Chapter 59: Water Too Clear Has No Fish (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 59: Water Too Clear Has No Fish (7)
Yeon So-wol had only recently discovered that a game called Sword Debate even existed.
It was a contest of wits where participants agreed upon the martial arts they would use beforehand, then competed based on the known advantages and characteristics of each style.
Is it something like that Yu-Gi-Oh! card game…?
One side would declare, “I will attack with the Northern Star's Single Flash of the Four Directions Sword Technique!”
The other would counter, “Then I will parry with the Seventh Form of the Great Saber Technique, Harmonious Wind Under Heaven, flowing directly from my middle guard stance. The Northern Star's Single Flash values speed and precision, while Harmonious Wind Under Heaven is both fast and possesses unrestrained power. Your sword force is overwhelmed, and you have lost your balance!”
And then… “What! In that case, I’ll use the Jugeol Step Third Form, Truth and Deceit, to create distance…”
“Haha! I knew you’d do that. You must not have known what move follows Harmonious Wind Under Heaven!”
“Gasp! Don’t tell me!”
It was a game of trading imaginary blows—a battle of knowledge, Jianghu common sense, and mutual agreement.
“That’s what’s so ridiculous. I mean, I clearly said I’d be using the Biyik Sword when we started the debate. How can he argue like that later when he doesn’t even know what it is?”
They were upstairs in the inn, in Jin Geol’s room.
In a tiny space barely ten feet across, Jin Geol pounded his chest in frustration. Across the small table, Yeon So-wol poured cheap distilled liquor into Jin Geol’s cup.
“But Jin Geol, I have a question.”
“Hm?”
“When you play this Sword Debate, is it… common for people to include techniques they can’t actually use?”
“Ah. No, it’s not. If you do that, you can’t complain if you get slapped across the face.”
“…”
Jin Geol saw the cold look in Yeon So-wol’s eyes and waved his hands dismissively.
“But I had no choice.”
“…Because you had to earn some silver?”
“Yes! Look, I’m a little short on funds right now. I was in a tight spot and had to make some money for living expenses, even if it meant betting on Sword Debates.”
Jin Geol glanced around his small, dark room.
“…Then you should have just told me.”
“Ahem. How could I do that? I have all my limbs intact! I should work honorably and earn money with my own abilities. If you just hold out your hand to a friend, you’re not really a friend.”
“…”
Yeon So-wol was conflicted. He wasn’t sure whether to admire Jin Geol’s upright view of friendship or to call him out on his twisted view of labor.
“No, wait. Why don’t you have any money in the first place? You had a gold tael.”
“I did.”
“Don’t tell me you spent it all?”
“I did.”
Yeon So-wol stared intently at Jin Geol’s face.
He already spent a whole gold tael?
It wasn’t impossible. Given what he’d heard about Jin Geol’s spending habits, the man was certainly the type who could burn through a gold tael in just half a month.
However.
For someone like that, he seems to have been in this state for quite a while.
Yeon So-wol glanced around the room. It didn’t look like a place he’d only stayed in for a day or two. It looked like he’d been here for at least half a month.
That would mean he’d spent the gold tael two weeks ago, but the timing was strange. If Jin Geol had been spending money so lavishly back then, there was no way Yeon So-wol wouldn’t have known.
In that case, the time he spent the gold tael was…
Yeon So-wol’s eyes narrowed.
“Jin Geol.”
“Yeah.”
“Back then. That day. The day Hang In-woo betrayed us. The person who brought me the news… he was drenched in sweat from running.”
“Oh, was he? What a grateful person.”
“He said he was paid for it.”
“Ah. Right, was that so?”
Seeing Jin Geol subtly avoid his gaze, Yeon So-wol was certain. He let out a deep sigh.
“Did you spend a whole gold tael just to have that message delivered?”
“No. I didn’t.”
“That must have been all the money you had.”
“Well, what’s the point of having money? I thought I was going to die back then anyway. But, well, it wasn’t me.”
Jin Geol denied it to the very end.
Yeon So-wol felt something hot surge in his chest. He could no longer treat Jin Geol’s problems as if they were someone else’s. It had always been that way, but now it was even more certain.
Yeon So-wol sighed deeply once more.
“So what are you going to do? It seems that man, Great Hero Seong, is really out for you.”
“…Well, I’ll have to do a good job of avoiding him.”
“What happens if you get caught?”
