episode_0021

“You shouldn’t hold your posture like that?”

“Billion!”

Sanyeo said she would start training in earnest after taking over the sect, but that didn’t mean she would play around for a month. According to Sanyeo, the quality of training that can be done when one has a solid base is different from the training that can be done when living as a wanderer like now.

“Okay, let’s try again. It started with a downward slash, right?”

In a vacant lot a little far from the village, I was repeating the Taesanbu herbivory and practicing the correct posture. Sanyeo was facing me, looking alternately at Taesanbu’s book and at me, correcting my correct posture, and I had to swing the ax at Sanyeo without hesitation.

“But is it really necessary to train like this? If you can’t avoid this… .”

But even if she was a greater expert than me, I would hesitate to attack her as she was staring at a book. When I asked cautiously, Sanyeo snorted and fluttered Taesanbu.

“You are swinging an axe right now, why are you worried about that? When you were a bandit, you wouldn’t have hesitated to hit people’s heads with an ax.”

“At that time, it was okay to kill you, but now, if you get hurt, I’ll be in trouble.”

“Are you worried about me?”

“If a woman from Sanyeogok in handcuffs is brought to the clinic after being hit with an axe, what will they say there?”

I wasn’t saying this because I was worried about Sanyeo.

Even monkeys sometimes fall from trees. I said this because I felt that if she got hit by my ax and got hurt, work would become a hassle. Since she was wearing handcuffs, it was easy for her to attract attention if she was seen by a lawmaker, and if it became known that she was from Sanyeogok, she could have been tracked down in no time.

The fact that she might get hurt put a lot of strain on me swinging the axe.

Sanyeo smiled and looked straight at me. My calculating nature had suited her well up until now, but now I felt like it was a little off. She said, tilting her head crooked like a tree branch in winter.

“Docheol. When using martial arts, you have to empty yourself of even such distracting thoughts. We are practicing how to kill people, not the philosophy of saving people, right?”

I stared at the axe. The shiny ax blade felt ugly against her soft skin. Sanyeo continued speaking in a soft voice.

“You might get hurt. He may be an innocent person. Because I’m still a child. Because he’s an old man. If, in the midst of life and death, you have distracting thoughts and mess up your mind because of such trivial things.”

The wind blew. Because it was a strong wind, I blinked for a moment. I thought I could hear Sanyeo’s words from afar, but her scent hit me. The hem of her clothes was visible in front of my nose, with a sweet flower-like scent, and her handcuffed hands were clinging to my neck.

Only then did I feel fingers sticking to my neck, and cold sweat broke out. Tension naturally rose in my body at the thought that if she had had her way, I would have died.

Sanyeo tilted her head crookedly and spoke in a low voice.

“Die.”

The finger fell off. Although she was handcuffed, her hands were flexible and quick. When I widened the distance again, I finally caught sight of Taesanbu, who had fallen to the ground. In the moment I closed my eyes, she threw the Taesanbu and attacked me, aiming for my neck. Sanyeo picked up Taesanbu and continued speaking. The vitality that felt sharp just moments ago was nowhere to be found.

“I’m going to die. Docheol. With just the slightest hesitation, the martial arts expert will die like the ordinary people you killed. In vain.”

Taesanbu was fluttering. She said, waving the paper like a matador.

“So, you need to empty your mind. What happens next if I get hurt? That’s something you don’t have to worry about. When fighting, you always have to empty your mind of distracting thoughts. This is training for that. You won’t hesitate when attacking a delicate woman like me.”

“That’s correct.”

What she said was correct. In this river, you will meet a variety of people in the future, and there will be times when you cannot avoid swinging an ax. Every time that happens, isn’t it a case of thinking about the other person’s situation and taking matters into your own hands, and you never know where things might go wrong?

It suited my temperament to win first and then think about what was left to do.

After learning from a martial arts expert, I thought it was different to teach from the basics.

Murim expert?

As I recited the word martial arts expert in my mind, another question arose.

There is a master in front of me who has achieved great heights with his own methods, so why am I still learning Taesanbu? Wouldn’t it be okay to ask Sanyeo to teach you the martial arts she uses?

