Chapter 8: I Became the Childhood Friend of the Demonic Cult's Young Leader (3)
Chapter 8: I Became the Childhood Friend of the Demonic Cult's Young Leader (3)
"Alright, let's try again. What character is this?"
"Hea... Heaven..."
"And this one?"
"Ear... Earth..."
I sat in the style of an old-school village schoolmaster, looking at Hwa-yeong across from me.
She was fidgeting with her fingers, unable to concentrate at all. To be fair, she was never the type to focus on letters.
Besides, it had only been three or four months since she became capable of holding a proper conversation; teaching her to read and write might have been premature. Considering the illiteracy rates of medieval China, being unable to read wasn't exactly a major flaw, but still...
"Hwa-yeong, this Peng Hyeon-hwi mastered the Thousand Character Classic at the age of three."
"Whoa... whoa..."
"I mastered the Elementary Learning by five, and now I can recite the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance and the Precious Mirror of the Clear Mind with my eyes closed."
"Oh... whoa...?"
Hwa-yeong stared at me blankly, nodding her head repeatedly.
Not wanting to lose the momentum, I tapped the book and said, "If you follow my teachings well, you can do it too. Hanja? It’s not that hard. Come on, let's do it one by one. Once you master this, you'll be able to read secret manuals and cultivate on your own!"
"Uh... uh... um."
"What is it?"
Hwa-yeong hesitated for a long time, looking dissatisfied. It was the look of someone who wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words.
"You don't like the idea of reading manuals?"
"Not that... um... the thing you write and send."
"Write and send...? A letter?"
"Yes!"
Hwa-yeong’s eyes sparkled.
"Can I write letters too?"
"Haha, that’s actually easier than reading manuals! If you just want to send a message that makes sense, the Thousand Character Classic level is more than enough."
"Mm. Mm!"
"Who are you planning to send them to? Your fath—ahem. Should I call him father-in-law? Anyway, your father?"
"N-no... You."
"Me?"
Hwa-yeong began to purse her lips again. Soon, a sad expression clouded her face.
"I... have to go back soon."
"To the Heavenly Mountains?"
"Yes, yes. To the main cult."
"When are you coming back?"
"I d-don't know... That's why... letters."
"Aha."
I kept my smile but narrowed my eyes. Hwa-yeong’s words carried several implications.
First, regardless of how the marriage talks went, it meant they weren't taking me with them. If I were traveling with her, there would be no need to send letters. Following the customs of this era, it likely meant they would now set an auspicious date to proceed with the wedding. While engagements were common at this age, the actual wedding usually took place once the parties were more grown.
It meant the marriage alliance between the Peng Family and the Demonic Cult had been finalized.
"When are you leaving?"
"W-within a week..."
"That... is a bit sudden."
I spent the rest of the day comforting Hwa-yeong, who couldn't focus on the Thousand Character Classic. After playing a bit of cat's cradle, I sent her back.
Even after finally being alone, I couldn't focus on my cultivation. I lacked too much information.
Damn it, this is why being so young is inconvenient. As a seven-year-old kid who couldn't get involved in family affairs, I had no way of knowing what was actually happening.
I sighed while practicing the Heart-Protecting Fist at the training ground at dusk. Time moves too slowly for a child in the Middle Ages. I needed to grow up fast.
However, a week passed in the blink of an eye.
There is a theory that time within a set deadline ignores the laws of constant speed. It’s a theory known to every elementary schooler opening their homework right before vacation ends and every college student facing a final project.
Hwa-yeong had been busy preparing to return to the Heavenly Mountains for the past few days, so the Purple Tiger Hall was quiet for the first time in a while.
By "preparing," I don't mean packing bags or luggage. Servants handle those chores. Hwa-yeong was busy following Elder Seo Yeo-ryeong around to pay her respects to the family elders. Since the engagement was halfway finalized, she was practically family now.
So, what was I doing?
Cultivating, obviously.
I might be the one getting married, but the wedding isn't my job. Strictly speaking, an engagement is literally just a "promise" and isn't even a formal marriage talk yet. For the parties involved to be dragged around everywhere when the engagement could be broken at any time would be considered a blow to one's dignity by medieval standards.
The only reason Hwa-yeong and I were even allowed to be together was that we were barely skimming the "men and women should not sit together after the age of seven" rule. Such was the strict internal law of a prestigious family.
"Again. Step three inches further with your right foot."
I exhaled sharply as I dodged a flying ball over my shoulder and looked ahead.
Standing before me was a stern-looking middle-aged man looking down at me with cold eyes. For the past three days, whenever it was time for my practice, he would suddenly pop up from somewhere over the wall to offer pointers. He was one of the elders.
I heard he was a distant relative named Peng Jeon-gun.
"Why don't you just come through the gate?"
