The Eunuch Regains His Manhood in the Second Round

6. A Healthy Man in the Morning

The first day after entering the communal clan dawned.

I woke up around 5 am as the morning dawned.

Snap.

As I raised my head, a mountain range including Mount Everest poked out from under the quilt.

Yes, the symbol of a healthy man has come to find me.

It’s exhilarating.

I wiped away the tears that began to flow from my eyes with my hand.

I no longer need to get out of bed with a hollow stomach.

The 50-year-old life of a eunuch flashed before my eyes. Ah, the miserable life of a eunuch, goodbye.

I left the strong and sturdy pillar standing still, without budging.

There’s no need to immediately demolish the pillar that stands upright and strong, like a national anthem.

The more frequently and for a longer period one uses a sturdy pillar, the stronger its durability becomes, which is a very natural and obvious principle I know.

I felt the solidity of the upright pillar and stood up, tidying up my bed and putting on my clothes.

From today, a new life begins.

I’ve become a truly healthy man, bursting forth in the morning.

‘Heh-heh.’

I managed to suppress the twitching of my lip and opened the door.

Although our communal clan had only three members, since I’m the youngest, I have to do all the chores like cleaning, laundry, and meal preparation.

—

In the Murim of the Middle World, there are no advanced military camps or letters of the heart like in the modern world.

I got up from my seat, cleaned the pavilion with familiar hand movements, and then headed to the kitchen I had scouted earlier to prepare breakfast.

Of course, my body was still heavy.

The kitchen was filled with a hearth with embers, firewood, and sacks of ingredients.

When I opened the sack, I found old rice and mountain vegetables, presumably gathered from the mountains.

‘As expected, they are extremely poor.’

In a prestigious sect, the granary would be overflowing with delicacies.

But the Gongdong sect, being a ruined sect, had nothing but grass to eat.

To build physical strength, one must eat meat.

Even the noble Taoist priests of Wudang eat meat during meals to build their physical strength.

On the contrary, the monks of Shaolin, who build muscles while being vegetarians, are more peculiar.

But training martial arts while eating only grass?

Am I a monk?

I shook my head and lit the hearth with a fire starter, then took the rice sack and a wooden basin to the nearby stream to wash the rice.

It was to cook rice.

Splash, splash.

I sighed as I washed the rice with skillful hand movements.

‘What kind of situation is this from the morning?’

During my time as a young eunuch, I experienced all sorts of absurd and primitive palace injustices and scoldings in pre-modern China, which cannot be compared to the South Korean military.

Naturally, I was used to menial tasks.

Menial tasks in the palace were originally the eunuch’s share.

Of course, palace maids also took on menial tasks, but for tasks requiring strength, a man was needed.

But it couldn’t be an intact man.

All the women in the palace were the emperor’s property.

So, they used men who had been castrated as eunuchs to prevent them from doing anything improper with the palace maids and concubines.

If a man is castrated and becomes a eunuch, he cannot commit adultery with the emperor’s women.

Being castrated doesn’t mean losing s*xual desire. But eunuchs, having no male organ, cannot act on their desires even if they want to.

The horror of having no way to relieve the burning desire!

The misery of not being able to comfort oneself!

Cutting off a healthy man’s organ and using him as a worker, truly a primitive custom of pre-modern China.

—

Here is the translation:

I thought about my miserable life in my previous life, which had been deprived of the right to comfort my desires, and suddenly my face felt like it was going to collapse.

I put my hand in my pocket without anyone noticing.

Luckily, my testicles were still firm and well-attached to my body.

Ah…

But I still couldn’t fully confirm the fact that my testicles were safe, and hot tears began to flow from my eyes.

It seemed that my testicles had grown a little bit and thickened thanks to the Jelqing exercise I had done yesterday, which was a great achievement in modern medicine.

In the first place, my testicles were already above average in size, and as they grew, they became even more impressive.

I made a promise to myself to continue doing Jelqing exercises before sleep.

