Return of the Mount Hua

If one must bear it. (14)

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“Sahyeong! Th-That……”

When Jo Geol’s shouting suddenly rang out, Yoon Jong frowned and looked at him.

Jo Geol was pointing at something.

“When did that guy get all the way over there? This is strange.”

Upon closer inspection, calling it strange was spot on. Im Sobyeong had volunteered to stand at the front.

“Will he be all right? That guy on the other side looks pretty strong. And there’s even Cheon Myeon Susa.”

“Mhmm…….”

Yoon Jong furrowed his brow in thought for a moment, before shaking his head.

“Sahyeong?”

“Leave him be.”

“But still, it seems dangerous.”

“Chung Myung once said this before…”

Recalling the memory, Yoon Jong spoke.

“…That a prodigy and a genius are a different thing.”

“Huh?”

Jo Geol tilted his head with a completely puzzled expression. Yoon Jong let a bitter smile slip.

“He said that while there are many who could be called prodigies, like Monk Hye Yeon or Young Lord Namgung, true geniuses are extremely rare. And he also said that in our generation, there’s truly only one person who can be called a genius.”

“…”

“Surely someone like that wouldn’t step forward without a plan.”

The faith carried in Yoon Jong’s words was rooted deeply. Jo Geol turned to look at Im Sobyeong in the distance with a slightly changed expression.

But even after thinking it over a hundred times, as he observed that lanky back that didn’t seem to belong to a martial artist at all, Jo Geol once again tilted his head in confusion.

❀ ❀ ❀

“Tsk.”

In the midst of the killing intent piercing through him, Im Sobyeong pressed down firmly at his chest. Having unleashed his full strength for the first time in a while, his half-blocked meridians were now throbbing violently.

’Ah, I really do hate martial arts.’

Of course, one can’t say that the only reason Im Sobyeong hates martial arts is because of his health. It’s true that it places a burden on his body, but he would have hated it even without that.

Im Sobyeong simply hated the very concept of martial arts. To him, martial arts were like the arms attached to one’s shoulders.

Those who have lost an arm keenly realize how important and remarkable arms truly are. They also understand how valuable it is for a person to have two arms.

However, those who have never lost an arm don’t really grasp that. In the first place, they never think deeply about their arms. It’s simply too natural a state for them.

To Im Sobyeong, martial arts were exactly that sort of existence – something he was born with, like having arms. If he wanted to learn, of course he could, and it wasn’t particularly difficult to raise his skills to any desired level. He effortlessly surpassed heights that even self-proclaimed masters couldn’t begin to fathom.

It was only natural. Because he possessed the severed meridians [절맥].

His mind was sharp enough to uncover the whole truth from a single clue*, and a body blessed by the heavens – but in exchange, he had to offer up part of his lifespan as a price – truly a Divine Punishment [천형(天刑)].

Some people say that talent begets interest, interest begets enjoyment, and enjoyment begets effort. Certainly, there are those who fit that description, and Im Sobyeong doesn’t exactly deny it.

However, at least for Im Sobyeong, he could never become that sort of person.

He was someone who felt no interest in things given to him without any effort. His status as the son of Nokrim King, the power to control every mountain under heaven, and even the lavish luxuries he could enjoy anytime he wished – none of these truly intrigued him.

Martial arts were no different. In fact, because the talent to master them had come to him so easily, he lost interest in them the quickest.

And so he coveted not martial arts but something he could never possess: a government post.

If Jang Ilso had never touched Nokrim… If the lives of his family, and those close to him like family, had not been threatened, Im Sobyeong might still has been striving to attain a government post he could never possibly have.

And so, if he had never encountered someone who could see right through his thoughts, he would still be withering away day by day in that green tomb called Nokrim.

‘No, maybe I would have already been dead by now.’

Im Sobyeong let out a small laugh. Then, in one swift motion, he snapped open his fan.

Swish.

“Aren’t you coming?”

At Im Sobyeong’s relaxed voice, Jeok Ho unleashed an even fiercer burst of killing intent. Still, he didn’t charge in as recklessly as before. That was because he had realized, through his own body, that Im Sobyeong was stronger than he appeared.

