The Bitter Taste of Defeat
It felt like discovering a guest had been living hidden inside your own home without your knowledge. Worse, that guest turned out to be someone you actually knew — and apparently a family member of the very person who'd been lodging under your roof before their parting.
I must be imagining that it feels so much like my own situation.
With the Geoncheon gi, he could at least suspect that his master had secretly planted it within him. But this thing — what on earth was it?
It seems So-ryong's qi flowing back into my body triggered it.
Being set off by some external stimulus and spinning out a new secret art in response did fit the characteristics of the Geoncheon Art, admittedly.
However, an ability that absorbed and refined someone else's qi — clearly an energy-draining technique to anyone who saw it — was not part of the Geoncheon Art's repertoire.
No matter how far back I search my memory, I've never seen an energy-draining art this bizarre, and—
He froze solid for a moment.
Come to think of it, didn't the Thousand-Slaying Demon use an energy-draining art?
Hm.
Absurd. Why in the world would the Esoteric Cult's power be sitting in his dantian?
No idea.
It was a question no amount of pondering would answer, so he decided to stop thinking about it. He could only pray that his body was fine. He hadn't even gotten to properly enjoy his retirement yet — he certainly couldn't afford to become a cautionary tale in the murim chronicles.
"Hooooh."
Only then did he open his eyes. At some point, the room had filled with pitch-black darkness.
It's already this late? So-so's duel...
It must have ended by now, whatever happened.
Jin Cheong-un gently laid Jeong So-ryong, still curled up on the floor, onto the bed, then stepped outside.
Creeeak!
"WAAH! You scared me!"
A thick, substantial something directly in front of the door leapt into the air. Jin Cheong-un barely kept his fist down, having nearly struck out on reflex. He'd wondered if a wild boar had come down from the mountains — it was none other than Hwang Jong-baek.
"Di-Director Jin! You're finally out!"
"Senior Hwang, what exactly are you doing in front of my door?"
"Your sounds suddenly went quiet, and I couldn't decide whether something had gone wrong and I should go in and check! Aigoo!"
Hwang Jong-baek heaved sigh after sigh. His face was etched with exhaustion.
"How much time has passed, exactly?"
"Three sichen. A full three sichen..."
The man shuddered. Three sichen.
He'd assumed the early winter dusk had simply come early — but had an entire day gone by without his noticing?
"Anyway, is the boy all right? Did it go well?"
"It worked out. I'll need to take him to a physician at some point."
"Well, obviously you should! Eh — wait. And you... are you all right?"
"Yes, well enough."
"B-but your mouth..."
Hwang Jong-baek tilted his head and wiped at his own lips with a hand. Jin Cheong-un looked down — a powder-like residue was smeared across his hand. In the moonlight, it revealed itself to be dried blood.
No wonder my body felt lighter. Did it expel my turbid qi too, without me even noticing?
Unlike Jeong So-ryong's turbid qi — clouded, stagnant energy that had pooled in his body — what had left Jin Cheong-un was the lingering residue of old injuries.
At this point, he couldn't help feeling a measure of genuine awe.
Quite the fortuitous encounter, wasn't it.
Not only had his internal energy grown — his body itself had healed. An unintended windfall, and a smile crept across his face despite himself.
"I expelled a bit of turbid qi. Nothing worth mentioning."
"Th-then that's a relief."
"Yes. Although—"
Stagger.
Jin Cheong-un suddenly swayed and caught himself against the wall.
Hm. The body's a little startled, is all.
At that instant, Hwang Jong-baek's eyes bulged and he shouted, "See! I knew it couldn't be fine! Go see a physician right now! The Association Vice-Leader said he'd clear out the clinic for you — hurry!"
"A physician? For what? I'm perfectly fine."
Jin Cheong-un waved a hand, slightly embarrassed. Hwang Jong-baek bit his lip hard at the sight.
"How could it possibly be fine..."
"...?"
"Why? Why would you go that far? Risking yourself like that — what for?"
Risk. It had been a little dangerous, sure, but still.
"It was nothing, honestly."
It had worked out in the end, hadn't it? Worst case, even if something had gone wrong, he could have just absorbed a bit of internal injury and been done with it.
"Haha... 'nothing,' he says. You truly are..."
"...?"
"Right. I understand now. If that's your will, then I should respect it."
Hwang Jong-baek looked up at the distant sky, his expression choked with emotion.
Curing Nine Yin Severed Meridians in one go would have required enormous internal energy. He may even have burned through his foundational reserves...