Anyway, I had already given my body to the organization.

The organization is a basic spy agency directly under the emperor.

As a rank-and-file officer, I had to go undercover and go on missions, and since I couldn’t sleep well in guesthouses every time, I had to cook for myself.

So, making breakfast was no big deal for me, considering my long experience with camping.

However, since I had joined the organization, I needed to show off to the legendary sword master, Yeon-woo, and the infamous executioner, Bil-yeo.

I wanted to become a hero in the martial arts world, gather the seven great masters, and claim the title of “Sword Saint.”

To achieve this, I needed to gradually build a good relationship with Yeon-woo and Bil-yeo.

That way, in the future, I would be recognized as a proud member of the Backdojeilmunpa organization, and I could use the title of “Disciple of the Organization” to attract the attention of the beautiful women in the martial arts world.

And that’s how it started with a warm breakfast.

No one dislikes a meal prepared by someone else.

It’s the same for Yeon-woo and Bil-yeo.

That’s why I decided to use my experience with camping to make breakfast efficiently.

I washed the rice, boiled water, and headed back to the kitchen.

“Phew, phew.”

I didn’t forget about the Kegel exercise either.

Every time I did Kegel exercises, my pelvic muscles would be stimulated, making me feel healthy and strong.

I felt a sense of awe at the great achievements of modern medicine, which had developed the Kegel exercise.

The distance from the kitchen to the well was neither long nor short.

However, I was still a young man who had not yet learned the inner secrets of the martial arts.

As I tried to carry the heavy water and rice in my hands, my legs felt weak and I was sweating.

But I couldn’t afford to hesitate here, for the sake of the three great masters and my own destiny.

So, I walked to the kitchen, dripping with sweat like it was raining, and arrived.

“Ah, sa-jeh?!”

A familiar voice echoed in my ear.

—

Senior Brother Yoo Jin-Hwi.

He was standing in the kitchen, wearing old and worn-out clothes, staring at me with wide eyes.

Despite the soot-covered, dark kitchen and the clothes that were patched up like those of a pauper, such an environment could not hide Senior Brother’s radiant beauty.

Senior Brother Yoo Jin-Hwi’s face, as if sculpted by the gods themselves, shone brilliantly even in this dire environment, like a lotus blooming in the mud.

And what about those long eyelashes and eyes filled with melancholy, uncharacteristic of a man?

Would anyone believe that the old, shabby clothes actually exuded a vintage charm thanks to that unrealistically handsome face?

If I wore such clothes, it would be a miracle if I wasn’t mistaken for a beggar from the Beggars’ Sect.

No, I’ve already been treated like a beggar on my way to Gansu Province.

‘They say if Jang Dong-gun, Kang Dong-won, or Cha Eun-woo wore denim jackets and jeans, they’d be fashionistas.’

No, modern actors at least use makeup, lotion, shampoo, and skin care products.

To think he looks like that without proper care.

Indeed, the completion of fashion is the face.

The more I looked, the more jealousy filled my heart.

Wait, hold on?

Come to think of it, my arousal hasn’t subsided yet, has it?

I hurriedly turned my back to Senior Brother to hide my heavy lower body.

Showing my arousal to a man, especially one suspected of being a homos*xual?

That could never happen.

If he misunderstood and thought I was one of his kind…

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

A chilling sensation lingered in my rear.

I’m going crazy.

It’s a relief that the chaos has settled. If it hadn’t been for that…

It’s horrifying.

I pulled my hand away from his grasp.

“Now that I’ve officially joined the sect, I thought it only right for the youngest member to take on the chores first. So, I came here to prepare a meal for the master and the senior disciple. I apologize for causing you any concern.”

I spoke politely, bowing my head as I maintained a safe distance from him, using a respectful and courteous tone.

I shouldn’t get too close to Yoo Jin-hwi, but I also shouldn’t distance myself too much.

To put it in modern terms, a business partnership.

