The Scent Of People (2)

Jin-hyeon’s words were dry and plain.

He kept his despair and confusion out of it. This was a place to speak the facts of what had happened to him, and loading such talk with needless emotion was not wise.

The forest air was cold. The vibration the white-haired youth gave off lowered the already low temperature.

But as Han Cheol-sang listened, he felt the nape of his neck grow hot.

“That is the end.”

Like the beginning and the middle, the end was plain.

His voice did not waver, just like his eyes.

“That is why a blockhead who knew nothing of the world stands here now.”

“…”

“Is that enough?”

Han Cheol-sang looked down at him in silence. With that near-blank face, there was little to read.

Jin-hyeon rose to his feet.

“It is cold. Let us head in. I want a real rest tonight.”

“Is it the truth?”

“It is.”

“Setting my trust aside, you know that is hard to believe.”

Jin-hyeon answered, unimpressed.

“That is why I said it does not matter whether you believe it.”

“Even so.”

“I would say it is still more realistic than talk of returning from death, to the past, or being ridden by a ghost.”

“It feels no different from claiming a resurrection. To the listener it sounds like you are toying with me.”

“I told you my secret. Truthfully the word ‘secret’ is silly. No one would believe it, and I had no one close enough to bare my past to, so it became a secret. It is not something I must hide from my own people.”

At that, Han Cheol-sang flinched.

He had had no one close enough to tell. Turn it around and it meant he had given Han Cheol-sang that closeness.

“You are free to think me deranged. I will not hold my trust in you hostage to force belief. However you see me, my trust in you will not break easily.”

Jin-hyeon turned away.

“Let’s go.”

Seeing that plain composure, Han Cheol-sang felt a sharp shame.

Of course he could not accept all of it. It was too outlandish to take on trust alone.

Yet.

His human trust in the youth did not break, because the white-haired Patriarch’s bearing and words were consistent.

As he said, he did not force his confession as truth. People often feel slighted despite such words.

Even so, Jin-hyeon showed no hurt. It was not an act. He understood Han Cheol-sang’s reaction as natural.

‘So young.’

Han Cheol-sang’s eyes shook as if from an earthquake while looking at Jin-hyeon’s back.

‘I am far younger than a man ten years my junior.’

Age aside, the right reading was that the other’s conduct was extraordinary.

In any case, Han Cheol-sang took him for a man far more seasoned and at ease. His bearing left no other choice.

‘Then what am I?’

Han Cheol-sang recalled their talk from before he carried Gu Hee.

‘If I said I saw spirits or lived a thousand years, could you believe me?’

‘How could I not believe you?’

It was shameful beyond measure.

He had not expected such outlandish words in truth, yet if asked whether he kept his own, he had not.

Even knowing it was natural, Han Cheol-sang felt defeated. He felt sorry to Jin-hyeon and to himself.

‘Even so…’

Jin-hyeon waved without looking back.

“What are you doing? Come.”

In that instant, Han Cheol-sang’s long saber flashed out like lightning.

Hwaaak!

Closing in at once, Han Cheol-sang unfolded the Life-Snatching Linked Saber.

Jjeojeojeong!

A savage line that rose then flowed down in one seamless arc.

He spun and drove his cuts, bursting projected force to free his movement and chain the next blow at once. The speed and flexibility of his saberwork chilled the guts of any onlooker.

Jjeojeojeong! Peoeong!

Jin-hyeon met it with a practical hard-sword style. He focused more on defense than offense with no thought to counter, yet he calmly stopped the ultimate killing saber.

After several Linked Saber sequences, Han Cheol-sang’s eyes changed again.

Hook!

His aura sank low, heavy and intense unlike before.

He backed a few steps, then stamped the earth in an explosive launch.

Kwaang!

With a thunderous boom he charged and dropped a single monstrous cut.

Then Jin-hyeon’s figure flickered like light and slipped past the blade in an instant.

Hwoong!

The long saber, swung with a mountain-pressing might, halted before touching ground.

Jjeojeojeojeok!

From the saber tip’s point a crack ran on for ten meters before stopping.

The blade pressure was so immense the earth split. It was a ruinous art that boasted destructive power.

Han Cheol-sang turned his head with his saber still extended. At some point Jin-hyeon had come to his right and leveled the Indestructible Sword at his neck.

“Was that a break?”

At his question, Jin-hyeon lowered his blade.

“Had you meant to cleave outright, I could not have taken the angle so easily. The Heaven-Shattering Saber is a heavy attack that cannot be blocked even if known, and is hard to evade even if foreseen.”

“…”

“But its first form, Severing the Peak, throws a wide field of projected force, so one must slip away at a right angle.”

“…”

“Naturally, that’s only if one can avoid it.”

Han Cheol-sang gazed at him, then sighed and sheathed his blade.

“Knowing the name is not the same as breaking the method. Without truly knowing the art, one cannot respond like this.”

“If you swung in earnest, I would not do it like this. Life-Snatching and Heaven-Shattering have few formal aphorisms to quote.”

“Knowing even that gives your non-confession considerable weight.”

Jin-hyeon grumbled.

“You drew steel and swung just to check that one point.”

