The Second Eunuch Regains His Manhood

Chapter 5: A Hot Exchange Between Men

After greeting the shockingly handsome Sahyeong, I received guidance about the rules and precautions of the Gongdong Sect from Jeonyeong.

“Our Gongdong Sect, located on Gongdong Mountain, was founded by the investigator Gwangseongja in the ancient times. Later, during the Tang Dynasty, the founder of our sect, the thirteenth leader, Gyoseongjin, Bi Hongja…”

To summarize Jeonyeong’s lengthy explanation, it was simple.

The Gongdong Sect began as a strict Taoist sect and, starting from the thirteenth master Gyoseongjin, integrated other sects existing on Gongdong Mountain, incorporating the teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, leading to the revival of the Gongdong Sect through the unity of the Three Teachings. The sect opened its doors to the world, reaching modern times.

In reality, the original investigator Gwangseongja was a figure from the myth of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, which likely meant he wasn’t a genuine investigator.

This was merely for the purpose of showcasing our sect’s ancient history.

Well, it was common in pre-modern times to inflate legends to make clan histories seem deeper.

Wasn’t even Goryeo’s Taejo Wang Geon creating a tale that his great-grandfather, Jang Je-geon, was a hidden son of the Tang Dynasty emperor to strengthen his legitimacy?

The true founder of the Gongdong Sect was likely the thirteenth master, Bi Hongja.

Anyway, having originally started as a Taoist sect, since the thirteenth master, the martial arts of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism merged, the sect became practically a lay sect, differing significantly in spirit from typical Taoist sects.

Moreover, now that it has fallen, it seems the distinction between Taoist and lay sects has lost its meaning.

Well, it’s hard to distinguish since there were only two members.

One characteristic of the Gongdong Sect is its absolute intolerance for Sahmaweido.

To confront Sahmaweido, we would go to any lengths.

The spirit of righteousness pursued by the Gongdong Sect was evident throughout its martial arts, including the sect’s supreme technique, the Demon Sword Technique.

The reason the Gongdong Sect’s martial arts could easily be mistaken for the martial arts of Sahmaweido was because they were extraordinarily unpredictable yet practically applicable.

Thanks to the practical martial arts, before it fell to the Demon Sect, many disciples entered military service alongside the Jeomchang Sect, and exchanges with the Imperial Palace were frequent.

‘There was also the sect’s supreme technique among the Imperial Palace’s martial arts.’

Since the Golden Restricted Position Technique managed the Imperial Palace, in my past life, Yujinhwi exchanged ideas with the Golden Restricted Position Governor and even obtained rare copies of the Gongdong Sect’s secret manuals from the Imperial Palace.

Thinking about Yujinhwi just pisses me off.

If I had known he was that good-looking, I wouldn’t have joined the Gongdong Sect.

It’s regrettable, but it can’t be helped.

My choice to enter the Gongdong Sect is irreversible.

So, I have to utilize Yujinhwi as much as possible to become a hero of the martial world.

That’s the only way I can achieve the Three Storey Tea House and Cloud and Rain Pleasure.

It didn’t seem like it would be that difficult…

Anyway, after Jeonyeong finished the discussion, he returned to the Hyeoncheon Palace, and I arrived at the Cheongun Pavilion, the quarters for disciples, with my Sahyeong, Yujinhwi.

And now, I was sitting on the porch of the Cheongun Pavilion, spacing out with Yujinhwi beside me.

Looking over, I saw Yujinhwi’s figure.

He noticed my gaze and turned to look at me.

“Disciple. Do you have any questions? If there’s anything you don’t understand from Master’s words, I can explain it again.”

He breaks into a lovely smile.

It was midnight.

Of all nights, it was a full moon night. Illuminated by the bright moonlight, Yujinhwi’s handsome face was literally glowing.

With that level of beyond-common-handsomeness, it’s possible for a human face to genuinely shine.

Though he was a boy of my age who hadn’t yet reached adulthood, he was that good-looking.

I felt like a real squid.

If only my looks resembled even half of Yujinhwi’s.

Then I wouldn’t need to become a hero of the martial world, and I could enjoy a life filled with breathtaking beauties from just my face alone.

For me, being a hero of the martial world was just a means to achieve rapid fame, not an endgoal.

Cursing was inevitable.

The world is indeed unfair.

Even if I work my fingers to the bone, will breathtaking beauties even smile at me? Meanwhile, the pretty-boy Sahyeong next to me just has to sit there smiling, and all the breathtaking beauties are rushing to snatch him up?

What a damn world of looks supremacy.

