Chapter 5: Reading a Book a Hundred Times Reveals Its Meaning (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 5: Reading a Book a Hundred Times Reveals Its Meaning (4)
All sorts of stories flowed through the streets of Xinxing County.
This person beat up that person. A fire broke out over there. Someone was caught having an affair.
From petty incidents and scandals...
To "What in the world is the County Magistrate even doing?" "What is the royal court for?" and "Isn’t this completely unfair?"
...all the way to matters of politics and current events.
Recently, a new topic had been added to the chatter of Xinxing County. It was still a small, trivial thing, but it was something worth mentioning whenever the conversation lulled.
“You know that guy, Yeon So-wol?”
“Who?”
“Yeon So-wol. The woodcutter from Annam.”
“Ah… you mean that fool?”
“Hm? Why do you call him a fool?”
“He’s a fool for dropping thirty gold taels to learn martial arts at his age.”
“What are you talking about? If he just reaches a certain cultivation realm, he’ll make his money back and then some. He’ll gain a skill that will let him live with respect for the rest of his life… and you’d begrudge thirty gold taels for that?”
“Well, well. You have thirty gold taels, do you? Then what are you waiting for? Go find a master with your thirty taels right now.”
“Ahem. Well. I’m poor, I don’t have the money. And I have no talent for martial arts.”
“And you think that young man does?”
“Wouldn’t he have paid thirty gold taels because he does?”
“Good heavens. Honestly. Look here. Even if he has talent, it makes no sense. The other students at the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall paid three silver taels to become disciples when they were ten or fifteen. But he alone pays thirty gold taels to get in? Does that sound right to you?”
“They only pay three silver taels?”
“‘Only’? Three silver taels ‘only’? You must be rich.”
“No… that’s not it. It’s just that martial arts are such an incredible thing.”
“Is every kind of martial art incredible? You have to at least master it to the level of the Three Gentlemen of Pungryu, Lee Yu-baek’s direct disciples, for it to be incredible. Most of the rest end up not even learning three silver taels’ worth of skills, you know? That’s true even for those who start as children. You think a young man who’s almost of age can do it? Use your head. Huh?”
“…”
“Besides, that young man, Yeon So-wol, is too old. He’ll have to train for another ten years just to maybe—maybe—be called a third-rate martial artist. To be called second-rate, he might have to train for another thirty years. He’ll probably never see thirty gold taels again in his life, let alone three. That’s why he’s the biggest fool in the world.”
“…Still, you’re being too harsh. He’s a young man who came from so far away with a dream. I heard he’s very well-behaved and well-educated.”
“Well-educated or not, he’s just a foolish, smelly barbarian. I’m just stating the facts. The facts. Besides, will that guy even be able to endure Lee Yu-baek’s training? I hear his methods are brutal.”
“Hey, why do you talk like you know everything? You don’t know this Yeon So-wol person either. He must have his reasons for doing what he’s doing.”
“Reasons, my ass. He’s just an idiot. Is there a shortage of idiots in the world? Just look around this marketplace; it’s full of guys that make you wonder how they even manage to put food on the table. I guarantee it. That guy will run away in less than a month. He just threw thirty gold taels into the dirt. He should’ve just given them to me.”
“…”
“Honestly. That Lee Yu-baek is too much, too. No matter how much he loves money, how could he just gobble that up? This is why you can’t trust people from the Jianghu. ‘Great Hero,’ my foot.”
Just as the torrent of harsh criticism reached its peak, a man who had been eating fish cakes nearby chimed in.
“Are you talking about Yeon So-wol? The one from Annam?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re wrong.”
“What?!”
As the critic’s face contorted into a scowl, the middle-aged man eating fish cakes spoke calmly.
“I heard from a friend who delivers firewood to the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall. That fellow, Yeon So-wol, killed three third-rate martial artists last night. By himself.”
“What! How is that possible? I heard he didn’t know any martial arts.”
“It’s true. I heard Great Hero Lee Yu-baek went to see the County Magistrate this morning with a bottle of liquor to smooth things over. If you don’t believe me, go check for yourself.”
“Hah…”
The sharp-tongued man let out a choked sound, seemingly at a loss for words.
