Chapter 2
Back to Square One (2)
Ga-in, the Vice Commander of the White Dragon Corps, opened her eyes.
Her head throbbed from a hangover.
How much did I drink last night?
She slowly sat up.
As the blanket slipped away, the back of the man lying beside her was revealed.
That horrifying scar.
A long sword wound stretched from his left shoulder all the way to his right waist. It was so deep and so long that it was a miracle his body had not been split in two.
Gently tracing the scar with her fingers, she said,
“Every time I see you, your rank has dropped another step.”
The man stirred awake and replied,
“If it embarrasses you, you can always throw me away.”
The man was none other than Baek Socheon.
He felt completely different from the man who had sat in the interrogation room earlier. There he had been cold and prickly; here, he seemed calm and gentle.
“If I were going to do that, I would have done it long ago.”
She smiled faintly before adding,
“To be honest, a man like you isn't easy to throw away.”
Ga-in had joined the Martial Alliance five years after Baek Socheon.
The two occasionally met to drink together and share a bed.
They were neither lovers, comrades, nor friends, yet they were more comfortable with each other than anyone else.
They faithfully observed two simple rules: never interfere in each other's private lives, and never become clingy.
“Where do you think they'll assign you?”
“No idea. Maybe they'll send me to the White Dragon Corps where you are.”
“I absolutely refuse.”
“Why?”
“Why? Do you think it'd be nice seeing you every day? I'd have to stay on my toes all the time. I'd even have to let you see me without makeup. Anyway, absolutely not.”
“So the face I saw yesterday was wearing makeup?”
“You've got some nerve saying that with a martial artist standing behind your back.”
Only then did Baek Socheon roll over to face her.
Just like the scar across his back, a massive scar stretched across his chest.
A lightning-shaped burn.
It was said that anyone struck by the Celestial Thunder Divine Sword of the Celestial Heaven Alliance Leader would be left with a scar shaped like a bolt of lightning.
She had once asked him about it.
"Surely not... right?"
"Of course not."
Why had she asked again after he denied it?
Because she had been afraid.
Everyone in the world knew that it was the Martial Alliance Leader who had fought the Celestial Heaven Alliance Leader in a life-and-death battle.
She had feared he might say,
"That was my battle."
She had been afraid of becoming someone who learned a secret she was never meant to know.
There were more scars on his shoulders and abdomen.
The purple scar on one shoulder resembled a butterfly taking flight, while the one on his stomach looked as though a beast had torn away a piece of flesh with its jaws.
Whenever she looked at Baek Socheon's body, she would compare it with her own smooth, unscarred skin and wonder if she had lived too cautiously.
Even during that brutal war, she had somehow escaped without a single injury.
“You should just quit while you're at it.”
“Maybe I should.”
She knew there was some reason Baek Socheon could never leave the Martial Alliance.
She had never asked about it and never intended to.
That belonged to the deepest part of his private life.
Still, knowing he would never leave allowed her to speak casually.
“Was there ever anything else you wanted to do besides this job?”
“I've never thought about it.”
“Think about it now.”
“Hm.”
Baek Socheon had never once imagined a life outside the Martial Alliance.
“Try something you've never done before. Open a business, maybe.”
“Would I be able to tolerate difficult customers?”
“No, I guess not. Your shop would turn into a bloodbath every day.”
Ga-in pondered for a moment before proposing another idea.
“How about traveling all over the Central Plains? Taste every regional delicacy and meet beautiful women from every province.”
“There isn't a corner of the Central Plains I haven't already visited.”
“Then become a farmer. Or a hunter. Or an herbalist. Live peacefully like an immortal sage.”
“Just thinking about it bores me.”
“What about becoming a wandering problem solver for the martial world?”
“I can't even solve my own problems.”
“Ah…”
She pretended to hold her aching head before finally making an absurd suggestion.
“Fine. Since you have nothing better to do, conquer the martial world.”
“Maybe I will.”
“Oh? That's the spirit.”
“A man should have at least one grand dream.”
“And when people ask later why you turned the martial world into a sea of blood, you're planning to say some woman named Ga-in told you to?”
“Someone always has to take responsibility.”
The two looked at one another and laughed.
It was the sort of joke only possible because Baek Socheon no longer possessed even a trace of internal energy.
“Oh no, I'm late. I should get going.”
She dressed first.
Though she was now in her thirties, she still possessed the same beautiful figure and flawless skin she had the first time they had slept together.
“One more round?”
“We already did it three times last night. Act your age.”
“Five times would still be easy.”
“You should admire yourself in the mirror before boasting.”
She leaned over and gently kissed his forehead.
