Chapter 38: The method of avoiding the Wind (2)

Translator: hwarang

Editor: Kidyeon

I waited for her at the Guest Pavilion. Normally speaking, I wouldve gone to meet my father-in-law face-to-face in order to say my greetings, but I chose not do so today. Thirty minutes later, Song Hwa Rin arrived, with a perplexed expression on her face.

You came here to meet me?

She had a very nice aroma. She smelled like shed just gotten out of the bath. When I saw her in spring, shed looked like a blooming spring flower, but now she was akin to the fall sky.

Shall we go for a stroll?

After a moment of hesitation she nodded.

We headed towards the garden together. It was still early in the morning, thus there were hardly any people around.

Howve you been?

She answered, Training lots of training. Its been extremely repetitive. What about you?

Ive been training too.

I heard the news about you forming the lesser sword sect. I also heard that you took down a group of bandits?

We were just lucky.

Was that really the reason?

It seems that shes observing me. She seems to have finally accepted the fact that Ive changed.

Why did you act like you did? Did you really want to divorce me?

In her shoes she probably could see it like that.

It wasnt that I was acting like thatI really was scum back then.

And you changed after getting beaten up by me?

Yes.

And you want me to believe that?

You have to. Because thats the truth.

She deeply sighed and said, I really dont know.

Theres also one thing that I really dont know about

What?

Didnt you say it before? That there was a reason that you hate the previous Mengju.

She gave me a small grin. Why? Are you that curious?

Yeah. I am that curious.

But why? You arent related to theprevious Mengju, are you?

It was hard to find the right answer. I almost said that I respected him, but I decided to give her an improvised answer. No particular reason. You know, something like, Once you become curious about something, youll really want to get to the bottom of it. If you dont, youll just keep getting more curious.

She smiled. It was the first time shed smiled in a long while. No, was it the first time shed smiled?

The answer that I gave her was probably a better answer than something along the lines of just respecting the Mengju.

So its not even that great of a reason. I shouldve told you sooner.

Well, you can tell me now.

There is a person that I really hate. That person, in turn,reveresthe previous Mengju almost like a god. Since the person who I hate likes him so much, I came to dislike him. This is quite a stupid reason to dislike him, dont you think?

Whos it that you hate?

Her face darkened. It seems that Ive touched on a personal matter.

Lets stop here.

Alright. Thank you for telling me.

Whats there to be thankful for. Well, regardless, for what reason did you come to meet me today?

Contrary to the light mood, I said something that was pretty heavy.

I want to exchange pointers with you.

What? Song Hwa Rins eye became round. I think this was the first time Id seen her this surprised.

Lets spar for a round.

She asked me with a questionable face, Is this for real?

Yeah.

...And the reason?

Revenge for that day.

Song Hwa Rin looked at me flabbergasted.

The last time that wed parted ways, the last word shed said to me were, I dont understand you. However, considering the fact that Id come to ask for an exchange of pointers, she was definitely confused.

Really, I dont

It seems that she was trying her best to figure me out. Well, its not like shell ever be able to.

After biting her lip, she agreed, Alright, lets do it.

We stood face-to-face on the practice ground. Soo Ran was looking at the situation with a worried expression from far away.

I dont know what youre up to, but since were exchanging pointers we should do it for real.

Thats what I wanted.

With real swords?

I nodded, causing her to be surprised yet again.Shed just asked to get rid of the possibility, but Id answered with a yes. With real swords, one wrong move could result in a major injury, or even death. On top of that, this was our first time facing off against one another, thus neither of us knew what sort of technique the other would use.

She was nervous. If it was the me from before, she definitely wouldnt have agreed. However, she got the feeling that if it was the me of now, she could agree to it.

Alright. Then... you cant get too excited.

Hearing her warn me, I nodded. Alright.

She slowly drew her blade.

I also slowly drew my blade and proceeded to approach her.

Stab!!!

She lightly stabbed her sword towardsme. It was a variant ofaprobing move.

Tiing!!!

I easily parried.

Ourswordsclashed again.

Clang! Chang ! Clang!

Itbecamean exchange of light blows, asthere was no needfor usto go all outright fromthe beginning.

