Jin Geum-ryeon cried like that for a long time, and Ak Mujin just sat across from him in silence, watching him cry.
“Hic, hic….”
The soup and dishes had cooled, and the tears that had flowed down Geum-ryeon’s cheeks had dried. The child sniffled, rubbing his swollen eyes, tired from crying for so long.
Ak Mujin thought he should put Jin Geum-ryeon to sleep.
He finally got up, picked up Jin Geum-ryeon, and laid him back down on the bed.
“Sleep. Maybe you can meet your mother in your dreams.”
Ak Mujin didn’t know why he was saying such things.
He was about to pull away when he seemed to rummage through his sleeve and took out the candied fruit he had received from the waiter, placing it by the child’s head.
“Eat it if you get hungry while you’re sleeping.”
Jin Geum-ryeon stared blankly at what had been placed by his head, then clenched his fist tightly.
Ak Mujin, seeing the child’s suddenly docile attitude, finally began to feel fatigue washing over him. He lay down diagonally on the opposite bed, but decided to stay half-awake, just in case Jin Geum-ryeon tried to run away.
To think that he could do that if he made up his mind not to sleep; the body of a martial artist who had trained in internal energy was truly amazing.
Ak Mujin had fought a war since morning.
He forcibly washed, dressed, and fed Jin Geum-ryeon, who was stubbornly refusing, and then left the inn. He wanted to take another look, just in case he might meet Mae-yeong in the mountains today.
If he saw Mae-yeong, he planned to put Jin Geum-ryeon in his hands and leave.
At first, he had only thought that he couldn’t just let the protagonist die like this, but taking care of the child was really too difficult! Especially with a stubborn and disobedient child like Jin Geum-ryeon.
However, when he saw the child’s face, his heart would melt again at his cute appearance, which was quite strange. Still, today’s Jin Geum-ryeon was more subdued, as if his spirit had been broken, and he was quieter than yesterday.
Ak Mujin couldn’t make the child walk for four hours, so he occasionally held him in his arms and hurried along.
“Where are we going?”
Jin Geum-ryeon, who had been silent for a long time, couldn’t bear it any longer and asked, as he was very curious about where Ak Mujin was taking him. But Ak Mujin didn’t answer and just kept walking, holding the child and looking ahead.
As they crossed a hill, Jin Geum-ryeon looked around.
It was quite a magnificent landscape, a sight that was quite strongly imprinted in the child’s mind.
Yes, this was near Jangan Village, where Geum-ryeon had spent some time with his mother and father yesterday morning.
“Mother, Father…”
Geum-ryeon muttered to himself.
What had happened to his father, whom he had parted with at the foot of the mountain? If he was still alive, he would surely be able to meet him someday.
Jin Geum-ryeon’s vision began to blur again. The child sniffled, clenched his fist, and rubbed his eyes. Ak Mujin’s heart stung at the sight, so he silently headed towards the mountain behind Jangan Village.
The closer they got to the mountain, the more often Ak Mujin could find bloodstains on the leaves.
What had started as mere drops of blood gradually turned into discarded shoes and swords lying on the ground as they approached the foot of the mountain.
“Hmm.”
As soon as Ak Mujin found a severed arm in the bushes, he raised his hand to cover Jin Geum-ryeon’s eyes. Jin Geum-ryeon immediately screamed.
“Take your hand off!”
“Just close your eyes for a moment.”
“Why!”
Ak Mujin seemed to hesitate for a moment, then finally took his hand off Jin Geum-ryeon’s eyes and instead pressed on the child’s Acupoint.
Some might say that pressing on a child’s Acupoint was immoral, but if this talkative protagonist opened his mouth to say a few more words, he might become a target for those lying in ambush.
He very slowly and quietly climbed the hillside that he remembered.
But there was no need to silence the child, as Jin Geum-ryeon was gradually losing his words at the sight before him. Corpses were scattered everywhere as they approached the place where the Namgung Clan, Jin Sang-aeng, and the Crimson Kill Squad had fought recklessly.
The stench of blood began to fill the air, but Ak Mujin couldn’t cover Jin Geum-ryeon’s nose as well. Geum-ryeon had to breathe, after all. It was fortunate that it wasn’t summer. Otherwise, the stench of rotting corpses would have been overwhelming.
When they finally reached the middle of the mountain where the battle had taken place, it seemed that there wasn’t a single living person left, thankfully or not.
Ak Mujin quickly scanned the surroundings.
