By Zephyria Is this living? (1)
“Seong-Mu-yeon!”
A chilling shout filled with inner force erupted from behind. The voice was loud enough to shake the entire marketplace.
People cowered in fear, but Seong Mu-yeon continued forward without stopping.
Just then, a swift shadow passed over his head, and his body floated into the air.
Baek Ryeo-il had grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him. He hadn’t even had time to react.
“Got you.”
Baek Ryeo-il wore a terrifying smile. His lips were definitely smiling, but his eyes flickered with burning madness.
Seong Mu-yeon swallowed hard.
“…Senior.”
He lost all will to fight and let his body go limp.
“Please, spare me.”
Thump!
Seong Mu-yeon tumbled across the floor. Baek Ryeo-il had roughly shoved him into a room in a certain inn. Following him into the room, he closed the door behind him.
Click…
The sound was like a death sentence to Seong Mu-yeon.
“How dare you play with me? Coming from the Demonic Cult?”
Baek Ryeo-il muttered lowly, his anger reaching the top of his head.
Seong Mu-yeon trembled like a rat in a trap.
“Hahaha… How shall I wash away this humiliation?”
Thud.
Baek Ryeo-il took a step closer.
“Shall I grill you, or stir-fry you?”
Another step.
“Or pan-fry you?”
As Baek Ryeo-il drew closer, Seong Mu-yeon’s head drooped like a ripe rice stalk. Countless scenes from the original work flashed through his mind. Cruel… bloody scenes.
Cold sweat poured down his face.
‘How can I overcome this crisis…?’
“I can hear you thinking all the way over here.”
Baek Ryeo-il’s voice from above now carried a murderous intent.
‘There’s no answer.’
Every member of the Demonic Cult in the original work had fallen utterly before Baek Ryeo-il. It didn’t matter whether they were currently involved or had been in the past. Moreover, he was even the Cult Leader’s son, so he had an inseparable, fated connection to the Demonic Cult.
“You probably expect that you won’t die peacefully, right?”
“……”
Was he going to die like this?
How had he escaped the clutches of the Demonic Cult, only to…?
What about his peaceful life in a quiet rural village?! What about his seven children, like rabbits?!
Gritting his teeth.
Recalling all the hardships he had endured, a fierce determination welled up within him.
He couldn’t die like this.
Seong Mu-yeon charged at Baek Ryeo-il.
At that moment, Baek Ryeo-il’s eyes gleamed. He thought Seong Mu-yeon had finally revealed his true colors.
‘Let’s see what hidden cards you have… Huh?’
But the expected attack didn’t come. Instead, Seong Mu-yeon grabbed his legs and hugged them tightly.
“Please, spare me!”
“What, what is this! Let go!”
Baek Ryeo-il lifted his long legs and shook them, but Seong Mu-yeon clung on with all his might.
“I can’t! I won’t let go! You’re going to kill me! I don’t want to die!”
“You brat, where did you learn to be so stubborn! Do you think I’ll let you off just because of that?!”
Seong Mu-yeon screamed at the top of his lungs, loud enough to shake the inn.
“It’s unfair! Even though I was born as the son of the Demonic Cult Leader, I’ve never done anything bad! Isn’t someone who kills innocent people worse?!”
“Innocent? Did you just say innocent?!”
“Who wanted to be born like this anyway! I finally escaped from the Demonic Cult and thought I could live in peace!”
“I don’t care about your circumstances…!”
The legs that had been shaking him stopped.
“…What?”
Seong Mu-yeon was still clinging to his legs when suddenly his body was lifted up, and Baek Ryeo-il’s face was right in front of him. He had effortlessly lifted the legs with a person hanging on them.
Baek Ryeo-il narrowed his eyes.
“You escaped?”
Seong Mu-yeon stared blankly up at Baek Ryeo-il.
“I just said it. I escaped from the Demonic Cult. Why?”
“Why, why do you ask…? The Demonic Cult won’t last long.”
“Why won’t it last long?”
“Because Master Baek will crush it.”
“Why would I crush it?”
Seong Mu-yeon blinked.
“Because they’re bad guys?”
“So, they know they’re bad guys?”
“Of course! It’s really upsetting! I have my own moral standards! Why else would I have escaped like this? I went through all sorts of things there!”
Seong Mu-yeon shouted, letting everything go.
“They gather young children and make them compete to the death! And after raising them like that, they tell them to kill their friends! They make them bathe in blood! They’re all crazy!”
Baek Ryeo-il lowered his legs.
“That’s right. They’re not right in the head.”
He nodded in agreement.
