150. Sakju (6)
Sakju (6)
150. Sakju (6)
"They are Three Knots disciples, all near the peak of the second-rate realm. These six can escort Great Grandmaster’s party safely to Seungdeok Manor."
Drunken Beggar called over six middle-aged beggars and explained. Since Great Sun Association was already fighting on two fronts, the escort force was more than sufficient.
"Thank you, Elder. But wouldn't people of this caliber be needed for the vanguard?"
Master expressed her gratitude to Drunken Beggar and asked with concern. He answered her question with a bitter smile.
"The Beggars' Sect hasn't been able to decide its stance on this subjugation either. As for me, I can just take a hit from the Sect Leader later and be done with it, but these fellows are Three Knots disciples, so they don't yet have the standing to defy the Sect Leader. The Beggars' Sect will join the vanguard with only me and a few of my disciples. Since I can't take these fellows with us, it's far more beneficial to ease the Yeongsan Sect's worries and receive the Yeongsan Sect's help instead."
After thanking him once more, Master approached Great Grandmaster’s party, took Great Grandmaster’s hand, and said:
"Master, please go ahead to Yeongsan. The White Tiger Sect Leader and the Red Flower Pavilion Mistress will protect you there. We will join the Martial Alliance, finish dealing with Great Sun Association, meet the Martial Alliance Leader, and then return to Yeongsan."
"The Martial Alliance Leader. That is far too grand a matter. Yeong-ok. The Great Sun Association is truly a terrifying group. Can't you simply return to Yeongsan with us?"
Great Grandmaster spoke with tears in her eyes. Master smiled gently, looked at me, and answered:
"Master. Yeongmok is truly powerful. He is a disciple stronger than anyone under heaven. But we are martial artists too. We cannot simply rely on Yeongmok and place every burden on him. Please don't worry too much. The masters of Wudang, Shaolin, and the Beggars' Sect are with us."
Great Grandmaster slowly nodded as she looked at the sect leader who had grown from a delicate, adorable disciple into a powerful leader capable of weighing the affairs of the martial world.
"Sect Leader, Yeongsan Sect and you are being dragged into a fight with Great Sun Association because of me. What am I supposed to do?"
Yu So-wol spoke to Master with tears brimming in her eyes.
"So-wol. We are family. The Jidong Sect was annihilated, you said? If you are amenable, wouldn't you like to join Yeongsan as well? Your mother and father were both disciples of Yeongsan, after all."
Yu So-wol jumped in surprise at Master's kind offer.
"Ah... I can't! I was a martial artist of the unorthodox faction. I'm ashamed to call myself a martial artist, but I was part of the unorthodox faction nonetheless. The Yeongsan Sect is now an immense sect, enough that a Beggars' Sect elder came to find you personally. If I dare enter Yeongsan, I would leave a great stain on the Yeongsan Sect's honor."
"We aren't great people either. Just last spring, we were people who barely survived by begging from the Baek Clan Estate. The honor of our sect is precious, but family is more precious than that."
Yu So-wol burst into loud sobs at Master's gentle words. At the sight of Yu So-wol, Cho-ryeong raised both arms and cheered.
"So then, Sister So-wol really becomes my junior sister now, right? I become a senior sister now too, right?"
At Cho-ryeong's bright, beaming smile, Jeong-hyang, Son Yeong, and Lee Eun-ha chuckled.
"No, Senior Sister Cho. You already have a junior sister, don't you?"
"Junior Brother is an adult. Sister So-wol is older than me too, but she's still closer to my age, so I'm going to take really good care of her."
Cho-ryeong spoke, puffing out her chest. Having spent her entire life as the youngest, then meeting only one old junior brother, she was now so delighted at the news of finally escaping the youngest role that she danced a little jig with her shoulders.
"Could you please take good care of your one and only junior brother too?"
Despite my teasing remark, Cho-ryeong grabbed Yu So-wol's hands, shook them vigorously, and welcomed her. But Great Grandmaster looked at Cho-ryeong and still spoke with worry.
"Yeong-ok. I understand your intention, but wouldn't it be safer for at least Ryeong to go to Liaoning with us?"
"Master. Ryeong is very strong. She's stronger than me, you know?"
"No! Even if that were true, being stronger than you means nothing in the Martial World, doesn't it?"
