Nangseon Gihwandam – Part 2, Episode 268
Above the tranquil water’s surface.
In the middle of an endless lake.
There sat a man in the heart of the cloud-filled lake, quietly casting his fishing line.
An old man with faded hair, snow-white eyebrows and beard, and wrinkles etched into his skin.
He appeared to be an ordinary old man, but the aura he exuded was like a sharp sword.
“Ageom.”
He was Ageom, possessing a stake in Sangcheon Haewol [a powerful and influential organization] as significant as its history.
He was Geomno Iltaek.
“Have you come?”
He didn’t even glance this way, simply sitting there holding his fishing rod.
His eyes were fixed on the float.
He tapped the seat next to him, beckoning.
A crude wooden chair sat empty, and Cheonbeom, after gazing at him for a moment, sat down.
“Do you know how to fish?”
“There’s nothing I can’t do.”
Beom accepted a fishing rod from Geomno and cast it near his float.
Splash.
Ripples spread across the tranquil lake.
The ripples caused by Cheonbeom’s float disturbed Geomno’s.
“Fishing is quite something. It seems like you’re doing nothing, but it’s not like they catch themselves.”
You have to bait the hook and scatter feed nearby.
And that’s not all.
You have to choose the right spot to cast, and consider the weather and time as well.
“Then, what must one do to catch something?”
At Cheonbeom’s question, Geomno Iltaek replied with a wrinkled smile.
The most important thing is.
“Waiting.”
Waiting well.
“If you’ve done everything perfectly, then waiting well is what matters.”
And in the end, skillfully snatching the reward of that waiting.
That is the beauty of fishing.
“You have approached my sky.”
Two floats in the same water.
The surface was blue and clear, reflecting the sky perfectly.
However, the only thing obscuring and reflecting the sky was a mass of heavy clouds.
“You have seeped into my sky, into my destiny, and accomplished nothing.”
Like those distant clouds obscuring the sky.
“You have always blocked my path.”
There was no emotion in the calmly spoken words.
Geomno’s uniquely dry and monotonous voice echoed in Cheonbeom’s ears, as if stating a simple fact.
Of course.
Cheonbeom did not agree with that.
“I am not the one who blocked your path.”
“Then who blocked my path?”
Cheonbeom raised the fishing rod he had cast, catching the incoming fishing hook.
There was no bait on the hook.
The hook itself was not bent, making it impossible to catch anything.
What could one possibly catch with a straight, unbent hook?
Beom knew that Geomno’s was no different.
He smirked and tossed the fishing rod aside.
Splash! With a splash, another large ripple spread across the tranquil lake.
“It seems like it’s a fishing rod now.”
With the swaying ripples, Geomno’s float bobbed up and down again.
“Are you trying to play word games?”
Only then did Geomno turn his head, glaring, and Cheonbeom met his gaze with a cold stare.
“Aren’t you trying to fish for the sky with a ridiculous fishing rod?”
“You are insulting me.”
Swish!
The fishing rod he was holding had transformed into a sharp sword.
A keen sword, unwavering, was aimed at Cheonbeom’s neck.
But Beom didn’t even blink.
“Do you even know what you truly desire?”
“What I desire has long been only one thing: the Cheongeom [a legendary sword].”
But Beom shook his head.
“Then Ageom, why are you not wielding the Cheongeom?”
“….”
Cheonbeom flicked the sword aimed at his neck with his finger.
Clang— A clear, transparent sound spread with the ripples on the lake.
“I am not the one who blocked your path. The sky is what blocked your path, not me.”
“Ridiculous, are you calling yourself the sky?”
“Well, maybe I am, maybe I’m not. But the important thing is that you couldn’t break through, isn’t it?”
Then Geomno chuckled in vain.
“So you’re saying you can pierce the sky?”
At his question, Cheonbeom put his hands behind his back, turned around, took a step, then glanced back and asked.
“Ageom. What is your Dao [a fundamental concept in Eastern philosophy, often translated as ‘the Way’]?”
At his question, Geomno Iltaek looked at the vast expanse of the lake.
Then, several ripples arose simultaneously, and different swords appeared above them.
Thousands of swords appeared densely, answering in his stead.
For him, Dao was, in essence, the sword.
The sword is Dao, and Dao is the sword.
Clack.
Geomno Iltaek grabbed one of the swords, caressing it, running his eyes up and down its length.
“My Dao has always been the sword. I have cleaved and opened every path with the sword.”
And it is the same now.
“I will cut and cut again. Whatever it may be, I will cut it all down. You, of course, and whatever you seek to protect, I will destroy it all.”
Your land.
Your sky.
Your Dao.
“Even your name, all of it.”
Cutting it all down is.
“My Dao.”
* * *
Cheonbeom’s figure, bleeding and impaled in the center of Geomno’s blades, which were intertwined like a mass of scrap metal, was somehow both sacred and tragic.
“I never imagined it would come to this. Whether this is another trick of the heavens… or a predetermined fate… there’s no way to know.”
Jeolma Daegeun expressed his indescribable emotions with his eyes, looking at Cheonbeom in the thorn bush of swords.
Originally, the blades transformed by Geomno should have butchered Cheonbeom.
However, the flickering golden light had not yet died, so his body was still vibrant.
“Is he fighting?”
He must be.
“But even if I kill him, there is no exit… I wonder if there is a way for me to survive somewhere.”
Creak.
Rustle.
The blades tightened around him even more.
