I Became The Youngest Disciple Of The Hwasan Sect

Reading the Taoist Scriptures to a baby.

“Stillness like this is clear, and such stillness leads gradually into the true Path of Nature. Entering the true Path of Nature is called Enlightenment. A person who truly realizes this can spread the Path of the sages far and wide.”

I yawned with a long “hwaam” as I listened to the gentle chanting. The soft floor cushion didn’t poke at my back, making me want to roll around freely.

It must have been about five months since this body was born, since I was now at the stage where I could roll over and back again if I put my mind to it. But I was too hungry to move.

The Sect Leader Grandpa was focusing on my mental training by reciting Taoist scriptures to me instead of having me do physical cultivation.

‘What is this, reading Taoist scriptures to a baby? Not whispering sweet nothings, but scriptures?’

“The Path of Nature that is truly unchanging and unmoving can only be attained by those who awaken to it themselves. Do you understand, Biyeon? This passage is the very essence of Taoism.”

‘I don’t know. Essence of Taoism or whatever, I’m just hungry.’

It seemed like it was feeding time. But crying for food felt beneath the dignity I still clung to as an intellectual.

I smacked my barely-toothed mouth a little, and the Sect Leader Grandpa, oblivious to my hunger, just chuckled kindly.

“The True Path of Hwasan is the same. I look forward to the day you hold a sword. If you want to make plum blossoms bloom, you must remember what I said.”

‘Telling that to a baby barely past 100 days old is pointless—I’ll forget it all after one nap. Aren’t Taoists supposed to read minds or something?

Also, I prefer the Mudang Sect over the Hwasan Sect. I wanted to learn Yang-style Dual Qi martial art and the Flowing Sword of Wisdom. 

Sigh.

I mean, it’s cool—cultivating two different types of internal energy and wielding that continuous Flowing Sword Art.’

Probably because the first martial arts novel I ever read had the protagonist start in the Mudang Sect. Your favorite Sect is usually decided by your first martial arts novel—that’s the law.

And in that novel, the Hwasan Sect was portrayed as the opposite of the upright Mudang Taoists—worldly, petty, and corrupt.

So for a long time, Hwasan in my mind was “Petty Hwasan”.

It was kind of a classic trope in older martial arts stories—the Hwasan Sect, obsessed only with flashy swordplay, would mock the protagonist and then get wrecked in return. The rotten Taoist Sect of the Nine Great Sects.

I wonder what this Hwasan is like. Judging by the soft, high-quality fabric wrapped around me, they don’t seem to be short on money.

I wiggled my arms and legs, trying to roll over, but was forced to stop when hunger suddenly hit me like a truck.

“This time, I’ll read you the Tao Te Jing. Books are food for the soul, so it’s good to build the habit of keeping books close from a young age.”

‘Hey, Grandpa. Food for the soul is fine, but if you don’t feed the body real food, people die. I can’t take it anymore. Forget dignity—I’m starving to death, so I’m going to cry now.’

Just as I inhaled deeply to let out a powerful cry, the door slid open as if someone had read my mind, and in walked a very familiar face.

I’d seen him for a week now, so I definitely recognized him. He was the man who picked me up in front of Hwasan’s main gate.

‘Was his name Uihyeon?’

Because he’d found me, he’d become my designated caretaker. Balancing training with baby care had to be tough, but he always greeted me with a gentle smile.

‘Food! Give me food!’

I flailed my arms while lying down, and Uihyeon gently picked me up.

“Biyeon, were you hungry?”

Instead of nodding, I just exhaled in response to his gentle question. I was too hungry to even nod.

After bowing respectfully to the Sect Leader, Uihyeon slid open the door to the room next to his—my room.

The smell of food hit me, and I couldn’t help but let out a little whimper from hunger.

“Baaah…”

Today’s meal was a mild baby porridge with finely ground meat.

I chewed and swallowed diligently as Uihyeon spooned the food into my mouth.

Some of the porridge I couldn’t swallow dribbled down my chin.

The feeling of it running down my jaw annoyed me, so I squirmed a little, and Uihyeon quickly wiped my chin with a soft cloth.

Seeing this kind and attentive baby care, I thought, ‘at least this time I’m not going to be neglected like in my past life. Lucky me.’

I may not remember anything from when I was this little, but my clearest childhood memory from my past life was a lonely kindergarten picnic day.

All the other kids had lunch boxes filled with love and care, but I came empty-handed.

I had to beg for food—eating rice and stir-fried dishes off my friends’ picnic mats.

I had told my parents about the picnic a week in advance. I was curious and heartbroken—why didn’t they prepare anything?

They could have at least picked up a roll of kimbap from Kimbap Heaven or something.

Those people who called themselves my parents neglected me from the time I was a baby all the way until I was old enough to think for myself. There’s no way they took proper care of me when I was a high-maintenance infant.

Maybe that’s why all this affection now, pouring in from all directions and aimed solely at me, still felt unfamiliar and awkward.

Oops, I spilled again while reminiscing about the past.

As I frowned from the sticky feeling on my chin, Uihyeon chuckled quietly and gently wiped it clean again.

Once my skin was dry and fresh again, I relaxed my brow and gave a big happy smile.

