Chapter 41

Chapter 41

This is a story I heard before, but I’m told that in that distant Western Region, there’s something called jar training.

It’s a training method where you put everything below your waist entirely into a jar and climb mountains using only your arm strength. Since the jar is huge, your arms don’t actually touch the ground.

Therefore, they give the trainee one hammer to use like feet. By relying on just one hammer and climbing mountains with just balance and muscle strength, by the time you reach the summit, you can supposedly forge extreme patience.

Of course, it’s not a verified story. It was just something I heard as a joke from a Western Region merchant. However, I was deeply impressed by that story.

……And for such reasons, this training method was born.

“That’s quite interesting.”

At Baek Riyun’s rambling explanation, Seonwoo Gang, who had been making a blank expression, answered sullenly. Then Baek Riyun chuckled.

“Refreshing, isn’t it?”

“……It is refreshing. Though unpleasant.”

“That’s fortunate. You’ll need to be in there for at least several shichen.”

At Baek Riyun’s words, turning his head to check his own pathetic state, Seonwoo Gang let out a deep sigh.

“What kind of training is this supposed to be?”

“Didn’t I tell you? That’s from when I met a Western Region merchant…….”

“I’m not asking about the origin. I’m asking what this training is supposed to do.”

“Are you curious about that?”

“It would be strange not to be curious.”

Seonwoo Gang, who declared flatly, shook his head left and right expressing dissatisfaction. In fact, that was all he could do.

That’s because Seonwoo Gang was currently buried in the training ground floor with only his head sticking out.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m going to tear out the martial arts you have from you first.”

“How is this training related to that?”

“It is.”

“How exactly is it related…….”

“You can’t do anything.”

“Pardon?”

Baek Riyun crossed his arms, watching Seonwoo Gang tilt his head in incomprehension.

“Many people are mistaken, but martial arts are closer to understanding with the body rather than the head. Have you ever heard stories about suddenly becoming strong after gaining enlightenment at some moment?”

“Well…….”

Seonwoo Gang nodded as if there were many such stories. Seeing that, Baek Riyun shook his head.

“They’re all lies.”

“……Pardon?”

“I’m saying you can’t suddenly become strong just by gaining enlightenment.”

Gaining enlightenment and having one’s growth rate rise sharply.

That’s possible. If you extend your arm one more chi in this form, if you step one more span forward—such enlightenments accumulate and become growth, and also become nourishment that makes martial artists grow.

However, sprinkling quality soil on a plant doesn’t make a tree grow and bear fruit overnight. Enlightenment is similar.

“Enlightenment necessarily requires a process of embodiment. We call this embodied enlightenment habit or forms. More efficient sword paths and fist techniques that extend more fiercely—when such things accumulate, they become characteristics and strengths.”

“That… seems right.”

At Baek Riyun’s convincing story, Seonwoo Gang nodded. But Baek Riyun’s explanation didn’t end.

“But not all of this ends as strengths. When habits become standardized, opponents can read your habits and gain the upper hand. Have you heard about the training your fellow trainees are doing?”

“You mean enduring a hundred exchanges with just one method?”

“Right. That’s precisely the method to tear apart and modify that habit. Once you hit a wall, you’ll realize you can’t win without tearing apart and modifying your habits.”

“……I understand that far. But then why exactly am I buried in the ground? Even if I do the same training as my fellow trainees…….”

Couldn’t he also do the training of enduring a hundred exchanges?

At Seonwoo Gang asking that, Baek Riyun looked at Seonwoo Gang with an expression as if he were asking something strange.

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s a method to fix habits. Do you think fixing and tearing out are the same?”

“Well…….”

Seonwoo Gang’s words, about to ask if they weren’t obviously different, were cut off. Thinking about it, they couldn’t be the same.

Even if you repair a broken or chipped sword, it’s still a sword. If you melt down a sword and make a spear or gauntlets or something, that’s closer to making something new rather than repairing.

