Chapter 48. Education (3)

The Lecher he had killed near Huaihua also had a rather tragic story of his own.

That man had said he learned the Absorption Art given to him by a man he had never seen before to take revenge, and thus became a Lecher.

“Could it be?”

What if this girl, while working as a courtesan, came to learn the Absorption Art provided by those men?

It was closer to a leap of faith than a deduction, but it somehow seemed very likely.

It seemed there were those who went around to people with tragic stories and gave them the Absorption Art, telling them to use it for revenge.

I thought that after dealing with the Black Market and the Golden Demon Hyeok Ilso, I should search for more Lechers.

Was it because I was recalling memories of the Lust Disaster?

Suddenly, a certain rumor I had heard in my past life came to mind.

He spoke to the mother and daughter who were still arguing.

“I apologize, but may I ask just one thing?”

“P-please do.”

At the mother’s reply, I pointed to Sohyang and said.

“May I see your daughter’s armpit?”

“……”

For a moment, silence fell.

I felt a certain sense of déjà vu in the way the mother and daughter looked at me.

It was a look I had seen often, but it was not directed at me.

It was a look mixed with contempt and fear, mainly seen when women talked about Lechers.

I realized there was some misunderstanding.

The reason I asked to see her armpit was to confirm if she was the Lust Disaster.

Around the time when men in Jianghu started to distance themselves from women because of the rumor that the Lust Disaster would seduce and kill men while changing her appearance in various ways.

A strange rumor circulated.

It was a rumor that if you were to sleep with a woman, you should check her armpit.

To be precise, the area below the upper arm.

Right next to the armpit.

The part that is hidden as the skin touches.

An advice-that-wasn't-advice that if there were three moles there, you should run without looking back.

It was a rumor that since moles couldn't be hidden even with the Bone Shrinking Art, that woman was the Lust Disaster.

In fact, it was a rumor that circulated for a while and then disappeared.

It was true that moles couldn't be hidden with the Bone Shrinking Art, but instead of the Bone Shrinking Art, one could just cover the moles with powder.

Also, a story circulated that even women who were not the Lust Disaster all had moles tattooed there in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances.

In any case, this was a story from after the Lust Disaster had gained notoriety in Jianghu.

If that rumor was really true, and that girl was indeed the Lust Disaster, there should be three moles near her armpit, below her upper arm.

The problem was how to clear up their misunderstanding.

“I apologize for startling you. Actually, I am looking for someone and asked to confirm.”

“L-looking for someone, what kind of person do you mean?”

At the mother's question, who had not let go of her suspicion, I answered appropriately.

I couldn't say I was looking for the Lust Disaster, who didn't even exist right now.

“I am looking for a woman with outstanding talent in martial arts.”

“C-can you tell that by l-looking at the armpit?”

“Yes. That’s why I ask, but by any chance, are there three moles near your daughter’s armpit?”

While the mother still had a suspicious expression on her face.

The daughter gently pushed her mother's hand away and took a step forward.

“If there are moles, does that mean I have talent in martial arts? By any chance, are you looking to raise me as a disciple?”

She asked in a sharp tone, just like when she was persuading her mother.

It was somewhat different from the frightened attitude she had shown when she was being dragged away by her father.

Her change was also surprising, but the girl's misunderstanding was more of a problem.

It seemed she had misunderstood the words ‘looking for a woman with outstanding martial arts talent’ in a strange way.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to clear up the girl's misunderstanding.

The girl added first.

“I have three moles next to my left armpit, so please teach me martial arts. If you don't believe me, I can lift my clothes and show you right now.”

As the girl who said so tried to pull up her own sleeve, the mother quickly grabbed her hand and stopped her daughter.

“S-Sohyang! W-what do you mean you want to learn martial arts?”

The girl looked back and forth between her mother and the tragic scene at the gambling den and answered.

“If I learn martial arts, I can stop Dad from bothering you.”

The mother looked at her daughter with a shocked expression, at a loss for words.

My mind was also complicated, so I watched the situation for a moment.

