Chapter 319: Journey to the End of the Night (2)

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“Do not lie.”

“It is the truth.”

“It is a lie, isn’t it?”

“I tell you it is the truth.”

I could not believe it. Of course, that was not the only reason I disliked my father.

Still, to find out that the decisive reason I had come to dislike my father was actually my own misconception. For me, it was a story bound to provoke resistance.

As my father and I bickered, Su Je-heon held his tongue and remained quiet. Though his expression could not be seen, he was probably watching with amusement. He remained an unlikable middle-aged man.

“It doesn’t make sense. Mother wanted to send me into government service. Why would she suddenly offer precious money to the Wudang Sect?”

“As you know from going there yourself, martial arts aside, aren’t Wudang Sect lay disciples more focused on other things?”

I fell silent. That was true. In fact, though Wudang Sect lay disciples could learn martial arts, that was not their primary significance. Had I not known that as well?

The significance of Wudang Sect lay disciples lay in building connections among fellow lay disciples. In fact, had I not gained fellows like Jeon Oh-su and Yeo Hong-yang?

“Doesn’t it cost a lot of money to educate someone enough to place first in the imperial examinations? Your mother must have hoped that by sending you to Wudang, you would meet merchants who sponsor scholars.”

Then as now, wealthy merchants often sponsored impoverished scholars. It was a transaction exchanging money for social prestige.

Keeping that in mind, Mother had sought to send me as a Wudang Sect lay disciple. One could say it was quite an insightful thought.

“Later, just before your mother died, she told me. That she had poured quite a bit of money into Wudang, so to keep pouring it in. Hearing that, I was dumbfounded.”

“……”

Had Father not known either? This was truly an unimagined story.

I had thought that my father, fanatically obsessed with martial arts, had ordered me to become a Wudang Sect lay disciple, but in truth, that had been Mother’s wish.

“I thought there was no need to tell you. Your mother told me not to say anything, and I thought you would be angry. Asking why, when starving ourselves, we were wasting money on becoming a Wudang lay disciple without knowing if it would even work.”

Sweat seeped from my father’s hand. Seeing him continuously stealing glances upward, was he reading my mood?

“I didn’t know you hated me so much because of that……”

“Do not delude yourself.”

I spoke sharply.

“Though that was critical, thinking that I hated you solely because of that is a miscalculation. In reality, it is true that you neglected our family to learn martial arts, Father.”

“That is true too……”

“It was surprising, but that is all. Your neglecting us until now is an unerasable past, Father.”

“That’s right.”

My father’s voice turned dejected.

“However, I am someone who finds it difficult to do anything long-term, as you know. I thought that to govern that constitution, I had to learn martial arts.”

I wondered what he was talking about all of a sudden. But thinking it was an absurd excuse, I snorted.

“Madness? Ha. What ridiculous nonsense. Because you were someone without martial arts, it ended with at most a disturbance in the village. Had your madness manifested while you possessed martial arts, it wouldn’t have ended with merely several people dying. Are you calling that an excuse?”

When I snapped at him, my father fell silent.

Then, Su Je-heon, who had remained quiet until now, chimed in.

“Say, the son is too harsh. A father can make mistakes too.”

“This is our family’s business. Outsiders should step out.”

“You must know as well. Once you become a father. How difficult it is to act for your child’s sake.”

“Then you can tell me that after I become a father later.”

“You have grown childish.”

Even at Su Je-heon’s words, I had nothing to say. For I knew I was being childish right now.

“Look here. Listen to me.”

Su Je-heon spoke in a serious voice.

“In any case, your father sought to learn martial arts for your sake. Isn’t that true?”

That was true. At that time, my father had believed that martial arts were essential to protect his family.

“And so?”

“That path might have been wrong. In terms of results. Still, if one has not failed beyond redemption, isn’t it a matter of setting it right?”

“It went beyond redemption. Because Mother passed away.”

“That cannot be undone. I am speaking of what can be undone.”

“What is that?”

“The relationship between you and your father.”

I knitted my brows.

“I believe it is already beyond redemption.”

“No, what is truly beyond redemption is death. You two are alive. As long as you are alive, it can be set right.”

Deep remorse was embedded in Su Je-heon’s voice. Before I could stop him, Su Je-heon continued speaking.

“Listen. The one who committed an irreversible wrong was me.”

I remained silent. It was a story I did not want to hear, but I could no longer stop it.

“My son was truly a child of outstanding martial talent. He was truly one who learned ten things when taught one.”

“That is just like Hui-yeong. Hui-yeong was such a child as well. Of course, for Hui-yeong, it was numbers, not martial arts.”

My father immediately chimed in. Acting as though fathers were connected by some energy I did not know was utterly displeasing to watch.

“I suppose so. In any case, at that time, I was a martial artist making a name as a rising master. I thought I could teach him myself, but my wife insisted that with such talent, he should be sent to the Nine Great Sects.”

Unconsciously, I nodded my head. If Su Je-heon considered the martial talent outstanding, he was certainly a talent who should be sent to the Nine Great Sects.

Because all talents capable of handling such martial aptitude were gathered in the Nine Great Sects.

“However, at that time, I lived in a place without the Nine Great Sects. In fact, this was normal. In this vast Central Plains, there are only nine such places at most. Naturally, far more people are out of their reach.”

“That is true.”

My father continued to chime in.

“So we went to the Diancang Sect. Being a person of Guangxi, Yunnan was the closest. But Diancang refused to accept our child at all.”

“Why?”

