Chapter 7
Invitation (1)
Officer Jang, having descended from the treetop, looked at Mumu with a somewhat stiff face.
He, too, had heard the stories the constables told throughout the journey to the place of exile.
That Yu Yeop-gyeong’s adopted son was a strongman.
But he was seventeen.
Even if he was a strongman, he’d assumed it was within the bounds of a civilian.
But he had never imagined that one could jump to such a height with purely physical strength from training the body.
‘And from a standstill…’
He jumped.
Without even a running start.
Just how much did this defy common sense?
Officer Jang asked Mumu in a somewhat subdued voice.
“How did you do that?”
“I did a standing high jump with all my might.”
“No. That’s not what I mean…”
“You can do it if you train your abdomen, your gastrocnemius muscle, and your soleus muscle, which forms the triceps surae muscle behind the shin.”
‘…What on earth is a soleus muscle?’
Martial artists were also knowledgeable about the human body.
However, that was related to the acupressure points and meridians inside the body.
Of course, they knew the basic muscle structures, but this guy, Mumu, seemed to know the detailed muscles.
‘Training… yes, fine.’
But you can do this just by training?
Is that really possible?
His mind in a tangle, Officer Jang cautiously pointed at Mumu’s shin and spoke.
“Mumu. Ahjussi was wondering if I could touch your leg for a moment?”
“…That’s unpleasant.”
“Hoo. Ahjussi just wants to check how much you’ve trained your muscles, Mumu.”
Don’t look at me with such suspicious eyes.
After staring at him for a moment, Mumu opened his mouth.
“Touching it is a bit weird, so should I show you instead?”
And then, he casually rolled up his loose pants.
At that, incredibly detailed and trained muscles twitched and surged before their eyes.
“Whoa.”
“Mumu. Look at his legs.”
“Good Heavens, are those muscles?”
“No, how do you even train to build muscles like that?”
The constables nearby exclaimed in astonished admiration.
Officer Jang, too, was at a loss for words.
He had thought the boy trained a lot, but this was beyond common sense.
‘This kid… did he really train to this extent all by himself?’
He knew the boy had lived without leaving the place of exile since he was a baby.
To say he learned from Yu Yeop-gyeong—the man was a scholar.
There was no way a scholar who taught Confucianism, the Way of Confucius, would be an expert on the human body’s muscles and teach someone to train like this.
‘If he’s capable of this through his own efforts alone…’
The look in Officer Jang’s eyes changed.
If his martial talent was great enough to train his physical body to this extent, then even if it was a bit late to learn internal energy, he seemed to have potential in martial arts polishing.
For a while after leaving the Murim and becoming a government official, he had never felt such a desire.
After some deliberation, Officer Jang looked at Mumu with a benevolent smile and spoke.
“Mumu. Do you know the phrase ‘do not transmit to the unworthy’?”
“Yes. My father told me about it. Isn’t it ‘do not transmit to the unworthy; talent should not precede virtue’?”
“That’s right. It means one must not pass on their talents to a person of poor character, and that talent or knowledge must not precede virtue.”
“That’s right.”
“From what this ahjussi sees, our Mumu has great filial piety and a very pure temperament.”
At his praise, Mumu seemed to feel awkward and scratched his head.
It was true that having grown up in the mountains with only his father, he had a very naive side.
“From what I heard earlier, you seem very interested in martial arts.”
“…”
“This ahjussi decided long ago not to take anyone lacking in character and virtue as a disciple. But our Mumu doesn’t seem to be like that. Therefore, ahjussi wants to teach you martial arts, so become my disciple…”
“Thank you for the offer. But I’m fine now.”
“Yes. My disciple… what?”
You’re fine?
He had assumed the boy would naturally want to become his disciple.
But to refuse with such a dry and emotionless face, even waving his hands in denial.
Officer Jang suddenly felt extremely embarrassed.
He had offered to take him as a disciple with the constables watching, so how could the boy refuse so bluntly?
Officer Jang furrowed his glabella and asked.
“Don’t you want to learn martial arts?”
“No. I was just curious.”
“Curious?”
“Yes. But I think it’s more fun to just train my body.”
At Mumu’s words, Officer Jang let out a snort.
This kid was misunderstanding something.
He was thinking of martial arts as merely a form of physical exercise.
While martial arts are indeed a study to train the mind and body, they were ultimately conceived from an efficient method for protecting oneself from enemies, and for suppressing and killing them.
It seemed he would have to teach him that.
“Mumu. You’re misunderstanding something.”
“A misunderstanding?”
“Yes. Martial arts don’t just stop at training the mind and body.”
At those words, a puzzled Mumu asked.
“Then what?”
Thinking he had him hooked, Officer Jang rose to his feet and said.
“You could say that martial arts is training to become stronger.”
“To become stronger?”
“Yes. For example, like this…”
-Shing!
Officer Jang drew the sword from his waist.
And continued speaking.
“The training and wielding of a sword also developed to efficiently face enemies, leading to the creation of numerous swordsmanship skills and sword techniques.”
With those words, he swung his sword and demonstrated a few moves.
Wouldn’t boys of that age live and die for style?
If I show him a form from a first-rate sword technique here,
-Swoosh!
Officer Jang took an opening stance and performed the flashiest form he knew.
He kicked off into mid-air and rotated his sword in multiple directions.
It was the form called Hwacheon Nanmu.
When the form ended, all the surrounding constables gathered around, clapping and letting out cheers.
That’s how incredibly cool the form was to the average person.
‘Now you feel the desire to learn, don’t you?’
