CLS-Chapter 193

Chapter 193

“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”

Wei Yan-ho kicked off his blanket and bolted upright from his bed.

“Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!”

Wei Yan-ho wiped the cold sweat covering his face with his sleeve and clutched his dizzy head.

“This old man, really!”

He understood it intellectually.

The Baek Mu-han in his dreams was a being created by Wei Yan-ho himself. The reason Baek Mu-han kept growing endlessly stronger was because as Wei Yan-ho’s realm improved, he began to feel and understand the martial arts that Baek Mu-han had shown him.

What could a child understand from reading the poetry of Du Fu or Bai Juyi? [TL/N: Du Fu and Bai Juyi were famous Tang dynasty poets.]

Only by studying poetry and learning more about it could one understand the great realm that those Poet Saints had reached.

By the same principle, as one’s understanding of martial arts deepened, one would realize that every seemingly trivial movement shown by a master had meaning.

So the Baek Mu-han in his memories had no choice but to become stronger.

And Baek Mu-han’s constant pressure on him meant that Wei Yan-ho himself was feeling impatient. The Baek Mu-han in his dreams was Baek Mu-han, but also Wei Yan-ho at the same time.

He knew this, he understood it, but…

“…Still, this is a bit much. Ouch.”

Wei Yan-ho slumped down heavily and twisted his back. There wasn’t a place on his body that didn’t hurt, as if he’d been pounded with hammers.

It was quite absurd, but… after getting beaten up in dreams, pain would visit him in reality too, and after suffering in dreams, he’d wake up tired as if he hadn’t slept at all.

If Wei Yan-ho hadn’t learned martial arts and strengthened his body, he wouldn’t have been able to escape this endless chain of fatigue. No matter how much he slept, sleepiness would come again, and no matter how much he rested, he’d still be tired.

“Nnnngh.”

Wei Yan-ho groaned and picked up the kettle beside his bed, roughly gulping down water.

“Pffffff!”

Wei Yan-ho violently spat out the water and shouted.

“Who changed this to hot tea!”

It was fortunate that Wei Yan-ho was a martial artist – if he’d been an ordinary person, he would have been burned by now. To think someone would attempt such a terrifying assassination method while a person was sleeping.

Just as Wei Yan-ho was about to tremble with anger, the door opened and someone entered.

“…Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes widened.

The person who entered the room was someone he knew well.

‘Come to think of it…’

He seemed to have caught a glimpse of her face recently.

But why was she here?

It was strange.

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head as he watched Jin Ye-ran enter carrying a table that looked three times larger than his own body.

Though it was very strange, he’d seen Jin Ye-ran carrying such a large table into rooms so many times that it even felt familiar.

“Uh… huh?”

Jin Ye-ran set down the table and smiled lightly.

“I greet my benefactor.”

“Ah, yes. Nice to see you. What brings you here?”

“By chance, I came to accompany your family members.”

“Ah, I see. But what’s this?”

Jin Ye-ran spoke as if it were nothing special.

“How could I just stand by and watch when the kindness my benefactor has shown me is as vast as the sea? Though my skills are lacking, I prepared this with all my heart, so please don’t scold me for it being tasteless and do me the honor of eating it.”

“…Wow.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched the back of his head at the overwhelming hospitality.

“You really don’t need to go this far…”

“If not for my benefactor, I would be selling songs and alcohol in a pleasure house by now.”

“Come now, it’s not that extreme.”

“I might have even sold my body.”

“Hey! What kind of talk is that for an unmarried woman!”

Wei Yan-ho frantically waved his hands.

“My benefactor has given me so much. Not only that, but you’ve opened a new path for me. Even if I spent my entire life repaying this kindness, it wouldn’t be enough.”

“Mmm.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head vigorously.

This wasn’t what he’d intended…

Wasn’t Wei Yan-ho someone who’d lived his entire life hearing nothing but curses? Everyone who knew him was dying to devour him alive. His family was like that, his master was like that.

In the midst of all that, receiving this kind of treatment left him completely unadapted.

