Chapter 175

In a room filled with silence.


Sima Family Head spoke to Jang Chunhwa in a weak voice.


“Since when…”


“I don’t know the details.”


To Sima Family Head’s question about when he found out Yeonghwa was his daughter, Jang Chunhwa lowered her gaze and answered calmly.


“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not blaming you. There must be circumstances I don’t know about.”


“………”


Sima Family Head had no choice but to remain silent.


He wished she would blame him instead, but he couldn’t say anything to Jang Chunhwa, who was trying to understand.


Jang Chunhwa continued in a sorrowful yet firm voice.


“Yeonghwa, that child is the same. I don’t hate her.”


“Though she’s not my biological child, when she came into our family as an adopted daughter, I swore to become Yeonghwa’s mother.”


“As a mother, I will protect Cheon-i and Yeonghwa. I can’t allow them to go down the wrong path.”


Sima Family Head let out a sigh mixed with regret.


“…So.”


But once again, Sima Family Head’s words didn’t continue.


“So- you sent my disciple! Mantian to the temple!”


Bang!


The door opened roughly, and Wang Miaoyang, Mantian’s golden-haired master with a youthful appearance, entered with a frown.


Behind her, a startled Jang Sam-i hurriedly followed.


“Master Wang Miaoyang! You can’t just barge in like this! I’m really going crazy-!?”


She knew this was impolite behavior.


But Wang Miaoyang couldn’t stay still.


Though more of a martial artist than a Taoist, Wang Miaoyang still carries the lineage of the Jeonjin Sect.


Yet, while she was napping, her disciple Mantian was sent to a temple that venerates Buddhism!


Even if the Jeonjin Sect doesn’t reject Buddhism, and even if they provide food and shelter!


Such tyranny is unacceptable!


Jang Chunhwa, who suddenly entered the room, looked at the cute golden-haired girl making a sizzling sound and asked in a puzzled voice.


“Who is this child…?”


“Ah… she’s Wang Miaoyang, the martial arts master of Cheon-i, mentioned in the letter.”


Jang Chunhwa’s eyes widened in surprise at Wang Miaoyang’s appearance, which looked even younger than her son Mantian.


“Huh? Such a young child?”


“No, I’m not a child!”


Though it’s unavoidable due to her appearance…


Wang Miaoyang blushed at being treated like a child by her disciple’s mother and, trying to appear taller by standing on her tiptoes, spoke in a frustrated voice.


“I-I’m thirty years old!”


It was a complete mess…


Not wanting to complicate the already complex situation further, Jang Sam-i pulled Wang Miaoyang out of the room.


“Master Wang Miaoyang! Calm down first! You must be hungry after waking up from your nap? I’ll steam some dumplings for you! Let’s go to the kitchen!”


“Let go! Let go! Call my disciple! Mantian!”


Unable to cause a scene in her disciple’s home, where she was a guest, Wang Miaoyang was dragged away, flailing her arms.


In the sudden situation, Jang Chunhwa and Sima Family Head blankly watched Wang Miaoyang being dragged away.


“Uh………”


…Anyway, to cut to the chase.


The self-proclaimed genius Sima Mantian, who even deceives the heavens, was sent to a temple within a day of arriving home for the crime of committing incest with his sister.


***


Yachasa (Night Demon Temple). A temple located on a somewhat distant mountain from home.


Judging by the name, one might think it’s a terrifying temple full of martial monks, but in reality, it’s a normal and good temple.


I’ve been here a few times as a child with my mother.


Of course, I wasn’t interested in praying to Buddha, so I played in the mountains with Jang Sam or napped on the nearby porch.


“………”


Mantian lay in his assigned temple room, blankly staring at the ceiling, reminiscing about the past.


I’ve been kicked out of the house. That’s my current situation.


…They said to study at the temple, but it’s effectively exile.


Ah, I don’t resent my parents. I think it’s a lenient measure they could take.


In fact, I’m glad they kicked me out instead of Yeonghwa.


They can’t keep siblings who committed incest under the same roof.


By sending me to the temple instead of Yeonghwa, who needs the family’s protection, they’re creating distance and telling me to cool my head.


I let out a low sigh.


“…Will it cool down?”


No, my head has cooled. But my heart hasn’t.


Even though things have come to this, even though I know the truth.


‘Brother.’


Yeonghwa’s smile doesn’t fade from within me.


I still love Yeonghwa, my blood-related sister.


I feel suffocated. I ask myself.


“…What are you going to do? Sima Mantian?”


An adopted cousin and a half-sister are distinctly different.


Marriage between cousins happens often, but marriage with a half-sister is true incest.


“………”


No answer came.


“Sigh…”


I sighed and turned my attention elsewhere to rest my troubled mind.


I skimmed through a martial arts gossip magazine that the servants had tucked into a book for me to read when bored.


[Exclusive! A report on the Flame Blade, said to rival the Ten Thousand Swords! Does it really exist?]


As expected, it wasn’t credible or significant information. Well, that’s the flavor of these magazines…


Normally, I might have been interested, but not now.


I tossed the magazine aside and, to change my mood, went out and asked a passing monk.


“Monk, I’m thinking of touring the mountain. Is there a scenic spot?”


“Ah, there’s a waterfall along the river. It’s a good place for meditation and contemplation.”


“That sounds nice. Thank you.”


I didn’t plan to meditate under the cascading waterfall, but watching the flowing water seemed relaxing.


Leaving the temple, I followed the path the monk indicated.


Swoosh-! Swoosh-!


The sound of flowing water reached my ears, and a refreshing waterfall came into view.


I stared at the waterfall in surprise.


Not because it was majestic. There was a visitor.


And a very welcome one at that.


An unexpected reunion, but it had been a long time since I last saw my master. I smiled and shouted.


