Like Water And Fish

“Are you really from a righteous sect of great renown?”

At Ju-un’s sharp gaze, Hyeongjin flinched. Losing his Living Sword because of Moon Heart was already humiliating enough, but now being scolded by a woman made the shame unbearable.

“Who might you be, lady, to aid such a rogue?”

Forcing down his agitation, Hyeongjin gave an awkward smile.

“Using footwork to disrupt someone’s spirit and striking by surprise—does that not make you the petty ones? You’re not worthy to know my name, so leave before you earn more scolding.”

Ju-un sheathed her sword and sat back down. At her arrogant tone, a young boy behind tried to rush out, but Hyeongjin raised his hand to stop him.

“It seems our rude conduct has offended you. Please forgive us with generosity.”

“Hmph!”

Ju-un acted as though his words had never reached her, not even glancing at him, just continuing to pick at her food. In the meantime, Jeok-woo dusted off his shoulders and returned to his seat.

“Lady Ju, I owe you a great debt this time.”

Jeok-woo filled her cup with liquor as he spoke, his manner far more respectful than before.

“Hmph. To nearly fall to such cheap tricks—so your great reputation was nothing but an empty name.”

Though Ju-un’s rebuke could have sparked anger, Jeok-woo just roared with laughter and agreed.

“True enough, ha ha! At any rate, I lost. So you fellows should just be on your way.”

Jeok-woo, jesting but sincere, signaled that he accepted defeat cleanly, clasping his hands and waving them repeatedly toward the group. The Emptiness Dhuta Sect disciples had no choice but to lower their swords. To stir up more conflict here would only look foolish. Hyeongjin looked back and forth between Ju-un and Jeok-woo, hesitating for a moment, but finally gave up, his face shifting as he spoke.

“We’ve stated our position, so we’ll take our leave now.”

He bowed as politely as possible, then withdrew. The six remaining boys still looked deeply displeased, but they followed their senior brother out of the tavern one after another.

“Elder sahyung, should we really leave such a villain of the Demonic Sect alone?”

Looking at his junior, still seething with anger, Hyeongjin smiled gently.

“If that lady hadn’t held mercy in her strike, one of us would be gravely injured by now.”

“What? She’s just a young woman, isn’t she?”

Hyeongjin only gave them a faint smile and said nothing more. But as he glanced back at the tavern they had left, he murmured quietly.

“A disciple of the Sword Immortal.”

After their skirmish, the three couldn’t remain there under so many eyes. At Jeok-woo’s suggestion, they moved to a small inn at the alley’s end to settle down. Ju-un found it uncomfortable to stay in the same lodgings as him, but Jeok-woo clung to her insistently, saying he had to repay his debt, so she couldn’t shake him off.

“Innkeeper, bring out every drop of liquor you’ve got here!”

Jeok-woo, apparently in high spirits, ordered food and drink in abundance and launched into chatter. Ju-un’s face stayed disapproving the whole time, yet she didn’t leave.

“Their swordplay wasn’t bad without the tricks. Especially the fellow at the front—vicious, yes, but quite skillful. In a year or two, even if I draw my blade, he won’t be easy to beat.”

Yun-seon couldn’t help but feel even more favor toward him—this man could admit his own mistakes and objectively recognize another’s skill.

‘He’s really similar to my sahyung.’

Thinking he’d like to keep ties with such a man, Yun-seon looked at Jeok-woo with satisfaction. Noticing his gaze, Jeok-woo in turn asked him questions here and there, showing interest.

“Brother, I entrusted this little darling to you because I like you. So I’d appreciate it if you speak without hiding anything.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

Jeok-woo’s excessive interest made Ju-un uneasy. He seemed loyal but hard to read, so she didn’t want Yun-seon’s true identity exposed. Yet Yun-seon, knowingly or not, had already opened his heart to him.

“Looking at your wound, isn’t this the work of Taiyi Divine Art?”

When handing over his blade, Jeok-woo had seen Yun-seon’s charred right arm. A martial art powerful enough to scorch veins—only the sect’s Taiyi Divine Art could do that.

“As I said earlier, I am a disciple of the Taiyi Divine Sect.”

“The Taiyi Divine Sect?”

With no experience in the martial world, Yun-seon’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar name. Judging by the tavern warriors’ and Emptiness Dhuta Sect disciples’ attitudes, it seemed to be an Unorthodox sect—one with quite a poor reputation.

“You really know nothing, do you.”

Ju-un, resting her chin on her hand as if drowsy, muttered in exasperation.

“The Taiyi Divine Sect is the most feared of the Unorthodox, even by great Orthodox sects like the Five Great Mountain Swords. Some even call it the Demonic Cult.”

“The Demonic Cult?”

Seeing Yun-seon’s startled face, Jeok-woo gave a dry chuckle.

“There are plenty of eccentric figures, and it’s true that there are scoundrels who gave us that infamous name. Likely the ones who ruined your arm were among them.”

Only then did Yun-seon suspect that the Black Butterfly Shadows might be disciples of the Taiyi Divine Sect. Remembering the brothers’ chilling faces, reveling in murder, he trembled in fear.

“The Taiyi Divine Art can only be used by the Sect Leader and his direct disciples. If you suffered from it, it means you had the misfortune of meeting one of them.”

