I've Fallen into Qi Deviation
A complicated tangle of emotions weighed on Dan Yeop as he trudged along. Someone suddenly stepped into his path, blocking the way.
The moment Dan Yeop saw the other person’s face, his heart sank. Oh no.
It was Yoo Ja-cho, the very person Geum Seo-jin had warned him to avoid.
Damn it! I got distracted and completely forgot about Yoo Ja-cho.
His stomach dropped, but the water had already been spilled. There was no taking it back now.
Dan Yeop couldn’t meet Yoo Ja-cho’s eyes directly and slightly turned his gaze away. Seeing that, a triumphant smirk rose on Yoo Ja-cho’s face.
He thought that even though Dan Yeop had beaten Deung-pyeong, the boy was still tucking his tail in front of him.
“Follow me.”
As a third-generation trainee, Yoo Ja-cho spoke down to Dan Yeop, a first-generation trainee, without hesitation. In Byeongmachong, where seniority was strictly observed, such behavior was unthinkable, yet Dan Yeop obediently followed.
In this place, strength trumped age or order of entry.
Having spoken like he was giving an order, Yoo Ja-cho spun on his heel and strode toward a secluded spot. Dan Yeop trailed after him like a cow being led to the slaughter, not daring to make a sound.
A short while later, once they reached a suitable location, Yoo Ja-cho glared at him and snapped, “Stand up straight.”
The instant Dan Yeop stopped, Yoo Ja-cho slapped him across the face without warning.
When the strong strike, the weak simply endure it. This wasn’t a rule that only applied in Haomun. The orthodox sects of the murim operated much the same way. The weak took the hits so they wouldn’t get hit even harder.
However…
Dan Yeop took half a step back, and Yoo Ja-cho’s palm sliced through empty air.
“What the hell? Are you seriously resisting me right now? You wanna die?!”
Enraged, Yoo Ja-cho lunged like a fierce tiger.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud—
Dull impact sounds echoed through the isolated space.
Yoo Ja-cho swung his fists and feet aggressively, but most of his strikes were blocked by Dan Yeop. Even the few blows that landed weren’t solid hits.
After launching a breathless barrage, Yoo Ja-cho suddenly retreated a step.
What’s going on? Ma-geol said he was complete trash…
Having exchanged blows himself, he could tell the boy was weak, but not nearly as pathetic as he’d been told.
“You damn monkey! You really want to do this?”
Surprised that Dan Yeop was holding up better than expected, a vicious glint appeared in Yoo Ja-cho’s eyes.
Since he couldn’t overwhelm his opponent with technique alone, he took a deep breath.
He was about to draw on the internal energy he had cultivated through the Ilwoltonap Bigyeol.
Hooooooop…
The Seonmun’s Flowing Water Heart Method and the Gakmun’s Ox-Horse Technique both stemmed from the Three Talents Heart Method. However, the Chamun’s Ilwoltonap Bigyeol originated from the Kunlun Taoist sect and boasted the greatest accumulation efficiency among the six branches.
Yoo Ja-cho, who came from the Chamun, had trained his internal energy for a full ten years since before entering the tomb. And that wasn’t all.
His father, a district leader, had even fed him wild ginseng, so his inner power far surpassed that of his peers.
“Die!”
Yoo Ja-cho charged again, throwing a punch infused with inner energy.
Whoosh! Thud—!
Dan Yeop reflexively blocked the fist, but the force still sent him staggering back two steps.
Now thoroughly incensed, Yoo Ja-cho unleashed the Cheonbung Fist as if he meant to beat him to death.
Swish! Swish! Whoosh—!
Thud! Thud! Thud—!
Under Yoo Ja-cho’s ferocious assault, Dan Yeop was forced to retreat helplessly.
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”
Groans escaped Dan Yeop’s lips every time he blocked Yoo Ja-cho’s fists.
Just moments ago, those fists had felt like stones. Now they felt like iron.
Unable to endure any longer, Dan Yeop curled into a ball. Yoo Ja-cho’s fists rained down on his hunched back like a hailstorm.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud—!
“You damn monkey! If you’d acted like this from the start, you wouldn’t have gotten beaten so much! Why ask for more punishment, you bastard?!”
With every inner-energy-infused punch, Dan Yeop thought, I’m going to die at this rate.
His mind grew hazy. Without realizing it, he began reciting the mnemonic for the Simjeongdan Gong.
