Dragon-Phoenix Gathering (5)
Dragon-Phoenix Gathering (5)
"Great Hero Docheol. What are you doing?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu's voice came from afar. The old man from the Elixir Pill Sect, who had been talking with Eon Yuhwa, threw a brief glance our way. Realizing that their conversation was drawing attention, the old man cleared his throat, his face reddening, and instead of continuing, turned his back.
"We shall speak again later."
"Take care as you go."
Eon Yuhwa said farewell to the back of the old man's head. He seemed to falter for a moment at her dismissive hand gesture, but he wasn't thick-skinned enough to raise his voice in a crowded place. Though no one had declared a victor, defeat was smeared across his retreating, hunched back.
Eon Yuhwa glanced at me briefly. Her hair was wildly tangled like seaweed, and her eyes were large, but hidden under dark shadows, they were filled with a gloomy feeling.
From the inner energy I sensed and the poise of her steps, it was obvious she was a martial artist. Yet the inner energy I felt was less than I'd expected. Could it be that a genuine physician, someone without martial training, had come as a medical advisor? She seemed too young to have devoted herself solely to study, and her body radiated a fighting spirit that belied a lack of martial arts training.
Perhaps, contrary to appearances, she was someone who had trained in external martial arts.
Since it would be rude to keep staring, I turned my head and greeted Yeong-yu. Zhuge Yeong-yu's face looked weary, but he was wearing a bright smile, and his hand was wagging as energetically as a puppy's tail.
"You've come all this way—you must have had a hard journey. Madam, it has been a long time. Thank you for making the long trip."
Zhuge Yeong-yu first shook hands with me, then bowed his head to my wife, Seon-go, in greeting.
"Not at all. Thanks to you, we were able to travel comfortably. I'm truly grateful you provided a carriage and people."
Seon-go answered with a bright smile. While I watched the two exchange greetings, I glanced back, but Eon Yuhwa's figure was nowhere to be seen. Yeong-yu tapped my shoulder as I stared at the empty space and spoke.
"Great Hero, it's no fun just standing still. Come, let's take a quick tour inside and rest. I know the interior well, so just follow me."
Looking at Zhuge Yeong-yu's lively demeanor, I was reminded of a little kid excited to introduce a friend. A smile crept onto my face seeing him grin innocently and push off the floor with the soles of his shoes.
"Then I'll be in your care. You seem busy, so I worry I'm imposing too much."
"How could I stay still when Great Hero has come all the way to Hubei Province in person? If I were lacking in hospitality toward a friend, I'd lose face as a man of the Zhuge Family."
"Then I'll leave myself in your hands."
"Please take good care of us."
Seon-go added in a cheerful tone. Zhuge Yeong-yu, with a truly pleased face, took the lead and began explaining this and that. It seemed something good must have happened before we arrived.
"The sword displayed in this corridor here was donated by the first Dragon Phoenix Gathering winner and current Murim Alliance Leader, elder Namgung Gi-hwan, who used it at the time. The first Dragon Phoenix Gathering held much meaning for martial artists."
"The Dragon Phoenix Gathering's history isn't that long, then. I had vaguely assumed it began ages ago."
That was a genuinely surprising fact. Not only was the first Dragon Phoenix Gathering winner still alive, but he was the Murim Alliance Leader. Unexpectedly, the history of this martial world seemed short. Zhuge Yeong-yu nodded and spoke.
"It's only natural for those without interest to think so. The first Dragon Phoenix Gathering was held exactly 38 years ago. It was the first place where the rising talents of various sects, split into countless factions back then, gathered in one place to seek harmony. The Murim Alliance Leader had the sword donated and placed here, saying we must not forget the feeling each sect experienced for the first time back then."
"Do you also view the Dragon Phoenix Gathering positively, Great Hero?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu nodded at my words.
"Isn't that obvious? If you are a martial artist, you couldn't possibly dislike this event, where young martial artists interact and discuss martial arts with each other. I hope the purity of this event is maintained."
It was unexpected, yet in a way, it was an obvious response. Zhuge Yeong-yu was simply wary of sects losing their purity and becoming corrupt—not averse to sects seeking the Dao through cultivation or having healthy exchanges.
The people bustling by paid no attention to us chatting in front of the Alliance Leader's sword. I leaned against the wall next to the display stand and asked Zhuge Yeong-yu.
"Amid the frantic churn of the world, it's surprising that the Dragon Phoenix Gathering has preserved its purity. I thought it would be the first place to become corrupted."
Zhuge Yeong-yu wore an awkward expression at my words. He shook his head and even lowered his voice.
