SYM 90
by Emerlyn“Young master of the Namgung family, how would you like your breakfast? Shall I bring it up now?”
Eun-hyeon couldn’t even think of answering and bit his lip hard. The anxiety that had been building since yesterday seemed to have become a reality.
It wasn’t something he couldn’t understand. He was genuinely too tired and couldn’t wake up early today. He could also understand why Cheong-un, worried about him, had left alone.
But why did he feel so uneasy and unpleasant? It felt like a thorn was stuck in his throat.
Eun-hyeon sighed as he watched the Demonic Sect member in front of him anxiously watching him. It seemed Cheong-un had given them some instructions before leaving.
In the end, Eun-hyeon sighed and decided to have a simple breakfast.
Seeing Cheong-un’s subordinates in the house watching him carefully, Eun-hyeon’s mood sank further.
The prepared meal consisted of things like porridge that were easy to digest. But even those, he didn’t feel like eating alone. Eun-hyeon nibbled at his breakfast, barely taking a few spoonfuls before finally putting it down.
He felt sorry for the person who had painstakingly prepared it, but trying to eat more in this mood would only give him indigestion.
Eun-hyeon had the table cleared and paced around the room for a while before biting his lip hard.
“…Is Amhon there?”
He couldn’t see them, but he knew that Amhon were attached to him.
“I think I should go to Cheong-un.”
“……”
No answer came, but Eun-hyeon got up from his seat.
Cheong-un’s reaction when he saw Seo Eun-hyeon was unusual. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong.
In the end, Eun-hyeon headed outside.
The Demonic Sect members, without a word, provided a carriage when Eun-hyeon said he would follow Cheong-un.
Before getting into the carriage, Amhon briefly appeared and bowed. It seemed they were letting him know they would be accompanying him.
Seeing these things, Eun-hyeon thought that Cheong-un hadn’t particularly tried to stop him from following. Thinking that, his gloomy mood gradually lifted.
He began to think that Cheong-un had left him behind entirely out of concern for him.
“I think I was being unnecessarily sensitive.”
Sitting in the comfortable carriage that barely shook even as it traveled along the mountain path, Eun-hyeon scratched his head.
Perhaps Cheong-un was just worried about his health. His worries were probably unnecessary, born from not knowing how great the Heavenly Demon Cheong-un was.
Seeing his Master, whom he thought was dead, moving, it was only natural to be surprised.
Even he had felt strange just seeing Eldest Senior Brother in his dreams.
“Come to think of it, was Eldest Senior Brother’s body okay after I disappeared?”
Eun-hyeon thought of the Demon Physician who had examined him.
Asking the Demon Physician to examine the Leader of the Kunlun Sect would be going too far, wouldn’t it?
Eun-hyeon sat in the carriage and quietly thought of Eldest Senior Brother.
Why hadn’t Eldest Senior Brother told even Master about his condition?
At the time, he was so caught up in the idea that he was the only one who could help Eldest Senior Brother that he hadn’t thought about it deeply, but now that he thought about it, it seemed strange.
No matter how poor Kunlun was, they wouldn’t ignore the condition of their future leader.
And did Master really not know that Eldest Senior Brother’s Qi and blood were tangled?
Eldest Senior Brother was even receiving direct instruction from the Leader; it didn’t make sense that he wouldn’t know about Eldest Senior Brother’s condition.
“Something is strange.”
He didn’t want to suspect Eldest Senior Brother, but thinking about it again, there were several suspicious circumstances.
Besides, at first, he had only needed to help with Qi Circulation a little, but later, he was always giving his Qi to Eldest Senior Brother. After transferring his Qi, Eldest Senior Brother’s condition would improve, while he would always fall ill.
“…Well, still, it’s Eldest Senior Brother.”
Eun-hyeon was lost in thought before smiling wryly.
Suspecting Eldest Senior Brother? Thinking about it again, it was absurd.
He was using Namgung Eun-hyeon’s body and was about to forget Eldest Senior Brother’s grace and commit an act of ingratitude.
“This body is too weak to be of any help to Eldest Senior Brother.”
Eun-hyeon leaned back in the carriage and muttered.
