CLACK!
As the door opened and a chill swept in, Jegal Geon assumed his elder brother had come in.
“Brother, I am fine. I know you cannot be at ease either, but please stop coming now.”
“...”
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Jegal Geon opened his eyes.
“...!”
Recognizing the identity of the uninvited guest, he frowned.
“I appreciate that you remembered me and came to see me, but I cannot say I am pleased.”
Kwak Yeon answered evenly.
“Nor can I say I am especially pleased.”
“Well, this is remarkable. I knew Taoist Kwak’s lightness art was formidable, but this is not a place one can enter and leave so easily.”
Jegal Geon was genuinely curious how Kwak Yeon had evaded the eyes of the guards posted in layers from the outer wall to the Inner Court wall.
“To meet you quietly, I had to take the liberty of inconveniencing several people of your family.”
Jegal Geon could not smell blood on Kwak Yeon, so he knew the man had not killed anyone on his way in.
Since he could not hear the presence of the guards patrolling the rear garden, he assumed Kwak Yeon had subdued them in secret.
“If you had simply written a letter, I would have come to you anywhere. I do not know why you went to the trouble of coming here yourself.”
“I considered that. But it did not seem proper.”
“...?”
Jegal Geon was taken aback to hear Kwak Yeon suddenly speak of propriety.
“You may be an uninvited guest, but we have met before. How long do you intend to leave me standing?”
“Is there any reason to sit? The longer we look at one another, the more unpleasant it will be for both of us. Just remove the thing on my shoulder and be done with it.”
“Yesterday, that was my intention. But I changed my mind today. I have decided to leave it in place for a while longer.”
Kwak Yeon’s indifferent answer made Jegal Geon knit his brows.
“The Sword of Wudang must have strongly dissuaded you. Well, I understand the position of a disciple who must follow a senior’s command. Still, once a man has declared his course, what does it matter if he hears a few more objections?”
“Why are you in such a hurry? Do you have business in the underworld that you must rush off to?”
“...”
“Since I have come as a guest today, offer me a seat.”
“Hah. Taoist Kwak’s audacity is no less than mine.”
Jegal Geon shook his head.
“Still, I cannot create a chair out of thin air just to offer you one.”
As he said, the inner room at the rear garden was completely bare, without even a bed.
It spoke clearly of Jegal Geon’s determination to devote himself solely to cultivation.
“Who says people may only sit in chairs?”
At Kwak Yeon’s question, Jegal Geon replied flatly,
“Do as you please.”
Kwak Yeon walked over and sat directly on the floor before him.
“...?”
When Kwak Yeon lowered himself to the floor and met his gaze at eye level, Jegal Geon looked puzzled.
“Your martial arts are strange enough, but you truly are an incomprehensible man. What exactly are you trying to do?”
“I received a letter yesterday.”
“...?”
“It was a letter overflowing with an elder brother’s concern for his younger brother.”
“...!”
Jegal Geon realized that his elder brother, Jegal Jin, had sent Kwak Yeon a letter.
And he could guess what feelings had moved his brother to write it.
Brother, how do you mean to lead the family if you remain bound by brotherly affection like this?
Contrary to the emotion rising in his chest, Jegal Geon gave a cold laugh.
“This is somewhat absurd. Has the grand ambition of a true man truly been shaken by such trivial human feeling?”
“No.”
Kwak Yeon shook his head.
“I came because the contents of that letter interested me.”
“My brother is a man of fine writing. Then should you not meet him rather than me?”
“I am poorly educated. Literature is foreign to me, and it does not interest me much. Martial arts are the only thing that holds my attention.”
Jegal Geon flinched.
“Surely you do not mean my brother wrote something about martial arts in that letter?”
“Would the Clan Master, who must guard the family’s martial arts more closely than anyone, do such a thing?”
“...?”
“Of course, the letter said nothing about martial arts. But while reading it, I was reminded of one technique you used yesterday.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“...”
Kwak Yeon studied the Fire Dragon of the Jegal Family for a moment before speaking.
“I saw yesterday why the Jegal Family’s greatest masters die young, generation after generation.”
Jegal Geon’s eyes widened.
“How could you know the hidden history of our Main House?”
Despite his harsh tone, Kwak Yeon remained unconcerned.
“Why call it hidden history when the Jegal Family’s greatest masters have died young for generations? ‘Heaven mourns the brief lives of the Jegal Family’s true dragons’ is a saying even children know.”
The story of the Jegal Family’s geniuses dying young generation after generation was famous enough to be cited as a classic example of a cruelly brief fate.
“What I mean is... how could you connect that secret to my martial arts?”
“Yesterday, in your final move, you released your origin true qi, did you not?”
Kwak Yeon’s question struck directly at the truth, and Jegal Geon flinched again.
Even so, it was the secret of the family’s inherited martial arts. He could never admit it.
“I do not know what you think you saw in my martial arts, but you are mistaken because my unique techniques are somewhat unusual.”
Kwak Yeon immediately said,
“You do not think I failed to recognize that you have cultivated an unusual Pure Yang Technique.”
THUD!
