The Visit – A Letter from Hwang Hak (黃鶴)4
Hwang Hak's eyes trembled slightly.
Above all, he could not sense the boy through his own perception.
A master detects the lesser; the lesser cannot detect the master.
"This child knows me… Then is he truly a master of Hwagyeong…?"
Hwang Hak slowly closed his eyes.
His body swayed faintly back and forth.
Whether it was dizziness, vertigo, or an indescribable sorrow, even he could not tell.
The aged Hwang Hak felt his own inadequacy.
There was anger, and the humiliation of being cursed by a mere youth.
Yet he could not deny that the words he had just heard were true.
It was indeed he who had placed his life at stake.
Until now, he had tried to measure his opponent.
To test the limits, to probe, to press down.
That itself had been arrogance.
If the boy truly stood at Hwagyeong,
then from the beginning he ought to have approached with respect and asked for instruction.
A long breath escaped Hwang Hak.
The inner power he had raised slowly subsided.
"Very well… what should I do? My mistake, my arrogance, the harm done to the Jin estate… and—"
As he watched the wavering old man, Soun rebuked him sternly.
"You must apologize to the Jin family and to the Great General for your discourtesy at the earliest possible time, in the best manner possible."
His voice was low but unwavering.
"If you truly wish to meet me, then come with a pure and humble heart, state your purpose clearly in a visitor's card, and present yourself properly."
His gaze did not bend in the slightest.
"I will spare your life."
Jimin's breath stopped.
"At the very least, you did not cause harm to others."
A short silence passed.
"You may go."
It was an audacious statement.
To tell one of the Ten Great Masters under Heaven—
to tell the legendary Hwang Hak—
that he may leave.
Jimin's chest dropped heavily.
"You may go."
It sounded like a command.
It sounded like permission.
Only then did the wind over Namsan begin to move again.
Ashamed and humiliated, Hwang Hak turned and fled south at full speed.
Having deceived the world for so long, he had ultimately deceived himself.
He had believed himself a supreme master.
He had thought he stood on the verge of immortality.
He assumed time alone would naturally carry him there.
But standing before a true master of Hwagyeong,
he felt that he was nothing.
The acts he had thought natural for a master were revealed as mere posturing.
Above all, he truly realized that he was not of Hwagyeong.
The one most astonished was Jimin.
It was rare for Soun to speak so harshly.
Until now, he had always respected others, spoken with courtesy, and lowered himself as a scholar should.
Why, of all people, did he pour such cutting words upon Hwang Hak alone?
"Why… why?"
"Continue your training. The book… recite it. And your posture has collapsed, noona."
Soun moved to correct her stance again with the switch, then withdrew his hand.
Jimin stood upright on her own.
She was beginning to sense that Soun's words had not been empty bravado.
Hwang Hak had retreated.
Without lifting a single finger, the boy had driven him away with words alone.
This small boy stood above even the Ten Great Masters.
Then she must train harder.
She even wished she could take back the time she had scolded him days ago.
She wanted to gather those words back.
"In one shijin, there will be a test. Make sure you have memorized the text."
"A test?"
"For every incorrect character, one additional punishment will be added."
"Punishment? Surely you don't mean—"
"Punishment (罰) is also part of training."
One shijin later, when they decided to descend for the day,
Jimin—who had failed to memorize the book completely—was crawling down the mountain on all fours.
A pretty young woman moving down the slope with her hands in the dirt,
while a small boy twirled his stick idly beside her—
such a sight was not common.
He called it study,
but to others it might have looked like madness.
After that day, Hwang Hak no longer appeared openly in the jianghu.