Chapter 66
Translator: uly
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Hidden House in Chilgok County - 2
‘Why is he a benefactor?’
Chun So-hee looked at her benefactor, who was being examined by the doctor.
He was an ordinary man who had not learned martial arts. Although Chun So-hee couldn't understand why he had been using an internal energy method just now, she could tell at a glance that the man had no internal energy.
Even if he really was the older brother of her only childhood friend who remembered her, that alone wouldn't qualify him as a benefactor.
Then why?
Chun So-hee recalled the words her master had once said again.
— One who defies the will of heaven. One who has fulfilled their destiny and returned from death. One who can even change the fates of others. The day will come when you meet such a person.
‘Did you also receive a destiny from heaven?’
Chun So-hee stared intently at Kang Yun-ho. Just as she had received the destiny of the Heavenly Killing Star, he too must have received some destiny from heaven. And he succeeded in defying that destiny.
‘Is that... possible?’
Having lived her entire life resisting the destiny of the Heavenly Killing Star, she knew better than anyone how utterly absurd such a thing was.
He had overcome his own destiny in the past to become a benefactor. Just what had happened?
‘I know nothing about Yun-ho.’
Until now, what mattered most to Chun So-hee was her own past. Not Kang Yun-ho.
She wanted to hear stories of his childhood from his mouth and use them to recall her own past. That's why all the stories she shared with him were about the two of them in their childhood.
What kind of life he had lived until now wasn't of great importance to Chun So-hee.
‘I'm curious.’
What kind of life had he lived? Why was he her benefactor? What heavenly destiny had he defied?
For the first time, Chun So-hee felt curiosity about another person.
‘Is it okay to ask?’
If she asked, 'I'm a Heavenly Killing Star, but when I'm next to you, the killing intent fades. Have you ever rejected heaven's destiny?', she would also have to reveal that she was the Heavenly Killing Star, destined to become an unprecedented murderer.
Although Kang Yun-ho was beginning to find a place in Chun So-hee's heart, she was afraid of revealing that she was the Heavenly Killing Star.
‘I want to know Yun-ho's past.’
She wanted to know his past. She wanted to know more about him. Her curiosity about him grew just as much as her fear of revealing the truth.
‘How should I ask?’
For her, who had never even had a proper, careful conversation with another person, let alone a man, this dilemma was now a greater obstacle than any assassination.
Chun So-hee remembered something her master had said one day.
— It's a bad habit to only say what you want to say. To get to know others, you should start with small common interests.
— I don't need to. Just training in martial arts is enough.
When was that? It seemed like something her master said after she had made someone, whose face she couldn't even remember, cry with her words.
A common interest.
The first thing that came to mind was the internal energy method he had just used.
She knew martial arts better than he did. To get to know him starting from something small, she should ask about that first.
Chun So-hee, careful not to let her cautious feelings show, asked in a light tone about the internal energy method Kang Yun-ho had learned.
*****
‘My wife taught me.’
I barely managed to stop the words that instantly tried to leap out of my throat. I didn't know why, but it felt like something I absolutely should not say.
Should I say it's a breathing technique passed down through the generations of the Kang family?
It's a breathing technique that doesn't accumulate internal energy, used by our family as a health preservation method. Just like the Joseon army uses guerrilla exercise number 8, full-body twisting, for health management. Should I say it like that?
No. That would be a poor strategy.
The breathing technique I learned is the secret family breathing technique of the Murong Family Head.
If she could discern which family this breathing technique came from, then I would be caught in a lie.
Since this is a relationship I've barely managed to build, even a small lie could cause the trust to crumble.
Then what should I say?
To explain the detailed origin of the internal energy method, I would have to reveal the marriage, the fall of the Kang family, and the secret escape. All of it.
This was on the level of an impulsive outburst, like when a female friend asks for your MBTI and you start telling her childhood anecdotes about how you developed that personality, your traumas, and your entire life story.
"I learned it long ago by helping a woman in distress."
I chose the method of not lying but not telling the whole truth.
"A woman?"
The tone of Chun So-hee's voice dropped slightly for a moment.
"She said this breathing technique would make my body healthy and taught it to me. She said internal energy wouldn't accumulate, but if I used it consistently, I wouldn't even get minor illnesses. It's true, after learning this, my body became noticeably healthier."
I stroked the area where the dantian is located, much like how a woman in an NTR story meaningfully strokes her lower abdomen near the ending.
It really helped a lot. When I was injured and had no money for treatment, I endured with this breathing technique. My body became healthier, allowing me to gain the upper hand in fights with thugs.
If I hadn't had this, I would have been disabled long ago, living off begging.
Come to think of it, I wonder how Murong Sang-ah is living now.
Suddenly, that night comes to mind.
The deep kiss with her, the only woman in this martial arts dating sim world who could match her in looks. And she was the one who initiated it, not me. Plus the subtle chest touch.
I almost lost my life, but thinking about it now, it was a worthwhile experience.
To have a slightly more worthwhile experience, I would have had to risk my life, but I definitely sold at the peak.
How satisfying.
"Yun-ho."
As I was reminiscing about my memories with Murong Sang-ah with a satisfied face, Chun So-hee's cold voice pulled me back to reality.
"Huh?"
When I looked at So-hee, her expression, which had been full of concern, had changed to a blank one. Why?
"That breathing technique. Can I examine it for a moment?"
"This brother only knows how to do it with my body, I didn't learn any separate oral formulas."
"Then I'll place my hand on your back and sense the flow of your energy. Do it once."
Suddenly, her tone changed to a commanding one. What's this? Her momentum is scary. It feels like if I refuse, something bad will happen.
As she placed her hand on my back, I obediently sat in the lotus position and began using the breathing technique.
