Once Again, As If It Were New (6)
A wooden sword wrapped in a blue surge of energy cleaved through the air with ferocious force.
“A sword!”
Smack!
“If you’re going to swing it like that!”
Smack!
“No wonder you keep getting beaten to death!”
Smack-smack-smack!
“Your head, you bastard! Your head! It’s empty in there!”
Thud.
White steam rose from the heads of the Namgung Clan swordsmen as they lay sprawled uselessly on the ground.
“Tch.”
Looking at the twitching bodies, Cheong Myeong’s face twisted with open disgust.
“You idiots all swing swords, and every single one of you is dressed up like a peacock! Where the hell are you waving your wrists around like that? You trying to die or something?”
Jo Geol, watching the scene with awestruck eyes, leaned toward Baek Cheon and whispered, “What does that mean, Sasuk?”
Baek Cheon lifted a shoulder and gave him a thorough translation.
“It means that people who can’t even stabilize the sword path they’re supposed to protect shouldn’t go around trying to show off flashy variations. Learn the basics again… that’s what he’s saying.”
With the ability of an exceptional interpreter, Jo Geol kept nodding in admiration.
“Back in my day, huh? Hey, you bastards! Before swinging a blade, huh? You bastards! Huh? Kids these days, honestly!”
Jo Geol asked again, “And that one?”
Baek Cheon answered with a faint smile.
“It means that back in his day, he focused on practical fundamentals rather than flashy variations, and he’s worried that the current trend among martial artists in the jianghu places too much emphasis on appearances.”
“…….”
Cheong Myeong hurled the wooden sword in his hand to the ground.
“From tomorrow on, the lot of you should start reciting your own death speeches. How the hell do these bastards keep digging up more and more trash the deeper I go? I thought the older generation was at least a little better, but the young ones are completely hopeless! Fine, I’ll drill you from your heads to your toes!”
“……What about that one?”
“Ahem. That one’s a bit long.”
Baek Cheon cleared his throat softly and then spoke.
“I have always respected the Namgung Clan’s forebears and revered their swordsmanship, but I regret that the young swordsmen of Namgung seem unable to properly inherit the teachings of their elders. Though we are not bound by blood, as fellow travelers on the path of the sword, I shall help strengthen your fundamentals… that is what he means.”
“……Sasuk.”
“Hm?”
Jo Geol’s face was tinged with uncertainty as he spoke.
“……At this point, isn’t that just making up a meaning from the dream instead of the dream itself?”
“I’m telling you, that’s exactly what he means….”
“…….”
Jo Geol exchanged a deeply suspicious look between Cheong Myeong and Baek Cheon, then shrugged and said, “If I only listen to Sasuk, it sounds like some magnificent education is taking place, but why does it look to me like he’s just beating them up because he doesn’t like them?”
“Why else?”
“Pardon?”
“Because that’s right.”
“…….”
Baek Cheon and Jo Geol both sighed and looked ahead. Alone amid the Namgung swordsmen who had collapsed without a single one remaining upright, Cheong Myeong kept shouting at the top of his lungs because nothing seemed to satisfy him.
“……Watching that is making my stomach hurt.”
“I had a nightmare last night.”
“I thought I’d feel better seeing somebody else get it instead.”
“……My teeth are grinding.”
This scene was certainly not good for one’s mental health. Every time the Namgung swordsmen were battered by that terrifying wooden sword, it felt as if the center of one’s head throbbed for no reason at all.
“Um, Sasuk.”
“Hm?”
Yoon Jong scratched his cheek, as if he had something to say.
“I’m a little worried… will the Namgung Clan members really be able to accept this situation?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well… we don’t really have much of anything to begin with, and since we knew we couldn’t get stronger without methods like this, we just followed along without complaint. But they have pride.”
“Pride?”
Baek Cheon’s expression twisted faintly. Yoon Jong immediately clamped his mouth shut, looking as though he’d said something wrong. Jo Geol seized the moment and chimed in with a smirk.
“Hey, are you insulting Sasuk right now?”
“Jo, shut up, you punk!”
“Pride, huh….”
Baek Cheon looked off toward the distant mountains.
“Yes… there was a time when I worried over such things too.”
Yoon Jong gently patted Baek Cheon’s shoulder.
“Don’t cry.”
“……I’m not crying.”
Baek Cheon wiped beneath his eyes and composed himself before continuing.
“They’ll resist at first. The despair that comes when the person you believed to be outstanding proves otherwise is only that much greater.”
“Experience talking?”
“Experience.”
“Whew, that’s vivid.”
“……Shut up.”
Veins bulged on Baek Cheon’s forehead, and the Five Swords all turned their heads at once and began whistling.
He glared at them with a murderous expression, then let out a long sigh.
“But… they’ll eventually accept it too.”
“……They’ll come to understand that it’s the right thing.”
“No.”
“Huh? Then…?”
“Because if they don’t accept it, they’ll get hit harder.”
“…….”
Everyone stared blankly at Baek Cheon. But he merely shrugged, as if stating the most obvious truth in the world.
“Accept it or die. What choice do they have?”
Yoon Jong thought, a content smile spreading across his face.
This guy’s the weirdest one of all.
And the rest of the Five Swords probably didn’t think much differently.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The Namgung swordsmen who returned to their lodging collapsed one after another with heavy thuds.
“Ughhh….”
If their heads touched the floor, they were sure they could fall asleep in an instant. But the moment their bodies hit the ground, searing pain crashed through them from head to toe.
“My arm… agh… my arm….”
“Ugh… my, my back… my back feels like it’s broken….”
