Chance For Atonement. (3)

The grandfather and granddaughter holed up in the house took turns watching the entrance leading down to the underground.

In the meantime, the strange monk did not attempt to escape even once.

Was he that confident in the duel? He devoted himself entirely to recovery.

Before they knew it, it was the fourth day.

From morning, Yu Seol was warming up at the Training Ground.

In her left hand, the Dragon Slaying Spear. In her right hand, the Dragon Flower Spear gripped tightly.

Whirr-! Whirr-!!

The pair of spears moved brilliantly, painting patterns in the air, a spectacular sight.

Yu Jinsan, watching from a corner, kept applauding.

“Amazing! Truly amazing!”

Her movements were so fast she became like a gust, carrying with her a wind of death.

It was spearsmanship that could not be more perfect.

After a moment, Yu Seol’s movements abruptly stopped at the center of the Training Ground.

He thought it was over, but he was mistaken.

At that moment, the ends of the handles of the Dragon Slaying Spear and the Dragon Flower Spear interlocked.

When the two short spears combined into one, it transformed into a long spear some one and a half meters in length.

Each swing of the Twin Dragon Spear displayed a tremendous lethal radius.

Shaaak-! Shaaaak-!!

The sound of the air being torn was definitely different from before.

Yu Jinsan watched that sight, spellbound.

Watching his granddaughter train was a privilege he alone could enjoy.

He felt as if he gained new insights simply by watching.

‘It’s like watching Xiang Yu charging through the enemy camp.’

The fierce, peerless movement continued for about half a strike more before stopping.

Ch!

Yu Seol stood the Twin Dragon Spear upright and brushed her chin.

Then she murmured with a face full of pride.

“Hm. This is too long to use.”

The combined Twin Dragon Spear was a length burdensome even for a full-grown adult’s frame.

It was inevitably inconvenient to use for now.

“You’ll adapt when you grow a bit more. Have you finished warming up?”

Yu Seol, having disassembled the Twin Dragon Spear, answered without hesitation.

“Yes, I’ve been waiting for this moment. I’ll be right back.”

She had been restless since four days ago.

Her face looked full of joy.

“He’s not to be underestimated, so don’t let your guard down.”

“Got it. Come down when I call.”

“Alright, be careful.”

Yu Jinsan gazed gently at his granddaughter’s receding back.

She walked gripping the two spears in both hands like a beast, very dependable.

Since he had already returned two weapons to the strange monk, the situation was even.

Thinking of him, a sudden pang of pity rose in him.

‘So today is the day. The day to slaughter the livestock you’ve raised with care.’

When his granddaughter disappeared from sight, Yu Jinsan moved to the Vegetable plot behind the manor.

He surveyed the thriving crops and smiled with satisfaction.

Pumpkins and eggplants approaching their harvest time.

And over on one side, the Spiritual plant of ginseng growing abundantly.

‘She named it Jinsan Ginseng? This one even named it after her grandpa’s name.’

It was a variety that existed only here, grown from seeds created through an ancient ritual.

Since the name for the Spiritual pill given by his granddaughter was the first, he had no choice but to use it.

Crouching in the plot, he carefully dug up a root of Jinsan Ginseng.

It looked much larger than the last time, as if very well ripened.

‘Is this a male? The more it grows, the more human-like it looks.’

Eating a human-shaped root felt a bit unsettling to him, but it was a plant without life anyway.

Yu Jinsan cautiously sniffed it.

Last time he sensed nothing, but now there seemed to be a fresh scent coming from it.

How had the taste changed? The nasty flavor he tasted before might have been due to being under-ripe.

Now that it had fully grown, it might be okay.

Yu Jinsan carefully licked the tip with his tongue.

‘It tastes like nothing. Maybe now it’s edible?’

He couldn’t help but try.

After some hesitation, he bit off the tip in one mouthful.

Crunch-! Crunch-!

It was after chewing a few times.

At first there seemed to be no taste, but as the sap came out a delayed reaction rose.

A gag reflex rising from deep within began to purge everything from his body.

“Ueekk! Weak!!”

It seemed twice as foul as last time.

It was probably because his Supreme Master realm body had a more developed sense of taste.

Tears even welled up in his eyes.

Only after a long while did he calm down, frowning in despair.

Although it helped enhance internal qi and thus he kept cultivating it, he had to find a way to ingest it.

The conclusion he reached was to mix it into other food and cook it.

Gripping the root, he strode into the kitchen.

‘I should make a nourishing stew for my hardworking granddaughter.’

If eaten unknowingly, even medicine becomes just food for kids.

Didn’t he often trick her into eating mushrooms as meat when she was a child?

He thought that if he neutralized it in a stew she might eat it deliciously.

He filled the old pot with some water and placed his palm on one side.

It was to heat the water with internal qi.

The pot quickly glowed red, and shortly after the water began to bubble.

“Let’s see. What ingredients does Seol like?”

He was rummaging through the kitchen.

Suddenly the ground trembled and the pavilion began to shake.

The real fight must have finally begun.

Thud-! Thudthudthud-!!

He could have been startled by the unexpected quake, but Yu Jinsan remained calm.

In fact, he even hummed a little tune for the first time in a while.

“There we go! This should do.”