Catching my smile, Uihyeon made eye contact and smiled back with the corners of his eyes creasing. 

‘Wow, even his smile sparkles. Truly the ultimate warm-hearted sweet guy!’

Even after finishing an entire bowl of baby food, I wasn’t full. I smacked my lips, and Uihyeon gently wiped my mouth with a soft cloth.

Then, holding me in his arms, he patted my back and helped me burp while rubbing my back softly.

“Sweetie, ready for a nap now?”

He laid me down on the floor cushion and gently covered me with a light, soft blanket.

As he rhythmically patted my body, I let out a long yawn.

Once I closed my eyes, Uihyeon sat beside me quietly, watching for a while, then carefully stood up.

But all his effort went to waste when the door slid open with a rattle, and a loud voice rang out.

“Uihyeon! Time for training!”

I snapped my eyes open, and Ui-hyeon dropped into a crouch, clearly flustered.

He quickly resumed patting me and clenched his jaw at the person standing in the doorway.

“Great Brother Uikang, Biyeon just fell asleep.”

“I-I didn’t know it was nap time…”

“Well, now you know. From now on, this time is officially Biyeon’s nap time.”

Turning my head slightly, I spotted a familiar big guy sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

He was one of the people who kept checking in on me with curious interest.

When our eyes met, he grinned and, with a voice that didn’t match his size at all, cooed,

“Oh no, did this Great Uncle wake little Biyeon up?”

“She doesn’t even have a Master yet. What do you mean, Great Uncle…”

“If she becomes your disciple, then of course I’m her Great Uncle.”

“Great Brother, that’s not something you decide now. She should choose for herself when she grows up.”

“Alright, alright, I get it. But this is bad. We need to head to the training hall right now or we’ll be late, and because of me, she woke up…”

Seeing Uihyeon patting me anxiously while the big guy fretted and fidgeted, I decided to do them a favor and shut my eyes again—pretending to sleep.

‘There you go. Just this once, I’ll act like a good baby.’

Uihyeon let out a relieved sigh, gently stroked my head, and quietly left the room.

But the moment the door closed, I opened my eyes. I blinked a couple times, wide awake.

‘Damn it, now I’m fully awake.’

I flipped my body over, raised my little butt in the air, planted my knees on the floor, and pressed my palms down.

The classic crawling position.

The sliding door had been left slightly open to let air in, and it wasn’t hard to push it open wide enough for my body to slip through. Just a little nudge and it moved easily.

I crawled across the wooden floor, then tumbled awkwardly down the porch steps before finally landing safely in the clean, stone-free yard.

Placing my palms on the dirt, I blinked and thought for a moment.

‘Okay, I made it out… but where should I go?’

It had been a week since I was taken in by the Hwasan Sect.

My range of activity so far had only included the Sect Leader’s room and mine.

My only experience with the outside world was the few times Uihyeon carried me around the training grounds to get some sun.

Now that I thought about it, I clearly remember that dark moment when I suddenly burst into tears from being overwhelmed by the crowd.

‘Which way was the training ground again? Oh well. The Earth is round. If I keep crawling forward, I’ll run into something, right?’

I crawled with all my might, not caring whether the sleeves covering my hands or the fabric around my knees got scraped against the dirt.

But before I could even make it out of the yard, I bumped my head against someone’s leg with a soft thunk.

“Whoa, what the hell?!”

Startled by the shout, I looked up at the person towering over me.

He looked slightly younger than Uihyeon—somewhere between a boy and a young man. His face still had a trace of boyishness.

His sharply slanted eyes added to his rough, rebellious impression. The loosely tied ponytail practically begged to be yanked.

‘There’s no way I’d forget a face this handsome. So he must be one of the guys who never visited me, probably because he wasn’t interested.’

As I just blinked up at him, he casually picked me up with one hand, looked me in the face, and asked,

“Hey, kid! How the hell did you even get all the way out here? Did someone just dump you on the ground or something?”

‘Then why are you wandering around when it’s supposed to be training time? Skipping practice?’

A pouty frown formed on my face as my attempt at a jailbreak ended in failure.

“…Don’t tell me you came out here alone.”

He narrowed his eyes and scanned the area, but when he noticed the steep porch steps I had “overcome”, he shook his head, like the thought was too absurd.

“What kind of lunatic would…”

Muttering with a sigh, he adjusted his hold on me and started walking toward the place where my room was.

“Abwah!”

“Ack! Why are you so strong for such a tiny thing?!”

As I threw a tantrum and yanked on his ponytail with all my might, he let out a yelp, then carefully pried my hands off his hair and asked,

“What, you don’t wanna go back in?”

I gave a firm nod, and the guy scratched his cheek awkwardly and stopped walking.

“You didn’t crawl all the way out here just to see Brother Uihyeon, did you?”

“Aah-bung.”

I babbled to mean “I just came out because I felt like it”, but who knows how he interpreted it, because he asked another question.

“You want me to take you to brother Uihyeon?”

Well, the training ground was my goal anyway. As they say, all roads lead to Seoul. Better to get carried than crawl.

The moment I nodded, he clicked his tongue and turned around without hesitation, still holding me in his arms.

“Tsk, guess ditching training today is off the table.”

‘So you were skipping. Thought so.’