The Boy Who Embraced the Star
It was a strange and mysterious sensation.
The incomprehensible energy of good deeds hammered against the ominous star, prying free fragments of its power. Those fragments converted into internal energy and flooded through every meridian of my body. An aura steeped in the nature of vanquishing evil and subduing demons filled me completely, driving out the crimson force of the Heavenly Killing Star.
A pale, whitish shimmer rose faintly above my skin. It was still small and thin, yet the sparkle within it was exactly the same as the starlight scattered across a dark night sky.
“Huuuup….”
I drew a long, tortoise-like breath and circulated the Seongun Simbeop, pulling every strand of energy that had spread through my meridians straight back into my dantian. Like a spinning wheel winding fine threads, the strands of internal energy coiled ever tighter, building mass. A larger, clearer core of power settled in my dantian than ever before.
“Hooo….”
Once I finished a full circuit of the Governing and Conception vessels—a complete Small Heavenly Cycle—I felt strength overflow through my entire body.
Half a year since first stepping into the martial path. Nine years’ worth of internal energy now mine.
Another step toward becoming the greatest under heaven.
“So this is talent…? The world’s a joke.”
“There he goes again.”
Thwack!
A lightning-fast knuckle rap exploded against the crown of my head.
“Aaaagh, shit!”
Pain shot through my skull like a drill. Clutching my head, I rolled across the training ground like a human tumbleweed.
Why does he always aim for the Baihui point where the Heavenly Killing Star sits?
“Boss, you look like a pill bug.”
Ilhong, who had paused her own sweaty training, snickered beside me. Laughing at someone else’s pain? I didn’t raise you like that.
“You damn old man! What if you crack my skull open? You gonna take responsibility?!”
I shoved myself up off the dirt and protested. The spot still felt like it was splitting. Am I going to end up bald just on top?
“Relax. A punk like you won’t die from something that light.”
Hwang Geolgae tilted his gourd and gulped as if it were nothing. So as long as I don’t die, it’s fine? Whether the top of my head caves in or not?
“So. How much internal energy did you pile up this time that had you strutting around like that?”
He stroked his beard. He had stood guard the whole time I was circulating. Curious about the spoils of my first real outing into the murim, no doubt. I answered in a whisper so Ilhong wouldn’t overhear.
“Vagabond Dan Mujin, now the proud owner of nine years of internal energy.”
This body was growing at a dazzling pace. One more successful job and ten years would be well within reach.
“……What?”
Hwang Geolgae’s eyes rounded at the growth rate that kept jumping every time he checked. He immediately demanded details.
“What the hell have you been doing while wandering around out there?”
What had I been doing?
“Good deeds.”
“Be more specific.”
I laid out everything Ilhong and I had gone through outside like a series of heroic tales. The longer he listened, the more complicated his expression became.
“So you’re telling me you beat up a commoner in the marketplace and then took his money?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“And that… was supposed to be a good deed?”
Of course it was. Old Man Jang had deliberately planned to stiff someone on a debt.
“We punished a bad guy and saved the victim. How is that any different from the chivalrous acts you always talk about, Master?”
The client got his principal back and was overjoyed. Gamun’s guild master and I walked away with a fat pile of interest and fees. Squeeze one bastard, benefit several people—isn’t that utilitarianism at its finest?
“You little punk… you’re serious? No, of course you’re serious. That’s why the merit stacked up and your energy grew.”
If you truly believe you’re doing good, it counts as merit. Those were his own words, so he had no choice but to accept it.
“Tch. Still… beating up a commoner? True chivalry is supposed to be….”
Never mind. He clearly hadn’t accepted it. Using the martial arts he’d taught me to brawl with ordinary people must have rubbed him the wrong way. I could feel a long, tedious lecture coming on. I casually pulled something from my travel pack that would shut him up.
“A gift. Bought with the commission money.”
An elegantly glossy wine bottle. A deep, rich aroma of fine liquor drifted through the stopper. Jiannanchun—one of Sichuan’s legendary spirits.
“Don’t go getting swayed by petty gains and—Huh?!”
