190. Taboo (6)
Taboo (6)
190. Taboo (6)
"I hired a capable Daoist for the expedition ceremony, and the result exceeded expectations—don't I get a congratulatory gift?"
Murong Rin, whom I'd expected to be throwing one of her filthy tantrums after riding a favorable matchup draw all the way to the finals only to narrowly lose the championship to her nemesis Nangong Hye, spoke with a radiant smile.
"You're not disappointed?"
"Forget runner-up—even reaching the Four Phoenixes was an outcome far beyond my real ability. Of course I should be happy."
The three 'sacred-bone' clans among the Five Great Clans were Nangong, Tang, and Murong. Oddly enough, Murong maintained merely civil relations with the Tang Clan, its fellow sacred-bone house, while grinding its teeth only at Nangong. Nangong Hye was also a same-age rival of equivalent status who had always been compared to Murong Rin throughout the Martial World—a nemesis among nemeses, or so I had thought. But seeing Murong Rin smile so cleanly now, the woman herself apparently felt differently.
"All that remains is hoping my two older brothers are eliminated in the preliminaries tomorrow. Go on, work some miracle Daoist art for me."
"That wouldn't be a Daoist art, it would be a curse. But are you really okay with this? A daughter of the Nangong Clan won."
"What does it matter? Even if Nangong Hye is the Nangong's eldest daughter and the Four Peaks champion, she's still nothing more than a concubine's daughter. Now that she has earned honor for the clan, she's served her purpose and will be married off to some suitable family. A few years from now, no one in the Martial World will even remember her, don't you think?"
The only person who had thought the two of them were equals was an ordinary man like me. The woman herself had never considered herself and Nangong Hye equal in the first place. Arrogant, perhaps, but by this era's way of thinking it might have been only natural. Even if Nangong Hye was a concubine's daughter, with a disposition like Murong Rin's she would have made her name as a martial artist, but she would probably choose the path of the virtuous wife and good mother now. She would even treat the honor of being the Four Peaks champion as just another credential for securing a good match. Unlike the female martial artists of Mount Hua or Emei, who had the firm goal of becoming powerful warriors, the daughters of the great clans' ultimate goal was, after all, marriage.
"By the way, Seo-ok—why didn't she compete?"
"If it were a rival from the same Sichuan, the Sichuan Tang Clan, I might understand, but intelligence on Emei, the keepers of the southern barrier, is difficult for even us to investigate. From what I've heard in passing, she has not met with anyone for some time and has secluded herself completely. There is also talk that she has become a Buddhist nun in order to become a main temple disciple rather than a lay disciple of Emei. If that is truly the case, wouldn't it seem that even the Buddha himself is aiding me?"
Murong Rin spoke cheerfully, as though none of it mattered. Seo Ok had really become a Buddhist nun? Why so suddenly? Taking refuge in religion was a personal choice, but even if she had become a nun, why withdraw from the tournament? Would she not be more advantaged with the martial arts reserved for Emei's main-temple disciples? She was one of the Four Flowers of the Martial World, famous for her beauty. The Medical Immortal had looked like nothing more than a plastic-surgery beauty to me, so I had honestly been curious to see Seo Ok's face—whether she was truly as beautiful as Jeong-hyang.
"And what about the others? Why are you here alone, Young Master Baek?"
"They all seem worn out. We were already scheduled to meet the Alliance leadership after the tournament, but elders from each sect couldn't wait and came to greet Master. When Senior Sister Jeong showed her face in that packed gathering, every bastard who'd come to gawk at Seo Ok ended up staring only at her. Some lunatic even pushed his way to our seats and declared that he would win tomorrow's Eight Dragons Tournament for her.
"The same happened to Senior Sister Son. All sorts of people took notice of her because of the rumor that she defeated Myo Hong-seon—especially the men who had been humiliated by Sword Empress Pavilion. They practically worship Senior Sister Son now. Senior Sister Lee goes without saying."
"In the Alliance right now, the Medicine Immortal has already surpassed her own reputation. I was caught up in the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, but even I had heard the name of Yeongsan's Three Immortals."
"Yeongsan's Three Immortals? What the hell is that?"
At the absurd title, I stared at Murong Rin, and she spoke with a light laugh.
"The Advisory Staff Hall pulled a trick. They had planned to put the Medicine Immortal forward, but when the Moon Immortal's name spread as well, they dug through old records and brought out the title Moon-and-Medicine Twin Immortals. Contrary to their plan, however, the crowds added Daoist Jeong and began calling them Yeongsan's Three Immortals. Daoist Jeong's beauty, after all, is in no way overshadowed by the Moon Immortal's martial arts or the Medicine Immortal's pharmacology."
Even I had no title of my own. Strong as I was, I remained hidden, and I knew it myself: I was a man far removed from any dazzling star. Yeongsan's Three Immortals, was it? Those women, beautiful as celestial maidens, had now become famous figures in the Martial World.
"Dear lord. That's why your senior sisters were so sick of it and barricaded themselves in their rooms. They said they won't even watch the Eight Dragons Tournament tomorrow. Gaining fame is all well and good, but when the terrifying mad dog steps away from her seat, every worthless little pup starts sniffing around."
