Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 156

156. The Lady with the Lute

A man and a woman were walking along a secluded mountain path, filled with the sounds of birds.

The man, walking ahead, wore a sword at his waist and rather flamboyant attire. The young woman, dressed in exotic white clothes, kept looking around with anxious eyes.

Her youthful appearance, as if she had just shed her girlishness, along with her slender face and round eyes, clearly revealed her cute charm.

“Where is this place?”

The young lady spoke in a clear voice.

Her somewhat awkward pronunciation indicated that she was not from around here.

“There’s no need to worry, miss,” the young man replied with a subtle smile. “I’m telling you, this is a shortcut. Don’t worry, I’m here for you.”

However, the cute lady’s expression did not improve at all.

It had already been a while since they had entered the secluded mountain path.

She had entered because it was said to be a shortcut, but it was only natural that she felt uneasy as the deserted path continued.

“When does this road end? It’s too uneasy.”

“Too uneasy? Hahahaha.”

The man laughed at her clumsy pronunciation and strange usage.

The lady covered her mouth with one hand.

“Ah, is that not right? Was it anxiety?”

The lady’s 모습 [appearance] as she tilted her head was very cute.

The young man smiled and said, “Our cute sister must not have had the chance to learn anything else while mastering the lute in the North Sea? In such cases, you say you’re anxious.”

As the man said, a lute was hanging on the lady’s back.

Although it was wrapped in a pure white cloth, it was clearly a lute.

The lute contrasted with the young lady’s pretty face, which seemed to have just shed its girlishness, making it stand out even more.

The man gazed intently at the lady and continued. “And you come a little closer to me.”

Not just in words, the man reached out and tried to grab the lady’s wrist.

However, the young lady shook off the man’s hand strongly.

Thwack.

“Don’t make me laugh!” the lady said in a sharp voice. “What are you trying to do coming to a place like this? You, Unjeok!”

“Unjeok?”

The young man’s face turned comical again.

“Ah!” The lady raised her hand to cover her mouth again.

Her face turned slightly red, perhaps ashamed of her successive mistakes.

“U, Umjeok, was it?”

“Hahahahaha.”

Eventually, the man burst into hearty laughter. “Yes, it’s Unjeok. I’m about to let you taste the joys of cloud and rain [a euphemism for sexual intercourse] from now on, so that’s right too. Hahaha.”

“The joys of cloud and rain?” The lady in white clothes tilted her head. Soon, her face turned red. “You bad person! The story about going to Hangzhou was a lie from the start!”

“Ah, it’s not a lie. Of course, we have to go to Hangzhou. Just…” He subtly approached and put his hand behind her, gently placing it on her shoulder. “Enjoying myself with this brother… Ack!”

The man screamed, clutching his hand. Taking advantage of the gap, the lady in white clothes quickly pulled herself away.

“I warned you! Don’t make me laugh.”

Perhaps she meant to say ‘warned,’ but the man had no room to laugh right now.

Red blood was flowing from the back of his hand that he was clutching.

“This bitch is really getting on my nerves!”

“When did you ever say ‘take it easy’ to me? And you! You just said a bad word!” She pointed at the man with her finger and protested.

Silver metal sparkled at the tip of her finger.

It was a fake nail that noblewomen used as an accessory.

Usually, they are made very long and ornate to show off their wealth, but the one in this lady’s hand was a little short but very sharp.

It seemed to be a fake nail used when playing the lute.

“This bitch!”

“Again!”

As the man strode closer, she gently took a step back.

At the same time, her fingertip passed diagonally across the man’s face.

“Aaaagh!”

This time, what the man grabbed was his nose.

Before he knew it, the tip of his nose was sharply cut and blood was flowing.

“T, This…” Murderous intent flashed in the man’s eyes. “I was going to end it gently, but I guess I can’t.”

Clang.

“You’re going to regret touching my temper.”

A pure white long sword flashed in his hand.

But the lady didn’t care.

Rather, she sneered at him. “You said I would regret it?”

Rustle.

The lady was already holding a lute in her hand.

“I’m already regretting it. I shouldn’t have followed someone like you.”

The lute, with its smooth curves like large teardrops, sat neatly in her hand.

A look of caution flashed in the man’s eyes.

Hiding swords or hidden weapons in musical instruments is common in the 강호 [Gangho, the martial arts world] martial arts world.

The man tensed up and examined her.

Plink.

But soon, the sound of the lute began to ring out, and the man let out a snort.

“What are you doing right now… Ugh.”

The sneering man suddenly frowned and raised one hand to cover his ears.

“Wh, What is it?”

“Hmph.” A sneer hung on the lips of the cute lady playing the lute.

“Someone like you can’t even imagine it.”

Plink, plink, thump.

Her lute was no ordinary instrument.

And the cute lady was no ordinary person either.

Every time her white hand ran over the lute, the sound filled with inner force was shocking the man.

“Y, You bitch! Stop it!” He couldn’t let her continue playing like this.

Judging so, the man rushed towards her.

No, he was about to rush.

Thump.

But the man stumbled and fell as soon as he took his first step.

Absurdly, he lost his footing.

“Ugh.” The man tumbled to the ground.

But the sound of the lute did not stop.

Plink, plink.

“T, This is really…” The man gritted his teeth and got up.

And in an instant, he realized that he could no longer hear the sound of the lute.

‘Huh?’ The man was confused.

He couldn’t hear the sound of the lute, but the lady’s white hand was still running over the strings.