“Why so silent? Is it awkward? Just think of me as your older brother and treat me comfortably.”

Yujinhwi grinned, moving closer and putting his arm around my shoulder.

I felt a gentle touch and his warm body temperature from his arm and hand draped around my shoulder and neck.

On top of that, a delightful scent of wildflowers mixed in.

Not just a face that was disgustingly handsome, but his hands were soft as a beauty’s delicate fingers!

And a sweet scent of wildflowers coming from a man’s body?

As a eunuch, my sense of smell has understandably heightened.

Thanks to the side effects of the castration surgery, which led to having a bit of incontinence as part of everyday life, I had to carry a fragrance pouch at all times to mask any odors.

After over 50 years of living as a eunuch, my heightened sense of smell caught the flowery scent on Sahyeong, and it was somehow more fragrant and sweet than anything I could imagine.

So it felt even more infuriating.

That had to remain at 3cm.

Wait a minute.

“Shoulder hug?”

I was taken aback and quickly pulled away from Yujinhwi.

“What-what are you doing, Sahyeong!”

Not a woman, but a man.

And a handsome one at that!

A chill ran down my spine, and cold sweat drenched my back.

I hurriedly released myself from Yujinhwi’s shoulder.

Memories about Yujinhwi hit me like a flood.

A once-in-a-lifetime talent born from the Gongdong Sect and the greatest swordsman, Geomseong Yujinhwi.

He was a man whose looks could surpass even those of Songok and Banan, and every woman who’d seen him from afar had admired him and suffered from unrequited feelings. Yet, Yujinhwi himself had no interest in women.

Even after rebuilding the Gongdong Sect and rising to become the world’s greatest swordsman, Yujinhwi remained unmarried. He didn’t even hold onto one beloved woman.

That’s right.

Yujinhwi had lived his entire life as a handsome bachelor.

The world believed Yujinhwi valued martial education over women, but what if that wasn’t true?

What if Yujinhwi… wasn’t actually interested in women at all?

‘No way, he’s not gay, right?’

What if Yujinhwi was interested in men instead of women?

Chills ran all over me.

Eunuchs can’t enjoy romantic pleasures with women.

But that doesn’t mean they can’t have any sexual life at all.

Though their male parts are gone, there’s still the back, so some crazy guys among the eunuchs occasionally walk the forbidden path of homosexuality to relieve their sexual urges.

I even had a lunatic suggest that it was better than being with a woman if I ever tried.

That crazy person got exiled when I got furious at such outrageous comments.

That was what being driven mad was about; they sold their souls just to satisfy that twisted lust.

I hated the idea of homosexuality.

What I yearned for were sweet and cozy romantic pleasures with breathtaking beauties, not the sweaty camaraderie between men.

‘I am not gay!’

So I rejected that forbidden path.

Living as a eunuch was much easier than doing something so terrible, a deed I even felt ashamed to say.

Let alone, I wasn’t even a eunuch anymore.

I managed to regain my male parts; how can I be gay?

This is absolutely unacceptable.

Because Yujinhwi was perfection, I hoped it was just 3cm down there. But I didn’t want him to be a gay man aiming for my butt.

No way, right? Surely not?

“Disciple, what’s wrong? I just wanted to get closer, like brothers do. Is that not okay?”

Yujinhwi’s eyelids fluttered.

His long lashes quivered.

His face became sorrowful as he lowered his gaze and trembled his shoulders.

If she were a woman, the sight of a handsome man in sadness would have elicited gasps of admiration like a gorgeous painting. But to me, it looked like a gay man scheming after me.

Yet, I couldn’t simply say, “I don’t like that.”

I was already in this situation where I had joined the Gongdong Sect regardless of my feelings.

Ironically, to gain recognition and eventually achieve the Three Storey Tea House, I had to maintain some sort of connection with him.

“Why would I dislike you, Sahyeong? I feel sad about that misunderstanding.”

I put on a childlike expression, pulling tears from the depths of my being honed by over 50 years at the Imperial Palace. I naturally loosened my position from him.

Even if everything is fine, let’s talk at a distance. Please.

“Sorry, Disciple. I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just thought that shoulder hugging was normal for brothers.”

Swoosh.

As he apologized, Yujinhwi came closer to me again.

Another wave of the lovely wildflower scent wafted from him.

Ugh.

“Um, I simply don’t like physical contact with strangers much. It’s my first time meeting Sahyeong, after all. That’s all.”

I explained naturally.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Disciple. I think I got too excited about the fact that I have a brother now.”