But there is no such thing as an eternal standoff.

Paaaaaat!

A fierce sword energy surged towards Im Sobyeong. It had lost none of its power – if anything, it was even sharper than before.

But Im Sobyeong had already seen that attack several times.

For him, to ‘see’ was not so different from to ‘understand.’ All the more so if the target in question was something as clean and straightforward as Jeok Ho’s sword strike.

Ssssssk.

With a light sweep of his fan, Im Sobyeong brushed aside the incoming sword energy. There was no special technique or hidden internal power involved. He simply pierced the gap in the flowing energy with his fan at just the right moment. 

That alone was enough to alter the trajectory of the sword energy, which looked as though it could cleave a mountain in two – sending it away so that it couldn’t even graze Im Sobyeong’s robes.

“Haaaaaap!”

As though he had anticipated this, Jeok Ho followed with consecutive downward strikes. Im Sobyeong frowned slightly.

‘How obvious.’

It was certainly a terrifying attack. Instead of training a thousand different techniques, Jeok Ho had honed a single one to the utmost extreme. There was no way the sword strikes unleashed by someone like that could fail to be frightening.

But that was all.

Im Sobyeong’s fan spun smoothly in his hand.

It was crafted by attaching a fan surface [선면(扇面)] woven from Heavenly Silkworm Thread [천잠사(天蠶絲)] onto black iron [묵철(墨鐵)**], renowned throughout the land for its flexibility. A mere iron fan [철선(鐵扇)], prized only for its sturdiness, couldn’t compare to this weapon.

Chwaaaaak.

The moment the opened fan gently deflected the descending blade, Jeok Ho’s knee shot unexpectedly towards Im Sobyeong’s chin.

But as Im Sobyeong flicked the blade aside with his fan, it stuck to the sword a second time as if coated with glue, then spun in a circle. Jeok Ho, who was gripping his sword tightly, was momentarily yanked along. As a result, his knee, aiming for Im Sobyeong’s chin, narrowly swept past the side of his head instead.

“Eut-cha!”

Immediately afterwards, Im Sobyeong gave a small tug on his fan, then pushed it back out. Jeok Ho’s body was sent flying away, spinning like a windmill.

Thud!

This time, Jeok Ho managed to avoid the disgrace of crashing face-first into the ground. But he couldn’t hide his shock.

‘What on earth is going on?’

He’d felt a strange sense of dissonance for a while now.

No matter how Jeok Ho looked at it, it seemed as though the man before him could read his attacks in advance – like fighting someone who was living one step ahead in the future.

His blood was still boiling, but at the same time, a feeling of helplessness he’d never before experienced was creeping in. It wasn’t just because his moves were being read.

‘What should I do?’

He had no idea. He had never learned how to deal with someone who could switch so effortlessly between softness and strength, between swiftness and leisure.

No, it wasn’t just him. No one would know how to handle such a thing, because no one had ever imagined a person like this could exist.

“I told you, didn’t I?”

Smiling, Im Sobyeong waved his fan lightly in front of his face.

“It’s quite expensive.”

“You……..”

Im Sobyeong appeared in front of Jeok Ho in an instant.

Swapping One’s Position [이형환위(移形換位) – ihyeonghwan-wi]. At Jeok Ho’s level, it wasn’t particularly special foot technique, but the timing of its use was truly threatening.

Jeok Ho hurriedly tried to pull back.

However, before he could, Im Sobyeong extended his leg and pressed down forcefully on Jeok Ho’s knee. If you couldn’t bend your knee, you couldn’t push your body up. It was a simple, undeniable truth.

“Ugh!”

Thump!

Jeok Ho reflexively tried to swing his sword, but this time, Im Sobyeong’s fan touched his wrist. With just a little force, it could have snapped his wrist right then and there.

Unable to even consider moving, Jeok Ho had frozen in shock. Leaving him like that, Im Sobyeong slowly began to speak his calm manner.

“Jang Ilso? That bastard is troublesome. Whether it’s a scheme or a technique, you never know what he might try next. It’s true – if you want to fight someone like that, you’d better have two lives.”

