The Qi Arts Master Chapter 51
“Kuhahaha! Is there no one outside?!”
At Lord Zhu’s bellow, a soldier rushed in.
“Did you call for me?”
“Go fetch three washbasins.”
The soldier blinked in bewilderment. “Pardon?”
“No backtalk—just go!”
“Yes, sir!”
Prodded by Lord Zhu, the soldier soon returned with three large basins. From that moment, the no-holds-barred war between Chanho, Song Sogeol, and Lord Zhu began.
There were plenty of liquor bottles, but with the three of them guzzling straight from the basins, they vanished in no time.
“I’ll go request more from the clan,” Ni Daeryeok said with a bemused chuckle, stepping out of the tent.
Tian Ailang watched the trio, wondering if these were truly the men who’d just been fighting tooth and nail—or if they bore some ancient grudge against alcohol itself.
That was when his eyes met Elder Go’s. Without a word between them, they seemed to share an understanding. Silently, they rose and slipped out of the tent.
Time had flown by unnoticed; the moon now hung high above the camp.
Tian Ailang and Elder Go walked in companionable silence. They wandered to the outermost watchtower on the camp’s edge.
Elder Go leaped up using his lightness skill. Tian Ailang followed effortlessly, landing lightly atop the tower.
“Oh! Master, it’s an honor.” The soldier on guard spotted Elder Go and bowed hastily.
“Good work, lad. The moonlight’s too fine to waste—I’d like to borrow the tower for a bit. That all right?”
“Pardon?”
“Frankly, my qi sense outstrips your watch by miles, so no worries there.”
“Ah! Yes, of course, sir!” Convinced, the soldier bowed to Elder Go and Tian Ailang before descending.
“He called you ‘Master,’” Tian Ailang noted.
Elder Go smiled. “I’ve been tweaking their martial arts a bit.”
“All these soldiers?” Tian Ailang’s eyes widened slightly.
Training a handful of elites was one thing, but instructing rank-and-file troops demanded immense time and effort.
“They’re just spear-wielding folk who’ve never learned a proper technique. Left as is, they’re dead men walking.”
The Red Turban rebels’ common soldiers were mostly desperate peasants who’d joined after enduring the empire’s rot. Lifelong farmers with no experience wielding blades beyond farm tools—Elder Go’s guidance was a lifeline for them.
Tian Ailang saw Elder Go in a new light.
Elder Go plopped down on the tower floor. Tian Ailang followed suit, settling beside him.
As if on cue, they each drew a bottle from their robes.
“Oh? You brought some too?”
“You did as well, Elder.”
Elder Go and Tian Ailang shared a grin.
“Uhahaha! We’re of one mind, it seems.”
“Haha, yeah. Those three were making such a racket with their drinking.”
Elder Go chuckled and took a swig straight from the bottle. Then, abruptly, he recited a poem:
The cuckoo flits to and fro, male and female delighting in each other—
Why must my lonely body wander home with none?
“It’s filled with loneliness,” Tian Ailang said.
Elder Go nodded, his eyes thick with longing.
“They say King Yuri composed it.”
“A king of Goguryeo?”
“Exactly.”
Elder Go gazed wistfully at the moon. Tian Ailang ventured a question. “I’ve heard you’re from Goguryeo yourself.”
“That’s right. You lived on Baekdu Mountain, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Baekdu was Goguryeo territory. Did you know?”
Tian Ailang tilted his head. “I’ve heard as much, but not the details.”
“I see.” Elder Go took another gulp, accepting it easily.
“How did you end up here, then?”
Elder Go’s face darkened at Tian Ailang’s question.
“……”
“If it’s too personal, no need to say.”
Elder Go shook his head. “No, at my age, what secrets do I have left to carry?”
He spoke while drinking, draining his bottle in moments and tipping it upside down. Tian Ailang quietly offered his own.
Elder Go eyed it with a bittersweet smile. “Thanks. Here I am, an old man stealing your drink too.”
“No trouble at all. Drink your fill—I can fetch more in a flash.”
Meeting someone from his ancestral homeland eased Elder Go’s heart somehow.
“As you know, I’m a Jo-ui Seonin.”
“Yes, Goguryeo’s special operatives, right?”
Elder Go eyed him in surprise. “Most just call us Goguryeo warriors. How’d you know about the special missions?”
“My grandfather mentioned it.”
Elder Go brightened. “Spot on. We handled Goguryeo’s covert tasks. Ah, not all Jo-ui Seonin, mind you.”
He sipped and continued. “I wasn’t born in time to see our kingdom fall—that pain fell to my forebears.”
“Born in the Central Plains?”
He nodded. “My ancestors pioneered secret passages from Baekdu’s foothills all the way to Peking.”
Tian Ailang started. It sounded familiar—the tunnel he’d passed through after fighting Draku.
“Intelligence suggested Silla would drag in the Tang to attack us,” Elder Go went on. “So Goguryeo planned a direct strike on the Tang capital to turn the tide.”
“Via those secret passages?”
Elder Go nodded vigorously. “Caves through volcanic zones, partial underwater tunnels—whatever it took to infiltrate troops into Peking and assassinate the emperor.”
Tian Ailang was certain now: that was the cave.
“What happened?” His eyes gleamed; it felt like uncovering a hidden chapter of his own path.
“Failure, in the end. A traitor in our midst.”
“Damn……”
Elder Go smiled faintly at Tian Ailang’s rapt attention. “Goguryeo fell, and the Jo-ui Seonin on the mission fled through those passages.”