"I was just passing by. Is it my fault the walls of the Purple Tiger Hall are so low?"
"No, sir. Of course not."
I didn't know what he was after, but since he was helping with my training, I wasn't complaining.
Training in the Peng Family was entirely self-study, except for the times my father checked my posture once every ten to fifteen days. Honestly, it was a pretty flawed educational policy for a seven-year-old. Given that, I had no reason to refuse private tutoring.
Without a word, I shifted my weight and thrust my fist into the air. I imagined Hwa-yeong was in front of me. I recalled the way she usually charged at me, trailing that pitch-black energy.
Her habit was to strike upward with her right upper arm first, tilt her head slightly, take two steps in, and then swing her left hand from outside the line of sight. I had been caught by that so many times that my body now reacted reflexively.
Step, thud!
I parried both arms with the Heart-Protecting Fist and lunged into her guard. Since Hwa-yeong used her right and left hands interchangeably, she had no primary line of attack. I had to act while constantly guarding my blind spots.
"Ho."
I heard a short sound of admiration from Peng Jeon-gun on the wall. Honestly, it was distracting, but there was nothing I could do. It wasn't like I could kick him out.
Ignore him. Again. Recalling Hwa-yeong’s offensive, I struck, swung, parried, and moved in.
Crack!
My ankle screamed. But there was no stopping my forward momentum. Paying attention to the footwork Peng Jeon-gun had pointed out, I moved forward one step at a time.
The Mountain King Step.
If I parried, Hwa-yeong would retreat. I couldn't remember her exact footwork because it was too fast to follow with the eyes, but such trivialities didn't matter. The Mountain King Step was superior for chasing a retreating opponent anyway. Like a mountain king driving in its prey.
Step, thud!
Even as my feet took the steps, my eyes followed the opponent's attack, and my hands had to be hesitant in parrying the offensive. It took two months just to keep my hands and feet from getting tangled. And the result?
One step, then another. Inches became feet, and feet became yards.
At the edge of the training ground, Hwa-yeong hesitated. There was nowhere left to step back. I could see Hwa-yeong shifting her stance on the flagstones at the corner of the training ground.
Now?
Now.
As the imaginary Hwa-yeong nodded, my left fist twitched. My hand, clad in a gauntlet, clenched tightly, and the moment I realized it, my Dantian began to throb hotly. This existing organ began to pump out internal energy along my meridians as if it had become a second heart.
When this energy surges in the correct order, along the correct trajectory, and following the correct rules...
People of this world call it martial arts.
Passing through the Guanyuan, Qihai, Yinjiiao, and Zhongfu points, through the Xiabai of the left arm to the Chize and Quchi points. A constellation was drawn, zigzagging along the twisted Thrusting Vessel and the Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian.
The name of this constellation is the name of the martial art technique.
Iron-Shattering Hammer. A strike capable of destroying iron weapons.
Infusing it with the meaning of its simple and brutal name.
Creeeeeak!!
I twisted my waist halfway to form a bow-like shape, and using that elasticity to its fullest, I concentrated the force into a single point. When the flow of internal energy, the position of the skeleton, and the tension of the muscles were perfectly aligned, a thunderbolt erupted through my fist.
BOOM—!!
A strike capable of smashing a log even with a child's soft fist tore through the air with a roar. My internal energy receded like a tide in an instant, and a fresh sense of omnipotence tingled through my aching left arm.
I was once again baffled by my own situation. The fact that I couldn't smash a log with my bare hands even at twenty-seven, yet I had done it with the hand of a seven-year-old. And the fact that it felt so... fun.
"Hah."
As I pulled back my hand from the Iron-Shattering Hammer and turned my gaze, I saw Peng Jeon-gun, who had jumped down inside the wall at some point. He was looking down at me with gleaming eyes.
"Did you say it has been a year since you started?"
"Pardon? Ah, yes. About a year and a half."
"And when did you become able to use the Iron-Shattering Hammer?"
"About half a year ago."
"And yet, you can already use the Mountain King Step and the Heart-Protecting Fist simultaneously while executing the Iron-Shattering Hammer."
Peng Jeon-gun walked past me lightly and fixed his gaze on my feet. Feeling a slight rattle, I looked down to see that the flagstone was slightly upturned.
"You stomped to rotate the force and managed the elasticity without delay. Why did you stop your feet here?"
"I'm not familiar enough to execute the Iron-Shattering Hammer while mid-Mountain King Step."
"No, that's not it."
Peng Jeon-gun laughed after retracing my steps exactly to check something.
"The Mountain King Step and the Heart-Protecting Fist are defensive techniques. You know that, right?"
"Ah, yes. I suppose so."
