Wolf’s Den (3)

A month passed in no time.

Seol So-ha was indeed one with overflowing talent. Five days short of a month, she fully grafted the Ten-Thousand-Year Only-White Art to her body. Of course, it was the result of her focusing all her days on the heart method and sword art under Jin-hyeon’s guidance.

After half a month, she hardly needed Jin-hyeon’s guidance. With keen senses and a sharp mind she put the Divine Art and sword art into her body, and with grim drive she devoted all time to training except for eating and sleeping.

It was the same for Jin-hyeon. He trained the Body-Refining and Soul-Refining Art with rigor. Even if it meant trimming time for physical conditioning, it was to reach great attainment as fast as possible.

Thus from a month, another half-month passed.

Jin-hyeon shut himself in a small room and for days devoted himself to circulating qi. Do-min, back from leave, brought trays as if used to it, but he never ate all three meals.

Then ten days more passed.

In a flash, Jin-hyeon broke through the Body-Refining Art to nine-tenths attainment.

Even with insight and experience, the speed was unfathomable. It was swift enough to startle even the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader were he alive again.

Before then he had evenly tempered body, mind, and internal energy to lay the base. Now, for great attainment in the Body-Refining Art, he honed only the Soul-Refining Art.

His muscle mass lessened a little, but as his attainment in the Body-Refining Art rose, his muscle quality improved. Joints over the body became supple as if boneless, and when he exerted force, his soft skin hardened like steel.

Training the Soul-Refining Art induced extreme mental pain. Bearing and re-bearing it, he focused on the Body-Refining Art. When that ended, he forgot food and sleep and clung to the Soul-Refining Art.

Repetition of pain and calm. As Seol So-ha polished the Ten-Thousand-Year Only-White Art and the Moonlit Snow Shadow Sword, so did he drive two arts in a short span to the limit.

Do-min, uneasy because he ate so little, went to Seol Hong-baek. He too, worried, came to the guest wing, but feeling the quietly swirling qi within, felt at ease.

Again, and again.

Time kept flowing, and at last two months and ten days passed.

Syuuk!

In Seol So-ha’s point-piercing thrust, there was not the least wavering.

“Hoo.”

For over an hour, she unfolded the Moonlit Snow Shadow Sword from start to finish. And in a single breath.

Her whole body was wet with sweat, but her face was full of pleasant accomplishment. Of course, the expression still barely changed.

Do-min, watching her training from the side, brought water.

“Please drink some water, my lady.”

“Thanks.”

“No, not at all.”

Drinking cool water, Seol So-ha suddenly looked toward a room. A room a dozen jang away at the entrance of the guest wing—Jin-hyeon’s quarters.

‘Is Teacher still training?’

Her father, having stopped by once, had said, “Teacher is at an important crossroad, so don’t rashly knock on his door.”

To Seol So-ha it was hard to grasp. From the room she felt no particular presence or aura.

But if her father said so, then so it was. She trusted his eye more than anyone’s.

“Min.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Is Teacher eating well?”

“I wouldn’t say ‘well’… If I set it by the door, it’s gone the next day. Seems like he’s eating one meal a day. There are times where he eats after every two days.”

“Mm.”

“He often did so at the previous lodging too.”

Training in a room could only be qi circulation and breath regulation. Even so, it seemed rather little.

Seol So-ha nodded.

“I see.”

“You’re working hard.”

Startled by the sudden voice, Seol So-ha turned.

“Father.”

Seol Hong-baek smiled gently.

“It’s been long since I saw you train so hard. You’ve been immersed in martial arts lately. Good to see.”

“I’m ashamed.”

“Strive on. The world is rough. Whatever people may say, without strength, one is bound to suffer many constraints.”

It was something Seol Hong-baek could say after leading a clan for many years.

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“By the way.”

He turned his gaze to Jin-hyeon’s room.

“…”

In his deep, kindly eyes, a subtle light rose.

“As expected, the resonance isn’t ordinary.”

“Huh?”

“For you who have just internalized the Divine Art, it would be too much. My current internal energy resonates with the power of the same stream.”

“Same stream, meaning?”

“It seems the Teacher’s training is about to come to an end.”

He spoke evenly, but inwardly was much surprised.

‘The resonance was tremendous.’

It was strong enough to feel even in the office. Naturally the resonance was directed here, to Jin-hyeon’s quarters.

