The Mending Studio - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10
Lowering his voice did nothing to stop the talk.

“I think there’s something else going on here.”
“What do you mean?”
“A deal of some kind.”
“A deal?”
“The higher someone climbs, the more their thinking diverges from ours, doesn’t it? Their humanity warps, their sense of morality becomes a joke…… I don’t even want to imagine what comes after that.”
“Keep your mouth shut. It doesn’t matter if you get punished, but I don’t want to be dragged into it. If the Holy Master hears rumors like that, we’ll both face severe penalties.”

There was no basis for any of it.
Yet rumor grew with each passing day, accumulating flesh as it spread from mouth to mouth; the elders on high held their tongues, but in the Study Palaces and training grounds alike, talk of the Saintess never ceased.
Few people knew the truth.
And the one who took the news most heavily was in the Jangmyeong Hall.
As the sun began to set.
Yi Jangmyeong, who by habit would have been in the cultivation chamber at this hour, sat instead on the threshold of the hall with his head propped in his palm, sword resting untouched beside him.

“The Saintess…….”

He murmured the words low and hollow.
His disquiet had nothing to do with disliking Yuk Musang—they had grown up together at the same Holy Ground, and he acknowledged her strength—the problem lay with himself.
Yi Jangmyeong still remembered the day he was first named Saint, when Jang Hyeonjin had tapped his shoulder before a gathering of many and smiled.

—Jangmyeong. From this day forward, you are the Saint of Taehyeon Holy Ground.

When the young Yi Jangmyeong, overcome with nervousness, said nothing, Jang Hyeonjin laughed and continued.

—Being a Saint means you will one day succeed me as Holy Master. You cannot succeed through cultivation alone. You must hold the world in your heart, and learn to cherish every person and blade of grass in Taehyeon Holy Ground.

And then he said something oddly specific.

—Don’t go around saying your family has so many acres of land, so many houses, or that when you have children someday they should start ahead of others. Not a word of that.

That day Yi Jangmyeong wept with emotion, his chest swelling with the weight of his master’s expectations.
After that, he never took the name of Saint for granted, never slackened in his training.
Then suddenly, a Saintess appeared.
And no one had even offered him an explanation.

‘What did I do wrong?’

From the start, Yi Jangmyeong blamed himself. Had his cultivation been insufficient? Or had he somehow fallen short in the character and insight his master was always emphasizing?
He turned it over in his mind, but no clear answer came. Among his peers, his cultivation pace was far from slow; he had never treated the position of Saint lightly, and he could not recall once breaking the duties his master had entrusted to him.
When the reason remained hidden, his thoughts kept circling back to his own fault.
Sitting on that threshold, Yi Jangmyeong retraced everything he might have overlooked, turning it all over from the beginning. The sun set, night deepened, and morning broke again—he spent a full day and night unmoving in that spot.
When noon of the following day drew near.
Yi Jangmyeong’s eyes suddenly sharpened.

“Wait.”

The scattered fragments in his mind suddenly aligned.
It became clear that the Holy Master had named Yuk Musang Saintess immediately after returning from Yeonggeom Peak yesterday.
Yuk Musang had descended to Sojijin.
Eight cultivation prodigies had emerged from Sojijin all at once, and their bodies exhibited the impossible phenomena of Innate Qi and Acquired Spirit Root together.

“Then…….”

Yi Jangmyeong realized that the timing of his master’s visit to Yeonggeom Peak and Yuk Musang’s return from Sojijin aligned perfectly, and he rose slowly to his feet.
When he set these eight children’s strange transformation alongside everything else, the invisible threads suddenly wove into one coherent line.
As his thoughts reached that point, the answer narrowed to a single possibility.
Yuk Musang had surely obtained something from Sojijin—whether it was a treasure, a person, or a promise, he could not yet say.
But if the Holy Master had gone so far as to create a new position—Saintess—it was no ordinary stroke of fortune.

“Could it be that the Ancestor is really in Sojijin?”

Yi Jangmyeong’s eyes brightened.
The Ancestor of Taehyeon Holy Ground, descended from the Higher Realm.
If that suspicion were true, everything would fall into place. Yuk Musang had first formed a connection with the Ancestor, and the Holy Master, valuing that bond, had elevated her to Saintess.

“Then I should go too.”

Yi Jangmyeong’s expression brightened rapidly.
He possessed a Supreme Dual-Attribute Dual Spirit Root. In terms of innate talent alone, he surpassed Yuk Musang.
If he caught the eye of that Ancestor and received his teachings…
He had confidence in his aptitude and speed of cultivation alike. Moreover, as a Saint of Taehyeon Holy Ground, he had steadily cultivated etiquette and scholarship, and if the Ancestor truly had ties to Taehyeon Holy Ground, there was no reason he would completely turn away from him. One new Saintess was no cause for alarm.
There was no reason to be shaken.
In fact, his own path might grow even wider.

“Right. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?”

