Chapter 50
Chapter 50 : Bee Moses Washing
"Sex is what, now?"
Mu-yeong corrected her mispronunciation with a slight frown.
"……It's Bone Marrow Cleansing. Not sex."
"Ah, aah! I think I must have heard wrong because I'm so sleepy right now!"
Yu Ye-rin laughed awkwardly and fanned herself with her hand.
Even as she gradually picked up the pace, the heat in her face refused to cool.
She eventually walked over to the air conditioner and stood in front of it for a moment before continuing.
"But…… why Bone Marrow Cleansing all of a sudden? And why me, of all people?"
"Because if you drive out the impure energy in your body and cleanse your energy channels, the speed at which you learn martial arts will be much faster. Have you ever received it before? If so, the effect may be reduced."
"No. I've never had it done……."
"Then you're in luck. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. I won't force it on you."
"If you're offering me something that precious, I'd obviously be more than welcoming, but……."
"Are you worried?"
A nod.
Not being worried would be stranger.
Even the smallest mistake could cause Energy Deviation or serious injury.
She might even have to live out the rest of her life as an invalid.
And yet, Mu-yeong was confident.
He had received Bone Marrow Cleansing himself when he was young, and he had every meridian point—its location and function—memorized in full.
Delicate control of internal energy was child's play for him.
If he recalled the experience, it didn't seem like it would be all that difficult.
"…….."
Yu Ye-rin stared fixedly at Mu-yeong's confident face.
She seemed to think it over deeply, then walked up to him.
"If I do this, there's definitely going to be an effect, right?"
"I guarantee it."
"It'll help me reach my dream of becoming a Plum Blossom Swordmaster faster, right?"
"Goes without saying."
"Alright. Then I'll do it. I know it's going to hurt tremendously, but there's nothing in this world that can be gained for free."
She grinned and looked at him with trusting eyes.
Then she loosened the martial robe she was wearing slightly and bared her shoulder.
"I'm ready."
"Then let's begin."
"Yes."
Yu Ye-rin sat on the floor and composed herself into a proper posture.
Mu-yeong positioned himself behind her.
First, he gathered her long black hair and tied it up.
Her snow-white nape came into view.
Now the only thing in the way was her martial robe.
Mu-yeong gently placed his hands on her shoulders.
Yu Ye-rin flinched and shuddered violently, but soon calmed herself and entrusted her body to him.
"You absolutely cannot look forward."
"I promise."
"If you truly, really, genuinely want to look…… I'll allow a sneaky sideways glance."
"I swear on everything I have that I won't look."
"……That's somehow a little infuriating? I'm quite confident in myself, you know."
She let out a small laugh and took a deep breath.
As though she had shaken off all her nerves with that, she steeled her body.
It seemed she was ready.
Mu-yeong slowly pulled at the martial robe that had been draped over Yu Ye-rin's shoulders.
The fabric that had been barely hanging on fell away in an instant.
"Mm."
Yu Ye-rin's back, now cleanly exposed.
Mu-yeong pressed his palm flat against the center of it.
"As you already know, no matter what happens, you must not open your mouth."
"Even if it kills me, I won't."
"No—if it gets to that point, you should open it."
"Then please make sure it doesn't get to that point."
"Don't worry."
Mu-yeong declared.
"That will never happen."
With full certainty, he began to channel his energy into her.
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"Uuugh! Hurk! Hk!"
Half an hour later.
Yu Ye-rin, drenched in beads of sweat all over her body, began retching up a black liquid.
The impure energy that had accumulated over more than twenty years was coming out all at once, so the volume and density were considerable.
Until it was fully expelled, Mu-yeong began patting her on the back.
That was harder than I expected.
His internal energy had been depleted far beyond what he had imagined.
Having concentrated his mind to ensure not a single mistake was made, Mu-yeong too was deeply exhausted in body and spirit.
Mu-yeong, who hadn't felt dizzy in a very long time, closed his eyes.
By the time his condition had improved even slightly, the sound of Yu Ye-rin retching had already ceased.
When he opened his eyes, she was looking at him with labored breaths.
"Haa…… haa……. Mu-yeong-nim, you really worked hard."