He had been scolding me with a stern face, but the moment the mellow fragrance hit him he snatched the bottle without thinking. The famous Sichuan wine vanished into his robes in a blink.
“Eh? Why is this in my hand?”
He sounded genuinely baffled, as if his body had moved on its own. With the liquor stores bone-dry and the scent of real premium wine hitting him after so long, he must have lost control.
“I made money with the skills you taught me, so I figured I’d buy a bottle for you, Master.”
Human relationships need constant oiling. Friction wears them down for all sorts of reasons, so lubrication is essential. Especially when the other party holds your life in his hands and is teaching you martial arts on top of it.
“Heh-heh! Would you look at this promising brat! Teaching you was worth it after all!”
The scolding vanished as if it had never happened. Grinning ear to ear, he started hunting for side dishes and a cup. Watching a drunk whose ban had just been lifted felt exactly like this. For someone who claimed he wanted to be called Divine Wind Daoist, why was he living at the bottom of a wine jar?
“Ah, such fine liquor and nothing to nibble on. No help for it… Continue the story from earlier.”
He planned to chew on the tale of my first murim journey as an appetizer while he drank. Hwang Geolgae popped the seal on the Jiannanchun with a crisp snap.
“Heh-heh.”
The sweet, fermented grain scent tickled his nose and he smiled in pure satisfaction.
“The next job was looking for a missing son.”
He slurped the clear liquid swirling in his cup. The deep flavor and throat-searing proof drew a long, appreciative “Khaaa!” from him.
“Good, good. Heh-heh… So, did you find the boy?”
He asked while pouring another.
“Well… turns out the whole village was a trap packed with assassins, and the old man who brought us there was a eunuch from the palace serving the Third Princess.”
“Pfffft—!”
Precious Jiannanchun sprayed across the training ground floor. Hwang Geolgae choked and sputtered, eyes locking onto me in panic.
“……Cough! You little bastard! How many times have I told you during training—stay the hell away from those scheming imperial types!”
He had said it a few times, sure. Anyone listening would think I’d gone looking for the trouble on purpose.
“Master Hwang, we got played too. The guy was even wearing a human-skin mask!”
Ilhong, who had been listening, spoke up for my wounded innocence.
“Of all the jobs you could take, it had to involve a eunuch.”
“What’s the big deal? We already brushed up against them during the silkworm case.”
“That was a glancing contact. Anyway, be careful. Imperial folk are fickle by nature—get in deep and you’ll regret it.”
He spoke like a man who had lived through it. Come to think of it, the capital was off-limits to Beggar Sect members by imperial decree, wasn’t it? That was why people could freely mock and abuse beggars here—the place was absolute hell for panhandling.
“Did something happen between you and the imperial family?”
“Hoo.”
At my question he wordlessly upended the sixty-proof white liquor like water. Pouring that rocket fuel into his stomach without even getting tipsy….
“……That stingy little bastard Hongrak.”
An imperial insult just dropped out of nowhere. Most Central Plains folk wouldn’t even dare mention the Son of Heaven. This old man really was as unhinged as me.
“You know the Emperor?”
“Of course I do. He was my drinking buddy and my go partner.”
“…….”
My turn to shut up. A beggar and an emperor as friends? Sounded like something out of a fairy tale. Hwang Geolgae explained that the Emperor had been traveling incognito and they somehow hit it off.
“So how did it end up with beggars banned from the capital?”
“Because of that damn go board.”
Apparently they had been drinking hard when the conversation turned to go. Each claimed to be the stronger player, so they sat down for a match. Hwang Geolgae, who had always considered go a virtue of a proper Daoist, accepted the challenge with total confidence.
“I never expected to lose thirty games in a row. Every time we met after that the Emperor needled me about it—said I really was just a Bluffing Daoist after all.”
Even now the memory twisted his face.
“So I used Telepathic Insight and stole one win. Lucky for me, my upper dantian had cracked open a little.”
“…….”
You’re using something like that for go? And if his upper dantian had even partially opened, that meant he had already surpassed the Transcendent Realm….
