By Zephyria 
Ak Mujin’s mind was a blur with thoughts of Jin Geum-ryeon as he descended the mountain and met with Chun-wol’s aide to move. He still couldn’t believe that he had parted ways with him, but every time his hand touched Moonless hanging from his waist, it coldly reminded him of reality.
Jin Geum-ryeon’s smile at the last moment suddenly came to mind.
Could there be a more heartbreaking sight he had ever seen in his life? Ak Mujin had faced Jin Geum-ryeon’s smile several times, but he couldn’t understand why he felt it so special this time. It was even more so because he had never imagined that Jin Geum-ryeon would let him go on his own. The words he had said like a vow at the time of their reunion kept echoing in his mind.
‘If I meet you again, I will never let you go again. I won’t let you move even a step away from my side…’
Thinking about it, he even felt a sense of disappointment that he hadn’t held him back.
Disappointment…? Didn’t he even use Meridian crippling poison to escape from Jin Geum-ryeon? Ak Mujin himself couldn’t understand why such absurd thoughts kept popping up.
Perhaps this feeling was sympathy. Jin Geum-ryeon was like a child he had given birth to. Wouldn’t it be natural to feel sympathy for a beloved protagonist?
In any case, since that day, Ak Mujin felt so anxious whenever he thought of Jin Geum-ryeon that he couldn’t find peace of mind no matter where he went or what he did.
Of course, Ak Mujin had left Jin Geum-ryeon so that he could return to normal as soon as possible, so he shouldn’t regret it. Nevertheless, Ak Mujin was very worried about how he was doing, so he occasionally received news from the Sandow Union. There were stories of minor clashes with the Martial Alliance, but fortunately, there seemed to be no internal changes within the Sandow Union.
While he was lost in thought for a while, the carriage he was riding in slowly came to a stop.
“We have arrived.”
The man sitting across from Ak Mujin, Bong-myeong, said. He was Chun-wol’s aide, in charge of managing the Sound chambers that Chun-wol owned, but he was not affiliated with the Demon Cult. Therefore, he was perfect for taking care of Ak Mujin.
Ak Mujin nodded and put on the Human Skin Mask before getting out of the carriage. He was about to enter the Sound chamber naturally.
A commotion arose in the distance. Ak Mujin narrowed his eyes and looked closely, and saw two large men grabbing a man in white clothes from both sides and leading him into the building, followed by another group of large men chasing after them. The man in white clothes had a bamboo hat on his back, and his appearance was quite familiar.
Didn’t ‘Mae-yeong,’ who had once saved Ak Mujin, also wear a white Long Robe and a bamboo hat?
“Let go…! I said let go…!”
The man shouted weakly and tried to shake them off, but his slender arms seemed to lack the strength to push them away. No, even if he shook off the men who were restraining him, it would be impossible to escape if he saw those chasing after them.
“Hmph, no matter how much you fly, you’re just a Yin Person! You dared to release our Golden Dragon Sound chamber’s Yin Persons, so you’ll have to pay the price. Go and get ready to receive guests!”
Ak Mujin was so bewildered by the strange situation that he couldn’t enter the Sound chamber and stood still, so Bong-myeong asked.
“Aren’t you going in?”
“Over there… shouldn’t we help him?”
Only then did Bong-myeong stare at the direction Ak Mujin was looking at. And he immediately understood the situation and shook his head.
“We can’t interfere with other Houses of courtesans’ affairs. It would be troublesome if they picked a fight with us for no reason, so it’s better to just ignore it.”
Bong-myeong said so, but Ak Mujin couldn’t just let it go. As he stood there like a stone statue with his brows furrowed, Bong-myeong had no choice but to stand by his side and watch the situation.
The man in white clothes reminded him of Mae-yeong, so Ak Mujin felt even worse. If it were the real Mae-yeong, he could have easily subdued the guards of the House of courtesans, but this person couldn’t.
In the end, Ak Mujin took a few steps forward to intervene. And at the same time as the scent of Red Plum wafted, he was able to take a closer look at the man in white clothes.
The man was Mae-yeong, who he had only thought was similar. Ak Mujin was so surprised that he was stunned. He had been constantly worrying about how to meet Mae-yeong, but now that he met him like this, he didn’t know what to do or where to start, so he just hesitated.
“What?”
One of the men who was forcibly dragging Mae-yeong to the House of courtesans asked nervously as Ak Mujin approached. Ak Mujin was momentarily taken aback, but after confirming that the person in trouble was Mae-yeong, he didn’t have to think twice. Moreover, Mae-yeong’s condition was unusual, and it looked like he was suffering from Heat Cycle, as if he had been given aphrodisiacs.
