By Zephyria A Humble Person in a Precious Place (6)
Seong Mu-yeon shivered as the cold seeped into his bones.
‘Miserable.’
It had only been two days, and he was already in this state. He was even afraid of what he would have to endure in the future.
Not long after, Baek Ryeo-il returned. He appeared shirtless again.
He scanned Seong Mu-yeon up and down with a look that seemed to say, ‘You’ve been behaving yourself,’ then went inside to change into new clothes before coming out. Only then did he release Seong Mu-yeon.
Seong Mu-yeon rubbed his numb arms and protested.
“You’re not going to do this every morning, are you? I’m still a person, you know.”
“I can’t help it.”
Baek Ryeo-il shrugged.
Seong Mu-yeon understood. Martial arts were the exclusive property of a Sect. It was only natural that a trainee couldn’t show their training to outsiders.
‘He can’t take me with him, but he’s worried I’ll run away if he leaves me behind.’
But he only ‘understood.’
Feeling upset was another matter entirely.
“Put your lip back in.”
“……Yes.”
A Food box was delivered to the lodgings for every meal, so there was no need to go out. Seong Mu-yeon and Baek Ryeo-il remained cooped up in the Emerald Pavilion. Although it was his residence, Seong Mu-yeon was essentially imprisoned, and his access to the outside world was strictly controlled. Of course, Baek Ryeo-il didn’t allow him out either.
Every morning, Seong Mu-yeon was tied to the same tree. The routine of chatting with Gang Woong and the other boys who passed by at the same time each day, followed by Baek Ryeo-il’s return, continued.
After about three days, Seong Mu-yeon began to feel miserable from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning.
‘I… I don’t want to be tied up.’
It was a basic human right. Not being tied to a tree every morning. Besides, the weather was getting colder.
“Doesn’t this become easier the more you do it?”
“Yes… I guess so.”
Like a well-trained dog, he automatically stood next to the tree whenever Baek Ryeo-il brought the rope.
Baek Ryeo-il smiled contentedly.
The fact that he, who had been watching with sharp eyes, not showing the slightest gap in his vigilance lest he run away, was now acting so relaxed was the reward for Seong Mu-yeon’s obedient compliance for the past three days.
Seong Mu-yeon was just waiting for Baek Ryeo-il to let his guard down.
Right now, at this very moment!
“Ah! The Sect leader is over there!”
“What?!”
When Seong Mu-yeon pointed behind him, Baek Ryeo-il turned his head sharply. In that moment, Seong Mu-yeon grabbed a handful of sand from the ground.
“What, there’s no one there. You startled m–”
Splat!
Baek Ryeo-il staggered as he was hit with a sand attack to the face.
“You little…! Ptui, ptui! Ugh!”
Taking advantage of the chaos as sand got into his eyes, nose, and mouth, Seong Mu-yeon snatched the rope and wrapped it around his body.
“What are you doing! Seong Mu-yeon! Can’t you stop?!”
Seong Mu-yeon tied the knot tightly, then put all his strength into ramming his shoulder against him. Baek Ryeo-il’s body, which seemed like it would never fall, toppled backward.
“Seong Mu-yeon! You…!”
Baek Ryeo-il struggled, but the rope didn’t budge. The rope that he had brought to tie up Seong Mu-yeon was so strong that even a skilled martial artist would have difficulty cutting it. All of this was his own fault.
“Serves you right. Consider it punishment for treating a person like baggage!”
“Hey! Where are you going! Hey!”
Seong Mu-yeon ran for his life. At first, he burst into laughter at the feeling of exhilaration.
But before long, the smile quickly disappeared from his face.
‘…Why did I do that?’
He had only wanted Baek Ryeo-il to change his mind and not tie him up. He thought he would try to talk to him nicely once his vigilance had relaxed.
But the series of actions—throwing sand at Baek Ryeo-il, tying him up, and running away—had proceeded too smoothly.
“Ha, it’s a habit. This.”
It seemed that his body had reacted on its own after running away from Baek Ryeo-il for so long.
‘Well, why did you tie me up in the first place?!’
His regret and remorse were swift.
‘I should go back, apologize, and explain myself.’
Yes, then Baek Ryeo-il would forgive him. Wasn’t Baek Ryeo-il also going too far?
Seong Mu-yeon immediately turned around to return to the Emerald Pavilion. He hadn’t gone far, so he could see the walls of the residence.
He saw Baek Ryeo-il climbing over the wall. Unable to untie the rope, he used only his legs to climb down the wall before falling with a thud.
“Bae, Baek Do…!”
Seong Mu-yeon gasped and hurriedly ran to help. But Baek Ryeo-il struggled to get up and quickly spotted him.
