The Eunuch Regains His Manhood in the Second Round

28. The Future Baek Doje Ilhwa

Inside the dilapidated inn, there wasn’t a single customer.

Literally, it was at the level of flies buzzing around.

It was a bit odd that there was no one around during the lunch rush.

“Welcome… Oh, is it Jeon Daehyeop?”

Hearing the sound of the door opening, a middle-aged man rushed out and bowed politely in front of Jeon Yeong.

He was Seowon Gwang, the owner, cook, waiter, and father of Baek Doje Ilhwa, who managed the Gongdong Inn.

As expected of Baek Doje Ilhwa’s father, he was a handsome middle-aged man with a rugged charm, though not as much as Yoo Jin Hwi. He greeted us with a smile.

“It’s been a while, Jeon Daehyeop. This is…”

“This is Lee Cheolsu, a new disciple of our sect. Cheolsu, this is Seowon Gwang, the owner of Gongdong Inn, who has been a great help to our sect’s finances. Greet him.”

“Hahaha. Jeon Daehyeop, calling a mere cook like me a great person is burdensome.”

Seowon Gwang laughed, waving his hand at Jeon Yeong’s words.

I took a step forward and greeted him politely with a fist salute.

“I am Lee Cheolsu. It’s an honor to meet Seowon Gwang, who is responsible for the livelihood of our sect. I look forward to your guidance.”

According to the records, Baek Doje Ilhwa grew up in a single-parent household. Moreover, she was a filial daughter who adored her father.

Therefore, to score points with Baek Doje Ilhwa, it was necessary to first score points with her father, following the principle of “catch the thief, catch the king.”

“So you are Lee Cheolsu. I heard about you from Jeon Daehyeop through letters. You have a grand spirit. It seems the reputation of the Gongdong Sect will soon be known in the martial world. I am also pleased to meet you.”

Seowon Gwang’s lips twitched pleasantly as he received my polite greeting, seemingly not disliking the title of “great person.”

“You flatter me, Seowon Gwang. I look forward to your guidance.”

“I also look forward to it.”

Seowon Gwang nodded contentedly at my words.

—

—

We followed his lead and sat at the empty eight-seater table.

The master, who ordered three bowls of buckwheat noodles called Gyomyeonhaprak (蕎面饸饹) and one lamb stew called Sujoyangyuk (手抓羊肉), asked Seowongwang.

“Come to think of it, I don’t see Mr. Seo’s daughter today. I wanted to introduce Harin to Cheolsu… Where is she?”

Finally, the long-awaited mention of Baekdojeilhwa came out of the master’s mouth.

Before I could say anything, he was already planning to introduce me and Baekdojeilhwa to each other.

I controlled my twitching lip muscles with superhuman patience and maintained a blank expression.

Jeonyeong is undoubtedly a true master.

Indeed, the grace of a teacher is as high as the sky. Long live the unity of the king, teacher, and father (君師父一體)!

I pretended to be distracted while keeping my ears open to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“If you mean Lina, I sent her on an errand just ahead. She should be arriving around now. Ah, there she is. Lina!”

With Mr. Seo’s words, all our gazes focused on the inn’s entrance.

As the curtain at the entrance lifted, she appeared.

A beautiful girl with snow-white skin, sky-blue eyes that were different from those of the Central Plains people, and platinum blonde hair.

There stood Seo Harin, the future Baekdojeilhwa.

Gansu Province, where Gongdongsan is located, is the border of the Central Plains and the starting point of the Silk Road.

It was a place where trade with the Western Regions was active, making it relatively easy to find mixed-race people.

Thus, Seo Harin was also a mixed-race child between a Central Plains person and a Western Region person.

She still had chubby cheeks and a youthful face, but as the future Baekdojeilhwa, her beauty was already blooming.

In one word, she was a textbook example of a beautiful girl.

But.

‘Isn’t she too young?’

