Who Am I (2)

The three of them chewed on dumplings as they headed for the Seol Clan estate.

Do-min glanced around nervously, but she must have been hungry as she was munching away at the big dumpling in her hand.

Jin-hyeon was the same. After days of drinking only water while focusing on martial arts, even a plain dumpling tasted like a feast.

Seol So-ha took only a few bites, then stopped eating.

“Are you full? Then give it to me.”

“Huh? Ah, but I’ve already bitten into it.”

“And?”

With his own dumpling still in his mouth, Jin-hyeon split the one he’d been handed and gave half to Do-min. She bobbed her head and accepted the torn dumpling.

“Thank you, Master. Thank you, Miss.”

“You’re not offended, right?”

“Sorry?”

“I’m asking if you’re cursing at me inside for sharing something half-eaten. Since you’re used to fancy food.”

Do-min’s face crumpled.

“Master……”

“Kidding. You just looked too gloomy.”

As if it were nothing, Jin-hyeon asked,

“Is it bothering you?”

“What is?”

“The Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild.”

Seol So-ha said nothing.

Of course it bothered her. The Mighty Tiger was one of Sichuan’s Three Great Merchant Guilds.

One might ask why a Murim clan ranked among Sichuan’s top ten would fear a merchant guild, but that would be naïve. Even the prestigious families and sects of Murim with their history and tradition—whose very names are enough to be recognized—cannot look down on today’s merchant guilds.

Ever since the Heavenly Will Alliance seized control of the world, it’s been harder for dangerous villains to roam. Their bounty system saw to that.

Unable to move openly, such people hid wherever they could—most notably within merchant guilds.

Needing force to protect their wealth, the guilds opened their purses and absorbed the displaced.

They hired not only strong yet ill-tempered villains, but also clueless masters and rootless newcomers—anyone. People who once would never move for money now pledged themselves readily.

In short, it became a world where money could command even ghosts.

And the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild’s war chest ranked among the top three in all of Sichuan.

“The Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild’s power is considerable.”

“I can believe it.”

Even the Divine Iron Merchant Clan wasn’t as vast as its reputation. It was perhaps seventy percent the size of the Seol Clan estate.

But their influence was great. They rose through ironworks and sat atop that field, and as they grew they extended into others.

Along the way they recruited many masters. The Divine Iron could match a mid-sized sect with the main house alone—and the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild would be no worse.

“I’ve dealt with them often. The Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild isn’t clean. I’m sure they run plenty of illegal trades in secret.”

“There are few clean merchant guilds in this world.”

“Yes. But the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild is worse than most—or so I believe.”

Jin-hyeon didn’t press about the Seol Clan’s ties to the guild.

“Remember what I said earlier?”

“About what?”

“If you endure, endure to the end. If you strike, see it through.”

Seol So-ha shook her head.

“I don’t know about ‘seeing it through,’ but I agree—if you endure, you must endure fully. I just…….”

“…….”

“At crucial moments, I never manage it.”

A shadow crossed her impassive face. She loathed that surges of frenzy sometimes slipped her control.

Chewing, Jin-hyeon said,

“So, does it seem likely that the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild will scrape up every master they can and attack the Seol clan?”

“It isn’t impossible.”

“It isn’t.”

“Eh?”

“I mean it’s not likely.”

Her eyes wavered.

“How can you tell?”

He’d seen thousands of such disputes.

Swallowing his bite, Jin-hyeon said,

“Lady Seol, you can’t see the situation clearly because of your own actions and your worries. Unless they’re the greatest merchant guild in the world, do you really think some mere merchant guild with a bit of pull in Sichuan would dare set its sights on a martial clan the likes of the Seol family?”

“?!”

“If the owner of the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild knows how to calculate, he won’t pick a fight. At most, he might show some anger or voice a few complaints, and that would be the end of it.”

Seol So-ha couldn’t understand.

Whatever the cause, their son was badly hurt. Right or wrong aside, any parent would be furious.

“Will it end with just that?”

“‘Just’?”

“Pardon?”

“Wouldn’t it actually be a relief if they just drew their swords and demanded a fight?”

“What does that……?”

“People fight with their strengths. A guild fights with money, not blades, no matter how many masters they hire.”

“!!”

“They’ll use funds to push your clan over a cliff. Compared to that, a sword fight is nothing.”

Her eyes shook wide.

Jin-hyeon popped the last dumpling into his mouth.

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Eh?”

“That’s why I broke his ankle.”

“And…… that means something?”

“It does.”

Jin-hyeon smiled. It was an enigmatic smile, heavy with meaning.

“You think I went out into the rain without a rain-cloak?”

“??”

“Anyway.”

In the distance, the Seol Clan plaque came into view.

“Tell the Patriarch everything. Why you couldn’t endure, what he said, how I stepped in—everything.”

“Of course.”

“Good.”

Ruffling Do-min’s hair, Jin-hyeon added,

“Let me borrow the Seol Clan’s guesthouse for today.”

“…….”

Seol Hong-baek’s face was set hard.

Seol So-ha bowed her head.

“I’m sorry, Father.”

He watched his daughter, then sighed softly.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“……No.”

“Good. Then that’s enough.”

“Father?”

She looked up at him.

Seol Hong-baek shook his head.

“Anyone informed knows the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild’s third son is a notorious rake—arrogant beyond reason. Few men have a worse reputation.”

“…….”

“You must have had reason not to hold back—especially with the teacher present.”

“I’m sorry.”

“So-ha.”

“Yes, Father.”

“I always trust you. I don’t believe I raised you poorly.”

“…….”

“This wasn’t your mistake. Faced with such insult, I too would not have stood idle.”

“I…….”

“Yet as the one responsible for the clan, it is clearly more than just a mistake.”

