WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Raised by a Ruthless Swordsman ◈

Chapter 39: Martial Arts Bring Friends Together

──────

I watched Wi Jin-ak slowly emerge from the shadow beneath the eaves.

It did not feel particularly pleasant to have the man I had just crossed blades with step out of the darkness at such a late hour. I had accepted his offer to stay here, not agreed to have my every movement watched.

I had thought our business was settled. Had it not been?

“You said I was free to come and go.”

At that, Wi Jin-ak raised one eyebrow slightly. Then, seemingly understanding what I meant, he slowly shook his head.

“I was not trying to watch you. I had come out for some air, and when I saw a familiar face passing by, I merely spoke to you.”

I studied his face closely, but there was no sign that he was lying.

Then again, the women here seemed skilled at hiding their thoughts beneath smiling faces, but this blunt man did not seem like someone capable of such tricks.

Adjusting the bundle holding my sword across my back, I replied.

“I left something behind, so I went to the inn.”

Wi Jin-ak’s eyes briefly passed over the bundle on my back before shifting to my empty waist.

“You still do not have a sword.”

There was one inside the cloth bundle on my back. But there was no need to tell him what kind of sword it was.

“That is true.”

“A martial artist should use a good sword. A weapon familiar to the hand can sometimes decide whether one lives or dies.”

I had learned that painfully this time. When that cheap sword broke, I had nearly fallen to Wi Jin-ak’s sabre.

Still, hearing such words from the man who had broken my sword left a sour taste in my mouth. I gave a halfhearted agreement that I would do so from now on and was about to head for my room when he spoke again.

“As it happens, one has been prepared for you.”

The foot I had raised returned to the ground.

My waist had felt empty enough that I had planned to ask around for an ironworks as soon as dawn came. But why would Wi Jin-ak...

We had crossed blades only a few double-hours ago. It was hard to believe that someone like him had prepared a sword for me.

“Why would you prepare a sword for me?”

“I did not prepare it.”

Wi Jin-ak continued in his usual calm manner. The proprietor had requested it. Since today’s gathering had been arranged to see my sword, and since a perfectly good sword had broken as a result, it was all due to this household.

It was not something a sword could make amends for, but it was at least a gesture of apology, and she asked that I not refuse it. So he had kept it for me.

At those words, Chae Wol’s smiling face briefly came to mind.

As expected of a woman who ran a place like this, her calculations were precise. If that was her intention, then so be it. I had been troubled over finding an ironworks, so this was instead a welcome offer.

“If one has been prepared, I will accept it gratefully.”

Wi Jin-ak nodded, jerked his chin as if telling me to follow, then turned away.

I followed him across the dim courtyard.

The large building at the very back was still brightly lit. It seemed no one had retired yet. Since Mist and Sunset Pavilion was still so bright, I assumed Chae Wol was still at her post as well.

But after taking a few more steps, I noticed that Wi Jin-ak was heading somewhere familiar.

Sure enough, it was the same annex where I was staying. More precisely, he was heading toward my room.

I was still feeling uneasy when Wi Jin-ak stepped onto the stone steps, climbed onto the porch, and walked a few steps beneath the eaves. Then he opened the door to a room only two doors away from mine and went inside.

I stood in the courtyard and watched his back disappear through the doorway.

So someone who wielded a sword like that was staying next door. I had gained a very uncomfortable neighbor.

There was a rustling sound within, then Wi Jin-ak emerged holding a sword. He came down from the porch and held it out to me.

I accepted it and examined it beneath the moonlight. The scabbard was plain, without lacquer or decoration, but it was solidly made, with not a single loose joint.

The cord around the hilt was new and free of wear, rough against the palm where it was meant to be gripped.

The scabbard looked respectable enough, but one could not know what lay within from its appearance alone.

“May I draw it?”

“Do as you please.”

Shing.

As I drew it, the blade gleamed coldly in the moonlight. Straight and clean of needless ornament, with an edge even from end to end, it was clearly a carefully made piece.

