< Witch 1 >
After two days of boating on the Junggang River that flows next to Sacheon Seongdo, the river suddenly widened and a huge river appeared.
And as the boat entered the wide river, it began to rock from side to side.
-Whoaaah!
Cold water splashing on the stomach.
“The water is strong, so everyone, be careful!”
“Oh my! Little Dragon, be careful.”
“Yes. Lord Gupae.”
At the captain’s words, everyone held onto the creaking bow of the ship and supported their bodies with tense expressions.
My sister, standing next to me, pointing to the wide waterway with a relaxed expression on her face.
As the boat completely rose above the huge, curving waves and stopped rocking, a bright older sister’s voice was heard.
“Little Dragon, this is the Yangtze River. It is the longest river in the Central Plains.”
‘Is this the Yangtze River, the lifeline of the Central Plains and one of the longest rivers in the world?’
I was deeply moved by the fact that the river I was sailing across was the Yangtze River.
Because it was a place I wanted to visit at least once in my past life.
The reason was none other than that the Yangtze River was home to the Yangtze River freshwater dolphin, which was said to be extinct in its previous life.
There is also a cute dolphin named Gangdon (江豚).
Even though I like insects and reptiles a lot, aren’t dolphins an animal that everyone loves?
So I wanted to come here once, and it was a new experience to be on a boat there.
“Wow, the river is really wide.”
“Now, just follow this river to Wuhan. Little Dragon.”
Our destination is Anhui, where the Namgung family is located.
But before going to Anhui, I had to stop by the Infinite Martial Arts Alliance.
This was because the craftsman’s errand was to reach the Murim Alliance and deliver an additional amount of Yuhyeolmokyi’s poison.
“You said we should stop by Muhan for a bit and then get off the ship at Ankyung?”
“That’s right. Little Dragon.”
We thought we would have to take a carriage or use a light aircraft to get to Anhui, but our trip was by boat.
I thought it would be faster than walking or riding a horse, but once we entered the main stream of the Yangtze River, the boat was moving at a completely different speed than before.
The boat was moving forward really quickly, carried by the leisurely flowing river outside the bow.
“If it goes this fast, we’ll arrive very early.”
My older sister smiled when I asked her with an expression of admiration at the boat’s speed that had suddenly increased.
“But I still have to go for two weeks.”
“okay.”
As expected, I thought that the landmass was a large central plain, and decided to ask my older sister, who was looking across the boat with me, what I had in mind.
‘You’re worried, aren’t you?’
I was in a hurry, so I asked my father-in-law for permission and left right away, but as I was coming back on the boat, I thought about it carefully and wondered if Namgung Se-ga would really give up Bing-ok so readily.
If it’s that precious, I don’t think I can easily hand it over.
“But, young lady, as I was thinking about it on the boat ride, if the ice jade is that precious, do you think the Namgung family will give it to you so easily like you said? I keep worrying…”
“I told you to trust me. Do you not trust me?”
“Sir, no way.”
Although I said I believed what my sister asked, to be honest, I still had my doubts.
My sister said that everything would work out fine, but there’s a reason why I can’t trust her words.
It was because my older sister said that she would trade for Bingok, who was my friend, but after boarding the ship, she said something that was hard to believe.
And as expected, in response to my question, my sister pointed to my chest and said nonchalantly.
“We have ‘that’, so she’ll definitely give it to us. I once heard that Bing-ok doesn’t do much for her. That would definitely be better for her. She’s supposed to be able to eat it, but Bing-ok can’t. But she can eat it, right?”
“That’s true, but is that okay?”
My older sister smiles as I touch the thing she has placed on her chest.
My sister nodded.
“Of course. Don’t worry too much, Little Dragon. What may seem trivial to one person may be very important to another. And it doesn’t seem so trivial.”
“Is this what you mean?”
“yes.”
‘I hope I won’t get into trouble?’
He fiddled with the thing he had put in his chest and asked his older sister again.
Well, that’s that, and another question came to mind.
“But Miss Hwa-eun, you said that what we need is a cold energy, but what exactly is it? It feels like a cold energy or something.
“I heard about yang and yin energy from my grandfather, but it was a bit difficult to explain···.”
I was curious as to what exactly it was that lizards were said to have a cold yin energy.
