Chapter 4
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 2.2
Chapter Title: Lazy Young Master
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However, An Yeong, unaware of the circumstances, looked perplexed.
But An Hoe, the person in question, didn't find it strange at all.
He was simply impressed deep down.
'As expected of the White Crane Elder.'
From the White Crane Elder's perspective, this was their first meeting with An Hoe, but it was different for An Hoe.
He had met the White Crane Elder before the regression—in his original history—through his mother's introduction.
"Not only that, but I even received instruction directly from him."
It was also a sign that the Elder had regarded An Hoe as an exceptional talent.
This incident allowed him to somewhat recover his reputation, which had plummeted after leaving the Jang Family Clan.
He was once again called one of the clan's Five Tigers.
"However, the time spent studying under the White Crane Elder wasn't long."
Less than a year had passed, and even then, the studies ended because the Elder ultimately answered the royal family's summons.
Even so, that mere year of study had been an invaluable time for him.
"The White Crane Elder wasn't versed only in Confucianism. His knowledge extended deeply into the other schools of the Hundred Schools of Thought as well."
This became the foundation of his excellence.
The fact that someone so lacking in many ways became one of the seventeen heroes at the end was thanks to this foundation.
"What the White Crane Elder gave me wasn't just knowledge."
He had soothed the anxieties of a young boy in place of his foolish father.
And he taught the way of living as a person, making him more of a grandfather figure than his own ruthless grandfather, who was driving him into harsh reality.
If he hadn't mastered the Two Forms Divine Art, those emotions might have shown plainly on his face.
Thanks to that, he could greet the Elder with the proper decorum, as if meeting him for the first time.
"He's even more remarkable than I remembered!"
The White Crane Elder's aura was more intense than An Hoe had anticipated.
It was exceptional even among those hailed as masters.
"Please, call me White Crane Elder comfortably."
Surprised by the unexpected impression, the White Crane Elder introduced himself with shining eyes.
Once the maidservant who had brought the teacups withdrew, the two men were left alone in the annex.
It was a gathering arranged by An Yeong after the luncheon ended.
-Pour...
As the tea poured quietly, a subtle fragrance filled the room.
Once the aroma permeated the space, the White Crane Elder set down his teacup and spoke.
"Young master, I've heard you've studied Confucian texts. Do you know of other schools of thought? The world is vast, and the Way does not linger on a single path, so I wish to ask."
The White Crane Elder's question was far beyond what one would pose to a twelve-year-old boy.
His attitude in asking reflected that.
Rather than seeing him as a prospective disciple, the Elder treated him with the utmost respect, as one master to another in their field.
And An Hoe didn't find this current demeanor strange at all.
Regardless, he calmly showed proper respect and replied.
"How could I hide anything from you, Elder? In the past, I briefly encountered Mohist texts, and Mozi's words left a deep impression on me."
"What impressed you?"
"Impartial love without discrimination. His advocacy for love without favoritism struck me profoundly."
The White Crane Elder nodded with a smile.
"I felt the same. Though somewhat radical, it aligns with Confucianism's benevolence toward all people."
"In the end, we debate schools of thought, but their root is the welfare of the people."
At those words, the White Crane Elder nodded deeply again and asked,
"Then, what do you think of Legalism?"
When the Elder brought up Legalism, An Hoe smiled.
He knew why.
Unlike Mohism or Confucianism, Legalism was criticized for being distant from the people.
"Legalism holds that 'governing the world with law,' emphasizing blood oaths and legal codes. They believed love for the people alone cannot establish order. However, such order does not last long."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because the order they establish is based on fear and terror. Fear crumbles before an even greater fear, so such order is nothing but a castle built on sand."
"Then, what do you believe should be done?"
"I think a nation endures when Legalism's strictness supplements Confucianism's benevolence and Mohism's impartial love."
"Dividing knowledge but taking the strengths of each..."
The White Crane Elder closed his eyes briefly, mulling over An Hoe's answer, then suddenly opened them wide and asked,
"What of Daoism's wu wei?"
An Hoe smiled at the question.
At first glance, wu wei might seem like not governing the world.
But An Hoe knew better.
"Daoism's wu wei is not 'doing nothing,' but 'not forcing.' Wu wei er wu bu wei—without forcing, nothing is left undone. This suits a gentleman's way of life."
"Without forcing, following reason naturally, neither knowledge nor people lose their flow."
"Exactly."
"But is that all? Some call such wu wei mere laziness."
