15. Yeongsan Sect (7)
Yeongsan Sect (7)
15. Yeongsan Sect (7)
Until now, I'd always finished eating and fled the dining hall as though escaping. Today, for the first time, I watched them eat. Even Master could not eat until after I'd finished. What kind of place was this damned Yeongsan Sect? Then again, in my past life, mothers had always eaten last at holidays and other family occasions in the old days.
Senior Sister Cho-ryeong sat there with both cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk's, her mouth full of white rice as she chewed away. She was adorable. All my senior sisters, Jeong-hyang included, were probably younger than me, but Cho-ryeong truly felt like a little sister. Compared with my younger sister in my previous life, worn down by hardship and always snapping at me, and Baek Dan-yeong, my infuriating half-brother in this life, Cho-ryeong's cuteness was on another level entirely—enough to make my jaw drop. When our eyes met, she beamed at me.
"Thank you, Junior Brother."
"Not at all. Please, eat up, Senior Sister."
Earlier, Son Yeong had dragged Cho-ryeong outside with a frightening expression, so I assumed she'd given her a harsh scolding. Instead, she'd slipped her a little of the dried meat I bought for the journey and saved as a snack. Cho-ryeong had received a bite of dried meat, was now eating white rice, and was delighted like any child by the promise that she could keep eating it from now on.
"My disciple is truly admirable."
As ever, my master was cheerfully enjoying a meal of nothing but kimchi with her disciples.
"Admirable, nothing. Senior Sister Lee's cooking is what's admirable."
"Isn't it? It seems fortune is finally smiling on Yeongsan Sect. A male disciple joining us is already such a tremendous joy, and for him to be this remarkable a disciple—surely Taishang Laojun must be looking down upon us with favor."
Though my master spoke with an innocent, bright expression, the truth was it wasn't Taishang Laojun who'd sent me here, but a demon bent on destroying the world. But what did it matter? My precious sect family, who would be with me from now on, were this happy. Originally, the rice had been brought like a bribe because I couldn't stomach eating under hostile stares, but now that rice was taking on a different meaning, building a harmonious relationship between them and me.
Yesterday, I'd hidden in the library, but today I took a look at what my fellow disciples did throughout the day. Jeong-hyang offered rites in the Great Clarity Palace and swept the training ground. She frequently glanced my way, always ready to attend to me. After breakfast, Son Yeong went down to the village to buy groceries with the silver I'd given her. Jeong-hyang couldn't easily leave the sect because of her beauty, while Lee Eun-ha had far too much work, so errands outside the sect had naturally fallen to Son Yeong.
Lee Eun-ha was extraordinarily busy. She did all the sect's laundry, mended its worn-out clothes, prepared the meals, and cleaned the bedrooms. It seemed excessive, but she moved so efficiently and worked so skillfully that I couldn't bring myself to offer help. If I tried to clean, she'd probably only redo it afterward.
And Cho-ryeong, quietly watching me as I watched them. Perhaps the power of a full belly was truly something, because every time our eyes met, she beamed at me.
A sight clearly different from other sects. The so-called eco mode, I suppose. If you moved around diligently and laboriously, a stomach barely filled with bean-and-millet gruel would quickly empty. So, with the exception of Son Yeong, outside of daily chores, no one was training hard enough to break a sweat. Instead, everyone was resting calmly. Once sufficient nutrition was supplied going forward, they'd regain their ease, begin training, and start to show at least a little of what a martial sect ought to look like.
Reading in the library was as boring as ever. Yesterday I had practically hidden there to avoid my uncomfortable senior sisters, but today I closed the book after a reasonable while and went out to the training ground. I didn't want to pick up a sword, but I did want to move. Out of habit, I began doing squats, returning to the weight training I'd neglected since giving up on martial arts. There was no end to what one could do without equipment.
"Is that the Baek Clan Estate's external training?"
At some point, Jeong-hyang had come over, and Cho-ryeong with her.
"No. It's just a body-sculpting exercise I picked up somewhere."
"Now that you mention it, Junior Brother, your body is very different from those of the senior martial uncles and senior brothers who used to be here."
Ah... so sweat had been trickling, and out of habit, I'd been exercising with my top off. Cho-ryeong crept up to me and pressed a finger firmly into my forearm. Startled, she spoke to Jeong-hyang.