"No. You worked harder for enduring it."
"That can't be. Something like Bone Marrow Cleansing in the first place is only possible when you're at least at the Sect Leader level—yet Mu-yeong-nim pulled it off alone and perfectly. On top of that, after the Great Unification, even getting it to succeed would require at least one or two Elders assisting……."
Yu Ye-rin looked at him with awestruck eyes.
She had twisted her body around, so her upper half was half-visible, but she seemed utterly unconcerned with that.
Mu-yeong pressed a hand to his forehead and spoke.
"Unfortunately, I can't call it perfect. There were far too many blocked areas and the density was high, so I barely managed to open the meridians. To clear all of it out completely will probably require a few more attempts."
"That means…… we'd have to come to a motel a few more times?"
Does it have to be a motel specifically?
This was something that could be done anywhere, as long as a safe location was secured.
Mu-yeong didn't answer immediately, and Yu Ye-rin waved her hand frantically.
"Ah, aah! What I mean is! After Bone Marrow Cleansing, it smells terrible and it's hard to clean up, so it'd be more convenient to just do it here……!"
She suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
She caught sight of the black liquid pooled on the floor and smelled the atrocious stench, then recoiled in horror and leapt away.
"I'm going to wash up!"
Slam!
The bathroom door slamming shut, followed by the sound of running water.
Mu-yeong chuckled to himself and stood up.
After opening the window all the way, he returned to the spot.
He then held his index finger close to the black liquid and conjured the Samadhi True Flame.
Fwoom!
The fierce heat vaporized the impure energy in an instant.
Though it seemed like it would take quite some time for the smell to fully disappear as well.
Mu-yeong breathed through his mouth and rubbed his nose.
"My body has also absorbed quite a bit of the smell. I should wash up once Yu Ye-rin comes out."
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Clunk!
The bathroom door finally opened twenty minutes later.
Yu Ye-rin slowly walked out, endlessly pressing her nose to her own arm and sniffing.
"Should be fine for smell at this point……. I did scrub tremendously hard."
"After washing for that long, it would be strange if you still smelled."
"Ah!"
When Mu-yeong appeared out of nowhere, Yu Ye-rin jumped with a startled expression.
She immediately clasped her palms together and began rubbing them.
"I'm sorry……! I was so absorbed in washing that I completely forgot you were here, Mu-yeong-nim. The floor hasn't even been cleaned up yet……."
"It's fine. It was unpleasant, but I went ahead and incinerated everything with the Samadhi True Flame."
"The Samadhi True Flame? Well, you did Bone Marrow Cleansing alone, so that much is……."
Yu Ye-rin's eyes went wide, but she quickly settled into an expression that said it was only natural.
Mu-yeong stared intently at her face.
He hadn't been able to get a proper look earlier when she suddenly disappeared, but now, facing her head-on like this, he could clearly feel it.
Her skin is much better. Her face looks full of life too.
It was as if a few years had been turned back.
The same was true of her other features.
How to put it—it was as though everything was now more balanced.
It was unmistakable that her body had become considerably better suited for learning martial arts.
"Congratulations. It seems the Bone Marrow Cleansing was a success."
"It was! I felt it while showering—my body was definitely overflowing with energy and my head felt clear. It's all thanks to you, Mu-yeong-nim!"
"There's still room to grow even further, so it's too early to say that."
"Really…… I don't know how to repay this……."
"Repayment."
Mu-yeong let the word hang in the air, and Yu Ye-rin began to fidget.
Not able to keep her fingers still for even a moment, she needlessly brushed at her bangs and tucked her side hair back into place.
He spoke to her bluntly, as though she were hoping for something.
"Save that for after you've become a Plum Blossom Swordmaster."
"……I need to grow quickly, then."
Yu Ye-rin tightened her fist and strode forward.
She picked up the wooden sword lying on the floor and began to execute the Twenty-Four-Form Plum Blossom Sword Art from the beginning.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
A wind that was sharper than before, and a blade path that was keener.
For a moment, Mu-yeong found himself rounding his lips without realizing it.
"Haap! Haaht!"
Yu Ye-rin, lost in the martial arts, continued to move her body.
