The incident occurred on their fourth day at the location. The person who insisted on being called "Master" seemed somewhat, or rather significantly, eccentric. On the first day, the Master had given them absurdly heavy dark-colored bracelets. That part was acceptable, but then the Master claimed that due to an unavoidable accident, they were unable to receive the training support funds from Heavenly Martial Academy. He demanded immediate payment from the disciples to continue teaching, saying that money was needed for this purpose. Despite circumventing the issue, the demand was clear.
It was outrageous. They had ridden horses from Heavenly Martial Academy to Mountain Emei's entrance to save time and energy, considering the significant distance.
Upon arrival, with no need for horses in the coming months, they decided to sell all the horses to the stable. Geum Yeong-ho, proficient in negotiation, managed a great deal for them. It was a mutually satisfactory trade, a moment showcasing the business skills he had learned at home. This resulted in a considerable income for everyone.
However, this financial windfall was short-lived as they were soon stripped of all their money. They had received more than 10 silver coins per horse, amassing over 160 silver coins in total. But the Master didn't just take the horse sale money. He claimed almost two-thirds of the money the disciples had been given by their wealthy families for the journey, with the sole reason being that money was unnecessary for spiritual practice.
On the stand was a flashy scabbard decorated with gold and jewels, and an expensive treasured sword with golden tassels inserted. The only downside was the mismatch between the person's face and the purple silk garment, which was supposed to be a sign of nobility. Purple, a color suited for a slender aristocrat, seemed like a curse on someone with a fuller face like Kim Young-ho.
Everyone, except for Kim Young-ho, thought that he looked extremely expensive. Kim Young-ho had been stripped of everything except his clothes and sword. Owning a lot meant he had lost a lot. His losses were easily four times more than others. The only ones who didn't, or rather couldn't, pay besides the horse sale money were Hyun-woon from the Wudang Taoist Sect and Noh Hak from Beggar's Sect. The Wudang Sect, known for its frugality, hadn't given Hyun-woon any extra money for the training. Noh Hak, literally a beggar by profession, had nothing to give. Tang Mun-hye distinctly remembered the unsettling look in the Master's eyes when he saw them unable to contribute anything more.
After collecting – or rather extorting – the money, the Master hadn't really taught them anything worthwhile. The next day, what they were subjected to was embarrassingly trivial.
On the second day, the fake Master Bi Ryu-yeon called them to the training ground set up in the backyard of the lodging. His face was beaming, probably due to the substantial profit made the day before.
"I won't say much. From today, we will start the actual training process. Everyone, be alert and focused. Understand?"
"Yes, Master!"
The resounding voices filled the training ground, but none of the 16 members knew that they were about to enter a predicament worse than hell. That was their misfortune.
The first thing Bi Ryu-yeon did was to select those responsible for cooking. He decided that cooking was the duty of the female members and chose from among them. One of the contenders, Tang Mun-hye from the Sichuan Tang family, completely burned the rice, causing farmers who painstakingly cultivated the grains to weep blood. Danmok Su-su, from the esteemed Danmok family, chopped the side dishes into unrecognizable pieces and then burned them, obliterating any evidence of their existence. The cost of the wasted rice and dishes was a significant loss.
Bi Ryu-yeon, furious at this disaster, mainly because he lamented the wasted rice and side dishes, scolded them. Tang Mun-hye's excuse for her mistake was remarkable,
"It's just a mistake. I got confused between far water and near water for the rice!"
This statement further bewildered everyone. Danmok Su-su, who was also being reprimanded, wisely exercised her right to remain silent, embodying the old adage that staying quiet is sometimes the best option. Anyway, Tang Mun-hye and Danmok Su-su failed the test and ended up having to wash laundry by the stream.
After various complications, Jin Ryeong, Namgoong Sansan, and Hua Seol-ok were selected as the cooking team, impressing everyone with proper edible food. The remaining two women, Hwangbo Ok-yeon and Moyong Chwi, were tasked with foraging edible wild plants in the mountains, a cost-saving measure devised by Bi Ryu-yeon.
For Bi Ryu-yeon, who had endured a staggering financial loss, frugality was the only way to survive. His priorities were saving first, second, and third. And next? It was, of course, 'exploitation.'
