Fateful Encounter (2)
Fateful Encounter (2)
"Haah, fuck."
Sighs and curses alone weren't going to change the world. I shoved the secret manual into my pocket and went back inside the cave. The floor, with its clear footprints, reflected the light as if urging me to quickly practice the basics of the Dark Moon Step. With my shoes still on, I tapped the floor a few times and took out the secret manual again.
"So, I bend my knees here and take a step forward...."
The floor was smooth and glossy. Had it been deliberately polished to aid in training? Or had it simply worn smooth because the Dark Moon Step was passed down through a single lineage for so long? The person I assumed was the master had long since crumbled into a skeleton, so there was no one left to answer.
I tried mimicking the movements of the Dark Moon Step once, then read the manual again.
"The foundation of the Dark Moon Step begins with moving without making a sound. At first, reduce noise by using your body's center of gravity. After accumulating inner energy, channel that inner energy to strengthen your foothold, but you must never make a sound with your feet. If your footsteps are heard, you must start over from the beginning."
I opened the chest and picked up a fasting pill. Having struggled all day, I was already hungry. I tossed the fasting pill into my mouth, and my mouth went completely dry as if I'd chewed on a lump of dry dirt. I grimaced and walked toward the flowing water.
I was about to walk normally, but I tried stepping according to the Dark Moon Step technique I'd just attempted. There was a posture where you leaned forward and walked, and when I bent my knees and stepped, a sound naturally occurred. Furthermore, the next step was meant to carry you farther than a normal stride. When I leaped thoughtlessly, my feet hit the floor and echoed.
"Ah, this isn't going to be easy."
I returned to the inner cave. Holes, perforated like windows, let light shine onto the walls. As I skimmed the manual and looked at the wall again, I noticed the marks, which I'd assumed were merely from age, were actually evenly spaced and similar to the hand and foot placements used for climbing walls in the Dark Moon Step. I roughly matched my hands and feet to the marks on the wall and re-read the manual.
"This form of the Dark Moon Step is used for scaling fences or climbing rock walls. We can go anywhere to claim a beauty, and if you wish to escape this cliff, you must master this technique. However, there is one disappointing thing: it's hard to judge your achievement inside this small cave.
O learner of the technique. If you are curious about your achievement, you have no choice but to tie yourself up using the rope and stakes enclosed in the chest and climb the cliff. Trust in your skills and luck, and take the challenge—... No, fuck."
I re-examined the rope and stakes I'd seen earlier. When I looked at them before, they seemed sturdy, but that was an objective assessment I could make when they were just objects that had nothing to do with me. The moment I realized they were my lifeline, the rope suddenly looked like it would snap at any moment, and the stakes and the cliff they were meant to be driven into looked flimsy.
I read the passage again and lifted the rope and stakes. The rope was long enough to tie around my body and still let me climb quite a way up the cliff. But if you asked me whether I could make it all the way to the top, I'd have to tilt my head in doubt.
If I mess this up, won't I just hit the rope's limit and fall, no matter how well I climb?
At some point, I wouldn't be able to train on the cave walls anymore and would have to keep climbing the real cliff. Was it really right to rely on just this one stake every time?
The person who came here must have arranged everything properly, but still, the human heart trembles and is anxious at the 'what ifs'.
"Is this right?"
I asked the weathered skull. Of course, the skeleton lying crookedly on the floor didn't even pretend to answer.
I sighed deeply and looked for the remaining Bedroom Arts section, since I recalled seeing earlier that it helped strengthen the legs and hands. I crouched next to the skeleton and opened the manual, and there it was—the exact content I wanted.
[The foundation of the Bedroom Arts lies in the thighs, fingers, and tongue. To this end, persistently train the Dark Moon Step and Golden Capturing Hand, and it is crucial to practice this posture once a day to strengthen the fingers and thighs. First, spread your legs as if riding a horse and bend your knees. Keep your back straight and extend both hands forward.]
