TSBIRBV chapter 6

The estate nestled halfway up the mountain was both serene and strange.

Normally, such a location would be ideal for a bandit’s stronghold, but instead, a manor was built there, which was particularly unusual.

A man strolled through the secluded courtyard of the isolated manor. He was dressed like an ordinary scholar, appearing unremarkable.

However, a series of rough scars were visible beneath his neatly arranged collar whenever he moved, which set him apart.

The man, who seemed deep in thought, glanced sideways when a woman in black appeared.

“Where have you been?”

It was rare for Samrang to wander outside.

“I went to see Hongyeo.”

Her response was slow and measured, just enough not to be exasperating.

“Hongyeo? Why him all of a sudden?”

“The lord asked me to politely bring a physician.”

Her tone subtly hinted at abduction, but there was no tension in Samrang’s voice.

“A physician? Has that patient woken up?”

The man frowned.

The man who had been carried to the lord seemed on the brink of death, his life hanging by a thread.

But now they were summoning a physician—could it be that he had survived?

“Every physician who came threw up their hands in surrender, so I merely kept him alive with my breath. But yes, he really has come back to life.”

Samrang tilted her head. She had encountered many people on the brink of death and had developed a knack for predicting who would live or die.

But this time, her prediction was wrong for the first time.

“If I’d known it would turn out this way, I could have become a physician instead of an assassin and lived comfortably. What do you think, Samrang of Qinghai? Wouldn’t that be great and make a lot of money?”

The man shook his head at his colleague’s words.

“There’s no way that man’s survival is due to your skills. He was a patient who even the famed Shenyi had given up on…”

No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t sit well with him. In fact, from the beginning, it was strange.

Their lord visited Mount Kunlun once a year. Though he couldn’t ascend to the Kunlun Sect, he would pour out wine by the river at the foot of the mountain before leaving.

On that day, Je Haryang, carrying the best wine as usual, discovered a man collapsed by the river. Until the lord urgently lifted him in his arms, Jinyoung had assumed it was a corpse.

It wasn’t until Je Haryang, using his lightness skill, ordered them to bring a physician to the Qinghai hideout that they realized the man was alive.

The lord, who usually paid no attention to physicians, was acting out of character by insisting that they save the patient.

“It’s unbelievable that someone survived that bloodbath, but it’s even more suspicious that he showed up on the very day the lord visited Kunlun. Doesn’t it all seem too coincidental?”

Samrang clicked her tongue at the man’s furrowed brow.

“Jinyoung, you overthink everything.”

“And you don’t think enough.”

Despite his sharp retort, Samrang merely shrugged, unbothered.

“Why so serious? If there’s a problem…”

Trailing off, Samrang added with a nonchalant smile, “The lord will take care of it.”

Her words were chillingly indifferent considering they were about the patient she’d saved by sacrificing her sleep.

“The problem is that it seems the lord won’t take care of it!”

Jinyoung snapped in frustration. Their lord was burdened with numerous old ties. Until now, Je Haryang had let all of them pass by indifferently.

But this time was different.

“If that’s the case, we’ll have to watch and see. Have you forgotten?”

There wasn’t a hint of sharpness in Samrang’s drooping eyes.

“It’s up to the lord to decide. Don’t waste your energy on unnecessary worries.”

Offering advice that wasn’t really advice, Samrang walked away briskly. Her lack of tension made her warning feel insignificant, leaving Jinyoung to drop his arms in resignation.

“What if this is a trap set by the righteous sects to target the lord… Damn, I’m the only one worried here. Just me.”

Muttering to himself, his gaze shifted to the pavilion where the lord resided. Je Haryang had not left the “guest’s” side, even neglecting to eat or sleep.

“Soon, we’ll have to return…”

He murmured anxiously, then shook his head.

As Samrang had said, it wasn’t his place to make decisions. If the lord chose to stay in this remote manor, his duty was to assist.

If the lord decided to save a man who was on the verge of death, then as a subordinate, he should at least pretend to do whatever it took to save him.

‘Let’s hope nothing happens.’

Thinking of the tasks he would need to handle if they were delayed in returning, Jinyoung headed in the opposite direction of where Samrang had gone.

“Are you saying this patient was blind? And he kept bleeding?”

The physician waved his fingers in front of Yegyeol’s eyes, his disbelief evident.

Yegyeol, who was starting to tire of following the physician’s instructions, lowered his gaze, pretending to be obedient.

“The opinions of the five physicians who previously examined him were all the same.

They weren’t acquainted with each other, so they couldn’t have been frauds.”

Je Haryang, who had been watching from the side, responded in a cold voice. Yegyeol subtly turned his head toward his senior brother.

It felt strange to see his senior brother in dark blue silk robes instead of the familiar white robes of the Kunlun Sect.

Not only that, the senior brother, who had always been humble and lowered himself before others, now exuded a subtly authoritative air.

It wasn’t out of disdain for others. Rather… he seemed like someone accustomed to giving orders.

‘He was destined to become the head of the Kunlun Sect someday. If not that, at least Kunlun’s top swordsman.’

Even as he thought this, Yegyeol couldn’t shake off the growing unease. He bit down on it.

“Well, then… It seems the patient has been following the physician’s orders and taking the prescribed medicine diligently, leading to his recovery.”

It was fortunate that the physician was optimistic.

Even assuming this was Korea and that Yegyeol had received proper guidance, his recovery speed was excessively fast.

‘My resonance with senior brother is too strong.’

It wasn’t hard to be sure without even entering a machine to check their matching rate.