“Ah… And one of them was your ancestor?”
“Yes. Which is why I’m glad you’re a descendant of Baekdu’s Qi Arts clan.”
“Pardon?”
Elder Go glanced at the sword at his waist. Tian Ailang followed his gaze.
“Among us Jo-ui Seonin, sword experts formed a sect to study and teach together.”
“A sect?”
“The Baekdu Sword Sect. Sword obsessives, all of them. Goguryeo’s greatest swordsmen always hailed from there—mostly sect leaders.”
“I see. But why bring it up……?” Tian Ailang tilted his head.
“As the name implies, it was based on Baekdu Mountain.”
“What?”
“They exchanged techniques with your Qi Arts clan.”
“Ah……” Tian Ailang’s eyes widened at this revelation.
“Never heard of it, have you?”
“No. My clan vanished when I was very young……”
Elder Go nodded. “The sect wasn’t always mighty. But through the Qi Arts clan, they pushed swordsmanship to new heights—and became Goguryeo’s top sect.”
“Ah……”
“As you’ve guessed, my ancestor was one of them. But over generations, the arts degraded—my great-grandfather lacked talent.”
Regret laced his voice as he gazed at the moon. “I’ve devoted my life to restoring the Baekdu Sword Sect’s techniques, but the true essences gained from the Qi Arts exchanges remain lost. My archery, preserved in texts, reached its pinnacle—swords, not so much.”
Tian Ailang understood why Elder Go had opened up. Slowly, he rose.
Elder Go’s eyes followed.
Tian Ailang smiled faintly. “I’ll show you.”
Elder Go’s face lit with shock. His words had essentially begged Tian Ailang to reveal his clan’s secrets, to aid his martial arts.
In the ruthless jianghu, the adage held: hide thirty percent of your power. No one revealed ultimate techniques outside battle, lest foes devise counters.
Yet Tian Ailang agreed readily. Elder Go’s eyes trembled, tears welling. Hope dawned for fulfilling his life’s dream—restoring Goguryeo’s supreme sword art. To experience the Baekdu Sword Sect’s true essences before death would be enough.
“Somewhere quiet, away from prying eyes?”
Elder Go leaped up. “There’s a lake nearby.”
“Let’s go there.”
“You’re truly going to help me? Why?” His voice quavered.
Tian Ailang smiled. “Call it payment for saving me and sharing your tales. Or for a countryman.”
“Hm… Revealing your essences is inviting death in the jianghu.” Elder Go probed, seeking confirmation.
Tian Ailang chuckled. “Think you can kill me?”
Speechless before those confident eyes, Elder Go faltered.
Tian Ailang met his gaze steadily. “I know the saying: hide thirty percent in the jianghu.”
“Yes……”
“What about the Heavenly Demon?”
“Hm?” Elder Go cocked his head.
“Does the world not know his arts? I’d bet they’ve studied even the color of his underwear.”
Elder Go fell silent.
“True, but……”
“With everything exposed, how does the Heavenly Demon survive? Few have so many enemies.”
Elder Go swallowed, grasping the point. Arrogant, bold words—but Tian Ailang’s eyes brimmed with genuine confidence, not hubris.
“Heh heh.” Elder Go laughed heartily.
Tian Ailang grinned. “Exactly. Attain absolute martial might no one can challenge.”
“I’m old. You’re young. Enviable.”
Tian Ailang laughed, meeting his eyes. “Tricks won’t kill the Heavenly Demon.”
“Saying such wild things with a smile. Heh heh.” Elder Go shook his head.
“Just confidence from experience.”
“Good. Then I gratefully accept your lesson. After you.”
Their figures blurred from the tower, vanishing swiftly into the woods.
* * *
Meanwhile, dark shadows infiltrated the Red Turban camp where Tian Ailang’s group rested. Clad head to toe in black, they melted into the night. Masters of extreme stealth, even peak experts would struggle to detect them.
“No need to rush. Just make it certain.” The leader’s voice carried grim resolve.
“Intel says they’re drunk in their tent. When targets split, I’ll take mine. The rest of you, slaughter as planned.”
No replies came, but he pressed on.
“Unleash your demonic qi freely. Leave no doubt it was us—cause a massive uproar. Even if we die here, complete the mission thoroughly.”
Again, silence. Dark clouds settled over the camp.
* * *
“Eung? Where you off to? Still liquor left, y’know. Uhihihi.” Lord Zhu slurred at Song Sogeol, thoroughly plastered.
“Gotta hit the privy.” Song Sogeol waved him off, staggering.
Ni Daeryeok lay slumped in the corner, comatose. Chanho was long past coherence, dead to the world.
“Ugh… monsters……” Chanho mumbled incoherently.
Song Sogeol stumbled out and looked up at the bright moon.
“Kuh…… Fine night~.”
He shuffled to a dark corner of the camp. “I wonder if that moon’s the one Li Bai frolicked under~.”
Reciting Li Bai’s poem in drunken revelry:
Among flowers, one flask of wine—
No true friends here, so I pour alone for the bright moon and my shadow: we make three.
The moon can’t drink, my shadow tails me vainly—
Yet for now, I’ll escape moon and shadow to revel in this spring.
I sing, the moon sways; I dance, my shadow flurries.
Awake, we rejoice together; drunk, we scatter apart.
This bond without sorrow, eternal—
Let us pledge beyond the Milky Way.
“Ah~ Perfect! If only every day were like this. Hohoho.”