A Lesson in Fear
I don't understand this at all.
Yu Sucheon fixed his gaze on Dan Hyunwoo as he returned to the Dan Manor.
That bastard from earlier.
He had no idea what connection the man had to Dan Hyunwoo. All he knew was that he wasn't someone who deserved to be spared. Yet Dan Hyunwoo had sent him away without the slightest hesitation.
Unable to hold back any longer, Yu Sucheon decided to ask.
"That guy from before will definitely keep his word about getting revenge. Leaving a future threat like that behind... If you'd just killed him, we wouldn't have to worry about any of this."
Dan Hyunwoo offered no reply. It looked as though something weighed on his mind.
Hwa Yuhwa answered for him.
"There was no killing intent."
"In those eyes?"
"He came for revenge, but he had no actual intention of carrying it out... Something like that."
Dan Hyunwoo's antics were annoying enough. Now Hwa Yuhwa was spouting nonsense too.
Hwa Yuhwa smiled sweetly.
"Maybe while growing up, that boy came to understand the sorrow of the battlefield. He must have realized that he too has been piling up grudges by killing so many enemies. He's the commander's enemy, but he's become someone else's enemy in turn... Don't you think?"
This much, he could understand. He had to admit it sounded plausible.
"Or... perhaps he only spoke of revenge so he could keep living. Without that drive, he might not have been able to go on at all."
Understanding revoked. Just cut the man down, mince him up, and be done with the grudge. Why complicate things so much?
Dan Hyunwoo spoke.
"Sucheon. Go back to where you fought earlier. His greatsword will be stuck in the ground. Bring it here."
"You're really going to keep that thing?"
"Now."
That magical word 'now' that treated servants like dogs. Damn it all. Yu Sucheon ran off toward the clearing.
"It's actually here."
It was heavy. Disgustingly heavy.
He lugged the massive blade back, grunting with effort the whole way.
Hwa Yuhwa's eyes curved into a smile.
"It's a token. A promise that he'll return."
"It's the same greatsword I saw ten years ago."
It belonged to Cho Geuk's father, the Northern Great General Cho Geon. Even in the moment Dan Hyunwoo killed him, the man had never released it from his grasp. This was the weapon he treasured most, and Cho Geuk had left it behind.
Dan Hyunwoo turned his head, gazing in the direction Cho Geuk had disappeared.
He could feel the man's presence growing steadily more distant.
Cho Geuk walked without direction.
To leave Hangzhou behind.
This place had grown unbearably tiresome. Suzhou, Hangzhou, Beijing, Luoyang, and Kaifeng. Of the five great cities of the Central Plains, this was the most prosperous. Yet even Hangzhou had its back alleys.
Cho Geuk stepped into a cramped cluster of small houses and frowned. Two men stood blocking his path, as if they had been waiting for him.
Their names were Seol Hu and Gang Cheon.
Cho Geuk stared indifferently at the pair radiating killing intent. He already knew why they had come.
Seol Hu spoke first, clearly wanting confirmation.
"You returned alive. Does that mean you succeeded?"
"I failed. He remains far beyond the reach of my sword."
Seol Hu's piercing eyes swept over Cho Geuk from head to toe.
"Then why are you still alive? There's not a single wound on you."
"...I don't know."
"You call that an answer? Did you beg Dan Hyunwoo to spare your miserable life? How pathetic, clinging to existence like that."
"Is Dan Hyunwoo the sort of man who spares people just because they beg? Stop talking nonsense."
"...You'd do well to watch that tongue of yours."
Killing intent began to pool in Seol Hu's eyes. Cho Geuk, meeting that gaze, slowly let his own killing intent bloom. A chill that seemed capable of freezing the alley wrapped around both men.
Cho Geuk spoke slowly, yet with clear warning.
"Move."
"Where do you think you're going?"
"North. I'm returning to my homeland."
To that place Dan Hyunwoo had spoken of. To the wasteland where nothing remained. To the battlefield where blood still flowed.
Cho Geuk let out a bitter laugh.
"Will you try to stop me?"
Thud!
The internal energy that had been quietly rising from Cho Geuk exploded without restraint, flooding the alley. Seol Hu and Gang Cheon's own energy surged to meet it, thick with killing intent.
Crack!
Fissures spiderwebbed across the alley walls, shaking violently. They looked ready to collapse at any moment. The ground beneath Cho Geuk's feet trembled as the killing intent grew heavier.
Cho Geuk raised his hand. He had left his greatsword behind, but he was more than capable of dealing with these two.