In that instant, a cold yet scorching energy surged from his danjeon, shooting straight up through his chungmaek.
The icy-hot qi ignored Dan Yeop’s will entirely and plunged straight into his cheongwan.
Flash—!
The intense burst of light snapped him back to his senses. Dan Yeop couldn’t understand the current situation at all.
He had fallen asleep on his bed, so why was he being beaten?
Judging by the trajectory of the fists flying toward his upper body, it was the Cheonbung Fist.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap—!
Dan Yeop casually brushed aside the opponent’s punches and shouted, “Wait!”
Startled that his attack had been blocked so suddenly, Yoo Ja-cho took a cautious step back.
“What? Are you going to beg for forgiveness now that it’s too late?”
Dan Yeop stared at him with a puzzled expression before asking, “I don’t understand what’s happening right now, so could you explain? Who are you, and why are you fighting me?”
“Ha! Fuck, this monkey is spouting all kinds of nonsense now. You really don’t know who I am?”
“Nope. Who are you?”
Yoo Ja-cho thought Dan Yeop’s serious face might actually mean he was telling the truth.
After all, there was only one first-generation trainee, and he was famously an idiot. While Yoo Ja-cho obviously knew who Dan Yeop was, it was possible Dan Yeop didn’t know him.
“I’m third-generation trainee Yoo Ja-cho. Why am I beating you? Because you hit Deung-pyeong yesterday. Got it now?”
“Deung-pyeong? That narrow-eyed, sneaky-looking kid?”
“Yeah. Now that you understand, let’s keep going.”
“Sigh! Haomun really is a mess. No one here respects rank.”
At Dan Yeop’s lament, Yoo Ja-cho sneered, “There is a hierarchy. You’re just at the very bottom. Did you seriously think that entering earlier meant you’d be treated as a senior? That’s shameless, you bastard. A guy like you can only become a gigolo once he leaves. No matter how low Haomun is, we can’t treat a gigolo like a senior, right?”
“You’re calling me a gigolo?”
“You’ve got the face of a pretty boy who could work in a brothel, but you can’t even wipe your own ass alone. So you’ll have to latch onto a courtesan to survive. Heh heh.”
“This won’t do. You need to be taught a lesson. Come at me.”
“Crazy bastard! The guy who was getting beaten until now suddenly has a big mouth. Fine, here I come, you son of a bitch!”
Yoo Ja-cho leaped forward like a tiger. This time, having raised his inner energy from the start, his momentum was on another level.
Whoosh! Swish! Swish—!
Yet none of his fists even came close to Dan Yeop.
“You slippery eel bastard! I’ll kill you if I catch you!”
Yoo Ja-cho’s fists switched from the Cheonbung Fist to the Beoncheon Su grasping technique.
He tried to seize Dan Yeop with hook-like hands, but the result was the same.
“Oh, after Cheonbung Fist comes Beoncheon Su? Not bad. Got anything else?”
At Dan Yeop’s taunt, Yoo Ja-cho’s face flushed red then purple with rage.
Completely furious, he let out a roar and unleashed a flurry of punches.
The Hohak Ssangsu Kwon was simple, but its destructive power was unmatched. He hoped that even one of his strikes would land by chance.
But Yoo Ja-cho’s fists kept grazing Dan Yeop without actually touching him.
“Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!”
Exhausted from the continuous missed attacks, Yoo Ja-cho was panting with his shoulders heaving when—
The slippery Dan Yeop suddenly closed in and stabbed his right gyeonjeong acupoint with a finger.
“Ugh!”
With a short cry, Yoo Ja-cho’s right arm dropped limply.
“Huk! Acupoint sealing?!”
Yoo Ja-cho’s mouth fell open in shock.
Sealing an opponent’s pressure points to subdue them was a technique only high-level experts from prestigious sects could perform. The fact that Dan Yeop had done something so difficult left him stunned.
Dan Yeop said with a blunt expression, “Not really? I just pressed randomly. Your body must be weak.”
“What kind of bullsh— Keuk!”
When Dan Yeop’s finger stabbed his left gyeonjeong acupoint, Yoo Ja-cho’s left arm also fell uselessly.
“Calling your senior bullshit? Have you lost your mind?”
With those words, Dan Yeop kicked Yoo Ja-cho’s calf with the tip of his foot.
“Agh!”
With a short scream, Yoo Ja-cho collapsed to the ground. The moment he was hit, it felt like his calf had been shattered.
Ugh, what is this? Why does it hurt so much?
