The Afterglow Of Hatred (2)

He seemed to have agonized plenty, yet considering the time passed it was a rather quick decision.

“Then I have something to ask.”

“If you ramble again, I will refuse and go my own way.”

Mun Jung asked, eyes widening.

“In what you do, if the innocent are hurt or harmed along the way, will you still push through and say the small must be sacrificed for the great?”

“From where do you draw the line on innocence?”

“…”

“I do not sacrifice the small for the great, and I do not sacrifice the great for the small. If I judge the method is right, I run. That is all I think about.”

Mun Jung’s eyes reddened slightly.

“Do you know that if you charge in with such perilous thinking, many civilians will be hurt?”

“Of course matters of Murim are solved within Murim. Those who are not in this sphere are never to be touched unless they stink of filth.”

“…Truly?”

“It has been that way so far. Yet even with care, there can be unintended victims.”

Jin-hyeon shook his head.

“I am not a god. I do not have the power or the mind to weigh everything. All I can say is I will think harder, be more careful, and only smash what should be smashed.”

“…”

“So you should work hard so that the one-in-a-thousand case never appears.”

“?!”

“You are the Branch Chief. You oversee administration, finance, and command. You are in practice the governor of Sichuan.”

“…”

“The sword dance is mine, the brushwork is yours. Before worrying over a mistake I might make, think on how far you can go.”

Mun Jung watched Jin-hyeon in silence, then gave another wry smile.

“I’ll be watching from here on.”

“That is my line.”

“I will watch for a short while how you move and how you use me. If you do the absurd or run wild, our relationship ends.”

Jin-hyeon let out a short laugh.

“What relationship is there? I will just use you. If you dislike being used, strike the back of my head anytime.”

“What?”

“But keep in mind. The moment you do, your life, already in turmoil, may drop into the abyss.”

“…”

“Do not forget. You already owe a debt for bringing those composts here to test me. I will not clear the Branch Chief of Sichuan’s debt for a few gold ingots.”

Leaving other things aside, he could not tell where this outrageous confidence came from. Mun Jung had to voice the question he had held down.

“Do you have a powerful backer?”

“Strange. A Branch Chief asks the same as those Eight Martial Houses people.”

“That is how excessive your confidence looks.”

Jin-hyeon shook his head.

“Grounded or not, you can confirm it when it’s kill or be killed.”

In the end, Mun Jung raised his hands.

“Fine. I will only watch for a while as said. I lose nothing.”

“In return, I have one question.”

“What is it?”

Frowning, Jin-hyeon looked down at the corpses of the Three Ghosts of Jiangxi.

“If they were imprisoned, it was either the branch cells or the Investigation and Defense Court. With sins like that, they were in the Court’s dungeon, right?”

“That is right.”

Turning his head to Mun Jung, a meaningful look touched Jin-hyeon’s face.

“Who is it?”

“What?”

“The head of the Investigation and Defense Court, or the Deputy Court Head?”

“?!”

“Given who truly holds sway, even the Left and Right Chief Constables could be in play. Which of them took your hand?”

Mun Jung’s mouth slowly fell open.

‘What in the world is this fellow?’

It is never easy to release a condemned prisoner outward. To call out those locked in the lowest level of the Court’s dungeon, even a Branch Chief must arrange it with a senior officer. In other words, someone inside must help.

Usually people assume it was done by the chief’s authority and move on. They do not easily think he joined hands with a high officer. Jin-hyeon asked as if it were obvious.

‘This isn’t mere insight. He is strangely familiar with power structures and factional strife.’

More than martial talent or potential, that eye and quick mind impressed him.

Watching Mun Jung, Jin-hyeon shook his head.

“Leave it. If it is hard to say, you need not. You said you would see my ability. Confess it when you are sure.”

Turning, hands clasped behind him, Jin-hyeon walked around the pavilion.

“With all the heavy talk, I did not take in the view. It’s quite nice.”

The face with which he glanced around was different from when he spoke with Mun Jung. He seemed to be purely taking in the scene.

Only now did a youth’s expression that fit his age appear. That change made him all the more frightening, Mun Jung thought.

Behind the naive youth’s face was a man with an eye that toyed with seasoned masters of the Kangho and a monstrous nature.

‘Maybe that is why my decision was faster.’

Coldly seen, he was only a youth in his early twenties with little experience. Mun Jung was a man of the Kangho who had seen every trial. Aside from youth, Jin-hyeon had no advantage.

Even so, Mun Jung sensed none of a youth’s clumsiness or ignorance in Jin-hyeon.

Rather, he felt as if facing an elder in the Kangho, older and more experienced than himself. That uncanny dissonance made the youth named Jin-hyeon look extraordinary.

‘I am mad enough, but that one is truly strange.’

Will this truly be fine as is?

Mun Jung scoffed at himself.

‘What could be worse than now. He is right. I have become a dog with ten thousand tails.’

For such a dog, it was a small comfort that someone said at least he did not stink. The fact he found comfort in that one line was absurd in itself.

“How was meeting Ha Suk-heon?”

