episode_0125

“Yesterday, Sagong-hyeon, that old man, gathered us together and talked about dough. And how the children’s behavior has changed.”

“Um…is that so.”

“That’s right. As for what sect it might be… we, Jeomchang, can be said to be a sect that is quite interested in education.”

It was something that could definitely be acknowledged.

In the world of martial arts, the methods of nurturing disciples among the sects that have a normal system are the same.

First, gather children into a group and teach the group martial arts. Those who stand out among them are promoted to a higher level. In that way, an outstanding child is selected and that child becomes someone’s student.

So, during group training, if you think the seed is good, you will be assigned to one of the master candidates. Well, there are cases where students take on students so that they can teach themselves.

If we interpret this in modern terms, it simply means to educate one’s students individually.

Basic training is provided by the sect, but teaching advanced courses to students is all done under the responsibility and competency of the teacher.

So, in this world of martial arts, Dongyang, who will lead the sect, believes that entrusting tutoring to an excellent teacher is the correct method of education.

On the other hand, Jeomchang’s method of nurturing students is academy-style. Several teachers teach many students.

The responsibilities are not divided for each martial art… Can we say that there are multiple disciples of multiple masters?

Although I cannot evaluate which system of education is superior, I was certain that Jeomchang was a school that was much more interested in education than other schools.

In the end, to put it in a bad way, other schools of sects just let the master in charge take care of the teaching methods of teaching students. It is obvious which one is more interested in education: ‘Each individual master should think about how to raise disciples’ or ‘Let the entire sect think about how to raise disciples’.

“It may only be a few days, but it has such a dramatic effect that we are all very interested in what is going on in your head.”

Those were creepy words. My head…what? I trembled when I saw that the Zen masters were looking at me in an unusual way.

“Your actions have inspired us quite a bit. First of all, I could see how boringly we were raising our children.”

“Phew…it’s not easy trying to raise children with just old parents! I thought that if I just let the kids out, they would run around on their own…”

“I wonder if my father would like to buy me a piece of taffy. I used to go out to meet my father on his way home every evening, but I wonder why I forgot that…”

“Hehe, that’s right. My father brought fried chicken.”

I cleared my throat and cut off the story of the seniors who suddenly went on a trip down memory lane. If you get caught up in this flow, it will take at most an hour.

“Hmm…I’m sorry. Let’s get back to this topic. Actually… your actions don’t really make sense to us old Taoists! I heard you were thinking of motivating the children by simply distributing sweets, and yesterday you immediately got Sagonghyeon’s cooperation?”

“If you don’t understand, you should at least copy it. As a way of dealing with children, I am trying to imitate what you just did. I’m talking about actions that provide entertainment to children, reward them for their punishment, and make them feel sorry.”

“Hmm…”

I scratched the back of my neck. What do I know about children’s education? The magazine style I picked up somewhere and the lectures I took as a liberal arts subject were the limits of my bag strap. Even if you know how to raise an unmanned child, you are not good at raising a child.

“What do you mean…I can tell you about my manual skills, but…I honestly am not confident in the method of teaching children that Zen masters want. I have no experience raising children, I just keep them interested and give them snacks.”

“Hehe. I guess so. Because you are not a teacher. As for the educational part, it’s enough to gradually learn about it through conversation. By the way, do you have any objections to those who hand over your skill? Actually, I was embarrassed because your level was so high. I thought they were just fooling the kids…”

I understood Master Youngyul’s embarrassment. I thought it was just a trick to fool children, but when I looked into it, it turned out to be a Daosin-level technique that could easily fool even a Hwagyeong expert. It must be a situation that far exceeds the expected expenditure that Master Youngyul had in mind.

“If you need skills to use lightly with children, we can teach you at that level. I can pass on all of my skills to you as long as you pay the right price.”

“First of all, paying for all of your technology is not something you can decide right away… So, we will adjust the details gradually, and this is my proposal. You teach children entertaining skills and how to handle them, and we teach you martial arts.”

So, it means that instead of Hyeok Kirin, the masters of Hwagyeong will teach me.

“During work hours, one of us will watch your martial arts skills. And after dinner, he teaches us a skill or teaches us how to handle children.”

Um…what can I say?

To put it bluntly, it’s a story about learning from the cute Hyeok Kirin, although disguised as a man, and then suddenly learning from old elders…

Oh, of course. Their abilities as teachers are probably much better than that of Hyeok Kirin. I’m learning from a much better teacher… but why do I feel like I’m losing out emotionally? This is beneficial, right?

Although some resentment welled up in my heart, I accepted this offer.

“I will.”

It wasn’t just because the teacher changed… it was a choice that took into account the black cat snooping around to see what they were talking about from afar.

