HDCLSSRS Ch 33

Chapter 33 Just This Once (1)

Kang Ung had been the last to witness Seong Muyeon being taken away, and he blamed himself for not being able to stop it. Seong Muyeon did his best to console the boy.

Publicly, it was concluded that Seong Muyeon had been kidnapped by the Demonic Sect and later rescued. Which, in fact, was true.

He delivered newly acquired intel from within the Demonic Sect to the sect leader and the elders. For the time being, Hwasan would keep a close ear to changes within the sect.

Word had it that, following the incident, the Demonic Sect’s people in that area had completely withdrawn.

When mealtime came, Baek Ryeoil appeared with a tray of bland patient food.

“Here, eat up.”

“…That’s way too much.”

“Eat it all! Eating well is the key to a quick recovery!”

He practically forced the food into Seong Muyeon’s mouth. Then, without another word, he left the room. Seong Muyeon called after him.

“Where are you always running off to like that!”

“It’s a thing.”

Click.

Baek Ryeoil gave a curt reply and left.

“…”

Seong Muyeon was struck by an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

‘What is he up to this time?’

“Senior Brother, I don’t think this is going to work.”

Since returning, Baek Ryeoil had been searching for a cure to Seong Muyeon’s condition. For the past few days, he and a disciple from the medical hall had combed through the entire scripture archive. But their efforts had produced little.

“If even the head of the medical hall doesn’t know, what are we going to find in the library? Just give it up. It’s a shame, but there’s nothing that can be done for Seong Muyeon Gongja right now. I’m done here.”

“Hey! Don’t leave!”

With that, the disciple walked out.

Sigh…

Baek Ryeoil was left alone, buried under piles of books. He flipped through a few more pages before flinging the book behind him.

‘…Is there really no way?’

He thought of Seong Muyeon, shut away in Chwijungjae. His pale face, the way he coughed up blood so easily—it was baffling how thoroughly he had concealed it all until now.

‘It must’ve worsened because he used his internal energy.’

Then came the inevitable self-reproach.

‘Because of me.’

He covered his face.

He’d gotten involved and only made things worse.

‘I should’ve left him alone. Got hot-headed again for nothing.’

True, if he hadn’t interfered, Seong Muyeon might’ve been dragged back to the Demonic Sect and lost his free will. Still, it was undeniable that he had exacerbated the situation.

Baek Ryeoil hated being indebted to others just as much as he hated others owing him. But now, every time he saw that wan, sickly face, it bothered him so much he couldn’t even scold him properly.

He had to at least get him back to his original state—only then could he feel at peace.

Just then, a group of boys bustled into the scripture library.

“This is it? The one you mentioned?”

“I’m telling you, it is.”

They began whispering among themselves, unaware that Baek Ryeoil was behind the bookshelf.

Baek Ryeoil raised an eyebrow. From experience, when young disciples gathered like that, it usually meant they were up to no good. Especially since one of them kept glancing nervously toward the door.

“You little punks.”

“Eek!”

“Ba-Baek Sa-baek!”

The boys nearly fainted when Baek Ryeoil appeared soundlessly.

“Hand over whatever you’re hiding behind your back.”

He gestured with his palm. One boy reluctantly pulled out the hidden item and handed it over.

“A book?”

He turned it over a few times and skimmed through the pages. It was just one of the many instructional texts commonly found in the library.

“Haha, yes… We were just trying to study a little.”

“Then why were you sneaking around with it? Makes people suspicious.”

“W-Well, yeah… Haha! Please give it back. We’ll return it to its proper place.”

Baek Ryeoil handed the book over, only to snatch it back just before the boy could take it.

“Sa-baek? What’s wrong?”

“It just doesn’t sit right with me. You brats, studying on your own without being told? Might as well say the heavens are collapsing.”

“I-It’s true! It’s just a book about training techniques! It was right there in the scripture library! Why would we lie?”

Still skeptical, he finally noticed the title.

“Bedroom Techniques?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the boys gasped and turned pale, as if they had seen a ghost. Then, without another word, they scattered in all directions.

“…”

Left alone in an instant, Baek Ryeoil scratched the back of his head.

“What the hell is ‘bedroom techniques’ anyway?”

Baek Ryeoil was born in Hwasan.

