The Medicinal Bath's Torment
Time for some martial training. Cheong returned to Mucheon Pavilion and pushed both Shadowless Divine Hand and Flowing Softness Softening Refinement to the first star. Shadowless Divine Hand had already reached the sixth star earlier, and there was no need to waste training points on an internal energy cultivation method she could learn properly later. If she followed her usual nature, she would have maxed out the internal energy method first—more is always better, after all—then dumped every remaining point into lightness skills. But these days she had not been able to cut down any villains, so her training points had stagnated at rock bottom. Points earned through pure training were meager, and even those only raised the proficiency of the specific art; free points were little more than a bonus. Therefore Cheong thought the few points she had left must be distributed with extreme care. It was the same principle as how a person who once spent money freely would agonize over a single coin once their purse ran dry. “They charged three extra coins just because I added a few more slices of meat? Do I really need to eat that much? Wouldn’t it be better to just get one more dumpling instead?” That sort of thinking.
Once she reached even the first star, the entire manual would flood into her head and occupy it completely. That was more than enough to show off to Cheon Yuhak and declare what an outstanding disciple she was. By the time she finished, night had already fallen. She and Cheon Yuhak had spent the evening chatting rather than truly studying, two kindred spirits who simply got along well, and she had only received the manuals in the end.
“For the time being, train with the Hanlin Academy lecturer.”
“Then won’t Master feel lonely?”
“Lonely, my foot. An old woman who has lived this long has more than one or two acquaintances. Of course I will have things to do. Even if that Cheon fellow pretends to be crude, a Hanlin Academy scholar is supposed to have read at least a thousand cartloads of books—true giants among giants. This is a good chance for my disciple to build up some learning as well.”
“Learning? A martial artist only needs to be good with a blade. What use is learning? Hmm. Still, I do want to eat some learning.”
“……? That gluttonous appetite of yours.”
Seomun Su-rin let out a short laugh.
“Evening greetings are done, so you may take your leave now.”
Cheong lingered, fidgeting as though she still had something to say.
“Hmm? What is it? Why are you not going to bed?”
“Master, you know……”
“Whatever it may be. Yes. What is it?”
“Well, um. Today, could I perhaps sleep together with Master……?”
“Hmm?”
Seomun Su-rin’s eyebrow rose a notch. It was an utterly shameless and unseemly thing for a fully grown disciple to say. Watching Cheong glance about nervously, she suddenly realized the truth. The foolish child had fallen into heart demons! Her mind and body felt empty, loneliness had taken root, and now she simply craved human warmth. It was the same heart demon that plagued rootless wanderers who had nowhere to return to. But how could this be? Had the Goddess Sect failed to become a warm home for her disciple? The realization brought with it a wave of reflection on the past. How had she treated the girl last winter? Because the foolish thing was always grinning, Seomun Su-rin had assumed she was fine.
Strictly speaking, it was not a particularly dangerous type of heart demon. Still, if left unresolved, it would eventually lead to the extreme fork between excessive sentimentality and utter coldness. One either became a fool who wagged their tail at anyone regardless of righteousness or evil, or turned into a cold-blooded person with no interest in others whatsoever.
Seomun Su-rin forced a gentle smile.
“Very well. This old woman’s side has been feeling rather empty lately, so this is perfect timing. Come here. Let me hold my pretty disciple.”
“Hehe……”
Cheong giggled like a child, pulled off her sleeping robe as usual, left it crumpled on the floor like discarded skin, and crawled into bed. A vein bulged on Seomun Su-rin’s forehead. This wretched girl still had not fixed the shameless habit of stripping completely naked! Yet the child was suffering from heart demons born of emotional starvation, so Seomun Su-rin’s heart had softened. She clenched and unclenched her fist, seriously debating whether to punish her. By the time she decided, the moment had already passed. With a long sigh, she simply pulled her disciple into a tight embrace.
