White Robe.
It’s the typical garment worn by prisoners. It’s not something someone like me, who discerns guilt or innocence, should wear.
Naturally, I too am wearing a blue robe on the outside. However, for certain reasons, the undergarment is white.
“Byul Rak, why do you always insist on wearing that outfit?”
Jade Flower questioned me, puzzled.
“Does it have a special meaning to you?”
She seemed somewhat uneasy, as if waiting for someone’s approval.
“Probably the Thousand Demon… right?”
“You mean this outer robe?”
“No, I’m talking about the undergarment. That white attire. I’ve never seen you wear anything else.”
Jade Flower reached out and pinched the white undergarment hidden beneath my outer robe.
“It’s not expensive, but to me, it’s the most precious thing in the world.”
“Really? I knew you were frugal, but is there a special reason?”
“It was made for me by my daughter.”
“…”
Jade Flower’s expression darkened as she bowed her head, and I gave a bitter smile.
“Always focused on martial arts, my daughter found the time to sew this robe for me. How could it not be precious?”
“I see. Though I’ve never been a parent, I understand your feelings.”
“More so, the quality is quite remarkable. The fabric is durable, ventilated well, and keeps me neither too hot nor too cold. Perhaps my daughter has more talent for sewing than martial arts.”
“I saw her at the Seven Flowers Tournament. She’s an impressive child.”
Both Jade Flower and I thought of the same person at that moment.
Su-a Namgung of the Namgung House, known as the Thunder Flower. A rising star in the martial world, she has been cultivating martial arts since she was four years old, and is also… the daughter I have distanced myself from.
This white undergarment was given to me by Namgung So-a on the day I was expelled from the Namgung House. She had been making it for a week before that.
There was no way I could not cherish it deeply.
Recently, upon meeting my wife, I heard that Namgung So-a was suffering because of me, feeling a deep loneliness.
Once this trial is over, I plan to see Namgung So-a first. I’ll find a way to check on her, avoiding Soeun Yu.
“Still, don’t you think it’s odd that you hardly ever wash it? You seem to be wearing it every day.”
“Haha, your concern is appreciated, but unnecessary. I can live with just one set of clothes.”
“But won’t it become unhygienic? Don’t you know that the more precious an item, the more frequent its care should be? Look at this. Even from a slight distance, it smells…”
As she said that, Jade Flower moved her head closer to me, until her sharp nose nearly touched the white undergarment exposed between my outer robe.
“…There’s no smell at all?”
Jade Flower said this in a surprised tone. Exactly, I mentioned that having just one would suffice, didn’t I?
“The purpose of clothing is cleanliness. Cleanliness comes from being free of impurity. And I’ve long surpassed the state of needing to expel impurity.”
“Ah, I underestimated your martial skills too much. Still, how do you deal with the dust that comes from the outside?”
“That’s easy. Just a slight breeze will whisk it away. If you control the flow of air currents, you can naturally manage the dust as well.”
Jade Flower nodded, seemingly understanding, though a look of confusion lingered as she tilted her head.
“Ah, I see… that’s what it was…”
“Well then, let’s hear what you have to say.”
“Eh, uh? What are you talking about?”
“There must be a reason you came here, right? I can see you’ve been dancing around the topic.”
My probing words caused Jade Flower to tense, gulping anxiously. Taking a step closer, she opened her mouth cautiously.
“That… the Thousand Demon… about her…”
Of course, the reason Jade Flower had approached was concerning the Thousand Demon.
“Is it really okay for her to stick around like this? Though you say it’s safe, remember that the leader of the Blood Cult is nothing compared to the master of the Devil Sect. There will be issues just by being near her.”
“I’ve spent most of my life with just my husband, so even the Devil Sect disciples wouldn’t recognize her face. No one in the Central Plains knows who she is.”
“I see… but still, I’m worried… just now, when we exchanged moves, I realized it clearly. There’s no way I could hold against her even for a moment. If somehow the Thousand Demon were to oppose you… I have no confidence in protecting you.”
“It’s as simple as not offending her. Rejecting her will is much more dangerous, I suspect.”
“…”
Jade Flower hesitated for a moment, then seemed to make a decision and reopened her mouth.
“You’re afraid, aren’t you, Byul Rak?”
“…”
I closed my mouth this time.
Jade Flower gazed at me pitifully and continued her speech.
