NOVEL NEXT Chapter 205
Chapter 205: What’s Wrong with My Age?
Jeoksawol did not like Geumhu.
They were opposites in every way.
Geumhu belonged to the Orthodox Faction, while Jeoksawol was from the Unorthodox. Geumhu was confessed to first by Lee Cheol-soo, and Jeoksawol had been rejected countless times after pursuing Lee Cheol-soo.
Geumhu had silvery hair with a blue tint, while Jeoksawol had dark red hair.
Literally, they were different from head to toe.
But they had one thing in common.
Both were women with the maturity and wisdom of adulthood, older than the other girls surrounding Lee Cheol-soo.
That was why Jeoksawol didn’t want Geumhu to fall apart like this. Jeoksawol understood without needing Geumhu to say anything why she was so frustrated.
‘It must be because of her age.’
That was the case in the Yongbong Society too. Geumhu felt despair seeing Jin Soso. For her to form an alliance with the courtesan Neungwolhyang, Geumhu was overly conscious of her age.
‘How dare she worry about age, this arrogant little girl.’
She hadn’t even reached fifty yet.
Forty-nine was still young. Compared to the sixty-three of Jeoksawol, Geumhu was younger than young. Yet she felt insecure about her age.
If Geumhu was so down, what was Jeoksawol supposed to do at sixty-three?
She had been trying to ignore her age. Even after hearing harsh words from Cheonma, she brushed them aside. Jeoksawol had her pride.
Age was merely a number. It had to be that way. To make it so, Geumhu couldn’t give up here.
‘How dare you want to give up, after having even gotten a confession first.’
She couldn’t allow that.
In truth, Jeoksawol knew it too.
She was aware that she was older. Although her appearance was intact, the fact that she was sixty-three would generally be hard for a young boy like Lee Cheol-soo to accept.
If Lee Cheol-soo were an ordinary man, she wouldn’t have worried. She had an absolute beauty that could charm all men of Guju Palhwang, regardless of age.
Even if she were sixty-three, the number of people in Guju Palhwang who wanted to see her natural face just once was overwhelming.
But Lee Cheol-soo was different from other men. Looks didn’t matter to him. He was a man uninterested in appearances. Thus, he might not be aware of her age.
That was why.
If Lee Cheol-soo accepted Geumhu, maybe he’d be more likely to accept her too, at sixty-three.
No, he would accept her. So Geumhu had to be like her. She couldn’t give up here. Jeoksawol felt a strange sense of camaraderie with the current Geumhu. It felt like Geumhu was reflecting her future.
No, that’s not right.
Geumhu wouldn’t become her future. She wouldn’t allow it.
‘This isn’t for you, Geumhu. It’s for me.’
Exactly.
It was for her. It wasn’t because Geumhu looked pitiful, crying because Lee Cheol-soo rejected her affections; that wasn’t it at all.
Thus, Jeoksawol decided to correct Geumhu’s misunderstanding and give her special help just this once.
“What misunderstanding are you talking about?”
Contrary to her usual self, Geumhu, with a cold face now completely shattered and smudged with tears, retorted back at Jeoksawol.
Jeoksawol answered.
“How pitiful, Geumhu. Did you not think this day would come when you had a young boy in your heart?”
“······ I knew. But······.”
Clear tears rolled down Geumhu’s cheeks once more.
Yeah.
She had known this day would come.
She also acknowledged it. Still.
“I was in denial. I just loved the young man too much······.”
Geumhu cried.
While crying, she spoke. She forgot that the one in front of her was Yeomwang, the best of the Unorthodox. Right now, Geumhu needed someone to confide in. She needed someone to share the pent-up frustrations that she had never voiced before, the jealousy she had suffered through alone.
If not, she might rot away with jealousy. If she became such a putrid, decayed woman, she worried that the handsome young man would dislike her.
So before decaying and spoiling, she needed to let it out to someone.
Geumhu couldn’t do that to So Geom-hu. The younger disciple wouldn’t understand her feelings. The long-time senior Jeonyeong also wouldn’t do. She couldn’t trouble her father-in-law.