"A mad dog? I'm used to being called a crazy bitch, but being treated like a dog is a first. Our Young Master Baek has really grown up, hasn't he? Weren't you originally the Beautiful Madness's pet dog? Well, I suppose that's how it is. A man like Young Master Baek, who is practically a dog-butcher who even caught Heuk Cheon-gyeon—a mere little puppy like me can only shed tears of shame. But do you know what? A beast goes into heat after a successful hunt. And the bitch in front of Young Master Baek right now has just succeeded in the hunt of being the Four Peaks runner-up and is thoroughly in heat. Shall I call Gyeong Su-yeon over?"
Displaying a greedy sexual appetite while dropping Gyeong Su-yeon's name, she seemed to have taken quite a liking to Gyeong Su-yeon's service after the orgy last time.
After a riotous night of sex with the two friends, I went alone the next day to watch the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. As the Heroic Beggar had warned, the men's division was far weaker than the women's, and with more than four hundred entrants, it was excruciatingly dull. In a way, that made sense. If a woman suffered a careless injury in a match and was left with a scar on her face, her marriage prospects were finished. No woman could enter this event without extraordinary resolve. Every woman I had watched the day before had carried a genuinely fierce look, trusting in her own ability and effort. Most of the men, by contrast, had merely been pushed into competing by masters or parents who insisted that a man must make a name for himself. The rest were pathetic opportunists hoping to stumble into fame.
Perhaps because of that, contrary to Murong Rin's hopes, the championship contenders stood out as plainly as cranes in a chicken coop. True cranes among chickens, the Murong brothers. Nangong Deok of the Nangong Clan, who had nearly missed this tournament due to injuries from a match but had finished his treatment and joined after the tournament was postponed, and Seop Gang, the head disciple of the Zhongnan Sect. And it wasn't just them—the martial artists of the Nine Great Sects, the Beggars' Sect, and the Five Great Clans were on an entirely different level from the other participants. And then there was this tournament's dark horse, Duanmu Hwang of the Duanmu Clan.
And besides that... Hm? What sect was Pine-Moon Manor, again? I didn't know much about them, but the martial artist from Pine-Moon Manor, with his snow-white skin and silver hair, used an extreme yin art of freezing cold and absolutely crushed his first-round opponent.
"Is the viewing enjoyable?"
There was no way it was enjoyable. I had come alone just to kill time, watching the remaining matches with the same feeling as watching the leftovers after the postseason was already decided. I turned my head. The person who had asked me the question was Mount Hua Sect's Elder Lee Seong.
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Of course. To think the Medicine Immortal was that young. I assumed it was some scheme of the Advisory Staff Hall; I never knew she was this exceptional. If anything, I feel lighter than before."
With a cheerful laugh, Lee Seong sat down beside me.
"The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering is a venue for discerning the young gems who will bear the future of the Martial World. Did you see anyone worth noting?"
"To be honest, I have a narrow eye compared to my martial arts. As expected, other than the Nine Great Sects, the Beggars' Sect, and the Five Great Clans, nothing really catches my eye. That said, Pine-Moon Manor? Where is that sect located?"
"A small sect in Shandong. More than twenty years ago, they converted from the unorthodox faction to the orthodox faction, rendered meritorious service, and joined the Alliance. They were originally a branch of the Assassins' Hall, and I'd heard they excelled more at stealth and infiltration than martial arts. But it seems their female Manor Head, renowned for her beauty, took a husband from the Northern Sea Ice Palace. Central Plains martial artists have difficulty handling the Ice Palace's arts, so if his draw remains favorable, he may claim the last seat among the Eight Dragons."
Hm... So there were even sects that recruited mercenaries through the means of marriage. Of course. That silver hair and pale skin—extreme yin art could hardly exist anywhere but the Northern Sea Ice Palace. The Ice Palace Lord was my maternal grandfather. The man who had competed just now looked a little younger than me, so it was hard to see him as a maternal uncle; he was probably my maternal cousin. Now that I looked, he bore a strong resemblance to that crazy aunt of mine, which made him a strikingly handsome man. In this bitter winter cold, he had radiated freezing air and crushed his opponent, so sweat would never have flowed, but as he descended after finishing his match, a woman who appeared to be his wife wiped his face with a cloth, her expression adoring. It didn't seem to be a political marriage. Not with the way little hearts were visibly popping in both their eyes.
"At any rate, the Eight Dragons Tournament will be conducted over three days. The preliminaries are unbearably tedious, so would you spare me a little time?"
Pine-Moon Manor had briefly piqued my interest, but as he said, the preliminaries were truly excruciatingly boring. Yesterday, I had at least endured it and watched because of the pleasure of looking at women, but that stage full of the posturing of pathetic bastards was simply too hard to bear. I followed Lee Seong to the Mount Hua estate, where I had never been before, and he led me not to a tea room but to a small indoor training hall. This old man—he looked like a martial artist to the heavens, but was he seriously suggesting we have a sparring match?
