119 – Heavenly Fortune

“You didn’t… come because of the barrier?”

Squeeze. Mu-gyeong’s grip on Ho-yeon’s wrist tightened instinctively. If he had run all the way from the North Sea to here, it would have taken at least several dozen days. Had he been asleep for that long?

Ho-yeon, who had been helplessly captivated by the red eyes staring at him, only then saw Cheon Mu-gyeong’s face more clearly. There was a sense of fatigue all over his face, as if he were under the illusion that cold sweat was seeping from his hands.

That didn’t mean he was absolved of driving Ho-yeon into a corner or the unsightly behavior he had displayed in front of the cultists. Ho-yeon’s sense of injustice had faded slightly, but it hadn’t vanished entirely.

“I told you. You weren’t in the cave, so I thought you had crossed over to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains…”

Was it because of the heat emanating from his body? Thanks to the immense fire energy he had unleashed—enough to turn the Demonic Shadow Martial House into ashes—Ho-yeon’s dantian had found stability. Because of that, Ho-yeon could feel even more vividly that Cheon Mu-gyeong was angry with him.

Right, he’d be surprised if I suddenly disappeared. But who was the one who disappeared first… Conflicting thoughts continued to cross in Ho-yeon’s mind.

“But how did you know I was here? Did the messenger pigeon arrive that quickly? As soon as I arrived at the sect, I asked the General Manager and the Right Guardian to send a letter to the Ice Palace saying I was here.”

Even while being held by the collar, Ho-yeon continued to chatter away. His voice felt like a feather tickling a palm; if Mu-gyeong weren’t careful, he might have ended up squeezing the neck tight.

Mu-gyeong used only his thumb to slowly push Ho-yeon’s chin from side to side. Ho-yeon didn’t resist the [stolen content]content -->stolen contentwm: stolen content -->touch, letting his face be moved hither and thither. Yet, he looked on with eyes wondering why he was doing this. Under the gaze that scanned him meticulously, Ho-yeon realized he was checking his condition.

“I… I’m not hurt.”

The thought occurred to Mu-gyeong belatedly that he might have been acting on a huge misconception, but he said nothing.

“Tae-pyeong came for me at Flame Mountain. That’s how I was able to make it to the Demon Sect safely.”

Unknowingly, the furrow in Ho-yeon’s brow gradually smoothed out.

“Then where on earth were you in the snowy mountains?”

“I had to find a way out, so I had no choice but to go to where I fell.”

Ho-yeon had wondered, too. He had hoped that perhaps Mu-gyeong had gone to the place where they had fallen together. However, he had considered the path upward from there to be far too remote. Since the barrier happened to be open, it was only natural for his conclusion to lean in one direction.

“Then you should have told me before you left! Do you know how scared I was when I woke up and you were gone?”

Even when Ho-yeon burst out in anger, it was no more threatening than a flopping icefish.

“A guy who knows what it’s like to Read [visit our site][unauthorized copy]on Read BL Novelsbe scared runs off to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains alone?”

“I didn’t run away. I went to find you.”

And if I had intended to run away, would I have gone to the Demon Sect? Ho-yeon grumbled.

Letting out a low breath, Mu-gyeong released his grip on Ho-yeon’s neck and instead pressed his face against that spot. Ho-yeon shrugged his shoulders at the hot breath tickling his neck.

Ho-yeon’s hands, which had long since let go of the other’s wrist, fidgeted, unsure of what to do. He knew how heavy Cheon Mu-gyeong’s weight was, but right now, it provided just the right amount of pressure.

Ho-yeon slowly reached out with the hand that had been fiddling with his gold needle and placed it on the broad back. He didn’t hug him; he merely rested his hand there.

“Just in case, I’m asking. At the Ice Palace…”

“Whether I caused any harm?”

Mu-gyeong spoke first, finishing the words Ho-yeon couldn’t bring himself to say.

“Did… did you?”

“It was already a wasteland due to the landslide anyway.”

Ho-yeon quickly pulled his hand away from his back and pushed Mu-gyeong’s chest hard. Once again, the clear eyes and the crimson light faced each other.

“What about the children of Eumbyeol Hall?! My children?!”

“Who knows. They might all be dead.”

It happened the moment the words left Mu-gyeong’s mouth. Ho-yeon’s blue-grey eyes filled with transparent tears, and in an instant, the pooled moisture began to spill over.

The tears flowing down the corners of his eyes quickly froze like snow crystals. The crystals hanging from the tips of his eyelashes rattled between his rapidly blinking lids. Because the frost energy in his dantian surged along with his great emotional turmoil, he couldn’t even shed tears properly.

