Chapter 11
Come to think of it, even fantasy worlds churn out dragons in every color of the crayon spectrum—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—without batting an eye. Why wouldn't wuxia have them too? With mystical martial arts powers in play, anything's possible. I'm not super well-versed in wuxia novels, so I can't say for sure, but since it's a kind of fantasy, it seems totally plausible.
I glanced at Ohae, who was crouched down like a little ball, munching away on the medicinal candies.
She whipped her head away, avoiding my gaze. Looked like she was sulking because I'd forced her to show her teeth.
Even in full crouch mode, she was still stuffing her face with candy, though.
"Sorry about that. But hey, those teeth are kinda cute and pretty in their own way. No need to hide 'em, right?"
"Not pretty... Different from... other people... Weird..."
If she felt that way about it, fine. Me going all light novel protagonist possessed mode with "Don't worry! It's not weird at all!!" or "You're just a little different from everyone else!" or "Love yourself more!" would've been hilarious, so I just nodded.
"Yeah, if you say it's weird, it must be. Keep hiding them from now on."
"……"
She stayed silent, but her dissatisfied eyes fixed right on my right leg, staring it down.
That look was basically asking why I strutted around so confidently with my own weird, different leg.
I thought she was just some pushover who'd take whatever punishment without fighting back, but nope—she knew how to counterattack.
This was gonna be fun to teach.
I snorted at her grumpy glare, twisting my lips into a smug grin.
"'Cause I'm a total badass—handsome face, smart as hell, killer at board games. A bum right leg ain't gonna drag me down."
I feel the stares when I go out walking. People gawking at the cripple. Whispers behind my back. I hear it all.
But I ignore it. All of it.
Why? 'Cause I'm killing it.
Good looks, sense of humor, great personality. Hell, I even pick up martial arts like a pro.
Being born a lame-ass? That's the heavens scared shitless of me—a genius who even fools the sky, Sima Mancheon. It's a balance patch.
True or not, that's how I see it.
Your flaws stand out when your confidence dips. Pile on the strengths till they bury the weaknesses.
My goal? The ultimate me. Let the strong me clown on the weak me.
Too lazy to stand up with my staff, I crawled over to Ohae on all fours.
She sensed something off, but it was too late.
Like a wolf pouncing on a rabbit, I tackled her down and mounted her.
She twisted and squirmed, but it was pointless resistance.
Muda muda muda. Who said a dreamer kid like you gets to make puppy eyes at defeat? Cocky little brat. Time for punishment.
I grabbed her soft, stretchy, rice-cake cheeks and yanked them side to side—streeetch~ streeetch~.
Her shark teeth popped out, the ones she wanted to hide. She bugged her eyes wide and thrashed, but I ignored it.
Instead, I smirked down at her crying face with total confidence.
"Shaking over some puny shark chompers? Small-minded much. But don't worry."
I met her eyes and grinned.
"I'll turn you into a badass just like me—not quite as awesome, but close. Teach you all kinds of stuff you don't know."
I let go of her cheeks.
Swept back the hair covering her pretty, curtain-like forehead and eyes.
"So don't get down on yourself. Dummy."
Mmm~ Way better without the face curtain. Later, I'll trim her hair with scissors or grab a hairpin from the market.
As I stared into her trembling eyes, swirling with all sorts of emotions, Jang Sambung came back from her errands.
"Young master~ I'm back from—?!"
A sniffling girl. And the lordling's son grinning wickedly atop her.
Jaw-dropping scene.
"Whoa whoa... This ain't a joke! Wasn't it Sima Mancheon? Thought you were Sima Waido or something?! ...Sima family's kid-rearing is doomed."
"Not what you're thinking, so shut the door and come in."
"Dunno the details, but folks might misunderstand. Get off her already, young master."
Jang Sambung was just hamming it up to tease me—she knew I wasn't that kind of guy—so she stepped inside and nodded at Ohae.
"New girl, though. Who's this?"
"Some Jegal. Ohae now. Picked her up 'cause I was bored."
"...You can't just pick up people when you're bored."
"My call."
"So damn reckless. But who knew a Jegal girl could be this cute. People really shine when you doll 'em up."
Jang Sambung and I kept yapping, but none of it registered with Ohae.
All she saw was the boy's face who'd given her a name.
All she heard was her heart thundering like it might burst.
I'd given her a name. Snacks too.
Now for proper martial arts training.
Normally you'd get a bundle of dried meat for the apprenticeship rite, but since all she had were her injured wings like a wounded sparrow, I skipped it.
"I'm teaching you for free right now out of necessity, but these aren't arts you get for free. All high-grade stuff. Got it?"
"...Yeah!"
"Good. So when you make it big later, what do you do?"
Ohae furrowed her brow, puzzled, then tilted her head.
"...Dunno."
"With that innocent face saying 'dunno'? Don't underestimate me! When you succeed, you pay back! Repay the favor tenfold! Got it?"
No clue if she really got it, but she nodded vigorously.
"...Yeah! I'll pay back!"
"Perfect. First up, inner cultivation method."
I had her sit cross-legged and started on the incantation, but she didn't know how, so I taught that first.
Long road ahead.
"Now, breathe like I say. Got it?"
"...Yeah!"
She nailed the responses.
I taught her the Quanzhen Orthodox Inner Cultivation Method just like my master taught me.
"Settle the mind and forget intent. When the body weakens, gather energy."
"...Settle the mind and forget intent... When the body weakens, gather energy."
"When the mind dies, the spirit lives. When yang peaks, yin fades."
"...When the mind dies, the spirit lives... When yang peaks, yin fades."
It'd been about a week since I started teaching Ohae basic reading/writing and the Quanzhen Orthodox Inner Cultivation Method—aka the Forward March Heart Method.
No one taught her letters before, but she communicated fine, so she wasn't dumb. Picking it up no problem.
The issue was the inner arts.
Or... was it even an issue?
I watched Ohae sitting cross-legged, exhaling in perfect Quanzhen Orthodox Inner Cultivation Method practice.
Perfect didn't even cover it. Flawlessly perfect.
Her inner energy was accumulating at an insane rate.
Simply put, inner methods are like distilling undrinkable seawater into pure water.
Human bodies can't hold raw nature qi directly. Breathing techniques refine it into a usable form.
Most ascending inner methods sacrifice some safety for efficiency, skipping steps to absorb more seawater faster.
The Quanzhen Orthodox Inner Cultivation Method distills to pure water levels—super safe, no qi deviation risk, but slower buildup than others.
That's what I learned. And I taught it straight to Ohae.
...So why was her inner energy piling up this fast?
It made no sense. Raw nature qi flowed straight into her dantian like she could chug seawater by the bucket—no issues.
The method's flaw is slow accumulation for the first decade.
But this? Not even close.
High safety and high efficiency. This wasn't the Quanzhen Orthodox Inner Cultivation Method anymore.
Something else entirely.
...Had it mutated into something different?
Her breathing was unnaturally smooth. I eyed her suspiciously.
She finished, looking up at me with those increasingly deep blue eyes, a soft smile playing on her lips.
...For some reason, it felt a little scary.