Prefect Jang, who came down from the top of the tree, looked at Mumu with a slightly stiff face.
He, too, heard all the stories from the other officers as he went to inform the two of their exile ending.
It was said that Yu Yeop-kyung adopted a son.
But he was seventeen.
And his strength, which was too high for his age, wasn’t considered to be within the scope of ordinary people.
However, he never thought the kid would be able to jump to that height with pure physical strength.
‘At that, accurately in place…’
He jumped.
Without help from anyone else.
Just how absurd was it?
Prefect Jang asked in a calm voice.
“How did you do that?”
“I just jumped as high as I could.”
“No. Not that what…”
“You can do it too if you train the soleus that forms the abdominal and gastrocnemius and triceps behind the shins.”
‘… triceps?’
Murim people had a deep understanding of the human body.
However, it was based on nerves, pulse, and flow.
Of course, he knew about the basic muscles, but this kid seemed to know everything about muscles in detail.
‘Training… he did well.’
But was jumping that high something one can do by training?
Was it really possible?
Prefect Jang, who began to become confused, carefully and cautiously asked Mumu.
“Mumu. Can I please touch your leg once?”
“… that is unpleasant.”
“Woah. This mister is just doing it to check how much you trained those muscles.”
Mumu looked at him with suspicious eyes.
Mumu, who stared at him for a moment, opened his mouth.
“Touching is weird, but I can show you.”
He casually rolled up his baggy pants,
And then showed his meticulously trained muscles to them.
“Ohhh!”
“Mumu. Look at your legs.”
“Oh my god, is that all muscle?”
“Ho-How did you train to build muscles like that?”
The officers around were shocked at what they saw.
Prefect Jang was at a loss for words.
He knew that the kid trained a lot, but this was beyond common sense.
‘This kid… trained himself this much, all alone?’
He knew that Mumu had been in exile since he was an infant.
And everything he learnt was from his father, Yu Yeop-kyung.
But there was no way that a scholar taught this. No scholar in the world would teach their kids how to train their muscles.
‘To do all that with pure raw strength…’
Prefect Jang’s eyes changed.
Even if it was a little late to learn internal energy cultivation, it seemed like there was a possibility of honing martial arts if the body was as excellent as Mumu’s.
After leaving Murim to become an official, he never had such a desire.
Prefect Jang, who was struggling inside, looked at Mumu and asked with a kind smile.
“Mumu. Do you know what non-human failure is?”
“Yes. My father did teach me, isn’t it supposed to be the absence of non-human qualities?”
“Yes. One shouldn’t pass down their teachings or talents to someone who doesn’t possess human characters, and shouldn’t allow talent or knowledge to take precedence over virtue.”
“Right.”
“To this mister, our Mumu is a very filial son and has a clear personality.”
Mumu scratched his head as if he was embarrassed by the praise.
He had a lot of naïve aspects as he grew up with his father in the mountains.
“From what I heard earlier, it seems like you are interested in martial arts.”
“…”
“It has been a long time since this mister decided to not accept a disciple who doesn’t have the spirit and virtue. But it seems like our Mumu is different. So if Mumu wants to learn martial arts, this mister will teach you, but you need to become my disciple…”
“Thank you for that. But it’s okay.”
“Right. To be my disciple… what?”
Is he okay?
He thought that Mumu would be thrilled to be his disciple.
But he spoke with a non-interested face and even waved his hand.
For a moment, Prefect Jang was flustered.
He invited him to become his disciple in front of the other officers, and he got rejected right away?
Frowning, he asked.
“You don’t want to learn martial arts?”
“No. I was just curious.”
“Curious?”
“Yes. And now I think it would be more fun to just train my body.”
At Mumu’s words, Prefect Jang snorted.
The kid seemed to be misunderstanding something.
Martial arts, too, was an exercise to train the body.
Martial arts are an exercise that trains the mind and body, but it was conceived as an effective method to subdue and kill enemies while protecting oneself.
Maybe he should let the kid know.
“Mumu. You seem to be misunderstanding something.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“Right. Martial arts isn’t just about training the mind and body.”
Mumu asked, puzzled.
“Then?”
Prefect Jang thought Mumu was interested, and he stood up.
“It can be said that martial arts are practiced to become strong.”
“To become strong?”
“Right. For example, like this..”
Srrng!
Prefect Jang drew his sword from his waist.
And continued talking.
“The practice of training and wielding the sword developed to effectively deal with one’s enemy, and for that numerous sword techniques and styles were born.”
With those words, he swung his sword to show off.
Wouldn’t a boy that age be dying to hold something which would make him look cool?
If he showed his first-rate swordsmanship Mumu’s opinion might change.
Sshh!
He showed the most colorful and bright technique he knew.
He jumped into the air and rotated his sword in several directions.
It was something called the Riot to Return to Heaven.
When it was done, all the officers gathered around clapped and cheered.
It was a very nice display in the eyes of ordinary people.
‘Do you feel the urge to learn now?’
He looked at Mumu.
Mumu, too, was clapping with twinkling eyes.
Indeed, he liked it.
