The Longer the Night, the More Dreams There Are
"Huh?"
"Talking so much because of you has left my mouth dry. Go fetch some water."
"Y-yes, right away."
Wang Oh, completely overpowered by Dan Yeop’s aura, couldn’t even think of talking back. He simply turned and left.
He never realized he had just become the first trainee to run a personal errand for Dan Yeop.
A short while later Wang Oh returned with the water. Dan Yeop drank it in large, indifferent gulps.
"Ah, that hits the spot. Wang Oh."
"Yes?"
"You understand the terror of the Heaven and Earth Technique a little better now, don’t you?"
"Yes…"
"How polite. It suits you. Even a bit cute."
"……"
Wang Oh’s face flushed crimson with shame, yet he couldn’t muster the courage to explode.
The final move Dan Yeop had displayed had utterly crushed his spirit.
"You may leave."
At the curt dismissal, Wang Oh bowed deeply and fled.
Jang So-pal, who had been watching in stunned silence, asked carefully.
"Um… Senior Dan, have you truly reached great success in the Heaven and Earth Technique?"
"I don’t lie."
"If someone reaches great success in it, can they really perform Wind and Cloud Scattering Flowers the way you just did?"
"Obviously. It would be strange if they couldn’t."
"Really?"
"Have you been deceived your whole life? Why is it so hard to believe someone? That was easier than drinking water."
Dan Yeop flicked the wooden spoon again, as if to prove his point.
Swoosh—!
Buzzzzz—!
With a sound like a wasp in flight, the wooden spoon spun once around the table and flew back into his hand.
Retrieving it, Dan Yeop spoke with a triumphant expression.
"See? Once you grasp the mystery of the three forms of Wind and Cloud Scattering Flowers, it’s nothing difficult."
"Whoa! So the Heaven and Earth Technique was actually that incredible?"
"Truth has always been simple."
"Senior, I admire you deeply."
Jang So-pal gazed at Dan Yeop with burning eyes.
The Heaven and Earth Technique was considered a representative low-grade martial art within Haomun. To think such refined skill was possible with it!
The realization that ‘Even Haomun’s martial arts become magnificent when mastered!’ made his chest swell with pride.
Rumors of Dan Yeop’s demonstration spread like wildfire among the trainees:
• Dan Yeop attained great success in the Heaven and Earth Technique after fourteen years.
• With great success in the Heaven and Earth Technique, the three forms can be performed as flying blade techniques.
• Wang Oh, shocked by Dan Yeop’s display, wet his pants in fear.
• The terrified Wang Oh was reduced to running errands for Dan Yeop.
The claim that “Wang Oh wet his pants” was a malicious exaggeration, but because many already disliked the boy, it refused to die.
Not everyone believed Dan Yeop had truly reached such a level, but most accepted that he had shown a remarkable skill and that Wang Oh had been thoroughly cowed by it.
Afternoon training session. Amun training hall.
When Chief Instructor Dan Bul-wi spotted Dan Yeop, his eyes lit with expectation. Sure enough, the words he had been waiting for soon left the young man’s mouth.
"Father, how long has it been since I last came to see you?"
"I met the dunce Dan Yeop yesterday morning, so it has been a day and a half."
"I heard he was tormented by Wang Oh in the Seonmun training hall all morning. It seems they decided to hand him over to me for the afternoon as well."
"I see. By the way, about that scar on your neck…"
"Yes. What did he say?"
"I asked, but he avoided answering. I could sense the wound in his heart runs deep. Nine times out of ten it must have been done by someone close to him."
"It may not have been his parents. He could have been raised by grandparents or other relatives."
Having learned about the world through books, Dan Yeop found it difficult to accept that parents could do such a thing.
Since Dan Bul-wi knew nothing of the matter, he offered no objection.
"I don’t think I can do anything more about that issue."
"Understood. Thank you for your trouble."
Dan Yeop did not press the matter further. He felt that once his connection with the dunce Dan Yeop deepened, the truth would reveal itself.
"Oh, there may be an exit examination this winter."
"That’s sooner than expected. Are things outside really that bad?"
"They’re getting worse by the day. People have even begun suggesting we hire ronin."
