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Chapter: 15
Jin Cheong-un buried his nose in his clothes and sniffed.
“That should do it.”
Only after scrubbing himself so hard at the backyard well that it felt like his skin might peel off did the smell finally disappear.
After changing into fresh clothes, he stepped out of his room—then stopped.
“Master, I hope you had a peaceful night. I have come to pay my morning respects.”
Jeong So-ryong stood there with his hands neatly folded, waiting in a posture far too proper for a child.
“…What are you doing?”
“I read in a book that you should always show your master proper respect, so I thought I’d try it.”
Jin Cheong-un nodded awkwardly.
“R-Right. Thank you.”
“I’ll greet you every morning from now on.”
Every single morning?
Silence settled between them.
“…”
“…”
Cold sweat trickled down Jin Cheong-un’s back.
How am I supposed to treat this kid?
Only then did he realize they had never really had a proper conversation before.
It was So-ryong who finally broke the silence.
“Master.”
“Hm?”
“I’ve memorized everything you taught me last time. Could you test me?”
“You’ve already memorized the cultivation verses?”
“Yes.”
Looking at the confidently answering boy, Jin Cheong-un didn’t expect much.
No matter how clever he was, there was no way he could have memorized over three hundred characters of cultivation formulas and every intricate acupoint in the body within just a few days.
“All right. Let’s hear it.”
A short while later, Jin Cheong-un questioned his own ears.
“It begins with the lower dantian. The lower dantian represents jing among essence, energy, and spirit. The name of the acupoint is Qihai…”
“…”
“…Exhale the stale breath and inhale fresh breath to accumulate internal energy. With the utmost sincerity, harmonize body and mind…”
Not a single hesitation.
Sitting cross-legged in the backyard, Jeong So-ryong recited the entire formula without stumbling once.
He wasn’t merely parroting the words either.
He explained each passage as he went.
Unless he truly understood it, such a thing would have been impossible.
“That’s enough. Stay still for a moment. Let me examine your body.”
Jin Cheong-un immediately placed a hand on So-ryong’s Mingmen acupoint and sent a strand of qi into him.
His eyes widened instantly.
There’s already improvement?
A faint current of energy was flowing through the meridians that had previously been completely blocked.
He had only taught the boy breathing techniques—tunap, breath cultivation—but even so, a tiny amount of turbid qi had already been expelled.
“Hmm…”
“Master, is something wrong?”
“No… nothing like that, but…”
Trailing off, he suddenly asked,
“When you’re reciting the cultivation formula, have you ever felt anything strange inside your body?”
So-ryong tilted his head.
“Hmm… I don’t really know about my own body, but I’ve felt things from other people many times.”
“…!”
“Everyone feels a little different. Yours feels firm and solid, Master. As for my sister… hers used to be faint, but lately I can feel it more and more clearly.”
He had awakened qi perception.
A mere ten-year-old child had done it before even properly entering the martial path.
Natural martial talent!
A genius?
My disciple is a genius?
“Hahaha! Wonderful! That’s incredible! You’ve already reached that stage?”
“Huh? Yes?”
Grinning from ear to ear, Jin Cheong-un vigorously ruffled the boy’s hair.
“From now on, focus even more on that sensation. Understand?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Then how about we talk for a bit?”
Jin Cheong-un nodded with satisfaction.
“Come to think of it, even though I’ve become your master, we’ve never really had a proper conversation. Opportunities like this don’t come every day. Ask me anything you’re curious about.”
“Curious about…”
After thinking for a moment, So-ryong carefully opened his mouth.
“Master… how strong are you in the martial world?”
Jin Cheong-un chuckled.
Now that’s more like a kid.
“I’m not entirely sure, but I’d say I’m among the stronger ones.”
“Really?”
“I even served as a secret guard—a position reserved only for specially selected martial artists within the Alliance. You could say I was one of those hidden experts in the jianghu, where masters are as numerous as grains of sand.”
“Wow…”
After marveling for a moment, So-ryong tilted his head.
“But… is it really okay to tell me that? It was supposed to be secret, wasn’t it?”
“There are no perfect secrets in this world.”
“I see.”
Anyone else would have asked what kind of nonsense he was spouting.
But So-ryong simply muttered,
“That’s so cool…”
“Well, I used to be pretty strong.”
Used to?
“So you aren’t anymore?”
“I retired after getting injured.”
“Ah…”
Seeing the boy’s face instantly fill with worry, Jin Cheong-un laughed again.
