Chapter 5
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“Ah, I’m gonna be the one to bring in the stir-fried Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root!”
“Second Brother, that’s mean! I wanna see that little kid’s face too!”
At the sudden commotion from his unruly grandsons, Namgung Ho furrowed his brow.
‘At this rate, the child will get indigestion.’
Feeling a throb in his temples, Namgung Ho rose from his seat.
Startled by the presence of the grandsons, Hong-seol’s chopsticks had already frozen in mid-air.
“Hong-seol, cover your ears for a moment.”
At his words, Hong-seol put down her chopsticks and covered her ears with her small, delicate hands. Seeing this, Namgung Ho opened the reception room door without hesitation.
“Put down that dish and get out of here at once!”
“Waaah!”
At the roar, which was laced with a hint of his internal energy, the second and third grandsons fled in terror.
Namgung Ho clicked his tongue inwardly and snatched the bowl that had flown into the air.
Thump, thud.
The stir-fried Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root, which had scattered in the air, settled back into the bowl as if by magic with a few gestures of his hand.
All the while, Hong-seol was still tightly covering both ears, just as he had told her to.
“Your meal was disturbed by those needlessly noisy rascals.”
Returning to his seat, Namgung Ho picked up a piece of glistening duck meat and placed it on Hong-seol’s rice bowl.
“Go on, eat.”
At that, Hong-seol’s frozen chopsticks began to move again. But not long after, she put them down.
“Why have you stopped eating?”
“It’s okay. I’ve eaten a lot.”
In truth, she wanted to eat a little more. She had never had such delicious food before.
But Hong-seol forced herself to suppress that desire.
‘I can’t be greedy. If I eat too much, I might get kicked out of here, too.’
Toward Namgung Ho, who was gauging the reduced amount of food, Hong-seol repeated herself.
“It’s true. I’m full.”
She thought she had hidden her true feelings perfectly with that answer.
But she couldn’t hide the way her gaze unconsciously flickered toward the sweet confections.
Noticing this, a faint smile touched Namgung Ho’s lips. It was a smile Hong-seol failed to see.
‘She says she’s full, but it seems she just wants sweets, like any child.’
And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to ask for one. It seemed she would only touch them if Namgung Ho offered them to her himself.
But there was something to be done before that.
“The confections are good, but first, try this.”
In the next moment, something happened that would have made the maids of the Changcheon Pavilion jump in surprise.
He personally picked up his chopsticks and took a piece of the stir-fried Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root.
“Here, say ‘ah’.”
The Supreme Head of the Namgung Clan was personally feeding a child!
It was something he had never once done, not even for his three direct grandsons.
“Ah…?”
Unaccustomed to being fed by someone, Hong-seol hesitated before opening her mouth. A piece of fleeceflower root, lightly stir-fried in oil with a sprinkle of salt, slipped into her small mouth.
“Mmph.”
Hong-seol couldn’t swallow the fleeceflower root and just mumbled with her mouth full.
‘It must be very bitter for a child.’
Namgung Ho said in a deliberately stern voice.
“This is medicine for your body. You must chew it well and swallow.”
After making a pained face and mumbling for a long while, Hong-seol suddenly clenched her fists. It seemed she had decided to swallow it, unable to bring herself to spit out the food he had fed her.
Gulp.
“Good girl! Here, have a confection.”
Confirming that she had swallowed the fleeceflower root, Namgung Ho placed the wooden stick with the confection on it into Hong-seol’s hand.
Her cheeks flushed, Hong-seol quickly took a bite of the confection.
The sweetness that melted in her mouth was so delightful that the child, for the first time, smiled unconsciously.
Watching her quietly, Namgung Ho asked.
“Do you feel anything in your body?”
At his words, Hong-seol blinked, not understanding.
“I’m talking about the Fleeceflower Root you ate. Can you feel its energy?”
Now that he mentioned it, she did feel a sort of ticklish energy near her navel.
It was definitely unfamiliar, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. It was a refreshing sensation, like drinking from a crystal-clear spring deep in the mountains.
“I think there’s something near my navel…?”
“Yes! That is your dantian. Now, close your eyes and focus on the energy there.”
After a moment of hesitation, Hong-seol did as he said and closed her eyes tightly.
