“Wha, he’s just such a brazen brat.”
The prison guard scratched his head, looking around nervously.
Baek Cheon sighed deeply as if the earth had swallowed him. Seeing Seok Han-Bin sprawled in the prison cell, his eyelids so swollen he was barely recognizable, he couldn’t help but sigh.
“Still, beating a kid like this…”
“We didn’t even wallop him that many times. He’s just being melodramatic about dying.”
“Tsk.”
When Baek Cheon clicked his tongue, the guards hunched their shoulders.
When a young taoist had come asking them to release Seok Han-Bin from the cell, they had naturally scoffed.
From the look of the fairly expensive sword at his side, he seemed like some rogue who’d been around the murim world, but what martial man inside the yamen would be afraid of someone like that, not even in the deep mountains?
But their boldness shattered at the sight of a single slip of paper the Taoist slid out.
That paper turned out to be an order personally signed by Lord Song.
Of course, Lord Song wasn’t an official, so ‘order’ might not be the exact word, but since when did the world run strictly by such rules?
If Lord Song so wished he could even replace the local magistrate; what nerve would lowly guards have to defy a paper from Lord Song? They shut up and escorted him.
‘But how on earth did he do it?’
‘How would I know?’
“Just release him for now.”
“…Yes.”
The guards quickly opened the prison cell’s door. Baek Cheon shook his head.
“So, you’re saying he just got out?”
“Well?”
“You should’ve given him a lesson. How could you beat a kid until he passed out?”
“So you mean I should’ve fought the guards? The ones on the magistrate’s payroll?”
“…That’s not what I meant.”
“And truly, I don’t think they beat him until he fainted.”
Tang Soso corrected Jo Gul’s remark.
“It seems less like he was knocked out and more like he passed out from exhaustion. He probably hadn’t eaten for days and was just running. He must’ve taken a few blows and collapsed.”
“Hmm.”
Jo Gul glanced at the boy he was carrying on his back.
“Still, even so. If they’d arrested him, that should’ve been enough—why go and beat a kid locked in a cell again?”
“Exactly. That made me angry too.”
“The guards aren’t there to privately beat people for no reason. He probably didn’t commit any extra crime while inside either.”
“Exactly.”
Baek Cheon clicked his tongue and then suddenly tilted his head in puzzlement.
‘Something’s off…’
Then Baek Cheon realized what was bothering him and snapped his head around.
He flinched.
Chung Myung, catching his gaze, paused for an instant and then moved again. It was obvious to anyone—awkward and creaky.
“What is it?”
“Wha, what?”
“Why are you so quiet?”
“…I don’t know what you mean?”
Baek Cheon knit his brow tightly.
“The kid you were looking for came back beaten like that. Whether to scold the kid for getting beat or to curse the guards for beating him—you wouldn’t just sit still like this.”
“Wha, what! Why are you picking on me all of a sudden? Am I always the loud one? Do I have to be chattering every second?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah.”
“Usually, yes.”
“I even brought earplugs.”
“…You lot.”
Baek Cheon noticed that Chung Myung’s reaction was unnaturally off. Well, ‘noticed’ is an understatement—you couldn’t miss it unless you were blind as a stump.
Even Baek Ah, the marten perched on Chung Myung’s shoulder, had suddenly started acting distracted and whistling.
“Even Baek Ah acting like that makes it more suspicious.”
“Wait. Did that marten just whistle?”
“This is definitely strange. A moment ago he was demanding the jerky.”
“No, I’m telling you—the marten whistled.”
“What did you do? Tell us honestly.”
“…Why is no one else thinking this is odd?”
As Yoon Jong sadly lamented into the air, Hae Yeon silently patted his shoulder.
Jo Gul, who had been eyeing Chung Myung suspiciously, looked to Baek Cheon as if to change the subject.
“Anyway, if the sasuk hadn’t stepped in, we’d have been in big trouble.”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“Isn’t that right? Beating a kid who’s not even grown like that. If he’d stayed locked up a few more days, how much worse would his condition have been?”
At that, the other disciples nodded.
“It’s true he committed a crime, but that doesn’t justify beating him like this.”
“If the sasuk hadn’t gone to negotiate, this could’ve become a major problem.”
“Maybe so.”
Unusually, Yoon Jong agreed with him, and Jo Gul brightened.
“But sasuk, how on earth did you get an order to release him?”
“Huh? Well, things just worked out. Haha.”
“So modest.”
Jo Gul smirked.
“Honestly, I didn’t know the sasuk was so resourceful.”
“Amazing.”
“When they took him to the yamen I was terrified, but I never expected you’d negotiate with that Mr. Song in the meantime. It really shows how bold the sasuk is.”
“Right.”
The disciples nodded vigorously in agreement, but Baek Cheon only managed an awkward smile.
“Then it seems the major issues are mostly settled for now.”
Jo Gul shook his head.
“Phew. I didn’t do much but I’m filthy tired. Maybe I just got overly worked up all of a sudden.”
“Same here.”
“Me too.”
“Since it’s done, how about we get an inn and rest a bit?”
“That sounds good. Let’s go, sasuk.”
“Ah, about that…”
“Yes?”
Baek Cheon turned to them with an awkward smile.
“Well… you all asked how I settled things with Lord Song.”
“…Right?”
The disciples’ voices grew awkward as a sense of foreboding crept in.
