Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Dream
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“Miss, what are we going to do?”
“Don’t worry too much. I’m sure the young master will be fine.”
Dae-un, who had been pacing anxiously, suddenly realized how immature he had been acting compared to Hwa-ryeon’s unshakable calm. He hadn’t even lived up to his age.
“Uh, ahem….”
He finally cleared his throat and stopped stomping his feet, but it was too late to put on airs now.
On top of that, his legs were still trembling noticeably, which looked utterly pathetic.
‘Master…’
Seol, who had been secretly watching from outside, stared at her master with cold, hardened eyes, but Dae-un had no spare attention to notice her gaze right now.
And so, time passed amid Hwa-ryeon’s composure, Dae-un’s fretting, and Seol’s sighs.
One hourglass, two…
As time dragged on, Ja-seong’s energy grew increasingly wild.
Seol, who had been peeking in from outside, had at some point slipped inside to stand guard with them, stealing worried glances at Ja-seong nonstop.
More time passed, and after three hours,
“…Hm!”
Ja-seong’s energy began to gradually settle.
Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t lost control and absorbed more than his limit.
“Phew….”
Dae-un finally let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing her master’s reaction, Seol realized Ja-seong was okay, and her face brightened.
Not long after, Ja-seong snapped his eyes open.
Hwa-ryeon gave a small smile upon seeing the sharp glint in his pupils.
“Congratulations. I figured it would turn out this way, but it’s a relief you didn’t push yourself too far.”
“I’m not that naive. I’ve been practicing martial arts for a good ten years, after all.”
Hwa-ryeon gave a wry smile as she watched Ja-seong grin and reply.
If everyone with ten years under their belt could hold back like that, Dae-un wouldn’t have been so worked up.
The veteran experts of each sect wouldn’t need to hover over disciples who’d just taken spirit pills to guide their qi circulation, either.
“I only absorbed about thirty percent for now. I’ll slowly refine the rest later.”
At Ja-seong’s words, Hwa-ryeon suddenly recalled the energy she’d sensed from him earlier.
A fierce energy swirling like a savage imugi.
The imugi, which had endlessly circled Ja-seong’s body as if intent on devouring every last bit of energy, had absorbed only about thirty percent before returning to its place.
As she thought back on it, a childhood story popped into Hwa-ryeon’s mind.
An ancient tale passed down from the Dongi tribe far away.
It was about a greedy imugi who possessed not one, not two, but three yeouiju needed to become a dragon. Thanks to the goddess’s advice, it gave up two and ascended.
Ja-seong’s savage energy had felt just like that imugi from the story.
‘Does that mean Young Master Goon will be harboring a dragon in his dantian?’
Amused by the whimsical thought, Hwa-ryeon chuckled inwardly while Ja-seong clenched and unclenched his fist, inspecting his body.
His whole body brimmed with power, thanks to the lingering energy of the Yellow Dragon Spirit Pill.
Finally, checking the internal energy filling his dantian, Ja-seong couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face.
The best he could do was cover it with one hand.
“…That happy about it?”
*
I heard Hwa-ryeon’s question and thought about it. Happy?
Of course I was. What kind of question was that?
“Way too happy. It’s been a whole ten years since my internal ener—.”
I reflexively clamped my mouth shut before saying it.
Even so, talking about being a eunuch in front of a girl didn’t seem right.
But then Hwa-ryeon tilted her head, prying for the unfinished word.
“Hun… what?”
“Uh, well, hun…”
Think, think—something other than eunuch. Something natural…! Something that won’t earn me a look of contempt!
“Hungrrry… situation’s finally over. Yeah, that’s it. Hm.”
“…What’s internal energy, some kind of rice that makes you hungry?”
Luckily, Hwa-ryeon let it slide without much reaction.
Good, that sounded natural.
“Hm, you managed to absorb the energy safely, at least. I was worried you’d waste such a precious spirit pill for nothing.”
Next up was my master.
He stroked his beard with the most solemn expression in the world, while Hwa-ryeon and Seol shot him slightly incredulous looks.
What’s with that? Why are they reacting like that?
Unlike me, the delinquent disciple, those two had always treated my master with perfect respect.
Did something happen while I was circulating my qi?
Tilting my head at the unfamiliar sight, I shot back at my master’s gruff words.
“No way that’d happen. It’s a whole century-grade spirit pill. You’ve never even tasted one like this, right, Master?”
I could sense his internal energy was just shy of a century through the qi emanating from his body.
“Man, this Yellow Dragon Spirit Pill is seriously amazing. Can’t even put it into words.”
“You little punk…!”
Teasing my master with a playful grin made his face twist into a scowl.
He grabbed a wooden sword from the training ground and charged at me, so I dodged and headed home.