Both gyeonjeong points felt like they’d been pierced by spears, and his calf felt like it had been smashed by a mace.
The Dan Yeop from just moments ago hadn’t been like this. It felt like he was possessed by a ghost.
As Yoo Ja-cho grit his teeth against the pain, Dan Yeop’s voice reached his ear.
“Your name was Yoo Ja-cho, right?”
“So what?”
In that instant, Dan Yeop’s palm slammed into Yoo Ja-cho’s face.
“Ack!”
Yoo Ja-cho, who had been holding his head high, screamed and fell backward.
As he staggered back to his feet, Dan Yeop asked, “You don’t know your place?”
“……”
“Answer me.”
“…I do.”
“Speak.”
“What… do you want me to say?”
“Everything that happened between us.”
“What do you mean…?”
“If you don’t speak properly, I’ll kick your other calf too.”
At Dan Yeop’s threat, Yoo Ja-cho flinched and asked carefully, “What exactly do you want me to say?”
“Explain in detail from the beginning how we fought.”
Dan Yeop wanted to confirm what had happened because it seemed his personality had switched in the middle of the fight.
“I came here and traded fists with Senior… Dan. Even while getting hit, Senior endured, so I used my inner energy. From then on, I was beating you one-sidedly, but suddenly your eyes rolled back and… this happened.”
“So in a battle of techniques, I was taking hits but still holding on?”
“……”
Yoo Ja-cho was so dumbfounded by Dan Yeop speaking as if it were someone else’s story that he couldn’t answer.
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
“I see. Now I understand.”
When he had first woken up in the stone chamber in the northern outskirts, he couldn’t make sense of anything. But if his personality had split during the fight with Yoo Ja-cho, there was no longer any doubt.
So when I use inner energy, my personality splits and I awaken. When I fall asleep, I return to the original personality.
Realizing the cycle of his personality split left him stunned.
As Dan Yeop fell silent, Yoo Ja-cho, who had been watching him nervously, spoke cautiously.
“Um… Senior Dan, if you have nothing more to say, I’ll be going back now…”
“Ja-cho.”
“Yes?”
Yoo Ja-cho flinched when Dan Yeop suddenly called him in such a friendly tone. It was the same way he spoke when tormenting his own juniors.
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say, and spread it around.”
“Spread it?”
“Yes. Spread it far and wide.”
“Ah… yes…”
Yoo Ja-cho focused, wondering what nonsense Dan Yeop was about to spout.
“In the Zhongyong it says, ‘Sincerity is the way of Heaven, and to become sincere is the way of man.’ Mencius also said that honesty is the best policy. So here’s the thing—I’ve fallen into qi deviation.”
“Pardon?”
Yoo Ja-cho looked at Dan Yeop with a dumbfounded expression.
This monkey who hadn’t even finished reading the Thousand Character Classic in thirteen years was suddenly quoting the Zhongyong and Mencius, claiming he had fallen into qi deviation.
“I don’t know if you know this, but I’ve been training the Bunsim Gong. Do you know what Bunsim Gong is…?”
“It’s a heart method that splits the mind in two, isn’t it?”
“You know it well. After learning Bunsim Gong, I ended up splitting into two.”
“Um, Senior Dan, I believe the ‘splitting the mind’ in Bunsim Gong doesn’t mean that…”
“That’s why I said I’ve fallen into qi deviation.”
“Ah… I see…”
Since Dan Yeop insisted, Yoo Ja-cho simply accepted it. There was no point arguing here.
“The two of us don’t remember what the other does. Understand?”
“Huh?”
“So… ah, never mind. Just don’t ask questions, don’t argue, and don’t pick fights with me. What did I just say?”
“Don’t ask questions, don’t argue, and don’t pick fights.”
“Before that.”
“Qi deviation?”
“Correct. Go tell everyone that Senior Dan Yeop has fallen into qi deviation, so they shouldn’t touch him. Wait, no. Should I tell them to touch him? Yeah, that’s better.”
Dan Yeop realized he had almost made a mistake.
For his current personality to awaken, he needed others to force him to use inner energy.
“Ja-cho.”
“Yes?”
“Tell the trainees to pick fights with Dan Yeop. He needs to get beaten a bit.”
“What…?”
Yoo Ja-cho looked at Dan Yeop with strange eyes.
Talking about himself as if he were a different person, and now this… He really didn’t seem sane.
Holy crap! This guy’s actually gone crazy.