I asked out of curiosity as well. If Su Je-heon considered him talented, he must have been a clear genius, so Diancang Sect rejecting him was hard to understand.

“Who knows. Whether the elder was in a foul mood that day, or my name was not famous enough at that time. My child’s talent was by no means lacking. That much is certain.”

“I see.”

“Yet I could not wander searching for other Nine Great Sects. At that time, the child was not even ten years old, and wouldn’t my wife suffer as well? I wished to settle down and live as much as possible. So I lived in Yunnan for a time.”

Su Je-heon continued his tale.

“Having settled down, I could not embark on chivalrous deeds as before. So I opened a martial training hall in town. Of course, anticipating that the Diancang Sect might complain, I set it up on the outskirts.”

“You were walking on eggshells.”

“Indeed. At that time, I was a mere individual martial artist, so I had no choice but to watch their mood. But unexpectedly, my martial hall did very well. Many people gathered. In the first place, many people are interested in martial arts, while those who can enter the Nine Great Sects are limited. In that regard, our training hall flourished. And I taught with considerable sincerity as well.”

Just then, a slight wave of qi leaked from Su Je-heon’s body. It was a rough wave. Unconsciously, I deployed a qi barrier to protect my father.

“Ah, apologies. I was briefly reminded of old times.”

“It cannot be helped.”

“Once my martial hall did remarkably well, the Diancang Sect sent people again, you see? It was ridiculous.”

“Did the Diancang Sect forcibly close the hall?”

“Those fellows would rather not do such a thing. Being ones who care terribly about their prestige above all else. If rumors arose that they oppressed commoners needlessly, it would be troublesome.”

Hostility laced Su Je-heon’s voice. Come to think of it, Su Je-heon had always resented a martial world centered around the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families.

“They tried to appease me. Saying that if I closed the hall, they would register our child as a main-sect disciple.”

“Does the Diancang Sect even keep a local training hall in check?”

“At first, I found that puzzling as well. But even if I asked, would they tell me? They merely glossed it over, so I took it as such. Later, someone from the Diancang Sect’s lay disciple background opened a sect in the neighboring village.”

“Ah.”

Backing their lay disciple, then. If so, it made complete sense.

“My wife said it was a good opportunity. In any case, parents want a good future for their child. In that regard, becoming a main-sect disciple of the Nine Great Sects guaranteed the child’s future.”

“I see. Then, didn’t it work out well anyway?”

“Listen. But as you know from being from the Wudang Sect, main-sect disciples are not accepted just anytime. Of course, there are exceptions occasionally, but usually, disciples are recruited formally so that generational hierarchy is not tangled.”

“That is true.”

“So the Diancang Sect asked us to wait just one year. Saying that while we kept the hall closed during that time, they would take responsibility for our income as well.”

Somehow, I ended up continuing to listen to Su Je-heon’s story. But having come this far, I could no longer back out.

“Interacting continuously with the Diancang Sect back then, we grew quite close. And at that time, I was thirsting for personal chivalrous deeds. For that was why I had learned martial arts. Being a hall master was not bad, but my true nature rejoiced more in performing chivalrous acts.”

“I forget sometimes, but the Deputy Palace Master’s sobriquet was Ink Sword Hero.”

“So one of the Diancang Sect elders asked if I could help with the sect’s affairs. Being an illustrious orthodox sect, it was naturally a chivalrous mission. Since it was what I desired as well, I gladly followed along.”

Su Je-heon’s voice grew somber. I too grew tense in turn.

“However, intoxicated by chivalry at the time, I did not realize. That while chivalrous acts accumulate virtue for someone, they accumulate just as much resentment.”

“Indeed. The affairs of the world are never simple.”

“Following the Diancang Sect, I crushed remnants of the Demonic Cult. Being a task alongside Diancang masters, the disposal was easy. After the deed was done, I shared food and wine with the Diancang masters, sharing one another’s grand spirit.”

I let out a low murmur. For some reason, I could anticipate the ending.

“Musing with the Diancang masters, I returned too late. Back then, I did not know. That the blade of vengeance flies far faster than one imagines.”

“……”

“Upon returning home, my child and wife were both dead. And in a very cruel manner at that. Probably no one was easier to take revenge on than me. Because the Diancang Sect was a great sect, while I was purely an individual. At that time, I was not even a martial artist whose name had spread across the Central Plains.”

“……So that was what happened.”

At this point, I felt I roughly understood why Su Je-heon had become such a person. And why he had made those choices.

“But that wasn’t a fault, was it? It was unavoidable.”

“No, it was a fault. It was because I was too ignorant of the martial world. I should have known that getting needlessly entangled in such big matters brings the blade of vengeance, and that becoming allies with the Nine Great Sects means becoming enemies with their enemies.”

“If you think that way, it cannot be helped, but.”

“In truth, it is so.”

Su Je-heon paused briefly.

“My continuous efforts to dismantle the Nine Great Sects stemmed from having such a past. Wondering if our family would have been fine had power not been concentrated in a deformed structure within the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families, but evenly distributed. In fact, I still believe that to be the ideal structure.”

“I see. However, the method was wrong.”

“Well, from your perspective, it might have been so. I do not deny that. But please know this as well. I do not hate the Nine Great Sects or Five Great Families just because such a thing happened. It is simply a structural matter. The Diancang Sect wouldn’t have done that to destroy my family.”

Su Je-heon gave a light smirk.

“Rather, what I detest is naturally the demonic practitioners who personally killed my family. So I wish to ask you here: can you truly persuade me?”

At those words, I could give no answer.

The moon had concealed its trace as well. The night was heading toward its end.