SYM 45

Madam Hwang seemed to have brought a cook with her, as he was busily preparing food on one side. The meal set on the table wasn’t quite up to the standard of the Namgung Clan, but it was still quite excellent.

“Thanks to my mother, I get to enjoy such a wonderful meal even out here.”

“I’m glad it suits Eldest Young Master’s taste.”

“Is the cook coming all the way up to Godeok Temple with us?”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t be so rude as to bring the smell of meat to a temple. The cook is only responsible for our meals while we travel to Godeok Temple.”

“Then these people aren’t going all the way to Godeok Temple?”

Eun-hyeon asked, subtly pretending to look around.

“Only some of them will follow us to Godeok Temple. Godeok Temple isn’t a very big temple, so if all of them go up, it will be a nuisance to others visiting Godeok Temple. Eldest Young Master, leave your servants and attendants in the village below as well.”

“…Understood.”

Madam Hwang finally offered a slight smile when Eun-hyeon nodded.

“How much further is it to Godeok Temple?”

“We should arrive before evening. However, we can only take the carriage to the village at the foot of the mountain, so we’ll have to walk up to Godeok Temple. Will Eldest Young Master be alright?”

So Godeok Temple was a temple on a mountain.

Eun-hyeon swallowed a sigh and nodded.

“My health has improved recently, so I should be fine as long as it’s not a very high mountain.”

“Yes. The mountain where Godeok Temple is located is a low mountain that villagers climb for outings. Even Eldest Young Master, who hasn’t learned Martial Arts, should be able to climb that much.”

Eun-hyeon felt a sense of unease, but he nodded.

* * *

“Eldest Young Master, are you alright?”

Ha Yeo-un approached from behind and spoke. Eun-hyeon nodded with a pale face.

He didn’t even have the strength to speak.

He never imagined he would be struggling with something like this before the real work even began.

“I told you I’d just carry you.”

Eun-hyeon couldn’t even answer and collapsed onto a large rock.

Ha Yeo-un channeled his energy into Eun-hyeon from behind. Gradually, his trembling body began to calm down.

“If you don’t want to be held, I’ll give you a piggyback ride. Don’t waste your energy on useless things.”

Eun-hyeon sighed deeply.

“I’m truly pathetic. Not being able to climb even this mountain.”

The mountain where Godeok Temple was located wasn’t very high, as Madam Hwang had said.

The problem was that the mountain terrain was rougher than he had expected.

When Madam Hwang arrived at the village at the foot of the mountain, she switched from the carriage to a palanquin. She had no intention of climbing on her own two feet from the start. The palanquin bearers were all martial artists who had mastered lightness skill.

Madam Hwang waved her hand, saying that she and Namgung Eun-gwang would go ahead, and disappeared.

“Just getting this far is a great improvement. Before, you would have been bedridden just from coming this far.”

“…That’s true.”

Eun-hyeon had instructed Soseo and the other servants to stay down the mountain, as he didn’t know what might happen at Godeok Temple. In the end, only Ha Yeo-un was climbing with Eun-hyeon.

Ha Yeo-un crouched down in front of Eun-hyeon and offered his back.

“This is enough. Get on.”

Eun-hyeon hesitated, but eventually reached his arms around Ha Yeo-un’s shoulders. Even with Eun-hyeon on his back, Ha Yeo-un walked with a light step, as if he were out for a stroll.

Well, someone like Cheonma wouldn’t feel burdened by carrying one person.

Eun-hyeon felt a strange warmth from the solid muscles that he could feel even through his clothes.

They were muscles so tightly compressed that he couldn’t believe he was the same species.

He knew that Ha Yeo-un had a good body, but feeling it against his skin like this was a completely different sensation.

“…Except for when I was very young, this is the first time I’ve been carried like this.”

Ha Yeo-un chuckled at Eun-hyeon’s words.

“If you say that, do you think I’ve ever carried anyone before? Carrying someone…”

Ha Yeo-un stopped speaking for a moment. He remembered who he had last carried.