“Heh-heh. The Emperor’s face turned purple and he threw a tantrum, demanding another game.”
“So what did you do?”
“What else? I told him he sucked at go, refused the rematch, and ran.”
He said it with pride, as if leaving the Emperor an eternal loser was a great achievement. I never imagined anyone crazy enough to tell the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty to his face, “You’re terrible at this.”
“Not long after, the imperial edict banning Beggar Sect members from the capital dropped. Tsk tsk. Petty little emperor….”
So that was the story. One game of go had turned the leaders of a major sect and an entire nation into squabbling children. Truly a tale that made the chest feel small and stingy.
“Hold on. So the hell we went through as beggars is at least partly your fault, Master?”
When we tried normal begging people laughed at us. We had to grab them by the pant legs just to get anything. For reference, in places with a Beggar Sect branch no one dares openly mock a beggar. Do that and a swarm of furious beggars will trash the whole street.
“Ahem. Is that how it works?”
Looking awkward, he took another sip of the Jiannanchun I had gifted him. Hearing the full truth left me speechless. I stared at him with pure pity in my eyes.
“……Ahem. Why are you looking at this old man like that?”
Because you’re pathetic, that’s why. All that suffering over one stupid game of go. No wonder they call you Bluffing Daoist.
“Hey now, don’t look at your elder like that….”
If he says not to, I have to do it harder. I poured every ounce of disdain into my stare and kept it locked on him in silence.
“I said stop!”
Thwack!
“Ack!”
I took another knuckle rap for my trouble.
“Sometimes I think Boss just asks for the beatings.”
Ilhong’s equally pitying gaze landed on me. It was the early days of winter.
On the stone-paved training ground of the Eunseong Merchant Group, Hwang Geolgae watched Dan Mujin train in silence.
Bang! Ba-bang!
Two fists punched through the air like awls. Palm techniques rolled forward like crashing waves. Legs that had been weaving intricate patterns suddenly shot forward, internal energy exploding from the Yongquan points. The acceleration loaded into his entire body, the rotational force wrung from the tips of his feet, and the tenth form of the Hundred Knots Divine Fist unleashed with a full blast of energy—the Starving God Iron Fist.
Booooom!
The sound of air being compressed and then exploding tickled Hwang Geolgae’s ears. A single blow that would leave even a first-class expert with no bones left to pick up.
Dan Mujin landed lightly and immediately slid into footwork again. The link between fist techniques and movement arts had become quite natural. His Whirlwind Steps had already reached the second star of mastery.
“Heavens. Not long ago every move was full of waste.”
A few real fights and the boy had changed this much. Layered on top of that was the nine years of internal energy nurtured by stolen starlight. Every motion now carried a brutal power that could no longer be ignored. All of it achieved in half a year of training.
“So this is the Heavenly Killing Star….”
Every time he witnessed that growth rate, a flicker of fear rose. What if he wasn’t helping the boy overcome his fated doom, but was instead helping birth the worst mass murderer of the age?
“Hm. No. He’s not that kind of kid.”
Hwang Geolgae silently drank the Jiannanchun his almost-disciple had given him. Once he decided to trust someone, he would trust them to the end. This was the same boy who had voluntarily taken in filthy little street urchins no one else cared about and fed them with no thought of repayment. And then there was that mysterious Daoist Ilwol, who had casually handed over a heart method for governing stars as if he had known exactly how events would unfold.
Perhaps all of it was arranged by That One watching from the peak of Jade Capital Mountain.
“If so, Primordial Heavenly Venerable, continue to hide this little one from those who hunt the stars, just as You have until now.”
Tonight, as always, 108 ominous stars studded the night sky. Many of the legendary masters and infamous demons who left their names in murim history had been born under such stars—the Purple Micro Star, the Heavenly River Star, the Army Shatterer Star, and others. When such a star-fate manifested, the corresponding ominous star in the night sky usually blazed with bright light.
“Yet it looks like a dead star, doesn’t it?”
