Chapter 1-7

Three days was never a long time. Especially for Bai Shixuan, who could only spend relatively comfortable days whenever his master, Cao Zhenshi, stayed at a pleasure house, the fact that the time had passed so quickly felt almost cruel.

“I have to go now.”

“Already? Can’t you just stay here? Sister Choryeong said the same thing…….”

“Not yet.”

Over the course of those three days, Xuelan and Bai Shixuan had quickly grown close. For Bai Shixuan, it was because she was the first girl in all eight years of his life to treat him warmly, while for Xuelan, it was the first time she had ever spent time with someone around her own age. Because of that, the two of them had become close even faster.

“Then when?”

“Who knows? It could be tomorrow, a month from now, or ten years from now. I can’t tell you exactly.”

Bai Shixuan spoke to Xuelan, who was looking at him with obvious reluctance to see him leave. He wanted to experience the world of martial artists a little more. That was why he was turning down the temptation to stay here and leaving instead. At his words, Xuelan’s expression grew steadily darker. Seeing that, Bai Shixuan placed a hand on the head of Xuelan, who stood a full head taller than him.

“I’ll come back. Wait for me.”

“Okay.”

Although Bai Shixuan was younger than Xuelan, she did not feel anything strange about the way he acted. If anything, Bai Shixuan often felt like an older brother to her, while she felt like the immature younger sister.

“I’ll definitely wait.”

“…….”

At Xuelan’s words, Bai Shixuan merely nodded without saying anything. He watched her tearful face for a moment and was just about to open his mouth to say something when Cao Zhenshi appeared, walking out of the pleasure house.

“I have to go.”

“Is that him?”

“Yeah.”

When Xuelan looked at Cao Zhenshi and asked, Bai Shixuan nodded.

“He looks mean somehow.”

At Xuelan’s comment, Bai Shixuan had to suppress the laugh threatening to burst out. He wanted to praise her for having sharp eyes, but Cao Zhenshi was already looking at him, so Bai Shixuan hurriedly said goodbye to Xuelan and turned away. He was just about to head toward Cao Zhenshi when Xuelan grabbed his arm.

“Why?”

-Smooch

Bai Shixuan turned his head, intending to complain about her stopping him, when he suddenly felt something warm and soft against his cheek. He stared blankly at Xuelan and saw her smiling despite the deep blush covering her face.

His mind went completely blank. He touched the cheek that still seemed to retain the warmth of her lips and stared at Xuelan in a daze. Perhaps feeling his gaze, Xuelan hurriedly turned and went back inside.

“Hey!”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Bai Shixuan had been staring blankly after Xuelan when Cao Zhenshi’s voice snapped him back to his senses. He hurried over. When Bai Shixuan reached him, Cao Zhenshi looked him over before roughly shoving his sword into the boy’s arms.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked whether you enjoyed fooling around with that girl.”

Bai Shixuan said nothing at Cao Zhenshi’s question. Had he enjoyed himself? That was a question he wanted to ask Cao Zhenshi instead. His clothes were still dirty, but the scent of women’s powder clung heavily to his body. He must have spent all three days rolling around with courtesans, because even from a fair distance away, the cloying smell reached Bai Shixuan’s nose and made him feel sick.

“Why didn’t you stay there?”

“What do you mean?”

“I already knew you were quite popular with the women at pleasure houses. But the only one you became close to was that little girl. If you had said you wanted to stay at that place, I wouldn’t have been able to cut you down and would have had no choice but to leave. There’s no way you didn’t know that, so why did you follow me?”

At Cao Zhenshi’s question, Bai Shixuan looked up at him. Cao Zhenshi was also looking down at Bai Shixuan. Why? He simply wanted to see a little more of the murim up close. He wanted to learn how Cao Zhenshi distinguished the strong from the weak, and how he avoided fights when necessary. It was not because Cao Zhenshi was special. Bai Shixuan would have followed another wandering swordsman just the same. He had only followed because he wanted to learn, even if only a little, the things he would need in order to survive in this world.

“Forget it. I asked something pointless.”

“…….”

When Bai Shixuan remained silent, Cao Zhenshi resumed walking. Bai Shixuan quietly followed behind him, then glanced back at the Flower Fragrance Pavilion as it gradually receded into the distance.

‘Will I really be able to come back?’

Truthfully, he had no idea when he might die. He was traveling under a wandering swordsman who lived with his neck constantly on the edge of a blade, so there was every possibility he would never return. Even so, he had promised Xuelan that he would come back. It was a promise that would be difficult to keep. He even regretted it a little. What was so important about gaining experience……? Wouldn’t it have been better to simply stay at that pleasure house as a servant for the rest of his life……?

‘There’s no use regretting something that’s already passed.’

He wanted to learn martial arts. There had been times when he imagined entering a great sect, learning its martial arts, becoming strong, and roaming the murim. But it was impossible. Great sects did not accept just anyone as disciples. They took money. They accepted the children of prestigious clans or merchants in exchange for payment. Occasionally, someone with truly exceptional aptitude and bones might be accepted as a disciple, but such cases were extremely rare. In the end, money was necessary. And what did Bai Shixuan have now? The reality was that he could not even afford one of the cheap martial arts manuals sold on the street, such as a basic breathing method or the Three Talents Sword Art. For Bai Shixuan, dreaming of entering a great sect was naturally nothing more than a hopeless fantasy.

‘It’s finally out of sight.’

Perhaps because they had walked for so long, the Flower Fragrance Pavilion could no longer be seen. It was time to return to reality. What was impossible was impossible. He had to live according to the circumstances he had been given.

After following Cao Zhenshi for quite some time, another mountain came into view. It seemed they intended to rest once again in some abandoned hut that herb gatherers had once used as a shelter. Then again, Cao Zhenshi had spent every last coin he possessed at the pleasure house, so there was little choice. Even if he did have money, he would probably refuse to spend it because he needed to save up for another visit to a pleasure house.

‘He must have really liked the Flower Fragrance Pavilion.’

Cao Zhenshi was probably trying to maintain his usual cold expression, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching. He was likely remembering the courtesan he had spent the past few days with. Despite her only being middle-class, he seemed quite satisfied, and perhaps he was already thinking about earning even more money so he could aim for a high-class courtesan next time.

‘The sun’s already going down? We still haven’t found anywhere to rest…….’

The moment they entered the mountain, Bai Shixuan could feel the sun rapidly sinking. The temperature also began to drop little by little. In the end, they failed to find a suitable abandoned house, so they gathered dry branches and had no choice but to build a fire.