Martial Arts Tournament (1)
Martial Arts Tournament (1)
Sannyeo's foot whipped toward me with ferocious speed, slicing through the air like a cracking whip. I ducked my head and narrowly evaded the kick, but as if anticipating my counterattack, a second strike flew straight at the hand gripping my axe. I pulled the axe back, spun my body in a full circle, and brought the blunt side crashing down toward Sannyeo.
"Your aim was good."
But Sannyeo avoided my attack with a single step backward, then jabbed the tip of her foot into my shin as if teasing me.
Tuk.
Despite the soft sound, a sharp pain exploded through my entire body, and I collapsed in place with a scream.
"Aaaaagh!"
"Not bad. You've improved considerably. But your attacks are still too predictable."
I looked up at Sannyeo while rubbing my leg. It had been quite some time since we had begun sparring at this intensified pace, and I was now holding my own in exchanges with her at a fairly respectable level. She no longer gave me basic advice like telling me to dodge or not to be afraid.
"An axe is inherently a simple weapon. Its trajectory is linear, and the parts used for attack are limited. From the attacker's side, every single strike demands careful thought, but from the defender's perspective, there are fewer variables to worry about compared to other weapons."
The advice she gave these days was all about my attack patterns.
"It may be a limitation of the Mount Tai Axe Technique, but your attack trajectory in particular has a pronounced rightward bias. Anyone with even a modest eye for combat will read your attacks instantly. You might be able to subdue someone of similar skill without much trouble, but if there's a gap in ability, you'll be hard-pressed to overcome your opponent, even with luck."
I stared at my left hand. Beyond the axe I wielded with my right, there weren't many techniques I could use with my left.
"I haven't learned any technique other than the Golden Capturing Hand."
At the mention of the Golden Capturing Hand, Sannyeo nodded and, surprisingly, encouraged me with genuine enthusiasm.
"Then use that, at least. Adapt it for combat. The Golden Capturing Hand is a superb technique. Oddly enough, even people who've trained in martial arts to a fair degree often can't counter it. Real sparring usually involves weapons, and most sects don't teach countermeasures against the Golden Capturing Hand, since it's categorized as a self-defense technique."
"Sects don't teach countermeasures for the Golden Capturing Hand?"
"It's primarily a self-defense technique created for women to protect themselves. How often would a proper martial artist find themselves in a position to beat up women? Even among those with some training, it's rare for anyone to use the Golden Capturing Hand in actual combat. That's precisely why even people who've studied martial arts to a certain level often get caught off guard and fall victim to it."
I had nothing to say to that. Unconsciously, I had relegated the Golden Capturing Hand to a secondary role—something used during Bedroom Arts practice—and had completely forgotten that it was a martial technique in its own right. Seeing me staring intently at my left hand, Sannyeo added:
"Of course, the standard for 'fairly trained' is second-rate. Maybe entry-level first-rate at best. So for now, you can use the Golden Capturing Hand as a makeshift adaptation, but going forward, you'll need to give more thought to how you'll fill that void."
Applying the Golden Capturing Hand in real combat right away seemed like it would take some time. Though I had never neglected my training in the Bedroom Arts, when I fought, I had always consciously adhered strictly to the forms of the Mount Tai Axe Technique.
"Isn't there some martial art with no blind spots that I could use for situations like this?"
Sannyeo shook her head.
"The martial arts I know draw too much attention, so teaching them to you would be problematic. And isn't researching what techniques you need and progressing from there the proper attitude of someone who studies and advances along the martial path?"
"Honestly, I just wish someone would toss me some ultimate supreme martial art."
"Me too. If that were possible, I would have conquered the martial world already instead of raising a disobedient disciple like you."
I shook my head, baffled by her words.
Sannyeo rolled her neck from side to side, loosening her stiff muscles, and looked toward the main gate. She fixed her gaze like a hawk eyeing its prey, then spoke to me.
"Someone's here. Go out. I'd better stay hidden."
"Someone's here?"
No sooner had my question ended than a voice rang out from the direction of the gate.
"Sect Leader Docheol of the Crimson Ring Sect. A letter has arrived from the Murim Alliance."
It was a voice I had heard somewhere before—the voice of a young man, and from beyond the gate, a faint but familiar inner energy signature could be sensed. Among the young men from the Murim Alliance, there was only one I was likely to remember.
"...You're the deputy officer who came with the inspector last time."
The deputy officer who had accompanied Im Seo-ryeon. This time, he had appeared alone, bearing a letter. I was curious why he had come again, but simultaneously, an odd premonition seized me—a feeling that I didn't want to hear the reason. A letter from the Murim Alliance was unlikely to bring good news for me.