But if it were Yeomwang, if it were Jeoksawol, the top of the Unorthodox who was older than her, she could speak candidly.
Sometimes, it was far more relieving to confide in someone unknown than someone familiar.
‘Little girl? Young man?’
Hearing Geumhu’s words, Jeoksawol clicked her tongue in her mind.
Of course, it was true that Lee Cheol-soo and Gaga made what was essentially a proposal to Geumhu. It was also true that Geumhu fancied Gaga arrogantly.
But they weren’t a couple yet. They weren’t in a formal relationship. So how could she dare to call him a husband already?
It was absurd, but Geumhu currently looked precarious, as if standing on a tightrope, so Jeoksawol didn’t bother to correct her.
“Young lady, I envy your youth. I envy the young girls. I envy their red youthful faces. You may look young, but your age is already close to fifty. No young man would like an older woman.”
“But Geumhu. You’re not as good as me but you do have a reputation for being quite beautiful within the Orthodox Sect, do you not?”
In response to Geumhu’s words, Jeoksawol replied.
That was true.
Jeoksawol might be exceptional, but Geumhu was also a famous beauty among the martial artists of the world. The term ‘the most beautiful in the Orthodox Faction’ referred to her.
Hearing that, Geumhu shook her head vigorously.
“It’s an empty title. The moment I saw Sir Yoo, no, Young Miss Yoo’s beauty, I could no longer call myself the most beautiful in the Orthodox Faction. Young Miss Yoo is perfect in every aspect. She is younger, stronger in martial arts, and has a deeper connection with the young man. If I were thirty years younger······. No, I want to be younger. If I were a girl of the same age as the young man······ then, no matter what······.”
Geumhu’s words trailed off.
Even she thought she was no longer a girl. She was a lady.
It was a terribly shameless statement. The past years spilled like spilled water, unable to be reversed.
“Calling myself a young girl is nonsense. Please forget it.”
“No. It’s not nonsense.”
Jeoksawol denied Geumhu’s words.
She said,
“Geumhu. You’re misunderstanding one thing. Beauty, charm, comes not from appearance. Conditions like age are useless. Everything rests on your mindset. If you think you’re a young girl and act like one, you are a young girl. If your heart is beautiful, then you are beautiful. Don’t be swayed by such superficialities.”
Jeoksawol understood.
She possessed the most beautiful looks than anyone. That was why she could paradoxically realize the meaninglessness of charm.
But Geumhu did not grasp that.
Geumhu’s silvery eyes trembled.
“If I think I’m a young girl, I become one? What kind of nonsense is that?”
It didn’t make sense. It was a contradiction.
She was already old. Yet how could she become a girl if she had the mindset of one?
Upon hearing this, Jeoksawol narrowed her eyes. She clicked her tongue and said,
“Have you practiced the Unrecoverable Martial Arts all your life and forgotten the teachings of Ilche Yusim Jo?”
Ilche Yusim Jo.
The moment Geumhu heard those words, her heart rang out. Her heart began to beat again.
The Hangshan Sect practices the Unrecoverable Martial Arts. Naturally, they were well-versed in the teachings of the Buddha. Ilche Yusim Jo was the core teaching of the Great Vehicle Scripture, the Flower Adornment Sutra.
Everything comes from the mind.
Happiness and unhappiness, the five senses, and life all originate from the mind.
So if the heart is righted, no external conditions could shake her. Because everything depends on the mind.
So, if she believed she was a young girl, then she was indeed a young girl.
Geumhu forgot Yoo Jin-hwi. She forgot the look in her eyes, the figure of Jin Soso, and her feelings. Only then did Geumhu realize that Yoo Jin-hwi’s presence was like the Mara Papiyas that hindered the enlightenment of Shakyamuni.
Yoo Jin-hwi’s youth and confidence clouded her vision. But that didn’t matter. If her heart was confident, if her love for the young man was unwavering, then all was okay.