Yes, that level of relationship is just right.

That way, later on, I can use my status as the disciple of the greatest swordsman to charm the ladies, right?

Hey, I’m the disciple of the world’s greatest swordsman! I’ve gone to the sauna with him! I’ve eaten with him! I’ve bathed with him! I’ve done it all!

Just like that.

As long as I don’t put my rear in too much danger, I needed to get closer to Yoo Jin-hwi.

For an ordinary person, this would be a difficult task, but I was Lee Cheol-soo, who had faced all kinds of trials and tribulations in the imperial palace and reached the pinnacle of power, without even a pair of balls to my name.

Deceit and duplicity were my specialties.

I skillfully concealed my true intentions and the danger to my rear while playing the role of a polite disciple.

“No, no. I’m the one who should apologize. You, disciple, have a maturity that doesn’t match your age, don’t you?”

Yoo Jin-hwi smiled as if he was proud of me.

His laughter was like a thousand flowers blooming, momentarily brightening the dark kitchen.

He was really damn handsome.

How could it be? His smile was even prettier than that of the legendary beauty from my past life, the renowned Lady Gyeongguk.

Pretty, you say?

‘Have I really lost my mind?’

Thinking such crazy thoughts about a man.

I’m not gay.

I pulled myself together with some Kegel exercises and continued my act as the polite disciple.

“It seems this unworthy disciple has wandered the world after losing my parents, experiencing all kinds of storms in my young life. I apologize for any discomfort I may have caused you, senior disciple.”

I pretended to be a sorrowful orphan, subtly wiping away a tear that had almost escaped.

—

Here, the point is to cry slightly, not a lot.

If you cry too much, the other person might become suspicious or think you’re overreacting, which could make them dislike you.

This is the acting skill I’ve honed to survive in the palace.

No matter how much of a future hero the Sword Saint might become, for now, he’s just a kid.

There’s no way he could see through the acting that even deceived the Emperor.

“Ah, no! Don’t misunderstand! Orphaned parents! I-I didn’t mean it like that.”

Yujin Hwi hurriedly waved his hands.

Flustered, he scratched his head and blushed.

“I meant that I like that mature side of you as a teacher!”

Why is he blushing and stuttering now?

Could it be that he saw my heavy lower body earlier? No, that’s not it. I didn’t feel his gaze going downward.

If the senior was a woman, I would have taken it as a green light, but unfortunately, he’s a man.

A man blushing and stuttering only adds to the discomfort.

Even the member that should have naturally calmed down for the sake of enhancing my stamina had to be forcibly calmed by singing the national anthem due to the senior’s sudden attack.

What about my stamina loss?

Anger surged within me.

But like a seasoned politician, I didn’t show any signs of discomfort or anger.

“And I was also an orphan and a beggar with nowhere to go… If Master hadn’t saved me, who knows… Anyway, since you’re in the same situation as me, I feel a sense of camaraderie…”

“I see. Understood, senior. I’m touched that you think of me that way. And from now on, there’s no need to apologize for such trivial matters. We are brothers in arms.”

“Y-Yes!”

Yujin Hwi’s eyes widened slightly at the words “brothers in arms,” then he nodded repeatedly.

Does he like the term “brothers in arms” that much?

Well, in his previous life, the Sword Saint had a junior sister but no male disciple.

And not just any junior sister, but an absolute beauty who would later be known as the most beautiful woman in the world.

The most beautiful woman in the world.

She was also one of the reasons I joined the declining sect instead of another.

Anyway, even though he’s a disciple at a young age, he now has a same-age male friend.

From that perspective, it’s understandable that he likes it.

Even I liked playing with friends at the playground when I was young.

‘But my butt is off-limits.’

—

—

As I made up my mind and was about to put the washed rice and water into the cauldron.

“Hey, junior.”

I heard the voice of my senior brother from behind.

A chill ran down my spine for a moment.

What is this?

Did he really see what happened earlier?