The Art of Hiding Oneself
It had been quite some time since I first entered the Mount Hua Sect.
The winter wind had died away, and the warmth of spring had receded as well, leaving the mountains and fields lush with green. The colors had become brighter than before, and the changing season was plain to see.
Now was the time when the heat would begin to assert itself in earnest.
At dawn, in Hwa-yeon Hall.
The moment I stepped inside, I spotted Jung Nam-jung and Seo Jin-ah in the distance, clashing wooden swords.
“Senior brother, senior sister. Good morning.”
As I approached to greet them, Seo Jin-ah—the first of the two to lower her sword—returned my greeting.
“You’re early today.”
“It’s almost summer, so I came before sunrise. Anyway, what were you fighting about?”
Jung Nam-jung lowered his sword a beat later and, after catching his breath, waved a hand lightly.
“Fighting? That sounds bad if someone overhears. We were just loosening up.”
“You don’t usually do that.”
Seo Jin-ah nodded as she spoke.
“Because Seo-hwa is coming to Hwa-yeon Hall today. As a senior brother, I can’t let her see me looking disgraceful.”
“You show her all the time, though. You go to her place a lot.”
“A lot? I do visit regularly, but not as much as you think. And even when I go, I only get to watch her train by herself.”
Ha Seo-hwa had no intention of mingling with others of her own accord. The same went for her training. Even if I visited, there was no reason to expect we’d be able to train together.
At Seo Jin-ah’s muttering, Jung Nam-jung wore an awkward expression, as if he had no defense.
“But what brought a girl who usually trains alone in the courtyard of her residence out here all of a sudden?”
“I told her yesterday that Sung-woon beat Shin-pyeong in just five exchanges. I guess that sparked her curiosity, because now she’s coming to Hwa-yeon Hall.”
“She’s coming because of me?”
“That’s probably the way to see it.”
Outwardly, I acted surprised. Inwardly, I cheered.
So she’s finally coming.
The reason I had endured six months of jealousy and envy, winning one duel after another with unflinching stubbornness, had all been for this.
Ha Seo-hwa was, in name and in fact, the greatest prodigy of Mount Hua of her generation.
I intended to take that title from her, but at the same time, I was curious.
How strong was Ha Seo-hwa at this point in time?
I had hardly any connection with her in my past life, and as children, none at all.
Ha Seo-hwa was a genius. That meant she would become one of the key talents standing against the Blood Sky Demon Sect in the future.
Even setting my goal aside, I simply wanted to measure the extent of her present skill.
Before long, the third-generation disciples began to crowd into Hwa-yeon Hall with sleep-blurred expressions.
Once a year had passed since entry, disciples were exempted from the mandatory training sessions in Hwa-yeon Hall. That meant they had broken away from the basics. After that, there was no problem with staying at one’s residence and training there, just as Ha Seo-hwa did.
And yet the reason so many third-generation disciples came to Hwa-yeon Hall at dawn was because of their fellowship with their senior brothers and sisters.
When you wanted everyone gathered in one place to do something together, there was no better venue than Hwa-yeon Hall.
The third-generation disciples began chatting among themselves in small groups of close senior brothers and sisters until the instructors arrived.
Then, all at once, the noise stopped.
When the sound died away, every other noise seemed to grow louder.
For instance, the footsteps entering Hwa-yeon Hall.
At the center of everyone’s gaze, Ha Seo-hwa walked in with a wooden sword at her waist.
“Wow…”
One female disciple let out a breathless exclamation.
The others reacted the same way, though they made no sound aloud.
Some even let a wistful, almost aching emotion slip into their eyes, as if wondering whether such a thing was possible at her age.
Ha Seo-hwa was beautiful. Even now, when she was still young.
She would later earn the title of the foremost beauty of Shaanxi, and there was no point in trying to say too much about her.
But a beautiful flower always had to possess some means of protecting itself.
I already knew well how she would grow in the years to come.
A genius who became a Plum Blossom Swordmaster at seventeen.
And that was not all.
In the martial world, those younger talents who showed exceptional achievement or distinctive gifts beyond what their age should allow were called the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes.
A man received the epithet of a dragon.
A woman received the epithet of a phoenix.
In the future, Mount Hua would produce one dragon and one phoenix from its third-generation disciples.
The dragon’s epithet would go to me: the Plum Blossom Sword Dragon.