Moreover, the young man, who already knew Yoo Jin-hwi’s secret, had said countless times that he’d make her his woman both past and present. His feelings hadn’t changed.
Nothing had changed.
Ultimately, her current regrets and unhappiness were also born from her heart.
The only thing that had changed was her heart.
At the moment she finally reached the true meaning of Ilche Yusim Jo.
“Ah.”
Suddenly, the figure of Jeoksawol in front of Geumhu vanished. Before she knew it, she was outside the Reception Hall, standing in a muddy swamp.
Above the swamp bloomed blue lotus leaves and colorful lotus flowers creating a platform. The fragrance of the lotus wafted in every direction.
Behind her, the Udumbara bloomed alongside the lotus.
Shatter!
The wall of Hyeongyeong, which had been blocking her, cracked.
Geumhu finally realized.
Ilche Yusim Jo.
Everything depended on her heart. Geumhu raised her hand. A sword made of silver flames was gripped tightly. As she swung the sword, the wall of Hyeongyeong crumbled away as if it were a dying straw.
“Ah······.”
Geumhu suddenly understood as she crossed the wall of Hyeongyeong. Her body floated into the sky. The lotus and Udumbara blossoming from the muddy ground welcomed her.
Geumhu realized.
This was the manifestation of the martial arts of the mind, a realization that pierced through her life, embodying Ilche Yusim Jo.
The name was.
“Cheoyeomsangjeong (Transcendental Purity in Mired Place).”
Cheoyeomsangjeong.
The moment Geumhu spoke the mantra of her martial arts of the mind.
Shatter! The Mind’s World awakened. Her vision returned to normal.
“Congratulations on crossing the wall, Geumhu.”
Jeoksawol smiled.
It was the moment another master of Hyeongyeong joined the Orthodox. She should have been wary as the top of the Unorthodox, but Jeoksawol had no intention of being wary of Geumhu now.
Lee Cheol-soo had reached the Stage of Transcendence. He could risk winning over her by marrying her. But now that Geumhu had attained the realm of Hyeongyeong.
Even if Lee Cheol-soo challenged her, he wouldn’t be able to defeat her.
“I’m grateful for the favor you showed in throwing the subject of enlightenment to the little girl, leading her to enlightenment through the practice of Ganhwa Seon.”
Geumhu offered a respectful bow.
No matter how much the other was from the Unorthodox, it was a fact that she had received a favor. She was the one who had given her the subject of enlightenment, after all. She couldn’t afford to overlook that.
After bowing, she looked at Jeoksawol with a somewhat calmed heart and asked,
“May I ask you one question?”
“Speak.”
“Why did you help the little girl?”
Earlier, in the frenzy of jealousy and inferiority, she hadn’t thoughts, but now that her emotions have settled, it seemed odd.
There was hardly any intersection between Jeoksawol and her. Yet why did Jeoksawol help her?
Jeoksawol smiled at Geumhu’s words.
“Because you and I decided to form an alliance against Jin Soso, or rather Yoo Jin-hwi, this much help is only natural, isn’t it?”
Decided to form an alliance against Yoo Jin-hwi?
Geumhu’s mind spun. Yes, there was such an opponent. In the Shaolin Yongbong Society, she had made such a promise with Neungwolhyang.
But Jeoksawol was not Neungwolhyang.
Wait, are they really different people?
Jeoksawol was a master of disguise. Having suffered from her beauty, she had learned the art of disguise and traveled around the martial world freely. Her disguises were said to be so perfect that no one could suspect Yeomwang’s disguise until she revealed it herself.
If that rumor were true, then Jeoksawol’s words could make sense.
“Don’t tell me······. Senior Yeomwang is······.”
“Indeed. I am Neungwolhyang, the famed beauty.”
Jeoksawol laughed.
At her words, Geumhu’s face turned to astonishment.
No way.
The Neungwolhyang who had pretended to be younger than her and attacked her, was actually several years older than her, Jeoksawol?
What in the world?