A Storm of Lessons for a Genius

For some reason, Myo-ryeong was lying beside me under the same blanket. Sharing a bed with a woman I had only just met, I couldn't help but go rigid with tension.

"Guarding you while you sleep at night is my primary duty, Young Master. That's why I'm pressed up against you like this."

No matter how I looked at it, that was an excuse.

"Then why are you here, Tomusa? Don't you ever clock out?"

I rolled the other way and looked at Tomusa, lying along my opposite side.

"Even if I clock out, it's only the next room. Someone has to make sure this wildcat doesn't try anything."

Tomusa shot Myo-ryeong a glare. Myo-ryeong only smiled, as if she hadn't the faintest idea what Tomusa meant.

"But with the two of you right beside me, I'm too tense to sleep."

I looked back and forth between them, eyes wide and unblinking.

"Oh my~ Am I on your mind?"

Myo-ryeong poked my cheek, teasing.

"Hands off the Young Master."

Tomusa smacked that hand away with a sharp little slap.

"Isn't there some way to fall asleep...."

"Then shall I teach you a breathing method that makes you sleepy?"

"Yeah! Teach me."

"All right, follow along. Breathe in~ hold it for a moment, then breathe out~."

I matched my breathing to Myo-ryeong's instructions, drawing the air in and letting it go.

That was when she leaned in and blew a soft breath straight into my ear.

"Eek! That tickles—what are you doing!"

"Sorry. You were concentrating so hard, and you looked so cute I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just couldn't help it."

I bristled. Myo-ryeong only giggled.

"Then shall I pat you to sleep?"

"Yeah. Pat me."

Tomusa laid a hand on my chest and began to pat, gentle and steady.

"Senior, is it all right to put your hand on a man's chest?"

"Quiet. The Young Master asked me to."

"That's right. It's not as if Tomusa's a man, and there's no way she'd be doing this because she felt that way about a little kid."

At those words, Tomusa's hand paused for just a moment.

Hey.

"Ahem. Right. As if I ever would, junior."

Hey. That excuse was a little slow.

"Heeh~ Is that so? Well, I suppose even if you have no experience with men, and even if the Young Master is cute, you aren't that sort of person, are you?"

Myo-ryeong was needling her on purpose.

Tomusa ended up flushing red.

Tomusa really is an easy one to read....

Where Tomusa fumed, Myo-ryeong looked thoroughly pleased with herself for having landed the tease.

"I think I also can't sleep because I'm too excited about learning martial arts tomorrow."

"The Grand Elder left the family today. Do you think someone will really come to teach tomorrow?"

"The person Grandmother is looking for seems to be in Zhejiang already. The day after tomorrow at the latest, I'd say."

"Heeh, I wonder what sort of person will come. I'm looking forward to it."

"But will martial arts training be difficult?"

At that, both of them went wide-eyed, as if they hadn't expected the question at all.

"People usually worry about whether it'll be grueling. You're worried about whether it'll be difficult?"

"Senior's right. Most people worry they'll give up halfway because they can't endure how hard it is."

"Hmm... is that how it is? I don't really care whether it's tough or not. I'm more worried I won't be able to keep up."

A pleased smile spread over Tomusa's face.

"As expected of you, Young Master. Don't worry. If it's you, you'll do just fine."

She stroked my hair.

"If anything comes up, Senior and I will help. Don't worry."

Not to be outdone, Myo-ryeong stroked my head as well, in the opposite direction from Tomusa.

Hearing the two of them cheer me on, the tension drained away, and sleep began to creep in. A four-year-old body really was this easy to read.

"But when was it hardest for the two of you?"

"Memorizing the internal energy method was the hardest for me."

"For me, it was when I was tempering my body to enlarge my vessel."

"Vessel?"

"Mm-hmm~ The martial art I learned requires you to train your body as well, if you want to store up more internal energy."

"Hmm... there really are all kinds of martial arts."

"But the two of you trained that hard, and you're just my bodyguards?" I mumbled, already half asleep.

"Because we care for you, Young Master."

"Because we like you, Young Master."

They blurted nearly the same words at the very same moment.

If it sounded the least bit serious, that was surely just my imagination...

"Haaahm... yeah... thank you, both of you...."

I yawned, long and wide.

"Then good night, both of you...."

"Sleep well, Young Master."

"Sweet dreams, Young Master."

The next day, I was once again eating breakfast with the servants.

"Young Master, the Family Head says that when you come to the Family Head's Hall, you are to dress in formal robes."

"Okay, got it, Tomusa. The martial arts master is here, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then let's hurry. Tomusa, help me get dressed."

With that, I finished the meal in a rush and changed into a rather splendid set of clothes. Half expectation and half worry, heart fluttering all the while, I made my way to the Family Head's Hall.

"Mother, may I come in?"

"Yes, come in."

Mom and Dad were seated with a neatly dressed old man. He was a man of this world, and yet the breadth of his shoulders stood out at once. Men here were usually willowy things.

"Greetings. I am Yu I-hyeon, youngest son of the Zhejiang Yu Family."

I offered a polite bow.

"Oho. So you're I-hyeon. A pleasure to meet you."