She reproduced the previously clumsy eleventh Form perfectly, and succeeded in Plum Blossom Gradual Bloom in a single attempt.
The scent of plum blossom was richer than any she had emitted before.
"Hraahp! Hreut!"
Carrying the momentum forward, she executed the next Form.
Plum Blossom Spreading.
The sword swung faster and wider.
……She's on a completely different level from half an hour ago. Could she have entered a state of selfless absorption?
Mu-yeong stepped back.
As the space widened, Yu Ye-rin naturally flowed into the next movement.
It ended only when three more Forms he had never seen before were deployed.
"How was I? I've improved a lot from earlier, haven't I?"
She finally snapped back to her senses and looked toward Mu-yeong.
Mu-yeong let out a wry laugh and clapped.
No matter how I look at it, she deployed up to the eighteenth Form…… but since she doesn't seem to know it herself, she must have truly been in a state of selfless absorption.
"It was like watching a completely different person. Outstanding."
"The feeling is completely different from before. How do I put it—it's like I've been reborn?"
"That's a good sign. It means your rate of growth itself will change from here on."
"I'll work hard. Thank you."
Yu Ye-rin bowed her head deeply.
Mu-yeong nodded and received it.
And so, until the motel's time was up, the two continued their training.
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"They've finally left."
The motel owner watched the pair of a man and woman who had walked out through the entrance together.
Their backs looked far more natural and friendly than when they had come in.
After staring for a brief moment, the motel owner headed toward Room 705.
Creak.
"Wow……. They've completely wrecked the place. How is a room—urgh! More than that, what is this smell?"
The moment he stepped inside, an overwhelming stench hit him full in the face.
It was incomparably more terrible than sweat.
It was like catching the smell of garbage that had been sitting for at least several years.
"Uuugh! Just what kind of activities were those two getting up to? They looked so clean-cut!"
The motel owner dry-heaved and bolted back outside.
After several deep breaths, he pinched his nose and went back inside.
After checking here and there, thankfully nothing was broken or damaged.
"But strangely, the bed is spotless. What on earth?"
The things that should naturally exist after a man and a woman roll around embracing each other were nowhere to be found.
Sweat, for instance. Or curly hairs.
But this—it was as though it had never been used even once.
He had been running a motel for many years, but he had never come across a case like this.
The owner shook his head, his imagination having run its full course.
"I don't know what was going on in there, but first things first—I need to spray a ton of air freshener."
That day, Room 705 became a room that took no guests for an entire day.
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Trudge, Trudge.
Mu-yeong and Yu Ye-rin, having stepped out of the motel.
They stopped for a moment and let the hot sunlight wash over them.
"Do we not need to wear hats or masks?"
"Aah, it should be fine for just a bit. There's even a refreshing breeze like this."
"Well, it seems there aren't many people around since it's the middle of the day. Should be fine."
"Right. In this brief moment, who would possibly see us……."
Thud!
In that instant, an enormous presence was captured by Mu-yeong's Energy Sense.
And not just any presence—an overwhelmingly powerful one.
Yu Ye-rin seemed to have felt the same thing, and she looked in the same direction as Mu-yeong.
There, an old man with a white beard was walking toward them.
"My, my……. A man and woman coming out of a motel in the middle of a weekday afternoon. Youth is something, truly. Back in my day~"
His stride was as light as someone out for a leisurely stroll, but Mu-yeong could tell.
Those two legs, loaded with Energy Output, could close the distance at any moment.
At the same moment, the color drained from Yu Ye-rin's face.
"Wha……? Wha-what? Could that person possibly be—!?"
"Someone you know?"
"How could I not know! No, it would be strange not to know in the first place!"
Just who could it be that would make her react like that?
Mu-yeong manifested his own presence as well, and the old man broke into a broad smile.
"My oh my! Who do we have here? Isn't this Daehwasan Family's pride and joy, Ye-rin? You've changed quite a bit since I last saw you!"
Before his words had even finished, Yu Ye-rin immediately performed the Clasped Hand Bow.
And then she declared in a very resounding voice.
"Second-generation disciple of Daehwasan Sect, Yu Ye-rin."
"…….."
"Pays her respects to the Alliance Leader."