Rustle.

Her hand passed over the strings, but no sound came out.

The man frowned at the sight he was seeing for the first time.

Meanwhile, the lady’s white hand stopped playing and gently landed on the strings.

“Now,” the lady looked up at the man. “You’re finished.”

But the man couldn’t hear anything.

He only saw the lady’s red lips moving.

The man frowned.

Anyway, it didn’t matter.

“What the hell are you…” The man said that and tried to get up.

But he couldn’t hear his own voice.

Besides, he couldn’t feel any strength in his body at all.

No, to be exact, he was giving strength, but he didn’t feel anything at all.

‘Huh?’ The man tried to raise his hand and touch his mouth.

But his hand was raised in a completely different direction.

‘Uh, uh?’ Despair and confusion arose on the man’s face at the same time.

His body was moving uncontrollably, as if he were drunk.

“I told you. It’s over now.” She lowered the lute she was holding.

She knew very well that even her voice would not be heard by him anymore.

“Your ears are useless now. And when your ears become useless.”

The man was almost out of his mind.

He couldn’t hear properly, and he couldn’t move properly.

And finally, a tremendous pain struck the man.

Crack.

‘Kuaaaaaagh.’ The man tried to scream at the deafening noise that felt like his head was breaking.

But he couldn’t even scream properly.

Looking at such a man, the lady continued with cold eyes. “Many things about you will break down.”

The man couldn’t hear anything.

He just had to endure the shock of the world shattering into pieces before his eyes, without even being able to scream.

“Keueok.” The man collapsed, foaming blood, with a low groan.

Thud.

The fallen man’s limbs convulsed.

But the lady’s gaze was only cold.

“Haa.” The young lady sighed and lowered the lute.

“I want to kill you, but I can’t, right? This isn’t the North Sea, after all.”

That was a foreign language.

She looked at the man with hateful eyes, carefully wrapped the lute in a white cloth, and put it back on her back.

Sigh.

The lady turned around without regret.

‘I have to go back after all.’ This road may or may not really be a shortcut.

It’s better to go back than to risk it.

‘I just have to go back the way I came.’ Although it was an unfamiliar forest path, the lady thought so.

And it didn’t take long for her to realize that her thought was too naive.

The forest path was so different from the prairie where she lived.

***

Yunhyun opened his eyes in a room at Nanhang Daru in Deungbong County.

When he turned his head, he saw Dokgo-rang standing by the bed.

“Are you alright?” Dokgo-rang carefully asked Yunhyun, who sat up.

“I’m fine,” Yunhyun smiled and said to Dokgo-rang. “How many days has it been?”

“Three days.”

He was dumbfounded that it had been three days since he had collapsed.

Yunhyun smiled bitterly and said, “Three days… I feel like I’m getting better.”

That was not a lie.

Even without being conscious of it, inner force [internal energy or vital energy] was naturally moving throughout his body.

It was clearly the inner force that 의형 [righteous brother] Ilchunghyun had given him, but it felt as if it were originally his own.

Perhaps this was what it meant to ‘make it my own.’

‘But I didn’t really do anything.’ If he had to find something, it was only that last moment when he was sparring with Muje.

‘Hmm.’ Yunhyun shuddered slightly without realizing it.

The emotions and exhilaration of that time passed by like a thrill.

After calming his emotions for a moment, Yunhyun asked Dokgo-rang. “Is Dokgo-je alright?”

Dokgo-rang silently nodded.

Yunhyun looked at the Daehwan-dan pouch and letter placed next to the bed.

“By the way, didn’t the Shaolin Temple say anything? Or the Seonsa [a Taoist hermit]?” Yunhyun said, recalling the memory of the monks running over.

“They said they would take you to Shaolin Temple, but I refused. And there was no contact from Seonsa.”

It was fortunate that he didn’t owe Shaolin Temple a favor.

They might have brought up the Daehwan-dan issue.

However, it was a little unexpected that there was no word from Wabul Seonsa.

Perhaps that was Wabul’s way of 정리하는 [settling or concluding] his own relationship.

“I see,” Yunhyun said with a faint smile.

“Then let’s rest for one more day and leave.”

“Are you still uncomfortable?” Dokgo-rang asks with a serious expression.

Yunhyun shook his head. “I think Dokgo-je needs to rest more than I do.”

He could tell without looking that Dokgo-rang hadn’t slept a wink for the three days he had collapsed.

“I…”

“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Yunhyun said firmly. “And rest. Got it?”

Dokgo-rang was silent for a moment.

But soon he nodded quietly.

Yunhyun smiled contentedly.

He was relieved just that he and Dokgo-rang were fine and that the Daehwan-dan was safe.

But that smile soon disappeared.

-I will gladly wait for the day we meet again.

Muje’s heavy words.

That was by no means a 인사치레 [empty formality or polite greeting].

‘At this rate…’ At the last moment, his wooden sword was broken.

That’s not because the wooden sword was weak.

That’s because not even a handful of inner force was put into the wooden sword.

In the end, he had not properly reached that level.

Although Muje said that he had not decided the 승부 [outcome or victory], it was not so for Yunhyun.

He had lost due to his own shortcomings.

If Muje hadn’t twisted the sword at the last moment, he wouldn’t even be alive like this.

‘I can’t do this.’ Yunhyun gritted his teeth.

Dokgo-rang was watching him with a 착잡한 [heavy or complicated] expression.