The Stage of No-Self
Having completed the commission at Buhal Mountain Villa, Uncheon returned to the Yaweol Sect.
“Here it is.”
Uncheon held out the wooden box before Gong Hwaseon.
She accepted it with a bright smile and opened the lid. Inside lay three lumps of gold, each roughly the size of an adult’s palm.
“I simply took what they offered. I’m not certain the remaining payment matches the amount agreed upon.”
“It’s more than enough. You’ve worked hard, Cheongnyu. Buhal Mountain Villa must have been quite satisfied—they sent far more than I expected.”
“That’s good to hear, then.”
While Uncheon and Ha Jiryeon had been making their way back, Gong Hwaseon had already received a full report on everything that had transpired at the villa.
“You could have returned at a more leisurely pace. You must be exhausted—go rest.”
“I’ll take my leave first, then.”
Uncheon offered a respectful farewell and withdrew from the inner hall. Gong Hwaseon watched his retreating figure with open admiration.
“What an extraordinary man.”
“Indeed. Far too formidable a figure for us to handle lightly.”
A man who seemed wrapped in the aura of a white tiger—Chae Eunjang—stepped forward three or four paces as he answered. His gaze shifted to Ha Jiryeon’s waist.
“Miyu, are you all right?”
“Yes. It’s nearly healed now. His skill at treating wounds was surprisingly good—as if he’d learned it systematically.”
“That’s why the Namgung Family is considered one of the great houses. Even the most trivial things are drilled into them from childhood.”
“Miyu, I’ve already heard the report, but explain it once more in detail.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
Ha Jiryeon drew a breath, stepped forward, and recounted every event that had unfolded at Buhal Mountain Villa.
After listening, Gong Hwaseon asked with open curiosity, “Uncle Chae, do you know what this Hoesang-rok is?”
“Sect Leader, I’ve never heard the name before. I know nothing of it.”
Reading her expression, Chae Eunjang continued, “The greatest reason a sect survives for centuries—or is wiped out in a short span—is not the difference in martial arts. It is whether they can keep from crossing lines that must never be crossed.”
“You’re saying we should lose all interest in this Hoesang-rok, Uncle.”
“Exactly. This affair is beyond what we can handle. Frankly, even having Cheongnyu remain in our sect makes me uneasy.”
“Ah…”
Gong Hwaseon nodded heavily. Chae Eunjang’s experience could not be ignored. After all, this was the very man once known as the Wall-Hidden Assassin who had always insisted that the Yaweol Sect was by no means a weak force in the Central Plains murim.
“Uncle Chae, how should our sect move from now on?”
“It’s simple enough. The old saying goes that when the rain pours hard enough to punch holes in heaven’s ceiling, there’s no need to go out and get soaked on purpose. Watch the state of the murim, stay quietly curled up, and only step out once the downpour has passed.”
“Yes. We’ll do exactly as you advise, Uncle.”
She herself could feel the wind currently sweeping through the Central Plains.
But if… even our sect cannot escape the rain that falls… shouldn’t we find a safer place?
Shashashasha—
An unpleasant sound whispered through the air.
Oho. Bold little bastard.
Yo Chusang had never expected an assassin with the nerve to sneak into the Elders’ Pavilion of the Yaweol Sect. Though he had long since retired from the killing trade, his senses remained razor-sharp.
Whoever you are, you’re still far from ready. Too much noise in your movement…
He flinched. A sudden, urgent realization struck him—he had been tricked. Anyone skilled enough to slip this far into the Elders’ Pavilion would never make that kind of sound.
I’ve been had.
It hadn’t been clumsy approach at all. The noise had been a deliberate feint to draw his attention elsewhere.
“Master.”
“...You damned brat…”
He recognized the voice at once. His disciple Uncheon, who had left on the Buhal Mountain Villa commission, had returned.
Despite the grumbling tone, Yo Chusang’s eyes shone with bright laughter.
“Playing pranks means you handled the job cleanly, I take it.”
“Yes, Master. Everything was settled safely.”
“Sit.”
Uncheon took a seat beside Yo Chusang and recounted the entire affair in careful detail. Yo Chusang’s eyes glittered with interest. Though he was only listening, he became so absorbed that it felt as if he himself had lived through every moment.
When the tale was finished, he offered a word of caution.
“Fortunate. Completing the commission is well and good, but I don’t like how freely you throw your life into the fight.”
