SYM 83
by Emerlyn“Ah, you must be from Jeil Escort Agency. Please, come in!”
The checkpoint was easier to pass than expected, considering the tension. Eun-hyeon had thought they would ask to see a pass, but they simply looked at the carriage and let them through.
Eun-hyeon hadn’t even known that the carriage he was riding in belonged to Jeil Escort Agency until then.
“Jeil Escort Agency?”
Cheong-un nodded at Eun-hyeon’s question.
“It’s one of the shell corporations run by the Demonic Sect. It’s quite large in the Shanxi area, and it’s treated well, especially since it supplies various goods to Xi’an.”
Eun-hyeon looked at Cheong-un with admiration. Seeing him like this, it struck him again that Cheong-un was the protagonist of this story.
“When did you set all this up…? Are you planning to unify the Martial World or something?”
“Of course not. Such a bothersome thing. Anyone who wants the Martial World can have it.”
Cheong-un waved his hand and laughed.
“Initially, the reason I established a branch of the Demonic Sect in the Central Plains was to get revenge on those who tormented Master. I didn’t think simply killing or tormenting them with force was enough. I thought I should slowly wither them away, so I touched a few interests in the Central Plains, and then I gradually increased them.”
Eun-hyeon was dumbfounded and laughed in disbelief. He couldn’t tell whether to call it sinister or meticulous.
“Master, let’s get off first.”
“…This place is?”
“The Xi’an branch of Jeil Escort Agency.”
In other words, it was the Xi’an branch of the Demonic Sect.
As they got out of the carriage, the workers glanced at Cheong-un and subtly bowed their heads, so they all seemed to be members of the Demonic Sect.
Eun-hyeon shook his head as he looked at the splendid two-story pavilion and the crowds of people.
It seemed that after Cheong-un became the Heavenly Demon, the power of the Demonic Sect had changed a lot from what he knew.
* * *
“Wow, what is that Candied fruit?”
“That’s called Jing Gao, mirror cake. It’s made by shaping glutinous rice flour and sugar into a mirror shape, and it’s very popular with children. Would you like to try one?”
“No, thank you.”
Even as he said no, Eun-hyeon’s eyes didn’t leave the Jing Gao.
Cheong-un smiled and handed coins to the Jing Gao Jangsu.
“Try it once. Isn’t it something you can only eat in Xi’an? Xi’an’s Roubing is also famous. Have a Roubing later.”
“Roubing?”
“It’s a pancake filled with minced meat and seasoning.”
“Inside the pancake?”
Eun-hyeon blinked as he munched on the Jing Gao that Cheong-un handed him. Seeing that, Cheong-un burst into laughter. He didn’t know how long it had been since he had laughed like this.
“Let’s go. There’s a place over there that sells Roubing and Dandan noodles. Be careful not to eat too much, or you’ll get a stomachache.”
Eun-hyeon held the food that Cheong-un gave him in one hand and Cheong-un’s hand in the other. And he wandered around the Market street of Xi’an, looking around.
Indeed, Xi’an was a big city. High walls surrounded the city, and the Market street was overflowing with people. The whole city was full of life, which was incomparable to the small village he had heard about just before.
That place had a gloomy atmosphere throughout the village due to the continuous kidnapping incidents, but there was no trace of that in Xi’an.
“If Xi’an is like this, then Beijing must be much bigger, right?”
“Well, I haven’t been to Beijing yet either.”
“I guess so.”
For the people of the Martial World, there was no particular reason to go to Beijing, and there was no need to go. In particular, Beijing, where the emperor resided, was the center of the government, so it was a place that had little connection with the people of the Martial World, who had a non-aggression pact with the government.
“Are you curious about Beijing? Well, it’s where the emperor resides, so it must be different from other places. Let’s go together sometime later.”
“…Okay.”
He said going to Beijing, where the emperor resided, as if it was nothing, even though he was the Heavenly Demon. But that image suited Cheong-un well, so he nodded.
Suddenly, Eun-hyeon remembered something from the past. That is, back when he was Taoist Eun-hyeon, he had held the hand of the young Cheong-un and walked around the Market street. Cheong-un, who had spent most of his time in the mountains, was surprised and widened his eyes even when he saw the Market street of a small rural village.
