ROTMHS Special Spin-off - Chapter 10

Chapter 10. This isn’t how this is supposed to go. (5)

“Here it is.”

After hearing the news, the others rushed over as well, and everyone gathered in front of the house the woman had led them to.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Ah, wait—at least let us give you something in return—”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I just told you something everyone around here knows. Good luck with your business, Taoists.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

The disciples bowed deeply, then turned around.

“So…”

Their gazes shifted toward the house in front of them.

“So this is where he lives?”

“Uh… I think so.”

“Here?”

Baek Cheon’s eyes trembled.

“Can someone even live in a place like this?”

It was, quite literally, a thatched hut on the verge of collapse. No, calling it that felt off. One of the walls had already caved in halfway, with some reeds haphazardly covering it. Half-collapsed hut would’ve been more accurate.

“A kid lives here alone… how could he live in a place like this?”

Baek Cheon was just about to say not even a dog could live here when—

“Looks livable.”

“Pretty well maintained, actually.”

“Seems fine.”

Cheong Myeong, Yoon Jong, and Yoo Iseol nodded as if they approved.

Baek Cheon stared at them blankly, when Jo Geol quietly approached and whispered,

‘You almost said something you shouldn’t have, didn’t you, sasuk?’

‘Shh.’

Baek Cheon realized once again the fact that people who had lived on the streets had completely different standards.

“Can we go in?”

“Wouldn’t that be rude?”

“Well, the door’s wide open, so it should be fine, right?”

“There’s a difference between an open door and no door, sasuk.”

On a crumbling mud wall that looked ready to collapse at any moment, decayed reeds were barely holding on. And the door—wherever it had gone—left nothing but a gaping hole in the middle of the wall.

“At this point… even a shack the Beggar Union beggars live in would probably be better.”

At Baek Cheon’s words, Yoon Jong replied flatly,

“A shack can’t block the wind. And when it rains heavily, it doesn’t just leak—the whole cloth gets soaked, and water pours straight inside.”

“I-Is that so?”

Yoo Iseol nodded in agreement.

“It was cold. Whenever it rained.”

“Yeah. On clear days, you could manage if you covered yourself with something.”

“Mm.”

A victim of abuse and a victim of neglect nodded, sharing a kind of empathy that wasn’t quite empathy…

“But still… this place is relatively livable.”

“Mm.”

“……”

Jo Geol came over again and whispered.

‘You should probably just stay quiet, sasuk.’

‘Yeah…..’

Baek Cheon quietly shut his mouth.

“Let’s go inside first.”

“Is that okay? The owner doesn’t seem to be home.”

“It’s better to be rude than indifferent. Let’s go.”

Normally, Tang Soso wouldn’t have even thought about entering someone else’s house without permission. But seeing this collapsing hut—and thinking about a child living here alone—made her feel she had to see it for herself.

“Hmm.”

“Uh…”

The Mount Hua disciples who stepped inside wore strange expressions.

The hut was wider than it looked from the outside. It seemed just big enough for all of them to lie down and sleep, cramped as it might be. But that didn’t really matter.

Baek Cheon, Tang Soso, and Jo Geol gave their impressions in the usual way.

“The floor is just dirt.”

“There’s no bed.”

“That stove looks like it hasn’t been used in a year.”

“How did he even eat or sleep in here?”

At the same time, Cheong Myeong, Yoo Iseol, and Yoon Jong gave theirs.

“The floor’s flat.”

“There’s a stove.”

“Hmm, looks like he used firewood. Must’ve kept warm well enough.”

And the moment they finished speaking, the two groups turned to look at each other.

“……”

“……”

It wasn’t anything new, but…. the subtle gap between them was impossible to ignore.

“Ahem.”

“L-Let’s not focus on that.”

Tang Soso frowned.

“No, but still, it’s a place someone lives—at least maintain it a little…”

“That’s hard.”

“Can’t be helped. He’s alone.”

“Considering he even patched the wall, this is maintenance in his own way.”

The immediate rebuttal made beads of sweat gather at the back of Tang Soso’s neck. She quickly changed her words.

“Honestly… it feels a bit cold-hearted. If a child is living alone, shouldn’t the people around at least help out a little?”

“If he didn’t starve to death, that means they helped.”

“Yeah. Usually you die. I almost did.”

“Seems like the people around here are pretty kind. That lady earlier too.”

This time, Tang Soso’s hand trembled.

Seeing that, Jo Geol quietly stepped over and whispered.

‘Soso-ya… you should just keep your mouth shut too.’

‘…Yes.’

What kind of lives have these people even lived?

The victim of child abuse, the victim of neglect, and the wounded veteran all looked around the house as if none of this was particularly surprising.

Baek Cheon, who had been watching the three with an awkward expression, cautiously called out.

“Cheong Myeong-ah.”

“Yeah?”

“I think… it’s about time you told us. What’s your relationship with the kid who lives here?”

“Hmm.”

Cheong Myeong wore a complicated expression, as if thinking things through, and was just about to speak—

Rustle.

At the faint sound from outside, everyone’s heads snapped toward the doorway at once.

“Hm?”

A door wide open.

And in front of it stood a boy.

The moment Cheong Myeong saw him, a past he had long forgotten resurfaced in his mind.

✿ ✿ ✿

“Y-You brat! Stay still for a second!”

“Ow!”

Thud!

A fiercely thrown kick slammed straight into a bearded chin.

“Ugh…!”

A groan slipped out of the Taoist’s mouth.

“W-What kind of strength does a kid even—”

“Nooooo!”

Thud!

Another powerful kick drove straight into the Taoist’s solar plexus. His face twisted instantly.

