Side Story 15. Martial Match (3)

“When you throw a punch, do it like you’re striking a temple bell!”

Divine Monk had not taken Tsering as a disciple.
No matter how little he was bound by worldly rules, he could not take a woman as a disciple without his sect’s permission.
Shaolin was a martial sect that forbade women.
What did it matter whether one was male or female when teaching the Buddha’s teachings, but the precepts were what they were.

“No, not like that. I mean hit it like a temple bell, with a tteong- sound.”

Of course, he had only refrained from taking her as a formal disciple. He still decided to teach her, lightly, how to use her hands and feet.
It was a harsh world.
If a child with no relatives, who had even lost her parents, was to survive in this world, should she not learn how to protect herself?
That was why Divine Monk taught Tsering fist-and-kick techniques.
In teaching her how to breathe, the profundity of Prajna Divine Art naturally found its way in.
In her footwork was mixed the marvelous subtlety of the Vajra Immovable Movement Art, and when she threw a punch, the sturdiness of the famous Arhat Fist was blended in.

He did wonder whether this was really acceptable, but then again, had not even the lamas, whose dharma power surpassed his own, quietly passed down the Great Hand Seal.
Divine Monk taught her while justifying it to himself that way.

“Like this! Hup!”
“How is a bell sound supposed to come out when I’m punching a sack of beans!”
“Eh? Why are you saying you can’t do it?”

As Divine Monk saw it, Tsering’s talent was not something that pierced the heavens.
His standards for what counted as genius were very high, but Tsering’s talent was certainly only average.

“It really can be done, right?”
“Of course.”

Still, Tsering possessed an advantage many people did not have.

“Okay.”

She trusted what people told her.
If you explained that, when striking a sack of beans hanging in the air, a temple bell sound had to ring out for one to grasp the ultimate principle of punching, most people wouldn’t believe it.
Normally, only after the master personally made the bell sound ring would they be moved and devote themselves to training.
But Divine Monk deliberately didn’t demonstrate it for Tsering.

“I’ll give it a try.”

Yet little Tsering said that and then began practicing straight punches into the sack of beans.
After that first time, she never once said things like, ‘Does this really work?’ or ‘Did Grandpa lie to me?’
She beat on that clattering sack of beans for a full five years.
Looking at Tsering, Divine Monk thought.
That unshakable immovable heart might be the greatest talent of all for learning Shaolin Fist.

‘Ah, right, she’s not my disciple, so what am I thinking?’

That was how he tried to deny it.
And in the end, did a temple bell sound really come out of that sack of beans……
That answer was proven here at Nam Family Manor before a great many people.

Tteoeoong!

It was unmistakably the sound of a temple bell.
It was even a clear, pure bell tone.
Nam Yu-gyeol’s sword, struck by that punch, broke.
Had that temple bell sound come from the sword breaking?
No. A sword didn’t make such a clear sound when it broke.

That much was obvious from the way Nam Yu-gyeol’s eyes had rolled back white as he was flung away.
The moment her fist struck the sword, a wave of Qi burst out from the point of contact.
It stirred Nam Yu-gyeol’s internal energy into chaos and shook his spirit to its core.

But Tsering herself wore a puzzled expression.
The secret technique she had learned from Divine Monk was still hard to use in actual combat.
The problem was controlling its power.

“Ghk, urk, what kind of sorcery did you use!”

That much was clear just from the fact that Nam Yu-gyeol staggered back to his feet.
Normally his spirit should have been shaken badly enough for him to pass out, but it seemed she had used too little power.

“This is still hard to use.”

The referee, who had been about to declare Tsering the winner, hesitated.
If a swordsman lost his sword, then in a martial match like this he should have acknowledged defeat.
But Nam Yu-gyeol flung away his broken sword and shouted.

“I can still fight!”

Boos erupted from the crowd. They came from the beggars cheering for Tsering.
But Tsering merely shrugged.

“Okay.”

She had already shown her secret technique, but if she ended it in a single blow, would that not be a bit unfair to her opponent.
If he showed that much fighting spirit, it was only natural to answer it.

“Yiaaaap!”

Nam Yu-gyeol’s momentum as he charged in was fairly impressive.
Compared to the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild’s disciple, who had immediately conceded defeat and retreated, it seemed the Nam Family Manor Lord had raised his children well.
Of course, Tsering didn’t hold back any longer.

Jjeeok!

The tip of Tsering’s foot drove into Nam Yu-gyeol’s side.
The force was anything but ordinary, and Nam Yu-gyeol was lifted into the air.
It looked as though he would simply be flung away, but Tsering immediately switched legs and kicked again in midair.
Nam Yu-gyeol’s body rose again.
And then came the countless chained strikes Tsering’s hands unleashed.

Peobeobeobeok!

Even someone who knew nothing of martial arts could tell that Tsering’s fist-and-kick techniques were profound.
And no wonder. After that first kick, Nam Yu-gyeol’s body never touched the ground even once.
Tsering’s punches were so exquisitely timed that Nam Yu-gyeol simply seemed to be floating in midair.

Peobeok- Ppaak!

When what must have felt like an eternity to Nam Yu-gyeol finally ended.
He fell with his eyes rolled back white.

A brief silence followed.

“W-white side, victory!”

Tsering’s victory was declared.

“Waaaaaaah!”
“That was incredible! What is with that beggar!”

The cheers burst out as if they had been waiting for the chance.
What Tsering had shown amazed even those who had looked down on her.
Tsering beamed and waved to the people.
Nam Yu-gyeol, who had been sprawled out flat, soon staggered down from the platform on his own feet.
Tsering had held back.

The cheers continued for quite some time.
And in the waiting area, Cheongho had suddenly risen to his feet.

“……It’s certain.”

