The Lost Ones (4)

The next day at noon.

“Oh, Teacher.”

Seol Hong-baek, who had been calmly looking down at Seol So-ha, raised his hand with a smile.

Jin-hyeon, who had been raising his hand in return, looked at Seol So-ha, who was collapsed and gasping for breath.

“Huff. Huff.”

It seemed her breath had truly reached her throat. Even though the day was rather cool, her whole body was drenched in sweat. The highlight was that even her hand which was holding the sword was trembling.

Jin-hyeon tilted his head.

“Who was it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who did you smash this time that you turned the young lady precious enough to keep in one’s eye into such a wreck?”

Seol Hong-baek burst into hearty laughter without meaning to. Seol So-ha, who had been gasping, also let out a quick laugh and then a shallow cough as if the words amused her.

“We were training. The Radiant Sword Festival was postponed to the day after tomorrow, so we were sparring to check her level one last time.”

“It seemed that it was more like a one-sided beating than a spar.”

“A beating, you say. Your words are harsh.”

“Well, since you even drew a real sword, the word beating is off. For what reason is it a real sword today?”

“Once in the main rounds of the Radiant Sword Festival, victory and defeat are decided with real swords. Whether wooden or real it is fine if one has an unshaken right mind, but the problem is…”

“Lady Seol does not know her limits.”

Seol Hong-baek nodded.

“Thanks to you, So-ha’s martial arts have made great strides. Even as her father I am startled at the level. Only, her growth is so steep that it weighs on my mind that she does not know where her limits are.”

“So that is how it was.”

Indeed, there was something exceptional in Seol Hong-baek’s discernment.

For any master, knowing one’s limits is important. All the more so when in the midst of growth.

If one who does not know one’s limits engages in combat, one often shows openings in unexpected places. In a life-and-death bout where victory and defeat are decided by a single move, it can be fatal.

Even in a friendly match it is a problem. With one overly excited, extreme attack, a simple spar can turn into a life-and-death fight.

At any time, knowing one’s limits is important. That principle is not limited only to martial artists.

“So has Lady Seol finally realized her limit?”

“Huff, no.”

The answer came from Seol So-ha.

She slowly rose to her feet. In that brief span she controlled her breathing, yet her limbs still trembled.

“It is not over yet.”

Jin-hyeon smiled.

“Your arms and legs are trembling like an old lady over ninety, you know.”

“It is fine how it looks. If I can move, it is not yet the limit.”

“In training there is no face to save?”

“I believe true disgrace is when one gives up.”

“Admirable, Lady Seol.”

Setting aside the level of martial arts, her mindset was properly set. One must be at least like that to be called a genuine person of the Murim.

Seol So-ha spoke with shining eyes.

“Please, once more.”

One might say to settle internal energy first before starting, but Seol Hong-baek nodded as if it were natural.

“Good.”

And a moment later.

Jjeong!

At the final stroke like a brushstroke, Seol So-ha at last collapsed. She went limp and fainted, so this time she truly saw her limit.

Having expressionlessly knocked aside his daughter’s sword, Seol Hong-baek then hurried over and grasped at her pulse.

Wooooong.

He checked the pulse and immediately infused internal energy. As it was the same type of internal energy, recovery would be much faster.

Jin-hyeon carefully looked over the face of the fallen Seol So-ha.

Her eyes had rolled white. Seeing her faint without closing her eyes sent an involuntary chill up his back.

‘Even when she faints, she goes as if she collapsed from a fit of frenzy.’

He suddenly wondered. If Seol So-ha truly went mad and tried to kill her opponent, how cowed would the opponent be.

After entertaining that trifling thought, Jin-hyeon shook his head. If he imagined further, only he would get goosebumps.

“Hoo.”

Letting out a sigh, Seol Hong-baek removed his hand from Seol So-ha’s pulse. Before he knew it, her rolled-back eyes also slid closed.

Jin-hyeon let out a wry smile.

“That was a bit dangerous just now.”

“Ah. That is why I was startled as well.”

“It was dangerous, but will not an experience like this once return as the learning of the one move that decides victory and defeat at the crucial moment.”

“Even as a father I am a Patriarch and a martial artist, so I should treat my daughter so, but that is truly not easy.”

“That is natural. Who can truly treat family like strangers. If one is not quite cold-hearted, it is difficult.”

Just then, Seol So-ha opened her eyes wide.

Not only Jin-hyeon but Seol Hong-baek also flinched. They had not known she would come to herself this quickly.

“Father…? Teacher?”

“Are you coming to your senses?”

Before they knew it, Seol Hong-baek had returned to being a strict teacher.

“Ah, it seems I lost consciousness. I am sorry.”

“It was quite something. I did not know you would endure this well.”

Being strict does not mean being unable to be frank. Seol Hong-baek was a person who said clearly that if it was done well it was well done, and if lacking it was lacking.

A gleam of joy tinged Seol So-ha’s expressionless face. There was still no change in expression, but from the mood alone one could tell she was proud.

“I have set your pulses right. Enter circulation at once.”

“Ah, yes.”

Seol So-ha, sitting cross-legged, immediately operated the Ten-Thousand-Year Only-White Art.

Ferocity was ferocity, but Seol So-ha’s truly impressive point was that concentration. A faint chill rippled around her body.

Jin-hyeon nodded.

“I do not know who will appear, but with that level of concentration, it is worth aiming for the upper ranks.”

Not only in circulation but her concentration in combat was excellent. Jin-hyeon truly rated her future highly.

“That is something one cannot know. Since so many people will be participating.”

“Still, there is an age limit, is there not? At Lady Seol’s age, at that level she will enter within the top ten at least.”