"Even if they are Byeongmachong trainees, only a handful are immediately useful."
"Still, they are far superior to ordinary Haomun members. After all, they have spent eight or nine years shut away training in martial arts."
"To the point of mobilizing even children… Can unifying Haomun across the ten provinces truly be achieved this way?"
Dan Yeop looked at Dan Bul-wi with doubtful eyes. He had believed the Guannei Circuit’s Haomun held overwhelming power, but that no longer seemed to be the case.
In response to Dan Yeop’s question—Can the Haomun of the ten provinces truly be unified this way?—Dan Bul-wi shrugged.
"They called it the One Hundred Year Plan, so perhaps it will be possible in about a hundred years."
In truth, he had been pessimistic about the One Hundred Year Plan from the beginning. His continued stay in the Byeongmachong had not been by choice but by necessity. Naturally, he was displeased with how the leaders of the six branches in the Guannei Circuit were conducting themselves.
Dan Yeop nodded as though he had expected the answer.
"I can leave anytime. My only worry is that the clumsy dunce Dan Yeop might get caught up in a fight."
"Don’t worry about that. The dunce Dan Yeop will be assigned to the Iron Dog Corps, the unit that handles all the miscellaneous chores."
The Guannei Circuit’s Haomun possessed five main combat organizations.
At the top was the Stormwind Corps. Below them were the Blue Wolf Corps, White Wolf Corps, Black Wolf Corps, and Crimson Swallow Corps.
The Iron Dog Corps followed these five combat units and performed all the menial labor—cooking, laundry, setting up camps, and so on.
"Does the name mean ‘dogs made of iron’?"
"Exactly. It means work without rest, like iron hounds. They’re the support unit that follows the combat organizations and takes care of everything behind the scenes."
Only then did Dan Yeop’s expression brighten. If the dunce Dan Yeop were to die in battle, he himself would perish as well.
"Father, do you believe the war between the Haomun branches will continue?"
"The person currently leading the Guannei Circuit’s Haomun is Ha So-ran, leader of the Gimun branch. So the matter largely depends on her capabilities."
"Couldn’t the Haomun branches from the other circuits stubbornly insist on war?"
"The branches from the other circuits don’t unite that easily. They’re too busy taking care of themselves. If Ha So-ran wants to stop, they will stop."
It was precisely this tendency that caused Haomun to be looked down upon throughout the Jianghu in the first place.
"Right now our Guannei Circuit has taken control of the Hadong Circuit, correct?"
"Not completely, but nearly so."
"The Byeongmachong has produced so many talents. Why have the results been so meager?"
"The biggest reason is that the martial prowess of the trainees raised in the Byeongmachong isn’t particularly high. As you know, the martial arts of the six branches are all roughly the same level. When they first planned the One Hundred Year Plan they had grand ambitions, but when they actually tried it, the only real result was a slight increase in numbers."
"And that number was still something the other circuits’ Haomun branches could handle through alliances?"
"Correct. Some even joined hands with the Evil Factions. I heard that was why our side suffered greater losses than expected."
"Is it acceptable to ally with the Evil Factions?"
"Originally, no. The Five Great Orthodox Sword Sects watch them like hawks. If the Evil Factions move, the Five Great Orthodox Sword Sects will not sit still."
"Yet they still joined hands with them?"
"The Five Great Orthodox Sword Sects should have ordered their subordinate sects to restrain the Evil Factions. That is what they have done until now regarding other sects’ affairs."
"But they pretended not to see when it came to Haomun’s war?"
"It means they do not recognize Haomun as a proper faction of the Murim. Well, that is the current reality of Haomun. In truth, the Evil Faction members who got involved in Haomun’s war were fools. They probably jumped in hoping to earn a few coins, but considering the face of the Evil Factions, it was something they should never have done."
"Pursuing practical gain over face isn’t necessarily madness. Does the Guannei Circuit’s Haomun refuse help from the Evil Factions?"
"Ha So-ran despises the Evil Factions. Since they harass the Gimun branch every day, it’s only natural. Besides, there are no ordinary factions nearby that she can ask for help. Haomun is a secretive organization and has never associated with other factions."
"So that’s why they operated the Byeongmachong."