“How you know the Thousand Demon, someone who’s only stayed in the Central Plains, I don’t know. I’m a little curious, but if I trust you enough, I expect you’ll tell me eventually.”
“That’s not the case. When the time comes, I’ll definitely share the story about the Thousand Demon.”
“Still, what I can see now is that you avoid the Thousand Demon to your very core. Like…a child trembling at ghost stories.”
“You’ve put it gently. Just say: I’m a mouse in front of a cat.”
“…”
“Anyway.”
Drenched mouse. Such a poor look.
“The Thousand Demon seemed friendly toward you. If you had firmly told her to stay away, she would’ve left without a word.”
“She’s not someone who can be judged that easily.”
“In my opinion, that’s how it is. After threatening us with a weapon and then returning it, she doesn’t seem like someone with a narrow mind.”
The more Jade Flower articulated her points, the more layers of my outer garment felt stripped away: overcoat, undergarment, clothes beneath, skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscles, blood vessels, and organs. Layer by layer, my inner thoughts were getting peeled off.
She was approaching my true intentions. Though she doesn’t have the right.
“Why did you reluctantly allow her presence?”
“…”
I must stop this.
“When someone grinds a millstone, the millstone has no choice but to spin. When someone throws a stone, the stone has no other option but to soar.”
An unenlightened person does not have the right to approach the truth.
It’s not my choice—it’s heaven’s will. My past must remain hidden, not for me, but for her.
“The limit of what I can share is this.”
Yet, Jade Flower said,
“You compared yourself to a millstone and the Thousand Demon to a person.”
Such an inquisitive human being.
“So are you the possession of the Thousand Demon? She’s the master, you’re the servant? Is that what you’re metaphorically saying here?”
“If I remember correctly, didn’t you remind me last time that I never learned demonic skills? Even when I showed you my dantian without any defense, I told you, didn’t I?”
So you’re asking this. If I didn’t practice demonic techniques, how was I the servant of the Thousand Demon? And why am I still used as her tool?
Though the Thousand Demon has released me long ago…
The reason I can’t refuse her orders is simple. It has always been this way.
Because of her command, I returned. Because of her command, I stopped. Because of her command, I continue to live.
There’s never been any talk of a master-servant contract between her and me. Still, I remain bound, tied tightly by the leash called the Thousand Demon, allowing me to breathe just enough to survive.
Hence, I cannot refuse her half-request, half-order. That’s why my words remain unspoken.
“Am I pitiful to you?”
“…What?”
“Honestly, don’t you find it laughable too? The mighty martial arts you possess can shape the world, yet you’ve been foolish enough to be backstabbed by your younger sister, and the power you wield could easily dominate the martial world, but instead, you’re constantly cursed without achieving anything. Meanwhile, though the Thousand Demon has never wanted to be my master, I alone persist in treating her as such.”
“Rak, that’s because you’re good-hearted. The proof? I’m still here, after all. If you had killed everyone who cursed you, I wouldn’t have had the chance to realize my own mistakes.”
“Strangely enough, even though I feel uncomfortable being near the Thousand Demon, on the other hand, my heart feels calmer. Knowing that I’ve followed her commands, I naturally feel reassured. What difference does that make me from a domesticated beast?”
“…First, calm down. I know nothing of your situation, so I can’t pass judgment. Even your overly pessimistic words seem lost on me.”
If I reveal the relationship between the Thousand Demon and me, I will inevitably have to speak about my past since they are deeply intertwined.
Of course, it can’t be revealed. Not if I don’t want to create unnecessary casualties.
Perhaps when Jade Flower reaches the state of enlightenment, it might be different, but that’s a distant future we can’t look forward to yet.
Only those who’ve attained the state of enlightenment can truly understand. Ah, Hong Ryun is also in that state. If need be, it would be fine to disclose my past to her.
Still, I wouldn’t do so casually, if only to avoid unnecessary worry.
“By the way…”
She changed the subject, perhaps realizing how the conversation had grown too heavy.
“Still, I find a lot about you intriguing.”
“So, is that a problem?”
If heavy subjects make you uneasy, I should accommodate you. Lifting the gloomy expression that darkened from thoughts of the Thousand Demon, I asked with a smile. It was an effortless question.
“Actually, sometimes I feel a distance from you. But ironically, it’s because of this mysterious side of you that I find you reliable.”
“Being reliable is a nice way of saying you’re burdening me.”
