Episode 6: Dogs Don’t Stop Eating Filth
Three stormy days had passed.
Hidden Dragon Hall was in an uproar over the Damryong South Pavilion incident.
An investigation was conducted on all Damryong Pavilions, and related personnel were summoned frequently.
When the full extent of the issue was revealed, Baek Do-ryul was utterly shocked.
“Have you come?”
Baek Do-ryul offered a seat to Ha Mubek, who had just entered the hall master's office.
“Is the investigation already finished?”
“For the most part.”
“Three days were enough, but how many years have you let it go? Tsk.”
Baek Do-ryul couldn’t argue with Ha Mubek’s words. He was right.
“It started with the fixed status of the users of the Damryong Pavilions in all four directions. Gradually, a practice emerged. The Fierce Dragon Corps members, squeezed by the Hidden Dragon and Crouching Dragon Corps Corps, gathered in the south. That's when those scoundrels got greedy.”
“They really know how to spot the weak.”
“Indeed. They thought that the workers and Fierce Dragon Corps members wouldn’t retaliate, so they gradually lowered the quality of food at the Damryong South Pavilion. With no immediate consequences, they grew bolder. The real issue was that all four pavilion heads were in on it together.”
“Completely rotten to the core.”
“They’ve been at it for a long time. Especially, they pushed Fierce Dragon Corps members southward. If any Fierce Dragon Corps members showed up at other Damryong Pavilions, they were sent south. They even bribed higher-ups, which is how they got away with it for so long.”
“Those bastards.”
Ha Mubek spat out a curse.
The uniforms of the Hidden Dragon, Crouching Dragon Corps, and Fierce Dragon Corpss each had different patterns, making it easy for the pavilion workers to identify the Fierce Dragon Corps.
“That won’t happen anymore.”
Baek Do-ryul spoke calmly.
“Dogs don’t stop eating filth. How can you be sure?”
Ha Mubek looked skeptical.
“At least as long as I’m the hall master, those tricks won’t fly. I plan to have all my meals at the Damryong Pavilions. Whichever one I feel like visiting, in any of the four directions.”
Ha Mubek’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Don’t look at me like that. Just as you said, it’s hard enough to get by each day, so we shouldn’t mess with people’s food.”
Ha Mubek smiled faintly at those words.
“And we’re not the kind of bastards you think we are.”
“Well, we’ll see about that.”
Leaving those words, Ha Mubek exited the hall master's office.
He headed towards the seventh group's training yard.
It was his duty, so he made sure to show up at the training yard. Although he had only been instructing self-study sessions.
As Ha Mubek approached the training yard, he noticed something odd.
He sensed six presences instead of five.
The additional presence was someone he had met before.
‘Why is that person here?’
His curiosity would be answered soon.
Ha Mubek's pace didn’t change. As he neared the training yard, the other person seemed to sense him too.
As Ha Mubek appeared, the person greeted him with a bow.
“Greetings to Instructor Ha.”
“What brings Instructor Jegal here?”
Ha Mubek returned the bow, puzzled.
“I came to thank you.”
“Huh?”
“I was naive, just as you said. I never imagined such things were happening at the Damryong Pavilions. Using traditions to commit such corruption, and with the meals for the warriors and workers no less...”
It was an unexpected sight.
The people of the Five Great Families, as Ha Mubek knew them, never behaved this way. They always considered themselves the law and the truth.
“Shameful as it is, I only paid attention to the Damryong East Pavilion, where the Hidden Dragon Corp dines, and neglected the others. I assumed the North and East Pavilions were all the same.”
Even that was quite commendable.
Instructors resolved their meals at the Damryong North Pavilion, including the Fierce Dragon Corps instructors.
They had no interest in the other Damryong Pavilions.
That’s why such blatant corruption was possible.
The Fierce Dragon Corps members, aware of their situation, didn’t protest the poor meals.
In fact, the status of the seventh group members was strange for Fierce Dragon Corps.
Most Fierce Dragon Corps members were like Danmok Unrae.
Until Ha Mubek took his group to the Damryong South Pavilion, no instructors or officials of Hidden Dragon Hall had paid attention to the South Pavilion’s meals.
Instructors generally didn’t care about the students’ meals.
So it was quite something that Jegal Myeong had even cared about the East Pavilion’s meals.
“But I was just watching as the chief instructor used tradition to force Fierce Dragon Corps members to the South Pavilion… It’s embarrassing.”
Jegal Myeong bowed deeply again.
“Well, it’s understandable if you didn’t know.”
Ha Mubek spoke nonchalantly, and Jegal Myeong finally managed a slight smile as he looked around the training yard.
“But you’re still neglecting the students.”
Jegal Myeong’s voice carried a hint of bitterness.
“……”
Ha Mubek didn’t respond.
“Come to think of it, it’s this afternoon. I instruct the entire Fierce Dragon Corps on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of each month. If you’re free, I’d like you to observe. It starts at the Great Training Yard at the beginning of the midday hour.”
Jegal Myeong bowed and left.
Ha Mubek watched his retreating figure with a surprised look. A Hidden DragonCorp instructor teaching the Fierce Dragon Corps?
His curiosity was piqued.
And today was indeed the 7th.
It was almost lunchtime.
He decided he would go to the Great Training Yard with the students after lunch.
Of the five who had been glancing at the conversation, Danmok Unrae’s face showed a strange excitement.
He knew about the four monthly training sessions through the schedule.
But he hadn’t expected the instructor to be Jegal Myeong.