Jegal Geon was shocked for the second time.
“How do you know it is a Pure Yang Technique...?”
Kwak Yeon answered calmly.
“The Clan Master’s letter said that you had lived an extraordinary life since childhood. Once I connected that passage to the fierce blazing Yang qi you displayed, I remembered a technique I had heard of before.”
“...”
“Among Pure Yang arts, the greatest is the Virgin’s Technique. Its Yang force is the fiercest, but its energy is excessive, making it difficult to control one’s emotions.”
Jegal Geon’s face twisted violently, living up to his title as the Fire Dragon of the Jegal Family.
Kwak Yeon shook his head.
“You should restrain yourself. Your internal injuries have not fully healed yet.”
GRIND!
After clenching his teeth once, Jegal Geon said,
“Taoist Kwak’s discernment is truly remarkable.”
“Thank you for the compliment. In any case, what I felt from your final technique yesterday was distinctly different from the fierce blazing qi of the Pure Yang Technique.”
Jegal Geon realized that he could no longer make excuses before Kwak Yeon, who had seen through the roots of his martial arts.
“What did my brother write that led you to infer that I had released my origin true qi?”
“The Clan Master wrote that I should hold him accountable in place of his short-lived younger brother.”
“...!”
Jegal Geon was deeply shaken by the realization that his brother had written to Kwak Yeon, prepared to save him and bear the punishment in his place.
“Yesterday, I felt you release the origin true qi that is the source of your life. How could I read the words ‘short-lived’ and dismiss them lightly?”
Jegal Geon no longer cared about the family’s hidden history. He asked directly,
“So what do you intend to do? Did you come to trade my life for the formula of that secret heart method of the Main House?”
“Would you agree to that?”
“...”
Jegal Geon’s face twisted, and Kwak Yeon gave a faint, cold smile.
“I only meant that no disciple of Wudang could be so shameless.”
“I admit that I went too far.”
Jegal Geon nodded readily and asked,
“Then why did you come all this way only to say these things?”
“Because your unique heart method and the heart method I cultivate share a common current.”
“...?”
Jegal Geon opened his eyes wide, unable to understand.
“Of course, they do not fully accord. But the greater path does not diverge.”
Jegal Geon, who had advanced beyond the middle level of the Flower Realm, naturally understood such fundamental principles of heart methods.
And he understood just as clearly why Kwak Yeon was saying this.
“Did my brother’s letter stir some cheap sympathy in you? Are you going to offer me a little help, then expect me to be overcome with gratitude?”
Even in the face of Jegal Geon’s icy rebuke, Kwak Yeon’s expression remained calm.
“I would prefer you to regard it as encouragement for a rival.”
“We fought with our lives on the line, and now you call this encouragement for a rival?”
Jegal Geon snorted.
“I truly cannot understand you, Taoist Kwak.”
Kwak Yeon had come here to fulfill the task he had silently promised Martial Supreme Venerable Cheol Gun-ak. He answered in a composed voice.
“They say the world is vast, and true rivals are difficult to find. Think of it as valuing a worthy rival.”
“So your competitive spirit drives you to such trouble because you want a proper contest?”
Kwak Yeon nodded.
“I do not know how you felt, but I was left with many regrets after yesterday’s duel.”
Jegal Geon unconsciously clenched his fist.
It was the instinctive response of a martial artist to a rival’s challenge.
“If that is what you mean, I have no reason to refuse.”
“You have made the right decision. But do not expect too much. I am not at a level where I can teach anyone, and my insight into heart methods is still insufficient.”
“...”
“I merely intend to walk the path beside you for a while. If you find some realization on your own, that would be fortunate. Of course, if you do not wish to follow, then that is all.”
After speaking, Kwak Yeon closed his eyes and began circulating the Honwonmusang Technique.
Jegal Geon could not help but be startled as Kwak Yeon’s breathing grew faint.
To enter qi circulation in the presence of an opponent was an exceedingly dangerous act.
If the other party harbored ill intent, taking his life would be child’s play.
Why is he willing to take such a risk?
Jegal Geon had known Kwak Yeon was eccentric, but this went far beyond eccentricity.
Still, he could feel Kwak Yeon’s sincerity.
He truly is a great man.
Jegal Geon realized, with shame, that he had judged Kwak Yeon through prejudice.
After watching Kwak Yeon for a while, Jegal Geon also entered qi circulation.
He did not know exactly how one was meant to walk a path together, but he understood what Kwak Yeon’s words meant.
Some time passed as the two of them remained in qi circulation.
At last, Kwak Yeon stopped circulating qi and opened his eyes.
Jegal Geon was still immersed in deep cultivation.
Kwak Yeon could tell that the remnants of black energy lingering in his major points had been completely swept away.
At the same time, the energy of the Honwonmusang Technique had grown even stronger.
“The remnants of the inner demon are for you to clear away yourself.”
Kwak Yeon realized that he had fulfilled the task Martial Supreme Venerable Cheol Gun-ak had given him.
He waited quietly in the silence.
He knew that Jegal Geon was now walking his own path within his mind.
At last, Jegal Geon opened his eyes.
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