Chapter 179
Chapter 179
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: Character Education
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Time flowed by like a river.
Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong was a sect forbidden to men; there was no history of males staying for any extended period.
But Bu Eun-seol and Hyeok So-jin not only broke that taboo, they also brought about a small change.
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
The disciples of Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong were lined up at the training grounds and the Baek-ryeon-gak, where the martial arts manuals were kept.
This was because the library, once filled primarily with graceful feminine techniques, movement skills, and sound-based arts, was now stocked with demonic martial arts that could unleash formidable power with ease.
“Bipa-seomsu is a technique that primarily uses the sleeves, so you must not use an excessive amount of true energy. *Hoe-cheon-ryeok-jin*. That is, you must focus on deflecting the enemy’s attack and depleting their strength…”
And in front of the training grounds, the disciples who had finished reading the manuals were lined up before Hyeok So-jin, learning practical applications and techniques directly from him.
To be taught the profound and domineering arts of the demonic path, so different from the light, feminine arts they had learned until now—and by the successor of one of the Ten Great Demonic Sects, no less!
Fearing they might miss this golden opportunity, not only the martial instructors of Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong but also the regular disciples had gathered like clouds.
*Damn it all.*
Hyeok So-jin’s face was a mask of dismay as he watched the ever-growing crowd of disciples.
*I don’t even have time to train my own martial arts.*
The only reason he had managed to shake off his laziness was his burning desire to develop his own skills and become stronger.
And yet, here he was, teaching others as a martial arts instructor, a role he had never imagined for himself.
“Hmm.”
It was only when the sun began to set that the long line finally disappeared.
“Hoo.”
With a sigh, Hyeok So-jin, looking exhausted, gulped down some tea from a table placed at the side of the training grounds.
“Young Master, I don’t understand the principle of *Mu-yu-bu-dong* in the Bing-hon-hwan-sal Sword Manual…”
But before he could even finish his tea, another disciple from Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong approached him, this time holding a sword manual.
*Haha…*
As Hyeok So-jin stared at the setting sun, his eyes lost their focus.
And like a bell that rings when shaken, he once again began to mechanically explain the principles.
***
—But what is that man from Nang-ya-gak doing?
In contrast to Hyeok So-jin, Bu Eun-seol’s days were leisurely.
Every day, he would take Geuk Hye-bin out to see the sights around Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong, and sometimes they would squat down together to observe insects.
—I heard he’s supposed to be teaching the Young Mistress martial arts.
—Then why is he always just wandering around like that?
The disciples of Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong whispered among themselves, casting strange glances at Bu Eun-seol as he took Geuk Hye-bin out to play, as if they were on a scenic tour.
Geuk Hye-ryeong, listening to the report on Bu Eun-seol’s daily routine from a trusted subordinate in her residence, the Jeong-geum-gak Pavilion, also wore a puzzled expression.
“The man who’s supposed to be teaching her demonic killing arts is just playing around every day?”
“That is correct.”
“Hmm.”
Geuk Hye-ryeong let out a heavy sigh.
Nearly a month had already passed.
Demonic killing arts, which were ultimate techniques designed to unfailingly end an enemy’s life, involved many overlapping moves and were extremely difficult to master.
They were difficult to learn even with daily training, yet he had been idly playing around for almost a month?
*Wait, could this man be?*
At that moment, a strange thought crossed Geuk Hye-ryeong’s mind.
*Is he trying to win her over by playing with her every day?*
Bu Eun-seol possessed looks and an aura that any woman would find captivating.
Even a pure-hearted young girl… was not guaranteed to be immune.
*That bastard! Surely he didn’t gain the backing of Jeol-cheon-myeol-ji this way?*
Come to think of it, it was strange from the start that he was traveling the martial world with the grandson of Jeol-cheon-myeol-ji.
It was clear he was using his bewitching looks to scheme something.
“That cur!”
As the thought took hold, Geuk Hye-ryeong shot to her feet and shouted.
“Where is this man, Bu Eun-seol, now!”
Near the West Garden of Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong.
In a scenic area, a stream cascaded down a low cliff.
Below, Geuk Hye-bin had rolled up her pants and was splashing in the water, while Bu Eun-seol stood at a distance, watching her.