The Mountain King Step focuses on reading the opponent's offensive, parrying what can be parried and striking what must be struck. The goal is to analyze the opponent while maintaining the Heart-Protecting Fist and adjusting the distance so they don't leave 'fist range.' It’s not a step taken for offense, but a step taken for defense while moving forward. So, it could be called a defensive technique.
"And the Iron-Shattering Hammer is an offensive technique. In fact, it's one of only two offensive techniques taught in the Hunyuan Art, and strictly speaking, it's not a fist technique derived from the Hunyuan Art."
"Uh... my father never mentioned that."
"He probably thought there was no need for you to know at your level, since you'd naturally realize it once you mastered the Hunyuan Art."
"Then why are you telling me this now...?"
"Because you're at a level where it's okay for you to know."
Peng Jeon-gun leaned down to meet my eyes and smiled.
"You little rascal. You've already embodied the true essence of the Hunyuan Art just by learning the Mountain King Step and the Heart-Protecting Fist."
He straightened up, patted my head, and turned around.
"I'll be back in a few days. Keep up with your training."
I stared blankly at the back of Peng Jeon-gun as he leaped over the wall and disappeared, then muttered to myself.
"Who is that guy?"
I really had no idea.
*
By the time my training ended, my eldest brother came to visit. He was a good brother who often came by after finishing his work outside to tell me stories about the world and even give me advice.
For the record, my most recent request for advice was about how to make soap. I had to fall into despair upon learning that poppies were more profitable than soap.
"I wondered what you'd talk about this time, but haha, do you like your partner that much?"
"It's not like that. I just feel a bit bad for her since she's leaving."
"From that kid's perspective, this place is a foreign land thousands of miles away. What's so pitiful about her going back to her hometown?"
My eldest brother chuckled and sipped his wine at my words.
Peng Hyeon-ryang. Seventeen years old. He was already considered the next Young Family Head by almost all the elders in the family. Personally, I also hoped he would become the Family Head. He was easygoing, flexible, and diligent. He always met everyone with a smile and had a solid standing within the Hebei Dragon Slaying Alliance. Honestly, I didn't think my second brother had a chance anymore, no matter what he did.
He was also someone who liked me a lot, unlike my second and third brothers. I'll have a chance to talk about them later, but those two were so cold that we didn't even speak once a month.
"Then is there any reason you have to stay inside the Peng Family estate?"
"Pardon? Am I allowed to go outside?"
"Why not? It's not like you're locked in the Cave of Penitence."
"No, I mean, will they let me out just because I want to go?"
"As long as you're not going far. That kid came all the way from the distant Heavenly Mountains to Hebei; wouldn't it be a shame if she left without even seeing Beijing?"
I hadn't even thought of that. Unlike 21st-century Korea, the utopia of civilization and morality, this damn 15th-century China didn't allow children to go out, so I naturally didn't think of it.
For the record, even in the 21st century, it's impossible for a child to wander around a city alone in China. This is China, a harsh land where child abductions are practically treated as a somewhat intense leisure sport even in modern times. One can only imagine that medieval China would be on par with modern-day Somalia.
There’s a reason people cheer for a disciple when they first step outside the sect gates, calling it their 'debut into the Martial World.' Therefore, a direct descendant's debut isn't recognized until they are at least fifteen and have at least mastered the Hunyuan Art. That’s when the family's martial robes are issued.
"If we attach a few guards, how dangerous could Shuntian Prefecture be? You're still young, so you see the world as too frightening. Do you think anyone in Hebei would dare turn a blade against the Peng Family?"
"I guess that's true."
In Shuntian Prefecture—that is, the urban area around Beijing—there are no major Orthodox sects. Basically, a martial sect is a private armed paramilitary force, so they couldn't exactly hang a sign and do business openly in Beijing of all places.
Naturally, only Black Path and Unorthodox sects existed in Shuntian Prefecture. They were there to handle the dirty work that the nobles of Beijing couldn't do themselves without losing face. Furthermore, since Black Path sects could be cut loose without any burden if problems arose later, they flourished even more.
And 'every' Black Path sect in this Hebei region was classified as a subordinate sect of the Hebei Peng Family. That massive jurisdiction was called the 'Dragon Slaying Alliance,' and the leader of the Dragon Slaying Alliance was always the head of the Hebei Peng Family.
So, to put it simply: as long as a martial artist was wearing the robes of the Hebei Peng Family, no one in Beijing would dare harm them.
"A few guards to lead the way will be enough. I'll pick two or three from the Outer Hall's Tiger Hunting Battalion. You're just going to see the market in Shuntian Prefecture anyway; is there a need to get permission from Father and the elders? I'll take care of it."
Peng Hyeon-ryang chuckled and nodded readily.
"Don't worry about a thing and tell your little child bride. I have the authority to let you go on a half-day outing without any issues."
"Oh... thank you, brother."
