My eyes met Gwiyeong Sin-tu's, who was waiting for us in the corridor a short distance away.
The old man, who had been leaning his back against the wall at an angle, curled the corners of his mouth into a sly grin.
"You heartless brat. You should have at least shown your face before leaving."
"That was my intention. It's just that you, Elder, were faster than me."
"Well, you certainly know how to talk."
Chuckling to himself, Gwiyeong Sin-tu pushed off the wall and straightened his posture. Then he pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pouch and handed it to me.
"Take it."
"What is this?"
"It's the location of my tomb. I'm telling you just in case—don't go looking for it right away. Wait until rumors spread that Gwiyeong Sin-tu's secret vault has been discovered, and then go find it."
"…You're really going through with this?"
"What's there to be surprised about? A life that began with thievery is cleanest when it ends with thievery. Besides, just imagine—countless martial artists across the Central Plains swarming to rob my grave."
"That would certainly be a sight to behold."
Though Gwiyeong Sin-tu had never stolen anything more precious than his own life, it was also true that he had stolen the most valuable thing he could without crossing his own standards.
His tomb and secret vault might not hold any divine arts, but they would be filled with advanced martial arts, and while there might be no divine weapons, fine swords would hang in neat rows.
It had been nearly sixty years since Gwiyeong Sin-tu was active, but there were still those who remembered his name, however few.
If news of the secret vault were to spread, there would be more than enough people flocking to it.
Not only would the Unorthodox Sects' martial artists covet what was inside, but the prestigious Orthodox Sects who had suffered at Gwiyeong Sin-tu's hands in the past would also gladly rise to the occasion.
To reclaim what was stolen. What a just and simple cause.
"It's going to be a mess."
"That's what I'm hoping for. I've always preferred grand funerals."
Gwiyeong Sin-tu grinned as if the thought alone delighted him. His smile, innocent as a child's in a way, drew a helpless chuckle from me in return.
"Thanks to you, instead of dying alone in some remote cave with no one knowing, I'll be able to announce my final moments to the whole world."
"Speaking of which, you did say you'd gladly hand over the Jang Bo-do if I managed to survive the assassin."
"You're right. Originally, I planned to tear it into pieces of suitable size and scatter them here and there, but for you, I'll give the complete Jang Bo-do intact. You may be pleased."
"I'll save my rejoicing for after I've been the first to enter the secret vault. We'll be returning to the Tang Clan now, but what are your plans, Elder? You may be advanced in years, but you're still hale and hearty."
"Heh heh. I'm not at death's door just yet. But I'm not exactly at leisure either. This injury has greatly damaged my vital energy, so the time I can hold back aging with my internal energy has grown shorter as well."
Gwiyeong Sin-tu looked down at his one remaining leg. Contrary to expectation, what hung on his face was not lingering attachment but relief.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I've passed on what I saw in the Demonic Cult, I've reconciled with a friend I thought I'd never see again, and I've given you what needed to be given. So I too will soon be heading down Mount Zhongnan."
"…I see."
"Well, if there's no leisure, one simply moves diligently, isn't that so? Even without acting directly, there's much to prepare if I want word to spread naturally across the entire Central Plains."
Gwiyeong Sin-tu, who intended to prepare for his own death. The reason he said such a thing was simple. He must have thought this was the end.
If the day comes when I meet Gwiyeong Sin-tu again, it will likely be to pour a drink over his grave.
A man who knows when he will die and goes to meet his death—no matter how many times I see such a person, I can never grow accustomed to it.
Perhaps my inner thoughts showed on my face. Gwiyeong Sin-tu shrugged his shoulders and continued.
"Don't make such a face. What I handed over to you wasn't just a single pouch, was it?"
"Ah."
He was right. Though it was only half, Gwiyeong Sin-tu had taught me his footwork.
I wouldn't use it as-is, but the essence of the Gwiyeongbo would melt into my own footwork and remain with it.
I had stolen and learned many martial arts in my life, but those I had been personally taught could be counted on one hand.
Somehow, a wave of nostalgia washed over me as I quietly alternated my gaze between my own feet and Gwiyeong Sin-tu's. Suddenly, he tapped my shoulder.
"You and I differ in many ways, but there's one thing we have in common."
"What might that be?"
"We've never properly learned martial arts. We've both mastered arts that work fine for ourselves but can't be passed on to others."
He was right.
The Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art was a martial art that rivaled any divine technique in my hands, but if anyone else were to learn it, it would be called a peerless demonic art.
An art that grants freedom in the release and control of internal energy and amplifies its power, but in exchange torments its user with murderous intent at all hours.
Just hearing the description, wasn't it the kind of demonic art that was quite a few screws loose, even among demonic arts?
What the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art contained was not some great teaching, but my life itself, and the fragments of martial arts I had torn from here and there were the mysteries I loved and excelled at.
It was only natural, since this was a martial art made for no one but me, not one premised on someone else learning it.
There had been many geniuses in the history of the martial world, yet few had left behind their martial arts and enlightenment in full—and this was surely for the same reason.
But Gwiyeong Sin-tu shook his head at this.
"I once thought the same. But just as I did in my youth, you are tearing apart the Gwiyeongbo and taking only the parts you need to add to your own martial art."
"Did you not tell me to do so?"