The old man welcomed me with a wide, open smile.

"Then I'll take I-hyeon out with me, Family Head."

"Yes. Please look after him well."

"Come along, then, I-hyeon."

"Yes...? Y-yes...!"

And just like that, before I could so much as catch my breath, I was hauled out to the training yard.

Up close, the old man looked even more imposing. White hair was bound back in a tail, a white beard framed his jaw, and there was something bold and unrestrained in the whole of him. He looked almost as if he weren't a man of this world at all.

"Surprised by the look of me?"

"Yes. You seem like a person from another world."

"Heh heh. Stay slender among women, and you'll be looked down on."

The old man stroked his beard.

"Um... besides the treatment, may I ask one favor?"

At that, his brows gave a twitch.

"Speak. I'll hear you out, at least."

"I don't know how my parents put it to you. But I don't want to learn martial arts merely for the sake of treatment. I want to learn them so I can become truly strong."

The old man burst out laughing.

"Aigoo, my stomach.... Child, do you even know what you're saying?"

"I do. Even so, I truly want to become strong."

I met his eyes squarely and said it in earnest.

"Very well. I'll teach you martial arts meant for growing strong."

"Then... would it be all right if I called you Master from now on?"

"Hm... yes, fine! Call me that."

Master let out a hearty laugh and thumped me on the back.

"Do you know how to sense qi?"

...?

"No. I don't."

"Then sit here. Cross your legs."

I did as he said and sat without a fuss.

"The upper robes will only get in the way. Take them all off."

I undid them and shrugged them from my shoulders.

"For a boy, you've no shame at all. Stripping your top off out in the open without a second thought."

"Hehe. I'm a little peculiar, is all...."

Master set his hand on my back.

"Concentrate. What you feel now is qi. Here—the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. And here—the Twelve Principal Meridians."

The qi swept the length of my body, and the pain spread with it, out through every limb.

"And this is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the circulation pathway you must memorize."

I felt the qi cycle again and again through a fixed sequence of acupoints.

"Nngh—"

How long had passed? Just as I was growing used to the pain, Master took his hand away.

I gasped for breath.

"Was it hard?"

"Hah... No? I'm perfectly fine...!"

"You little rascal and your bluffing. Enough. You can tell where the qi flows now, can't you?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I nodded without a word.

"Good. Then that's enough. Listen at your ease. I'll pass the internal energy method on to you."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"The internal energy method? Understood."

"You must never carelessly teach the internal energy method to another. You alone are to know it."

"Yes, I understand. I won't tell anyone."

"Now then. We begin...."

And so Master's lecture on the internal energy method began.

"Well? Did you follow? It's the first day, so there's no need to worry. I mean to have you memorize it over seven days. It's a difficult thing for a young child to memorize, besides...."

"I memorized it, though?"

"Eh? S-say that again."

"It was hard, but I memorized all of it. The internal energy method, and the circulation pathway."

Master clapped a hand to his forehead.

"Yin-Yang Blocked Meridians! Ha. I knew you were sharp, but to hear it once and have it memorized when you're only four...."

For a moment he seemed lost in thought.

"Hmm... then seven days. Within seven days, let us practice until the internal energy sits stable in your dantian."

"Yes. Understood."

"Then don't forget what I taught you today. Try practicing it once on your own."

With that, Master left the training yard.

"Heh heh. It was that one's request, I'll grant—but fortune is with me too, meeting a child like this."

He seemed to say something as he went, but I didn't catch it clearly.

Anyway, it felt as if a storm had swept through and gone. Like sitting through a crash course being hammered straight into my skull. I'd understood it well enough, certainly... ugh. I never wanted to feel pain like that again.

Still, there was time left before evening, and Master had told me to practice on my own. Why not try this business of circulating qi? Nothing to lose by trying. It couldn't hurt.

I crossed my legs and drew a breath in.

I couldn't say whether I'd circulated my qi correctly. At any rate, when I finished and opened my eyes, Tomusa and Myo-ryeong were watching me.

"You've finally opened your eyes."

Sometime while I'd sat there, dusk had gathered, and a chilly wind was blowing.

"Huh? How long was I like that?"

"Two and a half shichen."

So I'd been sitting perfectly still for five whole hours? It hadn't felt like that at all.

Master had appeared all at once behind Myo-ryeong and Tomusa. Neither of them had sensed him in the slightest, and both wore a look of pure startlement.

"When one comes to a realization, there are times one sinks into one's own attainment and cannot find the way back out."

"Then is it a bad thing?"

"Nothing bad about it. So long as it doesn't go so far as to ruin your body, it may rather be taken as a good sign."

Master stroked my hair.

"Still—to fall into a state of no-mind merely from grasping an internal energy method. Don't tell me you're a genius?"

"I wouldn't know."

When I tilted my head, Master set a hand against my lower abdomen.

"Hmm... You've even succeeded in bringing under control that vast store of energy that existed within your body. At this rate, the initial goal is already met...."

I smiled, sheepish.

"Honestly. If you go and finish my work for me yourself, what am I supposed to tell that old woman?"

Master pinched my cheek and tugged.

"Still, a promise is a promise. I suppose I'll have to give you a gift in its place."