"Sure. But don't get too distracted and lose your way. Make sure to stay close to your maid."
"What am I, a baby? I know that much."
"You are a baby, you rascal."
Peng Hyeon-ryang patted my head and left the Purple Tiger Hall with a light step.
But as he passed the main gate and looked at his servant waiting by his side, Peng Hyeon-ryang was no longer smiling.
"Did you find out?"
"Yes, young master. It is certain that the fourth young master is receiving private lessons from Elder Peng Jeon-gun."
"Peng Jeon-gun. He said he would never teach a direct descendant again. Was it an order from the Family Head or my father?"
"No, young master. Rumors were rife while you were away. They say Peng Jeon-gun happened to watch the fourth young master's training and stepped forward to teach him personally..."
"Ha. Has that old man gone completely mad?"
Among the elders of the Peng Family's Inner Hall, Peng Jeon-gun was considered the closest to the Family Head and was a former martial arts instructor who had personally taught the first and second young masters. He was known to be so stubborn and stiff that he wouldn't even listen to the orders of the Young Family Head.
'He should have stepped down after seeing the third one's talent, saying he'd never teach a direct descendant again.'
To think his resolve was shaken to that extent.
Peng Hyeon-ryang smiled coldly as he looked at the closed gate of the Purple Tiger Hall before walking away.
"Send word to Master Jang in Shuntian Prefecture. Tell him I'll naturally pull back the guards at Guang'anmen in two days, so he should handle it as he sees fit."
"Yes, young master. Then what about the... 'young lady' who will be with him?"
"Once they've dealt with Hyeon-hwi, we'll have an excuse. We can announce it in the name of the Dragon Slaying Alliance and express our ample condolences to the Demonic Cult. There's no need to make an enemy of the Heavenly Demon."
"Yes, young master."
The marriage alliance between the Hebei Peng Family and the Heavenly Demon Cult was kept strictly secret. The goals and interests of the two groups aligned, and even the fact that the children offered by both families were the youngest who had no reason to participate in the succession competition was perfect.
While both families were smiling, the engagement proceeded at lightning speed. In a situation where they would hold a grand wedding to finalize the alliance once the children grew up...
"What did he decide to do?"
The Young Leader of the Demonic Cult, upon hearing that Im Hwa-yeong was achieving the Extreme Demonic Body, sold his younger sister to the White Lotus Cult without hesitation.
"What did he decide to do?"
The eldest son of the Peng Family, judging that the Family Head was showing personal interest in Peng Hyeon-hwi, who had the Demonic Cult as his in-laws, sold his youngest brother to 'Master Jang' without hesitation.
"This is the letter Peng Hyeon-ryang sent personally. He said the Six Paths should do as they please."
"Hehe, foolish things."
A Taoist master working as a 'fixer' in Shuntian Prefecture, Beijing, Hebei, stood up with a smirk.
"Hurry with the preparations. After we carry out the deed in two days, not a single trace of us must remain in Shuntian Prefecture."
"Of course, milord."
One of the three great demonic cults officially recognized by the current Ming Imperial Court.
A villain counted as one of only three among the Fifteen Armies of the World. One of the Three Evils Beyond the Great Wall.
Traditionally called the Huayan White Lotus Sect.
Better known by the name White Lotus Cult.
And as they called themselves, the 'Ming Cult.'
The descendants of countless cultists who had supported the Hongwu Emperor since he founded the Ming Dynasty, only to be driven out beyond the Great Wall due to his betrayal.
Jang Wol-sang, the Sword Blood Ghost Demon of the Huayan White Lotus Sect's Six Paths, burst into laughter as he looked at the night sky.
"When everyone is so eager to discard their own talents with their own hands, how could our grand plan possibly go awry?"
*
Two days later, when the two children, abandoned by the Demonic Cult's indifference and the Peng Family's scheme, were kidnapped...
"You son of a..."
The youngest son of the Peng Family laughed hollowly, letting a blood-stained saber hang low.
"Seriously, damn medieval China."
Peng Hyeon-hwi looked at the approaching kidnappers, shook the blood off his saber, and rested it on his shoulder.
In the posture of a rowdy, third-rate thug, he let his gauntleted hand hang loose and stepped on the man he had just cut down.
Among the games I played before coming to this hellish world, there was a system like this. One where you'd get a title that boosted your stats if you achieved an accomplishment like [The One Who Caught X at Age N].
That was based on catching a bear at age ten at the very least, but this amazing medieval China always surpassed one's imagination.
'I wonder how good a title like [The One Who Killed a Person at Age Seven] is?'
I couldn't help but let out a dry laugh at such a ridiculous thought.
"Come at me, you bastards."
Even Confucius picked up a spear in situations like this.
As a scholar who learned to read, I had no choice but to follow in the footsteps of the ancients.