My Golden Student, Part 5

After emerging from the Divine Thief's cave, we headed straight back to the Academy. We had paid extra to hitch a ride on a cart from a nearby village, and the farmer pulling us had a priceless look on his face the entire time. The stench of the Poison-horned Water Snake clinging to our clothes was absolutely atrocious. But who cared? Under normal circumstances, I might have minded, but today, I wouldn't trade places with even the legendary, mustachioed pirate who found Laugh Tale. Carrying our spoils—the short horn and venomous fangs of the Poison-horned Water Snake, along with the ironwood chest—we immediately bathed and gathered in my room.

"Our Yeongji is a true bringer of good fortune, a real lucky charm." As I patted Gongson Yeongji's head, she smiled shyly. Ah, so adorable.

"If what Yoon Suksu says is true, this elixir is the Wudang Sect's Great Clarity Elixir... Are you going to return it to them?"

"Just like with the treasure map, wouldn't that make things unnecessarily complicated? My conscience pricks me a little, but if we show up claiming to return a legendary medicine lost fifty years ago, we'll be the ones facing all the trouble."

Where did you get this? This was stolen by the Divine Thief, Gyo Gang-yong, which means you looted his secret vault, doesn't it? Spill the location of the Divine Thief's vault! Just thinking about the endless interrogation made my head spin.

"But... the Wudang Sect is one of the leaders of the Nine Great Sects and One Association. Would they really grill us that thoroughly?"

"The Kongdong Sect isn't even one of the Nine Great Sects, and they still pulled that kind of stunt. Don't you remember?"

Lee Yang, who had his leg bone fractured after getting hit by Man Hanseok, was a nominal disciple of the Kongdong Sect.

"Well, um... they're just a few bad apples."

"I'm not trying to pick on you, but ninety percent of them could be called 'just a few bad apples' in this world."

"Now that you put it that way, I suppose you're right."

"Then, Yoon Suksu, what do you think we should do with it?"

"We should consume it. Trying to sell it would only cause more problems."

"Are you going to take it, Yoon Suksu?"

"Not me. We should give it to these two kids here... Well, one of them is bigger than me, so he's hardly a kid. Let's give it to the old tree trunk and the squirrel."

"Ah, to these two juniors?" As Seonwoo Seol pointed at Man Hanseok and Gongson Yeongji, I nodded. Naturally, both of them looked utterly dumbfounded.

"Y-You're giving such a precious treasure to us?"

"T-That makes no sense..."

"Why doesn't it make sense? It's far better to feed it to you two than for me or Lady Seonwoo to take it." I glanced at Seonwoo Seol as I spoke, and she knitted her brows.

"Are you seriously making decisions like this without even consulting me first?"

"When we were treating the vice-commander last time, I saw you already had an incredible elixir on you. It was practically on par with the Great Clarity Elixir."

"Asking and not asking are two completely different things! If you had told me in advance, I could have given them a warm smile and said, 'After discussing it with Yoon Suksu, we decided it would be best to give this to you.'"

Ah, so she's sulking because I didn't give her a chance to save face as their senior and Academy tutor. "I'll do that next time."

"It's not like an opportunity like this is going to come around again."

"Since Lady Seonwoo Seol is graciously yielding it to you, you should thank her."

"Talk about practically forcing a bow." Even so, she was clearly pleased deep down. When Man Hanseok and Gongson Yeongji bowed deeply and thanked her, the corners of her mouth twitched upward.

An elixir doesn't show its full potential if you just swallow it on the spot. It is best to open the acupoints with acupuncture needles first, allowing the elixir's energy to penetrate and circulate through every corner of the body. For the young Gongson Yeongji in particular, taking the elixir would completely clear her fine meridians, allowing her to utilize her internal qi far more smoothly than before.

In Man Hanseok's case, I had been monitoring him consistently, so there were no major issues, but the focus would be on purging any remaining impurities from his body and balancing his yin and yang energies. It felt like resolving a long-overdue homework assignment with a single pill, which put me in an exceptionally good mood.

"Sniff, sob..." Wait, why was Yeongji suddenly bursting into tears? Why cry on such a happy day?

"Yeongji, what's wrong all of a sudden?"

"I just feel so sorry, and so grateful to you, Yoon Suksu, and Sister Seonwoo..."

"Oh, sweetie, when an adult gives you something, you just say thank you and take it. There's no need to feel sorry."

"But... the Great Clarity Elixir is such a precious medicine..." Seeing Yeongji like this, Seonwoo Seol hugged her tightly and patted her back. How can a child be so pure-hearted?

"And what about our Hanseok? Do you have nothing to say to your Yoon Suksu after I made such a monumental decision?"

