Book 6 Chapter 26

The Timekeeping of Wise Jin Mujinja

"Hey, young disciple! The Wise Master is passing by!"

Yoo Kang, the second disciple of the Wudang Sect, who was on guard duty at the tall watchtower,

said to his fellow disciple, Yoo Mang.

The term "third generation disciple" here refers not to the lineage calculation from the founding of the sect, but to the disciples of the "Yu" (有) generation, who are disciples of disciples of the generation with the character "Un" (雲) in their name, considering the sect leader as the first generation.

Their current task was to watch for forest fires or intruders and ring the bell at the appointed time. Originally, the common practice was to estimate the time by observing the movements of the sun, moon, and stars each day and then ring the bell, but Wudang Mountain had a special secret technique not found elsewhere.

"Ah! Is that so? Since the Master is finishing his afternoon walk, it must already be the beginning of Youshi (酉時初: 5 PM). Let's quickly ring the bell to announce the time."

Yoo Mang's hasty action earned him a scolding from Yoo Kang.

"Tsk, tsk! How impatient you are! Look closely. The Master has not yet passed through the middle gate of the training grounds! The moment the Master's feet touch that threshold will be the time when Shinshi (申時: 3 PM to 5 PM) transitions to Youshi (酉時: 5 PM to 7 PM). And when he re-enters his quarters will be precisely the start of Youshi (酉時: 6 PM)!"

Indeed, the senior disciple's experience far surpassed that of the junior disciple, even if they were only a year apart.

"I had forgotten! I apologize, senior disciple!"

Yoo Mang bowed his head in apology.

"It's alright! Be more careful next time!"

Yoo Kang showed magnanimous generosity befitting a senior disciple.

"Ding! Ding! Ding…!"

As Mujinja's feet precisely touched the middle gate's threshold, Yoo Mang rang the bell ten times as instructed by Yoo Kang. It was the sound announcing Youshi. It was the happy sound announcing dinnertime.

Mujinja was a person who kept time with absolute precision. His bedtime, wake-up time, walking time, and training time were all as sharp as a blade, never deviating even once.

Furthermore, Mujinja walked with a consistent stride and at a constant speed. His pace never quickened or slowed unless he was using his movement technique. This was unless something unusual occurred. Because of this, he was called the "walking clock" of Wudang Mountain.

What Mujinja practiced was a cultivation method called "Mubyeonhaeng Ilsilji Gong" (無變行一心之功), which involved maintaining the same thoughts and performing the same actions consistently. It sounds easy at first glance but is difficult to practice. In the current Wudang Sect, Mujinja was the only one practicing this method.

After over ten years of such behavior, the people of the Wudang Sect began to gauge the time of day by observing Mujinja's actions.

Therefore, the Wudang Sect had little trouble neglecting to observe the movements of heaven, earth, sun, moon, and stars to know the time. This was because Mujinja would inform them of the time through his actions the next day.

One day, during an emergency meeting at the Wudang Sect, Mujinja did not attend, stating that there was no meeting on his daily schedule.

Of course, it was fine for Mujinja to create his own schedule and adhere to it without adding or subtracting anything, but it was not good conduct to force it upon others.

Most importantly, it was impossible for others to maintain such a strict sense of time as he did. This was something only Mujinja could achieve in this world, and the impossibility of imitating the actions of others had already been recognized within the Wudang Sect. However, despite this background, the problem was that he was not only good at keeping time but also deeply skilled in swordsmanship.

Thus, he became the 담당 사부 (in charge of) the Cheongomjo (天劍組 - Heavenly Sword Group) for the Wudang Mountain intensive training camp this year.

This was no different than dark clouds gathering over the future of Biryu Yeon and his companions.

Upon arriving at Wudang Mountain, the Suzakdan (朱雀團 - Vermilion Bird Group) members breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that the person in charge of this intensive training was the Wise Jin Mujinja. For the Suzakdan, the fact that their 담당 사부 was not a "generic" master was a great relief.

But it was too boring.

For them, who were not masters, Mujinja, the 담당 사부 for the intensive training, was conducting a rigid training session, overly focused on rules and principles.

Mujinja's teachings, which involved doing the exact same thing at the exact same time every single day without fail, felt incredibly monotonous to them, who were at a vigorous age.

Mujinja's sense of time was so meticulous that the word "terrible" was fitting. Moreover, it didn't stop there; the problem was that he forced this upon the Cheongomjo. Fortunately, the Suzakdan was under Yeomdo's jurisdiction, so they narrowly escaped Mujinja's timekeeping grip.

Biryu Yeon, who had no desire to participate in such intensive training in the first place, had every reason to be disgruntled.

And then, such a rigid and principled class… It made him doubt if the person was truly considered a master. In any case, it was a suffocatingly rigid teaching method that absolutely did not suit him.

Mujinja was currently making the serious error of measuring others by his own standards.

It was said, "Ten people, ten colors." (十人十色)

He had overlooked the fact that just because a piece of clothing fit him, there was no guarantee it would fit anyone else. Resistance was inevitable.

"I wonder if some major incident will happen?"

Biryu Yeon, who had always been detached from order and rules, harbored such thoughts, and it was not unreasonable.