-------
"Yun-ho."
Even after I finished the breathing technique, Chun So-hee's cold voice remained unchanged. She removed her hand from my back and approached me again, speaking.
"Huh?"
"You lied to me."
My heart dropped for a moment. What? What did she figure out?
"Why do you say that?"
Since I haven't lied to her at all while living together, I can't figure out which lie she caught.
"The breathing technique Yun-ho used. It's not something you can teach just because someone was in distress."
Her expression demanded I tell the truth immediately. It felt like heat vision would shoot from her eyes and burn me.
That was it? I already thought of a way to handle that interrogation.
"It wasn't just distress. She was in a life-threatening crisis. This brother helped her escape that life-threatening crisis with all my heart and sincerity."
A life-saving favor.
In reality, many people don't repay you even if you save their lives, but in the martial world, where favors and grudges are clear-cut, it's a huge debt that can make one offer everything they have.
I saved her life, and it's just a breathing technique that doesn't even accumulate internal energy. Isn't that worth teaching? Moreover, there's no lie in this statement.
I looked at her with a smile, expecting her suspicions to vanish at once, but the suspicious look in her eyes didn't disappear at all.
Why?
"Even if it's a life-saving favor. Absolutely. There's no way she would teach you this breathing technique."
A shadow fell over her face. The expression of someone who had seen something they absolutely shouldn't have.
"But this brother learned it."
Rather than explaining, I looked at her with eyes that said it was strange.
No, why? When I looked at her with eyes that seemed to want an explanation, she bit her lip briefly and then opened her mouth.
"The breathing technique Yun-ho learned is no ordinary breathing technique. It's a breathing technique that would only be taught to a disciple of one of the Nine Sects and One School, a renowned orthodox sect. And not just any disciple, but a prodigy among prodigies among the direct disciples. If not from the Nine Sects and One School, it would be a secret technique permitted only for the direct lineage of a martial family or the successor of a mysterious sect."
"I, I see it's an amazing breathing technique."
That's strange. Murong Sang-ah just said it was a breathing technique to make the body a bit stronger and to learn before practicing martial arts.
"Amazing? It's beyond that. It's an internal energy method that creates the optimal body for learning martial arts. It's a breathing technique, yet it has the effect of opening all the meridians throughout the body. On top of that, it's an advanced martial art that allows energy circulation for recovery even though it doesn't accumulate internal energy."
I didn't mention that it also has the effect of training the bones and muscles, thinking she would be even more shocked.
Just what did Murong Sang-ah teach me?
I thought it wasn't that great a martial art since she taught it so easily, even if she was from the Murong Family's direct line, but it seems she taught me one of the Murong Family's most secret secrets.
Thank you, Murong Sang-ah. You didn't just give me my first kiss.
"Are you sure she taught you this just for saving her life?"
She looked at me with suspicious eyes. She seemed to be demanding further explanation. Even if I said yes, she probably wouldn't believe me.
"I also gave her a gift."
I gave her the entire Kang family fortune.
"Yun-ho isn't a martial artist, so you might not know. But what you learned is a martial art that even a martial artist would never teach, even if tortured and about to lose their life. It's impossible she would teach it for a life-saving favor and a gift. A woman would have to be insane to do that."
Why is she... so scary? So-hee is showing an unusual level of hostility. It's true, if it's such a great martial art, it doesn't make sense for her to teach it.
Chun So-hee is also a martial artist. She must be showing hostility toward Murong Sang-ah because she can't possibly accept it.
Then let me reveal a little more of my hand.
"Our relationship developed beyond just saving a life."
I said with a face nostalgic for the past, lost in memories.
At my words, So-hee's pupils trembled slightly.
"A lover…… are you saying?"
A lover? No, a wife.
"A lover, well…… I don't think that's it. What were we to each other? This brother isn't sure either. After a brief meeting, we decided to go our separate ways."
I made an expression like a young man bitterly reminiscing about an unfinished love.
We were a married couple, but it wasn't like we were in love or anything. So I didn't lie.
"…… Were you closer than me?"
She asked me in an uncharacteristically cautious voice.
Huh? What? Why is she asking that?
Is she jealous right now?
No. That's too much self-consciousness.
If this goes further, it'll become a dark history on the level of that incident where a junior female colleague said, "Oppa, let's have dinner together later," and I went back to my studio apartment, changed into new underwear, got dressed up, and went out, only to find out she actually just wanted to get a free meal from me with her boyfriend.
‘It must be the feeling of finding out your friend has a closer friend than you.’
It must be close to that bitter feeling when you realize you don't have many friends, but your friend has a wide social circle, and you're not even their best friend, just one among many.
‘This! Could this be an opportunity?’
A brilliant idea struck me like lightning. A way to fulfill the wish I've held while living in this world.
"Haha! How could I be closer than So-hee? She was just one of many passing connections."
First, I made it clear that my relationship with that woman was nothing special.
"…… Is that so?"
I could feel a slight but definite warmth in her voice.
"Still, the fact that she willingly taught me such a precious martial art… I thought it was just a passing connection, but thanks to So-hee, I've realized how much she must have valued me."
It was a light relationship, but she taught me this.
Do you understand, So-hee?
"That woman might have been lacking in judgment."
She said in a dissatisfied tone.
"Don't say that. Thanks to this breathing technique, you have no idea how many times this brother's life has been saved. If it weren't for this martial art earlier, I could have been seriously injured."
"……."
Unable to refute, she looked at me with a somewhat betrayed expression.
"So-hee. I've been thinking about this for a while. This brother has one request."
I've laid all the bait.
Now it's time to get to the main point.
"Huh?"
"Just like she taught me that breathing technique… Could you teach this brother some martial arts too?"
Please. Let me learn some martial arts too.