“You big man-child. There's nowhere left for you to be kicked down from now. So please, don't cause any more trouble.”
“I still have to earn a living. I'll do my best.”
“I'm leaving first.”
“Take care.”
“Go meet other women too. I'll send them your way whenever you want. I think you'd be terrifying if you ever became possessive.”
Ga-in left the room.
As she walked down the corridor, she smiled bitterly to herself.
Is that really why?
Of course not.
She had said that because she feared she would become the one who grew attached to him.
It did not matter that he could no longer use internal energy.
She could protect him.
She could support him.
That was exactly why.
Even in the worst condition a martial artist could be in, he was still this captivating.
If she ever fell for a man like him, her life would be swept into a raging storm.
There was another fear as well.
Baek Socheon was still attractive now.
But what about ten years from now?
Could anyone guarantee he would not become a broken man drowning himself in alcohol while clinging to memories of past glory?
Considering how brilliant his past had been, she could not confidently say that would never happen.
And there was one final concern.
Over the past three years, she had often felt that his endless wandering was not simply because he had lost his internal energy.
Sometimes she sensed another wound—
An invisible shadow.
Whenever she noticed it, she felt an anxiety greater than all the other reasons combined.
For all those reasons, she could not picture a future with him.
Or rather...
She refused to.
I'm only capable of loving someone this much. I'm sorry, Senior.
Meanwhile, left alone in the room, Baek Socheon looked at the bronze mirror hanging on the wall.
Just as she had said, the reflection staring back at him looked utterly exhausted.
Not merely because of the three rounds the previous night.
It was the deep fatigue that had accumulated over the past three years.
***
When Baek Socheon returned to the Iron Sword Corps, Noh Woong of the Third Squad was waiting for him.
Among everyone in the squad, Noh Woong admired and respected Baek Socheon the most.
Baek Socheon might have beaten his superiors, but he had never once laid a hand on his subordinates, which was why many still remained loyal to him.
“Squad Leader!”
“I'm not a squad leader anymore.”
“Damn it! So the rumors were true! I'll gather everyone and turn the place upside down!”
“Why? So you can make things even worse and get yourselves expelled too?”
“No! There really was an ambush! You saved every one of us!”
“Enough. Stop making a scene and leave.”
“I'll go on a hunger strike!”
“You're a man who lives to eat. Since when can you go on a hunger strike?”
“That's why it'll be a struggle.”
“Get out. I'm tired.”
Noh Woong obediently turned to leave, but stopped at the door.
“There really was an ambush that day. I believe you, Squad Leader.”
“I heard you. Now go.”
After Noh Woong left, Baek Socheon heard him greeting someone outside.
A moment later, another man entered.
“You really are prickly. Everyone's only worried about you.”
The newcomer was Hwang Il-bi, the First Unit Leader of the Iron Sword Corps.
The Iron Sword Corps consisted of seven units, each divided into five squads.
Baek Socheon had commanded the Third Squad of the First Unit.
Now he had been demoted to an ordinary martial artist.
“Didn't I tell you to stop calling me Commander?”
“Fine. I guess I can call you what I really want now. Brother Baek. Happy?”
Hwang Il-bi had begun calling him Commander because he had joined the Iron Sword Corps while Baek Socheon was still its commander.
Now, ironically, Hwang Il-bi had become Baek Socheon's direct superior.
“What are you here for?”
“What? Going to throw me out too?”
Ignoring him, Hwang Il-bi sat down on the edge of the bed.
“So? What did they say? Are they letting you stay with the Iron Sword Corps?”
“Looks like they're assigning me somewhere else.”
“The Shadow Pavilion bastards really don't know the meaning of flexibility.”
“Wouldn't everyone be better off without me? Honestly, doesn't my presence make you uncomfortable?”
“What is wrong with you? Do you break out in hives whenever someone tries to be nice to you? Do kind words make your skin crawl?”
“Enough talking. Get out.”
“No.”
“Have you forgotten? The reason for my last demotion was assaulting a superior officer. You're my superior now.”
“When I first joined the Alliance, do you know how amazing our Commander—no, our Brother Baek—was?”
“Amazing, my ass.”
“You really were…”
“Cut the crap about the past.”
“Why are you swearing? You never used to.”
“Back then I didn't have to. A frightened dog barks. A weak man swears. Now get out.”
“Damn it! The way you put that actually makes too much sense. I guess I have to leave.”
Just then, another martial artist arrived with a message.
“Unit Leader, the Commander wishes to see you immediately.”
“That man only ever calls for me at times like this.”
Hwang Il-bi stood up from the bed.
“Before you leave, let's have a drink. They won't throw you a welcoming banquet wherever you're going, so let's at least have a proper farewell drink.”
