****
Countless thoughts flashed through my mind.
The Wudang Sect guards were staring blankly, wondering what was going on.
"Return to your posts and stand guard. I have something to talk about with this friend."
"Yes!"
The Wudang Sect guards seemed curious about my identity, but they couldn't ask and returned with disciplined steps.
The wind blew strongly.
In the flickering flame, Cheong-hwa's eyes were also wavering along with it.
"Seeing how that tongue of yours that used to wag so well has stiffened, it seems I didn't just make a wild guess."
"How did you know?"
I asked point-blank.
There were opponents you could feign ignorance and act unreasonably with, and opponents you couldn't.
Instinctively, Cheong-hwa was someone who belonged to the latter.
"What do you mean, how did I know? You look down on the eyes of martial artists. All the five desires and seven emotions are contained on your face. You hid your expressions so well that even I was confused at first, but the subconsciously moving muscles do not lie."
Cheong-hwa continued speaking with a smile.
"Furthermore, if you truly wanted to stay in Wudang, you would have chosen to take the hits proudly rather than throwing sand during the spar. Because that is the attitude we desire."
Cheong-hwa's words became a sharp blade that pierced through me.
Having my expressions seen through as a merchant was something that hurt my pride.
However, if he could see the five desires and seven emotions from unconscious muscles just as he said, how could I deceive him?
The saying not to lie in front of a master didn't exist for no reason.
"……What are you going to do with me?"
"I want to hear something else before that. Why did you try to leave Wudang? There are as many people trying to enter our sect even just as a lay disciple as a swarm of ants in the entire Central Plains."
I pondered.
Should I speak honestly?
But thinking about it, it was a meaningless act.
It was obvious I would get caught if I lied anyway.
There was no other way but to speak honestly.
"It is because I have a body that cannot become a Wudang Sect lay disciple."
"Why?"
"As far as I know, to become a Wudang Sect lay disciple, one must fight and win against a third-generation disciple at the end. If one fails to do so, it all becomes nothing but a waste of effort. I cannot pass that exam."
"To think you would lose to a mere third-generation disciple. You really do not know yourself."
Cheong-hwa let out a hollow laugh.
"I know myself very well. I am a guy with a feeble root that cannot bloom into a flower. Rather than failing to make a flower bloom, it would be wiser to scatter my seeds and try starting in a different land."
"Have you ever learned martial arts?"
"I have not. The Three Talents Fist Method and Three Talents Mental Method I learned here are my first."
"How can you conclude so without even trying?"
That was because I knew the future.
I was a guy who even heard from my martial arts master that I would only reach the level of a second-rate master if I put in about fifty years of effort.
That was how obtuse I was regarding martial arts.
Of course, it would change if I bought talent, but where would there be an opportunity to earn money in the Wudang Sect?
Since I couldn't explain it like that, I just roughly made up an excuse.
"It's because I am a hopeless guy. I also have a lot of fear. It is a capability far too lacking to become a Wudang Sect lay disciple."
"You are lying again."
Ah, what a high-performance lie detector.
Did this mean I couldn't even just gloss over it?
Of course, I didn't think I was hopeless.
Because if I were hopeless, I wouldn't have been able to become a great merchant in my past life.
I had pride in my life, after all.
"Speak honestly. I will not tell anyone what I hear tonight."
"Honestly?"
"Yes."
"The Wudang Sect is not a vessel large enough to contain a person like me."
I didn't know anymore. I just decided to spit it out refreshingly.
This was my true feeling.
Just as martial artists looked down on the merchant world, I also looked down on martial artists.
It was because it was incredibly unpleasant to see those who couldn't even make a single brush, ink, or piece of paper acting arrogantly just because they wielded swords.
I was someone who would become a great merchant that would control the Central Plains.
I had no time to waste in the Wudang Sect.
Cheong-hwa lowered his head.
His expression couldn't be seen, hidden by the darkness.
Grind.
At that moment, the sound of teeth grinding could be heard.
I felt a sudden chill.
Did I perhaps cross the line?
To be fair, it wasn't something to say in front of a person from the Wudang Sect.
Grind, grrrind…….
Inside his closed lips, the sound of something continuously clashing and moving could be heard.
My neck wasn't going to get sliced off right now, was it?
Just as my body was stiff with tension, Cheong-hwa threw back his lowered head.
"Kuhahaha!"
Unexpectedly, Cheong-hwa laughed loudly.
The sound of his teeth clashing was also a sound that came out while trying to hold back his laughter.
That laughter was so heartily loud that I was worried the sleeping people might wake up.
After laughing out loud for a long while, Cheong-hwa wiped the corners of his eyes with his fingers.
"I completely understand what you mean."
……Really? No matter how much of a master he was, could he know my inner thoughts?
However, since he said he understood, a sense of expectation arose.
"Then are you letting me go?"
"No?"
An arc was drawn in Cheong-hwa's eyes.
"As a person of the Wudang Sect, I cannot just stay still after hearing such words. I shall show you the true essence of Wudang."
"Pardon?"
"Watch closely."
At the same time as those words, the torch went out.
To think the torch that was blazing brightly just a moment ago would suddenly go out.
It was clear that Cheong-hwa had performed some sort of trick.
But what was he telling me to look at?
I don't know about martial artists, but I couldn't see anything in the dark.
However, something to see soon appeared.
A blue aura began to stretch out like a haze from the darkness.
The blue haze wrapped around like a band, forming a single shape.
That was coming from Cheong-hwa's body.
He was emitting inner energy.
I had also seen the inner energy emitted by countless people while meeting many martial artists in my past life.
But I had undoubtedly never seen such a clear and pure color like that.
