By Zephyria 
During the fight, Young-pa noticed a silver ring half-hidden by the opponent’s collar. A warm energy emanated faintly from the necklace; it was clearly an accessory used to amplify power.
‘I wondered why he seemed extraordinary; he was relying on a shortcut.’
He had seen serpents in the underground stealing magic accessories and boasting about them. While wearing them granted temporary strength, the effect of the devices faded over time.
“Young master, I wonder what would happen if I broke that necklace?”
The man replied while blocking Young-pa’s kick with his bamboo cane.
“Try breaking it, then.”
There was something provocative about his tone. If only Young-pa could drive his fist into that undoubtedly unlucky face!
Young-pa dodged the swinging cane with a backflip and sent a gust of wind toward the man’s face. He had intended to knock off the hat, but the man quickly ducked to avoid it. Young-pa immediately leaped and drove his fist downward, but he only succeeded in digging a deep hole where the man had been standing.
“I heard Immortal Flower is looking for the Prisoner of Hyeonmu.”
The man spoke casually, swinging his bamboo cane.
Though the fight had begun to uncover the man’s identity, Young-pa was enjoying the act of trading blows itself. He simply wanted to bring him down, and he was curious about the face beneath the hat.
“So? What about it!”
Young-pa ducked to avoid an attack and drove his fist into the man’s stomach with all his might. The opponent twisted his body to the right, which was exactly what Young-pa had been aiming for.
Young-pa quickly extended his opposite arm. He couldn’t reach the man’s body, but the hat string was a viable target. As the end of the string caught on his finger, Young-pa yanked it as if he had been waiting for the moment.
“Oh dear.”
The man muttered in apparent bewilderment, and Young-pa already felt victorious. The hat slid off, revealing his secret face.
Young-pa’s mouth, which had been curled in a mischievous grin, slowly fell open. A man more handsome than he could have imagined was looking down at him. The man was a peerless beauty, enough to make one’s eyes widen.
“I am also looking for the Prisoner of Hyeonmu.”
He spoke, moving his well-shaped lips. Young-pa was so stunned he couldn’t find the words to respond.
“Noble Immortal Flower is arriving! Clear the way!”
Noise erupted in the distance, and people began to crowd toward one spot. Young-pa frowned and scanned the entrance of the marketplace.
Lee Shim had said that Immortal Flower was a righteous person. Since Young-pa had turned the gambling den into a wasteland with his fighting, the man would likely take issue with it.
‘In that case, I should make a quick getaway.’
When Young-pa chuckled and looked forward again, the man had already vanished.
≋ ≋ ≋
After spending a lavish amount of money at the market, Young-pa and Lee Shim headed north along the Bear River. Wearing a silk robe with fine silk ties, Young-pa walked along the deserted road, swaggering like a king.
They traversed the plains and crossed three or four hills, but since they were not ordinary humans, they moved with a speed as if wings had sprouted from their ankles. Upon encountering a tutelary shrine, they decided to stay the night and entered the outskirts of a village. It was nearly midnight.
“Oh my, young masters, you’ve arrived. This way, please sit here at the head table.”
Despite the late hour, the landlady welcomed Young-pa and Lee Shim warmly. The two took their places on the tavern’s wooden platform and demanded a table of drinks and appetizers. The landlady dashed toward the kitchen like an arrow.
“See, brother. Just as I said, the treatment is different when you’re dressed up, isn’t it?”
“It’s probably because of the sound coming from your pockets.”
“Ah…”
Young-pa had let Lee Shim carry the jewelry that remained after procuring their clothes. Lee Shim had stuffed them into various pockets, but there was no way to stop the clinking sound.
“Do not worry. After you have a few meals, brother, they will vanish without a trace.”
The landlady brought a bottle of cloudy rice wine, eggplant side dishes, egg appetizers, and grilled meat. Without even touching the cups, Young-pa grabbed the neck of the bottle and poured the liquor straight down his throat. He also placed the plate of grilled meat in front of himself and ate it all, not giving a single piece to Lee Shim.