“I know, Master. The moment I feel I’ve crossed the limit I can endure, I’ll pull back.”
“Good. Life is more important than pride. That’s my clever disciple. Still, we can’t have such close calls, so rest well today. Starting tomorrow we intensify your training in Sal-ui-gong.”
Yo Chusang could feel the world turning at a frantic pace. There was no time to waste even a single day.
I must make sure the boy masters Sal-ui-gong as quickly as possible.
A heavy-set middle-aged man raced toward the Family Head’s residence. The guards of the Hunwon Family Head’s hall tensed and bellowed in unison.
“We greet the Meteor Saber Lord!”
“Is the Family Head inside?”
“Yes, my lord. You may enter the study.”
Meteor Saber Lord Peng Hu strode into the study without pause.
“Father, it is Peng Hu.”
“Enter.”
Peng Hu opened the door, stepped in, and bowed.
“Father, I bring news that must be delivered.”
“You seem in a great hurry. Speak.”
One look at how much more sharply Peng Hu’s cheekbones stood out than usual told Peng Ga-u that something major had occurred. Peng Hu glanced around carefully before answering.
“Word from the Moyong Family. Several days ago they went into full emergency.”
“Hoh hoh hoh. So they have.”
Peng Ga-u’s short laugh carried the weight of someone who had already known.
“According to what Byeokhwa Hall discovered, the Moyong Family’s Beidou Unit is moving into the Central Plains.”
“The Beidou Unit? That’s the special task force of the old Moyong Family Head’s closest confidants, isn’t it? The Moyong Family never moves for trifles. Something has definitely broken open. Have they finally obtained what we have been seeking?”
“Yes, Father. It seems they have discovered that Moyong Jeok has vanished. Judging by how swiftly they deployed the Beidou Unit, the item itself has gone missing as well.”
“Then… the chance is high that he is carrying the very thing we want.”
“I believe so. Had he not obtained it, the Moyong Family would never have stirred.”
“Excellent. We must find him first.”
“Father, leave it to me. I will take charge of this matter and see it done.”
Peng Ga-u fell silent for a moment in thought.
This requires swift movement…
He knew his son’s martial prowess was formidable, yet Peng Hu had a habit of relying too heavily on raw force for every problem. Still, the person he trusted most remained his son.
“I will entrust it to you. Move together with the Byeokcheon Unit.”
“Father, there is no need for the Byeokcheon Unit to step in.”
Peng Hu was not entirely pleased. The Byeokcheon Unit was the Family Head’s personal guard; its commander did not answer to Peng Hu, who headed the Hunwon Martial Force Hall. The unit’s leader, Peng Shin, was a younger cousin and one of the five strongest martial artists in the Hebei Peng Family.
“The Hunwon Martial Force Hall is excellent, but for pure speed nothing surpasses the Byeokcheon Unit. Move with them.”
“…Understood.”
Though reluctant, Peng Hu could not defy the Family Head’s word.
“Leave at once with the Byeokcheon Unit’s commander.”
“Yes. I will be on my way.”
Peng Hu clasped his fists in salute and left the study.
Hmph. No choice, then.
He called into empty air.
“Peng Shin, I trust you heard where the Byeokcheon Unit is headed?”
“Yes, Elder Brother.”
“Our target is Moyong Jeok. I want to know which direction he is moving as quickly as possible.”
“Understood. I’ll send scouting parties at once.”
“Good. Keep our movements hidden from every other faction.”
“I will follow quietly in your shadow, Elder Brother.”
Peng Hu finished his preparations to leave with maximum haste. Before half a shichen had passed, he and the Byeokcheon Unit had departed the Hebei Peng Family estate.
Sseuk.
“Uncle, please drink.”
A young man in his late twenties, his skin almost translucent in its fairness, set down the teapot and regarded the middle-aged man sipping tea. Though the man’s brows were slender, his bright complexion made them appear all the denser. Eyes closed, he savored the fragrance and the taste lingering on his tongue—Baekri Jong-yong, Military Advisor of the present Wulin Alliance.
“Excellent, as always.”
Setting the cup down, Baekri Jong-yong’s mouth curved faintly upward as he looked at the younger man.
“How has my nephew been faring of late?”
“I have been training diligently in the Rising Dragon Hall.”
“Good. In the Central Plains one never knows what may happen, or when. To stay even a single step ahead of others, one must always be prepared. You are in the Rising Dragon Hall now, but once you have accumulated experience you must climb higher still.”
