Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 117

117. Yearning

Shin Seung’s wrinkled eyes held no falsehood.

He spoke to Unhyun in a gentle voice.

“So, do as you wish.”

Those words deeply moved Unhyun.

It was clearly Shin Seung’s true feeling.

But just a moment ago, Shin Seung had clearly said, ‘I was even thinking of borrowing your strength.’

Is it really okay for Unhyun to do as he pleases?

“Then, would it be alright if I retired to my hometown as I am?”

“What?”

Shin Seung asked back, as if not understanding.

“No, I mean, would it be alright with you, Great Master, if I just went back to my hometown and started a *Seowon* [private Confucian academy], living without any connection to the *Jianghu Murim* [martial arts world]…?”

“Kuh-huh-huh! What? Start a *Seowon*?”

Shin Seung laughed heartily.

“You fool, do you think Yi Geom-hak wouldn’t come looking for you if you started a *Seowon*? And the other sects would just stand by? No, even Bukhae Binggung would come chasing after you right away. That *Seowon* of yours would be a great success.”

Shin Seung held his stomach as he spoke, as if it was truly funny.

But Unhyun’s expression was distorted.

He didn’t know for sure, but it seemed likely that Shin Seung’s words would come true.

“Why don’t you just start a sect altogether? Calling it *Seowon* Sect would sound plausible and look good. Kuhahaha.”

After laughing to his heart’s content, Shin Seung patted Unhyun’s shoulder.

“You rascal. From the moment you became involved with Yi Geom-hak, you were already destined not to live in peace. Did you know that? Tsk tsk tsk.”

Unhyun frowned at the words that were half pity and half laughter.

“Well, don’t worry too much.”

Shin Seung said, trying to comfort Unhyun, who looked pitiful.

“Even if it wasn’t me or Yi Geom-hak, you would have ended up like this anyway.”

“Yes?”

Those were truly unexpected words.

Unhyun blinked and asked Shin Seung.

“What do you mean by that?”

Shin Seung smiled gently.

“Why did you return to the Murim Alliance? As you said, you could have retired to your hometown and started a *Seowon*. But why did you insist on returning here to work as a secretary?”

“That’s….”

Unhyun was at a loss for words.

It was true that he felt he had to do something after seeing the merchants he met on the Jang Gang [Yangtze River] and the figure of his sworn brother’s daughter, Ilahyeong.

If that was all, he could have accepted the offer from the leader of Hoam Merchant Group.

Or, as he said, he could have retired to his hometown and started a small *Seowon*.

But he came to the Murim Alliance.

Why?

Unhyun felt the answer swirling in his mouth.

He had something to say, but it sounded like an excuse.

Why did he return to this Murim Alliance?

“It’s because there is a yearning for the sword in your heart.”

Unhyun was startled.

Shin Seung’s quiet voice pierced Unhyun’s heart like a dagger.

“You are the same as that guy, Yi Geom-hak. You pursue the end of the sword and yearn for an opponent to discuss that sword with. The only difference is that Yi Geom-hak knows and acts, while you don’t know and act. Heol heol heol.”

He couldn’t accept those words as they were. But he couldn’t refute them either.

Unhyun sighed quietly.

“Then, am I already a *Murim* person?”

“Why? Aren’t you a scholar?”

“But according to your words, Great Master….”

“Heo-eo, that guy really thinks uselessly.”

Shin Seung said, looking straight at Unhyun.

“You fool, there is only the person between the sky and the earth.”

That quiet voice rang loudly in Unhyun’s ears.

Shin Seung continued without hesitation.

“Don’t be misled by empty words, and first think about how to live as a person. How can life not be tiring if you are swayed by this word and shaken by that word?”

Thud.

Shin Seung’s wrinkled hand rested on Unhyun’s shoulder.

“Protect your own heart. A person who doesn’t have their own thing doesn’t know how to accept other people’s things either. And think carefully. What path do you want to walk from now on, and how should you walk it?”

Tuk tuk.

Shin Seung patted Unhyun’s shoulder as if to encourage him.

“But from now on, shouldn’t you carry something around with you too?”

“Yes?”

