Yellow Dragon Castle (5)
Yellow Dragon Castle (5)
When I swung the axe through the air, the sound of it cleaving the wind resounded magnificently. Sannyeo watched from the side, nodding with satisfaction, and the axe blade stopped just before touching the ground, whipping up a fierce wind.
It was the special technique of the Heavenly Dragon Axe—the Python-Severing Crushing Axe (蟒絶碎斧).
"A failure."
But just as Sannyeo's relaxed expression suggested, my efforts had failed once again. She demanded that I not simply wrap my inner power around the weapon, but command it at will and release it outward. Yet even after repeating the same motions for months, I still couldn't get the feel for it.
Scattering my inner power outward wasn't the problem. Giving that inner power form and force, however, was a different matter entirely. The inner power I dumped onto the ground left traces more useless than water scooped with a dipper and flung on the floor—kicking up nothing but sand and wind before dissipating.
"Aigo, I'm dying here."
"Take it easy. You climbed to first-rate awfully fast, didn't you? Reaching the peak naturally takes a long time."
"Every time I practice, my inner power drains out in chunks, so just when I start to get the feel for it, I have to rest again. It's maddening."
"That's because you haven't grasped the knack yet. Didn't I tell you? You need to extend your inner power over a span, so it takes on real substance."
"That's the hardest thing to get a handle on out of everything I've ever heard."
Sannyeo merely shrugged. Even if it was a case of all streams returning to the source, to someone who hadn't yet set foot on that path, it was nothing but vague, elusive talk. In her own way, Sannyeo was trying to explain the trick she had grasped.
"So, how did you do it when you reached the peak? There must have been some specific trick, some trigger."
"My master told me to do it, and it just worked."
In the face of overwhelming talent, theory was utterly useless. Hearing her words, that blend of nonchalance and apology, I could only tilt my head in disbelief. Sannyeo patted my dispirited shoulder and spoke.
"No need to be too discouraged. Every master who's reached the peak is like that. One day you simply realize, 'Ah, so I just do it like this.' Either the mental image underlying your martial arts shifts, or everything suddenly seems easy, and you attain realization."
Sannyeo brushed away the marks left on the ground with her shoe and said,
"So repetition. And more repetition, while emptying your mind. When you see the name 'special technique,' if you unconsciously tense up and grow impatient, you won't be able to do anything. To reach the peak, you must be able to execute a martial art's special technique properly, but conversely, you must also realize that the special technique itself is nothing."
Repetition. And more repetition. Within that repetition, you had to erase the specialness of the martial art and just think of it as one technique you could use. By forgetting the profound principles it contained, forgetting its uniqueness, if you swung the weapon unconsciously, at some moment you would attain realization.
"So you're saying you don't know when I'll realize it."
"I'm telling you, you need to let go of that very mindset."
Sannyeo spoke with a look of frustration. I shrugged and began my training anew. My inner power was depleted, so it was time to polish the other stances of the Heavenly Dragon Axe Technique.
"I'm going to try using Taijiquan alongside it. Spar with me a bit."
*******
Like that, nearly a year passed. I refined the Heavenly Dragon Axe in concert with Taijiquan and practiced the special technique over and over so I could use it whenever needed. Every time I swung with the mindset of delivering a decisive, heart-stopping blow, Sannyeo would add that I had to swing it ordinarily. But because I couldn't understand what it meant to swing it ordinarily, I could only frown.
Swing it ordinarily?
How do you swing a special technique ordinarily?
At the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, everyone yelled "I'm using my special technique!" when they used theirs, didn't they?
But I have to use it ordinarily to reach the peak? What the hell does that even mean?
I simply couldn't understand. Whenever I gripped my weapon with a look of utter confusion, ready to swing, Sannyeo would catch my wrist and say,
"You can't let stray thoughts mix in. Here, it starts with emptying your mind. Empty your mind and then swing the axe."
So, following Sannyeo's words, I would set the axe down and begin meditation. I was told not to be impatient, but as expected, when training to reach some realm, nothing goes as you intend. Meditation and training. Thanks to diligently mastering the Heavenly Dragon Axe, my execution of the stances had grown solid, yet the path to the peak was still far away.
While I was training like that, unable to find my bearings, welcome news arrived from Hubei Province. It was word that the Beggars' Sect's fund collection day was approaching and that I should prepare.
********
Along with a letter telling me to come to Hubei Province, the Zhuge family sent a carriage. Since this trip wasn't for sightseeing, I left Seon-go behind and boarded the carriage alone. Seon-go saw me off, waving her hand with an inwardly regretful expression.