Great Grandmaster's words were utterly reasonable. But Master's current martial prowess and the level she remembered from her Three Talents Sword days were leagues apart.
"Madam Seong, the Yeongsan Sect Leader is already an expert who single-handedly killed the leader of the Blacksmith Gang. The Blacksmith Gang of Liaoxi was larger than the Jidong Sect to which Miss Yu belonged."
Jo Sa-eun calmly persuaded Great Grandmaster. Now that her fortunes had turned and the Beggars’ Sect escort guaranteed her safe passage, she wanted to leave Sakju as soon as possible. As for the Blacksmith Gang, it seemed to command considerable respect among third-rate unorthodox groups. I handed Jo Sa-eun five taels of gold and gave her one final instruction.
"You said you wished to serve Great Grandmaster. Make sure she lacks nothing on the journey, and don't economize on snacks, cosmetics, or jewelry. Feed the beggars well too. Once you reach Seungdeok, the Red Flower Pavilion Mistress will handle the rest."
"G-gold!"
She snatched the gold from my hand with the eyes of a wild beast. Since she understood where her interests lay, I could entrust Great Grandmaster to her. She wasn't quite Ban Ho-jeong, but she gave off a similar air.
"Grand-disciple. Please take good care of our children. And I witnessed your strength myself, Grand-disciple, but you are now the only man of the Yeongsan Sect. Since there are masters of the Beggars' Sect and Wudang with you, you must hide tightly behind those masters and absolutely must not get hurt."
Great Grandmaster spoke, holding my hand tightly. The Drunken Beggar smiled bitterly at the sight of her.
"Don't worry, Grandmaster. And Yeongsan has changed now. Please don't call me Grand-disciple; call me by the Taoist title Yeongmok."
"I cannot. Now it is Yeong-ok's Yeongsan Sect, but I was a disciple of the past Yeongsan Sect. I will scold Yeong-ok properly for her rude behavior later, so please take good care of the children."
As expected, this grandmother could not be changed in a short time. Since the Yeongsan Sect itself needed considerable time to change, our future relationships could be slowly re-established once we returned to Yeongsan. And so, after our brief reunion, we parted ways for a time: they headed for Hebei, and we for Taiyuan.
While following the Drunken Beggar and moving swiftly out of Sakju, Jeong-hyang spoke to me in a playful voice.
"Junior Brother, aren't you pleased? You finally have a cute junior sister?"
Right. Come to think of it, I was finally escaping the youngest role myself, wasn't I? Having been treated almost more highly than Master all this time, I had forgotten this obvious fact.
"I'm a little envious, you know? I wanted to become a junior sister too and be showered with affection by my junior brother."
Jeong-hyang spoke, giggling. No, I was showering you with plenty of affection every single night, wasn't I.
"Junior Sister Cho is in big trouble now, isn't she? Now Master, the junior brother, and the other junior sisters will dote on the youngest junior sister even more."
"I'll cherish Sister So-wol more than any of the senior sisters will. Senior Sister Jeong has many junior sisters, but I'll only have one."
Cho-ryeong spoke, puffing out her chest without a hint of jealousy. I would finally have a junior sister when we returned to Yeongsan, but her position as the youngest, cutest darling still seemed rock-solid.
After following Drunken Beggar on a rapid forced march for about four hours, we reached a broad clearing where roughly thirty martial artists waited. Beggars, Daoists, and monks. They were probably from the Beggars’ Sect, Wudang, and Shaolin.
"Reverend Hyeon-gang, I have brought every martial artist of Yeongsan Sect. Contrary to our concerns, they had already taken Commander Geum’s head in Sakju and were prepared to fight Great Sun Association."
The Drunken Beggar spoke with uncharacteristic deference to an old Daoist whose eyebrows had whitened completely. But far more startling than his words was the old Daoist's Taoist title.
Hyeon-gang? Could it be that Hyeon-gang I know?
"I offer my deepest gratitude to the fellow Daoists who have joined this righteous cause and walk the path of the Dao. I am merely an old Daoist of Wudang named Hyeon-gang."
His voice was clear despite his age. At his courteous greeting, Master hurriedly paid her respects to Reverend Hyeon-gang.
"I-I am Do-ok of Yeongsan Sect. By any chance, are you Reverend Hyeon-gang, the Supreme Elder of Wudang?"
