Anhui (3)

When we revisited Anhui Province, we didn't cross paths with Namgung Jinchen. The Namgung Family warriors on patrol did spot us, but took no particular action — after all, Anhui Province was a place where plenty of sword-carrying martial artists besides us came and went.

"There are so many martial artists here."

"It's the Namgung Family's seat, after all. Most of them are probably here to curry favor. Hmm... it's not quite on this scale, but the Zhuge Family never runs short of visitors either."

If the Zhuge Family — occupying the very tail end of the Five Great Families — commanded that much prestige, one could only imagine the Namgung Family.

When we had fled Anhui Province for Mount Jiuhua as though Namgung Jinchen were on our heels, I hadn't had the leisure to look around properly. Now, however, I could truly feel the weight of the Namgung Family's standing as holder of the head seat among the Five Great Families.

"It's because they've produced Sword Kings generation after generation, isn't it?"

"Yes. Other families give rise to one of the Ten Great Masters Under Heaven only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now and then, but the Namgung Family has borne one every single generation, without fail."

Which meant that Namgung Jinchen, the young Family Head, stood a very good chance of one day ascending to the Transformative Realm himself and inheriting the title of Sword King.

A competitive fire kindled in me out of nowhere. I wanted to reach the Transformative Realm faster than Namgung Jinchen.

"I will reach the Transformative Realm. No matter what."

I steeled my resolve.

And then I'll proudly ask for your hand in marriage, Yang.

I had been thinking that to myself when Zhuge Yang suddenly took my hand, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I wondered if, without realizing it, I had blurted the thought of proposing out loud instead of keeping it locked in my heart.

"I'll be cheering for you! You can definitely do it!"

...Without even knowing my heart. Perhaps it was nothing more than simple encouragement, but with Zhuge Yang holding my hand for the first time in ages, I stiffened despite myself. Even so, I couldn't bear to let go, so I held on tight.

"I'll be cheering for you! You can definitely do it!"

Zhuge Yang had taken Ma Won's hand, sincerely encouraging him in his vow to reach the Transformative Realm. It had been an unconscious act.

She realized her mistake at once and, flustered, tried to quietly slip her hand away — but for some reason, Ma Won wouldn't let go.

His hands are so rough...

She was conscious of his palms, hardened with calluses from sword training.

In truth, Ma Won's hands were no better off. Perhaps from his long days living in the mountains, they too were covered in rough calluses.

It was because he had spent so long as a mountain herb-gatherer, digging for the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng to cure her.

Her gratitude toward Ma Won welled up anew. Back when they had lived together for barely a year — how much must he have endured to save her, a girl abandoned even by the parents who had birthed and raised her for twelve years, when his own body was still young and frail?

To return, then: the reason Zhuge Yang had unconsciously taken Ma Won's hand and encouraged him was a fact she had learned only recently.

While looking through a medical text written for martial artists to see whether there might be a cure for her qi core, she had discovered something astonishing.

Until that moment, Zhuge Yang had believed conception was possible only with a man born with the Pure Yang Body or the Pure Yang Extreme Body — but there was one other way.

The Profound Realm.

By everything publicly known, it was the supreme realm that only a single person in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠entire orthodox murim had ever attained. And to reach it, one had to pass through the Transformative Realm as a matter of course.

If one of the two of them — herself or Ma Won — were to reach the Profound Realm...

Then, with Ma Won...

No!

Zhuge Yang forcibly scattered the thought before it could run all the way to the way babies were made, which she had learned back at the family estate, and as she made her rounds of Anhui Province, she saw to it that they were thoroughly stocked with supplies for the long journey ahead this time.

Her cheeks had flushed faintly, without her even noticing.

A day's travel from Anhui Province lay a small village.

Since we couldn't camp out for every leg of our journey, as always we paid the village chief and rented an empty house.

"Ah, honored warriors. Rest well before you travel on."

"Thank you."

The elderly village chief bowed at the waist as he greeted us. It seemed to be a small village scraping by on hunting and farming, and when we paid a rather generous sum for a single night's lodging, his manner grew most courteous.

After the chief withdrew, Yeon Hwa and Zhuge Yang began their martial training. Ever since Yeon Hwa had cast aside the Seo Family's arts and taken up the Moon Spirit Sword, she no longer hesitated to train even in front of me.

We shared secret manuals anyway, so there was likely no reason left to hide.

I watched, half-entranced, as sword lights embroidered the moonlit night sky.

"Who goes there!"

Yeon Hwa's shout rang out.

Startled, I looked over — and there was a boy poking his head over the courtyard wall, watching us.

He even had the nerve not to bat an eye at Yeon Hwa's frost-cold bark.

The boy, who had been sticking only his scraggly face out from beyond the wall, spoke up.

"I... I want to learn martial arts... Please, teach me martial arts. I'll do anything you ask."

"Absolutely n— hmm... Ma Won, you decide."

"What? Me?"

When a stranger abruptly begged to be taught martial arts, I had naturally assumed Yeon Hwa would refuse. Instead, she was telling me to decide.

"You are... in the position to decide, are you not?"

"Ah...!"

I understood what she meant. Yeon Hwa was talking about whether to take that boy into the Ma Family.

