Chapter 26
Formal Ritual
“Woah, did that statue just burst into flames?!”
“Ahh! It’s hot! Help me!”
“What is this? Someone get some water!”
Before the cult members could even pinpoint the spies’ location, the statue I threw erupted in flames, knocking them all down.
“They have Blue Snake Grass powder that can kill you with just a small inhalation. Seize the sacks of Blue Snake Grass powder first!”
I shouted loudly what I had figured out.
“Yes! Boss!”
Jangryu and Chaechae were the first to react to my instructions.
“They really do have a sack of powder? Is this Blue Snake Grass?”
“Don’t touch it or sniff it, just grab it all!”
While Jangryu subdued the spies with force, Chaechae snatched the powder from them.
Meanwhile, Biwang took the sack of weird powder and checked it out.
“It’s Blue Snake Grass. Even a tiny amount can be fatal, everyone step back!”
“They were really spies?”
“How did that Assistant know?”
When Biwang said that, the cult members started whispering and backing away from the spies.
“You damn Demonic Cult bastards! If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me!”
“Not so fast!”
Their plan foiled, the spies took out hidden weapons and lunged at Jangryu and Chaechae.
“Dude, with those skills, you’d need another lifetime of training to take us down with you.”
But, moving almost exactly alike, the two of them took down the spies in the blink of an eye. They grinned and waved at me, showing off the weapons they'd taken.
‘Well done! Chaechae! Jangryu! My awesome older brothers!’
Smiling brightly and waving back at them, I noticed that the sun had already risen high in the sky.
‘If I wait any longer, I might not make it back before Dad wakes up!’
“If you want to return home even as corpses, you’d better hand over all the weapons you have.”
“Here, these are all the weapons we have! Please, just spare our lives!”
“Kneeling before the Demonic Cult, you traitorous bastards!”
Seeing the spies going at each other, I figured it would take forever to sort this all out...
I can’t spend any more time here!
Since it looks like we caught all the spies, I'll leave the rest to Biwang and the twins!
“Young Sect Leader, I might be late for prayer time, so I gotta run! Sorry for being rude!”
“Seol!”
Ignoring the Young Sect Leader calling after me, I hopped over a nearby wall and ran to where Geumseon Yeonhwa was.
* * *
Finding Geumseon Yeonhwa was not difficult.
‘Thanks to the flower seed, I can easily sense where Geumseon Yeonhwa is from this distance.’
I headed straight to my room.
“Are you finally done?”
‘Yep, he’s here.’
At my appearance, Geumseon Yeonhwa spun around once on the bedding and looked up at me.
“Not quite done, but if I wait any longer, I won't get back before Dad wakes up. I'm in a hurry, so can you hide my power ASAP?”
“Ah… right, I was supposed to hide your power.”
Like he'd forgotten, Geumseon Yeonhwa got up.
“Come here and sit down.”
Geumseon Yeonhwa, sitting on the bed, waved me over.
I hurried over and sat where he pointed. My back was to him.
“I meant for you to face me. It's weird, you know? My face is beautiful enough to stare at all day.”
Geumseon Yeonhwa muttered to himself, as if puzzled.
“You just said to sit down, right?”
To argue, I turned my head towards Geumseon Yeonhwa, and saw him staring at me, so close our noses were almost touching.
‘Whoa.’
I tried to pull back, but Geumseon Yeonhwa’s arm wrapped around my back, keeping me from moving.
“Hold still.”
Geumseon Yeonhwa’s tiger-like golden eyes, reflecting my image, shone brightly.
It was like a spell, and I froze completely.
Then, Geumseon Yeonhwa’s lips gently touched my forehead.
‘Did Geumseon Yeonhwa just kiss my forehead?’
While I was still frozen in shock, Geumseon Yeonhwa pulled away.
“What… what was that?”
“You asked me to hide it.”
Unlike me, who was totally confused, Geumseon Yeonhwa answered calmly, poking my forehead with his long finger.
“The power of the flower seed you possess.”
“Ah! So that just now was….”
“It's just, like, a formal ritual to hide the flower seed's power.”
‘Makes sense... There’s no way Geumseon Yeonhwa would just kiss me out of the blue unless he'd gone crazy.’
“You should've told me! I was freaking out!”