Holding the sword, I stepped back into the middle of the courtyard. The yard was spacious enough to move my hand freely.

I lightly turned my wrist and drew an arc. Then I flowed back the other way and wound it around in the opposite direction.

The weight settled perfectly in my hand. The sword tip followed my wrist smoothly, without resistance as I deflected and drew it back. Its length suited my arm as well. When I drew an arc, the tip neither fell short nor extended too far.

Like a well-sharpened oar gliding through water without fighting the current, the sword did not resist my hand.

It was not equal to Hyeonam’s sword, but it was nothing like the cheap thing I had bought for two taels in Guju.

As I continued moving it, growing accustomed to its feel, a voice came from the porch.

“Does it suit your hand?”

Wi Jin-ak was sitting on the porch, watching me.

“I chose it after seeing your Sword Path. For a sword that receives, deflects, and draws back, something like that suits the hand better than a heavy one.”

I stopped moving and adjusted my grip on the sword several times.

It was a strange feeling to hear that the man I had crossed blades with had judged my swordsmanship and chosen this sword accordingly. Had he taken in that much of my skill at deflecting attacks in that brief time?

Still, the feeling in my hand did not lie.

“It fits perfectly.”

This time, I did not say it merely to be polite.

“Thank you.”

Wi Jin-ak gave a small smile.

“That is fortunate.”

He was not a man who smiled easily. Yet hearing that the sword he had chosen suited my hand seemed to please him greatly. He truly was a man who lived by the blade.

I sheathed the sword. It slid neatly into place without the slightest gap.

I was about to return to my room when his voice caught me from behind again.

“Would you care to exchange a few moves?”

I stopped and turned around. Was he suddenly asking for another match? I had only just received a sword from him, so the unexpected suggestion left me dumbfounded.

“...Did you give me the sword for that?”

Wi Jin-ak quietly opened both hands. It was a gesture that he was empty-handed and meant nothing else by it.

“There is no other meaning. I simply wish to cross blades with you once more.”

I studied his face closely. There was no trace of falsehood, nor any sign that he hid killing intent. Beneath his steady expression, there was only the quiet competitive spirit of a martial artist.

“Mist and Sunset Pavilion is still busy, so there are few people around here. We will not disturb anyone.”

I considered it for a moment.

Thinking back, I had not won earlier because my sword was better.

I had opened my dantian and put my energy into that final arc, allowing me to slip through the opening in his sabre before he could withdraw it. Judging by skill with the sword alone, this man seemed my equal, perhaps even slightly superior.

Besides.

As we had crossed blades earlier, there had been something that seemed within reach, only to slip away.

I had deflected as I always did, but for one instant, that heavy sabre had seemed to lose its weight, sliding past my wrist on its own without even feeling as though it had touched my fingertips.

I had not deflected it or received it. Yet with blades raining down on me, I had no time to reconsider that feeling and let it slip away.

If Wi Jin-ak was my opponent, I could slowly search for that clue. This was not a fight for my life, nor was I holding a cheap sword that would break after one or two exchanges.

Yes. This was good.

“Very well. But let us hold back any killing strikes.”

“That goes without saying.”

Wi Jin-ak smiled and rose.

For a moment, the silk clothes I wore bothered me, but changing and preparing again seemed troublesome. I only needed to roll up my fluttering sleeves. I folded them up to my wrists a couple of times and drew my sword again.

I walked to the middle of the courtyard and faced Wi Jin-ak with four or five steps between us.

As I stood there, a strange feeling came over me. The phantom image of an elder overlapped with Wi Jin-ak’s figure.

For ten years in the mountains, I had stood facing that elder like this. We had thrust wooden swords at one another, and later, Real Swords.

But that had been closer to a beating than a match. I had always charged at him as though my life depended on it, and even then, days when I remained uninjured had been rare.

This was the first time I had exchanged moves with someone while holding back and withdrawing in turn.

