My Younger Siblings Are the Greatest Masters in the World - Chapter 12
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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12.
Grumble—!
The three people’s stomachs chorused their demands for food.
They had entered a restaurant, been asked by Jeom Soi “Do you have money?”, boldly answered “No!”, and were promptly kicked out.
No restaurant would give food to kids without money.
“Let’s just go into any restaurant and steal some food!”
Seol Ryeoseon scolded Seol Mantong for his words.
“Are we bandits?”
“The people who won’t give kids a single meal are the bad ones! How can the world’s hearts be so cold?”
Seol Changho spoke like a sigh.
“It’s our fault for running away without a single coin.”
The world without the shelter of Seol Mujin was this cold.
They slumped down on the Main Street where passersby walked.
They didn’t even have the strength to walk.
Just as Seol Mantong was saying “Should we even beg?”, a single coin dropped in front of them.
The Forty-Year-Old Woman who threw the coin said,
“If you’re going to beg, you should at least put down a hat.”
Seol Mantong, watching the woman walk away, jumped up.
“I should go get a hat.”
Seol Ryeoseon kicked Seol Mantong’s butt.
“You brat! No matter how desperate we are, we have dignity! Begging!”
“You don’t want to be bandits! You don’t want to beg! Do you just want to starve to death?”
Seol Changho, watching the two argue, muttered.
“I miss Mujin.”
Seol Changho’s distant, vacant gaze focused into one point.
It was one person barely visible among the passersby.
Running toward them, avoiding the crowd, he looked so desperate he seemed like a mirage.
“Mujin…”
Following Seol Changho who stood up awkwardly, the other two’s gazes also turned.
The person running breathlessly through the crowd. It wasn’t a mirage.
They couldn’t believe this reality and just stood there blankly, waiting for Seol Mujin to approach.
As if he might disappear like a mirage if they got closer.
Seol Mujin stood before them.
Panting for breath, dripping with sweat, exhausted and bent over at the waist.
“Finally… I found you. You troublemakers.”
“Mujin—!”
The three people embraced Seol Mujin without hesitation.
They hadn’t even cried as newborn babies, but for the first time after meeting Seol Mujin, they burst into tears.
“Why are you so late! Sob sob!”
Seol Ryeoseon smacked the back of Seol Mantong’s head as he clung to Seol Mujin’s legs.
“We’re the ones who ran away from home! Waaah!”
“Ah! That’s right. Sob sob!”
Seol Mujin crouched down and wiped away the tears that had soaked the three’s faces.
“Why did you get so thin in just a few days?”
“You too.”
Not only the three of them, but Seol Mujin’s face was also gaunt.
Just as they had starved, Seol Mujin had also saved time on eating to chase after the triplets.
“Let’s eat first. What do you want to eat?”
“Dumplings!”
“Thin noodles!”
“Anything!”
Seol Mujin took the triplets to the restaurant.
The triplets were moved just by the fact that they weren’t being kicked out.
Seol Mujin ordered a generous spread including thin noodles and dumplings.
As soon as the food came out, it went straight into the triplets’ mouths.
“Eat slowly.”
Who knew eating could be this happy!
Seol Ryeoseon asked with her mouth full of dumplings.
“How did you find us?”
“By asking around.”
The image of Seol Mujin grabbing people and asking them questions to find them made her nose tingle.
“Why are these noodles so spicy? Are they Sichuan style? Sniff!”
When the meal was almost finished, Seol Changho asked.
“That incident back then… why aren’t you asking about it?”
Seol Ryeoseon and Seol Mantong’s chopsticks stopped moving.
Seol Mantong apologized, saying ‘Sorry for hitting you.’
“Because it’s not important. Whether you were possessed by ghosts or Demonic Sect elders, you’re still my siblings.”
“But still, if we were Demonic Sect elders, you’d hate us… huh? Huh?”
“Aaah! How did you know we were Demonic Sect elders? No, Mingjiao!”
“Why did you guys run away from home in the first place?”
Seol Changho answered in a shrinking voice.
“We thought you’d hate us if you knew we were Mingjiao elders.”
“You idiots. There’s no way that would happen.”
“But how did you know?”
“You were doing something called Breathing Circulation Technique on your beds every night, and whenever you had a chance, you’d gather and whisper. If you pay even a little attention, it’s impossible not to notice.”
Seol Ryeoseon shouted at Seol Mantong and Seol Changho.
