Chapter 2 - part 1 and 2
part 1 and 2
Chapter 2: Senior and Junior Brothers
Sunset Clan was seventeen years old this year.
He was born in Hengyang, Hunan Province.
People from Hunan are said to have fiery tempers, and in that respect, Sunset Clan was a typical Hunan native. He had a volatile personality and had difficulty controlling himself when angered.
His mother died when he was seven, and his father remarried when he was nine, and he lived with his stepmother. But less than three years later, he ran away from home. For the next two years, he wandered around Henan Province before fate led him to join the Mount Zhongnan Sect.
He was stubborn and quick to anger, so he didn't get along well with any of his senior or junior brothers. Only Jeong Hae occasionally kept him company.
Strangely enough, Sunset Clan would believe and follow Jin San-wol's words even if he said that azuki beans could be used to make meju.
Jeong Hae had once been so curious about it that he asked.
"Eighth, you don't listen to anyone else, but how can you follow Great Senior Brother's words so well?"
Sunset Clan, uncharacteristically, grinned, revealing his teeth.
"I like Great Senior Brother the most in the world."
"Why?"
"Great Senior Brother is the only one who doesn't scold or reprimand me no matter how angry I get or how many mistakes I make. How can I not like someone like that?"
Jeong Hae was lost in thought for a long time, then sighed deeply and nodded.
"Yeah. That's why I like Great Senior Brother too."
As Sunset Clan said, Jin San-wol rarely got angry.
Even when Sunset Clan accidentally broke his most prized vase while cleaning, or when Du Gi-chun secretly broke into the master's study and knocked over a lamp while rummaging for secret manuals the master had set aside, causing a fire that burned the study to the ground, he didn't get angry.
He would simply scratch the back of his head and mutter, "This is a real shame." So, some of his senior and junior brothers secretly called him "Buddha of Weakness" and ridiculed him behind his back.
When Sunset Clan regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was Jin San-wol's worried face looking down at him. That made Sunset Clan feel good.
Jin San-wol saw that Sunset Clan had opened his eyes and asked,
"How's your body?"
Sunset Clan grinned.
"This is nothing. Really, Great Senior Brother."
He tried to get up, but before Jin San-wol could stop him, he grimaced and flopped back onto the bed.
"Ugh!"
The moment he moved, he felt pain all over his body as if every inch of him was being hammered. His side and solar plexus, in particular, ached indescribably.
Jin San-wol gently patted his shoulder.
"Don't force yourself to get up. Just lie down."
Sunset Clan tried to get up a few more times before finally giving up and lying down weakly.
"Damn it... To be beaten like this by a guy like that... If I ever meet him again..."
Jin San-wol smiled faintly and looked down at him.
"Are you confident you can beat him if you meet him again?"
Sunset Clan replied quickly, as if there was no need to think about it.
"Of course. Next time, I'll definitely break his legs."
Jin San-wol asked calmly,
"Your martial arts are no match for his. How do you plan to beat him?"
"That's..."
Sunset Clan was about to say something but stopped. He realized that he could never defeat Jang Uk with his own skills, no matter how hard he tried. Jang Uk had so easily dodged his desperate attack and treated him like a toy, his skills were definitely on a different level.
Jin San-wol looked down at Sunset Clan's dejected face and slowly opened his mouth.
"What you used against him just now was Thousand Entanglements, Myriad Wraps from the Nine Forms of the Hanging Palm Fist, wasn't it?"
Sunset Clan replied in a barely audible voice.
"Yes."
"Thousand Entanglements, Myriad Wraps is a style that focuses on diverse changes rather than speed. You know that, right?"
Sunset Clan didn't understand what Jin San-wol was getting at and nodded silently.
"You are naturally impatient and competitive, so you can't master unpredictable styles well."
Sunset Clan knew that he was impatient.
Not only was he impatient, but he also lacked patience, so his progress in martial arts was among the slowest of his senior and junior brothers. In particular, the Thirty-Six Swords of the Celestial River, the Mount Zhongnan Sect's renowned martial art, was a heavy yet unpredictable sword technique, so it was even less suited to Sunset Clan's fiery personality.
To be honest, Sunset Clan preferred the Nine Forms of the Hanging Palm Fist, which was known to be much less powerful than the Thirty-Six Swords of the Celestial River. So, in desperate situations, he would unconsciously use the Nine Forms of the Hanging Palm Fist, which he was more familiar with, rather than the powerful Thirty-Six Swords of the Celestial River.
Jin San-wol continued in a calm voice.
"Being impatient is certainly a big disadvantage, but if used well, it can also be a good advantage."
Sunset Clan's ears perked up and he asked quickly,
"Is that really true?"
"You are actually better suited than others to using fast and powerful martial arts. Don't you find it easier to learn fist techniques or palm techniques than swordsmanship?"