“You don’t need to fix habits but tear them out. But habits are engraved in the body. Then the story is simple.”

If enlightenment is engraved in the body, if it’s engraved in movement and experience, there’s one thing to do.

“Just make it so you can’t move, right?”

At Baek Riyun’s words, Seonwoo Gang blankly looked down below his neck and blinked.

“……So that’s why you buried me? What about meditation or other methods?”

“It’s a problem of the body, so why would I ask the mind for an answer?”

“But what training can I do in this state? Is staying still and doing nothing considered training?”

“As if.”

Baek Riyun, who chuckled, shook his head and tapped the ground with his toes. And at that moment.

Crrrrrack!

“Grrrrk……!”

At the strong pressure squeezing his entire body, Seonwoo Gang let out a groan. And before him, Baek Riyun waving a yellow talisman.

“It’s called Tookubu. Originally, it was made to transport fierce demon heads after capturing them without sealing their dantian.”

“……Cough! Why would you use such a thing…….”

“Didn’t I tell you? It was made to capture fierce demon heads. Naturally, there’s a way to release it from inside. Though I won’t tell you how.”

“First assignment.”

Looking at the silent Seonwoo Gang, Baek Riyun smiled broadly.

“By whatever means necessary, escape from there on your own within four days. That’s your first homework.”

Generally, if you’re alive, there’s always something to do.

Martial artists must hone their martial arts, strategists must investigate which strategies would work more efficiently, and emperors must contemplate how to rule their countries more easily. Even idle gentlemen without work or sparrows flying around commonly everywhere have things they want to do, things they must do that day.

In that sense, Cheongha and Namgung Woo belonged to the side with quite a lot to do.

Well, they were members of the Murim Alliance’s Military Force Corps, after all.

“Kuhaha! They really sucked them dry! Isn’t that right, Squad Leader?”

At Namgung Woo rummaging through the corpse and analyzing the remaining traces, Cheongha, who had pressed his brow, unconsciously harbored killing intent and placed his hand on his sword hilt.

“Shut up, Namgung Woo. Unless you want to die.”

“……Why only pick on me? I just stated facts.”

“Because you’re the only one doing this.”

At Cheongha’s appearance filled with chill, Changcheon Corps member Namgung Woo shrugged his shoulders, stepped back one step, and flipped over the corpse.

“The traces are the same. They cut the neck, hung them upside down, and all the blood was drained. The wounds are the same too. It’s probably the bastard we were chasing, right?”

Showing the long wound on the nape, Namgung Woo’s appearance made Cheongha let out a groan and examined the corpse’s details. As Namgung Woo said, a corpse shriveled up like a mummy with all the blood completely drained.

“……Did we lose them again?”

It hasn’t been long since they started chasing. In the first place, Cheongha and Namgung Woo didn’t come down here to chase a murderer who kills people.

Originally, Cheongha and Namgung Woo came down as support because the atmosphere around the Hunan  Evil Path wasn’t good. If something had been happening right away, they wouldn’t have been able to stay at Uicheonmun even with Baek Riyun’s request.

So they planned to just observe the situation and return to report.

Until they heard the strange story that villagers were disappearing one by one and being found as blood-drained corpses.

“Traces?”

“There’s nothing particularly left. But the fact that the spilled blood hasn’t remained means one of two things.”

“Either they took it with them, or they used it all on this spot…….”

“That’s it.”

At Cheongha’s reasoning, Namgung Woo snapped his fingers in affirmation and searched through the remaining traces.

“Looking at the people attacked, there doesn’t seem to be any particular common point, so it seems they’re fine with any human blood…….”

Though not common, such martial arts or internal energy cultivation methods exist. Things that use blood in their learning or use. Aren’t most talismans made by applying chicken blood to yellow talisman paper?

The martial world is a place where all sorts of bizarre and monstrous practitioners run wild. If they use chicken blood, there’s no reason blood uses wouldn’t exist. However, Namgung Woo eliminated one candidate from the list.