It hurt. It made no sense, but it really hurt. Since when did a child’s kicks hit this hard?

“Just stay still for a moment! I need to get you dressed—hold still!”

“Aaaaaaaah!”

The child sprang up and started pounding the Taoist’s face. But surely a martial artist trained in martial arts wouldn’t be flustered by a mere child’s blows—

“AAAAAARGH!”

No matter how skilled a master one was, there was no way to stop their hair from being yanked out. A fistful of beard was ripped free, and tears welled up in the Taoist’s eyes.

‘My beard…’

Do you know how long it took to grow that…?

“Hey, you rascal! What kind of damn temperament is this?!”

“Ooooo!”

The Taoist tried to shout angrily, but instead of shrinking back, the child flared up right back at him. Seeing that, tears gathered again at the corners of the Taoist’s eyes.

At his age… why was he suffering like this? What sin had he committed in his past life?

“Stay still, please, just—please, just stay still…!”

Right then—

Bang!

The closed door swung open, and someone stepped inside.

“What is going on here?”

“Cheong Mun-ah!”

The moment the child saw the newcomer, his face lit up, and he bolted toward the door like an unleashed animal.

“Sahyuuuuu—!”

A child not yet fully grown. Cheong Mun deftly caught the rushing Cheong Myeong, spun him once, and hoisted him up onto the back of his neck.

“How long has it been since you started living with Cheong Myeong? Why can’t you handle him yet?”

“……”

The Taoist, Baek Oh, felt tears well up again.

Was this really his fault? Even his fellow disciples, who have children, would approach him laughing heartily at first, but they couldn’t last even a moment before clearing their throats and running away. He had even seen them use their lightness skills. It wasn’t just once or twice.

“At this rate, how am I supposed to leave him and go anywhere in peace?”

“…I’m sorry.”

To others, it might have seemed like the disciple was speaking out of line. But Baek Oh could only quietly avert his gaze.

What else could he do? He was the one who had dumped the responsibility of raising that feral brat onto a disciple who should’ve been devoting himself to martial training. Having committed that sin, how could he possibly hold his head high?

“Sahyuuuuuuu!”

“Yeah, yeah. Did you miss your sahyung?”

Cheong Mun grabbed his saje with both hands and lightly tossed him up and caught him again. The face that had been full of hostility when he was with Baek Oh instantly brightened like sunlight.

“Alright, alright. Let’s play with sahyung now.”

“Sahyuuuuuung!”

A bright smile spread across Cheong Mun’s lips.

✿ ✿ ✿

‘…Sahyung?’

Cheong Myeong’s lips slowly parted.

Within his memory. No, a memory so old it had long since been forgotten.

In that resurfacing memory, Cheong Mun’s face overlapped with the face of the boy standing at the door.

“Uh………”

And in that instant, he knew.

There was no need to confirm anything. That was unmistakably Cheong Mun’s bloodline.

Otherwise, it made no sense for two people to look that identical. No, even considering that, it still didn’t make sense.

To look this alike? It was enough to make him suspect that Cheong Mun had secretly slipped out of the sect at some point and caused some kind of incident(?) Honestly, rather than from a nephew side… maybe it was actually from his son side—

— Hey, you lunatic! Say something that actually makes sense!

‘Ah, be quiet. Who knows what you got up to somewhere.’

Who could ever predict these things? Even Confucius had his time to have children.

‘They look so ridiculously alike, I’m starting to spout nonsense.’

Cheong Myeong rubbed his eyes as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

At this point, rather than a descendant, it felt closer to reincarnation. He didn’t have Cheong Mun’s particular presence, but at least outwardly, they were identical. Like putting two puppies from the same litter side by side.

And so, Cheong Myeong couldn’t help but stare at the boy as if entranced.

Maybe because of that, every small detail about the child came into sharp focus.

The rough, cheap cotton clothes that didn’t look very high quality. The small frame that hadn’t fully grown yet. The innocent face, tinged with faint confusion. And those clear, wide eyes, rolling this way and that—

‘Hm? Rolling?’

Rolling that way.

‘Huh?’

From left to right, then right to left. The eyes darted back and forth before finally settling on Cheong Myeong.

At the same time, the boy’s small lips parted.

“……Damn it.”

“Hm?”

In that instant, the boy shot sideways like a gust of wind.

Papapapapat!

“Huh?”

“Hm?”

“Where are you—”

It all happened so fast that even the Mount Hua disciples could only stare blankly.

“Should we chase him?”

“…Wait. Before that—why is he running?”

“I’m not really sure either…”

While they all stood there, baffled—

“Anyway, let’s at least follow—”

“This way!”

“Huh?”

The disciples’ heads snapped toward the door. A commotion rose from outside.

But this time, it wasn’t the boy’s voice. It was the voices of full-grown men.

“Hurry up and find him! He can’t have gone far!”

“What if he’s hiding in that house? Check it, quick!”

And then—

A group of large, burly men barged into the house.

“Huh?”

The Mount Hua disciples tilted their heads.

“What the hell? Who are these guys!”

They weren’t exactly Black Path types, but they definitely looked like the kind of thugs who threw their weight around in back alleys.

“Hey, you lot.”

The ruffians waved the blades in their hands threateningly.

“You seen a scrawny little rat come through here?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Did you see him or not! If you’re hiding him, your heads are coming off too!”

“Uh……”

Before they could even process the situation, the Mount Hua disciples instinctively felt a chill run down their spines and turned their heads.

“A rat, you say?”

Cheong Myeong was smiling brightly.

Brightly enough to send shivers down your spine.

“Yeah. I saw the rat.”

Crack.

A sharp sound rang out from Cheong Myeong’s clenched fist.

✿ ✿ ✿

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