Why are you so surprised? (4)
The disciples of Hwasan, having watched Baek Cheon’s neat declaration of victory, smiled with satisfaction.
“Anyone watching would think it was an absolute victory.”
“Isn’t that a little shameless?”
“Enough. He won, anyway.”
“Had he lost, someone would’ve ended up with a broken bone. Thank goodness.”
Hearing that, Yu Hanbin squeezed his eyes shut. Were these really the words of people who had just watched their fellow disciple win?
“Um, there’s something I was wondering.”
“What?”
“Well… are all the people at Hwasan like you, Dojangs? I mean, what I mean exactly is……”
Yu Hanbin tried his hardest to find the most tactful way to put it, but the disciples of Hwasan had no intention of waiting for him to elaborate.
“They do not seem all that different.”
“Aren’t they all pretty much the same?”
“Honestly, we’re better than those bastards.”
“…”
What kind of place was Hwasan? A fierce curiosity about Hwasan Sect rose in Yu Hanbin’s mind, while at the same time a vow was etched into it that he would never, for as long as he lived, set foot there.
⠀
“We…….”
“Lost?”
The scholars stared at Jwa Gohak, who had fallen to his knees, their faces stricken with disbelief.
“How could this happen…”
The Jwa Gohak they knew was a genius without equal. And among them, he was the most gifted of all.
Whether in scholarship or martial arts, no one in Eunildam could compare to Jwa Gohak. And yet, Jwa Gohak had been defeated. Not by some master of Gangho who looked down upon all beneath heaven, but by a promising young talent [후기지수(後起之秀)].
And not even by Hwasan Shinryong, said to be the strongest among the current generation, nor by Hye Yeon, Shaolin’s foremost prodigy, but by a swordsman of Hwasan who was, compared to those two, almost unknown.
“This makes no sense……”
Could their shock truly be put into words? Yet no matter how great their shock was, it could not have been greater than that of Jwa Gohak himself.
Still on his knees, Jwa Gohak could not conceal his devastation as he stared blankly at the ground.
‘I… lost?’
It was the defeat of the scholars, the defeat of Confucian learning, and the defeat of the decades of effort that the scholars of Eunildam had devoted to their cause.
As Jwa Gohak sat there in a daze, unable to decide what he was meant to do with his shattered pride, quiet footsteps reached his ears.
Step. Step.
Jwa Gohak raised his head reflexively. Before his eyes was Baek Cheon, approaching him with an air of confidence.
“…”
For an instant, rage surged within him, but Jwa Gohak forcibly suppressed it. He knew that, had Baek Cheon not shown restraint at the last moment, he might not even have remained conscious as he was now.
“I have had the privilege of witnessing a truly fine swordsmanship.”
Seeing Baek Cheon suddenly become so courteous, Jwa Gohak could not help finding him insufferable. Perhaps that was why. For a moment, Jwa Gohak forgot his manners and replied in a brusque tone.
“What are you talking about when I was beaten like this? Spare me the words you do not even mean.”
“They are not words I do not mean.”
“Huh?”
Baek Cheon nodded with a serious expression.
“Ten Thousand Swords [만검(萬劍)]. It was certainly a sword technique with much to learn from. When I first faced it, I was nearly driven to despair.”
“…”
“It may not be my place to judge, but I believe it is a sword worthy of being counted among the greatest in Gangho.”
“Among the greatest in Gangho….”
For a moment, Jwa Gohak could not restrain himself and let out a self-mocking laugh.
He himself had been the one to condemn Gangho as a whole for making no progress and merely following in the footsteps of the past – so what meaning could there be in calling it one of the finest swords in Gangho?
“Please tell me.”
Jwa Gohak, his smile gone before he knew it, asked with a serious expression.
“What is the problem with Ten Thousand Swords?”
“As I said, I believe it is the lack of actual combat experience.”
