novelraw Chapter 54 : Chapter 54
Chapter 54 : Chapter 54
Chapter 54. Full Moon Unchanging (2)
Pour.
Lee Byeok and Pa Jin-seong shared a drink.
Throughout the pouring and mixing of the alcohol, Pa Jin-seong's trivial stories continued, but they weren't unbearable.
For Lee Byeok, whose talent for conversation was meager, it felt more comfortable to just listen.
In this way, a couple of bottles were emptied.
And at some point, Lee Byeok began to feel his train of thought starting to stutter and break.
A strange feeling washed over him.
A sensation that the self who was here was not his original self flickered past.
Lee Byeok realized that this was the ‘drunkenness’ he had only heard about. His body was sending a signal.
Hook. His Innate power moved.
But at that moment, Pa Jin-seong, after crunching and swallowing some fried vegetables, shouted rather firmly.
“Wait! If you do the uncool thing of pushing out the alcohol poison with your internal energy, I won’t tell you anything! Kehehe!”
“……”
Lee Byeok calmed his internal energy.
Now he was even doubtful whether Pa Jin-seong had the answer to his question or not, but it was a rare experience.
He continued to down his cups.
A few more rounds of cups were passed.
“Burp!”
Pa Jin-seong burped.
“Kehehehe… Yes! Now we’re talking! Kehe, honestly. Sir Squad Leader, you’ve been too stiff all this time!”
“…Stiff?”
“That’s right, buddy. You see, what’s broken is irreversible, but what’s bent is just bent. Its essence doesn’t change, you know?”
Pa Jin-seong said, as if letting slip a trivial remark. A light smile flickered across his flushed, reddish face.
“Well, honestly, I almost broke too. Kekeke! To be frank, I was on the verge of losing my mind.”
“……”
“After competing like crazy with this guy and that guy back home and coming all the way to the Evil Faction Alliance, I naturally thought I’d be the best. But I was defeated in a single move by that bastard Maeng U-gang, and when I woke up, I heard that same Maeng U-gang had been beaten to a pulp by someone younger than me.”
Pa Jin-seong downed his cup.
Kaaa! He wiped his mouth and slammed the cup down loudly.
“Do you know how miserable that felt?”
“……”
Pfft. Pa Jin-seong laughed.
“Well, but thanks to that, I learned well that I’m a damn frog from Hainan. I’m actually grateful for it now, so rest assured. Kekeke!”
“…I see.”
“Come on, drink up!”
Lee Byeok drank.
Even after hearing Pa Jin-seong’s story, nothing particularly came to mind regarding the riddle related to the Eight-Section Nine-Palace Brush Art.
Was it simply a misunderstanding?
Perhaps it had been a waste of time after all.
But… he didn’t feel bad.
In one way or another, getting to know Pa Jin-seong, who had become a member of the Flying Dragon Squad, might not be a waste either.
The night continued to deepen.
The more he drank, for some reason, the lighter his mind and body felt. It was as if all his worries were flying away over his head.
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, Pa Jin-seong retched.
“…Kehe, I guess I got a little too carried away. Right, that was just right. Let’s stop drinking for today……”
“More.”
“…Huh?”
“Pour more.”
Lee Byeok held out his cup.
“I said pour.”
“…Are, are you drunk?”
“You’re not leaving until we finish it all.”
Pa Jin-seong’s complexion turned pale. Then, he suddenly spotted something unfamiliar over Lee Byeok’s shoulder.
“Huh? What’s that?”
Tang, chang, chaeng!
On the roof of another building some distance away, several figures were entangled with each other.
Pa Jin-seong rubbed his eyes. But it wasn’t a hallucination from being drunk. A sword fight was clearly taking place.
For a moment, his eyes met with one of them.
Tat, taat!
“Uh… uh oh? They’re coming this way.”
“Stop talking nonsense and pour.”
“No, I’m serious! Uh oh?”
As expected of those who had learned martial arts, the movements of the figures leaping from roof to roof were swift.
It seemed to be a chase. Tat. Finally, they all landed on the roof of the building where Lee Byeok and Pa Jin-seong were sitting.
“Y-Young Warriors! Please help us! These ruffians keep chasing us even though we said no!”
“W-What?”
The three women who had been chased in front quickly leaped over Lee Byeok and Pa Jin-seong, hiding behind them like a shield.
“What are you guys!”
“We are disciples of the One Saber Martial Sect! If you have no relation to those wicked Evil Faction women, then leave this place at once!”
The six burly men who seemed to have chased them immediately issued a threat.
“…Kehe.”
Pa Jin-seong looked back and forth.
Hwoook. The next moment, a faint mist formed around Pa Jin-seong. He had expelled the drunkenness out of his pores.