Wi Ho-yeon possessed a heart hotter than anyone’s. However, the emotions expressed outwardly only froze, unable to even cross a palm’s width of his face.

“I don’t cry often. If I cry, my face gets wet.”

Cheon Mu-gyeong remained frozen, exactly as Wi Ho-yeon pushed him away.

“Then my face freezes too. It’s warm while I’m crying, but it becomes so difficult after I’m done.”

Whose voice was this, cluttering his mind? The one with the gentle and [Read visit our siteon Read BL Novels]quiet breath was the only one among those countless lives.

“Wi Ho-yeon.”

“The children… I have to go to the children.”

White breath leaked repeatedly from the lips of the panicking Ho-yeon. Whether it was because his body wouldn’t move properly due to the intense agitation, or because the severe frost energy hindered his movements, the hand trying to push Mu-gyeong away slipped and convulsed several times.

Unlike his physical body, which welcomed the extreme yin energy pouring out of Wi Ho-yeon, Cheon Mu-gyeong’s mind did not. He cupped Ho-yeon’s cheeks with his hands. Then, the crystals that had been freezing and falling away turned back into damp moisture.

“I’m joking.”

He didn’t want to see Wi Ho-yeon cry. Especially not because of someone other than himself.

The eyelashes that had been freezing and rattling became wet, as if soaked in rain. Blinking, Ho-yeon continued to gasp for air.

“A… joke…?”

“Yes. Everyone is safe.”

“You’re lying. You’re lying, right? Something [visit visit our siteour site]must have happened to the children…!”

Ho-yeon’s chest heaved violently above his blue robes. As the hyperventilation continued, Ho-yeon began to pat his own chest. Mu-gyeong grabbed that hand and wrapped his arm around Ho-yeon’s back, pulling him into a strong embrace.

“I may joke, but I do not lie.”

However, the idea of Cheon Mu-gyeong joking was utterly unfitting.

“Why, why on earth would you tell such a lie?”

“I ran here like a madman, anxious that you, having fallen into Flame Mountain, might have been harmed by a demonic beast.”

His voice was still rough.

“It’s quite unfair to be misunderstood as someone who would harm the Ice Palace.”

It wasn’t the complete truth. However, Mu-gyeong couldn’t readily explain why he had said such a thing. It might have been that Wi Ho-yeon’s tenderness toward the children bothered him, or perhaps because if Ho-yeon believed the children were dead, the biggest reason for him to return to the North Sea would vanish.

But it was almost laughable that he, who had left even his shadow, Jangun, behind and intended to plant the Demonic Beast Seed, would care about something like Eumbyeol Hall. Could he truly plant a suffering that would bring pain to that heart? As long as he didn’t leave his side, he was safe. It was enough as long as Wi Ho-yeon remained by his side.

Ho-yeon repeatedly closed and opened his eyes, Read on Read BL Novelscopy -->unauthorized copywhich were still drenched. In doing so, the remnants of his tears stained Cheon Mu-gyeong’s shoulder.

He said he had worried about him. That he had run without resting for a single moment. But even so, Ho-yeon found it hard to accept how he could speak so lightly about the life and death of the children.

Cheon Mu-gyeong was always a man who gave him contradictory emotions.

He was a benefactor, yet he deceived him; he was the one who gave him heat, yet he put him in danger. But in the end, it was also Cheon Mu-gyeong who saved him. This time, too, he said he ran in one breath because he was worried, yet he spat out words that should never have been said.

Even though he knew how precious the children of Eumbyeol Hall were to him, he didn’t understand what that meant. Since they said the man who knew nothing of emotion was the Heavenly Demon, should he just understand and move on?

But what if it were the Cheon Mu-gyeong he knew from before?

‘Do you know how surprised I was when you disappeared? You’re not hurt, are you? From now on, even if I disappear, wait quietly in the same spot. I will definitely return.’

Ho-yeon could picture him all too easily. Despite not remembering for such a long time, it was as vivid as if they had parted yesterday.

He missed the Cheon Mu-gyeong who had made him countless promises and told him he would cherish him more than Baek-ah and Jong Jagi combined. To miss him while the same person was right before his eyes—how contradictory was this, too?

“You promised me that you would become the Sect Leader.”

“That nonsense again.”

“And I… back then, I…”

Tears flowed incessantly from Ho-yeon’s eyes. They were tears caused by Mu-gyeong, yet they could only flow within the hot heat Mu-gyeong provided, so this too was a contradiction.

Ho-yeon brought out a confession that had been buried in the glacier for a long time.

“I… I liked you very, very much.”