A cool breeze blew gently through the window. Perhaps because he had a restless night, his eyelids grew heavy as he leaned against the carriage.
And so, he fell into a deep sleep again.
* * *
“Master. Why did you leave Kunlun?”
“Huh?”
Eun-hyeon blinked at the small Cheong-un.
Ah, it’s a dream.
Eun-hyeon realized it was a dream when he saw the small Cheong-un, whose height only reached his waist. It seemed to be the time when he was raising Cheong-un as Seo Eun-hyeon.
Seeing the bright eyes of the young Cheong-un, the corners of his lips naturally turned upwards.
Cute!
Without realizing it, Eun-hyeon reached out his hand to Cheong-un’s head.
“Ugh, Master!”
As he messed up his hair while stroking it, Cheong-un looked at him with a horrified expression.
Ah, right. Cheong-un was meticulous.
The grimy appearance he had when he first picked him up was nowhere to be found; he always looked neat and tidy. On the contrary, it was Eun-hyeon who lived sloppily and carelessly.
“A man can be a little messy. Why are you so meticulous? Huh? Oh my, whose child is so noble?”
Eun-hyeon grinned and rubbed Cheong-un’s cheeks, causing Cheong-un to recoil in horror.
“Master. You’re not even that old, but you talk like an old man. And isn’t today the day we were supposed to go to the village together? You need to wash up too.”
“Hey. Then you should have said we’d wash together. You’re going to wash up and look all shiny by yourself? Your dirty Master will just go like this.”
“…What if you meet people from Kunlun? If you wash up, I’ll fix your hair for you.”
Eun-hyeon laughed, feeling like he had been stabbed in the side by his thoughtful disciple’s words.
“Were you worried because I met people from Kunlun last time? You don’t have to worry about Master, I’m fine.”
“I’m not fine. I can’t stand to see my one and only Master being looked down upon by those beggars.”
“If the Kunlun disciples heard that, they’d come running to kill you. Kunlun isn’t a beggar’s den, beggar…!”
Eun-hyeon burst into laughter.
Once or twice a month, Eun-hyeon would go down to the village at the foot of the mountain with Cheong-un to buy necessities.
If they couldn’t find what they needed, they would go to a slightly larger village nearby, and that’s when they ran into people from Kunlun.
Eun-hyeon had been disgracefully expelled from Kunlun. The young Taoist from Kunlun, who knew this fact, mocked Eun-hyeon when they saw him.
Cheong-un was so angry about that, that he had been calling the Kunlun Taoist beggars ever since.
“Master, don’t change the subject. Why were you kicked out of Kunlun? You are the most Taoist-like person I have ever seen.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
Eun-hyeon listened to Cheong-un’s words and unconsciously reached for his waist.
Then, he felt a worn-out folding fan.
Eldest Senior Brother had given it to him, telling him to use it until he returned, and Eun-hyeon had continued to carry it with him after being expelled from Kunlun.
This old fan symbolized Kunlun and Eldest Senior Brother to Eun-hyeon.
“I was a troublemaker when I was in Kunlun. I didn’t practice properly and did whatever I wanted. Eldest Senior Brother was the one who always took care of me. Thanks to Eldest Senior Brother, I was able to stay there.”
Eun-hyeon recalled the past and clicked his tongue bitterly.
When he first couldn’t believe that he had possessed this body and was wandering around and acting recklessly, Eldest Senior Brother had always watched over Eun-hyeon.
“But it seems that the other disciples didn’t like the relationship between Eldest Senior Brother and me. When Eldest Senior Brother was away, they framed me for theft.”
“That’s ridiculous! How could those who call themselves Taoist do such a thing? To their own disciple!”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what they were thinking. The disciples claimed that I had stolen Kunlun’s Dharma artifact, and eventually, the Dharma artifact was found in my room. Thanks to the Leader’s help, my name wasn’t erased from Kunlun, but I ended up living outside like a secular disciple. It’s not a big deal.”
When you listen to the rumors in the Jianghu, there are so many strange and unfortunate things that happen.
Compared to those, what he had experienced wasn’t the worst.