"...You're worried I might be in danger going alone, right?"
"...Of course."
Seon-go seemed to have gotten better at lying lately. I packed my things while guessing what thoughts she might be hiding inside. Sannyeo, watching me pack my bag roughly, spoke.
"Are you going to bring down the Beggars' Sect this time?"
"I should be able to deal them a blow."
I slung my luggage over my shoulder and looked back at Sannyeo. I couldn't read the emotion that flickered across her face. Was it anticipation? Ridicule? Gazing at those red eyes where a subtle hint of laughter lingered, I spoke.
"If I deal the Beggars' Sect a blow, will you give me another reward?"
Sannyeo rolled her eyes at my words. After a brief expression of contemplation, she asked in return,
"....What are you going to make me do?"
Sannyeo's pupils were wavering. Beyond her flustered expression, I sensed a subtle fear. It seemed even a martial arts powerhouse like Sannyeo had things she feared. I grinned broadly and said,
"I'll let you know when I get back."
Sannyeo's expression was complicated. It was a face that looked as though she simultaneously hoped for my success but also wouldn't mind if I failed. Was what I might want more terrifying than revenge to her? At best, it'd just be something lewd, so why was she acting like that? I shrugged, turned around, and walked outside.
I tossed my luggage toward the carriage and leaned back against the seat. Closing my eyes and surrendering myself to the long journey, the scenery of Hubei Province embraced us.
*******
"It's been a long time."
Zhuge Yeong-yu, whom I hadn't seen in a long while, greeted me with a face that hadn't changed one bit. Fatigue had built up from a year's worth of piled-up miscellaneous work, but his smooth skin and pretty, girlish face were the same as ever. Just how diligently did he maintain his looks on a daily basis? His eyes looked tired, yet there wasn't a trace of stubble, let alone a blemish, to the point I wondered if he'd been castrated.
"A year, truly a long time. It seems you've trained diligently in the meantime. Even from afar, I can feel that your aura has grown sharper."
"They say a man must be regarded with new eyes. If one changes day by day, how much more so after a year?"
"That is true. It's almost frightening to imagine what would happen if you, great hero, were to catch up to my own level."
When I first met Zhuge Yeong-yu, I was a man who had just entered the second-rate. Back then, Zhuge Yeong-yu, a peak-level master, felt like a high wall. But now, aiming for the peak myself, he, too, seemed like an ordinary person. Zhuge Yeong-yu smiled and continued.
"In any case, many things changed while you were in Shaanxi. The number of martial artists Hwang Ryong-seong rallied under the name of the Eight Trigrams Association has increased considerably, and Hwang Ryong-seong himself has grown even more profound in inner energy. If we fail to eliminate Hwang Ryong-seong now, it's clear he'll ascend to a level where we can no longer even lay a hand on him."
A year was a long time for us to prepare, but it was also ample time for Hwang Ryong-seong to gather his strength. Just as we were preparing thoroughly, his forces were solidifying. If we failed to strike him down this time, there would be no turning back.
I spoke.
"How are the preparations coming along?"
"Over the past year, I devoted my heart and soul to placing men along the routes they used to draw in funds last time, and to inserting people even into the lower ranks of the Murim Alliance. I've also contacted the law-enforcers of the Beggars' Sect, each through different channels."
"Contacting the law-enforcers directly—isn't there a risk that information could leak to the elders? That sounds dangerous."
Zhuge Yeong-yu shook his head.
"I already isolated such risky individuals. Apart from those law-enforcers who are personally close to the Beggars' Sect elders or entangled in close ties with them, there are men who were born and raised in their own regions and rose to the position of law-enforcer."
"Men with ambition, ready to charge forward the moment they're given an opportunity."
Zhuge Yeong-yu nodded.
"According to the intelligence caught in my information network, the Eight Trigrams Association intends to expand its influence significantly this time. They'll need a lot of funds, so they'll be planning to actively siphon money from the Beggars' Sect."
"Wrecking someone else's feast is a delightful thing, isn't it?"
I said with a broad grin. Zhuge Yeong-yu nodded with a smile.
"Indeed. He rallied people under the banner that young martial artists must lead the martial world anew. But in reality, he is the son of a Beggars' Sect man, a swindler who embezzles others' money to play the nouveau riche, deceiving and deluding the people. On the very day he most confidently swore he would set his life ablaze in glory, everything will burn."