The Chase (6)
The Chase (6)
Traveling with a martial arts master didn't mean anything out of the ordinary happened.
As Gwak Ryong had said, he was a member of the Mount Hua Sect, and I was the Sect Leader of another sect. If we became too entangled, things could get complicated. So, at least formally, we kept some distance and exchanged barely any personal conversation.
Gwak Ryong always moved in silence, his face as if he were brooding over something. I made no effort to accommodate his mood. As a result, the journey was mostly filled with silence, and since there was almost no conversation, there were no arguments either.
Of course, no one tried to pick a personal fight with us. It seemed that anyone who had learned even a bit of martial arts around Shaanxi knew Gwak Ryong's face. The bastards who'd sidle up intending to start trouble, and even the men who wandered into an inn without a second thought, all flinched and kept their distance the moment they saw Gwak Ryong.
Watching those men, Gwak Ryong would often mutter in a low voice:
"You were right. People really are this noisy."
"Aren't at least half of them startled by your appearance, great hero? It's more commotion than when I travel by myself."
"If it's more commotion than when I travel alone, then half of it is your fault, too."
Gwak Ryong said that and laughed to himself. It seemed to be Mount Hua Sect-style humor.
The journey to Sangju continued like that the whole way. Occasionally, Gwak Ryong would toss out a few words and I would answer accordingly. Then Gwak Ryong would respond lightly and fall silent again.
But even as the journey reached its final stages, I still couldn't understand Mount Hua Sect humor.
"Docheol. Now that I think of it, why didn't you join Mount Hua? You said your goal was to enter Mount Hua, so why didn't you go up?"
Along the way, Gwak Ryong threw that question at me.
Judging from his question, it seemed Gwak Ryong hadn't been involved in the murder to silence a witness that had happened back then. Even a rough guess made it easy to see why there had been no report on the detailed situation. How could they report that they tried to silence a civilian who hadn't learned a single martial art, only to get beaten instead and lose one of their own?
It was easier to say a disciple died from the counterattack of the man they had tried to kill to shut him up. After all, the civilian had also fallen to his death from a cliff, and the disciple was dead too, so the surviving witness's word was the truth.
I decided to play along with that truth.
Explaining the detailed circumstances would do me no good.
"I heard that you need something called an entrance fee to join a sect. I was a naive fool who didn't know the ways of the world and had barely any money in my pouch, so I figured I should earn some coin first and went down the mountain."
Gwak Ryong clicked his tongue. His expression was one of regret, but he quickly moved from that look to one of understanding. Though no one had questioned it, Gwak Ryong seemed to convince himself and continued speaking.
"Is that so. But perhaps one should view it as a blessing in disguise. Arrogance is a dye that easily stains. It is even easier to stain a talented young man. I was the same, and the young bastards flying high and mighty on Mount Hua now are all like that."
"Isn't it true that anyone who learns martial arts must live with the mindset that they are the best?"
"Considering oneself the best and considering others beneath you are different things. On Mount Hua, they do not teach how to distinguish the two."
Gwak Ryong's words were closer to a lament. It was hard for me to respond, so I simply kept my mouth shut. He concluded the conversation like this.
"Even devoting a lifetime to it makes it hard to grasp."
******
When we arrived near Sangju, we finally reached a fork in the road. Going down led to Sangju, and going up led to Mount Hua. Gwak Ryong finally opened his mouth, as if rousing from his thoughts.
"This is where we part. It was more enjoyable than I expected. Docheol."
"Not at all. Thank you for keeping pace with me."
As I lowered my head in a bow, Gwak Ryong looked down at me while stroking his chin. He tilted his head, was lost in thought for a moment, then called my name.
"Docheol."
"Yes, great hero."
"What is your dream?"
It was a question I had heard before. The same question the man sitting arrogantly with his legs crossed in the inn that day had asked, looking down on me.
"My dream is to become a great hero."
Gwak Ryong seemed to find it amusing that my dream had not changed. With a laugh that showed his teeth, he asked the obvious question.
"Are you not already a great hero? You saved women from a wicked Sect Leader and rescued a suffering village."
