Chapter 70

## Chapter 70. Thank You

“Huh, huh, huh, huh… Instructor, I’m… I’m perfectly fine…”

Gongsun Shu, who had been swinging a wooden sword alone, turned to look at me, drenched in sweat.

His face was as pale as if he were about to cross the River San, and Hei Ying was watching him with a worried expression.

“…Are you really okay?”

“Huh, huh… Yes, I’m really fine. Please train me without any special treatment!”

This old man, his enthusiasm is commendable, but…

His legs were trembling as if they were about to collapse, and he was using the wooden sword as a cane, making his words utterly unconvincing.

I glanced at Hei Ying, who shook her head.

[He’s already at his limit.]

Even without Hei Ying’s telepathic message, I could see that Gongsun Shu was in no condition to continue.

I sighed softly and said,

“Gongsun Shu, take a break from training for a moment.”

“Huh? I can still do more. I’m… I’m perfectly fine.”

“Go look in a mirror. Your complexion is far from fine.”

Despite my instructions, Gongsun Shu was reluctant to put down his sword.

He looked at me with a pained expression.

“I’m really fine. I can overcome this with willpower…”

Looks like I can’t get through to him with words alone.

I sighed again, stepped closer to him, and leaned in close.

Then I glared at him, emitting a menacing aura.

“Gongsun Shu. Do my words not sound like words to you?”

Gongsun Shu flinched at my aura, and Hei Ying’s eyes widened in surprise.

Xian Yuanqiang and Wei Zitian, who had been focusing on their training, glanced over to see what was happening.

Gongsun Shu said with a flustered expression,

“That’s not it….”

“Continuing any further isn’t training; it’s just abusing your body. To me, it looks like you want to die quickly.”

His wrinkled cheeks trembled with humiliation.

Large beads of sweat rolled down his face.

His eyes were red and bloodshot.

His untrained old body had long reached its limit.

He must be so frustrated.

I had noticed that Gongsun Shu had been looking at Xian Yuanqiang and Wei Zitian with envy.

“Gongsun Shu.”

“…Yes.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder and spoke in a much gentler tone.

“It must be frustrating that your body won’t do what you want. But this is your reality. At your age, you can’t suddenly do the same training as the other students with your untrained body.”

“…I understand.”

Gongsun Shu is different from Xian Yuanqiang and Wei Zitian, who have the recovery abilities of teenagers.

‘Besides, those two are geniuses.’

They knew how to push their bodies to the brink and instinctively knew when to stop.

In contrast, Gongsun Shu, no matter how you look at it, is just an ordinary person.

Even if he were younger, it would be impossible to keep up with those two, let alone at sixty-five.

If a sparrow tries to follow a stork, it will only tear its crotch.

“I’ll train you in a way that suits you, and I’ll definitely get you into the Azure Dragon Academy.”

Just to crush that bastard Nangong Shu’s arrogance.

“…Yes. I think I was a bit too eager.”

Fortunately, Gongsun Shu wasn’t someone who wouldn’t listen. He slowly put down his wooden sword.

I took Gongsun Shu to a pavilion on one side of the courtyard.

“Report your current physical condition honestly, without holding back.”

“My back, shoulders, knees, wrists, and ankles hurt.”

“….”

This is a bit too honest.

“Holding the sword for a long time has made my fingers hurt, my neck stiff… and my eyes are a bit blurry… Huh, huh, huh, huh…”

“….”

Seeing my stiffening expression, Gongsun Shu started to make excuses.

“Well, it’s still bearable. If I put on some ointment and get some acupuncture, I’ll be fine soon. I happen to have some good medicine…”

“Gongsun Shu. Lie down on the floor.”

“Huh?”

Thinking he was about to get a beating, Gongsun Shu’s face turned pale. Hei Ying also looked flustered and opened her mouth to speak.

“I mean, I’ll massage your muscles to relax them.”

“…Huh, huh, huh.”

Gongsun Shu let out a sigh of relief and lay down.

I started pressing various parts of his body with my hands.

Unlike what I did for Xian Yuanqiang, massaging with my hands made Gongsun Shu start to emit soft moans.

“Oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh….”

At first, he was very tense, but soon he closed his eyes and began to enjoy the massage.

“Oh, this is good. A bit lower there… Huh, huh, huh. Huh, huh, huh! This is like heaven-.”

Tears even welled up in the corners of his eyes from how good it felt.

‘…Am I an instructor or a masseur?’

Feeling a deep sense of self-doubt, I finished the massage on his back and patted his shoulder.

“Turn over.”

“Huh, huh….”

Gongsun Shu, now looking more relaxed and admiring, turned over and looked up at me.

“Instructor, I’ve received many massages in the palace, but I’ve never met anyone who can massage as well as you.”

That sincere expression… His praise seems genuine, which makes me feel very conflicted.

“Would you like to introduce me as a masseur to the palace if you ever need to?”

“…No need.”

I was a demon instructor in the Blood Sect, but even then, I never taught a sixty-five-year-old trainee.

