The Eunuch Regains His Manhood in the Second Round

10. The Hero’s Lustful Decade Plan

Yujin Hwi mumbled while stroking the head of his disciple, Lee Cheolsu, who was trembling and crying softly in his arms.

“I’m sorry…”

She genuinely felt sorry for the young disciple.

From birth until now.

Yujin Hwi had always grown up alone without peers.

From the time she was picked up in the back alleys by her master, Jeon Yeong, until Lee Cheolsu came in.

To her, the world was only the main base of the Gongdong sect and the village below.

She had no peers to exchange martial arts with until now.

Moreover, Jeon Yeong had a blunt personality and rarely praised her, so Yujin Hwi never realized she was a genius.

Her master occasionally mentioned that she was talented, but he often emphasized that relying solely on innate talent and neglecting effort was not acceptable.

Thus, Yujin Hwi, who had been secluded in the mountains learning martial arts without any comparison, did not realize the level of talent she possessed despite having a natural gift for martial arts.

She couldn’t know how fast ordinary talented disciples learned martial arts, or the differences between dull, average, talented, and genius disciples.

Therefore, she scolded her disciple for training excessively.

Her master always said that excessive training was worse than insufficient training.

‘But I was wrong.’

However, the moment she heard her disciple’s words, Yujin Hwi realized she was wrong.

His talent was inferior to hers.

Yujin Hwi had subconsciously known this while living with her disciple for two months.

Of course, this was because the reincarnated Lee Cheolsu had adjusted his martial arts learning speed to appear average to his master and senior brother, so as not to stand out too much and to blend in as a disciple of the future sword saint, Yujin Hwi.

—

—

In his previous life, he was Lee Cheol-su, a master of the Hyun-gyeong.

If he wanted, he could have mastered the martial arts of the Gongdong sect in a week and showcased talents superior to Yoo Jin-hwi, but he didn’t. He hid his strength.

His goal was to push all the hard, troublesome, and responsible tasks onto Yoo Jin-hwi as his disciple, while he enjoyed carefree pleasures from behind, indulging in the delights of three wives and four concubines. It was not Lee Cheol-su’s intention to take responsibility for the Gongdong sect.

Lee Cheol-su knew that if he revealed his talents, he would be appointed as the future leader of the Gongdong sect instead of Yoo Jin-hwi.

Having stood at the pinnacle of power in his previous life, Lee Cheol-su already knew how troublesome a position of responsibility, like the head of a faction, could be.

Lee Cheol-su had no need for power that came with responsibility. All he wanted was the pleasures of three wives and four concubines.

Yoo Jin-hwi was a woman disguised as a man, but Lee Cheol-su believed her to be a man.

This was partly because Yoo Jin-hwi had perfectly disguised herself as a man using bone-shrinking techniques and reverse usage techniques, but more importantly, it was because Lee Cheol-su trusted the information he had gathered through Dongchang and Seochang in his previous life.

Dongchang and Seochang were organizations that kept each other in check, and the information cross-verified by both organizations was close to 100% true.

The imperial palace, which gathered more accurate information than Haomun and Gaebang, stated that Yoo Jin-hwi was a man, so Lee Cheol-su had no choice but to believe it.

It was a misconception arising from path dependency, confirmation bias, and Lee Cheol-su’s hostility towards handsome men.

But Yoo Jin-hwi was unaware of such details.

Therefore, the words of her disciple touched her heart.

The disciple was dull, and she was a genius.

So, his words, lamenting that he could never understand the feelings of a dull disciple as a genius, pierced her heart like a dagger.

The disciple’s cry that he wanted to stand by her side echoed in Yoo Jin-hwi’s ears.

There was nothing wrong with his words.

So Yoo Jin-hwi felt sorry for her disciple.

The disciple, who usually showed an overly mature appearance.

Therefore, Yoo Jin-hwi had unconsciously treated the disciple as a mature child, a little adult.

It would be okay if it was the disciple, because the disciple was mature, this much…

It would be a lie to say she didn’t think that.

‘But the disciple was not an adult, but a child.’

But today, seeing the disciple crying that he didn’t want to be expelled from the sect, that he didn’t want to fall behind, that he wanted to stand by her side, Yoo Jin-hwi thought.

The disciple’s appearance was a bit mature, but in fact, his inner self was like a child of that age.

