Bachelor Swordsmanship Remastered [EN]: Chapter 149

149. A Hobby?

Clang.

The small bell hanging on the door of Nanhyang Daru rang, announcing a visitor.

“Welcome.”

The owner, who was wiping the table, greeted Woon-hyun with a practiced greeting.

Having been visited by him several times already, even his voice sounded listless.

Dohko-rang, who came in with him, scanned the small Daru with sharp eyes.

There were no other customers before, and there still weren’t any now, but Dohko-rang didn’t let his guard down.

Woon-hyun bowed to the Daru owner and said,

“I’m sorry, but about the one I bought last time…….”

The Daru owner didn’t listen to Woon-hyun until the end.

He put down the cloth he was wiping the table with, rubbed his hands together, and took out a small tea pouch from his chest.

“Here it is.”

The owner handed Woon-hyun the tea pouch with a nonchalant expression.

“It’s Yongjeong tea [Longjing tea, a type of pan-fried green tea]. Is this what you’re looking for?”

“Well, yes, but.”

Woon-hyun asked with a puzzled expression.

“Didn’t you say last time that you didn’t know when it would come in?”

“I didn’t know. But it just happened to come in yesterday.”

Woon-hyun frowned slightly.

He felt suspicious, but it was fortunate that he could get the tea anyway.

Otherwise, he would have had to go to a larger town or city.

“Thank you.”

Woon-hyun took the small tea pouch and handed over the silver.

“Thank you.”

The Daru owner put the money in his pocket and started wiping the table again with the cloth.

“Excuse me…….”

“What?”

When the Daru owner turned around, Woon-hyun asked.

“Wouldn’t it be possible to reserve some Yongjeong tea in advance? If possible, a lot…….”

The tea pouch in Woon-hyun’s hand was small.

It was only enough to brew a few times.

“That’s not possible.”

The owner refused firmly.

“Not many people are looking for Yongjeong tea. Because it’s expensive. If you don’t buy it, I’ll have to keep all the stock myself. Are you telling me to go bankrupt?”

Nanhyang Daru is small.

In fact, it’s surprising that there’s a Daru [tea house] in a small town like Deungbonghyeon.

So the owner’s words were not wrong.

“Then I’ll buy it all, so please, just about a pound first…….”

“Hey, you.”

The Daru owner stopped his hand and turned to Woon-hyun.

“A pound? Do you think Yongjeong is so common? You should know that it’s a good thing I even got it. Just take what you can get and go.”

It was a natural thing to say.

But Woon-hyun didn’t really trust him.

That’s because the owner gave Woon-hyun Yongjeong tea every time he came.

Only a little bit at a time.

But the Daru owner seemed to have nothing more to say and was concentrating on wiping the table.

Woon-hyun eventually sighed and turned away.

“Thank you.”

“Okay, be careful going.”

Clang.

As Woon-hyun and Dohko-rang left, the small bell rang again.

Listening to the sound echoing in the small Daru, the owner chuckled.

“Still, you should know you’re lucky.”

The owner muttered, rubbing the table.

“The old guy had to run all the way to that distant city because he used his lightness skill [Qinggong, a martial art technique for moving swiftly] for nothing.”

The Daru owner put down the cloth and stretched his back.

“Aigoo [expression of weariness]. I suddenly want to drink tea because I was talking about Yongjeong tea from the morning. Where’s the Yongjeong left?”

The Daru owner muttered and turned his head.

After a while, the scent of Yongjeong tea filled the small Daru, but Woon-hyun, who had already left Deungbonghyeon, could not know that fact.

***

Woon-hyun was bored.

The hermitage of the Sleeping Buddha was uncomfortable, but that was only at first.

Woon-hyun, who had never lived a luxurious life, quickly adapted to the Sleeping Buddha’s hermitage.

He had to get up before dawn, but that was originally familiar to Woon-hyun, and all he had to do was clean around the small hermitage.

The old Sleeping Buddha only ordered him to clean or run tea errands, and he did things like receiving offerings or washing clothes himself.

So, all Woon-hyun had to do in this small hermitage was wait for the ‘Great Elixir’, so he naturally became bored.

‘There are no books to read……. Should I try to train?’

It was natural for Woon-hyun to think that.

In fact, he had wanted to train for a long time, but he was conscious of the owner of the house, the Sleeping Buddha.

슥 [Skeuk – rustling sound].

