Chapter 257
Chapter 257
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Returning to the Divine Martial Academy (1)
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"Father..."
The moment he returned from Infinite Citadel and handed over the Green Dew sword to Yoran, her gaze turned distant.
"Was it pointless?"
"No way."
She shook her head slightly, her lips trembling.
"The father I knew was always drunk."
Her pale, delicate fingers caressed the blade, tracing the characters that read "Green Dew."
"I knew he had lost Mother and my brother, but I was too young back then."
"It's regrettable not to remember the good memories, but fortunate that the painful ones have faded."
What thoughts had crossed her mind as she watched her father's back, a man who had abandoned everything in life?
"I even resented him for never looking back. I cried every day because of it."
"The crybaby Lu Ju? I'd love to see that sometime."
"Eek."
Her voice grew subdued as her index finger gently stroked the blade.
"In the end, I couldn't leave my father to wander lost like that, so I started working from a young age."
"...Must have been tough."
"Still, Fujian Province was livable back then. Hustling with my small body was enough to get congee in my mouth."
"......"
"When I made hot congee and let it dribble into my father's slack mouth, with his dazed eyes... I was so happy."
A faint warmth crept into her wistful voice.
"But begging had its limits. In the end, I couldn't bear watching my father waste away, so I sold myself."
"Is that how you ended up in the Hao Gate?"
"I took the money for my body and bought one last round of liquor and meat to bring to Father. But he didn't stir."
"Was that the last time you saw him?"
"Yes."
Her voice had turned to a sob.
"I thought he wouldn't even remember someone like me."
Having regressed into that little girl from the past, Yoran began shedding large, pearly tears with soft hiccups.
Watching the teardrops fall like dewdrops, Chu Un-hwi spoke up.
"I came to see a million-nyang smile, but end up witnessing pearl-like tears. What luxury."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"No discomfort here."
As he spoke, he rose and sat behind her, gently sweeping her hair up.
"S-Sir?"
"Stay still. I'm a bit clumsy at this."
With careful hands, he gathered a lock of hair and awkwardly pinned it with a hairpin.
As his unfamiliar touch fumbled, her exposed white nape beneath the coiled hair flushed red.
Somehow managing to pin it stylishly, he sat back in front and grinned.
"Haha. Looks pretty good, doesn't it?"
"Th-Thank you."
Watching her unable to lift her face, he smiled, until Yoran's voice crept in timidly.
"Are you heading back?"
"Yeah. It's about time."
"Winter will be here soon."
"Yeah. Winter's coming."
He placed a cup of liquor warmed with inner energy in front of her and said,
"This winter feels like it'll be harsh."
The moonlight slanting through the window felt unusually cold.
His return after a full two months.
The cluster of halls spreading out like a forest beneath the Murim Alliance now felt like welcoming guests greeting him home.
They say home is where the heart is?
The moment he entered the Divine Martial Academy, which had become more than familiar—a warm nest—Chu Un-hwi threw his arms up in triumph.
"I'm hooome!"
Everyone, hail the lord's return!
'...or so I thought.'
The感動 of homecoming was instantly shattered by a tirade.
"Why are you so late!"
In the office he'd been summoned to, Jang Cheol-sim's face was flushed red as he fumed.
"Everyone else came back a month ago! What have you been doing, slinking in now?"
"There was a little business in Jogyo~."
"You should at least send word!"
Jang Cheol-sim unleashed a barrage of scolding, looking ready to breathe fire.
'Ah. My ears are gonna bleed.'
Enduring verbal abuse for a full incense stick's worth right after his touching return—had the ways of the jianghu truly fallen so low?
"If you're safe, at least leave word!"
No room for excuses. Truly regrettable.
"Sorryyy."
A perfunctory apology surprisingly halted Jang Cheol-sim's interrogation.
"Vanishing without a word like that—weren't you worried?"
"You were worried?"
"What? You think I'd send someone to a dangerous place and not bat an eye, like some cold-blooded monster?"
He had thought that. Sorry, but correct.
Even Chu Un-hwi knew nodding now would double the lecture.
"No way."
"Your face says you saw me as a total cold-blooded monster."
"Misunderstanding. Slander. No such thing. And I did intend to send word."
"Sigh."
Calming his anger, he pinched his brow.
"The letter you left with Beggar Elder?"
"Yes, I clearly said I'd be safe and would return well."
"That's not what I heard."
He pulled a crumpled note from his desk drawer and slid it over.
"Why does it look like 'I'm alive~ Take care~' to me?"
"......"
Too concise?
"Haa. Just don't make me worry anymore."
With that, Jang Cheol-sim burned the note in the lamp flame and said,
"Anyway, you're back safe. Go rest off the travel fatigue."
Bowing deeply, Chu Un-hwi tiptoed out cat-like.
"You did good work."
A quiet word hit the back of his head.
Now back, time to check on the kids first.
Frost clung here and there to the path winding toward the valley.
"It was autumn last time."
While he was away, the red maples had all fallen, leaving bare branches.
"The seasons have changed."
Since coming here, the shift felt strangely novel.
'I never even noticed seasons before.'
It was proof of his entirely new life, stirring fresh emotions.
"This life's pretty fun too."
Smacking his lips, he quickened his step along the path toward the valley.
