14. Yeongsan Sect (6)
Yeongsan Sect (6)
14. Yeongsan Sect (6)
Reincarnation had already taught me this, but the thing humans called common sense—the compass by which they navigated life—was apparently extraordinarily fragile. Come to think of it, shattering the limits of one's own vessel was said to be an important stage of enlightenment in Daoism. Shaolin and Wudang might focus mainly on learning martial arts and beating enemies to death, but they were still religious sects. I'd heard that Shaolin, as a Buddhist sect, ultimately sought enlightenment, escape from the cycle of reincarnation, and Buddhahood, while a Daoist sect like this one sought ascension to immortality through study.
I had no intention of becoming an immortal, but for the moment, I tried to calm my mind. This was a Daoist sect. I was a practitioner of Daoist studies. Even if Clear Mirror Still Water was too much, I could at least set aside unnecessary rage.
Yeongsan Sect's grounds were larger than I'd thought. Well, it wasn't a village—they'd settled on a gentle mountain, so the land must have cost practically nothing. A courtyard-like training ground. A main gate that looked more like it would make ghosts appear than ward them off. The hot spring at the far end I'd visited yesterday. A few buildings falling apart. I slowly took in the sect grounds where I would be living from now on.
The tiny Great Clarity Palace. The place from yesterday's initiation ceremony, where they barely kept a portrait of Taishang Laojun. The building between Great Clarity Palace and the dining hall, containing the Master's and Senior Sisters' quarters. The one fortunate thing was that, due to that Bloody Calamity or whatever, there were plenty of rooms left, so each person had a private room. And the sleeping quarters the men had used. That entire spacious room, all to myself.
The building with the dining hall and attached kitchen. And what was obviously a tiny library. That was everything. I opened the wooden chest, took out the key, and entered the library. Acrid dust welcomed me. There were two large bookshelves, but few books actually sat on them.
One shelf held martial arts manuals. Three Talents Sword—Gyeongmuk Variation. A variation of the most basic of basic sword arts, devised by someone named Gyeongmuk. Taiji Sword, Taiji Fist, and Taiji Art. A Daoist sect would naturally possess those. Their names sounded impressive, but even my family had them. They were little more than health exercises. In my past life, elderly people really had practiced Taiji Fist as exercise in Chinese parks. Flying Blossom Steps. At last, a bottom-tier, third-rate martial art. A quick skim showed that it was a lightness art, but far inferior to the Baek Clan Estate's foundational Gangbaek Steps. Seven-Yang Palm, a palm art of about the same level. Fuck. That was everything.
I had expected little, but honestly, this place didn't deserve to call itself a sect. As for those men who had gotten themselves killed, how had they failed to realize that even a hundred years of practicing trash like this would leave them struggling against a thug who had learned a few moves at a martial hall? Studying a second-grade textbook for ten years would never let you compete with a middle-schooler who'd learned algebra. These worthless bastards had ordered female disciples around like maids and demanded the respect due to Daoist masters. In sheer audacity, they surpassed even the Demonic Cult.
I set aside the martial arts manuals and looked at the Daoist texts. At least this side was decently stocked. Basics like the Tao Te Ching were a given, and there were works on how to write talismans, various ritual etiquette, even how to find water veins and methods of meditation. On top of that, occult books that reached into near-fantasy territory, commanding ghosts and sending spirits to ascend, were also kept in respectable condition.
Damn it. If those things were truly possible, why the hell had they lived like beggars? I'd have summoned the spirit of some supreme expert from centuries ago and become one myself. Then again, perhaps this was for the best. If I treated the books like novels rather than textbooks, even someone with no habit of reading like me might get through them. There were about twenty volumes, so I could work through them little by little whenever I had time. It was a truly pathetic library, but I'd be spending a great deal of time there. I opened the windows wide and dusted off the filthy desk.
Yeongsan Sect was poor. Daylight was the only time available for reading. For all its poverty, the sect kept the library locked, and books couldn't be taken to one's room; they had to be read there. After brushing away the dust, I took out the Tao Te Ching, a book I'd heard mentioned countless times, even in my past life, but had never actually read. I began slowly. There was no need to rush. I'd have little else to do for the next three years.
The sun was gradually dipping low. In this world, lunch was something you hardly ever saw, except for special occasions. People usually ate snacks like steamed buns—the word dim sum itself meant lunch in Chinese. Anyway, that was the mindset, so ordinary households usually skipped lunch and only ate two meals a day. Yeongsan Sect probably did the same.