"To be honest, while I hope its purity is maintained, I don't know the reality. Because it's an irregularly held event, gathering inside information is no easy task. I can only hope. There's a saying, isn't there, that hoping is free. Just as one doesn't lay a hand on the seed storehouse even during a drought, it's only right that decay stops in our generation."
"Then I'll join you in that hope. I happen to be quite lucky."
As I said that and brought my hands together, Yeong-yu straightened his posture and pressed his palms together toward me, whatever he must have been thinking. I looked around with an awkward expression, and Seon-go also knelt, pressed her palms together following Yeong-yu, and said.
"Docheol. Will I be able to participate in the Dragon Phoenix Gathering someday, too?"
"Of course."
Zhuge Yeong-yu said nothing about our exchange and simply grinned.
"Well then, let's move on to the next place. The building is more complex than it looks from the outside, and there's much to see. From the sarira of a high monk to a diary personally written by the 3rd generation True Man of the Wudang Sect. There are many things to see."
"A diary? I'm a bit curious about that. Does it perhaps contain the secret to some profound martial arts achievement?"
"Ahahaha!"
Zhuge Yeong-yu laughed. His laughter broke off short and clear, like a ringing bell or a small chime. Shaking his head to suppress his laughter, Yeong-yu said this.
"Ah, my apologies, Great Hero. I wasn't mocking you. It's just that everyone who comes here says the same thing, so I found it funny. There's no secret to a profound martial arts achievement. It's a diary from his youth discovered later. It's a kind of historical document, filled with just idle chatter and stories of those times."
"Are there any interesting stories in it?"
Zhuge Yeong-yu nodded. Even before he began speaking, his expression was already full of beaming smiles.
"There are. Apparently, in the old days, a fun prank was popular among the young disciples."
"A prank?"
"A game called [fateful encounter search]. You'd pretend to be a born master, a dashing figure, write a secret manual while putting on airs, and then hide that manual inside your own secret hideout. It's said there were occasionally people who'd find it and pay a fortune to buy it, or believe the manual was real, quit their livelihoods, and hole themselves up in training."
"...That doesn't sound like a very fun prank."
I didn't like it, because it sounded like a story I'd heard somewhere too many times. A fleeting thought of 'maybe?' passed through my head.
'No.'
'But still, no way.'
The Bedroom Arts were real, weren't they? The effects were goddamn killer, right?
'Surely not?'
Come to think of it, wasn't Im Ha-ryeong from the Wudang Sect, too?
'Did it just fortuitously work out that well?'
Really?
Seeing me unable to laugh, Zhuge Yeong-yu wore a bitter smile and spoke in a consoling tone.
"Don't worry. The basic rule for those manuals was to write down absolutely absurd training methods so they'd be easy to spot as fakes at a glance. Looking at the diary entries, they'd supposedly write down methods like swinging your hips while doing a handstand and making noises with your mouth, or hanging from a branch and mimicking a monkey, to prevent any possible accidents."
[After taking a stance with your legs and hands, you must then practice tongue movements. Extend your tongue and repeatedly flick it up and down rapidly, as a frog snatches insects. Once you become accustomed to this process and can freely use your tongue, from then on you practice putting a lump of clay in your mouth and shaping it.]
'...This son of a bitch?'
"It was a sort of martial artist inside joke, in its own way. It's said to have been maintained for quite some time, but it was banned after a local nobleman's son believed a plausibly written manual among them was real, forced himself to train in it, and died from qi deviation."
"....."
I blinked and pressed a hand to my head for a moment. Dizziness washed over me and I couldn't collect myself. Seon-go stared at me with round eyes, and Zhuge Yeong-yu looked at me with a puzzled expression, too.
"Great Hero? What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
"...No, nothing hurts. Let's talk about something else. Aren't there many other good topics? Hearing a story about deceiving people who are desperate, no matter what, it just pains my heart."
As I spoke with a sour expression, Zhuge Yeong-yu made an 'oh dear' kind of face.
"...Though they're said to be bad customs from a bygone era, I fear I spoke too thoughtlessly as well. One ought to be able to coldly excise these parts, but I ended up just making a joke of it. Great Hero is right."
It seemed like I'd become the one who spoiled the mood, but I had no time to read the room. Right now I urgently needed to sit somewhere relaxed and pull myself together. Heat was rising to my head and I felt like dizziness was about to wash over me again.
"Anyway, all this walking around has tired me out a bit. Is there somewhere we can rest? Going back to the lodgings would be a waste of this opportunity."
"There is a rest area; I'll guide you there."
Zhuge Yeong-yu said that and took the lead.
In the rest area up ahead, I could see a woman in a familiar martial robe and a man in a robe bearing the character 八 (eight) facing off against each other.
"For a southern barbarian wench to come to the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, that is a truly novel sight."
'What the fuck is this bastard now.'