Yun-seon’s suspicions only solidified. Then—could Jeok-woo share the same purpose as the Black Butterfly Shadows? The trust he had built up until now felt like it crumbled in an instant.

“Sadly for you, your guess is wrong. This man may be the biggest nuisance I’ve ever met, but he isn’t a villain like the Black Butterfly Shadows.”

Ju-un, watching Yun-seon’s shifting expression, casually threw in her words. Yun-seon trusted her so deeply he would drink lye if she told him to—his face quickly relaxed.

“Then it was just as I suspected—you succumbed to the Black Butterfly Shadows, didn’t you?”

Yun-seon slowly nodded. The memory of that night unraveled vividly in his mind, and the pain in his right arm seemed to intensify.

“Left Shadow was nearly the only disciple to step into the second stage of Taiyi Divine Art.”

Jeok-woo sighed deeply, his face tinged with melancholy.

“The Art has five stages—only after completing them all can it truly be said you’ve mastered it.”

But only the Sect Leader had ever reached completion. Of his seven disciples, none advanced beyond the second stage. To try further often led to yin and yang energies clashing inside the body, throwing one into qi deviation. Jeok-woo himself had stalled at the very threshold of stage one. The only one to break that limit was the elder of the Black Butterfly Twin Assassins, Left Shadow. His talent surpassed even his younger brother’s, a prodigy unmatched among the sect’s disciples.

“But his greed was too great. In the end he defied the Sect Leader ’s will and abandoned the Sect. The cruel crimes he and his brother committed are likely why so many Orthodox sects turned against us.”

He lifted Yun-seon’s arm, examining it, and clicked his tongue.

“I can’t even imagine how much this must have hurt.”

“If you can’t fix it, then stop staring at it.”

Ju-un, annoyed at Jeok-woo’s sentimental rambling, cut into their talk. If left alone, they’d go all night. Complaining about problems with no solution was just a waste of time.

“Actually… there is a way to heal it.”

“What?”

Yun-seon’s eyes lit up. The condition of his arm grew worse by the day, and desperation gnawed at him. If there was a cure, he would do anything.

“One must absorb the Fire Qi back with the Sect’s internal qi. Only the Sect Leader, who has mastered the Art completely, can do it. But before you could even find him, your arm wouldn’t last.”

“Ah…”

Yun-seon’s hope drained at Jeok-woo’s disappointing answer.

“Or… you could learn the Art yourself.”

“What?”

Jeok-woo’s thick brows drooped in a troubled frown.

“But since you’re not a disciple of the Sect, that’s impossible.”

Though not on purpose, Jeok-woo kept jerking Yun-seon’s hopes up and down. Ju-un, unable to stand it anymore, smacked his arm.

“Stop toying with the poor boy and let’s be done. With tonight’s drink, your debt to me is cleared.”

Ju-un downed her cup in one gulp and stood abruptly.

“Hyung-nim, I may have been lazy and ignorant of martial arts until now, but things are different. I must learn the Divine Art—heal my arm, and avenge my master.”

Suddenly Yun-seon knelt before Jeok-woo. Both Ju-un and Jeok-woo tried to raise him up, but he refused. He was grasping at straws.

“If this arm is the problem, then cut it off—I’ll master martial arts with my left.”

He cared nothing for becoming crippled. As long as he avenged his master and senior brother, life held no other meaning. With peerless martial arts, revenge might be possible with only one arm.

“In truth, leave it as is and it won’t just be your arm—your life will be in danger.”

Ju-un wanted to stop Jeok-woo from crushing Yun-seon’s hopes again, but the clueless man, caught up in pity, kept babbling.

“No… I cannot. I must… avenge my master…”

At last, Yun-seon burst into tears he had held back. That single purpose had carried him this far. He couldn’t let go of hope.

Jeok-woo, at a loss, could only rub the boy’s back. Fourteen—so young, yet burdened with such a cruel fate. It reminded him too much of his own lonely youth in the martial world. At last, he resolved himself, gripping Yun-seon’s shoulders and lifting him up.

“Brother, how could I just ignore you? Dangerous though it may be, I’ll teach you what little I know.”

The rules of the Sect were strict—its internal arts could not be passed on to outsiders. Jeok-woo knew this well, but his desire to help Yun-seon outweighed fear of future punishment. To him, nothing mattered more than saving a life.

“Still, my inner power is meager. I only know the opening formulas. At best, I can prolong your life a little—but not cure you completely.”

“That’s enough. Thank you… thank you, hyung-nim.”

Yun-seon didn’t know the Sect’s rules in detail, but he knew this was a grave decision. That Jeok-woo would show such kindness to someone he’d just met moved him so deeply that his tears wouldn’t stop.

“At this rate you’ll weep all the water out of your body.”

Jeok-woo scratched his head in embarrassment.

“If by fortune I survive, I’ll devote my life to repaying this debt.”

“Save your precious life—that alone is enough.”

Jeok-woo, himself moved by Yun-seon’s sincerity, even sniffled. Ju-un, staring blankly at the two, grew too uneasy and left first.

‘Can’t even look after themselves, yet…’

She still thought Jeok-woo pathetic, yet the more she thought of them, the more her chest tickled oddly. Perhaps it was a case of bad indigestion.

수어지교(水魚之交):
Like water and fish, inseparable and intimate.