By Zephyria 
When Seong Mu-yeon received the map from Gang Woong, he thought he would be able to meet Baek Ryeo-il in no time.
As Gang Woong had said, the Poison Freak’s hideout was not far from Lanzhou. It was a distance that could be covered in about fifteen minutes.
It didn’t take long for him to reach his destination.
There were no signs, nor a proper road. It was a remote forest far from any village. It seemed like a place where no one would live, but just as indicated on the map, three towering trees flanking a strangely shaped rock stood there to greet Seong Mu-yeon.
Behind the three trees, white limestone rocks intersected, leaving a narrow gap just wide enough for one person to pass through. Entering through that gap would lead to the Poison Freak’s hideout.
I’ve found the right place.
‘I’m coming! Please wait just a little longer!’
Seong Mu-yeon stuffed the now-useless map into his sleeve and hurriedly squeezed himself inside. The only thought in Seong Mu-yeon’s mind was that he had to meet Baek Ryeo-il.
It was because the words Ma Jin-cheon had spoken weighed heavily on his heart.
〈Ryeo-il has already put his feelings to rest, believing that Young Master Seong Mu-yeon’s heart is not the same as mine.〉
Put them to rest? Now that I’ve finally realized his true feelings! How could he!
At the time of their parting, Seong Mu-yeon had believed that a future together was not worth everything Baek Ryeo-il possessed.
Baek Ryeo-il was someone meant to go out into the wider world and achieve great things, so it was only natural.
He thought they were merely a brief encounter, a fleeting connection. Seong Mu-yeon believed that Baek Ryeo-il would forget him quickly.
However, even after all this time, Baek Ryeo-il had not changed.
Seong Mu-yeon’s throat tightened with emotion.
Baek Ryeo-il’s heart was heavier than he had imagined. Having lived a shallow life, Seong Mu-yeon had not dared to even gauge its depth.
How could he have done it?
Despite the wretched betrayal, the long separation, and the fact that Seong Mu-yeon had shamelessly hidden himself and deceived him even after they reunited—how could he have kept his heart so steadfast and unwavering through such trials?
Seong Mu-yeon recalled the time he was tied up alone in a dark, damp cave. To retrieve Seong Mu-yeon, Baek Ryeo-il had fought against the Heaven-Sent Fortress all night without retreating. During the battle, the vibrations and impact sounds, filled with desperate longing, had resonated deeply within Seong Mu-yeon’s heart through the walls.
Thinking of Baek Ryeo-il’s feelings at that moment made his chest feel constricted.
Even without that, Baek Ryeo-il had suffered for a long time. This was a fact he had newly learned through Ma Jin-cheon.
Losing both parents at an age he couldn’t even remember must have been hard enough, yet that memory remained as a deeper wound that continued to torment him.
Therefore, he had to meet him as soon as possible and clear up the misunderstanding before it was too late. Before he gave up and lost all hope…
It was only natural that he felt rushed.
Seong Mu-yeon did not want to be “put to rest”!
If he could be the only source of comfort in Baek Ryeo-il’s harsh life, he would gladly do so.
Right now, nothing mattered to Seong Mu-yeon except meeting Baek Ryeo-il. He didn’t even notice that the scenery was far too tranquil and elegant for someone as ostentatious as the Poison Freak; it looked as if celestial immortals might visit for a stroll.
He was almost there.
Just a little further…!
Seong Mu-yeon struggled through the narrow rock gap. And when he lifted his head, he froze for a moment at the sight unfolding before him.
A moment later.
“What is this!”
Seong Mu-yeon’s scream echoed across the mountain ridge.
What lay before him was a fantastic landscape, like a painting. Inside a basin-like terrain surrounded by white limestone exposing its pale inner flesh, a vast forest stretched out.
Above the vast forest lying beneath a dizzying cliff, an old tiled pavilion with an air of antiquity stood majestically, as if tempting him to come closer.
That part wasn’t the problem.
The problem was the path to the opposite cliff, which appeared to be the destination.
“…I’m supposed to cross here?”
The gap between the cliffs was connected by nothing more than three strands of rope. No matter how hard he looked, there was no such thing as a foothold. Just three ropes, that was all.
The distance from the cliff where Seong Mu-yeon stood to the other side was considerable; it seemed that no matter how great a martial artist was, they wouldn’t be able to cross it in a single leap.
