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Chapter 11
Yu Jacho, a third-generation trainee, didn’t suffer from mere delusions born of inferiority.
In daily life, his pockmarked face caused him plenty of real hardships.
All of this was a result of the unique, free-spirited atmosphere of the Tomb of Warhorses.
One mustn’t think of the Tomb of Warhorses as a secret assassin-training facility.
Hao Sect managed and operated it rather loosely.
Thanks to that, aside from the ten years of enforced communal living, the trainees’ lives were tolerable.
Why so lenient?
Because Hao Sect had no reason to drive its disciples to the brink of death.
Their ambitions were far lower than those of prestigious martial clans.
All they wanted was a “unified Hao Sect within Shidō.”
Not the unification of the entire martial world.
Moreover, Hao Sect lacked masters who could nurture future greats, and they had no profound martial manuals.
The instructors from the Six Gates only taught what little they themselves knew.
The rest was left to the students to study and practice on their own.
After morning and afternoon lessons, trainees had personal free time.
So what happens when boys and girls live together in a closed space for ten years?
The so-called “Three Great Beauties of the Tomb of Warhorses” weren’t coined for nothing.
And was it only beauties?
They say butterflies flock to flowers, but flowers also have eyes.
The girls, too, glanced at the handsome boys and ranked them.
First-generation trainee Dan Yeop, despite being nicknamed “Stone Monkey,” had a handsome enough face to attract subtle attention from the girls.
By contrast, Yu Jacho, with his pockmarked face, was shunned despite his formidable martial prowess.
Seven long years he spent under such discrimination.
The anger built up in those years eventually turned toward Dan Yeop.
But not everyone was like Yu Jacho.
Across time and cultures, the world is unfailingly kind to the beautiful.
Though they didn’t show it openly, many girls actually liked Dan Yeop.
Among them was Geum Seojin, a third-generation trainee.
Plain in both looks and skill, she was nonetheless infatuated with Dan Yeop, the incompetent yet kind-hearted boy.
So the moment she heard “Yu Jacho is going to punish Dan Yeop,” she immediately went looking for him.
“Shhh—quiet. It’ll be over soon. Die, please just die…”
“Ghhk!”
Dan Yeop struggled desperately to free himself from the woman’s hands, but her grip clung to his throat like iron.
“Uuugh…”
As he wheezed, on the verge of suffocating, a voice reached him from afar.
“Dan senior, Dan senior…”
The insistent calling jolted his eyes open.
“Haa! Haa! Haa…”
Panting and drenched in cold sweat, Dan Yeop heard Geum Seojin say:
“Did you have a nightmare?”
Coming to his senses, Dan Yeop turned his head toward the bedside.
Recognizing the familiar girl, he quickly averted his gaze.
“…Who are you?”
“I’m Geum Seojin, a third-generation trainee.”
“Oh! Third-generation… Why?”
“I came to warn you—Yu Jacho is after you.”
“Hm? Why would he?”
“Because you hit Jeon Jung, of course. If word spreads that a third-generation got beaten by a senior, it’ll ruin their pride.”
“You’re saying I hit Jeon Jung?”
“Don’t you remember? You fought him this morning.”
Startled, Dan Yeop looked at her again.
Her expression wasn’t one of teasing—she seemed serious. Yet he couldn’t believe it.
“I never did such a thing.”
“What? Never? That’s impossible. Then… did Jeon Jung lie? But why would he?”
Geum Seojin thought quickly.
After watching Dan Yeop for seven years, she knew he wasn’t one to lie about such things.
That would mean Jeon Jung lied—but she couldn’t see the reason.
“I really didn’t. I’ve never even met Jeon Jung alone.”
“Ha… But the rumor among the third-generation says otherwise. And Yu Jacho is definitely gunning for you.”
Dan Yeop, unwilling to lie in bed any longer, climbed down.
“Anyway, thanks for letting me know.”
“For now, it’s best to avoid Yu Jacho.”
“Sigh… I suppose so.”
Of course, Dan Yeop had no intention of confronting Yu Jacho.
Clearing up the misunderstanding never even crossed his mind.
He assumed Jeon Jung’s story was nothing more than an excuse to pick a fight.
He might lack focus and memory, but he wasn’t an idiot.
“Well, I’ll be going then.”
Stealing a glance at his face, Geum Seojin said her farewell and left.
Dan Yeop, about to lie back down, suddenly jumped in shock.
“Wait… when did I return to the dorm?”
He distinctly remembered practicing inner cultivation in the stone chamber at the northern edge.
He recalled the flash of light while performing Huiguang Banzhao—but that was it.
It felt as though he had fallen asleep until Geum Seojin woke him.
Yet he had no memory of returning to his quarters.
“Why can’t I remember?”
Suddenly, Instructor Dan Bulwi’s words resurfaced in his mind, freezing his face.
—It’s the kind of martial art that, if practiced carelessly, will lead straight to qi deviation.
Ever since that flash during Divided Mind Technique practice, his memory had gone blank.
Could this be qi deviation?
Shaken, he resolved to ask Instructor Dan Bulwi directly.
***
In the Amun training hall.
Once the last trainee left, Dan Bulwi stepped to the center.
Twelve years had passed since the Century Plan began.
Ninety-three trainees had already graduated—it was time to act.
No, it was imperative to stage something.
The graduates, hot-blooded as they were, might clash and draw attention.
And if that happened, the Century Plan could be endangered.
There was no way the clever Sect Leader Hasoran hadn’t foreseen this.
“Soon, he’ll probably order us to take over Hadong-do.”
Muttering inwardly, Dan Bulwi slowly began to perform the Seven Forms Saber Technique.
