Chapter 64. The Cold Glint of a Well-Polished Sword (11)
"Okay,” Ma-Ra answered brusquely, after which Woo-Moon returned to his place to continue his mental image training.
However, when he tried to concentrate and conjure up a mental image, something that he tried not to think about continued to come back to mind. Although he felt guilty toward Ma-Ra and told himself not to think about it, the image he had seen earlier continued to appear.
‘So shapely...so white...’
The first sight of a woman’s body was too much of a shock for this virgin young man. How could Woo-Moon, who was in the prime of his youth, keep his thoughts from being distracted by such a beautiful sight?
***
Pow!
A teacup and teapot that were sitting on the table exploded.
Next, the decorative pottery placed on the shelves exploded one piece after another.
“Ugh...”
Three masked men in blue prostrating in front of Hye-Ryeong were trembling and suffering under pressure. The intense waves of aura she radiated shook their organs and made them nauseous.
Hye-Ryeong’s well-groomed hair began to turn azure from the ends as it gently floated toward the sky, strand by strand.
‘She...she really is amazing. She has definitely reached at least the Transcendent realm!’
As the three masked people were filled with awe despite their suffering, Hye-Ryeong spat out through her teeth, “Say it again. Who did you say it was?”
“From what our scouts recognized, based on his appearance and attire, it should be Song Woo-Moon, ma'am,” answered the one with the highest rank among the three masked men, grimacing in pain.
Hye-Ryeong tried her best to suppress her anger but failed.
“Song Woo-Moon! What a disgusting creature, just like his mother. How dare he ruin my plans!”
The other person in the room, a handsome scholar in his late twenties who hadn’t said anything until now, slowly unfurled a palm leaf fan.
“I heard that the Saber Emperor Jeong I-Moon took action and even brought over the Hefei Prefect as well. Have we handled the loose ends properly?” he asked Hye-Ryeong.
“Hmpf. I’ve already made sure that the people that bastard Go Mu-Dong sent out can’t say anything to anyone. That two-faced bastard... To think he got beaten by a brat! Anyway, I don’t see how they can find out I’m involved, and even if they do, so what? If that old bastard Saber Emperor doesn’t meddle, none of the others will dare to do anything to the Iron Sword Baek Family.”
The difference between a mere branch of the Golden Dragon Bank and the Baek Family was unimaginable. Even though they were also involved in the slave market, the Baek Family wasn’t a force that the government could touch—no, to be exact, Baek Hye-Ryeong herself wasn’t someone they could touch.
“Good. Then, when do you plan to start the revolt?”
Hye-Ryeong had always found the beautiful scholar’s smile distasteful. Although she felt like killing him with a single blow every time she faced him, she held herself back. It wasn’t that she was afraid of him. Why would she have to be afraid when she was leagues stronger than he?
No, she just held herself back as she couldn’t ignore the power behind him.
“Don’t rush me. There’s a time for everything.”
Mu Heon, the scholar, shamelessly smiled at her cold words.
“Okay, then let’s wait a little longer.”
***
Muwi Jayeon.[1]
One should act in accordance with the laws of nature and to not engage in any forced actions.
Avoid unnecessary ornaments for the sake of human desires and convenience. They are forced and cause wars and sorrow.
In order to attain the Dao, one must let go of all such things, escape the confines of worldly matters, enter nature, and live a life of inaction rather than forced action.
“Whew... it really is frustrating.”
Woo-Moon felt stifled as his head was pounding.
The Celestial Sect's Forbidden Divine Art and the Gentle Celestial Sword he had learned were both rooted in Daoism. Thus, Woo-Moon had been reading the Dao De Jing written by the founder of the Celestial Sect, Laozi, for some time now.
However, the more he read, the more frustrated he became.
Woo-Moon tapped Eun-Ah on the head as she played with a small doll at his feet.
Growl!!
Eun-Ah had been busy spinning the doll around with her front paws and gently biting it. However, she was delighted by Woo-Moon deciding to play with her. She started to prance around and gently nip at his hands.
Although Woo-Moon smiled momentarily at that sight, his worries weren’t resolved yet.
