A Tale Of A Scribe Who Retires To The Countryside [EN]: Chapter 6

Shining Blade Under the Moonlight (2)

“So…….”

Son Bin, who had been listening intently, asked,

“Are you saying you can’t stand the idea of the people you killed covering up the truth, making it seem like nothing happened? Or even worse, twisting the facts to paint you as the villain?”

Sa Ja-hyuk chuckled dryly.

“Exactly. Didn’t you say that what’s recorded and known becomes accepted as truth, while what’s not is forgotten, fades away, and becomes as if it never existed?”

“That’s what *you* said. But……”

Son Bin replied, a bitter expression clouding his face.

“That’s right. If no one knows, it’s as if it never happened. And in a world where those in power call a horse a deer [deliberately misrepresenting something], even a deer becomes a horse.”

Remembering the young martial artist he’d met at the Hwanghak Tower [Yellow Crane Tower] in Wuhan, Son Bin couldn’t suppress his bitterness.

Hwangbeop had said he would justify himself, hadn’t he? If not for Sa Ja-hyuk, his words would likely have become the accepted truth.

“That’s why I’m telling you to write.”

At Sa Ja-hyuk’s words, a spark of interest flickered in Son Bin’s eyes.

“From now on, you’ll be with me every step of the way. You’ll record what I’ve done, what I’m doing, and why I’m doing it. And you’ll publish it as a book to make it widely known. So that no one……”

Sa Ja-hyuk’s eyes burned with intensity as he declared,

“Can ever make this as if it never happened.”

“But……”

Son Bin shook his head, protesting, “I’m just a failed scholar. Besides, I know next to nothing about the affairs of the martial world or martial arts.”

“That’s nothing to worry about.”

Sa Ja-hyuk said with a confident smile.

“Because I’m here.”

Looking at that unwavering confidence, Son Bin sighed inwardly. This man wasn’t one to be swayed by logical arguments.

Like most martial artists, Sa Ja-hyuk was driven by his own experiences and intuition. He wouldn’t change his mind.

And more than anything, Son Bin couldn’t simply walk away from this man anymore.

‘Hmm……’

Son Bin mused.

‘Realistically, there seems to be no escaping him. And more importantly, I’m indebted to him……’

If it weren’t for Sa Ja-hyuk, Son Bin would have suffered greatly.

While one could argue that Sa Ja-hyuk had created the problem in the first place, the fact remained that he had saved him from a dire situation.

‘Either way, there’s no point in returning to my hometown now.’

Participating in the civil service examination was expensive. Returning home penniless and a failure would mean facing ridicule and shame.

The thought of people whispering behind his back made his stomach clench.

“Alright,” Son Bin said with a boldness fueled by the alcohol he’d drunk on an empty stomach. Now that things had come to this, helping out didn’t seem so bad.

“I’ll give it a try.”

Sa Ja-hyuk’s smile widened.

***

Son Bin, who had gone to bed early, exhausted and tipsy, woke in the middle of the night, sensing a presence.

‘Huh? Gasp!’

Startled, Son Bin’s eyes snapped open. The room was dark, illuminated only by the bright moonlight streaming through the window. He saw a large, looming shadow in one corner.

“Wh, who’s there!”

“It’s me.”

Sa Ja-hyuk’s deep voice answered. When Son Bin’s eyes adjusted, he could make out Sa Ja-hyuk’s form.

He stood there, a massive blade strapped to his back, arms crossed, looking down at Son Bin. Even in the dim light, his eyes seemed to gleam with a cold intensity.

“Wh, what’s going on at this hour……?”

“Let’s go outside,” Sa Ja-hyuk repeated in a low voice, seeing Son Bin’s bewildered expression.

“The moonlight is clear and cool, and my Pa Wol [lit. Breaking Moon, likely a sword name] is crying.”

“Pa Wol?”

Son Bin asked, confused, but Sa Ja-hyuk simply turned and walked away.

‘What’s happening in the middle of the night……?’

Son Bin frowned slightly and glanced out the window. Judging by the moon’s high position, it was the dead of night. Grumbling under his breath, Son Bin reluctantly got out of bed.

∴

Rustle.

A small stone crunched under his feet. The world outside the inn was bathed in moonlight. Even the nocturnal sounds of Mount Homun seemed distant and lonely.

‘It’s so quiet.’

Son Bin adjusted his collar. The clear, cool moonlight, as Sa Ja-hyuk had said, felt almost sacred.

Lost in thought for a moment, Son Bin turned his head and saw Sa Ja-hyuk standing alone in the open space nearby.

The reason his shadow, as he gazed at the moon, stood out so starkly wasn’t just because of his size.