"Senior Sister! Senior Sister! It's super hard! Like a rock!"
"Really?"
At Cho-ryeong's words, Jeong-hyang came over and touched my arm. Come to think of it, Son Yeong hadn't hesitated over physical contact either. They couldn't even share a table with me, yet this came completely naturally to them.
"It really is, Junior Sister Cho. Junior Brother, is this what they call the Indestructible Vajra Body?"
Apparently it was a tradition in our sect to embarrass a man to death with absurd remarks.
"Absolutely not. It's just for show. If you hit it, it hurts. If you cut it, it bleeds."
"Ah... much like myself, then."
"Excuse me? What do you mean?"
"I'm the same, am I not? Forget being worthy of the chief disciple's position—I'm ashamed even to call myself a martial artist. I only look the part. By your own words, Junior Brother, you look impressive but are just for show, so we are alike, are we not?"
No matter how hard I'd worked to build my body, how could these kinds of muscles possibly be the same as a peerless beauty like her? It felt a little strange, but a compliment from a beautiful woman was something I gladly took to heart. Yes. From now on, I absolutely wouldn't skip a day of resistance training. Just then, Cho-ryeong poked Jeong-hyang firmly in the chest with her right index finger, then poked my chest with her left index finger.
"Oh my, Junior Sister Cho! I told you, the chest is sensitive, so you mustn't touch it like this."
Startled but speaking like a kind older sister, Jeong-hyang said.
"Hehehe. I said Senior Sister and Junior Brother are the same, but they're completely different. Senior Sister is squishy, but Junior Brother is hard, see?"
"Junior Brother is a man, and we're women, aren't we? Once you grow as big as me, Junior Sister Cho, you'll get squishy too."
"As big as Senior Sister Lee?"
"Mm... I don't know about that. Senior Sister Lee is from Joseon, after all."
This truly was a female-dominated group. They were discussing breasts casually right in front of me. And Senior Sister Jeong, you had misunderstood something. Joseon women were not naturally big-breasted. Senior Sister Lee was just exceptional.
Leaving the village in the morning, just like the first time I came to Yeongsan Sect, meant arriving at Yeongsan Sect around lunchtime. On a round trip, Son Yeong only made it back after the evening meal, and Cho-ryeong, who'd been waiting for Son Yeong in front of the main gate like a puppy, ran and threw herself into Son Yeong's arms the moment she saw her. Truly a bizarre and destitute sect, but when it came to affection among fellow disciples, it was a place more deeply bonded than any other sect. I didn't know about other people, but I seemed to be the kind of guy who easily took on the color of his surroundings.
When I was at the Baek Clan Estate, I was a vicious, power-tripping bastard, yet I was changing the moment I arrived here. I wanted to be among them. I wanted to share in that warmth, as their fellow disciple, as family. That feeling had more or less taken root, which was probably why the unfair treatment they'd received grated on me so much.
"Senior Sister Son, you have worked hard. Senior Sister Lee made a delicious meal, so please go eat."
Dinner that night was excellent. Now that they could buy groceries, Lee Eun-ha had emptied the kimchi jars and used every remaining ingredient to make her best kimchi stew. Even Son Yeong, a woman of the Central Plains, would probably find it appealing. Once again, I felt fortunate to live in this half-baked world where even kimchi stew, not just kimchi, had somehow appeared in the fifteenth century.
"Thank you, Junior Brother."
While I exchanged greetings with Son Yeong, Lee Eun-ha ran out of the kitchen. She practically snatched the bundle from Son Yeong, and her face lit up as she inspected the ingredients. There was no meat, unfortunately. Even a little pork would have taken that kimchi stew to another level.
Unlike the Baek Clan Estate, which had resembled a sports club, everyone at Yeongsan Sect spent most of the day shut in their rooms. Perhaps I had absorbed the atmosphere here, but there was genuinely nothing to do, and I spent more and more time practicing Qi Circulation and Breath Regulation. I had given up on becoming a master, but eleven years of internal energy was still marginally better than ten, so it could do no harm. One day, two days, then three passed. Before I knew it, my quiet, leisurely life at Yeongsan Sect was nearing a full week.
