Everything I Do Is for Your Own Good (3)
Deep in Mount Hua, there was a valley.
A small waterfall spilled down in a clear, refreshing sheet, so beautiful that simply looking at it felt like it could wash the heart clean.
The spray drifting gently into the air around the falls made for a truly breathtaking sight.
Under the shattered sunlight, bubbles rose and burst on the shimmering surface. It was nature itself, and yet there was something dynamic about it too—a scene that seemed to suit Mount Hua Sect perfectly....
“Puaaaaaaah!”
Then a round shape suddenly shot up through the water’s surface.
“Hek! Hek! Hek! A-at this rate I’m gonna die....!”
Smack!
...Gurgle.
At the crisp sound, the head that had popped up let out a little gurgling noise and sank back beneath the water.
Hyun Young lightly waved the stick in his hand and shook his head.
“Really now. Why do you keep coming up if it’s so hard for you?”
“Puhahahahahaha!”
Smack!
Glub-glub.
The heads that surfaced over and over were beaten down by Hyun Young and driven back under again.
“Tsk, tsk. You can’t even endure this angle?”
Hyun Young clicked his tongue repeatedly, then turned to the side.
“How are you supposed to do anything important at this rate? Don’t you agree, Chung Myung?”
“Of course, Elder! Hehe.”
Chung Myung, sitting on a nearby rock, snickered in perfect rhythm with him.
He was looking at the still water, where the occasional bubble rose to the surface. To anyone watching, it would have looked like an elder and his disciple were peacefully enjoying a bit of water play.
But that was only the story above the surface. Below it was, quite literally, utter pandemonium.
We’re dead! We’re really going to die!
Air bubbles streamed from Baek Cheon’s nose and mouth.
“Kugh!”
With bloodshot eyes, he clamped his mouth shut with desperate force and turned his head to the side. His fellow disciples were in the same miserable state, flailing their swords as if they were trying to cut their way out of hell itself.
This is insane.
Training?
Of course they could train. No, that was exactly what they were supposed to do. What was so special about a swordsman training with a sword?
Baek Cheon was, if anything, a devotee of training. The mindset Chung Myung had forced into him—that people could be made to do anything if they were just pushed hard enough—had planted in Baek Cheon a horrifying philosophy: if there was a mountain in front of you, it was faster to break through it than to go around.
So under normal circumstances, Baek Cheon would never have refused training. If pushing himself a little harder meant reaching his goal faster, he would have welcomed it and been the first to step forward.
But this...
This is a story for outside the water!
Why in the world were they training underwater? Were they the Yangtze River Water Bandits or something?
Fine. Yes, fine.
They could train underwater. In the martial world, one never knew what might happen. Who was to say that on a journey through jianghu, by one coincidence after another, they might not end up fighting with swords in the water?
But no matter how generously he tried to think about it, this could hardly be called training.
What kind of training was it to strap heavy stones to your feet and swing a sword underwater? This was just torture!
At least the other disciples could throw caution and dignity to the wind, surface to catch their breath even if they got beaten for it, and then dive back in. But as the great disciple, Baek Cheon could not bring himself to surface before the others.
As a result, since the training began, he had been suffering without even the chance to breathe properly.
I-I can’t take this anymore....
Just as his eyes were about to roll back, someone who had clearly reached the same conclusion surfaced before him.
“Mmmmmmph!”
Jo Gul’s cheeks, while he was swinging his sword beside him, bulged as if they were about to burst. A string of bubbles blooped out of his mouth, and before long he began rising rapidly toward the surface.
Jo Gul!
Baek Cheon looked on with pained eyes as his fellow disciple shot upward with terrifying speed, like a dragon ascending to heaven.
Then—
Smack!
Even underwater, the impact rang out so sharply that it was audible. Jo Gul’s body, which had been propelled upward, crashed back down again.
Splash.
His body, which had sunk for only a moment, bobbed back up.
Seen from above, the sight of only his back floating there would have looked ridiculous. But underwater, it was frightening in a way that needed no explanation. Jo Gul, unconscious with his eyes still open, drifting along the current, looked exactly like a water ghost come to watch them suffer.
No. Hold it. I have to endure.
If he went up, he’d end up like that. He had to hold on somehow, right here....
Glub.
Hm?
At the strange sound from beside him, Baek Cheon hurriedly turned his head. There, Jong Hoi—who had been swinging his sword next to him—was rolling his eyes back while spewing out bubbles in a steady stream.