Had the seasons changed the valley too? If there was a difference, maybe just the students plunging repeatedly into the icy stream, soaked to the bone.
"Waaah! Instructor!"
Moyong So-hye spotted his return first.
"You're back!"
Behind Jegal Tan, Nangong Yun-ho quietly bowed his head.
"Welcome back."
Sensing his lingering gloom, Chu Un-hwi set it aside and asked,
"Everyone doing well?"
Seeing them drenched in the cold, probably not that well.
'Looks like they've made progress.'
Their more refined auras suggested significant gains.
Nangong Yun-ho replied, as if reading his mind.
"Lately, I've grown accustomed to not fighting the flow."
"And redirecting the flow without resisting it."
"Not tormenting us—real training with results."
Jegal Tan rolled on the ground, groaning after a shin kick.
'Now it feels real that I'm back.'
As he grinned, something felt off.
"Where's the noisiest one?"
The moment he turned,
"Instructor!"
The stream swirled into a vortex, and Baek Ri-seol burst from the water clutching six swords, splashing wildly.
'Ho-.'
Seemed Baek Ri-seol had progressed the most?
As his eyes lit up, she stomped over and shrieked,
"When you get home, you greet your lover first!"
"Lover? Whose lover?"
"Jeez. It's embarrassing to say it myself."
Seeing her twist bashfully, Chu Un-hwi paled and asked Moyong So-hye,
"Hey. She catch a bad cold? Seems like she's hallucinating."
"Ah, well..."
Her evasive answer rang alarm bells when,
"Jin Seol-hyang."
A chilling name froze his spine.
'What? How? Why?'
She knows about the girl?
Turning with trembling eyes, Baek Ri-seol glared with saucer eyes.
"No way. There's no other woman besides me, right?"
"Wh-What are you talking about?"
"Your voice is shaking—Instructor Observation Log, sample thirty-seven. When you're hiding something."
"...What's this Instructor Observation Log...?"
Today's Baek Ri-seol was terrifying enough to overshadow any joy.
"Heard it from Sister Jin. What's your relationship?"
"...Haha. Relationship? What relationship."
He wanted to flick her nose and brush it off, but her face was scarier than a demon's.
Cold enough to make a serial killer blanch.
'How the hell does she know Jin Seol-hyang?'
As he scrambled for excuses, Moyong So-hye shouted,
"Sis! Instructor's panicking! [Flustered], [Anxious], [Confused]!"
"Ah! So there is something. What is it? Answer me, Instructor!"
To his left, Moyong So-hye flailed threateningly.
To his right, murder-eyed Baek Ri-seol shook his shoulders.
Trapped between left Blue Dragon and right White Tiger?
'Ah, exhausting from the start.'
Overwhelmed, Chu Un-hwi simplified things.
"How about we check your progress so far?"
"Ah! Instructor's dodging cowardly!"
"Don't play instructor now—tell the truth!"
Splash! Splash!
He swiftly grabbed and tossed them into the valley. Jegal Tan bit his lip.
"Instructor. Her eyes are scary."
"Can't we at least finish greetings first?"
"Nope."
When logic fails, violence reigns.
Sploosh! Splosh!
The rest followed into the stream. Baring his teeth, Chu Un-hwi bellowed,
"Survive, and we'll talk then."
Whoooosh.
A fierce vortex engulfed the valley, churning even against the waterfall.
"Villain!"
"Truth bends not to violence!"
"Glub glub!"
"Ah, this is a bit much."
Their training held strong; they clung tenaciously.
But none surpass the instructor's authority.
One by one, they fainted, bobbing like buoys.
"What a mess."
He'd shut their mouths for now, but them knowing about Jin Seol-hyang stung.
"Can't just silence them for good."
Beat them till amnesia? As he pondered,
"No way! It's true?"
Loud voices echoed from the entrance, followed by nuisances.
"You survived."
"Heard you went somewhere dangerous—thought you'd crawl back crying."
"As expected of the instructor. Tenacious life force."
"We're here."
Noisy as ever: Un Ho-seung, the Jeok Family twins, and Dang-gan.
'Their lungs are as uselessly loud as ever.'
As he racked his brain, Un Ho-seung blurted lewdly,
"Whoa! So harsh. No mercy even for your first wife."
Giggling at the fainted Baek Ri-seol, something snapped inside Chu Un-hwi.
"What? Un Ho-seung. What's this 'first wife' nonsense?"
"It's this thing going around among the female students lately?"
"No, in what context?"
"Well, this scary girl came asking if I knew Jin Seol-hyang."
"...And?"
How'd that lead to first wife?
"Figured I owed her some favors, so I dug around. Barged into the girls' dorm yelling, 'Is thief cat Jin Seol-hyang here?!'"
"......"
"Haha. Instructors are too much. Got grounded for ten days because of it."
"...So that's where 'wife' and 'thief cat' came from."
"Asked around a hundred girls or so, rumor spread?"
Snap. His already short fuse broke.
"Forget the small stuff. Look at me. Trained super hard. Even decent in whirlpools now."
Dang-gan stabbed Un Ho-seung's side repeatedly as he yammered excitedly.
"Ho-seung. Stop."
"What? I'm talking."
"Instructor's eyes lost their pupils."
Finally noticing, Un Ho-seung smacked his forehead.
"We're screwed."
A water pillar erupted from the valley again.