Becoming a Master (5)
Before my eyes lay nothing but a feast of white. Amid the jade-like expanse, strands of black bloomed wildly, but in the face of that overwhelming white banquet, my mind grew hazy.
"Hoo…."
All I could see was that flawless jade, and all I could feel was the suffocating tightness clenching around me. No path to life. Even as I strained forward against the pressure closing in from both sides, the end awaited like a tiger's maw. The moment I'd thrust my head in, being devoured had been inevitable. From the instant I'd shoved it inside, this was the scripted sequence.
"Hehe, why not surrender gracefully?"
Sun Uk merely chuckled, urging me to yield. Her darkened eyes bore into me fiercely, and to break free of her grip, I had no choice but to force my way ahead.
Clack!
"Nngh…."
Sun Uk let out a moan, her eyes narrowing. No path to life? Then I'd carve one out by force. Trapped against the wall with flanks sealed? Push straight ahead harder. Even if an insurmountable barrier loomed, I'd shatter the entire board!
"This is… hng."
"How's that, sis?"
"To think it'd… hoo, come in so… quite deeply."
Sun Uk exhaled deeply. "Too deep. Really, deep enough to kill me."
She seemed to lament my advance, or pity it, or perhaps confront an impasse.
"You plan to keep thrusting like that?"
"That's how it'll crumble."
"It won't… hoo, crumble…!"
"Oh, it will. After all…."
Clack!
"Didn't it start shaking the moment I stuck my head in?"
"Ugh…!"
"Admit it, sis. You're trembling right now."
"No. The shaking is…."
The tips of Sun Uk's fingers, reaching toward me, quivered ever so slightly.
"Admit it. Accept it. You can't stem the flow."
Into the heart of the jade plunged something black, long, and thick. It strained to encircle from left and right, squeezing from both sides, but my head had already reached the waiting jaws. Would I be devoured like this? No.
Clack.
"Eut…!"
I slammed in an unexpected raid. With one move that rocked the entire board, I reversed the tide. My unyielding black, hard as rock, wormed through the narrow gaps, prying open the center and breaking past the barrier—into the wide-open space beyond.
The great dragon, immortal. Having breached the fence, there was no holding back now.
"…You're truly relentless."
"One of my strengths."
"I thought you were the type to hunker down… ugh!"
"I advance when I must. I just didn't bother before because it was a hassle."
Clack.
"The moment you touched my house, you should've braced yourself, sis."
"I figured it wouldn't be easy…."
"Don't take it so hard. Your opponent's me, after all. Losing's a given. Accept the natural order."
"Still… I haven't lost completely yet."
"!"
The great dragon's midsection began to clench fiercely from halfway down. What I'd thought was a gap started filling with white, and the pressure from both sides grew even more ironclad.
"Not yet… hoo, I can't lose…."
Clack!
"Ah, aaah…!"
Sun Uk's composure crumbled. Eyes half-closed, head bowed in resignation, she murmured, "…I lost."
"Good game."
I picked up a stone. The match was mine. Against Sun Uk, who'd shown up late at night, I'd claimed victory. Her white stones had tried to surround my great dragon from both flanks, but before they could capture it, my dragon broke through head-on, securing a path to life.
"I was worried since it's been ages since my last game, but glad it worked out. Thought I was done for midway."
"You're utterly unpredictable. Pulling that move from there…."
"Mun-yak's plenty skilled. But no helping it—your opponent's me."
Even against Master Sima Hui, I won three out of ten. In these parts, if nothing else, my Go game's got a solid reputation.
"Mun-yak's the type who fortifies her house staunchly. Offense isn't her forte. You can read a person's nature in their Go style. She knows it too, right?"
"Yes. You're… like a bee that stings the instant you touch it."
"Heh."
Harmless as can be until you sense the threat. But the moment you do—the instant you touch my house—that's when I move to eliminate the enemy for real. Touch me, and you'll regret it hard.
"So, what's the late-night visit for? You seemed like you were still sorting your thoughts."
"I've sorted them. Just wanted one last confirmation."
