The Chase (4)
The Chase (4)
"Huh?"
My plan, simply put, was to go to the Phoenix Blade Sect and settle things face-to-face. I was packing for exactly that purpose, but the world wasn't cooperating at all. To explain this bizarre encounter from the beginning, I have to start with the moment when Sannyeo, standing right beside me as I checked my bundle, opened her eyes wide and let out a strange sound.
The noise she made was quite unlike any reaction she'd shown before. Like a bird shrieking in a mine, it carried a heavy air of bewilderment at the arrival of some being beyond her ability to handle. The thought crossed my mind that her reaction was like a herbivore faced with a natural predator or a ferocious beast.
It was the kind of reaction a child gives when caught breaking a neighbor's soy jar while playing, and her tone made it clear she was staring down something that had no business being there.
"What? What is it?"
Sannyeo frowned at my question. The mood wasn't one for joking. She looked at me and spoke.
"A truly formidable master has come. If things go wrong, a huge fight could break out."
With wary eyes, she gazed beyond the hill. Hidden by walls and bushes, I couldn't see anything, and nothing registered even when I focused my Qi Sense. When I scrunched up my face, mimicking her, Sannyeo glanced sideways and spoke.
"Why has he suddenly come? I'm not confident with my hands tied."
"Is there only one master?"
Sannyeo nodded. Her pupils wavered, betraying a look of unease. I shook my head to reassure her—partly because I couldn't sense that master's energy myself, and partly because I knew what she was worrying about.
"If they came to catch you, they wouldn't have sent just one master. Besides, by revealing his presence so openly—isn't that a sign he has no intention of fighting? Stay hidden for now. He's a fellow with business with me, not you."
"Do you have any idea who it might be?"
"No."
Not a single clue. Sannyeo, who was unfazed even when meeting peak masters, was so tense her whole body was bristling. What wind could possibly have blown a martial arts master of that caliber to visit the Sect Leader of a minor sect like the Crimson Ring Sect? If I'd had any idea, I would have turned the sect upside down and run. Not knowing was secretly eating at me too.
Who the hell was it? What kind of bastard was he, radiating such overwhelming energy and coming to see me? Some perverted son of a bitch who just enjoyed watching the Sect Leader of a minor sect quake in his boots?
My thoughts deepened, but there was no time. Even as we exchanged words, the bastard was walking over, and the moment his shadow appeared at the edge of the hill, I felt as if some gigantic beast was scanning my body.
A pressure as if a beast the size of a mountain stronghold was circling me, appraising me. An oppressive feeling as if thousands of gazes were scrutinizing me. The man was merely walking slowly, as if strolling through the Wuling paradise, yet his mere approach sent shivers down my spine.
"Fuck..."
"If it comes to a fight, I'll come help you. Don't be too anxious."
She left those words and vanished. It couldn't be helped—a master of that level would recognize Sannyeo Valley in an instant, and that would spawn more troublesome affairs. I had no choice but to push my bundle aside and pretend to be calm, while Sannyeo hid her presence for now.
"But I feel like I've seen that bastard somewhere before?"
As I waited and observed the approaching figure, the thought that his face was oddly familiar crept in. I hadn't met him recently, but the feeling that I'd seen him somewhere was strong. His face, which looked familiar even when I could only make out his silhouette from a distance, took on a clearer and more arrogant cast the closer he got. When I could finally make out his features fully, an involuntary gasp escaped my lips.
"Oh, fuck."
"Wh-Who is it, that you speak so?"
Seon-go, who had come out into the yard, was startled by my tone and asked. I scratched my head and answered.
"It's the Mount Hua Sect."
Fuck, why had Mount Hua Sect come here? Did they really remember that I bedded one of their own?
********
Deolkeong!
The main gate flew open with a crash, as if about to break. With his leg still extended forward, Gwak Ryong tilted his head.
If your level is higher than a peak master, you don't even bother with courtesies. They say the ripest ears of grain bow their heads, but a martial master grows more arrogant the more seasoned they become. The fact that they observe any etiquette at all simply means no one dares raise their voice to call them rude.
In other words, if you're strong as fuck, any half-reasonable behavior falls under the category of propriety.
"Docheol, Sect Leader of the Crimson Ring Sect."