“Do you always eat this much, brother?”
There was a hidden barb in the words, but Young-pa didn’t notice. He leaned back in his chair with satisfaction after clearing the appetizer plate. Lee Shim quickly ordered more food.
“In the underground, the food was disgusting, so I hardly ate.”
“Well, you do seem thin for a human. You need to put on some weight.”
“No. Now that I think about it, he was tall.”
“Why are you suddenly saying that?”
Young-pa stared blankly into the air and drew a line with his fingertip.
“He was about this tall. Despite that, his movements were as agile as a swallow, making him troublesome.”
“Who? Ah, the wretched human who played with you… no, who dared to challenge you, brother?”
“Played with me? If it weren’t for that magic necklace, that fellow would be my prey.”
“Oh, of course! A hundred—no, a thousand such ignoramuses wouldn’t be a match for you, brother.”
“He wasn’t exactly an ignoramus. That pretty fellow knew something.”
Young-pa sank into thought with a grim expression. Before the man had vanished, his gaze had lingered on the back of Young-pa’s hand. The wound from the stick had stopped bleeding by then and the edges were healing.
Young-pa turned over his hand. There was no trace of the wound on the now cleanly healed skin.
‘I am also looking for the Prisoner of Hyeonmu.’
The man had known from the start that Young-pa had come from the snake cave. He had intentionally started a fight to discover that Young-pa possessed some of Ji Seo-gu’s abilities.
“Now that I think about it, there was something strange.”
“Something strange?”
“The treasure that the sucker gave as an entry fee.”
Thanks to the curved jade with a jade-green tint that the man had provided, they were able to procure decent clothing and enjoy hearty meals.
“You might not know this, brother, but that is an object used by humans hundreds of years ago.”
“Hundreds of years ago?”
“Yes. Did you see the pattern carved on it? It was a pattern that was very popular among the royalty of the past, and later, even the commoners all followed suit. I know this well because I used to specialize in grave robbing.”
Young-pa stared at the table in silence. In truth, the pattern said to be popular among ancient humans was familiar to him as well. However, Young-pa did not bother to reveal this.
“A child of a noble house must have smuggled out a family heirloom.”
“If he is a human of noble status as you say, brother… could he perhaps be a prince? I happened to overhear that a prince of some country is a young man.”
“Is that the best you can come up with?”
Young-pa scolded Lee Shim, yet he felt it was a plausible theory. The man’s relaxed yet dignified demeanor was not that of an ordinary human; it would not be surprising if he were royalty.
“Perhaps he isn’t human. He could be a lesser dragon with a great talent for disguise, like me.”
“Pfft. What a funny story. Keep going.”
“How about a mountain god or a river deity? That would explain why he is unfamiliar with the ways of the human world.”
“Those things have a habit of only guarding their own territories, so they rarely venture outside.”
“Brother, you just say no to everything. You’re too harsh.”
“It’s your fault for spouting such nonsense.”
“Then for heaven’s sake, what is that man’s identity?”
A fist as hard as a rock slammed into the crown of Lee Shim’s head. The jewelry in his pockets clinked loudly.
“How should I know?”
“B-brother! Aaaagh!”
“That’s why I’m curious, you idiot!”
“Stop, please stop! Ack!”
Lee Shim shut his mouth in a pout, and Young-pa ate and drank in silence.
After finishing their meal, they looked for a place to stay. However, there were no vacant rooms in the small village, so the landlady offered to let them sleep on the roof of the tavern.
Each receiving a blanket, they leaped up onto the thatched roof. When Young-pa stripped off his upper garment and lay in the center, Lee Shim spread his blanket at Young-pa’s feet and curled up beside him.
Young-pa propped his head up with both palms and gazed at the black sky. Stars shone brightly, embedded in a space that stretched infinitely. As he watched, he felt as if he might be sucked into them.