Yujinhwi slumped his shoulders slightly.

He looked genuinely sorry.

The continuous apologies feel a bit excessive.

While I shouldn’t get too close to Yujinhwi, I also needed to maintain some level of connection, especially if I wanted to utilize his fame later on.

Although he was kind, pushing him too hard wouldn’t be wise.

No matter how good someone is, everyone has their limits.

If pressured continually, they often build up resentment without realizing it.

Usually, such individuals endure a lot, helping you well until the point they couldn’t anymore, and once that threshold is crossed, their attitude can change overnight. From what I observed, Yujinhwi seemed to fit that profile.

So, I had to take a step back for now.

Before unknowingly stacking up my own karma.

“It’s alright, Sahyeong. I’m the one who’s sorry for overreacting.”

“No, no! Disciple, I’m truly the one who’s sorry. I apologize.”

Yujinhwi, startled, blushed and kept shaking his head while apologizing again.

This should be enough, right?

“It’s okay. Well then, Sahyeong, the night is deep, so I’ll take my leave to rest.”

I stood from the porch.

Not expecting much from this declining sect, Jeonyeong surprisingly assigned separate rooms for me and Yujinhwi.

That works for me.

Having a personal space is great.

I had a mental block about sharing a room since it felt like being in the military.

Sharing a room with a man in this second life? That was out of the question.

Only a woman, a beauty of unparalleled grace, could share my bed.

I opened my door, giving Yujinhwi a polite nod.

“Well then, have a good night, Sahyeong.”

“Yeah. You have a good night too, Disciple.”

Slide, clack.

Hearing Yujinhwi’s farewell, I closed the sliding door behind me.

In the now dark room, I lay down on the worn-out bedding.

I had to maintain a strictly business-like relationship with him.

Nothing more, nothing less.

If it became anything more than that…

Unbeknownst to me, I touched my behind.

That must never, under any circumstances, happen.

Thinking this, I stuck a warm cloth I had heated in the fire into my pants to warm my manhood.

And after a short while, I pulled an oil container from my bundle and rubbed it in my hands.

For the future’s romantic pleasures and Cloud and Rain, and achieving the Three Storey Tea House, it was time for Kegel exercises and another groundbreaking technique of modern medicine, Jerk exercises.

I slipped my oil-slicked palms into my pants.

My waist bent like a bow.

*

After the disciple entered his chamber.

Yujinhwi remained alone on the porch of Jinchun Pavilion, brightened by the moonlight.

“Phew.”

Yujinhwi sighed while tapping his chest.

Though with the Bone-Wasting Technique and Reverse Transformation Technique, she now had a physique that vaguely resembled a lanky boy rather than a woman, the Breast Enlargement Technique still couldn’t conceal her modestly prominent chest, which was now wrapped in bandages.

Thus, her chest felt physically stifled.

But at that moment, it was also psychologically suffocating.

“I acted inappropriately towards the Disciple…”

From childhood until now, Yujinhwi had never shared bonds with boys her age.

Additionally, she was an orphan.

While Jeonyeong, her master, fulfilled the role of a father, she never had siblings to interact and grow with.

So when she learned about having a disciple, innocence mingled with excitement filled her.

To Yujinhwi, learning she now had a disciple felt like having a new family member in their tiny Gongdong Sect.

That was why.

In trying to get closer to her newly found disciple, she had overstepped the boundaries.

“…”

With a blushing face, Yujinhwi washed her face with cold water.

She acknowledged that it was a mistake.

By the time she realized that, it was already too late.

Thus, she apologized.

“Yet, to have a disciple apologize to me in return…”

It was her fault, after all.

Thinking thus, Yujinhwi’s fingers fiddled, recalling the scene of her disciple expressing sorrow.

A smile crept onto Yujinhwi’s lips.

“Disciple is a good person.”

Well, after all, she was brought by her master, who was like a father.

There’s no way a disciple brought in by him could be a bad person.

Thus, in an effort to make up for today’s rudeness, she decided to do her best as a Sahyeong.

“Alright. From now on, my goal is…”

To become close enough to share shoulder hugs with her disciple.

Yujinhwi thought that and smiled brightly, wiggling her right hand.

The warmth of her disciple still felt like a lingering sensation on her hand.

The first experience of a shoulder hug was pleasant.

Not unpleasant at all. She wanted to do it again.

Growing up longing for the hot exchanges between brothers from other sects, Yujinhwi—no, she—thought as she smiled.

Swoosh.

A breeze blew through Gongdong Mountain, wrapping around Yujinhwi’s figure.

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