A Tale Of A Scribe Who Retires To The Countryside [EN]: Chapter 295

295. The Seven Swords of Wudang

Seorin’s tearful smile held a certain charm that stirred the hearts of those who saw it. Moreover, the attitude of Qing-Su Jinren, the leader of the Wudang Sect, was confusing the Seven Swords of Wudang.

“Are you determined to stop us, to stop Wudang?”

Qing-Su Jinren’s voice was calm and subdued. He didn’t seem to mind that the Seven Swords of Wudang were looking at him with puzzled eyes for using honorifics with the young Seorin.

Seorin nodded.

“Yes.”

“Do you know what consequences your actions will bring to Wudang?”

The look in Qing-Su Jinren’s eyes was sharp.

If Seorin, a disciple of Hwanghak Jinren, stood in the way of Wudang, the imperial family’s wrath would eventually engulf even Wudang. Qing-Su Jinren was asking if he understood the gravity of that.

However, Seorin shook his head.

“Hmm? I don’t really know about that.”

Qing-Su Jinren’s brow furrowed. It was a look of disappointment at Seorin’s seeming irresponsibility and foolishness, but Seorin’s words weren’t finished yet.

“But no one knows the future anyway. No one knows all the consequences of their actions or words.”

Seorin looked straight at Qing-Su Jinren and said.

“So, rather than trying to calculate an unknown future, it’s better to fill yourself with sincere thoughts and words. After all, the person who eats the red candy will have a red tongue, and the person who eats the blue candy will have a blue tongue.”

The eyes of the Seven Swords of Wudang gleamed. They could clearly see the wisdom of Taoism in the boy’s words.

“Huhu, are you going to say that even after Wudang is gone?”

Qing-Su Jinren said with a hollow laugh. Seorin shrugged.

“I doubt it. And it won’t happen. My teacher told me to take care of Wudang, and Brother Bin won’t let it happen either.”

Seorin’s expression was bright as he spoke. Just talking about Son-Bin made his face light up with a smile.

However, Qing-Su Jinren could not laugh. He could not trust Seorin, who had passed on the responsibility for Wudang to ‘the one who walks the path of the Uncrowned King’.

“We cannot entrust the fate of Wudang to others.”

“He’s not others. Brother is…….”

“He is others.”

Qing-Su Jinren said in a firm and clear voice. He, too, had already made up his mind.

“It seems there is no more choice.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

Seorin nodded with a somewhat sad look. Qing-Su Jinren closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. After a moment, he opened his eyes.

“Seven Swords of Wudang…….”

“Wait.”

Interrupting Qing-Su Jinren’s words, Qing-Yang Jinren, the first of the Seven Swords of Wudang, spoke up.

“I want to hear an explanation before I carry out your orders, Sect Leader.”

Qing-Yang Jinren’s voice was heavy. Qing-Su Jinren’s eyebrows twitched.

“Are you going to cause internal strife in front of outsiders, Qing-Yang?”

Qing-Su Jinren said in a stern voice, but Qing-Yang Jinren did not back down.

“As one of the Seven Swords of Wudang, I will always follow the Sect Leader’s will. But if this young friend is a member of Wudang, how can I wield force against him rashly?”

Qing-Su Jinren frowned.

The first Sword, Qing-Yang Jinren, held a rank similar to Sect Leader Qing-Su Jinren. Of course, their teachers were different, and there was a hierarchy of positions, but they could be considered brothers from the same school. Even as the superior, he couldn’t simply suppress him.

“He is an outsider.”

“Huhu, an outsider…….”

The large Qing-Yang Jinren let out a hollow laugh.

“If this young friend is an outsider, why are you showing him respect, Sect Leader?”

“That’s…….”

“I have another question.”

Jin-Myung Jinren, the youngest and most junior of the Seven Swords of Wudang, chimed in.

“The clothes that young friend is wearing are clearly our Wudang robes. If he has nothing to do with Wudang, why is he wearing those robes? If that young friend is impersonating Wudang, I don’t understand your attitude towards him, Sect Leader?”

Qing-Su Jinren clearly stated that Seorin had nothing to do with Wudang. He had never entered the priesthood, never returned to secular life, and was not a member of Wudang. But why was he showing him respect?

The Seven Swords of Wudang’s suspicions were natural. And Sect Leader Qing-Su Jinren could not deny that their questions were legitimate.

“He is…….”

Qing-Su Jinren said quietly.

“He is the last disciple that Hwanghak Jinren took in.”