Because information about feeding is essential for breeders.
‘You can’t feed kids something you don’t even know what it is, right?’
If a breeder doesn’t know the details about food, then he is disqualified as a breeder.
I also heard a general explanation of what yang and yin energy were from Grandfather Mandokshin, but the explanation was too difficult, and lizards are originally cold-blooded animals, so they usually dislike the cold.
Seol-i and Bing-i seem to be different in some way.
“Then, I will explain it to you, as it will help you learn martial arts. Listen carefully and remember it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Usually, yin energy refers to the energy that causes yin transformation and is the opposite of yang energy. It refers to the energy of the natural world that settles and gathers.
It is usually an energy that suppresses the activities of living things. So, damp and fearful minds, darkness, and coldness that suppress the activities of living things are all types of yin energy. I said that it is yin energy that contains cold energy, but in the end, it is just a type of yin energy.”
“Oh, so, is yin a bad thing?”
I think I know what you mean, but when I asked if it wasn’t a bad thing to suppress people’s activities, my older sister shook her head.
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“No. The opposite of yin energy is yang energy, which has a yang-forming effect. It rises and radiates and leads the universe and nature, but if there is too much of it, it can be harmful to the activities of living beings. It can cause rapid aging and rapid loss of energy.
The reason Seol-i and Bing-i need cold air is because their bodies are cold air itself, which is good at drawing in cold air. That’s why they draw in cold air and grow.”
‘Is it like a charging concept?’
My older sister’s words were difficult, but it was still an easier explanation than Grandfather Mandokshingun.
My older sister asked with a big smile.
“Does that clear up some of your doubts?”
Certainly, my doubts have been resolved, but based on my shallow knowledge from my past life, I know that yin and yang must be in harmony.
I asked about it.
“Yes, oh, but there’s one more thing I’m curious about. I know that yin and yang should be in harmony, like men and women, but if Bing and Seol are made up of only yin, how can yin and yang be in harmony?”
It was a question of whether things that are opposites like men and women should not form a pair, and my older sister suddenly blushed and stuttered.
“Uh… That… Well, I don’t know. I guess I can check later to see if the two of you achieve yin and yang harmony.”
“yes?”
My older sister suddenly told me to check on them both later.
At first I wondered what he meant.
‘Wait a minute, the harmony of yin and yang? Sister, really?’
But after thinking about it carefully, I have a feeling that my sister is definitely possessed by a perverted demon.
It was a time when I wondered what to do about this awkward situation.
“So, So-ryong, you ask such embarrassing questions without hesitation.”
“yes?”
My older sister is the one who is possessed by a pervert, but she suddenly starts accusing me of being possessed by a pervert like some heretic.
When I made a bewildered expression at my older sister’s words, my older sister looked up at the river and shouted as if trying to avoid the crisis.
“Let’s all talk about something else. Ah! Xiaolong, look, look over there. It’s a white pig!”
“Baekgi-don?”
As I looked where my older sister was pointing, I saw something jumping out of the river.
Upon closer inspection, I found out that it was a dolphin.
“Huh? That’s it!”
The Yangtze River dolphins that I had always wanted to see were jumping out of the water.
Yeah, come to think of it, the Yangtze River dolphin was extinct in its previous life, but not here.
The dolphins came and started swimming around the boat, then soon jumped on my sister and me and started spraying us with water.
***
A hill in the early evening of Mt. Hwangsan.
In the blowing wind, the blooming and falling flower petals fluttered.
-Whew.
The wind that wraps around the hill and then rises into the sky carrying flower petals.
It was when the petals that had risen like that were carried by the wind and were about to rise high into the sky.
-Seeing!
A sword strike that leaves a long trail under the moonlight.
The short journey of the flower petals that was about to begin riding the wind ended just like that.
With one blow of the sword, the wind scattered and all the petals fell back to the ground.
The woman sighed as she looked at the petals that had fallen to the floor with one strike of the sword.
“Haa···. Is it still not enough···.”
The one being swung now is the Emperor’s Sword Shape, the third style of Emperor’s Pressure Strike.
The essence of the Emperor’s Sword style, which builds up internal energy in the sword by performing the first and second styles, adding weight, which is the secret of the middle sword, and then exploding the accumulated energy in the third style to crush the opponent.