‘And what? The palace? I knew he wasn’t an ordinary old man…’

A presence that could overwhelm people with just a few words, despite not practicing martial arts.

A man who could casually offer a fortune of ten thousand taels and employ a high-level expert like Hei Ying as his personal guard.

‘I don’t know why someone with such wealth and power would want to learn martial arts, but… I don’t really need to know.’

A sudden curiosity arose, but I didn’t feel the need to pry.

The important thing is to get Gongsun Shu into the Azure Dragon Academy within the set period.

I pressed his tense thighs and asked,

“Is the training very difficult?”

“It’s difficult, but I’m enjoying it a lot.”

Gongsun Shu smiled and answered.

Although his body was old, his eyes shone brightly like a child’s.

“Instructor, when I was young, I was smaller and weaker than others. I used to get sick every few days.”

Indeed, Gongsun Shu was born with a weak constitution.

His body had accumulated more toxins than others for that reason.

“Fortunately, I was quite intelligent and did well in my studies. My widowed mother sent me to the academy despite our poor circumstances. I studied every day, often with a nosebleed… and eventually achieved fame and fortune. My mother had already passed away by then… Huh, huh. If only she had lived a few more years.”

The old man’s eyes were filled with a sense of loneliness as he reminisced about the past.

“But when I was young, I always envied them.”

“…Envy?”

“The children I saw on my way to the academy, carrying heavy books in their satchels. The boys my age, wearing white martial uniforms and hero headbands, striding into martial arts schools with swords at their waists.”

The small, weak boy always admired the tall, healthy martial arts boys.

“…If I ever caught their eye while envying them, I would unconsciously hunch my shoulders. Huh, huh. Once, I was badly beaten for looking at them the wrong way.”

Hei Ying bit her lip. Gongsun Shu laughed, saying it was all old memories.

“My big satchel always had a martial arts novel in it. I read it whenever I had time. Stories about a lone swordsman wandering the world with a single sword, cutting down countless demons of the evil sects, and finally stabbing the heart of the Blood Demon, only to die alone and unrecognized, nameless and forgotten.”

“Completely a third-rate novel.”

I muttered without realizing it, and Gongsun Shu laughed awkwardly.

“Huh, huh. When you’re young, everyone likes such stories. There were also many theories about why the Blood Sect suddenly weakened. Since that was when I was young, many novels were written imagining the reasons.”

“…I’ve never heard that before.”

“Huh, huh. It’s an old story.”

An old story….

If he knew he was learning martial arts from an instructor who had raised the demons of the Blood Sect, what expression would Gongsun Shu have?

And if he knew the real reason why the Blood Sect fell…

I shook my head, dismissing the thought.

It’s a meaningless assumption.

“Coming back to my hometown in my old age, I often think about those times. Huh, huh. It’s silly, isn’t it? To start attending a martial arts school at over sixty… Everyone will think I’ve lost my mind.”

“….”

I listened to Gongsun Shu without saying a word.

He stood up, smiled, and looked at me.

“But what can I do? Learning martial arts is so enjoyable.”

“….”

“Even though my body is sixty-five, it feels like I’ve returned to fifteen.”

Gongsun Shu looked at me with clear eyes.

A mischievous yet innocent smile spread across his face.

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

The respectful tone he had been using suddenly changed.

“Thank you for making me feel this way. You’ve given meaning to the life of an old man who was just waiting to die.”

“…What….”

“I’ll make a promise in advance. Even if I fail the entrance exam, I won’t blame you. I’ll pay you the full amount. I’ve already received a great favor from you.”

“….”

Caught off guard by Gongsun Shu’s unexpected kindness, I was momentarily speechless.

But I soon forced a frown and said,

“…You should use respectful language with this instructor.”

“Huh, huh. I understand. I’ll be more careful, Instructor!”

What a slippery old man.

I felt embarrassed, as if my flustered inner thoughts had been exposed.

But then…

“What are you two doing here?”

I looked at Xian Yuanqiang and Wei Zitian, who had gathered beside us.

Both of them had expressions that were a sight to see, having heard Gongsun Shu’s story.

Wei Zitian, with a teary-eyed expression, firmly held Gongsun Shu’s hand.

“Grandpa… I’ll help you pass the exam, no matter what!”

“Huh, huh. Thank you. Let’s pass together.”

Beside him, Xian Yuanqiang thumped his chest and said,

“Old man, if you have any questions, ask me. As a senior of the Azure Dragon Academy, I can give you some advice.”

“Huh, huh. Thank you, senior.”

I sighed deeply and smacked both of their heads.

“Go back to your training, you two. You can’t even take care of yourselves.”

“That’s too much….”

“You’re so cold! How can you just stand there after hearing such a story!”

“Huh, huh. Don’t be too hard on the kids.”

“Use respectful language with this instructor!”

“Huh, huh, huh, huh!”

After a while of bickering with the students, I found myself smiling awkwardly.

But I didn’t mind the awkwardness.

‘A demon instructor of the Blood Sect, indeed…’

It seems I can’t fully return to that era anymore.