“Hey, let’s start with cultivating martial arts!”
The next day, Ha-yeon spoke to me and Miss Zhuge after meeting with the Tumul group.
“Suddenly?”
“They said someone would come for fact-checking from Tumul. We shouldn’t be suspicious of that guy’s agenda.”
“I just reached level 2 of Shadowless Body Technique recently, and could it deepen my mastery in just ten days?”
I wasn’t just slacking off since the day I was chased by the Doman.
To survive in the challenging Martial Arts World, whether with a sword spewing fire or the ability to copy martial arts, I should at least be good at running away, even if I couldn’t use the Walking in the Air Technique.
With a heart full of determination and one-on-one guidance from Ha-yeon, I unexpectedly managed to awaken the Shadowless Body Technique to level 2.
“I’m worried about that too. It would be great if there was a solid way to prove it using the Shadowless Body Technique…”
Seems like Ha-yeon is stumped too.
“Tumul, you want me to walk on water to believe me? How about using Floating on Water Technique?”
Who knows? They might believe me in another way.
“I’m serious.”
I’m serious too. I want the readers of Chronicles of the Wind and Cloud Heroes to believe that the Shadowless Thief can walk on water.
“How about teaching me acrobatics or something to pretend to be a master, even if I’m not?”
You know, like showing off that I can catch blades with the Jade Face Protective Technique.
Ha-yeon seemed to ponder my words for a while, but nothing substantial came to her mind.
“Ah, well, uh…”
As we both fell silent, Miss Zhuge, who was watching from the side, cautiously spoke up.
“Miss Zhuge, do you have a good idea?”
“Uhm, how about using Master Kang’s eyes?”
“Eyes? Ah! Wait a moment. If I really have level 2 of Shadowless Body Technique, could it lead to a state of no steps?”
At Miss Zhuge’s words, Ha-yeon looked around, as if an idea had struck her.
“No steps?”
What’s that mean?
Before I could even ask, Ha-yeon appeared in front of me, holding a staff.
“Avoid my staff. Just don’t move your legs.”
So sudden! You need to ask for my consent first before moving. Without giving me a chance to speak, Ha-yeon’s arm moved.
Fast. She quickly concentrated her inner strength. The motion was a thrust aimed right for my nose!
Ha-yeon’s legs didn’t budge. She was still four steps away. She’d reach me before she could even move.
Pull the chin back. Arch the chest to create space for where my head originally was.
Fortunately, the staff stopped right where my nose used to be.
“What the?!”
“Let’s do it again.”
This time, Ha-yeon moved one foot. If she did it the same way, I’d end up with a concussion. I bent my knees and twisted my shoulders, narrowly avoiding the staff.
“That’s dangerous!”
“You didn’t need to bend your knees. Just changing the angle of your knees would have sufficed to avoid it. Miss Zhuge certainly has sharp eyes.”
Ha-yeon nodded at Miss Zhuge as if in admiration.
“Huh. It’s nothing special.”
Excuse me, shouldn’t I be the one to get praised here?
“Is this the no-steps technique you’re talking about?”
“Parts of it, yes. You have to avoid with minimal movement while not moving your feet in narrow spaces and have to move along with the flow. After mastering it, some from Tumul might notice it as the Shadowless Body Technique.”
“If inner strength and judgement are important, it doesn’t seem impossible.”
Since wandering the Central Plains, I’ve fought using my inner strength every time someone provocatively approached. It sounds like something I can manage.
“That’s quite amazing.”
Ha-yeon slowly looked me up and down.
“What? Why?”
“The dynamic vision you have doesn’t seem like something one would expect from someone at the beginner level.”
“Not a big deal. You could do it too, Ha-yeon.”
“For me, it’s because my skill level is higher, so I can pull it off.”
“I think you’re the impressive one.”
Miss Zhuge seemed to chime in with a nod towards me.
“Is it some kind of family vision?”
“Well… something like that.”
The original text of the Small Wheel Mental Image Technique comes from the Murong Family’s head’s vision technique.
Thanks to the body enhancement effect from the abilities, even back when I had no inner strength, taking down most young hoodlums or low-tier martial artists was easy.
Even after it changed to the Small Wheel Mental Image Technique under the guidance of both women, it has been the foundation of my martial arts, saving my life repeatedly.
Thinking about how difficult it is for a martial artist wandering the martial arts world to obtain martial arts of a level above this, it feels far too excessive.
I wonder if both are doing well.
“Are they women?”
As the faces of the two women floated in my mind, a cold voice brushed my ear, freezing me momentarily.
“Hmm?”