The faint energy settled in her dantian began to flicker, then she felt it gathering and solidifying.
“I will place my finger on your body for a moment, so do not be alarmed.”
With her eyes still closed, Hong-seol nodded. For some reason, she felt she could trust this old man.
Taking a deep breath, Namgung Ho lightly placed his firm finger on Hong-seol’s gaunt shoulder. From that point, an energy like the clear sky carefully flowed into her.
“Oh…?”
Hong-seol tilted her head.
“Do you feel something?”
When she nodded slightly, Namgung Ho’s pleased voice replied.
“Your sensitivity to energy is very sharp.”
The energy Hong-seol sensed from Namgung Ho was peculiar.
It was as light as the wind drifting in a blue sky, yet at the same time, it was as seamless as a stone wall built with great care over a long time.
It was an energy that could, if he wished, transform into a Swift Sword or a Heavy Sword that sundered the world.
“From now on, I will send my energy to every corner of your body, Hong-seol.”
He was saying he would help her with circulating her energy, something any martial artist should know how to do on their own.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root was a spiritual medicine containing immense energy.
No matter how good a spiritual medicine, it could be harmful if consumed incorrectly. Many people, in their greed to increase their internal energy, had recklessly chewed and swallowed the Fleeceflower Root only to collapse, unable to handle its power.
That was why circulating the energy was essential to properly absorb the Fleeceflower Root’s power.
‘But a child whose meridian points are all damaged couldn’t possibly know the proper path for internal energy to flow.’
So he was saying he would show her the path the energy should take.
The Supreme Head of the Namgung Clan, who had trained his internal energy cultivation method daily for nearly seventy years, would do it himself.
A pitiful child, abandoned by the Myo Clan.
But within this child, the seed that would one day master the Yin-Yang Divine Art was growing. The very ‘Yin-Yang Divine Art’ he had longed to see with his own two eyes.
Namgung Ho intended to do his utmost to help this small child’s talent blossom beautifully.
“Follow my lead and try to imagine sending the energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root gathered in your dantian to every corner of your body.”
Like this?
Tilting her head, Hong-seol followed Namgung Ho’s guidance and tried to push the energy gathered near her navel with all her might.
Then, something amazing happened.
The energy, split into strands, began to spread to every corner of Hong-seol’s body.
It was as if Namgung Ho’s energy was running at the forefront, with the energy from the fleeceflower root Hong-seol had eaten chasing swiftly behind it.
“O-oh?”
That wasn’t all.
She felt something changing along every path the energy took. She didn’t know why, but wherever the refreshing energy passed, strength naturally welled up.
It was when the energy of the fleeceflower root had completed exactly one circuit through her body.
“Stop!”
Namgung Ho’s shout rang out.
Hong-seol caught the energy circulating inside her body and stopped it.
“Very well done!”
When Hong-seol opened her eyes, Namgung Ho was beaming.
It was truly a rare sight to see him smile so brightly. It also meant his joy was genuine.
“Hong-seol, you are truly clever!”
Hong-seol was dazed by the shower of praise and the warm smile. She had never felt like this before.
‘Is… is he happy because of me?’
A gentle warmth began to spread through her heart, which had felt uneasy and constricted ever since she had woken up in this place.
I want to do better, even better.
I want to be praised!
Hong-seol’s small heart pounded.
She was both happy and amazed by the fact that she had truly been praised by an adult.
Namgung Ho was just as surprised.
‘Is this really a child who has never practiced martial arts?’
Hong-seol’s sensitivity to energy was exceptionally keen.
In terms of talent alone, she was on par with the direct descendants of the Namgung Clan: Baek, Heuk, and Jeok.
To sensitively perceive the energy of a spiritual medicine and guide it at will was something that took even seasoned martial artists a long time to achieve.
Yet Hong-seol was doing it as if it were nothing.
Even with Namgung Ho’s help, it was an incredibly astonishing feat.
‘The ancient sages said that those who suffer from Yin-Yang Severed Meridians are born with clever minds and outstanding sensitivity to energy.’
Namgung Ho looked at the small child before him.
‘My eyes did not deceive me. This child is a martial prodigy, the likes of which may never be seen again!’
“Haha!”
Namgung Ho let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh and asked.
“Well, how do you feel?”
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