Chapter 9
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Fleeting Time
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People often compare the passage of time to flowing water.
Blink once, and the crawling child is walking; the pitch-black hair of an adult turns white...
Yet there was someone who experienced time even more swiftly than those folks.
Namely, Yu Hyun.
Over the two months that Yu Seong-hwan and Dam Cheon-u had been too busy with clan affairs to visit often, he had been taking Jang Se-yong's tonics morning and night, slimming down day by day.
His body, which had been enough for three people, had shrunk to the size of two, perhaps?
He was still chubby as ever, but now his Adam's apple was faintly visible.
As the fat melted away, Yu Hyun ramped up the intensity of his training.
Lately, he ran ten li at dawn, trained his strength with heavy iron weights strapped to his body after breakfast, and devoted his afternoons to aquatic drills until sunset.
Contrary to expectations that he wouldn't last three days, as always, Yu Hyun stuck to his training with dogged persistence.
As if he knew someone who had died from not training...
In any case, the afternoon sessions had now become routine for everyone.
Guard Huang, watching Yu Hyun seated in meditation underwater, suddenly muttered,
"Young Master is starting to look almost human now... Ahem!"
Realizing his slip mid-sentence, he hastily covered it with a fake cough, but the shock was still shocking.
It's hard to notice changes in someone you see every day, but this... the transformation was extreme.
He'd wake up to find the scale had shifted one notch, and after training, it jumped two more.
"What the hell did the Imperial Physician feed him? Did he really make a weight-loss potion?"
Recalling the bowls Yu Hyun eagerly emptied morning and night, Guard Huang furrowed his brow in serious contemplation.
"Hmm, should I ask him to make some for my wife too?"
His own wife was steadily packing on the pounds—if she took that stuff...
Lost deep in thought, his gaze caught Yu Hyun finishing his meditation and moving.
"Huh?"
Perhaps because he hadn't been paying close attention?
The flailing Yu Hyun had always done... now felt like actual movements? A well-choreographed dance?
Brushing aside the prejudice of "flailing," and looking closely, he could even glimpse a systematic structure.
Like a martial art... no, too clean for that.
Yu Hyun was only seventeen.
No matter how great the technique, connections between forms couldn't be that seamless at his age.
Even he, at his peak, couldn't link forms that cleanly.
"Ha, well I'll be. Is this what they mean by 'all rivers flow to the sea'? Even flailing around eventually amounts to something."
Splash! Boom!
In that moment, Yu Hyun's underwater thrust sent water surging forward, slamming into the wall and erupting upward.
Whoosh!
As the spray rained down like a downpour, Guard Huang instinctively leaped back.
"What, what was that? Just now?"
Stepping away from the splash zone, he blinked in disbelief.
It was like some kind of wave technique...
"Nah, what am I thinking? Coincidence. Pure coincidence. Young Master has never learned any martial arts..."
But it was odd.
Even as a coincidence, was that possible?
Creating a splash? From Yu Hyun? From that distance?
Sure, as a kid before learning martial arts, he'd done similar tricks splashing with friends—but on the surface.
Was it really possible to generate a splash purely with underwater hand motions, without any internal energy?
Doubts piled up in Guard Huang's mind.
He couldn't have suddenly developed internal energy out of nowhere... If he had even a scrap, Jang Se-yong, who checked his pulses daily for health, would have noticed...
But...
What if it was heaven-sent genius?
The kind of once-in-a-millennium prodigy who creates techniques through self-contemplation, without a teacher?
"...No way. No way in hell. Ridiculous. Yeah, as if that stubborn, arrogant glutton was born with that kind of talent."
"Who are you talking about?"
"Who else? Our Young..."
Shaking his head and answering absentmindedly, Guard Huang froze like stone.
The monster's eyes staring up from below, head craned forward, and those particularly gleaming fangs peeking between its lips.
"Uh, uh, uh..."
Too stunned to speak, Guard Huang just repeated "uh" with bulging eyes.
"Hey. I'm not sure myself, but who exactly is this stubborn, arrogant glutton?"
"......"
Watching the face slowly flush red, smiling like a ferocious demon, Guard Huang managed a trembling grin with quivering limbs.
We're screwed.
Of all people...
"Come on, spill it. I'm the former Dali Temple Censor and current Yu Clan Manor exclusive guard, Guard Huang."
"......"
The ferocious demon—no, Yu Seong-hwan—twitched the corners of his eyes and grinned menacingly again.
"Th-that's..."
"Ha ha, who would've thought. Surely you weren't talking about our Hyun like that."
"......"
"So spit it out already. It's fine, I swear. Who is it? I'm dying to know. Ha ha ha, ho ho ho."
"......"
As if it was fine...
Already radiating killing intent from his eyes, yanking a sword from Dam Cheon-u's waist nearby.
"Come on, no more delays..."
"You worm! How dare you spout such insolence in safety! What are you waiting for? Drag this fool off to the shed and lock him up!"
"Yes!"
Sensing danger, Dam Cheon-u swiftly cut off Yu Seong-hwan and barked the order. The accompanying guards flashed forward like lightning, seizing Guard Huang's arms.
"Drag him away! I don't even want to look at him. I'll interrogate him myself— no one approaches until I say!"
"Yes!"
Dragged away limply under the vague order, Guard Huang turned his head and exchanged a wistful glance with Dam Cheon-u.
Thank you, Grand Steward...
How can I ever repay this grace?
My friend, we're both in the same boat—what's the point of tallying favors? You've suffered enough lately, so take a few days' vacation in the shed.
Thank you. Truly, thank you.
Their silent exchange flowed with heartfelt emotion...
"Who said you could drag him off! Lock him up? Bring him back here now! I'll behead him myself!"