Now it had weakened somewhat, but the Tianshan Light-and-Shadow Divine Art was activating on its own. His body had entered a tense state.

Seol Hong-baek’s eyes wavered.

‘Just what art is he training that…’

It would have the Tianshan Arts as root. Yet it didn’t seem to be the Light-and-Shadow Divine Art.

‘It’s almost the same as So-ha’s Ten-Thousand-Year Only-White Art. But minutely different.’

After looking towards his room for a while, Seol Hong-baek spoke to Do-min.

“Min. Teacher may be out soon, so prepare bath water and a—”

“Patriarch.”

A gate guard came running from afar.

“What is it?”

“Someone has come, wishing to see Teacher Jin.”

“Teacher? Who?”

“He introduced himself as from the Five Tigers Merchant Guild…”

Just then—

Huk!

From within the room, a heavy wave of qi seemed to burst forth, then vanished in an instant.

Amplification and disappearance were lightning-fast. Yet those here could clearly feel the weight of that momentum.

Seol So-ha’s face set, and Do-min’s mouth also fell open.

Seol Hong-baek looked at the room with eyes unshaken yet full of anticipation.

After a moment.

Ddalkak.

The door opened and Jin-hyeon appeared.

“Teacher Jin.”

“Master!”

Seol So-ha and Do-min bowed their heads.

Jin-hyeon, revealed, knit his brow. Sunlight stung after a long time.

But only for a moment; his eyes soon adjusted.

Jin-hyeon’s and Seol Hong-baek’s gazes met.

“…”

For a moment neither spoke.

The first to incline his head was Jin-hyeon.

“Patriarch.”

“Teacher.”

Exchanging greetings, Seol Hong-baek offered calm congratulations.

“You have gained a great attainment. Congratulations.”

“I am still very lacking. It is not something to call attainment.”

Seol Hong-baek felt sincerity in his words.

It wasn’t modesty. He truly thought nothing much of his present attainment.

‘Frightening.’

It was clear he had gained internal energy deep enough that the Light-and-Shadow Divine Art activated beyond its master’s control.

How such an increase was possible in less than two months—he couldn’t comprehend. With rise in quantity, naturally there would be qualitative advance.

Unlike when they first met, Seol Hong-baek could not read his internal strength in detail. It meant his internal energy matched or exceeded his own.

‘It doesn’t seem like he took elixirs, yet such speed…’

Could it be a path trodden once already? If so, he had internal energy equal to a swordsman who achieved mastery in his early twenties. Such a thing was impossible unless one was a descendant of top lineage in the Central Plains.

But a warrior of such caliber would be famed. Seol Hong-baek had never heard of a man named Jin-hyeon.

Or did his internal strength grow by a great enlightenment? He could not know, but if so, that too was tremendous.

Thinking him ever more unreadable, Seol Hong-baek spoke.

“As it happens, someone has come looking for you.”

“I know. That is why I came out.”

“Is it fine not to finish your training?”

“I have taken what is to be taken for now. From here, only governing remains.”

Seol Hong-baek nodded with a smile.

“Later, let us have a bout between us.”

The Patriarch of the White Sword Seol Clan himself proposed a bout. Such words are not offered to one without standing.

Jin-hyeon did not feign modesty.

“Good.”

Why was it?

Do-min realized the air between the respected Patriarch and the cheerful Master was quite heavy.

‘What is it? Is the Patriarch angry? Or did something offending happen to Master?’

Of course it wasn’t that.

The heaviness she felt came from seriousness. Seol Hong-baek’s manner toward Jin-hyeon had shifted from simple benefactor to a warrior stirring his competitive spirit, hence the weightier air.

Thinking she should mind herself regardless, Do-min raised her head and looked at Jin-hyeon.

At once her eyes went wide.

“Gasp! Master!”

“What is it?”

“Your hair…?!”

“What about my hair now?”

“It’s—it’s become like that of a grandfather”

The heavy air shattered.

Seol Hong-baek’s body relaxed at once. Seol So-ha too, startled at his hair, felt her strength drain at Do-min’s outrageous exclamation.

Jin-hyeon scratched his head.

“Grandfather?”

“Ah…!”

Only then realizing she’d blurted madness before the Patriarch and the young lady, Do-min went pale.

Jin-hyeon snorted a laugh.

“Did it turn all white? There’s no mirror in the room.”

