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Chapter:08
The Weakest of the Best Village Under Heaven
BOOOOM!
With a thunderous roar, a rock wall ten jang tall (around 30 meters) exploded apart.
Chunks of shattered stone flew through the air, crashing into the river below and sending massive ripples across the surface.
The culprit, who had destroyed the wall with a single punch, awkwardly brushed dust and debris from his clothes.
The stones he touched crumbled into powder.
“Haha, see? I told you—I’m really weak.”
“…”
A moment later, Kang Yoo’s afterimage suddenly split into two.
Voices came from both in front of and behind Bi-gwang.
“Haha, and I’m super slow, too.”
“Haha, and I’m super slow, too.”
“…”
CLANG!
Bi-gwang looked down at his own hand.
The dagger he had cherished for decades—his trusted companion—was bent like a piece of taffy.
Meanwhile, the supposed “weak” youth who had caught that blade barehanded was complaining in an annoyed tone.
“Ugh, seriously! I told you I’m not that strong. Ow, that really hurts!”
Bi-gwang stared at his warped blade again.
“You call yourself not that strong?”
“Yeah! Look! I’m bleeding!”
Kang Yoo stuck out his forearm in protest.
There was… a tiny scratch—barely more than a faint line.
The kind of mark a toddler might get from brushing against a leaf.
“…”
Bi-gwang glanced back at his dagger.
It was forged from the renowned Yunnan Steel, one of the hardest materials under heaven.
Not quite as strong as Black Iron, but still ranked in the top five.
And yet, this youth had caught it barehanded—and come away with only a hairline cut.
“Geez, you’re such a weird old man!”
Kang Yoo blew on the little scratch as if he’d been mortally wounded.
Bi-gwang swallowed hard.
“Jangbaek Village?”
They were sitting by a quiet stream, some distance from where all the chaos had happened.
Kang Yoo was applying medicinal ointment that Bi-gwang had given him.
“Yeah,” Kang Yoo said. “That’s where I’m from. Ow, this stuff doesn’t even work.”
“…”
The wound was tiny.
Honestly, it didn’t even need medicine—but it wasn’t like the ointment would help anyway.
“I’ll just use mine,” Kang Yoo muttered.
He opened his pack, took out a small wooden box, and popped something into his mouth.
“There we go.”
Satisfied, he rolled down his sleeve.
Bi-gwang just watched, silent and bewildered.
Then his mind went back to something from six months ago.
“If the augury of the Nine Heavens Canon proves true, what you do six months from now will alter the fate of the world. Remember my words.”
“Alter the fate of the world, my ass,” Bi-gwang thought bitterly.
He’d come all this way, to this remote frontier, seeking a successor.
And sure enough, the fortune-teller’s prediction had led him straight to one.
But that was where the accuracy ended.
He’d found his successor—but there was nothing left to teach.
The boy already surpassed him in nearly every aspect: body, senses, and martial skill.
Only in lightness skill—the art of movement—did Bi-gwang still have a slight edge.
And yet, this youth had no idea how powerful he was.
He actually believed himself weak.
At first, Bi-gwang suspected some grandmaster was pretending to be an innocent fool to toy with him—but no.
Through their conversation on the way here, Bi-gwang had pieced together the truth.
“You’re telling me everyone in your village is stronger and faster than you?”
“Yeah. Even the old grannies and grandpas. Guess I’m just the runt.”
“And this is your first time leaving the village?”
“Yup! First time ever.”
Bi-gwang knew the boy wasn’t lying.
Years of living as a thief had honed his instinct for truth.
And given the boy’s monstrous power, it was unthinkable that he’d never trained in martial arts.
Which left only one explanation.
“Everyone in your village is stronger than you?”
“Yup! Even the old folks.”
The boy must have grown up in one of those legendary hidden sanctuaries—
a secret village of reclusive masters spoken of only in myths.
And this youth… was clearly their shared successor.
“It’s your first time leaving the village?”
“That’s what I said!”
So why now?
Why would those reclusive masters suddenly send him into the outside world—alone?
Bi-gwang spoke cautiously.
“Did something happen to your elders?”
“Huh?”
“Did someone get hurt—or pass away?”
Kang Yoo puffed up indignantly.
“Hey! Don’t talk like that about people who are perfectly fine!”
“I was only asking—”
“Enough! I’m leaving! First you make me jump around, then you hit me, and now you’re saying my grandparents are dead? What’s wrong with you, old man?!”
He angrily slung his pack over his shoulder.
Bi-gwang quickly held something out.
A candied fruit.
That stopped him cold.
The boy sat down again, quietly munching.
Bi-gwang sighed.
‘So, nothing happened to them. Then they chose to send him out.’
But why?
Had they been cursed—or were they facing some disaster that only this boy could avert?
Rumor had it a great sect in Jiangdong had recently been wiped out overnight—blood everywhere.
Some even whispered that the Blood Sect, extinct for centuries, had returned.
If the boy had been sent out to face that threat, the timing would make sense.
But if not…
“…”
One thing was certain—
those legendary hermits had raised this child for a purpose that would shake the martial world.
Just as the fortune-teller had said:
“If the augury of the Nine Heavens Canon proves true, what you do six months from now will change the fate of the world.”
If the boy truly was the successor of reclusive masters, Bi-gwang couldn’t take him as a disciple.
Still, one way or another, the fate of the world now rested on this youth.
And then—
“Ah, I need to hurry,” Kang Yoo muttered between bites.
Bi-gwang’s ears perked up.
“Hurry? Where are you going?”
“The village elders asked me to run an errand.”
“!”
Bi-gwang froze.
“The elders… sent you? They told you the reason?”
“Of course they did.”
“!”
That was unexpected.
Bi-gwang swallowed hard.