“I don’t really know the situation… but the young ladies are from the Evil Faction and these guys are from the Righteous Faction, right? I promised not to cause trouble, but I didn’t know trouble would find me. What should we do, Squad Leader? It can’t be helped, right? Huh? Kehehe!”
Crack, crackle.
Pa Jin-seong tilted his head left and right, letting out a laugh. He looked back at Lee Byeok with a gaze that seemed to seek agreement.
“Hiccup.”
Lee Byeok hiccuped.
“Pour quickly. Pa Jin-seong.”
“…No, Squad Leader. You should expel the drunkenness now and……”
“Why should I? Didn’t you tell me not to do that just a moment ago?”
“No, I mean, the situation is……”
“I am not drunk yet.”
“……”
An ambiguous silence flowed over the rooftop.
Stomp, stomp.
“Hey, drunkard. It seems you haven’t sobered up yet. Do you really need to see blood to come to your senses?”
The burly men approached Lee Byeok.
The one in the lead pointed the tip of his saber at Lee Byeok’s face. But Lee Byeok didn't care.
He looked up with a blurry gaze.
“Who are you to speak so informally? You’re disturbing my drinking. I have no intention of moving, so if you want to fight, go down there and do it.”
“……”
The burly man’s face contorted.
“…Pfft.”
One of the women let out a laugh.
“Kek, kekeke…”
“Pfft, puhut!”
As laughter began to leak out one after another, the burly man’s face flushed. The next moment, thwack! Without warning, he kicked Lee Byeok in the side.
Lee Byeok’s body flew sideways helplessly. He rolled over and over. He almost fell off the roof, but one of the women quickly caught him.
Chaeng!
“What the hell is wrong with this bastard?!”
The next moment, Pa Jin-seong drew his sword. He charged straight at the burly man.
Chang! Chaeng!
“Keuk?!”
The sword of Hainan unfolded like a wave.
In an instant, three or four clashes occurred. The man from the One Saber Martial Sect stumbled back three steps.
“Come at me, all of you, you bastards! Kehehe!”
“He-He’s no ordinary man!”
“S-Senior Brother! Everyone! Attack him!”
The next moment, the group from the One Saber Martial Sect all rushed at Pa Jin-seong at once. Pa Jin-seong flinched.
“Hey, you’re really all ganging up on me?! Hey! What are you doing, ladies! You asked for help, are you just going to watch?!”
As Pa Jin-seong shouted, the women who had been staring blankly snapped out of it.
They each raised their energy and charged towards the men of the One Saber Martial Sect.
“……”
Lee Byeok looked up at the sky.
It was less that he was looking, and more that the night sky was just where his eyes, lying sprawled in a star shape, were pointing.
He saw the moon there.
The moon, full in a perfect circle, showed no signs of waning. For some reason, his heart became calm.
Chang, chaeng!
He could hear the clash of blades from a distance, but it sounded like a fight happening in a far-off place.
But… Lee Byeok thought.
He didn't think Pa Jin-seong would lose against enemies of that level. But the difference in numbers was not small.
‘I should get up and join in.’
If he stepped in, he could subdue them quickly without dragging it out. He wanted to avoid anyone dying, regardless of which side they were on.
Lee Byeok tried to get up. However.
Stagger.
At that moment, a wave of dizziness washed over him.
The body he had struggled to raise tilted again. Thud. He fell forward. Lee Byeok’s two hands braced themselves on the roof.
“……”
It seemed he was really drunk.
Pfft. Lee Byeok let out a laugh.
It was a shame, but the drinking session was over. He tried to raise his internal energy to shake off the drunkenness.
Then, suddenly, the moon reflected in Dongting Lake below caught his eye.
It was no different from the moon in the sky he had looked up at a moment ago. It was as if the entire night sky had been copied into it.
No, but it was different.
It was the same, yet something was different.
“……!”
At that moment, a hunch struck him.
In that difference, a crucial riddle for him was hidden. Flash. His mind cleared. Lee Byeok stared intently down at the lake.
He looked at the moon reflected there.
Dizziness began to set in again.
Lee Byeok soon realized why.
The moon reflected in the lake was gently swaying with the ripples. The moon in the lake continuously changed its shape slightly.
But no matter how distorted and shaken the moon in the lake was, the moon in the sky did not lose its circular shape.
Full Moon Unchanging.
The full moon does not change.
At that moment, the phrase flashed through his mind.
And a few words from his conversation with Pa Jin-seong earlier came to mind. What is bent is just bent; its essence has not changed.
The moon is always there.
Even if it is hidden behind clouds and becomes a half-moon, or disappears altogether, the moon will eventually become full again.
Bent, yet unchanging.
A realization flashed through Lee Byeok’s mind.
“Keuk.”
