I Am the Youngest Disciple of the Martial Arts World’s Mastermind
Chapter 15
Chapter 15
The Youngest Disciple of the Murim’s Hidden Mastermind
Episode 15
Soon, Danhwi spoke in a soft, soothing voice.
“Master said Soso would be of help to you. You might not trust me, but you trust Master, don’t you?”
Gwangeum asked back, his voice thick with disbelief.
“…That stupid kid? Master said that?”
“Yes. So when she visits again soon, just this once, don’t kick her out. Accept her. It’s Master’s request. Understood?”
“…Fine. But this is the last time.”
Gwangeum spoke as if spitting out the words with great difficulty, then shook off Danhwi’s hand.
Then, his long sleeves fluttering, he staggered away toward Jinmyeonggak.
“…….”
Instead of calling out his insolent attitude, Danhwi watched his retreating figure with pitying eyes.
He didn’t forget to shout one last thing.
“Hey! And what’s with that disheveled hair!? Tie it up like your hyung!”
At that, Gwangeum covered his ears without even looking back.
“…Sigh.”
Danhwi swept his hair back with a troubled expression.
It had been several years since Gwangeum climbed Cheongsanbong, but it seemed the wounds he had gained from the secular world had yet to heal.
In the first place, Cheongsanbong was a place where only those with such deep scars remained after abandoning all their ties.
To the point where it felt like even Master, who had taken them in, had secrets he hadn’t shared with his disciples.
However, Gwangeum needed to realize that he wasn’t the only one harboring wounds.
Danhwi let out a sigh and muttered.
“I hope Soso can be of help to Gwangeum, just as Master said….”
Was it expecting too much from an eight-year-old?
While that thought crossed his mind, he also remembered the fact that Master’s words had never once been wrong.
‘The relationship between Gwangeum and Soyoung is unusual.’
‘In what way exactly?’
‘Aren’t there people who just don’t get along particularly well? Last night, Gwangeum even told Senior Brother Hyeonhak that he didn’t want to see Soyoung.’
‘Ah… it is fine. You only need to create one opportunity. Soso will take care of the rest.’
But Master. Can Soso really do it?
Danhwi watched the angry Gwangeum’s back with anxious eyes, unable to feel certain himself.
As I headed toward the cherry blossom tree Danhwi had told me about, I saw a refined beauty in green robes lying long on a wooden bench, where cherry blossoms were in full bloom out of season.
“Master!”
“Mmm. You’ve come, Soyoung-ah.”
At my call, Master lifted his head with a thin smile.
“Yes! I heard you were looking for me!”
As I ran over, Master adjusted his posture and spoke gravely.
“Yes. You have now memorized all the locations of the pressure points and can write them down as well, correct?”
“Yes!”
Perhaps thanks to the Murim patch, or because I already knew quite a few words, I had quickly finished the basic vocabulary of Chinese characters and was slowly studying with martial arts manuals.
The strategy of memorizing the most frequently used characters first had worked perfectly, so progress was faster than expected.
I even wondered if I had been a person of the Murim in the life before my previous life.
I held my head high toward Master. Is he finally going to praise me? Hmph, even if you praise me this late….
“You did truly well. You are faster than your senior brothers.”
“Hehe.”
My mouth hung open in a grin of its own accord.
Moreover, I heard even better words.
“Now you must find and learn a cultivation manual and martial arts that suit you.”
“Wow!”
I’m getting stronger!
“You’re going to pick them for me, right?”
I had given up on dreams like the Extreme Yin Body or Extreme Yang Body by now, but wouldn’t there be at least some martial arts that suited me well enough to protect myself?
As I looked on with sparkling eyes, a bolt from the blue suddenly struck.
“No, go to Jinmyeonggak and pick out a cultivation manual yourself. Then I shall review it.”
“…From Jinmyeonggak?”
My voice trembled unintentionally. Whether he noticed or not, Master replied very kindly.
“Yes.”
I barely managed to steady my trembling voice and spoke cautiously.
“But, Jin—Jinmyeonggak is Senior Brother Gwangeum’s private annex…?”
“Indeed. You may go and ask him for help.”
“Uh….”
The thing is.
“Off you go.”
