A Martial Artist’s Grudges Are Not Easily Erased
My heart is pounding. It’s beating like crazy. It happened when I was first sold to the Cult, when I received my first martial arts manual from No-ya, and when I first formed my dantian. There have been many reasons for my heart to race throughout my life, but never like this. Why? Is it because I’m angry that So-so was treated so harshly? Is it because I’m being consumed by that absurd nightmare? I can’t say that’s not part of it, but it’s not the main reason.
‘It’s dangerous.’
My survival instinct as a living being is sounding a frantic alarm. It’s telling me to be wary of the grey-haired young master standing before me.
The uninvited guest asks me, “You. What are you?”
When I realize the question is directed at me, I hesitate, unsure how to respond. I don’t even know what he’s asking about, and frankly, I have no desire to engage in conversation with him. The intruder mutters to himself, “Strange. Very strange.”
He begins to step toward me. Watching him, the twins draw their swords, glaring at him as if they’d tear him apart. “You arrogant bastard, have you lost your mind? How dare you pull this shit in our front yard?”
“If you take one more step toward our Boss, I’ll cut your throat. Stay where you are.”
The intruder just scoffs, as if their threats are laughable. “Boss? It seems there really is something to that lowly servant after all.”
He doesn’t stop walking. The twins exchange a glance, nod, and then swing their swords, exuding a chilling yin energy. The man, looking unimpressed, draws his own sword and deflects their blades. The twins aren’t flustered; they never expected that attack to land anyway. Baek-ran says, “This is your final warning. You aren’t planning on breaking the Gyomaguan’s academy rules, are you?”
The intruder grimaces, clicks his tongue, and sheathes his sword. Just as it seems he’s turning his back to walk toward his carriage... he suddenly twists his body and throws a small dagger straight at me.
— !
— Clang!
Thankfully, Baek-ak, who was standing right next to me, deflected the flying dagger, so I wasn’t hurt. If Baek-ak had been even a little further away, or if he hadn’t reacted in time... I wouldn’t have survived.
Even though he had just tried to kill someone, the intruder just calmly muttered something incomprehensible. “Was I wrong... I suppose I was being too sensitive.”
As the realization hits me, I collapse onto the floor, weak-kneed. ‘I... I almost died just now...’
The twins rush to my side, asking worriedly, “Big sister! Are you okay?!”
“Noona, you aren’t hurt, right?! Are you really, truly okay?!”
I nod weakly. ‘But what did he mean by that...?’
The twins seem to have missed it while they were busy deflecting the dagger and worrying about me, but I heard it clearly. The words the young master muttered after saying he was being sensitive:
— Still, there’s no way she could have mastered the main family’s heart method...
‘Main family? Heart method? Does he mean my qi?’
After checking me over, the twins realize I’m unhurt. Once they confirm it, they both lunge at the intruder without a second thought. The intruder, as if he expected it, draws his sword again and exchanges a few blows with them. I don’t miss a single movement, eyes wide, watching every detail.
After exchanging a few moves, the intruder says with a sneer, “Why? Don’t you care about the academy rules anymore?”
“Shut up. I’m going to tear that mouth of yours apart.”
“...”
Baek-ak spits out a harsh curse, and Baek-ran glares at him in silence. The intruder laughs mockingly. “Ha. Do you really think you’re something special?”
He continues, his voice filled with rage. “You’re nothing but vermin without that bitch Sim So-yul!!”
‘So-yul?’
She was the other child who lived in the village with us, besides the twins. I heard she had gone into secluded training... Suddenly, the situation makes sense. He has a grudge against So-yul, but since she’s too strong, he’s cowardly taking his revenge while she’s away.
‘How despicable...’
As I curse him in my mind, the clash begins again. It’s only now that I remember the dagger hidden in my robes. It’s the one I used to carry every day in the village just in case. I haven’t had a reason to use it since coming to the Cult, but I had a ‘bad feeling’ today and tucked it back into my robes.
‘If I see an opening...’
Even if he is a master capable of holding his own against the twins, who are elite disciples, he wouldn’t be able to handle a sudden hidden weapon while occupied with them.
Just as I grip the dagger in my robes, a roar echoes through the sky.
“STOP!!!”