Bi Ryu-yeon explained in detail to Moyong Chwi and Hwangbo Ok-yeon about edible and inedible plants, gave them a few samples as references, and sent them up the mountain to gather herbs. For this task, he assigned Tang Cheol-yeong from the Tang family as a guide and proficient herb collector.
Tang Cheol-yeong, being a direct descendant of the Sichuan Tang family known for poisons and hidden weapons, had exceptional knowledge about toxic and medicinal herbs. His profound and extensive understanding of plants' properties and uses made him an ideal choice for gathering both edible herbs and medicinal ones. The plan was to sell the collected medicinal herbs to local pharmacies and doctors. However, foraging for wild greens was not an easy task.
Mountain Emei was a challenging mountain, known for its rugged terrain and proudly standing among the notorious Five Great Mountains of the Central Plains. Moreover, with the incredibly heavy dark-colored bracelets, each weighing 50 geun, attached to their wrists and ankles, initially, they could hardly move, let alone walk. It was an arduous task to climb the steep mountain paths with a total weight of 200 geun. Tang Cheol-yeong and the two women had to crawl around the mountain, making the first day almost fruitless. Merely returning safely was praiseworthy.
This difficulty was also experienced by the cooking and laundry teams. Unable to manage the weight of the dark-colored bracelets on their wrists, the side dishes were precariously chopped under the tyranny of the knife – a situation more akin to being slaughtered than chopped. In such conditions, proper cooking was impossible, and the resulting dishes were understandably deformed.
The fact that the chopping board maintained its shape was a miracle, indicating how challenging the situation was. Although it retained its form, the board had lost its function – its surface was so cracked it seemed unusable for a second time, relegating it to nothing more than firewood. Despite these adversities, the fact that they managed to prepare edible food was commendable. However, their efforts went unrecognized and unpraised.
Not only was it necessary to eat whatever bizarre and terrifying forms the food took, but it also felt like an inhuman form of torture. The act of eating, meant for survival, felt more like a preparation for death. That they didn't die after eating was a testament to their tenacious vitality, highlighting the horrendous nature of the food. Naturally, under such circumstances, Bi Ryu-yeon was far from praising them. He had to make separate arrangements for his meals, focusing solely on his survival after eating.
Despite wearing the face mask, Bi Ryu-yeon ate with a bitter expression, as if chewing on Sotae (a type of deciduous tree from the Sotae family, commonly found on mid-mountain slopes and valleys, reaching about 1.5 meters in height. It blooms yellow-green flowers in early summer and bears fruit in early autumn. The fruit is very bitter and is used as a medicine for stomach ailments and as an insecticide. Also known as Gomok or bitter wood). Seeing him eat so grimly was heart-wrenching for the gentle-hearted girls.
Nevertheless, Namgoong Sang, while eating the food prepared by Jin Ryeong and the other cooking team members, either genuinely or just to be polite, commented,
"It's really delicious. I wish I could have more!"
He felt the sharp glances from around him but chose to ignore them. His face reddened, an inevitable response, but what could be done?
The female members were having a tough time, and the male members had no easier a day. In fact, because they were men, they were subjected to even more strenuous and grueling tasks. Bi Ryu-yeon assigned the men simple but physically demanding work. The first task he ordered was to go up the mountain, cut down trees, and then chop the wood.
But it wasn't an easy task. There were only two axes, but these axes weighed a staggering 100 kg each. With the weight of the ink rings on their wrists already challenging, it was doubtful whether they could properly wield the axes.
To even make an attempt, the men had to summon all their internal energy and the so-called 'prenatal energy' they had since birth, straining every ounce of their strength just to lift the axes and chop wood.
The men and women, each in their respective roles, found it nearly impossible to complete even a fraction of the tasks assigned by Bi Ryu-yeon without employing every bit of strength they had, including that which they hadn't known they possessed. As a result, they only managed to complete a third of their assigned tasks on the first day. The remaining work was carried over to the next day, resulting in an even greater workload.
On the following day, both male and female members suffered from muscle pain – a consequence of the previous day's laborious tasks. They experienced the same excruciating pain that Bi Ryu-yeon had endured years ago. A single day of intense labor made their years of training and refinement seem insignificant.
Martial arts are not mastered by simply reading a manual, swinging a sword, throwing a punch, or rolling on the ground. Continuous and relentless training is required to build a body that can withstand the force of martial arts and to accumulate the natural energy of the universe through constant cultivation and focus. This is the unending journey of hardship and effort in martial arts. Yet, these seasoned practitioners could not withstand a single day of hard labor.