It was as Idexpected:She was quite proficient with her skills. Her footwork was superb, whileher basics were sharp. Her sword artalsoseemedextremelyfamiliar. I gotthefeeling that her master was someone that I knew.

Clang! Chang ! Clang!

As we exchanged blows,I slowly raised the tempo.

She didnt notice that I was the one in control of the fight.Considering the fact thatshe could get hurt,I made sure I controlled everythingdownto the finest detail. I pressured her, Iwaspressured, I made a risky attack, went back to tightlydefending...this continuedonwards.

Due to myextravegantplanning, she was fully immersed in thefightandwas swinging her sword madly. I pressured her to her limit. I didnt give her anytime to think about anything else. This was probably the first timethatshedexperienced something like this.

Once I believed that shedpassedher limits,I dodged her attack andswungat her neck.

She tried to block it,but was too late.Ah!

Ifthis had beenfor real,she wouldve lost herhead,but I turned myswordsidewaysandhither with the blunt side.

Smack!My blade landed on her shoulder.

Kuahh!

She raised her sword and tried to block my attack.

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!

I continuously attacked her shoulder, ribs, and stomach.Mylast two blows landed on her face.

Asgassii!

Soo Ran rushed to Song Hwa Rins side to make sure she was okay. Thankfully,shewasstill consciousness.

After confirming this,Soo Ran startedberating me, Are you crazy?!How could you do this?!

This was a fair fight.Didyou expect me to go easy on her, justbecause shes female?

Hearing my words,Soo Ran couldnt say anything. Shefrowned.

I knewthatshe was pretty angry,but I added something. This was something that I reallyneededto sayso that it becamemore believable.This is revenge forlast time.

Soo Rans face becameevenuglier. She really wanted to jump at me.

However,Song Hwa Rin grabbed her arm. When Soo Ran looked backtowards her, Song Hwa Rin was shaking her head.She was telling her not to.

I lost.That, and

From the ground,she stared at me with her eyes half opened. It wasntastarefullof resentment.

that last move?

Shed been able tosense it.

I gave her a mischievous smile and nodded. Ihadnt hit her just to win. Through our exchange, Idsensed a majorflawin her sword art. And it was with one of the most important stancesof it.Thus,I clearly saw throughit andtook advantage ofit.

If shewasnt able to correctthis weakness by herself, she could be killed byanyonethatsees through it. And Song Hwa Rinhadjust realized it through mylastattack. She never wouldve thought that her flawless sword stance would crumble this easily. She realized that it wasnt just luck that Id beenabletosee through her flaw.

LaterShe said beforepassingout. Did she want to saythatshe wantedtohave anotherround of sparringlater? Orsomething else?

Soo Ranpickedherupand rushed inside. Even though everyonemight worry about her condition,theydidnt have anythingto worry about, asIdhitbeen smart about how I hit her. Shed be bedridden for about ten days,and her face would be bruised for awhile,but shed be perfectly fine after a monthor so.

HadI come here just to let her gainsome real experience,orjusttoexposethe flaw in her sword art?

Of coursenot. Idcome here because of Ma Jung Soo.

Id seen how he took care of business.Hedmake some sort of an excuse to get close to her,then wouldvisit her at her housethe next day.However,after seeing her like this,he wouldnt be able to do anythingto her.If he still tried to approach her like this, then Illdefinitelykillhim. Idont care if the entire Heavenly Dao Gate comesto San Dongbecause of it;Ill take care of themwhen that happens.

Originally, I wanted to go directly to Song Wu Kyung and tell him the truth. I wanted toask him to send Song Hwa Rin far away. There was a possibility that shed say no, but if she did leave, theres a possibility thatshe could be in more of a danger since shed beout of my sight, considering the fact thathe could send some men after her.And I gave some other excuse he would try to find out what happened.[a]Thus, if she was lying in bed with real injuries,he wouldnt be able to do anything, whichwasa goodenoughreason.Even though Id been reborn,it was revenge from before.This was the best option I hadavailableto buy some timewith.

Since Idtakensuch a drastic measure,I felt sorry for her and her father. But in the given time that I had,I couldnt find a simpler method. I wasnt Kal Sa Ryang.All of this could very well be me overthinking my bad premonition;Ma Jung Soo might not even have any interest in Song Hwa Rin.However,Iddonethis just in case. As they always say:You can never be too prepared.

