“Please open your eyes. Since it’s just the two of us, let’s talk openly. If you keep holding on, nothing will change.”
The child remained unresponsive. Yoon Taehee, who had been waiting for his reaction, eventually let out a sigh.
“Didn’t you hear what those guys were saying?”
“…”
“The ignorant assholes will cut you down with an axe and take you away.”
“…”
Yoon Taehee fixed his gaze on the boy’s closed eyes.
“…”
“…”
So tenacious.
Finally, he muttered in a voice that seemed exhausted.
“Child, if you do this, you will really get your ankle cut off by them.”
At the last words Yoon Taehee uttered, water began to trickle between the child’s tightly closed eyelids. Because his eyes were closed, the tears couldn’t even form properly and flowed down his cheeks.
Mesani started to cry silently.
He couldn’t stand it any longer. His face, which had remained calm the whole time, was distorted in sorrow. Yoon Taehee, who was silently staring at the crying child, reached out and wiped away his tears.
“Look at me.”
Mesani finally opened his eyes. The mask that filled his field of vision had a funny yet grotesque face while the strange eyes staring at him from beyond the mask were cold and sharp.
“Child, do you know who we are?”
At Yoon Taehee’s question, Mesani, who hadn’t even moved for a long time, shook his head. He overheard their conversation the whole time, but it was hard to tell exactly what they were doing from the conversation alone.
He only knew three things. His lord had not gone to Seoul, so he had never called him to Seoul, and that Lee Youngshin had lied to him.
A suspicious person was trying to trick him into taking him somewhere. The car door wouldn’t open, so it was impossible to escape. As Mesani, terrified, burst into tears, Jeongju said in a trembling voice, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely go get you.”
Jeongju had repeatedly asked Mesani not to turn off his phone and that he must keep it on him. At the same time, he told him to stay put, to pretend he didn’t know anything, and not to think about running away. They even made a promise that he would never do anything dangerous. But Mesani did not keep his promise.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Pa kjr tlr wbwfcajgs kla atja iegfv tlw ab atf wbecajlcr. Xblcu ab atf wbecajlcr kbeiv aegc atlcur lc tlr ojnbg, tf yfilfnfv. Qlat iemx, tf wluta yf jyif ab frmjqf. Po atja vlvc’a kbgx, tf pera tjv ab ajxf gbba jcv cba wbnf. Po tf qfgrfnfgfv, Afbcupe kbeiv vfolclafis mbwf ab tlw…
But he ended up ruining everything. He was being punished for breaking the promise he made with Jeongju. Jeongju still had not shown up, and the number of people who wanted to take him had increased. He held back tears when he heard that they would cut off his ankles and take them away.
“Please, can’t you just let me go…”
Mesani begged in a very, very small voice. Once the tears burst out, they literally flowed without a break. Yoon Taehee, who had been staring at Mesani’s face in silence, said with a light sigh.
“I want to do that too. However.”
At Yoon Taehee’s words, Mesani immediately raised his eyes.
“I’m in my own position, so I’m sorry, but I can’t. And even if I let you go, those people will find you again somehow. I’m not trying to scare you, I’m just telling the truth.”
Mesani, who had high hopes, then lowered his head. Yoon Taehee stared at the string tied around the child’s wrist for a moment. After a moment, he spoke slowly.
“I’m sorry, but you have only one of two choices in this situation. Are you being dragged with your ankles cut off, or are you following them with a healthy body?”
Mesani begged a little.
“I- I can’t go… my lord, please send me to my lord…”
He trembled and sobbed, unable to choose anything. He only wanted one thing; to be by his lord’s side. A voice mixed with crying repeated the same words over and over again.
“… Your lord. Your lord… Lord?”
Yoon Taehee picked up the words Mesani blurted out and murmured.
“Who is your lord?”
In response to Yoon Taehee’s question, Mesani just lowered his head and cried.
“Heuheuk, my lord, please send me to my lord… Please, send me…”
Yoon Taehee stared blankly at the wild ginseng child, who was making incomprehensible pleas like a machine. Was he even worshipping a mountain god… Yoon Taehee, who was lost in thought for a moment, suddenly turned his head and stared back. The exorcists were impatient. He clicked his tongue. He didn’t have much time now.
“You can go back.”
Yoon Taehee calmly opened his mouth.
“But not right now.”
Mesani, who had been crying with his breath, lifted his head helplessly. Then, Yoon Taehee got down on one knee and got to eye level with him. The eyes that could be seen through the mask stared at him unwaveringly.
“Listen to me. Just follow them today. When there is absolutely no chance of victory, it is wise to avoid the worst and instead plan for the future.”
Yoon Taehee reached out to the young boy. The child’s body, which had been hard and cold, now felt normal. Once he was taken to Naryecheong, the exorcists of the Ceremonial Instruments Department would treat the ginseng child well. They wouldn’t carelessly handle a valuable and rare thing, so he would be safe after this moment.
“I promise to return you to the original place within three months at the shortest. It won’t take long anyway. I will help you return safely.”