Sunset Clan nodded eagerly.
"That's right, Great Senior Brother. I prefer fighting with my fists."
"I saw earlier that your Nine Forms of the Hanging Palm Fist is decent. But I still see many shortcomings."
Sunset Clan listened attentively and asked quickly,
"Then what should I do?"
"Styles like Thousand Changes Myriad Fists or Six Rings of Carved Clouds, although they have exquisite uses, are too complicated for you. If you had used faster moves like Wild Goose Plucking Feather or Heavenly Star Plucking Dipper instead of Thousand Changes Myriad Fists earlier, you wouldn't have been so one-sidedly defeated."
"Can I defeat a master like Jang Uk with those moves?"
Jin San-wol scratched the back of his head.
"I don't know about that. But I don't think victory or defeat is determined solely by the level of martial arts. Instant improvisation or the will to win are also important factors in a match. Even the same move can have drastically different power depending on how it's combined."
Sunset Clan looked at Jin San-wol with new eyes.
Jin San-wol wasn't usually a talkative person. And his progress in martial arts wasn't significantly faster than his other senior and junior brothers. He also didn't like fighting with others, so he could count on his fingers the number of times he had sparred with a sword. It was strange to hear such a firm philosophy about victory and defeat coming from Jin San-wol's mouth.
Sunset Clan tilted his head and asked again,
"What would Great Senior Brother have done if he had fought Jang Uk earlier?"
Jin San-wol smiled.
"I would have avoided him at all costs."
Sunset Clan's eyes widened at the unexpected answer.
"Avoid him?"
"Getting into a fight with someone on a day like today is not desirable, regardless of whether you win or lose."
Sunset Clan thought that was a very Great Senior Brother-like thing to say.
But doing whatever he wanted without paying attention to such things was also a very Sunset Clan-like thing to do. Sunset Clan's personality was to never avoid a fight, whether he lived or died, if someone picked a fight with him.
"What if I had to fight him?"
"I'd still avoid him. You're not as skilled as him yet."
Sunset Clan asked stubbornly,
"What if I absolutely had to fight him?"
"I'd still avoid him. You weren't prepared to fight at all then."
Sunset Clan was persistent.
"What if I still wanted to fight him?"
"I'd still have to avoid him. He was running towards you, taking a favorable position."
Sunset Clan swallowed once and asked again,
"If it wasn't a day like today, and I wasn't less skilled than him, and I was mentally prepared to fight, and we were on equal footing? How would Great Senior Brother have fought then?"
Finally, Jin San-wol chuckled and flicked his forehead.
"You want to defeat him that badly?"
Sunset Clan's eyes flashed fiercely and he said forcefully,
"I won't be able to sleep properly until I break all his teeth, break all his ribs, break his legs, and slam him into the ground."
"If you want to know that much, I'll tell you. If it were me... I would first attack his side with the Heavenly Star Plucking Dipper style, circling to his left."
Sunset Clan tilted his head.
"Why circle to the left?"
"He's right-handed, so his left side is more vulnerable. Then he'll bend his left arm to block my hand and turn his body, trying to hit my temple with his right hand. At that time, I'll lie back using the Iron Plate Bridge stance and strike his chin with a Mandarin Duck Kick. He'll avoid it in one of two ways."
"What ways?"
"He'll either step back quickly or fall to my right, attacking with his elbow."
"How do I block that?"
"If he steps back, quickly do a handstand and stand up, then jump into his chest and attack with the Wild Goose Plucking Feather strike. And when he falls to the right and attacks with his elbow, again do a handstand and stand up, then unleash the Red Phoenix Saluting the Sun from above, and he won't be able to avoid it."
Sunset Clan clapped his hands.
"I see. I'll definitely fight him like that next time I meet him."
Jin San-wol stared at him and asked,
"Can you perform the Iron Plate Bridge?"
Sunset Clan nodded.
"To some extent."
"Then can you lie down with your head back until the back of your head touches the ground and perform the Mandarin Duck Kick?"
A slightly unsure expression appeared on Sunset Clan's face.
"That's... I don't know because I haven't tried it."
Jin San-wol asked again,
"Then can you do a handstand from the Iron Plate Bridge with the Mandarin Duck Kick?"
Sunset Clan's face changed again.
"That... that's..."
"Then can you do a handstand from the Iron Plate Bridge with the Mandarin Duck Kick and immediately attack the opponent with Wild Goose Plucking Feather or Red Phoenix Saluting the Sun?"
Sunset Clan's face turned pale and he closed his mouth.
Jin San-wol stared at him for a while, then opened his mouth in a calm voice.
"There is a big difference between knowing and actually doing. Even if you know how to beat an opponent, it's useless if you don't have the skill to execute it. You must first master the Iron Plate Bridge perfectly and reach the point where you can do a handstand from any position. Only then can you fight him."
