Chapter 74

“Eek!”

Bukgung Yoon’s scream rang out across the rear garden of the Ten Flowers Guesthouse.

What Yeon Mujin called a way to clear her mind was the same torment he’d been subjecting her to.

Bukgung Yoon spun through the air and hit the ground face-first.

She’d fallen so often she was nearly on familiar terms with the floor.

“You’ve only fallen three times so far. Get up.”

“Why on earth do I have to do this?”

“Didn’t I already explain? To clear your head, moving your body is best.”

“My head’s already empty enough to be stupid, you know?”

“As the Manor Lord, you should at least learn one way to protect your own body. Watch this. Don’t become a fool.”

Yeon Mujin stepped forward and took her wrist.

“The moment your opponent pushes, you let that force pass through, shift your center, and subtly twist the wrist to transfer weight. The stronger they push, the easier it becomes as your weight moves. At that moment your toes trace a circle and your body naturally turns around the circle’s axis. Use the opponent’s force against them to break their balance and, in the end, like this.”

Bukgung Yoon’s whole body spun in time with Yeon Mujin’s hand movement.

“Once you’re skilled, you can even spin someone standing still. Just like how the Manor Lord has been thrown all this time.”

What Yeon Mujin was teaching Bukgung Yoon was a Hand-Grabbing technique called the Easy Shift of Hand.

Bukgung Yoon narrowed her eyes and looked up at him.

“Why are you only explaining this now?”

“If I told you beforehand you wouldn’t understand. You have to experience it. Now, try again.”

Bukgung Yoon fell three more times and smacked the ground hard.

It was obvious: even though she understood the technique, being thrown anyway filled her with self-reproach.

“Captain Yeon, aren’t you using internal qi? That’s why I keep losing, right?”

“I’m not using internal qi.”

“Don’t lie. Martial artists’ movements get faster and stronger through internal qi. Isn’t Captain Yeon using it just to torment me? No matter how much I learn this against someone using internal qi, it won’t help.”

“Hah, really.”

Yeon Mujin shook his head.

“Internal qi isn’t endless. Ignorant fools treat it like a cure-all, but the basis of martial arts is self-control—how you handle your body. Even if internal qi is used, you can still be subdued with this method.”

“Really?”

“I don’t speak nonsense.”

‘He seems to have said quite a lot of nonsense, though….’

“I’ll extend my hand slowly, so try it once.”

Yeon Mujin helped Bukgung Yoon up by the hand, set her stance, and slowly extended his hand.

Bukgung Yoon calmly reviewed his explanation and took her position.

Thud!

Holding the wrist, she shifted her center,

and spun.

She rotated the wrist to transfer her weight.

Rustle.

Her toes traced a circle and her body followed the circle’s axis naturally…….

“……?”

Bukgung Yoon froze awkwardly and their gazes met.

“Aagh!”

With a simple motion, it was Bukgung Yoon who ended up falling.

“Too slow. Again!”

Bukgung Yoon’s daily life became sparse.

She woke, finished the meal Jang Chun-sik had brought, bathed, and received reports on Flying Swallow Manor’s affairs.

She sent processed documents back to Flying Swallow Manor on behalf of the Cocoon Silkworm Clan, had a simple lunch, and held strategy meetings with Yeon Mujin.

“If we want Shandong as a support base, there are two places we have to win over.”

Bukgung Yoon hummed with a dumpling in her mouth and tapped the stick.

“The Zhuge family and the Hwangbo family?”

Glug.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Her chopstick pointed to Shandong’s centers, Jinan and Qinzhou.

“The reason Solitary Cloud Manor could exert influence in Shandong was that, on the surface at least, the Zhuge and Hwangbo families supported the Sixth Young Master. If we want Flying Swallow Manor to be our power base in Shandong Province, winning over those two families is the top priority.”

Yeon Mujin nodded. Bukgung Yoon continued.

“Those two houses have been enemies for generations, but in the murim world they’re known to act together. They’re more rival allies than true foes. The Fifth Young Master’s faction will likely approach them too. The problem is, hmm…”

Bukgung Yoon propped her chin and picked up another dumpling.

I didn’t know, but Bukgung Yoon had a surprisingly good appetite.

Especially when she had a lot on her mind, she’d grab and eat whatever came to hand.

Even now, the dumplings she ate could fill Yeon Mujin’s stomach.

“If Flying Swallow Manor and Drunken Flower Manor both reached out at the same time, whose hand would you take, Yeon Mujin?”

“Of course Drunken Flower Manor. How could Flying Swallow Manor compare?”

Bukgung Yoon nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. No matter what we offer, it will clearly fall short of Fifth Brother’s proposal. In money, power, force—Flying Swallow Manor is outmatched by Drunken Flower Manor. That’s the problem…”

Groan—Bukgung Yoon groaned and stuffed ginger candy into her mouth.

Those weren’t ordered by Yeon Mujin. They were Bukgung Yoon’s special request.

She used to steal the stable boys’ snacks and had developed a taste for candied ginger.

“Still, we can’t just fold our hands and let it be taken from us, can we?”

Staring blankly at the disappearing candy, Yeon Mujin spoke quietly.

“Isn’t the answer simple?”

“Yes?”

“We offer what the Drunken Flower Manor’s Lord cannot propose.”

“…What would that be?”

Chewing the candied ginger, Yeon Mujin answered.

“That is, precisely, the Manor Lord’s will.”

In the evening, Yeon Mujin’s training resumed.

For Yeon Mujin it was training, but for Bukgung Yoon it was torment.

For the first time in her life, bruises formed on her forearms and knees.

“Rotate your waist more. Grabbing technique isn’t just about turning the wrist!”

