Return of the Mount Hua

I wish it would last. (6)

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“Uugh…”

“Agggh.”

“I-I’m gonna die…”

As someone once said, the human body is not made of reeds. In other words, it doesn’t snap or bend so easily just because it suffers a little hardship.

However, if that ‘little’ hardship keeps repeating, then no matter how robust the body, something is bound to go wrong.

The disciples of Diancang were now feeling that truth in their very bones.

“C-Crazy bastards. Every last Hwasan’s bastard is insane.”

“Who tells someone to climb a cliff carrying a sack of grain heavier than their own body? Does that even make sense?”

“Exactly!”

“Right… It doesn’t make sense. It’s not supposed to make sense, and yet….”

Solemnly, everyone fell silent for a moment.

The reason they could not refuse, even knowing it was absurd, was all too simple. One of Hwasan’s disciples, who had been quietly watching them complain, had casually hoisted three sacks onto his back and then scaled the cliff in one go without even a safety rope.

And if it had ended there, maybe they wouldn’t have said anything. But that lunatic had even carried the same sacks back down the cliff without a rope, as if possessed by some madness.

Then, looking at them all with concern, he had said this. 

– It does seem a bit heavy. Should I go say something and have them lighten the load for you?

There was no way men who called themselves martial artists could have nodded at that.

“…..Still, we really should have just asked him to cut it down.”

“We really should have.”

As groans and sighs burst out from all sides, Lee Danhoe, who had been catching his breath alone, gripped his sword and rose to his feet.

“S-Sahyeong?”

“But even so, n-not the sword…!”

Lee Danhoe glanced at his fellow disciples and frowned.

“I’m going to train.”

“Huh? Train?”

His juniors stared blankly up at Lee Danhoe, as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

“You’re going to train in that condition?”

“Got a problem?”

“No, I mean – your body is practically falling apart.”

“From what I’ve heard, the training we’re doing now isn’t even a third of what Hwasan used to put themselves through in the past.”

“………No way, come on.”

“That’s got to be pure exaggeration. How could anyone do that?”

Lee Danhoe didn’t bother refuting them. Whether it was exaggeration or the truth didn’t really matter. What mattered was that if they kept only doing what they were told like this, they would never reach Hwasan’s level, not even in a lifetime.

“So. You’re saying you’re not going to do it?”

When Lee Danhoe asked, everyone suddenly found something else to look at.

Of course they were desperate to grow stronger, but who in their right mind would want to train when their arms and legs wouldn’t even move?

“….Fine.”

Without another word, Lee Danhoe turned and left.

A few of the remaining disciples began muttering under their breath.

“Sahyeong is really….”

“The enthusiasm is admirable, but isn’t he overdoing it a bit? What if he ends up ruining his body?”

“It’s not something that can be done in a single day anyway.”

Their words, tinged with awkwardness and embarrassment, went in circles meaninglessly.

Just then, one person rose to his feet.

“Then I’ll go and follow Sahyeong to train.”

“Saje?”

“Hey, why would you of all people do that?”

“I can still move for now. I guess my body is unusually sturdy.”

“…”

“Well then.”

When another stepped out, a few more disciples quietly slipped out after him.

A faint mix of irritation and embarrassment showed on the faces of the disciples who remained.

“Huuuuuf!”

With a harsh breath, Lee Danhoe’s sword sliced through the air.

‘Faster.’

The swords of his seniors were nothing like this. As for the swords of his Sasuks… it was shameful to even bring them up in comparison right now.

‘More!’

Diancang’s sword was speed itself. A swift strike that staked everything on piercing through at the utmost limit of speed.

But the sword he saw now with his own eyes was unbearably slow. Diancang’s sword, once so sharp it seemed it could pierce even the sun – where was the subtle profundity of the Sun-Shooting Sword Technique now?

Like this… could he ever reach it?

What tormented him was not the weariness of his flesh. Nor was it self-contempt for failing to match Hwasan’s in effort.

It was the gnawing anxiety that even if he endured all this training, he might still, through his own inadequacy, lose the purity of Diancang’s legacy.

‘This is nowhere near enough! Faster! Even faster!’

He pierced, and pierced again. Countless times, he pierced through the air.

Yet the sword strike he longed for only drew farther away. The weight of his thoughts and the pressure of failure crushed down on his chest, threatening to tear him apart.

Just then.

“Um… I think you need to relax a little?”

“Who is it?!”

On reflex, Lee Danhoe thrust his sword towards the direction the voice had come from.

Clang!

The tip of his sword was blocked by a slightly lifted scabbard. Lee Danhoe bit down hard on his lip.

‘Pathetic…’

Watching another’s training was originally a taboo. But even so, nothing could justify lashing out with a blade the moment someone spoke. It was nothing more or less than Lee Danhoe venting his frustration.