But the reason the woman who wielded the sword sighed was because the three-step method was not yet perfect.
If it had been properly spread out, the petals should have been turned to dust under the pressure, but the petals were still holding their shape, shedding flower water.
He has mastered Namgungga’s Changgungmuae Sword Technique at a young age, has been initiated into the Emperor Sword Style, and can wield its essence, the Samchosik, but he still shows an expression of dissatisfaction.
To some, this might seem like excessive greed, but there was a good reason why the woman would secretly hone her sword at the foot of Mt. Hwangsan, far from her family home, in the early hours of the night.
“Sister, please go back. If you’re late, you’ll definitely get caught. If I get caught by Father again this time, I’ll get in trouble too. The sword is good, but Sister, you’re the eldest daughter of the Namgung family, so you should take better care of yourself.”
As her younger brother said, she is the eldest daughter of the Namgung family, Namgung Seol. That is her name, and Hwawang Moran, one of the three flowers of the martial arts world, is her nickname.
Seol nodded at her younger brother’s loud voice as he squatted on a rock, holding a lantern in one hand.
He said it with an apologetic expression.
“Okay, I understand, Eun-ah.”
The reason why Namgung Seol and his younger brother came out to the foot of Hwangsan Mountain so early in the night to practice swordsmanship.
This was because Namgung Seol’s training was banned within the family.
No, to be exact, it wasn’t within the family that the practice itself was forbidden, so he and his younger brother secretly left the family and practiced here, holding his younger brother’s sword.
“Sister, I’m so nervous I could die. Can’t you just stop until your uncle brings me the elixir? If you collapse again, I’ll be the only one who gets in trouble for not being able to stop you.”
Namgung Seol smiled bitterly with an apologetic expression at his younger brother’s complaint.
The reason Seol came out to practice martial arts, which was forbidden, and the reason her younger brother looked at her with a worried expression were all because of her illness.
Chronic venous thrombosis.
It was the name of the illness she was suffering from.
At first, everyone in the family thought this was a blessing, not an illness.
This was because the veins of the entire body were wide open, so it was quick to build up internal energy, and there were no blockages in the circulation of true energy or in the supply and demand of energy.
It’s as if I’ve been completely transformed.
A constitution born for martial arts, a heavenly martial arts body.
At first, everyone believed that this was a type of celestial body.
It was no different for Namgung Seol.
But when Namgung Seol was about fifteen years old, he learned that this vein disease was not a blessing.
Yi-seon felt strange because his body was developing too quickly and invited him.
This was because Yi-seon, who had visited the family, took Namgung Seol’s pulse and spoke with a serious expression.
“The blood vessels in my body are too open. This is the opposite of the severing veins, so should I call it the severing veins? How is the innate energy that should not be used being used in my body…
“The beauty of a child is due to the innate ability to make the body perfect. If this continues, it will die young.”
The innate energy that a person possesses when they are born.
The story was that the thing that gradually decreases with age and causes death to people was being used more than others to keep Namgung Seol’s body in perfect condition.
Skin as white as jade, thick eyebrows that look like they were drawn with ink, and slightly bloodless peach-colored lips.
Her beauty, called the Flower King Peony, was all due to the influence of her innate talents.
If venous insufficiency is a problem due to blood vessels being cut off or blocked, then venous insufficiency is the opposite, as too many blood vessels are open and the body’s innate energy, which must be kept in check, is being used to maintain a perfect body.
My father asked in a pitiful voice.
“Isn’t there a way? A line?”
“The original thing that maintains a woman’s beauty is yin energy. So yin energy is necessary. If you fill your body with pure yin energy, you will use it before the innate energy. Even if you learn the Heavenly Thunder Emperor’s Divine Art (天雷帝王神功) that contains the energy of the two rivers and take elixirs, it will hardly help your internal energy, but that is the only way.”
He snapped out of his thoughts about his illness and answered his brother’s question.
“Okay, I’ll do as you say, so forgive me.”
“Really, Sister?”
“okay.”
Happy little brother.
But the answer was a lie.
Namgung Seol thought as he followed his younger brother carrying the lantern.
He said that he was like the oil fire burning inside that lantern.
It is said that when all the oil burns out, it will disappear.
So, before the oil runs out and I disappear, I definitely want to complete the Emperor’s Sword.
