Translator: Nox

Chapter 104

104

Yeon-ryang chuckled at my trembling voice and ruffled my hair.

"That's enough. You little rascal. What do you know about killing people?"

"But..."

"I said it's enough. Don't worry. You have your big brother, don't you?"

He stretched my cheeks as if telling me not to say useless things, and his face returned to its usual playful expression.

"Are you really okay?"

"Did you erase the traces well?"

"Yeah. I did as you told me. I kept checking for any pursuers, and I deliberately went up to another peak, circled around, and then came down."

"Then you'll be fine. You've worked hard."

He nodded, crossed his arms, and raised the corners of his lips.

"Well, it wouldn't be bad to trust in human faith for once. You look like a complete country bumpkin, So-hye, so no one will suspect you."

Then he glanced at the hermitage on the mountain peak.

"Instead, I'll have to set up a Formation. It's better to hide the hermitage so no one can find it."

"Formation? Brother, you know how to handle Formations too?"

"I'm just clumsily imitating it. If someone skilled in Formations came, they'd break it right away, but it's better than nothing."

Yeon-ryang replied and pulled out a rock from the ground.

"Oh, oh, I'll do it! Brother! Your wound will burst!"

"This much is fine. Sit down. It'll take about an hour."

He sat me down on a stump and began to busily move around the path leading to the hermitage, fixing the terrain.

At first, I wondered what he was doing, but as I kept watching, I could vaguely see the shape of a familiar Formation.

Dang-un had once told me a trick to escape when trapped in a Formation.

'I can't teach you Jegal's Formation... But if you don't know what to do, just break everything. Start by breaking the big rocks, tree stumps, and stone pagodas that stand out.'

It was similar to one of the Formations that Dang-un had shown me, advising me to just break everything with a kind voice.

I narrowed my eyes and asked.

"Brother. Isn't that a Zhuge Clan Formation?"

"Probably. I heard the higher-ups got a Formation book from someone in the Jegal family."

"What? There's a Demonic Sect spy in the Zhuge Clan too?"

"Shhh. My head will fly off."

Yeon-ryang winked as if it were a secret.

Dang-un would cough up blood if he heard that.

To steal the Zhuge Clan's secrets, the Demonic Sect's infiltration must be more advanced than I thought.

They've infiltrated one of the Five Great Families in the Lowborn Sect? Is it okay to just ignore this?

I'm barely managing myself, but it was hard to ignore the creeping anxiety.

I watched Yeon-ryang setting up the Formation, unable to laugh or cry.

\ \ \

Fortunately, what Yeon-ryang feared did not happen.

For more than seven days and nights, no one came looking for the hermitage, nor did anyone seek the sword.

The old man seemed to have kept his promise.

Relieved, we dismantled the Formation and restored the path to its original state.

Yeon-ryang seemed happier than I had ever seen him, probably because of the new sword.

"Brother. Are you polishing your sword again?"

"There was dust on it."

"Dust gets on things even if you leave them alone."

"Yeah. But dust got on Woon Iron."

"...Oh, okay. I won't bother you. Keep polishing."

I was speechless when Yeon-ryang started cherishing his new sword, after telling me to put it back in its place immediately.

The shock of seeing the man who used to roughly wipe off foreign substances on his sword with a clump of grass now carefully wiping the blade with a soft cloth soaked in oil.

Looking down at him, I whispered softly.

"Brother. They say when people start doing things they never used to do, it's time for them to die."

"I see. Then bury the sword with me when you hold my funeral, sister."

Yeon-ryang replied nonchalantly and polished the sword until it gleamed.

...If I had taken that sword back to the iron shop, he would have cried.

He turned the blue-shining blade this way and that, grinning to himself, but soon his expression hardened, and he asked worriedly.

"So-hye. Can I really use this sword?"

"Ah, brother. If you ask that question one more time, it'll be the hundredth time. It's your sword now, okay?"

"It's the first time I've ever touched such a good sword, so I'm not used to it. I've never used anything but a rusty iron sword my whole life."

"Doesn't the Demonic Sect even provide proper weapons? What a bunch of thugs."

"Well, it's better to look like a third-rate thug. If you carry a good sword, you'll stand out."

"...That's true. I've come to accept it."

To gather information while traveling around the Central Plains, it would be advantageous to look like a local gangster.

I never thought the day would come when I'd understand the plight of a Demonic Sect member. It's strangely self-deprecating.

I shook my head and said.

"You got that sword by selling your brother's name, who else would use it if you don't? It's your sword, so take good care of it."

"Okay. I understand."

Yeon-ryang nodded, still looking dazed as if he couldn't believe it.

"Then when can I start training? I want to use it quickly."

"When you get rid of the Poison."

"That sounds like you're telling me never to do it."

"Of course not. I've finished all the preparations to get rid of it. I gave the Imperial Concubine's medicinal herbs to the monks of each gate for seven days and nights, and I've finished making the Poison to mix into the deworming pills. Now you just have to eat it for seven days and nights."

At my words, Yeon-ryang's face, which had been full of life, turned pale in an instant.