Sunset Clan kept his lips tightly sealed for a long time without saying anything. Then he looked at Jin San-wol and nodded with a determined expression.
"I understand. I'll practice the Iron Plate Bridge to death starting today."
Jin San-wol patted his shoulder.
"Don't forget Wild Goose Plucking Feather and Red Phoenix Saluting the Sun either."
"I understand."
"Then rest."
Jin San-wol slowly got up and walked towards the door.
Just as Jin San-wol was about to leave the room, Sunset Clan called out to him.
"Great Senior Brother."
Jin San-wol turned to look at him, and Sunset Clan hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
"Thank you."
Jin San-wol smiled and scratched his head.
"That's just how it is."
Then he turned and left the room.
☆ ☆ ☆
Tatatak!
The knife moved at a rapid pace.
The silver carp's body was instantly split open, skinned, deboned, and then chopped into pieces.
Ssak!
A skilled hand sprinkled salt and pepper on the white flesh of the chopped silver carp.
Then the knife moved even faster.
Tatatatak!
Beneath the blade, which moved up and down at an almost invisible speed, lay a chunk of pork. The pork was quickly minced, seasoned with salt and pepper like the silver carp, and then set aside.
Next came the vegetables.
Sak! Sak!
The bamboo shoots were cut into rectangles, and the scallions were sliced diagonally. The carrots were also skillfully carved into flower shapes and thrown into the hot water along with the bamboo shoots and scallions.
Oil was boiling on one of the stoves.
The skilled hand neatly spread the silver carp flesh on the cutting board, placed thumb-sized portions of minced pork on top, and then rolled it up. It was coated in arrowroot powder, then dipped in egg and fried in the boiling oil.
Chichichik!
The oil wasn't too hot, so the silver carp flesh wrapped around the minced pork soon turned golden brown and was taken out. The well-boiled vegetables were taken out, rinsed in cold water, and then arrowroot powder was dissolved in water to make a thick sauce. After adding some seasonings, the fried silver carp and vegetables were placed on a plate, and the sauce was poured over them.
Tak!
The skilled hand placed the finished dish on the table.
"Here. Try it."
A beautiful young girl in white clothes was sitting in front of the table.
The young girl looked at the food in front of her with rapturous eyes. Not to mention the smell, the color and shape were so appetizing that it made her mouth water just looking at it.
The young girl picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of the fried roll, and brought it to her mouth. She closed her eyes, chewed a few times, and then swallowed it. And then, a single exclamation escaped her lips.
"It's really delicious!"
Jin San-wol smiled.
"I'm glad to hear that."
The young girl picked up a few more pieces of the fried roll and ate them ravenously.
"Um... I've never tasted anything so tender and chewy before. What's the name of this dish?"
"Osmanthus Fish Roll."
The young girl picked up the bottle of alcohol on the table again and tilted it into her mouth.
"Gulp... Gulp..."
She drank the bottle whole in an unladylike manner, and then began to eat the dish again with abandon. Then she looked up at Jin San-wol and gestured.
"Senior Brother... eat too."
Jin San-wol looked at her with a satisfied expression, then took off his apron and sat down opposite her.
"Then shall I have a little too?"
Then Jin San-wol moved his chopsticks with dazzling speed, bringing the food to his mouth.
The two men and women ate and drank ravenously without saying a word. Before long, the dish, which had been so plentiful, disappeared without a trace, leaving only an empty plate.
Only then did the young girl stop eating, as if she was full, and patted her stomach with a satisfied face.
"Ah! I really enjoyed the meal."
Even though she had drunk a whole bottle of alcohol by herself, she didn't seem drunk.
Jin San-wol was seriously wiping the last bit of sauce off the empty plate.
The young girl rested her chin on the table and watched the scene, then pouted.
"Great Senior Brother is good at everything, but he's too fond of food. As the Sect Leader, he's wiping the plate clean. I wonder what people would say if they saw this."
Jin San-wol licked the plate clean until it shone and smacked his lips.
"Originally, you shouldn't worry about status or face when you have food in front of you. Don't you know that gourmandism is the best of the four pleasures of a gentleman?"
The young girl's eyes widened.
"Four pleasures? I've heard of the three pleasures of a gentleman, but I've never heard of that."
"Others may have three pleasures, but I have one more."
The young girl giggled.
"That's a very Great Senior Brother-like thing to say. The four pleasures of a gentleman? And gourmandism is the best of them all... Haha..."
Her face began to turn red little by little. It seemed that she was finally getting drunk. Her face, like a full moon, was flushed red as she laughed, making her look adorable and cute.
Jin San-wol regretfully put down the cleaned plate and said in a dignified voice.
"It seems that you're eating more and more. You used to be able to eat quite contentedly with this amount, but these days, no matter how much I make, there's never enough."