"If you give it to me, of course I should accept it with gratitude." Man Hanseok's expression seemed to ask, Is there really any need to say more? and it completely took the wind out of my sails. Well, fine. I liked his straightforwardness anyway.

"By the way, what are these other pieces of parchment?"

"I haven't read them yet, so I'm not sure either... Let's each take one and read." I handed a piece of parchment to each of the other three, and unrolled my own.

...Just kidding. In reality, it was another treasure map written in the all-too-familiar Seowon Script. This wasn't some escape room cafe; seeing yet another treasure map pointing to a different location only gave me a headache.

"Mine is a treasure map. What about the rest of you?"

"Mine is a treasure map too."

"Mine is also a treasure map."

This was driving me crazy. If this were poker, a three-of-a-kind would be great, but here it just meant we had to travel back and forth to three different provinces.

"What about Yeongji? Is yours a treasure map too?"

"A-Ah, no... it's a letter..."

"A letter?" Instead of answering, Gongson Yeongji handed the parchment over to me. Let's see what it says.

Why was a thief who used to hide erotica in the Shaolin Temple's Grand Library being so poetic? No wonder he loved riddles.

"What does it say?"

"He's basically begging someone to find the treasures he hid. It's definitely the Divine Thief. This letter seems to have been written for his disciple, but I have no idea why it was left abandoned here until now."

At that, Seonwoo Seol rested her chin on her hand and replied, "Actually, there was a time when the Divine Thief's disciple sought refuge in the Sacred Cult."

"Wait, if he was the disciple of the Divine Thief, he should have been living comfortably. Why would he do that?"

"He was a gambling addict. He even wagered his own feet in a bet and lost them."

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the danger of gambling. For martial artists whose bodies are their sole assets to be so consumed by gambling that they wager their own limbs... how could such a thing happen?

"Then, did the Divine Thief's disciple not have a disciple of his own?"

"He left a few martial arts manuals with the Sacred Cult, but I heard he eventually drowned himself in alcohol and died."

"Wow." He probably sold off his master's legacy or used it as gambling stakes. The master had prepared a chain quest for his disciple, but the disciple died a drunkard, leaving complete strangers to complete the quest instead. The Divine Thief must be weeping in the afterlife.

"Let's keep... I mean, store these treasure maps away for now. We'll have time to go after them together later when we get a break."

"Ah... is that so?"

"Do you not want to?"

"It's not that I don't want to, but I was just thinking we might not have the time."

Seonwoo Seol looked as if she wanted to say something, but she quickly shut her mouth and shook her head. Why was she acting so mysterious? It was killing me. I wanted to yell, Hey! Don't hide it, just spit it out! But knowing her, she would just get defensive and pout. So, I decided to coax her gently.

"It doesn't have to be right now, so you can tell me whenever you feel comfortable."

"...Thank you for being so considerate." Seonwoo Seol offered a soft, beaming smile. Yes. Bullseye. This was definitely the right approach.

While I was putting the treasure maps and the Great Clarity Elixir box back into the ironwood chest—growl. At the sound of her stomach rumbling, Gongson Yeongji quickly covered her belly. Ah, right. We had been running around all day without feeding her properly, so it was only natural she was starving.

"Let's head to the Inner Dining Hall. I'll whip up something delicious. We'll have a nice meal and call it a day."

By the way, what should I cook today to make them declare that Yoon Suksu's culinary skills are the best in the world?

"Since Yeongji is our lucky charm, let's make whatever she wants to eat."

"I'd love some chicken..."

"Chicken?" Right, summer was the season for chicken. It was the most accessible health food, and the Inner Dining Hall was bound to have a few raw chickens on hand. But just making plain boiled chicken soup felt a bit too simple. A proper chicken dish perfect for summer...

"...!" Yes, I had the perfect idea. As I stepped into the kitchen, a kitchen hand bowed politely and greeted me.

"Head Chef, you've arrived?"

"We have some hungry mouths to feed. Boil two large hens, and throw in some black pepper, garlic, and scallions."

"Understood." While the kitchen hand boiled the chickens, I set about salting various vegetables. As the thinly sliced radish and cucumber sat in salt, I mixed fermented mustard with minced garlic, a splash of vinegar, a spoonful of honey, and a drizzle of soy sauce to create a tangy, fiery mustard dressing.

Next, I thoroughly squeezed the moisture out of the salted radish and cucumbers, then pulled the two perfectly boiled chickens out of the broth. I let the chicken cool down slightly before shredding the meat off the bones.

"Please boil six servings of dried noodles."