"It's been a while, Sect Leader. Have you been well?"
The deputy officer addressed me with a smooth, amiable tone, projecting familiarity. It seemed that calling courtesans for him that day had been quite an enjoyable experience. I looked at the letter in his hand and asked:
"What brings you here?"
At this, the deputy officer stiffened his smiling expression and lowered his voice.
"First, please read this letter."
I took it.
[The Murim Alliance addresses Docheol, the new sect leader of the Crimson Ring Sect.
The world condemns you, who have seized the position of sect leader, accusing you of having harmed the former sect leader through the most cowardly and despicable trickery to claim his seat.
How can one who walks the path of chivalry and expounds the righteous way ascend to such a position through slander and base scheming?
Let the new sect leader Docheol participate in the martial tournament to be held on the date written below, and reveal his martial prowess to prove his innocence.]
"Prove my innocence?"
The deputy officer nodded.
"Of course, I am aware that Sect Leader is innocent. You are not the type to do such a thing."
I briefly recalled how the former sect leader had died.
"Ah, certainly. When I stabbed him right where it hurt, blood poured from his seven orifices and he toppled over. I never resorted to any cowardly tricks."
"But the Murim Alliance has no interest in such facts. Telling you to prove yourself at the martial tournament is nothing more than a ploy to have you killed and make it look like an accident."
I understood what he meant by killing me and making it look like an accident. It meant they would hire assassins who specialized in such work to eliminate someone right in the middle of the martial tournament. I tilted my head and asked:
"So, are you telling me not to go?"
"No. If you refuse to participate, the Murim Alliance will conclude that you seized the sect through cowardly trickery and will mobilize force. There is nothing I can do to stop it."
I stared at the deputy officer for a moment. The fact that he had traveled all this way in person had to be about more than just delivering a warning. Meeting my gaze, the deputy officer lowered his voice further.
"This time, the Murim Alliance has inserted two assassins into the tournament."
"Two?"
The deputy officer nodded.
"As a contingency, they said. One of them is a second-rate unorthodox master who coats his weapon in poison. He's known by the alias Purple Nether Sword, and his fighting style is so vicious and underhanded that he's made many enemies."
"How does someone like that get to participate in the tournament?"
"They lured him with promises that if he resolves this one matter, they would let him escape safely to the Heilongjiang River. Of course, if he actually succeeds in killing you, Sect Leader, they plan to dispose of him on the spot—killing the hound once the hunt is done."
"I've never faced a martial artist who uses poison."
If it was a tournament, Sannyeo couldn't help me either. No matter how extraordinary Sannyeo was, she couldn't pull off the bizarre feat of killing an opponent unseen in front of a large crowd.
The deputy officer said:
"However, you need not worry about this Purple Nether Sword fellow. I am telling you about him purely as a precaution, in case things go awry."
"Need not worry? Why is that?"
"Senior Im Seo-ryeon said she would handle him personally."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Why would she? For what possible reason?
"......You mean Im Seo-ryeon, the Kirin of Hengshan Sect, the inspector?"
The deputy officer nodded.
"She has resigned from the inspector position now."
It seemed that after visiting our sect, she had undergone a considerable change of heart—a change so drastic that she would turn her back on the Murim Alliance to help me, though I had no idea what had prompted it.
"May I ask the reason?"
"She said it was simply what a martial artist walking the righteous path ought to do."
I looked at the deputy officer. His eyes held genuine respect for Im Seo-ryeon. I asked him:
"Are you following that righteous path as well?"
The deputy officer smiled at my question. Scratching his head with an embarrassed expression, he said:
"Saying I follow the righteous path is far too grandiose. But I don't want to walk down the wrong road."
For a man who appeared to be a novice, it was a bold resolution. I offered him sincere praise.
"Admirable."
The deputy officer bowed his head in lieu of thanks. But the matter before us was too urgent to spend time exchanging pleasantries. Straightening his expression, he continued.
"In any case, you need not worry about that fellow. However, the other one is the problem. A vicious individual known as the Tournament Killer will be targeting you, Sect Leader, at this tournament."
"Tournament Killer?"
Did he earn that alias from going around killing people at tournaments? Still, did it make sense that no one had done anything about him even after he had reached that level of notoriety?
The deputy officer said:
"He doesn't operate openly. He's someone the Murim Alliance turns to when they want to quietly eliminate a person like this."
"They're deploying such a high-profile bastard against someone like me?"
"They're three brothers, each with different levels of martial skill. I heard the youngest is being sent. A second-rate master reportedly nearing first-rate."
Just from hearing about him, he didn't sound like an easy opponent.
A bastard who specialized solely in killing people at tournaments and making it look like an accident.