Chapter 1752
I too am someone who couldn’t uphold my principles. (2)
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Heo Do Jinin calmly explained what he had learned.
“…That’s how it happened.”
For a brief moment, Baek Cheon’s head dipped slightly. He tried to conceal it, but a flicker of agitation was evident.
Heo Do Jinin sighed softly.
“Are you blaming yourself?”
“I…”
“That’s arrogant.”
Baek Cheon looked up, slightly surprised.
“Do you believe that if you had stayed with the alliance or had not been injured, you could have prevented this sacrifice?”
Baek Cheon couldn’t find the words to respond and pressed his lips together tightly.
“If their goal was to harm Cheonumaeng, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Only the form would have been different. Thinking that you alone could have stopped it is nothing but arrogance.”
A short sigh escaped Baek Cheon’s dry lips.
“Thank you for your consideration.”
But Heo Do Jinin, who had been watching him closely, shook his head.
“You still don’t understand. I suppose words alone aren’t enough to convey it.”
Heo Do Jinin knew this all too well. No matter how righteous the path, there would always be things that a single person or even a single sect could not change.
He should have realized that much sooner.
Heo Do Jinin looked at Baek Cheon in silence, lost in thought.
His arms were still thin, and his face was gaunt beyond belief. The eyes that once shone with clarity were now clouded and dull.
Was this what one might call a downfall?
Heo Do Jinin dismissed the thought. No, it wasn’t that.
If it were truly so, no matter how pitiable the circumstances, Heo Do Jinin wouldn’t have personally offered Baek Cheon a place to hide.
Even within those muddied eyes, Heo Do Jinin could still see the person he had once faced – Baek Cheon.
Heo Gong and Jin Hyeon, who had brought him here, must have seen the same thing.
‘Or perhaps it was a case of two people in the same boat, each silently encouraging the other to lean on their backs,’
Heo Do Jinin mused with a faint, humorless chuckle.
If, by some unlikely chance, that was their intent, then it might have partially worked. The old Heo Do Jinin would never have offered Baek Cheon a place to rest.
But now, Heo Do Jinin understood well.
He knew the heart of someone who wished to flee from everything in the world, who felt there was no further to fall, who despaired at hitting rock bottom.
And offering such a person a small refuge wasn’t a difficult thing to do.
“So, what now? You can’t keep hiding here forever, can you?”
But now, it was time to ask the question.
“You know very well that this is nothing more than an escape.”
His voice grew sharper than before – not out of a desire to reprimand the young man before him, but rather because this was a question he was also asking himself. That was why there was an edge to it.
Before that young man appeared here, what was I like?
Before he knelt before me, in that wretched state, asking for a place to rest, what was I like?
There wasn’t much difference between the two of them.
Heo Do Jinin had also hidden himself away in this small secluded house, seeking refuge from the gaze of others and the weight of his own circumstances.
“You know as well as I do, Cheonumaeng has many capable individuals. They may not have found your trail in their initial confusion, but eventually…”
“That won’t happen.”
“…What?”
Baek Cheon spoke with a calm expression.
“They didn’t fail to find me because they were confused. There is someone in the alliance who could locate me at any moment. They simply… choose not to.”
Heo Do Jinin studied Baek Cheon intently before nodding in understanding.
“I see. Whatever circumstances or words have been exchanged, it’s not my place to pry.”
“…”
“But that doesn’t change my question. I’ll ask again: What do you intend to do now?”
Heo Do Jinin’s gaze darkened.
Although he had taken Baek Cheon in out of compassion, he could see that the young man’s situation was dire. Perhaps it was even more desperate than his own had been when he lost the will to live.
Heo Do Jinin had lost many of his brothers and disciples due to a wrong decision.
It was because of a small arrogance he could never quite abandon – the arrogance that made him believe if given the chance, he could personally behead Jang Ilso and return everything to the way it was.
That greed temporarily clouded his judgment, and Heo Do Jinin paid a harsh price for it.
Yet, even after all that, Heo Do Jinin was still a Taoist of Wudang. He had people around him who understood him. How could he compare himself to Baek Cheon, who had been cast out into the world alone?
“If you wish to live in obscurity, I can help you with that.”
“…”
“I could provide you with enough wealth to live without a need. You could go to a distant land and live however you please.”
He knew these offers probably wouldn’t resonate with Baek Cheon.
Heo Do Jinin made these suggestions knowing that he had imagined and, on some level, desired such a path himself. Though in the end, he couldn’t choose that path, he wondered if things might have been different had someone pushed him in that direction.
“If not that, do you have another desire?”
At Heo Do Jinin’s question, Baek Cheon slowly lifted his head.
The once-renowned Hwasan Jeonggeom, praised for his exceptional skill and honored even within Wudang, now seemed a shadow of his former self, barely recognizable.
But in that moment, his eyes appeared as they had in the past – the same eyes that had left the deepest impression on Heo Do Jinin, the only part of him that hadn’t been forgotten.
“Would you… be willing to teach me?”
“…Teach you?”
Teaching can be interpreted in many ways, but for a martial artist, there is only one kind of teaching that truly matters. If Baek Cheon still considered himself a martial artist, that is.
“What do you mean?”
“To overcome strength with gentleness [능유제강(能柔制鋼)].”
“…”
“Or to move a thousand jin with four liang [사량발천근(四兩撥千斤)]. I’ve heard that Wudang is unparalleled in its ability to use small forces to subdue larger ones. Could you teach me this technique?”
Heo Do Jinin’s face showed a mix of surprise and disbelief.
“…Are you asking me to teach you martial arts? I’m no healer. I can’t mend your arm.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then why?”
“I don’t believe Wudang’s techniques are limited to the sword and the palm alone.”
