"Yong..."
His heavy eyes steadily fluttered open as he awoke to the calling of his name from a soft gentle voice, and a stinging pain in his hand.
"Yong Kyubok... wake up,"
Immediately recognizing the voice, he forced his body to get up, finally feeling the piercing ridges of the binding rope around him.
"Master,"
He uttered, his voice a bit hoarse.
Roh Ki sat bound opposite him, his body held against a pole with a heavenly qi binding chain. A precaution to stop him from using his qi.
"You finally woke up,"
Roh Ki sighed, feeling a bit relieved to know his student seemed more or less fine.
Yong Kyubok took a pause, glancing around the dark room they were held in. Cold, dim, and only the moonlight to rely on for sight.
"Where...?"
He started.
Shaking his head lightly, Roh Ki answered Yong Kyubok's unfinished question.
"I do not know, but I assume he kidnapped you as well because you attempted to offer me your aid."
Yong Kyubok fell silent, unable to respond. If he was captured as well, it meant that he failed to protect his master.
"Are you an idiot?"
The tone of the question Roh Ki asked had caught him off guard, so he couldn't help but stare for a few moments.
The silence allowed Roh Ki to continue.
"You should have no reason to willingly fall into capture just to help me. So why are you here?"
Not only did he have the memories from his past life now, but he was also painfully aware of how cruel he'd been to Yong Kyubok.
He might've never personally raised a hand against him, but he'd also never raised a hand to help him. His feigned ignorance was somewhat crueler than anything Pyeong Dong and Ryu Man-Shik might've done. It was because he was aware of this that he couldn't comprehend why Yong Kyubok would risk his safety to save him.
"Is it because he's the protagonist?"
He asked himself for a moment, but waved that theory off as he visualized an image of Yong Kyubok chopping the heads of all the sect elders one day.
His memory of future events informed him that Yong Kyubok was not the overly righteous and selfless kind of protagonist. In fact, he'd be best described better as somewhat of an anti-hero, but that was a development of another time.
Right then, he needed to focus on finding a way to escape, though he was a bit curious to hear Yong Kyubok's answer.
"Master,"
Yong Kyubok started, his eyes focused on the ground, unable to look Roh Ki in the eyes.
"I am sorry."
The shock of Yong Kyubok's statement caused him to flinch a little, staring on in both intrigue and confusion.
Furrowing his brows, he asked.
"Why are you suddenly apologizing?"
"... I failed to protect you, and now we have both been captured."
"..."
Now the shock had multiplied. Roh Ki paused, scanning Yong Kyubok's expression intently, before breaking into a fit of laughter.
"Is this the man who is supposed to behead everyone in the sect in the future?"
Roh Ki pondered, the thought only spurring his laughter further.
"That is such a protagonist thing to say."
Yong Kyubok couldn't help but stare at his master as he chuckled lightly beneath the glistening of the moonlight. It was not enough to simply say he'd been enchanted. He was ensnared.
It was the first time he'd ever seen his ever stoic master crack a smile, let alone laugh. The mere sight caused his chest to tighten, all the more because it was somewhat the result of his doing, though he couldn't begin to understand why.
Biting the inside of his mouth to make sure he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating, Yong Kyubok parted his lips to speak.
"Master? Have I... said something funny?"
At Yong Kyubok's question, Roh Ki winds down his laughter, settling into a tender smile after he was satisfied.
"Funny? Perhaps. I just find your reason for apologizing quite ridiculous."
"Mn,"
Yong Kyubok hummed, pressing his lips together as he wondered what his master meant.
Continuing, Roh Ki released a small sigh.
"Still... it is true that you risked your safety just to help me, so... thank you, Yong Kyubok."
Of all the statements Roh Ki had said that night, this was the one that shocked Yong Kyubok the most. It was his first time receiving genuine gratitude from someone else, most especially his cold master.
The feeling didn't just warm his heart, it set his skin ablaze, every movement, and every word word from his master prickling his skin sharper than any cold wind that blew in through the open wall.
