Candle

"Oh, my tooth hurts!!!"

"HOW WILL YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY?!"

Tae Pyung wiped the food off his face:

"Brother, why are you still acting like this? I have nothing to do with the monastery anymore."

"HOW DARE YOU MAKE EXCUSES!!!"

"I'm not making excuses...I always check the quality of the food beforehand.Brother...are you still harbouring a grudge since that day?"

....

15 years ago

Every three years there was a martial arts competition, and Tae Pyung won against his brother. He won the last tournament.

"Good match,brother." He said and held out his hand.

I, Mu-Hae, knew that I couldn't win as long as you were in this monastery.With you...I was always destined to come second.The humiliation of defeat...I could never forget.Even if you were banished, the humiliation I received from you continues to burn deep in my heart.

....

Tae Pyung asks the person with a broken tooth:

"I'll ask you one more time...Did you really break your tooth while eating?"

"Are you implying that I'm lying?" Suddenly he's thinking to himself.

"Shit, if I'm found out to be lying, I'm fucked."

....

3 days ago.

"What happened to your tooth?"

"Oh, this? I tripped over the root of a tree while training with Mu-Hae and broke it."

....

Tae Pyung realised the situation and said:

"Just relying on lies...the future of Gong monastery doesn't look good..."

"I CAN'T TOLERATE YOUR ARROGANCE ANYMORE!!!" Saying that, Mu-Hae hits his brother Tae Pyung in the stomach. Tae Pyung is thrown back and hits the wall and starts bleeding.

"DAD!!!" The little girl comes up to Mu-Hae and starts begging.

"PLEASE STOP HURTING MY FATHER!!!"

"How dare you...raise your hand on my sacred body?!" He hits the little girl and she falls to the ground.

Chae-Ran sees this and wants to intervene, but Mu-Wan stops her.

"Please calm down, being enemies with them will put us in a difficult situation."

When Min-Jung sees this, he confronts Mu-Hae.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a bodyguard."

"A bodyguard?"

"Just this once...can you ignore it?"

"PUHAHAHA!!! What a brave boy you are!!! Hey boy...If you put it like that, it looks like we're the bad guys. How dare a bodyguard go against me?"

"Please don't say that, being a bodyguard is an honourable job with tremendous value!!"

"Insolent bastard!! Not only do you stand up to me, but you're trying to teach me a lesson? I'll show mercy by taking one of your arms!" He says, and sheaths his sword.

"Hoo?" Jin stands up.

Mu-Wan looks at him and says:

"Please don't be a fool. Just keep your anger inside and eat your food. He brought this on himself. At least he's lucky he didn't lose his life. He's lucky that only his body and pride will suffer from this."

"The moment a martial artist loses his arm, it's a signal that he's lost his life. As for pride... Even dogs have that shit."

"Are you really going to make the Gong monastery your enemy?"

"Isn't that good?"

Mu-Hae suddenly swings his sword towards Min-Jung. Jin appears in front of Mu-Hae with a single step, and stops his sword with one finger. Everyone is shocked to see this. Mu-Hae is in shock:

"Bare-handed sword block?! That's a high-level martial arts technique! But it's useless against me. Where did you come from?!"

Then looking at Jin:

"Who are you?! How dare you get in my way? Do you know who I am?"

"You can think of me as this kid's older brother, why don't we stop this?"

"THESE DO NOT LOOK LIKE THE EYES OF ONE WHO WANTS GOODNESS!" he says, attacking Jin with his fist, but Jin counters the attack with the sheath of his sword.

"A family's duty is to raise their children." He says and starts to squeeze the sword with his finger.

"A mercenary's duty is to make a profit, and you...you bring dishonour to the name of the Zahids." Saying, he shatters the sword with his finger, Mu-Hae collapses to the ground in shock.

At this moment, two other people attack Jin.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!"

Jin, looking at Min-Jung:

"Min-Jung, take the girl and her father away, now."

"Yes, brother!"

Two people start to make sword attacks towards Jin at the same time, Jin easily dodges the attacks without any retaliation, this time one was attacking from above and one was attacking from below, they both rushed at Jin at the same time, but Jin kicked one of them backwards and swung him backwards, and punched the other one and restrained him.

"UGH!!!!"

"AHHHH!!!"

Suddenly Mu-Hae throws his broken sword at Jin from a distance, but Jin dodges it.

"I'M GONNA RIP YOUR HEAD OFF!!!" Saying that, Mu-Hae goes for a close attack.

But Jin comfortably stops him. He starts punching him repeatedly, holding him by the collar. Suddenly the other soldier moves towards Jin from behind.

"How dare you...attack us?!" But Jin has already stopped this attack. Suddenly a voice was heard.

"BUTT!"

Jin broke the arm of the person who attacked him from behind. The Steel Brigade was watching in shock.

"Bastard!! Ugh...How dare you cripple the ascetic of Gong monastery? Do you really think you can get away with it?"

Jin grabbed Mu-Hae by the collar:

"You're making a threat...but can you fulfil it?"

"The entire Gong monastery will be mobilised!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is!!! How dare you attack us without even knowing!!!"

Jin got close to Mu-Hae's ear:

"Then...all I have to do is...kill all the members of the Gong monastery...Right?"

"N-How dare you threaten us?!"

Jin grinned:

"Why not? I don't have permission?"

Suddenly, other soldiers come in and see the commotion.

....

"How dare you attack them? You should be grateful enough that we let you come with us to Unnam."

"I apologise for my actions. But they attacked innocent people, and they attacked our bodyguard. That boy almost lost his arm trying to save that girl. They can't just hurt whoever they want just because they're high ranking."

"Ah...okay. It's my fault. But...the matter you put them in is no small thing."

"I'll take full responsibility for this. If I wasn't ready to take responsibility, I wouldn't have got involved in the first place. As I said, I'll take full responsibility. But if it doesn't satisfy you, I can take Min-Jung and continue on my own."

"Well, we'll do as you say."

....

"Brother, I'm sorry...it's my fault..."

"No need to worry. Looks like we'll be spending the night outside. Can you get me some firewood?"

"Of course, brother!!!" He says and walks away.

Meanwhile, behind the rocks, Mu-Wan prepares to talk to Jin.

"It's my turn to talk-"

"Stop. Let me get some rest. I'm tired of all this talking."

"BUT I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO YOU!!! PLEASE GIVE ME SOME TIME!"

"Do you always calculate your moves?"

"Yes, that's the only way to survive. You have to make your moves according to your strength and weaknesses. That's why the Steel Brigade survived for so long."

"I see. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against it. That's the way people of this world usually think."

"Then why-"

"But I believe that there are times when you should listen to your heart more than your mind.I did that today.Everyone thinks that kindness and compassion have been lost.And that's why the weak are always oppressed.And the weak will have no place to cry or complain.If people who learn martial arts in a cruel world like this start abusing their powers...Then what is the point of being a martial artist?"

Mu-Wan thought to himself in shock.

"This man...he's dangerous! His beliefs will be a great threat to the entire Murim world!"

"ONE PERSON ALONE CANNOT CHANGE THE WORLD! THE WORLD IS NEITHER AS FORGIVING NOR AS EASY AS YOU THINK!"

Jin smiled:

"Hmm...Is that so? But you see...if a single candle has the ability to pierce the darkness, why shouldn't I be able to guide people who can be that light? And that is...the reason why I learnt martial arts and why I must continue to take this path."