episode_0015

When I first held the Yeokgeunse Soo-gyeong Secret Book in my hands, I wouldn’t have been this surprised, but the moment I read the four characters that said Cheonma Shingong, I didn’t have time to control my expression.

Even though she still had vivid memories of her previous life and maintained her values, she still had an identity as a warrior of the Cheonmasingyo. That was why the burden of the name Cheonmasingong weighed heavily on Yeonjin.

“This is… … .”

“You already read it, Jin-ah.”

Yu Ye-hyang smiled with a rare mischievous smile.

In fact, handing this over required a great deal of determination on her part. If she had taken over the position of the leader from her mother and become the leader, then she would have been different, but now she is officially the sub-leader of the Cheonmasingyo. Not the leader. In other words, it is an abuse of authority.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

Yeonjin took a deep breath to calm herself down and asked again.

Cheonmasingong (Heavenly Demon Divine Art).

It is as the name suggests. It is a martial art only for Cheonma, the leader of the Cheonma Sect. It is a martial art that has been passed down from generation to generation for the sake of Cheonma throughout the history of the religion spanning hundreds of years.

At least that was the common sense that Yeonjin knew, so she couldn’t figure out why Yu Yehyang was handing over the secret of the Cheonma Shingong to her.

Yu Ye-hyang asked calmly, not minding the dark doubt on her face.

“Why do you think he handed it over?”

“Of course, that’s a martial arts secret, so to learn it… … ?”

“That’s right.”

It was an obvious story, but Yu Ye-hyang nodded her head in agreement. But that wasn’t what she was asking.

As Yeonjin’s eyebrows narrowed, Yu Yehyang smiled silently.

‘This is the best we can do for now.’

If things continue as they did before the return, there won’t be many years left until she ascends to the throne of the cult leader. At most, it’ll be about three years.

And given her mother, Yoo Su-ha’s personality, there was a high possibility that she would hand over the position of leader without a word if she suddenly came to ask for it.

Of course, in the process, questions like “Did you suddenly become greedy for this position?” and “Did you have some kind of change of heart?” will follow, but it would be fair to say that the mother and daughter are identical in that they have transcended power without any particular desire for it.

But even those three years were a waste. The future she knew was at most 15 years away. And she had no idea what variables would occur and how the future she knew would be distorted.

“This is… …a martial art that only the cult leader and his immediate lineage can learn.”

Yeonjin asked curiously, but quickly opened the book and looked through it. She quickly flipped through the pages, not skimming, but checking them, and it was definitely the Heavenly Demonic Sect. Although she couldn’t understand it just by glancing at the contents.

“So you don’t want to learn it? Even though it’s a martial art that everyone in the religion covets. Cheonma Shingong is a martial art that has been passed down and developed over generations. And it’s a martial art that has been developed and improved by the greatest people in the world over the past tens or hundreds of years, so I thought Jin-ah would be happy.”

“Because it’s a martial art I can’t learn.”

It hit the nail on the head. There was a sense of pressure that came with the name Cheonma Shingong, but once you peel away that pressure, it’s only natural that in a world where martial arts exist, since you have enemies in the Demonic Cult, you really want to learn martial arts.

But there is no such thing as unreasonable kindness in this world.

Although Yeonjin had already guessed that Yu Ye-hyang was definitely the one who returned, it didn’t make sense to simply consider handing over the Cheonma Shingong as an investment in the future.

Rather than being happy and accepting the sudden good fortune, it is safer to knock on the stone bridge and cross it.

It might be an exaggeration to say that it was a look of distrust, but there was doubt in his eyes about the current situation, not about Yu Ye-hyang.

Yu Ye-hyang smiled faintly after reading the doubt.

“Do you think I would be so stupid as to hand over martial arts that only the cult leader and his immediate family can learn just out of kindness?”

“… … That’s not it.”

As expected, Yu Ye-hyang opened her mouth in a relaxed tone.

Even though Yeonjin may seem naive, she is not as shallow and frivolous as she appears on the outside. Rather, she is more likely to be careful not to accumulate unnecessary favors and to worry about being a sticking out stone that will be met with ire.

In that case, all you have to do is create a convincing justification.

It would be possible to cleverly mix truth and lies with words to deceive her, but deceiving Yeonjin was not only unpalatable to her, it was also close to unimaginable.

Yu Ye-hyang revealed her true feelings.

“If you need my strength, Jin-ah.”

“… … My strength?”

“Yeah.”

Yu Ye-hyang nodded. She was still staring at Yeon-jin, who was looking back and forth between the copy of the Cheonma Shingong and Yu Ye-hyang’s face, without wavering.

“The potential you have. So your power, and you too, Jinah.”

Their gazes crossed in the air.

Yu Ye-hyang added softly, in a calm but appealing voice.

“I really need it.”

“… … I’m not sure if my talent is that great. Of course, it would be good to learn powerful martial arts. But I wonder if it’s worth going that far. My talent may not be as great as you think. Is that really okay?”