Alarm spread across the faces of the Seven Swords of Wudang all at once. The face of the first Sword, Qing-Yang Jinren, instantly contorted, and Jin-Myung Jinren, the youngest of the seven, even gasped.

“Heok. G-, Grand Master’s disciple?”

Hwanghak Jinren is Qing-Su Jinren’s granduncle. Naturally, Seorin is his granduncle. The granduncle of the Wudang Sect Leader.

“T-, then what is the seniority?”

There was no need to ask. No one in Wudang held higher seniority than Seorin. To Jin-Myung, Seorin was his granduncle.

“But he is an outsider.”

Sect Leader Qing-Su Jinren cut off Jin-Myung’s words. He looked at the Seven Swords of Wudang and said.

“Even a secular disciple cannot claim his seniority, but he is someone who has left Wudang altogether. No, he has never even been a member of Wudang. This is why he is not known.”

The Seven Swords of Wudang understood why the Sect Leader showed respect to Seorin but maintained a cold attitude.

The fact that Hwanghak Jinren took in a disciple but did not ordain him could be seen as a great flaw of Hwanghak Jinren, depending on who was looking. It could even be a major event that shakes the hierarchy of Wudang.

That is why Wudang remained silent, and Sect Leader Qing-Su Jinren declared him an outsider.

Qing-Su Jinren’s respect was only for the Great Grandmaster Hwanghak Jinren, and he did not recognize Seorin as his granduncle.

Qing-Yang Jinren, who had been standing with a firm expression, looked at Seorin.

“Young friend, do you have anything to say about this?”

Qing-Yang Jinren’s voice was quite imposing. In the face of that force, which would have changed the complexion of any martial artist, Seorin said as if he felt nothing.

“Ah, sorry. I don’t really know about that.”

Far from being sorry or embarrassed, Seorin answered nonchalantly. Before the others could react to his words, Seorin added a few more.

“But there’s never been a decent guy who cares about seniority or anything like that…….”

Qing-Yang Jinren, as well as the Seven Swords of Wudang’s faces, contorted all at once, but Seorin spoke as if nothing was wrong.

“That’s what my teacher said.”

The Seven Swords of Wudang could not hide their awkward expressions. Only the clueless youngest, Jin-Myung Jinren, nodded.

“Well, if it’s the Great Grandmaster, he would definitely say that……. Eup.”

When one of the Seven Swords of Wudang glared at him, Jin-Myung quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

“Is there still more explanation needed? Qing-Yang.”

Sect Leader Qing-Su Jinren asked. The first Sword, Qing-Yang Jinren, let out a soft groan.

“There are still many things I want to ask, but I will postpone them.”

There were still many doubts about the word ‘Heavenly Shift’ that he had heard for the first time, and about this trip to Huangshan [Yellow Mountain, a mountain range in China].

However, this was not the place to question the Sect Leader or to demand explanations.

Since Seorin had been defined as an outsider, all that was left for the Seven Swords of Wudang to do was to follow the Sect Leader’s orders.

However, the first Sword, Qing-Yang Jinren, who had not yet given up his lingering feelings, let out a soft groan.

“Young friend.”

Qing-Yang Jinren said to Seorin in a heavy voice.

“Hwanghak Jinren would not have wanted discord in Wudang. So, can’t you change your mind even now?”

In that voice, Qing-Yang Jinren’s sincerity, his desire not to use force against Hwanghak Jinren’s disciple, was conveyed without any addition or subtraction.

“Children fight often.”

Seorin’s answer was out of the blue. Qing-Yang Jinren frowned, but Seorin continued.

“The important thing in stopping that fight is to listen carefully to what the fighting children have to say. So, you have to tell the wrong child what they did wrong, and you have to praise the child who deserves praise. If you punish both of them just because they fought, you haven’t taught them anything. No, it’s just like telling them to shut up and stay still.”

Seorin said, looking straight at Qing-Yang Jinren.

“Do you know why I stopped you? Did you try to listen?”

“That’s…….”

“You’re going to say that’s not important, right? You’re trying to say that this act of disobeying the Sect Leader and causing discord is the biggest mistake of all, right?”

Qing-Yang Jinren was speechless. That was true.

Wudang’s strict rules consider disrupting order to be the greatest mistake of all. No matter the reason, shaking Wudang is never justified.

Therefore, Seorin, although he is a disciple of Hwanghak Jinren, is an outsider to Wudang, and his blocking the Sect Leader is the greatest mistake of all.

“Brother Bin listened to me.”

Seorin said, his eyes sparkling.

“He didn’t ignore me because I was young, he valued what I valued, and he always listened to my stories seriously. Brother Bin knows what I like and what I don’t like. Just like my teacher used to.”