“That’s why I told you to be careful!”
“We weren’t the only ones talking, did you keep your mouth shut!”
Seol Mujin spoke to the three people who were bickering with each other.
“I don’t care who you were in the past, so don’t ever leave again. Got it?”
“Yes!”
Seol Mujin extended his pinky finger to the Triplets who nodded simultaneously.
“Promise.”
“Promise!”
The four people’s fingers linked together in the air.
***
Everyone at Yeonji-ru welcomed them when they returned in the early evening.
“You troublemakers! Why did you make Mujin suffer!”
“You dirty little things, you’ve been through so much, our little ones!”
Seol Mantong buried his face in Hyeonwol’s chest and didn’t move for a long time.
If Seol Ryeoseon hadn’t grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, he would have stayed like that all night.
Seol Mujin headed toward the Well and said.
“You’re too dirty. Let’s wash up and then eat.”
“Can’t we eat first and then wash?”
A rumbling sound came from Seol Mantong’s stomach as he asked.
Seol Ryeoseon scolded him.
“Do you have a beggar living in your stomach?”
“You’re hungry too!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Seol Ryeoseon’s stomach also sent a rumbling signal.
“Fine. Let’s eat first.”
While the kids were eating, Seol Mujin heated up bath water.
Seol Mantong spoke with his mouth full of rice.
“It’s good to be home. Right?”
A few grains of rice flew out and fell into the side dishes.
“Hey! Don’t talk while eating!”
Rice also flew out of Seol Ryeoseon’s mouth as she yelled.
“Ugh! You dirty things!”
Seol Changho pulled the side dishes that didn’t have rice grains on them toward himself.
“Hey! That’s my favorite!”
“You guys eat the ones with fragments on them!”
“Really? Ptui! Ptui!”
“Aaah! You crazy ghost!”
“Me too, ptui ptui!”
“Saekgol, don’t copy them!”
“Kaaak—!”
“No!”
Just as Seol Changho was about to spit into the side dishes, the door creaked open.
What surprised them about seeing Hwa Seonhwa was her cold expression.
Though they feared nothing in this world, somehow Hwa Seonhwa was difficult to deal with.
Hwa Seonhwa, who had been looking at them, turned around and spoke.
“Follow me.”
Chilling.
They followed Hwa Seonhwa like cattle being dragged to a slaughterhouse.
Hwa Seonhwa went to her room, sat in a chair, and spoke.
“Kneel down and raise your hands.”
Huh?
To them standing there dumbfounded, she said again, “Kneel down and raise your hands.”
Seol Ryeoseon wheedled.
“Come on, how old are we to receive such childish punishment… like kids?”
Hwa Seonhwa struck the desk with her brush with a bang!
“Hurry up and kneel down and raise your hands!”
They had never seen Hwa Seonhwa get this angry before.
She was usually quiet and spoke in a low voice.
When her voice rang out through the room like that, they couldn’t help but flinch.
“If you don’t want to receive punishment even though you did wrong, then get out of my house!”
They had run away from home and now looked like they were about to be kicked out.
Seol Changho was the first to drop to his knees with a thud and raise his arms.
Seol Ryeoseon, who had been reading the mood, also took the same position next to Seol Changho.
“You… don’t you have any pride?”
“Just kneel.”
“Okay.”
To the three kneeling side by side with their arms raised, Hwa Seonhwa spoke.
“What were you thinking when you left home? Didn’t you think about Mujin?”
They couldn’t confess the fact that they had tried to go into the deep mountains for secluded training.
“Don’t even think about lowering those arms until you realize what you did wrong.”
As soon as those words ended, Seol Ryeoseon lowered her arms.
“Huh?”
“We know we did wrong too. And we won’t leave Mujin again.”
“Really?”
“We won’t go until Mujin tells us to leave because he doesn’t like us.”
“What about you two?”
Seol Mantong and Seol Changho nodded simultaneously.
Only then did a smile appear on Hwa Seonhwa’s lips.
“It wasn’t just Mujin who worried about you, you troublemakers.”
The three people scratched their heads with embarrassed expressions.
During the hundred years they had been part of the Bright Cult, had anyone ever worried about them like this?
Not a single person had worried about them, though they may have envied, been jealous of, or feared them.
His chest felt tight, so he took a deep breath.
“Sorry for making you worry.”
“Us too.”
Hwa Seonhwa, who had been watching them with a smile, gestured with her hand.