He approached Mumu and said,
“How was that? Would you like to learn it now?”
“No. I don’t think I’ll be able to learn that kind of thing with my shape.”
“…”
Why was he refusing?
Prefect Jang was slowly becoming frustrated.
Such opportunities didn’t come so easily.
Besides, he was a famous swordsman in the southern part of the Zhejiang province.
And he made several attempts to make Mumu his disciple, but the kid kept refusing.
“Mumu.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t you want to be strong?
Without hesitation, Mumu answered.
“I want to be strong.”
“Then learn martial arts from me. That way, even if bandits attack you like what happened five days ago, you will be able to protect yourself and your father more effectively.”
“I don’t think it’s efficient, though.”
“What?”
At those words, Prefect Jang frowned.
He showed first-rate swordsmanship, but it didn’t seem to be effective? What type of bullshit is this?
It certainly had to be because he lived alone with his father in the mountains, but this was getting too childish.
Calming his anger and confusion, he opened his mouth.
“Why do you think that it isn’t efficient?”
“Something like moving too much.”
“Too many movements?”
“You can just swing it, cut it or stab it. I don’t understand why you have to move around, turn the sword, and make it look cool.”
“…”
If he hadn’t had a meal, it felt like Prefect Jang would be on the verge of passing out.
To dismiss everything he did as an attempt to look cool.
All of the technique’s movements were done to effectively counter the enemy’s attacks and at the same time target the opponent’s gaps.
‘Why am I feeling so frustrated?’
Calm down.
The kid knows nothing.
Right, he was still in the beginner stage.
Yes, that’s a better way of thinking.
“Mumu.”
“Yes.”
“I think it’s highly possible that you misunderstood it. How about we do this?”
Phat!
Prefect Jang jumped and broke a branch off a tree.
The length of the branch was the same as his sword.
Prefect Jang, who cut off the leaves and twigs on it, held it like he was gripping a sword and said,
“I’ll show you why a technique is a technique.”
“Sorry?”
“Let’s have a match.”
“What is a match?”
He really was a kid who knew nothing.
Right. Which was why he said all that with an innocent face.
“It means to compete with each other.”
“Compete?”
“Yes, it’s kind of like a mock battle to differentiate between winners and losers.”
“Ah. So you want to compete with me?”
“Uh… rather than that, I just wanted to let you know.”
“Let me know what?”
“How it can be efficient.”
“Ah…”
Prefect Jang held the branch and was ready to unfold his technique.
And he motioned for Mumu to make the first move.
“This mister will only stop you. If your hand or foot can touch even a single hair on my body, you were right, and you don’t have to become my disciple. But if you lose, how about becoming the disciple of this mister?”
At that, Mumu looked interested.
Even if he wasn’t, he was bored because his father wasn’t paying attention to him lately.
So this bet seemed fun to him. He couldn’t help but be interested.
“Once is enough?”
“Right.”
“Isn’t that too unfavorable for you?”
“Huhuhu. It’s more disadvantageous for a person who hasn’t learned martial arts to compete with a first-rate warrior.”
Because the result was obvious.
If one didn’t learn martial arts, their movements would be full of gaps.
Even if Mumu’s strength was too high, it was nearly impossible to touch an opponent who was well aware of using a sword to defend themselves.
“Okay. Then there is nothing else to say.”
“You must keep your promise, Mumu.”
“Yep!”
“Come on.”
Prefect Jang gestured.
And Mumu walked towards him.
It looked like he was trying to close the distance.
‘Then, let’s spread the distance a little.’
He spread his footwork and tried to widen the distance.
That was when.
Pang!
The soil rose off the ground, and Mumu’s body flew right in front of him at the speed of an arrow.
‘No!’
Mumu, who moved, extended his fist towards Jang.
He never expected the distance between him and Mumu to be closed in an instant, but Prefect Jang kept his cool and displayed splendid swordsmanship with the branch.
‘This is going to take a lot of strength, but nothing can be done.’
He put strength in his hands.
Even if it was a tree branch, it would be a strong weapon if one knew how to use it.
The branch, which was acting as a sword, began to unfold a sword technique that would dig into Mumu’s wrist, head, chest, and abdomen.
However,
Pak!
As soon as Mumu’s wrist was going to be touched by the branch, he extended his other hand and pulled the branch.
‘He caught this?’
That couldn’t be.
A guy who wasn’t trained in martial arts could distinguish between a fluke attack and an actual attack?
Shocked, Prefect Jang decided to increase his strength, but.
‘W-What power!’
He got dragged helplessly.
It was a nonsensical force that ignored his efforts.
Mumu’s left fist came towards Prefect Jang’s face, who was dragged towards him instantly.
Puck!
“Ugk!”
With a scream, his body bounced back and rolled ten steps away.
After he stopped rolling.
“P-Prefect Jang!”
The officers who were watching with interest were startled at what they saw.
Then, seeing his unconscious face, they were at a loss for words.
‘How did this happen?’
Prefect Jang had lost consciousness, he was bleeding from his nose, and his front teeth were broken.