Chapter 21
Chapter 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: I Don't Know Either
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Five Elements, how long has it been since Cheon-seong went out to fetch spring water?"
"If you're so worried about Lady Cheon-seong, why don't you go see her yourself, Young Cult Leader?"
Worn out from Red Cloud's repeated questions, Five Elements offered him a new solution.
"Who said I was worried?"
Red Cloud made a bored face as if it were absurd.
'What you're doing right now is worrying...'
Five Elements let out a small sigh as he looked at Red Cloud, who was clumsy with emotions.
"...I just feel like drinking the spring water."
"Yes, of course you do."
Five Elements decided to let Red Cloud's words go in one ear and out the other, focusing back on his work.
Since Cheon-seong had gone to fetch spring water, Red Cloud kept staring out the window.
'It rained last night, so the path might be slippery. I forgot to tell her that. Come to think of it, her shoes were pretty worn out from the rough road to the cult... Maybe I should get her new ones. Wait a minute...'
Recalling Cheon-seong's worn flower shoes, Red Cloud realized he hadn't unrolled a single scroll piled on his desk.
'Why am I thinking about Seol Cheon-seong so much, even putting off work?'
It was the first time Red Cloud had thought about someone outside of work like this.
Red Cloud furrowed his brow, lost in thought at his unfamiliar self.
'No. This is part of the job.'
His confusion didn't last long. Red Cloud found his own answer.
'Because she's the Heavenly Demon's daughter. The Heavenly Demon entrusted me with her protection and surveillance, so of course I'm concerned.'
Originally, Red Cloud should have been tailing Cheon-seong himself, but there was no one else who could handle the cult's current duties in his place.
'I've got the Poison Butterfly on her, so she should be fine.'
The Poison Butterfly was a ghostly butterfly that Red Cloud commanded—an undead blood-sucking butterfly.
He had set it so that if anything dangerous happened to Cheon-seong, the blood-sucking butterfly would subdue the threat and alert him.
Red Cloud turned his eyes to the cooling dishes.
"Eat it! You'll get sick if you starve yourself. My father skipped meals to work and ended up with chronic illnesses. So if you don't want the same, eat, Young Cult Leader!"
"Hurry up and eat. That's how you build strength to get through your duties!"
Suddenly recalling Cheon-seong urging him to eat with a worried face, a faint smile appeared and quietly vanished from Red Cloud's lips.
'Once I'm done with work, maybe I should go meet her? It'd be much safer for me to guard her than the Poison Butterfly.'
Red Cloud's hands and eyes sped up as he unrolled the scrolls.
By the time Red Cloud finally tore his eyes from the scrolls—having struggled to focus—he had finished all his work.
Red Cloud looked up at the sunset sky.
'She should have been back by now.'
Feeling an ominous premonition, Red Cloud shot to his feet just as a swarm of red butterflies poured in through the window where he had been sitting.
"Young Cult Leader, are you alright?"
Startled, Five Elements rushed over to check on him.
"This is..."
Collapsing in agony on Red Cloud's wooden desk were his Poison Butterflies.
The Poison Butterflies were writhing in torment under some unknown sacred power.
'My Poison Butterfly was subdued by someone's power. That means...'
The first face that came to Red Cloud's mind was Cheon-seong's.
"Five Elements, send people out to find Cheon-seong right now."
"Pardon? Young Cult Leader, where are you going?"
After giving the order to Five Elements, Red Cloud bolted out of the building.
'Warm.'
I definitely felt like I was in a cold place...
'Did I go home?'
The moment I tried to recall the house where I lived with Daddy.
"Ugh!"
The forgotten pain revived, and I curled up, waking with a jolt.
'This is the cave I was in... Right, I collapsed here after eating the flower seed.'
As I retraced what happened before I passed out.
"You're awake now?"
A familiar voice came from the deepest corner of the cave.
'But why is he over there like that?'
Turning my head toward the sound, I saw the Golden Immortal Lotus huddled tightly in the corner for some reason.
"Yeah, but why are you there? Are you cold by any chance?"
For some reason, the Golden Immortal Lotus's outer robe was draped over my body.
'Honestly, I didn't think he was the type to worry about anyone. Surprising. I figured he'd just let me freeze to death.'
"If you're cold, take it back."
"Come on, what do you take me for? Do you think this body of mine would yield to mere cold?"
As I gave him a pitiful look and tried to hand back his outer robe, he got indignant.
"Then why are you huddled there shivering like a pitiful thing?"
"Because of that!"
The Golden Immortal Lotus pointed with his long fingertip to one spot.
There, someone had gathered firewood by hand and lit a blazing fire.
'That's why the cave felt so warm.'
"What's wrong with the fire?"
"I'm a lotus that grows drinking water from a spring. Fire is my natural enemy!"