“Hurry up and go wash. Ugh—! What’s with this sweat smell like an eighty-year-old’s musty odor.”
Seol Mujin, who had been waiting with water prepared, greeted them with a smiling face.
“Did Master Ruju scold you?”
“We did something worth scolding for.”
“Go ahead and bathe.”
There were two bathtubs.
At some point, Seol Mujin had started preparing Seol Ryeoseon’s bathtub separately.
It had been since a year or two ago, which meant Seol Mujin had known their true identities from that time.
Seol Changho, who was soaking his body in the warm water, asked.
“Is it okay for us to keep living like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“It would be one thing if Mujin didn’t know our true identities, but he does know. In that situation, it’s not proper to freeload like children.”
“Are you saying we should work at the Pleasure House?”
“We should repay the debt we owe to Mujin.”
Seol Ryeoseon rested her chin on the edge of the wooden bathtub and asked.
“How?”
“How about teaching him Martial Arts?”
“Martial Arts?”
Seol Mantong snapped his fingers.
“That’s a good idea! Let’s make Mujin the greatest master under heaven!”
“Huh?”
“We’re the greatest masters under heaven, so it’s natural that Mujin, who learns from us, would become the greatest master under heaven!”
“It would be nice if Mujin has that level of talent, but let’s not put pressure on him. How about teaching him little by little until he can at least protect himself?”
***
“There’s one condition.”
This was Seol Mujin’s response to their question about whether he’d like to learn Martial Arts since he already knew their true identities.
“A condition? What is it?”
“From now on, you’ll call me hyung, oppa.”
“What? We told you! We’re elders of the Bright Cult!”
“We’re over a hundred years old!”
“We’re older than your grandfather!”
Seol Mujin didn’t even pretend to listen.
“Hyung, oppa.”
“Do I… really have to call you that?”
“If you don’t like that, there’s another option.”
The three of them brightened up.
“What is it?”
“Dad.”
Their faces turned pale with shock.
“That’s ridiculous!”
“If we call you dad, you’ll live as a bachelor for the rest of your life!”
“I’ll just live with you guys forever then.”
When Seol Mujin spoke with that expression, he was serious.
“We’re going to teach you Martial Arts, aren’t we? Like masters?”
“Exactly. That’s the condition for me learning Martial Arts. If you don’t like it, I’ll just live like this.”
Seol Mujin shrugged his shoulders without showing any sign of regret.
“If we taught Martial Arts, about a million Martial Artists would line up, wouldn’t they?”
“I guarantee you I wouldn’t be among them.”
“Damn it!”
The three exchanged glances with each other.
The first person to make a decision was Seol Changho.
“Fine! Hy… Hy… Hyung.”
His body trembled involuntarily at the title he had spoken for the first time in his life.
“Oh my, our good Changho.”
Seol Mujin patted Seol Changho’s bottom and turned his gaze to the other two.
Seol Ryeoseon, who looked like she was about to cry, was just about to open her mouth when Seol Mantong shouted “hyung” first.
“Fine, just call him hyung, do it!”
“I was going to say it first. Oppa!”
Even Seol Ryeoseon was surprised that the title came out so easily.
Seol Mujin stroked Seol Ryeoseon’s head with a pleased expression and said,
“And Ryeoseon, you need to stop hitting Mantong’s head. He might forget the few characters he knows.”
“Is that the second condition?”
“That’s not it, just… a suggestion?”
“Rejected!”
Thwack!
“You damn old hag! Stop hitting me!”
***
Hwa Seonhwa finally felt like Yeonji-ru was coming back to life.
Without Seol Mujin, Yeonji-ru had felt empty, and even eating felt like chewing sand.
Even the working gisaengs seemed more lively, and that wasn’t just her imagination.
As Seol Mujin was pulling a cart to clean up after a finished drinking session, Seol Guk, a courtesan carrying alcohol into the Yeonhwa Room, grumbled.
“That bastard is starting again.”
“Sister, who came?”
“You know that guy Lord Hong who runs Daru.”
“That gentleman who likes gambling?”
“Yeah. Today Yeon Sim got caught.”
“Sister Yeon Sim can’t even handle a single drink.”
“That’s why she keeps saying she won’t drink, but I don’t know if she can endure Lord Hong’s pressure.”
Sometimes there are customers who force courtesans to drink excessively and enjoy watching them suffer.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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