Book 1 Chapter 6

I know what my master did in past years.

My master is a notorious villain. He was a person who would have nothing to say even if he were accused of violating labor laws and child abuse.

I am aware of what my master has done over the years. And I can also tell what kind of things my master will do in the future.

Why did I become a disciple of such a person? I regret it now.

Bi Ryu-yeon (飛流沇), 12 years old, one day…

It has been about 6 months since I started living with my master. For those 6 months, I had to chop firewood and do laundry every day. During that time, I was trapped in a prison called 'Hellish Muscle Pain' and suffered immense torture, but as a result of consistently practicing and performing the two secret techniques, the 'Neulyeong Simbeop' (뇌령심법) and 'Yeongsa Simgyeol' (靈絲心訣), I was barely able to escape from the prison called 'Hellish Muscle Pain'. This was 6 months after practicing the secret techniques.

One day, barely freed from the pain of 'Hellish Muscle Pain', my master said to me,

"Now you can finally learn the basics."

He threw these simple yet incredibly cruel words at me. Naturally, I should have asked, "Then what have I been doing until now?", but I suppressed my anger and asked a polite and respectful question.

"Master, what have I been doing until now!"

Then my master said,

"Huh? Of course, it was just simple housework. Why are you asking such an obvious question? You're a funny one."

My master's face showed an expression as if I were asking about something completely irrelevant. The miserable feeling at that moment… was so hollow that it was beyond words. As I stood there blankly, my master told me to learn the most basic of the basics of the Bi-ryeon sect: throwing the 'Bi-do' (비도, flying knife). What power could a pitiful and weak young boy, the protagonist of tragedy, possess? There was no choice but to learn if the wicked master told me to.

The first stage of throwing the 'Bi-do' was, of course, hitting stationary objects. At this point, the 'Yeongsa Simgyeol' demonstrated its infinite efficacy, as its ability to channel all one's spirit into the 'Bi-do' resulted in perfect accuracy.

It took about 3 months and 10 days to hit pinecones hanging on a pine tree 5 jang (15m) away with perfect accuracy. However, having perfect accuracy didn't mean I had learned everything. Even with perfect accuracy, most skilled practitioners could easily dodge or deflect incoming 'Bi-dos' or hidden weapons. An exceptional master could even catch them with their bare hands or block them with their protective energy. Therefore, accuracy alone was not enough.

The truly important thing was a speed so fast it was almost invisible, like light. Although my hands had gained considerable strength through 9 months of chopping firewood and laundry (6 months of housework + 3 months of training), it was still insufficient. As I was only 10 years old, there was a limit to my strength. Moreover, if the distance exceeded 5 jang, the accuracy significantly dropped. At about 10 jang (30m), my accuracy was less than 30%. This meant that out of 10 throws, not even 3 would hit properly.

When my accuracy at 10 jang surpassed 50%, my training moved to the next stage. The second stage of throwing the 'Bi-do' was hitting moving objects. This involved tying pinecones to pine branches 5 jang away with string, shaking them, and then hitting the swaying pinecones. Honestly, I struggled a lot to hit these.

"Sway, sway… Spin, spin."

If I threw, it missed. If I threw again, it missed again. Damn it, damn it, curses kept spilling from my pure lips. It took 4 months to hit these swaying pinecones with perfect accuracy. However, hitting moving pinecones at a distance of 5 jang did not mean it was over. The target distance kept increasing, and the size of the moving object decreased. It was maddening.

The objects thrown also changed. I didn't always throw 'Bi-dos'. I also trained to hit targets by throwing bird feathers. Training with bird feathers was to learn how to properly channel energy into the throw and to read the flow of air. Bird feathers are very light, so they are greatly affected by air resistance and do not fly at high speeds. Naturally, their power was also disappointingly insufficient.

The key technique was to infuse the feathers with 'Jin-gi' (진기, true energy), which was not as easy as it sounds. Of course, one had to be able to read the airflow well. Therefore, without sufficient cultivated internal energy or the ability to properly control it, one could not properly complete feather throwing. Only when one could hit the target by throwing feathers even in strong winds could this basic training be considered complete.

Along with throwing the 'Bi-do', I also learned 'Bonghwangmu' (봉황무, Phoenix Dance), a movement technique called 'Unsinbeop' (운신법). 'Unsinbeop' literally means a way to move the body, and it includes both 'Gyeongsinbeop' (경신법, light body technique) and 'Bobeop' (보법, footwork). Some people confuse or mistake 'Sinbeop' and 'Bobeop' as being the same, but that is completely wrong.

'Sinbeop', or 'Gyeongsinbeop', is, in a word, a method for running long distances at high speed without rest. However, 'Bobeop', unlike 'Sinbeop', is used when confronting an enemy or using martial arts. It refers to the body movements and footwork used to quickly and swiftly approach the enemy's blind spot or evade their attacks. Many people mistakenly think that 'Bobeop' is simply the movement of the feet, but when the feet move, the body naturally follows, so it actually refers to the movement of the entire body.

My master said that I had to practice hard because it was essential for the next stage of training when he taught me 'Bonghwangmu'. However, whenever my master taught me something, rather than feeling grateful, I somehow worried about my future. What else was he going to make me do… It felt like the wicked master was slowly molding me into a human form that was good for being bossed around. And unfortunately, my premonition proved to be accurate.

My anxiety slowly began to take shape and transformed into a ferocious beast with front and hind legs and sharp fangs, pouncing on me. My anxiety had become reality.

When 'Bonghwangmu' and 'Bi-do' throwing reached a certain level, my master suggested we go for an 'outdoor lesson' (야외 수업). An outdoor lesson? I couldn't help but feel anxious. My always excellent master had never done anything that benefited me.

The location for the outdoor lesson was the mountain directly behind the hut where my master and I lived. The hut was located in a very high and deep mountain, but the mountain behind it was even higher and more treacherous. My master took me there. And the outdoor lesson began. But how deceitful it was, the so-called outdoor lesson was actually foraging for vegetables and hunting.

What was the most important purpose of this sudden outdoor lesson? It was to save on food expenses, that is, meal costs. If the true and sole purpose of this outdoor lesson was to reduce the cost of side dishes among meal costs, then that would be the correct answer. Since we couldn't grow rice, we couldn't reduce the cost of staple food, so setting the goal of saving on side dish costs was natural. The claim that it would increase lightness skill and improve 'Bi-do' throwing ability was just a thinly veiled excuse.

Meat is expensive, but I want to eat it, so he made me hunt under the guise of training. "Meat is the best for an alcoholic snack!" I knew my master's scheme as he licked his lips. Furthermore, his words that gathering vegetables for side dishes and running around the entire mountain searching for medicinal herbs would improve my lightness skill and help my training were, in a word, like a dog pissing and then getting struck by a water splash and barking.

My master explained to me the types of edible vegetables and expensive medicinal herbs. He showed me each one in person… And as a bonus, he taught me how to season vegetables with salt.

Hunting was a bloody effort to obtain meat. When first hunting, he said to hunt small animals. He said that attempting to hunt large prey like wild boars from the start would likely result in being trampled to death. So, as a beginner, I was trained to aim for small prey like mountain rabbits or birds. As my skills gradually improved, he taught me to hunt increasingly larger and fiercer animals.

He also warned me to use only 'Bi-do' for hunting. He explicitly forbade the use of traps, snares, or bows. He said they would not help my training. I found it ridiculous… Furthermore, he said that hunting and gathering vegetables should only be done in the morning, after waking up at dawn. For some reason…

I had questions, and those questions were answered before long. And it was in the worst possible way.