The Second Eunuch Regains His Manhood

Chapter 250: Confession and Response

That day.

After the strategy meeting.

I had spent almost the entire day on collective training and personal practice of the formation.

Troops for the expedition were gathering in Yongning. Military supplies and merchants were also flocking to Yongning Province.

A sense of battle was in the air.

I stared at the teacup on the table. It contained Seohoyongjeongcha. I took a sip of the steaming tea and, in the heat of the moment, let it slip from my hand.

And then I unleashed the Ihap Sin-gong.

Psss…

As the Ihap Sin-gong was undone, the broken pieces of the teacup returned to their original form. Beyond that, green tea splashed into the air. Just as the shards and tea were about to hit the ground, I activated the Ihap Sin-gong again.

Psss…

The teacup pieces floated up and reassembled themselves. With the force of my energy, they stuck together. The green tea rose up inside, filling it.

Reversal of Spilled Water.

It was said that spilled water cannot be gathered again, and a broken vessel cannot be fixed.

But mastering the supreme martial art of Ihap Sin-gong, which defies even the laws of physics, meant that even broken vessels could be glued back together, and spilled water could be gathered once more.

With invisible hands, I returned the reformed teacup back onto the table and closed my eyes.

Yin and Yang were in harmony, and both Anti-Demon Magic Power and Polarity Magic were being operated simultaneously. The Primordial Unity Energy Technique was controlling everything. The magical energy and darkness flowed toward my head, while the Anti-Demon Magic Power and light energy flowed down to my dantian. With the reversal of Yin and Yang, divine and demonic forces, an explosive power enveloped my entire body.

Using that explosive force as fuel, I operated the Ihap Sin-gong. All the energy flows in my surrounding space fell under my control.

Controlling the flow of energy within the space was something any master of Hyeongyeong could do. But the Ihap Sin-gong was on a completely different level.

It was a power that could adjust not just the flow of energy, but the very direction of force.

Whoosh!

I sensed arrows flying from afar. I unleashed the Ihap Sin-gong. Whoooosh! The movement of three arrows that had entered my dominion halted, then spun around and shot back in the opposite direction.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The arrows struck dead center on the targets set up around me.

“It’s always impressive to see such a martial art.”

“I never expected the Gongdong Sect’s Supreme Absorption Technique to be this formidable.”

The agents from the Dongchang who had shot the arrows revealed themselves and spoke to me.

They had been assisting my practice of the Ihap Sin-gong from the very start.

I smiled.

I felt the explosive inner strength, or rather, the essence flowing within me.

I truly believed that the Ihap Sin-gong was the ultimate technique leading to the profound essence.

Isn’t the essence of the Primordial Sword Technique derived from the Ihap Sin-gong?

Just as I was thinking this, emptying the reformed teacup of its contents, a familiar voice resonated in my ear.

“Jeonryeok Lee Cheol-soo, you are being summoned by the Emperor.”

It was the agent from Dongchang who had been assisting my training.

The Emperor? I wondered. Is there something she wants to say to me?

Thinking this, I stood up and retracted the Ihap Sin-gong. Clatter. The attached teacup shattered again, returning to its original state.

*

I entered the royal chamber where the Hwang Sang resided. As always, no one was around. I could feel the distant presence of the Golden Restricted Position guards, but that was all.

They could not hear our private conversation.

It was a rare one-on-one meeting with the Hwang Sang.

I knew why she was acting this way now. She liked me. For a very long time.

And I had been delaying my response to her confession.

But I could no longer postpone it. From the moment the Hwang Sang requested this private meeting, I had been thinking that.

“Your Majesty. I am Lee Cheol-soo of the Gongdong Sect’s Martial Department. May I enter?”

“Please, come in as you wish.”

Screech.

With invisible hands, the door to the royal chamber opened. I stepped boldly inside. The door closed behind me.

There she was.

A girl with striking brown hair and a charming smile.

Juga-yul.

She smiled and looked at me.

“Please take a seat.”

“Understood.”

The Hwang Sang gestured for me to sit, and I took a seat beside her.

Slurp.

The Hwang Sang poured tea for me. It was honey water with a sweet fragrance. I drank the honey water she poured. Sweetness was the best.

Swish.

The Hwang Sang leaned tightly against me and spoke.