Blood flowed down the blades.
The red blood momentarily sparkled with gold before fading.
“Still, if I have to bet on one side….”
Dark clouds obscure the sky.
The shaded thicket of Geomno’s blades turns as black as pitch.
Even in the midst of the ever-increasing spectacle of blades, the golden light does not disappear.
“I’ll have to bet on the shimmering side.”
Even if it’s a precarious glimmer of light, we are somehow drawn to follow such things.
* * *
“My Dao is like this. Now it’s my turn. What is your Dao?”
At Geomno’s question, Cheonbeom calmly stared back at him.
“My Dao….”
What is Dao?
To some, it may simply be spring water that quenches their thirst.
And to others, it may be the woman they have promised their life to.
To others still, it may be something more important than life itself.
The beginning was a means.
To him, Dao was adversity, hardship, and tragedy.
But since joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure are also intertwined within it, it is no longer a means.
Dao.
It is the power to protect.
A means to protect something.
‘But….’
It is now life.
His life itself.
To him, Dao is….
“A wall.”
“A wall? Is that what it is to you?”
Geomno couldn’t help but laugh.
He wondered what great thing he was going to say when he asked him.
But it’s just a wall.
A wall!!
From the highest Wonseon [a high-ranking member] of Sangcheon Haewol to the lowest Geomseon [a low-ranking member] of the lower realms, there is no one who doesn’t know it, it is so obvious.
Even a child knows it, yet he speaks of it so confidently!!
Geomno Iltaek, who had been chuckling in disbelief, quickly lost his smile.
“Grasp a sword.”
On the lake.
Grasp one of the many swords.
“Grasp it and cut. I cut myself. I cut off my weak affections. And I cut myself. So I will cut you too.”
My sword will cut and cut, even the sky.
Grasp it and cut.
“I must see with my own eyes what your sword can cut.”
If you cannot cut.
You will be cut instead.
“So grasp a sword.”
The thousands upon thousands of swords here all boasted their own unique forms.
But Beom did not pay them any attention.
“Why, do you not have a sword? Or perhaps, are you looking for this?”
Swoosh.
A sword in the form of Hwaran [likely a specific sword or fighting style] also appeared in Geomno’s hand.
But Cheonbeom didn’t even glance at it.
“To me, Dao has always been a dead end and a solid wall. There were times when I lost my way and wandered for a long time, and there were times when I couldn’t take a single step forward against a solid wall.”
Geomno frowned.
It was because of the meaning contained in his words, but also because his figure was shining.
‘Golden waves….’
Before he knew it, the blue water of the lake had turned golden.
The tens of thousands of swords on it reflected the light, shimmering and swaying.
“But even so, I moved forward. Yes, to me, Dao was a wall.”
Cheonbeom’s figure shone even brighter.
Geomno shouted as if screaming.
“You must want to cut down that wall too!! Then cut it down! With one of the many swords here!!”
You too, like me.
Hold a sword and cut down what’s in front of you.
Cut and cut, even cut yourself.
But contrary to Geomno’s intentions.
Cheonbeom shook his head.
“My wall is the sky.”
In the past, he would have tried to cut it down.
He would have done so to move forward.
To shed everything.
To leave behind even the woman shedding tears,
To leave behind even the friends who sought him,
He would have only sought to break down the wall.
Foolishly, he did so.
Until now, his Dao was a means.
Adversity to protect what he wanted to protect.
Something he had to overcome.
Also, his Dao was a goal.
What exactly was that goal?
Ignoring what he wanted to protect.
Shedding what he wanted to embrace,
What was he moving towards?
“But not anymore.”
Whooong!!
Hwaaaaaaaaak!!
The ripples on the lake surged violently.
The swords all fell, and pillars of fire soared, piercing the cloud-filled sky.
“The sky….”
The clouds cleared, and a clear sky appeared.
Everything around Cheonbeom, shining in gold, was being dyed with that color.
Geumcheon (Golden Sky).
“To me, the Great Dao (大道) is myself.”
My fire illuminates the sky.
My will dyes the sky.
I am, in essence, the sky.
Geumcheon.
“Geomno Iltaek, who sought a sword and became a sword himself. The sword you have been searching for was ultimately yourself.”
A sword that cut and cut, and in the end, only himself remained. Thus, a sword that chose himself.
“But a sword that did not reach the sky.”
“…Why do you think so?”
At the mocking question, Cheonbeom retorted as if it were obvious.
“Your sword has never truly aimed for the sky, has it?”
“……!”
At his answer, Ageom’s eyes widened.
Then, he raised his head towards the sky and showed a hollow laugh.
“So, that’s how it was….”
He seemed to have realized something, but then he shook his head.
“No.”
So he looked at Cheonbeom again and opened his eyes sharply.
“I will cut. No matter what you become, all that remains for me is to cut.”
Whatever it may be, I will cut it.
Because there is nothing left for him.
“All that remains for me is to cut.”
At the same time, a chilling sword light, not gold, flickered again on the lake.
As if trying to push away the gold.
Blue and chilling.
Watching the scene, Beom said calmly.
“Do so. But what you must cut is the sky. I will become the Sangcheon (Upper Sky).
The power of Hacheon [likely a specific power or technique] that has seeped into me.
Will make it so.
So, under the sky dyed with gold.
“I will not leave you a place to stand.”
Disappear.
“Myeongmyeol (Annihilation).”
Under my sky.
I will erase your light.