Chapter 7
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Short Legs Make Descending Stairs a Struggle
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Three years later.
Uihyeon rubbed his throbbing head as he opened the door to an empty room.
Even when he was crawling, the kid would slip away to the most outrageous places the moment Uihyeon looked away, keeping him on constant watch. Now that he could walk and run, it had become utterly unmanageable.
Just a few days ago, he'd been found halfway up the stairs leading to Hwaseom.
Uihyeon sighed as he recalled Biyeon, slung over Uiseong's shoulder with a sullen expression, being dragged back.
Who would have thought raising a child would be harder than the entrance exam called Selection Hell, held at the Selection Hall on Nak-an Peak?
“Biyeon! Where the hell did that kid go?”
Shouting Biyeon's name loudly, Uihyeon spotted Do-un and hurried over to him.
“Senior Brother Do-un, have you seen Biyeon by any chance?”
“Biyeon? He's gone missing again?”
Uihyeon nodded, and Do-un clicked his tongue, having the chronic runaway as his disciple.
“He's been hanging around with that Uiseong kid a lot. They both vanish the second you look away. Where the heck does he wander off to from dawn?”
Well, to be precise, Uiseong was the one clinging one-sidedly to Biyeon in hopes of making him his disciple.
“I'll tell Uiseong to come find him, so don't worry, Uihyeon. Go back to your training.”
“If he just roamed around inside the Upper Palace, I wouldn't worry, but the problem is he keeps sneaking out.”
Uihyeon said with a sigh. The Upper Palace was located at the summit of Yeonhwa Peak, one of the most rugged areas in Mount Hua.
Outside the Upper Palace were sheer cliffs everywhere.
It was only natural that such surroundings posed a danger to a four-year-old, so how could he not worry?
At that moment.
Biyeon, panting with his short legs as he climbed the stairs toward Jade Maiden Spring, scratched his ear and muttered.
“Who's talking about me?”
* * *
I turned four.
Of course, it's based on when I came to Mount Hua, so I'm not sure if it's exact. But someone said four, so yeah, I'm four.
Birthdays meant nothing anyway. They only matter if someone celebrates them, damn it.
This cursed wuxia child-rearing story was far from those proper child-rearing romance fantasies where the family and retainers throw a grand birthday party and shower you with gifts.
If it weren't for Uiseong, who shared my birthday and was the only one who bothered to celebrate it, even I'd forget about it.
With so many disciples in Mount Hua, I've never once been overloaded with gifts. No way they're skimping because I'm some army brat, right?
A few more years, and I'll be a real family member. Tch. These people really lack finesse.
They even gave me a courtesy name, so no way they'll deny me a Core Disciple spot, right? Especially for a kid they've raised since he couldn't even speak?
Core Disciples get their names in the records, dedicate their lives to the sect, and receive benefits on another level entirely. Nothing like Outer Disciples or Secular Disciples who are just filling numbers.
I grumbled freely as I climbed the stairs toward Jade Maiden Spring.
Surprisingly, a four-year-old's stamina was infinite. The problem with these steep stairs wasn't stamina—it was my short legs.
But why do humans have two arms? If two legs aren't enough, the arms are there to help climb.
Yes, that's me: the future expert mountaineer who'll scale cliffs like a mountain goat.
Scampering up the stairs on all fours, I finally reached the top, where the vibrant scenery of Jade Maiden Spring unfolded.
The plum blossoms that had bloomed profusely just a few months ago had fallen, replaced by lush green foliage.
The moment I dashed toward the clear pond—udada—I felt a large hand grab my collar.
“What are you, a fish in a past life? Why are you so desperate to jump in the water?”
I scowled and whipped around at the familiar grumbling voice.
The handsome face I saw second-most after Uihyeon's came into view.
In the three years I'd grown like a weed, this guy had shed much of his boyish look, his features maturing considerably.
His ponytail and personality remained unchanged, though.
“Slacker!”
“Hey, you can talk properly now. Seems like just yesterday you were babbling.”
Uiseong giggled and ruffled my hair wildly. My bobbed hair, brushing my cheeks, became a tangled mess under his affectionate rough handling.
I turned back toward the pond, but his grip on my collar turned my steps into marching in place.
I thrashed my whole body, demanding he let go, but Uiseong issued a warning.
“Keep trying to jump in that pond, and I'll drag you straight to Senior Brother Uihyeon, kid. How deep do you think that is, jumping in without a care?”
Tch, milking that one toe-dip for years now.
