SYM 6

 Ha Yeo-un lifted Eun-hyeon in his arms and lightly kicked off the ground.

Their bodies soared onto the rooftop. To jump to such a height in one go would normally require considerable force against the ground, but there was only a light tapping sound.

Cradled in Ha Yeo-un’s arms, Eun-hyeon observed his use of lightness skill.

He probably wasn’t using his full power just to move within the compound, so this was likely just casual movement.

Nevertheless, it was clear that Ha Yeo-un’s movements were extraordinary.

His movements were as if his body was made of feathers, seemingly weightless.

Unless he was stepping on air, he had to touch the roof tiles at least once, but Eun-hyeon could barely feel the movement, let alone hear any sound.

His movements were so light and quick that even while being carried, Eun-hyeon hardly felt jostled.

The only thing bothering Eun-hyeon was the cold wind hitting his face.

If he could use even a little internal energy, he would have created an energy barrier to shield his face, but with his current useless body, even that was impossible.

If he tried, he might end up coughing blood and collapsing just from trying to block the wind on his face.

In the end, Eun-hyeon buried his face in Ha Yeo-un’s shoulder to escape the cold wind.

Ha Yeo-un’s scent brushed his nose. It was a familiar yet nostalgic scent. Eun-hyeon unconsciously bit his lip.

He used to carry Un on his back, and now to be held like this by him – it was a complex, indescribable feeling.

Is this how parents feel seeing their grown children?

“Cough.”

His throat felt ticklish and a cough escaped. At this rate, the cold he had barely managed to suppress might start again.

Soso would nag him terribly if that happened. No, by now she must have noticed his disappearance and might be fuming with anger.

As Eun-hyeon was lost in these thoughts, suddenly the wind hitting his face stopped.

“Huh?”

Eun-hyeon looked up at Ha Yeo-un.

“You could have said if you were cold. How foolish. Tsk.”

It seemed Ha Yeo-un had created an energy barrier. The cold wind that had been hitting his entire body had ceased.

With the wind gone, it was much better. Warmth slowly returned to his chilled body.

Eun-hyeon stole glances at Ha Yeo-un’s face.

Being carried like this was already somewhat awkward, but now receiving this protection made him feel strange.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Eun-hyeon cleared his throat unnecessarily and turned his head away.

Ha Yeo-un’s disguise technique was so skillful that even up close, Eun-hyeon couldn’t detect any flaws. From makeup to full face masks, all were called disguise techniques, but no matter how meticulous, flaws usually showed over time or upon close inspection. This level of disguise was something even Eun-hyeon had never seen before. He couldn’t even guess what method had been used.

What would Un’s real face look like?

When Un was young, his skin was as white as if finely spread pearl powder, with delicate features.

Once, a brothel owner came out and said he was a beauty who could make the world weep and tried to buy him. When told he wasn’t a girl, the owner thought he was being deceived and was so persistent that Eun-hyeon remembered fleeing with Un as if escaping in the night.

He became quite curious if that stunning appearance remained the same.

Ha Yeo-un moved his feet without asking Eun-hyeon where his quarters were as if he already knew.

This was fortunate for Eun-hyeon, who still didn’t know the geography of the Namgung family compound.

In the past, Un followed his master’s words without refusing anything, but he absolutely never talked about the Demonic Cult.

However, no matter how clever he pretended to be, he was still a child, and when excited, things about his life in the Demonic Cult would slip out unconsciously.

Eun-hyeon could roughly guess about Un’s life in the Demonic Cult based on these slips.

Un’s experiences in the Demonic Cult were unimaginably horrific.

The Demonic Cult never gave a meal for free. If you didn’t win fights against each other, you couldn’t even eat a cold lump of rice.

Including Un, there were about 800 children kept in the Demonic Cult.

When Un escaped the Demonic Cult on his own and met Eun-hyeon, those 800 or so had been reduced to fourteen.

Though it wasn’t widely known, Eun-hyeon actually knew why the Demonic Cult did such things.

It was to create the Heavenly Demon. The Demonic Cult subjected young children to training that was close to torture to create the Heavenly Demon.

Un was the one who survived to the end there and became the Heavenly Demon.

Had his efforts to help Un escape his fate been useless?

Why had he been reincarnated into “The Descent of the Heavenly Demon” of all things?

As soon as Eun-hyeon woke from his coma and opened his eyes in the real world, he searched for the book “The Descent of the Heavenly Demon”. But no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t find the book he had read.

There were a few with the same or similar titles. But when he found and read them, they all had different content from what he had read.