----
Breakfast was shared with Seomun Su-rin. Surprisingly, the matriarch said nothing even after witnessing the barbaric way Cheong wielded her chopsticks at the table. Having already heard about the sword training, Seomun Su-rin figured that while the sight was unpleasant, the enthusiasm was worth acknowledging. After all, as long as Cheong did not behave that way in front of others, it was acceptable. Seomun Su-rin, who always emphasized ladylike conduct, found herself marveling that such an idea had never occurred to her before. Of course, after being thoroughly sliced once, Cheong had also become considerably more cautious and no longer acted so recklessly.
Right after breakfast, Cheong headed for the bathhouse. It was because Cheon Yuhak had mentioned it the night before. The moment she stepped inside, the air hit her with a sharp, acrid stench so thick and sour that it stung her eyes and made her want to retch.
“Eek, Master, what on earth did you do to the bath?”
“External arts are supposed to be this foul. Softening a person’s body is no ordinary feat. It is all thanks to the medicine. Here. I prepared a medicinal bath for you.”
Cheon Yuhak spoke with a nasal voice. Naturally, since he had stuffed cloth into his nostrils and clipped a clothespin over the bridge of his nose. Following his pointing finger, Cheong turned to see a medicinal tub emitting thick, filthy greenish-yellow smoke.
“Uh, you want me to go in there? That color looks like it should not exist in this world.”
The smoke was greenish-yellow, but the water itself was a murky reddish-purple.
“That is practically paradise. Have you heard of Iron Sand Palm? It is the most famous external art in the world.”
Iron Sand Palm was notorious for its training method of repeatedly thrusting one’s hands into scorching hot iron sand. At its peak, the hands became impervious like diamond, and the blackened palms were said to carry iron poison.
“Did you think external arts training was like studying—sitting quietly and circulating qi? Most of the time you have to shed blood, sweat, and tears. Even external arts ultimately combine four methods.”
The four methods were overwork, torture, poison, and medicine. Overwork meant partially destroying the body. Torture involved beating, striking, and burning—identical to actual torture except that the desired result was for the victim rather than the torturer. Then came poison and medicine.
“So enduring a medicinal bath is practically paradise compared to other external arts training.”
“If I go in there, I really will reach paradise. Also, isn’t that thing boiling right now? Are you trying to make stew out of your disciple?”
“It is not boiling from heat. It is because so many medicinal ingredients were added. The temperature is just right. Once you soak in it, kyaah. I used to bathe in it a lot during my youth. It is sticky and slimy, and it feels absolutely disgusting—like being thrown into a cesspit.”
Cheon Yuhak burst into open laughter without even trying to hide his amusement.
“You will understand once you go in. Starting with that damn texture, the smell alone will make you want to puke. There is not a single clean spot anywhere. If you feel wronged, you can do the same to your own disciple later.”
“That is literally passing down hatred.”
“Exactly. That is the bond between thieves. By the way, have you memorized the mantra for Awakening Divine Art? The Divine Thief said one night would be more than enough.”
“You could just use True Qi Guiding once.”
Cheon Yuhak frowned.
“Do you think True Qi Guiding is something the neighborhood Taoist does for free? Do you have any idea how difficult it is? This girl really has the mindset of a thief.”
“I have never tried it, so I would not know. Hehe, but Master told me to become the greatest thief in the world, so it should be fine, right?”
“Kuh. Doing that will leave me exhausted for three days.”
“Come on, Master. Just once. Just once.”
“Krhmm.”
That kind of cute act would never work on Seomun Su-rin, but it was devastatingly effective against Cheon Yuhak. In the end, grumbling, he placed his palm on Cheong’s back as she sat in meditation. True Qi Guiding was no simple technique. It required moving another person’s internal energy and leading it along paths it had never taken before. Even Seomun Su-rin, a Profound Realm master, had been drenched in sweat after guiding Cheong through the Juvenile Heart-Nurturing Scripture. For Cheon Yuhak, a Harmonious Realm expert, it was truly an exhausting and difficult task that would leave his body drained for three full days. But honestly, when his pretty disciple acted cute, there was nothing he could do. His other disciples at the Hanlin Academy were all grown men who did not even understand the most basic meanings of the Hundred Schools of Thought and only spouted nonsense. For reference, Cheon Yuhak was a giant of the Hanlin Academy—equivalent to a top university professor in modern terms—so his gaze toward disciples was exactly that of a professor looking at students.
Thus, together with the mantra of Awakening Divine Art, Cheon Yuhak succeeded in guiding Cheong’s true qi through one full heavenly circuit, albeit with great difficulty.
“Whew, I cannot do it twice. I would rather die.”
Cheon Yuhak collapsed onto the bathhouse floor, groaning. His robes were completely soaked after barely thirty minutes. Meanwhile, Cheong’s dantian welcomed a new resident. The qi of heaven that had entered through her breath coalesced into a single weak thread of true qi, forming the Awakening Body Qi of the Awakening Divine Art. After stretching once to confirm its territory, it returned to find that the single-family home it had expected was actually a crowded barracks already occupied by multiple tenants. It was not even a multi-family house; it was a single room packed wall-to-wall with no partitions. At this point, saying “I will just leave now” was impossible—once it had become true qi, dispersing would mean annihilation. It could not simply choose death, so it cautiously lingered near the entrance of the dantian.
Having gone without bloodshed recently and remaining peaceful, the Daoist and Buddhist true qi were lounging about, idly scratching their bellies. In contrast, the demonic qi, starved of blood, huddled miserably in a corner. And in the very farthest corner, a moldy, filthy mass of demonic qi was tightly bound, its grotesque eyes gleaming. Because the Awakening Body Qi belonged to the weak yin-cold category and was more effective for physical refinement than qi accumulation, it was ambiguous whether it belonged to orthodox or demonic arts. In such situations, one had to crawl carefully. The Awakening Body Qi slowly assessed the stronger presences and attached itself to them. The Daoist and Buddhist divine arts glanced at the newcomer, nodded once, and pointed with their chins toward one side. It meant they were reluctant but would accept it anyway. Once the Awakening Body Qi awkwardly took the lowest seat, the Joyful True Qi of the Maiden Joy Scripture, which had just returned after driving the sinister demonic qi to the extremities, poked at the newcomer to test it.
Is this demonic art? Or not? Should I purify it or not? Then the two qi’s eyes met.
“Hmm?”
Cheong tilted her head. What was that? What was it? There was a strange, indescribable sensation, but no matter how much she thought about it, she could not grasp it. This feeling…… it was like something from before……
“Aigo, I am dying. Did you reach the first star? Then go soak in there already. Aigo, I feel like I have aged a hundred years.”
Cheon Yuhak expressed his exhaustion with his entire body as he crawled toward the exit.
“Oing? Where are you going?”
“Even if I am a thief, I am not shameless. Do you think I would stay here and ogle my disciple’s naked body?”
“You already seemed shameless enough when you shoved that smut book at me.”
“Kuk. I suppose I am shameless. A man should be a little shameless. If he is too uptight, he might as well be a eunuch. Still, I would not spy on my disciple’s body. Breaking the heavenly bond would make me no different from a beast.”
“Can’t you just turn around? If you leave, how am I supposed to train alone? Can’t I just soak my body?”
“What kind of girl has no sense of caution? You should not trust men so easily. Beasts are everywhere among men.”
“But you are my master.”
Cheon Yuhak chuckled. How did she manage to say things so adorably?
“I will be right outside the ventilation window anyway, so just speak. Damn, the smell and stuffiness here are unbearable.”
The ventilation window was a small opening near the floor for air circulation. After Cheon Yuhak left, Cheong stood before the medicinal tub. It had looked terrible from afar, but up close it was even worse. The viscous liquid bubbled like lava, the bubbles bursting slowly, and it seemed as though submerging herself would leave not even bones behind. It looked exactly like a bath from hell.
Cheong shouted.
“Is it really okay to go in!? It looks like I will die if I do!”
A reply came from beyond the window.
-The medicinal ingredients in that single tub are worth three bars of gold. If I wanted to kill you, why would I waste precious gold when there are cheaper methods? Just soak in it. You will not die.