Yu Seong-hwan's voice, rolling up his sleeves and brandishing the sword, echoed thunderously around the bathing area.
"Father-in-law, please calm your anger."
"What!"
"It's the day His Majesty bestowed such fine martial arts for your son-in-law from the palace. Shall we let petty strife invite ill fortune?"
"Th-this... th-this..."
Was it the mention of ill fortune?
Yu Seong-hwan ground his teeth, exhaled roughly, then finally calmed and lowered the sword.
"Hoo, haa... That ungrateful wretch doesn't even know gratitude. I saved his entire family from the executioner's blade, and he dares speak of our Hyun that way."
"Indeed. What a vile man."
"Right? How could our Hyun possibly be stubborn or arrogant!"
"No need to take it to heart. Calling him stubborn or arrogant—it's just the narrow-minded jealous of your confident, strong-willed son-in-law."
"Exactly! That's my son-in-law!"
"I'll discipline him thoroughly."
"You must. Of course you must! I trust you."
"Don't worry, Father-in-law."
Dam Cheon-u, having vowed boldly, coldly ordered his subordinate.
"Tell them not to give Guard Huang even a sip of water!"
[Take good care of him. Don't miss any meals.]
"Yes!"
[Understood.]
The warrior bowed and transmitted both verbally and via sound transmission before exiting Hwiam Hall. Only then did Yu Seong-hwan's anger subside.
"What's all the racket?"
Had the commotion been that loud?
Yu Hyun, emerging from the water before finishing his session, asked with a furrowed brow.
"Oh, Hyun-ah."
Yu Seong-hwan rushed over with a spring-breeze smile, as if he'd never been angry.
"Oh my, look at this face. Haven't seen you in days, and you've slimmed to half again. Se-yong said he was giving you tonics—what did he make to leave you this frail?"
"Frail? I'm healthier than ever."
"Really? Is that so?"
"Yes. All thanks to Uncle's tonics..."
"Ha ha, of course! That friend Se-yong's medicine is top-notch!"
Yu Hyun shook his head at the man's ever-shifting reactions with every reply.
Really, this father of mine—impossible to get used to.
But every word, every gesture dripped with such paternal love and worry...
"Anyway, what brings you here? Both of you together for once?"
"Ah, well. There's some great news."
"Huh?"
A massive question mark floated over Yu Hyun's head as he faced the beaming grin.
* * *
"......"
The three moved to a room, assured of important words.
Yu Hyun stared incredulously at the booklet before him.
"So... what is this?"
"A manual bestowed by His Majesty."
"By His Majesty?"
"Yes. I just casually mentioned your recent interest in martial arts, and he personally selected the finest from the palace arsenal and sent it. Ha ha ha."
"Im-impressive. His Majesty granting a manual himself."
It was his honest reaction.
No matter the father's favor, for the Emperor to personally grant palace martial arts.
He'd thought him just a doting dad-scholar, but maybe he was even greater than imagined...
Unlike the astonished Yu Hyun, Dam Cheon-u scoffed inwardly.
Personally, my ass.
What a joke.
He'd seen Yu Seong-hwan write the letter himself.
A three-page missive politely strong-arming the Emperor into coughing it up.
He'd already been rejected twice.
Letters packed with laments that His Majesty's affection had waned...
For anyone else, it would've been lèse-majesté, head long gone—but as his revered teacher, the Emperor not only sent it back graciously but had his chief eunuch deliver it personally this time.
Apologizing profusely for being too busy with state affairs to attend.
Dam Cheon-u had been embarrassed just watching.
The man had no shame when it came to his son...
His hard-earned reputation must've taken at least a ten percent hit.
In any event, the manual they'd obtained was truly extraordinary.
Heaven-Earth Divine Book.
The manual left by the peerless master and hegemon Han Baek, containing his martial arts and lifetime insights, which had once shaken the martial world.
Its whereabouts unknown after his death— who knew it was in the palace arsenal.
Any warrior would covet it; word of it in Yu Clan Manor could spark a bloodbath overnight.
"Father-in-law, may I speak now?"
"Ah, yes. I've left all martial matters to you."
As Dam Cheon-u interjected, Yu Seong-hwan tactfully stepped aside.
"Son-in-law, you may not know, but this Heaven-Earth Divine Book is precious yet perilous. If word spreads it's here, covetous foes will scale our walls endlessly."
"......"
Yu Hyun glanced at the manual on the floor and smirked.
Heaven-Earth Divine Book?
Sure, impressive. Worthless to me compared to a street vendor's chapbook.
His earlier surprise was solely that his father wielded enough power to wring a manual from the Emperor.
"After deep study, I've concluded it's too advanced for you, who's never trained in martial arts. Father-in-law agrees."
Yu Seong-hwan nodded in assent from the side.
"So..."
Dam Cheon-u tucked the Heaven-Earth Divine Book away and produced a new manual, offering it to Yu Hyun.
"And this is...?"
"You may not know, but it's excellent martial arts."
"......"
Who said I don't know it's martial arts?
It's plastered on the cover.
Six Combinations Heart Method.
With sister arts like Six Combinations Fist, Six Combinations Swordsmanship, Six Combinations Blade Method, and more...
Originating from Shaolin and spread worldwide.
Encompassing heaven and earth, the four cardinal directions—it channels cosmic energies. Adopted as foundational by Shaolin and all sects.
If the Thousand Character Classic is the start of learning, Six Combinations is the start of martial arts.
Anyone stepping into the martial realm—from street urchins to famed masters—learns it young as basics.
Even Yu Hyun himself, back in his snot-nosed days...
But why is this here?
They expect me to train in this?