Chapter 57
Soso couldn’t move an inch under that iron grip.
“So that’s your true form.”
The voice was low, rough, and filled with tension.
He didn’t seem all that surprised that the thousand-year-old snow ginseng had suddenly turned into a human.
If anything, he looked a little amused.
The man’s hand pressing over her clothes felt icy cold.
“Don’t bother making excuses. I saw you transform with my own eyes.”
She didn’t know whether to be relieved that he didn’t immediately assume she was an assassin or some suspicious intruder.
Sweating nervously, Soso tried to pry off the arm that was tightly wrapped around her waist—
but the man didn’t budge.
“…S–Sir, perhaps you could let go first and we can talk.”
“It’s Sah-woo, not sir.”
Sah-woo.
That name reminded her again of Lord Eon Woo.
But she couldn’t keep thinking of Cheong Eon Woo for long,
because this man—this Sah-woo—had pulled her even closer until she was completely enveloped in his arms.
Soso squirmed desperately, trying to break free.
“Sah-woo, since I’ve called you by name, could you please—let go first?”
Sah-woo cut her off mid-sentence.
“Your name.”
“I… I’m Baeksam.”
“Baeksam.”
“Now that you know, please let me go.”
As soon as she asked, Sah-woo loosened his grip.
He released her so easily it was almost anticlimactic—
as if he really only wanted to know her name.
Soso quickly stumbled backward—
and fell with a thud beneath the bed.
“Ow.”
“I told you I won’t eat you. Why’re you running like that?”
There was the sound of rustling fabric; Sah-woo must have sat up.
Soso lifted her head and looked at him.
The black bamboo hat that had always hidden his face slid off and fell.
Unlike before, he didn’t bother to put it back on.
Beneath it was a rather decent-looking face—
handsome, perhaps, but not strikingly so.
Not nearly as radiant as Lord Eon Woo’s.
It was nothing like the refined, gentle face she had imagined after hearing that deep, pleasant voice.
So he really isn’t Lord Eon Woo…
For some reason, she felt a pang of disappointment—
as if part of her had secretly hoped he would be.
Why did she even project the image of that clean, noble man onto this strange, slightly dangerous one who had kidnapped her?
“A strange man was hugging me out of nowhere. How could I not try to get away?”
Maybe because of that disappointment, her tone came out sharper than she meant.
“You’re naïve.”
“You’re the weird one.”
“You’re the strange one here. I’ve never seen a thousand-year-old snow ginseng that can turn into a human.”
“I… can’t really explain, but I’m a bit of a special case.”
“Yeah?”
He sounded completely unconcerned,
as if the bizarre phenomenon didn’t interest him much.
In fact, he seemed indifferent about everything.
Come to think of it, when he first encountered her moving ginseng form, he hadn’t looked all that shocked either.
It was as if emotion itself was missing from him.
Soso, however, found that to be a small relief.
“Thank you for not eating me. I have companions waiting for me, so could I please go back now?”
“No.”
The refusal was immediate, firm.
Sah-woo was still suspicious of the woman who had turned from a snow ginseng into a human.
Until those doubts were cleared, he had no intention of letting her go.
He watched her in silence, deep in thought about the reason he had come all the way to Hubei.
The Golden-Clad Priestess who should have arrived in Hubei… and Baeksam, the thousand-year snow ginseng radiating strong spiritual energy.
The possibility that they were one and the same seemed very likely to him.
If that strong aura she carried was connected to the golden energy said to heal the mind—
…then I need to watch her carefully.
Sah-woo was still an incomplete Heavenly Demon,
one who had not yet mastered his madness.
He needed to meet the Golden-Clad Priestess and have his madness cured,
just like the former Heavenly Demon, Wi Jagang.
Only then could he become the strongest man under heaven.
Only then would he never again suffer the tragedies of his past.
Thinking that far, a dull pain throbbed in his head.
It wasn’t the madness this time—just the same pain that came whenever he remembered those days.
Even if she wasn’t the Golden-Clad Priestess,
he didn’t want to let her go.
Not to eat her, of course.
The urge to devour the ginseng had already passed,
washed away last night with a few cups of bamboo-leaf wine.
He had consumed many spirit beasts and elixirs before,
but none had brought lasting effects anyway.
Besides, Soma had already gone to fetch another rare medicine.
Once he obtained that, he wouldn’t need the snow ginseng anymore.
And somehow, being with her stirred old memories he didn’t entirely hate—
memories of the maid who used to pour his wine,
and the candied fruit she liked so much.
Madness wasn’t the only side effect of cultivating the Heavenly Demon’s martial arts.
There was another—losing one’s emotions.
The stronger Sah-woo became,
the more he lost the emotions a human ought to have.
That was why the faint return of feeling—
those glimpses of who he once was before the bloodlust—
felt strangely precious.
He thought he’d never recall those days again,
but now… he wanted to.
He wanted to stay with her a little longer,
to remember what it felt like to be human.
I can’t just let her go.
Sah-woo got down from the bed and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.
“Where are your companions?”
Her chin trembled under his fingers.
“M–Muhan. Where… where are we?”
“This is Yangyang.”
“Yangyang?”
“Yeah. I’ve got some acquaintances nearby—and someone I need to find.”
According to the spies he’d planted in the Namgung Clan,
the Golden-Clad Priestess and Namgung Jin’s group were headed for Wudang in Hubei.
Wudang Mountain wasn’t far from here.
“Someone you need to find?”
“There’s such a person. Anyway, you just need to reunite with your companions, right?”
“Yes…”
“Then let’s eat first. You’ll probably see them soon enough.”
“Excuse me?”
“I told you yesterday—someone who looked like your companion was following me.
That person knows I came to Yangyang.”
“…”
“So, we’ll wait here for that person—and your group.”
Soso hesitated, unsure what to say.
Sah-woo grinned.
It wasn’t a friendly grin—his eyes didn’t smile at all.
Only his lips curled up, sharp and chilling.
It was more threatening than when he’d been expressionless.
“You’d better do as I say. Otherwise, I’ll swallow you in one bite.”
The aura rising behind him was dark and violent, leaving no doubt that it wasn’t an empty threat.
His gaze gleamed with a savage, merciless light—
as if he could see right through her thoughts.
Under that pressure, Soso finally opened her mouth to reply—
but before her voice came out, another sound beat her to it.
Grrrrrgle…
“Huh?”
It came from her stomach.
Now that she thought of it, she hadn’t eaten at all yesterday—
not since she’d still been in her ginseng form.
“You really do need breakfast, don’t you?”
Sah-woo chuckled softly.
This time, it was a real smile.