“Your stepping foot lacks power. The foundation of all martial arts starts from the lower body. Again!”

“How many times must I stress that you must relax your body? Give force but release it—don’t just let it pass by the Manor Lord’s strength!”

Unable to bear it, Bukgung Yoon shouted.

“So am I supposed to give force or release it?!”

“You must give at the right time and release at the right time. If you don’t understand, it’s because you haven’t been thrown down enough yet.”

“Aagh!”

Thump!

Having been thrown so often, stubbornness began to rise in her.

Bukgung Yoon understood the hearts of the External Protection Troops.

‘He’s really infuriating. If only I could hit him once, I’d be content.’

That was the wish of everyone under Yeon Mujin.

The problem was that no one had ever achieved that wish even once.

“Captain Yeon, I’m tired now.”

“If you still have the strength to speak, you’re not yet exhausted.”

“Captain Yeon, you’re a real demon……”

“Back in the day, my nickname was Ghost.”

Bukgung Yoon trembled and looked at the hand Yeon Mujin held out.

She gripped his hand tightly, stood up, and said,

“As soon as we return, I’ll push for Captain Yeon’s demotion.”

“Do that if you’re successful.”

“…….”

Today’s lunch was fried cakes, twisted fried dough, and baked cakes.

They were rustic snacks Yeon Mujin had bought for Bukgung Yoon after returning from Namsa Lake.

These, too, were specially requested by her—she must have liked them when she tried them before.

For a noblewoman raised on fine food, Bukgung Yoon’s tastes seemed surprisingly ordinary; she wasn’t picky.

Even now, with a single motion, all sorts of snacks disappeared.

“It seems Mok-min oppa visited Flying Swallow Manor again today.”

“Doesn’t that man have anything better to do? He comes nearly every day.”

“But there’s one more piece of news.”

“What is it?”

“They say Yun-ram oppa also visited Flying Swallow Manor.”

Bukgung Yun-ram was the Fourth Young Master of the Bukgung Family.

He was the Hidden Golden Dragon who controlled Sichuan and Gansu.

Yeon Mujin nodded.

With the Fifth Young Master moving, it was natural the Fourth Young Master would move too—like thread following the needle.

Feigning ignorance, Yeon Mujin asked Bukgung Yoon,

“Why did the Fourth Young Master come to Flying Swallow Manor?”

“Probably to check the Fifth Brother. The Fifth Brother will be aiming at Flying Swallow Manor.”

Bukgung Yoon wrote numbers from one to six as she spoke.

“Basically, as brothers’ ranks fall, their strength decreases. The Grand Young Lord’s faction is strongest, then the second, then the third… It used to be that from the first to the sixth, all vied for the Family Lord’s seat without yielding. But this time, with the Sixth Young Master’s Solitary Cloud Manor out of the equation, our Flying Swallow Manor has entered the stage.”

She scratched out the number six and wrote seven beside it—representing Flying Swallow Manor.

“Flying Swallow Manor has the weakest justification and the least strength. Isn’t it a good target? If they win us over, we’d become a useful card. It would take less effort to gain legitimacy within the family than to shake the already-set central power. So who would covet Flying Swallow Manor the most?”

Yeon Mujin thought as he listened to the explanation.

Bukgung Yoon had a keen sense for politics; her ability to read the board was the best among the siblings.

It was just that until now she hadn’t had the chance to poke the needle through the pouch.

“Right after Flying Swallow Manor, the next weakest is the Fifth, and the Fourth doesn’t want the Fifth’s strength to grow. So those two came to Flying Swallow Manor.”

“If the Manor Lord wants to become the Family Lord, she must ignore the enticements of the two young masters.”

“That’s difficult. If she falls out of favor, the two brothers might unite to target Flying Swallow Manor. They’re enemies, yes, but neither wants more competitors, so they won’t like it.”

She was right.

At present, Flying Swallow Manor cannot align with the Fifth Young Master nor the Fourth Young Master.

But if they neglect either of the two, they’ll earn enmity from both. In other words, they’ll be a shrimp crushed between fighting whales.

That was exactly why Yeon Mujin chose the thirty-sixth stratagem: running away.

“Is there a way out?”

“Not yet… we’re still considering it.”

“Let’s wait a bit longer. Perhaps a new route will open up for Flying Swallow Manor.”

If his prediction was correct.

On the seventh day since the two had retreated to the inner quarters of the Ten Flowers Guesthouse,

Bukgung Yoon had been thrown hundreds of times by Yeon Mujin’s defense technique over those seven days.

The bruises on her knees showed no sign of fading, her fair brow was grazed, and for some reason she’d put on a bit of weight.

The Fourth and Fifth Young Masters’ pressure on Flying Swallow Manor grew worse, to the point of threatening the retainers.

They could no longer buy time with the thirty-sixth stratagem of running away.

On that very night.

“……?”

“……!”

Bukgung Yoon breathed out with a wheeze.

As in the past seven days, Yeon Mujin and Bukgung Yoon’s gazes met from above and below.

But tonight it was different. Yeon Mujin was below, and Bukgung Yoon was above.

Yeon Mujin, who had been thrown by her Easy Shift of Hand, lay sprawled across the rear garden.

Bukgung Yoon clenched her fist, thrust it toward the sky, shivered, drew it back to her chest, and had to clamp her mouth to swallow the scream that wanted to burst out.

Still, a small whisper slipped through her fingers.

“I did it…!”

Yeon Mujin lay on the ground and let out a hollow laugh.

The night sky, ringed by a stone wall, shimmered like a painting.

Huh, well.

I didn’t expect she’d pick it up this quickly.

“Manor Lord.”

“Yes!”

“Let’s return now. To Flying Swallow Manor.”