At that moment, Gang Cheon spoke with a twisted expression.
"If we tried to stop you here, it would only provoke Dan Hyunwoo, that monster. Go. But don't think you're safe even in the north. You never know when the sword of our Blood Yin Sect might come for you."
Having spat out the threat, Gang Cheon forcibly reined in his overflowing killing intent.
Dan Hyunwoo. The man who had shattered everything they had built. Even Cho Geuk, the one they had pinned their hopes on, had failed to kill him and was slinking away like this.
He bit his lip and growled.
"I'll be watching, Cho Geuk."
Seol Hu and Gang Cheon vanished like smoke, leaving a thick trail of killing intent behind them.
Cho Geuk unclenched the fist he had prepared to strike with.
Then he laughed harshly.
"So Dan Hyunwoo is a monster... Yeah. Of all the things the Blood Yin Sect has ever said, that's the only truth. After fighting him this time, I finally understand what kind of existence he is."
Hangzhou lay in the palm of Dan Hyunwoo's hand. His reach was a colossal maw that cast its shadow over the entire city.
Cho Geuk walked slowly toward the place that was both home and battlefield. The place Dan Hyunwoo had told him to go.
"Until we meet again."
Dan Hyunwoo opened his closed eyes.
He's gone.
Cho Geuk's presence had vanished completely from Hangzhou. The restless air had grown still once more.
Dan Hyunwoo thought of the mountain of killing karma he had accumulated, and his eyelids twitched faintly. In the past he had swung his blade without mercy for the sake of the Great Ming and its common people. But to someone, that must have been nothing but a grudge. After all, he had killed far too many.
He has grown stronger.
He would grow stronger still. And one day he would return.
Dan Hyunwoo let out a small sigh and calmed his mind.
Just then, a sharp noise drew his attention. He turned toward Moyong Sehui.
"You can't!"
Moyong Sehui stumbled backward.
"Hand it over right now."
Yu Sucheon drew his blade and closed in on her. The moment their eyes met, Moyong Sehui spun and bolted.
But.
Grab.
He seized her by the back of her collar.
"Give it here."
Yu Sucheon snatched the duck from Moyong Sehui's arms. It was one of the two survivors from the three ducks he had bought on the day of the bandit attack.
Slice.
The duck's neck was severed.
Moyong Sehui wailed.
"No! Blossom!"
"You even gave it a name? What a ridiculously cheesy name."
"Hic... sob..."
"...Hey. If you cry like that, I look like the villain here."
He felt a twinge of guilt. He'd known this would happen. The man who could behead bandits and pirates without batting an eye was surprisingly soft-hearted.
Yu Sucheon scratched his head roughly.
"I'll... I'll let you turn it into a stuffed toy. And I won't kick you out of the kitchen..."
Nod.
Moyong Sehui wiped her tears and nodded.
Good grief, just stop crying already. His nonexistent conscience was starting to stir.
Yu Sucheon carried the duck toward the kitchen. Moyong Sehui watched the departed Blossom for a moment, then picked up her broom.
She had to sweep the path clean so that the departed Blossom could walk on pure ground.
Tears dripping steadily, she began sweeping while channeling her Geumya Palsen.
Eun Doyun spoke to Dan Hyunwoo.
"Aunt Sehui really hasn't changed at all. Should I wipe her tears or something...?"
"You called her aunt?"
"I haven't actually called her that to her face yet. But calling her sister feels too presumptuous given our positions..."
Moyong Sehui was the direct daughter of the Moyong clan head, whose father was the leader of the Murim Alliance. She was far too lofty a person. Calling her sister seemed overly familiar.
And yet Uncle treats someone like that as nothing more than a working guest...
It was anything but ordinary. The reason for his retirement remained utterly incomprehensible.
Eun Doyun continued.
"Uncle, I've finished learning all the Thousand Character Classics. It took a little longer than the promised three months, though."
"I did promise to teach you martial arts once you mastered them."
Eun Doyun smiled brightly. His uncle had remembered the promise.
Dan Hyunwoo ruffled the boy's hair and went on.
"Before you learn any martial arts, there's something else you must learn first. Fear."
"Not forms or internal cultivation methods?"
"You'll understand once you experience it yourself."
The perfect person for the job was right there. The one still sobbing her eyes out.
"Sehui."
"Blossom... Hiccup. Yes?"
"I'm entrusting Doyun to you for a moment. You'll use the broom you're holding. Doyun can use the wooden sword Hyeon-gyeom once used."
"Understood. Sniff."
