Chapter 1-6

At Choryeong’s dismissal, Bai Shixuan went outside. With nowhere in particular to go, he wondered what he should do and began heading toward the place where the firewood had been stacked, where he had sat the previous day.

‘First, I need to build up my stamina.’

He was only eight years old. He knew no martial arts or internal cultivation methods. Still, just in case an opportunity ever came, he had always exercised continuously to build his basic physical strength. His first master had not been a particularly strong wandering swordsman. In fact, he had been among the lowest class of wandering swordsmen, the sort who literally did little more than run errands. Because of that, Bai Shixuan had not been able to learn any internal cultivation method or swordsmanship from him, but he had at least learned a few basic training methods for building physical strength.

When had it been? Once, while living with a master other than Cao Zhenshi, Bai Shixuan had developed an interest in swords and secretly tried swinging his master’s weapon. It had been so heavy that he could barely swing it properly, but unfortunately, his master had happened to come out to relieve himself and caught him in the act. Bai Shixuan had been beaten nearly to death. If one looked carefully, there were scars from blade cuts scattered across his body, wounds that had also been inflicted that day. Of course, they had not been deep cuts; his master had only intended to frighten him, so the scars were almost invisible unless one looked closely. But Bai Shixuan could see them clearly.

In any case, after that day, Bai Shixuan never again secretly swung a master’s sword, no matter whom he served. If his master permitted it, he spent one shichen—about two hours—a day building his basic physical strength. If his master did not allow it, Bai Shixuan would sneak away and train for half a shichen instead. Fortunately, Cao Zhenshi had nodded when Bai Shixuan asked for permission. He had even added that it was better than having Bai Shixuan collapse feebly while following him around.

“Huff, huff.”

There was not much to it. He held the horse stance or walked while crouching low. In that way he strengthened his lower body, then spent one sikgyeong—about thirty minutes—doing handstand push-ups against a wall to build strength in his arms. For the remaining sikgyeong, he would train his lower body again. If he had enough time, he also spent one sikgyeong running to improve his stamina. And right now, Bai Shixuan was holding the horse stance.

“What are you doing?”

“Huff. Why?”

Xuelan’s voice reached Bai Shixuan as he forced strength into his trembling legs and continued training his lower body. At some point, she had approached him. But Bai Shixuan did not even look at her and remained focused on maintaining his horse stance.

“Is that fun?”

“No.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

Xuelan tilted her head and asked as she watched Bai Shixuan continue despite saying it was not fun. She then sat down on some stacked firewood and waited for him to answer. How much time had passed? Before long, Bai Shixuan grabbed his trembling legs and collapsed onto the ground.

“I’m trying to become stronger.”

“Stronger? You’ll never become strong doing something like that.”

At Bai Shixuan’s answer, Xuelan looked at him strangely as she spoke. He knew. He did not need Xuelan to tell him something so obvious. Even if he repeated this kind of training faithfully for decades, a martial artist with internal energy could kill him with a single strike. Bai Shixuan knew that as well. But in his current circumstances, obtaining a good internal cultivation method was impossible, and he could not even afford a book on the common breathing methods used to cultivate qi. He had hoped the wandering swordsmen might help him, but they usually rejected him outright. No, he was fortunate they had not killed him for asking.

For wandering swordsmen with mediocre martial skills, they certainly possessed an excessive amount of pride in their martial arts, and none of them would ever teach Bai Shixuan. That was why training like this was all Bai Shixuan could do for now.

“I know.”

“Then why do it?”

“Even if I learn martial arts someday, I’ll still need basic physical strength. I’m training for then.”

It was a lie. Learn martial arts someday? There was virtually no chance of that happening. Still, this was how he always comforted himself. Whenever he felt like giving up, he reassured himself this way and somehow forced himself to keep exercising.

“Then are you done for today?”

“No. I just started.”

He had only finished the horse stance. There was still plenty left to do. After taking a short rest while talking with Xuelan, Bai Shixuan resumed his training. Xuelan quietly watched him for a while, then placed the qin she was carrying across her knees and began plucking its strings.

‘Why is she playing music at a time like this……?’

Bai Shixuan felt as though he was about to die from exhaustion, while Xuelan simply sat there playing the qin. For some reason, it irritated him. He considered complaining to her, but shook his head and focused on his training again.

‘Forget it. That’s training for her too…….’

Still, he honestly wished she would go somewhere else to practice. He thought it, but did not say it aloud.

“Look at that.”

“At his age already……. Tsk, tsk.”

Bai Shixuan had almost finished his handstand push-ups when laughter reached his ears. He raised his head and looked ahead. People leaving the pleasure house had noticed him and were laughing mockingly. Bai Shixuan had thought this area was secluded enough that no one would notice him, but apparently he had been mistaken. Quite a few people passed by while watching him.

“That is a boy, isn’t it?”

“A boy wearing women’s clothes with a girl beside him. At his age, too…….”

He could hear their voices. They were not merely speaking among themselves. They were deliberately speaking loudly enough for him to hear. Come to think of it, Bai Shixuan was still wearing Xuelan’s clothes. A boy dressed in women’s clothing while exercising with a girl beside him—it was easy enough to understand why people whispered as they passed.

‘Ignore them. I’ll never see them again anyway.’

If he worried about other people’s stares, he would never accomplish anything. If he had cared about what others thought, he would never have become a sword attendant or walked around looking like a beggar. What mattered to Bai Shixuan now was not how other people saw him, but doing everything he could to survive alone in this harsh, cold world. Because he understood that, Bai Shixuan ignored their gazes and quietly continued doing what he had to do.

“Haah.”

“You look exhausted.”

“Yeah. I am.”

After finishing all of his training, Bai Shixuan collapsed onto the ground and wiped the sweat running down his forehead with his sleeve. Xuelan, who had finished playing but continued waiting for him, spoke as she watched him. Bai Shixuan gave a rough nod in reply.

“You smell too.”

“Of course I do.”

He had sweated heavily. Naturally, his body smelled. Of course, it was nowhere near the terrible stench of the previous day, but the smell was still fairly strong. At Bai Shixuan’s unabashed answer, Xuelan stared at him. Bai Shixuan also turned his head and met her gaze.

“I want to wash.”

“Okay.”

At Bai Shixuan’s words, Xuelan nodded, picked up her qin, and rose to her feet. Bai Shixuan forced his barely responsive body upright and began walking after her.