The Madam Lou of the Qingho Brothel was also waiting with thorough preparations because the Vice Cult Leader of the main cult was coming.
He tried to hold onto Ak Mujin, saying he would send out a Yin Person courtesan, but Ak Mujin shook his head because he didn’t want to see a Yin Person anymore. He finished his business by only gathering the brothel’s sales and new information.
Ak Mujin had at least drunk some alcohol in Hubei, but in the next three brothels he visited, Seo-mok clicked his tongue inwardly at the sight of him not drinking at all, let alone glancing at the courtesans who were waiting to serve him.
Ak Mujin only dealt with the courtesans who talked about the information they had gathered. Seo-mok was surprised by Ak Mujin’s cold attitude, as he thought that there was no man who didn’t like brothels.
‘Could it be that his Vice Cult Leader practiced the Celibate Martial Arts? I don’t think so.’
‘Or is he a homosexual?’
‘…No, that can’t be.’
‘…Huh?’
As he remembered, Ak Mujin had busily visited the brothels in Hubei and then the brothels in three other regions, but he hadn’t stayed overnight in a brothel even for one night.
The bedrooms in the brothels were much better to sleep in than the inns. But he couldn’t understand why his master insisted on inns.
Of course, it wasn’t that the inns were bad to sleep in. However, in some areas, the nearby inns were far inferior to the brothels in that area.
This place, Hunan, was one such place. Seo-mok gained some insight and nodded inwardly. At the same time, he glanced sideways at Ak Mujin.
“Why are you peeking so much?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“Tell me.”
Ak Mujin urged him as he walked, and Seo-mok lowered his eyes and cleared his throat.
“…I was wondering why you don’t sleep in the brothels.”
After thinking about it, Seo-mok asked honestly, and Ak Mujin hesitated for a moment.
“…I hate brothels.”
“I see.”
Ak Mujin was worried that he might look strange, but he ended up answering honestly. Surprisingly, Seo-mok accepted it without any further questions. Rather, he nodded and had an expression as if he felt relieved.
“What’s with that expression?”
“It’s nothing.”
Ak Mujin felt uneasy for no reason, but he hurried along the road. The place he was heading to wasn’t an inn. That’s why Seo-mok was puzzled again.
“Aren’t you going to the inn?”
Ak Mujin walked without answering. If they went a few more miles from this village where they were resting, they would come to another village. That place was none other than the village closest to the mountain entrance where Jin Geum-ryeon would be training.
Ak Mujin was so preoccupied with his worries that he didn’t care about his conversation with Seo-mok.
He had thought about Jin Geum-ryeon ever since he had planned to visit the brothels. It had been almost eight months since he had left Jin Geum-ryeon, so that kid must have trained quite a bit. Coincidentally, there was Dongting Lake on the way to Son of Heaven Mountain, where Jin Geum-ryeon was staying, and he wondered if he should go to the village where the child came and went, pretending to go sightseeing there.
Having left the child behind like that, even knowing Mae-yeong was taking him, he couldn’t help but worry. Even Mae-yeong, secluded in the mountains, would have to visit a village to feed and clothe the child. Surely, he’d hear some news. Seeing that the child was doing well would ease his mind a little, he thought.
If it was just a brief visit to the village, Seo-mok wouldn’t notice anything even if he brought her along.
“Isn’t Dongting Lake a little further on? I’d like to see the scenery.”
Seo-mok was surprised by Ak Mujin’s reply, but the days were long, and it wasn’t too late yet.
“Does the Vice-Leader also enjoy the finer things in life?”
“What do you take me for?”
Well, the Ice Princess of the Demonic Cult.
Seo-mok found the term quite childish, but she knew that the female followers of the Demonic Cult were already calling Ak Mujin that.
Apparently, Ice Prince was too childish, and his actions were more like a princess.
“Haha, no, let’s go.”
Seo-mok couldn’t bring herself to say those words, so she laughed and brushed it off.
As they rode side by side, the red sunset hanging over the mountains was quite picturesque, making Ak Mujin’s excuse of wanting to see the scenery believable.
The village, which he was revisiting after eight months, couldn’t have changed much in such a short time, so it was still a small settlement that hardly deserved to be called a village. Fortunately, there was an inn, so they left their horses and went into the restaurant to order a meal.
It was then. A very young voice pierced Ak Mujin’s ears from behind.
“Master, please buy me candied fruit.”
At the same time, Ak Mujin, who had been lounging leisurely, suddenly stiffened like a log.
“What’s wrong, Vice-Leader?”
Seo-mok asked with a concerned face at Ak Mujin’s tense demeanor. Ak Mujin shook his head briefly as if it were nothing, but cold sweat began to flow down his back.
He knew who the owner of the youthful voice was without even turning around.
‘Jin Geum-ryeon…!’
He forcibly resisted the urge to turn around and glared at Seo-mok instead. Seo-mok was taken aback by this.