‘Should I really give up all of my greed and desires and just return to nature to live? Is that really the only path?’
At that time, something suddenly occurred to him.
The last words that were delivered upon him by the old Daoist.
“We call it ‘the Dao,’ but it is not just one path. The Dao makes no distinction between good and evil. That's why there are holy immortals and devil immortals, wine immortals, evil immortals and sword immortals in this world. Regardless of what others say, do not look at the Dao in the same way that everyone else does. Follow your own path, realize your own truth.”
He hadn’t thought that it was important at the time, but now that he thought back to it again, Woo-Moon realized that the old Daoist had said it because he had expected him to have the dilemma that he was having now.
The words that seemed nothing but random musings at the time now made so much sense.
The words had not changed, but he had.
Woo-Moon realized that just like these words, everything in the world could have a different meaning depending on one’s perspective.
A single cup of alcohol, a single tael of silver, even a single pebble on the street—they could all encapsulate the meaning of existence that his eyes were unable to see.
‘Ah...’
As his head became clearer, he could feel the image of the Gentle Celestial Sword becoming clearer and the energy of the Forbidden Divine Technique roaring inside him with greater vigor.
Nothing in the world had just a single meaning.
That said, even though he realized the true intent behind this statement and his martial skills had improved, unfortunately, it still wasn’t the answer to his greatest concern. It was just a realization from a tangent to his path.
Still, the old Daoist’s words were quite comforting.
‘A Sword Immortal... I will follow my own path and realize my own truth.’
It wasn’t like Woo-Moon to keep grumbling over never-ending worries. With his new realizations in mind, he simply stood up and left his room.
In the training hall, the young guards and Dok-Ryeok-Rat trio were training. He demonstrated a few punches for them and taught them the correct posture.
Then, Jin-Jin came to him and said, “Hey, that girl you brought over.... She doesn’t come out or eat at all. Please go and see if she’s okay.”
She was referring to Ma-Ra. It had already been two days since she had arrived. However, according to Jin-Jin, from the moment she had entered the room until now, she hadn’t come out even once.
‘What’s going on?’
Woo-Moon went to Ma-Ra’s room and knocked on the door.
“Ma-Ra, are you in there?”
"Here."
“Can I come in?”
"Can."
Ma-Ra was sitting cross-legged on her bed. It didn't look like there was any particular problem with her, so Woo-Moon was relieved.
"Are not you hungry?"
"Hungry,” she responded, her answer coming out almost immediately.
Confused, Woo-Moon asked, “Why didn’t you go eat then? I heard you haven’t come out a single time since yesterday.”
“Resting.”
“What?"
Woo-Moon looked dumbfounded for a moment at her words. Soon, he remembered the last thing that he had said to Ma-Ra.
“Then, rest now.”
Woo-Moon had only assumed that Ma-Ra simply didn’t know much about how the world worked, as she had done nothing but train in the art of assassination all this time. However, hearing her logic, he realized that there may be more problems than that for this seventeen-year-old girl.
“So you’re telling me that you’ve been resting all this time because I told you to do so yesterday?”
When Ma-Ra nodded her head without hesitation, Woo-Moon felt a serious headache coming.
“I mean, I know I said to rest, but if you’re hungry, you should eat. I’m not your master, why do you wait like this and starve yourself just because I said you should rest?”
Ma-Ra quietly pointed her finger at Woo-Moon.
“You,” she said. Then she pointed at herself. “Save me. Favor. Listen to command.”
“No—I mean, yes, it is good to return a favor. But that doesn’t mean you have to literally do only what I say. That’s not how it works.”
“Repay favor. Listen to command.”
“No, what I’m trying to say is...”
“Repay. Favor. Listen to command.”
From that point on, Ma-Ra only kept repeating the same thing no matter what Woo-Moon would say to persuade her. Eventually, Woo-Moon realized that there would be no end to this argument and shook his head.
“You must be starving. Get up, let’s go eat.”
“Okay.”
In the span of eating a meal together and returning to the room, Woo-Moon realized something important about the girl.
There was nothing proactive about any of Ma-Ra’s actions. She only reacted passively to whatever Woo-Moon told her. He wondered why she would follow his words like this.