Tears welled up in Seorin’s eyes as he spoke.

Seeing that, Jin-Myung, the youngest of the seven, suddenly realized. Every time he talked about ‘teacher’, tears welled up in Seorin’s eyes.

“That’s why I like Brother Bin. I like my teacher too. So I…….”

Seorin took a deep breath. He raised his head and opened his eyes wide.

“I’m going to stop you.”

Qing-Yang Jinren, and indeed everyone present, knew that there was no room for further discussion.

Qing-Yang Jinren sighed softly. When he raised his head, no more anguish or conflict could be found in his eyes.

Slowly raising his sword, Qing-Yang Jinren said in a weighty voice.

“Open the formation.”

Whirr.

Centered around Qing-Yang Jinren, the other six Taoists [Taoist priests] flew in all directions simultaneously, and before Seorin knew it, he was standing in the middle of them.

It might seem like they were oppressing a young boy, but they were already aware that Seorin possessed extraordinary martial prowess. There was not a hint of hesitation in the Taoists’ movements.

Seorin did not move as he watched them surround him on all sides and land in their respective positions. He simply stood there, looking straight at Qing-Yang Jinren.

“Out of respect for Hwanghak Jinren’s name, we will not inflict any life-threatening harm on you, young friend.”

Qing-Yang Jinren said calmly, brandishing his sword.

“However, you will certainly pay the price for blocking Wudang’s path.”

A sharp energy emanated from the tip of his sword. It was easy to guess that the ‘price’ he spoke of would not be light.

“Heh heh.”

Seorin laughed. Seorin’s smile, like that of a pretty boy, was bright and carefree. However, the moment he took out the Buddhist whisk from his chest, everyone’s expression hardened.

Swish.

The Buddhist whisk, swaying like a soft animal’s tail, was none other than Hwanghak Jinren’s ‘Hongjinmanri’ [a treasured artifact]. It was the moment when the rumor that Seorin was Hwanghak Jinren’s hidden disciple was confirmed as fact.

Swish.

Seorin lightly crossed his arms and said.

“If you can.”

Whooosh.

A tremendous force began to emanate from Seorin. A force that was hard to believe came from the pretty boy who had been smiling and sometimes tearing up.

‘Gasp.’

The expressions of Qing-Yang Jinren, as well as all of the Wudang Seven, hardened. It was such an overwhelming force that it felt as if the situation where they had already deployed the formation and suppressed the aura was meaningless.

Flutter.

Seorin’s Taoist robe, worn like an overcoat, fluttered, and the Hongjinmanri shone blue as it rose. Swaying in response to Seorin’s energy, it resembled a fluttering flag or the tail of a mythical beast from legends.

“Give it a try.”

Facing Seorin’s appearance, Qing-Yang Jinren gritted his teeth.

The thought that his opponent was just a young man had already vanished. The Seven Stars Sword Formation that Wudang was so proud of had already been deployed, but he couldn’t afford even a moment of relaxation.

Wooowoong.

A blue aura began to bloom on Qing-Yang Jinren’s sword. Similarly, sword energy flickered on the other Taoists’ swords, and along with it, the energy of the seven Taoists pressed in on Seorin from all directions.

“Indeed, you are a disciple of Hwanghak Jinren.”

The tone of First Disciple Qing-Yang Jinren had changed. To him, the martial prowess that Seorin was now displaying was more convincing evidence than his status as the Grand Master’s disciple.

“However, the Seven Stars Sword Formation is a formation created by gathering the wisdom of Tai Chi [a Chinese martial art and philosophy] to defeat a massive and overwhelming enemy. No matter how strong and fierce the power, before Tai Chi, it will only return to nothingness…….”

Swoosh.

Qing-Yang Jinren raised his sword and held it straight in front of his eyes.

“You would do well not to overestimate your abilities.”

Woooong.

The blue-glowing sword cried out as if answering his resolve. At the same time, the energy created by the Seven Stars Sword Formation began to move in a large circle around Seorin.

At this point, no one could fail to realize that they were trapped inside the Seven Stars Sword Formation. However, Seorin’s reaction was completely different from what Qing-Yang Jinren had expected.

“Oh, well, that’s…….”

Seorin stammered, as if embarrassed or flustered. Qing-Yang Jinren frowned and the other Taoists looked puzzled, and Seorin said.

“Brother Bin is better at that, you know? Oh, and of course, my teacher goes without saying.”

Seorin let go of his arm and scratched his cheek with his finger.

“So that, uh, won’t work on me, will it?”

Grind.