As winter began, a Tanghulu seller came, coating bright red hawthorn berries with sugar. Cheong-un stood in front of it, staring blankly at the bright red Tanghulu. He was poor at the time, but it wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford to buy him one, but he didn’t ask him to buy it.
He was still a young child, but he pretended to be an adult, and when he saw him completely absorbed in one Tanghulu, he finally looked his age. At that time, he bought one each and ate it silently. Tanghulu, a combination of the sour taste of hawthorn berries and the sweet taste of sugar, was a winter delicacy.
That child was now buying him a lot of food and holding his hand. His heart tingled with emotions that were hard to express.
Cheong-un pulled Eun-hyeon away from the crowded Market street. And he sat him down on a low stone wall.
“Are your legs not hurting?”
“Uh-huh…”
It was when Eun-hyeon was munching on the pancake that Cheong-un gave him and nodding his head. Cheong-un’s hand brushed Eun-hyeon’s mouth.
“You have something on your face here.”
“Huh?”
Cheong-un wiped the pancake crumbs from the corner of Eun-hyeon’s mouth and then licked it into his own mouth.
In an instant, Eun-hyeon’s face turned red.
“Why did you do that…? That’s dirty!”
“I wanted to taste it because Master was eating so deliciously.”
“No, but there’s a new one…”
Cheong-un blinked his long eyelashes and looked at Eun-hyeon, then smiled coyly.
“Do you ask because you don’t know? I wanted to eat what Master was eating.”
Eun-hyeon’s face flushed and he felt thirsty.
Was he this kind of person? Or was it because poison made people impulsive?
For a moment, many thoughts passed through his mind, but Eun-hyeon soon erased them. There was something he wanted to do more than think right now.
“…Cheong-un.”
Eun-hyeon’s voice was low and subdued.
“I, want to do it.”
In an instant, Cheong-un’s eyes blinked. He didn’t understand what he meant.
Eun-hyeon pulled Cheong-un, made him lower his body to him, and whispered softly in Cheong-un’s ear.
“I want to do it with you, right now. I’m hard.”
Eun-hyeon licked his lips slightly as he looked at Cheong-un’s flustered expression.
Cheong-un had done a little teasing, but he never thought that Eun-hyeon would suddenly come out like this. Cheong-un was embarrassed to see Eun-hyeon subtly attaching his body to him.
“Master, we’re outside. And your body isn’t in good condition yet.”
“My body has gotten better.”
The way Eun-hyeon spoke urgently seemed like he was really in a hurry.
“Didn’t you say that your legs still hurt? Even after walking this little bit?”
Cheong-un rubbed Eun-hyeon’s ankle. He had treated all the visible wounds, but there were still aftereffects on the muscles and tendons.
“Heuh…!”
Cheong-un’s hand rubbed Eun-hyeon’s calf. He could feel that his legs were swollen even after walking a little bit on the Market street. He was trying to check Eun-hyeon’s condition by gently massaging his stiff muscles, but Eun-hyeon’s reddened face was seen first.
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
Cheong-un cast his gaze at Eun-hyeon’s crotch. He could see it bulging out.
“You’re really, excited.”
“It’s true. Because of you, Cheong-un…!”
Cheong-un looked back and forth between Eun-hyeon’s swollen lower body and Eun-hyeon’s face with a strange expression.
“So, this is because of me, you mean?”
“Yes! Isn’t it because you touched me that it became like this! So you have to take responsibility!”
Seeing Eun-hyeon shouting while pointing at his swollen lower body, the corners of Cheong-un’s lips rose upward.
An indescribable sense of satisfaction filled his stomach.
“As a disciple, I cannot pretend not to know that Master is in trouble.”
Cheong-un licked his lips with his tongue.
“But it is also true that I am still worried about Master’s physical condition.”
“It’s okay. I can do that much. Huh?”
“Did you just say, ‘that much’?”
“Huh?”
Eun-hyeon realized in an instant that he had done something wrong. It was because Cheong-un’s face was completely different from before. It was too late for Eun-hyeon to shake his hand, saying it wasn’t, because it was already too late to stop Cheong-un.
“So, the night when the disciple cared for Master was a trivial matter to say that much. It’s okay. Then, from now on, the disciple will do his best to make it not trivial. There’s nothing to worry about. There are many things you can do with Master’s insignificant physical condition.”
“Wait, wait, that’s not what I meant!”
A cool madness was felt in his subtly flashing eyes.