I lowered my sword tip and pointed it diagonally toward Wi Jin-ak.

Wi Jin-ak slowly raised the sabre he had been holding at his side. The blade’s back tilted slightly toward him while the edge slanted outward. It was the same guard stance I had seen earlier.

“I will make the first move.”

The moment he finished speaking, his sabre came in. I received the diagonal cut with my sword and deflected it.

Wi Jin-ak’s sabre was still heavy. Its weight traveled along the blade of my sword and straight into my wrist as I sent it aside. This weight had made it difficult to guide its flow.

But this time, I had no need to hurry. No one blocked my path behind me, and I did not hold a cheap sword that would break after one or two exchanges. Unlike before, when cold sweat had poured down my back, I had the leisure to examine each stroke of his sabre through my fingertips.

Wi Jin-ak’s sabre was just as I remembered. It struck directly at the place it sought, without feints or tricks.

Yet this time, that straightforwardness was welcome. If I knew where it would come from, I had time to choose how to receive it.

I received, deflected, stepped back half a pace, and received again. Between exchanges, I changed the angle of my deflecting wrist little by little.

I delayed by half a beat to wait for the sabre’s strength to ease. I raised the point of contact by the width of a palm. Each time, the way the weight caught changed subtly, but it never fully vanished from my fingertips.

Since he was holding back killing strikes, the sabre’s edge stopped each time an inch before my flesh. That pause gave me another breath, enough time to choose my next move.

Once, rather than withdrawing my sword after deflecting, I carried the arc straight toward Wi Jin-ak’s wrist. I had redirected the final move that had secured my victory earlier toward his wrist.

But without energy behind it, my sword was not as fast as it had been then. Wi Jin-ak caught the path in time and received it with the back of his sabre, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

“So that was the move.”

Knowing an attack was coming and being caught unaware were as different as heaven and earth. But rather than frustrating me, it put me at ease. Only against an opponent whom petty tricks could not fool was there more to explore.

So this was sparring.

After we had exchanged moves for some time, Wi Jin-ak’s sabre tip quietly sank toward his waist. The second move was coming.

I knew beforehand that it would rise from below. As I guided the rising strike aside and stepped away, the sabre tip passed through empty air.

A faint excitement touched Wi Jin-ak’s steady face. His sabre sank low again.

After that, I stopped counting exchanges.

Receiving, deflecting, winding, and withdrawing gradually joined into one continuous flow. It became unclear where defense ended and attack began.

Within that flow, I kept searching for only one thing. The empty sensation at my fingertips when the weight disappeared.

Then, suddenly, I found something.

The more I tried to overcome the weight, the more deeply it settled into my hand. When I thought of blocking, the sabre’s force rested fully on my wrist. When I thought of avoiding it, I was dragged away uselessly.

Do not overcome it, nor avoid it. Simply open the path the sabre wanted to take by one more span.

As I received the next strike, I gently emptied the strength from my wrist. I neither blocked nor pushed. I merely laid my hand lightly along the path the sabre intended to take.

The sabre slid along the surface of my sword as though it had lost its own weight. I barely even felt it touch my fingertips.

This was it.

The feeling I had brushed against and lost earlier lingered in my hand a little longer this time. I could not say I had grasped it, but I at least seemed to know where to reach.

Once more. I was about to receive the next sabre strike in the same way when the murmuring voices of women drifted from the far side of the wall.

Cold sweat along my spine rose like white mist in the chilly air. Each breath I exhaled scattered into the darkness. While I had been absorbed in the sword, it seemed the night had grown quite late.

I stopped and listened. The faint music leaking from the main building had already ceased.

Had Mist and Sunset Pavilion closed for the night? It seemed the members of the household who ate and slept within the walls were returning one by one.

Wi Jin-ak also sheathed his sabre and looked that way.

“It has grown quite late.”

I had only just begun to grasp the clue. A brief regret lingered in my fingertips, but there was nothing to be done.

Perhaps reading my expression, Wi Jin-ak smiled as he put away his sabre.

