All five students were in internal celebration as they discovered that the rotting parts of their body had fully healed.
This was because of Kang-hyuk's a.s.sistance.
His repeated beatings had stimulated their blood flow in a way that the acc.u.mulated poison within their systems burned off, and as a result, the students had been cured.
Of course, the rapid rate of healing was only possible because Kang-hyuk had infused the energy of nature into every beating.
It was a law that the fastest healing always occurs from the energy of nature.
"Ah! There they are!"
The students turned around at Baek-gap's exclamation.
Kang-hyuk, Byeok Ae-rin, and Shim-gu seemed to have returned from somewhere, walking through the entrance way of the inn.
"Are all of you here?"
The students collectively nodded their heads at Shim-gu's question.
After Byeok Ae-rin requested the attendant to serve the meal, all three joined the students at the dinner table.
"...."
Shim-gu abruptly stood up, after having received Kang-hyuk's glance.
As Shim-gu was officially an elder of the Clan, he was seen as the most superior figure present.
"Ahem, ahem ahem. Attention everyone."
The students straightened their postures and faced Shim-gu.
"You've all worked hard in your training thus far. An important task is awaiting everyone tomorrow."
"What is the task? Could you tell us right now?"
Shim-gu coughed at the second-year student Go-yun's question.
"Ahem. Ahem ahem. About that. It's something to do with performing a public service."
"Sorry? Did you say public service?"
The students tilted their heads, looking slightly confused, while the third-year student So-gyeong spoke up. "Public service? Doesn't that mean serving the common people?"
"That's correct."
The students' expressions immediately changed at Shim-gu's response. Kang-hyuk spoke up, responding to their reaction.
"Are all of you disappointed? Is it because it's not some great task?"
"Well, that…"
"Tsk tsk. Why do you think that you have to beat someone to do great work?"
"What do you mean?"
Kang-hyuk continued to speak.
"Even if you display your martial skills and engage in a lot of activity using these skills, if you aren't doing something that is necessary for someone, and are instead engaging in action that causes harm, it isn't great work."
The students fell into thought at Kang-hyuk's words.
As Kang-hyuk had said, no matter how skilled a person is in martial arts, if they engaged in actions that caused harm, this was seen as 'merciless merit'.
He continued on further.
"On the other hand, a person that engages in actions that benefit others, even if they have weak martial abilities, their deeds can truly be considered meritorious. For example, a bowl of millet porridge is a simple meal, but to a starving person, it would be akin to a sumptuous feast."
Kang-hyuk looked at the students. Judging by their expressions, they seemed to be in a state of realization.
"I hope you will all put your best efforts into this task, as Shim Jangro-nim has brought you here for this task so that you can become great men that are of help not just to Moorim, but to the entire earth. Does everyone understand?"
"Yes! We understand!"
"Another important reason for this task is to give the general public a good impression of the Hwacheon Clan and Hwacheon Academy, so you must all do your best."
"You will begin the public service after you finish your morning Qigong practice tomorrow. Right, let's start eating."
"Thank you for the meal!"
The students began to excitedly eat, salivating at the steaming dishes placed in front of them.
***
The chief of Hwagyeong Village was a man named Pyeongsan, who was in his sixties.
The village he headed was rather large, and so, there were many potential candidates for the role of village chief, but for whatever reason, they shied away from the bothersome job, and as a result, Pyeongsan became the village chief.
As the chief of the village, he didn't have that much authority per se, but he did have a lot of work to do as a result. Nevertheless, he was satisfied with his role.
"Hahaha…."
Having woken up early in the morning, Pyeongsan, who was preparing to start his tasks of the day, smirked in thought.
He was recalling the visitor who sought him out the evening before.
He had been fixing a broken straw mat when the man had visited him, and immediately prostrated at the man's appearance.
It was because he realized the ident.i.ty of the young man that wore a blue uniform.
He knew that only the staff of the Hwacheon Academy wore a blue uniform with the character for learning embroidered on the back of their robe.
No one would dare to pose as a Hwacheon Academy teacher for fear of being arrested by the Clan.
Pyeongsan prostrated flat on his stomach in greeting. It was something he had heard of doing in such circ.u.mstances.
"This country fellow greets you, Dae-hyeop!"
"There's no need to be so formal. Also, there's someone you should give more respect to than me."
"Sorry?"
"It's the elder of the Clan, Shim Jangro-nim."
"Huh!?"
Pyeongsan's eyes bulged out in response. Stories of the elders of the clan circulated through the land by word of mouth, so they had almost gained a legendary status in many people's minds.
"M-my greetings to you, Jangro-nim!"
"It's nice to meet you as well. I'll get straight to the point."
Shim-gu cleared his throat, then spoke.
"I've come with students of the Hwacheon Academy for the purpose of doing some public service."
"Sorry? Di-did you just say public service?"
"I've looked around the area, and I thought that you might like some help with your crops?"
Pyeongsan promptly replied.
"Well if you're offering to help, how could I refuse?"
Pyeongsan would have agreed even if the help was a type of help that would cause damage.
There was a saying that a sword closer to you is scarier than a sword far away.
"Anyways, be aware that I'll be coming tomorrow morning with the students to catch bugs."
"Sorry? Di-did you say…catch bugs?"
Pyeongsan blinked. He thought that he had misheard Shim-gu.
"Yes. The bugs are nibbling away at your crops, so I thought that it would be of some help to you if we removed them."
"O-of course!"
"Then, I'll see you tomorrow morning."
Pyeongsan was in deep thought.