Unhyun asked back at the sudden words. But Shin Seung said as if it were obvious.

“Didn’t I say earlier? Yeom Jung-bu’s obsession is tenacious. Should I give you ‘that sword’?”

Unhyun immediately shook his head.

He was suffering because of that sword, Nakil, so why would he carry it around proudly?

It would be like announcing to the world that he was the protagonist of the rumors, and there was no way that troublesome things wouldn’t happen.

“Heo, that guy has a strange stubbornness……. Then carry around a wooden sword as you said.”

Shin Seung said as if telling him to do as he pleased.

“Anyway, do well. Or it might be good to leave this place for a while…….”

Step.

Shin Seung turned his body. No, he was about to turn.

“Where are you going?”

At Unhyun’s words, Shin Seung answered as if asking the obvious.

“I’m going home. Why? Do you have anything more to say?”

“Uh…….”

He has nothing to say.

But Unhyun’s own problems remain the same without being resolved at all.

He still feels somewhat wronged, but he has no justification or reason to hold onto Shin Seung.

“See you again.”

Shin Seung waved his hand lightly and left without a sound.

As he disappeared, the empty space regained its original serene atmosphere.

The sharp murderous intent of Cheolhyeolsawang Yeom Jung-bu and the storm-like momentum of Shin Seung felt like a dream.

But the traces were clear, and sharp scars remained clearly in the empty space here and there.

“Hoo.”

Unhyun let out a long sigh.

He had experienced tremendous things and heard amazing secrets, but Unhyun’s heart was rather calm.

However, the words Shin Seung left behind only floated around his heart like a topic of contemplation.

“How to live as a person…….”

The countless books Unhyun had read over the past years spoke of just that.

The difficult sentences and obscure interpretations were also talking about him.

If he had been asked to ‘discuss how a person should live,’ Unhyun would have filled dozens of answer sheets on the spot.

However, Shin Seung’s words that Unhyun heard today felt not like a question, but perhaps like an answer.

“As a person…….”

Unhyun murmured quietly and raised his head.

The buildings of the Murim Alliance were brightening under the bright morning sunlight.

It was a sight he had always seen, but Unhyun could not deny that this morning seemed somehow different.

Thus, the morning of the Murim Alliance was beginning again.

***

The expansion of the Murim Alliance’s branches was officially resolved, and the Murim Alliance became very busy.

Measures to establish new branches and expand authority were announced one after another, and soon the heads of each branch, warriors, and secretaries were confirmed.

The newly appointed secretaries, who had been waiting for a long time, were all happy, but there were slight differences in joy and sorrow depending on the branch they were assigned to.

Unhyun, along with An Su-jae, Jo Du-shik, and Pyeon Eo-du, were among those who belonged to the joy (喜) side.

It was because they were staying in Hangzhou.

“Congratulations, Brother Jo.”

“Aigoo. What’s so congratulatory about staying in Hangzhou? The liquor prices are just unnecessarily expensive…….”

Jo Du-shik waved his hand.

But the other secretaries did not hide their envious expressions.

Jo Du-shik, who usually got along well with people, exchanged greetings with several secretaries and then came to where Unhyun was.

“Brother Jo is also in Hangzhou?”

An Su-jae asked. Jo Du-shik scratched his head.

“It seems so. I was just hoping I wouldn’t be sent to some remote backwater……. Is Brother An also in Hangzhou?”

An Su-jae nodded.

“It seems that way. I don’t know what they saw in someone like me to tell me to stay here, even though Brother Un and Brother Pyeon worked hard.”

Coincidentally, all four of them were staying in the Hangzhou Murim Alliance.

Although they were the same secretaries, the difference between the branch and the Murim Alliance could not be ignored.

Therefore, the faces of the secretaries who remained in Hangzhou had pride, and the expressions of the other secretaries had envy and admiration.

“That’s good. Isn’t it better than going to an unfamiliar branch?”

“But free rice cakes are never good in the end…….”

Jo Du-shik gave an awkward smile at An Su-jae’s words, which were either negative or accurately aware of his situation.

As if trying to change the subject, Jo Du-shik asked Pyeon Eo-du.

