Chapter 27: Murim
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 27: Murim
“Are you curious?”
At Seo-jun’s question, Chu-ryeong stared at him, her lips pressed firmly together.
The corners of Seo-jun’s mouth quirked upward.
“It wasn’t anything grand, really. I just felt a bit sorry for you. In a way, you could call it fate.”
A chance meeting, a chance incident, a chance acquisition of power, and a chance reunion.
Seo-jun didn’t exactly believe in destiny, but he knew how to cherish the connections he made. No matter what kind of connection it was, once a bond was formed, it wasn’t easily broken.
“Nothing much, right?”
“…I suppose so.”
Chu-ryeong’s posture slumped, and she offered a weak smile. It was the first time Seo-jun had seen such an expression on her face.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke calmly.
“It might have been nothing much to you, but it wasn’t like that for me. I was meant to die as a lowly courtesan without ever meeting you. That insignificant life became a miracle simply because our paths crossed. This, too, is fate. Isn’t it?”
She offered a bright smile. Looking down at her, Seo-jun let out a short laugh.
“Looking at you now, I think you would have been a successful courtesan even if I had left you alone. Whether reciting poetry or singing songs.”
“I would have died before that ever happened.”
“Maybe. But that’s a future that won’t come to pass, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Heave-ho,” Seo-jun grunted, stretching his back.
He caught sight of Chun-bong watching him with a disgruntled expression, and a laugh escaped him despite himself.
‘Yeah, it’s fate.’
One of the most precious connections he had ever made was standing right there.
* * *
After working the courtesans until they were practically rolling around like dust bunnies, Seo-jun sent them back to their quarters and returned to the training grounds.
Though he had overwhelmingly won the battle against the Armored Ghost, he had more to think about than ever before.
The Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Finger and his protective arts.
Setting those two aside, a far more vital concern had taken root in his mind.
‘When Yang Energy and Yin Energy meet, they explode. Is that really true?’
Thinking about it, it was strange. If that were the case, a martial artist using Yang Energy fighting one using Yin Energy would mean both of their lives were in constant peril. If a master of a Scorching Yang Art and a master of a Yin Cold Energy Art decided to become suicide bombers, they could potentially unleash power far beyond their actual realms.
Well, in truth, it didn't really matter. He was using his martial arts just fine, after all.
However, there was one crucial reason why he couldn't just let it slide.
‘Chun-bong is in danger.’
Back when he first gave her the spirit herb and treated her severed meridians using the Yin-Yang Reversal technique... What if the Yang and Yin energies had met and exploded inside Chun-bong’s body right then and there?
“Whew…”
Seo-jun exhaled and closed his eyes. Light flickered behind his eyelids.
He began to walk aimlessly, following the faint glow of the setting sun. Soon, a shadow fell over his eyes.
He opened them. A wall stood before him, blocking his path.
He placed a hand against the solid stone. With his current strength, he could destroy it without much effort.
Thud! Thud!
But no matter how much he pounded it with his bare hands, the wall showed no signs of breaking. Staring blankly as he struck the stone, Seo-jun suddenly looked down at his fists. Blood flowed freely from his reddened knuckles.
After wiping the blood off on his clothes, he stared vacantly up at the sky.
“What is it?”
Keeping his blood-stained hand against the wall, he began to walk along its length. A line of blood followed his footsteps. Eventually reaching a door, Seo-jun stepped over the threshold.
“There we go.”
Staggering as if drunk, he wrapped Yin Energy around both hands. A freezing wind lingered at his fingertips. He recalled a tree he had passed earlier, turned back, and stood before it.
Knock, knock.
He tapped the trunk as if knocking on a door, and the tree instantly froze white.
“So this is Yin.”
With a pale smile, Seo-jun used the Yellow Dragon Crossing the Clouds technique to leap to the top of the tree in a single bound.
The view from the heights wasn't particularly new. The setting sun. The stained sky. And above it all, the rising moon.
Seo-jun infused warmth into his fingertips and lightly rubbed the white branches shimmering in the moonlight.
Whoosh!
The frozen leaves melted and fell away all at once. As Seo-jun watched them fall with a regretful sigh, a tiny sprout poked out from beneath his feet.
“And this is Yang!”
Excited, Seo-jun jumped down from the tree and spun around in place.
When winter passes, spring arrives, and eventually, winter returns once more. The circulation of Yin and Yang—that is Taiji.
“Oh, the tragedy of it all!”
How desolate is the futility of life! Laughing like a madman, Seo-jun tilted his head back to look at the sky.
Before he knew it, the moon had risen high, looking down at him. He reached out. But his fingertips never touched the moon.
Murim. This heartless world.
The moon in the sky remained unchanged, but everything else—except for himself—had changed far too much.
“This, too, is fate.”
Until the rising moon set, his outstretched hand failed to grasp it.
* * *
“…Hey!”
He opened his eyes at the sound of a faint voice.
“Hey! Wake up! What are you doing out here?!”
