Chapter 6 – Brush with Death(6)
After that, events proceeded rapidly. Murong Hyun repeatedly apologized for the rudeness committed by Murong Sua. He seemed to think it was his responsibility as an older brother for failing to stop her.
While doing so, he handed me considerable wealth, asking me to take care of Sua, and then set off again. For now, I don’t know about other matters, but one thing is certain: the Murong family is not in a normal state.
If things were normal, no matter how much I might be the one who saved his life, there would be no reason for Murong Hyun, the young family head, to entrust his young blood relative to me, who is practically a stranger.
In the first place, I met Murong Hyun because I saved him when he was attacked by assassins. I don’t know the details, but it was clear that something was happening.
And from my position of wanting to maintain connections with the Murong family if possible, there was no way I could refuse a request from someone of the standing of the young family head of the Murong family. I do not possess exceptional talent.
At best, I’m in the mid-to-lower tier. If I had been born with tremendous talent like the protagonists in martial arts novels, I would have long ago reached the peak of either the Three Disasters Sword Technique or the Heavenly Demon Divine Skill.
However, that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on the path. Twenty-five years ago, from the time I was taught the Three Disasters Sword Technique by the old man who saved me, I vowed to completely master the Three Disasters.
‘There are no regrets on the path I’ve already chosen. I simply move forward with all my might without wavering.’
That resolve remains unchanged even now. But why should I stubbornly dig only one well? If possible, learning other martial arts as a reference would certainly help my training.
That’s why I’m trying to maintain connections with the Murong family. They’re not just some obscure faction but the Murong family, one of the pillars of the orthodox Martial Alliance and one of the Five Great Families.
Not to mention the secret martial arts passed down through generations in factions or families. Even martial arts of lesser importance are absolutely never taught to complete strangers—that’s how martial artists are.
‘Rather, creating a debt now and making use of it later might not be bad.’
Up to that point, it wasn’t bad. However, a new problem I hadn’t anticipated at all caught me by the ankle. For twenty-five years, I’ve been a person who has continuously honed only the Three Disasters Sword Technique.
That means, in other words, I don’t know anything about other martial arts. I never even had the opportunity to encounter other martial arts. Originally, the old man had promised to teach me as time passed.
But he suddenly died just two years after I started training. Of course, the knowledge was at least in my head. Things like the Heavenly Sword Technique of the Namgung family or the Plum Blossom Sword Technique of the Hwasan Faction.
But that just means I only know that such sword techniques exist. It doesn’t mean I can execute the movements of those techniques. In fact, I had tried before.
Sadly, they all failed. Even if they’re all called sword techniques, the descriptions vary tremendously across novels. I tried to imitate them at least a little, however clumsily.
But I couldn’t even grasp how or what to imitate. The digression was long, but to summarize, it means I have to guide Murong Sua with only the Three Disasters Sword Technique.
Can I really satisfy a golden child who has seen and learned all sorts of good things from the Murong family with just the Three Disasters Sword Technique? However, unexpectedly, my worry turned out to be unfounded.
“Let me make one thing clear. I have no intention of taking you as my master.”
This was thanks to Murong Sua’s declaration, announced openly like a declaration of war, as soon as Murong Hyun returned to the family. I was a bit surprised, but I had no reason whatsoever to refuse.
In the first place, I only know the Three Disasters Sword Technique. If I forcibly tried to teach, I would only expose my shallow depths. I struggled to hold back my laughter and said:
“Do as you wish.”
“…Is that all?”
“Learning ultimately depends on oneself. Forcing teaching would just waste both our time without gaining anything.”
Oh dear, was it because I agreed too readily? As Murong Sua began to look at me with suspicious eyes, I wracked my brain to come up with plausible words and barely dispelled the suspicion.
There’s no reason not to be honest, but it’s not something I can proudly brag about either. If only I had reached the pinnacle with just the Three Disaster Sword Techniques.
I might have proudly declared it. Anyway, fortunately, it seems she fell for my sweet talk. Dispelling her suspicion, Murong Sua bowed her head to me and said:
“Thank you for understanding.”
“It’s fine. Everyone has their circumstances.”
“Instead, while I stay here, I will strive to die by your hand.”
“…What did you just say?”
For a moment, I wondered if I had misheard. Especially since Murong Sua’s tone had softened considerably thanks to falling for my sweet talk. But that wasn’t the case.
“A martial artist who fails in a fight where they gave their all is not worthy of living. If I cannot defeat you during my stay here, then please cut off my head yourself.”
It was exactly what I had heard initially.
“What nonsense are you talking about? Where did you learn such things?”
“From my father. No, I learned it from the family head.”
With such young lips, she was uttering terrifying words without hesitation and instead looking at me as if I were the strange one. What is this? I clearly know she’s from the Murong family.
But why do her words and actions resemble those of the evil cult?
No, more importantly.
“I am thirty years old this year.”
I’m not an old man.
“…What?”
Truly, no lie, Murong Sua’s mouth opened so wide that it seemed as if her jaw might dislocate.
…Is that something to be so surprised about?
◇
Survival of the fittest.
The weak being devoured by the strong is the cycle of nature, and it is also fitting for humans to return to this primal cycle. This is the teaching of Sua’s father, the head of the Murong family.
Martial arts exist for the primal cycle and orthodox principles, and using this enlightenment to guide the ignorant world to the right path is the new heavenly mandate of the Murong family.
If Murong Hyun had heard this, he would have been horrified and tried to dissuade her, but unfortunately, Sua was not yet at an age to judge right from wrong. She had been taught that way since childhood.
However, there was a variable her father did not anticipate.
No matter how much he tries to silence her, a person’s thoughts and values eventually manifest in words and actions. Murong Hyun, sensing something off in Sua’s words and actions, eventually chose to rebel.
First, he separated Sua, his young sister, from the family head to protect her. And Sua had only been told to keep secrets from the family members.
She was not told to do so with other people. This was because they did not expect Sua to encounter others, as the Murong family had cut off exchanges.
Anyway, they were soon to cause a bloodbath. But before that, Murong Hyun spirited Sua away and entrusted her to Mu-myung, which is why she had spoken without holding back.
“A martial artist who fails in a fight where they gave their all is not worthy of living. If I cannot defeat you during my stay here, then please cut off my head yourself.”
There was no way she, who was barely second-rate, could win. Sua herself knew this fact better than anyone.
And at that sight, as if gazing upon a lofty mountain peak, Sua felt an insurmountable wall for the first time in her life.
