Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 9

Two hours later, Jang Sam was the first to collapse. Despite being the largest, his leg strength did not match his size.

Surprisingly, the light-bodied Ajok lasted the longest.

"Let's eat."

Baekji's voice was heard.

The three men staggered into the house.

The servants of the White Mountain Sect brought them food.

Since they were still being treated as guests, the White Mountain Sect took care of all their needs, including food and firewood.

Therefore, Baekji had nothing to do.

After eating, Baekji called Ajok and the others.

"Now it's time to study."

Baekji was completely immersed in his role as a master.

"Study? Do we have to study... too?"

Jang Sam said with a reluctant expression.

"An ancient person said that not knowing how to read is no different from being an animal."

The three of them had to study all morning.

Having woken up at dawn and held the horse stance for two hours, their eyes naturally closed as they read the incomprehensible characters.

Baekji was holding a bamboo stick about half a foot long, which he had gotten from somewhere. He paced back and forth behind the three who were kneeling and reading, and whenever one of them dozed off, he would strike their head with the stick.

Whack!

Jang Sam, who slept a lot, was hit the most.

Baekji sighed.

"It wasn't like this in my time. I read from dawn till dusk, and all through the night."

"They say there's no disciple like the master. That's why it's not easy for the student to surpass the master."

The three of them found Baekji's lament absurd, but they had to endure it.

Having seen him break a rock with his bare fists, they did not dare to resist.

In the afternoon, Baekji called his disciples to the backyard again.

"You all are very lacking. Therefore, you must work harder than others. This time, it's the second move."

The second was the bow stance, where one foot was extended forward from the horse stance. The front foot was bent at a half-knee, bearing the body's weight, while the back leg was stretched straight to support it.

Ajok and the others had to hold the bow stance all afternoon.

* * *

"What have you been doing that it's so hard to see your face?"

When there was no news from Baekji for two days, Yang Soryeong called for him.

Baekji had Ajok and the others stand and said, "You must bow to your grandmaster."

Ajok and the others dropped to their knees and performed the nine bows.

"What are you doing? Get up!"

Yang Soryeong tried to stop them, but it was no use.

"What happened?"

"They are my disciples. Since they are the disciples of my master's disciple, my master becomes their grandmaster."

"What?"

"That's right. Young Miss... no, Grandmaster. We are learning martial arts from our master."

Ajok said.

Yang Soryeong was dumbfounded.

"Even so. A grandmaster at your age. I feel like a grandmother. I'm not even married yet."

Yang Soryeong waved her hand.

"Just call me as you did before."

"No, Grandmaster."

The three of them said, glancing at Baekji.

"Since your master is uncomfortable, call her as you did before for the time being. When she gets used to it, you can call her grandmaster then."

Baekji summed it up simply.

"Yes."

Yang Soryeong looked at the three of them and said to Baekji, "You're teaching them martial arts?"

"And reading too. They have a lot to learn. They're not like me."

"That's because you're a genius."

"I thought everyone was like me."

Hearing the two of them talk, Ajok and the others felt nauseous.

"Should I learn martial arts too?"

Yang Soryeong said.

"Why?"

"The White Mountain Sect is a martial sect. Since I'm becoming a member of the White Mountain Sect, I should learn martial arts. And I have nothing to do."

Several days had passed since she arrived, but there was no word from the White Mountain Sect.

"If the grandmaster learns martial arts, she will be better than these foolish grand-disciples."

Ajok, Senior Oh, and Jang Sam suddenly felt their family tree getting tangled.

'If the grandmaster learns martial arts from the master, wouldn't she become our junior sister?'

Jang Sam said, full of expectation, "That's right. Grandmaster... no, Young Miss, if you learn martial arts, you will be a hundred times better than us."

Baekji nodded and looked at Yang Soryeong, then frowned.

"Why?"

"The Six Harmonies Fist or the Seven Stars Saber Technique don't suit you, Master. You have a slender body. A sword technique would be better."

"Sword technique?"

"Wait."

Baekji went outside.