The time I spent weight training increased along with my Qi Circulation and Breath Regulation. I had planned to live comfortably, studying Daoism instead of martial arts, but reading alone in that cramped room was painfully dull, so my reading sessions grew shorter and shorter. For some reason, whenever I began exercising, the women gathered nearby to watch. Not only my senior sisters but even Master observed with open curiosity. Come to think of it, because Master was not much older than her disciples and looked exceptionally young, she resembled one more sister whenever she sat among them.
They, too, were slowly changing now. With nutrition gradually being supplied, flesh was filling out their gaunt bodies, and a luster was returning to their dry skin, which even the hot spring hadn't been able to remedy. And from yesterday, they'd occasionally started bringing out the old, worn-out wooden swords to train. Disappointingly, it was all just the Three Talents Sword. Moreover, excluding Son Yeong, no one seemed particularly outstanding.
"Master."
"Yes, my disciple."
Master, who'd been idly chatting while holding Cho-ryeong and watching me exercise, asked with sparkling eyes.
"Tomorrow, would it be all right if I went to the village?"
"The village? What for?"
"I want to send a letter to my parents saying I've safely joined the main sect. And would it be all right to buy some blankets?"
"Blankets?"
"I know it's a spoiled complaint for a Daoist practitioner, but the bedding is so thin and rough that I cannot sleep comfortably."
It was something I'd wanted to say for days, but honestly, I'd felt awkward and put it off all this time. Still, since I was going to be here for three more years, speaking up early and living comfortably was far more efficient.
"Is there some Daoist rule forbidding a full stomach? A person must at least eat and sleep comfortably to train effectively. You have misunderstood, Disciple. The bedding isn't part of Daoist asceticism. We are simply poor."
She said it with artless innocence. No, I wasn't misunderstanding, I do know that we're poor.
"But what should we do? Yeong is unwell, so could you wait a few days? Like me, she suffers badly when she gets her period."
"Master. I'm fine. I've even spent months traveling the Martial World, haven't I?"
"Senior Sister Son. Don't push yourself. That was only because we were truly desperate and had no choice but to go. I'll go."
Lee Eun-ha looked at Son Yeong with a worried face. Son Yeong's menstrual cramps looked serious even at a glance. Seeing her skip even her beloved sword training and quietly observing my exercise today was proof enough.
"That's true. It's been quite a while since you visited the village too, has it not, Junior Sister Lee? I'll take care of your cleaning and laundry, so you may go."
The moment Jeong-hyang, ever the kindhearted eldest sister, said this warmly, Lee Eun-ha cut her off, horrified.
"Ah... no! Senior Sister Jeong! We don't have a single dish or piece of cloth left to spare, I'm telling you! If Senior Sister Jeong does the laundry or cleaning, what little household goods we still have will be completely ruined!"
"Well, that's true, isn't it?"
Jeong-hyang laughed in embarrassment. Apparently the world was at least somewhat fair. If a peerless beauty with such a kind heart were also gifted at martial arts and housework, that truly would have been unfair.
"I'll just go alone. It's not far."
If I went to buy blankets, I couldn't just buy my own. To buy six blankets, it was too much for Son Yeong or anyone else to carry anyway.
"Junior Brother! Junior Brother! I'll go with you!"
Cho-ryeong suddenly shot her hand up, looking at me with sparkling eyes like a puppy wagging its tail.
"Junior Sister Cho, no. You would be going with Junior Brother this time. If you start complaining that your legs hurt, it'll cause him real trouble."
Son Yeong seemed to be in charge of Cho-ryeong's education, and she cut Cho-ryeong off early, looking away from those puppy-dog eyes.
"I won't get whiny. I'm a martial artist now too, you know?"
"Junior Sister Cho!"
To Cho-ryeong, visiting the village seemed to be like a trip to an amusement park she rarely got to see. And even if she did get whiny, I didn't see that causing me any particular trouble.
"Master, would it be all right if Junior Sister Cho came along?"
"Are you the one who'd be all right with it?"
"I should use this chance for the two youngest to get closer."
"Well then, go ahead. But you are still a trainee, so pleasure houses and red-light districts are forbidden."
I was still not used to this kind of sudden, bizarre prohibition.
"How could I go to a place like that with Senior Sister Cho?"
"Ah, right. Of course."
My master, glossing it over with a cute face. Just when on earth would I get used to our Yeongsan Sect?