The fact that a runaway Esper had returned alive was already a miracle.

They hadn’t even exchanged a kiss, let alone mixed their bodies.

All they’d done was hold hands, and yet, Yegyeol was recovering at this pace.

‘If this were 21st-century Korea instead of the Center Plains, senior brother would be a high-grade Guide, prohibited from taking the matching test for political reasons.’

Yegyeol thought as he looked down at his now clear palm. It all made sense if Je Haryang was an S-class Guide.

Even if an Esper’s grade was higher than the Guide’s, the guiding efficiency would increase exponentially if their resonance matched.

And if the Guide was of a high grade, there’s no point in even mentioning it.

He had to stick close to senior brother at all costs.

A matching Guide was a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of luck for an Esper. Moreover, this wasn’t Korea but the Center Plains.

There was no equipment or center to run a matching test or gather data on the Guide’s resonance.

If Yegyeol wanted to find a Guide, he’d have to travel all over the Center Plains, making physical contact with every person he met.

‘I’d sooner find Mr. Kim in Hanyang.’

The sheer size of the Center Plains made it seem like an impossible task. Even if he devoted his entire life to it, he wouldn’t cover half of the Center Plains.

He’d probably die before that. Now that the seal was broken and Yegyeol’s abilities as an Esper were manifesting, his body was only going to deteriorate.

Suppressing his stubbornness, Yegyeol looked at Haryang.

Even if senior brother was expelled from the sect, they were still bound by their master-disciple relationship.

Receiving guidance from him would be akin to committing a heinous crime.

If word got out, he could be accused of dishonoring the Kunlun Sect, have his limbs severed, and be thrown into prison.

A disciple who covets their master…

Would someone as upright as Je Haryang ever accept him? If he refused, would he be satisfied with just holding hands?

‘I don’t know.’

One thing was certain: Yegyeol was in too dire a situation to give up on senior brother because of some cursed vow.

Yegyeol gazed at Je Haryang with slightly lowered eyes, and when their eyes met, he smiled brightly.

He couldn’t remember much of what he was like in his past life, but he wanted to appear as virtuous as possible.

Because senior brother would like someone like that.

“Just avoid bright lights, and there should be no further problems.”

Yegyeol observed the doctor quietly, carefully folding away his own resolve as the doctor gathered his tools and wiped his hands with a wet towel.

“I thought I was going to die when that bear of a man said there was a patient who needed to see me and hauled me onto a horse saddle,” the doctor remarked, his previously pale face now showing a hint of humor, suggesting that the tension had eased.

“I’m afraid there must have been a miscommunication; I instructed them to bring you here with care. But considering the urgency of the patient’s condition, I hope you can forgive the oversight,” said Senior Brother, handing the doctor a heavy pouch with an ease that impressed Yegyeol.

In the past, the Senior Brother he knew was upright and honest, not someone who would deftly handle such matters.

As the doctor left, Yegyeol noticed the firm sound of the door closing behind him. When Je Haryang returned, there was more concern than relief on his face.

“Senior Brother?” Yegyeol called out, pulling him from his thoughts.

Je Haryang’s deep, black eyes, filled with unspoken emotions, met his gaze. They felt like a bottomless abyss, unfamiliar and unsettling.

“Don’t worry too much. The doctor said I’m fully recovered,” Yegyeol reassured him.

“Of course, I’m glad you’ve recovered. But I can’t shake this unease. All those doctors were certain you’d be blind…”

Je Haryang’s shadow loomed over Yegyeol, who felt as though he might be swallowed up by it.

“What if there’s something wrong that we haven’t discovered yet?”

Je Haryang’s low whisper, as he held Yegyeol’s hand, prompted a faint smile from Yegyeol.

How could he explain that if Je Haryang continued to hold his hand like this, he wouldn’t need any medicine to live a long life?

This was Center Plains, where the concepts of Espers and Guides didn’t exist. Even if he tried to explain guiding, it would likely be dismissed as witchcraft.

‘If I say that a kiss can calm twisted energy and instill strength, they’d think it was some sort of shady technique.’

Yet martial arts masters here could slice through rocks as if they were tofu, run on water, and even fly.

“It’ll be alright. I have Senior Brother looking out for me,” Yegyeol said, sincerely, not just to appease him.

With a guide like Je Haryang, any Esper would find it impossible to die, even if they wanted to.

There were Espers who detested guiding, claiming it robbed them of their will to live, likening themselves to beasts.

But seeing an Esper slowly deteriorate without a guide was a grim sight, one that made such complaints seem frivolous.

A guide could live without an Esper, but an Esper without a guide would eventually die. Every year, at least one or two Espers met a tragic end, their desperation to survive leading to their downfall.

Yegyeol, who had his powers sealed upon awakening, had encountered many Espers while frequenting the Awakener Center.

Being able to have his powers sealed immediately after manifesting them was a stroke of luck. One Esper advised him never to break the seal until he found a matching guide.

“How much longer will I have to stay in bed?” Yegyeol asked cautiously.

While recovering, the only people he had been able to meet were Senior Brother and a few doctors.

He needed information to grasp the situation, but Je Haryang was strangely tight-lipped, not even asking how he survived or talking about himself.

All he had mentioned was that he had become a merchant.

“I’m not sure,” Je Haryang responded slowly.

Perhaps it was his dark gaze, but the brief silence felt heavy with meaning.

“It would be best to talk about it once you’ve fully recovered, eaten well, slept well, and regained your strength.”

‘Am in a confinement?’