The man believed Jin Cheong-un to be a hidden paragon of the unorthodox sects concealing his identity — so the misunderstanding was, naturally, absurd.
Such a devoted master. Someone incomparably finer than himself, surely.
Sparkle!
Hot tears welled up in Hwang Jong-baek's eyes. Jin Cheong-un regarded him with a somewhat puzzled look.
Maybe Yichang doesn't agree with people. The senior's not right in the head either.
He resolved inwardly to keep his wits about him. Even a reasonably sensible man like himself might get infected, if he wasn't careful.
"In any case, thank you, Senior. I will repay this debt without fail, someday."
Hwang Jong-baek wiped away the trickle of tears and shook his head. "No, no. Think nothing of it."
"Still—"
"What's there to repay? All I did was stand here. How could I ask a man like you to owe me a debt for that?"
Jin Cheong-un nodded along readily. "Then let's leave it at that."
"Huh? Uh, sure?"
And he nodded again, deeply satisfied.
Truly a senior among men. Such magnanimity.
"By the way — it's this late, so why are there no signs of any other guests in the reception hall?"
"Ah, that... The Vice-Leader came personally and asked everyone's understanding, then cleared the hall out. Even arranged separate lodging for them inside the walls."
"The Vice-Leader himself?"
"That's what I heard."
Jin Cheong-un narrowed his eyes and sank briefly into thought.
Then—
"Director Jin, did everything go well?"
Jin Cheong-un surfaced from his musings with a hollow laugh. "Ah, right. You two were here."
"Yes?"
It was Cho-sam and the Black Tiger squad members. They stood smiling awkwardly.
"Everything went fine. But why were you loitering around here?"
"Ah, that is... we thought the Alliance might make a move on you, sir, so a few of us slipped in secretly."
"Make a move?"
"Yes. We know you're strong, sir, but we were worried the Alliance bastards might close the doors and gang up on you..."
"Your choice of words is awfully refined."
Thinking like a proper Black Tiger, of course. Petty as the Alliance was, surely even they wouldn't stoop that far.
...Though he couldn't exactly rebuke them for it, seeing as there had, in fact, been something mixed into the water he'd drunk. Inwardly, he was grateful. Touched, even.
"But then, what did you take me for, coming to guard me? I'm not one of your Black Tiger squad."
"Ah, obviously—"
Cho-sam stopped mid-sentence and tilted his head. "...Come to think of it, you're right?"
"..."
"S-sorry, sir. It just felt like the thing to do."
Jin Cheong-un studied the Black Tiger men for a moment. "Either way, thank you. The ones who came today — come by the academy sometime. I'll stand you a proper round of drinks."
"Drinks? Er, hm."
"What's wrong?"
"The truth is, I've never actually drunk alcohol before... Would tea be acceptable?"
"..."
Jin Cheong-un let out a long sigh and turned back to Hwang Jong-baek. "Senior Hwang."
"Oh? Yes, what is it?"
"So. What happened with the Yi-Mu Association?"
Jeong So-so's eyes slid open. "Mmm."
Her head was foggy, and for a while she could only blink dully. Where was she?
Only moments ago she had won the Yi-Mu Association tournament, been showered with cheers, and received her master's and her brother's congratulations...
Ah. It was a dream.
The scent of medicinal broth drifting past her nose slowly woke her. For a moment, she frowned into her palm.
Did they carry me to the White Horse Academy's clinic?
She remembered insisting to the physician that she had to get back to her master, but she must have been too exhausted and drifted off.
Wait. Master?
"Gah! So-ryong!"
She threw off the blanket and scrambled to rise — and a voice sounded right at her pillow. "Lie down a while longer."
"KYAAH!"
She shot straight up in bed. "M-Master?!"
"So you do have a talent for lightness arts. Jump a little higher and you'd nearly touch the ceiling."
"Haaah..."
Her heart had nearly dropped out of her chest. She clutched at it to calm herself — then froze.
Her master was standing right in front of her, which meant...
"Where's So-ryong? What happened to So-ryong?"
"What do you think happened?" Jin Cheong-un yawned elaborately and waved a lazy hand. "It's over. He's lying in the bed right next to yours."
She whipped her head around, and there was her brother, fast asleep, breathing softly and steadily. She went rigid on the spot, and into that stillness came her master's indifferent voice.
"The physician took his pulse before he left and said there's nothing wrong. So stop worrying."
"Th-then So-ryong's illness is finally..."
"Cured. Completely. Whew, I'm exhausted."