“I will keep Uncle’s counsel firmly in mind.”
Baekri So lifted the teapot and refilled the empty cup. At that moment a man’s voice sounded outside the door.
“Military Advisor, an urgent dispatch has arrived from the Secret Army Guard.”
“Enter.”
Deureuk.
The door opened and a large-faced middle-aged man waddled in with hurried, almost comical steps. Yet no one in the Wulin Alliance dared mock him. Said to possess two brains, he was the brilliant strategist who served Baekri Jong-yong—Ganjimok, known as Ssangnoeja, the Double Thunder.
“M-Military Advisor, I greet you.”
“Ssangnoeja, what is it?”
“Suspicious movements have been detected in Hebei!”
“Speak precisely.”
“We have confirmed that the Moyong Family’s Beidou Unit and the Hebei Peng Family’s Byeokcheon Unit are both advancing into the Central Plains.”
“Hrm. Both great houses moving at once… This is no ordinary matter. What drives them?”
“According to reports from the Beggars’ Sect, both parties appear to be pursuing a single individual.”
“Hardly a simple affair, then.”
“Indeed.”
Baekri Jong-yong could not help but take interest.
“Ssangnoeja, have we identified the man they are hunting?”
“Yes. It is most likely Moyong Jeok, the fifth son of the Moyong Family Head.”
“The Family Head’s own son?”
Baekri Jong-yong sensed the matter was growing heavier still.
“Simply watching may become a problem. The Alliance itself may need to intervene.”
Listening nearby, Baekri So’s eyes lit up. He spoke carefully.
“Uncle, I wish for the Phoenix Dragon Unit to take charge of this matter.”
“My nephew, is it?”
Baekri Jong-yong could read the fierce desire blazing in the younger man’s gaze.
“The Phoenix Dragon Unit is more than capable of handling it.”
“Hmm…”
The Phoenix Dragon Unit to which Baekri So belonged was part of the Rising Dragon Hall, itself one of the Eight Dragon Halls that formed the Alliance’s martial arm. Unlike other units, however, the Phoenix Dragon Unit was composed of the foremost rising talents from every major sect across the Central Plains. Its pride was correspondingly fierce.
“You turn twenty-five this year, correct?”
“Yes. Next year I leave the Phoenix Dragon Unit.”
“Then this is a timely opportunity. I will speak with the Rising Dragon Hall Master. Lead the Phoenix Dragon Unit and take this matter in hand.”
“Uncle, thank you. Thank you for entrusting it to me.”
“Coordinate closely with the Beggars’ Sect.”
“Yes. I will resolve it so perfectly that you need never worry.”
Baekri So offered a swift farewell and withdrew from the Military Advisor’s hall.
To think such a fine chance would fall into my lap…!
It was an opportunity to make his name known not only within the Wulin Alliance but throughout the entire Central Plains murim. Baekri So hurried toward the Rising Dragon Hall where the Phoenix Dragon Unit was quartered.
Once he had gone, Ssangnoeja Ganjimok watched Baekri Jong-yong quietly sipping tea and ventured a cautious question.
“Military Advisor, this does not seem a matter that can be left entirely to the Phoenix Dragon Unit.”
“Hahaha. Do you not trust the boy?”
“Trust aside—if the Byeokcheon Unit and the Beidou Unit are staking their lives, will the Phoenix Dragon Unit not find the burden heavy?”
“Hoh. Then what would you have us do?”
“If the Alliance cannot send more of its own, I will contact the Louzhong Pavilion outside and have them trail the Phoenix Dragon Unit.”
“Mm. You would use the force you yourself have cultivated?”
“Without the Military Advisor’s aid I could never have raised them.”
“Very well, if you are willing. But see that the Phoenix Dragon Unit never notices.”
“You need not worry. Unless they must act, no one will ever detect them.”
“Hoh hoh hoh. Ssangnoeja, does it not finally feel as though we are living like proper men again?”
Baekri Jong-yong smiled brightly.
“Yes, Military Advisor. It has been far too quiet of late. Perhaps before long even the Alliance Leader will begin to stretch and wake.”
“Perhaps. Someone has set the pendulum of destiny swinging once more.”
Baekri Jong-yong drained the last of his tea in a single swallow.
What kind of sky would open now?
Whatever happens, the world is about to become interesting. Hoh hoh hoh.