“W-what reason?”
Kang Yoo licked his candied fruit.
“To get married.”
“…What?”
Bi-gwang dug a finger into his ear.
“What did you just say?”
“Marriage! They told me it’s time to find a bride. I’m of age now, and they won’t stop nagging about wanting great-grandkids.”
Kang Yoo took another bite.
“They said they want to see their great-grandchildren soon.”
“…”
Since ancient times, marriage was called the great affair of human ethics.
So yes—it was technically a matter of fate.
But still…
“They said they want great-grandkids soon.”
Bi-gwang sighed.
Yes, it was important.
But not quite world-altering.
“Do you have any more of these?” Kang Yoo asked, pointing to the sweets.
“…”
Bi-gwang just handed him the rest in silence.
The two of them sat side by side on a rock, feet dipped in the cool stream.
A pile of candied fruits lay beside Kang Yoo.
“So,” Bi-gwang asked, “you actually want to get married?”
Kang Yoo spoke with his mouth full.
“I don’t know. I mean, I guess I have to since the elders keep pestering me, but… I’d rather do something else first.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
Kang Yoo’s eyes twinkled.
“Well, it’s a secret. I haven’t told anyone back home.”
“I won’t tell a soul,” Bi-gwang promised solemnly.
“Okay, then…”
Kang Yoo grinned brightly.
“I want to be a cart-puller!”
“…A what?”
“A cart-puller! You know, like those guys who haul cargo between cities? You need a job if you’re gonna have a family, right? I looked into it before leaving. For someone weak like me, farming or cart-pulling are the only real options. But farmers stay in one place forever, and cart-pullers get to travel! So that’s what I’m gonna do! I want to see the whole world!”
Bi-gwang just stared blankly.
“You… you could be anything, and you want to be… a cart-puller?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Ah, never mind…”
He’d almost said, You could be anything under heaven, but stopped himself.
It wasn’t his place to interfere with the boy’s upbringing.
Bi-gwang patted his shoulder.
“Well then, may you shine wherever you go.”
“Yup! I’ll become the best cart-puller in the world!”
“Yes… yes, I’m sure you will.”
(And whichever transport company you join, Heaven itself will watch over them, he thought wryly.)
“So this Namgung Clan you’re heading to—they’re the ones your fiancée belongs to?”
“Huh? No, I don’t think so. The elders didn’t say anything about that.”
“Then why are you going there?”
“They just told me to pick something up. Not sure what it is, but I’m supposed to bring it back. Oh, and they said I could pick my own wife.”
“Oh? How refreshingly open-minded of them.”
“Yeah! One of the grannies even said the perfect wife has to have a big butt—”
“…Pardon?”
“Yeah, that’s what Granny Hwa said! Big butt, big heart, she told me!”
Bi-gwang blinked.
“Well… she’s not entirely wrong, I suppose.”
“And she said big chest, slender neck like a deer, hair long as a waterfall, legs like bamboo, nose round like a boulder, and hands wide as a cauldron lid!”
“…”
“The bigger the hands, the kinder the heart, apparently! Oh, and Grandpa Bang said round eyebrows are best, and Grandpa Namgung said—”
“…”
The longer he listened, the more Bi-gwang’s head tilted in disbelief.
Something very important was missing from all this advice.
“Kang Yoo,” he interrupted gently. “All that’s fine, but you should marry someone you love.”
“Love?”
“You don’t know what love is?”
“No, I know the word, but… hmm.”
Kang Yoo recalled something from long ago.
“They say, ‘When you love someone, even the crow on their roof looks lovely.’ And Mencius said that if you put yourself in another’s place, there will be no conflict between people…”
“No, Grandpa Hak! Not that! What does it feel like to be in love?”
“…Love is the emotional state of being sexually attracted and affectionately attached to a member of the opposite sex—”
“No, I mean how does it feel!?”
“… … Hmm. Looks like rain today.”
Even the smartest elder in the village hadn’t been able to answer that one.
“So what is love, Grandpa Bi?”
“It’s cherishing someone deeply.”
“Cherishing someone?”
“Yes—and even if you yourself are not cherished in return, you still wish them happiness. But also, you must remember to cherish yourself. That balance is what love truly is.”
“That sounds really complicated.”
Bi-gwang laughed.
“It only sounds that way. Really, it just means giving everything without expecting anything back. That’s the foundation of love.”
“Still sounds complicated.”
“You’ll understand someday. Love isn’t learned from words—it’s something you feel when you meet the right person.”
“Hmm.”
Bi-gwang gently patted his head.
“And maybe, just maybe, ignore some of what your elders said. I don’t think any of them really understand what love is. Hahaha.”
“Did you ever fall in love, Grandpa?”
“I did. Long, long ago.”
“What did it feel like?”
“Hm. What did it feel like…”
He tried to answer honestly, hoping not to plant any wrong ideas in this innocent youth’s mind.
And as Bi-gwang spoke, Kang Yoo watched him quietly.
The old man—so frail, so human—reminded him of the grandparents back home.
At first, he’d thought Bi-gwang was just another eccentric old fool, maybe even a scammer.
But no—he was kind.
He answered questions no one else could.
He taught things that felt right.
This old man’s eyes held the same warmth as those of his village elders.
“So, I grabbed what he stole and snuck it back out that night—”
“Wow! Really?”
“Told you! Hahaha!”
That day, Bi-gwang finally realized a long-held dream.
“Y-you already have teachers, don’t you?”
“Who?”
“Those elders from Jangbaek Village—surely they’re your masters?”
Kang Yoo laughed.
“Masters? Nah. They’re family.”
“…”
“Please accept me as your disciple, Grandpa.”
“…”
Bi-gwang closed his eyes slowly.
For him, it was the happiest day in a very, very long time.
