Camellia 51

His determination was praiseworthy, at least.

Tang Yujae had secretly followed the bride who set off for Sakeum Mountain and was quietly watching him as he dug a hole with a stolen shovel, completely absorbed in the task.

It had already been half a day, since he not only dug a hole but also took the time to fill it back in afterward. Sakeum Mountain was overflowing with ironwood trees. To exaggerate a little, nearly every tree here was an ironwood. No matter how much he sweated and dug, there was no end in sight.

“Shit, my arms are gonna fall off at this rate!”

Seolyeong cursed loudly, he suddenly threw the shovel and flopped flat onto the ground.

“How many holes have I dug so far?”

He tried to count, but when the number passed a thousand, he shut his eyes tightly.

There was no point in counting. He would have to keep digging anyway…

The saying, Once you leave home, it’s all hardship, couldn’t be more true. But every time he thought of his disciple who had died far from home, his nose stung and he sprang back to his feet.

With eyes filled with tears, he renewed his resolve and dug beneath another tree.

Along the way, he met earthworms, moles, and some kind of unknown larvae. He had never wanted to interact with them, but after running into them so often, he grew fond of them. The earthworm was smooth and cute, the mole was plump and cute, and the larvae were tiny and cute.

After digging for a while, Seolyeong sat down heavily as his strength gave out. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Though he had arrived at Sakeum Mountain in the afternoon with the sun high in the sky, it was already sinking toward the east.

“Where are you, kid…”

His chest ached. That ragged-looking child had undoubtedly died because of him. If he hadn’t dragged the child to Sacheon, he might still be alive.

There was no definitive proof that the child kidnapped by Yeongryeongdan was the same one he was searching for, but the moment he heard the deputy leader’s testimony, he had a gut feeling.

It was that child. No doubt about it.

So he kept digging and covering. His overworked arm muscles bulged, and his thighs, now rock-hard, screamed in protest. But he ignored the pain.

Evening had come and gone, and now it was night. Soft moonlight illuminated him.

The time when wild animals began prowling for food. He thought he might’ve heard a distant wolf howl.

“Haa…”

Seolyeong flung the shovel down in frustration. With a thud, it struck the ground and bounced slightly. He had probably searched half the mountain by now. Checking each pit after digging was tedious but not difficult. The real torment came from the fact that no matter how much he dug, his disciple’s body never appeared.

It all felt so vague. Can I even find you at all?

Seolyeong stood there, blankly staring up at the sky. The sky should look the same from anywhere, but today, its color felt especially cold. His mouth tasted bitter.

“Wonsi Cheonjon-nim.”

He whispered a prayer softly.

“Your favoritism toward me is… painfully obvious. Since You love me so much, couldn’t You help me out just this once? I really want to find that child and lay them to rest in good soil.”

It was an audacious prayer. If the Daoists who revered Wonsi Cheonjon had heard it, they would have scolded him for being so disrespectful.

But the only one with Seolyeong on Sakeum Mountain was Tang Yujae, and he had no interest whatsoever in how his bride tried to use Wonsi Cheonjon. He was simply curious when the bride would finally lose hope and come down the mountain.

But the Mad Bride didn’t seem ready to give up.

Seolyeong gripped the shovel tightly, he moved his arms with a determined look. The iron blade stabbed into the earth at a steady rhythm. Dirt must have flown into his eyes because he rubbed them furiously, muttering a “Ah.” A few tears trickled down. Of course, they weren’t from pain. They were tears of guilt.

Even though there was no one around, crying loudly would’ve been too humiliating. So Seolyeong just pretended the tears were from the irritation in his eyes and let them fall quietly.

Tang Yujae sat among thick tree branches, listening to the faint sniffling.

The day brightened, another sunset passed, and a new night fell. All the while, the Mad Bride roamed Sakeum Mountain, swinging his shovel. He was completely focused on digging. He had gotten so good at it that he could dig and refill holes so cleanly it looked as if no one had ever been there.

Tang Yujae, who had been using illusion techniques to drive away woodcutters and hunters climbing the mountain, was suddenly overcome by doubt.

“…Why am I even…?”

Why was he helping this lunatic? Whether someone ran into him or not wasn’t his problem.

Seonwol-do sensed a lapse in Tang Yujae’s focus, ot tried to break free from its suppression. But just as it attempted to transform into a blade and strike the man, the attempt ended in failure.

Half-shifted and caught in a rough grip, the sword was helpless under the weight of Sahyeol Amje’s energy. Tang Yujae stared down at the glowing, furious weapon with cold eyes.

Such an arrogant sword. Maybe it takes after its master.

He slowly turned to look at Seolyeong.

The bride still hadn’t given up. In fact, he seemed even more driven than before. At this point, a question arose in Tang Yujae’s mind.

Is that nameless child he met in a strange land really worth all this effort?

He understood the guilt well enough. But crossing into Shingang just for one child, throwing this kind of tantrum just to find a corpse, none of it made sense to him.

Yujae felt an unpleasant tingling sensation, like when handling venomous insects, and wore a strange expression.

The bride’s hair fluttering in the night breeze and his fine features shining under the moonlight stuck in his vision. His red eyes did, in fact, resemble camellias.

***

Seolyeong had sensed a presence approaching and thought it might be a wild boar, but to his surprise.

“There you are, Young Hero.”

The deputy leader appeared, lightly waving his fan. His smooth, relaxed gesture irritated Seolyeong to no end. The man had only given him the vague clue ‘beneath an ironwood tree on Sakeum Mountain’. Seolyeong couldn’t help but think he had left out the specifics just to mess with him.

“You’d been so quiet, I thought you might’ve gotten lost.”

The deputy leader strolled casually, he lowered his brows with mock concern.

Seolyeong was speechless at the insincerity.

“…And what does my silence have to do with you?”

“A great deal. I found the child you’ve been looking for, in Samsi.”

Seolyeong dropped the shovel with a dull clunk.

“What? …What did you just say?”

“I said I found the child. Has the mountain air dulled your hearing?”

It had already been six days since he arrived at Sakeum Mountain. Seolyeong hadn’t slept at all during that time, tirelessly scouring the mountain. And now this? The shameless deputy leader didn’t even look the least bit apologetic.

“Seems he got swept past Sacheon and ended up in Samsi. There’s a merchant group called Woncheongdan over there, infamous for abducting children and training them however they like. Our group, however, has no need to kidnap clueless children. We’re overflowing with warriors eager to become assassins.”

“……”

“You took my light-hearted joke far too seriously… I’ve been struggling with when to tell you. I figured if I just told you plainly, you’d get angry, so I brought the child…ugh!”

Seolyeong lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar, his grip merciless. The deputy leader winced.

“…Did you enjoy yourself?”

The blood fiend’s red eyes glowed even more fiercely. The deputy leader raised one brow, as if he didn’t understand the question.

Seolyeong said coldly,

“Tell me how much fun you had toying with me. I want to make sure I get just as much fun out of you in return.”

He was shaking with humiliation. Veins stood out on his forehead.

“Why the sudden silence? Cat got your tongue?”

Seolyeong leaned in close. His already sharp fangs were growing visibly sharper. Tap, the deputy leader closed his fan and lightly tapped the back of Seolyeong’s hand.

Then he whispered shamelessly,

“Wasn’t finding the child your goal?”

His curved eyes stared straight into Seolyeong’s.

“If you don’t show me some respect, you just might end up finding that child under another ironwood tree, Young Hero.”