“Actual combat……”
“And that is likely because…”
Baek Cheon looked around him. Taking in the scenery of Eunildam, enclosed by mountains on all sides, Baek Cheon spoke again.
“Because you have built a world of your own here.”
“…”
“No matter how fiercely people who study the same thing debate and research together, they cannot escape thinking along similar lines. That is why the world exchanges ideas, engages in discussion, and learns from others.”
“Exchange and discussion……”
Jwa Gohak, who had been about to retort, quickly closed his mouth.
Exchange and debate were the scholars’ greatest strengths, and the very reason Eunildam had been established. Was not even Ten Thousand Swords a sword technique born from fierce debate and exchange?
But…
“So it was exchange among ourselves, and debate among ourselves alone.”
“Put that way, yes.”
“Haha…”
Jwa Gohak let out a hollow laugh.
Because they believed Confucian learning to be the finest of all, they had confined themselves within its framework. Even as they condemned other schools of learning and religions for being so stifling, they had failed to realize that they themselves, too, had been trapped by their own obstinacy.
“If you accumulated more experience…”
“No.”
Jwa Gohak rose to his feet. Then he slowly shook his head.
“It is not something that would be resolved merely by gaining experience. If what you say is true, then is Ten Thousand Swords not a sword that was flawed from its very beginning?”
“…”
“But even so, it does not matter.”
“What?”
When Baek Cheon echoed the question in confusion, Jwa Gohak answered in a firm voice.
“Confucian learning is a discipline that begins with mistakes. Now that we know what we have done wrong, countless others will discuss how it ought to be corrected.”
“…”
“Some will seek an entirely new path to correct the fundamental problem, while others will seek a way to remedy its essential flaws. Amid those different branches, we will one day find an answer. I do not know whether this sword will still be called Ten Thousand Swords then, but.”
Baek Cheon found himself nodding.
“It will.”
They had found their path. One day, this defeat would become the nourishment from which they would grow.
But that did not mean they could turn away from the matter at hand.
Jwa Gohak quietly cupped his fist in salute to Baek Cheon. It was the martial artists’ way of expressing respect. This was the greatest show of respect Jwa Gohak could offer.
“Thank you for your instruction.”
“Think nothing of it.”
The two men returned each other’s salute and bowed deeply.
The scholars who saw this seemed to deliberate for a while, before slowly beginning to applaud, one by one. Not to be outdone, the disciples of Hwasan too clapped their hands enthusiastically.
Before long, the training ground was filled with thunderous applause.
Amid that heartwarming scene, the two men who had shown each other such courtesy faced one another with bright smiles.
“So. Now that you got beaten by that fangshi you were looking down on, have you changed your mind a little?”
“I will admit it. I thought you were hopeless trash, but it seems you can at least pass for human beings.”
“You can still say something like that after getting beaten so badly?”
“We, on the other hand, are proficient in everything from scholarship to poetry, calligraphy, and painting. For you to demand recognition when all you can do is swing a sword a little is rather… Has your conscience gone out for a stroll?”
“No, but this bastard.”
“What, want to go again?”
Watching the two of them start snarling at one another again almost immediately, Chung Myung smiled faintly.
“Kids these days…..”
They were not like that in my day. Good grief.
⠀
“Hmm.”
Low murmurs escaped the old scholars’ lips.
“Surely Jwa Gohak…”
Perhaps these two were the ones here who knew Jwa Gohak’s abilities best. That was why they were also the most shocked by this outcome.
“I thought he might lose. But I never imagined he would lose to someone other than that Hwasan Shinryong.”
“Was it Baek Cheon…? He is an extraordinary swordsman. Are all of Hwasan’s swordsmen like that?”
When the old scholars could not readily continue, So Jung-gyeong smiled faintly.
“It seems the outcome has now been decided?”
“Ahem.”
“Mm…. Indeed.”
The old scholars sighed and nodded. Even their disciples had accepted the result of the match. There was nothing to be gained from forcing the issue now except the loss of face.
