“I….”

Amidst everyone’s gazes, Ak Mujin stood there, repeating only, “I…”

Ak Mujin didn’t know what to choose in this terrible balance game, and he just wanted to sit down and cry.

No, it wasn’t a ‘game.’ This was a matter involving his ‘fate.’

He hesitated for a long time without giving a clear answer while Jin Geum-ryeon and Seo Moon-gwang watched, before finally opening his mouth.

“…Answer….”

Ak Mujin clenched his fist.

“Could I… reserve my answer for a moment?”

Seo Moon-gwang sighed, and Jin Geum-ryeon also looked at Ak Mujin with a face that seemed to ask if he was serious.

What! Why!

If he went to the Martial Alliance, he wouldn’t be able to get out until he died, so why was it a problem that he was hesitating!

In fact, Ak Mujin thought that Jin Geum-ryeon also seemed to have other thoughts. He had constantly scorned him and said he would avenge his parents, but if he really wanted to take Ak Mujin to the Martial Alliance right away, he would have called people first instead of dragging him himself.

The most certain and quickest way would be for Martial Alliance members to come out to meet them at the midpoint between Seoseo and Honam, restrain Ak Mujin, join them, and then go back to the Martial Alliance.

But Jin Geum-ryeon didn’t do that.

He deliberately took a roundabout route, saying he didn’t want to meet large sects, even though there was a faster way, and they traveled alone the whole time.

Ak Mujin couldn’t figure out what he was thinking at all. He called him his parents’ enemy every time, but it seemed like he had seen him muttering as if he was brainwashing himself, unable to accept it or something, a couple of times.

“If Young master cannot decide right away, then stay in Illusion Valley for the time being.”

Seo Moon-gwang’s voice broke the short silence. Ak Mujin slowly nodded, and Jin Geum-ryeon also seemed to think for a moment before nodding in agreement.

“However, Young Master Jin’s room will be further away from Young Master Bang.”

Seo Moon-gwang said, his eyes gleaming.

“Well… I understand.”

Jin Geum-ryeon didn’t particularly object. With a reluctant answer, he glanced back and forth between Ak Mujin and Seo Moon-gwang before stepping back and entering Welcoming Water Pavilion.

“Haa.”

As Ak Mujin sighed while looking at Jin Geum-ryeon’s back, Seo Moon-gwang approached him.

“Young Master Bang.”

Ak Mujin flinched.

Geum-ryeon ah. Jin Geum-ryeon.

Ak Mujin worked hard to come up with a pseudonym.

Yeah, Jang Mugi is the best after all.

Seo Moon-gwang suddenly frowned as he looked at Ak Mujin, then placed his hand on his shoulder.

“…The reason you made that choice… is it perhaps because you have some feelings for Young Master Jin?”

“Yes? There’s no way.”

Ak Mujin was taken aback, but he feigned elegance and was surprised. Then, Seo Moon-gwang gave a bitter smile. He just stared silently at Ak Mujin, wondering what he was thinking.

“…Young master. Can’t you tell me your real name?”

Ak Mujin was startled and turned to look at him.

“How… how did you know that…?”

“I noticed that your reaction was a bit subtle every time I called you Young Master Bang. When I thought about it, Young Master Jin wouldn’t know that name either, would he?”

Seo Moon-gwang said softly with a kind smile.

Ak Mujin felt like his heart was melting away at his infinitely warmer attitude compared to Jin Geum-ryeon. This kind of person imprisons people, sexually tortures them, and is a yandere? That’s weird. Isn’t that a total character collapse? Huh?

Ak Mujin was just hoping it wasn’t true.

“Young Master Jin seems to have a strong possessive streak.”

“Haha, ha… is that so.”

Ak Mujin looked down at the floor and replied bitterly.

Is he possessive? He’s just holding onto Ak Mujin because he’s his parents’ enemy.

Thinking that far, Ak Mujin suddenly looked at Seo Moon-gwang. He was now looking at the distant pine forest, and the moonlight slid down his nose, drawing a curve. Looking at his sharply defined nose and thick jawline, he was definitely handsome.