At that, the man who had been subtly defending Yeon So-wol began to grumble loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Honestly. Acting like he knew everything. What was that? Ten years to maybe become third-rate? And now they’re saying the man already killed three of them. Hah. Good grief. These marketplace gossips are terrifying. Spreading such nonsense… as if they know it all. Sheesh.”
“…”
The sharp-tongued man hung his head and shuffled away.
The man eating fish cakes watched him go, chuckling.
“And a guy like that manages to put food on the table, huh?”
*
After eating breakfast, Yeon So-wol went to offer his morning greetings to Lee Yu-baek.
When Lee Yu-baek told him to ask anything he was curious about, he asked cautiously.
“I killed people yesterday. Won’t the authorities come looking for me?”
By 21st-century standards, that was the obvious course of events. If you killed three people in the middle of a city, you would naturally be investigated. In the Republic of Korea, it would have been a case of mutual assault leading to manslaughter or murder, earning him a prison sentence.
But Lee Yu-baek answered nonchalantly.
“In the Central Plains, there is a saying: Gwanmu-bulgachim.”
“…Non-interference between Government and Murim. The power of the Murim must be immense.”
Yeon So-wol was deeply surprised. The image that vaguely formed in his mind was of the American frontier era. Back then, people would shoot each other in duels, and businessmen would pull guns on each other over stock sales.
But still…
Even so. You can just kill people in a city like this? Just because you’re a martial artist?
It was certainly nice not to have to take responsibility, but a corner of his mind felt uneasy. If what he said was true, didn't it mean this was a world where sword-wielding thugs, exempt from the law, could run rampant as they pleased?
Is that okay? This world… is it really okay like this?
Seeing Yeon So-wol’s complicated expression, Lee Yu-baek smiled gently.
“That’s right. Which is why today, I’m going to visit the magistrate, treat him to some fine liquor, and offer him about one of the gold taels I received from you. Then everything will be fine.”
“…”
Yeon So-wol asked again, but only in his mind.
Excuse me?
Solving the problem by plying him with liquor and bribing him with gold?
Then isn’t that collusion between the government and Murim, not non-interference?
Lee Yu-baek continued.
“If you wish to live as a man of the Jianghu, you must remember this: In the Jianghu, how you conduct yourself is more important than anything else. You want to roam the Jianghu freely? Then you must always be perceptive. You have to know when to stand up and when to suck up. Engrave this in your mind. The lightness technique you wish to learn is, in the end, a skill built on the very same principle.”
The teachings of Lee Yu-baek, the greatest man in Xinxing, carried a dizzying weight. Yeon So-wol was deeply impressed.
So, a man of the Jianghu is a type of gangster—the kind with connections to the political powers that be.
Yeon So-wol asked on impulse.
“Hall Master. Then what is the Jianghu? Who are the people of the Jianghu?”
Lee Yu-baek answered.
“Those who live according to their station in a nation built on laws are called the people. Those who live as their hearts lead them along the rivers and lakes are called the people of the Jianghu.”
Yeon So-wol nodded.
I knew it. They really are gangsters.
And he realized one more thing.
Even if I fail now, it’ll be hard to get a refund on my gold ingot…
It might be a cheap price to pay for staying out of prison, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth.
*
Yeon So-wol renewed his resolve.
This place is uncivilized and filthy. There’s even a class system. I can’t live an ordinary life in a place like this. Not only would living itself be dreadful, but there are far too many dangers.
If so, what should he do?
I have to live the life of a gangster who can semi-ignore the class system. In other words, the life of a man of the Jianghu. Even though they’re gangsters, the public perception isn’t all that bad. In Hall Master Lee Yu-baek’s case, he even seems to be respected in the region. Right. I have to live like that, too. With my own estate, safely. Respected by those around me. Cleanly. While burning fragrant incense.
To achieve that…
Elder Jo Man-seok said so. If I have talent, it would take at least three to five years to become a third-rate martial artist. So let’s aim for three years. I’ll train like my life depends on it and become a third-rate martial artist within three years, no matter what. After that, I’ll take the Great Restoration Pill and move to a bigger city. There, I’ll seek out more proper teachings. I’ll need to at least be called first-rate to live like Hall Master Lee Yu-baek.
He had clarified his goal. He had prepared his mind.
