Chapter 189: Trivial Act. (4)

It had been seven days and nights since we left Hanam and headed for Shanxi.

As always, long journeys are just boring.

As if to prove it, my routine was always the same.

During the day, I slept with my head on Wi Seol-ah’s shoulder or Namgung Bi-ah’s lap, or just passed the time with trivial small talk.

Speaking of small talk, it was mostly time spent tormenting Gu Jeolyub.

That was the most fun, relatively speaking.

In the evening, when I had to rest my voice, I trained.

Namgung Bi-ah, for instance, tended to train alone rather than with me. She probably wanted to focus on her enlightenment.

Tang Soyeol seemed to train too, but honestly, it was closer to watching me from afar than actual training.

In the end, training with Mu Yeon and rolling Gu Jeolyub was the end of my routine.

‘This is boring.’

[You wished for peace once, and now you call it boring.]

‘What kind of peace is this? It’s clearly a precursor to something….’

The carriage moved ceaselessly, heading towards Shanxi.

Perhaps we had entered the forest territory now, as the winding terrain and dense mountains slowed us down even further.

“Young Master! Ah!”

At Wi Seol-ah’s words, I opened my mouth.

Then, a pastry popped into my mouth.

‘Sweet.’

I wished she would stop, but I didn’t say anything and just chewed it slowly.

Only after seeing me eat did Wi Seol-ah put her own pastry into her mouth.

‘Lately, she’s been particularly insistent on feeding me.’

Wi Seol-ah, who doesn’t covet anything else, is unusually greedy when it comes to food.

Lately, it felt like she was trying to fatten me up.

‘If anything, I’m the one in that position.’

I was already trying to help Wi Seol-ah regain her lost chubby cheeks.

Seeing how much she eats, there’s no way she could possibly lose weight.

For some reason, Wi Seol-ah was getting thinner and thinner.

Conversely, I seemed to be gaining a bit of weight because Wi Seol-ah fed me food every single day.

“Why on earth?”

“Hm? Why what?”

“…Never mind. Keep eating what you were eating.”

At my words, Wi Seol-ah seemed to understand and took out another pastry to eat.

Watching Wi Seol-ah like that, I simply closed my eyes.

[What do you think?]

Then, the Old Man asked me.

‘About what?’

[You say you’re bored, but you’re raising your sensory awareness considerably. What do you think? About those guys.]

At Shin Noy’s words, I sighed inwardly.

I was already annoyed by that very thing.

‘How long do they plan to follow us?’

It’s already been seven days and nights.

Those unknown bastards have been tailing the carriage while maintaining their distance.

‘Who could it be?’

There were too many predictable culprits, which made it even more of a dilemma.

The probability was highest that they were the ones who latched onto us thanks to the big commotion at the martial arts tournament, but…

It didn’t feel like they were subtly testing the waters.

For now, they didn’t seem intent on attacking, so I was observing, but…

Seven days and nights have already passed, and my temper was slowly reaching its limit.

[Normally, you would have caught and beaten those bastards up immediately. You’ve endured quite well.]

‘I’ve caused more than a few incidents lately. I’m trying to hold back.’

And above all else.

It was because I had a subtle feeling.

Should I say it feels vaguely familiar?

“It seems like they’ll probably make a move soon. I’ll watch only until today.”

“Hm? What did you say, Young Master?”

“It’s nothing. Ah, can you give that to me too?”

“…Ah!”

I asked because she was holding a pastry, but Wi Seol-ah flinched and moved slightly away.

Why is she acting like this when she was giving them to me just fine moments ago?

“Th-this is the last one….”

Ah, it’s because it’s the last pastry.

Seeing Wi Seol-ah slightly hunching her body as if she didn’t want to give it, a mischievous urge welled up within me.

“So.”

“N-no…. It’s just that….”

“You don’t want to give it? To me?”

“No…. That’s not it….”

“Then give it to me.”

When I answered confidently, Wi Seol-ah finally made a crestfallen face.

Seeing her slowly hand over the pastry with a tearful expression gave me a strange sense of pleasure.

[Pleasure from a pastry…? Kid, have you bathed in opium or something?]

‘She’s cute, isn’t she?’

When I took the pastry she offered, Wi Seol-ah’s eyes widened in shock.

Her face showed she really hadn’t expected me to take it.

Wi Seol-ah, with a wistful gaze as if she couldn’t bear to part with the pastry, looked quite dramatic.

As if she had seen enough, I casually returned the pastry to Wi Seol-ah and closed my eyes.

“Hoo… phew!”

Wi Seol-ah let out a sigh of relief, as if she were fortunate, but…

“Ah! Unni!”

Then came a scream in a tearful voice.

It seemed Namgung Bi-ah, who had been sleeping next to us, woke up and snatched it.

