Eradicating Illiteracy

The fifteenth of July marked five days since Yeop Pung had last departed.

To guard against any unforeseen disaster, he had kept his jumps through time relatively short. Five days was nothing — and yet his heart was packed tight with unease.

Don't tell me... they haven't wrecked my cave in just five days, have they?

His fears, thankfully, proved unfounded. When he crossed the rear slopes of Mount Tianyun and arrived at the mouth of the valley, everything stood exactly as he had left it.

"Phew..."

Yeop Pung exhaled in relief. He focused at once, reaching out to sense Heukgu's presence.

The next instant, his face went ice-cold.

Heukgu. That little rat was not in the mountain cave.

A stretch of mountain some dozens of li from the valley was home to a troop of Furious Golden Apes.

These were the same monkeys Yeop Pung had encountered at Taibai Peak. The ones here, however, were far weaker — even their strongest ape king was only at the 4th Meridian Mysterious Realm by human standards.

This morning, vicious uninvited guests had stormed Monkey Mountain. Leading them was a large black rat, insolent and brazen as they came.

Ordinarily the monkeys wouldn't have given a rat like this a second glance. But the moment they laid eyes on his subordinates, every last one of them tucked their tails.

"Hah!"

That's... Brother Tiger? The one even other tigers flee from in terror?

And Old Man Armor, with claws harder than steel!

That wild boar's no pushover either...!

The instant those four vicious beasts appeared, the monkeys knew in their bones that today was a cursed day.

What they never imagined was that the rat at the head of the pack knew Monkey Mountain's affairs like the back of his paw. The moment Brother Tiger sent the ape king flying with a single swipe of his forepaw, Old Man Armor and the wild boar charged straight for the storehouse.

Before long, the oldest monkey wine and the most deliciously pickled pork trotters were piled on the ground like a mountain. A grand feast celebrating the "freedom" of Brother Tiger's crew had begun.

Pop!

Heukgu expertly flicked the lid off a gourd bottle brimming with monkey wine with his claws. He poured a cup first for Brother Tiger, Old Man Armor, and the wild boar.

"Brothers, have a drink!"

"Don't mind if I do! Hahaha!"

Brother Tiger's crew was in high spirits. Ever since Heukgu had told them their terrifying master would be gone for a hundred years, they'd been itching for this.

A hundred years — that meant they'd never see him again in this lifetime!

And even if he did come back after a century, all they had to do was guard the herb garden. Who was going to interfere with their freewheeling lives in the meantime?

"Hahaha, this is the life! This monkey wine is incredible!"

The Furious Golden Apes, normally infamous for their ferocity, were as meek as lambs today. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say they'd been reduced to waitstaff for the celebration.

Heukgu was reclining against a female ape's lap, receiving a shoulder massage, his long slender tail swaying lazily from side to side. Then he glanced at the wild boar beside him.

"Brother Boar, is it really okay to eat pork trotters with that much gusto? That's pretty cold, considering they're your own kind."

"Quit nagging and pour the wine!"

The wild boar had long since taken leave of his senses. He'd forgotten the days of doing nothing but taking dumps in a cave, and had resolved to savor life's pleasures for today at least.

But just as the four vicious beasts were thoroughly drunk and letting their guards down — Yeop Pung appeared without a whisper of presence, his expression ice-cold.

The world went still. The wine bottle in Heukgu's paw slipped and hit the ground.

The monkeys blinked, looking back and forth between the human who had materialized out of nowhere and Heukgu's trembling crew. Then every last one of them smiled the same smile.

Serves them right!

Inside the cave, Brother Tiger, Old Man Armor, and the wild boar were lined up in the corner, prostrate against the wall, heads pressed to the floor. They didn't dare so much as breathe.

Yeop Pung narrowed his eyes, looking down at Heukgu kneeling before him. He said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nothing.

Heukgu couldn't speak either. He wore only a look of utter despair.

Do humans... always go back on their word like this? Didn't he say he'd see us in a hundred years...? Coming back in just a few days...It's my fault... I was too stupid...It's over. How am I going to die? Roasted? Or steamed? If he's roasting me, I hope he goes easy on the chili...

"Heukgu..."

At last Yeop Pung spoke. Heukgu's entire body shuddered, and he slammed his head into the floor with a thud.

"M-Master! I was wrong!"

"Do you know what you did wrong?"

Yeop Pung wore a meaningful smile.

"A hundred times — no, a thousand times wrong!"

Heukgu didn't dare lift his head.

"Same goes for you three?"

Yeop Pung's gaze shifted to the side.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The three of them hurriedly slammed their heads into the floor after Heukgu.

"Knowing you were wrong is enough. Get up. I won't punish you this time."

Huh?

Heukgu couldn't believe his ears.

Did Master's personality change in a few days? Is this really that terrifying demon king who only ever dealt in clubs and electric shocks?

Yeop Pung looked at Heukgu with a calm expression. In truth, his mind was already full of self-reflection.

He'd always thought this mountain valley was so remote that neither humans nor beasts ever came looking, so as long as Heukgu's crew didn't wander off, they'd never run into a strong enemy.