There were about fifteen members of the Crimson Kill Squad, and about the same number of Namgung Clan members were dead. He examined their faces one by one, but Seo-mok’s face was not to be seen. The old Elder was also not among the Namgung Clan corpses, so he must have moved to continue the fight.
He had grown quite fond of Seo-mok, so he hoped that he was still alive. After all, he was the most sane guy in the Demonic Cult.
And on one side, there was a corpse presumed to be Jin Sang-aeng’s, but his head was cleanly severed, so he concluded that he could never show it to Jin Geum-ryeon.
So, just as he was about to cover Geum-ryeon’s eyes again, Jin Geum-ryeon found a familiar piece of his mother’s clothing and began to struggle.
Eventually, Jin Geum-ryeon succeeded in jumping out of Mujin’s arms and ran to his mother.
But what he saw before him was his mother’s cold corpse without a head.
Jin Geum-ryeon’s every action was frozen by the gruesome sight he was seeing for the first time in his life.
Instead, after a few seconds, his legs seemed to tremble, and he collapsed to the ground.
Jin Geum-ryeon was still unable to make a sound because his Acupoint was still pressed, but he was shedding silent tears. It was a very strange sight, but it somehow looked even more desperate to Ak Mujin.
Jin Geum-ryeon crawled on his hands and knees, shedding tears, and touched Jin Sang-aeng’s arm. When he was alive and hugged Jin Geum-ryeon, it had been soft and warm, but now it was as hard as a piece of wood.
Ak Mujin, who had been watching all this from behind, frowned and approached the child, releasing his Acupoint. He was going to wait for Mae-yeong here from now on, so he could give the child as much time as he needed to mourn his mother.
So, he didn’t say anything while Jin Geum-ryeon was crying his heart out.
“Hwaaa, Mother!”
‘I’m the one who deserves to die…’
Ak Mujin muttered to himself in remorse at the sound of Jin Geum-ryeon’s wailing.
Jin Geum-ryeon, who had been shedding tears for a long time, was now getting tired and didn’t move from Jin Sang-aeng’s corpse. Mujin watched for a long time before taking a step closer.
“…I’m sorry, Teacher.”
Ak Mujin murmured almost inaudibly, then took off the Crimson Kill Squad’s outer garment that was nearby and covered Jin Sang-aeng’s corpse with it.
“Let’s go now.”
Ak Mujin said to Jin Geum-ryeon. But the child didn’t seem to want to move at all. He looked like a pitiful motherless lamb, but if he stayed by the corpse all the time, he might catch a disease.
Ak Mujin grabbed Jin Geum-ryeon’s arm and pulled him away from Jin Sang-aeng.
“No, I want to be with my mother!”
No. You have to meet Mae-yeong and become an unparalleled master of the martial arts world.
That’s the only way I can go home.
Ak Mujin simply picked up Jin Geum-ryeon’s body, tucked him under his arm, and started walking.
“You should get down if you don’t want to become a corpse too.”
Jin Geum-ryeon screamed.
“I want to be with my mother! Mother!”
Tears began to well up in the child’s eyes. He cried and wailed like that for a long time, and even when Ak Mujin passed through the bushes and found a rocky area to sit him down, he couldn’t calm down and was panting. His face was red from crying so much, and he was a mess with tears and snot.
Ak Mujin hesitated, then took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped Jin Geum-ryeon’s face.
“Don’t… Hic, do it!”
Jin Geum-ryeon turned his head away with a sobbing voice. Anyway, Ak Mujin had achieved his purpose, so he didn’t care whether the child turned his head or not. He stared at the soiled handkerchief for a long time, then just threw it on the ground. It was in a state that he couldn’t dare to put it back in his pocket.
Ak Mujin looked around. He should be able to sense Mae-yeong’s presence if he came to this location. He hoped that he would come as soon as possible and take this little tyrant away.
At that moment, Ak Mujin felt something tapping his leg and looked down.
Jin Geum-ryeon was hitting his thigh with his tiny hands.
“You evil spirit! Demonic Leader! It’s because of you that my mother…!”
Jin Geum-ryeon seemed to have stopped crying a bit, but he was still furious and screaming, and it looked like he was using Ak Mujin’s leg as a punching bag to vent his anger.
Of course, the Namgung Clan was directly responsible for the death of Jin Geum-ryeon’s mother, Jin Sang-aeng, but Ak Mujin was also chasing after her to take her head at the time, so he had nothing to say. Jin Geum-ryeon, who had just seen his mother’s corpse and wailed, came to mind again, and Ak Mujin’s mouth tasted bitter, so he rubbed his lips with his tongue for no reason.