'True, fire would burn a lotus. To him, it's no different from a life-threatening weapon. But who lit the fire?'
"Then why didn't you put it out!"
I jumped up and doused the flames with spring water, extinguishing the embers.
"Now it's..."
As I turned back to confirm the fire was fully out and look toward the Golden Immortal Lotus, he had already approached and pressed his forehead to mine.
Pumpkin-like golden eyes stared straight at me.
"Your temperature seems back to normal."
'He was checking my temperature.'
Though our eyes met only briefly, I learned something new.
That his glamorous appearance could overwhelm just by facing it.
'Being a spirit beast, even his looks are extraordinary? Whatever, it has nothing to do with me.'
"Why are you sticking so close?"
I pushed the Golden Immortal Lotus's face away with my right hand.
"Squishing my face like this. You've got some nerve."
"If I didn't, you'd have turned me into a cripple first."
"True enough."
The Golden Immortal Lotus smiled faintly, as if my words amused him.
'He finds it funny that I made a martial artist a cripple? He's ruthless after all. Wait, more importantly, me...!'
"Did I survive?"
"You're alive right now, aren't you?"
Unlike my serious tone, the Golden Immortal Lotus answered nonchalantly.
'Yeah, to you, one person dying isn't a big deal.'
I was dissatisfied, but since I needed something from him, I held back.
"I still feel pain in my body... But that means I won't die from the flower seed, right?"
"Yes, my flower seed bloomed safely inside you. It's still unstable, so the pain will last a few more days."
"...Good. I survived."
The first thing that came to mind upon realizing I had lived was Daddy's face.
For some reason, after that, the Young Cult Leader's and the brothers' faces came to mind too.
'Maybe because I'm more sensitive now, but everything looks much clearer and sounds louder than before? Anyway, since I survived, once the flower seed's power fully settles in my body, it'll be easier to find a cure for Daddy even within the cult, right?'
My hopes swelled briefly, but with the fire gone, I could see darkness had fallen outside the cave.
"Yeon-hwa, how long was I out after collapsing?"
"A half day, maybe a bit more?"
"Over half a day?? Where's the spring water? My kettle!"
I freaked out and grabbed the kettle filled with spring water.
"It's best not to move too much yet. You still need rest."
"This isn't the time to rest leisurely. Even if I rest, I have to go back to the cult first!"
'The Young Cult Leader suddenly told me to fetch spring water twice a day, probably planning to wear me out and kick me out. If I'm late getting back, who knows what excuse he'll find.'
"Yeon-hwa, I'm heading out now! Thanks for today."
I gave the Golden Immortal Lotus a formal goodbye and hurried down the downhill path out of the cave.
"Aak!"
But my body didn't follow my will.
'My legs are wobbly because I used too much energy absorbing the flower seed.'
In the end, I tumbled ass-first down the slope.
"Tch, so frail. Hang in there, human."
"I was going to get up anyway... Wait, why are you here?"
I plopped right back down at the sight of the Golden Immortal Lotus's pale face right beside me.
"Because I followed you."
"Why are you following me?"
"Were you planning to eat my flower seed and just run off? You conscienceless human."
"You gave me the flower seed."
I was barely clinging on in the cult myself; there was no way I could bring the Golden Immortal Lotus inside too.
'He's a spirit beast above all! One who turns people into cripples if they don't meet his standards!'
"Go back to the cave for now. Hurry!"
"No, human."
As I argued with the Golden Immortal Lotus,
"Seol!"
I heard Red Cloud's voice, as if he'd spotted me.
'Ah... no!'
Turning toward the sound, I saw Red Cloud approaching fast, looking furious.
"Hurry and go... Ugh!"
I barely stood up and tried to push the Golden Immortal Lotus's back to send him away, but a heat like blood swirling inside me surged, tilting my body backward.
"Hey, human!"
"Star!"
Even as my vision spun, the two men's voices rang in my ears.
I slowly closed my heavy eyelids in resignation.
'...I don't know anymore.'
"Star!"
It was Red Cloud who caught the collapsing Cheon-seong.
Seeing Cheon-seong battered from head to toe, a red aura swirled ferociously around Red Cloud.
"It was you. The one who sent back my Poison Butterfly."
"Ah, you noticed the flies I attached. If you figured that out, you've probably sensed this child's changes too."
"What did you do to Star?"
Red Cloud's blood-red sharp gaze turned to the Golden Immortal Lotus.
"I have no need to tell you that."
At the Golden Immortal Lotus's provocation, Red Cloud's red aura threateningly coiled around his neck.
"Your answer..."
Red Cloud's eyes, which had been carefully examining Cheon-seong, turned back to the Golden Immortal Lotus.
His rose-colored pupils gleamed with murderous intent, like a beast eyeing prey.
"I don't necessarily need to hear."