Chapter 19. To Mount Mugang (1)

After hearing about the raid on Mount Mugang, I trained hard for a few days. Even after the training ended, I made time to practice on my own.

A raid on bandits.

Bak Ryeong-hwa said that all I had to do was guide the way, but since I fell into the martial world, I learned one thing: nothing ever goes according to plan.

Isn't there a famous saying for that?

When war begins, the first casualty is the plan of action.

No matter how meticulously you plan, all sorts of variables can arise when you actually face the situation.

So, I would pick up Baek Seung-il's sword and swing it in the garden whenever I had free time.

"Huff, huff..."

I only knew a few moves of the Samjae Sword Technique and a few forms of the Baekun Sword Technique I learned at the Baekun Escort Agency, but as I swung the sword, I began to understand something.

Each move had its own meaning.

For example, Dokryong Chuldong, a technique where you slash upward and then immediately stab the opponent's chest or neck. At first, I thought, "Why not just stab?"

I wondered why there was an unnecessary slashing motion.

However, after repeating it dozens of times, I realized that the initial slashing motion forced the opponent to step back, making it harder to defend against the stab.

It was a pleasant discovery to understand the meaning of the moves, but there was one thing that bothered me.

"But if the meaning is so obvious to me, isn't that a problem?"

I'm not even a martial arts expert.

Before college, I had a brief stint at an MMA dojo with the single-minded goal of getting a girlfriend. I imagined myself grabbing a senior's arm who was forcing a drunk female classmate to drink and applying a Kimura lock while saying, "Senior, you seem quite drunk. It's time to go home."

Of course, after realizing no one would invite me to a drinking party, I stopped going...

Anyway, it took a very long time to understand the meaning of the few techniques I learned at the MMA dojo. Knowing when and how to use them was not easy at all.

But if I could understand them after just a few swings, wouldn't they be too obvious to work against martial arts experts?

"Is there any point in learning this?"

"Of course there is."

Feeling both discouraged and exhausted, I put down the sword and sighed. A small voice came from behind me.

"Huh?"

I turned around to see a woman looking at me. She had a graceful appearance with her hair neatly tied back. She wore a white martial uniform and had a sword at her waist, clearly a martial artist. However, her bangs covered her eyes, making her face hard to see.

"Where have I seen her before?"

Her face was vaguely familiar. I remembered her standing behind Pang Guiin a few days ago.

"Are you perhaps Pang Guiin's bodyguard?"

"Ah... Yes."

She answered with a slightly hunched posture.

Hmm, a tall woman looking like that is kind of cute.

"But what do you mean by 'of course'? Do you mean these moves are helpful?"

"It's nothing. I just couldn't help but comment..."

"Teach me a bit."

"That's..."

She hesitated. Frustrated, I asked again with a pained expression.

"I've heard that martial arts are not usually taught to others, but you can at least satisfy my curiosity, right?"

"It's not that, but..."

"Why, in martial arts novels, passing experts would say, 'Use your waist more' and give some advice. Can you explain a bit?"

"Martial arts? Flexibility?"

"Leaving someone curious without answering is a bad thing."

Confused, she finally spoke up under my persistent questioning.

"Well... I had similar doubts in the past."

"Similar doubts?"

"Yes. Whether there was any value in simple moves that could be easily read."

Indeed, that was the same doubt I had just now.

"Then what conclusion did you reach?"

"It's hard to explain in words... I'll show you."

She drew her sword with a fluid motion. There was no sound as she drew it, as if it had naturally appeared in her hand.

"Experts draw their swords silently."

She then demonstrated the Dokryong Chuldong move. She slashed upward and then stabbed.

It was a simple move, but there was a significant difference from when I performed it. My move was clumsy, while hers was smooth and clean, almost natural.

Could it be that these moves become practical when mastered to this level?

"Amazing."

"Then, the next one."

She slashed upward, turned the sword, and performed a diagonal slash, then turned her body and stabbed.

I was amazed by the unexpected variations of the move. She continued to show different moves, such as changing a slash to a stab, entering a stab after a horizontal slash, and even a downward slash after a stab.

They looked like completely different moves, only retaining the essence of Dokryong Chuldong.

This... is "Dokryong Chuldong"?

Then, what I've been doing all this time...

While I was gaping, she demonstrated a series of movements, then lightly tapped the sword to make a sound and sheathed it silently, just as she had drawn it.

I stood there with my mouth open, then finally clapped. I couldn't help but applaud after seeing such a remarkable demonstration.

Clap, clap, clap!

She looked very embarrassed, waving her hands to stop me. Her blushing face was incredibly cute. Seeing this, I clapped even louder.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!

"Please, stop..."

I made this woman blush!

I can control my emotions!

After clapping enthusiastically for about five minutes, I rubbed my red palms and asked.

"What was that just now? Did you modify the Dokryong Chuldong move?"

She answered with a somewhat resentful look.

"Yes. Moves are not just one form."

"Then, they have multiple forms?"

"Yes. In actual combat, you need to modify moves or use feints to deceive the opponent. Only by deconstructing and reconstructing moves can you truly understand them. Even simple moves become complex after this process. That's the subtlety of martial arts."

Now that she mentioned it, I remembered reading about variations and feints in old martial arts novels. I usually skipped those parts as they were the loosest.