To Seong Mu-yeon, who was afraid of heights, this rope bridge felt like a test to measure the sincerity of his feelings for Baek Ryeo-il.
I-I won’t die, will I?
With tears in his eyes, he stepped onto the rope. He then gripped the other two ropes with both hands and slowly began to move forward.
The rope trembled violently. No, were his legs the ones trembling?
The ropes, lacking any support, swayed and surged incessantly. Even if he were told to walk on clouds, it wouldn’t feel more unstable than this. It felt as if a single slip would cause the ropes to tangle into a mess, making a fall inevitable.
That is how the laws of the world work. Precious things are hard to obtain. Since what he sought was a deep and pure affection that one might not encounter even if they were born a hundred times, this level of trial was practically a gift.
Seong Mu-yeon gritted his teeth and pushed forward. However, before long, the thing he feared happened.
“N-no!”
The balance of the ropes he had desperately maintained broke, and his body began to tilt.
“Aaaah!”
Eventually, the ropes began to dance wildly in all directions. Seong Mu-yeon let out a scream.
The world spun around. If he let go of the ropes, it was the end.
When Seong Mu-yeon finally regained his senses and managed to find his balance again, the rope he had been stepping on was pointing toward the sky, and his arms were crossed. In other words, he was hanging upside down, tangled in the ropes.
Seong Mu-yeon broke into a cold sweat. His long hair hung down and fluttered over the inverted forest.
“….”
Please save me.
He couldn’t move an inch, fearing that the slightest movement would send him plummeting.
Hanging upside down, Seong Mu-yeon felt as if heaven were punishing him. It was as if the sky were screaming, How dare someone like you look at him?
“Hmm.”
That’s ridiculous. Perhaps because blood was rushing to his head, he began to have strange thoughts.
Let’s try to untangle slowly. However, the ropes, possessing a certain elasticity, did not obey his will.
“Aaaah!”
Seong Mu-yeon let out a shrill scream as he clung to the ropes, which were shaking more violently than before.
After spinning for a while, Seong Mu-yeon braced himself. He grabbed all three wildly surging ropes at once and used the elasticity to launch his body.
Throwing himself into the air, Seong Mu-yeon landed on the opposite side in a gentle parabola. His fluttering clothes finally settled.
Thinking that he had looked somewhat cool just now, the corners of Seong Mu-yeon’s mouth twitched.
Trial, my foot.
He let out a snort, directed at no one in particular, and stood up. But that wasn’t the end.
The pavilion, which had looked close enough to touch once he crossed the cliff, was strangely inaccessible. No matter how much he walked among the trees surrounding the grand hall, he felt as if he were circling in place, unable to make any progress.
Seong Mu-yeon realized that a maze formation had been installed here.
Was the Poison Freak always this thorough? He hadn’t even noticed he had stepped into a formation. It was hard to believe the Poison Freak had reached a level of mastery profound enough to use such a sophisticated formation.
Only then did he realize something was strange. With his excitement having subsided, Seong Mu-yeon carefully looked around. Then, he discovered a set of stairs leading downward at the edge of the forest. They were stairs leading down to the very forest he had struggled so hard not to fall into. Without lowering his guard, he followed the stairs as if they were inviting him.
At the end of the stairs was a door leading into the interior of the cliff.
“What is this now!”
Upon entering, Seong Mu-yeon could not hide his astonishment.
Inside lay a long corridor filled with ominous mechanisms clearly designed to take a human life, as well as formations and traps.
Only now did Seong Mu-yeon realize where he was standing.
This was not an ordinary hideout, but a secret vault created by some unknown person to hide their achievements.
And the map Gang Woong had given him was a treasure map indicating the location of the secret vault. Unless he had been given the wrong directions, the Poison Freak had likely discovered this secret vault by chance and had been using it as a hideout to evade enemies.
“…This is really too much!”
Such secret vaults were typically places where precious treasures like spirit pills, divine weapons, or a Master’s martial arts manuals were hidden. If one could break through to the end, they could obtain an immense fortuitous encounter, but it was common to block intruders with all sorts of devices so that just anyone couldn’t obtain the treasures.
Treasures? Well, there was one. Baek Ryeo-il was a person who could not be compared to any secret technique, spirit pill, or divine weapon in the world.
“Let’s go.”
Seong Mu-yeon boldly stepped inside.
Click!
The moment he took his first step, an ominous sound echoed from somewhere.