“Geum Chun-bong?” Startled, he sat up to find Chun-bong looking at him with a strange expression.
“Are you… okay?”
“Huh? Why?”
He stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.
“Ah, the blood.”
The scabs on his knuckles had hardened into a brownish crust. Seo-jun sighed and shook his head.
“Did I drink last night?”
“No.” Chun-bong stepped closer, her eyes serious. “You’re not really… going crazy or anything, are you?”
“Me? I’m perfectly fine.”
“Well, that’s a relief, but…” Chun-bong scanned Seo-jun’s body and let out a sigh. “If something’s wrong, you have to tell me, okay?”
“Are you going to help me?”
“Of course. No matter what it takes.”
Her sincerity made him feel a bit bashful.
“You… you brat…! You precious little thing!”
Seo-jun suddenly hoisted Chun-bong up, sitting her on his shoulders. For some reason, Chun-bong didn't throw a fit and stayed quiet.
“…I’ll let it slide just for today.”
“What…! A free pass for the Geum Chun-bong ride!?”
“You little shit… You were faking it, weren’t you, you bastard?!”
“Aaaagh…! Not the hair…!”
Seo-jun desperately defended his hair from Geum Chun-bong’s vicious grip. Fortunately, the Super Peak master Lee Seo-jun managed to protect his precious locks from the Hair-Loss Fairy, Geum Chun-bong.
“Do you really want your brother to go bald?”
“Hmm… I have kind of wanted to slap a bald head. Slap, slap. It looks like it’d be fun.”
“…I’ll find someone else for you to slap later. Don’t even think about peeling the hair off my head.”
Geum Chun-bong, what a terrifying child…!
* * *
Returning to his room to wash up, Seo-jun looked down at his scabbed knuckles.
“Hmm.”
Vague memories of last night remained. More than anything, it was incredibly annoying how a realization that felt just within reach kept shimmering before his eyes like a mirage.
If that were all, he would have just been annoyed and left it at that, but he actually felt quite good because he had realized one crucial thing.
“Chun-bong’s body isn't going to explode.”
Yin and Yang didn't just explode the moment they met. It was more accurate to say that the condensed energy exploded because it failed to achieve Taiji.
To use an easy-to-understand example… right. It was like putting water in a highly confined space and heating it up. The water evaporates into steam, and because the volume increases explosively, the outer shell can't contain it.
And then?
Boom!
The Primordial Unity Sun-Moon Finger is complete.
“Hmm.”
On a sudden impulse, Seo-jun circulated the internal energy of the Yellow Cloud Divine Art into his hand.
“Huh?”
The shimmering golden energy was far denser than usual. Staring at it blankly, Seo-jun suddenly dashed out of his room.
“Geum Chun-bong! Look at this!”
“Huh? Look at wha— Pffft!”
Chun-bong jumped in surprise.
“Hey! Hey! You crazy bastard…! Clothes! You’re not wearing any clothes, you lunatic!”
“No! That’s not what’s important right now!”
“What could possibly be more important than that, you madman?!”
“Look at this!”
Seo-jun thrust his hand forward. Chun-bong’s gaze started to drift downward before violently snapping back up.
“Wh-what!? What is it!”
“It’s gotten thicker! Is this Astral Qi?!”
“As if that’s Astral Qi!”
“Oh, it’s not?”
“It’s not, so get back inside! What if someone sees you like th—”
Snap! Chun-bong’s head whipped around.
“…Oh my.”
Chu-ryeong covered her mouth with her hand.
“At that size… Eek.”
Chu-ryeong, her fingertips brushing near her navel, lowered her head and scurried away.
“That… that…! That perverted wench!”
Her face turning beet red, Chun-bong hopped up and down in rage.
Seo-jun watched her with a dazed expression.
Why is she so angry? I’m the one who’s exposed.
“Anyway, I’m going back in.”
It was a shame that it wasn't Astral Qi.
* * *
After finishing his bath and receiving a thorough beating from Chun-bong for reasons he couldn't fathom...
Seo-jun stared intently at the thickened internal energy in his hand.
“Is it just because I realized something about Taiji?”
“Probably… so.”
Chun-bong, who had slapped her own cheeks for some reason, shook her head vigorously. Unforgivable.
“Hey! Why did you slap my cheek?!”
“What are you talking about? I slapped my own cheek.”
“Your cheeks belong to me!”
“…Bullshit.”
Sighing, Chun-bong held out her hand.
“Astral Qi isn't something that simple. Have you ever heard the term ‘Sword Qi Transforming into Astral Qi’?”
“Uh… vaguely?”
“‘Sword Qi Transforming into Astral Qi.’ It means the Qi of the sword forms a star.”
“A star? Is that some poetic expression?”
“No. It’s literal.”
Chun-bong’s eyes grew misty, as if looking at something far away.
“…I saw my father’s Sword Astral Qi once. That was when I finally realized. Carving your own star into the Qi itself. That is the realm of the Super Peak.”