As he was leaving the main gate of the Songhua Hall, a guard who was standing watch stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"To see the Sect Master."

"What? You, in your position, want to see the Sect Master?"

"It's an errand."

Baekji looked towards the Songhua Hall and made an excuse.

"Aha. It's an errand for the Young Miss. What is it? I'll deliver it for you, so tell me."

"No. I have to deliver it myself."

"Wait. I'll contact the general manager's office."

One of the gate guards went to the general manager's office.

Baekji, now alone with the other gate guard, asked, "But why are you guarding here? Are you watching us?"

"This brat! You're much younger than me, and you're speaking informally?"

Baekji didn't even pretend to listen.

"So you are watching us."

"No. We're escorting you. Can't you see?"

"This is the White Mountain Sect, so why are you guarding again?"

"It means we respect you that much."

"Not watching?"

"I said no!"

"If you're not watching, then I can just go, right?"

Then, Baekji strode forward.

"Hey, stop there!"

Baekji ignored him and just went.

The gate guard hesitated whether to follow or not, then decided against it.

In fact, there was no reason to stop the people of the Songhua Hall from coming and going.

'For some reason, I feel like I shouldn't let him go.'

He felt uneasy, but he didn't stop him.

As Baekji was walking, a large building came into view.

He wound his way through the streets to the building and looked up at the sign.

White Hall Great Light

"What a strange name."

Baekji tilted his head and asked a passing warrior, "What is that place?"

"It's where the Sect Master resides."

"Oh!"

Baekji looked up and down the building in admiration.

"But who are you?"

The warrior, who had been following Baekji's gaze to the building, turned his head towards Baekji and asked.

But there was no one there.

"What?"

The warrior, as if he had seen a ghost, looked around before continuing on his way.

A high wall surrounded the building, and guards patrolled frequently.

There were four guards at the main gate. Since Baekji had climbed over the wall instead of going through the main gate, it didn't matter.

Baekji went to the side of the building and climbed up through a gap. His movements were as fast as a squirrel's, so no one noticed.

The building had three floors, and a loud laugh erupted from the second-floor pavilion.

When Baekji hung from the eaves, he saw Bai Renguang sitting opposite a Taoist.

The view from the pavilion was nice, and the two were drinking tea.

"The Qingling Huanhun Pill will be completed tonight."

"For the True Man to put in such effort, it is nothing short of a great blessing for the White Mountain Sect and my son."

"It must be that Sect Master Bai's sincerity has reached the heavens."

The Taoist, wearing a blue Taoist cap, looked very old. For a Taoist, his eyes were sharp.

"If I can just cure my son's illness, what wouldn't I do?"

Bai Renguang continued as he poured tea, "There are seventeen days left."

"It has already been that long."

"Will the medicinal effect of the Baihe Jiyue Decoction not have worn off?"

"We are constantly replenishing the medicine, so there is no need to worry."

"He has not even opened his eyes yet, so I cannot be at ease."

The Taoist said with a serious face, "The Baihe Jiyue Decoction is to prepare the body. The truly important thing is the Qingling Huanhun Pill."

"It is truly miraculous. Is it true that if an ordinary person eats the Qingling Huanhun Pill, they will go mad?"

"Not only will they go mad, but all the blood vessels in their body will burn, and they will surely die within seven days. However, a body that has been nourished in the Baihe Jiyue Decoction for a hundred days can withstand the medicinal effect of the Qingling Huanhun Pill."

"It is the principle of using poison to counteract poison."

"You could say that."

"In this era, the master of poison is not the Tang family, but the True Man."

"The Tang family's poison is first-rate. How can it compare to an old Taoist?"

At Bai Renguang's flattery, True Man Changshan feigned humility with a pleased expression.

Baekji listened to the two's conversation and then went up to the third floor.

The third floor's windows were firmly shut. Baekji climbed onto the roof, gently removed a tile, and looked inside.

'What is this?'

Baekji saw iron arrows stuck in the ceiling.

