Inseparable Friends
Even the original Dunce Dan Yeop might have said yes, but Genius Dan Yeop truly would not.
Then Son Yu-baek struck without warning.
“Excellent. How about my granddaughter as your companion?”
“Your granddaughter? Surely you don’t mean Young Lady Son?”
“That’s right. She’s my granddaughter, yet she’s second to none. Not only is she deeply learned, she excels in poetry, calligraphy, and painting—the Three Perfections—and is known throughout Chang’an Castle as one of the Three Beauties. I’ve always said no one was worthy of her…”
“Um, I’m terribly sorry, but I have no intention of courting anyone just yet.”
Son Yu-baek’s eyes widened at Dan Yeop’s firm refusal.
His granddaughter was so demure and beautiful that matchmakers never stopped calling. To reject such a treasure outright…
“Well, this is just a question, but perhaps you prefer men—”
“I like women only.”
“Good, I thought as much. A fine young man like you wouldn’t be otherwise. Then, when do you plan to start courting?”
Son Yu-baek, who found Dan Yeop far too appealing, pressed on shamelessly. Even without his daughter-in-law’s repeated pleas, he had no desire to let Dan Yeop slip away.
“I’ll be honest. I happened to obtain a boyhood cultivation method during my wandering days and am currently practicing it. Once I reach mastery, I intend to meet someone.”
Son Yu-baek blinked in disbelief. “That boyhood method… I’ve heard it’s extremely difficult to master. Is there a reason you must practice it?”
“If a man draws his blade, he ought to at least cut something with it.”
“Hmph. Very well. I understand for now. I won’t mention this to my daughter-in-law—pretend I never heard it. But promise me one thing.”
“What is it?”
“Once you master it, let me know as well. Ah, that isn’t me saying I’ll keep my granddaughter waiting until then. It’s simply that, with your talent, I suspect you’ll achieve it within a few years.”
A few years was something he could wait for.
Dan Yeop found himself nodding at the earnest look in Son Yu-baek’s eyes.
“I will.”
Yet he held no expectations. Once Son Yu-baek learned he was from Haomun, he would surely distance himself, just as Na Bu-gang and his sister had.
Even the siblings of a merchant house had kept their distance over matters of reputation—how much more so a family of high officials?
At Dan Yeop’s promise, Son Yu-baek’s wrinkles smoothed into a bright smile.
“Don’t forget that promise. The Sons’ stubbornness is something even heaven cannot break.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Thus the old man and the youth made a promise with no fixed date.
The shop will be closed on the twentieth of the twelfth month. Please collect your ordered spices by the beginning of the Si hour (9 a.m.). Thank you.
The next day.
Early in the morning, a courier arrived at the annex and delivered a letter to Dan Yeop. A smile spread across his face as he read the sealed note.
The twentieth was tomorrow. That meant he would appoint the branch leader in front of the Jeommun disciples tomorrow.
His heart already raced at the thought of seeing Baek Yu-hwa.
As he placed the letter into the brazier and lit it with a fire poker, a maid approached cautiously.
“Young Master Dan, the master requests your presence for breakfast.”
“Ah, yes.”
Dan Yeop rose quickly after watching the letter burn. Thanks to the heart demon, he was receiving VIP treatment—pleasant, yet somehow awkward. Especially the middle-aged beauty; she was so attentive it made him feel guilty. It was as if a mother were doting on a precious child. At times she even fussed over him more than her own son, Son Ji-heon, which left him embarrassed more than once.
The more she did so, the fiercer Son Ji-heon’s glare became, but what could be done? He didn’t know when he would leave the annex, so he might as well eat well while he was here.
The inner hall.
After greeting Son Yu-baek and the middle-aged beauty with proper respect, Dan Yeop took his seat. Perhaps he had grown accustomed to it—sitting among the Son family no longer felt strange.
Just as he picked up his chopsticks, Son Yeon-hwa quietly filled the cup before him with tea. Dan Yeop gave her an awkward smile and a nod of thanks. Her pale cheeks flushed like peach blossoms.
Son Ji-heon, who happened to witness it, spoke with ill intent. “Yeon-hwa, fill my cup to the brim as well.”
Flustered, Son Yeon-hwa reached for the teapot, but the middle-aged beauty gently stopped her hand.
“Yeon-hwa, you don’t pour tea for just anyone.”
Provoked, Son Ji-heon finally spoke up. “Mother, why am I ‘just anyone’? Young Master Dan is allowed, so why not me?”
“Young Master Dan is Grandfather’s honored guest. You are not. You shouldn’t try to order others around already.”
“Ha! That’s too much. ‘Others’? She’s my little sister. And Young Master Dan is…”
Son Yu-baek cut him off. “Ji-heon.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“Are you attending the National Academy properly?”
“Pardon? Yes…”
“Is it Doctor Yi who teaches the Three Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals?”
“Yes…”
Once the conversation turned serious, Son Ji-heon’s voice shrank. As someone who dreamed of becoming a martial artist, he was weak in academics.
“Let’s eat quietly. You can manage that, can’t you?”
“Yes…”
Son Ji-heon lowered his head and stuffed food into his mouth, chewing mechanically. Perhaps he really ought to rent a room at an inn.
That night.
Dan Yeop took up his horizontal blade and stepped into the rear courtyard of the annex. The rear courtyard was hidden from the inner residence, so practicing martial arts there would not be seen.
‘There will surely be plenty of talk tomorrow.’