“New intel has arrived from Liaodong.”

“What is it?”

“The fake force claiming to be the old Jin dynasty has succeeded in their expedition to the north. Their leader, Aisin Gioro Incheong, has subdued Mongolia and acquired the Great Seal of the Yuan dynasty, constructing a Heavenly Altar in Shenyang to offer sacrifices to the heavens, arrogantly claiming the title of Khan of the old Yuan dynasty, and has named his reign Tianming while asserting that my mandate has waned. They have also changed their national title from Jin to Daicing Gurun and refer to the Jurchens as Manchu.”

Hearing the Hwang Sang’s words, I opened and closed my eyes.

In this medieval East Asia of another world, the Heavenly Mandate existed solely for empires. In such a world, where an empire already existed, openly claiming the title of a dynasty was tantamount to a challenge against the empire itself.

Therefore, for the sake of the Blood Sect or not, the empire had to crush this medieval Qing dynasty.

They had to make known to the world that the Heavenly Mandate was still firmly in the hands of the empire.

“The empire’s forces have also been gathering in Yongning Province. The Joseon army’s reinforcements have also arrived. Preparations for a preemptive strike are nearly complete.”

The Hwang Sang told me.

Not just the Joseon army’s reinforcements. Several foreign nations had not formally sent troops, but sects from outside had indirectly joined the expeditionary forces.

In modern terms, it was akin to volunteer troops participating.

The Northern Sea Ice Palace, ruling over Lake Baikal and Siberia; the renowned Odokmun from Vietnam, the Southern Barbarian Tribe; Tibetan Lamas; Spanish mercenaries from the Philippines; Jesuit priests; and the cavalry led by Cheonma along with the Ronin hired from Japan, plus the masters of the six major families summoned by the Martial Alliance and the experts from the Blood Sect who had congregated by the command of Jeoksawol.

All of them had gathered in Yongning Province.

The empire’s troops had naturally amassed there long ago, with two hundred thousand soldiers ready. Six of the twelve commanders, who were masters from Hwakyung, had already arrived in Yongning to take command.

It was truly a grand operation.

“…Noya must also… board a ship heading for Joseon soon.”

The Hwang Sang’s expression darkened slightly.

She bit her lip.

The decisive battle was approaching.

Yes. Before the preemptive strike, masters like myself and those of Hyeongyeong would secretly board ships bound for Joseon.

There, we would ascend Baekdusan to confront the Blood Demon.

“There aren’t many days left until we meet like this again.”

The Hwang Sang’s face darkened. She fidgeted with the hem of her dress.

I knew what she was worried about.

She hadn’t heard my response yet.

That is why she was feeling this unease.

It wasn’t the demeanor of a strong-willed emperor. I held her hand.

“…Ah.”

The Hwang Sang sighed softly.

As I looked at her, I spoke.

“…It seems it’s time for me to answer the confession I’ve postponed all this time, Your Majesty.”

Upon hearing my words, the Hwang Sang closed her eyes. Her face turned red. I looked directly at her face.

In her current self, I saw the shadow of her past self.

Hwang Sang.

My Hwang Sang.

Juga-yul.

She was my daughter, my sister, my family, and even like a disciple.

She was the only entity I truly trusted. The only person I could believe in within the treacherous confines of the Forbidden City.

Without her, I wouldn’t have survived the palace conspiracies.

But I never thought of her as a woman.

Just family. That’s how I thought. Yes, it was that way.

In this second life, it was different. Every time I met her, I felt an unexplainable emotion. So I had tried to deny it. That she was family.

But it was different. I had already begun to think of her as a woman. Since I couldn’t perceive her as just family, I subconsciously reinforced the notion in my mind that she was simply family.

Yet the Hwang Sang confessed to me. For over eighty years, she had cherished feelings for me. She had held feelings for me that stretched back to times I couldn’t even imagine, loving me beyond a one in a thousand chance.

I had to respond to that love. I needed to take responsibility for her heart.

What made her this way was ultimately me. So I had to take responsibility.

Because I was a grown man.

Not a coward.

And I, too, liked the Hwang Sang.

So it was finally time to return her answer.

I closed my eyes as I looked at the Hwang Sang’s tense expression and said.

“Your Majesty, I… no, I mean… I like you.”

Yes.

