Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 71

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 71. Water in a Bowl and Water in a Lake
The next day.
After finishing breakfast, Dan Yeop left Sontaek as he usually did.
It was true that he’d committed everything to the Baekchop with the mindset that he no longer minded losing control of his body to Simma.
Yet he hadn’t called upon him immediately.
Perhaps it was because he thought this might be his last chance.
In truth, Dan Yeop’s extreme imaginings stemmed from his ignorance of the treatment process for Juwhaipmma.
His other self, Simma, had already learned the Iwongwiilgong from Usa Jeoksongjaa using the Bunsimgong treatment method.
But the terrifying memories imprinted in infancy blocked his cultivation of inner strength, leaving him paralyzed between two paths.
Unaware of any of this, Dan Yeop lived each day as if life were a countdown, urgent and desperate.
Seonpyeongbang.
Jeonmun Chongdan’s Jipdanhyang.
Ansickheon.
At Sasi Cho—nine in the morning—Dan Yeop entered Ansickheon.
Masters of Jeommun who’d gathered early approached him.
Baek Chogong Munju regarded Dan Yeop with sorrowful eyes and spoke.
“Gyotdu Dan, welcome. You didn’t need to come back so soon. You could have rested longer.”
To the others, Dan Yeop was known to be resting due to a cold.
But Baek Chogong Munju had heard something from So Wolhwa, the patrol hall master.
Seeing Dan Yeop’s haggard face, his nose stung with emotion.
“How could I just loaf about? I need to work hard.”
At Dan Yeop’s response, Baek Chogong Munju composed his features and nodded deliberately.
“Good that you’ve come. A bit of hard work will help clear your mind too.”
After exchanging greetings with the other Jeommun masters, Dan Yeop began teaching the Jinbaekryudobeop as usual.
Around Sinsi Mal—five in the afternoon—the training ended as it always did.
Baek Chogong Munju, the Vice Sect Leader, and the hall masters filed out of Ansickheon in turn.
Imsong, who’d been hesitating, spoke to Dan Yeop.
“Gyotdu, do you have any plans this evening?”
“None.”
“Then how about a drink with me?”
“Gladly.”
Dan Yeop readily agreed, recalling the times he’d drunk with Imsong and Baek Yuhwa.
***
Hwawunru.
As expected, Imsong brought Dan Yeop to Hwawunru.
The two men sat across from each other at the table where the three of them often drank together.
When the wine and appetizers arrived, he silently filled three cups to the brim.
The third cup was surely meant for Baek Yuhwa.
Dan Yeop picked up his own cup without asking.
The two men drank in silence, as if by agreement.
A moment later, as the wine began to warm his blood, Imsong spoke.
“Cheonhoe has ordered us to withdraw from this matter. They say we’ve botched things through our own negligence.”
Hyeoljae, who’d killed Budoho Yi Deokmyeong, had vanished like a ghost.
So Cheonhoe had shifted the blame for losing him onto Haowen.
They claimed that Haowen had been manipulated by Hyeoljae and had bungled the operation.
Haowen felt it was unjust, but because of Baek Yuhwa’s involvement in their judgment, they couldn’t mount a defense.
In truth, even if they had protested, the outcome would have been the same.
In any case, Cheonhoe had set Haowen aside and entrusted the contract to Kaibang instead.
“Do you think they failed because they came up short themselves?”
Dan Yeop found the whole thing absurd.
Cheonhoe couldn’t handle Hyeoljae even when he was running wild in Gangnam.
The result would have been the same wherever Hyeoljae had gone.
Cheonhoe cannot capture Hyeoljae.
If they could have, they would’ve ended him in Gangnam instead of letting him come all the way here.
“Ha! If word got out that they’d lost Hyeoljae, they’d lose face, so they pinned the blame for failure on us easy targets.”
“And where is Hyeoljae supposed to be now?”
“Everyone suspects he’s gone back to Gangnam.”
In that moment, Dan Yeop unconsciously ground his teeth.
Imsong glanced at Dan Yeop’s face and continued speaking.
“There’s talk that if Hyeoljae has joined Cheonryeon, he’ll be difficult to find.”