If that girl's words were true, it seemed that girl was the Lust Disaster.

Then what should I do now?

Kill the seed that will become the Lust Disaster in advance?

This was not right.

She hadn't committed a crime yet.

For now, it seemed I had to clear up the misunderstanding first.

“It seems there's some misunderstanding, but to say I will teach you martial arts……”

I trailed off and hesitated.

For some reason, the story the scholar-Chivalrous Hero had told me came to mind.

The anecdote of Mencius' mother's three moves.

Did he say that what's important for a person is their environment and education?

If that scholar-Chivalrous Hero’s words were true, then the reason this child grew up to be the Lust Disaster would be because of the things she saw and experienced as she grew up.

This child grew up in the worst environment, where a gambling-addicted father and underworld figures running a gambling den were rampant.

Then is it already too late for this child?

I shook my head.

If the scholar-Chivalrous Hero’s words were true, if Mencius' anecdote was true, then no.

Because the child who imitated funerals, the child who imitated merchants, grew up to be a great Confucian scholar thanks to her mother's devotion and wisdom.

Hmm.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me that this anecdote was also very strange.

Are undertakers who conduct funerals and merchants who buy and sell goods evil?

Conversely, are all Confucian scholars good?

No.

The world was overflowing with hypocrites whose words and actions were contradictory despite having studied a great deal.

Just as there were many hypocrites among those who posed as the Righteous Path.

If I were to encounter such a Confucian scholar, I would feel like slitting his throat.

Even among Confucian scholars, there was trash.

Conversely, whether conducting funerals or buying and selling goods, as long as one lived diligently without troubling innocent people, it was a good life.

At least, that’s what I thought.

Perhaps this anecdote was mixed with the arrogance of Confucian scholars.

It was a part I hadn't even thought of when I heard this anecdote from the scholar-Chivalrous Hero.

Certainly, at that time, not only my martial arts but also my thoughts seemed to have been immature.

If I had asked the scholar-Chivalrous Hero about this point that night, what kind of answer would he have given?

A small laugh escaped me.

He was not one of those hypocrites.

What was the reason I respected the scholar-Chivalrous Hero?

He had a firm will to change the world for the better, and he had a clear direction to achieve that goal.

To ask such a question to such a person is just nitpicking.

In the end, the most important thing in this anecdote was, as the scholar-Chivalrous Hero said, that people change according to their education and environment.

In any case.

If given a better environment.

A better teaching.

This child might grow up to be a Chivalrous Hero, not the Lust Disaster or a villain.

Just like the ideal that the scholar-Chivalrous Hero had dreamed of.

Such a scene was naturally drawn in my mind.

A very excellent picture where a terrifying master called a disaster does not tear innocent men to death, but tears the underworld trash to shreds.

There was only one problem.

Could I really do it?

The task of raising this child as a Chivalrous Hero?

I turned my head and looked to the side.

My eyes met with Nam Geon's.

“W-why? Brother.”

That was right.

I was already teaching Nam Geon.

Well, it wasn't with the intention of raising him as a Chivalrous Hero.

Naturally, the time when I succeeded in learning the Great Swallow Nest Building Divine Art came to mind.

Yes.

I just have to teach in my own way.

There was no need to have an inferiority complex.

There was no need to raise that child as a Chivalrous Hero.

As a Confucian scholar in an anecdote.

What if she's an undertaker, and what if she's a merchant?

As long as she doesn't grow up to be a villain, that's enough.

A person who doesn't trouble innocent people just because they've learned a bit of martial arts.

A person who can't stand to see evil and can rise up against it.

That much would be enough.

I turned my head again and looked at the girl.

“If you wish, I will teach you martial arts. However, I cannot stay in this village and teach you. Will you follow me?”

“A-are we leaving right away?”

The girl looked back and forth between me, her mother, and her still-subdued father with a troubled expression.

She seemed to be concerned about leaving her gambling-addicted father and pitiful mother behind.

The child's deliberation was short, and the girl opened her mouth in a sharp tone.

