Chapter 2-6

When Bai Shixuan went up to the third floor with Choryeong, he saw many rooms. Choryeong led him to one of them and spoke.

“Mister, it’s Choryeong.”

“Come in.”

When Choryeong called inside, a pleasant, low-pitched voice came from within. Choryeong looked at Bai Shixuan, nodded, then opened the door and entered. Inside, a man who looked to be in his mid-forties was seated at a table, watching Choryeong and Bai Shixuan come in.

“Oh. Is that the boy?”

“Yes. His name is Bai Shixuan. He’s ten.”

“Ten? He’s quite well-built for his age.”

Because he had not been able to eat much, he was not large. In fact, Bai Shixuan had a rather skinny body. But after two years of grueling training, he had developed a firmness that did not suit his age.

“What kind of work can you do?”

“What kind of work am I supposed to do?”

Bai Shixuan had no idea what kind of work he was supposed to do here. He did not know what he should do, nor what he was capable of doing. He had grown up like a beggar without parents, and from the age of six had served wandering swordsmen as a sword attendant. There was no way he could have learned many useful skills.

“Hm. Is there anything you want to do?”

“I’d like to chop firewood.”

“Firewood?”

At Bai Shixuan’s words, the man looked at him in puzzlement. When the man asked again, Bai Shixuan nodded. It was not because he was particularly good at chopping wood. Namgung Qi, whose name he had learned later, had caused him to give up the sword, but he had not completely abandoned physical training. Chopping firewood would naturally strengthen his arms. In other words, it was simply an extension of his training, which was why he wanted to do it.

“Will that be all right? Can you handle it?”

“I’ll work hard.”

“Well, I’ll have someone teach you how first. Ah, Choryeong. Could you call Zhang Hong on your way out?”

“Yes. Please take good care of him.”

At the man’s words, Choryeong bowed to him and left. A short while later, another man entered. The young man looked to have only recently passed the age of twenty, and he greeted the older man.

“You called?”

“Take this kid and teach him how to chop firewood. He’ll be in charge of it from now on. And Zhang Hong, you’re using a room by yourself right now, aren’t you? Share it with him. By the way, my name is Jiang Taimu. Work hard, kid.”

“Yes. Please take care of me.”

After bowing to Jiang Taimu together with the young man called Zhang Hong, Bai Shixuan left the room. Once they stepped outside, Bai Shixuan looked up at Zhang Hong. He was a man with tanned skin and pleasantly gentle eyes. Bai Shixuan had worried that he might be difficult to deal with, but he did not seem like a bad person.

“What’s your name?”

“Bai Shixuan.”

“Really? Ten years old? Or are you younger than that?”

As soon as they left Jiang Taimu’s room, Zhang Hong began asking Bai Shixuan various questions. Bai Shixuan walked beside him and answered, while Zhang Hong occasionally responded with brief acknowledgments and nods.

“This is our room. For now, let’s go straight to the firewood.”

After briefly showing Shixuan where his room was on the second floor, Zhang Hong immediately took him toward the pile of firewood.

“Until now, we took turns handling the firewood, but since you’ll be in charge from now on, I suppose we won’t need to do that anymore. This is about one day’s worth.”

The firewood had been divided into daily portions. But it was by no means a small amount. If someone was not skilled, there was so much that they would have no choice but to spend the entire day chopping wood. Since this was a pleasure house with many guests and rooms, it seemed inevitable that they would need a large amount of firewood.

“That’s quite a lot.”

“It is. Of course, we do have some stored up already, but even so, it’s better not to slack off. I’ll show you how to do it.”

Zhang Hong picked up a log and placed it on a large, flat rock. Bai Shixuan wondered whether the rock might eventually break if firewood was always chopped on top of it, but judging from how it had held up until now, it seemed sturdier than an ordinary rock.

“Watch carefully. Once you get used to it, you’ll be able to do it like this.”

Zhang Hong swung the axe, splitting the log in two. He watched Bai Shixuan stare at the wood, then brought over another piece.

“For now, though, it’s better to do it this way.”

This time was different from before. Zhang Hong drove the axe into the top of the log. Then, with the log still stuck on the axe blade, he raised both together and brought them down onto the rock. The log caught on the axe split cleanly in half.

“Do it like this at first, and once you get used to it, you can do it the way I did before. If you try doing that from the start, you’ll never get the work finished.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Bai Shixuan took the axe from Zhang Hong and bowed his head. Zhang Hong looked at him, waved a hand, and began heading back toward the quarters.

“You don’t need to force yourself to finish everything today.”

Zhang Hong said that as he walked back, but heard no reply. When he turned around, Bai Shixuan was already lodging the axe into a piece of firewood and bringing it down just as Zhang Hong had taught him.

‘He’s diligent.’

It was quite difficult work for someone so young. Zhang Hong had expected him to look miserable as soon as he saw the enormous amount, but Bai Shixuan was chopping wood without any change in expression. Watching him, Zhang Hong gave a faint smile and resumed walking back.

“Huh? Mister Zhang Hong.”

“What? Xuelan? What are you doing here?”

Just as Zhang Hong was about to return to the quarters, he spotted Xuelan walking toward him. When he looked at her and asked in puzzlement, Xuelan shook her head. Zhang Hong glanced behind himself, then smiled.

“Don’t tell me?”

“N-No!”

A child was still a child. She denied it, but seeing her face turn red as she did so made the answer obvious enough. Zhang Hong patted Xuelan on the head, then continued back toward the quarters.

‘Still, Xuelan, huh. She’s certainly a pretty one. What a shame.’

Could they already have that kind of relationship? Of course, Zhang Hong personally preferred mature women over little girls, but it was still a shame that Xuelan, who would undoubtedly grow into a stunning beauty, had already chosen a man for herself. And a boy four years younger than her, at that.

“How is it? Can you manage?”

“Better than I expected.”

When Xuelan asked Bai Shixuan, he nodded. It was more manageable than he had expected. Apparently, spending two years desperately building his stamina and swinging a sword had not been useless. Unlike swinging a sword, there was some impact against his hands, but aside from that, it was not especially difficult.

“Don’t you have work?”

“No. I’m done for today.”

“Then go rest.”

When Bai Shixuan spoke without even turning his head toward Xuelan, she puffed out her cheeks. Her beautiful face combined with her sulky expression made her look undeniably cute, but Bai Shixuan did not even glance at her and continued chopping firewood.

“You’re good at it. You haven’t even taken a break.”

“Not really.”

At Xuelan’s words, Bai Shixuan looked at the remaining firewood. There was still a great deal left. With the sun already beginning to set, he even wondered whether he would be able to finish today’s work before nightfall. But what else could he do? He had chosen the job himself, so he had no choice but to finish it. To be honest, he really hated the idea of falling behind and suffering for it later.