novelraw Chapter 44 : Chapter 44
Chapter 44 : Chapter 44
Chapter 44 - Perhaps it’s both
That night.
The people of the Diancang Sect decided to spend the night in a detached building prepared at the Peach Garden Pavilion.
Although this place was a Blue Pavilion that showcased artistic skills, it was a common feature of all gisaeng houses to be a place to eat, drink, and sleep.
It was a time when they would have long been asleep on a normal day.
However, the people of the Diancang Sect could not easily enter the dream world.
It was because the scene they had witnessed during the day kept flickering in their eyes and making their hearts pound.
“Ha. Hey. Why are you tossing and turning so much instead of sleeping?”
“Brother. I can't fall asleep. As soon as I close my eyes, that sword art comes to mind. You saw it too, didn't you?”
“Well… that's true.”
“I’ve never seen such a terrifying sword art in my life. I’ve seen many swordsmen who are said to be skilled with a sword here in Simao, but they all look like amateurs now.”
“You're exaggerating.”
“I'm not exaggerating. Didn't you hear what that kid said? It's the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, the Sun-Shooting Sword Art!”
“Hush. Lower your voice. You'll wake everyone up.”
“Ahem. Hem. Anyway, if that really is the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, isn't it possible to see not only the restoration of the main mountain but also what comes after?”
“What comes after……?”
“Brother, you’re so dense. What else could it be but re-entering the Nine Sects One Union.”
“!”
The man's eyes shot open.
It was a story that could kick the butt of the sleep he was barely inviting.
“The Nine Sects One Union. Don't talk about such dream-like things.”
“How can you say it's just a dream? Isn't it all thanks to the Sun-Shooting Sword Art and the Vacuum Sword that the Diancang Sect became famous as one of the Nine Sects One Union? Who knows, maybe that kid knows how to use the Vacuum Sword too?”
“That can't be…….”
The man dismissed the words of the one he considered a younger brother and closed his eyes again.
The Vacuum Sword.
That was impossible.
Wasn't it the ultimate martial art that only a select few swordsmen, even within the elite Diancang Sect, could use?
It was absurd to think that young boy could wield it.
‘But…….’
He couldn't stop the hopeful anticipation from forming in a corner of his heart.
Just today alone, hadn't he shown them a series of things that were thought to be impossible?
Biyoung.
That young and handsome boy.
‘Will there ever be a day in my life when I can see it again?’
The man's body was old and tired.
Moreover, he had been injured here and there and his body was no longer able to learn martial arts.
So, he chose to be reborn as a merchant.
That way, he could be of at least a little more help to the Diancang Sect.
However.
The swordsmanship shown by the masters of the Diancang Sect in the past was firmly rooted in his heart.
The Sun-Shooting Sword Art.
And the Vacuum Sword.
The man, who had mumbled the two words countless times, was only able to fall asleep late at night.
***
The rear courtyard at dawn.
Someone asked in a senile yet excited voice.
“Can you do it?”
“Yes.”
“Heo……”
The excited voice now began to tremble faintly.
It was difficult to control the surging emotions within his body.
“To be capable of both the Sun-Shooting Sword Art and the Vacuum Sword. You are a genius sent from heaven.”
“Hehet. It’s nothing.”
The owner of the trembling voice was Jeokseo.
And the name of the one whose nose was reaching for the sky was Biyoung.
“Right now, I do get some aftereffects on my body. It should be fine after a little more time passes.”
“Yes. It's no ordinary technique.”
People often call the Sun-Shooting Sword Art a martial art that cannot be learned unless one is a genius.
But the Vacuum Sword went a step further, being a martial art that could only be used by beings like the heavens above the heavens, literally ‘heavens beyond heavens’ swordsmen.
“Will you really not tell me? How you learned such a martial art.”
“That's difficult for me to say.”
“Alright. If that is your will, I cannot force you.”
Even as Jeokseo said that, he smacked his lips as if inwardly disappointed.