Unlike before, the White Crane Elder probed deeper into Daoist texts.
Having sensed An Hoe's extraordinary aura at their first meeting, his insight told him An Hoe's understanding went far beyond the surface.
"..."
An Hoe fell silent, meeting the Elder's gaze.
After a moment, he smiled faintly and spoke softly.
"White Crane Elder, wu wei is not laziness. If people force paths and defy the heavens, they advance one step but lose ten.
Yet, aligning with the Dao, they ride the wind without effort and move forward on their own.
I sometimes watch the wind.
The wind does not stir itself yet shakes all things, does not strive yet blankets heaven and earth.
It simply flows following the Dao, knowing when to stop.
That is wu wei.
Without forcing, all is accomplished; without striving, the world is governed.
Defy the wind, and one falls; yield to it, and one soars far. Thus, wu wei is not laziness but the path of the Dao's greatest power."
"..."
Stunned by An Hoe's response, the White Crane Elder set down his teacup and remained silent for a long time.
Then he closed his eyes, and gradually his breathing deepened until it became imperceptible.
He seemed to have stopped breathing entirely, which should have been suffocating, yet his complexion grew brighter, soon radiating a glow.
This luminescence lasted over half a shichen before slowly fading.
Only then did his breathing resume.
The breath he took was extraordinarily long and profound, yet strangely natural.
After regaining his breath, the White Crane Elder opened his eyes and met An Hoe's gaze, who was watching him with a smile.
"!!!"
The Elder let out a silent exclamation.
An Hoe seemed utterly transformed.
But it wasn't An Hoe who had changed.
It was the White Crane Elder himself.
The truth An Hoe expounded on the Dao had led the Elder to a profound realization—not a small one, but a major fragment of truth.
This allowed him to see, hear, and perceive more vastly and deeply.
His vision changed, his hearing changed, and naturally, his world changed.
His view of An Hoe shifted as well.
Before enlightenment, he had only sensed An Hoe's aura; now, he could glimpse part of it.
The aura he saw resembled a morning star.
As if solely illuminating the eastern sky, its brilliance was dazzling up close—small wonder the Elder was so shocked.
His mind, turbulent like a stormy sea, steadied only as An Hoe's aura gradually receded.
Yet it remained radiant.
Composing himself with a few swallows, the White Crane Elder finally spoke with difficulty.
"...You are already enlightened."
He couldn't comprehend how it was possible.
But his incomprehension went beyond a child achieving such Dao at a young age.
It was more fundamental: how could any person attain such enlightenment?
Yet the doubt didn't linger.
History had its sages—Confucius, Zhuangzi, Laozi, Sakyamuni—who reached such realms.
'A saint...'
As he thought this, An Hoe shook his head and spoke.
"I'm still lacking."
"...Lacking what?"
Though he couldn't grasp what An Hoe meant by lacking, seeing his faint smile and probing gaze, he soon understood.
An Hoe meant his body was too small and frail to bear the enlightenment he had achieved.
It was obvious, yet the Elder had overlooked it because, from the start, he hadn't seen An Hoe as a mere child.
"Young master, you need time."
"Yes."
The White Crane Elder let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
Even with an aura like a morning star, that was something beyond anyone's control.
Moreover, the young master still faced not one or two tigers wary of him in the Jang Family Clan.
Recalling the rumors of the Lazy Young Master, he asked tentatively,
"Are you employing 'Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Sea'?"
Surprised by the question, An Hoe rarely showed astonishment and praised him.
"As expected of the White Crane Elder."
"Hm."
But the truly shocked one was the White Crane Elder.
He had asked, yet hadn't truly expected it.
The reason was that even he had thought it was a scheme by the clan's tigers.
Yet it turned out to be the young master's doing—what a startling revelation!
"However, it wasn't entirely my doing. I merely gave a small snowball a slight push."
This meant An Hoe was the origin of the rumors, but their escalation was the work of the other tigers in the Jang Family Clan.
Learning this truth, the White Crane Elder pitied those tigers.
'They don't even know what they've touched—how terrifying.'
Had they glimpsed even a fraction of An Hoe's true nature, they never would have dared such recklessness.
Afterward, the White Crane Elder expressed his gratitude to An Hoe.
It might not have been intentional, but it had brought him great enlightenment, so it was only right.
"If only there were something I could do for you, young master."
Having forsaken wealth and power, he had little to offer.
Teaching knowledge was all he could do, but the problem was that An Hoe was already complete.
Rather, he would be the one learning, with nothing left to teach.