He told me never to come back, though…?
“Phew….”
After spending a whole night steeling my resolve, I hesitantly climbed the high stairs leading to Jinmyeonggak from early morning.
Darn it, but he said it was off-limits….
How do I get him to open the door? Should I just hold out in front?
It didn’t seem like that would work, but turning back submissively didn’t seem like a good choice either.
If I couldn’t even gain the trust of my own martial brother, I wouldn’t be able to prove my worthiness to be Master’s disciple.
If there was one thing I realized while living as a No-Knot Beggar in the harsh world of martial arts, it was that you should never fully trust anyone.
The fact that I had to prove my value remained unchanged, and bringing back the martial arts manual I would learn with my own hands was the minimum test.
“Hoo….”
I stared blankly at the blocked gate before starting to walk along the wall.
He didn’t explicitly say I had to get it directly from Gwangeum, right?
The high walls looked sturdy, so jumping over them seemed out of the question for someone of my height. Still, maybe there’s a dog hole somewhere….
“As expected, there isn’t one.”
The back was a complete cliff and inaccessible, so I inspected only the front and both sides—three directions in total.
Just as I was about to be disappointed at not finding a gap.
“……?”
A very small hole that I definitely hadn’t seen earlier caught my eye on the left wall. A hole just big enough for a child like me to barely squeeze through.
“…….”
I pride myself on my sharp eyes. It definitely wasn’t there before….
I was about to whip around to look behind me, but I stopped dead.
And I shouted excitedly at the top of my lungs.
“Wow! A hole! I should go in through here!”
And I immediately began to crawl into the hole. Because….
‘It’s Danhwi.’
This was one hundred percent Danhwi helping me from behind.
Even if I tried to find him, it was certain that I wouldn’t be able to detect him with my pathetic skills. It would be better for everyone if I just pretended not to know.
“Phew.”
Once I finished crawling through the dog hole, the interior of Jinmyeonggak, which was unbelievably spacious for Gwangeum to use alone, came into view.
In the center was the bell I had become familiar with from peeking through the gate….
“Gasp.”
I saw Gwangeum passing by in the distance. I quickly hid my body behind the bell.
“…….”
Peeking my head out to look again, for once, Gwangeum, with his hair neatly tied up, was heading somewhere.
Is he going to the library…?
Come to think of it, the reason Jinmyeonggak was so large was that it housed an enormous number of books.
Among them, there would surely be cultivation manuals and martial arts books suitable for me to learn.
It would be nice if he just gave them to me, but….
Let’s assume there’s no help from Gwangeum. I’ll be lucky if I’m not caught and kicked out.
I was confident in finding safe cultivation manuals and decent martial arts books that often appeared in games, as I had memorized the Chinese characters.
First, let’s follow Gwangeum.
“…….”
As I was cautiously following behind him, he suddenly came to a halt and let out a deep sigh.
“…Haa.”
Then he immediately turned and moved toward a library located about halfway.
“…….”
Is that the secret manual library?
After waiting breathlessly for a long time, I cautiously stepped through the gap of the door that wasn’t fully closed.
Gwangeum was nowhere to be seen. It was a success.
“Phew….”
And the moment I brought both feet inside the door.
Clunk!
“……!”
Rattle. I heard the sound of chains falling. Simultaneously, a sensation of falling as the ground gave way beneath my feet enveloped my entire body.
Reflexively looking down, a pitch-black darkness was yawning open in the wide-open floor.
It’s a trap…!
“Aaaaah!!”
I flailed my short limbs as I fell downward…!
Thump.
Thank goodness, I landed in a pile of sand.
“Puh-pffft.”
I struggled while spitting out the sand that had filled my mouth and nose.
My eyelids felt gritty and the surroundings were completely dark, so it took an eternity to secure my vision.
And when I could finally see ahead.
“Look at the state of you….”
“…….”
Gwangeum was standing in front of me.
And unlike me, he looked perfectly neat.
He crossed his arms and clicked his tongue.
“…….”
As I sat there dazed for a long time, he immediately scolded me.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to crawl out of there?”
“…….”
“Is your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth?”
“I’m sorryy….”
Awkwardly, I waded through the sand pile and came out.