"Junior Brother, the meal is ready." Senior Sister Jeong-hyang, the sect's chief disciple and the one assigned to attend to me, spoke from outside the library. The arrangement still unsettled me, but as the newcomer, I had to follow the rules of this place.
"Yes. I'll come out." Regardless of the situation, being greeted by a beautiful woman was pleasant. However, when I followed her to the dining hall, just like at breakfast, the Senior Sisters stood behind me in respectful postures. Jeong-hyang finished guiding me and joined their ranks, and just like at breakfast, those four sets of eyes made it impossible for the food to go down.
"Thank you for the meal." After only another two or three spoonfuls, I stopped. The fare was meager, but now that I'd cultivated internal energy, I wasn't particularly hungry. I'd heard that the minimum qualification for closed-door training was thirty years of internal energy, and at that level, one could survive three months on nothing but Fasting Pills. Internal energy could suppress even hunger, one of humanity's most basic instincts. I'd resolved to follow Yeongsan Sect's rules, yet the discomfort remained, and I fled to my room. I'd grow accustomed to it soon enough. No matter how much I pretended to struggle, I'd eventually rationalize everything and adapt perfectly to the sect's male-dominant, female-subordinate customs. Even with the ethics of my past life, I had quickly grown used to abusing my position and sexually exploiting Gyeong Su-yeon.
The room was clean. The thin blanket I had tossed aside was neatly folded, and the dirty clothes I had worn for more than twenty days and left helplessly on the low table beside the bed had been washed spotless and folded with crisp creases. Senior Sister Lee Eun-ha's hands really seemed more capable than those of the trained maids at the Baek Clan Estate. There was nothing to do in my room, so I practiced Qi Circulation and Breath Regulation until the sun set, soaked in the hot spring for nearly two hours, shut the window tightly, and went to bed. My body was comfortable, but my mind was exhausted.
The next day, without fail, Senior Sister Jeong-hyang came to my room carrying wash water. Washing up was one thing, but the meal afterward was genuinely an ordeal.
"Junior Brother, the meal is terribly meager, is it not? It is Joseon food, so it probably doesn't suit your palate, and all we have with it is kimchi. Still, once Senior Sister Son goes down to the village and buys groceries today, I'll make you something delicious."
When I tried to get up after just a couple of spoonfuls, Senior Sister Lee spoke to me with a worried face. Ah, another mistake. I must have lived too long as a rich family's son. This wasn't the Baek Clan Estate where servants prepared the meals. Senior Sister Lee, who was already swamped with work, had gotten up at dawn to cook the rice, and it hadn't even crossed my mind that leaving this much behind might hurt her feelings. On top of that, they'd struggled through hardship, and they knew I was the son of a wealthy house—leaving food like this must have seemed extremely obnoxious.
"Ah... no. No, Senior Sister Lee. I really like Joseon food. Even in Jilin, I bought kimchi from a Joseon person. But this is in a completely different league. It's delicious."
Flustered, I hurriedly picked my spoon back up and shoveled rice into my mouth.
"You don't need to force yourself. It doesn't suit a Central Plains person's palate, does it?"
Basically, Joseon food didn't suit a Chinaman's palate. Everything had to be oily, so food was steamed, stir-fried, or grilled. People here strongly believed that cold dishes such as kimchi or seasoned vegetables were fit only for prisoners, except during the Cold Food Festival.
"No. I truly like it. I was a Joseon person in a past life, you see."
It was half a joke and half the truth, though the eras were different. Senior Sister Lee chuckled at my words.
"Would you still say that even if I just mixed some gochujang into your rice?"
"What? Wait, Senior Sister Lee. You know how to make gochujang too?"
"Junior Brother, you know what gochujang is?"
We were both startled. Gochujang? This was something I couldn't even find in Jilin. The Joseon person living near the Baek Clan Estate was an old man who'd been away from Joseon so long he was practically Chinese. At my special request, he'd drawn on past memories to make kimchi, but when he said he didn't know what gochujang was, I'd assumed this was a world where, though chili powder existed, gochujang hadn't been invented yet.
After talking like compatriots meeting in a foreign land, the oppressive atmosphere began to ease. My appetite finally returned, and I could at last appreciate the flavor of Senior Sister Lee's expertly made kimchi. With kimchi this good, I could easily finish a bowl of rice. One spoonful followed another. Senior Sister Lee always wore a smile, but this time she looked genuinely delighted.
The problem was Cho-ryeong. Unlike Senior Sister Lee, the little girl looked increasingly miserable with every spoonful of rice I ate. I had no idea what I'd done wrong this time, but huge beads of tears welled in her round eyes.