Yi Jangmyeong slapped his forehead.
His troubled expression vanished. The moment his resolve hardened, Dharma Power swiftly enveloped his body.
Without hesitation, he shot skyward toward Sojijin.
* * *
That same day.
Yeop Jangcheong was heading toward the butcher shop.
Yeon Bingsim followed alongside him.

“There’s no need for you to come along.”
“It’s quite all right.”

Yeon Bingsim replied with utmost courtesy. She had become a completely different person from when she woke from the sickbed days ago.
Yeop Jangcheong still hadn’t adjusted to the change.
It had started after she saw the Go Board.
Before that, she’d looked at him as if he were a thief or a brigand, but now she spoke to him with caution, as one would toward an elder several generations above, watching his face at every word.
When he told her to sit, she sat; when he offered her tea, she accepted it with both hands.

‘Is she really that ashamed of not knowing how to play Go?’

Yeop Jangcheong still attributed her behavior to that reason.
More troubling was that despite days passing, Yeon Bingsim showed no sign of leaving. He had no reason to drive her away either—there were spare rooms, and feeding one extra mouth hardly threatened his household.
Yet Yeop Jangcheong remained curious.

‘Could she have taken a liking to me?’

Yeop Jangcheong glanced briefly at her profile.
Yeon Bingsim was beautiful.
He himself had considerable confidence in his own appearance.
In his previous life, he might have weighed conditions like house, wealth, and family before anything else.
But this world seemed to operate somewhat differently.
No house, no land—just a handsome face, and a beauty apparently follows you of her own accord?

‘Can’t get Cultivation to work out, but at least I have this kind of luck.’

The thought lifted his spirits slightly.
Yeon Bingsim seemed to sense his gaze and turned her head a fraction.

“Why do you look at me that way, Master Yeop?”
“It’s nothing.”

Yeop Jangcheong looked ahead, maintaining an air of composure.

‘There’s no need for her to be that formal with me.’

A woman who appeared to come from a far more distinguished household than his own had been treating him with meticulous respect these past few days, as though he were an elder several generations removed. It was strange, certainly, but he’d decided to let it be—changing his demeanor now might only invite fresh misunderstandings.
Today he meant to visit Sohn Do-bu to buy meat.
He wanted to try making a dish similar to the red-braised pork he’d recently learned.
It would be good for himself, and he could offer it to any unexpected guests as well.
While the two of them had left the general store unattended.
Heukhwang had gone silent somewhere in the shop, concealing his presence entirely. Yeop Jangcheong had assumed the creature had slipped out again to roam the village.
It was then that several unfamiliar men entered through the mouth of Sojijin.
Even their clothing marked them as anything but ordinary.
Their frames were massive, their faces coarse.
Their eyes held no recognition of the humanity before them.
They did not stop to ask directions. A few villagers glanced at their strange garb, but the men paid no mind.
Their attention had been fixed on a single point from the start.
They tracked something unseen, their nostrils flaring as they followed its scent.

“Leader.”

The man at the rear spoke low.

“This is the place. The aura of Heukhwang still lingers here.”

The one leading bared his teeth.

“Good.”
“If we bring only Heukhwang to Jeokwha Wang, the reward will be substantial, won’t it?”
“Of course.”

The men’s laughter was sinister.

“That cowardly wretch has already reverted to his true form. Capturing him now should be simple enough.”

They turned down an alley and made straight for Jangcheong General Store.
There was no hesitation in their path, no wandering.

“Here it is.”

The leader kicked the door open without hesitation.
Bang!
The door flew inward violently.
The strangers filed through the open doorway one after another.
And then.
A moment of silence.
Immediately followed by terrible screams.

“Aaaaargh!”
“L-leader!”
“Heukhwang tricked us again!”
“Where in the heavens are we!”

Another cry of anguish.

“It’s an Asura Field! This is an Asura Field!”
“My Demonic Core! My Demonic Core—!”

The shop door remained open.
From outside, nothing within could be seen.
Only screams echoed through the alley for some time.
A resident passing outside the door stopped, and when another agonized cry pierced from within, he went rigid and quietly retreated.
No one dared venture inside.
It was the first time such a sound had ever come from the ordinarily quiet Jangcheong General Store.
A strange and ominous silence slowly settled over the alley.
No one could speak easily.
* * *
“Who is that woman?”
“The one walking with Yeop?”
“Yeah. I’ve been seeing her around for a few days.”

As Yeop Jangcheong and Yeon Bingsim emerged into the alley, nearby residents began to stare.
Sojijin was a small village where rumors spread in a heartbeat.
The moment someone new arrived, word got around.
Especially with a striking woman like Yeon Bingsim.

“Look at that face. She’s truly beautiful.”
“Never mind just her face—her figure is impressive too. What brings a lady like that to our neighborhood?”
“Right? She’d be a match even standing beside that immortal who came down from Taehyeon Holy Ground.”