“That would be right.”
Cheonryeon was an organization that had long stood against the imperial throne.
If they covered his tracks, he would not be easily found.
“Cheonryeon are rebels, but they’ve never committed atrocities. I don’t understand why they would take in someone like Hyeoljae, a horse thief.”
“I don’t know why, but they’ll come to regret it.”
Dan Yeop had no intention of forgiving those connected to Baek Yuhwa’s death.
That night, when Dan Yeop returned to the detached house, he also added Cheonryeon’s name to his Baekchop.
***
Dan Yeop returned to his former life.
At least it appeared that way on the surface, whatever he felt within.
He would go to Jipdanhyang in the morning to teach the masters of Jeommun, and return to Sontaek in the evening.
Had it been about ten days since Baek Yuhwa’s death?
While Dan Yeop was teaching the Jinbaekryudobeop to the masters of Jeommun at Ansickheon, a young Jeommun disciple entered and called him.
“Gyotdu.”
Dan Yeop immediately sheathed his Hoengdo and approached the boy.
“What is it?”
“A certain Na Bugang from the Jinbo Trading House came looking for you and asked to see Gyotdu.”
“Na Bugang came to Jipdanhyang?”
“Yes, he’s waiting at the Main Hall right now. What should I do?”
“Tell him I’ll come to meet him shortly.”
“Yes.”
The boy spun around and ran off.
Baek Chogong Munju approached Dan Yeop, who sat lost in thought.
“Do you know Na Bugang?”
“When I worked at the Yang Family Textile Shop, I sold him some expensive clothing.”
That was the extent of Dan Yeop’s impression of Na Bugang.
It was Simma who had become sworn brothers with Na Bugang, and after that, Na Bugang had kept his distance.
“I see. There’s no harm in being acquainted with the eldest son of the Jinbo Trading House.”
Dan Yeop did not answer and left Ansickheon.
As he entered the Main Hall, Na Bugang approached with an awkward smile.
“I didn’t expect to meet you so quickly. I really just came to find out where you were working.”
He had come to Jeonmun Chongdan on impulse to find Dan Yeop and seemed rather surprised.
“What brings you to seek me out?”
Na Bugang was not discouraged by Dan Yeop’s cold response.
After all, it had been he who had put distance between them in the first place.
“Let’s not do this here. Let’s move somewhere more private. You have time for that, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Dan Yeop felt no particular dislike toward him and so did not refuse.
Unlike Simma, Na Bugang was simply the eldest son of the Jinbo Trading House to him.
Na Bugang led Dan Yeop to the nearby Pungjinru.
It was still deep winter, and it would be difficult to have a conversation on the street.
The moment they sat down, Na Bugang ordered warmed wine and appetizers.
The two said nothing while waiting for the wine and food to arrive.
Shortly after, the warmed wine and appetizers came.
Na Bugang poured warm wine generously into two empty cups.
Then he slid one cup toward Dan Yeop.
“You must think I’m shameless, don’t you?”
“…….”
Instead of answering, Dan Yeop picked up the cup and sipped it slowly.
“May I explain myself?”
Dan Yeop set down the half-empty cup slowly before speaking.
“Isn’t that why you came looking for me?”
At Dan Yeop’s matter-of-fact words, Na Bugang let out a long sigh.
“Hah! Yes, you’re right. The Jinbo Trading House hasn’t yet established itself in Jangan City, so I wanted to avoid giving people reason to point fingers at us.”
“You did well. But why did you seek me out?”
“When I happened to run into you at Hwawolru, I realized how foolish I had been. Just because of Haowen, I shouldn’t have treated you that way. I’m sorry.”
At Na Bugang’s apology, Dan Yeop smiled bitterly.
He felt nothing.
Perhaps it was because he wasn’t the one who had sworn brotherhood with Na Bugang, or perhaps it was because he had lost interest in worldly affairs since Baek Yuhwa’s death.
“So? You came looking for me to apologize?”
“I was the first to betray our bond, and no amount of words can undo that. I only hope you’ll accept my apology.”
“If accepting your apology would ease your heart, then I will.”