“So I take it that at Hwasan, meddling in another sect’s training isn’t considered taboo?”

Even knowing that, what burst out of Lee Danhoe’s mouth was not reflection or apology, but an angry, venomous remark. The moment he bit down hard on the inside of his cheek in quiet regret, a bored reply came back.

“You could see me just as clearly, so what’s with the act?”

“…”

“More importantly, loosen up a little.”

“What…”

“How is your sword supposed to move fast when your whole body is so tense? You’re just choking yourself with your own strength.”

“What do you know about…!”

Lee Danhoe flared up to argue, but the curly-haired man standing before him spoke again in the same indifferent tone.

“I don’t know what martial arts you’re learning, but when it comes to swift sword [쾌검(快劍)], I know a thing or two.”

“What are you…”

Swish!

In that instant, something hard brushed right past Lee Danhoe’s face.

‘When…?’

His eyes widened beyond belief. At some point, the curly-haired man’s sword was touching his cheek. The moment he felt the cold of the blade’s surface, a shiver ran through him as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head.

‘My Sasuks… no, is he even faster than them? He might have surpassed them!’

He was certain that man’s sword had been sheathed. He had seen it with his own eyes.

Which meant that the entire process – drawing the sword from the scabbard, pulling it free, and then thrusting it forward again – had all occurred instantly. So brief a moment that Lee Danhoe hadn’t even sensed it.

“H-How…”

“When all you’re full of is the desire to get faster, your wrist and everything else just go stiff, and that actually kills your speed. So, uh…”

Retrieving his sword, the curly-haired man scratched his head with an awkward expression.

Muttering, ‘I almost never have to explain anything to anyone…’, the curly-haired man suddenly let out a small exclamation.

“So, to put it another way – it’s like a whip.”

“Sorry?”

“A whip is the most flexible weapon there is, isn’t it?”

“…Well, that’s true.”

“But the tip of a whip moves faster than a sword, doesn’t it?”

Lee Danhoe’s expression hardened. The curly-haired man continued.

“If a whip were made of solid steel, it couldn’t do that. Take a weapon like a three-section staff*, for example – it’s similar to a whip, but it can never match a whip’s speed.”

“Ah….”

“If you want to get faster, then let go of your strength. Resolve is something you set in your heart.”

Listening quietly, Lee Danhoe found himself asking without thinking. 

“Who are you, exactly?”

“Ah, well…”

The curly-haired man scratched his cheek again, looking awkward.

“I’m not anyone particularly famous. I’m Jo Geol, the second generation disciple of Hwasan.”

“One Sword Splitting Light?”

“……Hm? You know me?”

“Know you? Of course I do.”

One Sword Splitting Light [ilgeombungwang] Jo Geol. One of the famed Five Swords of Hwasan, known throughout the world. On top of that, he was renowned as the fastest user of swift sword among the younger swordsmen.

“Oh, that’s surprising. How do you know me?”

Now that he knew the man before him was One Sword Splitting Light, even the last traces of doubt lingering in Lee Danhoe’s mind vanished completely.

Of course, he still didn’t like Hwasan’s swordsmen. He couldn’t like them, and he must not.

But he was here to learn from those very enemies.

“You said to let go of my strength?”

“Yes.”

“You’re my senior, so please feel free to speak comfortably.”

“I wonder if… that’s really all right. Haha.”

“But if I let go of my strength, won’t the sword fail to go where I intend it to? An arrow that’s lost its direction is not what I’m aiming for.”

“Hmm. That’s not really because you’ve let go of your strength. It’s because your stance has collapsed.”

“Stance…”

“If you loosen up so much that your lower body wavers, of course you won’t be able to move in the right direction. Try a thrust.”

“Like this……”

“Here.”

Jo Geol lightly bumped Lee Danhoe’s knee with his own. In an instant, his stance collapsed and Lee Danhoe nearly toppled over.

Flaring up, he hurriedly straightened his body.

“What are you…!”

“See? I just gave you a little nudge and you were about to fall over.”

“…”

“When I say relax, I mean don’t put strength where it isn’t needed. Put strength where you should, and let it go where you shouldn’t. That’s the essence of swift swordsmanship.”

“Then where are we supposed to……”

“How would I know that. Obviously.”

Doubt welled up in Lee Danhoe’s eyes.

“…What do you mean, you don’t know? I heard you were a master of a swift sword.”

“You’ve got Diancang’s sword, don’t you? You must have heard it all countless times already.”

For a moment, Lee Danhoe’s expression went blank.

‘Heard it countless times.’

Yes, that was true. He had heard it over and over. From his Master, from his seniors. But why? Why hadn’t he held on to all those words?

Jo Geol shrugged as he spoke.

“There’s no need to doubt. If you’re a disciple of a prestigious sect, the place you need to reach is already engraved in your body. All you have to do is follow that path.”