What he grabbed was dried pork. It was firm now, but soaking it in water would restore its texture by a lot.

Yu Jinsan gripped the kitchen knife and began slicing.

Chop-chop-! Chopchopchop-!!

Beating and splitting dried meat with a knife isn’t easy. But for a martial arts warrior holding a kitchen blade, it’s a different story.

Even with the ground shaking, Yu Jinsan’s movements had not an inch of error.

In an instant the meat was divided into hundreds of pieces.

Then he began preparing the vegetables Yu Seol liked.

The last remaining ingredient was Jinsan Ginseng.

‘I must chop it into the smallest pieces so she won’t notice it in her food.’

And so, the Jinsan Ginseng was ground into thousands of pieces.

He ground it nearly to powder and tossed all the ingredients into the pot.

All that remained was to season it.

He made the seasoning paste much stronger than usual.

When he mixed it into the stew, a fairly appetizing color emerged.

But his expression darkened. As time passed, the foul scent he felt when eating Jinsan Ginseng returned.

“Oh dear, this is a disaster.”

At this rate, his granddaughter was likely to notice.

He looked around and added every available ingredient in abundance to neutralize the smell as much as possible.

Only after tossing in a great amount of spices did his expression relax a little.

“This should do, right? I hope it tastes good…”

Although a strong spicy aroma rose, it looked quite convincing.

If this method succeeded, he could feed her a considerable amount of Jinsan Ginseng going forward.

As the preparations finished, he heard his granddaughter’s voice from somewhere.

“Graaaandpa~!!”

It seemed everything was finally done.

Yu Jinsan walked lightly back to the pavilion.

“Alright! Grandpa’s coming right now!”

He descended underground and was walking along the passage toward the Chamber of Atonement.

From the opposite direction, Yu Seol was striding toward him.

Fortunately, she had not a scratch on her.

“It’s all over. Go in and see.”

Her face was full of satisfaction, as if she’d had a great time playing.

“What happened? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I am fine.”

“No, I am asking for that fellow—there was a lot of noise. He’s alive, right?”

Yu Seol hesitated for a moment and didn’t answer immediately.

Then she nodded once.

“He should be able to speak, I think.”

“Good, well done. I made something tasty in the kitchen, so go eat.”

Suddenly Yu Seol sniffed and shook her head.

“No, I won’t eat it.”

“You won’t eat what grandpa made with such effort? Just try a little.”

At that moment, Yu Seol widened her eyes slightly and stared at her grandfather.

“Don’t lie, Grandpa. I can sense it even here. The smell of death.”

Yu Jinsan felt a sudden pang. She could smell it even from here.

He could only stick out his tongue at his granddaughter’s uncanny perceptiveness.

“I-is that so?”

“Yes. Grandpa, that’s mean. You were going to feed me Jinsan Ginseng, weren’t you?”

“It’s good for your body and rare to find, so you should eat a lot of it.”

“I won’t eat it. Never.”

The plan was clearly a failure.

But he couldn’t just throw away the food he had painstakingly prepared.

After thinking for a moment, he nodded and spoke.

“After cleaning up, bring it down from the kitchen.”

“To feed that dark man?”

“Still, he’s a guest in our house, so we should give him food.”

Yu Seol chuckled as if amused and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll come down again later.”

After the conversation, Yu Jinsan went in the opposite direction from his granddaughter.

Soon after, he came upon the underground plaza.

Here and there the ground was sunken, some parts collapsed, the place was devastated.

The strange monk sat slumped against a fallen statue.

He was covered in blood, and the flow of his qi felt unstable.

Seeing that it wasn’t neatly finished, it seemed he had resisted Yu Seol fiercely.

The only part that looked intact was his mouth.

He wasn’t surprised; this was somewhat expected.

“Tsk tsk. Didn’t they say no one in the Central Plains murim world could beat you?”

The strange monk looked extremely aggrieved.

In his characteristically halting voice, he answered with difficulty.

“How did that demon come to learn the lost forbidden technique from our sect?”

“Demon? How dare you call her that…”

Yu Jinsan barely stopped his hand from rising. If he couldn’t control his emotions here, everything could go to waste.

For now, he had to suppress his anger.

Then the strange monk raised a question once more.

“That is certainly not the martial art of this place.”

He had an idea of what the monk was implying.

Yu Jinsan subtly probed him.

“Buddha Lion Roar Divine technique?”

“We have sought it for hundreds of years. Why would that stolen technique be in here…?”

What he heard matched what he knew. He only now learned the precise origin.

But there was no need to recount the whole story to him in detail.

“We merely found it on Mount Song.”

“I… was only defeated by that sect’s martial art, not conquered by the Central Plains murim world.”

He had said that if he lost the duel, he would answer three questions.

Was he looking for an excuse to escape? Yu Jinsan narrowed his brow and asked.

“What are you talking about? You don’t intend to use this as a pretext to break your promise, do you?”

“No. I will keep my oath.”

Yu Jinsan sighed in relief and lowered his voice.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? You made me worry for nothing.”

The strange monk, apparently exhausted in body and mind, closed his eyes slightly.

He looked utterly drained, as if wanting to rest.

“Ask away.”

The long-awaited moment had finally arrived.

After catching his breath, Yu Jinsan cautiously posed the first question.