Yoo Jin-hwi realized this only after seeing the tears of the disciple she cherished like a younger brother.

‘The disciple acted maturely because he had suffered a lot since childhood…’

Yoo Jin-hwi had heard about his past.

The disciple, who grew up poor in a slash-and-burn village, lost his parents in a raid by bandits during his childhood, and wandered the world, admiring the Gongdong sect he heard about from a storyteller, and eventually joined. His past suddenly came to her mind.

She herself was also an orphan, so she knew.

—

—

How difficult and arduous it is to wander the world after losing one’s parents at a young age.

Even though she was taken in by Jeon Young around the age of five or six and didn’t wander for long, the memories of roaming the back alleys were stained with pain so intense that she didn’t want to recall them.

If it was that hard for her, what about her junior who had endured even greater hardships?

‘…He might be expelled. It’s understandable to think that way.’

Perhaps the reason he had acted maturely until now was a defense mechanism stemming from the fear that Jeon Young, his master, might expel him for being a dullard.

Yoo Jin-hwi knew that her master wasn’t that kind of person, but her junior, who had only been a disciple for two months, might not think the same.

She had felt the same way.

Yoo Jin-hwi recalled her past self.

She still couldn’t forget the feeling when she took Jeon Young’s hand and entered the communal mountain after wandering the streets.

For the first time, she slept under a warm blanket in a warm room, and for the first time, she ate a proper meal.

She was so happy that she was also anxious.

She feared that this happiness might break someday.

Of course, now that she was older, she knew that her anxiety back then was just a groundless fear, but her junior didn’t know that.

Just like her in the past, her junior must be harboring such anxieties now.

Moreover, unlike her past self, her junior had a senior brother with outstanding talent as a comparison, so it was natural for him to feel even more anxious.

Such anxiety manifested as additional training.

‘To think I only scolded him without realizing the anxiety hidden behind his mature facade…’

Yet, she hadn’t noticed his struggles until he spoke up.

As a senior, she had the duty to guide and care for her junior, and she couldn’t help but feel a tremendous sense of responsibility.

Yoo Jin-hwi blamed herself.

“It’s okay. You can relax. Don’t cry. Junior. No one will expel you. Neither Master nor I…”

Yoo Jin-hwi patted her junior’s back, who was trembling like a small cat, and gently stroked his head.

Her junior’s trembling and sobbing gradually subsided.

Yoo Jin-hwi looked at her junior, shedding a few tears herself, and smiled bitterly.

“I’m sorry, Junior. I’m sorry for being a useless senior who couldn’t even notice your worries.”

“….”

There was no response from her junior.

Yoo Jin-hwi continued to stroke her junior as she spoke.

“As you said, I might never understand a dullard like you for the rest of my life.”

Yoo Jin-hwi finally realized.

—

—

The fact that she was a genius.

She had not yet realized that she possessed the unparalleled talent of a celestial body and the qualities of a grandmaster, but she had realized that she was more talented than ordinary people.

And she felt it.

The fact that as a genius, she might never be able to understand her disciple, who was not just ordinary but perhaps even dull.

But even so.

“But I promise. No matter what your talent is, no matter what kind of person you are… You will never be expelled from this sect. You will remain my disciple for life. My most cherished, precious disciple… You will stand by my side. I will take care of you so that it will be so.”

In her small world, he was the precious disciple she had just gained.

Yujinhui did not want to lose him.

“So if it’s hard, stop pretending to be mature and, like now… If it’s difficult to rely on the master, you can rely on me like this. I will always be on your side to help you. We are the only two brothers in the world.”

Yujinhui whispered to her disciple in a gentle voice.

Even if he pretended to be mature, he was still a child and her younger brother.

Therefore, as his elder sister and senior, she had to take care of him.

She wanted to fulfill his dream of standing by her side.

Because that was the duty of a brother.

“…Sniff, sob.”

Plop.

As soon as Yujinhui finished speaking, her disciple’s crying stopped.

Only then did Yujinhui pull him away from her embrace.

Under the moonlight, she saw his eyes swollen red.

Below that, she saw his body drenched in sweat.

Yujinhui smiled as she saw the muscles of his body gradually becoming more defined.

Her hand grasped his forearm.

The feel of his solid forearm muscles was transmitted through her touch.