"Ooh... Junior Brother. Couldn't you just leave a little bit?"
With a wet sniff, Senior Sister Cho spoke to me for the first time.
"Junior Sister Cho!"
And Senior Sister Son's shrill voice rang out. At the sight of Son Yeong like that, Cho-ryeong flinched and hunched her shoulders.
"S-Senior Sister. I'm sorry."
"Junior Sister. I told you, now that our Junior Brother is here, you must not be rude!"
"Junior Sister Son. That's enough. Junior Brother is trying to eat."
Jeong-hyang gently stopped Son Yeong, who was raising her voice. Just when I thought the rice was finally going down, what was this situation? In the end, Son Yeong took Cho-ryeong outside the dining hall, and Jeong-hyang even followed to stop Son Yeong. That left Senior Sister Lee and me alone in the dining hall.
"I'm sorry, Junior Brother. Junior Sister Cho is still young, so please forgive her. I'll apologize on her behalf."
With a worried face, Senior Sister Lee bowed her head and apologized to me.
"Um, Senior Sister Lee. What did Senior Sister Cho's words just now mean?"
I had neither the right nor the intention to scold her, yet Lee Eun-ha flushed at the question.
"Senior Sister Lee, I'm only asking because I have no idea what's happening. You know how different Yeongsan Sect is from other sects. Honestly, I don't understand what I did wrong or what this situation means."
After fidgeting anxiously, Lee Eun-ha barely managed to explain.
"Yesterday, we ate the rice you left behind. We hadn't eaten white rice in a very long time, so at breakfast and dinner we gave it to Master and young Junior Sister Cho. Junior Sister Cho must have found it especially delicious. She expected that if you left food again today, she'd get to eat white rice, and that was why she behaved rudely toward you. We'll discipline her properly, so please don't scold her too harshly."
"What on earth are you saying? Scold her? Even if Senior Sister Cho is young, she's my senior, isn't she? No, that's not the important thing right now—you ate the food I left behind?! And not just the Senior Sisters, but the Master as well?!"
"If... If it upset you, we won't do it in the future. I'm sorry, Junior Brother."
"No, that's not what I meant. I bought a whole sack of rice—why isn't anyone eating it?"
"W-Well... that's your share, Junior Brother. We have already taken your silver. We still have at least that much shame..."
Ah... I felt as though my mind were flying into deep space. What the hell was wrong with this goddamn sect? No. This was my mistake. Youngest disciple or not, here I ranked above every one of them. When I set down the sack of rice, I should have said that everyone was to share it. In Yeongsan Sect, where female disciples serving male disciples was treated as common sense, they couldn't touch precious white rice without my permission.
"Senior Sister Lee, I'm sorry. I was so preoccupied with the initiation that I forgot to say so. I bought that rice both to eat my fill and to win favor with my senior sisters. Could you please cook plenty of it now, enough for Master and all the senior sisters to eat their fill?"
"What? Ah... We can't."
"Why? Surely there isn't some rule that female disciples aren't even allowed to cook and eat rice?"
"W-Well, no, it's not that, but rice is incredibly precious. Even if we have one sack, if all six of us eat it together, it'll be gone in no time."
"Then I'll just buy more. Why do you think I bought that iron pack frame? Please, Senior Sister Lee. I'm so uncomfortable that I can't even eat properly. At least let me eat my meals in peace."
"Do you really mean that, Junior Brother?"
"Of course. Especially Senior Sister Cho, she's still at an age where she needs to eat. At least while I'm here, please don't hold back on the rice."
Lee Eun-ha looked troubled for a moment, then finally seemed to accept it and went to fetch more rice.
"You're remarkable, Junior Brother. I knew you were wealthy, but you really have a great deal of money."
"It's less that I have a lot, and more that our Yeongsan Sect has none."
"Well, that's true, isn't it? Thank you, Junior Brother. Once Senior Sister Son does the shopping, I'll make you something truly delicious."
Senior Sister Lee softened at once. As the person responsible for the household, she must have suffered terribly from the constant struggle to keep everyone fed.
"Like I said earlier, I wasn't lying about liking Joseon food."
"That's a relief. When I was little, I worked in a wealthy noble household in Joseon. You may look forward to it."
"I'll be looking forward to it."
Senior Sister Lee beamed brightly.
"What's all this, then? This fellow really does have money, I guess?"
Perhaps she was in a good mood, because she even muttered to herself in Joseon as she washed the rice. I could not help chuckling at the sight.