That’s why he thought he might have just had a very vivid dream while in a coma.

…And yet, to return to that world again…

Eun-hyeon tightly gripped Ha Yeo-un’s shoulder, his mind complex.

“Are you still cold?”

“Ah, no, I’m fine.”

Eun-hyeon answered, flustered.

“If you’re cold, lean on me.”

Startled by those words, Eun-hyeon stiffened his body even more but eventually rested his head on Ha Yeo-un’s shoulder.

He could feel Ha Yeo-un’s gaze. Eun-hyeon’s face reddened slightly.

“Great Hero Ha, shouldn’t you watch where you’re going, no matter how skilled you are?”

“Should I apologize for not being able to make you more comfortable?”

This insolent disciple never lost an argument. Still, being carried, Eun-hyeon didn’t say anything more.

Ha Yeo-un.

Eun-hyeon repeated the name.

Realizing that Ha Yeo-un was Cheong-un, the name “Ha Yeo-un” took on new meaning.

The surname “Ha” seemed to be taken from Eun-hyeon’s surname. “Un” must be from his original name.

“Great Hero Ha.”

“What is it now?”

“What characters do you use for your name?”

“Haa, now you’re curious about that? It’s the same ‘Yeo’ for woman and the ‘Un’ for cloud.”

“Hmm, like a cloud…”

The ‘Un’ in Cheong-un also used the character for cloud.

At this point, he wondered if this guy was really trying to hide his identity.

…But was there such content in “The Descent of the Heavenly Demon”?

Although he hadn’t finished the book, he roughly knew the main plot.

The Heavenly Demon learns martial arts through innate talent despite his master’s abuse and takes revenge on his master.

After that, he goes through many hardships, and around the middle of the story, he becomes the Heavenly Demon and starts taking revenge on those who tormented him…

Since the novel didn’t often mention the Heavenly Demon’s exact age, he couldn’t guess which part of the story this was.

Since Un had already become the Demonic Cult leader and the Heavenly Demon,

Was this around the middle of the story?

“We’ve arrived.”

While lost in these thoughts, Ha Yeo-un landed gracefully in the courtyard of the guest house as if he had wings.

This time, Eun-hyeon was able to stand without staggering.

“Since it’s cold outside, let’s talk inside. Please come in.”

Eun-hyeon glanced at Ha Yeo-un once and lazily opened the door of the guest house.

Contrary to his worries about what excuse to give Soso, the room was silent.

It seemed Soso had done her chores and left without caring that Eun-hyeon wasn’t in the room.

Fortunately, she had lit the fireplace before leaving, so the room was moderately warm.

He took off the heavy cotton overcoat that had been weighing on his shoulders. Just that made him feel much lighter.

“I’ll light some more lamps in the room for a moment.”

The atmosphere in the room felt a bit strange because Soso had only lit the lamp beside the bed.

After lighting candles placed here and there in the room, it felt better.

“Please sit down, Great Hero Ha.”

Eun-hyeon offered a chair to Ha Yeo-un, who was standing and staring at him blankly.

“Would you like some tea? Ah!”

Eun-hyeon covered his mouth as he suddenly remembered the poison in the tea while offering it.

In the poor guest house, the only tea was the poisoned Dragon Well tea. Although someone of Ha Yeo-un’s caliber probably wouldn’t have any problem with such poison, Eunhyeon didn’t want to take the risk. Besides, serving poisoned tea could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.

“I’ll pass on the tea.”

Ha Yeo-un looked at Eun-hyeon with strange eyes as he seemed relieved by his words.

Eun-hyeon’s room was quite large, but there wasn’t much furniture. What little there was was not only old and shabby but also unrepaired, with cracks here and there.

It was hard to believe this was the room of the Namgung family’s young master – it was beyond sparse, almost desolate.

To begin with, it didn’t make sense for the Namgung family’s young master to stay in the outer quarters. The distinction between outer and inner quarters was to separate family members from outsiders.

He knew there was a Namgung young master who was too weak to properly hold a sword. But seeing it in person, the situation seemed worse than expected.

Not wanting to be blamed for causing a cold, he had used his internal energy to warm his body while carrying Eun-hyeon. Then, feeling Eun-hyeon snuggle into his arms had been unexpected.

Seeing how he sought a comfortable position, he didn’t seem like the type to endure harsh treatment, so why hadn’t he contacted his maternal family, the Jegal clan?

Ha Yeo-un shook his head after various thoughts.

That wasn’t what was important right now.