I know enough common sense not to go into deep water, you know?
“Not going in. Want to splash.”
“You climbed the stairs using your hands again, didn't you?”
I spread my pitch-black, dirt-covered palms wide, and Uiseong sighed, grabbing my hand and leading me to the pond's edge.
“Kid, humans are bipedal. Palms aren't for walking.”
“Why?”
“Walking on all fours is for beasts. Humans have dignity.”
“Why?”
“Because humans and beasts are different...”
“Why?”
Uiseong's face grew weary from my endless barrage of whys as he scrubbed my hands in the pond water. He let out a deep sigh.
“...Fine, just go on all fours. You'll figure out it's embarrassing when you're older.”
When my legs grow a bit, you'll be begging me to do it, and I won't.
As I splashed the clean pond water with my now spotless hands, Uiseong scooped me up and swiftly pulled me away from the edge.
Jeez, I said I wasn't going in. I know my life is precious.
“But wanna see waterfall.”
“Waterfall? What's that, another mangy dog's name?”
“Pofall!”
Damn tongue. When will I pronounce consonants properly? That's why I barely talked.
My first words were:
“Does it not hurt, brother?”
Even after I could speak, I kept my mouth shut, so Uihyeon fretted endlessly, talking to me nonstop. That was what I finally said to him.
No mom or dad, so mama or dada felt off. “Uihyeon” was still hard to pronounce.
I still remember his shocked face. It took some effort to console him as he shed tears of relief.
“Ah, waterfall?”
“Yeah.”
“Why the waterfall?”
“To train under it without sitting on rock.”
While getting drenched by the cascading water. Isn't that the classic wuxia training method?
Since I ended up in the wuxia world instead of a comfy romance child-rearing one, I might as well experience this.
“Seeing how much you love water, you were definitely a fish in your past life. Hey, give it up, kid. You'll get swept away by the waterfall before you even sit on the rock.”
I was a human, not a fish. Don't mess with someone else's past life species.
“And what training? You don't seriously think just the starting moves of Plum Blossoms by the Roadside that this master showed you counts as training, do you? You couldn't even swing a sword anywhere with that.”
“Sect Leader grandpa said meditation is training too. And you're not my master.”
“Look at this ungrateful brat. Learn the forms and pretend you didn't, huh?”
But your master, Do-un, said exactly that. If I chose you, all I'd learn is slacking and loafing.
And objectively speaking, that has some serious credibility.
“Who showed you that training method?”
“Jinyul auntie.”
“Ah, Aunt Jinyul? You must've followed her and seen Elder Muyeong training. You punk, what makes a four-year-old think he can imitate an elder who's lived several times your age?”
Uiseong lightly smacked my crown at my bold reply, scolding me.
“Then when can I?”
“When you're about this tall?”
He held his hand at his waist. I sneaked under his palm and looked up—it was dizzyingly high.
I pouted at the unreachable palm even when I stretched. Then, a growl came from my stomach.
Uiseong chuckled and patted my head lightly.
“Waterfall later. Let's eat first.”
I trotted beside Uiseong, my steps turning into a waddle due to our leg length difference. He slowed his pace accordingly.
At the stairs, as Uiseong reached to pick me up, I shook my head vigorously and stepped forward.
“I'll do it myself.”
Climbing up alone wasn't enough to build stamina.
Until now, I'd ridden comfortably on Uiseong's back down, but now it included descending too.
To qualify as a proud disciple of the great Mount Hua Sect, I had to breeze through stairs like these, right?
“For real? The kid's going down alone? Not gonna stop halfway like last time, whining you can't walk anymore?”
I snorted at Uiseong's sly grin and nodded.
While I panted, barely managing one step with my short legs, Uiseong hopped down five with his long ones. He looked up at me and grinned.
“Good, I like that independent attitude. This master will go ahead—come down carefully.”
“Not my master.”
I stuck out my tongue at Uiseong's back as he breezed down without looking. Then, I began descending the stairs, using nearly my whole body, step by cautious step.
Hmm, steep as expected. Way harder going down than up.
Going up tired the body but wasn't scary.
Now, one slip, and I'd tumble down these insanely steep stairs—terrifying.
The stairs to Hwaseom were gentler than this.
“Mommy!”
Descending diligently, I barely avoided disaster from a misstep, clutching my pounding heart.
Almost went to see the Primal Chaos Emperor at this age.
I plopped down on the stairs.
The future expert mountaineer is on strike. He says he can only go up.