Seo Harin was the same age as me. Thirteen.

Of course, she was a child.

Although I pursue the path of color, I am not a trash who would harbor dark thoughts towards a child.

That’s something only the demonic sect’s lustful demons would do.

She is undoubtedly the future most beautiful woman of the righteous sect, but perhaps because she is young, I don’t feel anything.

‘She reminds me of Hwangsang.’

Rather, seeing her reminded me of Hwangsang.

Hwangsang, no, the third princess, was exactly that age when we first met.

For no reason, those days came to mind.

—

—

Still, taking care of the princess was quite rewarding. After all, she grew up to be a beauty and listened to me obediently. I grew fond of her.

In my damn 50 years of being a eunuch, the time with the emperor was one of the few purely good memories.

No matter how good it was, it couldn’t compare to the pleasures of the flesh.

I’d rather die than live as a eunuch.

In that sense, I was very pleased with my second life, where I had a perfectly functioning body.

As for the princess… She was never the simple puppet emperor that the world believed her to be.

She was a cunning and shrewd politician with a mind as sharp as mine.

So, even without me, she would live well in this life too. I, who served the emperor for over 40 years, can guarantee that.

If she ever finds herself in danger, I can always go to help her.

‘In this life, the emperor should get married. Tsk tsk.’

I clicked my tongue as I recalled the emperor who never married and lived alone in the previous life.

I was okay with the heart of a beauty, but the emperor was an exception. She was family. You don’t do that with family.

Anyway, thinking of the memories with the emperor brought a smile to my face.

Seoharin, who met my eyes, flinched.

Her expressionless face, her empty, hollow eyes stared at me.

“…I’m back, Father.”

Seoharin said to her father in an emotionless voice.

She placed the ingredients on the empty table.

“Well done, Rina. The head of the Great Joint Sect and his disciples have visited our inn after a long time. Go and greet them.”

At Seo Daein’s words, Seoharin’s dead eyes lost focus and turned this way.

A hint of hostility flashed across her face.

I knew why she was like that.

Seoharin was from a single-parent family. Her mother, a foreigner, was killed in front of Seoharin by the warriors of the Private Association when she was ten years old.

Since then, she closed her heart. She resented the martial artists and the powerless Joint Sect that couldn’t provide proper help against the tyranny of the Private Association.

Even now, her eyes were filled with hostility as she looked at me.

The reason Seoharin joined the Joint Sect was because, a year from now, the Private Association, a black sect in Hwajeong County, would cause a ruckus at the inn.

At that time, the Joint Sect didn’t have the strength to protect the inn, and since Sa-hyung hadn’t yet taken the elixir to open his meridians, they couldn’t deal with the Private Association. So, Seo Daein had Seoharin join the Joint Sect to protect her.

Seoharin, who hated martial artists and the Joint Sect, couldn’t disobey her father’s heavenly command and reluctantly joined the Joint Sect.

According to records, it would be four years from now that Seoharin would open her heart to the members of the Joint Sect.

It was after Yujinhwi wiped out the Private Association and avenged her.

—

—

A perfect elite with impeccable specs who even takes revenge for me? Even if I were a woman, I would have fallen for him.

Of course, since I’m a man, I would never fall for my senior brother. Damn senior brother.

Anyway, even after joining the Gongdong Sect, Seo Harin remained cold and hostile to everyone except Yoo Jin-hwi, Master Jeon Young, and her father.

Her nickname in the orthodox sect was “Cold Soul Sword Princess” because her hands were excessively cruel.

At the same time, Seo Harin’s beauty was so overwhelming that she earned the nickname “The Most Beautiful Flower of the White Path,” despite the penalty of being a mixed-blood by medieval Murim standards.

In her previous life, her cruel hands were considered attractive, like a thorny flower, and she had many fans in the orthodox sect who followed her. Of course, Seo Harin didn’t even glance at those men.

Anyway, Seo Harin was now in front of me.