"Master... I..."
"Now that you are conscious, we should properly seek a way to escape from here. You should be able to release those binds with a bit of qi." Roh Ki spoke, interrupting whatever Yong Kyubok was muttering.
He was a bit grateful that his master did, because he wasn't entirely sure what words were preparing to leave his mouth when he opened them.
Before Yong Kyubok could struggle to shift his position within his binds, a figure stumbled in through the darkness carrying a dimly lit lantern.
"Tch. So you're awake,"
It was Yan Bohai.
It wasn't very noticeable earlier, but with the lantern held to his face, his bruises became more apparent.
Gazing at Yan Bohai's face in amusement, Roh Ki allowed the corners of his lips to curl into a small, nearly invisible smile. His chest swelling with pride at the rate of improvement his new disciple was evolving with.
"What happened to you my dear disciple?"
Roh Ki started, letting his tone drip with snark contempt.
"I hope you did not earn those bruises solely because you underestimated your junior. I believe I taught you better."
"Since when did master ever care about such disciples? These days, you are not acting like yourself!"
Yan Bohai exclaimed with a sneer, closing the distance between him and his master quickly.
"Oh, so you still regard me as your master? It was unclear given the circumstances."
Roh Ki's tone responded with a tone so cold, it chilled the entire room.
He was beginning to remember why he'd gotten a bad feeling whenever he gazed at or thought about Yan Bohai...
Yan Bohai let out a long sigh, gazing at his master a bit before he spoke.
"You left me no choice master. If you had just given them the amulet when they asked nicely, I wouldn't have to be doing this. You brought this on yourself."
It was because he had always been a cowardly piece of shit. Roh Ki just found it hard to remember since his coma.
"Why are they so desperate for the amulet?" He asked, stifling a sigh. "I knew the Raishu sect to be capable of immoral deeds, but I didn't think them this cowardly."
"The reason isn't important," Yan Bohai spat, his eyes tracing the lines of Roh Ki's body. "It only matters that they want it. And they are willing to capture you just to make it happen."
The crease on his forehead furrowed tighter as he watched Yan Bohai wet his lips, irritation stinging at him with his every move.
"Do you have no shame? Or should I say do you not have a bit of excess confidence? Do you believe that just because you managed to bind me with qi restricting chains, I will suddenly surrender and hand over the amulet to you? When did you become not only a traitor, but a fool Yan Bohai?"
Roh Ki's words were effortlessly cold, his eyes staring daggers. So much so that they pricked at Yan Bohai's seemingly calm exterior.
"Master, you need to understand that you are not in a position to act so stubborn. Once the Raishu sect representatives get here, you will no longer have the luxury of choice. So why don't you just give in while it is still just me here?" Yan Bohai said, griping Roh Ki's chin firmly.
"Piss off and die," Roh Ki thought to himself, a perception that felt so crass, he wondered if it was more the reader Rim In Ho's thoughts than his, or maybe a mix of both.
With a sigh, he turned his head away defiantly, freeing his chin from Yan Bohai's grasp.
"Even if I die, I will not hand over that amulet."
More so because he knew the amulet was an important part of the events that would scar Yong Kyubok, and turn him into the protagonist of "Techniques of a Broken God" who lopped people's head's off at the slightest offence.
He knew that in order for the story to progress the way it was meant to, he had to allow this to happen, but now that he was aware of himself, he couldn't let that happen with a clear conscience. What was he to do?
"Master, please do not make this difficult on yourself," Yan Bohai spouted, as he pulled on the chains that bound Roh Ki, drawing out a silent groan from him as the chains got tighter. "In a couple of minutes, you will no longer have a choice. Death really will be the end if you do not comply."
With a hard glare, Roh Ki scoffed.
"So be it."
"Tch. Master, why must you be this stubborn? I am only trying to help you."
Yan Bohai stated, turning Roh Ki's face to him as he leaned in closer, his hands roaming farther down his neck.