“Impressive. Disciple. Your foundation in external martial arts is more solid than mine was in the past. I used to complain because I didn’t want to train in external martial arts… But you silently and diligently train in external martial arts and even do additional training at night… Impressive.”

Yujinhui praised her disciple with a smile.

Her words were ten parts sincere.

Yujinhui had also disliked training in external martial arts when she was young.

But to think he even did additional training on top of that tedious external martial arts training.

Perhaps because of the additional training, the muscles of her disciple, which she had felt directly, were more solidly built than her own when she had trained in external martial arts.

At this level, he could immediately start training in internal martial arts.

—

—

In Yoo Jin-hwi’s sight, the master suddenly looked both pleased and pitiful.

Thinking that this was also the master’s blood, sweat, and tears to catch up with her talent, a corner of her heart ached.

“…Are you okay now?”

Yoo Jin-hwi asked in a slightly trembling voice.

*

Okay?

No, not at all.

I trembled all over at Yoo Jin-hwi’s question.

Not only did he take my first hug, but now he even grabbed my arm muscles and rubbed them on purpose.

Goosebumps rose all over my body, and cold sweat ran down my back.

A man touching another man’s muscles?

Moreover, hearing compliments about my muscles under the guise of evaluation made my spine chill, and my hand unconsciously went to my buttocks.

Comradeship is one thing, but this?

Is he really a homos*xual? Could it be true?

Rational suspicion arose.

While I hoped for some effect using the preemptive strike strategy, I didn’t expect us to hug and touch muscles like this, as if we were engaging in some perverse act.

If a peerless beauty touched my muscles and said, “Oh my, this young master! Hohohoho!

—

“Really? Haha… Got it. Brother.”

My senior brother nodded with a bright smile.

His reaction instinctively made me feel uneasy.

Having rolled around in the political arena of the imperial palace for nearly 50 years, reading emotions and thoughts through facial expressions was a passive skill one had to equip in a court where silent knives flew around.

Therefore, I could tell.

That “got it” actually meant “no.”

But because of my status as a junior brother, I couldn’t question him any further.

If I pressed him more, it would only raise suspicion, and more importantly, pushing him too hard here could lead to even more terrible results.

“…About today’s incident, to Master…”

Instead, I changed the subject.

The reason I made such a fuss today was to avoid getting caught by Master for my secret night training.

To achieve the ultimate physical beauty and cardiovascular endurance, night running was essential, and for night running, I needed the tacit approval of my senior brother in front of me.

“I won’t tell. But instead…”

Instead?

I’m getting more and more anxious.

Just as I was thinking that.

“From now on, let’s do the night training together. I’ll help you with your training, junior brother.”

My senior brother said with sparkling eyes.

Hearing his words, I barely managed to control my facial muscles from crumpling, smiling outwardly while boiling inside.

No way.

I want to vehemently oppose.

But I can’t oppose here.

After all, I need to maintain a good relationship with Yujin Hwi as a business partner to leverage the name value of the future Sword Saint.

For the sake of future pleasures and multiple wives, I have to swallow my tears and accept his proposal here.

The sacrifice of the small for the greater good, a step back for a step forward.

I will never forget today’s humiliation.

Thinking that, I swallowed my tears with cold reason and cupped my fists to my senior brother.

“Understood. Thank you, senior brother.”

—

—

While I was pretending to be grateful, even though I wasn’t at all.

“Alright. Junior. And about your internal energy initiation… I’ll talk to Master about it tomorrow. Now that you’ve completed the basics of external energy, you’re fully qualified to start internal energy training.”

Senior Brother said to me with a bright smile.

The moment I heard his words, I felt like all the humiliation I had endured so far had vanished.

Internal energy initiation request.

Master cherishes Senior Brother dearly, so he wouldn’t refuse his request.

Of course, it’s also true that my bones and muscles have now solidified enough to start internal energy training.

Finally, I will learn a proper mental technique.

Entering internal energy training is like standing at the starting line as a true martial artist.

I have finally climbed the first step of the ten-year plan of a hero’s journey.

It was worth enduring the tearful acting and the skinship that felt like I was gay.

I thought so and smiled.

After that night passed.

“From today, we will conclude the external energy training you have been doing so far.”

The next day, in the morning.

As Senior Brother had assured, I was able to receive internal energy training from Master.