The Eunuch Regains His Manhood in the Second Round

39. The Most Important 2cm

I quickly tried to calm the pillar of fire.

The national anthem won’t do.

I need something more shocking than that.

‘It can’t be helped; I have no choice but to imagine something even more shocking…!’

I conjured a forbidden thought in my mind.

Me, lying alone.

Creak, the door opens.

And in comes my senior. He embraces me from behind and whispers.

“Master, even though I’m a man, I prefer men. It is said among the gentry of Beijing that true love is not the love of a woman, but the love between men. Will you accept my heart?”

The image of my senior, smiling as he looms over me, flashed before my eyes.

A confession of male love!

Could it be that I conjured such a horrifying thought?

Cold sweat trickled down my spine, and my face turned pale.

Indeed, having a walking heartthrob as a senior is not good for my mental health.

“Are you alright? You don’t look well, Young Master.”

With a swift motion.

Seo Ha-rin approached me, her expressionless face speaking as she placed her hand on my forehead.

—

—

When her cold touch met my forehead, I felt a slight sense of calm.

A woman in a communal sect that seemed like an army of men.

Though she was still a child, her presence brightened the atmosphere.

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern, Seo Sojeo.”

“······Understood. Then I’ll go wash up······.”

At my words, Seo Harin withdrew her hand and spoke to me.

Why does she keep insisting on washing me?

My body, at the age of fourteen, was just entering the tumultuous phase of adolescence.

Her touch risked causing my youthful excitement to rise uncontrollably.

That couldn’t happen.

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Even if she was a beauty, what kind of embarrassment would that be in front of a girl?

“It’s alright, Seo Sojeo. I can manage washing myself. And according to Confucian teachings, men and women should keep their distance. So it wouldn’t be proper for a woman like you, Seo Sojeo, to wash a man’s body.”

I firmly rejected her offer, presenting a rather orthodox Confucian argument.

Honestly, sharing a bath with a beauty and the ensuing aquatic intimacy was on my bucket list.

But while the future, fully grown Seo Harin might be different, the current Seo Harin, though pretty, was just a child.

“Understood. Then while you wash, I’ll step outside for a moment.”

Creak, thud.

Seo Harin closed the door behind her as she left.

The basin of water and towel she had brought remained.

“Phew.”

Once she was gone, I let out a sigh of relief and pulled off the blanket.

Finally, the time alone had come.

I first took out the hidden list of names from my pants and placed it in the chest, then retrieved the oil bottle.

It was time to do the gelk exercise I had missed yesterday.

With my hands generously coated in oil, I directed them downward.

*

Seo Harin’s transparent yet indifferent eyes scanned the view of the communal sect as she stepped outside.

‘Why······ did he refuse?’

Her mind was filled with questions.

Though still young, Seo Harin was acutely aware of her own beauty.

—

—

She was well aware of the men’s lustful gazes directed at her.

However, Lee Cheol-su naturally refused her offer to wash his body.

Seo Ha-rin knew better than anyone that Lee Cheol-su’s refusal was not out of modesty.

There was no trace of lust in his expression.

‘…A peculiar person in many ways.’

The memory of that day replayed in Seo Ha-rin’s mind.

The look in Lee Cheol-su’s eyes as he faced the Black Dragon Gang was not that of a man looking at a woman.

If anything…

It was the look of a father gazing at his daughter.

Even when he covered her with a blanket to protect her from the cold, it was the same.

At that moment, Lee Cheol-su had the look of a parent watching over a child who had wet the bed.

Considering that she and Lee Cheol-su were the same age, it was unusual.

A man of the same age thinking of a woman as his daughter?

‘…Ugh.’

A slight crack appeared on Seo Ha-rin’s usually expressionless face.

It happened again.

She didn’t know if it was because of that small kindness, but whenever she thought about the incident at the inn, her emotions rarely stirred.

‘…Pretending to be cool after fighting the Black Path was not impressive, though…’

He is indeed a strange person.

She wanted to understand the source of these emotions that shook her just by thinking about him.

However, she had no intention of neglecting Lee Cheol-su’s care.

As her father, whom she served, said, it was safer to stay at the communal mountain than at the inn.

To stay at the communal sect, she had to earn her keep.

Therefore, Seo Ha-rin decided to do her best to take care of Lee Cheol-su’s illness.

‘No matter how I think about it, he wasn’t in a state to wash himself.’

And from what she saw, Lee Cheol-su’s movements seemed uncomfortable.

But Lee Cheol-su had already refused, saying that men and women should be separate.

‘If it’s because I’m a woman, then I’ll have no choice but to ask Young Master Yoo.’

She wanted to take care of him, but there was no other way.

Thinking this, Seo Ha-rin headed towards the kitchen where Yoo Jin-hwi was.

—

—

Gongdongpa Kitchen.

Yujinhwi was chopping the pork he had procured for his master with a kitchen knife.

‘I didn’t know my master liked pork.’

Yujinhwi had roughly figured out what kind of food his master liked.

His master liked foods such as snakes, eels, and dandelions.

So when his master was bedridden with internal injuries, he initially thought of going to the mountains to catch a snake.

But surprisingly, his master requested pork.

‘Master, did you really want to eat meat? I must strive harder to ensure my master can eat meat at every meal.’

As Yujinhwi made this resolution and put water in the cauldron to make boiled pork,

“Master Yu, are you there?”

Seoharin’s voice came from outside the door.

Yujinhwi’s expression slightly hardened.

Although he accepted the fact that Seoharin was staying at the main house to take care of Lee Cheolsu, he couldn’t accept it in his heart.

Suppressing the strange discomfort rising in his chest, Yujinhwi turned his head and spoke.

“What is it, Miss Seo?”

Seoharin, with lifeless eyes, came into Yujinhwi’s view.