Mesani blinked the tears welling up in his eyes. Three months was not a long time for him. He would return him later? Really? He didn’t even know that this man was trying to trick him like Lee Youngshin. The mask that covered his face was also suspicious. Besides, it’s clear that he’s with those people…
“… Li- Liar.”
When Mesani timidly fired at him,
“It’s not a lie.”
A quiet chuckle came through the mask. Yoon Taehee, who had been laughing for a while, brought his face close to Mesani’s ear, and he started whispering. Mesani, who had been flinching, listened. When Yoon Taehee, who finished the secret whisper, straightened his waist, Mesani clearly looked surprised. He asked as he looked up at Yoon Taehee with dubious eyes.
“That, that, re- really?”
“That’s why I told you while we were alone.”
Yoon Taehee nodded and raised his index finger as if making a ‘shh’ gesture.
“It’s a secret.”
Mesan, who had suddenly shared a secret with Yoon Taehee, looked around him with a shaky gaze. The mask was still suspicious, but after hearing the unexpected words, his doubts were strangely tempered, and a tenuous faith was about to develop like a thread.
What to do? If he’s telling the truth…
While, Mesani hesitated and stared at the mask, Yoon Taehee raised his body. His gaze rose sharply, and Mesani’s head naturally followed. Standing upright, Yoon Taehee held out his hand to him.
“Then, shall we go?”
Mesani, who was standing straight, stared at the large palm pushed out in front of his nose. He wasn’t sure if he could really hold that hand. Yoon Taehee waited without prompting. All he did was playfully wiggle his fingers from time to time.
Finally making up his mind, he swallowed his saliva. He took a step closer to him and reached out his trembling hand. At the moment when Mesani’s fingertips came closer to Yoon Taehee’s hand that he was still holding out,
Swish—
In the blink of an eye, something flew by. Mesani was startled and stepped back. Something hit and then bounced right off Yoon Taehee’s hand and was deeply embedded in the center of the tree with a thud. It was a stone imbued with spiritual energy. Mesani looked at the stone stuck in the tree in shock.
“Wh- what is that…”
Mesani moved his gaze to Yoon Taehee, but he couldn’t continue his words and kept his mouth shut. Yoon Taehee was still holding out his hand, and blood was dripping from it.
“…”
He staggered a step or two behind. His injured hand lifted him sluggishly near his face. He slowly raised his injured hand to his face. It was broken in three places, from the middle finger to the little finger. Red blood trickled down the sleeve of his suit.
“Who are you touching.”
Before he could realize what had happened, a voice was heard in the distance. Mesani’s eyes widened in an instant. It was the same for Yoon Taehee. Suddenly, his heart started beating wildly. An unfamiliar sensation that he felt for the first time in his life spread to his toes.
A hallucination? No way…
Yoon Taehee slowly raised his head. His gaze through the mask pinpointed the direction the stone had come from. A boy in a school uniform was standing on top of the tallest tree in the middle of a dark mountain. Yoon Taehee raised his eyes in disbelief.
Why are you here?
Their eyes met exactly. The boy’s face was expressionless. His short hair fluttered once in the wind. While Yoon Taehee, who was surprised, was about to open his mouth, Mesani, who belatedly noticed Jaegyeom, started to cry.
“My lord, heuuhng!”
Yoon Taehee’s face under the mask stiffened. His mind, which had stopped thinking for a moment, started spinning like a top. ‘My lord’? Before he was sure what was going on, he hurriedly averted his eyes. He raised his uninjured hand to firmly fix his mask.
“Hey! The child woke up…”
Yoon Taehee looked behind him with panic. They must have heard Mesani’s voice, and Lee Youngshin and other exorcists suddenly appeared behind him.
“Uh? what? Who is that?”
Lee Youngshin, who noticed a strange boy standing on a tree, paused and looked at Yoon Taehee. The exorcist also began to mutter with a puzzled expression. As soon as Yoon Taehee’s eyes met Lee Youngshin’s, he hurriedly raised his index finger, pointed at himself, and shook his head quickly. But Lee Youngshin, not understanding the situation, frowned at him with a puzzled look.
“Wait, Taehee! Why is your hand bleeding…”
Jaegyeom’s eyes were fixed on Yoon Taehee in an instant.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Ah, fuck.”
Yoon Taehee covered the eyes of the mask with his palm as if it was his face.
Lee Rly is a pig teammate lol
Hahah so funny. Lee younshin is such a burdensome teammate😂 Jaegyeom-ah, dont misunderstand your ML plesase heuung
Thank you! It’s going to be fun 😄
Should be interesting on how Yoon Taehee talks his way out of this one
Right?😂😂
Omg this cliffhangeerrrrrrrrrrr 😭
Hope Jaegyeom gives them all a good beating, Taehee included! Last few chapters were so stuffy with the kidnapping and Taehee’s emotional manipulation that I feel like they really deserve to be beaten up first before the misunderstandings get resolved!
I hope so too
+++
Looking forward to a cool beating scene with the killing threat xp
only mesani could fix the misunderstanding now..
The way all of them tried to manipulate a child. Even though he’s a divine being, his mentality is that of a child. And the fact that those exorcists tried to cut his ankles just show that if mesani go with them, he will go through so much pain
🤯👀🤣