*Step, step.*
Just then, the sound of soft footsteps approached, and a small figure walked toward them.
Her skin was as tough as the bark of an old tree, but her gait and gaze were as swift and sharp as any young man’s.
It was Geuk Hye-ryeong.
*So, he thought the promise he made with this Matriarch was a joke!*
Sparks flew from her eyes when she spotted her granddaughter playing in the stream with her pants rolled up.
Just then, Geuk Hye-bin, who was standing in the water, saw her and approached with a smile.
“Ah.”
Seeing the bright smile in those large eyes, Geuk Hye-ryeong forcibly swallowed her rising anger.
“Yes. It looks like you’re having fun.”
“What brings you here?”
As Bu Eun-seol approached with a placid expression, Geuk Hye-ryeong’s face hardened.
“What are you doing here?”
“We are in the middle of training.”
“Training?”
In that instant, the suppressed rage shot to the top of her head.
If Geuk Hye-bin hadn’t been holding her sleeve, she would have struck Bu Eun-seol across the head right then and there.
“I see. It seems Nang-ya-gak has a secret method for practicing internal energy in the water.”
“This isn’t practice.”
“Not practice? Then what are you doing here?”
“If I had to put a name to it, I would call it character education.”
“Character education?”
“Indeed.”
Bu Eun-seol gestured toward the stream and spoke calmly.
“That child may seem upright on the inside, but in reality, she has no idea how to live and interact with others.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“A person’s character does not mature on its own with age. Children, especially, must be instilled with proper values that suit their disposition.”
Geuk Hye-ryeong’s eyes widened at these unheard-of words.
*It sounds serious, yet strangely bizarre.*
But Bu Eun-seol’s eyes were so clear that it didn’t seem like he was spouting nonsense.
After a moment of thought, Geuk Hye-ryeong asked again.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying at all. Can you explain it simply?”
“That child’s experience of seeing and hearing has been far too limited. That is why a proper character could not take root.”
Bu Eun-seol spoke with a serious expression.
“To raise a child properly, one must pour that much attention into them. But unfortunately, it seems that did not happen here at Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong.”
“Nonsense! Are you saying this Matriarch raised this child poorly?”
Geuk Hye-ryeong’s tone was defiant.
“Hye-bin has always been taught not only by the most outstanding figures of our sect but also by the greatest masters in every field, whom I personally invited. And you say she wasn’t raised properly?”
“They may have taught her knowledge in their respective fields, but they did not cultivate her inner self, did they?”
“Cultivate her inner self? What kind of absurd talk is that?”
“Children come to emulate the ones they spend the most time with.”
Bu Eun-seol’s eyes deepened as if recalling a memory from his past.
“A child raised by their grandfather will resemble their grandfather, and a child raised by their parents will resemble their parents. But this child had no one like that.”
At that moment, Geuk Hye-ryeong’s mind became a whirlwind of thoughts.
Aside from the nannies who cared for her during meals and sleep, Geuk Hye-bin was taught by the greatest masters in every field.
But that was all.
Geuk Hye-ryeong, busy managing Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong, was often unable to look after Geuk Hye-bin.
“Then, Hye-bin is…”
“Despite receiving an excellent education, she has, paradoxically, a less than human character. Because no one truly influenced her.”
Bu Eun-seol’s original plan was to show Geuk Hye-bin the laws of nature to significantly alter her gentle disposition.
But it was only after recalling how she had saved the rabbit being hunted by a hawk that he realized her actions were not born of simple purity or compassion.
*She was simply acting, with no empathy whatsoever.*
If she had truly pitied the rabbit and wanted to help it?
She would have at least tried to carefully remove the hawk’s talons from the rabbit’s back.
But Geuk Hye-bin had unhesitatingly and forcefully pried the hawk’s clenched talons away.
As a result, the rabbit’s skin had been torn off, and blood had gushed out.
At first, Bu Eun-seol hadn’t thought much of it.
But he later realized that it was an act a child with compassion could never have committed.
“This child is severely lacking in empathy.”
“Empathy?”
“Yes. To put it simply, she has been helping others as a habit, without feeling any emotion at all.”
“But why…”
“Because that is how she would get attention from you, Matriarch, and those around her.”