“You knew, as expected.”

“He is a priority figure.”

“He wanted me. He even said he would look for a marriageable girl of the Ha family.”

That made sense.

Even from his displayed arts, one would covet a genius above the leaders of the Eight Martial Houses.

After a moment’s thought, Mun Jung asked quietly.

“You said you would put the Eight Martial Houses in order.”

“That’s right.”

“Is the Cheongyang Association among them?”

“Honestly, I do not know.”

“Why? Are you one to bow to power or force.”

“They do smell, yet I have not come to a judgment.”

“…You have not?”

Jin-hyeon knit his brows.

“The Association Leader may have raised his child poorly. So I could not judge by Ha Jun alone. Yet even after seeing Ha Suk-heon, nothing definite comes.”

“…”

“As you said, it may be because I saw them once.”

“If the Cheongyang Association also stinks, will you sweep it away?”

“Of course.”

As they spoke, Jin-hyeon thought quickly. Saying one line would change much between him and Mun Jung.

The hesitation was short and the decision swift.

“But from what I heard, the Cheongyang Association is doing something rotten.”

“What.”

“I obtained information that they have long prepared to unify Sichuan Murim.”

Mun Jung’s eyes flew wide.

“Where did you hear that?”

“From Gu…”

As he answered, Jin-hyeon suddenly felt an odd wrongness.

He slowly turned to Mun Jung, his face hardening.

“You knew?”

“…”

“Answer. Did you know?”

The corner of Mun Jung’s eye trembled.

“…I have had information for years that they do suspect things. But it’s from you that I’m first hearing about them unifying Sichuan.”

“…”

“That information, is it trustworthy?”

Staring at Mun Jung, Jin-hyeon gave a cold smile.

“We have a great deal to talk about today.”

Jin-hyeon returned to his quarters past the hour of the Ox.

About to go upstairs, he felt a presence and turned toward the rear garden.

“…”

In the empty garden, Seol So-ha was wielding her sword alone.

She was not swinging with internal energy, nor quickly without it.

Slow and delicate. It was so soft and slow it brought tai chi to mind.

Jin-hyeon knew she was sketching out the Moonlit Snow Shadow Sword forms. The movements were such that the later forms could not be used, yet her face, running through the first five forms, was drenched in sweat.

Silently, he leaned on the wall and watched her.

After a time.

“Hoo.”

With a light sigh she raised the blade upright.

Looking at her reflection in the blade, Seol So-ha then lifted her gaze to the moon.

“Can I really win?”

“You probably will.”

Startled, Seol So-ha turned.

Jin-hyeon smiled and waved.

“Ah, when did you come?”

“Past one quarter hour, not yet two.”

“You could have said something.”

“One must not hinder a swordsman polishing herself.”

“Ah.”

“I thought to just go in, but your practice was interesting, so I watched without meaning to.”

Jin-hyeon stroked his chin.

“A dull sword approach…”

The counterpoint to the fast sword is the dull sword. Fast sword is not only speed, and dull sword is not practice merely by moving slow.

The true strength of the fast sword is precision. Speed without precision misses the essence of the fast sword. With the dull sword, if you can’t strike later to seize initiative, you’re just doing calisthenics..

What surprised him was that Seol So-ha already grasped something of that dull sword basis.

“The Snow Shadow Sword is a killing sword that loads strong footwork into highly variable forms to destroy the foe. It does not go with the dull sword you just trained.”

“…”

“But that is my view. Your insight may differ. The same sentence is read differently by each person, so why not martial arts.”

Seol So-ha’s face brightened a little.

“I see.”

“You found something, right.”

“Rather than a discovery… just a feeling. It may be meaningless practice.”

“There is no meaningless practice in this world if you put your spirit into the effort.”

“Thank you for the good words again today.”

“No need for thanks.”

His gaze reached the moon she had watched.

“Tomorrow you face that Ha Jun, right.”

“Yes.”

“It is fine. You will win.”

Puzzlement rose on Seol So-ha’s face.

“You think so?”

“Is that not natural? You are the Patriarch Seol’s blood and you learned the famed Tianshan Arts. You even took short training from the best teacher. It makes no sense you cannot beat that fool.”

It was not his usual analytical tone. A small smile gathered at Seol So-ha’s lips.

“Right. I cannot lose for my teacher’s sake.”

“It is natural you are nervous. You cannot help losing sleep.”

“Yes.”

Jin-hyeon did not tell her to relax or to circulate qi instead.

“It is cold but the wind is good. Take it in a while then go in.”

Seol So-ha came beside him and rested her back on the wall. It was indeed a good spot to feel the night.

“Did your business go well?”

“It was quite something.”

“That is good.”

“Let’s stop talking and cool our heads in the breeze.”

“Alright.”

So the two leaned on the wall and gazed at the moon in silence.

Unlike his words to cool down, Jin-hyeon’s mind was moving faster than ever.

‘The Cheongyang Association is not ordinary.’

He patted his robe and felt a small token.

His drowsy eyes slowly took on a chill.

‘Tomorrow will be interesting in many ways.’