The Sun-Shooting Sword Art and the Vacuum Sword were not something one could learn through self-study just because someone taught them.
If there was someone with such talent, he would be worthy of being called the Sword Revered in the future.
It was this very point that Jeokseo was lamenting.
If a master capable of raising a child like Biyoung to this level existed somewhere.
If he were to join the Diancang Sect, he could have an enormous influence.
‘In this aspect, he’s no different from before.’
Biyoung looked at Jeokseo and gave a bittersweet smile.
Seeing the man who used to be called a scholar drinking all day with a reddened nose was quite a shock for him as well.
The sense of loss from the annihilation of the sect.
And the efforts he must have made to take care of the remaining people.
It seemed that had changed Jeokseo and made him age so much.
But despite that, something remained.
His usual habit of waking up at dawn as soon as it arrived.
And his disposition of not clinging to someone if they refused was just that.
‘It's not like I can create a master out of thin air. Please give it up.’
He had known for a while what Jeokseo was yearning for.
His heart was not at ease seeing Jeokseo's crestfallen face.
So, Biyoung took out something from his bosom.
“I'll give you this instead.”
“Hmm? What is this?”
A small object was placed on Biyoung's palm.
As if it were a very important object, a thin piece of silk was tied around it.
“Holholhol. The material is much better than the clothes you're wearing. What in the world is this that you're giving it to me?”
“Something the people here like.”
“Eeng?”
“Justification. Qualification. You could say it's the definitive version of something like that. You'll know when you untie it.”
His curiosity piqued, Jeokseo untied the small knot without hesitation.
Then he strained his eyes.
His eyes were already dim, and it was dawn, so he thought it would be difficult to identify.
“!!!”
However.
Jeokseo didn't need to strain his eyes at all.
“Th… this is……!!”
The dim light of dawn was enough.
The color, as red and brilliant as the sun, was fully revealing its presence.
“Th-th-the, Diancang Treasure Red Seal?!”
For the first time in a while, Jeokseo's face returned to the way he used to know it.
Jeokseo, who now resembled his past self, stuttered as if he couldn't believe it, and the tips of his fingers trembled faintly.
Biyoung gave a pleased smile and handed the Diancang Treasure Red Seal to Jeokseo.
“This should be enough justification, right?”
“E-even without this, your qualification is more than enough… but how in the world did you get your hands on this treasure?”
“I got it back from the thief who stole it.”
“Heh… heh heh.”
Jeokseo couldn't help but laugh emptily, like a man who had lost his mind.
“Now, I don't think I'd be surprised even if you said you were a ghost or a goblin.”
That was Jeokseo's honest feeling.
One of the shadows that had been weighing on his heart for fifteen years was this very Diancang Treasure Red Seal.
The family heirloom of the Diancang Sect, and the absolute item that allowed one to exercise the authority of the Sect Leader.
One might say that a mere seal didn't matter now that the sect was already annihilated, but for Jeokseo, who had a strong scholarly disposition, it was an item he desperately wanted to retrieve.
“I don't know how I can ever repay this debt to you.”
“What debt. If you really want to repay it, just keep one promise.”
“To not ask anything.”
“…………!”
“That's it, right?”
“You’re quick-witted.”
He almost said ‘still’ in front of that.
Was it because he was someone he had known in the past?
The more he talked with Jeokseo, the more it felt like he was returning to his days as the World's Fastest Sword.
“Since I'm already in debt, I was thinking of taking on one more, would that be alright?”
After carefully placing the Diancang Treasure Red Seal in his bosom like a sacred object, Jeokseo asked.
“Shall I guess this time?”
“Holholhol. Will you try?”
“You want me to teach the sword, right? To the kids I fought today.”
“Holhol. This is what they call telepathy.”
He had known for a long time what Jeokseo yearned for.
The current Diancang Sect had neither the secret manuals of the sect's essence nor a master to teach them.