Woon-hyun glanced around.

The old Sleeping Buddha was sitting on a platform in the yard, sipping tea, and Dohko-rang was standing far away, as always, watching his surroundings.

He didn’t know what danger there was around the empty hermitage, but that’s what he was doing.

“Don’t you know how to do anything?”

Woon-hyun turned his head at the sudden voice.

The Sleeping Buddha, who was sipping tea, was asking Woon-hyun.

“Yes?”

“If you want to make a living, you must have one or two talents. What talent do you use to make a living?”

“I’m just a clerk.”

“That’s your job, not your talent. What’s your talent?”

‘Uh…….’

Woon-hyun was momentarily embarrassed.

“I know how to write a little.”

“I know how to write too. And?”

“I can also do poetry and calligraphy a little…….”

The Sleeping Buddha frowned.

“Are you telling me to listen to a song sung by a dark man now?”

Saying you do poetry means you write songs, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you sing them.

And Woon-hyun isn’t dark-skinned. If you want to be picky, the Sleeping Buddha is darker.

But Woon-hyun didn’t say anything.

Anyway, his poetry wouldn’t be very interesting.

“Then, a discussion on historical events or academic topics…….”

The Sleeping Buddha’s expression contorted.

Woon-hyun quickly continued.

“And I know a little about swordsmanship.”

“Sword?”

The Sleeping Buddha showed interest.

“Yes.”

“Hmm, swordsmanship…….”

Woon-hyun could see that the Sleeping Buddha was quite interested.

It couldn’t be helped. This is none other than the home of 천하 무공 [Cheonha Mugong, meaning ‘unrivaled martial arts’], Shaolin Temple, isn’t it?

The Sleeping Buddha is also the master of 신승 불영 [Sinseung Bulyeong, Sleeping Buddha’s martial art name], even though he doesn’t look like it on the outside.

“Is it a hobby?”

“Yes?”

This time, Woon-hyun frowned.

“Why, sometimes scholars learn swordsmanship too? While looking down on 무(武) [Mu, martial arts] in their hearts, they hold a sword as if they’re something…….”

“No.”

Woon-hyun’s voice cut off the Sleeping Buddha’s words.

“I’m definitely not learning swordsmanship as a hobby.”

Woon-hyun’s eyes were firm as he spoke.

How could it be a hobby for Woon-hyun?

Because of it, he met his sworn brother Ilchung-hyun and precious people, and the dreamlike state he had tasted once in passing, that one piece is so clearly alive in his heart.

“Is that so?”

The Sleeping Buddha said with a nonchalant expression.

“But you haven’t done it once since you came here?”

That was a natural point.

But to Woon-hyun, it sounded like a rebuke or accusation.

If it’s not a hobby, why haven’t you trained even once?

“……That’s, this is not my place…….”

Even if it’s a shabby hermitage, this is Shaolin Temple.

As a guest, he was conscious of the owner, and he couldn’t help but hesitate to train in ‘Shaolin Temple’ of all places.

“You can do it.”

Woon-hyun opened his eyes wide at the sudden words.

Clatter.

The Sleeping Buddha put down his teacup and continued with a serious look.

“If you want to do it, who would stop you? If it’s not something like a hobby, but you really want to do it.”

“Yes. I want to.”

Woon-hyun answered quickly.

“I really, really want to do it.”

The Sleeping Buddha smiled again at Woon-hyun’s expression, who was afraid that the Sleeping Buddha’s mind would change.

“Then you can do whatever you want. Anyway, no one comes here.”

The Sleeping Buddha chuckled, looking at Dohko-rang.

“Because that guy’s glare is scary, there won’t be anyone peeking.”

Woon-hyun wondered what that meant.

But what was certain was that he could train.

He had obtained permission directly from the Sleeping Buddha, the owner of the hermitage and the former head of Shaolin.

“Thank you, Seonsa-nim [Zen Master].”

Woon-hyun bowed deeply.

The words of gratitude were sincere without a single lie.

The Sleeping Buddha was also in a good mood, smiling with his wrinkled face and raising his teacup.

“Okay. Then, since the words are out, try it once.”

“Yes? Now?”

“Then when are you going to do it? After I die?”

The Sleeping Buddha frowned.

“You haven’t committed a crime, so what are you hiding? If you’re going to show it anyway, does it wear out if you show it now? Unnecessary pride……, tsk, tsk.”