The residents could hardly tear their eyes away from Yeon Bingsim’s striking appearance—a beauty and figure so rarely seen in Sojijin.
Feeling their gaze in full, color rose to Yeon Bingsim’s cheeks, and even her normally cold expression softened noticeably.

“She wouldn’t lose even if you compared her to that immortal from Taehyeon Holy Ground. Her aura is a bit weaker, but she smells more human, if anything.”
“Is she Yeop’s wife?”
“I thought the same. I saw her next to him two days ago.”
“Then it must be true.”

Though they thought they’d lowered their voices, Yeon Bingsim heard every word.
The senses of a Pulse-Sensing Realm cultivator were incomparable to those of ordinary people.

‘Wife…’

Yeon Bingsim’s ears flushed crimson.
The old Yeon Bingsim would have had someone silence such mouths, incapable of letting such jests pass in the street.
But now, the man walking ahead showed no reaction—whether he’d heard or not.
She could not take the lead in stopping words that he, a peerless beauty himself, let pass unremarked.
Moreover, Yeon Bingsim herself found she did not entirely mind it.
Realizing that fact made her face burn hotter still.
She had been in Yeop Jangcheong’s company for scarcely two days.
In that brief span, the fear Yeon Bingsim had first harbored had already transformed considerably.
The conviction that this man was a strength beyond measure only grew firmer with time spent together. Yet Yeop Jangcheong made no display of his power, treating everyone with gentleness, and never hurrying even over trifles.
His manner toward the villagers differed little from his manner toward her.
That someone standing at such a height could live so humbly and peacefully struck her as more remarkable still.
Awe had somewhere along the way transformed into a longing deep within her heart.
If a person like him thought even a little well of her…
She would not mind serving him as a handmaiden.
Even if he asked her to attend his chambers…
Her thoughts reached that point, and Yeon Bingsim’s face flushed completely.

‘What am I thinking?’

She hurriedly lowered her gaze.
The position of ‘wife’ that the villagers had mentioned was far too audacious even to imagine.
A woman worthy of standing beside someone like Yeop Jangcheong could not rely on beauty alone. She would need to possess a cultivation or talent at a height Yeon Bingsim could scarcely fathom.
Yeon Bingsim gazed at the back of Yeop Jangcheong as he walked ahead.

‘I wonder what sort of person Yeop’s wife could be.’

Even knowing she could not aspire to that place, it was natural for a woman to entertain such imaginings once.
An inexplicable curiosity and a faint longing lingered in one corner of her heart.
Then Yeop Jangcheong stopped.

“Uncle Son.”

Yeon Bingsim stopped short as well.
At the corner of the alley stood a familiar small butcher shop.
Inside, a man of modest height but thick, muscular limbs stood behind the counter.
A scar ran across one side of his face, yet his expression was always gentle—this was Son Dobu.
Yeop Jangcheong smiled and spoke.

“Just two pounds of pork belly, please.”
“Ah, Master Yeop.”

Son Dobu set down his knife.
Then he glanced past Yeop Jangcheong at Yeon Bingsim.
Mischief kindled in his eyes.

“When did you get married?”

Yeop Jangcheong went still.

“I beg your pardon?”
“The young lady behind you.”
“Oh.”

Yeop Jangcheong turned to look at Yeon Bingsim.
Her face was already flushed.

“There’s been a misunderstanding. Yeon is my guest.”
“Your guest?”
“She’s only staying a few days.”

Son Dobu nodded knowingly.
Yet his lips never stopped curving upward.
He cut the meat into generous pieces, wrapped them in paper, and spoke in a low voice.

“Still, think about it.”
“Think about what?”
“The women in our neighborhood are all fierce as tigers.”

Son Dobu glanced around before lowering his voice even further.
In truth, it wasn’t his neighbors he was wary of—it was his own wife. Only after confirming that she was nowhere to be seen inside did he grow bolder.

“You’re a scholarly man, Master Yeop, with a slender frame and refined manner. A woman like that could have you dancing attendance day and night.”

He gestured toward Yeon Bingsim with his chin.

“That young lady, you can see at a glance she comes from a good family, and her face is fair. If you ever get the chance, give it proper thought. Between a man and a woman, there’s no knowing unless you’ve lived together.”

Yeop Jangcheong’s smile froze.

‘What?’

Too slender to handle it.
It was a word that grated against any man’s pride.
Yeop Jangcheong’s lips twitched slightly.
Still, he couldn’t afford to squabble with Son Dobu over this.

“Uncle Son.”

Yeop Jangcheong laughed.
Yet her lips did not smile at all — only her narrowed eyes betrayed the absence of warmth.

“For the meat.”

She placed two silver coins on the table.
It was slightly more than she usually paid.
The shopkeeper’s hand darted out to collect them.
Yeop Jangcheong turned to leave.

‘If only I had a Spirit Root.’

A pang of regret flickered through her.
If she could have cultivated at all, there would have been no need to suffer such words.
It was when Yeop Jangcheong and Yeon Bingsim had taken only a few steps from the shop.
Bang!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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