“It’s hard to see them as Evil Path. Those bastards can obtain blood much more easily than this.”

“……Give a handful of rice and countless people in the slums would offer their own blood.”

“Yes. Sadly, they could obtain it much cheaper and in much greater quantities.”

To commit such acts to save a few coins, they would lose far too much. The Evil Path also gets their funding from the populace just the same, and if caught, public sentiment would plummet to the bottom.

Even aside from public sentiment, there are problems. In such cases, most surrounding sects usually set out to search, and tracing it back that way would eventually lead to direct confrontation.

They lose too much compared to what they gain. Therefore, eliminate the Evil Path from the list. Then what remains?

“There are three possibilities. Demonic Cult, yokai, or pleasure killer.”

“All just vermin.”

“It’s not wrong, but let’s use proper and refined words. Okay? Just watching the Squad Leader open his mouth makes my heart go pit-a-pat! Okay?”

“Shut up.”

“……Always telling only me to shut up.”

At Cheongha’s sharply chilling gaze, Namgung Woo shrank and grumbled while kicking the ground. And Cheongha looked at that sight with cold eyes.

“We’re on a mission. Just continue the explanation.”

“Fine. I got it.”

At Cheongha’s attitude, Namgung Woo raised both hands and continued his explanation.

“Well, I said three types, but the Demonic Cult probably isn’t it. You know, but those bastards handled things too stupidly for them.”

“If they were going to do something, it would have been much more covert than this. If it were the Corps Commander or former Corps Commander level maybe, but I don’t think it’s something we’d figure out at our level?”

“The possibility of a pleasure killer?”

“For a pleasure killer, it’s a bit messy. Those bastards like leaving traces. Still, since they’re unpredictable bastards, I can’t deny the possibility, but…… the highest probability is probably.”

At Namgung Woo’s voice, Cheongha answered as if concluding.

“Yokai.”

“Yes.”

At Cheongha’s words, Namgung Woo nodded and turned his gaze to the forest.

“Looking at how no traces were left, for an ordinary yokai it has high intelligence. It didn’t only attack villagers, it attacked martial artists too, so it has some martial prowess. Either way, it’s too early to let our guard down, right?”

“The possibility of a greater yokai or higher?”

“It’s not impossible, but for a greater yokai, the damage is too small. It’s not like an entire village was annihilated, just a few people were kidnapped.”

“Right.”

“What will you do? Should we withdraw for now and request support? For yokai opponents, it might be better to dispatch different people rather than us.”

At Namgung Woo urging a decision, Cheongha, who had been silent for a moment, raised his gaze to look at the sky. Dark clouds gathered before he knew it.

By common sense judgment, they should request support. Yokai are generally bizarre and bewitching things, so it’s right to exercise extreme caution.

However, how would their Corps Commander Moyong Hyeyeon act? How would Baek Riyun act?

“Namgung Woo. A victim appeared.”

“If we withdraw, another victim will appear in the meantime. To us they’re just a few people, but to them it’s everything.”

Finishing his words, Cheongha looked down at the corpse with hardened eyes, then continued.

“We chase. Any objections?”

“What are you asking? When a superior says to go, you have to go.”

“Right.”

Thud!

After answering briefly, Cheongha walked into the forest following the trails. Confirming that, Namgung Woo let out a chuckle.

“So much sentiment anyway. So much…….”

Then suddenly looking at the traces remaining on the corpse, he frowned strangely.

“……Come to think of it, in popular novels, when you say this and go in, you usually die.”

Since they’re Changcheon Corps members and not some other affiliation, he could take pride in being skilled at clinging to life, but still, you never know.

“Just in case, should I buy some insurance?”

If he leaves a code, the search party following behind will see it and act accordingly.

With that thought, Namgung Woo drew his sword and carved a few codes on the surrounding trees, then walked into the forest.

The tree was carved like this:

[If absent for more than one month, deliver to Uicheonmun Sect Master]