“Don’t worry. I’m all healed now. You’ll recover quickly too.”
He had meant it as encouragement.
Yet So-ryong’s response was unexpected.
Smiling shyly, the boy said,
“I’m only telling you this, Master… but honestly, I would’ve been okay even if my illness never got better.”
“What?”
Jin Cheong-un stared at him in shock.
“I actually know everything. I know our family became poor because of me… and that my sister works herself to exhaustion because of me too.”
A different expression than usual appeared on So-ryong’s face.
“A physician once said it would cost a lot to treat me. If paying for my treatment only makes my sister suffer, then I’d rather stay like this.”
“Even if it means staying sick forever?”
“I can endure being sick. I’m good at enduring things.”
The boy smiled.
Jin Cheong-un couldn’t smile at all.
“I pretended not to notice all this time. When my sister said she was just going to fetch water from the well, she’d come back after crying. And when she skipped meals saying she’d already eaten at work…”
In that moment, images of the siblings’ past unfolded vividly in Jin Cheong-un’s mind.
A younger brother pretending he was fine despite being in pain so his sister wouldn’t worry.
An older sister swallowing her tears as she forced herself to keep working.
The two children had survived all those difficult days by telling lies for each other’s sake.
“Actually… the reason my sister gave for not selling the estate was a lie too. You already figured that out, didn’t you, Master?”
“I did.”
“She says she hates Father… but deep down, she still believes he’ll come back someday.”
“…”
“I think she’s protecting this place because she’s afraid Father won’t have anywhere to return to if we leave.”
“Even though it’s obvious he never will.”
How am I supposed to respond to that?
Looking uncomfortable, Jin Cheong-un forced an awkward lie.
“…Your father only went far away to find medicine for you. Someday… he’ll come back.”
So-ryong answered flatly,
“I may be young, but I know the truth. Father abandoned us and ran away, didn’t he? Still… thank you for trying to comfort me.”
“R-Right…”
Silence lingered once more.
Then Jin Cheong-un suddenly asked,
“Is that why you want to learn martial arts?”
“Yes. I want to protect my sister now. I want to rebuild our family and become strong.”
His voice was filled with determination.
Judging by the way he spoke, he already sounded like a grown man.
“I want to become someone like you, Master. Do you think I can?”
Only then did Jin Cheong-un realize that the boy’s maturity wasn’t simply the result of his Severed Meridians Syndrome.
Jeong So-ryong had simply been forced to grow up far too quickly.
Or rather…
He had been trying to.
It was always like this.
Adults were often more childish than children imagined.
Children were often far more mature than adults realized.
The difference was this:
When adults became childlike, it was to comfort themselves.
When children became adults, it was to ease someone else’s sorrow.
Before So-ryong learned how to complain, he learned how to endure.
Before he learned how to cry, he learned how to hide his tears behind a smile.
At only ten years old, he was already trying to carry the burdens of an adult on his tiny shoulders.
“I hope… you never become like me.”
“Huh?”
“You should become someone even better than your master.”
It was a strange feeling.
What exactly is this emotion?
“I’m heading out now. Get ready and come to the annex. Your master has a lot to do today.”
Scratching the back of his head, Jin Cheong-un left the backyard.
Master…
Suddenly, he looked up at the sky and quietly murmured,
Master… was this how you felt too?
This feeling is really strange.
I really do feel like a master now.
Back in his room, Jin Cheong-un packed a bundle containing promissory notes, contracts, and other documents.
I’ll finish today’s business, then head straight to the Black Tiger Gang.
As he habitually reached for the sword leaning against the wall to fasten it at his waist—
“They say martial artists treasure their weapons as if they were part of themselves. It really is true.”
Jeong So-ryong spoke with wide, curious eyes.
“Hm?”
“You never let that sword leave your side either, Master.”
Do I?
That couldn’t be right.
He had even considered throwing it away.
“What are you talking about? I’m only human. When I eat or go to the toilet—”
“You wore it then too. And you were always absentmindedly touching the hilt.”
“I did?”
That left him feeling rather uneasy.
If the boy had noticed it that clearly, then he really had been doing it unconsciously.
Clang.
Jin Cheong-un looked quietly at the dull blue scabbard in his hand.
The familiar sword seemed especially old today.
The grime covering it made it look filthy.
Well… it certainly isn’t clean.
To an ordinary observer, it looked like nothing more than a worn-out iron sword.
