A Slightly Steamy Encounter

The Clan Lord's office, in the Lord's Hall of the Zhejiang Yu Family.

I-hyeon's family was sharing one last conversation with the master who would soon be on his way.

"You have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worked hard this past month. Thank you for healing our son, and for looking after him all the while."

"Our boy is in your debt."

I-hyeon's parents offered the old man their thanks.

"Hmph. If you're grateful, show it in goods, Clan Lord. You know my way."

"We have already sent a great many gifts to your sect, Senior. Please look them over when you arrive."

"That's the Zhejiang Yu Family for you. Your spending puts everyone else to shame."

The old veteran broke into a hearty laugh.

"Master, thank you truly for this past month."

I-hyeon saluted, fist wrapped in palm.

"Enough of that. Don't forget the things I told you to remember, and keep steadily at what I taught you. Do that, and you'll have the strength of a first-rate expert before you come of age."

The old man ruffled I-hyeon's hair without mercy.

"If anyone else offers to teach you martial arts, don't even bother listening. Ignore them. The Orthodox lot especially, and those Demonic Cult bastards."

"But before, you gave me a jade token and told me to learn from Paejon."

"From him, you may learn. I vouch for the man."

The old veteran turned a trusting smile on I-hyeon.

"We have prepared a carriage for the road. Please travel safely."

"Aye. I'm off, then."

The veteran made to leave the room, then stopped.

"Clan Lord. The boy's strong enough now to protect his own hide, so don't keep him under your thumb. If there's something he wants to do, let him do it."

"I will take your words to heart."

"Then I'm really going. I-hyeon, you take care. We'll meet again."

I-hyeon couldn't tell whether the promise to meet again was empty courtesy, but it gladdened him all the same. That single line planted a hope in him—that this bond he was grateful for would not snap, but run on and on.

"Yes! Until we meet again!"

I-hyeon answered at the top of his voice.

"Aye."

The old man replied as if it were nothing, though where no one could see, he was smiling.

I look forward to seeing just how much stronger you'll be when you come back.

And with that, the old man was gone.

I-hyeon, not even knowing who his master truly was, simply believed with all his heart that they would meet again.

"Then I'll take my leave as well."

"Yes. Go and rest."

"Mom, Dad, I love you!"

I-hyeon slipped out of the Lord's Hall and headed straight for the training ground.

"Honestly. Who does he take after, living at such a rush?"

his mother said.

"Don't you think he takes after you?"

"Let us see to our work. They will be here soon."

"But do you think I-hyeon knows they're coming?"

"I told him before, so he ought to remember. He's a bright child. I'm certain he will."

"Today, let's put my original Sure-Pass Formation to the test!"

I stepped out onto the training ground and shouted it at Tomusa and Myo-ryeong.

"Tomusa holds the front and faces the enemy, Myo-ryeong throws them into confusion, and I pour the attacks in from behind."

"And how exactly do you mean to attack?"

Myo-ryeong asked.

"I'll throw rocks! Rocks steeped in the harmony of yin and yang. The moment they shatter, a tremendous shockwave is bound to blow out!"

Mm. Even I had to admit the plan was perfect.

"But will a rock ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actually break if it hits that dummy? It's been fed inner energy. It ought to be harder than usual."

Tomusa pointed at the wooden training dummy.

"Hmm... you think so? Then what if Tomusa cuts the rock I throw?"

"Then I'd be caught in the shockwave."

"Ah."

Hmm. The theory was flawless.

Did it really only work in a live fight?

"Let's try flinging branches."

Myo-ryeong said.

"Branches?"

"Yes. Thin branches snap easily, don't they?"

"Oh! That'll do nicely. Myo-ryeong, you really are clever."

"Oh, stop. I wouldn't know about that."

At the praise she answered with a coy little hum and an elegant smile.

That Tomusa's face went stiff at the sight remains a secret.

Mm. In my past life, that act would've been a man pulling it. I suspect even I would've made a face like that.

"Then let's go pick up branches in the garden."

So I led Tomusa and Myo-ryeong out toward the garden.

The garden was as beautiful as ever.

"They've already swept it. I'm not sure there'll be any thin branches left."

"Then, Tomusa, go to the gardener and bring back the rubbish from today's tidying."