And the moment Gwak Ryong saw me, he called my name and then, as if folding the very ground to run, approached in a single bound. He had only taken one step, but before I knew it, he was right in front of me. From afar, he had seemed like a beast eyeing me, but up close, perhaps because he had suppressed his own aura, it was surprisingly bearable.
"......"
The bastard's face was still arrogant, just as it had been when we met years ago. But the sharpness in his eyes was thoroughly scrutinizing me, and his expression was murderously stiff.
He placed his hand on his sword hilt and stared blankly at me without a word. What did he want? What did he want to say to me? I couldn't know the answer. But the bastard drew his sword very slowly, as if granting me a chance.
The part of the blade now free of the scabbard gave off a chilling gleam.
What was certain was that counterattacking here was not the answer, and neither was silence. The bastard wanted something from me. He was waiting with his sword half-drawn because he wanted something. What could he want? I decided to open my mouth first.
Whatever it was, let's start with a greeting.
"...It has been a long time, Great Hero. When I met you before, I failed to recognize you as a master of profound skill and committed a discourtesy."
Tak.
The sword slid back into the scabbard. Gwak Ryong nodded with a satisfied expression and smiled.
"Ah, yes. It is indeed you. Truly a strange thing. A man I thought back then had no talent and only excessive ambition has, in just a few years, reached the realm of first-rate. My eye for people has become useless."
It is indeed you? I fell into thought for a moment at those words. The bastard had come to confirm who I was. And once he confirmed it was me, he was relieved. In other words, he hadn't come to avenge the Mount Hua grunt I once bedded or to protest the matter.
Gwak Ryong didn't know about that incident. I suddenly felt the worry that had piled up in my chest sink right down.
"Not at all. It is thanks to the encouragement you gave me back then, Great Hero, that I was able to stand here today."
Gwak Ryong nodded at my words. And as he surveyed his surroundings, his gaze shifted to my wife. Gazing briefly at Seon-go, Gwak Ryong asked me,
"Is that woman the daughter of the former Crimson Ring Sect Leader? I had heard the tale of how you took over the Crimson Ring Sect."
"Yes, that is correct."
Seon-go straightened her posture and bowed her head in greeting. Since it was an awkward greeting made from the wooden floor, I added,
"My wife cannot walk, so please understand that she cannot rise to greet you."
"....Ah, right. Yes. Well, there's no need to mind such things."
Gwak Ryong turned his head for a moment as if thinking of something else, and only pulled himself together after hearing my words. Then, he looked at me again and asked,
"Knowing it was Venerable Geumbok's faction, you still dared to commit such an act. What were you thinking when you did it? It seems you haven't been first-rate for very long; how could you think to fight Venerable Geumbok while still at the second-rate level?"
I stared at Gwak Ryong. It was an act that could even be considered rude, but Gwak Ryong gently accepted my gaze. Yet, the way he looked so clearly at me conveyed an underlying message: that he had come all this way for this question, that he had come to hear my answer.
I bowed my head and spoke.
"As a martial artist living in the martial world, I merely acted for righteousness and chivalry. There was no other calculation. The Sect Leader of the Crimson Ring Sect was tormenting these people with his petty skills—how could I have stood by and done nothing?"
"Venerable Geumbok was not an opponent a single second-rate martial artist could face, was he?"
The outcome was just good; it must have looked like a futile effort, like an egg dashing against a rock. But I had a powerful secret weapon behind me: Sannyeo. That was why I could confidently stand my ground against Venerable Geumbok without a care in the world.
"In doing what is right, what need is there for such calculations?"
But there was no need to explain those circumstances to Gwak Ryong. When I bowed my head and added that, Gwak Ryong said nothing. I waited for an answer for a moment with my head still bowed, but the words Gwak Ryong finally spoke after the silence were a completely different story.
"Mount Hua does not accept talent unbefitting the mountain. It was a rule of the sect set from ancient times. And yet, the saying that those unbefitting the mountain are not accepted—to me, it has always felt like a strange phrase. Who decides who befits Mount Hua? By whose standards does one say a disciple is suited to Mount Hua?"
Gwak Ryong turned his body. I could only see his back, but somehow his shoulders seemed to droop.
He spoke.
"In the end, Mount Hua says nothing, so isn't it just people choosing people? Following a flow set by someone, people pulling other people along, and then extolling that as Mount Hua's proper dignity—isn't that what it is?"