No matter how painful it gets, I will endure to the end. I will never break. If I’m not dead, I move. Here, at the Pungryu Martial Arts Hall, I will become a third-rate martial artist and take the Great Restoration Pill.
And so began the second day of his training.
The one dishing out the beating today was not Lee Yu-baek. It was the youngest of the three disciples who received special treatment, known as the Three Gentlemen of Pungryu.
His name was Mo Cheong.
He was the same age as Yeon So-wol, but a head and a half shorter. If Mo Cheong was a bit short even by the standards of this era, then Yeon So-wol, who had been tall even in Korea, was a giant here.
But like Lee Yu-baek, Mo Cheong beat Yeon So-wol with absolute ease. He moved so fluidly that Yeon So-wol couldn’t fully react.
“Ugh!”
Whoosh!
He dodged one blow, and his hair flew.
Thwack!
His broken posture left him unable to block the next attack, and his head rattled.
Crash!
Watching Yeon So-wol take a hard fall, Mo Cheong tilted his head.
“What’s this? Why are you so good at dodging?”
Hearing this, Yeon So-wol was dumbfounded.
Good at dodging? My bones are aching and my muscles feel like they’re tearing.
As Yeon So-wol groaned and pushed himself up, Mo Cheong looked at him with worried eyes. “Are you in a lot of pain? Want to rest a bit? When it’s just us, we usually take it a little easy. My senior brothers and I all did. Besides, I heard Master is planning to make it even harder than yesterday this afternoon. So for now, just take a break.”
Mo Cheong was being sincere. From his perspective, Yeon So-wol had taken far too many hits yesterday. Yeon So-wol had a strange knack for dodging attacks, and the Master, excited by this, had hit him more than he usually would.
And on top of that, he had fought a life-and-death duel with knife-wielding thieves during the night… Mo Cheong couldn’t even begin to imagine Yeon So-wol’s pain and exhaustion.
And yet, the Master had been delighted, saying Yeon So-wol had a hidden card up his sleeve. He had even declared that he would teach him more harshly today. Knowing the pain that entailed, Mo Cheong couldn’t help but feel immense pity. That was why he had made the suggestion in earnest. After all, you needed to slack off a little to endure such harsh training.
But upon hearing those words, Yeon So-wol flinched.
This… this could be a trap.
He recalled a video he had seen on Wi-Tube. It was a video about experiencing special forces training, and the drill instructors would always say:
Ring the bell. Go on, ring the bell and it’ll all be over. You can rest if you ring the bell. Are you an idiot? Why are you doing this?
In special forces training, ringing the bell meant quitting. The situation was a bit different, but Yeon So-wol thought it was ultimately the same kind of thing.
He might be trying to gently coax me into slacking off, then use it as an excuse to fail me later.
That way, they could take his gold ingot without having to teach him much. He doubted they would resort to such a scummy tactic, but this was the lawless world of the Jianghu. Yeon So-wol would not let his guard down for a second.
He would do nothing that could be seen as a weakness. He would train hard, so hard that everyone in the world would know how grueling it was. If this place was like China, they would value face. And if they valued face, they couldn’t possibly fail someone who had truly worked his hardest for some absurd reason.
Yeon So-wol pushed his body, which felt like it would shatter, back to its feet. He forced his pain-twisted expression back to neutral.
“No, sir. I will continue. Please allow me to continue.”
He straightened his clothes and took his stance. He was a filthy mess of bruises, dust, and stains. Despite that, as Yeon So-wol calmly extended his long arms and legs and settled into his stance, an aura that could only be called dignity flowed from him.
He wants to continue? In that state?
To Mo Cheong, who was the same age, the sight was incredibly impressive. A spirit that did not compromise with the world. A spirit that did not deceive itself. A truly noble spirit.
Different from the ordinary people who lived in the dust. A pure and clear spirit.
‘No Shame Before Heaven or Men.’ Was this what it meant?
Looking up, have nothing to fear before Heaven. Looking down, have nothing to hide from men.
It was what Lee Yu-baek, who loved Confucius and Mencius, always said. For some reason, those words felt incredibly cool today.
“…Alright. Then I’ll get more serious too.”
Mo Cheong’s eyes gleamed.
…More serious?
Yeon So-wol’s eyes wavered.