"Do not call me your master. I do not remember having a disciple so gutless and cowardly as to succumb to the whims of a destructive cult."
Yan Bohai pulled tighter on Roh Ki's chains in retaliation, his face twisting in anger.
"Gutless? Okay. I will show you how gutless I can be,"
Saying this, Yan Bohai reached for his sword, allowing it to roam from his Roh Ki's neck to his chest, then moving down, he tore Roh Ki's outer robes off with a slash.
"Did you know master? I was always quite enamored by this curse of yours, and I know I certainly wasn't the only one."
His words flew past as he played with Roh Ki's long silky white hair. Both Yong Kyubok and Roh Ki staring on in shock as the moment thickened.
"What do you think you are doing?" Roh Ki stated with a seething breath, finally regaining his composure. "Have you finally gone mad? Do not take my calm exterior to mean I am now an easy target."
"It wounds me that you never asked why I betrayed you," Yan Bohai spoke, ignoring Roh Ki's words. "Are you not curious?"
Bearing a hard frown and an icy tone, Roh Ki replied.
"I am hardly curious about the decisions of cowardly men."
Roh Ki's response caused Yan Bohai's eyebrows to knit tighter as a small frown threatened to form on his face, but he shook it away, saying,
"I admit I was apprehensive when the Raishu sect first approached me, but then they offered me something irresistible if I succeeded in handing over the amulet to them. Do you care to know what that is?"
"No."
Roh Ki replied bluntly, pricking daggers at Yan Bohai's skin.
"You."
"...?!"
Yan Bohai's answer elicited a gasp from Yong Kyubok, while Roh Ki creased the space between his eyebrows into a frown.
"I have never known you to be delusional. Did the two years you spent away from my sight cause you to come down with madness?"
Roh Ki spoke, every word drenched with disdain.
"If it upsets you, blame your curse, my dear master." Yan Bohai stated, continuing to play with Roh Ki's hair.
"Curse?"
Roh Ki mouthed before his attention was drawn to his hair.
"Oh." He thought to himself. "This again?"
Since he was a child, he'd heard all sorts of comments about the condition in which his hair came to be white.
Some believed him to be a demon, while some believed him to be a god. In adult, some even believed him to be a heavenly immortal that had descended, but since he could remember, the most common had always been that he'd been cursed.
As a child, he resorted to covering his hair in mud so as not to illicit such remarks as being a 'cursed child', and as he got older, he'd noticed that the attention it brought him was almost always the romantic kind. Women, men, children, old, all were in some way charmed by him, regardless of whether he'd wanted it to happen or not.
It was not until he started cultivating that he learned to suppress this curse with qi. And luckily for him, he had an abundance of it. He'd also chosen the way of abstinence as his focus path, just to barricade himself from the hassle. Since then, he'd hardly run into problems resulting from the curse, though there were the occasional times where people had naturally fallen for him regardless.
He'd been aware of the rumors circulating about him, but ignored them because he knew them to be mostly untrue. While he did have a curse that charmed people when he was younger, his infinite qi technique no longer made that a problem, so any rumors that arose now would most likely be false.
Hence, Yan Bohai's reason for this situation greatly enraged him to a degree that could have set the entire cabin on fire had qi binding chains not currently bound him.
"Are you trying to say that I have charmed you?" Roh Ki asked, the frown on his face evident of his rage.
A smirk creeped up Yan Bohai's face as he spoke.
"Have you not?"
This time, his fingers venturing further past Roh Ki's neck and down his thinly clothed chest.
"Get your dirty hands off him,"
A hoarse fiery voice spoke from the other end of the room, eyes that shone red accompanying the hot tone.
Roh Ku had failed to note that there was one other person in the room whose rage had been fueled to a degree where he could burn the entire area down if left unchecked.
"Get it off..."
Yong Kyubok spoke, his orbs burning red as his tone dripped with wrath.
"Before I cut them off."
Comments (0)
See all