Chapter 8: Divine Art (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8: Divine Art (1)
Bzzzz—
I opened my eyes to an annoying itch on my face. Then, I locked eyes with it. Those fucking compound eyes.
"Ugh."
I shuddered and bolted upright.
The fly made a desperate bid for escape. But I wasn't the same man I used to be. The weak Lee Seo-jun, who used to surrender to a mere housefly's speed, was dead and gone.
"Aka."
Murasaki.
I aimed a finger flick and let it rip. Struck by the Tanji-gong, the fly was torn limb from limb, its life coming to an abrupt and brutal end.
"Phew."
Are these bugs ever going to go extinct? I scratched my forearm, which still suffered from phantom itches, and scanned my surroundings.
Corpses. Flies. And Geum Chun-bong.
It looked like she had finished her Qi Cultivation safely; she was fast asleep, leaning against the wall.
I was supposed to be standing guard. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I must have pushed myself too hard and drifted off without realizing it.
Well, at least nothing happened.
I stretched my back and took a good look around the room.
"Man, this place is a total shithole now."
The furniture, the belongings—everything was smashed to pieces.
The building had barely been holding together to begin with, but now it didn't even have the dignity to call itself a house.
Moving is definitely a priority.
I let out a deep sigh and shook Chun-bong’s shoulder.
"Hey, Miss Geum. Time to get to work."
"Ugh... stop bullshitting... five more minutes..."
She seemed exhausted.
First, I scavenged anything of value from the nearby corpses. Then, I stretched my stiff muscles and checked the condition of my sword.
Is this thing even okay?
The edge was chipped all over and dull as a butter knife. I honestly wondered how I’d even managed to kill people with it.
Recalling what little I knew, I began to sharpen the blade on a whetstone.
The sound must have woken her up. Chun-bong rubbed her eyes, trudged over, and muttered.
"Yawn... That’s not how you do it."
"Then you do it."
I held out the sword and the whetstone. She cursed at me with her eyes, but she still took them and started working. What a cute kid.
Shhh— shhh—
With the rhythmic sound of the sword being sharpened in the background, I organized my thoughts.
First, moving was a must. Second, I needed to look into those guys—was it the Black Tiger Sect or the Black Tiger Gang?
"Chun-bong, those Black Tiger guys... that wasn't all of them, right?"
"Yeah. I know the Black Tiger Sect. They’re a pretty big deal among the Black Path sects."
"So it was the Black Tiger Sect."
I scratched my head and watched Chun-bong sharpen the sword for a moment. For a kid, she was surprisingly skillful.
Then, a question popped into my head.
"By the way, how old are you?"
"Took you long enough to ask."
"So, how old?"
"Sixteen."
"What?"
She wasn't a grade-schooler? With that body? She looked like a kid no matter how you sliced it.
"What’s with that look in your eyes, you bastard?"
"Uh... nothing. It's nothing."
Chun-bong sighed, set the sword aside, and sat down facing me.
Her gaze was calm. I stared back at her in silence until she finally spoke.
"Aren't you going to ask anything else? I'm sure you have plenty of questions."
"Not really."
"Really?"
"You'll tell me when the time is right."
It’s rude to pry into things someone doesn't want to talk about.
I am Lee Seo-jun. A young man from the Eastern Land of Courtesy. In other words, a man of manners.
When I nodded coolly, Chun-bong scoffed.
"Dumbass."
"Hey, what was that for?!"
Chun-bong pouted at me before continuing.
"I'm actually from the Divine Sword Geum Family."
"Okay."
"That's it? You're not surprised?"
"What's the Divine Sword Geum Family?"
"What?"
Chun-bong’s jaw dropped. She looked at me like I was a literal caveman.
"Your 'clueless' act is really over the top."
"What act, you brat?"
"You're not from the back alleys either, are you? You act like you're from some noble clan."
What kind of nonsense was this? I frowned and replied.
"What's with the noble clan talk? I'm not from the back alleys, though."
"Then where are you from?"
"I'm from another world."
"Stop bullshitting, seriously."
Chun-bong sighed and shook her head. Clicking her tongue, she looked me straight in the eye.
"Fine, don't tell me if you don't want to. Anyway, I'm a survivor of the Divine Sword Geum Family."
"A survivor..."
Did something happen to them? As I looked at her with a curious gaze, she tossed the sharpened sword back to me.
Clack—
I caught the hilt and sat down on the floor.
"Does that have anything to do with you coughing up blood when you use martial arts?"
"Yeah. I was hit by a Yin Cold Energy Art when I was escaping."
"Yin Cold Energy Art? Is that like ice magic or something?"
"Something like that."
Chun-bong nodded.
Even she didn't know exactly what kind of Yin Cold Energy Art it was. But one thing was certain: it wasn't an ordinary technique.
"It didn't stop at internal injuries; it completely blocked my meridians. I ended up with Severed Meridians."
"Like the Nine Yin Severed Meridians?"
"It's not that severe."
The Nine Yin Severed Meridians was a rare condition where overwhelming Yin energy blocked the circulation of Qi, inevitably leading to an early death. At least, that was how it worked according to my Wuxia knowledge.