“Hehe, if it turns out so, it would be good.”

Seol Hong-baek looked at Jin-hyeon with a subtle gaze.

“Do you have no thought to enter, Teacher?”

Jin-hyeon waved his hand.

“I am thoroughly averse to things like martial tournaments.”

The martial arts he had learned were all domineering and practical. Of course at his current level he controlled them perfectly, but he did not want to use them in tournaments.

Seol Hong-baek’s eyes gleamed.

“If you participated, victory would be almost assured.”

“It was you, Patriarch, who said that since many participate, the result cannot be known.”

“Is not your participation the very factor that makes it impossible to guarantee the result?”

“Are you not done gilding yet?”

“I am speaking in earnest.”

Seol Hong-baek’s face became rather serious.

“The Sword Qi of that day, I still cannot forget.”

By that day he meant when he faced Dong Neung.

There are things one can know without seeing with the eyes. Seol Hong-baek felt with his body the fierce clash of the two masters. Especially when the surging Sword Qi drove Dong Neung in an instant, from Jin-hyeon he felt an indescribable majesty.

A slash savage and strong, yet chillingly rational.

‘Teacher now is surely stronger than the leaders of the Sichuan Eight Martial Houses.’

Thinking of when he first saw him, it was growth to the point of doubting if he was the same person.

Now Seol Hong-baek could be sure. Jin-hyeon’s unbelievable growth was not something obtained by mere luck. It was a strength that could not be explained by insights gained day by day by heaven’s favor.

‘He had been hiding his true skill.’

How could he reach such an amazing realm at this young age? How great was Jin-hyeon’s true skill?

He had truly many curiosities, but Seol Hong-baek did not particularly ask. Until he spoke of it, he did not intend to pry into that part. People each have secrets they wish to hide.

“…Ahem, ahem.”

Having indulged in inward, excited imaginings, Seol Hong-baek, catching himself at the sight of Jin-hyeon’s slightly embarrassed face, cleared his throat.

“I brought up something needlessly uncomfortable. I apologize.”

“It is nothing.”

“By the way, it is just about time. When So-ha’s circulation ends, let us eat together.”

“Ah, I have a separate appointment.”

“Haha, a pity.”

“I came today because I have something to ask.”

“Say whatever it is.”

Jin-hyeon scratched his cheek.

“I would also like to join the Seol clan’s line and take a look at the festival. Would that be all right?”

Seol Hong-baek’s eyes widened.

“What are you saying? If you wish to go, of course we should escort you.”

He had actually planned to go separately, half-expecting they might show him this kind of over-the-top kindness.

But in the end he had to say it. If, when they ran into each other at the festival, he said he had come on his own because he was worried he might be a needless distraction, that father and daughter, who starved for a bit of kindness would probably end up looking sullen.

Decisively, he had heard there were certain benefits when one was in party with a participant. Of course, those benefits could be received when the participant entered the main rounds.

“No need to think deeply on it. It is literally just watching.”

“Hehe, rather I am the one who wanted to ask.”

“What do you mean ask?”

“Ah, that is…”

He had not been able to bring himself to say it, but since the other first said to go together, his true feelings slipped out.

Seol Hong-baek cleared his throat again and opened his mouth.

“In truth I was in a bind because of this and that. Of course it is proper to send only So-ha with attendants, but since Sichuan has been so unsettled of late, I was thinking I should go together.”

Naturally one could think so.

In a parent’s eyes, a child seems like a child no matter how much they grow, but even so, Seol So-ha was twenty. If she had been an ordinary civilian and not a daughter of a Murim clan, she would long since have been at the age to marry and start a family.

It is not shameful to care for a daughter, but Seol So-ha might feel uncomfortable. Yet it was also true that it was worrisome to just send her like that.

“If you were to go together, could I not set my mind at ease. Of course I do not think of you as a guard. What I mean is…”

“I understand well what you mean, Patriarch. Do not worry, I do not misunderstand.”

“Hehe, I am embarrassed.”

Jin-hyeon smiled and looked down at Seol So-ha.

“Good then. Since our mutual interests align, I will follow without feeling sorry.”

Having left the Seol household, Jin-hyeon looked up at the sky.

‘It will be a spicy, tingling gathering.’

His reason for going to the Radiant Sword Festival was simple and clear.

‘All of the Sichuan Eight Martial Houses except the Black Tiger and the Red Sword will come.’

Apart from the heart one has as a parent, Seol Hong-baek saw Seol So-ha as an adult to be set independent.

The other sects would be similar. Only, those who think of face will not miss the chance to show the sect’s prestige.

‘I should check directly to see what level they are at.’

Aside from the Black Tiger and the Red Sword, there are two more sects entangled in corruption with the Mighty Tiger. Among them, the Beak-Star Saber Sect admitted guilt, but one cannot be assured with only that.

The first targets were Divine Spear and Beak-Star. If there had been more time, he would have visited directly, but since there was the Radiant Sword Festival, observing them at this chance was not bad.

There were other reasons as well. Trivial and simple, yet clear reasons.

But the biggest reason Jin-hyeon wished to be among them here was precisely because of a clan.

‘I wonder if there will be good talents.’

He no longer turned his eyes from his desire, nor ignored it.

The ambition to make his own clan on this fertile land of Sichuan. The desire to grasp everything within his sight had grown ever larger after he realized his true heart.

Atonement and yearning toward the self he had betrayed all that time.

The starting point to release all of that was the Radiant Sword Festival. There he intended to clean up and collect at the same time.

Jin-hyeon, who had been glaring at the sky with cool eyes, rubbed his hands.

“It is chilly. At a time like this, steamy dumplings are the best.”