Though not as much as Jin Geum-ryeon.

“My name.”

As Ak Mujin spat out those two words, Seo Moon-gwang looked back at him.

“My name is, Ahn Do-hyun.”

In the end, Ak Mujin gave up on Jang Mugi. What good is a cool name if he can’t even use his inner energy? Besides, no other names came to mind, and his head was full of only his original name.

Seo Moon-gwang had a blank look on his face after hearing that name.

“Ahn Do-hyun….”

He repeated after Ak Mujin as if trying to memorize the name. Then, he smiled brightly and put on a radiant smile.

“Indeed, it suits you well, Young Master Ahn.”

For some reason, Ak Mujin felt a tingling sensation in his heart when he heard that name in this world. Was the name Ahn Do-hyun such an affectionate-sounding name?

*

Jin Geum-ryeon and Ak Mujin spent several days in Illusion Valley.

Seo Moon-gwang’s attitude was consistently kind, and every day he gathered medicinal herbs that were said to be good for nourishing essence and decocted them for Ak Mujin to eat. It had only been about three or four days, but Ak Mujin’s condition had noticeably improved as he had taken some medicine during that time.

Even though he still couldn’t use his inner energy, his body was much lighter than before, and he didn’t get as tired as if he was about to collapse even if he was active for a long time.

Should I stick with Seo Moon-gwang after all?

Ak Mujin had been thinking only that for the past few days. If he were to leave with Jin Geum-ryeon again from here, Ak Mujin didn’t know when another opportunity to escape from his side would come.

He couldn’t find a gap in Jin Geum-ryeon’s guard while coming from Seoseo to Illusion Valley, and with this body, he couldn’t even use Light Body Skill to run away, let alone face Jin Geum-ryeon, so if he chose him, Ak Mujin’s fate would be entirely up to the heavens.

But if he could continue to stay in Illusion Valley, he would have the tremendous advantage of being able to recover his body through Nourishing Yang and medicinal herbs. If that were the case, he could look for an opportunity to escape somehow, whether Seo Moon-gwang was an obsessive gong or a yandere.

Ak Mujin paced the garden of Welcoming Water Pavilion, agonizing over and over again.

Illusion Valley was in full autumn. Various medicinal herbs poked their heads out, and autumn flowers bloomed in abundance, pleasing to the eye. Ak Mujin wasn’t originally a person interested in flowers.

But in Heavenly Mountain, the Demonic Cult’s headquarters, there was an extreme lack of content that Ak Mujin, or rather, Ahn Do-hyun, could enjoy.

Although it was a place full of all kinds of experts, Ak Mujin was sick of their cruel nature and had no interest in the Demonic Art they produced. He was the person least suited to the Demonic Cult, where Demonic Art was the only ‘content,’ but as the Vice-Leader, he had to stay in the main hall all the time, so unless he received a special mission, he had to stay only in Heavenly Mountain.

As a result, watching the blooming of nameless flower buds was his only joy. Thanks to that, he lived for 15 years waiting only for spring and autumn.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Jin Geum-ryeon suddenly appeared from behind Ak Mujin. Ak Mujin was so surprised that he jerked his shoulder.

“Make some noise before you appear.”

He stroked his chest inwardly to calm his pounding heart. Jin Geum-ryeon seemed to stare at him for a moment, then looked at the flowering tree.

“I didn’t know you were interested in flowers and plants.”

“You naturally become like that when you get old.”

Jin Geum-ryeon blinked once at Ak Mujin’s casual reply.

Ak Mujin stood amidst the trees and flowers that had turned reddish due to the cold weather. For a moment, a gust of wind blew, constantly sweeping back Ak Mujin’s black hair. The hem of his newly fitted Long robe fluttered, and maple leaves fell like rain, scattering in the wind.

A scene he had seen somewhere overlapped, and Jin Geum-ryeon hurriedly shook his head to clear his thoughts.