Qing-Yang Jinren gritted his teeth. Seorin’s words were nothing short of an insult to the Wudang Seven, the Seven Stars Sword Formation, and Wudang itself.

“Attack!”

“Tah-ah!”

The seven Taoists began to move simultaneously.

The immense energy created by the Seven Stars Sword Formation was like a torrential wave, rendering any force that opposed it powerless.

Moreover, the Seven Stars Sword Formation greatly amplified the martial prowess of the Taoists. Those who formed the Seven Stars Sword Formation could exert even greater power than their original skills, as if swimming along the flow of a river.

Swoosh.

A sword with immense energy thrust towards Seorin. However, Seorin deflected the energy by wielding his Buddhist whisk and lightly soaring upwards.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

Three swords shot towards Seorin, who was floating in the air. Each one was a formidable attack containing immense energy.

However, as if he already knew, Seorin wielded his Buddhist whisk. Seorin’s Hongjinmanri, filled with fierce energy, struck the first sword head-on from top to bottom.

At that moment, First Disciple Qing-Yang Jinren was certain of their victory. He also confirmed that Seorin was, after all, just a young and inexperienced youth.

‘To face the attack of the Seven Stars Sword Formation head-on, how foolish…….’

Whooosh.

As expected, the energy of the Seven Stars Sword Formation rose up to counter Seorin’s attack. The moment he was swept away by that immense energy, Seorin’s attack would lose its direction and become neutralized.

Sizzle.

However, the result was astonishing. Seorin’s Hongjinmanri cut through the energy of the Seven Stars Sword Formation as if it were nothing, as naturally and inevitably as a blue moon passing through clouds.

Thwack.

“Ugh!”

Along with the Taoist’s groan, his sword was pressed down. And two more explosions followed.

Bang, crash.

“Kugh.”

“Ugh.”

The other two Taoists who had attacked Seorin groaned and were thrown back. They lost their positions and tumbled backward.

“Everyone, step back!”

Qing-Yang Jinren immediately grasped the situation and ordered. The remaining Taoists, their faces changed, immediately retreated.

Thud.

Seorin landed lightly on the ground. His robe was still fluttering, and the Hongjinmanri, shimmering with blue light, was still leisurely swaying in the air.

“I told you.”

Looking at Qing-Yang Jinren, Seorin said in a rather innocent tone.

“It won’t work on me.”

Watching Seorin shrug his shoulders, Qing-Yang Jinren gritted his teeth.

‘This is ridiculous…….’

Originally, the energy created by the Seven Stars Sword Formation was equal to the sum of the energy emitted by those forming the formation. Moreover, according to the mysteries of Tai Chi, that energy would overlap and strengthen over time.

Yet Seorin had shattered that energy, albeit in the early stages. And he had instantly neutralized three of those forming the Seven Stars Sword Formation. The Seven Stars Sword Formation had been broken down in such an absurd way.

Swish.

Qing-Yang Jinren raised his sword and aimed it at Seorin.

“Indeed, you are remarkable.”

Even a faint admiration was swirling in Qing-Yang Jinren’s eyes as he looked at Seorin.

“I never imagined that you would discover the weakness of the Seven Stars Sword Formation that even I didn’t know. I was confident that there was no one in the world who understood the Seven Stars Sword Formation better than me, but indeed, you are a disciple of Hwanghak Jinren.”

“No, that’s not it.”

It was a piece of unadulterated praise from Qing-Yang Jinren, but Seorin sighed.

“I didn’t exploit the weakness of the sword formation, I just followed the Way of Tai Chi. You still don’t get it. Brother Bin would have praised me if I had shown it to him.”

Seorin, with his lips sticking out, spoke in a dissatisfied tone. Qing-Yang Jinren’s expression hardened again, but he soon composed himself and said.

“However, Wudang will never yield. Even if it means sacrificing my own life.”

Woooong.

Qing-Yang Jinren’s sword began to weep softly.

“We will never back down…….”

“Put down your sword.”

A soft voice was heard through the fog. However, Qing-Yang Jinren couldn’t help but tremble at that voice.

Step, step.

The person who revealed himself was an old Taoist with a long white beard. Jang Kang Eeong, who was following behind him as if protecting the old Taoist, frowned with his wrinkled face.

Qing-Yang Jinren couldn’t hide his surprised expression. The old Taoist with the white beard was none other than Hyunheo Jinren.

“M, Master.”

Hwanghak Jinren’s chief disciple and the highest-ranking elder in Wudang, Hyunheo Jinren.

He, who had been living in seclusion and not showing himself at any events, had appeared here in Hwangsan.