I liked the Hwang Sang. She was my only family and the person who had liked me for the longest time.

She had loved my previous self, so she could easily be described as the woman who loved all of me.

How could I not accept her warm heart?

Upon hearing my words, the Hwang Sang’s eyes opened. Tears welled up in her golden irises. She rushed into my arms.

“Noya!”

She called out to me. My front was moistened with her tears. The Hwang Sang continued to cry. What would it feel like to hear the response after waiting for eighty years?

I couldn’t possibly imagine. I wasn’t the one involved. But what was clear was that I liked seeing her so joyfully crying.

Because the Hwang Sang was the most precious person to me.

I gently patted her head.

“I’m here.”

“I also, I also like you, Noya. I love you, Noya. You are everything to me. Thank you so much for accepting my confession, Noya. Waaah! Sob…”

The Hwang Sang continued to cry out loud.

I kept patting her head, holding her as she cried until her sobs subsided.

And I thought.

I had made a good choice accepting the Hwang Sang’s love.

*

Baekdusan, Cheonji.

Blood Demon Cave.

A handsome man with disheveled black hair, exuding a gloomy aura, knelt dressed in black robes before the bubbling Blood Pond.

The last surviving confidant of the Blood Demon among the four great lords of the Blood Sect.

Gi Hwanmajon.

“Your Excellency.”

Gi Hwanmajon called out to the Blood Demon, holding a staff adorned with skulls in a hushed voice. Along with his words, bubbles of blood shot up from the Blood Pond.

Fwoosh! Soon, a black-haired handsome man arose from the Blood Pond, the Blood Demon.

As Gi Hwanmajon welcomed the Blood Demon, he bowed deeply.

“It is you, Gi Hwanmajon. What brings you to seek me?”

“The movements of the expeditionary army summoned by Hwangje Juga-yul are concerning. I expect they will move soon for Liaodong.”

Hearing Gi Hwanmajon’s report, the Blood Demon smirked.

“I figured as much. Those rabble will be of no use in Liaodong, so let them be.”

A bloody light flashed in the Blood Demon’s eyes. He spoke.

“…If everything goes according to plan, if I absorb all the spiritual energy of Changbai Mountain and perfect this body, then even if their army of a million were to arrive, I could turn them all into a puddle of blood.”

Overwhelming energy welled up from the Blood Demon’s body.

He had failed to gather the elixir needed for rebirth.

Thus, the Blood Demon switched to a backup plan. If he didn’t need the elixir, he could extract even more human offerings. In reality, the Blood Demon, who reigned as a shadow power in the Qing dynasty, had been receiving vast human sacrifices from the Jurchens and Mongols.

The blood essence extracted from human sacrifices was of inferior purity due to the significant energy loss during the refining process, but the sheer quantity made it irrelevant.

Of course, relying solely on human sacrifices couldn’t replace the elixir.

Hence the necessity.

The spiritual energy of Baekdusan. Baekdusan had always been revered as a sacred mountain in Jurchen and Joseon, rich with spiritual energy. In fact, dragons had lived in Baekdusan, and at its foot, spirits like the great tiger resided, with an abundance of spiritual creatures.

However, all the spirits, including the dragons and tigers that once lived in Baekdusan, had long since been devoured by the Blood Demon, leaving no spirits behind.

But the immense spiritual energy flowing through the veins of Baekdusan still remained.

If he could absorb all that energy, he could attain perfection. Of course, if he failed, the likelihood of this vessel exploding was astronomically high, but that was of no concern.

Using the Rebirth Great Method, he could jump into another body, hiding until regaining strength. His soul had weakened, but he could still last through at least one more reincarnation.

After all, if he didn’t seize the opportunity now, it would be a long wait until the right moment for ascension would present itself. The instincts of the Blood Demon, who had lived for many years, told him this.

He had to take a risk now.

As the Blood Demon thought this, he said.

“Prepare a camp on the mountain. I will seize the spiritual energy of Changbai Mountain.”

“Understood!”

As Gi Hwanmajon replied, the Blood Demon closed his eyes.

It’s almost time.

Soon, he could leave this cursed blood temple. And then, he would dominate the Nine Provinces and Eight Monarchs.

All of heaven would fall into his grasp.

The Blood Demon laughed at this thought.

The day of reckoning was drawing near.

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