His parents were also disciples of the sect, but both fell victim to demonic techniques during battle against the Demonic Sect. As a result, Baek Ryeoil’s upbringing and education were entrusted to his master and the elders.

When he entered adolescence and began showing signs of sexual curiosity, his master and senior instructors gathered with grim faces.

<You all know how catastrophically that brat messes things up, right?>

<If we’re not careful, the next generation of Hwasan disciples will all carry his bloodline.>

<Gasp!!>

Everyone’s faces turned deathly pale.

Though they were Taoist cultivators, Hwasan wasn’t as strict with rules as Kunlun or Emei. Marriages and establishing households at the foot of the mountain weren’t unusual.

But Baek Ryeoil was an exception. Even at a young age, he was dangerously drawn to anything exciting or stimulating. If not taught properly, he was bound to cause trouble.

<We have no choice. Then… let’s have him learn that cultivation technique.>

In the end, they had him practice a special inner technique. Though it contained the essence of Taoism and was supposed to purify the mind and body, filling it with virtuous energy, very few actually practiced it.

Because it had a fatal flaw.

Namely, that it completely erased sexual desire.

Not only did it make one forget such urges, but it also suppressed physiological responses almost entirely. It was essentially the cultivation equivalent of castration.

Thanks to this, Baek Ryeoil grew into a powerful martial artist—who was utterly clueless about anything sexual.

“…So that’s why.”

“Rye-Ryeoil.”

Ma Jincheon was struck dumb when his disciple came to him with the book “Bedroom Techniques” and asked what it was. He had no choice but to confess everything.

“…So that’s why those women slapped me.”

Baek Ryeoil wasn’t stupid. From rumors among fellow disciples and his experiences in the martial world, he had some vague understanding of how children were made and what acts were involved.

But he had zero interest.

Sometimes women approached him, impressed by his reputation and looks. But he never picked up on the suggestive glances or subtle flirtations they sent his way. As a result, he was often praised as a noble ascetic, revered for his stoic Taoist demeanor.

He hadn’t understood why those women cried and slapped him before. Now he did.

“L-Listen. Thanks to that technique, you were able to focus on your training without distraction. Try to see it positively.”

“Fine. That’s settled.”

He had no regrets about missing something he had never experienced. Baek Ryeoil was focused on something else now. He quickly flipped through the book.

“But this book—‘Bedroom Techniques.’”

“W-What about it?”

There was a reason the young disciples had been giggling over it. It described in detail how to train through sexual union. For boys just entering puberty, it was a very stimulating read.

“Is this for real? That through the harmony of yin and yang, it can realign twisted qi and blood?”

“That’s… true…”

Ma Jincheon trailed off, then hastily added,

“But! Only if it’s done correctly and properly! It’s not something just anyone can do willy-nilly! If it were that easy, everyone in the world would be immortals by now! Especially considering how people have a dozen kids! Right?”

Baek Ryeoil just shrugged. Unsure if he was reassured or not, Ma Jincheon gripped his shoulder tightly and warned him sternly.

“Make sure I never see a woman knocking on Hwasan’s gates holding your bastard child.”

“…”

Hoo-loook.

Once again, Seong Muyeon was reading a book in peace, sipping Hwasan’s specialty—plum blossom tea. With no one around to disturb him, he had his fill of books he’d never encountered in the Demonic Sect.

But that peace didn’t last.

“Seong Muyeon!”

Baek Ryeoil, who hadn’t shown his face in days, burst through the door as if to break it down.

As a result, Seong Muyeon spilled tea all over his front.

“G-Good heavens! Can’t you open a door gently?! What, would that kill you?!”

“No, listen! I found a way to cure your illness!”

Seong Muyeon’s eyes widened.

“Y-You did? How?!”

“Here. Look at this.”

Baek Ryeoil shoved an open book in front of his face.

“…What is this?”

“I found it while going through the entire scripture archive over the past few days. Listen—severed meridians, at their core, are caused by twisted qi and blood flow. You know that, right?”

Seong Muyeon quickly lost interest. Baek Ryeoil didn’t even seem like someone who knew the ‘med’ in medicine, so what were the chances he actually found a cure? Not even the many physicians in the Demonic Sect had managed that.

It was obvious he was about to spout some nonsense he picked up somewhere.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get to the point.”

“You just need to practice bedroom techniques with me.”