"It is not a rebuke. It is just that…"
Gwiyeong Sin-tu, who had been choosing his words for a moment, slowly continued.
"I was merely surprised. If you have learned martial arts the same way I have, I thought you might not just imitate it, but fully understand it."
"…"
I think I understand what he means. The more I studied the Gwiyeongbo, the more clearly I felt the mystery contained within it.
What Gwiyeong Sin-tu had intended by including these movements, and why he had tried to deceive people with a technique meant to kill.
When learning other martial arts, one naturally comes to understand their basic principles and what they pursue.
But with the Gwiyeongbo, this intent came through more clearly.
As if, by understanding the Gwiyeongbo, I could understand the man Gwiyeong Sin-tu himself.
Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Gwiyeong Sin-tu let out a soft chuckle.
"At first, I merely wanted to earn money. But before I knew it, I had become obsessed with the thrill of stealing things, and I also found joy in the way the world looked up to me."
"Among martial artists, there are quite a few who aren't in their right mind. If it's a compulsion to steal, that's one of the more harmless quirks."
"Ha! Right. A compulsion to steal. My eccentricities were, in the end, nothing more than that. But do you know what I felt when, driven mad by that compulsion, I used an old friend to get invited to the Zhongnan Sect and finally stole the scabbard of the Flowing Cloud Sword?"
"Guilt, wouldn't it be?"
"That had half disappeared by the time I put down the Quanzhen Sect martial art I'd lifted from the black market."
"That seems a little too quick…"
At the very least, it would have been better if it had been after hearing the announcement that the Sect Leader of the time would not be punished, or after reconciling with Jeon Il-bi.
However, the moment I heard his next words, spoken with a firm shake of his head, I couldn't help but understand.
"What I felt back then was fear."
"Pardon?"
"No matter how careless he might have been, I had slipped past the senses of a Harmony Realm master and crept all the way into his bedchamber. If I had wanted to, I could have stolen the Flowing Cloud Sword instead of its sheath — and if I had been an assassin, I could have gone straight for the previous Sect Leader's neck."
Of course, a Harmony Realm martial artist wouldn't be brought down so easily. That was why he said I could aim for his neck, not that I could take it.
But the fact that a perfect ambush against an absolute master — something no one had ever accomplished — was possible at all. That alone would turn the Central Plains upside down.
"As you said, I'm just a man crazed by a thieving obsession. The harder the steal, the more thrilling it is, and I enjoy hearing voices that fuss over my exploits. The idea of turning a tomb into a secret vault and scattering the Pouch of Jang Bo-do was also my way of boasting my achievements to the martial world one last time. …But not everyone is like me."
The true essence of the Gwiyeong Sin-tu's martial art is not deceiving the opponent with erratic movements. That was the other half he hadn't taught me.
It lies in the stealth art that can slip past even the senses of a Harmony Realm master.
"After much thought, I could only see unfavorable outcomes. So, I used the excuse that I didn't want to pass on the trade of thievery to future generations, and I never taught anyone my martial arts."
"But even so, you taught me the Gwiyeongbo, even if it was only half of it."
"It's true that I felt gratitude toward you… but, well, to be honest, I grew greedy in my old age."
"Greed, you say…"
"No matter how vast the Central Plains are, there are few who master as many martial arts as you or I. Even fewer who can dismantle them and forge their own unique martial art, and how many of those can reach a high realm?"
"Almost none, I'd say."
Before the regression, it wasn't for nothing that my childhood self had considered himself a genius on the level of a grand master.
Because things that were impossible for others were possible for me. I could instantly understand martial arts that had been researched and refined over long years, steal a part of them, and modify them to suit myself.
The Gwiyeong Sin-tu of my youth was probably similar. After all, the reason Seomun Hwa-rin had made the name Gwiyeong Sin-tu known wasn't because he was a thief who stole his clan's martial arts, but because he was someone who, like me, gathered various martial arts and sublimated them into something of his own.
This was a different kind of talent from simply having good bones or outstanding innate qualities. Unfortunately, I wasn't really a genius of that caliber.
"Thanks to you, I was able to decorate my afterlife splendidly. I considered that enough. But when I think about the future whenever I have time, I get a little melancholic."
The secret vault of Gwiyeong Sin-tu would surely make the entire Central Plains buzz. But festivals end eventually, and what burns hot is bound to cool.
If someone gathered clues to find the tomb's location, broke through all the mechanism traps and rivals, and entered the secret vault, that would be the end of it.
After that, it would simply be forgotten.
"But you're different. Even if the form changes, what I left behind will forever be melted into your martial arts. If you take on a disciple, it will carry on to even later generations."
"Traces…"
"That's right. Traces. Even if this body rots away, I wanted to leave behind proper traces. A secret vault wasn't enough. I wanted someone who would understand and pass on the person Gwiyeong Sin-tu more clearly."
"So that's me."
"I hoped it would be you. I only taught you half a martial art, so I won't go that far. …Somehow the conversation dragged on again. As I said before, old age brings strange habits."
Gwiyeong Sin-tu let out an awkward laugh and gave me a fist-and-palm salute. All the playfulness was gone, replaced by the same seriousness as when we first met.
"My name is Jang Cheok. People call me Gwiyeong Sin-tu, but I want you to remember this old man by his name."
That was the end of me and Jang Cheok.