"Let me say in advance, the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, the new wave of the orthodox faction, is not always this pathetic. The last tournament was quite interesting. When you hold the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering over such long years, sometimes a tournament of this low quality occurs. That is because it is impossible for high-caliber martial artists to be born in every generation."
Lee Seong was explaining this to me on behalf of the orthodox faction's martial artists.
"If one sought the strongest of the Rising Stars, in truth, there was no need even to hold this tournament. Even if Murong Su were to win, he is only a single year younger than Gu Hyeon of Wudang, the winner of the last tournament, and even if that were not the case, no matter how much the countless martial artists over there struggle and thrash with all their might, the strongest is right here."
With a light laugh, Elder Lee Seong looked at me. To the elders who knew of my existence, this tournament must indeed have been the most useless tournament they had ever seen.
"This makes the tenth Dragon-Phoenix Gathering I have observed. In truth, I have a small hobby. I secretly bestow instruction upon the tournament's champion or a talented young person. You see, once one rises to the rank of elder in Mount Hua, one gains the authority to teach a few techniques of our martial arts."
Lee Seong spoke with a delighted laugh. He really must have loved martial arts. But even if he were to teach me a move or two, how much help would it really be to me, who had the Four Heroes as my masters?
"Don't make that face. Of course I know you're far stronger than I am. But you're very young, and perhaps because you became powerful so quickly, the balance of your skills feels strange. The Qi-Guided Sword is your specialty, isn't it? That extreme-yang art of yours, an Illusory Sword resembling Mount Hua's style, four Qi-Guided Swords incorporating the martial arts of Wudang and Mount Tai—I was honestly astonished. Even taken one at a time rather than as four different styles, the principles contained in each sword were so profound that it almost felt like watching Reverend Hyeon-gang himself.
"But in your own body, where all of that should be harmonized, I do not feel that degree of awe. In terms of the principles of martial arts, that makes no sense. So I pondered it for a long time, and then I thought of your Daoist skill that dispelled the jiangshi on the spot that day. Could it be that this Qi-Guided Sword, separate from your martial arts, was achieved through Daoist arts?"
The moment had finally come for the gilding to peel away. Even now, after reaching the first-rate realm, the depth of my martial arts remained markedly shallow compared with the Four Heroes. Men who had devoted their lives to martial arts must have sensed that strangeness in me, but until now, lacking any way to explain it, they had simply let it pass. By creating the Nullification Talisman that day, however, I had demonstrated Taoist arts that transcended common sense, and now they could find the answer to my strangeness there.
"Do not worry. Though I am an ignoramus in Daoist studies, it has been sixty years since I first took a Daoist title. I am not a fool who regards Taoist arts as heretical sorcery. Besides, Daoist studies are a discipline of mystery, so do not worry that I will tell others. Of course, even setting aside the Qi-Guided Sword, the martial arts of your own body are excellent. Not only the past champions of the Eight Dragons, but even Reverend Hyeon-gang could not have possessed such martial prowess at your age. Still, I find it a little regrettable. Your martial arts clearly contain Daoist principles. Perhaps that is natural, since you inherited Reverend Heo San's martial arts, but Wudang does not possess all Daoist martial arts. The orthodoxy of Daoist learning lies with Mount Hua.
"I wanted to become the strongest Daoist. After Reverend Hyeon-gang ascended as an immortal, I meant to take that place. But decades have already passed, and Reverend Hyeon-gang remains hale and vigorous. At this rate, I will die before that revered master does. Frankly, Reverend Hyeon-gang is cheating."
Accompanied by a hearty laugh, Lee Seong showed a candid smile. More than anyone, he had wanted to defeat him, but now, past eighty, he acknowledged Hyeon-gang and respected Wudang, and in that attitude, the true bearing of a martial artist could be glimpsed.
"And yet, even though you are clearly not of Wudang, when the Martial World sees your Limitless, they will praise the wrong sect and say that the Daoist sword is indeed Wudang's. Honestly, would that not gnaw at you? So I made a decision. I will place Mount Hua within your sword."
"Pardon? Mount Hua's martial arts? That's impossible. You may not believe me when I say this, but my aptitude is dull—Illusory Sword styles like the Plum Blossom Sword Art are impossible for me."
"What nonsense? Did I not say that imparting instruction to a promising young friend is a long-standing hobby of mine? I stake my name on this. Your aptitude is excellent. The Plum Blossom Sword Art will be no problem either."
Lee Seong spoke with firm conviction. I could instinctively feel both that he was sincere and that his eye was not mistaken. My aptitude was exceptional? Could aptitude perhaps grow rather than being fixed at birth? Certainly, at this point, learning a new martial art had become easy thanks to my heightened understanding of martial studies. My judgment, dynamic vision, and courage in facing overwhelming opponents had all been forcibly raised by the Four Heroes.
That was right. All of it had been aptitude. The realization was a little shocking and hollow. I had merely been lucky, but while someone in the world might curse their talent and collapse where they stood, another person could clearly make even that talent bloom through effort.