“Brother Pyeon, do you know anything about the Namgung Family’s affairs?”

“The Namgung Family?”

Pyeon Eo-du tilted his head.

“A friend who is going to the Anhui branch said he was busy with the Namgung Family issue and looked like he was about to cry. Have you heard anything?”

“Ah, that…….”

Pyeon Eo-du, who never disappointed when it came to new news, nodded.

“It’s probably the story of the Namgung Family taking down a *Jang Gang Sucae* [Yangtze River Pirate Group] this time.”

“*Sucae*, you say?”

“Yes. It’s probably about the *Sucae* called Musimpa.”

“Musimpa?”

Unhyun asked without realizing it.

“Brother Un knows the place too?”

Jo Du-shik asked, and Unhyun shook his head.

“I don’t know it that well…….”

The pirates he encountered on the ship going up the Jang Gang were the Musimpa.

Unhyun asked Pyeon Eo-du.

“Brother Pyeon, is Hoam Merchant Group also involved?”

Pyeon Eo-du had a surprised expression at those words.

“That’s right. Brother Un also knew.”

“Don’t just the two of you know, tell us in detail.”

At Jo Du-shik’s urging, Pyeon Eo-du nodded and said.

“In short, Hoam Merchant Group’s ship suffered damage due to an attack by Musimpa. So, the Namgung Family, which supports Hoam Merchant Group, is trying to deal with Musimpa.”

“If it’s the Namgung Family, wouldn’t they take down a *Sucae* in one shot?”

At Jo Du-shik’s words, Pyeon Eo-du shook his head.

“No. No, it’s one shot, but if the Namgung Family moves, wouldn’t the other sects with interests in the Jang Gang stand still? They’ve been keeping each other in check anyway.”

“Are they so cautious about taking down one *Sucae*?”

Jo Du-shik asked as if he didn’t understand.

“That’s…….”

“It’s because it’s one *Sucae*, but it’s not just one *Sucae*.”

An Su-jae answered.

When Jo Du-shik and Pyeon Eo-du looked at him, An Su-jae shrugged and said.

“If the Namgung Family subjugates the *Sucae*, wouldn’t the status of the Namgung Family naturally rise in the Jang Gang? The other sects know that, so they must have been keeping them in check all along. Seeing them come forward now, they must have made some kind of deal or agreement with this branch expansion as an opportunity.”

Jo Du-shik was impressed by An Su-jae’s outspoken words.

“How do you know so well? Did you already know?”

Pyeon Eo-du and Unhyun also looked at him with surprised expressions, but An Su-jae, on the other hand, replied with an indifferent expression.

“Isn’t what powerful guys do the same everywhere?”

Unhyun smiled bitterly.

The other secretaries were the same.

From now on, they would have to serve those ‘powerful guys.’

But An Su-jae still didn’t understand the atmosphere and just stared blankly at the three people who had suddenly become quiet.

***

“*Chaeju-nim* [sect leader].”

At the voice of Vice *Chaeju* Jang Sam-chae, *Chaeju* Lee Mu-sim, who was fanning himself with a fan, turned his head.

“Why do you call for this one?”

At the slow and greasy voice of the *Chaeju*, Jang Sam-chae, who had been bowing his head, frowned slightly without realizing it.

‘Tsk.’

Lee Mu-sim’s words and actions were still not easy to adapt to.

It wasn’t just his voice or behavior.

His bizarre way of attaching his surname to his Dharma name ‘Musim,’ as well as his flamboyant appearance as a monk, were closer to a cult leader.

For Jang Sam-chae, who had lived as a pirate all his life, he couldn’t help but frown.

“They say the ambush preparations are complete.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Lee Mu-sim smiled, shining his greasy hair.

“Then you must prepare now, mustn’t you?”

Jang Sam-chae hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Um, *Chaeju-nim*.”

“Why?”

“Will this operation work? I somehow…….”

Jang Sam-chae swallowed hard.

Even if there was no one around, raising an objection to the *Chaeju’s* will was a big risk.

“Hehehe, that is not something for you to worry about.”

Lee Mu-sim laughed heartily, as if showing great generosity.