The Heavenly Killing Star had gone dark and lifeless, its activity halted. No matter how many times he looked, the phenomenon remained bizarre. The ominous star inside Dan Mujin had likewise seemed to enter a state of false death. Yet when Hwang Geolgae had once foolishly peered inside, he had felt something slowly, patiently dreaming of resurrection.
That was why he could never fully lower his guard.
“Master Hwang, teach me some swordsmanship.”
Whether he sensed those thoughts or not, Dan Mujin called out with complete ease.
“Why swordsmanship all of a sudden, you brat?”
“I tried copying that eunuch uncle’s blade work and it felt like I’ve got talent for swinging things.”
Dan Mujin made little “shook-shook” sounds with his mouth, reenacting the fight.
“Not happening.”
Hwang Geolgae shook his head firmly. The sight of blood and guts would stir the Heavenly Killing Star and birth killing intent. The Seongun Simbeop’s power to suppress it was still far too weak.
“Then at least something like the Dog Beating Staff Technique.”
“I said no, brat.”
Better than a sword, but he still worried that waving a weapon around would thicken the killing aura. And the way the boy spoke as if he already owned the technique made him a little annoyed.
“Come on, Master. You’re teaching Ilhong all sorts of things.”
“That’s because she isn’t a vicious little monster like you. And she’s a pitiful child who was betrayed by someone she treated like family. Of course this old man should look after her a little.”
Back when he had been Dragon Head of the Beggars’ Sect, he had known the master of the Haomu Gate. An upright man who tried to carry on the founding spirit. If there had been a Beggar Sect branch here, that child would have been taken in and cared for long ago. A truly unfortunate situation.
“I’m pretty pitiful too, you know. Stabbed by family, abandoned by parents—basically an orphan of the world at this point.”
“Heh-heh. This old man didn’t even have parents to abandon him, you brat.”
“Goddammit.”
Why did watching the boy get flustered feel so satisfying? Hwang Geolgae smiled faintly and decided the boy’s mental cultivation was still lacking.
“If you’re truly desperate, I could teach you some basic staff techniques.”
Even a five-foot staff let a man control distance on a completely different level from bare fists. Mastered properly, it could become an extension of the limbs and deliver power no weaker than a sword.
“Oh, really?”
“But there’s a condition.”
Dan Mujin’s lips immediately puckered as if he had known this was coming.
“First accumulate fifteen years of internal energy in your dantian. Then I’ll bestow the teaching.”
Not long ago Hwang Geolgae had glimpsed something horrific inside the boy—an existence torturing vengeful spirits. Whatever it was, it must never be allowed into the world. To stop it, the boy needed to pile up merit and build the demon-subduing energy that would protect him.
“Fifteen years? Hmm. Better wrap up this breakthrough fast and find the next job.”
Yes. That boy needed to keep moving without pause. Maybe even faster than now.
“It won’t take that long. We’ve caught the current now.”
With full confidence Dan Mujin clapped the shoulder of Ilhong, a vagabond of the same rank.
“Eek.”
Ilhong made a strange little sound. Perhaps after sharing those filthy, hungry days she already thought of him as a comfortable younger brother without realizing it.
Well, whatever. The boy’s standards for “good deeds” were flexible enough that it probably wouldn’t take long at all.
Hwang Geolgae found himself quietly looking forward to it.
A forest not far from Beijing.
Ilhong and I were already on the road with a new job. The request was to help someone search the mountains for medicinal herbs. One of the clients was supposedly a young woman. I had figured she was either a female physician from some clinic or a filial daughter looking for herbs for her father.
The client who actually waited for us at the site was nothing like I expected.
“Haaah? What are these little kids?”
Ash-gray martial robes. Proud, crimson-tinged eyes. Trained fingertips. A woman shorter than me with various things dangling under her clothes.
“What? Me looking for medicinal herbs? That’s funny. What I’m looking for is a deadly poison so potent one drop can kill a hundred men.”
That familiar feeling that this was going to be another rough job.
“……Guild Master Gamun, are you seriously going to keep doing this?”
This guy… I never took him for it, but his client picks are pure garbage.