I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. (2)
Dan Jayeong’s hand trembled uncontrollably.
The disciples of Hwasan and the other scholars watching all seemed surprised as well, but because he was the one among them with the deepest understanding of calligraphy, he was the one who had received the greatest shock.
‘How could such handwriting come from such a beginner…’
It was impossible to accept through common sense.
The writing before his eyes was far too magnificent. With only a slight exaggeration, it was a majestic hand so grand that tears might naturally well up in the eyes of those who beheld it.
And yet the one who had written those characters was a complete outsider who did not even know how to hold a brush properly. How could something so absurd possibly happen?
“D-Did you truly write this?”
“You saw it with your own eyes, so why ask?”
Normally, Chung Myung would have snapped at him a little more enthusiastically, but this time he held his tongue just enough. In truth, he knew as well that this was a kind of foul play.
‘But what are you going to do about it? Got any proof?’
Chung Myung straightened his back proudly and grinned.
Imitating another person’s handwriting was one of the fundamentals of calligraphy. Even Dan Jayeong, who had now established a style of his own, must have begun by copying the hands of renowned masters whose names had been recorded in history.
Therefore, when competing in calligraphy, copying the styles of famous calligraphers was forbidden. After all, calligraphy was not a contest to see who could imitate better.
But this style was free from that restriction in that regard. The person who had written these characters was neither a calligrapher who had gone down in history, nor someone known to them.
‘It’s true, though, our Sect Leader Sahyeong really did have incredible handwriting.’
Nowadays, the visitors who came to Hwasan were not particularly learned in the literary arts, so it attracted little attention. But in the past, every high-ranking official who visited Hwasan had been astonished by the majestic force of the inscription written on the signboard.
And when they learned that the person who had written it was Chung Mun, they would bend over backwards trying to obtain even a single character written by his hand.
‘It’s just that Sahyeong always found that sort of thing terribly uncomfortable, so he never became especially known for it.’
Had Chung Mun been the sort of person who freely wrote things for others, he would likely have become a highly renowned calligrapher even among those people.
‘Not that I can reproduce that skill.’
The illiterate fools of Hwasan could be deceived well enough, but if he were dealing with experts in brushwork, there was no way they would fail to see the rough edges. No matter how hard he tried to imitate it, it was impossible for no trace of that to show at all.
However, these four characters were different.
The phrase he inevitably saw every time he went in and out of the mountain gate. Perhaps they were the characters Chung Myung had seen most often in his life, the ones most familiar to him. He could reproduce these four characters perfectly even with his eyes closed.
Yes. Just like now.
‘Anyway, even dog poop has its use as medicine.’
– What? Dog poop? You little bastard.
‘You stay quiet when I’m praising you, then show up like a ghost only at times like this.’
Meanwhile, the old scholars in charge of the judging could not help falling into deep contemplation.
“This is…”
“Hmmmm.”
It was handwriting difficult to describe. It was different from any style they knew, yet it possessed a force no less than those styles. Discussing this writing was no easy matter. But at least one thing was certain.
“It does not fall behind Dan Jayeong’s style.”
“No, to put it frankly… if we are discussing only the style itself, it is far superior to Dan Jayeong’s.”
“That is so. There are certainly parts that fall short technically, such as the control of strength and softness, the somewhat rough finishing, and the insufficient layering… but if we look only at the style, there is no way not to acknowledge it.”
“Huh. To think there could be such a case…”
Their worries could only deepen.
Chung Myung’s phrase was grand and overwhelming, yet like a castle with missing bricks, while Dan Jayeong’s phrase was like a well-built mansion, neatly and solidly constructed, but it could not be compared to a castle.
Which of the two should be called superior? Could the superiority or inferiority of these two pieces of writing truly be discussed?
When everyone was so deep in thought that they could not easily open their mouths, So Jung-gyeong spoke as though he had made up his mind.
“It is certainly something worth agonizing over. But is that not only if the person taking this test were likewise a Confucian scholar?”
“……What do you mean, Grand Secretary?”
“You know, do you not?”
So Jung-gyeong let out a deep sigh.