Looking up, I saw Ha-yeon and Miss Zhuge with somewhat sour expressions.
“That woman taught you, didn’t she?”
“Ah… well, haha.”
It wasn’t that Hwa-rin taught me. It was the other two women who did, but even I can’t be dumb enough to say that out loud. I forced a shy laugh.
“Master Kang!”
Miss Zhuge pouted a bit, looking at me with mixed emotions.
“Miss Zhuge.”
“Yes, Ha-yeon.”
Ha-yeon called Miss Zhuge with a fiery gaze.
The atmosphere turned peculiar. The two seemed to exchange opinions through a glance.
“Let’s work hard to train together.”
“Y-you won’t let me think about anything else?”
“That’s exactly it.”
Ha-yeon and Miss Zhuge nodded, grabbing their staffs.
—
“Isn’t this a bit much?”
While leaving the inn, having been promised help from Si-mun Hyang-joo and Ma Mun Hyang-joo, I muttered, rubbing my aching shoulders.
I wanted to shout that mixing emotions into training was against my principles, but results were results, so I couldn’t say much.
“How much for the fruit… huh?”
As I was about to buy some fruit at a stall, a child bumped into me.
“I’m sorry!”
What the heck?
“Sorry? Kid, you need to watch where you’re going.”
In the hand of the child I caught was my wallet that had been right in my possession a moment ago.
“How… let go of this!”
The pickpocket struggled, but there was no way he could escape.
What should I do? Hand him over to the government office?
“Go on.”
After a moment’s hesitation, I reclaimed my wallet and let him go.
“What?”
The pickpocket, rubbing his released wrist, looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
“Go.”
I don’t have time to mess with a pickpocket. I need to prepare for the Hyang-joo meeting and get Ha-yeon promoted to Tumul’s Hyang-joo quickly, so I’m letting him off.
But the kid showed no sign of moving.
Why not go?
“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. I… well…”
The kid looked between me and the alley, fidgeting nervously.
Wait a minute. You weren’t aiming to steal after all?
“Guide me.”
—
“I brought you! Huh?”
As I entered the alley, an object hurtled above the child’s head.
“Tch!”
I already anticipated that.
Without moving my feet, I dodged the incoming object with only my body’s movement. I couldn’t stop now.
If I pause my thoughts for even a moment, the route closes. Moving my legs as Ha-yeon instructed, I gave it my all.
The fastest movement without any preparation gesture for Light Body Movement.
As I moved my inner strength according to the methods of the Shadowless Body Technique, it neither shot upward nor propelled back. Like gliding on ice, I headed forward.
If my mastery of the Shadowless Body Technique was just a tad deeper, it might have looked like teleportation, but this moment wasn’t much to avoid the incoming objects and advance towards them.
“Shadowless Body Technique?”
“I guessed right?”
“I still don’t know. Everyone remain quiet.”
When I reached the end of the alley, there were people sitting in a sunless open space.
“Those who recklessly enter other people’s homes don’t know how to be invited properly. What kind of welcome is this?”
No need to ask who the people in front of me were.
Hao Wun, Tumun.
Thieves, thieves, and robbers—everyone belonged to Hao Wun and Tumun.
“I don’t plan to talk with Ho Pil for long.”
In the middle of the alley’s public area, a middle-aged man stood up, dusting off his backside.
“That’s disappointing. I personally want to get to know you better. Let’s talk business, and later, I’ll provide you with meals in prison if you cover my achievements.”
You were the one who shot the stuff? You’re arrested for obstructing official duties.
“If you’re not willing to listen, then leave.”
“It seems others don’t share that sentiment.”
“….”
It looks like there are plenty of others who want to speak. Where’s the bravado coming from?
“You came to talk to me, didn’t you?”
The man looked at me with an expression that was barely believable and, with reluctance, asked,
“….Are you truly the agenda of the Tumun Hyang-joo?”
“Did you not know everything already? If you’re so curious, ask Uncle Kwak.”
“Are you talking about Kwak from Yichang?”
“Who else has the surname Kwak that’s a friend of my older brother?”
The man’s brows furrowed slightly. What? Is it surprising that I know Uncle Wang’s friend too?
“We had no idea Hyang-joo had an agenda. Much less a kid who just crossed the age threshold.”
“Belief is something between kindred spirits. Who grants permission for that?”
Even Guan Yu called the younger Liu Bei “brother.” Age gap doesn’t matter.
Trust me already! I didn’t lie even once! Anyway, I’m the agenda of the Wang family living in Chilgok County.
The man stared at me for a long moment, and unable to find any lies in my words, he sighed softly and opened his mouth again.