Jeok Ho twisted his wrist to flick away Im Sobyeong’s fan. Almost at the same time, Im Sobyeong struck Jeok Ho’s chest with the back of his hand.

Thud!

Jeok Ho stumbled back in disarray. Im Sobyeong quickly leapt after him.

“And…..’

Jeok Ho tensed every muscle in his body to the limit. Even if Im Sobyeong could predict his attacks, he had decided that overwhelming him with speed and power was the only way.

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

Jeok Ho mustered his full strength and slashed horizontally with his sword, but it failed to follow the path he intended. That was because Im Sobyeong lightly flicked his fan and altered its direction.

Before long, the fan traced a strange line in the air, like a butterfly flapping its wings.

It was such an erratic movement that there was no guessing where it would go. In the instant Jeok Ho focused all his attention on it, Im Sobyeong’s foot slammed into his abdomen.

“Guuuh!”

Jeok Ho was once again pushed back.

“And there’s no need to even mention the Mad Dog of Hwasan.”

Im Sobyeong shook his head as though the mere thought made him shudder. Just imagining countless petals swirling around him sent chills down his spine.

“That man can do it as naturally as breathing. It’s a realm I can only imitate briefly if I focus with all my might. Sure, maybe if I put in the effort, I could predict it. But what’s the point of that? Even if you know it’s coming, you still can’t block it.”

Im Sobyeong let out a sigh, complaining under his breath.

“When facing people like that, I don’t have much of a solution either. But still…”

Chwaak.

Smiling, Im Sobyeong habitually waved his fan lightly in front of his face.

“You’re not like them. Fortunately, you’re quite straightforward, aren’t you?”

Jeok Ho bit down hard on his lower lip. Im Sobyeong, letting out a small chuckle, walked towards him.

“Sorry, but my body is a bit on the frail side. Let’s wrap this up.”

‎‎

Jongli Gok stared at Im Sobyeong with a look that said he was completely at a loss for words.

‘What on earth…’

It was astonishing – no, it was unsettling.

Of course, someone who ruled over that many Nokrim’s bandits couldn’t be absurdly weak. Naturally, one would expect him to have a hidden trump card. But this went far beyond anything Jongli Gok had imagined.

He didn’t display overwhelming power in a single blow, yet the way he handled himself moment by moment was enough to send chills down Jongli Gok’s spine.

“…Was Nokrim King really at this level?”

Jongli Gok was not the only one surprised. Cheon Myeon Susa also looked distinctly taken aback.

Then both of them quickly realized this was not a situation where they could merely stand by in awe. The person they needed to watch right now wasn’t Im Sobyeong, but the opponent standing before them.

However, their positions had changed drastically from just a moment before.

“You seem to be in a hurry.”

At Jongli Gok’s remark, the expression of Cheon Myeon Susa – still wearing the face of Tang Pae – twisted slightly.

Jeok Ho wouldn’t go down easily, but it was clear that Im Sobyeong held an advantage. Which meant Cheon Myeon Susa was in considerable danger as well.

“Leaning on the power of a member of an Evil Sect… It’s not something to joke about, but there’s no need to discard a benefit that just falls into your lap.”

Jongli Gok lifted his sword.

“Well, let’s take it easy and have a little fun together.”

Cheon Myeon Susa ground his teeth.

To survive, he had to strike Jongli Gok down before Im Sobyeong defeated Jeok Ho – the seemingly impenetrable wall created by Jongli Gok’s sword.

“Damn it!”

Cheon Myeon Susa let out a roar and charged in.

Facing Cheon Myeon Susa’s infinitely multiplying Hand of Thousand Faces [천면수(千面手)], Jong Rigok silently swung his sword.

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*문일지십(聞一知十) – mun-il-jisib – to be quick on the uptake; to understand the whole situation from just a few clues.

**묵철(墨鐵) – black iron, where 墨 – also means ‘black ink’ (Chinese traditional black ink). As far as I understand from reading about it, it’s a mythical murim material often used in wuxia and by looks it reminds of Japanese carbon steel chief knives. Lighter than cold iron and millennia cold steel that Hwasan used for swords.

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