others, recklessly planting their feet wherever they pleased until they stood before Yeon So-wol.
“Hey.”
Resentful Dog called out to him.
Yeon So-wol, maintaining his etiquette, clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute.
“We meet again, Seniors.”
“Come with us for a moment. I think we have something to talk about.”
Yeon So-wol blinked and replied.
“Do we?”
“…Look at this little shit.”
A muscle in Resentful Dog’s cheek twitched.
“No manners at all. A punk who just started learning martial arts, and you’re already fussing over your robes and fragrance pouches. Isn’t this a time when you should be focusing on your training? Are you insane? Does the Pungryu Sect know you’re running around like this?”
His words were long, but translated, they basically meant: I’m going to find an excuse to beat you up. All under the pretext of teaching a junior his place.
Having already been warned about this, Yeon So-wol wasn’t flustered.
“Yes, they know. But does the Severing Sword Sect know?”
“…What?”
“That you go around stomping on people’s heads with your Qinggong, Senior. I doubt you went through all that trouble to learn such difficult techniques just to feel that kind of petty superiority.”
Resentful Dog changed his mind. Even if Master scolds me for it, I’m going to have to crush a few of his bones.
Fwooooosh—
As a spicy, burnt smell accompanied the white smoke rising from his mouth, Yeon So-wol spoke.
“Ah. But, I’m asking this because I’m genuinely curious.”
“…?”
“Senior, why is your Fire Phase… like that?”
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Resentful Dog furrowed his brow.
“What do you mean?”
“Well. Your Fire Phase. It’s a bit…”
Yeon So-wol tilted his head and sniffed the air. The spicy, burnt smell.
“It’s just, it seems… very crude. And even that seems… a little shallow.”
“…?”
At first, Resentful Dog didn’t understand what he was hearing. Then, the realization dawned on him. The hair on his entire body stood on end.
“You…!”
“Your Fire Phase. You’re not supposed to do it like that, are you?”
“You bastard!”
BOOM!
Stomping the ground, Resentful Dog charged like a wild beast.