“It’s already unfair that I was born into such a family, so do you really have to kill me? Just let me go, please? I’ll live quietly as if I’m dead. I’ll never appear before you again. I mean it.”
Seong Mu-yeon gathered all his past grievances and put on the most sorrowful face he could muster. From the start, his words were not lies but the truth. He was truly aggrieved and resentful. It was incredibly fortunate that he had been excluded from such training because he was sickly.
“And if Master Baek takes action, the Demonic Cult won’t last long! Would they even dare to make a peep in front of such a great person? They’ll be annihilated without even resisting, so staying there is a stupid thing to do!”
“Ahem, that’s true. I am quite great.”
The corners of Baek Ryeo-il’s lips twitched. Seong Mu-yeon seized the opportunity and began to praise him even more.
“Those guys will be swept away with a single stroke from the amazing Baek Ryeo-il!”
“Cough, cough.”
“Baek Ryeo-il is the best! Cool! Handsome!”
“Hmm, for a Demonic Cult guy, you have good taste.”
Seeing that Baek Ryeo-il seemed to be in a good mood, Seong Mu-yeon cautiously got up.
“You understand now, right? Anyway, no matter how much the Demonic Cult rampages, they can’t even follow Master Baek’s heels!”
“Of course, of course!”
“With the Master here, what is there to worry about!”
With that, Seong Mu-yeon nonchalantly walked towards the door.
“Hehe, then I’ll be going now…”
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Baek Ryeo-il had returned to his sharp, predatory gaze as if he had never been grinning.
“Even so, I can’t let the son of the Demonic Cult wander around the Central Plains. Especially since it hasn’t been verified whether your words are true or not.”
“Ah, I’m telling you, it’s the truth!”
Seong Mu-yeon struggled to escape his grasp. In the midst of this, he accidentally kicked Baek Ryeo-il in the stomach.
“Hic, I, I’m sorry…? Master Baek?”
For some reason, Baek Ryeo-il, who was harder than steel, clutched his stomach at the single kick from his frail foot. Seong Mu-yeon forgot about escaping and approached Baek Ryeo-il.
“What’s wrong?”
Sweat beaded on Baek Ryeo-il’s cheeks and neck as he bent over.
“…Could it be that the Mount Junzi is still affecting you?”
Baek Ryeo-il only squeezed his eyes shut as if enduring the pain, without answering.
Seong Mu-yeon’s jaw dropped.
“Don’t tell me! You overexerted yourself without fully detoxifying?”
“…Shut up. It’s all your fault.”
Seong Mu-yeon helped him sit on a chair and carefully examined his condition.
Baek Ryeo-il was breathing heavily, and his skin was cold, but he continued to sweat.
“Ugh, you stubborn fool! You know what happens when you force your inner force while poisoned, and you still did it?”
Seong Mu-yeon wanted to slap him on the back until it burst, if he could. Of course, his own hand would hurt more…
“The poison’s energy and inner force are clashing, temporarily distorting your qi and blood!”
“I know.”
Baek Ryeo-il barely managed to answer through gritted teeth, enduring the pain.
Seong Mu-yeon frustratedly ran his hand through his hair. In the midst of this, he realized that now was the perfect opportunity to escape from Baek Ryeo-il.
“……”
“……”
Baek Ryeo-il must have been thinking the same thing, as their eyes met.
This was his last chance.
Seong Mu-yeon eventually turned around. Just before leaving the room, he added one last word.
“Your body will get better in a few days if you don’t overexert yourself. Just don’t make the same mistake.”
Glancing back, Baek Ryeo-il was leaning against the back of the chair, seemingly without the strength to get up. He really wouldn’t be able to chase him this time. If he did such a thing again, he could enter Qi deviation and suffer permanent damage.
Baek Ryeo-il’s figure was obscured and disappeared beyond the closing door.
Seong Mu-yeon strode down the stairs. A servant cleaning the hallway saw him and was startled. A beggar coming out of a guest’s room?
“Who are you?”
Seong Mu-yeon didn’t answer and brushed past him.
‘As far away as possible… To a place where they can never find me again.’
However, he soon stopped abruptly.
“……”
It was definitely not his fault. Baek Ryeo-il had tried to harm him, so he had poisoned him, and he wouldn’t have ended up like that if he hadn’t overexerted himself.
‘…Haa.’
“…Excuse me?”
The servant was puzzled as the beggar stood there with a serious expression and slowly approached. Just as he was about to poke the beggar’s shoulder, “Eek!”
The beggar screamed.
“Oh my, you scared me!”
The servant fell backward.
“Huh? Why are you lying there?”
“It’s because of you! Why are you coming out of a guest’s room! Did you steal something, perhaps?”