'Well, it's not a bad thing to catch the bugs, but never in my life have I heard of people of Moorim catching bugs. Hahaha.'
***
"Sorry?"
The students were standing in front of the inn after their morning Qigong, their mouths agape from Kang-hyuk's words.
"Ar-are you telling us to catch bugs?"
"Yes."
The students blinked in response.
When they had heard that they would be engaging in public service the day before, they expected their work to be sweeping the streets of the village, or do some maintenance work.
But never did they expect that their task was to go and remove insects.
This was a shocker out of the blue.
"Did you just say…bugs?"
"Is there a problem? If there is, please say it right now."
The students remained silent.
It wasn't because they had no problem, but because Kang-hyuk had wordlessly raised his fist.
'I-it already hurt so badly from being thrashed by that attendance book.'
'Let alone his fists…'
'We could actually die if that happened….'
Kang-hyuk grinned as the students put away their complaints.
"Follow me."
"Yes."
After that, they walked towards some farmland, not far away from the inn.
The barley in the field was growing verdantly green as it was bathed in the rays of the spring sun.
The field was so wide that it seemed endless.
Nevertheless, there was a problem. That problem was caterpillars.
There were around three to four caterpillars attached to one stem of barley.
"Right. What you all need to do is catch those bugs."
A student raised their hand at Kang-hyuk's instruction.
"Seonsaengnim. Those bugs are also lifeforms. Is it really okay to remove these lifeforms carelessly?"
Kang-hyuk replied in response.
"d.a.m.n! Think about it, you rascal! You receive a single pancake after being starved for three days. Would you give that pancake away to the insect, and starve to death yourself?"
"That, well…."
"That's right, stop saying things that will cause you to be beaten to death by farmers, and focus on catching the bugs! I'm going to be monitoring how many all of you catch individually, so don't even think of fooling around."
Kang-hyuk lifted his fist and continued to speak.
"The fellow who catches the least will undergo an hour long special training session. Also, I think all of you already know what will happen if any of you break any barley stems."
The students recoiled in fear.
They had toiled like dogs until yesterday in the name of training. They didn't wish to experience such training once more.
'Receiving training again….'
'I might even die…'
They rushed into the barley field one after another, carrying sacks.
They brought out chopsticks with them to pick the caterpillars of the barley stalks, but they soon found out that there was no need for them.
The fastest way to remove the caterpillars was by hand.
"Ahh! Ten thousand hands!"
"Huh! How petty! Do you think we could use the Geumnasu [1] technique?"
"Do you think I couldn't use anything? Thousand hands, blossom!"
As Kang-hyuk watched the students go to the extent of using various martial techniques to catch the caterpillars, he turned to look at the village chief, Pyeongsan.
"What do you think?"
Pyeongsan spoke, bowing his head.
"To be honest, I was initially a little uncertain about their bug-catching abilities, but right now, I'm just surprised."
"Hahaha. Is that so?"
Kang-hyuk muttered under his breath whilst stroking his chin.
"As I thought, it's good to mobilize the people of Moorim to partake in farming work."
He grinned at Pyeongsan, who looked touched by his words.
"Ae-rin-ah. What do you think of officially including farm work in my curriculum?"
Byeok Ae-rin simply smiled in response.
"It's a joke."
However, Kang-hyuk had overlooked the fact that there were two loyal people by his side that could easily make his words into a reality.
Byeok Ae-rin and Shim-gu's eyes glistened.
'If that's what Seonsaengnim wants, it should definitely happen.'
'It's something that Hyung-nim wants! If that's the case, it should indeed go ahead.'
Unaware of the thoughts of the two elders, Kang-hyuk gazed at the five students' busy working with a look of satisfaction on his face.
The work of catching the insects had finished earlier than antic.i.p.ated.
They had some lunch and snacks in between, but the task sped up because of the students' use of martial techniques.
Therefore, they were able to finish before dinner, and Pyeongsan, joined by the farmers, thanked them with grat.i.tude.
That evening.
The five students, who were having their evening meal, looked proud.
They had initially considered catching bugs an absurd task, but as of present, the grateful expressions of the farmers still lingered in their minds.
The martial techniques they had utilized weren't that particularly complicated.
Even though that was the case, they felt renewed that they had been of some help to the farmers.
They began to ponder about what kind of life was really worth living.
"You're all tired, aren't you?"
The students looked up at Kang-hyuk. They collectively replied, "No, not at all!"
"What do you mean you're not? I can see how tired you all are by your faces. You've all worked hard. Eat your dinner, then rest well in your rooms."
"Thank you!"
After having given the students free time, Kang-hyuk emerged from the inn. His gaze changed as he entered a deserted alley behind the inn.
"Seonsaengnim."
Standing in front of him was Byeok Ae-rin.
"Your expression doesn't look too good."
"I've felt it ever since we entered the village. I can smell blood."
Shim-gu, who had left the inn with Kang-hyuk, chimed in.
"There's a cow slaughterhouse over there…."
*Pok!*
Kang-hyuk struck the back of Shim-gu's head.
"Ah! Th-that hurt!"
Kang-hyuk's movement was so fast that the action was almost invisible.
"d.a.m.n it! I've been wielding weapons for so many years now, do you not think I can differentiate between animal and human blood?"
"Ah, you're right. It is human blood."
Shim-gu sighed.
"Honestly speaking, I could also smell human blood and was thinking that it was a little weird. It's difficult to produce such a strong scent of blood like this as well."
[1] Geumnasu is a martial technique where the opponent is taken down using the force of one's hand.