If Biyoung could teach his martial arts, if he could teach the Sun-Shooting Sword Art to the next-generation disciples, Jeokseo felt he could die without any regrets.
“I was planning on teaching them again from the basics anyway. I don't know who taught them, but it was all a mess. No fundamentals.”
“Holholhol. I was the one who taught them.”
“Thinking back, I guess it’s a good thing I was kicked out.”
“Your change of attitude is as fast as your swordsmanship.”
“Kikil.”
“Holholhol.”
The sound of Biyoung's and Jeokseo's laughter echoed in the chilly dawn air.
On one side.
The gradually brightening dawn light was slowly caressing their backs.
***
At a similar time in a completely opposite space, a pair of a man and a woman stood.
“Are you okay?”
A voice, sweet just to hear, tickled the man's ear.
“I may look like this, but I'm pretty tough.”
“Not your body. Your heart.”
“………….”
The man, whose face was so swollen it looked like a steamed bun, scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I was angry at first, but on second thought, it makes sense. Everyone was struggling to get by, and I was the only one going around all flashy.”
“That was something Elder Jeokseo deliberately made you do.”
At Jeong-i's words, the steamed-bun man grinned.
“Since I accepted that opinion, I can't say it's unfair.”
Eung Gajin was the spiritual pillar of the remaining Diancang Sect.
Not just because he was the grandson of the Sect Leader, but because his words and conduct were noble, and his mind was brilliant, he was overflowing with the qualities of a leader.
That's why he deliberately wore good clothes and paid attention to his appearance.
So that the descendants of the Diancang Sect who watched him, even if they couldn't acknowledge him, even if they could only watch from afar, could hold onto hope.
“Did Lord Wang say anything in particular? He's about to lose the greatest talent of the Blue Pavilion.”
“If he has any shame, he wouldn't be able to hold me back.”
“True. That's right.”
The Lord Wang that Eung Gajin mentioned was the owner of this Peach Garden Pavilion.
He provided a place for Jeong-i without asking any questions, but in return, he took more than half of her earnings as a commission.
Considering the income she brought in each year, it was an ridiculously exploitative rate, but in return, Lord Wang also never pried into her activities.
“Still, he seems to have some lingering attachment, he told me to come back anytime if things don't work out. I have no intention of doing so, though.”
“I'm sorry. You must have wanted to quit this life right away too. And I was just talking about postponing it for a year……”
“I understand Young Master Biyoung's feelings, and I understand your heart, Senior Brother.”
Although she was young, Jeong-i also clearly remembered the bleak moments when they first migrated to the Simao region.
The image of Eung Gajin begging and walking around at a young age because they had nothing to eat.
Before the tears he shed for losing his grandfather had even dried, Eung Gajin had to wander around until his feet were blistered.
“Yes. Thank you for understanding.”
“What are you going to do now, Senior Brother?”
“I'm not sure.”
There are too many shops that haven't been sorted out yet.
In the meantime, some have started new families, and new lives have been born.
Is it really okay to abandon all this and embark on a path of hardship?
“I……”
Looking at the gradually brightening light over the mountains, Eung Gajin opened his heavy mouth.
***
“Heek!”
“……Why are you surprised when you were here first?”
“Because you appeared so suddenly!”
“Those who use the quick sword must always quiet their footsteps. You don't even know that?”
Biyoung chided Solbo and then looked around.
Behind Solbo, Uma, Danseol, and Jeong-i were standing in a row.
Biyoung, with a challenging smile, asked the gathered people.
“It seems only the people I fought have gathered. Are you going to retake Diancang Mountain, or did you gather to attack me during the night?”
“Perhaps it’s both.”
“?”
A familiar voice came from behind Biyoung.
Biyoung turned his head to identify the person and snorted.
“Talking with a face as swollen as that isn't scary at all.”
Where Biyoung's gaze was directed, the steamed-bun man stood, his entire body wrapped in cotton cloth.