The entire ceiling of the third floor was a mechanism. Baekji avoided the mechanisms, went down, and then put the tile back in place from the inside.

The trace of his entry was completely erased.

Baekji was about to jump down from the crossbeam but stopped. His instinct told him not to.

'I feel like I've experienced something like this before.'

Baekji walked along the crossbeam to the wall with the bookshelf.

When he reached the bookshelf, he hung upside down from the crossbeam and examined the books.

'As expected, it's here.'

As befitting the secret library of the White Mountain Sect Master, there were all sorts of martial arts manuals. As it was a sword sect, most of them were sword manuals.

Baekji looked through the sword manuals and picked one up.

'Seven Plum Sword Technique?'

A secret technique of the Huashan Sect was in the White Mountain Sect.

Baekji sat on the crossbeam and read the Seven Plum Sword Technique.

'It's good, but the problem is that you need deep internal energy to perform it properly.'

Baekji picked up another sword manual.

'Free and Easy Sword Manual.'

After reading it, he muttered to himself, 'This is too complicated.'

Baekji looked through various things and became annoyed.

"Why did he collect all these useless sword techniques?"

Although he had only seen the Six Harmonies Fist and the Seven Stars Saber Technique so far, Baekji did not find any martial arts that caught his eye.

Night had fallen.

"!"

He heard someone coming up to the third floor.

Baekji quickly lay down on the crossbeam. The thick crossbeam was enough to hide Baekji's body.

Creak.

The door opened, and Bai Renguang entered.

Baekji held his breath. He didn't know how he could do it, but he could hold his breath and be fine.

His body even grew cold.

'Will I die like this?'

It didn't seem likely.

Bai Renguang went to the desk and touched the wall behind it.

Then, with a 'sreureung' sound, the wall slid open, and Bai Renguang went inside.

A moment later, Bai Renguang came out with an envelope of bank notes in his hand.

"Phew. At this rate, I might have to pull out the pillar. But if Yandu just gets better, what can't I do?"

Bai Renguang went to a scroll hanging on the wall.

The scroll depicted a woman standing sideways, looking back this way.

"Lingmei, our child is sick. It's all my fault. I pushed him too hard. As long as he gets better, it's fine if he can't do martial arts. I just hope he can continue our family line."

At this moment, even Bai Renguang's eyes were gentle.

Bai Renguang took the bank notes, extinguished the light, and left.

In the darkness, Baekji came down.

Baekji went behind the desk and pressed the dragon head that Bai Renguang had touched, and the wall opened.

Baekji went inside.

On one side were chests filled with gold and silver ingots and stacks of bank notes, and on the other wall was a small bookshelf and a cabinet displaying various precious-looking items.

'Oho, a treasure vault.'

Baekji had no interest in gold, silver, and jewels.

As Baekji approached the bookshelf, a book that looked like it was written in blood caught his eye.

'Blood Sun Sword Manual.'

The name of the book was somehow familiar to Baekji.

He picked it up and looked at it, and as expected, it flowed smoothly into his mind.

'This will be good. It's a bit sinister, but I can change it a little.'

The Blood Sun Sword Manual was an extremely sinister sword technique. Yet, Baekji nodded as if satisfied.

Baekji skimmed through the entire Blood Sun Sword Manual where he sat.

'This part is a bit empty. It feels like something is missing.'

There were occasional strange parts.

'This is also backward. Whoever copied this did a terrible job. If you learn this, you'll suffer from Cultivation Insanity.'

When Baekji looked again, the Blood Sun Sword Manual did not seem to be the original.

It showed signs of being hastily copied by someone.

Baekji couldn't understand why he knew the original Blood Sun Sword Manual.

'I guess I really am a genius.'

Perhaps it was as if he was remembering something that was originally there.

Baekji skimmed through the Blood Sun Sword Manual, put it back in its place, and came out of the secret vault.

His heart was full of pride.

In his mind, a new Blood Sun Sword Technique to teach Yang Soryeong was being put together.

"...?"

A problem arose.

When night fell, he lost his sense of direction.

(End of Chapter)