“…”

“Why swallow your tongue all of a sudden? Is it all white?”

Do-min bowed her head deep.

“The eyebrows are as they were…”

Seol Hong-baek burst into hearty laughter. Seol So-ha, eyes stiff, looked between them.

Jin-hyeon roughly tied his hair with a cloth he took from his bosom.

“Since someone has come, I’ll step out for a moment. Let’s speak of the bout when I return.”

“Let us. Go safely.”

Jin-hyeon spoke to Do-min.

“Come.”

“…Me too?”

“If I leave you here, your lifespan seems likely to shorten.”

At his words, a snort of laughter escaped Seol Hong-baek.

Do-min cautiously asked the Patriarch:

“Um…”

“Attend him well.”

“Ah, yes!”

Thus Jin-hyeon and Do-min left the guest wing.

Watching his back recede, Seol So-ha spoke.

“Something is different about him, Father.”

“Yes. Very different.”

“I don’t know exactly… but he seems far more composed than before.”

“It’s not merely that.”

“Sir?”

“The martial art, yes—but the person himself has changed.”

Seol Hong-baek’s face was very grave.

“…It’s as if he has found, or is finding, his true self.”

The man said to be from the Five Tigers Merchant Guild was, of course, a figure from the Black Society.

Following him for an hour, the two arrived at a quiet hill near Jayang.

A fairly large river showed to the side, and opposite lay a bustling market no less lively than near the Seol estate. Though called a hill, it joined the street naturally, not feeling isolated.

Even so, there was only one road and dense growth. A plot an old magnate might use as a great villa.

“You’ve come?”

At that place was Seomun Hoe.

Jin-hyeon asked:

“Where’s Pebble?”

“Stone Pillar Dam is much busier than you think.”

“True enough, one should live busily when young to live at ease old.”

“…You’re young too.”

“That’s why I’m living busily.”

Light words passed, yet Seomun Hoe’s eyes kept scanning Jin-hyeon.

Jin-hyeon asked calmly.

“Why? Did I lose too much weight?”

He had indeed slimmed a bit. But far more striking was the hair.

Hardly any black remained. At a glance, it was simply white hair.

Yet it was thick, with a strange sheen. Let loose, it would call to mind a lion’s mane.

Stranger still, the white hair suited him exceedingly well.

It was as if he was born like that, as if he had worn it all his life. Even Seomun Hoe groped his memory wondering if his hair had originally been white before.

Besides that—

‘Composed.’

His temperament seemed unchanged. A person’s nature does not change so easily.

But the atmosphere around him changed. Before, within a touch of flippancy, he seemed one with terrifying insight, but now, he seemed utterly calm and supple.

Like white paper, it could be described as a base that can become anything. Scrawl letters and it would be poetry; paint, and it would be a picture.

And dye that paper red, and a region might turn a sea of blood.

Seomun Hoe, unknowing, felt himself tense. Unlike months ago, he now stiffened even before watching Jin-hyeon’s reaction.

‘Has his martial arts advanced? No, not only that… and how far can a martial art advance in two months?’

In any case, something changed. Greatly.

Jin-hyeon looked up at the house in admiration.

“It’s nice and big.”

The plot was very large and good. The soil rich.

A large open space lay behind for training, and the humidity was right.

Though not fully built, once complete it would be splendid. Even Do-min, dragged along not knowing why, went slack-jawed.

“You found a place finer than I hoped. Must’ve worn out some soles.”

“Do you like it?”

“Finding better than this seems hard. The distance to the Seol estate is good as well. I like it.”

“Glad you do—but there’s a problem.”

“Mm?”

“We obtained it, including the house under construction cheaply. We purchased it through a lawful broker, and the deal was near done, but…”

“And?”

“The seller said to cancel.”

“Is that so?”

Jin-hyeon clicked his tongue.

“A shame. It’s truly a nice place.”

“…”

“Surely you didn’t bring me to ask if we should force the sale?”

“Would I? The Five Tigers Merchant Guild would be pelted with filth before it even spreads its wings.”

“Then why bring me here?”

“Do you remember the Black Tiger Fist Clan?”

“One of the top sects in Sichuan? One of those that took money from Mighty Tiger, I think?”

“It seems that the Black Tiger Fist Clan is threatening the landowner.”

Jin-hyeon’s face chilled at once.

“Recite it in detail.”