"That's all because Great Senior Brother's cooking skills are so good. If I get as fat as Great Senior Brother, it's all Great Senior Brother's fault, so Great Senior Brother has to take responsibility."
"Take responsibility? How do you want me to take responsibility?"
The young girl's face turned even redder when Jin San-wol asked back.
Perhaps it was because she was getting even more drunk.
"Great Senior Brother can figure that out. By the way, is Senior Sister still wearing mourning clothes?"
Jin San-wol nodded.
"Still is. But she'll be taking them off soon."
The pretty girl's eyes sparkled.
"Why is that?"
"You know that the Martial Arts Tournament will be held at Mount Song's Five Peaks on the fifteenth of this month, right?"
"Yes."
"She's decided to go to the tournament with me. So, she'll be done with the mourning before then, at the latest."
"When are you leaving?"
"In about three or four days."
The pretty girl asked urgently again.
"Who are you planning to take?"
"Senior Sister, Jeong Hae, Il-bang, and Gye-seong."
The pretty girl shouted hysterically.
"What about me?"
"Chwi-a. You can't come."
The pretty girl glared.
"Why can Senior Sister go, but I can't?"
Jin San-wol turned serious.
"Senior Sister has been to Shaolin Temple before and has some acquaintance with several Eminent figures of the Martial World. That's why she's coming."
"What about the other Senior Brothers?"
"Jeong Hae is clever, so he'll be quite helpful on this journey. Il-bang used to live in Henan Province, so he's familiar with the geography there, making him perfect for guiding us. And Gye-seong is the strongest in martial arts, except for Mei Yi-di, so I'm taking him along."
Unable to find fault with his words, the pretty girl pouted and made a displeased expression.
"I don't know about Senior Brother Jeong, but Senior Brother Nak is bound to cause trouble along the way. Do you really have to take him? And Eung Sa-hyung has a bad personality and complains a lot, so it won't be any fun taking him..."
This time, Jin San-wol only smiled without replying.
The pretty girl chattered again.
"If I come along, it won't be boring on the way... I'm good at cooking and laundry, so I should come..."
As the pretty girl kept glancing at Jin San-wol and muttering, Jin San-wol smiled faintly.
"Tell me five reasons why I should take you."
The pretty girl waved her fingers and quickly replied.
"That's easy. First of all, I'm a girl, so I'm good at cooking..."
"And?"
"If the Senior Brothers' clothes get dirty on the way, I'll do the laundry..."
The pretty girl continued, counting her fingers diligently.
"Besides, I know how to sew... and I'm good at drinking, so I can keep the Senior Brothers company..."
Jin San-wol only smiled.
"And... and..."
The pretty girl sniffed and groaned, then smiled brightly.
"Most of all, I'm pretty. Is that enough? That's five reasons."
Jin San-wol shook his head with a smile.
"None of what you said is a reason to take you."
The pretty girl glared at him, annoyed.
"Why?"
"Firstly, we'll be eating at Wine houses, so there's no need to cook."
"What about the laundry?"
"We'll bring several sets of clothes, so there's no need to wash them. And Il-bang is better at that than you are."
The pretty girl fidgeted and started babbling again.
"But... but..."
"Besides, I know how good you are at sewing. I'd rather buy a new set of clothes than entrust them to you. We can drink enough among ourselves... and we're not going there to use the Beauty Trap, so no matter how pretty you are, there's no reason to take you."
The pretty girl looked sulky.
"Tch, really, Great Senior Brother..."
The pretty girl wiggled her cute nose and puffed out her cheeks, then glared at Jin San-wol and shouted in a sharp voice, unable to hold back any longer.
"Why do you call Senior Sister 'Samae' but call me by my name instead of 'Samae'?"
Jin San-wol scratched the back of his head with an absurd laugh.
"That's a difficult question."
"Don't just laugh, tell me quickly. Isn't it because you look down on me?"
"Of course not. It's just that there are two Samae, and you're the younger of the two, so I just call you by your name."
The pretty girl still retorted in a sulky voice.
"I'm younger? How do you know that?"
Jin San-wol scratched the back of his head again and muttered, "That's true."
No one knew how old Bang Chwi-a, the youngest of the nine disciples of the Jongnam Sect, was.
Whenever someone asked her age, she would always retort, "Why do you need to know a woman's age?" And since she never revealed her age herself, no one knew her exact age.
Once, when Nak Il-bang kept persistently asking her age, she said, "If you really want to know, I'll tell you. I'm over ten years old and not yet sixty. Is that enough?" which caused a burst of laughter.
After that, her age became one of the biggest secrets of the Jongnam Sect, and everyone called her the "Ageless Maiden," meaning a maiden who doesn't age.
The Ageless Maiden Bang Chwi-a nagged Jin San-wol for a long time before finally letting him go after Jin San-wol promised to make her the best chicken dish that evening.