It was describing a horse-riding stance. I placed the book on the floor and tried assuming the stance. Since it was an easy posture to follow, I could hold it quite skillfully.
[Then, with your palms facing the sky, spread your fingers and repeatedly wiggle the middle and ring fingers like a writhing dragon. Once you are accustomed to the curling movement up and down, move your wrists and other fingers while wiggling the fingers according to the basic forms of the Golden Capturing Hand.]
I paused the posture and examined the basic forms of the Golden Capturing Hand. It showed actions like rolling the wrist or hooking an opponent's collar with the fingers and pulling. Anyway, since I needed to train my hands to climb the rock wall, I got back into the horse-riding stance and flipped the manual pages with my foot.
[Once accustomed to this process, pick up damp earth and undergo the process of making beads by moving the fingers according to the previous forms. This is to learn how to distribute strength properly.]
I flipped the page again. The section I was reading passionately argued about how to use the fingers and why the profound principles of the Golden Capturing Hand were integrated into caressing women.
According to the author of this manual, the Golden Capturing Hand—which utilizes, pulls, and repels the opponent's force—was a martial art that depicted the subtle relationship between man and woman and the very process of reaching unity. And that was why the profound principle of the Golden Capturing Hand was essentially the same as handling women.
Of course, since there was nothing but a skeleton here, let alone a woman, it didn't really resonate with me right then. And the next page I flipped to described the action I was supposed to take next.
[After assuming the posture with the legs and hands, you must practice tongue movements. Stick out your tongue and repeat flicking it up and down quickly, like a frog catching insects. Once you are accustomed to this process and can freely use your tongue, then practice shaping a lump of earth placed inside your mouth.]
I read the manual to the end and assumed the posture. I took the horse-riding stance, stretched my hands forward, and wiggled my fingers. While flicking both hands violently as if jerking off in the air, I simultaneously stuck my tongue out and flicked it up and down like a frog catching a bug.
"......"
The cave was silent.
I was holding the horse-riding stance while waggling my fingers in the air, and the skeleton was watching my actions with its empty eye sockets as if it were my only fan.
"Ebe-be-be-be-be"
Every time I vocalized, my tongue flicked, making a stupid sound. It sounded like I was mocking myself.
I really felt tricked. Remember playing that prank on a friend when you were little? The joke about how you can lick your elbow. When a friend actually believed it and was straining to lick their elbow, eyes rolling back, you'd snicker like you'd been waiting for it, asking how they could fall for that.
Somehow, I felt like the victim of that exact prank.
I stopped practicing and slumped down on the floor for a moment. I scratched my head and stared at the ceiling.
The sound of flowing water filled the empty cave. It seemed especially loud, and my sigh shattered the silence.
"Hoo...."
I scratched my head and opened the manual again.
"....If I look at it upside down, will a Heavenly Demon Divine Art or something appear?"
The thought of repeating this shit for who knows how long already made my eyes go dark. Is this right? Is this really a fateful encounter? I flipped the book over just in case, but nothing came out.
"Fuck...."
In short, it meant my fate was to hold the horse-riding stance while waggling my fingers and shouting 'Ebe-be-be-be' for at least the next year.
"Is this right?"
I looked at the skeleton. Of course, it just stayed there without answering. I kicked its head for no reason and tugged at its clothes, then scratched my head and went outside.
The inside of the cave was gloomy, but just a few steps outside revealed a pure white world. Looking at the magnificent view layered with fog, my frustration seemed to ease a little.
Magnificent views make one optimistic. A moment ago, my head was full of, 'What do I do now?' Now it was full of groundless optimism that everything would work out somehow.
Wasn't this fate too? I'm someone who believes everything in the world is fate.
A life of learning Bedroom Arts and movement techniques, buried in white fog, with a skeleton, fasting pills, and bric-a-brac.
Believing this life granted by heaven wouldn't end here, I turned around.
"Haah, fuck."
Well, what could I do.
I had to train.