A Tale Of A Scribe Who Retires To The Countryside [EN]: Chapter 7

Chapter 7. On the Road (2)

Saja Hyuk’s voice continued without hesitation.

“Do you know what my single blade (一刀) [Ittō, meaning ‘one sword’ or ‘single blade style’] contains? Do you know what wonders my every move holds? In duels between masters, victory or defeat is often decided by the slightest tremor in the eyes. If you cannot see each and every one of those movements and understand their meaning, it is as if you have seen nothing. No, it’s worse than that.”

Son Bin could not argue with Saja Hyuk’s words.

Just last night, Saja Hyuk’s martial arts had brought Son Bin a sense of awe, but that was all.

He didn’t know what was so great about his martial arts, or why it was so great.

Son Bin sighed softly.

“That’s right.”

Even the writing of a master calligrapher—no, a divine calligrapher—would only look like impressive writing to someone without discernment.

Although it may give some kind of impression in itself, it cannot even be compared in terms of the depth and understanding of its wonder.

“Right now, I don’t have the eyes to see your way of the sword (刀) [dao, referring to swordsmanship or the ‘way’ of the sword]. And I don’t have the confidence to express it properly in writing either.”

If Son Bin were to watch Saja Hyuk’s duel in this state, he would be impressed once again. But there would be little Son Bin could write about the duel. It would just seem like something flashing and then ending.

“Writing is what you have to do. But don’t worry about the eye to see martial arts (武) [wu, referring to martial arts or combat].”

Saja Hyuk said.

“Because I am here.”

Seeing his faint smile, Son Bin suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

“Ahem. But…”

Moving the fine brush (細筆) [saibitsu, a thin or delicate brush] quickly again, Son Bin asked Saja Hyuk.

“What is more important than weapons or martial arts?”

Saja Hyuk frowned for a moment, then soon remembered that he had said it himself.

– What you hold in your hand is not important. What kind of martial arts you learn is also not that important. When you reach a certain level, what really matters is…

“Ah, that’s.”

Looking down at Son Bin, Saja Hyuk said.

“The road, the Way (道) [dao, referring to ‘the Way’ or the path of mastery].”

‘The Way?’

He thought it was a completely absurd answer. But right now, Saja Hyuk is the one who knows, and Son Bin is the one who doesn’t. Son Bin sighed softly and moved the fine brush.

The word ‘Way (道)’ was written on his old book, and the book closed with a snap.

***

Saja Hyuk always walked slowly. But he wasn’t slow.

If Son Bin hesitated even a little, Saja Hyuk would already be far ahead, and Son Bin always had to run to catch up. Moreover, Saja Hyuk almost never stopped. It was as natural as walking a familiar road.

“Hah, hah.”

Son Bin wiped away sweat and breathed heavily. The wide main road (官道) [guandao, an official or imperial road] was easy to walk on, but there was no shade at all. The only rest was to take a breather under the small trees that he occasionally encountered.

“Aren’t you out of breath?”

Son Bin asked, looking at Saja Hyuk, who was standing silently. Walking like this on a hot summer day would normally cause one to sweat, but Saja Hyuk didn’t even sweat, let alone have his breath ruffled.

“Are you out of breath?”

Saja Hyuk looked down at Son Bin with his arms crossed. Son Bin glared at Saja Hyuk, thinking, ‘Can’t you tell?’

“The reason you get out of breath easily is because your breathing is shallow.”

Saja Hyuk said.

“If your breathing is shallow, your movements will be easily disturbed, and if your movements are disturbed, you cannot follow the flow. This is like always going against the waves, so how can it not be difficult?”

Son Bin stared blankly at Saja Hyuk, wondering what he was talking about.

Rustle.

Almost reflexively, Son Bin reached into his arms and took out a fine brush and an old book and asked.

“Then what should I do?”

“Deeply.”

Saja Hyuk’s answer was simple. Son Bin frowned. He said it shouldn’t be shallow, so it must be deep. The problem is ‘how’.

“How can I breathe deeply?”

“Slow but not stopping, flowing but not losing direction, deep and continuous is the key to Mysterious Heaven.”

Son Bin frowned and tilted his head while moving his brush. It was a sound that seemed to be understood but not understood.

“Key?”

“It means the core.”

“Is it okay to tell me something like that?”

Saja Hyuk chuckled.

“You are a scholar, so you know a lot about writing.”

“That’s right.”

“What is good writing?”

Son Bin was puzzled by Saja Hyuk’s sudden question, but he answered.

“Ahem. How can I express good writing in one word, but usually good writing means that strong appearance and soft emotions are harmoniously expressed. Strong shape means expressing angularity, straightness, urgency, and dryness, and soft emotion means expressing roundness, concealment, curvature, and luster. Good writing is when these things are well harmonized and expressed.”