“Well… I didn’t actually meet Lord Song in person. But he was, how to put it? Brisk? No, that doesn’t fit. He was… a neat sort of person.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well… it was all about money. He said there was nothing to argue, just repay the money and it’s settled.”
The disciples’ eyes narrowed like threads.
“And then?”
“So I paid.”
Baek Cheon took out a money pouch from his robe and turned it over. A few grains of dust floated into the air.
“…It fit perfectly, unbelievably so.”
“…”
“So now… we’re penniless.”
A crow cried ominously as it flew across the darkened sky.
My body feels heavy.
It’s not just sluggish—it’s a weight as if my body is nailed to the ground.
No wonder. Just being locked in a damp, chilly prison cell would sap anyone, and on top of that getting gleefully beat up by the guards, it’s a miracle I’m not worse.
Even now, look. At my fingertips I can feel something crisp….
‘Huh?’
Crisp? Not damp?
The chill is similar, but not the damp chill. I sense dry ground that could rustle and a cool, dry air.
‘Are my senses gone bad?’
Apparently not. A strange voice began to whisper in my ear at once.
“You handed over all the travel money you were given?”
“W-what else could I do? Didn’t we all agree to rescue the kid first?”
“Of course we’d rescue him if we could. But if you spend all the travel money, how are we supposed to return to Shaanxi?”
“…We never really spent travel money on the road before, did we?”
“This fellow, still!”
“I panicked for a moment, that’s all. He said either pay the money back now or get lost, but I couldn’t just leave him.”
“That man got heated and did something rash again. No doubt he waved his pouch around.”
“I didn’t wave it.”
“You did at least hold it up, right?”
“…”
“Right. Right. Oh, it’s infuriating.”
Seok Han-Bin slowly opened his eyes.
He saw the dark fellows pointing fingers and arguing at each other.
“What are we supposed to do now, huh! We don’t even have a place to sleep, we’ll be stuck here!”
“…Let’s just sleep tonight and think tomorrow, shall we?”
“By the Primordial Celestial Lord.”
“That person is the sasuk?”
“Heaven has forsaken Mount Hua.”
“Isn’t he a spy for the Southern Edge? Otherwise… Aaaah! Why are you hitting me!”
“He deserved that.”
“Honestly, he should get hit a bit more.”
Seok Han-Bin blinked, but astonishingly no one paid him any attention.
“Huh?”
After a long bout of bickering, at last a woman turned, puffed herself up, spotted Seok Han-Bin and brightened.
“You’re awake?”
“…”
“Here.”
As Seok Han-Bin tried to form a reply in his head, a large bowl was held out before him.
“…Porridge?”
“Eat. Your body is hurt. If you can, eat slowly. You’ll regain your strength.”
“…”
“Let’s eat first and talk after.”
“No, porridge right now…”
“Hey.”
Seok Han-Bin flinched.
The woman with a gentle smile pointed to the bowl again.
“Eat.”
“Yes.”
For some reason he couldn’t refuse. It seemed good for his health.
While Seok Han-Bin gulped down a bowl of porridge, the dark fellows in front of him kept growling at each other in discontent.
“There, you ate well…”
Clang.
When he lifted his head again, Seok Han-Bin accidentally dropped the bowl. It wasn’t from weakness.
“Th-that!”
“Huh?”
“That marten from before!”
Baek Ah, the marten perched on Chung Myung’s shoulder, glanced toward Seok Han-Bin and casually scratched his ear with his hind paw.
“Don’t play dumb! You’re the one from earlier!”
Scritch scratch scratch.
After a few scritches the marten lifted its head, blinked alertly at him, and then….
Kyu?
“What kind of trick is this!”
“Whoa whoa!”
“Why’s he suddenly like this?”
Enraged, Seok Han-Bin lunged at the marten, but Jo Gul and Yoon Jong quickly grabbed him.
“Easy now. He doesn’t seem fully together yet.”
“No, it’s that marten!”
“Yeah. It’s your first time seeing a clothed marten, right? I get why you’re shocked. We were surprised the first time too.”
Frustrated, Seok Han-Bin pounded his chest.
But there was no way to explain his grievance: how could he tell them that he followed the marten’s orders, was betrayed, and beaten by the guards?
Even if he couldn’t tell that story, he could say other obvious things.
“No, who are you people to be squatting in my house like this?”
To him it was a perfectly reasonable question and protest.
But those hearing his protest looked at Seok Han-Bin with baffled expressions.
“You say the strangest things. Can’t you tell? He’s a Taoist.”
“Idiot.”
“The kid does look a bit simple-minded.”
Seok Han-Bin instinctively grabbed the back of his neck.
“Taoist? What kind of Taoist carries a sword! Where would Taoists like you exist in the world!”
“Ah, well…”
Baek Cheon smiled mildly and stepped forward to explain.
“We’re a bit of a special kind of Taoist, so we carry swords.”
“That’s nonsense…”
“Whether it sounds reasonable or not, listen first and then judge.”
Baek Cheon looked at Seok Han-Bin with a confident face.
He had actually been waiting for this. To be honest, he’d wanted to say it properly at least once. These words.
“Have you heard of the Mount Hua sect?”
“Mo-Mount Hua?”
Seok Han-Bin’s eyes widened. Seeing that reaction, Baek Cheon couldn’t help clenching his fist slightly.
“I, I…”
“Heh heh. Yes. Exactly…”
“What’s that then?”
“…Huh?”
“I’ve never heard of it in my life.”
“Oh?”
Baek Cheon’s eyes trembled intensely.