Startled, Baek Cheon rushed over and cut the stone tied to Jong Hoi’s ankle. Freed at last, Jong Hoi began to drift toward the surface. He wasn’t swimming up; he was floating up.
Unable to endure any longer, Jong Hoi finally passed out and bobbed to the surface, drifting next to Jo Gul.
Endure, and you die. Go up, and you die.
Faced with this absurdly infuriating situation, Baek Cheon could do nothing but slap a hand over his own mouth.
“Kugh....”
Glug-glug-glug!
With no air left to exhale, water rushed straight into his mouth. He clamped both hands over it and started choking helplessly.
T-this is my limit....
Just as he was about to lose consciousness, someone finally rose first—the same thought apparently having struck him as well.
Thud!
He heard the sound of feet stomping from the front. Hyun Sang, who had been demonstrating sword swings, was pointing upward with a finger.
Ahhh!
Thinking he was saved, Baek Cheon started swimming upward like a madman. But with a stone tied to his ankle, no matter how wildly he flailed his arms and legs, he couldn’t gain speed the way he wanted.
“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!”
Water filled his nose and mouth, and his heart hammered so hard it felt like it would burst. In moments, the world before his eyes went dim and far away.
AAAAAAAH!
He barely reached the surface and clenched his teeth, just as he was about to shoot upward—when someone below suddenly grabbed him hard around the waist.
Huh?
Then that person stepped up onto his shoulders and head, trampled his face, and shot upward in one swift motion.
Gurgle....
Baek Cheon, ambushed without warning, sank slowly downward while gulping water, all his desperate effort rendered meaningless.
Yoo....
In his dimming vision, he could clearly see the criminal’s back rapidly surfacing above him.
Yoon Jong....
Glug.
“Puhahahahahahahahahaha! Hah! Hah! Hah! Hah!”
“Puhahahahahaha! Uweeeeeeek! Blegh!”
Once they were out of the water, everyone was coughing and spitting out the water they’d swallowed like mad.
“Heeeek! Hek! Hek!”
“Gu, Gul! Jo Gul, open your eyes! Are you all right? Jo Gul?”
“Jong Hoiiiiiii! Jong Hoi! You can’t dieeee!”
The ones who had barely come to their senses dragged their unconscious martial brothers out of the water.
Then they dog-paddled and finally reached the shore. They collapsed one by one onto the ground, looking like wilted seaweed.
“Glug-glug-glug.”
“U.... Uweeeek. Uwe....”
With only their heads barely turned to the side, they vomited up mouthfuls of water, looking so pitiful that anyone watching would have cried on their behalf.
I feel like I’m going to die.
Even Yoon Jong, staring blankly up at the sky, let a thin stream of clear water trickle from his mouth.
I really feel like I’m going to die.
He had endured countless difficult training sessions over the years. That damned Chung Myung always pushed people to the absolute limit of their will and stamina.
But this was different.
Chung Myung’s training, as awful as it was, could at least be stopped if it became too hard. Of course, that simply meant they had to force themselves to keep going and finish what could be stopped in the first place, which was its own special kind of hell—but still, there was a moment to breathe.
Not this.
Using internal energy underwater and unfolding the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art was not something a human being was meant to do. Breath rose up to the throat in spasms, and the limbs turned as heavy as lead. The worst part was that thanks to Hyun Jong and Hyun Young standing guard above the water, there wasn’t even anywhere to escape.
“H-how are we supposed to do this....”
“Yoon Jooooooong.”
“Hm?”
At the voice, Yoon Jong slowly raised his heavy head and looked over.
There stood Chung Myung—no, Baek Cheon—with a face like a demon....
...Huh?
Sasuk?
Whoaaak!
In an instant, Baek Cheon dashed over like lightning, lunged at Yoon Jong, seized him by the throat, and shook him violently.
“Gahk! Sasuk! Wh-why all of a sudden!”
“That’s right! Today, you die and I die!”
“Ghk! Ghk! Ghk! Sa, Sasuk! My neck! My neckkk!”
With his throat squeezed so hard he was spewing bubbles again from the water he had just coughed up, Yoon Jong’s face quickly turned blue. Desperately, he tore Baek Cheon’s hand from his throat and shouted,
“N-no. Why are you doing this?!”
“Why? You ask why? You little bastard, now you’re asking me why? You stepped on your martial uncle’s face to get out of the water and then you ask why? Why, why, why?”
“M-me?”
Yoon Jong stared back, completely baffled.
“I never did any....”
“Do you remember when you came up from the water?”
“Uh.... Now that you mention it, I don’t really remember how I came up very well....”