Arriving home in high spirits over finally consuming the spirit pill I’d dreamed of, what greeted me was,
-Hunger Strike Protest
the words scrawled on a paper hanging from my big sister’s door.
“…….”
“Su-ae, dear. Could you open the door, please?”
“Ugh, honestly….”
I stared in bewilderment at the firmly shut door and my anxious parents fidgeting in front of it.
After a moment, I shook my head to clear my thoughts and approached my father.
“Father, what on earth is going on?”
“Well, it’s like this…”
Scratching his head awkwardly, my father explained the whole story.
*
It all started right after breakfast that morning.
As soon as the meal ended, Ja-seong bolted to the martial hall, unable to contain his excitement for the spirit pill. Won-pyeong then called his eldest daughter, Su-ae.
“Why did you call me? I told you, I’m not thinking about marriage.”
Her expression and tone dripped with exasperation.
She was convinced it was the same old nagging about when she’d get married.
That assumption made Won-pyeong bristle for a moment.
‘…So you’re saying you’ll live alone and die old?!’
He barely held back the shout and sat Su-ae down instead.
Only then did she notice her parents’ reactions were a bit off from usual and began gauging the situation slyly.
“Su-ae. About Ja-seong…”
The moment Won-pyeong started, her face soured immediately.
“Absolutely not.”
“Hey, hear me out first…”
“No need. I know what it is. You want to send Ja-seong off on his own! No way. Absolutely not. Have you already forgotten about Ja-seong’s nursemaid and Uncle Gang dying?”
Won-pyeong fell silent at Su-ae’s rapid-fire outburst.
How could he forget?
The sight of his lifelong retainers at Goon Family Manor turning into cold corpses overnight.
As he sat there speechless, Il-ryeong, seated beside him, spoke up instead.
“Su-ae.”
“Mom, you’re on my side, right? You’re not thinking of sending Ja-seong away like Dad, are you?”
Unlike her father, Su-ae believed her mother would agree with her and asked hopefully. But what came back was her mother shaking her head.
The unexpected betrayal(?) left her in shock.
“M-Mom…”
“Su-ae, Ja-seong is already almost twenty. He’s a full-fledged adult. We can’t keep him in our arms forever.”
Normally, Il-ryeong would have agreed with Su-ae.
What changed her mind was the bloody incident seven days prior.
More precisely, the sight of Ja-seong slaughtering all the villains who’d brutally murdered their retainers with a single sword—it had shaken her deeply.
The youngest, who’d always seemed like he’d cling to her bosom forever, had become a true man and protected the family.
Watching that, she realized keeping him sheltered any longer would just be confinement.
“Ja-seong will be fine. You saw it too, didn’t you? Him taking down ten grown men in one go.”
“…….”
This time, Su-ae went quiet.
The image of Ja-seong mercilessly cutting down the black-clad assassins with a chilling expression was seared into her mind like a branding iron.
Even Su-ae, who’d lived a life unrelated to the martial world, could tell that was no ordinary feat.
Maybe her mother was right, and there was no need to worry.
But understanding something with her head and accepting it with her heart were two different things.
“Argh, whatever! I’m never allowing it, so get that through your heads!”
In the end, she shrieked and stormed off, slapping the “Hunger Strike Protest” sign on her door and not emerging even for dinner.
*
In the end, big sis didn’t come out even for dinner.
“What? Sis Su-ae is refusing food? Is the sun rising in the west today…? Nah.”
My brother, unaware of the details, made his carefree remark and earned a glare from Mom.
After barely finishing his meal, sweating bullets under her orders, he was tasked with bringing food to big sis.
“Out, you wretch!”
“Eek!?”
He returned drenched head to toe in the food, looking utterly wretched amid her lion’s roar.
“What did you say to set her off again?”
When I asked from the kitchen, he replied gloomily.
“That someone coming for the family register in two days sees her acting like a kid and that’s why she can’t get married…”
“…Pfft, you deserved that.”
Clicking my tongue, I shoved him toward the bath and asked the kitchen to prepare big sis’s favorite beef noodle soup. Then I headed to her door.
“…Sis. I brought your favorite beef noodle soup.”
-……
I spoke to the pitiful door with its lone “Hunger Strike Protest” paper barely hanging on one side, but got no reply.
Wow, big sis, who’d wake up from a dead sleep for beef noodles? And she’s holding out on this?
Ha, I didn’t want to go this far, but no choice.
I carefully set the beef noodle soup down in front of her door.
Freshly made, steam still rose invitingly.
Placing my palm right in front of the bowl, I cautiously released some qi to waft the aroma into her room.
-…Gulp
Soon, the sound of her swallowing hard came through.
“Sis, the beef noodles are gonna get cold. You really not eating?”
How long did I wait?
-Creak
The firmly shut door creaked open cautiously.
Grinning silently at that, I picked up the bowl and stepped into big sis’s room.