"Yes, Chef." While the kitchen hand boiled the noodles, I fell into deep thought. I had poured the chicken broth into a large metal basin to cool it down, but it needed to be much colder... and there were no refrigerators here. How was I supposed to chill it? Suddenly, Man Hanseok's rugged face flashed through my mind. Wait, can't I just emit yin energy from my hands?

To manifest yin energy, one had to start with metal energy. After all, metal energy was the starting point of yin. Visualizing the Five Elements manifesting within my body, I channeled the cool metal energy to both of my hands. I felt them gradually growing cold. But it needed to be much colder than this.

Next was water energy—the element most closely aligned with yin among the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Five Elements. As I began to channel water energy, my hands turned pale white under the rapidly intensifying yin energy. Now!

The moment I pressed my hands against the basin containing the broth, white frost coated the metal, and the steam rising from the hot chicken broth instantly vanished. The fat solidified into white flecks, and a thin layer of ice began to form. At that exact moment, I dispersed the water energy from my hands and skimmed off the solidified fat with a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sieve.

I seasoned the broth with soy sauce, vinegar, honey, and salt to create a perfectly tangy and savory flavor, completing the ice-cold broth. Then, I tossed the shredded chicken, cucumber, and radish in the mustard dressing I had prepared earlier, completing the tangy cold chicken salad. Finally, I rinsed the boiled noodles in cold water to cool them down, poured the chilled broth over them in a bowl, and topped it with the cold chicken salad.

Since Man Hanseok and Seonwoo Seol had massive appetites, I gave them extra-large portions before heading to our private room in the Inner Dining Hall.

"It's a noodle dish, but it's not hot? What is this?"

"It's Chogyemyeon (cold chicken noodle soup). Originally, it's a dish eaten in the winter, but I used yin energy to flash-freeze the broth."

If it's just chicken and vegetables tossed in mustard dressing, it's called Chogyetang (cold chicken soup), but when you add noodles, it becomes Chogyemyeon.

"I don't think I've ever had such a cold noodle soup before. It seems a bit like cold noodles..."

"It's a completely different flavor. Give it a try."

Cold noodles, or what they called liangmian, was a Central Plains dish closer to dry mixed noodles. However, Chogyemyeon was much closer to cold broth noodles made with a chicken stock base, so the taste would be entirely novel. The vegetables in the cold chicken salad were incredibly crunchy, and the chicken meat had a wonderfully chewy texture. Best of all, taking a sip of the ice-cold chicken broth, complete with shards of shaved ice, sent a refreshing chill straight down the esophagus, instantly cooling down our overheated bodies.

"It's so wonderful to be able to enjoy a refreshing chicken broth even in this sweltering summer heat. To be honest, I didn't expect much when you said it was a cold noodle dish... but this far exceeds my expectations."

That was Seonwoo Seol's neat culinary review. As for the others, there was no need to even ask. Man Hanseok was inhaling his food too fast to speak, and Gongson Yeongji was eating with a bright smile, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster.

I took a bite myself and found that the refreshing broth, a rarity in the Central Plains, paired beautifully with the noodles. Cold noodles really were the ultimate summer food. Just as I was thinking that I should definitely try making Hamhung-style cold noodles next time—

"Head Cheeeef!!"

"Cough, hack!" The sudden shout right behind my head made me choke on my noodles.

"...Lady Yang?"

"Seoran? What are you doing here?"

"Sister, I'll greet you later! Head Chef, please hide me! Please!"

"Wait, bursting in here out of nowhere and asking me to hide you..."

"It's an emergency! Please, just hide me!"

It was my first time seeing Yang Seoran look so utterly panicked. I wondered what on earth was going on, but since she was in such a rush, I had no choice. I pointed to a narrow gap between a pillar and the wall. She immediately squeezed herself into the space and held her breath. She seemed to have mastered the Stealth Technique (Eunjam-sul), as she completely erased her presence. I had no idea what could possibly drive her to use such a technique.

"...!" A moment later, the reason for Yang Seoran's desperate stealth became clear. Suddenly, the overwhelming aura of an Absolute Master manifested. What's more, it was heading directly toward our ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠private dining room.

Tap, tap. Though her aura was fierce, the Absolute Master's footsteps were light. Soon, she revealed herself. She was a beautiful woman who looked to be in her thirties, someone I had never seen around the Academy before. With an impression as sharp and keen as a finely honed sword, she walked straight into our private room.

"Apologies for interrupting your meal. I am looking for something... Wait, the Little Heavenly Demon?"

"I... I greet the Sword Queen." Seonwoo Seol, who had stopped eating her Chogyemyeon, stood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up and offered a polite fist-and-palm salute. The Sword Queen? That young woman?