Officer Jang shrugged his shoulders and looked at Mumu.
Mumu was also clapping, his eyes sparkling.
Just as he had expected.
Officer Jang approached Mumu and said.
“How about it? Don’t you want to try learning it?”
“No. I’m uncoordinated, so I don’t think I could learn something like that.”
“…”
Why is he refusing?
Officer Jang was slowly starting to feel frustrated.
An opportunity like this didn’t come easily.
Besides, he was once a swordsman who had made quite a name for himself in Southern Zhejiang Province.
After going to all this trouble to graciously accept him as a disciple, he was being rejected so coldly.
“Mumu.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you want to be strong?”
To that question, Mumu answered without hesitation.
“I want to be strong.”
“Then learn martial arts from me. If you do, even if you’re attacked by mountain bandits like five days ago, you’ll be able to protect your body and your father much more efficiently.”
“It doesn’t seem very efficient.”
“What?”
At those words, Officer Jang’s expression hardened.
After showing him a first-rate sword technique, to say it doesn’t seem efficient… what kind of nonsense was this?
Having lived in the mountains with only his father, his way of thinking truly seemed simple and childish.
Officer Jang barely managed to calm his agitation and opened his mouth.
“Why do you think it’s not efficient?”
“There are just too many movements.”
“Too many movements?”
“You can just swing to cut or just stab, so I don’t understand why you have to spin around and make it look cool.”
“…”
He felt like he was getting indigestion even though he hadn’t eaten.
To dismiss all these movements as just being for show.
Each and every movement, one form after another, is designed to effectively counter an enemy’s attack while simultaneously aiming for the opponent’s opening with dazzling movements—that’s what a form is.
‘Why is this so frustrating.’
Calm down.
This kid knows nothing.
That’s why he’s saying these things from a beginner’s perspective.
Yes, it was better to think of it that way.
“Mumu.”
“Yes.”
“I can see why you might have that misunderstanding. In that case, how about we do this?”
-Whoosh!
Officer Jang leaped up and broke a branch from a tree.
The length of the broken branch was roughly the same as his sword.
After knocking off the twigs and leaves, Officer Jang held it with a sword grip and spoke.
“I’ll show you why a form is called a form.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s have a spar.”
“What’s a spar?”
The kid really knew almost nothing.
Right. That must be why he could have such a question with that naive face.
“A spar means to compete against each other.”
“Compete?”
“Yes, you could call it a kind of mock fight to determine a winner and a loser.”
“Ahhh. Then are you suggesting we compete?”
“Er… It’s more to show you something.”
“What is it?”
“I’m going to show you what you’re questioning—‘efficiency’.”
“Ah…”
Officer Jang took the opening stance of his exclusive martial art, the Yeonjong Sword Technique.
And made a hand gesture for Mumu to come forward.
“This ahjussi will only defend. If you can land even a single fingertip of your hand or foot on this ahjussi within a quarter gak, I’ll admit you’re right and give up on asking you to be my disciple. But, if you lose, how about becoming this ahjussi’s disciple?”
At these words, a look of interest appeared on Mumu’s face.
As it was, he’d recently been bored because his father hadn’t been playing with him.
But now, with such an interesting wager proposed, he couldn’t help but be interested.
“I just have to touch you once?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t that too disadvantageous for you, ahjussi?”
“Huhuhu. It’s a much more disadvantageous situation for someone who hasn’t learned martial arts to compete with a first-rate master.”
Because the result was obvious.
Without learning martial arts, one’s movements were bound to be simple.
Even if Mumu’s strength was that of a strongman, touching an opponent who was using a light body technique and defending with a sword technique was nearly impossible.
“Ahh. Then no taking it back.”
“You’re the one who must keep this pledge with ahjussi.”
“Yessir!”
“Now, come.”
Officer Jang made a hand gesture.
At that, Mumu walked toward him.
It seemed he was trying to close the distance.
‘In that case, shall I widen it a bit?’
He was about to use his footwork to increase the distance by moving back.
It was at that very moment.
-Boom!
Dirt shot up from the ground as Mumu’s body flew like an arrow right in front of him.
‘Damn it!’
Having flown in like that, Mumu thrust a fist toward him.
He hadn’t expected the distance to be closed in an instant, but Officer Jang calmly threw himself back and unfolded a flashy form with the branch.
‘Sorry, but I’m going to have to put some power into this.’
He imbued his hand with internal power.
Even though it was a branch, it would now become quite a fierce weapon.
The sword form unfurled with the branch split into several routes, simultaneously digging toward Mumu’s wrist, head, chest, and abdomen.
However,
-Snatch!
The instant the branch came down to strike his wrist, Mumu snatched it and then yanked it hard.
‘He caught it?’
It was absurd.
A guy who hadn’t even learned martial arts had distinguished between a feint and a true attack.
The surprised Officer Jang tried to endure by raising his internal power to its maximum, but,
‘W-What is this power?’
He was dragged along, helpless.
He had raised his tenth-level power, but this was a ridiculous power that ignored it.
In an instant, Officer Jang was dragged forward and Mumu’s left fist exploded on his face.
-Thwack!
“Ugh.”
With a scream, Officer Jang’s body was sent flying back, tumbling over ten steps.
After rolling for a while, Officer Jang twitched, and then his movements stopped.
“O-Officer Jang!”
The constables who had been watching with interest ran in shock toward the fallen Officer Jang.
Then, upon seeing his fainted face, they were at a loss for words.
‘What do we do?’
Officer Jang’s eyes had rolled back, he had a double nosebleed, and one of his front teeth was broken.