“It’ll get complicated. If he finds out I can’t actually use the Biyik Sword, he’ll fly into a rage, saying I insulted him, and he’ll tell me to draw my sword again. But if I draw my sword, it’s obvious I’ll lose.”
“You’d lose?”
“I’d lose. Aside from my internal cultivation method and archery, my martial arts are third-rate. If I fought a slightly skilled second-rate martial artist in close combat, I’d probably lose. Someone like Seon Je-hun or Mo Cheong from your academy, for instance.”
Yeon So-wol’s eyes widened.
He had only heard that Jin Geol had played a key role in the fight against Hang In-woo, so he had vaguely assumed he was an expert.
But his internal energy was first-rate while his martial arts were third-rate? Was that even possible?
Jin Geol smiled.
“My parents were a bit peculiar. The family itself had elders who served as government officials and others who lived as martial artists in the Jianghu… But my father and mother were dead set on me taking the imperial examination. The most I was allowed to learn was an internal cultivation method, as a form of health regimen…”
Jin Geol explained that while he was able to learn an internal cultivation method from the elders and was given elixirs, he was never taught proper martial arts like wielding a staff or a sword.
Yeon So-wol asked, “Did you hate the idea of taking the imperial exam that much? From what I saw back then, you seemed more than skilled enough.”
“I have a dream,” Jin Geol said with a grin. “To see all the magnificent sights in the world, and to share a drink with beautiful women and good friends. That has always been my dream.”
And so, Jin Geol had abruptly left home and plunged into the Jianghu. Breaking free from his destined fate, transcending all frameworks and limitations.
He really is a man of the Jianghu.
Feeling a bittersweet sentiment, Yeon So-wol said, “Then how about leaving Xinxing County for a while?”
It was a delicate issue. Everyone knew that Jin Geol was Yeon So-wol’s friend. What if such a friend were to be humiliated by Great Hero Seong?
Yeon So-wol’s reputation would be tarnished, and if his reputation suffered, Lee Yu-baek’s would be damaged as well. All the martial artists currently gathered in Xinxing County had come because they had heard the names of Lee Yu-baek and Yeon So-wol.
In such a situation, if their reputations were to suffer, it would kill the mood. It might not derail their grand undertaking, but it would inevitably sour the atmosphere.
And yet, Jin Geol remained stubborn.
“I can’t do that. My friend is undertaking something huge. I can’t just run away without helping!”
No, I think running away is helping…
Yeon So-wol couldn’t bring himself to say what he was thinking. He owed too much to Jin Geol’s loyalty. Of course, Jin Geol was well aware of Yeon So-wol’s concerns. He was a smart man, after all.
“I’ll do my best to avoid him. Don’t worry too much.”
Yeon So-wol stared at him. How could he not worry?
Jin Geol gave an awkward smile. “Actually, there is one way…”
Perhaps he had read his friend’s mind. After a moment of thought, Jin Geol lowered his voice.
“If it really comes to it, there is something I can do. It’s just very difficult.”
“What is it?”
“The thing is, I actually have a secret manual for the Biyik Sword.”
Jin Geol spun around in his chair, grabbed his travel pouch, and started rummaging through it. The room was so small that he could reach almost anything just by extending his arm.
Thud!
He dropped a worn-out book onto the table.
“This is it. Since I figured I needed some martial arts, I tend to collect secret manuals whenever I get the chance. The Biyik Sword is a rather sublime sword art, but it’s also widely known, so it’s easy to find a manual for it on the market. That’s how I got this one.”
“Wait. Then why haven’t you learned it yet?”
“Well, about that… I don’t think this is a complete manual.”
“Not complete?”
“Yeah. Some parts just don’t make sense. There are sections that feel like something terrible would happen if I followed them exactly.”
“What?”
Yeon So-wol was shocked. No, he was horrified. For him, who knew all too well how dangerous it was to learn martial arts in this world, a flawed secret manual was a terrifying thought that sent chills down his spine.
“What? They sell manuals like that for money? Are they trying to kill someone…!”
“Uh… I didn’t exactly buy it with money.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah. To be precise, I won it in a bet, and the owner wasn’t a martial artist to begin with… He said he copied it from somewhere, thinking it might be worth some money.”
“What? How do you just see a martial art somewhere and copy it? A non-martial artist at that?”
Jin Geol spoke as if boasting. “My friend, all sorts of things happen in the Jianghu.”