“I’ve verified the Shadowless Body Technique, but that doesn’t necessarily prove you learned it from Tumun Hyang-joo.”
Is he trying to assert he learned it from Ha-yeon?
“Continuing to deny it won’t resolve anything.”
It’s troublesome to try and prove whether it’s true or not. It’s better to make them feel skeptical rather than try to argue against their claim.
Since my words left him with no retort, I changed the subject.
“I was told you have other evidence as well.”
“Is this what you’re referring to?”
I produced a black coin from my bosom and flicked it towards the man.
As soon as I presented the black token, others observing the situation swarmed toward the man.
“This is truly the black token of the missing Tumun Hyang-joo!”
“No way. Is it real?”
“I saw it just once fifteen years ago. It’s surely genuine!”
“Where did you get this?”
Though I could argue that I learned the Shadowless Body Technique from Ha-yeon, the black token was a different story. As the crowd quieted and returned to their spots, the man questioned me, bewildered.
“A friend gave it to me. Who else would?”
First time seeing a black token?
“The black token of Tumun Hyang-joo has appeared in the world only three times.”
“Three times?”
“Once for the previous Tumun Hyang-joo, once for a person wearing a life-saving grace, and now, today.”
One That’s valuable, so don’t use it for anything too cheap; make sure it serves a significant purpose.
Uncle Wang, I can’t shake the feeling that you gave me something far too precious.
“Even with such a precious black token in hand, you doubt it? Why even come here to talk if you won’t believe me after this?”
No need to show my internal thoughts unnecessarily.
Even after presenting this much, will you still doubt me? I shrugged with a faint smile.
The Shadowless Body Technique, the black token, the testimonies of the Hyang-joo, and the reaffirmation of a prospective Shadowless Thief. If you’re here to believe, then just believe!
“…We don’t want a conflict with Doman.”
“Isn’t that what the black token is for, to avoid unwanted conflicts?”
“Do you know the code of the black token?”
The code? Sure, I know. Should I just tell what Ha-yeon told me: the question and answer?
“On a night with no shadow of the moon.”
“Huh?!”
At my answer, the man’s eyes widened in shock.
“I’ll send a guest for a single flower.”
Did you think I wouldn’t know the code? I boldly said the answer, but the responses around me differed from what I anticipated.
“Wow.”
“Surely, is that so?”
Why does everyone seem so shaken? The surroundings rustled.
“Really… Did you really tell me that?”
The man asked me as if he couldn’t believe it.
“The current Shadowless Thief confirmed it is indeed Tumun Hyang-joo’s code.”
Seeing the reactions, it didn’t seem like I answered incorrectly. Why the stir?
“So that’s how things went. You certainly have the makings of an agenda.”
The man slowly approached me, placing the black token in my palm as if to say to cherish it.
“What?”
“I will recognize you as a deputy of the Hyang-joo meeting. From now on, take good care of the prospective Hyang-joo.”
The man’s smirk, as he nodded, was definitely a grin.
—
“You say you came with Tumul’s consent? That easily?”
Returning with a perplexed expression, Ha-yeon questioned me as if she didn’t understand.
“Ha-yeon, about the black token’s code.”
“Code?”
“On a night with no shadow of the moon, I’ll send a guest for a single flower. Is there a special meaning?”
“Meaning?”
“When mentioning the code, everyone readily accepted it.”
Ha-yeon seemed to ponder my words for a moment before replying.
“I only knew one code.”
“One?”
“The last person I met said, if anyone bearing a black token should respond to that code, they are someone to be trusted.”
“So everyone in Tumul knew it the same way.”
Was there separate significance to that code?
For instance, does saying one code mean I should take the person who saved my life? Saying another code means I should just help with convenience?
Does that mean the code I spoke implies I’m someone trustworthy, and that if so, it makes sense everyone would stop doubting?
“Seems that person is helpful sometimes. We’ve settled a problem. Let’s hurry out.”
Ha-yeon said, picking up her staff.
“Are we doing it again today?”
If the goal was achieved, can’t it be called off now?
“Doman might also harbor doubts. We’ll keep at it till the day before the meeting.”
Well, I guess it can’t be helped. Rubbing my bruised shoulders, I followed Ha-yeon.
—
The ten days for Ha-yeon to become the Tumun Hyang-joo.
Ten days is a long wait for something but too short to prepare for anything.
“This escape route seems the best.”
“You can move differently according to the situation.”
Plans ahead, martial arts training, squeezing in work where possible.
Time swept by quickly.
“I’m off.”
The day of the Hyang-joo meeting had arrived.