“If you only know that, can you write good writing?”

Son Bin smiled bitterly.

“How could that be? From the writing method of holding a brush to the movement of the brush, the wrist method, and even the structure of the strokes…”

Son Bin frowned as he spoke.

“So, it means you can’t do it just by knowing it in your head.”

“That’s right.”

Saja Hyuk smiled.

“Even if you pick up a sword before you learn to speak, and devote your whole life to training, you cannot say that you have mastered a single swordsmanship. Even if you train for sixty years without a single day of rest, the internal energy you gain is barely called one cycle. So how can you say that you know the Mysterious Heaven Art just by hearing a few words? Moreover, it is not the whole thing, but only the outline of the key.”

His words seemed like a monologue to himself, not to Son Bin.

“Sometimes people gain enlightenment in an instant, but that is only possible for those who are prepared. The current you has not seen even if you have seen, and has not heard even if you have heard.”

Those words seemed to disregard Son Bin too much. But since his words weren’t exactly wrong, Son Bin could only click his tongue and move his brush.

“Let’s go, the road is long.”

Saja Hyuk said, looking at the setting sun.

“Already?”

“Hasn’t your breathing calmed down already?”

‘Is that so?’

Come to think of it, his breathing had calmed down. But Son Bin didn’t feel much rested because he was writing down Saja Hyuk’s words.

“Hoo.”

Son Bin sighed, packed his things, and stood up. Saja Hyuk was already walking ahead. As he hurried along the barren main road, Son Bin suddenly thought.

Thud, thud.

‘That’s really amazing.’

He could see Saja Hyuk’s back walking ahead. His steps didn’t seem to be hurried, but they were fast. Moreover, he felt so light that it didn’t suit his large physique.

‘Slow but not stopping, flowing but not losing direction, deep and continuous…’

Son Bin repeated what Saja Hyuk had said earlier about the key to Mysterious Heaven. And he also recalled what Saja Hyuk had said about breathing.

‘So, does that mean to breathe slowly and deeply? Let’s try it once…’

“Sss.”

Son Bin opened his mouth slightly and slowly inhaled. As if taking a deep breath, he slowly exhaled as his breath filled him.

“Hoo. Cough.”

After exhaling, he suddenly felt suffocated. He tried to inhale slowly, but his efforts quickly failed. Perhaps because he had been walking so hard, his breathing became rapidly rapid.

“Huh, huh.”

Son Bin even stopped walking and breathed roughly. Far from not disturbing his breathing, he became even more out of breath.

“What, it doesn’t work.”

He felt like he had only lost out. He glared at Saja Hyuk’s back with resentment, but Saja Hyuk was still moving naturally. As if he were taking a leisurely stroll.

“Hoo.”

Son Bin scratched his head. As Saja Hyuk said, the attempt to imitate him after hearing only a few words may have been wrong from the start. But when he looked at Saja Hyuk’s back walking ahead, he couldn’t help but think naturally.

‘That was really amazing.’

It was amazing. The dance of the sword unfolded under the moonlight was still vivid in Son Bin’s eyes.

While walking, while eating, when he suddenly realized it, Son Bin was already thinking about Saja Hyuk’s swordsmanship. It was that shocking to Son Bin.

‘If it’s just walking or breathing, it might work.’

He didn’t dare to think about how to do martial arts. But wouldn’t it be possible if it was just breathing or walking? But Son Bin soon shook his head.

‘Stop it. Handan Walk (邯鄲之步) [Handan zhi bu, an idiom referring to foolishly imitating others and losing one’s own identity], if you imitate without knowing your place, you will only end up in a dangerous situation.’

A young man who tried to learn the cool walk of the big city of Handan eventually forgot his own walk and couldn’t walk properly. Trying to imitate Saja Hyuk was just not something that suited Son Bin.

Shrugging his shoulders, Son Bin started walking again.

‘Anyway, the main road is convenient, but there’s no charm to walking.’

Sunlight was pouring down on the straight road. Son Bin sighed and moved his feet. Saja Hyuk’s back walking ahead was urging him on.

***

Clatter.

The curtain covering the entrance of the inn made a sound as it was lifted. The small beads of the curtain, which were faded but decorated quite splendidly, shook here and there, but they did not attract any attention in the inn full of guests.

This was because the inn was already filled with the sounds of guests talking, dishes clattering, and music coming from somewhere.

‘Oh, there are a lot of people.’

Son Bin, who had entered the inn, had a slightly embarrassed expression. But he didn’t feel bad. The fact that there were many guests meant that this was a good inn. The pungent smell of all kinds of food was stimulating his appetite.