"It takes seven days and nights? I don't expect the Poison to taste good, but can't you at least take out some of the honey? The pills you make taste like garbage wrapped in honey that even beggars would avoid."

"Pills are originally made by mixing powdered medicine with honey and rolling it into a ball. You seem to have the energy to complain, so your condition must be okay. Let's go eat the Poison quickly."

"You don't just mix it with honey, you make honey preserves... Never mind. I won't say anything."

Yeon-ryang sighed and got up with a resigned expression.

His back, heading towards the cave, looked as tired as someone carrying the world's hardships on his shoulders.

I shrugged and followed him.

\ \ \

I gradually changed the composition of the deworming pills and recorded the changes that appeared in Yeon-ryang's body every day.

For the first three days, there was no reaction even after eating the deworming pills.

But on the fourth day, the Poison, unable to withstand the toxicity, began to reveal its presence.

At the same time, Yeon-ryang's complexion also noticeably worsened.

Yeon-ryang seemed to be trying not to show that he was in pain, but Demonic Energy was slowly leaking out, as if he was having difficulty controlling his Qi due to the pain.

The monks of the hermitage felt a sense of unease at the strange Energy Flow.

After much deliberation, I completely moved Yeon-ryang's residence to the cave.

It was a choice to protect the monks and hide Yeon-ryang's condition.

"To make your sick brother sleep on a stone floor. Aren't you being too much, sister?"

Unlike his grumbling, Yeon-ryang, who was lying on the floor and scattering Demonic Energy everywhere, had a comfortable expression.

"I even spread straw for you. Endure it. You're the one being too much? Your Demonic Energy is so thick I can't breathe."

"Haha. Sorry, sorry. This guy is settled above my Dantian, so it's hard to control because the Qi Flow is blocked."

"The Poison moved above your Dantian?"

"Yeah. Every time I try to gather Inner Energy, the Poison intercepts it in the middle. It doesn't even try to hide that it's sucking up my True energy anymore."

At the unwelcome news, I frowned involuntarily.

Is it making a last-ditch effort? Above the Dantian is dangerous. I need to find a way to lure it elsewhere.

At that moment, I coughed as Demonic Energy poured down as if crushing my body.

It was such a sinister Energy Flow that I would have run away if Yeon-ryang hadn't been the one emitting it.

"Cough, cough! At least try to control it! Ugh, how did you hide this? Now I finally realize you're a Demonic Sect member."

"Who would think of me as a Demonic Sect member with this innocent face?"

"Shave your beard and then say that. You look like a sinister Demonic Sect guy right now. You look twice as scary because of that fierce beard."

At my scolding, Yeon-ryang, who had been rolling around on the straw bed, slowly got up.

His hair, which had been faintly crimson in the light, was as red as the burning sunset, and his eyes were a clear blood-red.

I instinctively flinched at the eerie gaze. I tried to act calm and opened my mouth.

"Your eyes are also Demonic Sect-like. They look redder than Red Jade."

"Haha, I didn't get this nickname for nothing."

"Nickname? What nickname?"

At my question, Yeon-ryang, who had been stretching, wrote a letter on the cave floor.

Demon Ryang.

I pondered the letter, wondering what it meant, and then screamed.

"Huh? Brother. Ryang was a nickname, not your name?"

"Yeah. It means Mang-ryang of the training cave. Among the guys who were captured with me, I was the only one whose eyes turned this red. They said my eyes were scary and called me that."

"No, who calls a person a demon?"

"Haha, but I liked having a nickname. Isn't Mang-ryang better than being called Number 24?"

"What are you talking about? Both are terrible. I'm going crazy. Did they call everyone there by numbers?"

"Yeah. People die so quickly when they're locked up in the training cave, it's easier to manage them if you distinguish them by numbers. We called each other by numbers too."

There was a madhouse somewhere else. What is this, taking young children and...

I couldn't think of anything to say.

I stammered, barely managing to make a sound.

"I, I naturally thought it was the name your parents gave you. Don't you remember your original name?"

"I don't know. I was too young... I remember my mother calling me 'baby,' but I don't remember my name."

"Then what's your Yeon family name?"

"That's the name of the leader who sent me to the Central Plains. He told me to use his name when I went out."

"Was he a good person?"

"He fed me well."

"...Seriously, I'm going crazy. Is food the standard for a good person? Then am I your benefactor? I bought you so much meat?"

I frowned and erased the letters written on the floor. Then I wrote new letters in the same place.

Bright Ryang.

I dusted off the dirt on my hands and tapped the floor.

"Forget Mang-ryang. From today on, this is your name."

Yeon-ryang, who had checked the letters I had written, made an absurd expression.

"What? That's a letter that doesn't suit me at all. Sister."

"You don't know anything. There's no letter that suits you better than this. You're too bright."

Yeon-ryang didn't laugh at my glibness. He just stared at the floor.

Lost in thought, he was making an expression that I couldn't describe.

Yeon-ryang quietly swept back his loose hair and slowly traced the letters I had written.

Then a soft smile appeared on his lips. Yeon-ryang, who had been smiling silently, slowly nodded.

"...Okay. Let's do that."