Eun Doyun stood before Moyong Sehui. The wooden sword was heavier than expected, but more than that, Aunt Sehui...
Can I really learn what fear is from someone like her? She's the kind of person who cries her eyes out over a duck.
She gave the impression of being incredibly soft-hearted. Always smiling, always well-mannered.
Moyong Sehui spoke to Eun Doyun, who gripped the wooden sword.
"Shall we begin? Sniff."
"Please teach me, Aunt."
"What did you say?"
Moyong Sehui's tear-streaked face hardened in an instant. Eun Doyun gasped internally and realized he had made a terrible mistake.
"S-sister! I'll call you sister!"
"S...ister?"
The corners of Moyong Sehui's mouth curved upward with chilling grace. It was as if she had never been crying at all.
Eun Doyun froze like a frog before a snake. His heart hammered wildly, sending blood racing through his veins.
Moyong Sehui bared her teeth.
"Sister? Doyun, do you want to end up like Blossom who just left us? Hm? Should I bury you under her feathers?"
"Eek! S-sis! I wanted to call you sis from the beginning!"
"Good. Sis it is. Don't make that mistake again."
No... She had been so gentle with a mere duck, yet...
He suddenly remembered the saying that in the murim, a single wrong word could lead to blades being drawn.
All at once, Moyong Sehui seemed far larger than before. Had she always been this imposing?
Eun Doyun gripped the wooden sword tightly. Moyong Sehui, on the other hand, held only a broom of bush clover.
He remembered being swatted with the broom's bush clover end as a child. It hadn't hurt. The memory of it merely stinging remained.
What could she possibly do with that?
"Doyun, attack first. Strike with all your strength. You can use any underhanded trick you like."
"Isn't this too unfair for you, sis? You're only holding a bush clover broom."
"It's fine."
"If you say so, I'll give it my all."
Moyong Sehui nodded. Her eyes were still swollen from crying, making her look almost pitiful.
Tap tap tap.
Eun Doyun charged, raising the wooden sword high, and brought it down.
But.
Clack!
It was blocked by the broom. Not by the thick wooden handle, but by the soft, flexible bush clover branches.
What is this...?
At that instant.
Whoosh!
The bush clover portion wrapped around his leg and lifted him upward. He hadn't even seen it move!
Eun Doyun's body floated into the air. It was unbelievable. How could something so flexible launch a person this high?
Thud!
Eun Doyun hit the ground and rubbed his backside. Rather than the pain, however, he was too busy staring at the bush clover broom.
How could those branches be harder than a wooden sword?
Whoosh!
Again and again he was hurled high into the air only to fall without respite. He was never struck by the broom itself, yet his entire body soon became covered in bruises.
If he had actually been hit by that...
He was wondering what would become of his body when Moyong Sehui raised the broom a short distance away and slammed it into the ground.
Boom! Crack!
"...?!"
The bush clover branches had split the stone paving and shattered it. The ground was deeply gouged, as if struck by a thousand-pound hammer of steel.
This... This is impossible! If that had hit me, my bones would have shattered into pieces!
The stone itself had been pulverized into dust. At the center of the destruction stood Moyong Sehui, still holding the broom.
If she had truly wished it, she could have killed him with nothing but a single strand of those bush clover branches. The realization struck him to his core.
It was terrifying.
This was what a true murim practitioner was. No, it went beyond fear. This was pure terror.
The bruises covering his body were nothing compared to how deeply this truth carved itself into his heart.
He also understood something else. A soft heart and true strength were entirely separate things. Appearance and weakness had nothing to do with each other.
Moyong Sehui spoke.
"In the murim, the most dangerous mistake is to view an opponent's weapon through a biased lens."
"...I'll remember that."
"From now on, I will teach you martial arts."
"Not Uncle, but you, sis?"
"What exactly were you hoping to learn from Young Master Dan? Forms? Internal cultivation methods? Don't make me laugh. You must build your foundation first. Begin with one hour of horse stance. Right now."
"Y-yes!"
Eun Doyun hurriedly rose and assumed the horse stance.
Moyong Sehui's eyes sharpened.
"No matter how much your legs hurt, you are not allowed to relax. If you release the stance without permission... always remember Blossom's fate."
"Gasp!"
Eun Doyun nodded frantically.
Leaving behind the words "I'll be watching," Moyong Sehui walked over to Dan Hyunwoo. Her expression had already returned to its usual gentle state.
"Will this be enough?"
Moyong Sehui smiled faintly, her eyes still puffy from crying.