“You could have read my Life-Snatching Saber. It rides momentum and your eye is keen. Predicting the Heaven-Shattering Saber’s projected range was the shock.”

He called it shocking, yet his face was calm.

“Only after crossing blades am I ready to believe.”

Ready to believe did not mean belief complete.

But there was no need to feel unease that he had recognized the Divine Saber Sect’s sealed killing art, the Life-Snatching Blood Saber.

Han Cheol-sang asked gravely,

“You dreamed of becoming one with the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader?”

“It was like a dream, yet it was not merely a dream. It was an experience beyond words.”

“How in the world… Was it because of that Yin King Tome you mentioned at the end?”

“I do not know. There is one thing that puzzles me.”

Jin-hyeon’s face grew serious with his words.

“There was clearly writing in the Yin King Tome. The Alliance Leader read it, and I who was one with him read it too. Yet I cannot remember what it said.”

Han Cheol-sang stroked his chin.

“If so many lunged for it, it should be famous even after a hundred years. Yet I have never heard of a thing called the Yin King Tome.”

“Whatever the case, if the cutting is done, let’s go.”

“One more thing.”

“What now.”

A tinge of tension rose on Han Cheol-sang’s face.

“Then the art you now practice is the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader’s?”

“It is called the Heavenly Wolf True Art. The Eight Wastes Alliance Leader compiled many supreme arts of the Central Plains to forge it.”

“An honor then. To have faced the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader’s martial art. And…”

Han Cheol-sang swallowed without meaning to, oddly flushed.

“It also surprises me that Life-Snatching and Heaven-Shattering were arts of his lieutenants.”

“They did not tell you that in the Divine Saber Sect.”

“They did not.”

“Fair enough. That’s none of my business.”

Jin-hyeon started ahead.

Han Cheol-sang could not help but follow.

“Patriarch.”

“What is it?”

“Even if many become close to you, it is best not to tell this story.”

“Is that jealousy I hear?”

“It isn’t that!”

“If it isn’t, what’s with the reaction?”

Han Cheol-sang barely crushed the urge to draw and swing.

“A hundred years may have passed, yet many still hate the Eight Wastes Alliance Leader. Even as a joke, calling yourself his heir could snare you in trouble.”

“I know.”

“You may confide in those you judge tight-lipped, yet the fewer who know, the better.”

“I understand what you are implying. I’ll watch my tongue, don’t worry too much.”

“Understood.”

Han Cheol-sang sighed without realizing and looked up at the sky.

‘Eight Wastes Alliance Leader? A thousand-year dream? Damn it.’

There was simply no way not to believe this absurd tale.

When they returned to their quarters, Seol So-ha and Im Yeo-wol were still awake.

“Teacher, are you alright?”

“Can’t you see? I’m fine, of course.”

“Thank goodness. How did it go?”

Jin-hyeon gave a wry smile and patted So-ha’s shoulder.

“It’s handled, for now. We’ll talk after the Radiant Sword Festival ends.”

The main event was ahead. He did not want her focus scattered.

So-ha nodded.

“Understood.”

“Sleep. The finals start tomorrow.”

“Yes. Please rest well, Teacher. You too, Chef Han.”

Han Cheol-sang shrugged.

“It is not our bedtime yet.”

“Pardon?”

Jin-hyeon beckoned to Im Yeo-wol.

“If you are not sleepy, come talk.”

“Ah, yes.”

As Yeo-wol approached, Jin-hyeon raised his forefinger to So-ha.

“Just so you know, there is no need to feel left out. This is other business. You are here for the Festival, not for outside matters.”

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll sleep. Please see to your work.”

“I look forward to tomorrow.”

Leaving So-ha to her room, the three went to a corner of the first floor and ordered drinks.

Jin-hyeon told Im Yeo-wol what had happened.

Im Yeo-wol was shocked. That three of the Eight Martial Houses had done such a thing surprised her, and that Jin-hyeon had fought and beaten two of them shocked her too.

The greatest shock was that the Abundant Prosperity Guild Master and the Divine Spear House Master were dead.

“Will this be alright?”

It was grave enough for the usually quiet Im Yeo-wol to ask.

Of course, to Jin-hyeon, it was not.

“I meant to clear out the Eight Houses from the start. ‘Alright’ does not enter into it.”

“In that case…”

Im Yeo-wol asked carefully,

“Do you intend to take Sichuan for your own?”

Han Cheol-sang glanced at Jin-hyeon.

Jin-hyeon smiled.

“If I must, I will. Even if I make Sichuan my house, that does not mean I may do as I please.”

“Sir?”

“I have no talent for governing. There is a Sichuan Branch, the work is theirs. But if you ask whether I mean my sect to be Sichuan’s foremost, I do.”

Yeo-wol’s eyes wavered.

“But this is not the place to discuss it. As Patriarch I owe you two a clear short-term objective. That is why I called you.”

“What is it?”

Lifting his cup, Jin-hyeon said,

“As soon as the Radiant Sword Festival ends, erase the rest of the Eight Houses from Sichuan, save the White Sword Seol Clan, the Black Tiger Fist Sect, the Red Sword Sect, and the Beak-Star Saber Sect.”

“!!”

“And if possible, remove one of them before the Festival even ends.”