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Chapter 5
“I’ll make this clear. If you come after me one more time, you won’t be this lucky again.”
—Tap tap! Clang!
“Ugh!”
After whispering those words into the Black Path man’s ear, Haegang stepped on the shoulder of the man who was still squeezing his eyes shut, stabbed his dagger into the wall, and used it as leverage to leap up.
He barely managed to climb over the wall.
Thud.
“Huff… huff…”
Haegang had climbed over the walls of other people’s houses, run through complicated alleys, and checked behind himself countless times to make sure no one was following him.
Only after confirming that he was not being pursued did he finally reach his house.
The moment he arrived, the tension left his body along with the strength in his legs.
He collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath until he could do nothing but breathe for quite some time.
His chest, which had been kicked by the man, his ankle, which he had twisted while climbing over the wall, and both arms that he had injured ten days earlier all throbbed in rhythm with his racing heartbeat.
Those bastards.
Haegang could understand the jealousy of those idiots.
Not only was Piljeol famous for the Guizhou Beauty, but Haegang had also been unusually close with Yeonhwa, who was famous throughout Guizhou, since they were young.
Those fellows had grown up surrounded by privilege, living off the pride of their families and never lacking anything.
It was understandable that they might harbor that much envy and jealousy.
But was that really enough reason to hold such a grudge that they would try to cripple someone?
It was easy to say, “Break both his legs.”
But for people who could not afford to visit a physician, a fracture could easily become a one-way road to permanent disability.
Those men knew Haegang’s circumstances.
Even if they had grown up completely ignorant of how the world worked, they were old enough to understand something like that.
So they were really that humiliated by it? Enough to cripple someone?
All Haegang had done was break their arms and subdue them.
If he had subdued someone who attacked him without damaging a single bone or muscle and then simply released them, that would have been an exceedingly gentlemanly response—something that only disciples of a prestigious orthodox sect might imitate.
Yet those men had harbored a grudge and sent someone from the Black Path to cripple him.
If they were already capable of doing something like this, then the filthy rumors Haegang had heard about them in his previous life could safely be assumed to be true.
Rumors of how they had harassed women and mistreated married women had circulated endlessly, precisely because of the powerful backgrounds they possessed.
Thanks to those backgrounds, nothing had ever been conclusively proven, leaving behind nothing but rumors.
But today, Haegang had become certain that those rumors had not been baseless gossip.
Debts of gratitude and resentment must be settled clearly.
There would be no more of the muddled life he had lived in his previous existence, where he blurred his calculations like adding liquor to liquor or water to water.
Whatever he received, he would return.
Whether it was resentment or kindness.
Three days had passed since the Black Path attack.
For the past three days, even while sleeping at night, Haegang had kept the dagger he had taken from the Black Path man close to his chest, inside a crudely made sheath.
He never let the dagger leave his body.
He had even attached a small pouch to his sleeve and filled it with salt and ground pepper.
As a result, he had accidentally raised his arm several times only to dump salt and pepper all over his own head.
It was the bare minimum preparation against a possible attack by the Black Path.
—Whoosh!
With a reasonably sharp sound, his hand shot forward, slicing through the air before retracting like a hawk snatching prey and soaring back into the sky.
It was the first technique of the Manggeum-Ah branch of Maenggeumjo.
Though it was merely one of the introductory techniques of the Hyeoljoga, it was a unique martial art with considerably greater practical depth and structure than the famous introductory martial arts that had spread even into ordinary households of the orthodox sects.
It could not even be compared to the impractical introductory techniques of the orthodox schools, which anyone could learn for health or as the foundation of martial arts.
If mastered properly, this single technique was enough to deal with most Black Path thugs.
Of course, that’s only if it’s mastered beyond the seventh level.
Immediately after finishing his technique practice, Haegang regulated his breathing and began training by supporting himself with only his index fingers and thumbs touching the ground.
The martial arts of the Hyeoljoga did not simply emphasize forms.
Every martial art, including Maenggeumjo, placed just as much importance on training the hands.
The methods for strengthening the hands were also passed down as secret training methods, which was why they were considered an important part of the discipline.
If Haegang’s level in Maenggeumjo were judged solely by his mastery of the forms, it would not be unreasonable to say that he had already mastered all ten levels.
However, his hand training, lower-body training, and wrist training had not even reached the third level.
Even reaching this point in only a few days was possible because of the experience from his previous life.
In his previous life, lacking natural martial talent, it had taken him an entire month of continuous training just to reach this level.
To reach the fifth level, one had to be able to stand on one’s hands using only the middle fingers, index fingers, and thumbs.
To reach the seventh level, one had to be capable of bending and straightening the arms one hundred times while maintaining that position.
To reach the tenth level, I have to cling to the ceiling using only the three fingers of each hand and hold myself there for one shichen…
Thinking that an enemy could come at any moment made the road ahead feel unbearably long.
The thought that the Black Path’s dogs might burst through the front gate at any moment and attack both him and his only blood relative, his grandmother, naturally filled him with impatience.
—Whether it’s swords or business, impatience in training only brings disaster, Mun Chief.
The advice of Elder Pung suddenly passed through his ears.