“Grand Secretary, are you certain this is all right?”
One of the old scholars looked to So Jung-gyeong. So Jung-gyeong quietly nodded.
“They are people worthy of trust.”
“It is not that we doubt you, Grand Secretary, but… might we ask your reason?”
“What other reason could there be? They are simply people who know what chivalry is.”
“Hmm…….”
“So let us trust them and leave it in their hands.”
The old scholars still appeared unable to accept it easily, but in the end, they nodded.
“If the Grand Secretary says so much. Very well.”
In the old scholars’ eyes as they looked upon the disciples of Hwasan, a faint unease and trust bloomed side by side.
❀ ❀ ❀
“This way.”
“Hmm.”
By then, the sky had been dyed with the colors of sunset.
Led by Jwa Gohak, the disciples of Hwasan approached the large lake at the center of Eunildam.
“You did not need to guide us personally.”
“Haha. Would you not feel a little more at ease if you were guided by someone whose face you recognized, even a little? It is simply basic courtesy.”
“I see.”
Jwa Gohak smiled faintly.
“And besides, I am all right. I was not particularly badly hurt, unlike certain someone.”
Grit.
Baek Cheon ground his teeth. He had certainly won the match, but he had suffered far more injuries. After all, he had been cut in several places across his body.
“A loss is a loss.”
“Ah, I naturally acknowledge my defeat. I am not such a petty man, you see. And… is there not a saying? In the end, victory in a contest belongs to the one who gains more. Interpreted that way, would it not make Dojang’s victory certain, seeing as he gained more wounds? Hahahah.”
Baek Cheon trembled as he fixed Jwa Gohak with a murderous glare, looking as though he wanted nothing more than to help ventilate his body with a few extra holes.
“Why is Sasuk always so immature? What will become of Hwasan’s future?”
“Is that really what worries you right now?”
“Yes? Does it not worry you?”
“I am more worried about that man over there. At worst, Sasuk will only ruin Hwasan, but that gentleman looks like someone who will become a high-ranking official.”
“Ah…….”
At Yoon Jong’s words, Jo Geol looked at Jwa Gohak’s retreating back ahead of them with an expression of sudden realization.
The thought that someone on Baek Cheon’s level would one day be making decisions for the whole nation… What a horrifying and terrible thing this was.
While Jo Geol worried about the future of the world, they arrived at a large open pavilion built along one side of the lake.
“Oh.”
Chung Myung frowned as he looked at the long bridge linking the shore to an open pavilion that seemed to float like a boat in the middle of the lake.
“Seriously, why do all these scholars and Confucian gentlemen like those open pavilions so damned much?”
“Haha. Is it not good to enjoy the beauty of nature?”
“Then they should stop insulting Taoists for living off grass. When they look at a lake from a pavilion, it is appreciation of nature, but when we feel nature’s energy by a lake, we are a heretical sect? These bastards ought to have some conscience.”
“…”
At a loss for words, Jwa Gohak hastily pointed towards the pavilion.
“They are waiting for you.”
“Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue in obvious displeasure, Chung Myung stepped onto the bridge stretching across the lake.
Having crossed the lake’s clear waters and reached the pavilion, the disciples of Hwasan were warmly welcomed by the old scholars.
“Come in, all of you.”
So Jung-gyeong, standing in their midst, smiled brightly.
“So you passed the test in the end.”
“Well, of course we did.”
“Haha. Is that so?”
So Jung-gyeong burst into hearty laughter.
It had truly been an unreasonable demand, yet they had accomplished it so cleanly that even such unabashed confidence deserved recognition.
“Now then. I do not think you invited us here just to drink tea.”
Chung Myung grinned as he looked at the old scholars seated before him.
“You are not planning to go back on your word, are you? You must keep your promise.”
At those words, the old scholars all turned to look at Yu Hanbin.
After studying him with solemn eyes, they all nodded in unison.
________
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