But coming back today to find them throwing a banquet on Monkey Mountain, he realized exactly what mistake he'd made.

In the end, these creatures had only just opened their spiritual intelligence — they were barely profound beasts. Forcing them to guard a herb garden for a hundred years was a punishment that suppressed their very nature far too much. It wasn't humane. No — it wasn't even decent by beast standards. Of course it couldn't last.

This was Yeop Pung's strength. When faced with a problem, he first examined himself, and only then did he blame others.

He smiled faintly. But behind that smile lurked a chill that made Heukgu's fur stand on end.

"M-Master... please just roast me instead... please don't smile like that..."

Yeop Pung pulled several crumpled sheets of white silk from the Myriad Realms Wrist Ring. The cloth was densely covered in writing.

What's this now?

The four beasts were bewildered. Yeop Pung spoke in a gentle voice.

"Not only will I not punish you — I'm going to reward you. Here. This is a gift I prepared especially for you. A mysterious secret art passed down in the human world. Cultivate this, and the benefits will be endless!"

Really?

The four beasts' eyes sparkled.

"Master, what kind of secret art is this?"

"This is called the Three Character Classic!"

He flipped through the sheets one by one as he explained.

"This is the Thousand Character Classic, and this is the Standards for Students. This one's truly remarkable — it's called The Art of War. And this is the Tao Te Ching..."

The four beasts felt something was off.

Master... you wouldn't happen to know we can't read, would you?

Yeop Pung's smile bloomed like a flower. Or more precisely, it gleamed as menacingly as a viper.

Thud!

The four beasts slammed their heads into the floor again.

"Master, please just beat us instead!"

Heukgu's eyes even welled with tears.

"Characters... everyone knows human writing is one of the hardest things in the world. If we try to memorize all those characters, our brains will fry!"

"Understood, Master..."

Heukgu hurriedly snatched up the Thousand Character Classic and started studying the characters. His nose hovered a hair's breadth from the silk, his expression the picture of deadly earnestness.

Yeop Pung glared at Heukgu with ice-cold eyes.

"Kid. You've got it upside down."

In Yeop Pung's secret herb garden, a grand campaign against illiteracy was underway. This was an important conclusion he had reached after careful deliberation.

These guys... the problem is they don't have a goal.

Simply suppressing them with force wouldn't be enough to control them for a hundred years. Even if he cowed them this time, they might cause trouble again in ten years.

So he decided to give them a goal. A grand objective that would guide them to guard the herb garden and devote themselves to cultivation for a hundred years.

No, even if it isn't a full hundred years... if they can just focus on cultivation steadily for twenty or thirty years, they can shed their wild nature, cast off their old skins, and be reborn as true cultivators.

Learning to read was only the beginning. After that, profound arts cultivation awaited.

As it happened, the Tianyun Sect had a Profound Elixir Breathing Art created specifically for guardian beasts. Normally, the technique was transmitted directly through the master's will.

But Yeop Pung was different. He wanted Heukgu to learn and comprehend it on his own.

Not just profound arts, but The Art of War to develop his strategic mind and teach him the art of scheming, and the Tao Te Ching to help him rise above base pleasures and cultivate his spirit... If Heukgu mastered all of this, he would finally be qualified to cultivate on Mount Tianyun for a hundred ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠years.

Of course, these plans were mainly for Heukgu — Brother Tiger's crew had just gotten swept along for the ride. But before Yeop Pung left, Heukgu had to become a model rat of Tianyun's new era, armed with an indomitable spirit. In the span of ten days, a truly enormous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mission had been assigned!

But Yeop Pung had learned this for certain through the hellish training of the Cheonbong Army. A person never knows the extent of their own potential until they're pushed to the absolute limit!

And in the days that followed, Heukgu came to feel in his bones just how steep the price was for a little sightseeing.

Studying characters... sleep was absolutely out of the question. At this rate, he could forget about so much as dreaming of sleep for ten days. Memorizing radicals and pronunciations, learning meanings, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠composing sentences! Where was there time to sleep?

Meals came with conditions.

In three days, Heukgu felt as if every last color had drained from his existence as a rat. He just wanted to bash his head in and die.

But the most tragic part was this: a rat fears death, but fears pain even more.

Wasn't there some way to end it all without the pain?

Heukgu was beside himself!

Then, on the fifth day, a savior appeared.

When Yeom Woon-hwan saw that Yeop Pung, who'd been missing for days, had returned, she made no effort to hide the joy that filled her face.

She'd originally wanted to spend sweet, cozy time together and let their affection grow — but who could have guessed he'd be up to something this bizarre? Teaching a rat to read and reciting the classics?

"Big Sister, save me! Please save me!"

The moment Yeom Woon-hwan appeared, Heukgu scrambled up in a panic and threw himself into her arms.

But the next instant, her eyes sparkled as if she'd discovered a new continent.

"Wow, Yeop Pung! This looks so fun! How did you even think of this? I want in, I want in!"

I'm doomed!

Heukgu slammed his head against Yeom Woon-hwan's chest over and over.