Ak Mujin spoke to the man in a calm tone to resolve the situation with words as much as possible.
“Even so, it’s not right to treat a Yin Person carelessly, is it?”
“Haha… A naive scholar has come to preach. This is our business, so get lost!”
“Let’s talk calmly about why you’re dragging someone away…”
The man didn’t try to listen anymore and gestured towards the back. Then the men rushed forward and took out clubs. Ak Mujin eventually sighed once, then immediately flew up and knocked down the two men holding Mae-yeong’s arms with the scabbard.
“Ugh!”
“Cough!”
“You bastard!”
The men with the clubs began to swing them at Ak Mujin and charged at him. Ak Mujin didn’t want any more commotion, so he hoped that Mae-yeong would escape in the meantime. But he couldn’t move at all and gasped for breath before collapsing on the spot. Ak Mujin had no choice but to subdue all the remaining men, then supported Mae-yeong and put his arm around his shoulder.
“If you have any injuries, claim them at the Drunken Dream Pavilion.”
At those words, Bong-myeong immediately glared at Ak Mujin with his eyes wide open. In fact, Ak Mujin didn’t have any money, so he was quite worried about how to repay this.
“Stop!”
One of the fallen men shouted persistently, but Ak Mujin and Bong-myeong ignored the voice and moved towards the Drunken Dream Pavilion. Bong-myeong sighed and asked Ak Mujin.
“…Weren’t you supposed to live quietly in seclusion?”
“…I’m sorry. I couldn’t just ignore it…”
Bong-myeong glared at Ak Mujin with a sullen face, then took him into the Sound chamber. As Ak Mujin supported Mae-yeong and went inside, he couldn’t understand how he had come to suffer such humiliation, so he felt uneasy.
*
The men who had come to their senses belatedly stormed into the Drunken Dream Pavilion and caused a commotion, but it seemed that Bong-myeong had stepped forward and handled it well. To cause an accident upon arrival in a position where he was indebted to them, he was extremely embarrassed. Bong-myeong, who had been nagging, only let Ak Mujin go after receiving a vow to stay as quiet as possible in the future.
Ak Mujin was able to enter the room assigned to him with Bong-myeong’s guidance, but Mae-yeong had already fainted as soon as he entered the Sound chamber. Because of the Body fragrance of the Yin Person who had entered Heat Cycle, all the attention of the Sound chamber was focused on him, so it seemed better for him to faint.
He hurriedly laid Mae-yeong on the bed and asked Bong-myeong for a Heat Cycle suppressant and fed it to him. Fortunately, although it was a Sound chamber that only dealt with music, related items were always stocked due to the nature of the House of courtesans.
As he belatedly examined Mae-yeong, he noticed a faint powder on his collar. It seemed that the men had noticed that Mae-yeong was a Yin Person and used drugs. Seeing that, Ak Mujin felt sorry for Mae-yeong and his heart wavered somewhat.
In fact, Ak Mujin, realizing that Mae-yeong was in his hands, only thought of attaching Mae-yeong to Jin Geum-ryeon. From his experience so far, he only felt that there was only one thing worth trying.
That is, to confine Mae-yeong in the Sound chamber.
From the moment he realized that this world was not the original, he had speculated that it might be a Doujinshi, <Red Plum>. However, it was difficult to be sure because there were things that didn’t quite fit. That’s because in <Red Plum>, Seo Moon-gwang, who had a crush on Mae-yeong, kidnapped him to the House of courtesans and did all sorts of perverted things to stimulate Jin Geum-ryeon, who appeared to rescue his teacher, but Seo Moon-gwang in this world was suddenly obsessed with Ak Mujin.
But, coincidentally, didn’t he meet Mae-yeong in the Sound chamber after a long time? All that Jin Geum-ryeon and Mae-yeong needed was hardship, and it might not necessarily have to be Seo Moon-gwang. If there’s no teeth, use gums. If there’s no villain, I will! It was the last hope Ak Mujin could try.
Originally, finding someone’s fate is such a difficult task. In fact, there are many cases where people die without finding their destined lover throughout their lives. If Jin Geum-ryeon can be happy by doing this, then peace can be brought to the Central Plains.
But why does his heart sting so much when he imagines Jin Geum-ryeon and Mae-yeong hugging each other affectionately? Ak Mujin shook his head lightly to shake off the unknown feeling.