“Then I’ll stay here. I’m trying to learn martial arts to protect my mom, so I can’t leave her next to my father.”

Was it because I had made up my mind to teach the child?

The girl's answer felt welcome.

A weak person suffering at the hands of a villain despite being innocent.

The sight of her trying to stay by their side and protect that weak person, despite not having the strength to do so, was quite pleasing.

I turned my head and asked the wife.

“If you wish, madam, I will guide you to another village.”

At my proposal, the wife replied.

“W-wherever we go, p-people will surely point fingers at S-Sohyang for being a fatherless child.”

The daughter held her mother's hand and said.

“Mom. Even if others point fingers, it’s fine as long as we’re okay. It’s not like those people are getting beaten by father every day instead of us. It’s not like those people are getting their money taken instead of us.”

Was it because of her daughter's appearance, trying to learn martial arts to protect herself?

At her daughter's words, which were sharp for her age, the mother looked at her daughter with a speechless expression.

As the wife seemed to be deliberating, I opened my mouth to help the daughter.

“Don’t worry, madam. The place I’m going is not a place where people would point fingers just because someone is fatherless.”

Because it was a place that had accepted even me, who had no parents.

Was she a little reassured by my words?

After making eye contact with her intelligent-looking daughter, the wife bowed her head to me and said.

“T-then, I will shamelessly ask for your favor. Chivalrous warrior.”

***

After agreeing to leave with the mother and daughter.

We cleaned up the gambling den.

The addicts who had fled the gambling den.

Even in that situation, they were greedy for money, so there was almost no wealth left where the gambling had taken place.

However, when I went to the side from where the leader had emerged, there was quite a bit of wealth left there.

After taking the remaining wealth from the gambling den and the blades used by the underworld figures, we went around Gaeri.

We asked the mother and daughter and distributed the remaining wealth to the families who had been tormented by the gamblers.

Finally, after buying a small carriage and a horse.

We left Gaeri.

“It might be a little uncomfortable, but please rest inside. Madam.”

After saying so to the wife who was riding alone in the carriage, I took a step forward.

In the first place, I had bought the carriage and horse for the wife.

Next to me, Nam Geon was sitting in the driver's seat, driving the carriage.

At a slow pace that matched our steps.

As expected of a guy who had a knack for physical work, he was doing it quite well after I had taught him once before.

I stealthily turned my gaze and looked at the girl walking with us.

Then, the girl whose eyes I met suddenly bowed her head.

“I am sorry. Master.”

“What for?”

I hadn't looked at her wanting an apology.

I hadn't expected her to apologize either.

At my question, the girl uttered unexpected words.

“I heard that it is proper for a disciple to bow to their master, but the situation was not right, so my courtesy was delayed. This girl, Baek Hyang. I will now bow to you, Master.”

After being momentarily dazed, I caught the girl who was about to bow.

“That's enough. There's no need to formally call me master. Of course, there's no need for a bow either. But, Baek Hyang? Wasn't your name Sohyang?”

“My father's surname is Baek. Sohyang is the pet name my mother calls me.”

It seemed she was called Sohyang with the character ‘so’ for small, meaning 'little child.'

Since Sohyang was the pet name her mother used, it seemed there would be a problem if I called her by that name.

While I was mentally organizing the titles.

The girl asked first.

“Then, what title should I use for you, chivalrous warrior?”

“Call me whatever you’re comfortable with. It’s fine to call me older brother like Nam Geon calls me brother. I’m not your master, but since we will be training in martial arts together from now on, it’s fine to call me senior brother.”

As I answered off the cuff, I thought it wasn't a bad idea.

“This is better. From now on, I will also call you junior sister, so call me senior brother.”

“Understood. Senior brother.”

Now that the titles were more or less sorted out, we moved on to the main topic.

“From now on, I will teach you martial arts, junior sister.”

Teaching martial arts to the talent who will become the Lust Disaster in the future.

Honestly, I was also curious.

Just how much talent did this young girl possess?

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