"That's right! From now on, things like this are for you to decide, Won!"

With Zhuge Yang agreeing as well, I accepted reality.

It hit me that I really was going to establish a clan. And that Yeon Hwa already regarded me, quite naturally, as its Family Head — though she had never said so outright, nor had I ever asked.

Of course, the title she had always used hadn't changed.

"Come over here for a moment."

The boy who had so bravely begged for martial training looked mildly taken aback at the sight of my burn-scarred face.

And having overheard our conversation, he surely understood that whether he could learn martial arts now rested on my decision.

"Why do you want to learn martial arts?"

"...Because I want revenge."

The unexpected answer caught me off guard. At most I'd expected admiration for the murim, or a simple desire to grow strong — not 'revenge,' straight out of nowhere.

Hearing his story, I learned that the boy's name was Jang Ho and that he was sixteen — the same age as me.

He had lost his parents to bandits while his family was on the road to settle in this village.

The bandits hadn't mastered any martial arts themselves, but his ordinary father, who knew none either, had been utterly helpless, and Jang Ho had been able to do nothing but flee alone, powerless.

In the end, he had arrived at this village by himself three days ago, with no idea how he would even feed himself.

"...Your circumstances are pitiable, but I don't teach martial arts to just anyone."

Jang Ho's face darkened at once and he hung his head low. I knew what he must be thinking, but you have to hear a person out to the end.

"But if you'll become a member of the Ma Family, I'll teach you."

Jang Ho's head shot up in surprise.

"R-really?"

"Yes. In return, I have a few favors to ask."

"L-leave them to me! I'll do anything!"

"Wait here a moment."

I called out to Jang Ho, then walked over to Yeon Hwa.

"Um, Yeon Hwa? Would you be willing to teach Jang Ho martial arts?"

"Hmm... if that is what you've decided. What art do you intend to teach him?"

"The Cho Family Spear Art, I think."

"...A good choice."

The Cho Family Spear Art was one of the arts listed in the Practical Martial Arts Record, obtained on the way back from Mount Jiuhua.

It was the hereditary spear art of the Changshan Zhao Family — the clan famed for Zhao Zilong of Changshan — a military art suited to facing many with one rather than dueling one-on-one.

Yeon Hwa judged it to be a First-Class martial art. It wasn't an ascending art capable of reaching beyond the Peak realm, but it was a fine art nonetheless.

There is a saying: a hundred days for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spear, a thousand for the saber, ten thousand for the sword. Mastering the spear takes a hundred days, the saber a thousand, the sword ten thousand — but in return, a fully mastered sword unleashes far greater power.

Since Jang Ho would mostly be training on his own, I figured a spear art that could be mastered quickly suited him best.

"Then, Sister Hwa — he's all yours!"

We stayed for several days, teaching Jang Ho.

Yeon Hwa guided the formation of his dantian, and I fed him a Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng.

"A spirit elixir...?! For someone like me... something this precious..."

"Everything I hand out has its purpose, so no arguments. And a martial art is worth more than any elixir."

"Thank you, Master Ma Won! Thank you so much!"

I couldn't yet vouch for what lay in his heart, but Jang Ho looked utterly overwhelmed with gratitude.

As for the secret manual, I transcribed only the portions needed for training, leaving out the story of the art's founder.

The Cho Family Spear Art wasn't a martial art I was particularly attached to, so I felt no burden in parting with it.

Even to my eyes, the art Jang Ho was training in looked fairly simple. Dig deep enough and subtle marvels were probably hidden within, but it didn't strike me as any more impressive than the Great Heavenly Star Sword Art of the Zhuge Family that Zhuge Yang had once demonstrated.

Had it been difficult, Yeon Hwa — encountering the art for the first time — would have struggled as well, but having reached the Peak realm herself, she easily grasped its essentials and taught Jang Ho without trouble.

On top of that, we taught him suitable footwork and lightness techniques.

I casually asked Yeon Hwa what she made of him.

"He can read and write, and he has real talent for the martial arts. If he proves trustworthy, it would be worth teaching him a higher ascending art."

"That's good to hear."

Judging that the moment had come, I handed Jang Ho a thin booklet.

"What is this?"

"Once you've trained hard, mastered your martial arts, and finished your revenge, there are a few things you must do for me. I've written them all inside, so just follow them exactly."

"Leave it to me! I'll give it my all!"

"Good. We leave tomorrow."

"Ah...!"

"Don't look so crestfallen — after your revenge, you'll have the tasks in that booklet to fulfill."

"...Understood."

The next day, leaving Jang Ho with ample money, we set out for Hebei.

"I will see you again, Family Head."

"Yes. I'm leaving it to you."

Jang Ho bowed deeply to us as we departed.

He remained prostrate until we had passed entirely out of sight.

"Won, what was that booklet about?"

"I wanted to test just how far Jang Ho could be trusted."

Inside, I had written about the tremendous value of the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, along with the location of one such ginseng — and, on top of that, a request to handle a few matters in Longzhong.

If he coveted the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, he would simply run off with it. But if he felt no greed for it whatsoever and brought it back intact... then I might be able to sit quietly back and have spirit elixirs and secret manuals gathered for the clan I was going to build.

Time flew like an arrow off the string, and four years passed.