“Un, Unni, that was the last one…!”

“My lap….”

“That’s too much! You won’t let me rest my head on your lap…!”

I could hear Wi Seol-ah complaining, but she would eventually give in and let me rest my head on her lap.

She had been doing that for days now.

‘…What a life.’

Thinking that, I closed my eyes.

---

The sky had already turned to night.

The carriage was parked in a spot overlooking a valley, and we prepared to camp.

Perhaps the Tang family’s carriage had also finished preparations, as Tang Soyeol appeared as if he had been waiting.

I looked at Tang Soyeol, who appeared with a stiff expression.

At first, I wondered why he looked like that. But having traveled this long distance together, I could tell.

Tang Soyeol tends to suffer badly from motion sickness.

“Are you okay?”

“…I’m fine…. Ugh.”

It was a completely unconvincing answer.

At that level, he could just use internal energy to stabilize his body, but Tang Soyeol insisted on not doing so.

He once said motion sickness had its own charm, didn’t he?

I couldn’t fathom what that meant, but since he insisted on doing it his way, I had nothing more to say.

“Ugh…! Young Master, are you going for training?”

“Probably? Do you want to come along?”

“No…. I’ll just rest.”

Looking around, Namgung Bi-ah had already disappeared somewhere with her sword. Wi Seol-ah seemed to be doing something with Hong Wa.

“Where did this guy go?”

“Who…. Ah.”

Tang Soyeol’s expression immediately turned indifferent upon realizing I was talking about Gu Jeolyub.

…Isn’t that level of indifference a bit much?

“Maybe he ran away…?”

“A warrior running away during training time?”

“…If I saw what Young Master Gu does, I think even I would run away.”

[Tsk tsk…. What a spineless fellow.]

What, how hard could it have been? Anyway, kids these days lack grit…

‘Uh…. That’s something Noy says every day.’

Realizing it was something Shin Noy often blurted out, I immediately erased the thought.

To think I had the same thought as this narrow-minded old geezer, that simply wouldn’t do.

[Narrow-minded…. What, punk?]

Putting Gu Jeolyub aside, Mu Yeon was also nowhere to be seen. Did he go on patrol?

‘I hope he didn’t go far.’

If I had told Mu Yeon that someone was following us, it was obvious he would immediately put us on high alert.

It was predictable how they would react the moment they saw that, so…

However, knowing this now, I feel like I should have given him a subtle hint.

“Well then, I’ll be back.”

“Go and come back!”

Putting aside the escaped Gu Jeolyub, I intended to head towards where Mu Yeon might be.

Wrapping my body in internal energy, I scanned the forest.

Other Gu family guards were stationed not far away.

Among them, Mu Yeon was…

‘Where could he be.’

Strangely, he wasn’t visible nearby. Even after expanding my sensory awareness this much, he’s not showing up?

Feeling something was off, just as I was considering using more internal energy…

“Young Master.”

Mu Yeon’s voice came from behind me.

I immediately turned my head to look in the direction of the voice, and there stood Mu Yeon.

“Young Master, why are you here?”

“Hmm.”

Mu Yeon spoke to me with a bewildered expression, but I merely scanned him up and down without answering.

“Young Master?”

“I see.”

Mu Yeon approached with a worried look, as if wondering if something was wrong with me, but…

I thrust my fist towards that Mu Yeon.

Pang!

“…Gk!”

Internal energy burst in the air, creating a piercing sound.

Mu Yeon narrowly dodged my sudden surprise attack and wore a shocked expression.

“Young Master! What is this all of a sudden…!”

“How curious, you can use martial arts. You don’t seem like the one from last time.”

“What on earth are you talking about…!”

Slightly loosening my grip, I increased my speed this time.

I didn’t unleash flames.

It was because I didn’t want to cause a commotion.

Mu Yeon, facing my successive attacks, eventually tried to draw his sword, but…

With a single sweep of my hand, Mu Yeon’s sword was sent flying far away.

Crack.

With a swift kick, Mu Yeon’s leg broke, and he collapsed.

“Gk…! Mmph!”

I grabbed Mu Yeon’s mouth to silence his attempt to scream.

His eyes, still looking at me as if unable to comprehend the situation, held…

Betrayal, fear, and other deeply sorrowful emotions were visible, but…

My eyes, looking at him, were indifferent.

I couldn’t help it.

“I wondered what you were doing following me all this time. So this was your plan. Truly petty business.”

“Gk… Mmph…!”

The guy still acting was, outwardly, truly indistinguishable from Mu Yeon, but…

In my eyes, a faint, flickering red light was clearly visible within Mu Yeon’s body.

It was the same energy I saw from the guy wearing Hee-yeong’s mask at Shaolin.

This meant only one thing.

That guy wasn’t Mu Yeon.