I said, holding the ax again.

“But I bought it.”

“Why?”

Sanyeo responded by comparing the posture I took with Taesanbu’s posture one more time. I said, looking at her handcuffed hands.

“You are also a martial arts expert. Can’t you tell me the martial arts you learned? Then I could become stronger more easily.”

She said, shaking her head.

“My mind method is not compatible with yours, who has already learned the Shaolin mind method, and my martial arts… . I don’t think it will work because it is a martial art that attracts attention in many ways if you learn it. Since my hands are tied, it’s hard to show it properly.”

When Sanyeo said those words, she looked hesitant and shook her head. A martial art that will attract attention if I learn it? What kind of martial arts skills do they do that? Moreover, it seems that Sanyeo was a true sect among the sects, as his method of thinking did not match that of Shaolin.

“Did you at least learn magic?”

“Should I just say so?”

Sanyeo laughed at the condescending tone and responded like that. Since the intention of not asking further questions was clearly reflected, I had no choice but to shrug my shoulders and focus on my practice again.

Sanyeo stood in front of me, flapping her taesanbu and said.

“Docheol. Then swing it.”

I was told not to hesitate, so there was nothing to be afraid of. After giving her a repentant smile, he swung the ax with all his might, aiming for her neck.

“Take it!”

“Your posture is wrong. I was so excited that my arms were so strong. Having an empty mind means you shouldn’t get excited either. You must always remain calm and think only about this moment.”

Once again, I was caught by her without even being able to swing the axe.

I thought as I followed her instructions and got into position again.

Can you swing an ax today?

*******

“Fuck.”

“You worked hard-.”

Unlike Sanyeo’s relaxed voice, I spat dirt and cursed. Instead of swinging the ax properly all day, he was caught by her right before he could swing it and rolled around on the floor, falling and getting covered in dirt. Sanyeo didn’t care about my harsh reaction and said as she fluttered the taesanbu.

“But it’s good that we’re definitely doing well. You are talented.”

I scratched my head. Every time I scratched my head, dirt came out.

“But, is there a need to study Taesanbu this hard? If you get something stronger like martial arts later, you’ll have to train it anyway. Then there would be no need to use this.”

Sanyeo shook her head at my words and said.

“Docheol. You have a lot of greed, but you don’t know much about martial arts yet. What you are learning now is Taesanbu, but you are not learning only Taesanbu.”

“Isn’t it just learning about prenatal care?”

“You have learned the divine law and the Geumnasu technique, but aren’t you roughly realizing something by then? How to shift your center of gravity while using Taesanbu. How to wield a weapon with power. How to swing a weapon and maintain balance, and how to retreat without blind spots. Is this really only used in pregnant women?”

“Ah… .”

If you think about it, it was like that. There is a connection between learning Bangjungsul, so I learned hand movements to hug a woman from Geumnasu, and I learned Shinbeop and Footwork while training my thigh strength. And through the application of divine law, he invades the woman’s house, and the gold razor sharpened for the swordsmith helps him subdue the woman there.

Taesanbu was like that too. The foundation of martial arts was embedded in him. Since it is a basic martial art, it is full of useful things when I use other martial arts.

“That… . That’s how it happens. That’s right.”

I felt like I realized something. The movements that I had vaguely memorized and just followed until now were flowing in my head, forming a single, flowing picture.

The details that I couldn’t remember even when I tried to memorize them were now described in my head as a matter of course.

Sanyeo remained silent as she watched me blankly staring into space.

I closed my eyes for a moment and thought about the herbivores, then stood up and picked up the axe.

I felt like I knew something.

I felt like I now had some idea of the meaning of the movement I had been practicing.

“Let’s try it one more time. Just once.”

Sanyeo smiled broadly and nodded.

“Okay.”

Sanyeo was standing there waiting for me. I put one foot forward and raise the hand holding the ax upward.

There is no blockage.

As if it were natural, I follow that movement and slam the ax forward.

Sanyeo’s appearance, which seemed to give up the top of her head, became blurred and disappeared.

The ax cut through the air helplessly.

“Passed.”

But I laughed.

Sanyeo was also smiling.