"With Go?"
"Yes. About the kind of man you are."
Just as I'd sized her up through Go, she'd done the same to me.
"You're truly sincere about peace."
"Yes. More than anyone, I love peace."
"No matter how capable, you won't work for the realm."
"Right."
"But if war stretches to your land, your home, your table? Then it's different."
"Naturally."
Folk are content as long as their own family's fed. I could starve, but not watch my parents, children, or spouse go hungry. That's why the masses joined the Yellow Turbans in rebellion. Same for me.
"If I truly believed Dong Zhuo would bring peace to the realm, I'd head to Luoyang right now and hand him a plan to smash the Anti-Dong Alliance."
"But per your judgment, he's not the one."
"Obviously."
"Then our goals align."
Sun Uk for the Han imperial house. Me to execute Dong Zhuo.
"I'm heading home to support the Anti-Dong Alliance. Short as it may be, among the lords who've joined, I'll serve one truly devoted to the Han house as my master."
"We discussed master candidates already. Decided?"
"…Yuan Shao first, I suppose."
Yuan Shao. Most prestigious, sure.
"Plenty of talent around Yuan Shao already. You won't get a warm welcome."
"Don't care about that. What matters is whether the master I serve is sincere for the Han house. That's it."
"He might just use you sincerely."
"Yes. That's why talking with you changed my mind. If he acknowledges the Han house's legitimacy. If he means to uphold it. I'll beg and plead at his side to keep it so."
"……."
I saw the resolve in Sun Uk's eyes—she'd found her path. Before coming to Suyeon Academy, she wavered, but one talk with me, and she'd steeled herself.
"Might not get through."
"It's fine. Sincerity reaches eventually."
"Could get discarded later. Praised as your Zhang Liang today, tossed like Han Xin tomorrow."
"If so, that's my fate. Or the Han house's destiny, beyond one woman's power to change."
Ambition burned in Sun Uk's gaze. I caught the meaning in her look but quietly shook my head.
"…I'm a lowly man. I can't help you. But I know a way you can be helped."
I unrolled a bamboo slip, wrote upon it, and handed it to Sun Uk.
This certifies a generous donation to the operations of Suyeon Academy.
"This is…?"
"A donation certificate."
"What?"
"Proof you've donated to Suyeon Academy's operations. Later, I'll make another one and hang a plaque by the academy entrance."
"This helps the Han house?"
"Precisely, it helps you, Mun-yak."
I pointed to the signature line on the certificate.
"Once you find a master and build your base, you'll make a big name. Someday, young talents will seek you out. 'Where'd you come from?' 'Suyeon Academy. I admire and respect Teacher Mun-yak, who donated generously. I want to work alongside her.'"
"Talent."
Sun Uk's mouth fell open in surprise. "You're cultivating talent here…!"
"Well, they might not stick with you exactly. Choosing a master is up to them, ultimately. But…."
I stood, taking Sun Uk's hand.
"If a child wants to serve the Han house. If they're wrestling with dilemmas like yours now. I'll tell them your story before the plaque bearing your name. And that child will…."
"Cunning, aren't you."
Cunning. Sun Uk's eyes curved like crescent moons.
"Making me famous, sending your disciples to use me for positions, then boasting how you were mentor to countless officials—all while sitting pretty?"
"Exactly."
I pointed downward. "That's why I came to this academy."
"…You're a bad man, truly."
Mun-yak bowed her head with a wry smile. "Fine. I'll sign the certificate first, then head home and send the donation. Nice doing business, Kim Taeyang."
"Of course, Sun Mun-yak."
Dong Zhuo's doomed. I recommended the most promising Anti-Dong lords. And we set our sights on the future.
"Then, time to seal it with a stamp…."
"Wol-yeong."
Sun Uk grabbed my hand, pulling me close. "Gotta stamp it firmly before I go."
"Huh? W-wait—"
Clack.
Deep into the night. Forest crickets chirped under the moonlight. Water striders drifting on the serene, clear lake quietly closed their eyes to the hazy shadows flickering in the dark.