“There will be other days. There is no need to hurry so.”

That was true. We lived beneath the same roof, only two doors apart. If we wanted to set a day, we could do so whenever we wished.

“You are right.”

I smiled faintly in return.

Only moments ago, he had been an uncomfortable neighbor. But after crossing swords for so long, those two doors between us now felt welcome instead.

Once I had put my sword away, both our backs were soaked through. Wi Jin-ak pointed with his chin to a corner of the courtyard. There was a well there.

Without a word, we walked over.

I stripped off my upper clothes, lowered the bucket, and drew water. It was midwinter night water, and my hands went numb as I pulled it up.

Wi Jin-ak offered his back first, so I poured the whole bucket over the nape of his neck.

Splash!

Though water poured down his back, he did not so much as flinch. Only several old scars, carved across him in every direction, gleamed beneath the stream. It was truly a body that had grown old living by the blade.

This time, I turned my back.

When cold water poured over my head, my spine stiffened in an instant.

We passed another couple of buckets between us, washing away the sweat completely.

After roughly drying our wet bodies, we exchanged brief bows. Wi Jin-ak went to his room, while I headed to mine.

I sat cross-legged and quietly examined my dantian. Gathering the energy that had been sleeping there, I slowly circulated it from the places where it had settled.

Once around, twice around.

My cooled body gradually warmed from within. That feeling lingering at my fingertips also rose faintly and sank again as I practiced energy circulation.

Had Wi Jin-ak not said there was no need to hurry?

I restored the energy that had fled the moment I filled it to around half, then laid my tired body down.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the paper windows were already bright.

I pushed open the door and found the sun high in the sky. I had exhausted myself sparring, then practiced energy circulation until late, so I had slept unusually long.

I got up and stepped out onto the porch. The door to Wi Jin-ak’s room, two doors down, was closed.

“Are you awake?”

There was no reply. Even when I listened closely, I could not hear a single breath from inside. He was not sleeping. It seemed he had gone out.

I considered returning to my room to sit cross-legged again, but I could not focus.

Had Chae Wol not said she would tell me as soon as word arrived from Yeongpa?

Someone might already have come. Was Yeona safe? Was everything well at home? Once my thoughts reached that point, I could not bring myself to sit in my room and circulate energy.

Perhaps I should walk around and see whether there was any news.

I put on my usual cotton clothes and immediately left the annex. The men at the gate bowed and made way for me, just as they had yesterday.

After I passed through the narrow path in the reed field, I emerged onto the street I had entered the night before.

But it looked like an entirely different place from last night.

The pavilions that had shone with lantern light, spilling music and the scent of face powder from behind their beaded curtains, had all closed their mouths beneath the midday sun.

Unlit lanterns hung alone beneath the eaves, while every beaded curtain was lowered to hide the interiors. Some establishments had shut their doors entirely.

The street that welcomed guests all night seemed to return to sleep by day. There was no sign of painted women, nor of idle figures in silk holding fans.

Only now and then did someone throw out dirty water or sweep the ground.

When I turned my gaze, the lake stretched open beyond the street.

This was West Lake, was it not? Last night, it had lain hidden in darkness, breaking only lantern light into fragments. But in daylight, I could see why it was renowned.

Low mountains encircled the water. Along the long embankment stretching across it, willow trees stood bare in the heart of winter, every leaf gone.

Between them, several brightly painted pleasure boats were moored idly near the shore, without a single guest aboard. Did no one enjoy the water in daytime? With scenery like this, it seemed it would be quite pleasant even during the day.

As I thought this and headed toward the main gate of Mist and Sunset Pavilion, I saw two people entering ahead of me.

One was Chae Ryeon.

She was accompanied by a woman. Looking closer, I saw that the woman wore a sword at her waist. Unlike the finely dressed women of this district, her clothes were simple and her stride straight.

Who was she?

But before I could dwell on the question, the two disappeared through the gate.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried