The Beauty in the Mirror
In the Murim world, those belonging to the great clans or major sects start on an entirely different playing field than the common folk. They possess vast networks built on family prestige, supreme martial arts that aim for the absolute realm, and the benefits of Beol-mo-se-su—the marrow-washing body cleansing—along with various medicinal elixirs.
Beol-mo-se-su was a technique where a master would purge the turbid energy from another’s meridians and open their blocked channels. It was a highly coveted art, as it could increase the efficiency of internal energy circulation and cultivation by anywhere from a few percent to several times over. Of course, it required a master of profound internal energy, and since the recipient had to accept the master's energy into their own body, it was practically impossible to receive unless one was a recognized prodigy. I assumed the twins and So-yul had received this treatment as well.
“So… you’re saying you’re going to do that for me right now?”
“I don’t think I’ll have another chance. There are people who want to meet you, and I need to inform the family and the Geom-rim that you have become my disciple.”
“People who want to meet me?”
“Something like that. The important thing is that there is no benefit to letting turbid energy accumulate in your body. You should purge it while you can. It will be a great help to your martial arts. And for your appearance, too…”
“Are you beating around the bush to tell me I’m ugly?”
No-ya chuckled at my words. Honestly, I felt a bit wronged. My appearance was average. It wasn’t like I was ugly. Of course, even if I were ugly, it wouldn’t have mattered much to me, having been a man in my previous life. It’s not like I was planning to get married, right? But hearing someone say, “You’re ugly,” to my face felt different. Though, I suppose having a good appearance wouldn’t be bad.
Seo-ah recalled the reasons she had started thinking about her looks. ‘This is all because of So-yul and the twins.’ Back when we were in the village, they weren’t… exactly the same as me, but the difference wasn’t astronomical. But now that they had all become such beauties and handsome youths, the gap between them and me had widened so much that I stood out. In a bad way. Even though my face was perfectly average.
‘If I get the marrow-washing… will I change too?’
Seo-ah looked at No-ya with eyes filled with a flicker of anticipation. Of course, it wasn’t because of the appearance; it was the expectation that internal energy circulation would become much easier. I didn’t have a complex about my looks. I had an average face in my past life, and I still did now. Wow. I wonder how much more natural my energy flow will become?
Seo-ah, looking forward to her transformation, took the initiative.
“Should I take my clothes off?”
“What?”
“Don’t I need to take them off for the marrow-washing?”
No-ya was flustered by the sudden question and clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk. Have you forgotten who I am? I am a master of the Jo-hwa-gyeong (Realm of Creation) within the Cult. I can pinpoint your meridians with my eyes closed. Just lie down comfortably.”
Seo-ah nodded and lay down. No-ya pressed on my meridians and subtly began to flow his internal energy into my body.
Twitch.
“Can you feel it?”
“It tickles.”
“Keep your mind at ease. You wouldn’t do this, but do not reject the energy; you must accept it completely. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’ll begin now. It might hurt a ‘little.’”
At that moment, No-ya’s energy began to flow into my body. It was a pure and delicate method of energy manipulation that couldn’t even be compared to mine. Just as I was wondering how he could manage his energy with such precision, No-ya and I both overlooked one thing.
I wasn’t a natural martial genius. I was just an ‘average’ person with good comprehension. Unlike the twins and So-yul, and unlike the other prodigies No-ya had cleansed, my body was packed with an unimaginable amount of turbid energy.
No-ya’s energy flowed through my body and struck the turbid energy piled up in my meridians.
*Crack!*
At the same time, accompanied by a sound that should never come from inside a human body, I felt an indescribable pain and let out a shriek.
“Kieeeeeeeeeeek!”
No-ya was stunned, seeing the amount of turbid energy—twice what he had expected—and Seo-ah howling in agony.
“I… I’ll finish it quickly! Just hold on a little longer! Stay still!”
*Crack!*
“Save me! Aaaaaaaah!!!”
“Don’t push the energy back! Please! We’re all going to die, you brat!”
*Crack!*
“Kieeeeeeeeeeeek!”
“It’s… it’s almost over, just a little more!”
*Crack!*
After the commotion passed, Seo-ah, covered in a mass of filth purged from her body, was dragged to the bathtub by the maid from before, her soul completely drained. Under normal circumstances, I would have insisted on washing myself, citing something about ‘memories of my past life,’ but… Seo-ah, having lost her spirit, didn’t even have the strength to say that. In the end, she was scrubbed clean by the maid, handled as roughly as a pile of laundry.
“You may wear the clothes here.”
“……”
“Shall I help you put them on?”
As time passed, the subconscious remaining in her flesh moved Seo-ah’s body. Seo-ah slowly shook her head.
“No… I’ll do it…”
After the maid left the room, Seo-ah fumbled into the fine silk clothes prepared for her. In this life, I hadn’t even dared to dream of anything other than cheap cloth, but silk… Under normal circumstances, the corners of my mouth might have ascended to the heavens, but to the current Seo-ah, everything in the world was useless. The ‘soul’ had been drained from her spirit.
What moved Seo-ah now wasn’t her soul, but the Po (the physical soul/memory of the body). Seo-ah, dressed in her clothes, looked at the bronze mirror hanging on the wall.
?
The person reflected in the mirror was a beautiful girl I had never seen in my life. A beautiful girl with a striking streak of grey hair amidst her black locks. Seo-ah blinked, wondering for a moment if she was seeing things.
“That’s strange…”
Have I finally lost my mind, unable to endure the torture of that cruel Demonic Cult leader? Even after opening my eyes again, the beautiful girl in the mirror remained. Seo-ah raised her left hand. The girl in the mirror raised her hand exactly the same way.
“Huh?”
The shape of her lips moved in sync. Is this me? The soul that had slipped out of Seo-ah finally settled back into her body. The beautiful girl in the mirror was already grinning from ear to ear.
After spending quite some time in front of the mirror, examining her face and trying various expressions, Seo-ah was soon caught by the cold-hearted maid and dragged out, her face burning red.
‘Ah… seriously, what do I do?’
Am I not too pretty now? One might say it’s a good thing to be pretty, but that wasn’t necessarily the case. Especially in this dangerous Central Plains. If you refused a proposal from the local landlord’s son, it was common to be sold off as a slave one day. Being taken as a concubine to an old man was considered a stroke of luck, and you could even be kidnapped by a lecher. But even as she swallowed those worries, a smile didn’t leave Seo-ah’s face.
‘Heh… hehe… I’ll have to be careful from now on.’
In truth, Seo-ah had felt a very, very slight complex about her appearance. Of course, her face had been ‘average’ for the Central Plains, but that was only by the standards of the Central Plains. It was a different track from the women in the modern world, who were far removed from hard labor and used high-tech beauty treatments and cosmetics. Honestly, living in a world where this face was in the bottom 1%, what comfort was it to become ‘average’?
Even if I were to face a rough situation, I was learning martial arts, so I could protect myself. ‘Oh. Then only the advantages remain?’
As Seo-ah was immersed in the effects of the marrow-washing, she missed one thing. ‘Come to think of it, how much easier has the energy circulation become?’
Seo-ah pulled a dagger from her robes and channeled her energy into it. The stiff, sluggish feeling from before was gone; it flowed as smoothly and quickly as a well-oiled chain. Was that all? Even though I channeled the same amount of energy, there was almost no loss, and the fatigue that had been crushing my body vanished. It felt as if the efficiency of my energy had increased so much that my fifteen years of cultivation felt like thirty.
‘I apologize, Master. I dared not recognize your vast, ocean-like intentions.’
Seo-ah recalled the things she had shouted while receiving the painful marrow-washing.
— Let go! Damn it! Let go! Ahhh, I’m dying!
— Please, just stay still! Do you want to die alone? I’ll die too!
— Kieeeeeeeeeeeek!
Of course, she also apologized for calling her master the leader of the Demonic Cult in her head. Fortunately, she hadn’t actually said the words ‘Demonic Cult’ out loud. How could a member of the Sacred Cult dare to utter such a word! I must have been out of my mind for a moment.
After a brief self-reflection, Seo-ah decided to stop by the room where the children were before going to No-ya, wanting to share this happy news with everyone. Of course, the ‘joy’ here wasn’t the trivial matter of her appearance changing, but the news that her internal energy felt like it had doubled.
“You can wait a little, right?”
“...Half a quarter of an hour is fine.”
The sigh I just heard must have been my imagination. Seo-ah pushed the trivial matter aside and opened the door to share her joy. As she opened it, she saw So-yul with her face buried in the bed where I had been lying, and Baek-ak, with a delinquent expression, grabbing Dan-ryang by the collar.
“Kaaak! So you were the one who was bullying our boss?”
And next to them, Shin So-so was subtly egging them on, saying, ‘Well done! Well… doing! Do you know how much that bitch bullied me and the young lady!’ Amidst this chaos, Baek-ran was sitting in a lotus position with a peaceful expression. Seo-ah softly closed the door.
“Are you not going in?”
“I’ve changed my mind. I cannot be an unfilial disciple who keeps her master waiting, can I?”
Seo-ah headed toward No-ya’s room.
When she returned to the room, No-ya, looking haggard, was staring at her with a sullen expression. Seo-ah felt awkward and scratched her head, kneeling down politely. She had intended to share the joy of her achievement, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it after seeing his state.
“Ahem… I went a bit too far, didn’t I? I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. It was my fault for not realizing there would be so much turbid energy in your body.”
Fortunately, the Master embraced me with his ocean-like generosity. Just as Seo-ah was about to change her posture comfortably, No-ya asked me.
“But what is this ‘damn it’ you kept repeating?”
Seo-ah straightened her posture politely again.
“That… it’s an eastern dialect… um… it means it hurts a lot.”