Chapter 5. This Is Hard to Get Used To
“A year after Second Senior Brother, Fourth Senior Brother, and Fifth Senior Brother left, a large manor was built in Yeongje County. At first, no one knew what kind of place it was. Only later did we learn that the manor was called Heukjin Manor.”
Jaha quietly listened.
Hanseol had to take quick little steps to keep up with Jaha’s pace. As she walked, she glanced back at Jo Unryong, who was following them from some distance away.
He seemed to be deliberately keeping his distance so he would not interrupt their conversation.
If he listened from the side and became excited, he would probably interrupt the story.
Knowing what the youngest was thinking, Hanseol looked at him with a slightly pitiful expression before continuing.
“Heukjin Manor was established by martial artists from the unorthodox faction. I think their purpose was probably to keep an eye on the Mount Hua Sect. They were only interested in what happened throughout Shaanxi, so at first, they didn’t pay much attention to Yeongje County. But one day, they came to us.”
Jaha did not ask any questions, allowing Hanseol to tell the story at her own pace.
Hanseol looked at him with slightly trembling eyes.
“They told us to sell the martial hall to them. They even said they would give us enough money to cover Master’s medical expenses.”
For the first time since she began speaking, Jaha responded.
“First Senior Brother refused, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
Jaha could feel Byeokho’s emotions stirring inside him, making him mutter under his breath.
Hanseol continued.
“Cheongryong Senior Brother was worried that if we sold the martial hall and moved somewhere else, the other senior brothers might not be able to find us when they came back. That was why he refused to sell it, no matter how much they threatened us. This place is the home of all our brothers and sister, after all.”
A tight pain once again appeared in Jaha’s chest.
He quietly calmed Byeokho’s lingering spirit inside himself.
Although only Byeokho’s earthly spirit remained among his soul and spirit, even that had an enormous influence on Jaha’s own soul.
By now, Jaha could no longer deny that fact.
That was also why he had been faithfully playing the role of Hanseol’s Second Senior Brother.
“First Senior Brother was that kind of person.”
Hanseol fell silent for a moment, seemingly lost in memories.
Then she continued.
“When we refused to sell the martial hall, Heukjin Manor started using force. First, they threatened the students and drove them away. They also stopped new students from joining. Even so, we stubbornly held on....”
Hanseol’s voice began to tremble.
She knew the painful part of the story had finally come.
“Then, one year ago, the son of Heukjin Manor’s lord challenged First Senior Brother to a duel. He promised that if First Senior Brother defeated him, they would stop interfering with students who wanted to join our martial hall. We were desperate back then, so First Senior Brother accepted his offer.”
Moisture gathered in Hanseol’s eyes.
“We were too naive. The son of Heukjin Manor’s lord invited many influential people from the surrounding area to watch the duel. We thought that with so many witnesses, they wouldn’t dare do anything underhanded, so we agreed.”
Her voice trembled so badly that she had to pause.
After struggling to calm herself, Hanseol continued.
“There... there, that bastard, the son of Heukjin Manor’s lord... he did that to First Senior Brother. First Senior Brother tried to get back up again and again, but in the end, he couldn’t stand anymore... Hngh....”
Hanseol could no longer continue.
She bit her lip.
The memory of what had happened returned vividly to her mind, and her whole body trembled until she nearly stumbled.
Jaha wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steadied her.
“That’s enough. You don’t have to say any more. I understand.”
Hanseol felt the warmth of Second Senior Brother’s hand resting on her shoulder.
Until now, Cheongryong Senior Brother had always been the dependable one.
Second Senior Brother had usually been the one who joked around and played with her.
But now...
Second Senior Brother’s hand and shoulder had somehow become something she could depend on.
“Senior Brother Byeok, you absolutely must not go to Heukjin Manor to avenge Cheongryong Senior Brother. Their martial artists are on a completely different level from us. They’re real martial artists of the martial world. They’re nothing like people like us, who only trained by sparring with wooden swords inside a martial hall.”
Hanseol was afraid that Second Senior Brother might lose control of his anger and storm into Heukjin Manor, so she hurriedly added those words.
“Do you think I’m an idiot? I can tell that much for myself.”