Yeonjin replied in a voice without confidence.

However, Yu Ye-hyang already knew about him well. The current Yeon-jin was just inexperienced. It was just that she had not been through all sorts of things, having been several years ahead of when she had met her before her return.

If she could be there to boost his confidence and guide him on the right path without wasting time, he would have a good chance of reaching the level of a true master.

‘Enough.’

Yu Ye-hyang, who was about to say something, moved her lips and blurted out something that could not be heard.

And instead of speaking, he slowly stretched out his arm and pulled Yeonjin into his arms.

Yeonjin’s body froze like a stiff block of wood at the sudden physical contact, and slender fingers slowly stroked her spine.

Sometimes, one action is better than a hundred empty words. Just like right now.

In a world where the roles of men and women are reversed, there are defined masculine and feminine behaviors. A kind of stereotype based on gender. In that sense, Yu Ye-hyang’s current behavior is sufficiently in line with feminine behavior.

Isn’t it a woman’s virtue to have faith in the man she loves?

He holds her head in his arms and hugs her, and the fingers that were running down her spine slowly pat her back as if to control the subtle tremors.

Consistently, warmly, and with confidence, so that even the slightest trembling of the trembling skin can be stopped.

“Jin-ah.”

“… … Yes?”

Yeonjin, who was suddenly held in his arms and whose face was buried in his arms, barely managed to answer in a crawling voice.

Even if this world was a world where the gender roles were reversed, unlike his previous life, he was still not immune to soft female bodies.

Perhaps because she liked that kind of reaction, the corners of Yu Ye-hyang’s mouth slightly went up.

Even before returning, it was her role to take the initiative and lead skillfully. Yu Ye-hyang, who was recalling memories for a moment, whispered in his ear.

“I told you last time. Trust your sister.”

* * *

The pavilion given to me by the Tang family was a single room. The room was spacious and had two separate beds, but the room itself was only one room.

Somehow, while talking to me, Dangryung would occasionally look at my sister and me and smile happily.

Because of that, even now that I’m lying in bed, I can’t practice the ultimate kicking technique. If I do, I’ll become a laughing stock and end up in trouble with my sister.

‘Ah… … Should I bite my tongue?’

From my perspective, where I still had memories of my past life, whenever I recalled the memory of being held in a woman’s arms and shivering with my ears red, I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to kick away the thin silk blanket covering me.

Something similar happened last night, but my skin was much softer than I thought, and it smelled nice… … No, if I think about it any more, I’ll feel inferior, so let’s stop here.

‘This is a given in this world, it’s natural, but… … .’

I understood it in my head. That this is natural in this world. Women tend to lead, and men are passively led.

If someone had seen me just now, they probably wouldn’t have thought anything was strange. Rather, they would have just laughed and said that I was having a great time.

However, knowing and understanding that fact and accepting it were different things, so even now, I was so eager to practice each method that my legs were itching.

I thought I wouldn’t be able to endure it if I thought about this any longer, so I changed the subject of my thoughts. To the Heavenly Demonic Cultivation.

‘Then what I told you to do was to learn the reverse chronological order of things…?’

‘As for the pupils that protect the body, Shaolin’s martial arts that focus on external skills are the best. Of course, I had them all in mind. That much preparation is needed to learn the Heavenly Demonic Skill.’

I calmed down the strangely excited feeling as I recalled the brief conversation we had earlier.

My sister told me to trust her and not to worry so much, but it was none other than the Heavenly Demonic Sect. I had read more than one or two martial arts novels, and I knew full well the weight that the name Heavenly Demonic Sect carried.

Even putting aside the fact that it was a martial art that I shouldn’t learn, I had a lot of pressure about whether I could do it well.

If you are called Cheonma, then it is the name that stands at the top when competing for the best in the world in this era, and it is a martial art that is so difficult to learn and powerful that it cannot be learned by anyone other than Cheonma.

If we only consider the value of the martial arts, it is higher than that of the famous Taegeuk Hyegeom of the Mudangpa, and is comparable to or even superior to the Jaha Shin Gong that only the Jangmunin of Hwasan can learn.

Once I started to worry, distracting thoughts started to follow one after another, but I shook my head because it was time to go to sleep.

I don’t know. If you’re going to do that, I think your sister must have thought about it too.

At least that’s what I’ve seen so far. He wasn’t the kind of person who would do something recklessly without any thought.

Like it or not, whether it becomes food or death, I must follow it. If only to repay the trust.

It was absolutely certain that I was a regressor, and I wondered how strong my skills were before I regressed for them to even teach me the Heavenly Demonic Skill, but I soon closed my eyes and went to sleep.

Because I had to start learning the Heavenly Demonic Skill starting tomorrow.

However, the night was unusually long and sleep was almost impossible. I absentmindedly turned my head to look at the bed next to me, and all I could see was the sound of his breathing and the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.

But unlike my sister, I couldn’t fall asleep easily.