Dan Yeop thought that since he held the body’s agency, granting that much was within his power.
“Thank you.”
Na Bugang felt a slight sting at Dan Yeop’s detached tone.
But it was all of his own making, and he had no choice but to bear it.
Having nothing particular to discuss with Na Bugang, Dan Yeop sipped his Onju.
Cowed by Dan Yeop’s manner—noticeably changed from before—Na Bugang studied his expression.
Then, without thinking, he asked.
“Has something happened?”
“Does it show?”
“Your expression seems darker than it was before.”
“How was I before?”
Dan Yeop was curious what Simma had looked like in this man’s eyes.
“At the Yang Family Textile Shop, you were bright and optimistic.”
‘Tch!’
Dan Yeop snorted silently to himself.
Just as one would expect from Simma, a prodigy with nothing lacking.
The sense of kinship he’d felt with Simma after reading the Baekchop vanished in an instant.
If Simma was a solitary crane, then he was an earthworm.
‘They can never be the same.’
Caught in such thoughts, Dan Yeop suddenly grew curious.
“Sir, if I may ask…”
“Yes?”
“If you put a bucket of water into a lake, what happens to the water in the bucket?”
It was his metaphor for himself and Simma.
But Na Bugang, who could hardly know that, asked in return.
“Usually, you’d scoop water from the lake into a bucket, wouldn’t you?”
Dan Yeop didn’t answer the foolish question and pressed on.
After all, he hadn’t asked expecting a true answer.
“If that happened, the water in the bucket would vanish completely from this world, wouldn’t it?”
Only then did Na Bugang realize it had been a metaphor.
“I’m not so sure. Shouldn’t we first examine where the water in that bucket came from? If the water in the bucket originally came from the lake, can you truly say it disappeared? I don’t think so.”
Dan Yeop’s eyes widened as he looked at Na Bugang.
How had he not thought of that!
What if he and Simma shared the same roots, as Na Bugang said?
Then the emptiness he felt meant nothing.
In a sense, it might even be a return to the origin.
“Thank you. That’s been a great help in resolving my concern.”
“Well, I’m glad it helped.”
Na Bugang watched Dan Yeop’s face carefully.
He wanted to restore their sworn brotherhood, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud.
He would content himself with seeing Dan Yeop’s brightened expression.
At least for today.
Shortly after, Dan Yeop bid Na Bugang farewell and left Pungjinru.
The sky had already turned crimson with the evening glow.
Since it would soon be time to finish his training at Ansickheon, he made his way toward Sontaek.
***
Sontaek.
When Dan Yeop returned in the evening, Son Yubaek summoned him to the Inner Hall.
Dan Yeop sat naturally beside Son Jiheon and took his meal with them like family.
After supper, Son Yubaek spoke casually as he sipped his tea.
“Your complexion looks better today. Has something good happened?”
“I realized that what I was worrying about was nothing to fret over after all.”
“Indeed, it may seem trivial when you think about it, but sometimes being caught on one thing blinds you to what truly matters. Especially at your age, people tend to dwell on trifles—it’s commendable that you’ve seen past that.”
Son Yubaek mistook this for Dan Yeop’s recovery from the shock brought on by the death of the girl he once yearned for.
It seemed Son Yubaek wasn’t the only one thinking that way.
Son Jiheon, who had been nodding beside him, chimed in.
“Right, the world is wide and women are plenty. I’m sure you’ll meet a good one.”
Dan Yeop hastened to correct the misunderstanding before it deepened.
“What are you talking about? It wasn’t about women—it was about self-reflection.”
Son Yeonhwa then threw a sidelong glance at Son Jiheon and spoke.
“You think all the men in the world are like my brother? The world is vast and women are plentiful. I’m genuinely worried about what kind of woman my brother will end up marrying.”
Yu Hwayeong added her voice to her daughter’s complaint.
“He may be my own son, but I worry about the woman he chooses too.”
Without even a chance to defend himself, Son Jiheon—now cast as a thoroughly disagreeable man—looked up at his grandfather with aggrieved eyes.
But Son Yubaek deftly evaded his grandson’s gaze. One vulgar soul was trouble enough.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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