And the fact that Chun-bong had a similar condition...
I asked with a slightly more serious tone.
"Then do you have to treat it with a Spirit Herb that contains Yang energy?"
"Well... yeah."
Were there no other treatments? Since Severed Meridians appeared so often in Wuxia novels, the theoretical cures were surprisingly diverse.
Of course, there was no guarantee they would work here, but I asked just in case.
"So you just need enough Yang energy, right?"
"In theory, yes."
"Then would something like this work?"
I made a circle with my left hand and repeatedly poked my right index finger through it.
"What is that...?"
Chun-bong stared at the gesture for a moment, processing it, before her face turned beet red.
"A-Are you insane?!"
"No, I'm seriously asking if it works."
"Of course not! How would you get Yang energy from that?!"
"It doesn't work?"
"It doesn't, you fucker! And even if it did, it would be a tiny, pathetic amount!"
A tiny amount, huh... I thought about it and asked again.
"Then can't you just learn a related martial art? You know, what was it called? The Art of the Bedchamber? Or was it Plucking Yin to Supplement Yang?"
"You crazy bastard..."
Hey, I was asking a serious question, but she kept insulting me. I scowled.
"Watch it, or I might just pounce on you."
"Drop dead, moron."
I got hit.
*
After my "pounce" declaration, Chun-bong looked at me like I was a literal bug. She agonized over something for a moment before poking me in the ribs.
"Ow...!"
"Hey."
"What now?!"
She still looked deeply conflicted. Only after squeezing her eyes shut and opening them again did she finally speak.
"You... do you want to learn a martial art other than the Three Talents Sword Art?"
"Another one? Like what?"
"The Yellow Cloud Divine Sword."
"Yellow Cloud Divine Sword? The name's kind of lame."
Chun-bong bit her lip hard.
"...It's my family's secret technique."
"Oh... No, I mean, it's a... it's a totally cool name! Like, it sounds golden and majestic!"
"Please, let's just drop the bullshit..."
"Okay."
As I shut my mouth, Chun-bong’s dilemma seemed to deepen. I could practically read her mind: Can I really teach this guy?
However, she seemed to make up her mind, her expression turning dead serious.
"I'm not saying this lightly. It's my family's secret technique. Normally, no one but the Family Head and the Young Master is allowed to learn it."
"Is it really okay to teach me that? I'm fine with just the Three Talents Sword Art."
"I said it's fine, so what does it matter? ...I'm the Family Head now, anyway."
Chun-bong tapped the floor with a melancholy expression.
"The Three Talents Sword Art is a third-rate martial art. Even if you master it, you'd be lucky to reach the first-rate stage. The intent behind that technique only goes that far."
"And here I thought it was a big deal since the manual talked about ascending to the heavens and becoming a Heavenly Being."
"The creator must have been a bit of a blowhard."
Chun-bong sighed deeply and stood up abruptly. Then, overcome by a wave of dizziness, she flopped right back down.
She looked a bit silly, but I kept my mouth shut.
"...I-It's not like I'm teaching you this because I trust you. It's just... it's better to have someone by my side who can protect me. Don't get the wrong idea."
Wow, do people actually say things like that in real life?
I let out a chuckle.
"What if I take the technique and run?"
"......"
Chun-bong’s gaze turned fierce. Her face flushed beet red, looking like she might stab me at any moment.
"...I'm not teaching you, you son of a bitch!"
Too bad.
*
The Yellow Cloud Divine Sword was one thing, but we decided to move first.
It was fine for now since not much time had passed, but once the corpses started to rot, the smell would be a massive headache.
"Where are we going?"
I kept looking around. Unlike the area around my house, which was a literal back alley slum, the atmosphere here was quite different.
There were quite a few people, and the streets were lined with glowing red lanterns, giving the district a sticky, heavy vibe.
"Shh. Don't do anything to stand out around here."
Chun-bong scanned the surroundings, keeping her head perfectly still.
"Half of the brothels here are owned by the Black Tiger Sect. If we're not careful... what are you doing, you lunatic...?"
Chun-bong’s jaw dropped. Even knowing I wasn't entirely sane, she clearly hadn't expected it to be this bad.
"Uh... was I not supposed to do that?"
I looked down at the woman sprawled on the ground—courtesy of a swift punch to her solar plexus—feeling a bit flustered. Of course, Chun-bong was even more flustered.
"N-No, seriously, why...?"
"She suddenly lunged at me."
"Oh, for fuck's sake..."
Chun-bong looked around. Eyes were everywhere. From the brothel where the cheap courtesan on the ground seemingly belonged, several large men were already rushing out.
I tried to defend myself.
"Hey, you never know. If she clung to me and suddenly pulled a knife, even I would be in trouble—"
"Yeah, yeah, you're so great."
Chun-bong smacked the back of my head and started sprinting.
"Just run, you idiot! Are you some kind of eunuch or what?!"
"I'm perfectly fine, okay? It's a total riot down there every morning."
"Ugh! Goddammit!"
"Geum Chun-bong, my foolish little sister. Women are inherently creatures you can't tru—"
"Shut up and run!"
We ran like hell.