Chapter 123

A middle-aged man lay in bed, his entire body wrapped in bandages.

His brow was deeply furrowed, as if something was bothering him, and his body kept fidgeting without a moment’s rest.

“Ugh.”

The moment he groaned, a sharp rebuke followed.

“Please don’t move so much.”

“That’s not it…”

“Uncle Cheol, didn’t you hear what the physician said?”

Here we go again. Cheol Mubaek, the Tiger of Mount Heng, stared blankly at the ceiling. Lee Seowol pulled a thick cotton blanket up to his chest and continued.

“You need to recover as quickly as possible. I know you’re restless, but please stay in bed. At least get some more sleep.”

“I’ve already slept enough.”

“You only slept for one shichen.”

“Only? One shichen is plenty.”

“You’ll only make your injuries worse.”

“I’ve lived like this for more than thirty years. I’ll be fine.”

“That’s because you’ve never been this badly injured before.”

“…Ugh.”

Cheol Mubaek fell silent at Seowol’s pointed remark.

She was right. He had never suffered injuries this severe since learning the Shura Annihilating Fist. Broken limbs and serious internal injuries. According to the physician, he would need at least four months of recuperation.

“I wasn’t this badly hurt even when I met your father.”

Seowol reacted to his complaint.

“My father?”

“Yes. That friend of mine, Cheonbaek.”

“What happened between the two of you?”

“Did I never tell you?”

“I only knew that you hit it off and became friends.”

“We did. But first, we fought with our lives on the line.”

“You fought?”

Cheol Mubaek smiled faintly.

“What else would two martial artists do when they met? We were both young and fiercely competitive, so what happened next was obvious.”

Cheol Mubaek looked out the window. More than thirty years ago, somewhere along those towering mountain ridges, the two men had met for the first time—and fought.

“He said he’d spent three months combing the mountain range to find me. He looked like a beggar, but his aura was anything but ordinary.”

Masters recognized masters. Cheol Mubaek had secluded himself in a remote mountain valley where no one ever ventured, training alone. Lee Cheonbaek had perfected his own martial arts through countless battles.

It was the first meeting of two Peak masters.

“He told me to become his subordinate. He said he was going to establish a sect at the foot of the mountains and wanted me to help lay its foundation.”

“That sounds like Father. So what happened?”

“What else was there to say? We fought. Viciously.”

Seowol let out a quiet laugh.

“I see.”

“Aren’t you curious how it ended?”

“Do I need to hear it? The fact that you’ve remained unaffiliated all this time tells me everything, Uncle Cheol. Isn’t this one of those embarrassing stories about two men becoming friends after being impressed by each other’s martial arts?”

“Ha-ha-ha! Exactly! The fight was decided after precisely five hundred exchanges… Ugh.”

Cheol Mubaek had been laughing heartily when a sudden stab of pain made him flinch. Seowol sighed.

“I think having me here is making your condition worse… Perhaps I should leave.”

“You little rascal. Don’t you feel sorry for your uncle, growing old all alone?”

“If you’re interested, just tell me anytime. I’ll even play matchmaker for you.”

“Forget it. What would I do at my age?”

Although he had said the words himself, they left a bitter taste in his mouth. Cheol Mubaek muttered inwardly.

Yes. Somehow, I’ve grown this old.

He did not even know exactly how many years had passed since the day he lost his family.

His deep internal energy and rigorously trained body merely made him look younger than his true age. His spirit had been growing old for a long time.

My one and only friend is gone, and the martial arts I spent my entire life honing were utterly crushed. Heh.

Only now could he finally admit it.

The Tiger of Mount Heng had grown old.

But Cheol Mubaek still had something left to protect.

“Seowol.”

Seowol answered him warmly.

“Yes, Uncle?”

“I want you to be happy.”

“I know.”

“It isn’t too late. Marry someone you love. With the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s help, you could build a safe, happy home anywhere in Shanxi.”

“What I want isn’t a home. It’s the Mount Heng Sword Sect.”

Sorrow flickered in Cheol Mubaek’s eyes. He had watched Seowol grow from infancy. Rebuilding and restoring a fallen sect was far too heavy a burden for a girl not yet twenty.

“You may regret the choice you’re making now.”

“But no matter what choice I make, you’ll believe in me, won’t you?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have given you the martial arts manual for the Shura Annihilating Fist.”

Seowol grasped Cheol Mubaek’s wrinkled hand.

She, too, was the daughter of a martial household. She understood what a momentous decision the old martial artist before her had made.

“Thank you, Uncle.”

At the moisture in her voice, Cheol Mubaek waved a hand.

“I’m old. I was already having trouble taking on a Disciple at my age, so this was simply a good opportunity.”

The Shura Annihilating Fist followed the principles of a single successor and transmission only to the worthy. Its purpose was to preserve the martial lineage by finding a successor of upright conduct and good character.

Yet Cheol Mubaek, its ninth-generation successor, had broken those principles and handed the martial arts manual to Seowol. Though he had not taught her directly, he had still broken a tradition passed down through generations of his school.

But Cheol Mubaek had his own reasons.

The Heaven Shaking Sword and the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi should be able to protect Seowol.

If Seowol had decided on a political marriage, those two were her best options.

Their martial talent went without saying, and they possessed the chivalrous spirit to risk their lives fighting injustice.

Still, I’ll have to watch and see what they’re really like…

If all went well, this path could fulfill both the purpose of the political marriage and the traditions of a single successor and transmission only to the worthy.

“So, about that…”

Cheol Mubaek continued in a suggestive tone.

“Which one did you choose?”

Seowol tilted her head, feigning ignorance.

“My, whatever do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb. Is it the Heaven Shaking Sword? Or the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

“I’m not sure.”