‘Was the night sky always like this? It looks as if it might spill over.’
The ceiling of the prison below had also been entirely dark, but it was merely pitch black. The real sky was different. It was vast, wide open, and revealed the mysterious harmony of nature.
“Are you comfortable, brother?”
“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve slept with such a light heart. This kind of silence, this feeling of peace.”
“I suppose so. Most people think the underground is quiet, but in truth, it’s noisy with its own sounds.”
As Lee Shim said, the underground was not quiet. The serpents covering the floor and ceiling hissed incessantly, and Ji Seo-gu’s dolls—the failures whose bodies had been cut and grafted—wailed in pain.
At the thought of Black Tortoise, Young-pa’s blood inevitably began to boil.
‘Your sin is that you are alive. Therefore, cease your resistance and accept your fate.’
Where in the world is someone condemned simply for being alive? Young-pa had never for a moment accepted the things that had happened to him.
‘Why was I imprisoned there?’
Was he unable to die after reaching the end of his lifespan like an ordinary human? What had happened in the past to make him a prisoner of a deity? The chain of thoughts led him to the most fundamental question.
‘Who am I?’
Young-pa glared at the sky in frustration, but the stars only twinkled and gave no answer. He felt a strange fear—the realization that he was small and insignificant within the vast expanse of the world.
“About Black Tortoise… isn’t they just utterly gloomy?”
Lee Shim, who had been quiet for a while, muttered.
“They say no one knows what they’re thinking… are they definitely in hibernation, brother?”
“They are.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because if they weren’t, they wouldn’t let you and me fool around here, you piece of shit!”
The blanket Young-pa was holding burst, and fluff flew into the air.
“Wow. It looks like… l-l-like it’s snowing. Yawn…”
Lee Shim let out a large yawn and then fell silent. Young-pa also fell asleep while grinding his teeth, thinking of various ways to take revenge on Black Tortoise.
≋ ≋ ≋
That night, Young-pa had a strange dream.
He was fast asleep in a magnificent bed that only a king would use. A breeze blew through the wide-open window, and an owl hooted long. Then, the mysterious man he had met the previous day entered the room. He was dressed in a thin, translucent inner garment, his hair flowing loose.
Unlike a dream, the sensations were realistic. The low sound of breathing, the faint friction of the floor being pressed with every step, the sign of someone rummaging through belongings, the clinking of jewelry, and even Lee Shim’s snoring, which echoed loudly in the midst of it all.
The man came close and looked at Young-pa’s face. Then, he reached out and fumbled near his chest. When that hand entered his trousers and slid between his thighs, Young-pa woke up with a start. Upon waking, he was on the roof where he had fallen asleep the day before.
“Fuck, what kind of bullshit dream was that?”
Muttering harshly, he looked around to see Lee Shim groaning and curling up like a coiled serpent, as if having a nightmare. For a dream, the sound of the clinking jade pendants, the man’s gaze on his cheek, and the sensation of fingers sliding were vivid.
Young-pa lay his head back down, but his mind was clear. He frowned and glared at the sky.
It was still dark as dawn had not yet broken. A faint glow of dawn flickered at the far end of the horizon, and the morning star hung in the low sky. His discarded jacket and blanket were damp from the overnight drizzle, and the image of the man from his dream lingered before his eyes.
Young-pa grabbed his jacket and jumped off the roof. After hanging the clothes on a stake, he walked out into the yard.
Though it was a dark hour, not everyone was asleep. Young-pa heard the sound of a dew-covered cricket fluttering its wings. He saw a wildcat from Cheongrim resting while grooming its claws. Birds were preening their feathers in high places. Until the first rooster crowed and the humans woke up, nature would maintain its quiet balance.
He took a deep breath of the moisture filling the air and threw a bare fist into the void. He spun around as if dodging an invisible attack, then extended his leg and struck downward. He leaped high, delivering a series of kicks in mid-air, and as he landed, a cloud of dust rose around him.