The Sleeping Buddha’s point that he was going to show it anyway was right.

If he trained in this narrow hermitage, he wouldn’t be able to avoid the Sleeping Buddha’s eyes anyway.

Still, Woon-hyun hesitated.

Could he train so suddenly, especially in front of the Sleeping Buddha?

“Well, if you don’t want to, forget it.”

When Woon-hyun hesitated, the Sleeping Buddha turned his head away.

To Woon-hyun, those words sounded like ‘if you don’t want to receive the Great Elixir’.

“No.”

Woon-hyun said immediately.

“I’ll do it now.”

The Sleeping Buddha grinned.

“You should have done that from the start.”

The Sleeping Buddha looked at Woon-hyun again, his eyes shining.

The Sleeping Buddha’s sparkling eyes were the eyes of a child who had a fun spectacle, that was it.

자박 [Jabak – sound of footsteps].

Woon-hyun stood in the open space in front of the hermitage.

There was no sword in his hand.

The wooden sword was in the room, but Woon-hyun’s training didn’t need a sword.

후루룩 [Huru-ruk – slurping sound].

The sound of the Sleeping Buddha drinking tea echoed.

Woon-hyun suddenly smiled bitterly.

‘The sound he makes is the same.’

신승 불영 [Sinseung Bulyeong, Sleeping Buddha] in Waryongheon also made a sound when he drank tea.

Perhaps that habit was learned from the Sleeping Buddha.

Thinking so, Woon-hyun slowly calmed his breathing.

쏴아아 [Swaaaa – whooshing sound].

The wind passed by.

Along with it, various thoughts and all kinds of emotions slowly subsided.

He forgot that he was standing in front of a remote hermitage in Shaolin.

He couldn’t hear the Sleeping Buddha drinking tea either.

웅 [Woong – humming sound].

The only thing that filled the world was a sword that appeared before his eyes, and Woon-hyun himself standing in front of it.

Woon-hyun slowly reached out his hand to his sword, which was like an old friend he had finally met.

사락 [Sarak – rustling sound].

A sword that no one can see.

That’s why only Woon-hyun knows, his own sword.

When he held that sword in his hand, Woon-hyun had a smile on his lips without even realizing it.

후웅 [Hwoong – whooshing sound].

The wind blew.

It was no longer a natural wind.

But Woon-hyun didn’t know.

Because all that filled his eyes was his sword that filled the sky and the earth, that one sword.

후우우웅 [Hwoooong – louder whooshing sound].

A remote hermitage in Shaolin Temple.

There, 백호수련검 [Baekho Suyeon Geom, White Tiger Training Sword] began to show its beautiful appearance.

***

후룩 [Huluk – slurping sound].

Woon-hyun suddenly came to his senses at the sound of the Sleeping Buddha drinking tea.

“Is it over now?”

“Ah, yes.”

Woon-hyun answered the Sleeping Buddha and slowly calmed his breathing.

The sword that had filled his eyes had already disappeared, and all that remained was a subtle afterglow and a slight tremor.

‘It’s been a while. It’s been a while since I’ve trained so freely.’

Looking down at his empty hands, Woon-hyun smiled contentedly.

It had really been a while.

It had been a long time since he had devoted himself to training so deeply.

He couldn’t even grasp how much time had passed.

‘Ah, come to think of it.’

Woon-hyun remembered that the Sleeping Buddha and he were not the only ones here.

슥 [Seuk – rustling sound].

Taking a breath, Woon-hyun turned his head slightly and looked at Dohko-rang.

Dohko-rang was still standing there.

But Dohko-rang’s gaze, which had been guarding his surroundings, was now directed straight at Woon-hyun.

Thanks to that, Woon-hyun ended up making eye contact with Dohko-rang.

“Cough.”

Woon-hyun cleared his throat and turned his gaze away.

He was belatedly embarrassed to think that he had shown himself training in front of a master like Dohko-rang.

But on the other hand, he was curious about how he looked.

“Cough.”

Woon-hyun cleared his throat again and glanced at Dohko-rang.

Dohko-rang’s expression was unchanged as always.

But it was clear that his shining eyes contained a subtle heat.

It was definitely not disappointment or regret.

‘That’s a relief.’

Woon-hyun was relieved.

At least he didn’t seem to have disappointed him.

That’s when Woon-hyun was relieved.

“It’s like a wolf howling at the moon.”