After explaining, she looked at me and asked.

"Do you not have a master?"

"I don't have a master."

My martial arts are purely self-taught. I was too busy surviving here to learn them leisurely.

Once, I heard that the best swordsman in Hubei Province, Feng Yunjian, had opened a martial arts school. I gathered fifty copper coins and went to find him.

But he said the monthly fee was two silver taels. I begged to learn for just a week, but I was kicked out and had to trudge back home.

That was really disappointing.

She nodded quietly, seeing me lost in thought.

"Although it's impressive that you've learned this much on your own... If you want to learn martial arts systematically, it's best to find a master. There's a big difference between having someone to correct you when you go wrong and not having anyone."

"If there's a connection, I might find a master. For now, it seems there isn't one."

If possible, I'd prefer a short-term, intensive course.

I don't want to spend ten years in a cave with only medicinal pills.

"By the way, I haven't even asked your name. What is it?"

"I am... Wei Jiyan."

After introducing herself, she bowed quietly and left.

* * *

During the days I spent practicing at the escort agency, I overheard stories about the raid on Mount Mugang.

"So, the chieftain has changed, right?"

"Of course. Don't you trust me?"

"Well, if you had given me a proper hint back then, I wouldn't have been in trouble. My trust in you was shaken."

"Well, I just didn't think that guy would do it. Cheer up, okay?"

Sima Yu tried to lighten the mood.

I really want to punch him.

"How did you know the chieftain changed?"

"You can tell by the way things are going. We've had a long relationship with Mount Mugang."

"Brother, be more detailed. Explain logically so I can understand."

After grumbling, Sima Yu began to explain.

Mount Mugang was a small-scale operation with about a hundred bandits, but it had a close relationship with the Meiyang branch.

Since Meiyang is right next to Anhui Province, it was impossible to have a feud with the bandits on Mount Mugang.

The bandits also didn't want to have a feud with the Baekun Escort Agency. They needed to maintain their scale, and taxing the nearby villages and farmers wouldn't yield much. They relied on the passage fees from the agency to sustain themselves.

So, Mount Mugang and the Baekun Escort Agency maintained a close business partnership, with events like discounted passage fees and buy-one-get-one-free deals.

However, Mount Mugang suddenly attacked recently, when I was working as a porter.

While they occasionally used force to collect fees, this was the first time they launched a full-scale attack in the branch's history.

"The reason is the change in chieftain."

"How did you find that out?"

"From the victims."

The new chieftain changed the business policy, ordering the bandits to kill and plunder. Sima Yu said this wasn't uncommon.

"Sometimes, some rogue martial artists take over a bandit camp, change the policy, and make a quick profit before fleeing."

"Is that a viable business model?"

"Sure. If they rob a caravan well, they can get gold ingots, not just silver taels. That's a life-changing amount."

One gold ingot is worth fifty silver taels, or about a thousand silver taels.

In modern terms, it's like the deposit for a five-story office building in Jiangbei.

"But the victims could send a pursuit team, right?"

"If they flee to Dunhuang, even the Wulin Alliance's pursuit team can't catch them. They can lie low for a few years, change their identity, and return to the Central Plains."

It sounded plausible.

I even thought about going into this line of work instead of being a porter.

"So, I understand the chieftain changed. But why is Pang Guiin here? I heard she's from a noble family, and the branch leader said she could help."

"Apparently, her hobby is hunting bandits."

"That's a violent hobby."

What kind of hobby is that?

Seeing my skeptical expression, Sima Yu chuckled and continued.

"This is actually top-secret information... Among the Nine Dragon Peaks, there's a guy with an incredibly handsome face. Have you heard of him?"

"Ah, the Radiant Dragon, Jo Eun-soo?"

Radiant Dragon (輝龍) Jo Eun-soo

A disciple of the Huashan Sect... I don't know how many generations, but he's from there.

I heard he has an incredibly handsome face.

The way the women in the martial world talked about him, I couldn't help but memorize his name. It's a waste of brain capacity.

"But this Radiant Dragon fell in love at first sight with a girl from the Huashan Sect."

"Is that true?"

A romance between two martial arts idols.

It's hard not to be intrigued.

"But this Jo Eun-soo really hates bandits. He lost his parents to bandits when he was young, and he still gets angry when he sees them."

"So, the reason the girl hunts bandits is..."

"What else? To build a connection!"

Building a connection!

I nodded. It was indeed an excellent dating strategy.

To think such a brilliant strategy came from such a small mind.

Once a man and a woman meet, it's crucial to have a shared topic. Without it, the meeting is doomed to fail.

I have experience with this. I once begged a friend to set me up on a blind date, and I ended up strangling him to get the opportunity. But I had nothing to talk about and ended up discussing League of Legends, and the date was over before it began.

If I had a shared topic with her! I've imagined this alternate history many times.

"Pang Guiin got the nickname 'Blood Peak' because she's so passionate about hunting bandits. She used to have a more refined nickname."

"But isn't it funny that only Pang Guiin is called 'Blood Peak' while the Radiant Dragon isn't?"

They should both be called 'Blood Dragon' and 'Blood Peak'.

Sima Yu shook his head.

"The Radiant Dragon is so handsome that even if he's covered in bandit blood, he still shines. So, he's just called the Radiant Dragon."

The martial world is really messed up.