I headed straight home. There was something else Ineededto do before attending the banquet. If my objective wassimplyto kill Ma Jung Soo,it wouldve been easy no matter who my opponent was, asthatwasthe thing I did best. However,my objective was to rob him of everything he had,whichwas no simple task.Considering the fact thatI usually leave all the planning to Kal Sa Ryang,it was pretty hard trying to do it myselfnow.

HoweverI was certainthat getting rid ofhis money wouldbe more effective than killing any the three expertsthat hedbrought. If his money was gone, hed be confused and theredbe disorder in his camp. Thiswas the power of money. No matter how close you are to someone, moneycan cause a divide among you.

The question now was wherehismoney was kept,and who controlled it. Was it Ma Jung Soohimself? Old Man Flower Fan? Si Gon? Or thatmysterious women?

Well we can checkOld Man Flower Fanoff the list,since hes old andanoutsider. Theresalsono way that Ma Jung Soo wouldtrust an outsider with his money. Thus, usingsimilar reasoning we cancheck offthat mysterious women.

Then was it Si Gon?

But Si Gonis a true Martial Artist. Theres no way hed be good at dealing with money.

Thenthatonly leaves Ma Jung Soohimself. Is he personallyin charge ofhis funds?

Thishasthe highest probabilityof being the truth.

After hearing my summons,Kwang Du quickly came to my room.

Did you call me?

I need you to look into something.

Seeing my expression,Kwang Du became nervous.What is it?

You should have heardaboutan important person fromthe Heavenly Dao Gatearrivingcouple of days ago.

Ofcourse.

Helooked around, thenlowered his voice and asked, I heardthathe ripped off all the clans.

Iproceeded towhisper in his ear, Why are you whispering,this is my room.

He whispered back, It wouldbe badthis reached him, considering thathe isthedescendant of the Mengju,andfromone of the five great clans of the Central Plains.

Then I think youre in trouble.

Why?

Because you might have to investigate him.

Kwang Du staredblanklyat meand blinked acouple times. As Idsaid before,theexpressionsthat Kwang Du makes werewhat mademe love him.

So youre serious.

The best way to forget aboutagirl is by doing work.

I thinkthatIdbe able to forget about a hundred girldoingthis.

I smiled and raised my tone back to normal.Its nothing too serious,just relax.

Riddinghimself of hisplayfulness,Kwang Du asked, WhatdoIneed todo?

He wants to build a school in Jae Nam. I want you to go to Jae Nam and look foranything andeverything related to it. Everything from where hes going to build it,towhos in charge of construction,towhen the construction starts;anything that you can find. Theresdefinitely something that theyre doing in the shadow.

I told him allofthe details regarding the construction ofthemartial arts school that Idheard duringourfirst meeting with Ma Jung Soo. Then I gave him two thousand nyang to use.

Youre giving me this much?

If you need to use it,then use it.

Yes.

And make sure you come back as soon as possible.

Understood young master.

Iknew that Icould trust Kwang Du with this sort of workthe typewhere you blend into the crowd to investigate something. He had a natural talent for interacting with others due to his innocent personality.

I feltthathe might befeelinglonely, soIsaid a joke to him, Should I send Do Soon-ee with you?

NO!

He answered without hesitation.

Why? Have you already gotten overyour feelings?

NO!My heart still beats whenever I see her.

Then why?

Because I dont want to have hard feelings for her. I dont want to burn any bridgessince we arent even in a relationship.

I nodded in agreement.

Then, Ill be off.

Go on horseback.

Kwang Durepliedwith pride, This time Ill come back asahorse riding expert, no,Ill be a centaur when Igetback.

After sending Kwang Duaway,I headed towards theYang Clan,where the banquet was going to be held.Though there were many reasons why I hatedattending them, this was another reason

Banquetswill makepeoplelose concentration.

However, since I knew that, this wouldbe my chance to strike.

Nowthat Imcoming to get you,justhow prepared are you?

[a]This doesn't... is this something like, "I continued to try to convince myself with excuses that he'd try to find out what happened to her." ?