“Haha, that’s your problem, isn’t it?”
She smiled back, aware of my intent. On the eve of reaching the Taewon Magistrate, it was late at night.
*
Crunch.
Under the scorching heat, a woman walked, drenched in sweat.
Despite sore feet from a long journey, she continued walking without hesitation.
Crunch.
A middle-aged man joined her on the path, his appearance somewhat disheveled.
“Hey, you’re also heading to the Magistrate, right?”
Walking beside her, the man greeted her.
“Yes.”
The woman responded with a hoarse voice.
“To Taewon?”
“Affirmative.”
“As a witness?”
“Yes.”
The brief exchange was followed by a hearty laugh from the man.
“Ho ho ho, I’m also a witness. Looks like we’re comrades in the same boat.”
Neither mentioned whose trial they were testifying for, both aware of the shame of their actions.
Instead, the man kept asking about her circumstances and chuckled loudly.
“Did you also get paid?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Only half as an advance; the rest will be paid once the job is done.”
“No, no. How much did you receive? I’m just curious if it’s the same amount you and I got.”
“…”
“Guess you can’t readily talk about money. Let me share first. I received enough to not work for three years, around three.”
The man seemed quite affable. The woman found a sense of kinship in him.
“I doubt I’ll last three years. I have two sick children, so I can barely afford their medicine. I decided to take the risk anyway.”
“I also have a disabled younger brother.”
“From the fact that you took the money… I assume you’re also a false witness like me?”
“Yes.”
“Hahaha, who would’ve thought. That Sword Sage was actually carrying around nothing but false accusations. The rumors circulating in the world must’ve been spread by the ones who paid us.”
“That must be the case.”
Crunch, crunch.
Their appearance was pitiable. Their clothes were dirty and filled with dust. From afar, they might look like vagrants.
“Whose testimony are you using? Once we get to the magistrate office, everything’s bound to come out, correct?”
“A person named Ye-rang from the Zhang family. The real owner apparently died in an accident but was registered as missing, not deceased.”
“Who told you that? The ones who paid us?”
“Yes. He was investigated before.”
“Ho ho ho, it suits me, doesn’t it? Whoever it is, they’re cunning, employing people like us nameless vagrants.”
The man walked casually with his hands raised above his head. Walking under the blistering heat was hard work, but there was no turning back for them.
They needed the money. An enormous amount that wouldn’t normally be attainable. To support their families who were unable to work.
Most of the people commissioned by Namgung Bin behind the scenes were like them—those who couldn’t betray their commissions, those who had more precious things behind them than their own lives.
Unknowingly, they trusted the money they were given and headed towards the magistrate office. They didn’t realize that at the end of their task, poison or hidden weapons might bring their tragic ends.
“Poor the Sword Sage is.”
“Hm…”
“Until now, all the charges against him were lies. And now, we’re aiding in the false accusations.”
“…”
“Ho ho ho, you’ve gone quiet now. Stung by your conscience, perhaps. Fact is, without the Sword Sage, the martial world would’ve been under the Blood Cult’s control by now, and it would’ve impacted even common folk like us.”
“I feel a deep sense of remorse towards him…”
“So yes, feel sorry. But don’t let a pinch of guilt change your mind. I’m desperate for that money. With a sick brother, you’ll understand, won’t you?”
“…”
Instead of replying, the woman nodded. Resolving the immediate difficulties faced by her family was her primary concern at the moment.
Just then, an elder monk with a wooden crutch intervened in their conversation.
“Amitabha. Your discussion seemed quite serious, and this old monk was curious enough to eavesdrop. Is it all right?”
The monk was deeply wrinkled, bent over, and exceptionally petite. If not for the robes of a monk, one might’ve mistaken him for a bald elderly man.
“Ah, venerable monk. While I do believe in Buddha usually, this is a rather important conversation. Have you overheard anything?”
“Since you started talking about guilt. Matters like that are something I could perhaps assist with, ho ho.”
“There are things even the Buddha shouldn’t know. Please understand.”
According to instructions from behind the scenes, the man refrained from divulging any secrets.
But he didn’t know—didn’t know that the monk before him already knew the secrets and those who controlled them.
“Amitabha… it seems the struggles of sentient beings remain as strenuous as always since the last time I witnessed them.”
Divine Monk.
One of the Five Greats of the Martial World is heading to the Magistrate.