“Haven’t you had dinner?”
“So I want to eat it as a palate cleanser, Master.”
“No. I bought it for you last time.”
“Master. Last time was four months ago. Since then, this disciple hasn’t tasted candied fruit even once.”
The child spoke clearly, and the waiter passing by burst into laughter and said to the man sitting across from the child.
“There’s still a shop open, so you should hurry. Looks like you’re going to lose this argument again?”
Eventually, the man sighed and looked at the child.
“Geum-ryeon, you lead the way.”
“Really?!”
If Ak Mujin peeked carefully from his seat, he could see the face of the person calling the child Jin Geum-ryeon.
The face was very beautiful, and long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings every time he blinked. When Geum-ryeon smiled brightly, Mae-yeong gave a faint smile in return, and the smile was so dazzling that Ak Mujin felt like he was being defeated by it.
Indeed. The Mae-yeong in the novel also had a face that matched the amazing illustrations!
Jin Geum-ryeon was very excited and quickly jumped up from his seat and left the inn. But as the child was about to leave, he suddenly realized that one of the people sitting over there looked quite familiar.
Ak Mujin realized that the child was looking at him and glared at Seo-mok even more. He was sitting with his back to the door, so he just had to avoid turning around.
“Wh-why are you doing that, Vice-Leader….”
Seo-mok was on the verge of tears at Ak Mujin’s fierce gaze.
“If you don’t come out quickly, there’s no candied fruit.”
Jin Geum-ryeon stared at the table where Ak Mujin was sitting for a long time, then hurriedly moved his feet, startled by Mae-yeong’s voice.
“L-let’s go together, Master!”
As the child and the man left, Ak Mujin finally relaxed his eyes and rubbed his eyelids. As he was doing so, the waiter came and put down the food.
“Isn’t he cute? He’s a child who suddenly appeared a while ago, and he’s quite the talker.”
“I see. Thank you.”
Seo-mok was secretly wiping away tears without Ak Mujin noticing.
The reason Ak Mujin came to this village was just to hear some news about how Jin Geum-ryeon was doing. But to actually meet Jin Geum-ryeon, wasn’t that quite good timing?
He had been a little worried that Mae-yeong might abandon the child since he had taken on Jin Geum-ryeon through a different route, but seeing Jin Geum-ryeon calling him Master and following him, it didn’t seem to be the case.
Ak Mujin’s heart instantly felt lighter, so he ordered more wine and snacks and fed Seo-mok.
Seo-mok was puzzled by Ak Mujin’s sudden good mood, but she had already asked many questions, so she didn’t pry further. She simply thanked Ak Mujin for his kindness and devoured the wine and food.
The next day, as dawn broke, they admired the scenery of Dongting Lake, unlike when they had rushed to this village, and then slowly returned to Heavenly Mountain. He had only applied for a short outing, so he couldn’t stay out for long, but Ak Mujin didn’t want to go back right away since he had come out after a long time.
The lake was beautiful.
Ak Mujin thought. It seemed natural that young men and women in martial arts novels would fall in love as soon as they came to Dongting Lake.
‘Being able to see famous martial arts spots without spending my own money like this isn’t all bad.’
From Seo-mok’s perspective, Ak Mujin’s fickleness was like boiling porridge, so she was just constantly puzzled by the outing.
Jin Geum-ryeon, who was in a good mood with candied fruit in his mouth, didn’t keep his mouth shut while Mae-yeong was paying. He was originally that kind of person, but he became even more talkative when he was excited, to the point where Mae-yeong sometimes felt tired.
“The little young master speaks so clearly. Here, I’ll give you some candied fruit too.”
The merchant at the snack stall, who seemed to find Jin Geum-ryeon cute, smiled happily and handed the child an orange-colored Candied fruit. Then, Mae-yeong bowed lightly and led Geum-ryeon out of the market.
The child blinked once, thinking of someone when he suddenly saw the Candied fruit.
Was ‘he’ doing well?
What was his name again, Ahn… something.
“Master. Do you have many acquaintances in the Central Plains?”
“I used to.”
“So you don’t now?”
“I guess not.”
Whenever Jin Geum-ryeon asked something, Mae-yeong usually only replied, “I used to.” Certainly, his Martial Arts were amazing even in Jin Geum-ryeon’s eyes, so it seemed like there wouldn’t be anyone in the Central Plains who didn’t know Mae-yeong’s name if he mentioned it. But not now. Had he been secluded in the mountains for a very long time?
Another question began to grow in Jin Geum-ryeon’s mind. Thoughts led to more thoughts, and somehow, Jin Geum-ryeon was thinking about ‘Ahn…’ something again this time.
It had already been eight months since he had met him.
Jin Geum-ryeon still couldn’t understand why he had spared him back then. So Jin Geum-ryeon asked as he remembered.
“Master, what is the Demonic Cult?”