It had been some time ago, on the day Haegang had seen Yeonhwa with a face covered in bruises.
Despite being completely unlike himself, Haegang had been practicing his forms in the training yard while standing in the rain, and Elder Pung had given him that advice.
Pung Gyedo had joined the Hyeoljoga around the same period.
Thanks to his exceptional talent, he had quickly risen to the position of elder.
He was a man of outstanding character and ability.
Among the members of the Hyeoljoga, he had been one of the few who had consistently looked after Haegang, unlike the others who envied him for becoming Chief Steward despite possessing only mediocre martial talent.
Hand training isn’t going to cause any serious problems just because my mind is unsettled or I’m a little impatient.
Haegang shook his head, deliberately ignoring the advice that continued to echo in his ears.
When training internal energy or advanced martial arts, even the slightest impatience or a single distracting thought could be dangerous.
But in the physical conditioning exercises of an introductory martial art, there was no real danger in becoming impatient.
And so Haegang devoted nearly all his time to strengthening his fingers.
Contrary to his anxious thoughts, no members of the Black Path came to his house.
Time simply passed.
Strange.
It was certainly strange.
The Black Path was an existence that literally lived by feeding on the fear of ordinary people.
If people stopped fearing and avoiding them, their livelihood would immediately disappear.
That was why they could not tolerate even the smallest challenge and never let even minor offenses pass.
So why had there still been no word from them?
As Haegang pondered this, he continued training his fingers while standing upside down against the wall of his house.
Then, at last, he sensed the presence of people approaching his front gate.
They’re here.
—Rustle.
The moment he sensed them, Haegang immediately straightened his body.
His hand reached toward the dagger securely fastened at his waist.
“Is this the place?”
“There is no doubt, Elder. This is definitely the Mun household where an old woman is raising her grandson alone. The deceased fellow was my close friend, so I’ve been keeping an eye on this place until recently. I’m certain.”
Upon hearing those familiar voices one after another, Haegang quickly concealed the dagger at his waist and put on the outer garment he had left on the wooden veranda.
Then he straightened his clothes and approached the front gate.
—Creeeak.
He opened the gate made of rough brushwood.
As expected, a familiar face stood outside.
“Greetings, Elder. I apologize for appearing so untidy. I was caught off guard.”
The middle-aged man smiled as he looked at Haegang, whose body was soaked in sweat and radiating heat.
“It seems you were practicing some method of maintaining your health.”
“Yes. They say a sound mind resides in a healthy body…”
There was neither reason nor benefit to revealing that he had been practicing martial arts, so Haegang allowed the rest of the sentence to trail off rather than correcting the man’s assumption.
“But what brings you all the way to this humble place…?”
Judging by the clothing of the men standing behind Go Yukhyun, the Jijuu of the Gukjagam, they were clearly officials from the government office.
After examining the men over Go Yukhyun’s shoulder, Haegang had little trouble guessing why they had come.
If an official and the Jijuu of the Gukjagam have brought government soldiers all the way here…
“Heh heh. It seems you’ve already figured it out.”
With those words, Go Yukhyun unrolled the scroll wrapped in golden silk that he had been holding.
“Mun Haegang of Piljeol has been selected as the Haeweon of this year’s Hyangsi. Receive the status tablet of a Geoin and the gifts bestowed by the Imperial Palace.”
It was a short and concise proclamation.
Yet Haegang’s heart began pounding violently at Go Yukhyun’s words.
As Haegang stared blankly at him, the middle-aged man shifted his gaze away from the scroll and gave him a meaningful look.
—Thud.
Understanding the signal, Haegang quickly knelt.
At that moment, a man appeared beside Go Yukhyun holding a small tray bearing a jade bottle and a jade cup.
The man solemnly offered the jade bottle and placed the jade cup into Haegang’s hands.
“Among the tens of thousands of scholars, only you, having achieved Haeweon, have the honor of receiving liquor bestowed by the Imperial Palace. I sincerely hope that you will pass both the Hoesi and Jinshi just as you have today, attain the glory of the Samwon, and receive the Imperial Liquor personally bestowed by His Majesty.”
Samwon was an honorable title granted to someone who achieved first place in all three stages:
Haeweon, first place in the Hyangsi;
Hoewon, first place in the Hoesi;
and Jangwon, first place in the Jinshi.
Only a handful of people throughout history had ever obtained this title—so few that they could supposedly be counted on one hand.
As a congratulatory remark, it was almost excessive.
—Glug.
Clear liquor filled the beautiful jade cup.
A fragrant aroma of alcohol brushed against the tip of Haegang’s nose.
Haegang had never been particularly fond of drinking, but this was the first time he had encountered liquor with such a sweet fragrance.
So this is liquor from the Imperial Palace…
He could not be certain, but a single bottle of that liquor must have cost at least two sacks of rice.
In terms of value, even paying for it with an equal weight of gold might not have been enough.
Gulp.
Haegang drank the liquor in one go.
It slid smoothly down his throat, leaving behind a burning warmth that flowed into his stomach.
At the same time, the sweet yet rich fragrance spread through his mouth and nose, changing several times before leaving a lingering aftertaste.