“…After watching for a few days, Master Gokju was calling you Young Master Ahn.”

Ak Mujin coughed once at Jin Geum-ryeon’s words.

“Did you tell him my real name?”

Jin Geum-ryeon asked with a serious attitude. Ak Mujin was somehow embarrassed and scratched his head, avoiding his gaze.

“Well, shouldn’t I? In the first place, you knew my name….”

“Ahn Do-hyun.”

Ak Mujin’s eyes widened.

“…What’s with you all of a sudden.”

“What I mean is, the Demonic Cult thinks you’re dead, so is it okay to reveal your real name publicly?”

Ak Mujin let out an exclamation of, ah. Come to think of it, Ak Mujin hadn’t told Jin Geum-ryeon that his name was Ahn Do-hyun either.

That was already 15 years ago.

He felt new emotions at the fact that Ryeon still remembered his name. All the more so because he had no expectation that that little child would continue to remember his name.

Even when Seo Moon-gwang mentioned Ak Mujin’s name, Ak Mujin somehow thought, ‘I’ am alive in this world,’ when the characters he had created called that name.

The only trace left of his existence somewhere was the three characters of the name ‘Ahn Do-hyun,’ and for some reason, he got goosebumps at the fact that the protagonist he created had been aware of it for 15 years, so he rubbed his arm once for no reason.

“It’ll be fine.”

Jin Geum-ryeon turned to look at Ak Mujin.

“Strictly speaking, the Demonic Cult doesn’t know my real name.”

A maple leaf fell and landed on Ak Mujin’s palm. He held the tip of the maple leaf and rolled it around.

“…How many identities do you have?”

At Jin Geum-ryeon’s question, Ak Mujin turned to look at him and smiled brightly.

Jin Geum-ryeon’s two eyes wavered.

The maple leaf left Ak Mujin’s hand and flew far, far away.

*

For some reason, Jin Geum-ryeon didn’t show up at the dining hall until dinner that evening.

Ak Mujin was puzzled, but he accepted the tea that Seo Moon-gwang poured and smelled it first. As expected, it smelled like familiar green tea, but it felt like there was something different about the fragrant scent.

But unfortunately, Ak Mujin knew nothing about tea.

“It’s Dongting Green Snail Spring. Top grade.”

Seo Moon-gwang smiled and tilted the teapot to fill his own cup with tea as well.

“Top grade? How did you get such a precious thing….”

Ak Mujin roughly thought that it was a difficult tea to obtain since it was top grade.

He was aware of how much the price would jump if tea was said to be precious, so he felt it was a waste to just drink it. Besides, Green Snail Spring. Didn’t Jin Geum-ryeon say that he smelled like Green Snail Spring sometime ago?

Ak Mujin put his nose to the tea again to smell the fragrance. Seo Moon-gwang was smiling as he looked at him.

“Young Master Jin is not to be seen.”

Ak Mujin fiddled with the teacup and suddenly looked for Jin Geum-ryeon.

“It’s rare that it’s just the two of us, so let’s drink slowly and go to Young Master Jin later.”

Ak Mujin nodded slightly at Seo Moon-gwang’s soft voice. He didn’t have any special conversation when they met during the day, so what on earth was going on? Ak Mujin was worried for no reason because Ryeon had never shown this side of himself before.

Ak Mujin stared at the tea for a long time before bringing it to his lips and sipping it.

He thought that all tea tasted the same, but he felt that this tea leaf was a little different.

“Indeed, a good fragrance comes from holding it in your mouth.”

So he sipped the remaining tea and subtly held out his cup, as if asking for more, looking at Seo Moon-gwang. Seo Moon-gwang, who had been inwardly watching Ak Mujin drink the tea with a pleased expression, seemed to twitch his lips for a moment, then swept back his bangs and muttered to himself.

“…Damn it, I’m going crazy.”

……?

By Zephyria

Hello, I'm Zephyria, an avid BL reader^^ I post AI/Machine assisted translation. Mostly BL. Check my Ko-fi for more HSA chapters~

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