Swish—swish!
His movements were clean, but his face was unsatisfied.
Compared to Dan Yeop’s saber technique, his lacked sharpness.
Displeased, he continued swinging his straight saber without pause.
When the Century Plan was fully underway, instructors might also be mobilized.
If so, he intended to seize merit and become a Tang Master.
Just as his breath reached its limit, someone entered the hall.
It was Dan Yeop.
Recognizing him, Dan Bulwi quietly lowered his blade.
Against someone of lesser level, he couldn’t bring himself to continue.
Setting the saber on its rack, he turned with an awkward smile.
“What brings you here?”
Hesitant, Dan Yeop carefully spoke up.
“Um, Instructor, I think something is wrong with me.”
“…?”
Dan Bulwi stared, dumbfounded.
This morning, the boy had called him “Father,” and now in the afternoon, “Instructor”?
“Yesterday afternoon, I was practicing Divided Mind Technique in a northern stone chamber. But when I opened my eyes, I was lying on my dorm bed. I have no memory of when or how I got there. Could this be the qi deviation you warned me about?”
“So… you don’t even remember meeting me this morning?”
“I met you?”
Dan Yeop blinked blankly.
His foolish expression irked Dan Bulwi, but he swallowed his annoyance.
At last, he understood what had happened.
It was obvious: side effects of Divided Mind Technique had split his personality.
“Damn! I’ve heard of people going mad from that art, but split personalities…?”
One personality was a genius, the other a dullard.
To the former, he was “Father.”
To the latter, “Instructor.”
Couldn’t he just have the dull one call him father too?
No. Even if he had the thickest skin, he couldn’t do that.
With dull Dan Yeop, his role was strictly that of instructor to trainee.
Besides, dull Dan Yeop wasn’t stupid, just untalented.
If he slipped up, the boy might discover that he had tricked genius Dan Yeop into accepting him as an adoptive father.
“Best leave the title issue aside. It’s not urgent.”
Having sorted his thoughts, Dan Bulwi said:
“We did meet. You don’t remember?”
“…No.”
“I see. Then it’s clear—you’ve developed split personalities from the side effects of Divided Mind Technique. Didn’t I warn you? That art is riddled with flaws. You should never have practiced it.”
“…Yes.”
Dan Yeop bowed his head deeply.
He knew, but he had pushed himself, wanting so badly to graduate like everyone else.
Blinded by the desire to at least master Heaven and Earth Saber Technique, he had ruined his body. Tears welled in his eyes.
Curious, Dan Bulwi asked slyly:
“You said you don’t remember meeting me. Then… can you perform the Seven Forms Saber Technique?”
“I can manage the first move.”
“Show me.”
Dan Yeop took the saber from the rack and demonstrated.
So feeble it was, not even the air whistled.
His clumsy movements broke mid-flow until Dan Bulwi couldn’t bear it any longer.
“Sigh! Enough. Stop there.”
As he returned the saber, Dan Yeop muttered defensively:
“But I’m slightly better with the Heaven and Earth Saber Technique. I’ll work hard—I must graduate.”
“You really want to graduate?”
“I must.”
Ashamed before his juniors, Dan Yeop was determined to graduate at all costs.
Dan Bulwi stared at him, incredulous.
“So the genius personality wants to stay in the Tomb, while the dull one is desperate to leave… What a bizarre case.”
“Tsk! Right now, two personalities live in your body. They live separate lives and have no memory of each other’s actions.”
“Instructor, what should I do?”
“Be grateful it’s only this bad. Plenty went completely mad from that art. You didn’t, did you?”
“…No.”
Dan Yeop could only hang his head.
Already, whenever he tried to practice, his chest pounded and his mind went blank—now his very self was split in two…
“Was I never meant to be born?”
With life so twisted, it certainly felt that way.
Seeing him so dejected, Dan Bulwi said:
“Why so downhearted, boy? Better this than being insane.”
“But having two personalities in one body is insane, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s different. I’ve seen madmen—they babble nonsense. But you’re coherent, aren’t you?”
“I may be, since I’m the original personality, but the other one…”
“The Dan Yeop I met this morning was just as sane as you.”
Dan Bulwi bit back the many things he wanted to say about genius Dan Yeop.
“Oh, really?”
A faint light returned to Dan Yeop’s face.
He had feared the other self might be doing crazy things, but hearing otherwise felt like a reprieve.
Watching him, Dan Bulwi asked:
“When you were practicing Divided Mind Technique, did anything unusual happen?”
“Yes. According to the manual of Huiguang Banzhao, when I guided my inner energy to my ‘Heavenly Eye’ (the spot between my brows), a flash of light burst before me. I reflexively shut my eyes, and when I opened them again, I was in the dorm.”
“Hmm! Then it must have been in that instant that your personality switched. If you stop practicing Divided Mind Technique, it may improve.”
“Really?”
“It was caused by that art, so stay away from it.”
Though reluctant, Dan Bulwi gave him a solution.
As much as he liked seeing the genius, he pitied this despairing boy.
“Ah! Hearing you say that makes sense. Thank you. I’ll never practice Divided Mind Technique again.”
“If that solves your worries, then go now. I need some rest.”
“Yes, rest well, Instructor.”
As Dan Yeop walked away, Dan Bulwi muttered with a grimace:
“Did Divided Mind Technique really have the ability to create a genius? Should I try learning it myself? No… what’s the point of genius if you can’t remember anything…”
Neither genius Dan Yeop nor dull Dan Yeop had any knowledge of the other’s actions. And so, bound by tangled fates and grudges, his life would only grow more exhausting.
