Marriage Is a Mad Thing
Sang U had just spoken words she had been certain, all her life, that she would never be the first to say, and her face flared a brilliant red. Even so, to die this absurdly would waste far too many years of cultivation.
Besides, Yi Yeok had already seen her as good as naked, and for no short while their skin had been pressed together. Both were humiliations she had never once suffered. If she became his Dao companion, that shame would instead become the most natural thing in the world.
In the next instant Yi Yeok's eyes bulged, and he flew into a rage.
"You vicious woman! I may have shamed you without meaning to, but to dream of a revenge this cruel—!"
Sang U was utterly bewildered. She had never lacked confidence in her looks. That could hardly be the whole of it, of course, but his reaction was the last thing she had expected.
"I can already picture it, if you marry me. You'll burn through my money on fine clothes, fine food, and cultivation resources without a second thought. And even then you'll nag that it isn't enough and wring me dry!"
Sweat began to bead on Yi Yeok's brow.
"And you'll have children. A dozen of them—no, twenty—and I'll be pinned in place, working without a moment's rest just to feed the lot of them."
Sang U's mouth fell open.
"The moment I bring home even a little less, you'll tell the whole world what a worthless man I am. You'll resent me and claim you were the only one who worked yourself half to death."
Yi Yeok poured the words out one after another, as if spitting blood.
"And so I'll lose my good name and live under every curse from people who don't even know the truth of it. They'll all point at me and call me irresponsible. Even the children will hear only your side, look down on me, and declare they've cut me off. Then I'll spend the rest of my life never seeing their faces, earning nothing but the cost of raising them, and die in misery."
His face went white, and his breathing grew short and ragged.
"A truly vicious plot! You think I'll fall for it?"
Sang U could not get her mouth to close. She had no idea how Yi Yeok had come by so diseased a view of marriage.
Pale as a sheet, he abandoned her where she stood and fled in a panic.
"Wait!"
Sang U cried out, desperate.
"Hey, you bastard! Untie me before you go!"
But Yi Yeok had already vanished from sight.
Before long, two shadows appeared.
"Master!"
Yoyo ran to her in delight and loosened the Golden Silk that bound Sang U. Tang Sam, who had come with her, smiled.
"See? What did I tell you? I said I could find her whenever I pleased."
He glanced about, puzzled.
"Hm? But where has Orabeoni gone?"
Once the Golden Silk was fully undone, Yoyo turned to Sang U.
"Are you all right? Where did that sneering bas— no, where did that madman go?"
Sang U was silent for a time. At last she spoke, her expression tangled.
"Yoyo, am I really that plain?"
"What? What are you saying? You're beautiful beyond words!"
"Then... do I look too old?"
Cultivators, women most of all, set enormous store by appearance. Most of them spent a great deal of effort preserving the looks of their prime, somewhere around their twenties.
"Not at all. You look very young. If I called you my older sister— no, even if I called you my friend, people would believe it."
But defeat was already welling up in Sang U's chest. She took the Golden Silk from Yoyo and struggled to press the tangle of feelings down. She had proposed marriage, and he had fled in terror—she no longer knew whether to laugh or to weep.
All at once Tang Sam fixed her with a blazing stare. Instinct told him this woman was a rival, competing for the very same heart.
Puzzled by the hostility in his eyes, Sang U said,
"You saved my life. Thank you."
Tang Sam snorted. Sang U's brow creased. He seemed offended, and she could not tell why.
Yoyo asked again.
"Master, where on earth did that heartless bas— no, no, where did that madman go? I will find him and thrash him properly!"
Sang U hesitated, then answered.
"Something urgent came up. He left me behind."
Tang Sam's brows shot up. A lie. Plain as day. This woman is competing with me for that handsome Orabeoni!
Killing intent flickered through his gaze, yet he knew he was no match for an elder of a high immortal sect and forced his heart to settle. But if this hunch of mine proves true, I will not give an inch.
Sang U drew a long breath, composed herself, and spoke evenly.
"Let us return."
Yoyo inclined her head to Tang Sam.
"Thank you for your help. I will be certain to repay today's kindness."
Tang Sam nodded stiffly. Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he said,
"Give me that thing."
What he indicated was Yi Yeok's Golden Silk. Sang U slipped it into her robes.
"Forgive me. This is an important means of tracking him, so I will keep it for the time being. Proper compensation will be sent to you afterward, through the Jareung Immortal Sect."
Once more Tang Sam had to choke down a jealousy that boiled and seethed.
"Then we take our leave."
Sang U swept her sleeve and rose into the sky with Yoyo. Tang Sam stood where he was for a moment, then turned away on reluctant feet.
Yi Yeok had covered dozens of li in a flash. He dragged in ragged breaths and grumbled.
"Damn it. Vicious woman. I nearly got a ring through my nose!"
He looked around. He had fled in such a blind panic that he had no idea where he was.
Then a fine idea struck him, and he drew Heukmok from his pouch. The spirit was deep in sleep.
"Look at you, sleeping without a care. Your master just escaped the greatest crisis of his life."
Yi Yeok curled his middle finger and flicked him—thwack! Heukmok startled awake.
"Master, what is the matter?"
"You're a Wood Spirit, aren't you? You can find a place for me, can't you?"
Still half in a dream, Heukmok answered with perfect confidence.
"But of course! You need only tell me where you wish to go."
Yi Yeok scratched his head and described where Nokhyeon Sect lay.
Heukmok leapt from his hand, dug a small hollow in the earth, and slipped neatly inside.
"Please wait just a moment. I shall have the answer at once."