“…”

“Got it?”

Having thrown out the question, Jo Geol muttered to himself.

“Ah, the way I talk is starting to sound weirdly like Chung Myung. How irritating.”

Just then, Lee Danhoe, who had been lost in thought alone, spoke firmly.

“I’ll give it a try. Please watch me.”

“Huh? Me? From here on, it feels like Diancang’s finer intricacies are going to start showing, so it’s a bit awkward for me to be watching.”

“It doesn’t matter. Please watch me. If no one inherits it, then this art will simply vanish.”

“……If you’re going to put it that way.”

Lee Danhoe’s sword sliced through the air. Jo Geol, watching him intently, gave guidance that was, unusually for him, quite delicate.

“Pay a little more attention to your grip.”

“Your wrist is still stiff. Softer.”

Meanwhile, Baek Cheon, who had been watching all of this from a distance, spoke in a warm, pleased tone.

“Heheh, Geol, that rascal, has grown a lot. I am, as his Sasuk, feel quite delighted.”

“Sasuk.”

“Hm? Why?”

“Please stop biting your nails. You’re going to draw blood.”

“…Really?”

Baek Cheon pulled his trembling fingers away from his lips.

“Try making your words and actions line up a little.”

“A-And you’re not nervous at all?”

“What good does it do to say it out loud?”

After a brief silence, they all shook their heads.

It was Jo Geol, of all people. That Jo Geol could be someone who taught others.

“But, contrary to our worries, isn’t he being pretty textbook about it?”

“Accurate. Polite. Clear.”

“…He might make a good teacher, you know?”

At that evaluation, Tang Soso tilted her head.

“Him?”

“Why? He seems incredibly gentle.”

“…Sasuk, Sahyeongs. Have you, by any chance, set Chung Myung as your standard for what ‘teaching someone’ looks like?”

“Huh?”

“If you hold that man up as the standard, there won’t be a single teacher in the world who doesn’t seem gentle.”

“….Huh?”

Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon’s faces twisted in an instant. It was true. Without even realizing it, their standards for how to see the world had apparently become warped.

“Ugh… I should go somewhere and do a full ritual cleansing or something.”

“…It won’t come off even from someone like me who’s gone through a complete transformation. What good would a bath do.”

“Keep the depressing talk to a reasonable level, please.”

Everyone let out a long sigh. Then they noticed the disciples of Diancang slowly gathering around Lee Danhoe and Jo Geol, who was instructing him.

Baek Cheon smiled faintly.

‘Good.’

It was something neither he nor that rascal Chung Myung could accomplish alone. To lead them properly, they needed the help of their fellow brothers.

“Th-That lunatic. He’s just straight-up teaching swift sword again. That guy’s lower body is still unstable right now.”

“This won’t do. We have to stop him.”

“I’ll go fi… Huh? Gwak Hoe’s already going.”

Before they knew it, the disciples of Hwasan were also quietly approaching the disciples of Diancang.

“…That brat, he was tearing his hair out over having shown off too much on the cliff in front of Diancang’s disciples, and now he’s just been hovering around them the whole time.”

“He’s got a soft heart that doesn’t match that face of his.”

The Five Swords all smiled faintly at the sight. All except Yu Iseol.

“No. That’s not the only reason.”

“Sago?”

“Just…”

Only then did the corner of Yu Iseol’s mouth twitch slightly.

“He just can’t leave them alone. It reminds him of the old days.”

At that, everyone agreed and slowly nodded.

‘There’s still some mutual resentment. But time will take care of that.’

The swordsmen of Hwasan weren’t capable of being truly cruel, and the disciples of Diancang were too desperate.

The very scene he had wished for was unfolding before his eyes. Baek Cheon scratched his cheek.

‘Did that brat Chung Myung ever feel like this in the past too?’

Thinking of Chung Myung, Baek Cheon turned his gaze and, as he always did without thinking, spread out his qi sense [기감(氣感)]. And then, in an instant, his face went pale.

“Where the hell did that bastard go this time?”

“Who? Chung Myung? He’s probably sleeping on some rooftop somewhere.”

“I don’t think he’s even inside the sect grounds.”

“……What?”

In that moment, everyone, gripped by sudden unease, turned their eyes towards the mountain gate. More precisely, towards the road stretching beyond the wide-open gate, leading down to Hwaeum.

“Ha. He has run off again.”

“Ugh.”

Baek Cheon clutched at his hair.

“…I just hope he doesn’t cause any trouble.”

Of course, the chances of that wish coming true were almost zero – but still, he wished for it with all his heart.

Next chapter >>>

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*It was written as ‘ten’ section staff, but after googling it – it seems there is no such a weapon? But there is 삼절곤(三節棍) – three section staff, which fits the narrative, so I assume it was a typo. 

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