But anyone with a discerning eye could recognize, just from the hilt alone, that this was no ordinary weapon.
The day he had left the martial academy…
While everyone else packed various belongings, Jin Cheong-un had taken only this sword with him when he joined the Martial Alliance.
The Azure Cloud Sword was like another part of himself—a companion that had shared every moment of his former life.
When I retired, I confidently told the Alliance Leader I’d finally put this thing away.
He had said that while leaving all of his other personal weapons behind.
So… was I unconsciously putting it off all this time?
“…”
After standing there blankly for a while, Jin Cheong-un let out a long breath.
Then, very slowly—
Painfully slowly—
He placed the sword onto the weapon stand beside the wall.
It was only a simple act of setting it down.
Yet it took an incredibly long time.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh? What about your sword?”
“A master of my level isn’t dependent on weapons.”
“But before, you said a martial artist should treat their weapon like part of their own body.”
“Did I?”
“Yes.”
Jin Cheong-un shamelessly replied,
“Things are different depending on the situation.”
“Oh! So it’s different depending on the situation!”
“Flexibility is important if you want to become a great martial artist.”
“I understand! Flexibility is important!”
“Exactly.”
Taking So-ryong with him, Jin Cheong-un headed toward Baekun Inn.
Whenever the boy became exhausted and started gasping for breath along the way, Jin Cheong-un offered to carry him.
But So-ryong stubbornly insisted on walking with his own two feet.
What a remarkable kid.
When they finally arrived at Baekun Inn—
“Oh my! So-ryong, you’re here! Come inside quickly! How are you feeling?”
“I’m doing well.”
“I’ve already prepared bedding in one of the empty rooms. Go in and get some rest.”
The innkeeper, Seo Do-seok, cared for So-ryong as though he were his own nephew.
“Soso told me what happened this morning. My name is Seo Do-seok.”
Jin Cheong-un cupped his fists politely.
“I’m Jin Cheong-un. Thank you for your kindness.”
“Kindness? Nonsense. Those children are like my own family.”
He had heard that Seo Do-seok had always looked after the Jeong siblings and given them work whenever he could.
“So I hear you’re restoring that old martial academy. You’re planning to become its headmaster?”
“That’s right.”
Seo Do-seok muttered with a strange look.
“Azure Cloud Martial Academy… There sure used to be a lot of troublemakers there. Heh.”
Jin Cheong-un’s eyes widened involuntarily.
“You know the Azure Cloud Martial Academy?”
“Of course. Anyone who’s lived in Cherry Blossom Village all their life remembers it.”
“Really?”
Jin Cheong-un felt secretly proud.
That’s right. Our academy really did have plenty of gifted children.
But then Seo Do-seok shuddered as he said,
“How could anyone forget those little demons?”
…Huh?
What did he just say?
“You’ve no idea how much trouble those brats caused before the academy suddenly shut down! No normal human being could do those things!”
“…”
“One time they smashed a wall of my inn. Another time they nearly burned down the mountain behind the village… Don’t even get me started. I still have nightmares about them.”
Jin Cheong-un quietly looked away.
“Surely there must have been a reason. They were only children.”
“A reason? Yeah, right! What’s that saying again… Human nature is inherently evil…”
“You mean the theory that human nature is evil?”
“Exactly! Maybe that place was cursed? The academy master himself was a perfectly decent fellow, but those kids… they were exactly like that!”
“…They really weren’t that bad.”
“Hm? What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Could he be suffering from dementia? He must be remembering things wrong.
Rustle.
Just then, the entrance curtain was pushed aside.
Jin Cheong-un naturally turned his head and met the eyes of several men entering the inn.
They glanced at him briefly before turning toward Seo Do-seok.
“Not serving dinner yet?”
“We are! Please come in! Oh my, customers have arrived.”
The men casually took seats.
It was still rather early for dinner, yet customers were already arriving.
Business at the inn must have been going quite well.
“I’ve kept a busy man for too long. You should get going as well.”
“Hmm… that’s true, but…”
Jin Cheong-un scratched the back of his head.
“Since I’m already here, I might as well have dinner before I leave.”
“Oh? Certainly. Sit wherever you like.”
“Thank you.”
He walked over leisurely.
Thud.
Then, without hesitation, he sat directly across from the men who had just entered.
“…”
The men stared at him with strange expressions.
Jin Cheong-un spoke indifferently.
“Black Tiger Gang?”
In an instant, every expression on the men’s faces froze.