"Correct. But the results fell short of expectations, and this mess is the consequence."
Dan Yeop was speechless. To think the Five Great Orthodox Sword Sects did not even treat them as proper factions!
He now understood why the leaders of the six branches were so desperate to unify Haomun across the ten provinces.
After finishing his conversation with Dan Bul-wi, Dan Yeop took his travel bag and water bottle and headed to the training grounds.
Guannei Circuit. Chang’an Castle. Hyunmu Hall.
Hyunmu Hall was a martial hall established by the Zhongnan Sect’s peerless expert, the Iron Sword Invincible No Hyeon-am. Though called a hall, its power surpassed that of most ordinary sects and exerted enormous influence on both the Orthodox and Unorthodox sides.
Deep in the night, two elderly men sat facing each other in the innermost area of Hyunmu Hall, engaged in a game of Go.
They were the Zhongnan Sect elder, the Wandering Cloud Swordsman Lee Ha-jin, and the master of Hyunmu Hall, the Iron Sword Invincible No Hyeon-am.
Lee Ha-jin placed a white stone on the upper right star point and spoke casually.
"The Heavenly Sword Sovereign asked whether the disturbance among the rabble was going to drag on much longer."
The Heavenly Sword Sovereign was the title of Kwak Geum-san, sect leader of the Zhongnan Sect. Lee Ha-jin was therefore conveying the words of his sect leader.
No Hyeon-am, holding a black stone, answered while placing it on the board in a straight line.
"The Black Fan Sect will likely finish things soon, so there is no need for concern."
The Black Fan Sect was a rather infamous force even among the Evil Factions of the Hadong Circuit.
A look of displeasure crossed Lee Ha-jin’s face as he held the white stones.
"It doesn’t seem right for the Evil Factions of Hadong to run amok in the Guannei Circuit…"
"The Evil Factions in the Guannei Circuit are under the influence of the Guannei Amun, so it cannot be helped. If the Evil Factions of the Guannei Circuit move, the Guannei Haomun will notice and prepare. In that case, we cannot deliver a fatal blow to them."
"If the Guannei Haomun falls, only the power of the Hadong Haomun will grow. The Heavenly Sword Sovereign wishes for the Haomun of the ten provinces to remain in their proper place."
"I am aware. The Black Fan Sect will only sever the roots of the Guannei Haomun and immediately return to Hadong. Cutting the roots will not destroy the Guannei Haomun. It will simply prevent them from expanding any further."
Lee Ha-jin nodded, placed another white stone, and spoke.
"The imperial court has sent someone to the Heavenly Sword Sovereign requesting mediation. Were it not for their petition, he would not have paid any attention. Whatever you do, finish it quickly."
"I never imagined the imperial court would take interest in Haomun’s affairs."
"They are worried that the Thousand Lotuses will expand its influence by taking advantage of the social chaos."
"Ah, the Thousand Lotuses…"
The Thousand Lotuses was a native religion built upon the foundations of Buddhism, Taoism, and Manichaeism. Manichaeism viewed the world as a struggle between good and evil. The Thousand Lotuses took it one step further, regarding the imperial family as evil and officials as its servants. It was only natural that the common people, exploited by corrupt officials, flocked to the Thousand Lotuses.
As its power grew, the Thousand Lotuses began attacking government offices and personally executing corrupt officials. Feeling threatened, the imperial family labeled the Thousand Lotuses a heretical cult and began arresting its followers. The situation had calmed once the leaders went into hiding underground, but the mere mention of the Thousand Lotuses still made the imperial court tremble.
Lee Ha-jin continued.
"The Thousand Lotuses may not interfere directly in Haomun’s affairs, but prolonged social chaos is never good. Do not drive Leader Ha So-ran into too tight a corner."
"Is Leader Ha So-ran perhaps a member of the Thousand Lotuses?"
No Hyeon-am suddenly looked up at Lee Ha-jin’s face.
Lee Ha-jin answered in a deliberately indifferent tone.
"Not exactly. However, it is said that for the past few years she has been visiting temples suspected of having connections with the Thousand Lotuses. A long night brings many dreams. Do not let small greed inflate the matter."
"I see. I will keep that in mind and bring this to a swift conclusion."