“Please eat before it gets cold.”

“Ah, yes.”

Wei Yan-ho awkwardly got down from his bed. Then Wei Yan-ho and Jin Ye-ran’s gazes met in mid-air.

“…”

“…”

Jin Ye-ran slightly blushed and lowered her gaze.

Wei Yan-ho felt his heart drop and his body tremble.

‘She really is damn pretty.’

Though Wei Yan-ho thought he’d seen quite a bit of the world since leaving the cave, he hadn’t seen a single person with beauty comparable to Jin Ye-ran’s.

In terms of face alone, she was number one under heaven.

Something like Four Heavenly Horses as a martial artist couldn’t even dare compare to Jin Ye-ran as a beauty. Four Heavenly Horses was just one among the strong, but Jin Ye-ran was almost certainly the unshakable number one beauty under heaven.

Wei Yan-ho shook off his awkwardness and hurriedly sat down.

“Well then, let me eat…”

At that moment.

Knock knock.

The sound of knocking came from the door.

“Yes?”

When Wei Yan-ho asked, the door quietly opened.

And behind that door was…

“…”

“…”

“…”

The three people were speechless.

Wei Yan-ho blankly stared at Lee Seol-hwa, who stood behind the door holding a small table, while Lee Seol-hwa alternately looked at the enormous feast table placed in front of Wei Yan-ho, the food on it, Jin Ye-ran, and her own table.

And Jin Ye-ran was staring piercingly at Lee Seol-hwa’s face with a somewhat sullen expression.

“Uh, come in…”

Creak.

The door slowly closed again.

Then came the sound of low footsteps and someone walking away.

Wei Yan-ho stared blankly at the closed door before opening his mouth.

“If she’s just leaving like that…”

“Please eat, benefactor.”

“…”

“It’ll taste bad if it gets cold, so please just eat. The uninvited guest has returned.”

“…Yes.”

At the strangely menacing tone, Wei Yan-ho buried his nose in the food without another word.

It was strange.

He’d clearly put well-cooked, delicious rice and a golden-brown duck leg in his mouth, but the rice felt like crumbly sand grains and the duck leg felt oddly tough.

‘I’m going to get indigestion. I’m definitely going to get indigestion.’

Feeling a bizarre déjà vu as if this had happened before, Wei Yan-ho grabbed the teapot beside him and gulped it down.

“Puhaaaaaat!”

Then he violently spat out the tea in his mouth.

“It’s hot…”

“It’s, it’s okay. I just experienced this, so I’m used to it.”

Wei Yan-ho wiped off the tea and began nibbling at his rice. Jin Ye-ran, who had been watching Wei Yan-ho eat, quietly stood up and approached him.

“Hm?”

Then she grabbed the table with both hands.

“No!”

Wei Yan-ho grabbed Jin Ye-ran, who was trying to lift the table, and shouted.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“Since my benefactor doesn’t seem to like the meal, I’ll go prepare a new table. Even if you’re hungry, please wait just a moment.”

“No! That’s not it! What are you talking about! It’s delicious! It’s delicious!”

“…Really?”

“Of course! Look how well I’m eating!”

Wei Yan-ho frantically shoved the food from the table into his mouth.

“If you say so, then that’s fortunate.”

“Ish eally delishush.”

“Please eat slowly.”

You have to let me eat slowly for me to eat slowly, woman!

Wei Yan-ho secretly wiped away tears that were flowing down with his sleeve, out of Jin Ye-ran’s sight.

‘We’re not compatible.’

Strangely, whenever he got involved with Jin Ye-ran, countless bewildering things would happen. And it always seemed like strange incidents kept occurring.

Was this what people called compatibility? Just as Wei Yan-ho was thinking this, the door suddenly burst open.

“Yan-ho! You need to eat!”

Han Sang-ah, who had opened the door and entered without hesitation, stopped in place and looked Wei Yan-ho up and down.

The enormous dining table.

Wei Yan-ho and Jin Ye-ran.

Han Sang-ah, who instantly grasped the situation, covered her mouth and smiled subtly, then waved her other hand in the air.