Shuffle shuffle.

Son Bin approached Sa Ja-hyuk. Even as he drew closer, Sa Ja-hyuk’s gaze remained fixed on the moon.

How long had it been? Sa Ja-hyuk suddenly spoke.

“Step back.”

Son Bin frowned slightly and looked up, but Sa Ja-hyuk offered no explanation. Reluctantly, Son Bin took a few steps back. But Sa Ja-hyuk shook his head.

‘More?’

That probably meant he needed to move further away. Understanding dawned on Son Bin, and he retreated a good distance – far enough that Sa Ja-hyuk’s blade wouldn’t reach him even if he swung it.

Stomp stomp.

After retreating some distance, Son Bin looked at Sa Ja-hyuk, silently asking, ‘Is this enough?’ Sa Ja-hyuk was already looking up at the moon. And very slowly, his hand moved towards the blade on his back.

Thud.

The moment Sa Ja-hyuk’s hand grasped the hilt, something seemed to flash. Before he knew it, Sa Ja-hyuk’s massive blade was pointing towards the sky.

‘That’s… a blade?’

It was a very crude-looking weapon. Unlike typical blades with curves and sharp points, Sa Ja-hyuk’s blade resembled a straight, wide plank.

Sa Ja-hyuk’s blade, which gradually widened from the handle before abruptly ending, was strangely black even under the bright moonlight.

‘Quite… big?’

Son Bin realized the blade was enormous.

Even with Sa Ja-hyuk’s large frame wielding it, it looked unwieldy. A large bowl would seem like a small cup in Sa Ja-hyuk’s hands.

Swoosh.

Sa Ja-hyuk’s blade slowly began to trace a circle. At the same time, the dark blade began to emit a subtle blue light.

‘Huh?’

At first, it seemed like a reflection of the moonlight. But Son Bin quickly realized the light was different. Sa Ja-hyuk’s blade was, unbelievably, glowing on its own.

Whoosh.

As Sa Ja-hyuk’s blade emitted a blue light, an unknown force emanated from him.

The force initially felt like a gentle breeze, but as Sa Ja-hyuk’s blade painted a blue trail in the air, it gradually revealed its substance more clearly.

Swoosh.

A sudden chill ran down Son Bin’s spine. It was a clear warning from his survival instinct. But Son Bin didn’t back down. He couldn’t even tear his eyes away.

‘M, my god.’

Whoosh.

Son Bin couldn’t comprehend what was happening before him. The giant Sa Ja-hyuk was moving with the grace of a top-notch dancer.

His movements, each step deliberate, were like treading on flower petals. Each gesture was as natural as flowing water.

And the large, seemingly crude blade was drawing countless illusions in the air at Sa Ja-hyuk’s fingertips.

‘Ah.’

Sometimes the blade moved as delicately as if it would shatter, but then it would slice through the sky and earth like the majestic flow of a vast river.

The blade, which had revealed itself to the world with dignity, suddenly concealed its presence like a shy beauty. All Son Bin could do in the face of its dazzling and dignified display was admire and revere it.

He felt chills and goosebumps. Before he knew it, a sigh-like exclamation escaped his lips, but Son Bin was oblivious.

Even the eerie warning from his survival instinct couldn’t stop him; it was an absolute and pure reverence for the magnificent beauty Sa Ja-hyuk’s blade was creating.

‘Ah.’

A new world was unfolding before Son Bin.

∴

“Did you see it?”

Sa Ja-hyuk’s voice in his ear startled Son Bin back to reality. Blinking, Son Bin realized Sa Ja-hyuk was standing in front of him.

“You saw it.”

Sa Ja-hyuk said with a faint smile.

“Th, that just now……” Son Bin stammered. He had countless questions, but the only one that came out sounded foolish, even to his own ears.

“It is the Hyeoncheon [Mystic Heaven] Blade Technique.”

“Hyeoncheon Blade Technique,” Son Bin repeated to himself. Sa Ja-hyuk glanced at the blade on his back and chuckled.

“And this guy is Pa Wol.”

Only then did Son Bin realize that Pa Wol, the name he’d mentioned earlier, was the blade’s name.

“I wanted to show you this.”

Hearing the unusually subdued tone, Son Bin looked up at Sa Ja-hyuk. The pride he’d displayed earlier was gone, replaced by a lonely expression.

“Let’s go in.”

Sa Ja-hyuk turned and strode towards the inn. But Son Bin couldn’t move, even as he watched Sa Ja-hyuk’s back disappear into the distance.

‘Hoo.’

Son Bin stared at the empty space. Bathed in blue moonlight, it seemed to suggest that what he’d witnessed was an illusion. But that couldn’t be true.