Baek Cheon smiled with obvious satisfaction.
“You don’t remember?”
“Yes. It’s all pretty hazy....”
“Good. Then that settles it. Since you don’t remember anyway, I’ll wipe it away nice and clean for you!”
Baek Cheon’s fist neatly turned Yoon Jong’s jaw the other way.
“Kyaaak!”
As Yoon Jong sprawled out flat like a frog, Baek Cheon climbed on top of him and started hammering his fists down.
“So this is how the quiet cat climbs onto the stove first, huh! You pull a stunt even Jo Gul wouldn’t do? Die! Die, you bastard!”
“Aaagh! Sasuk! Aagh! Please save me! Aaagh!”
At that huge scream, Jo Gul, who had been unconscious, jerked awake with a gasp. For a moment he blinked dazedly, then after seeing Baek Cheon beating the daylights out of Yoon Jong, he weakly lifted his hand.
Snap.
And gave a clean thumbs-up.
It was a wonderfully heartwarming scene—one where a fellow disciple’s misfortune was celebrated with absolutely no restraint whatsoever.
“Enough! You lot! Enough, I say!”
At the voice that rang out, Baek Cheon flinched and stopped mid-swing. His fist, still raised in the air, trembled as though reluctant to let go of its target.
Yoon Jong seized the opening and cried out desperately, “Elder, Sasuk is—”
“Enough!”
Smack!
In the end, after sending Yoon Jong flying with one final blow, Baek Cheon still couldn’t shake off his anger and rose to his feet, huffing and puffing.
If Jo Gul or that Chung Myung bastard had stepped on him to get out, he wouldn’t have been angry at all. Those two were trash anyway. But Yoon Jong, at least, he had trusted with all his heart!
What kind of sect doesn’t have a single trustworthy person in it?
They said your true nature came out in moments of crisis, didn’t they?
Hyun Young clicked his tongue again, looking displeased.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Pathetic fools. Look at you gasping just because you did that much.”
The Mount Hua disciples stared at Hyun Young in open disbelief.
“Back in my prime, I swung my sword underwater for a whole shichen.”
Elder.... Then just go and die....
“What good is swinging a sword, no matter how well, if your internal energy isn’t solid? Just a parlor trick! A parlor trick! When you can’t breathe and can only rely on internal energy to keep going, it shows exactly how steadily you’ve been training your foundation!”
Hyun Young’s gaze locked onto one target.
“The one who only had eyes for sword technique and neglected the most basic internal energy training!”
Jo Gul spat out a clear stream of water.
“The one who was so desperate to live that he dragged his martial nephew up with him, never mind the rest!”
“...Cough.”
Yoon Jong, having regained consciousness, awkwardly wiped his bluish eyelids.
“The one who usually acts all high and mighty, only to start swinging his fists the moment his martial younger brother grabs his foot!”
“....”
Hyun Young swept his gaze across the remaining disciples and barked, “The rest of you are even worse than that! Even worse!”
All the Mount Hua disciples ducked their necks in unison.
“You ran around so full of yourselves with that rotten mindset? I trusted you all too much!”
Hyun Sang looked at Hyun Young with a pleased smile.
Well done, my junior brother.
Keep going. More, more!
“What? You want me to test whether you’re fit to learn Zaha Divine Art?”
Hyun Young let out a cold laugh.
“Fine. I’ll look straight into your bones. What are you all standing around for? If you’ve rested enough, get back in there.”
“Pardon?”
“Again?”
“Why? Should I shove you in myself?”
Hyun Young slammed the stick in his hand against the ground.
“I’ll say this in advance: passing out because you can’t endure it is fine. Passing out because I beat you is fine too. But!”
Flames lit in Hyun Young’s eyes.
“Any bastard who dares say the words ‘I give up’ with his own mouth had better be ready. If you’re curious, go ahead and try it!”
“....”
“You lot! Into the water, right now!”
As Hyun Young charged at them with the stick, everyone scrambled to their feet and ran for the water.
“Hiiiieeeeeek!”
“I-I’m going! I’m going!”
“Moooom!”
Plop. Plop!
At last, even the final one disappeared back into the water. Watching it happen, Hyun Young stroked his beard with a long, satisfied sweep. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“I’ve wanted to try this training at least once. Heh heh heh heh.”
Meanwhile, behind him, Chung Myung—who had been watching this scene unfold—found the back of his neck damp with cold sweat.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that he might have just opened a bundle that should never have been untied....
Hah.
Hahahahah....