It was when his master was attacked by the Righteous Faction and collapsed. He had carried his master and ran. That day became the last day he carried someone.

It wasn’t even a proper carry. He had hoisted his master, who was twice his size, onto his back, so his legs dragged on the ground, and half of his body was dragged along as well. Strictly speaking, it was closer to dragging than carrying. His entire body was instantly drenched in sweat, and the colder his master’s body felt, the more he felt it.

Ha Yeo-un shook his head lightly.

Just thinking about that time caused his Inner Demon to stir, so it was best not to think about it deeply. Moreover, he didn’t know what they would encounter in the future.

“Madam Hwang and Namgung Eun-gwang are nowhere to be seen now.”

Eun-hyeon, who was slow on his feet, had told them to go ahead since he would be slow, and they had really gone ahead. At first, he could still see their backs in the distance, but now he had no idea where they were.

“I could speed up if I wanted to, but I don’t think there’s any need to rush. Let’s wait and see. Let’s see what they’re up to, rushing ahead like that.”

“…I suppose.”

Eun-hyeon leaned his head against Ha Yeo-un’s back.

His back was so large that he felt like a child. Ha Yeo-un didn’t even use his hands as he climbed the steep path, and his breathing didn’t even become rough. It didn’t seem like he was using lightness skill or any particular footwork, but his steps were as light as a feather. He was even channeling energy into Eun-hyeon while carrying him.

Thanks to that, Eun-hyeon’s tired body was gradually becoming refreshed.

“Hmm. But Great Hero Ha, this mountain seems quite deep. Madam Hwang clearly said that the mountain wasn’t very deep.”

Eun-hyeon muttered, looking up at the dense trees.

Even if his pace was slow, it was taking a long time, but with Ha Yeo-un’s pace, they should have arrived already, shouldn’t they? It didn’t seem like a very deep mountain when he saw it from the village.

“And, strangely, it feels like it’s getting warmer. It’s still spring in the mountains, but isn’t it humid like summer?”

Eun-hyeon said, grabbing and waving his collar.

Come to think of it, the trees were strange too. It wasn’t the season for lush foliage yet, but the leaves were so dense that he couldn’t see the sky.

At those words, Ha Yeo-un stopped walking.

“This is…”

“…Great Hero Ha?”

“I thought something would start after we arrived at Godeok Temple, but it seems like it’s already started. It seems we’ve entered a formation.”

Eun-hyeon was startled and raised his head.

“A formation, you mean a formation array?”

Ha Yeo-un put Eun-hyeon down on a rock. Then, he began to scan his surroundings.

Eun-hyeon only knew the very basics about formations.

For example, if you enter a formation, you die if you step on the death gate, and you must find the life gate to escape.

If he were a proper Kunlun Sect disciple, he would be able to create a few formations as a Taoist disciple, but Eun-hyeon had run away on his own, so he didn’t know much.

“If it’s a formation, does that mean we can’t get out now?”

Eun-hyeon looked at Ha Yeo-un, expecting him to somehow get them out.

“It’s not a very high-level formation. However, it will take some time to solve it properly. It seems Madam Hwang has prepared thoroughly.”

“Great Hero Ha, are you also knowledgeable about formations?”

Ha Yeo-un shook his head at Eun-hyeon’s words.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know much about formations. I only know the very basics about formations.”

It was the Zhuge Clan who liked to use mechanisms and formations.

Most people didn’t study formations much because they couldn’t be used immediately after learning them for a year or two, and they were just a headache.

That was the same for the Heavenly Demon.

In the first place, the Demonic Sect was a place where everything was solved with power. They didn’t think highly of relying on formations or mechanisms.

Swish, swish, swish

The leaves rustled in the wind, creating an eerie sound.

As Eun-hyeon raised his head and looked up, the hem of Ha Yeo-un’s robe fluttered upwards.

“Duck!”

With Ha Yeo-un’s sharp shout, leaves began to fall above Eun-hyeon’s head with a whooshing sound.