Something reluctant crossed Tomusa's face, but she obeyed the order all the same.

"Myo-ryeong, you pick branches with me."

"Gladly."

Myo-ryeong clapped her hands, eyes curved in a smile.

And so the branch-gathering began.

Perhaps because the gardener had already been through once, fallen branches were hard to find.

"Tickle, tickle."

Myo-ryeong rubbed a pine needle against my cheek.

"Ehehe—hey, that tickles."

I shoved her off with my arm.

"Tickle, tickle."

But Myo-ryeong was not a woman who understood giving up.

"Shall we take these, too?"

"Pine needles? They don't throw well."

"I have my methods."

Myo-ryeong wore a wicked little smile.

Even so, the notion of launching pine needles was too curious to ignore.

"All right. Let's take a few of those, too."

We were searching for branches and gathering pine needles when Myo-ryeong suddenly scooped me into her arms and dove into the grass.

"Myo-ryeong, what's this all of a sudden?"

"Shh. Young master, brush the leaves aside a little and look."

Where she pointed stood Mother and Father, and a couple I had never seen, together with their daughter.

"Gasp—guests? But I never heard anyone was coming."

"If the guests see you dressed like this, the Clan Lord will scold you. We stay hidden until they leave the garden."

—Clamp.

I covered my nose and mouth with both hands.

The simplest method of concealing one's presence, just as Master had taught me. I hadn't learned it expecting a moment like this, but I was glad I had.

—Hah... hah....

"Myo-ryeong...! Myo-ryeong, what's wrong...?!"

I whispered it.

"I... it's been so long since I was pressed this close to you, young master... I... I can't hold on to my mind..."

Myo-ryeong's eyes spun in circles.

And little by little, her hands began to burrow into my robes.

"Nnh... Myo-ryeong, don't...!"

"Hah, hah... young master..."

Just as those hands were about to push into forbidden territory, our bodies suddenly rose.

We came up through the bushes to find ourselves facing Mother, Father, and the guests' entire family.

A brief silence hung over the garden.

The woman among the guests seemed to have used Grasping the Void, lifting me and Myo-ryeong on inner energy.

"Ha ha... How do you do. I am Yu I-hyeon, young master of the Zhejiang Yu Family."

Bobbing awkwardly in midair, I had no choice but to offer that stiff greeting.

Ah. I think I'm completely screwed.

Right in front of guests who looked important at a glance, I had left one hell of a first impression.

The meal that had somehow turned into a three-against-three was squeezing the breath out of me.

"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Yu I-hyeon, youngest of the Zhejiang Yu Family."

"Yes. I am Namgung Hwi-gyeom."

Wait. Namgung Hwi-gyeom—that's the Martial Alliance Leader.

This is bad. I knew profound inner energy kept a person's looks young, but who could have guessed she'd pass for her twenties?

"I am my mother's daughter, Namgung Ha-ryeon."

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

Namgung Hwi-gyeom's daughter introduced herself.

She looked about my age.

"Ha ha. Then please, do enjoy the food."

Mother opened the way.

The table was crowded with delicious dishes, but I could only nibble. The mood was heavy, and by the common sense of this world a man was supposed to eat in delicate little bites anyway.

Sure enough, Father and Namgung Hwi-gyeom's husband both nibbled as well.

When I ate with the servants I could stuff my face, and nobody ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said a word.

I had never sat through a gathering like this even in my previous life, and it was nothing but uncomfortable.

"Seafood in Hangzhou really does taste different, Dan-a. You mean you eat food this fine every day?"

"It pleases me to see you enjoy it. An old friend I haven't seen in ages—a table of this much is the least I could set."

Fortunately, Mother and Namgung Hwi-gyeom were talking with such relish that the mood never turned truly heavy.

If the atmosphere had gone bad on top of everything else, I'd have been off to the medicine hall for a digestive.

And to think Mother was friends with the Lord of the Namgung Clan.

I hadn't known the story even had a setting like that.

Then again, the Zhejiang Yu Family itself is never so much as mentioned in the novel. Of course I wouldn't have known.

And so, after all those twists and turns, the meal came to an end.

"The adults will talk for a while. I-hyeon, you show Ha-ryeon around."

And just like that, I was handed a bomb.