If I am absent, the black cat can receive intensive training from Hyeok Kirin. In fact, if it were to be an efficient distribution, it would be right for the black cat to learn from the Zen masters who are Hwagyeong, and for me, a first-class teacher, to learn from Hyeok Kirin… but it would be safer to learn from Hyeok Kirin, who is resistant to the lunar delay of the black cat.

The black cat is growing day by day just by learning from the white cat for a few hours in the afternoon. I grumbled about his talent and all, but in reality, unlike me, it was natural for the black cat to change from day to day.

Unlike the black cat who has been building a tower his whole life, my tower is only for one year at most. One year’s worth accumulated between the ages of 15 and 16. After that, all I had to do was to overcome the limitations of being second-class and to learn gambling skills.

Due to the limitations of self-study, I am busy making bricks, unlike the black cat, which quickly corrects the incorrectly stacked tower shape and grows steadily.

This is correct considering not only my own growth but also the growth of the black cat.

“If it is true that if I learn from Zen master, Hyeokkirin Daehyeop will be in full charge of my colleague’s training.”

“Hehe, Hyeok Kirin watching your training is a reward for fortune telling. Don’t worry.”

Less than a week after starting my life as a store owner, I entered a new phase.

*** ***

Class started right away the next morning.

“Hmm… Were you bedridden for a long period of time as a child?”

“I don’t remember when I was young, but I guess that’s not true…”

This Hu Tianan’s body was not good, but it was not bad either. Finger tendons… Well, it’s common to break a finger at least once in childhood, and [undergrown body] is also one of the characteristics that often appears when there is a lack of nutrition.

Well, aside from the minor characteristics, his abilities were average, and if he was bedridden for a long time, he would acquire negative characteristics, so shouldn’t we just say that his childhood was normal?

“You are a Sichuan ronin, so it would be meaningless to ask about your actual combat experience… How many times have you faced life-or-death situations?”

“….well. There are quite a few.”

When I lived as a 15-year-old Hocheonan, life-and-death moments seemed to come every month. Even after becoming a Sichuan ninja, I experienced life and death a few times, but before that…life in the wild was truly intense.

“Hmm… To be honest, your level of control over your energy is very poor. Since this energy is a part of all things in the universe, it is natural for people to communicate unconsciously throughout their lives. Even excluding your physical constitution, your ability to operate internally is at most that of a ten-year-old child.”

In a way, this was a very accurate diagnosis, so it sent a slight chill down my spine. Anyway, I possessed the body of 15-year-old Ho Cheon-an… If the organ that controls energy is the soul, then I had first encountered energy eight years ago.

“Hmm… But I am confident that my ability to detect energy is quite excellent.”

“You could say it’s a little different from that. Hmm…well, what’s important about the cause? The solution is important.”

“Oh, is there a solution?”

“You just get older.”

Without realizing it, I looked at Master Yeongheo. Master Yeongheo explained with a smile, as if he knew that would happen.

“If the ability to control energy increases with age, those who enter martial arts at a late age should also show some achievements, but is that really the case? There is a limit to the ability to control energy that can grow naturally. Well… you’ll have the same level of control as others when you’re in your mid-thirties.”

“Oh my…”

“Of course, you will supplement it through training, so don’t build too much of it. Nervousness and impatience are the enemies that gnaw away at the will of a warrior, so don’t fret about your lack of accomplishment and take it easy.”

What should I say about this? What is the psychology of a person learning from a special instructor? Wouldn’t you expect to learn the special secrets of a special instructor that cannot be expected from other instructors? I was like that too. I thought there would be something special about being a Hwagyeong expert, but the conclusion was that ‘time is medicine.’

However, the diagnosis of my condition was made accurately, so I have to trust it and follow through.

At the end of a day that I couldn’t tell whether it was fruitful or not, I headed to Chaeseondang for dinner.

“Ah! Senior!”

At Chaeseondang, I encountered a black cat. Perhaps because he received intensive training from Hyeok Kirin today, I felt that the black cat’s prayers had changed subtly again. Does it feel like the black spirit qigong is more refined and closer to the skin?

“It looks like things are going well.”

“What. Because I like my teacher. Isn’t that right, Master?”

“Hehe. It’s thanks to the black cat Sojeo who absorbed it well.”

The two had a sweet time all day, and somehow their friendship became stronger. I didn’t make any progress, but I wanted the black cat to make progress.

“Oh, by the way, are you going to have a prayer meeting today?”

“Hmm. I will do something.”

I’m not doing it.

It must be one of the Zen masters who are currently practicing magic with great enthusiasm.

The one who does it best.