Geuk Hye-ryeong trembled as if struck.
Her beloved granddaughter, who was clutching her sleeve so tightly.
The child she thought helped others because of her noble heart was, in reality, devoid of emotion?
“If even one person had given her proper, warm affection, she would not have become like this.”
As he spoke, a corner of Bu Eun-seol’s heart ached.
*I was actually the same…*
Bu Eun-seol, an orphan.
He had never received love from anyone. He had only struggled day by day to keep from starving to death.
For Bu Eun-seol, abandoned in a bleak world and living a life of isolation, emotions were a luxury.
If he hadn’t met his grandfather, Bu Jan-yang.
If he hadn’t received that endlessly warm love.
Bu Eun-seol would have remained an emotionless human being, both to others and to himself.
*But now…*
Bu Eun-seol inwardly shook his head.
When Bu Jan-yang met his tragic end, his personality had gradually begun to revert to that of his childhood.
If he hadn’t formed bonds in the martial world with people like Heuk-pyo, Dang Gon, and Namgung Un…
Bu Eun-seol would have completely returned to the disposition of his orphan days, when his emotions were frozen solid.
“So, that’s why you were playing with Hye-bin?”
“Rather than playing, I was instilling in her proper values. The way to appreciate the beauty of nature, the way animals live in the wild…”
Bu Eun-seol paused for a moment before continuing.
“And I simply showed her how people interact and live together.”
His eyes, gazing at the distant sky, were endlessly deep with longing.
For all these lessons were things he had received from his grandfather, Bu Jan-yang.
“I see. So that’s how it was.”
Realizing her grave mistake, Geuk Hye-ryeong pulled Geuk Hye-bin, who was still clutching her sleeve, into a tight embrace.
“This grandmother has done you a terrible wrong.”
She should have spent more time with her granddaughter, even a little, rather than managing Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong.
More than hiring famous masters to teach her, more than dressing her in fine clothes and feeding her good food…
She should have taken her hand and gone to see the world outside, just once.
“Ah.”
At this, Geuk Hye-bin shook her head and put on a sullen expression.
Geuk Hye-bin, who had always worn a bright smile out of habit.
But thanks to Bu Eun-seol’s help over the past month, she had become able to empathize, even just a little, with the feelings of others.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Hye-bin.”
Finally, tears streamed from Geuk Hye-ryeong’s eyes, which had been frozen like a glacier.
After her son and daughter-in-law died tragically, Geuk Hye-ryeong had secretly expanded her influence by interacting with the powerful figures of both the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions.
It was all so she could one day pass on a stronger Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong to Geuk Hye-bin.
But who knew that in the end, it would be the very thing that ruined the child?
“Ah. Ah.”
As Geuk Hye-ryeong wept, tears also streamed from Geuk Hye-bin’s eyes.
She too was finally feeling the profound love Geuk Hye-ryeong had for her.
The valley was instantly flooded with tears.
“……”
Watching them, Bu Eun-seol quietly turned and left the valley.
His back seemed endlessly lonely, but with Geuk Hye-ryeong and Geuk Hye-bin holding each other, neither of them saw it.
***
Without teaching Geuk Hye-bin any killing arts, Bu Eun-seol had achieved the best possible outcome.
However, Geuk Hye-ryeong made no promises to support Bu Eun-seol or send word to the Demonic Palace on his behalf.
But from that day on, vast funds were invested into Nang-ya-gak and Jeol-cheon-myeol-ji.
Neither sect was particularly well-off.
Nang-ya-gak, especially, which focused solely on the martial path without establishing any external influence, was in a state of chronic deficit.
By providing ample funds to both sects, Geuk Hye-ryeong had effectively announced her support for Bu Eun-seol to the entire martial world.
*Step, step.*
After leaving the valley, Bu Eun-seol walked toward the center of Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong.
He seemed to be walking calmly, but he was quieting his spirit and raising his internal energy.
His body and mind had become one, and a haze of true energy shimmered around his entire body.
His steps finally came to a halt in front of the training stage of Baek-ryeon-gak.
With everything resolved, he would soon be leaving Mu-ha-su-yu-jeong. But before that, he intended to resume the duel that had been postponed for so long.