“They’re much the same, but… Wouldn’t the Heaven Shaking Sword be better?”

“You don’t like the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

“It’s not that I dislike him…”

Cheol Mubaek frowned. Even he, who spent most of the year deep in the mountains, had heard the rumors about the notorious good-for-nothing of the Jin Family of Taiyuan.

“Even if he has turned over a new leaf, old habits die hard. I worry that he may break your heart someday.”

“What about the Heaven Shaking Sword?”

Cheol Mubaek’s crumpled expression smoothed out.

“They say no younger brother measures up to his elder. I spoke with him briefly yesterday, and he seemed like a fine man. His martial talent is outstanding.”

“I heard he knows nothing but martial arts.”

“Hey! That’s far better than chasing women. His speech and conduct are dignified, and he carries himself with proper gravity. That’s how a man ought to be. Yes, indeed.”

Cheol Mubaek smiled contentedly.

Jin Mukyung grabbed me by the collar and shook me violently, his eyes half rolled back in his head.

“Marry her right now!”

“Cough! Cough!”

Tea had already gone up my nose and left me choking. With Mukyung shaking me nonstop by the collar on top of that, I couldn’t think straight.

“Let go! Are you going to let go or not?”

“The Shura Annihilating Fist! The Blood Wolf Sword Technique! The Blood Wolf Footwork!”

“I get it, so let go first!”

“You stupid bastard! Do you even know what kind of martial art the Shura Annihilating Fist is?”

“Let go and then we’ll talk!”

“A single successor! Transmission only to the worthy!”

“Enough, you crazy bastard!”

A short while later, by the time I finally pried Mukyung’s hand away, the inside of the pavilion looked as though a storm had passed through it.

“Huff… huff…”

I caught my breath and looked around.

The table had collapsed, the chairs had been smashed to pieces, and shards of broken teaware rolled across the floor.

Mukyung calmly straightened his clothes and spoke.

“Hmm. I’ve calmed down.”

“…”

This guy was even crazier than I’d thought.

I scrubbed my face with the less-soaked sleeve.

“Is the Shura Annihilating Fist the greatest martial art under heaven or something? Why are you so obsessed with it?”

“It ranks among the ten greatest fist techniques under heaven. No—it did.”

“It did?”

“Two hundred years ago. Even in the library of Heaven’s Gate Temple, which holds tens of thousands of books, that martial art survives only in written records. And to think that the Great Hero Tiger of Mount Heng was the current successor to the Shura Annihilating Fist!”

His cheeks flushed red from excitement at the mere thought.

I blew the tea out of my nose and asked, “So?”

“What? What do you mean, ‘so’?”

Mukyung stared at me in disbelief.

“This is the Shura Annihilating Fist we’re talking about! A Peak martial art whose lineage was believed to have died out long ago!”

“And it was one of the ten greatest fist techniques under heaven two hundred years ago?”

“Exactly!”

“Wait a second.”

I picked up a thick wooden stick lying on the floor. Until five minutes ago, it had been known as a table leg.

“Know what this is?”

“A club?”

“You know your stuff.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“About two thousand years ago, wouldn’t this have been one of the ten greatest weapons under heaven or something?”

He wasn’t stupid enough to miss my point.

Mukyung glared at me.

“How dare you compare the Shura Annihilating Fist to something like that.”

“Then what’s the difference?”

“That’s…”

“Sure, it’s worth far more than a wooden club. But does it still hold the same value now?”

In the past, mankind had fought with stones and clubs. But when bronze and iron appeared, the march of time left them behind.

The Shura Annihilating Fist was no different.

“Of course, it’s still an outstanding Peak martial art that everyone would want.”

Cheol Mubaek himself had proven that. With the Shura Annihilating Fist, he had become a renowned Peak master in Shanxi Province.

“But it’s not still one of the ten greatest fist techniques under heaven, is it?”

Just as stone and wooden clubs had given way to steel, martial arts had also advanced.

I had no idea what the ten greatest fist techniques under heaven were now, but Mukyung’s expression proved my point.

“To put it bluntly, if the Shura Annihilating Fist were really that powerful, Cheol Mubaek wouldn’t have lost to Pung Yang. And here’s the most important part…”

I tossed the table leg into a corner and drove the final nail home.

“I have no intention of getting married.”

“…!”

“What can you do when the person involved refuses? Right?”

“Well… That’s true.”

Mukyung heaved one sigh after another. I’d been ready to fight him if he kept insisting, but he accepted it surprisingly easily.

Still, the wistful look in his eyes suggested that he couldn’t stop thinking about the Shura Annihilating Fist manual.

This guy is a martial arts nut too.

Then again, he had gone to Heaven’s Gate Temple because he wanted to learn more martial arts.

Now he had discovered a centuries-old martial art that survived only in the records of that very temple. No wonder he was beside himself.

“Hoo…”

Mukyung let out a sigh deep enough to make the earth cave in and muttered,

“What a shame. What a shame.”

“It’s not that big a deal. If fate brings it around, we can get it another time.”

“You idiot. Do you think Peak martial arts just drop out of the sky?”

“Really? Mine did.”

“Even at Heaven’s Gate Temple, where all the martial arts under heaven are gathered, Peak martial arts are strictly controlled… What did you say?”

“I said mine fell out of the sky.”

I pulled an old book from inside my robes. The four characters on its cover had faded under the ravages of time, but they remained clear enough to read.

Flame Divine Palm.

A tiger leaves its hide when it dies, and Jopil left behind a Supreme Peak martial art.

“Fl-Fl-Flame…”

Today was probably the most astonishing day of Jin Mukyung’s entire life.

I grinned as his eyes bulged and darted between me and the martial arts manual.

“From now on, call me hyung.”