“Oh my! How tactless of me. I’ll leave, so eat comfortably.”

“Uh, Mom, it’s not like that.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’ve reached that age too. It’s okay.”

“Mom! I said it’s not like that!”

But Han Sang-ah brushed off Wei Yan-ho’s words and went outside, chuckling.

“Hey, you brat! The sun is high in the sky… Kyaaaak! Sang-ah! Sang-ah, why are you doing this! Sang-ah!”

Someone tried to enter the room but let out a desperate scream and was dragged away by Han Sang-ah’s hand.

In an instant, in the room where a strange silence settled as if a storm had swept through, Wei Yan-ho scooped up a spoonful of rice, put it in his mouth, and began chewing.

‘Better to die than suffer like this.’

Let’s eat, eat.

While Wei Yan-ho was sweating coldly and forcing himself to stuff down rice, Gong Mu-jin was having a strange experience.

“Please eat.”

“…Seol-hwa!”

Tears of joy poured from Gong Mu-jin’s eyes. His disciple had personally prepared a meal and brought it to him.

Though Gong Mu-jin had spent his entire life emphasizing to Lee Seol-hwa that she was a sword master, not a woman, so she should never do things like entering the kitchen to cook rice, ever since he’d recently awakened to his love for his disciple, he’d been overjoyed to see Lee Seol-hwa show feminine sides.

And now she’d even prepared a meal!

‘Isn’t she first-class bride material!’

He was completely blinded by love.

“But…”

Lee Seol-hwa, who had set down the table, was looking at Gong Mu-jin with a stern face.

‘Hmm?’

Weren’t those eyes that were demanding something?

“Do you have something to say?”

Lee Seol-hwa quietly nodded, then knelt down on the spot.

“This disciple has something to say to Master.”

“Uh, get up quickly. The floor is cold!”

“Before that, please hear my words.”

“I’ll listen, so get up quickly! Quickly!”

Gong Mu-jin, who had become a disciple-fool, jumped down to the floor and helped Lee Seol-hwa up. He could roll around on the floor himself, but he absolutely couldn’t bear to see his disciple kneeling on the ground.

“What is it?”

“I’m sorry, but…”

Lee Seol-hwa spoke in a resolute tone.

“This disciple needs money.”

“…Huh?”

Gong Mu-jin tilted his head.

“Money?”

“That’s right.”

“…No, what would you need money for? We provide meals here and give you a place to sleep.”

“That’s not enough!”

Gong Mu-jin flinched at Lee Seol-hwa’s resolute voice and asked with a sour face.

“Then, then what else do you need?”

“Ingredients.”

“Hm?”

“Face powder and rouge.”

“…Hmmm?”

“Clothes!”

Gong Mu-jin’s back began to get soaked with sweat.

“Disciple, I’m always grateful for Master’s kindness. But now a rival has appeared that I cannot handle with my strength alone.”

“I, is that so?”

If a rival had appeared, why was she buying rouge and face powder?

“That’s why I’m making this request. This disciple needs money now. I will definitely repay it ten times, a thousand times over, so please trust this disciple!”

“Mm, alright.”

Gong Mu-jin awkwardly reached into his chest to pull out his money pouch and asked.

“…How much?”

Lee Seol-hwa stared intently at the money pouch without answering.

“Seol-hwa?”

That persistent gaze slowly pressured Gong Mu-jin. Gong Mu-jin looked at his money pouch with trembling eyes.

“Since meals are provided here and you have a place to sleep, what would you really need money for?”

As Gong Mu-jin’s powerless hand extended forward, Lee Seol-hwa bowed her head and accepted the money pouch.

“I am deeply grateful for Master’s kindness.”

“Mm.”

“Please enjoy your meal.”

As Lee Seol-hwa went outside with a lively face, Gong Mu-jin listlessly picked up his spoon.

Strangely, he felt like he was about to cry.

Thus, for the first time in the history of the Heavenly Orthodox Martial Alliance, two men simultaneously ate rice soaked with tears.