“The moment the one who wrote this phrase is a Taoist monk, the contest has already been decided. Would it truly be fair to judge the two by the same standard? Dan Jayeong himself would not wish for that either.”
The two old scholars pondered for a moment, then soon nodded with expressions showing their understanding. Just as So Jung-gyeong had said, from the moment they began seriously comparing a Confucian scholar and one who was not, the victory and defeat had already been decided.
“This match is Chung Myung Dojang’s victory!”
At the Chief Scribe’s great shout, the disciples of Hwasan all cheered.
“Wow! He actually won this!”
“What a trick, seriously! Even gamblers would weep and walk away!”
“As expected of Chung Myung! I believed in you.”
“You honestly didn’t believe in him, though.”
“Shh.”
While the disciples of Hwasan were causing an uproar, Chung Myung grinned and looked at Dan Jayeong.
“Hard to accept, isn’t it?”
“…..No.”
“Huh?”
Chung Myung’s head tilted to the side. If Dan Jayeong reacted like this, then the lecture he had prepared for him – a sermon long enough to fill an entire gak – would become completely useless…
“I was merely thinking. Whether I have been too bound by brush technique and confined myself to too narrow a place.”
“…”
“There are so many people in the world who are this exceptional… Yet instead of thinking about surpassing what I already possessed, I devoted all my efforts to perfecting only the small things. How could defeat be anything but natural?”
“Uh….”
Chung Myung instinctively recoiled and took a step back, but Dan Jayeong suddenly bowed deeply before him.
“N-No. What are you doing?”
“Thank you for broadening my horizons.”
“Th-That’s…”
Dan Jayeong raised his head and looked at Chung Myung with a serious face.
“They say, ‘When three people walk together, there is surely a teacher for me among them*.’ I thought I had been upholding Confucius’s words as if they were divine truth, yet I have keenly realized that I truly failed to do so. For teaching me not the technique of calligraphy, but the Way of learning itself, I will regard this as a lifelong debt of gratitude.”
“Uh. W-Well… do that, then.”
The disciples of Hwasan watched the scene with peculiar expressions.
“He’s breaking out in a cold sweat, isn’t he? The back of his neck is soaked through.”
“If his conscience doesn’t prick him, he’s not human at all. But it’s not like he can just admit he cheated right there.”
“Chung Myung had a conscience?”
“He’s surprisingly weak against people who cast everything aside and approach him with genuine sincerity.”
“…Does that really look like being weak to you? Isn’t he almost being exorcised? He’s reacting like a jiangshi that has seen the light.”
“….Well, there’s not much difference. He’s basically a human incarnation of evil.”
Just then, Dan Jayeong took Chung Myung’s hand and pleaded earnestly.
“Dojang, would you teach me this calligraphy style? I truly wish to learn it.”
“Uh… uh, uh. I’m a Taoist. How is a Taoist supposed to teach a Confucian scholar calligraphy?”
“What does that matter? Whether one is a Confucian scholar or a Taoist is far less important than whether there is something to learn or not. Dojang, please..”
“S-Someone get him away from me! Q-Quickly!”
At last, seeing Chung Myung shudder as if he had seen a ghost, the disciples of Hwasan sighed and dealt with Dan Jayeong in his place.
“I’m sorry. The truth is, he isn’t at a level where he could do that.”
“You’ll only be disappointed if you get your hopes up. That’s how it always is.”
“Wh-What do you mean?”
“There are just things like that.”
Fortunately, Dan Jayeong seemed to realize that Chung Myung was in a difficult position, so he did not press the matter any further. Instead, he kept sending wistful glances in Chung Myung’s direction.
“…That look in his eyes is a little too intense.”
“I-It’s giving me the creeps.”
Yu Hanbin shook his head as he looked at Chung Myung, who was utterly appalled.
“But seriously, if you’re that good at calligraphy, you should’ve said so.”
Chung Myung silently placed a hand on Yu Hanbin’s shoulder.
“Hanbin-ah.”
“Yes.”
“Life is more complicated than you think.”
“…”
“That is all you need to know.”