Cheong-hwa's blue aura didn't look like it would be swallowed up even in this thick darkness.
On the contrary, the blue aura was expanding its momentum and pushing the darkness away.
The haze taking the shape of a sword slowly began to move.
The haze was like water.
It flowed smoothly like a river, raged like when passing through a canyon, and was continuously unbroken as if it were in the middle of the ocean.
I stared blankly at the scene of the blue haze embroidering the darkness.
My chest felt tight, and an unknown energy hotly welled up and burned inside my body.
It felt as if the universe was unfolding right in front of me.
I wanted to see more, more.
I concentrated with the feeling of being sucked into that universe.
But at that moment, the haze abruptly cut off.
I had to taste a deep sense of regret in the darkness.
"This is the very sword of Wudang. The Taiji Wisdom Sword."
Soon, a bright fire blazed in the darkness.
That fire wasn't a torch, but was burning like a will-o'-the-wisp on top of Cheong-hwa's palm.
They said martial artists could perform a feat called the True Fire of Samadhi once they reached a certain realm, and it seemed to be just that.
It was my first time actually seeing it.
'……But what does he want me to do about it?'
Such a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Just why did he show me a demonstration of the Taiji Wisdom Sword?
"You spoke of Wudang's vessel, so I showed you Wudang's depth. I tell you, there is absolutely no one that we cannot contain."
Ah. So his pride was hurt because of those words.
Only then did I grasp the whole situation.
However, I shook my head.
Who was I to evaluate Wudang's martial arts?
When it came to martial arts, Cheong-hwa's words were correct.
Right now, Cheong-hwa was not understanding my words.
"Saying that I cannot be contained is not because I am too big. It is because my shape is different."
"Your shape is different?"
"How can a fox eat food contained in a gourd bottle, and how can a white crane drink water from a wide bowl? It is the same logic as that."
"Haha. You use quite the sophisticated vocabulary. I heard from Cheong-hyeon that you were the child of an ignorant farmer."
Cheong-hwa laughed.
"However, I cannot agree with your words. The foundation of Wudang is the lowest place of all things. If a fox is in front, it changes into a flat bowl, and if a white crane is in front, a deep well is dug. Thus, the spout of the gourd bottle we possess is like water, bringing goodness to everyone."
As expected of a Daoist, he sure spouted a lot of cloud-catching nonsense.
Since he spoke to this extent, I had no other choice either.
"It seems I made a slip of the tongue. I apologize. But I cannot stay in Wudang."
"Why?"
"Just because."
I laughed inwardly.
If I acted stubborn like this, no matter how much it was Cheong-hwa, he wouldn't be able to refute it.
What reason could there be when I just said I didn't want to?
Now, he had no choice but to let me go.
"I see."
Cheong-hwa stroked his chin with a serious expression.
It seemed he had indeed hit a wall.
It seemed he hadn't expected me to come out this shamelessly.
However, the words that came out of Cheong-hwa's mouth far exceeded my expectations.
"It is said 'a child falling into a well'. How can one just watch as a human being when a young child is entering a well? And if a child destined for greatness is trying to enter a well, it must absolutely be stopped. Because that is the reason for an adult's existence."
"Pardon?"
I was also an adult who was nearly fifty years old.
You punk.
Right now, perhaps because of his martial arts, Cheong-hwa looked to be at most around thirty years of age.
It meant he was at too young of an age to be talking about age to me.
"You cannot leave Wudang. That is, without my order."
Just what kind of bolt out of the blue was this all of a sudden?
It felt as if lightning was crashing down right behind me.
"……The national law states that kidnapping is a crime."
"Haha. Kidnapping, you say. Is there a kidnapping that a father permits? You seem to have forgotten, but the one who sent you to the Wudang Sect was not us, but your father."
"Why on earth are you trying to hold onto me to this extent? Why is the Great Wudang Sect holding onto a child of a lowly farmer like me?"
I spat out the words with the feeling of vomiting blood.
I was actually so agitated that I could taste blood in my throat.
Even I thought I couldn't ask a more reasonable question than this.
Cheong-hwa smiled while gently closing his eyes.
That smile even contained a strange, profound aura.
However, the words that came out were far from profound.
"Just because."
<><><>
Cheong-hwa glanced back and smiled.
It was a truly unique expression.
The only child in the entire Central Plains who would make a face like he was being dragged to a slaughterhouse while going to the Wudang Sect would be that child.
It wasn't like he was hiding his expression out of embarrassment, either.
In fact, Muk Hwi-young had tried to run away several times, only to be caught by the scruff of his neck by Cheong-hwa's hand.
'What an absurd fellow.'
To say that Wudang wasn't a vessel large enough to contain him.
What arrogant words were these.
If the Sect Leader Sahyung had heard these words, he would have grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed.
However, in Cheong-hwa's eyes, Muk Hwi-young had enough reason to think that way.
Muk Hwi-young himself knew it as well.
That he was an incredible genius.
When the oral traditions of the Three Talents Mental Method were being taught, it was said that Muk Hwi-young closed his eyes without a moment's hesitation.
In a way, that was like a protest.
A protest asking how they could fail to recognize someone with such incredible talent like him, and teach him something like the Three Talents Mental Method.
'If the Wudang Sect raises that genius…….'
Naturally, the number of masters a sect raised was precisely the strength of the sect.
That was why the Nine Great Sects and One Union always scoured the Central Plains with lit eyes to find talented martial bones.
But how could they just watch as a genius who rolled in on his own two feet tried to leave?
'Sect Leader Sahyung will be pleased.'
Cheong-hwa thought to himself as he beamed with a smile.
They were dreaming completely different dreams.