Glaring at me.

If it were my senior brother, it would be different, but being glared at by a beautiful girl is fine. I actually like it.

It’s better than indifference.

“Lina, say hello. This is Lee Cheol-soo, who has just joined the Gongdong Sect.”

At Master Seo’s urging, Seo Harin reluctantly opened her mouth.

“······Seo Harin.”

She only uttered her name in a cold voice like a northern windstorm, with an expressionless face.

I looked at her and smiled.

“I am Lee Cheol-soo, a disciple of the Gongdong Sect. It is an honor of three lifetimes to meet Miss Seo. I look forward to your guidance.”

Seo Harin looked down at me with her transparent green eyes as I smiled warmly and made a fist salute.

She ignored my greeting.

“······.”

Seo Harin, who had been silent, suddenly turned her head and went into the kitchen.

Seeing this, Master Seo awkwardly smiled as if he was troubled.

“Haha. My daughter is not very sociable and is very shy. I apologize to both of you.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Cheol-soo, Lina has many emotional scars, so understand her with a broad mind like a man.”

At Master’s words, I nodded.

“Yes, I understand, Master.”

Well, I’m not shallow enough to get genuinely angry just because a 13-year-old girl is a bit aloof.

She reminds me of an emperor’s beautiful daughter.

“I’m glad you both understand. I’ll give Lina a separate warning. Ah, I’ve talked too much. I’ll go prepare the meal now.”

After the introduction time ended, Master Seo went into the kitchen.

After a while, Master Seo brought three steaming bowls of noodles and a mountain of dumplings to the table.

—

—

“Let’s eat.”

Master, who had taken a bite of the lamb stew, spoke to us.

As soon as Master finished speaking, I reached out with my chopsticks towards the lamb stew bowl.

Gansu Province, due to its barren land, is more developed in animal husbandry than agriculture.

Lamb stew, made from lamb, was a representative dish of Gansu, along with Lanzhou ramen, the original ramen.

I picked up a piece of the hot lamb stew, dipped it in the sauce, and put it in my mouth.

Chew, chew.

As expected of lamb, it had a slight gamey smell, but it was more edible than I thought.

The buckwheat noodles, known as Gyomyeonhaprak, were also quite edible.

After finishing our meal, we left the communal inn, escorted by Mr. Seo.

On the way back to the main mountain.

“Junior, did you enjoy the meal today?”

Following behind Master, Senior Brother whispered to me in a low voice.

Everything was fine, but why did he have to whisper that unnecessarily close to me?

I got goosebumps all over my body.

The only one who can whisper secrets to me is an absolute beauty.

I immediately put some distance between us and spoke to Senior Brother.

“Yes, I did.”

It was nice to see the future White Flower of the Way and to have some meat for the first time in a while.

Vegetables aren’t bad. But to cultivate vitality, it was important to consume nutrients in a balanced manner.

A healthy diet creates a healthy body, and a healthy body leads to healthy vitality.

So, managing one’s diet could be said to be the foundation of an alpha male.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Let’s eat out more often in the future!”

Senior Brother said to me with a smile.

It had been a while since Senior Brother agreed with something I said.

I also wanted to eat out more often.

I needed to meet the White Flower of the Way frequently and build a friendship in advance to prepare for the future.

“Sounds good.”

I nodded, and Senior Brother smiled again.

“Ha ha ha.”

—

In the midst of his preoccupation, Jeong-ong wore a contented smile.

Upon reaching the cooperative headquarters, following the afternoon cultivation session, I returned to my private quarters.

With a click of my shoes, shutting the door, I retrieved a soft cord I had acquired from the marketplace in the morning and a 1kg stone picked up during evening practice.

Carrying the cord in my left hand and the stone in my right, I laughed as I lowered my pants. My proficiency in both basic public service maneuvering and Kegel exercises had reached its peak, marking the time for delving into the realm of modern medicine, the science of vitality.