Calling this simply a fine liquor doesn’t do it justice.
The ordinary word fine liquor was far too inadequate to describe the drink he had just tasted.
“Wh-what is going on here? Has Haegang perhaps done something wrong…?”
At that moment, a familiar voice pierced through the people gathered outside the gate and reached Haegang’s ears.
His grandmother had returned.
Despite Haegang repeatedly telling her that she could stay home and rest comfortably for a while, she had insisted that she needed to earn even a single coin and had continued going out to work.
Now she had returned.
Her clothes were covered in mud, and her voice was filled with worry and concern.
Go Yukhyun quickly turned around.
He bowed toward the elderly woman as she hurried toward them.
“So you are the elderly lady who raised such an outstanding scholar.”
“The story of you and this Haeweon has spread throughout the Imperial Palace and has become an example worthy of praise. When Her Majesty the Empress Dowager heard of your admirable story, she personally bestowed gifts upon you.”
At his words, Haegang’s hunched grandmother looked back and forth between the people surrounding her and Haegang, who was kneeling.
She finally understood what was happening.
Her eyes reddened.
Then her legs gave out, and she collapsed toward the ground.
“Oh my.”
The officials around her quickly supported her.
“Madam, why shed tears on such a wonderful day? Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has even sent you a gift after hearing how wonderfully you raised such a remarkable grandson. You should be happy.”
Another official who had accompanied the Jijuu spoke gently.
She repeatedly nodded her head, but she could not stop her tears.
The hot tears falling drop by drop carried the sorrow of a mother who had lost her son before her, as well as the joy of seeing the grandson she had raised through so much hardship succeed.
Everyone present understood that.
“Ahem. These gifts here are bestowed upon you, the Haeweon. Ten bolts of silk, writing paper, ink, and brushes from the Imperial Palace, and ten nyang of gold.”
At Go Yukhyun’s words, a government soldier lowered the wooden chest he had been carrying on his back and opened the lid.
Inside were brightly colored silks—purple, blue, red, and other colors rarely seen by ordinary people.
There were also expensive-looking writing supplies and gleaming gold.
“And this is the gift Her Majesty the Empress Dowager personally bestowed upon your grandmother.”
Go Yukhyun handed Haegang’s grandmother a box considerably smaller than the previous one.
She looked overwhelmed and immediately bowed deeply, pressing herself against the dirt ground.
The officials hurriedly helped her back to her feet.
“Please open it.”
At the official’s urging, she opened the box.
Her eyes widened, and she nearly dropped the precious box.
“T-this… How could I possibly receive such precious jewelry…?”
She looked so innocent and sincere as she tried to return the box to Go Yukhyun that not a single person present could suppress a smile.
“How could we possibly take back a gift personally bestowed by Her Majesty the Empress Dowager? If we did, our heads would be the ones to fall.”
Only then did Haegang’s grandmother hurriedly pull the box close and hug it tightly.
The jewels inside were extraordinarily valuable.
There were rings set with pearls so large that, with only a slight exaggeration, they were almost the size of eyeballs.
There was a flawless blue-jade bracelet, a gold necklace, and countless other pieces of jewelry.
If sold, the collection would be valuable enough to support several generations without worry.
No matter how poor she had lived, she had spent her entire life raising her child and caring for her grandson in a harsh world.
There was no way she could fail to understand the value of the jewelry in her hands.
“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager once lived as a commoner herself. She raised His Majesty, who was still a child at the time, alone in a private residence and eventually rose to her current position. It seems she deeply sympathized with the hardships you have endured.”
Come to think of it, I heard she had such a past.
The current Emperor was not the legitimate eldest son who had naturally ascended to the imperial throne.
He was not even the eldest son.
During a period when the Imperial Family was thrown into chaos by a struggle for power, he had merely been a distant member of the fallen imperial family, descended from a cousin of the previous Emperor.
He had been falsely accused of numerous crimes and had even been stripped of his title as a prince.
Even so, he remained a member of the imperial clan.
Forced to live a difficult and impoverished life, he eventually found himself unexpectedly inheriting the throne when the previous Emperor died prematurely in the midst of a raging power struggle.
The circumstances were almost as dramatic as something out of a novel.
If all the imperial men had not died during the struggle for the throne, the opportunity would never have reached him after he had been reduced to the status of a commoner.
Because of this, the Empress Dowager understood the hardships and suffering of ordinary people exceptionally well.
It was therefore hardly surprising that she would empathize with Haegang and his grandmother’s circumstances.
Afterward, Haegang rose and his grandmother embraced him, shedding tears as she praised him for making her proud.
The officials and Go Yukhyun watched the touching scene before finally taking their leave.
After the unexpected visitors departed, it did not take long for rumors to spread rapidly throughout Piljeol.
A Haeweon of the Hyangsi had emerged from their hometown.
Since the Hyangsi was held throughout the entire empire, it was impossible for such an achievement to remain unnoticed.
More importantly, Haegang’s unfortunate family circumstances had become a heartwarming story that even the Imperial Family regarded as exemplary.
And now that the Empress Dowager herself had bestowed gifts upon his grandmother, the story was bound to become an even greater sensation.