Meeting his gaze, Seoharin spoke in a stiff voice.

“I apologize, but could you please clean Master Lee’s body? I was going to do it, but Master Lee refused, saying that men and women should be separate… However, Master Lee still seems to have difficulty moving, so I shamelessly ask you, as a fellow man, to do it.”

Although her tone was polite, there was no emotion in Seoharin’s words, causing Yujinhwi’s eyes to widen.

In the strict Murim society where men and women were strictly separated, it was quite embarrassing for a woman to clean a man’s naked body, even if he was a patient.

But Seoharin was a beautiful girl, admired by boys of her age, destined to become a beauty that could topple a nation.

Therefore, there were hardly any men who would refuse her request.

‘But my master refused…!’

However, Lee Cheolsu refused.

This fact slightly softened Yujinhwi’s hardened expression.

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

As expected, my master. He is not a man swayed by beauty and desire. He does not let any woman by his side.

And…

It was good to become a man. Then, since men and women should be separate, such tasks should be done by fellow men.

Only I, not Seoharin, as a fellow man and as his senior, can do this.

—

—

Seo Harin’s eyes sank deeply as she watched Yujin Hwi’s expression, unable to hide his emotions.

‘As expected, it’s strange.’

To think that someone could shake Yujin Hwi, who is kind to everyone, to this extent.

The more she knew about Lee Cheolsu, the more interesting he became.

“Understood. As you said, matters between men should be handled by men. It’s not proper for an unmarried woman to carelessly see the naked body of an outside man. I, as his senior and a man, will take care of washing his body. I would like to ask you to prepare a special meal for him.”

“Understood.”

With Seo Harin’s response, Yujin Hwi disappeared, excitedly using his lightness skill.

Left in the kitchen instead of Yujin Hwi, Seo Harin tilted her head as she looked at the prepared pork and boiling water.

‘Is this how it’s done?’

—

Flip.

As the blanket was pulled away, I heard the voice of my senior brother.

Wait, senior brother?!

Is my senior brother going to wipe my body?

At the thought of such a dreadful thing, my face turned pale.

“Junior brother, you sent Miss Seo back because she’s a woman, right? Good job. Since I’m a man like you, you can relax and let me take care of your body.”

Swoosh.

Just like in my wildest imaginations, my senior brother half-lifted my body and hugged me from behind, whispering excitedly in my ear.

Hearing his words, I experienced the sky turning dark.

No······!

*

Hwa-jeong-hyeon underworld.

Sa-yeong-hwe manor annex.

In a fairly luxurious annex built separately in the backyard, Jeok Sa-wol, also known as Yeoh Yeo-ryeong, a top expert from the Black Dragon Room, was staying to monitor Sa-yeong-hwe.

‘Hoo.’

Jeok Sa-wol sighed inwardly as she looked at the backyard.

Even though it was called a manor, compared to the real large manors, its scale was significantly smaller, and the scenery of the backyard reflected in her eyes was crude to say the least.

But right now, Jeok Sa-wol’s eyes couldn’t even properly take in the scenery of the backyard.

‘That damn guy, he’s not seriously injured, is he?’

The man who first passed the test of the Hwa-myeon-ho sword.

The man who blatantly spewed obscene jokes at her.

The boy who dared to toy with the heart of the revered Sa-do-ryeon-ju, even if only for a moment.

But as befitting his second-rate skills, he was a disciple of the Gong-dong-pa who suffered internal injuries due to her voice imbued with power.

As she recalled the face of Lee Cheol-soo, Jeok Sa-wol’s heart grew confused.

Thump.

Her heart pounded.

Even though she had given him the antidote, she couldn’t help but worry.

‘Worry?’

This Jeok Sa-wol? The Supreme Leader of the Hao-mun, an absolute master of the Hyun-gyeong who divides the world into three, and the number one person in the dark faction?

The most beautiful woman in the world, envied by all men and envied by all women?

—

—

Worrying about a mere boy disciple of the Gongdong Sect, a boy who is 40 years younger than me?

“Such a thing is impossible!”

Jeok Sa-wol stood up from her chair, muttering to herself as if to rationalize.

Yes, it is impossible.

This feeling is not worry. It is a sense of responsibility for unconsciously hurting someone who passed the test.

Jeok Sa-wol, the most beautiful woman in the world, who captivates all men’s hearts with her beauty.

But at that moment, as she denied and rationalized her own feelings, biting her lip, she had never truly loved anyone.

“Did you call for me, Lady?”

Sa Yeong-hweju entered the annex and greeted politely.

Seeing him, Jeok Sa-wol cleared her throat and said,

“I will be going to the main base of the Black Dragon Gang for a while.”

Jeok Sa-wol was now without her mask.

The terrible burn scars covering half of her face, engraved on Ye Ye-ryeong’s mask, were fully exposed.

“For what reason to the main base…”

In Sa Yeong-hweju’s eyes, Jeok Sa-wol read the disgust directed at the burn scars on her mask.

Of course, due to the strict hierarchical relationship, he couldn’t openly show it.

This is normal.

Regardless of being a man or a woman, any human would feel disgusted by an ugly appearance.

Especially men, who value a woman’s appearance even more.

Yes.

That’s what she thought.

Until she met that damn boy.

Recalling Lee Cheol-soo’s words that it was always possible regardless of appearance, Jeok Sa-wol’s heart pounded again.

She tried to erase Lee Cheol-soo’s image from her mind and said,

“Do I have to report every single thing I do to someone like you? Just don’t cause any trouble while I’m away.”

“Understood, Lady.”

Leaving Sa Yeong-hweju’s words behind, Jeok Sa-wol flew out of the annex with the martial arts manual in her arms.

Her destination was Sichuan.

The place where the main base of the Black Dragon Gang was located.