Hyeon-gang smiled benevolently at Master's words and nodded gently.
Good heavens. It really was Hyeon-gang. Nearly a hundred years old, he was the senior martial uncle of the Wudang Sect Leader. The martial world did not hold an annual tournament to determine the greatest master under heaven, so no one could know the exact answer. Within the orthodox path, however, this living legend was always counted among the top three, alongside Divine Monk Jang Muk of Shaolin and Martial Alliance Leader Nangong Cheon.
"The Great Clarity Internal Art, clearer even than Wudang's. I feel a nostalgia in your energy. Your Great Clarity Internal Art holds an energy remarkably similar to that of our Wudang predecessors of old."
Hyeon-gang spoke with a bright smile. Master, already a Daoist fanatic, was beside himself at Hyeon-gang's profound praise.
"Yeongsan Sect received Reverend Heo San’s legacy at Dong-o Peak."
The Drunken Beggar remarked casually to Hyeon-gang.
—As expected, Wudang's spirit still lives on under heaven! But why has turbidity mixed into the Great Clarity Internal Art?—
Heosan judged Reverend Hyeon-gang’s internal energy, reputedly the purest in the martial world, to be turbid.
—Your own Great Clarity Internal Art cannot be called perfect beside Zhang Sanfeng’s, can it? Not everyone possesses comprehension as exceptional as Zhang Sanfeng or you. The Great Clarity Internal Art appears simple, but it is an extraordinarily profound peerless art. No matter how talented Wudang’s martial artists may be, they would eventually encounter their limits and make practical compromises.—
The Flame Emperor answered Heosan’s question.
—Would not a somewhat flawed twelve-tenths attainment be far more powerful than a perfect ten-tenths? Once a martial art made that compromise, it would be passed to disciples and grand-disciples until it became the Great Clarity Internal Art practiced by Wudang in this age.—
—That Daoist is still on the fairly pure side. The Wudang Daoists behind him carry a much more degenerated internal art.—
At Geo Am’s assessment of Wudang, Heosan spoke in a stunned and dejected voice.
—I already knew that martial arts could deteriorate as the ages passed. But if a disciple such as Hyeon-gang still remains in Wudang, why are its younger disciples learning an even more degraded internal art?—
—The present Wudang is not foolish either. With an old Daoist like him still alive, they must know that the Great Clarity Internal Art has deteriorated. Yet deterioration is not wholly harmful. Consider the speed of cultivation. The altered art may be less pure, but countless disciples can learn it far more easily, and that must have become one of the great pillars supporting Wudang today.
The Moonlit Divine Sword rejected deterioration and transmitted its complete martial art to only one worthy successor. That was why the Moonlit Divine Sword had effectively ended with my generation. Seen that way, compromise may be a choice made for survival.—
The Moon Immortal affirmed the current Wudang, along with the end of the Moonlit Divine Sword, in a somewhat dark voice.
I really couldn't handle this from my end. Reverend Hyeon-gang alone was nothing but a legend from my perspective, and in their eyes, was he still seen as a young descendant?
"Master Heo San’s secret manual was unknown even to Wudang, but this too must have been arranged by the Primordial Heavenly Worthy. Yeongsan follows the Daoist path just as Wudang does, so it is only proper that we congratulate you on receiving the late master’s martial legacy."
The matter of secret manuals between sects was an extremely sensitive issue. Unlike the Flame Emperor, Moon Immortal, Geo Am, and Medicine Immortal, Wudang was still thriving, so I had worried we might someday have an uncomfortable encounter with them over the secret manual. But Reverend Hyeon-gang, with a benevolent face, purely congratulated Master.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Hyesang of Shaolin."
A monk who looked to be in his mid-seventies approached us and greeted us.
Venerable Hyesang. I had heard of him too. As a disciple of the Shaolin Abbot, he would naturally be an incredible master, but meeting him after seeing Hyeon-gang somehow made him look a little shabby. And over there, perhaps ten-odd beggars whom the Drunken Beggar had brought with him were staring at our group with curious faces.
Beggars and monks and Daoists and beautiful women. It was a natural sight, as they were martial artists of the Beggars' Sect, Shaolin, and Wudang—the greatest forces of the orthodox Martial World—but as expected, this mismatched assembly did look a little ridiculous somehow.