“…”
“There must be ways to use the body and legs as well.”
Heo Do Jinin let out a sigh, almost a scoff.
“Is this too much to ask?”
Baek Cheon’s expression remained unshaken, calm, and resolute as he asked again.
‘What kind of person is this…?’
Baek Cheon was surely the most aware of his own physical condition. And yet, here he was, talking about continuing to fight.
Indeed, Baek Cheon was right – Wudang’s martial arts were not limited to swordsmanship and palm techniques. In fact, Wudang was renowned for its mastery of using the body and legs, surpassing even Shaolin in this regard. After all, Tai Chi [태극권] itself was a part of Wudang’s martial heritage.
But even so, what could he realistically teach someone with almost no internal energy and a useless arm?
“I can’t understand this,”
Heo Do Jinin said, his tone laced with incredulity.
“Even if you were to learn Wudang’s techniques, do you think you could regain your former strength?”
“Of course not.”
Baek Cheon’s reply was unexpectedly straightforward, which only made the situation more baffling. Heo Do Jinin pressed further.
“Then what exactly do you hope to learn?”
Baek Cheon tilted his head slightly in response, seemingly puzzled by the question.
“What do you mean?”
“Hmm?”
“Even if I were to train under you, Sect-“
“Call me Dojang.”
“Yes, Dojang. Even if I were to train under you, I know that I won’t be able to reach the level of martial prowess I once had. But I don’t need to be as strong as I was to continue fighting, do I?”
“…”
Heo Do Jinin was momentarily at a loss for words.
“There is a way of fighting for the strong, and a way of fighting for those who are not strong. I am simply trying to find a way to fight from where I stand. Even if it’s just a small contribution, it will still be something.”
Heo Do Jinin’s eyes wavered.
“Hwasan will not welcome you back.”
“I know.”
“Jongnam will not want you either, as you are not one of their disciples.”
“That’s only natural.”
“You might not even be able to stay within Cheonumaeng as a member. You have no affiliation.”
“That’s possible.”
“And yet, you still intend to fight?”
Baek Cheon looked at Heo Do Jinin as if he’d heard something incomprehensible, then spoke.
“I am no longer a disciple of Hwasan, nor am I a member of Cheonumaeng. I may not even be a warrior who once fought with confidence in his swordsmanship.”
“…”
“But I did not fight because I was a disciple of Hwasan, nor because I was part of Cheonumaeng. I didn’t even fight because I was strong. So… why should there be any reason for me to stop fighting now?”
Heo Do Jinin’s hand trembled slightly. Baek Cheon’s last words weighed heavily on his heart.
“A reason not to fight…”
So, he didn’t fight because he was a disciple of Hwasan, nor because he was a member of Cheonumaeng, nor because he was strong.
In that case…
“Yes, when you think about it, there really isn’t a reason.”
Heo Do Jinin let out a small chuckle. The laughter kept escaping him, almost involuntarily.
“Heh… Heh heh heh. Yes, there isn’t. There never was… Indeed…”
As he continued to laugh, something glistened in the corner of his eye. Heo Do Jinin wiped his eyes and then looked at Baek Cheon, his gaze much softer than before.
“So, you want me to teach you how to fight?”
“Yes.”
“You refused to become a disciple of Jongnam. Naturally, you have no intention of becoming a disciple of Wudang either.”
“That is correct.”
“Then you’re asking me, the former Sect Leader of Wudang, to teach you Wudang’s secrets, even though you’re not a disciple of Wudang. And, on top of that, you want me to do it in a way that’s ‘reasonable enough’ that we can’t ask anything specific of you in return.”
“…”
“And, of course, I should make sure you’re capable enough not to die on the streets somewhere. And you expect all of this to be accomplished in just a few days because the situation is urgent?”
“In short… yes.”
Heo Do Jinin shook his head in disbelief.
“You’re nothing short of a robber. Have you no shame?”
“Shame is one of the smallest things I’ve lost. It’s not something I consider worth reclaiming at this point.”
“…”
Heo Do Jinin was momentarily at a loss for words, stunned by Baek Cheon’s straightforward reply. His gaze fell on Baek Cheon, but it seemed as if he was looking at something far beyond him.
“Dojang?”
“…Yes, you’re right.”
“…”
“It’s not something worth reclaiming… Yes, I suppose that’s true for someone who has lost much more. They say those who have lost everything see the world most clearly.”
Heo Do Jinin’s eyes drifted up towards the sky, his gaze hollow.
He stared into the empty sky for a long time before he finally spoke.
“The highest Tao is utterly mysterious… To human eyes, it seems chaotic, and yet, it is the true Tao.”
Only now did he begin to understand what those words truly meant.
Suddenly, Heo Do Jinin’s eyes sharpened intensely as he looked directly at Baek Cheon.
“Listen.”
His voice was now heavy, filled with a gravity that hadn’t been there before.
“Martial arts were originally created so the weak could stand against the strong. If you wish, I can teach you how to do so. But just as people are flawed, so too are martial arts. Even if you do your utmost in your current condition, you may never rise above what the world considers a third-rate martial artist.”
“…”
“And yet, to gain even that small measure of skill, you will endure severe hardship. Knowing this, do you still wish to fight?”
“Yes.”
There was no grand declaration or impassioned speech – just a simple nod, as if he were agreeing to something entirely ordinary.
For the first time in a long while, the corners of Heo Do Jinin’s mouth lifted into a faint smile.
‘Perhaps I am the one who will learn something here.’
Slowly, Heo Do Jinin extended his hand.
“Then prepare yourself. The way of Wudang is not as forgiving as Hwasan. I will carve discipline into your body.”
In the secluded depths of Mount Wudang, hidden from the prying eyes, the voices of two men who had turned their backs on the world began to echo.
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