And the phoenix’s epithet would go to Ha Seo-hwa, who was slowly walking toward the center of the training ground now.
Falling Blossom Gentle Phoenix.
That was the title people would later give her.
Ha Seo-hwa crossed through the disciples and stopped in front of Jung Nam-jung, Seo Jin-ah, and me.
Jung Nam-jung spoke first.
“It’s been a while, Seo-hwa.”
“Yes. It has, Jung Nam-jung senior brother.”
“We’d like it if you showed your face more often, in our own way. There are plenty of juniors who don’t even know what you look like.”
Ha Seo-hwa looked around.
The third-generation disciples who had been sneaking glances at her quickly turned their heads away.
With a soft sigh, Ha Seo-hwa replied, “Well. I think most of them know.”
“You haven’t been out here since you stopped training in Hwa-yeon Hall.”
“Even when I stay at my residence, it’s the same. They watch me train over the wall. If there’s a face I’ve never seen before, I end up noticing them naturally.”
Jung Nam-jung lowered his head slightly, as if he knew exactly what she meant and felt a little ashamed.
“Sorry. I did warn them to cut it out, but they just won’t listen.”
“It isn’t senior brother’s fault, so it’s fine.”
After that brief answer, Ha Seo-hwa slowly stepped forward and stood before me.
“...You remember me?”
“Of course. Long time no see, senior sister.”
“Mm. Long time.”
Ha Seo-hwa’s lips moved hesitantly, as if she were searching for the right words.
When I waited patiently, she spoke again before long.
“I heard the news. That you beat senior brother Oh Shin-pyeong yesterday.”
“I was lucky.”
“Even so, you can’t win in five exchanges just because of luck.”
“Thank you for thinking so highly of me.”
“Are you dueling again today?”
“No.”
“...Why not?”
Even if she asked why, that was how I had been doing it for the past six months.
I was choosing my words in my head when Seo Jin-ah, who had been listening, answered for me.
“Sung-woon trains for six days straight and only duels on the last day. He already dueled yesterday, so he won’t duel for the next six days.”
Ha Seo-hwa didn’t even turn to Seo Jin-ah. She just kept looking at me steadily.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Remember me? Duel today? Why? Really? Why? ...She certainly seemed to like asking questions.
Still, this was not a normal reaction even for her. In fact, Jung Nam-jung and Seo Jin-ah both looked genuinely surprised.
That was because Ha Seo-hwa never showed interest in other people.
Since she had asked, I answered her.
“My body isn’t suited for dueling yet.”
“Explain that a little more.”
“I’ve been training steadily for six months. In other words, I’ve only been training for six months. Compared with the other senior brothers and sisters, I’m still weaker and have much less internal energy.”
So the six days were the minimum preparation period.
I would train as hard as I could for six days, then on the last day face an opponent I couldn’t defeat physically and win anyway.
At first it hadn’t been intentional, but somehow the routine had hardened into place, and six months had passed that way.
After hearing my explanation, Ha Seo-hwa nodded as if she understood.
“I had misunderstood you.”
By contrast, I didn’t understand a single thing about Ha Seo-hwa.
Why she was asking this, what she had misunderstood, why she was taking an interest in me—there wasn’t a single thing I could make sense of.
In truth, she had shown interest from the very first day.
For one thing, she had been the one looking for me.
But because there had been no contact for half a year, I’d assumed it was nothing more than a passing curiosity.
Now it seemed that had not been the case.
Just as I was about to ask what she had misunderstood, the instructors entered Hwa-yeon Hall.
The dazed third-generation disciples also snapped back to their senses belatedly and lined up.
As Instructor Gwon swept his gaze over the third-generation disciples, it paused on Ha Seo-hwa.
“A rare face is here. It’s been a while, Ha Seo-hwa.”
Ha Seo-hwa clasped her hands and offered the formal martial salute.
“I greet Instructor Gwon.”
“Good. Just because it’s been a while since you came out doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you, so keep that in mind. Everyone, prepare your plum blossom swords.”
With that brief greeting, training began.
As always, we spent one shichen on basic skills and another shichen on stance training.
Even the third-generation disciples who had been distracted by Ha Seo-hwa had lost all ease by the middle of the stance drills. Groans of pain drifted up from here and there.
No matter how often one trained, the horse stance never became any easier.