“Bweh….”
“D-don’t puke here!”
It was utter pandemonium.
Namgung Dan, stuck to the floor like a starfish, struggled to lift his head.
“Uuugh….”
It felt as though his body had been broken into pieces.
“This is insane….”
“How the hell are we supposed to do this?”
“We’ll wear ourselves down before we even get stronger.”
Complaints began drifting from all around. Their voices weren’t rising because their emotions were too heated; they were speaking quietly because they no longer had the strength to shout.
“What kind of training is this? It’s just torture!”
“Exactly.”
“Why should we have to go through this?”
And yet humans, even while dying by inches, apparently could not abandon anger. The more time passed, the louder the swordsmen’s complaints became.
“What good is this supposed to do? Namgung Clan has its own methods!”
“If the clan head had seen this, would he really have accepted it?”
“They’re treating us like servants. There’s no code in the jianghu that says a sect should treat another sect’s disciples like this!”
At that moment, a low voice cut through the din.
“Calm down, all of you.”
Everyone’s gaze turned to the speaker. It was Namgung Dowi, painfully pushing himself upright near the entrance. At the sight of him, the others forced themselves to sit up too, gnawing on their lips.
“Young Patriarch.”
“I know it’s hard. But this is something we have to endure.”
Everyone’s faces darkened.
“……To be honest, I don’t really understand how this kind of training is supposed to help.”
“It might help as training, yes. But isn’t that man’s attitude far too arrogant and disrespectful?”
“Even the clan head never treated us like that.”
“Everyone….”
“Young Patriarch.”
Namgung Dan looked at Namgung Dowi with eyes full of dissatisfaction.
“Could you not speak to them on our behalf?”
“……Me?”
“Yes. We can endure the training being difficult. What we can’t endure is the humiliation.”
Namgung Dowi simply stared at him instead of answering.
“You said we weren’t being taken in as disciples under a master. You said we were simply learning what we lacked through Mount Hua. But Young Patriarch.”
Namgung Dan continued without any intention of backing down.
“No master treats their disciples like this.”
Namgung Dowi’s face gradually hardened. But the agitated Namgung Dan failed to notice it.
“This isn’t just our problem. If word gets out that the Namgung Clan was treated like this by Mount Hua, our honor will be dragged through the mud. In times like this, Young Patriarch, you need to step in.”
“That’s right!”
“If Mount Hua doesn’t look down on Namgung, they wouldn’t dare do this.”
“If the clan head were here, could they really be so insolent….”
“Enough! Enough already!”
Then a short but thunderous roar burst from Namgung Dowi’s mouth.
“Young Patriarch!”
“……Y-young Patriarch?”
The flustered Namgung swordsmen stared blankly at him. Those who had been about to spill out more complaints shut their mouths the instant they saw the ice-hard expression on his face.
After glaring at everyone in silence for a long moment, Namgung Dowi finally spoke.
“Honor?”
“…….”
“Humiliation?”
Namgung Dowi let out a disbelieving laugh.
“I see. So I was the only one who didn’t know.”
His voice dripped with scathing sarcasm.
“I’m the only one who didn’t know that Namgung still had enough pride left to feel humiliated, and enough standing left to worry about honor. Everyone else knew, apparently.”
“……Young Patriarch.”
“I….”
Namgung Dowi looked over everyone and ground out each word.
“I thought all of that had been left behind on Maehwado.”
“…….”
“I thought we’d thrown it all away together with those who died there.”
The Namgung swordsmen hung their heads low.
Whether those words were right or wrong, who among them could dare meet Namgung Dowi’s eyes in a situation like this?
“But… that’s not it, is it? The only thing left behind was me. I was the only one who swore that, no matter what, even if I had to eat mud to make it happen, I’d resurrect Namgung so the dead wouldn’t die with regret.”
“Young Patriarch, that’s….”
“I hope you’ll preserve it.”
Before Namgung Dan could say another word, Namgung Dowi cut him off coldly.
“Your pride, and your honor. If those were truly what the people who died on Maehwado protected with their lives, then shouldn’t you preserve them no matter what?”
Namgung Dowi turned on his heel. Without waiting for any answer, he left the room.
“…….”
Silence fell for a moment. The remaining swordsmen stared blankly at the door he had slammed open and left behind.
“……Then why say something like that….”
“So it’s my fault now?”
Briefly, their voices rose in argument, but only for a moment. Soon, all of them sank into deep silence.
Outside, Namgung Dowi looked up at the distant sky.
The blackened heavens looked as though stars might pour down like rain at any moment. Under different circumstances, he would have admired the sight, but regrettably, he felt none of that beauty now.
It’s difficult.
Nothing was easy. The road ahead was long, and there was so much left to do, yet it seemed not everyone shared his heart.
He had thought that if he gave everything sincerely, they would understand too… but had that only been a foolish hope?
“Father….”
Just as he was thinking of Namgung Hwang and drawing a long sigh,
“Hm?”
Namgung Dowi felt something flying toward him from behind and twisted his body violently. He quickly thrust out a hand and caught whatever was hurtling toward his face.
“……A wine bottle?”
It was a white bottle of liquor. Namgung Dowi stared blankly at what he was holding, then lifted his head.
On the eaves of the pavilion, stood a man whose presence had already become familiar.
“D-Daoist?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“What are you doing up there?”
Cheong Myeong shrugged.
“Forget that. How about it?”
He lightly shook the bottle in his hand at Namgung Dowi, who was still dazed.
“A drink?”
“…….”
Namgung Dowi slowly nodded.