For Danmok Unrae, who had never learned any martial arts, it was something to look forward to.
***
The largest main training ground in Hidden Dragon Hall.
It was so spacious that it could comfortably accommodate all the students from the Hidden Dragon Corps, Crouching Dragon Corps Unit, and Fierce Dragon Corps.
Under the glaring sunlight, two hundred students from the Fierce Dragon Corps stood in neat rows and columns on the main training ground.
On the platform in the center, Jegal Myung stood, looking down at the students of the Fierce Dragon Corps.
Hamu Baek sat in the shade of a tree in one corner, watching the scene.
"How did you know to come here for the first group training today?"
Peng Doyul appeared behind Hamu Baek.
"Chief, are you following me?"
Hamu Baek asked, frowning.
"Not at all. It's just a coincidence. Today is the first group training for the Fierce Dragon Corps, so I came to take a look and happened to find you here. Thanks to this training, the survival rate of the Fierce Dragon Corps is at least five percent."
Hamu Baek turned his gaze towards Peng Doyul at those words.
"Before Instructor Jegal arrived, the survival rate of the Fierce Dragon Corps was barely one percent. The Fierce Dragon Corps often includes those without even a trace of internal energy, so it's a miracle that five percent survive in that cursed land."
Hamu Baek slightly nodded. He agreed with that statement.
"Instructor Jegal is a man with immense pride in the Jegal family. He is committed to his responsibilities and duties as a member of the Five Great Families. This group training is a result of that responsibility."
Peng Doyul explained in great detail, although Hamu Baek wasn't particularly curious.
"It looks like it's about to start."
At that moment, workers from Hidden Dragon Hall entered the main training ground, carrying something.
"Shields?"
Hamu Baek showed a slightly surprised expression upon seeing them.
It was unexpected.
Among martial artists, those who used shields were extremely rare, almost non-existent.
Yet here he was, seeing shields at Hidden Dragon Hall.
"From now on, I will be teaching you the art of shieldsmanship. Some martial artists may belittle the use of shields, but a shield is an excellent weapon. It has saved my life countless times. For those who have to enter the perilous Sanwol Marim Forest, the shield is an essential weapon, defense, and lifeline."
Jegal Myung's voice, filled with internal energy, reached the ears of all two hundred students.
Other students passing near the main training ground snickered.
"Martial artists learning shield techniques? How embarrassing."
"Can we even call them martial artists?"
They were students from the Crouching Dragon Corps Unit, identifiable by their uniforms.
Although they whispered, Hamu Baek heard them clearly.
He frowned.
They were immature youths who had never experienced war.
"Not immature, I see..."
Hamu Baek muttered softly. Peng Doyul smiled at his words.
"You seem to have taken a hit."
Peng Doyul found Hamu Baek's reaction amusing.
Regardless of what Peng Doyul said, Hamu Baek's gaze was fixed on the training ground.
The shields were large.
About 4 feet (approximately 1.2 meters) tall, 3 feet (0.9 meters) wide, and at least half a foot thick.
They had small holes for visibility but were large enough to cover the entire front.
They were undoubtedly heavy.
Many students struggled to lift the shields properly, their arms and hands trembling.
"Watch the movements I demonstrate carefully and master them thoroughly. These movements are your lifeline."
With those words, Jegal Myung personally demonstrated each movement of the shield technique slowly.
It was an unfamiliar shield technique.
Consisting of only four simple movements, but each was quite efficient.
"What do you think?"
Peng Doyul asked in a subtle tone.
"Not bad."
Hamu Baek replied bluntly.
"As you know, there are very few shield techniques among martial artists. Instructor Jegal's shield technique is based entirely on external martial arts. Such shield techniques never existed in Hidden Dragon Hall."
That was true.
"Instructor Jegal created this technique after witnessing the reality of the Fierce Dragon Corps. He referenced military weapon techniques and the eighteen martial arts, creating it through trial and error."
"Impressive."
Hamu Baek's voice contained a hint of admiration.
"He's a genius."
Hamu Baek had to nod.
Even if it seemed like a trivial weapon technique, the principles behind it were substantial.
It was evident how much Jegal Myung had struggled and pondered to create this shield technique.
"During the two-year training period, most Fierce Dragon Corps students will become familiar with this shield technique before heading to the perilous region. Some will become very proficient. The five percent who survive are among those proficient ones."
Peng Doyul's explanation made Hamu Baek look thoughtfully at the training ground.
He saw Danmok Unrae sweating profusely, struggling to move the shield with trembling arms and hands, but with a vibrant smile on his face.
"Why does an instructor from the Hidden Dragon Corps go to such lengths?"
"When he was creating that shield technique, I asked him. He said it's because he's an instructor at Hidden Dragon Hall. The Fierce Dragon Corps is also part of Hidden Dragon Hall."
"Yet they were fed such disgusting food."
"Well, that won't happen anymore. Let's not talk about it."
When it came to the issue of Damryongnam Pavilion, Peng Doyul had nothing to say.
"The group training for the Fierce Dragon Corps was also initiated by Instructor Jegal. There's no reason for an instructor from the Hidden Dragon Corps to conduct it. There was even some opposition from the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families. Especially from the chief instructor, Sa Do-gwang, who was strongly against it. But thanks to Instructor Jegal's persistence, the group training is held four times a month. He’s no ordinary rookie."
"Understood."
Hamu Baek answered curtly. Peng Doyul just laughed at his response.
"Don't lead your team to death, make sure that they are among the five percent who survive..."
Hamu Baek looked at Jegal Myung with deep contemplation.
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