Suddenly, Lee Byeok felt cheerful.
“Keuhaha!”
He let out a loud laugh. As his consciousness blurred from the alcohol, some things became clearer.
Even if it was different from his usual self, it was just a bent version, ultimately just one facet of himself.
Suddenly, Lee Byeok felt the urge to draw that moon with his own hands.
Woong.
At that moment, his Innate power reacted.
The internal energy of the Full Moon Unchanging Heart Art surged.
The path of the Full Moon Unchanging Heart Art did not leave internal injuries in his blood vessels as the Red Faction Heart Art had when he first used it.
It moved back and forth along the paths carved out by the Azure River Flowing Leaf Art and the Red Faction Heart Art, gently bending and curving.
It was neither Righteous nor Evil.
At the same time, it could be anything.
No, in the first place, such a distinction was meaningless. What determined the identity of a sword was ultimately the swordsman’s role.
Hwoook.
A mist rose around Lee Byeok. The internal energy of the Full Moon Unchanging Heart Art enveloped his meridians, and the effects of the alcohol drained away.
Lee Byeok stood up from his spot.
Chang, chaeng!
“Kehe, kehehehe! Is that all you’ve got, you bastards?! Did you come here after starving?! Put some muscle into it!”
“Hmph!! Your spirit is good, but how long do you think you can last alone?!”
He approached the back of Pa Jin-seong, who was in the middle of a chaotic battle, taking on three enemies by himself.
Taking advantage of an opening, Lee Byeok’s sword shot out.
Taang!
Lee Byeok’s sword, a step faster than Pa Jin-seong’s, blocked the swinging saber.
“…Eh? What?”
“Stand back, Pa Jin-seong. There’s something I want to test.”
Pa Jin-seong, who had stopped awkwardly in the middle of his sword thrust, turned around.
Confirming Lee Byeok’s clear eyes, which had come close in an instant, Pa Jin-seong grinned.
He shrugged his shoulders and turned back without hesitation.
Hwoooook!
“Hmph!! Who said we’d let you go!!”
“To turn your back in the middle of a fight, how foolish!!”
At that moment, the enemies’ sabers all drove towards Pa Jin-seong’s back.
It seemed they intended to take out at least one person before Lee Byeok could join in.
But Lee Byeok’s sword was faster.
Hwook.
The tip of the sword bent eight times.
It painted ink on the nine sectors.
Cho Yeon-seo had taught him the Eight-Section Nine-Palace Brush Art, but he had not told him the names of its forms.
That, of course, must have meant that he had to figure out what to draw on his own. And Lee Byeok was confident in the answer he held.
[ Eight-Section Nine-Palace Brush Art: Full Moon. ]
Tatatatang!
The tip of Lee Byeok’s sword drew a circle.
At that moment, the three sabers that had thrust in simultaneously were bent back at once as if by a lie.
“W-What is this?!”
“I-Impossible!”
It was as if the enemies’ attacks were being sucked into the gravitational pull of the moon that Lee Byeok’s sword had drawn.
The disciples of the One Saber Martial Sect were bewildered.
They struggled not to lose their grip on their sabers.
[ Eight-Section Nine-Palace Brush Art: New Moon. ]
The next moment, the pulling force, along with the image of the moon, disappeared at once. That wasn't all. Lee Byeok’s sword blade vanished along with it.
Stagger.
As the pulling force disappeared in an instant, the disciples of the One Saber Martial Sect momentarily lost their balance. And.
Kuk, kuk, kuk.
“Keok!”
“Keuk!”
Lee Byeok did not miss the opening.
Just because it was not visible did not mean the sword had disappeared. The sword tip, hidden within the bend, shot out.
It struck the enemies’ wrists.
The next moment, the three enemies all clutched their wrists. Tang, tang. They dropped their sabers from their grips.
Even if manifested with a sword, the essence of the Eight-Section Nine-Palace Brush Art was ultimately a brush technique performed with the tip of a brush.
It neutralized the enemy’s attack by pulling it in with a bend and then inflicted a shock on the enemy’s acupoints with a single point of the brush tip.
[ Feint and Reality: Full Moon: and New Moon ]
The moon waxes and wanes. But whether it reveals or hides its form, its essence ultimately does not change.
Either pull the opponent towards oneself.
Or approach the opponent oneself.
“……”
The assembly became quiet.
The remaining enemies and the women of the Evil Faction had also stopped their fight and were staring at Lee Byeok’s side, dumbfounded.
Even Pa Jin-seong.
Lee Byeok’s gaze slowly swept over the enemies. The enemies flinched and retreated as their eyes met.
The achievement was quite satisfactory.
Lee Byeok slowly opened his mouth.
“Go. I will let you go.”
“……”
“No, pay for the drinks and then go.”