“…”
Yeon So-wol no longer had the energy to sigh.
“Anyway, because of that, it seems like a few characters here and there are wrong.”
“…Are you sure it’s even the Biyik Sword?”
“It is. I checked! I may not be good at the practical skills, but I’m sharp when it comes to theory. I just can’t learn it until it’s properly corrected.”
Having said this much, Jin Geol clapped Yeon So-wol on the shoulder.
“But right here, before my very eyes, is a martial arts genius who boasts incredible comprehension! What do you say, won’t you help me out? So-wol, if you help, maybe we can solve the parts I was stuck on in no time! Then I can learn the Biyik Sword and show it to Great Hero Seong, and the problem will be solved!”
There were two problems.
First, could they really fix the flawed parts of the manual quickly just because Yeon So-wol helped? Second, even if they could, would Jin Geol be able to learn it quickly?
On this matter, Jin Geol was confident.
“I’m sure of it! Once the manual is fixed, learning the damn thing will be nothing! I may not look it, but my fundamentals are rock solid. It’s because fundamentals were all I was ever allowed to practice!”
Looking at that fiery gaze, Yeon So-wol couldn’t help but nod.
“Hoo. Alright. I decided to rest from my cultivation until tomorrow anyway… I guess we can study this.”
“Keh! Excellent! Yeon So-wol! You might fix the whole thing in a single day!”
They filled each other’s cups and, with great vigor, drained them in one go.
“Hoo!”
“Hoo-ah!”
Breathing out hot air, they opened the Biyik Sword manual together.
* * *
“…Jin Geol.”
“…Yeah?”
“Just give him back the silver and apologize.”
“…Should I?”
“Yes. If you get caught while trying to avoid him, it’ll be more than you can handle. Just apologize. I’m asking you. I’ll even lend you the silver for now. Okay? Please.”
“Maybe I should…”
The two young men walked through the night streets of Xinxing County, their spirits crushed. The lantern in their hands swayed with their steps, casting dancing shadows all around.
It was the Hour of the Tiger, between three and five in the morning. Not a single person was on the streets. The world was silent and dark. It was that time in the early morning when the air turns quite cool, even in this sweltering southern region.
Yeon So-wol’s and Jin Geol’s eyes were red. It was the result of wrestling for too long with a manual that offered no answers.
“I’m sure… I’m sure we were making progress…” Jin Geol lamented, but Yeon So-wol was firm.
“We made progress, yes. We even found a way to correct it for sure. But we also reached a conclusion, didn’t we? That it would take at least a full month of focusing on nothing else.”
“…Right.”
“And we don’t have that kind of time.”
“…True.”
“I told you to just skip the bandit subjugation and focus on researching it, but our dear Jin Geol doesn’t want to do that.”
“That wouldn’t be cool.”
“…Just go apologize.”
“…Maybe I should.”
The two had been cooped up in a tiny room for several shichen, staring at a book. They were now walking aimlessly through the night streets to loosen their stiff bodies and cool their overheated minds.
“But Jin Geol.”
“What is it, So-wol?”
“…Do you smell alcohol?”
“Huh?”
Yeon So-wol stopped in his tracks. It was unmistakable. The smell of alcohol. He didn’t know when it had started, but the moment he registered it, he could smell a terribly strong stench of liquor.
“Huh? You’re right.”
Jin Geol finally noticed it too and sniffed the air.
Yeon So-wol felt his mind snap to attention. The fatigue from staring at the book, and even the slight buzz from the liquor he’d drunk earlier, completely vanished.
He looked around. A thick fog had crept in, blanketing their surroundings.
“What is this? Fog in the middle of the night? Damn, what kind of trick is this?”
Jin Geol shone the lantern around, but the light couldn’t penetrate the dense fog. Just as Jin Geol’s voice was about to get louder…
“Shh.”
Yeon So-wol gave a low warning.
“Hm?”
Jin Geol still didn’t understand, but Yeon So-wol did. A passage he had once read in the Xinxing Danger Avoidance Manual surfaced vividly in his mind.
* * *
One.
If the streets suddenly fill with a thick fog and the smell of alcohol, you must not make a loud noise. Walk with a quickened pace as if you have urgent business and exit the fog. You must not provoke anger, nor should you seek favor.
* * *
What in the world is this…
Yeon So-wol swallowed hard. He expanded his Qi Sense to its absolute limit.