‘Hmm... is she acting sort of like a puppy and following me around just because I saved her? How was she raised...’
Woo-Moon could only sigh inwardly and swear he’d beat up those who had raised her. His curiosity now roused, he turned to Ma-Ra.
“I’d like to know about your past. Would you tell me?”
“Father, Assassin Master of Formless Veil. Learned assassination art from Assassin Master.”
“... is that it?”
"Yes."
In the end, Woo-Moon had no choice but to ask about every separate detail, one by one. Fortunately, Ma-Ra answered all of his questions honestly. Unfortunately, every answer was just too damn short.
She was born with a special talent for martial arts. That was why, from a young age, she had held a sword rather than a doll, learned the art of concealment rather than the art of childish pranks, and learned to kill rather than to love. As he listened to her, Woo-Moon realized that the reason she was so passive now was, in short, her father's treatment of her.
It was just the way she had been raised from an early age.
She had never been left to do anything on her own and had always been made to do whatever her father had wished, leading to her wooden personality.
Ma-Ra’s first kill was done when she was twelve years old, and at that age, she had already been skilled enough to be a First Rank Assassin. When she turned sixteen, she was skilled enough to become one of the four Special Rank Assassins in the Formless Veil.
“Then, how did you end up captured in the slave market, and suffering from qi deviation at that? What happened to the Formless Veil?”
Although it seemed as though the Formless Veil Assassin Master hadn’t treated Ma-Ra with any of the love she deserved as his daughter, Woo-Moon still didn’t think that he would have sold Ma-Ra, who was such an important asset, to a slave market. He just couldn’t reconcile how a Special Rank Assassin, someone akin to a goose that laid golden eggs for any assassination organization, could end up as a slave.
“All Special Rank Assassins went out on kill order. All failed. Few days later, woman who requested came with sword masters. Everyone dead now.”
“Do you know who that woman was?”
“No.”
“Do you know what she looks like?”
“Cannot describe. Can identify.”
At that time, Dok-Du suddenly came to see Woo-Moon.
“Young Master, Young Master!”
“What?”
“We just received a notice asking for you to attend the council of elders today.”
Woo-Moon frowned.
It seemed like there was something troublesome waiting for him, considering they were requesting him to attend a council of elders after being quiet all this time.
“Okay. Go ahead.”
“Understood!”
Dok-Du glanced sideways at Ma-Ra as he left.
‘Wow... she’s really pretty. It’s strange how many beautiful women there are around that damned bastard demon.’
Whether it was Woo-Moon’s mother, his junior sister Si-Hyeon, or even Ma-Ra, who had only just recently appeared, they were all beauties of a caliber that Dok-Du had never seen before in his life. Even Gun-Ha, his little protegée, was extremely cute and promised to become a major beauty herself in the future.
With his curiosity about Ma-Ra’s background now satisfied, Woo-Moon stood up. He was concerned about her, but business came first.
“When you get hungry, go out and eat on your own. Also, it’ll be boring being alone in this room, so go outside and walk a bit.”
“Boring? Don’t understand.”
“If I leave here now, there won’t be anyone else for you to talk to, right? There’s nothing for you to do here, either. It’ll be boring.”
“...don’t understand.”
“Well, you’ll just have to figure it out slowly. I’m heading out now. Rest, and if you get sleepy, you can lay down and sleep.”
Ma-Ra sat cross-legged on her bed.
"Okay."
Woo-Moon went out to attend the council of elders while Ma-Ra sat cross-legged with her eyes closed. No matter how much time passed, she wouldn’t move a single finger, or at least, not until someone ordered her to do so.
***
The council of elders was chaired by Baek Mu-Hoon, the head of the family.
“Therefore, it has been decided that people will be sent from the Namgoong Family and our Baek Family to launch an evil subduing campaign. We will be moving against the Mount Qian Sect and the Three Peak Monsters of the Red Fog Valley, who have become notorious these days. They...”
1. This is wuwei ziran (無為 自然), an actual concept in Dao De Jing that means pretty much what’s explained in the chapter. It’s not technically inaction so much as not forcing things and letting them flow naturally. ☜