“Hic….”
Seong Mu-yeon could swear that he had just seen a demon at that moment.
“…Seong Mu-yeon….”
A fierce glint flashed in Baek Ryeo-il’s eyes. His hair was a mess, covered in sand, and his upper body was wrapped in rope. He looked like something out of a nightmare.
“…Seong Mu-yeon. Seong Mu-yeooooon!”
Baek Ryeo-il suddenly lunged at him. Seong Mu-yeon immediately turned and ran.
“Aaaaaah! I’m sorry!”
The plan to ‘apologize’ and ‘explain’ everything was long gone from his mind.
Seong Mu-yeon ran and ran.
He ran until he was completely out of breath and his lungs felt like they were about to burst.
‘I’m crazy!’
He shouldn’t have resisted. He should have just let himself be tied up. If he had, he would be peacefully watching the clouds drift by, reminiscing about his past and present lives.
“I won’t let you get away with this! I’ll kill you! I’m going to kill you!”
“Aaaaaah!”
A street lined with pavilions appeared. Seong Mu-yeon, feeling like he would suffocate if he ran any further, entered a random pavilion and closed the door behind him.
“Haa… Heok… Haa….”
He listened for any sounds from outside. There were several narrow alleys in this area, so he probably hadn’t seen which way he had gone.
Just as Seong Mu-yeon was about to sit down in relief, he met the gaze of several pairs of eyes.
“……Who are you?”
It wasn’t an empty building. In the rather spacious room, there was a long desk, and about ten people were holding papers and books. They had been in the middle of their work when they were suddenly confronted with the presence of an uninvited guest.
Seong Mu-yeon awkwardly stood up and straightened his clothes.
“Ahem, I am Seong Mu-yeon. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I apologize.”
“Ah, you’re that! Demonic Cult!”
“Yes, yes. But what is this place?”
As Seong Mu-yeon approached, they defensively covered their documents. It seemed to be sensitive material.
“This is a place where outsiders are not allowed to enter! Get out of here at once.”
“I’m sorry. Then I’ll just stay here quietly for a moment and then leave.”
They glared at him with narrowed eyes, but Seong Mu-yeon had become accustomed to Baek Ryeo-il’s nagging, so it didn’t sting that much. He tried to show as little threat as possible and slowly sat down in a corner with his knees together. The Taoists’ vigilance eased.
Click, click.
“……Baek Senior Brother said he was watching him closely, but what happened? He’s running around Mount Hua as he pleases.”
……I only escaped for the first time today.
Click, click.
“Junior Brother, stop grumbling and get to work! If we don’t finish this by today, we’re all dead!”
“Yes….”
The clicking sound turned out to be the sound of abacuses being used. They were all hunched over their desks, using abacuses to calculate something. The completed documents were neatly organized and stacked on one side, but when he looked at the other side, there was a mountain of work yet to be done.
Click, click.
This seemed to be the place in charge of Mount Hua’s finances. The sound of the abacuses echoed pleasantly.
Then, he suddenly made eye contact with a Taoist.
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing. I wasn’t looking.”
Seong Mu-yeon quickly lowered his gaze. There was no point in arousing suspicion that he was trying to spy on Mount Hua Sect’s sensitive internal information.
The Taoist with the gaunt face buried his head back in the documents, then spoke to Seong Mu-yeon.
“…Young master, do you perhaps know arithmetic?”
“Hey, Junior Brother! What are you…! That man is the enemy!”
“We can’t know that for sure! Senior Brother, I’m going to die! I haven’t even seen my rabbit-like disciples’ faces for seven days and nights! Huh?! When will we organize all these ledgers and when will we finish the verification? Isn’t he a Demonic Cult Young master? He must have learned at least some arithmetic.”
“…There’s some truth to that.”
The Taoist who had scolded him also turned to Seong Mu-yeon with a gaunt face. They all began to approach Seong Mu-yeon with lifeless eyes.
“…Wh-Why are you doing this?”
“Arithmetic, do you know it?”
“Not anything difficult, just simple stuff.”
“All you need are your fingers.”
Seong Mu-yeon was led to a seat by their hands.
“Okay, this is the ledger. This is the result of adding up all the ledgers. Just calculate it one more time and verify that the result is correct.”
“……”
Seong Mu-yeon glanced around cautiously and picked up the abacus. He carefully moved his fingers and cleared the abacus.
“Oh! He cleared the abacus!”
“So you do know how!”
Compliments poured in from around him. Feeling pleased, Seong Mu-yeon began to carefully count the numbers in the ledger.
Click, click…….
“I’m done.”
When he finished one page and looked up, the faces of the Taoists who were huddled together and staring at him were filled with deep emotion.