His eyes wavered in a way unlike him.
That strange familiarity he had felt from Tsering, this time he felt it clearly.

‘What’s the connection?’

Tsering’s martial arts carried Yi-gang’s scent.
Yi-gang mainly used a sword, but when he used fist-and-kick techniques, he employed a fist art similar to Tsering’s.
That must have been the influence of the time Yi-gang had stayed at Shaolin.
Both Tsering and Yi-gang had received instruction from the same Divine Monk, so it was only natural.
But since Cheongho didn’t know that, he could only sense it through pure instinct.

Cheongho was about to go to Tsering and ask her.
Whether she knew Yi-gang.
But he was not given the chance.

“Uh, you have to go up now.”
“……”

Since Tsering had won, the current score between Nam Family Manor and the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild was one to one.
The outcome would now be decided by the third match.
Cheongho was silent for a moment, then nodded.

He could simply finish the martial match quickly and ask afterward.
His expression grew cold.
He would dispatch his opponent quickly.
With that thought, he stepped onto the platform.

“Sang-ye.”

Instead of remaining seated beside the Nam Family Manor Lord, So-ryu had come down near the platform.
That was after seeing the chained fist technique Tsering had just displayed.
The moment she saw it, she drastically revised her assessment of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild.

“Yes.”
“You saw the match just now, didn’t you?”
“I did.”

Tsering was unquestionably a master.
And one who had learned Shaolin martial arts, at that.
She had no idea what sort of means the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild had used, but they had somehow picked up a strange prodigy from somewhere.
They themselves did not seem to have expected this result.
The Guild Master of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild was hugging his own sect members, rejoicing in the victory.

“Do not underestimate your opponent.”

The third opponent was a strange boy with a broken saber at his waist.
But like Tsering just now, he might also be hiding his true strength.

“I won’t underestimate him.”

Baek Sang-ye promised she would not let her guard down.
If so, that would be enough.
So-ryu nodded.
Baek Sang-ye was hardly lacking in skill either.
Even if she had fought that Tsering girl from before, she likely would not have lost.

“Red side, Baek Sang-ye. White side, Cheongho.”

The two martial artists stepped onto the platform.
In accordance with martial match etiquette, they exchanged fist-clasp salutes.

“Nice to meet you.”

Baek Sang-ye spoke first.
Cheongho, for whatever reason, remained expressionless.

“My iron staff is heavy, so you’d better be careful.”
“……”

Cheongho didn’t answer.
It was complete disregard. Even Baek Sang-ye could tell that Cheongho was thinking about something else.
Baek Sang-ye smiled faintly.
It was a cold smile, one not reflected in her eyes at all.

“Begin!”

Baek Sang-ye did not underestimate Cheongho.
Putting aside how irritating he was, the moment she stood facing him, she felt that his martial arts were far from ordinary.
Baek Sang-ye had already been drawing out her invisible pressure.
Her internal energy would not fall short when compared to any rising star of the younger generation.
Even So-ryu, a Transcendent master, acknowledged that.
An ordinary person would not even be able to breathe before the aura Baek Sang-ye gave off when she got serious.

‘He looks perfectly fine.’

Cheongho was perfectly fine.
She could not shake him with invisible pressure.

Cheongho drew his saber.
And he hid his body behind that single saber.
He had something to ask Tsering, and he wanted to end the match quickly.

“Hup!”

That was why he didn’t hold back.
When Cheongho swung his saber, it was as though a bolt of lightning had struck down.
Among everyone here, there were probably only a handful who could follow that motion with their eyes.

But no sound of cloth being cut rang out.

Kaaang!

Sparks flew.
Baek Sang-ye blocked Cheongho’s saber.
She looked startled by the numbing shock in the hand gripping the iron staff, but now it was her turn.

“Yiaap!”

It was not a very martial-artist-like battle cry.
But the force behind the iron staff she swung seemed more than enough to break a great tree.
Cheongho’s inexperience lay in choosing to block it with his saber instead of dodging there.
The iron staff was filled with vast, powerful internal energy.
He tried to hide behind his saber once more, but the iron staff broke the already snapped blade again.

Chaenggang!

Even then, its momentum remained and sent Cheongho flying.
Cheongho flew across the rather wide martial platform through the air.
There was nowhere to place his feet in midair, so he couldn’t stop himself.
In the end, he was flung right outside the martial platform.
It was clearly an out-of-bounds loss.
The referee hastily shouted.

“Out of bounds, out-of-bounds loss!”

At that moment.
The Guild Master of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild jumped to his feet.

“Not yet, not yet!”

The people too gasped when they saw Cheongho’s condition.

Cheongho’s body had not touched the ground.
He had stabbed his broken saber into the ground and was supporting himself upside down, balanced on it.
It was an inhuman display of reflexes and balance.

“Uwaaaah!”

The crowd erupted in cheers.
Cheongho put strength into the hand gripping the saber and sprang his body back up.
Then he landed back atop the martial platform.
The cheers at that clean feat showed no sign of stopping.
Should the weapon touching the ground count as an out-of-bounds loss too?
The referee hesitated over what to do.
But the cheering was too loud. At this rate, he would earn the hatred of the enraged crowd, or at least that of the Guild Master of the Three Pleasures Butchering Guild.
After hesitating, the referee finally shouted.

“Continue the match! The out-of-bounds loss shall be void!”

But the clash did not resume at once.
Cheongho looked at his left arm.
It might have been broken. The arm that had blocked the iron staff was swollen badly.
But there was something more important than that pain.

“You.”

When he collided with Baek Sang-ye, he felt it again.
The scent of Yi-gang’s martial arts.

“What relationship do you have with my dad?”
“……”

Baek Sang-ye’s lips parted slightly.

“Wh-what did you say?”

It was the first time in her life she had ever been asked a question like that.