“Uncle Mukgang-!!”


“Don’t call me uncle.”


The man under the waterfall replied in a dry, calm voice and stepped out of the water.


Over six feet tall with a muscular build.


Though not fully shaven like a monk, his short black hair and the tattoo of the Immovable King on his back.


Our past connection.


The martial arts master who taught Mantian the sturdy Immovable King series.


“I thought I might meet you since your village is nearby, but I didn’t expect to meet you so soon.”


Mukgang, the Dharma Protector of the Esoteric Sect, greeted with a faint smile on his stern face.


“Long time no see, Mantian.”


…


…


…


I caught fish from the river, seasoned them with salt, grilled them over a bonfire, and talked with Uncle Mukgang about past events.


“So, with the King’s Fist~ Deja-vu! Waja-vu!”


Mostly, I rambled about my experiences. But it was enjoyable.


“By the way? What brings you here, Uncle?”


“…I came for work.”


A very monotonous answer…


I furrowed my brow.


If it’s Uncle Mukgang’s work, it’s as a Dharma Protector of the Esoteric Sect.


Killing monsters and protecting people… right?


Is there something in this seemingly ordinary mountain that I don’t know about?


As I pondered this.


Suddenly, Uncle Mukgang looked at me and spoke.


“You seem troubled.”


“Huh?”


“Trouble is a way to prepare oneself before taking action.”


Here, the trouble Mukgang referred to wasn’t about his work that just crossed my mind.


It was about Yeonghwa…


Mukgang’s ink-black eyes pierced through Mantian.


“It’s good to be troubled, but letting trouble fester isn’t good either. …Trying to forget one trouble by creating another isn’t good either.”


Even if the teaching period was short, a master is still a master.


I got scolded.


I finally sighed and consulted Uncle Mukgang about Yeonghwa.


I wasn’t looking for a solution.


I just wanted to hear the opinion of someone I could trust.


Falling in love with Yeonghwa. Finding out she wasn’t an adopted daughter but my father’s hidden child, my half-sister.


Getting caught by my mother during a sticky saliva-exchanging kiss.


After hearing my story, Uncle Mukgang gave a straightforward comment.


“That’s messed up.”


Fortunately, he added more.


“But it’s complicated.”


“Surprising. I thought you’d immediately say, ‘Incest!? You monsters breaking heavenly laws! I’ll kill you!'”


“I wouldn’t. What do you take me for?”


I squinted my eyes.


“The muscular monk who suddenly appeared in the village’s back mountain, called my cute sister a monster, and tried to kill her for no reason?”


“…I have nothing to say.”


Mukgang lowered his gaze and quietly watched the burning bonfire before speaking.


“I don’t affirm incest, but I don’t deny it either.”


“I don’t affirm it because it breaks heavenly laws, and I don’t deny it because I can’t explain why incest breaks heavenly laws.”


Mukgang’s words continued.


“It’s right to bless a man and woman who love each other becoming husband and wife, but if a brother and sister love each other, it’s said to be a crime breaking heavenly laws.”


“They say incest leads to heaven’s punishment with disabled children, but disabled children are born to normal couples too.”


“And if that’s the case, does that mean disabled children shouldn’t be born? …I don’t know.”


The sound of crackling flames echoed.


“Someone who knows heavenly laws well would tell you to end your relationship with Yeonghwa, but I don’t know about heavenly laws. So, I have nothing to say about your relationship.”


Mukgang looked up from the bonfire and stared straight at Mantian.


“Your trouble isn’t about your relationship with Yeonghwa. It’s about yourself.”


“………!?”


Was it a direct hit?


I realized the vague feeling I had from Uncle Mukgang’s words.


Yes, what truly troubled me was my own confidence.


Sorry to say this to my parents.


The option to end my relationship with Yeonghwa was never in me.


I could never give up. Just…


If I had known from the start that Yeonghwa was my half-sister, would we still have become lovers?


I wasn’t confident in myself.


“Mantian, do you know the story of Wonhyo, a monk from Silla in the past?”


“Huh? I know, but why suddenly?”


“Wonhyo, while studying in Tang, entered a dark cave to sleep and woke up thirsty, drinking water from a gourd.”


It’s a famous story, so I know. I interrupted Mukgang.


“In the morning, he woke up to find the cave was a collapsed tomb, and the gourd was a skull… It’s about the importance of one’s mind…!”


And I realized.


“I didn’t mention it, but I knew Yeonghwa was your half-sister because I knew your father.”


“I didn’t say it because there was no need.”


Mukgang looked at me with a faint smile.


“And you and Yeonghwa already seemed like real siblings who cared for each other.”


Then he added.


“…Though I didn’t expect you’d become lovers.”


I smiled and replied to Mukgang.


“Thank you, Uncle Mukgang… no, Uncle.”


“Don’t call me uncle.”


I got up lightly. There was no room for hesitation.


I won’t waver anymore.


Whether Yeonghwa was my blood-related sister from the start or not doesn’t matter.


Because Yeonghwa is Yeonghwa.


And I love Yeonghwa.


What matters is my heart. Yeonghwa’s heart.


There’s no more hesitation.


A steady voice, exuding the dignity of an emperor, resonated from Mantian, who had regained his confidence.


“Self-reflection, even if millions oppose, I will go forth.”


I quoted Mencius.


“If, upon self-reflection, I find no fault, even if millions oppose, I will go forth.”


If loving Yeonghwa goes against heavenly laws, then I’ll defy them.


Defy the heavens, deceive the heavens.


That is the path of Sima Mantian, the genius who deceives even the heavens.


…And even using the words of sages.


Watching Mantian boldly declare incest, Mukgang made a face as if he’d seen fish head curry.


‘What is this? Is he crazy?’