It was an adult matter. An adult matter.
Yu Hanbin coldly slapped Chung Myung’s hand away.
“At any rate, with this, it is two to one. Huhuhu.”
The smile refused to leave Baek Cheon’s lips.
“…Sasuk, even so, your Sajil won by cheating, and you’re happy about it?”
“Even if we were called Hwasan-chae [a Stronghold, like Surochae], honestly, I wouldn’t have a single argument to refute it.”
“Even bandits don’t go this far. Bandits are robbers, not swindlers.”
The disciples of Hwasan shot him accusatory looks, but Baek Cheon remained completely unapologetic.
“Better to win dishonorably than lose honorably!”
“…Truly inspiring, Sasuk.”
Though it was a little too embarrassing to say in front of other people.
While the disciples of Hwasan regained their composure and relaxed, the scholars fell silent as though they had arrived at a funeral.
“To think Dan Jayeong would lose in calligraphy…”
“Indeed.”
But this time, no one particularly criticized Dan Jayeong. Even among the Six Arts, there was a hierarchy. Archery and horsemanship belonged to the realm of martial skills, but calligraphy was an essential art that every Confucian scholar was expected to master.
The fact that Dan Jayeong, the most outstanding among them in calligraphy, had lost was no different from all of them having lost. The scholars were not so foolish as to fail to realize that criticizing Dan Jayeong now would be no different from spitting in their own faces.
“…They’re far more formidable than I expected.”
“Mm. To think Taoists would be at this level. I had assumed they were merely fools wasting their lives on meaningless cultivation methods.”
“Is it not true that those who reach the peak in any field cannot be looked down upon?”
A sense of crisis colored their eyes as they discussed the situation.
For they had begun to fear that they might actually lose, on what was essentially their own home ground, to the very people they had dismissed as fangshi.
‘And to lose to Taoists in a contest of the Six Arts?’
This went beyond mere embarrassment or humiliation. It would be a denial of the very foundation of who they were.
“Um…”
“I know.”
“It seems…”
“I said I know, did I not?”
And no one felt that burden more keenly than Jwa Gohak.
‘Damn it.’
For the other side to take the second victory first? This was something that had not been in Jwa Gohak’s calculations. Calligraphy and archery were not events they should ever have lost, were they?
At least archery was something he could somehow understand. But to lose in calligraphy?
“There is nothing to worry about.”
“Pardon? Why not?”
“Because the next event is one that can only be lost if we go out of our way to lose it. If we lose here, I’ll shave my head.”
“Wh-What are you saying?”
Jwa Gohak bit down hard on his lip and then shouted.
“The next event is arithmetic [산술(算術)]! Those who wish to compete, step forward!”
But even as he spoke, a brief flicker of anxiety passed through Jwa Gohak’s eyes.
Hadn’t someone they had never anticipated appeared in the previous events and defeated them?
‘Surely not this time too?’
That must not happen. It absolutely must not.
Just as Jwa Gohak struggled to conceal his unease while looking at the disciples of Hwasan, Baek Cheon let out a hearty laugh and stepped forward.
“Ah.”
That confident smile made Jwa Gohak flinch involuntarily.
‘Could it be him?’
No, no. That could not be.
But……
‘It is not good to judge a person by their appearance… but honestly, does he not have the face of someone who seems incapable of being bad at anything?’
A face that would draw attention wherever he went. If someone like that stepped forward with such confidence…
‘Even in martial arts… once one reaches a certain realm, improvement becomes difficult through repetition alone. And Hwasan’s reputation has been soaring lately… perhaps they truly excel in areas like this as well.’
At the very moment Jwa Gohak’s hands trembled with tension, Baek Cheon opened his mouth with a confident smile.
“We forfeit.”
“…”
“Yeah. We can’t do this one.”
There are only idiots here. Sorry.
Special Spinoff Chapter 48 >>>
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*Analects Book 7. 「三人行，必有我師焉。擇其善者而從之，其不善者而改之。」 When three people walk together, there is surely a teacher for me among them. I will select their good qualities and follow them, their bad qualities and avoid them.
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