Recalling the fellow trainees he had lived with at Byeongmachong left a bitter taste in his mouth. He wanted to show his best side before Baek Yu-hwa.
He could now perform Haomun’s True Three Great Saber Techniques with his eyes closed. The forms had become so ingrained that he no longer remembered their original shapes.
That alone was not enough. He needed to be overwhelming enough that the trainees would not even think of picking a fight.
He began moving the blade slowly. Perhaps it was the different texture of his emotions—teeth clenched—that caused white saber qi to ripple along the edge of the horizontal blade.
Shhh—
Even the sound of it cleaving the air was extraordinary.
Dan Yeop gradually sank into a state of selflessness. His single-minded focus on Baek Yu-hwa became a single intent, and that intent soon led to the Uninterrupted Stage—an endless continuation of single-mindedness and single intent.
For the first time, Dunce Dan Yeop attempted to break through a wall by his own power. It was a realization different from that of the heart demon, the self-proclaimed greatest talent under heaven who still knew nothing of love.
Crackle—!
Saber qi that had been flowing along the blade’s edge burst forth like sparks.
Dan Yeop’s saber dance carried a faintly sorrowful air. Perhaps it was due to his somewhat subdued expression.
Son Ji-heon, who had been thoroughly scolded by his family that day, could not fall asleep easily. He kicked off his blanket, rose, and went for a nighttime stroll.
Just as his thoughts drifted from “Why was I born?” to “Where do people go when they die?”, a strange sound reached his ears. It resembled the noise of lighting a fire poker, or the sound of a taut silk thread being sliced by a blade.
In any case, it was a tearing sound he had never heard in his life. Son Ji-heon circled around the annex.
And then he saw it.
Beneath the crescent moon, a dreamlike saber dance that dazzled the eyes. Every time the blade cut through the air, saber qi burst forth like sparks.
Crackle—!
“Hah! How can such a martial art exist in this world!”
He had seen Dan Yeop carrying a blade several times before and had dismissed him as a pretentious upstart. Such people were common enough to trip over outside the city gates. But what on earth was that saber dance?
He had trained at the Black Tortoise Hall for three years and never seen anything like it. Even after begging his grandfather for a fortune to study under a renowned elder of the Zhongnan Sect for two years, the result was the same.
‘Dan Yeop—no, Brother Dan—no, Master Dan…’
In that moment, hidden in the shadows of the annex, Son Ji-heon resolved to take Dan Yeop as his master.
While Son Ji-heon watched from hiding, Dan Yeop’s training approached its climax. He had long since moved beyond the forms of the True Three Great Saber Techniques. He simply thrust, slashed, and drew the blade through the air as his qi guided him.
His movements resembled flowing water—majestically crossing the plains like a river, then plunging like a waterfall, raging like rapids before gently winding onward.
Then, at a certain moment, his blade extended toward the sky. Saber qi shot forth from its tip like lightning and vanished into the night sky.
Crackle—!
Having expended his energy, Dan Yeop sheathed the blade and remained still for a while, savoring the afterglow of a new realm.
Shortly after, when he turned around, someone emerged from the darkness.
It was Son Ji-heon.
Dan Yeop paused upon recognizing the other’s face. ‘Did he see?’
Judging by Son Ji-heon’s changed expression, he had.
As expected—
Son Ji-heon immediately clasped his hands and bowed at the waist. “Young Master Dan, I apologize. I came out for a walk because I couldn’t sleep and ended up witnessing your training unintentionally.”
“Ah, yes.”
Dan Yeop decided the water was already spilled and brushed past him. Haomun’s martial arts were no great secret of the murim, and it was his own fault for training in a place where others might see.
Then Son Ji-heon spoke. “Young Master Dan.”
Dan Yeop turned to look at him. Son Ji-heon hesitated before speaking with difficulty.
“I apologize for the times I picked fights with you out of jealousy. Please forgive me.”
“……”
Dan Yeop was taken aback by the sudden apology. The heart demon had not recorded a single line about their quarrels.
‘It seems Young Master Son was the only one waging a battle of nerves against the heart demon.’
He roughly understood the situation now.
“Ah, yes. Thank you for saying that.”
Since the other offered an apology, Dan Yeop accepted it. Otherwise he might be labeled petty.
“I attend the National Academy, but honestly I have neither talent nor interest in academics. That’s why I’m failing to meet the expectations of my elders.”
“Ah, yes…”
“I’ve studied martial arts at the Black Tortoise Hall since childhood and later received instruction from a Zhongnan Sect elder for several years. Still, my thirst for martial studies remains unquenched. Of course, part of it was my own lack of talent. While friends who entered around the same time as me advanced rapidly, I was forced into the National Academy by Grandfather’s insistence. The farther I moved from martial arts, the more…”
Dan Yeop did not understand why Son Ji-heon was pouring out his life story, but he listened. He could not simply walk away from someone earnestly sharing their story. As he listened, he found quite a few similarities between them. Being the same age, their worries were much the same. Especially the lament over lacking talent struck close to home.
Hadn’t he himself been called a blockhead for over a decade?
“……I often felt inferior before your extraordinary talent. The more I did, the more disillusioned I became with my own life. I had nothing to show for myself in either martial arts or academics. My life was like a pebble you kick on the street.”
Listening, Dan Yeop suddenly craved a drink. He, too, felt inferior because of the heart demon.
“……Who am I? Why on earth was I born? What is my life? Is it all right to live like this? Those kinds of questions…”
In that moment, Dan Yeop felt a surge of emotion. The Son Ji-heon before him was simply—