After the stance training ended, and after resting our exhausted bodies with Plum Blossom Qi Gong for the span of one gak,
the long-awaited time for duels finally arrived.
Today, I was going to break the rule and duel on the final day after six days of training.
If you wanted to catch fish, you had to hook the bait on the line. The bait I intended to use was a duel that would catch Ha Seo-hwa’s eye.
As far as I knew, the reason she trained at her residence during this period was that training in Hwa-yeon Hall didn’t yield her anything useful.
Then I just had to give her a reason to stay and train.
My plan was to face her in the end.
But my plan became useless from the very beginning.
“Ha Seo-hwa. Come forward.”
At Instructor Gwon’s call, Ha Seo-hwa, sitting a little apart from the others, rose with her wooden sword in hand.
The disciples’ gazes all converged on her at once.
Ha Seo-hwa spoke with a faintly displeased air.
“Instructor Gwon, I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I didn’t apply for a duel.”
“I know that. I wanted to gauge your skill personally. Your junior brothers and sisters have also long wanted to see you duel.”
Instructor Gwon added quickly, seeing the troubled look on Ha Seo-hwa’s face.
“But this wasn’t scheduled, so if you’d rather refuse, you may.”
“...No, it’s fine.”
Ha Seo-hwa trudged toward the center of the training ground.
She was only ten now, two years younger than me.
And yet there was no one among the third-generation disciples who could beat her.
There were people like that sometimes.
People with extraordinary talent who also worked hard.
Ha Seo-hwa was exactly that kind.
Perhaps that was why the disciples around us burst out with sighs the moment they recovered.
“Ah, right from the start!”
“Instructor Gwon really doesn’t read the room. If it’s like this, what are we supposed to enjoy about the duels later?”
“I wanted to see it, sure, but not this early.”
Someone complained in frustration.
“How many people here are even capable of taking Seo-hwa on? She usually only trains by herself, so what wind blew her here?”
“Why? Wouldn’t Senior Brother Jung Nam-jung or Senior Sister Seo Jin-ah be fine...?”
“You’ve clearly never seen Ha Seo-hwa duel. Don’t joke like that. With all due respect to the two of them, even a year ago, if they dueled her ten times, they lost seven.”
“Not coming out to Hwa-yeon Hall doesn’t mean she’s been slacking. She trains relentlessly at her residence every day. Who could possibly beat her?”
They had entered a martial sect, and yet the third-generation disciples were still so young.
And there were many boys among them.
It was all too easy for them to end up humiliated after being tossed around the training ground by a girl younger than themselves.
At first they’d only been excited at the thought of dueling Ha Seo-hwa, but after one taste of defeat, every one of them had recoiled.
Those lower in rank than Ha Seo-hwa didn’t dare step forward after hearing the rumors about her.
Watching the whole thing, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Tsk. To fold your tail before a fight has even begun.
Was this really how the third-generation disciples thought at this stage?
How, then, were they supposed to train properly during this most important period for a martial artist?
“Who’s going?”
“Should I?”
Jung Nam-jung and Seo Jin-ah, deciding that no one but themselves was up to the task, had already begun choosing who would step forward.
I found that irritating.
My first goal was, of course, to become stronger myself.
My second was to make the Mount Hua disciples stronger as a whole.
I needed a spark to set their training ablaze. To my eyes, Ha Seo-hwa was that spark.
Of course, the one to strike the match should be me, if I wanted the best effect.
Besides, I had intended to duel her eventually anyway.
This only meant the opportunity had come a little earlier.
I picked up my wooden sword and walked out onto the training ground.
Ha Seo-hwa seemed not to have expected me to step forward; her eyes widened in surprise.
I clasped my hands around the wooden sword and bowed.
“Third-generation disciple Yoo Sung-woon humbly seeks instruction from senior sister Ha Seo-hwa.”
Startled, Ha Seo-hwa did not return the greeting. Instead, she looked toward Instructor Gwon.
I did not need to hear her to understand what she was thinking. It was the look of someone asking whether this was truly appropriate.
But she should not underestimate me.
It was true that Ha Seo-hwa stood among the brightest geniuses in the entire martial world.
But in the end, the title of the Mount Hua sect’s foremost prodigy had become mine in my past life.
In both my past life and this one, I was an exceptional man.
Hadn’t the sect leader himself noticed me and chosen me as his successor?
I had not learned how to hide myself.