At that shout, the twins and the intruder, who were fighting as if to kill each other, sheathe their swords and turn their heads toward the source of the sound. The owner of that thunderous roar is none other than the instructor—a Peak Realm master who led the attendants the other day—a man of massive stature.
“How dare you draw your swords against each other without an observer present? Do you find the academy rules so laughable?!”
Even under the instructor’s fiery reprimand, the intruder says calmly, “I was insulted to my face. Do you see my attendant there?”
It was the same attendant who had harassed So-so and gotten his face smashed by Baek-ak. Baek-ak shouts, “That’s a lie! That attendant hit my friend’s cheek first and started yelling!”
“Hmph. Matters of the lower ranks should be settled among the lower ranks. Don’t you know that once you intervene, it becomes a matter of face?”
Just as Baek-ak is about to start shouting again, Baek-ran steps forward and says, “That is certainly true. But wasn’t it you who crossed the line first by using a lethal technique on our person, when the matter could have been settled otherwise?”
“You were the ones who drew your swords first.”
“And you were the one who didn’t listen to the warning to back off.”
The twins and the intruder glare at each other, neither willing to back down. The instructor, watching them closely, says, “You are all at fault. Jin Geuk. Even if you were insulted, is it appropriate to use a lethal technique against a fellow disciple of this Cult?”
“I apologize. It was my mistake. I never intended to use a lethal technique.”
“Bullshit! That bastard was trying to kill us from the very beginning!”
“Baek-ak! Shut your mouth. Can’t you see the instructor is speaking?”
Under the instructor’s sharp glare, Baek-ak steps back with a twisted expression.
“Jin Geuk. You are confined for two days.”
“He tried to kill someone! And it’s only two days of confinement...!”
“Silence! How dare you talk back to me? Baek-ak. You are also confined for two days.”
This time, Baek-ak doesn’t back down and looks ready to argue, so I step forward to stop him. Baek-ak steps back, his expression still deeply sour.
‘Two days of confinement...’
That was the punishment for both talking back to an instructor and attempting to take a human life. To be precise, not just any human, but the life of a ‘common disciple’ who hasn’t even learned martial arts. This isn’t the modern world. It’s a place where the weight of a life is determined by one’s ability, and I’ve known that for a while. So, there’s no need to be hurt. I was the weak one right now. I have the conviction that I will escape this position someday. I simply bow my head quietly to avoid drawing the ire of the strong.
Seeing me step in, the instructor nods in satisfaction, noting that the twins aren’t making any further complaints.
“However, we cannot end things here. A martial artist’s grudges are not so easily erased by a few words from me.”
Everyone focuses on the instructor’s words.
“Three days from now. Under my supervision, you will cleanse your grudges through a sacred duel. Do you understand?”
There is no one left here to argue with the instructor’s decision.
Jin Geuk, who had suddenly attacked the twins’ quarters, returned straight to his lodging as he had been ordered into confinement by the instructor. His mind was preoccupied with the fact that the twins’ martial prowess was greater than he had anticipated, but what stuck with him most was the servant they called ‘Boss’.
‘It was definitely the main family’s secret heart method.’
But could a genius who had mastered the main family’s heart method really be unable to dodge such a slow dagger? Or perhaps, was there no need to dodge it?
‘But looking at her expression, she really seemed to know nothing.’
He replayed the sensation of that moment several times, but the result wasn’t much different from his initial conclusion. It was subtle. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had misjudged the situation, yet it continued to weigh on his mind.
‘I must be too tired lately...’
Perhaps he had become overly sensitive due to his secret meetings with the people from the Sun Palace (Il-sin-gung) behind his family’s back. Well... if it continued to bother him, he could just go back and verify it later.
Upon entering his room, Jin Geuk’s expression immediately hardened. A mysterious wooden box and a note had been left on his bed.
Jin Geuk checked the note with a stiff face.
— No-Pae (The Unbeaten Token).
“They were watching everything...”
He tore the note to shreds in frustration.
Grind. Grind.
The sound of teeth grinding in fury echoed through the room. He didn’t like it. How dare they, from the Sun Palace—a place that couldn’t even support their own declining Cult Leader—send him an item to tell him not to lose to mere vermin, not even Sim So-yul, but to those bugs. To insult the Young Master of the Tyrant Sword Sect, the Sword Family that serves as the pillar of the Cult. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.
Even as he thought this, Jin Geuk tucked the wooden box securely into his robes.