Before his blurred vision returned to normal, he pushed off the ground and leaped again. His hair fluttered, and a cold wind struck his bare chest.
There was someone observing Young-pa as he performed flips and kicked at an invisible enemy. Engrossed in his training, Young-pa did not feel the gaze for a long time. The moment he noticed something strange, he flung a pebble the size of a fist with all his might. The pebble flew like an arrow toward the top of a pine tree, only to be caught in the grip of someone sitting on a branch.
Because the rising sun was casting its light, the silhouette leaning against the tree appeared blurred. As the black shadow shifted its posture, the morning light poured over the profile of the man he had met in Sabi.
“Your greeting is quite affectionate.”
He looked down at Young-pa from atop the towering pine. He had one leg bent upward and the other hanging down. Just as the day before, his hair was tied in a single ponytail beneath his bamboo hat.
A crooked smile played on Young-pa’s lips.
“Strange. I was just thinking about you since dawn.”
Had this fellow followed him all the way from Sabi? Perhaps the scene he had dismissed as a dream was not actually a dream. Young-pa glared at the man, who stood with the bright sunrise behind him.
“You rotten stump, did you rummage through my pockets while I was sleeping?”
“Should I have woken you?”
Young-pa let out a hollow laugh of disbelief. It was a situation where he should have leaped up and grabbed the man by the collar, yet the man’s brazenness left him speechless.
“You weren’t wearing those erotic clothes that show through everything, were you?”
The man only frowned and did not answer.
‘He’s suspicious, but he has no intention of harming me.’
It was clear that he was not part of Black Tortoise’s faction. If he were, he would have tried to capture Young-pa alive instead of rummaging through his trousers at dawn.
“If you wanted to touch me, why didn’t you wake me up? Why fumble with my thighs in secret?”
At Young-pa’s playful jab, the man’s eyebrows rose. While the radiant light moved from his back to his neck, and from his neck to the crown of his head, Young-pa struggled not to blink.
The man leaped down lightly and approached slowly. With every step, the robe draped over his shoulders swayed softly. When he stopped at a certain distance, a faint scent resembling a rare orchid drifted on the breeze.
At the gambling game, Young-pa had been too busy raging over his wounded hand to observe him properly. Meeting the man again in the quiet dawn, Young-pa could tell he was no ordinary human.
The gaze they exchanged was cold and empty. An indifference like an endless night sky, devoid of emotion or interest. From the man, Young-pa felt a profound void that could not be hidden even by his young and handsome appearance.
Who was he? A spy for one of the Four Symbols? Truly a human of noble status? A mountain god or river deity, as Lee Shim guessed? For what reason was he looking for the Prisoner of Hyeonmu? Why did he not oppose him? What did he want? Questions followed one after another.
Young-pa concentrated strength in his fingertips and glared at the man.
“Have we met before?”
“No.”
“Then why are you following me? If you don’t answer straight, I’ll kill you.”
The hem of the man’s robe fluttered in the harsh wind, and his ponytail swayed. However, there was no change in his expression.
“You said you were looking for the Prisoner of Hyeonmu! How did you know!”
“A certain bird chirped about it.”
The man answered as if he had no interest. His attitude was far from that of someone succumbing to a threat.
“The rumors have spread already.”
The power of the fiercely blowing wind gradually subsided. As the leisurely conversation continued, the urge to attack the man slowly faded.
“What does it matter to you whether the prisoner escaped or not?”
“I am looking for the treasures of the underground. If that prisoner is as clever as I hope, they might have stolen them while escaping.”
Young-pa recalled the miscellaneous items he had plundered from the treasure vault. Most were trash that could hardly be called treasures. Except for one.
‘Things are getting interesting.’
Young-pa withdrew his sorcery and approached the man. As he walked a few more steps, the face—so handsome it seemed inhuman—drew closer. He whispered with a sense of amusement.
“I wonder what the polished young master wants among those trinkets. Perhaps it’s the ring that emits a transparent light?”