How can he drop news this enormous like he's deciding what to have for dinner?!
"Hah."
Jeong So-so let out a shaky breath and stared at her brother, dazed. Her chest swelled so full that tears threatened to spill, and the corners of her mouth twisted on their own, on the verge of bursting into laughter.
Yes. For now, first—
She wiped her eyes and turned to her master in a hurry. "Master, thank you so mu—"
"By the way."
At that instant, Jin Cheong-un cut her off, his eyes gone sharp. "You lost?"
Jolt.
She flinched, then smiled awkwardly. "W-well, you see..."
"Mm. Good work out there."
"...?"
"It must have been hard to keep your resolve. You did well today."
What is this? What kind of scheme was this now?
No — no, of course not. Even her master knew how to offer encouragement and comfort on occasions like...
"But you've prepared yourself, haven't you?"
Jin Cheong-un's eyes gleamed.
There it is! Of course there it is!
"You flatly refused your master's instructions and climbed into the arena anyway... and then — defeat? Heheh! Defeat?"
She smiled in resigned surrender. "You can look forward to it. So that this humiliating defeat is never repeated, when we get home it's straight back to training — until your heart reaches the very summit of utmost, devoted sincerity!"
"It wasn't really that humiliat—"
"Every defeat is humiliating."
"Ah. Yes, Master."
Jeong So-so hung her head, her face crumpling toward tears. Jin Cheong-un smirked, then tossed out a question as if it were nothing.
"So. Did it feel satisfying?"
"What?"
"You did the thing you'd been wanting to do. Wish granted, or no?"
Her eyes, which had gone wide at the unexpected question, lowered slightly. She fidgeted with her fingers for a moment, then nodded. "I think I was happy. Mm, yes. I was happy."
"I see."
"And, Master... I didn't know it for certain, but I think — I think I actually love martial arts."
Jin Cheong-un's eyes registered surprise. "You love martial arts?"
"Yes."
Jeong So-so clenched the edge of her blanket. "Giving it my absolute best, putting it on display, pitting my best against someone else's best — all of it... it was hard, but it was joyful."
Jin Cheong-un regarded her with a face that showed faint astonishment. His disciple's eyes were shining.
Suddenly, the girl he'd always seen as lacking seemed unbearably, radiantly brilliant.
"So... mm. I was happy."
"..."
"But..."
Her voice gradually sank. Moisture gathered drop by drop along her reddened rims. "I'm so angry."
"..."
"It was a good match, and I gave everything, so I shouldn't have any regrets. So-ryong is healed, so I should be so happy right now I could fly — and yet... I'm just — so, so angry."
The tears that had pooled in her eyes fell, one drop at a time.
Jin Cheong-un's throat closed for a moment, and he simply watched his disciple weep. After a while, Jeong So-so scrubbed roughly at her eyes and smiled with forced grit. "What's gotten into me, suddenly? Sorry for crying in front of you — a jin, no less. It's already in the past, so what can I do? Like you said, Master, I'll take this as experience and work even harder. With utmost devotion! Right, Master?"
Jin Cheong-un looked at his student's strained smile and said, "Well, so what?"
"...What?"
"If you're angry, be angry. An injustice is an injustice."
Her eyes went round.
"..."
The truth was, Jin Cheong-un could not entirely understand his disciple's feelings. In the jianghu he had known, defeat had meant the end.
There had been things he had to achieve even at the cost of his life — and, absurdly, to achieve them he'd needed to keep that wretched life of his clinging on. Anger and grief were not things you felt; they were things you buried. Or, failing that, things you poured into your blade.
But he wanted these children's jianghu to be different from his own.
It had to be different.
And so he fumbled his way through words he had never once managed to say to himself.
"W-well. You did well."
Jin Cheong-un rose smoothly from his seat. "Of everyone I watched today, you were the best in my eyes. Not because you made it to the finals — but because I could feel how earnestly you'd trained."
"M-Master..."
Jeong So-so's eyes brimmed all over again. "Well. You've still got a long way to go."
"Master?"
"Anyone would think you'd dueled some formidable prodigies. They're barely trainees at a backwater village academy."
"AH! MASTER!"
Her face scrunched up entirely. "Rest well, then. Rest up properly so you can get home and get back to training."
"...I hate you, Master."
"Good. Much obliged."
With an ill-suppressed grin, he slipped out of the room.
"Hm."
He glanced around his surroundings. "Now, which way was the Vice-Leader's quarters again?"
Jin Cheong-un's eyes sank deep — very, very deep.