“No thanks.”
At the cold reply, Hwang Il-bi left the room.
“Fine. I'll go pledge my loyalty to our real Commander.”
Left alone, Baek Socheon packed his belongings into a leather travel bag.
There wasn't much to pack.
A few sets of martial robes and a handful of miscellaneous items.
Carrying the bag over his shoulder, he crossed the training yard before stopping for a moment.
His eyes rested upon the distant Alliance Leader's Hall.
After looking at it for a long while, he resumed walking and left the Martial Alliance.
Someone watched him from afar.
It was Chung Yang, Commander of the Iron Sword Corps.
His eyes were filled with hostility.
The reason was simple.
The superior officer Baek Socheon had assaulted—the final reason for his demotion—had been none other than Chung Yang himself.
“That arrogant bastard.”
Remembering the incident still filled him with hatred.
When Baek Socheon, once his superior, had become his subordinate, Chung Yang naturally found him difficult to deal with.
Things might have been manageable if Baek Socheon had at least obeyed orders.
But obedience had never been part of his personality.
Even so, Chung Yang should simply have ignored him.
Baek Socheon was never the type to pick fights first.
But Chung Yang had found him as irritating as a thorn stuck in his throat.
Eventually, he deliberately created trouble.
He exaggerated a trivial matter and publicly berated Baek Socheon.
I'll make sure you remember exactly who your superior is.
That had been his intention.
What he had not known...
...was that Baek Socheon had already become a man so broken that he would beat even his own superior.
In front of all his subordinates, Chung Yang had been thoroughly beaten.
A man without internal energy had somehow been unbelievably fast and astonishingly strong.
In the heat of the moment, Chung Yang had almost retaliated with his own internal energy.
His subordinates desperately stopped him.
Looking back, that had been the right decision.
If he had seriously injured Baek Socheon, who could no longer use martial arts, it would have stained his own reputation forever.
“What is that leech still hanging around for? What's left here for him to suck dry?”
Still grumbling, Chung Yang glanced over his shoulder.
“You don't actually think I knowingly sent the Third Squad into an ambush, do you?”
“Of course not.”
The man behind him was Hwang Il-bi, who had just left Baek Socheon's room.
“You like that bastard, don't you? You'll believe anything he says.”
“You misunderstand.”
“Don't I?”
“I just humored him. You know how unbelievably prickly he is.”
“That's true. That bastard has the worst temper in the entire Alliance.”
A triumphant smile spread across Chung Yang's face.
“At least I won't have to look at that annoying face anymore.”
“What?”
“His new assignment has already been decided. The Wencheng Branch in Zhejiang Province.”
The Wencheng Branch lay far from the headquarters—one of the most remote corners of the Central Plains.
It wasn't even a regional headquarters.
Just a branch office.
This was not a transfer.
It was exile.
“They're sending him pretty far away.”
“I pulled a few strings personally. He'll spend the rest of his life rotting there before dying as some forgotten country ghost.”
Chung Yang was both ambitious and politically savvy.
Using his extensive network, he had ensured Baek Socheon would be sent as far away as possible.
He had decided to stop worrying about the Alliance Leader's opinion.
If things had reached this point, surely even the Alliance Leader had abandoned Baek Socheon.
Hwang Il-bi looked at Baek Socheon's receding figure in the distance.
...Commander.
Part of him wanted to follow Baek Socheon to Wencheng.
At headquarters, people still held back out of respect for the Alliance Leader.
But in some remote backwater, what might happen to a man without even a shred of internal energy?
The thought worried him.
And would Baek Socheon simply endure mistreatment?
With that abrasive personality, if he caught the attention of the wrong people, they would surely try to eliminate him somehow.
Yet Hwang Il-bi could not follow him.
Just as Baek Socheon had his own life, Hwang Il-bi had his as well.
I'm sorry. I don't care enough to throw away everything and follow you.
If he had no family, he probably would have.
But he had a beloved wife and children.
Even so, he had seriously considered following him, simply because he admired Baek Socheon that much.
Baek Socheon had never once spoken a kind word to him.
Yet for some reason, Hwang Il-bi had liked him from the very beginning.
There was something deeply human about him that could not be explained with words.
That was why Hwang Il-bi had suffered more than anyone watching Baek Socheon slowly fall apart.
You're not the kind of man destined to become a forgotten ghost in some countryside village. We'll meet again soon. Go somewhere with beautiful scenery and get some proper rest.
As for the farewell drink... since you won't join us anyway, this fool and I will drink it on our own.
Smiling brightly, Hwang Il-bi turned to Chung Yang.
“On such a wonderful day, shouldn't we celebrate with a drink?”