“Ugh!”
Relieved, I playfully punched Geumseon Yeonhwa in the stomach, and he grabbed his stomach and yelled.
“You should think about your own strength before you go punching people!”
“Wasn’t my power supposed to be hidden?”
“It just means other people won't feel the flower seed's energy. It doesn't mean your strength is gone, you know?”
“Ah…! I see! Sorry.”
“Seriously, humans have so much to learn.”
Geumseon Yeonhwa shook his head like he was totally exasperated.
‘You've got a lot to learn yourself, you know.’
I had a lot to say, but since I'd accidentally hurt Geumseon Yeonhwa, I decided to keep it to myself.
‘So, Dad won't find out about my power, right?’
“I'm gonna head home, then.”
“You’re going in those clothes?”
When Geumseon Yeonhwa said that, I realized I was still wearing the Demonic Cult uniform.
‘And it’s the uniform that shows I'm the Young Sect Leader's assistant.’
Thinking about everything that happened in the Demonic Cult, the first day I got here felt like ages ago.
‘No time for that! I gotta change first.’
“By the way, where did I put my backpack?”
“Here.”
Geumseon Yeonhwa handed me my backpack and then went out into the hallway, giving me privacy.
‘I thought I was imagining it, but this proves it. Yeonhwa's a softie, even with that cold face.’
And the kinder he acts, the colder his face becomes.
‘He’s not honest.’
Thinking that about Geumseon Yeonhwa was cute, but I quickly got busy changing.
* * *
Geumseon Yeonhwa, looking like a kid, came out into the hallway and leaned against the door, slumping down and clutching his chest.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
‘Why is it doing this?’
His heart, beating loudly, wouldn’t calm down.
‘Is this a side effect of giving her the flower seed? They didn't tell me about anything like this.’
Crouching there, the image of Cheonseong with her eyes closed when he kissed her forehead suddenly popped into Geumseon Yeonhwa’s head.
That memory made Geumseon Yeonhwa’s heart beat even faster, instead of calming it down.
“It's just, like, a formal ritual to hide the flower seed's power.”
‘It was just a formal ritual to hide the flower seed's power, like I said...’
Geumseon Yeonhwa’s pale ears, peeking out from his golden hair, were bright red like ripe fruit.
* * *
“Ppi! (Long time no see!)”
As I came out of the Demonic Cult entrance to go home, Pipi was waiting for me.
“Where have you been hiding? I haven't seen you at all! Pipi!”
“Pipi! (That's a secret!)”
“That's harsh! I'm hurt!”
“Pipi? Ppi! (I came to take you back, didn't I? Get on before I leave you!)”
Pipi might actually leave me. To get across the river with the broken bridges, I quietly climbed onto Pipi's back and we got back to Ikseon's place in seven days.
“Cheonseong! How could you go to your grandma's without telling me? Just leaving a note like that.”
As soon as Ikseon's aunt saw me, she checked me all over and started fussing.
‘Good thing I left a note.’
Before leaving for the Demonic Cult, I had left a note to prevent Ikseon’s family from realizing I had disappeared and going to find my dad.
Going to Grandma's without Dad knowing. Don't worry! Back in 6 days! —Cheonseong—
“Sorry I didn't wake you guys, you were all sleeping so soundly. Oh, and me going to my grandma's is a total secret from Dad.”
“Why keep it a secret from your dad? He'd let you go if you told him you wanted to visit your grandma.”
“It's a long story, but my grandma and Dad don't get along. If he finds out, there'll be a huge fight.”
“Okay, well, I get it. Everyone's got secrets.”
Luckily, Ikseon's aunt understood.
‘Good thing she's so nice. Now, I just gotta wait for Dad?’
I was just stepping out onto the porch, thinking about going to meet Dad.
“Cheonseong-ah!!”
I saw Dad running towards me from the house, yelling my name.
“Dad?”
“Cheonseong-ah!”
Dad ran up and gave me a huge hug.
He was shaking, which wasn't like him.
‘What's wrong with Dad?’
He was still in his pajamas, so he must've been asleep. Why's he so freaked out?
Then Dad, just like Ikseon's aunt, checked me all over and asked.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
When he said that, a chill went down my spine.
…Did he figure it out?