"If I stopped here, how could I call myself a true man?"
"That's true."
Gwak Ryong said that and nodded. Between us stood a signpost indicating the fork. Sangju and Mount Hua. Gwak Ryong turned his body toward Mount Hua and spoke.
"Docheol."
"Yes, great hero."
I stopped my quick steps toward Sangju and turned back around. Gwak Ryong stood facing me with his back straight. He wore fine clothes, his expression still arrogant, but his tone was very gentle.
"There is a proper order in the world that must be upheld. Is that not so?"
I couldn't grasp the intent behind his question. What was he trying to say? Was he warning me not to run too wild? Or was he praising me for having defended that order? Though I didn't answer, Gwak Ryong continued his speech.
"Someone must rescue the people suffering in misery."
He didn't seem to care that I wasn't answering. Instead of maintaining silence, I looked straight at him and met his gaze. Gwak Ryong turned his body and said,
"We must become such people."
Gwak Ryong was growing distant. The last words he left behind left me bewildered. What was Gwak Ryong trying to say? Just what way of thinking was he living by? So many things had changed from when I first met him that I was the one left confused.
What the hell had happened in those few years we hadn't seen each other to turn a man who once only wore an arrogant, greasy expression into someone spouting head-in-the-clouds nonsense?
Of course, there wasn't enough time to dwell on it.
Even while I was doing this, Gwak Ryong was disappearing into the distance, and the signpost pointing toward Sangju, though old, stood firmly in its place.
Regardless of my time with Gwak Ryong, my target was Sangju.
Because the Phoenix Blade Sect was in Sangju.
And the Phoenix Blade Sect was a sect that could only have the Hao Sect Leader as its leader.
*******
Though they say it is close to Mount Hua, closeness on a map does not reflect the actual distance. At the edge of the mountain range's ridge, a plain stretched out, and people gathered along that plain, giving it the name Sangju. Because it was well out of Mount Hua Sect's territory, they didn't get involved in whatever happened here.
But the Phoenix Blade Sect was a bunch of bastards who lived cautiously and kept their heads down as if Mount Hua was right on their doorstep. According to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's investigation, the people of Phoenix Blade Sect had never embezzled funds using taxes or force after receiving the sect from Venerable Geumbok, nor had there ever been any incidents with the villagers.
There was also talk that the Sect Leader's personality was extremely timid, so he refrained from outside activities.
But when I set foot in the village where Phoenix Blade Sect was located, the bastards were watching me with tense, murderous looks as if the rumors about them were lies.
The village's scenery was peaceful. The villagers, knowing nothing, were doing business and farming as usual, cows idly mooed and flicked their tails on the streets. The village puppy ran up barking, clinging to me and begging for food, and children were busy playing soldiers with tree branches.
But the innkeeper's boy working at the inn kept glancing at me even while wiping the tables, and a rickshaw driver was kneading his thick forearms and constantly clearing his throat for no reason.
And the men dressed in Phoenix Blade Sect uniforms openly looked at me with discomfort, several of them fiddling with their weapons as if deep in thought.
It was as if the entire village held ill will toward me. Most of the bastards sending killing intent my way were third-rate to the cusp of second-rate warriors, and the ones a bit larger or with stronger energy were mid-tier second-rate.
Even if I had just barely reached first-rate, it was impossible for me to beat all these bastards down and confront the Hao Sect Leader.
I had no intention of doing that, anyway.
I also knew why they were uncomfortable with me.
The Hao Sect was quick with news.
Especially about things happening around them, they'd be gathering intel more thoroughly than anyone. Naturally, whenever a high-level master was moving about right under their noses, real-time reports to the Sect Leader were a given.
Who that person came and went with,
And where the person who parted with him was heading.
But the bastards didn't know my purpose.
They knew who I had been with before coming here, but they had no way of knowing the reason I had come.
For those who gather information, a situation lacking information is the greatest source of fear and pressure.
So what action should I take here?
It was simple.
I just had to grab any passing Phoenix Blade Sect man and say this:
"I want to meet the Sect Leader of the Phoenix Blade Sect."
Because then the Sect Leader would want to meet me, too.