Hwik!
Uncheon lay on his bed, tossing from side to side, restless.
The precious treasure Man Chugeum obtained… it must have been a martial manual.
He thought of Yang Hui, who belonged to the Sangcheon United Kingdom. From the information he had gleaned from her, it was certain that the lord of the Middle Kingdom’s Merchant State had stumbled upon an extraordinary martial text by pure chance.
Of course. Only something of that magnitude would set the entire murim into such a frenzy.
Beolteok!
Uncheon sat bolt upright.
“The Cheonhwangdo Map…”
Of the four items, the two said to have been given to close friends almost certainly referred to pieces of the Cheonhwangdo Map. Yet the memoirs never named those friends of the Merchant State’s final lord.
“If I ask Young Lady Yang, she might know.”
Her own ancestors had been close to the Merchant State’s lord; she might hold some clue to the identities of those two friends—Sun and Hong.
“But… Myeolmusangcheon, who sent Jeokbalgoein, also knows the contents of the Hoesang-rok, yet they never identified those people either. There may be no trail at all…”
Just as Uncheon reasoned, if Myeolmusangcheon had already known who Man Chugeum’s confidants were, they would never have needed to come to Buhal Mountain Villa hunting the memoirs.
Next time I meet Young Lady Yang, I should ask.
After returning to the Yaweol Sect, Uncheon had thrown himself into intensive training in Sal-ui-gong under Yo Chusang.
Sharreurreurreuk—
Uncheon stepped into the garden entrance and unfurled his movement technique. When soundlessness, scentlessness, and shadowlessness settled over the Heavenly Wind Movement Art, his form became utterly untraceable.
Yo Chusang could not help but marvel.
There is no more perfect Killing Intent Step in this world.
If even the act of moving itself could not be detected, there was no longer any need to hide, nor any need to wait for an opponent to drop their guard. One simply walked naturally toward the target and subdued them.
Watching the vanished Uncheon, he muttered,
“An assassin conceals himself and overpowers his target in a single breath. That alone is enough—what more is required?”
“Is that so?”
…!
Yo Chusang startled and turned to find Uncheon standing right beside him, as if he had been there the entire time.
Though he wanted to praise the boy, Yo Chusang forced the words down and spoke as though nothing were amiss.
“Well done. You have only just stepped onto the first stage of Sal-ui-gong—Mua, No-Self.”
“Ah… Master, so this isn’t the end?”
“Tsk tsk. Did you think Sal-ui-gong was child’s play?”
“No, no. If it ended here it would be far too dull.”
“Hahaha. Don’t grow arrogant. But this is as far as I, your master, can teach you. The disciple must train further and ascend to the second stage—Jina, True Self.”
“What is True Self?”
“I do not know the details myself. I have only heard that True Self means the existence of a non-existent being.”
Uncheon turned the words over in his mind.
“Mm… so something that is not, is? Or something unseen becomes seen… It’s difficult.”
“Which is why you must train harder and awaken to it yourself, is it not? Only when you grasp True Self can you be said to have truly cultivated Sal-ui-gong.”
“Yes. It will be hard, but I will train with all my strength.”
Meanwhile, two pairs of eyes watched the pair from afar—Horyeong Salgaek Shin Hyeokmu and Sect Leader Gong Hwaseon.
“Elder Brother, what do you think?”
“….”
Seeing him remain silent, Gong Hwaseon smiled.
“There is no longer any assassin in our sect who can capture that man, is there?”
“His skill is fine… but he is still young.”
Sseuk.
“Age means nothing in martial arts, does it?”
It was Ha Jiryeon’s voice. Ever since returning from Buhal Mountain Villa she had fully acknowledged Uncheon’s ability.
“I mean he lacks experience. He may fight well enough, but…”
“Is that truly so?”
“….”
“Experience aside, we could not even detect his presence itself. Is that not already the end of the matter?”
“If one cannot kill, one is no assassin.”
“Well, he isn’t an assassin, so of course he doesn’t kill. But if it ever became a matter of life and death, that would change, don’t you think?”
Shin Hyeokmu found he had no further reply. Gong Hwaseon spoke with a smile.
“Elder Brother, we may be watching the man who will become the greatest figure our assassin sect has ever produced. I am truly excited. I wonder just how remarkable he will become.”
Her eyes sparkled as she gazed at Uncheon in the distance.