Seol So-ha lowered her head again.

That was why she couldn’t meet his eyes. Outwardly all was calm, but no one knew better than she that the clan’s strength had waned.

“I should have endured more.”

“That would have been better.”

“…….”

“But if you had, I would have felt indebted.”

“What do you mean—indebted?”

“Because I lacked the strength and left the clan like this. To make my child endure when she shouldn’t…… how painful must that be.”

Her eyes trembled.

Seol Hong-baek nodded firmly.

“Don’t worry. Leave this to me.”

“But…….”

“I am the Patriarch of the Seol clan. It’s my duty to answer for you—and for everyone.”

“…….”

“Go wash and rest. You’ve done enough.”

“……Yes.”

In the end, burdened with guilt, she could only rise.

“Ah—one more thing.”

Wishing to lighten the air, Seol Hong-baek asked with a smile,

“What kind of man is Teacher Jin-hyeon, in your eyes?”

“Ah—Teacher Jin?”

“Teacher…… Jin?”

“Yes?”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t mentioned he had no family name.

Seol Hong-baek let it pass.

“Yes, Teacher Jin.”

“I’m not sure. He doesn’t seem bad, but…….”

“Heh, he’s our benefactor. Let’s hope he’s not a bad person.”

“He seems like someone who’s seen a lot of the world I don’t know of.”

“I think the same. He feels older than he looks.”

“And…….”

“And?”

After a pause, Seol So-ha bowed her head.

“It’s nothing. He seems to be a good man. I’ll take my leave.”

“Very well.”

When she left, Seol Hong-baek tilted his head.

‘She seemed to have something else to say……’

Regardless, his daughter seemed to treat Jin-hyeon with respect. Had he been truly ill-tempered, she would have said so bluntly.

Setting thoughts of them aside, Seol Hong-baek leaned back.

‘The Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild…….’

They’d had ties since his great-grandfather’s time.

Back then, both the Seol Clan and Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild were small. But the leaders got along, helped each other, and both grew quickly.

But the Seol Clan had lost the Tianshan Arts. As the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild grew, the Seol Clan plateaued.

Even stagnation was growth, historically speaking. Thus their good relations and trade continued.

Things soured under the previous Clan Head.

‘Hearts change from day to day, true, but…….’

He sighed.

‘It can’t be helped.’

In the present situation, they couldn’t afford to lock horns with the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild. The clan’s martial strength outstripped theirs, but the influence the Mighty Tiger Merchant Guild wielded was several times greater than that of the Seol Clan.

‘A single bow is nothing. Now is the time to endure.’

He brought out brush and ink.

He had just ground the ink and set brush to paper when—

“Patriarch. The teacher has arrived.”

“Oh—show him in.”

So troubled he hadn’t noticed his qi resonating, Seol Hong-baek rose with a welcoming face.

The door opened and Jin-hyeon entered.

“Clan Head.”

“Welcome, Teacher.”

“Is now a good time?”

“Ha, of course. Shall I pour you that same tea as before?”

“Water is fine.”

“As you wish.”

They sat facing each other at the table.

Jin-hyeon produced a bound text.

“Please accept this.”

“This is……?”

“The first half of the Tianshan Light-and-Shade Divine Art’.”

“?!”

“It is one of the two great arts of the Tianshan Sword Sect; unlike the Guardian Art, Ten-Thousand-Year Only-White Art, this is a secret art passed down to the sect master alone.”

Emotion surged across Seol Hong-baek’s face.

“Then you mean……?”

“It’s the original form of the cultivation method you’ve been cultivating.”

“!!”

“I’ll compile the latter formulas and deliver them later. It’s extensive, so take the first half for now.”

“Uhk……”

Seol Hong-baek seized both his hands and shook them.

“Thank you—truly, Teacher. How could I ever…….”

“If you do this every time, I won’t know where to look.”

“Even so—thank you.”

This felt altogether different from the prior three martial arts.

A divine art transmitted to only one successor is a martial art that proves the very identity of a sect. Moreover, though the Tianshan Sword Sect has never expanded into the Central Plains, it was a great sect whose martial strength rivaled that of the Nine Great Sects.

At last, the pride of Tianshan lost by their forebears was restored. Tears rimmed Seol Hong-baek’s eyes.

“How can I express this gratitude? Truly—thank you.”

“Since we’re here—may I ask two favors?”

“Ho—name them, Teacher.”

Jin-hyeon bowed his head.

“I made a bigger mess than needed. I’m sorry. I ask for your forgiveness.”

Seol Hong-baek grasped his meaning at once.

“If you say that, what does that make me? You did no wrong. You stepped forward for our house—I’m only moved.”

Jin-hyeon wet his lips. Giving a martial art manual and then apologizing—he knew it looked calculating.

But he continued.

“Thank you. Then—the second favor.”

“Anything.”

“Before that, a question. It may be impertinent.”

“Go on.”

“How do you intend to handle this incident?”

Seol Hong-baek’s face tightened slightly.

But only for a moment.

“Most likely, we should apologize first.”

“As I thought?”

“They insulted us first, yes, but as head of a clan I must separate public and private. Given the circumstances, I should settle it as smoothly as possible.”

“Then my second favor.”

Jin-hyeon shook his head.

“Do not bow.”

“What do you mean……?”

“If you truly separate public from private, you mustn’t apologize.”

“Teacher?”

“They were at fault first. In the martial world, such insult merits losing one’s head.”

“Mm. But we cannot prove…….”

“The Seol Clan is no longer White Sword—it is Tianshan.”

“!!”

Jin-hyeon spoke gravely.

“Frankly, I don’t like meddling. But this time I must set a foot in—I’m already entangled.”

“…….”

“I need to correct myself. There are three favors.”