The goosebumps hadn’t subsided, and the traces left by Sa Ja-hyuk’s great blade, Pa Wol, were still vivid in his mind.

“Haaa.”

Without realizing it, Son Bin let out a long sigh, as if lamenting something. Rubbing his arms, which were still covered in goosebumps, he started towards the inn.

Then, he stopped several times and looked back. But the open space remained empty, filled only with blue moonlight.

***

Sa Ja-hyuk’s steps across Mount Homun were light. It was hard to believe such a large man could move so nimbly.

“Yesterday, th-that, hoo, was that martial arts?”

“That’s right.”

“Using a blade, hoo, so it’s called a blade technique.”

“No.”

Sa Ja-hyuk replied.

“Although it’s called a blade technique, what you’re holding doesn’t really matter. And it doesn’t matter what kind of martial arts you learn. When you reach a certain level, what really matters is……”

As he spoke, Sa Ja-hyuk suddenly stopped and turned around. Son Bin was walking towards him, carrying a bundle and panting. The mountain wasn’t high, but the path was rough.

“Aren’t you too weak?”

Sa Ja-hyuk said with a frown.

“If you’re the standard, huff, is there anyone who *isn’t* weak?”

Son Bin, panting, reached Sa Ja-hyuk and caught his breath.

“Hoo.”

Wiping his sweat, Son Bin said, “Let’s rest for a moment.”

Sa Ja-hyuk was still frowning, but he remained silent. After catching his breath, Son Bin rummaged through his bundle and pulled something out.

It was an old, worn book and a small, thin brush. As Sa Ja-hyuk watched with interest, Son Bin took out a small, porcelain bottle-like object from his luggage.

“What are you doing?”

“Writing it down,” Son Bin replied, dipping the thin brush into the small porcelain bottle. He muttered as he tightly sealed the bottle’s opening with a wad of oil paper, “It would be nice to have a proper inkstone [ink container], but……”

Inside the bottle was the ink Son Bin had ground that morning. He’d gotten a small, unused porcelain bottle from the inn and was using it as a makeshift inkstone.

Rustle rustle. Son Bin opened the old book, found a blank page, and began to write in a flowing hand with the fine brush [細筆].

“Shouldn’t I write down what you said? I’ll write it all down for now and organize it later.”

Even as he spoke, Son Bin’s hand didn’t stop. Small letters were quickly embroidered in a flowing script that seemed to fly across the page.

“Hmm. Not bad.”

Sa Ja-hyuk, who had been staring silently, commented.

“I pride myself on writing pretty well.”

He’d lived with books and brushes for over a decade, so he was naturally familiar with calligraphy. But that was it. His handwriting was good, but not masterful. Neither the handwriting nor the writing itself was exceptional.

“That’s not what I mean.”

Sa Ja-hyuk clarified.

“I’m saying your hand movements aren’t bad. There’s no hesitation in starting and stopping, and you maintain delicacy even when applying force. Overall, I sense a decent flow. However, it’s a little disappointing that a wild Paedo [霸道, Overlord’s Way – a forceful, dominant style] isn’t present in that flow.”

At the unexpected comment, Son Bin stopped writing and looked at Sa Ja-hyuk. Sa Ja-hyuk chuckled.

“Even though your muscles and bones [筋骨] are a mess.”

Son Bin chuckled. Sa Ja-hyuk’s perspective – analyzing the writing based on hand movements rather than the calligraphy itself – was refreshing, and it was also amusing to see him relate everything to martial arts.

“Don’t worry,” Son Bin said with a wry smile. “I have no intention of practicing martial arts.”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Sa Ja-hyuk replied. “I have no intention of teaching you either.”

He seemed to say it casually, but Sa Ja-hyuk’s eyes were serious and cold. Son Bin suddenly felt a chill.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve heard that martial artists are very secretive about their techniques.’

He also seemed to recall that they wouldn’t hesitate to kill to obtain martial arts manuals.

The process of transmitting teachings was also highly secretive, and he’d heard that even watching someone else train could lead to a sword fight.

‘Huh?’

Son Bin frowned at the sudden doubt that surfaced in his mind.

“Um, about last night…”

Sa Ja-hyuk looked at Son Bin.

“Th-that…… Was it okay for me to see something like that?”

Son Bin asked cautiously. Sa Ja-hyuk looked puzzled for a moment, then chuckled.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sa Ja-hyuk said. “No, you should see it more. Until you can see it properly.”

“Properly?”

Son Bin frowned slightly and asked. “You haven’t seen it even if you see it now,” Sa Ja-hyuk said definitively. His gaze towards Son Bin was sharp and intense.