Jaha kept his left arm around Hanseol’s shoulders as they walked.
Before long, Jo Unryong quietly slipped in beside Jaha’s right side.
Jaha looked at him and wrapped his right arm around the boy’s neck as well.
This was not Byeokho’s will.
It was Jaha’s own.
Don’t make this awkward. It’s just sympathy.
To Jaha, the two of them looked like baby birds that had lost their mother.
That was why he could not bring himself to push them away when they kept pressing close to his sides.
Jaha had a lot to think about.
He had to consider the path he himself needed to take while also dealing with Byeokho’s life.
It was difficult to know where to begin.
If he could find Yeomra-ui, there was a good chance the problem of his internal energy could be solved.
The problem was that his current body could not keep up.
First, I need to completely adjust to Byeokho’s body and fully refine his remaining spirit.
Even if I obtain the internal energy I want, if Byeokho’s spirit suddenly runs wild, I could easily suffer qi deviation.
So completely adapting to this body comes first.
The thought of having to remain at Cheongun Martial Hall for some time made Jaha feel suffocated.
“Senior Brother Byeok, come eat.”
Hanseol called out to him.
Jaha’s face immediately crumpled.
He had been eating at Cheongun Martial Hall for the past several days, but the food simply would not go down his throat anymore.
“I’m fine. You two eat.”
There was not even something as common as chicken.
Every meal consisted entirely of vegetables.
Jaha, who had rather picky tastes, could no longer endure it.
When he had lived in the Demonic Cult, meat had made up nearly half of every meal.
For the first few days, he had tolerated eating nothing but vegetables.
Now, however, the food felt rough in his mouth the moment he tried to eat it.
And that was only the side dishes.
The rice was no better.
Seeing white rice at all was difficult.
Considering their circumstances, being able to eat three meals a day was already a luxury.
“Wow! As expected, now that Senior Brother Byeok is here, we get to eat three meals every day!”
Jo Unryong stared happily at the table covered with vegetables.
There had been times when even eating two meals a day had been considered wasteful because so much money had to be saved for their master’s medicine.
Naturally, Jo Unryong was delighted even with a table filled only with vegetables.
Hanseol spoke worriedly.
“Come on, please eat something. You didn’t eat breakfast either.”
No matter how hungry he was, Jaha had no desire to stuff any more grass into his stomach.
I need meat.
Jaha quickly made an excuse to Hanseol.
“The youngest is still growing. How can this much grass possibly be enough? I’ll go into the mountains and catch some animals.”
Jaha picked up a sword and a spear before heading outside.
Jo Unryong watched him leave with a gloomy expression.
“Senior Brother Byeok seems really depressed ever since he learned that First Senior Brother died. He keeps skipping meals, and he barely talks anymore.”
“Of course he is. To Senior Brother Byeok, First Senior Brother wasn’t just a senior brother. He was like his real older brother. Losing someone like that must have torn his heart apart. Those two spent more time together than anyone else. Let’s leave him alone for a while. Once he settles his feelings, he’ll return to being the old Senior Brother Byeok.”
Jaha climbed into the mountains.
There was only one problem.
He had never hunted before.
So he had no idea how to catch a wild animal.
But that did not mean he had no solution.
By searching through Byeokho’s memories, Jaha could quickly absorb his hunting knowledge almost as if it were his own experience.
Having another person’s spirit inside him was very useful at times like this.
Byeokho had lived among the lower class all his life, so there were few kinds of hard labor he had not experienced.
He had worked as an inn servant, an herb gatherer, a woodcutter, and a porter.
He had done all kinds of work normally left to servants.
Because of those experiences, Byeokho was skilled at dealing with people and surviving in difficult situations.
Later, once his Cheongun Swordsmanship had reached a decent level, he had been able to work as an escort warrior.
Among all the jobs Byeokho had held, being an escort warrior had been the best.
In truth, he could also have made money as an herb gatherer or hunter.
However, perhaps because the yin energy in the mountains around Yeongje County was weak, there were very few valuable herbs that could be sold for good money.
That was why Byeokho had volunteered to travel to Taiyuan to earn money.
Flutter! Flutter!