In the evening, Bi Ryu-yeon gathered them all and instructed them to thread beads. He shared his experience of being forced into this task as a side job under his master's stern guidance. Demonstrating his skill, he threw 20 beads into the air and swiftly threaded them all onto a string in one swift motion, a feat he had mastered long ago.
Witnessing such a high-level demonstration was bound to astonish anyone. It was a skill not just anyone could possess. Indeed, it seemed everyone was amazed. Bi Ryu-yeon found the burst of admiration incredibly sweet; he relished the feeling. He contemplated whether this was the feeling his master had when Bi Ryu-yeon had looked at him with wide-eyed surprise.
Everyone attempted to thread the beads, but not a single person managed to thread even one bead with a silver needle. The one who seemed most psychologically impacted was Tang Cheol-young from the Sichuan Tang Family. He was utterly astonished after trying his hand at bead threading.
Who was Tang Cheol-young? A direct descendant of the Sichuan Tang Family, born as the third son of the main house. Sichuan Tang was known to everyone in the martial arts world as a prestigious house of poison and hidden weapons. No one in the martial arts community would dare discuss these topics in front of the Sichuan Tang Family for fear of their own lives. Everyone valued their lives too much to act recklessly around the Sichuan Tangs, who were deeply versed in poisons and hidden weapons. Their prowess was recognized by all in the martial arts world.
The Sichuan Tang Family's most distinguished secret technique was undoubtedly their hidden weapons skill. Along with their expertise in poison, these skills were the primary factors behind the current prominence of the Sichuan Tang Family.
What is the most crucial ability required to learn hidden weapons? It's exceptional eyesight and fast hand movements. The power of internal energy thrown into the hidden weapon is also essential. Without sufficient internal energy, the lethality of the hidden weapon decreases, forcing reliance on poison or drugs, which is considered shameful for a Sichuan Tang martial artist. They pride themselves on using poison and hidden weapons separately.
The Sichuan Tang Family was respected in the martial arts community as a prestigious and righteous sect because they didn't resort to despicable acts like coating tiny hidden weapons with poison. Thus, training one's eyesight was vital for mastering hidden weapons.
Tang Cheol-yeong himself had gone through all these training stages. Being able to read the characters on a flying chopstick or on a spinning wheel was a prerequisite before even being allowed to touch a hidden weapon. Only then could one officially handle hidden weapons. Before reaching this stage, access to hidden weapons was strictly forbidden. Such were the rigid rules of the Sichuan Tang Family.
Excellent eyesight, paired with the essential quick hand movements, is achieved through relentless training. The Sichuan Tang Family, renowned for their hidden weapons skills, had developed and continued to refine various training methods to enhance hand speed and reaction time. For Tang Cheol-yeong, a direct descendant of the Sichuan Tang, failing to thread even a single bead in the air was an unprecedented disgrace.
Despite this, his training seemed to have paid off somewhat, as he appeared slightly better than the others. Many in the group couldn't even spot the shadow of the hole in the beads. Due to his specialized training in hidden weapons and eyesight, Tang Cheol-yeong could faintly discern the center of the rotating beads, though not clearly.
But what good was his vision if his body, or rather, his hands, couldn't keep up? The heavy iron rings on his wrists acted like shackles, hindering his movements. Still, not succeeding at all was indeed a source of shame, no matter the physical restrictions.
He thought his sister, Tang Mun-hye, would be feeling a similar sense of shame — biting her tongue in frustration. He consoled himself by believing she must be experiencing the same feelings.
The first day of the so-called 'intensive training' — which everyone deeply doubted — was full of hardships. Thankfully, everyone was still alive, at least for now.
"Ah, still alive? Was it too easy? Look forward to tomorrow. Today was just a teaser!"
This remark sent shivers down the spines of the exhausted Vermillion Bird members, who were sprawled out like wet rags. Consequently, the entire squad was torn between contemplating personal suicide today and the possible homicide that awaited them the next day.
The following days, as forewarned, were continuous hell and muscle pain. The third, fourth, and subsequent days were no different. Each day felt endlessly long, as if they were experiencing a thousand years of torture. Their endurance was gradually eroding. And then, inevitably, trouble struck.