Standing at the entrance of the noisy inn, Son Bin looked around to see if there were any seats available. But every seat was full of people who had arrived earlier.

‘Is it because it’s dinner time?’

The inn was quite large. It was always crowded with people because it was located on a main road with a lot of traffic and it was the only place to stay nearby. Moreover, the inn was almost full because it coincided with dinner time.

“Ah, excuse me…”

Son Bin tried to call out to a passing server. But the server, who was carrying food in both hands, quickly passed by Son Bin.

Seeing the server disappear into the crowd in an instant, Son Bin spoke to another server.

“Ah, excuse me…”

“Yes, sir. Just a moment.”

Without even looking at Son Bin, the server spat out a routine-like word and disappeared into the kitchen at a fast pace.

‘Oh dear.’

Son Bin frowned. But he couldn’t help it because he looked so busy. He gave up trying to call the server and was looking around to see if there were any empty seats when.

Flutter.

The curtain shook and another person entered. It was Saja Hyuk, with a huge physique that was distinctly different from the slender Son Bin, and a large black sword, Pawol, on his back.

“What are you doing?”

Saja Hyuk said in a thick voice, looking at Son Bin standing in front of the entrance.

“Ah, it seems like it’s a busy time…”

“Welcome!”

Before Son Bin could finish speaking, he heard the voice of a server from behind. When Son Bin turned his head, he saw a friendly-looking server already bowing behind them with a smiling face.

“Are there two of you?”

“That’s right.”

Saja Hyuk answered. The server quickly led the two to an empty seat.

‘Huh?’

Son Bin felt something was bothering him as he watched the server kindly guide him to his seat and Saja Hyuk move heavily.

‘This is…’

It was the sound. The noise of people talking had decreased significantly around Son Bin.

When Son Bin turned his head and looked around, he met the eyes of several people. They were glancing at Son Bin and Saja Hyuk without turning their heads. The old man who was guarding the checkout counter near the entrance, who seemed to be the owner of the inn, even smiled and bowed his head when he made eye contact with Son Bin.

It was a completely different look from when he was focused on the calculation without even looking at Son Bin earlier.

‘Ha, is that so.’

Son Bin smiled bitterly as he finally realized the situation. And he trudged to the seat guided by the server. Saja Hyuk was already sitting in his seat, and the server was listening to his order with a polite attitude.

Clatter.

When Son Bin sat down, the server turned around. While the server, who had a smile on his face even though it was formal, was taking Son Bin’s order, another server appeared and brought a warm teapot and cool water.

“What’s wrong?”

Saja Hyuk asked, seeing Son Bin’s complexion. Son Bin smiled bitterly.

“No, it’s nothing. Just…”

Turning his head, Son Bin looked around the inn. The noisy sounds returned to their original volume, and the inn was once again filled with noisy sounds and the smell of food.

“I was just thinking that these people are having a hard time living.”

Saja Hyuk frowned slightly. He probably meant what are you talking about out of nowhere.

“With so many people, there must be so many strange guests? Arrogant young masters, picky young ladies, martial artists who wield their swords at the slightest provocation, and government officials who demand special treatment by flaunting their status.”

“So?”

Saja Hyuk asked, lifting a warm teacup. Son Bin lifted the teapot and filled his cup with tea. Even in this place full of all kinds of food smells, the warm tea scent slowly rose and caressed Son Bin’s mood.

“So, isn’t it a natural thing? To quickly identify what kind of person the person who just entered is and set up appropriate countermeasures. If it’s a gentle guest, you can make them wait a little, but if it’s a grumpy martial artist, you have to quickly cater to their whims. So… ah, look.”

The moment Son Bin spoke, a guest entered the inn. At the same time, the eyes of the owner of the checkout counter and the servers quickly swept over the guest. It was only a brief moment, but it was clear that the gaze was passing by.

Seeing the inn full of people, the guest had an embarrassed expression, but the server and the owner had already withdrawn their gazes and were focusing on their respective tasks. It seemed that it would take some time for the shabby guest to receive help from the server.

“Hmm. Is that so?”

Saja Hyuk said.

“They are just doing their job. Isn’t it too much to think that way?”

“Well, is that so? If you had to stand and wait at that entrance…”

“It’s okay to wait. I can’t ask them to create something that doesn’t exist.”

“Is that so?”

Son Bin smiled.

“I will definitely write that down.”

“As you wish.”

Saja Hyuk said, lifting his teacup. While Son Bin was rustling and taking out his book as if he wasn’t joking, Saja Hyuk said.

“I don’t care about the attitude of the server towards me. If they are rude, I can just correct their behavior. What I care about is…”

A faint smile appeared on Saja Hyuk’s lips.

“Other people.”