Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 2

"It's not a sin to be ignorant. You just have to learn. It's worse to pretend you know when you don't, or to know and not act on it."

Yang Soryeong recited what she had learned at the village school.

Baekji nodded obediently.

"Let's go home and eat dumplings, and I'll teach you one by one."

As Yang Soryeong spoke, Baekji's gaze drifted elsewhere.

Steam was billowing from a large cauldron, and a worker was scooping out thin noodles.

"Do you want to eat somyeon?"

"Yes. So that's somyeon."

"You've never had somyeon before?"

"I have. Somyeon, so that's somyeon."

Yang Soryeong thought that Baekji didn't know the names of things very well.

"This won't do. First, I'll walk you through the streets and teach you."

Yang Soryeong walked through the marketplace, pointing out and naming various things she saw.

Baekji blinked his eyes and listened intently.

'He's really learning diligently.'

Yang Soryeong's mouth hurt a little, but it was also fun.

It was similar to playing house with dolls when she was young.

She became even more enthusiastic because Baekji listened so seriously.

For several days, Yang Soryeong and Baekji spent almost the entire day together.

In the morning, Yang Soryeong taught him how to read, and in the afternoon, they would browse the market, where she taught him the names of goods and how people lived.

Baekji was not a fool.

He understood quickly whatever Yang Soryeong taught him.

He mastered the Thousand Character Classic in just five days. It was the same Thousand Character Classic that had taken Yang Soryeong, who was considered quite smart, three months to learn.

'He must not have been a fool originally. It was just that no one taught him.'

Thinking this made her feel even more pity for Baekji.

"Baekji, you are a very smart person. If you study hard, you will become a great person."

"I am Baekji. I have no intention of becoming someone else."

'Sigh. At times like this, he seems like a fool.'

If Yang Soryeong had known what Baekji was thinking, she would have been very surprised.

'I think I knew this before.'

Every time Baekji learned a character, he felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had known it all along.

He was learning it easily simply because it was familiar.

After learning the characters, he felt a strange sensation as he read various books. It was as if a thick fog in his mind was slowly clearing.

This led to questions.

'Who am I? Why do I know nothing about myself? Where did I come from?'

He had no memories.

'Maybe I'll find out if I read more books.'

Baekji read books all night, mostly old storybooks.

"Storybooks are good, but you should also read the classics."

"The classics are boring."

"That's how you become a wise person."

"What's a wise person?"

"Umm."

Yang Soryeong herself didn't know exactly what it meant to be wise.

"To be helpful to the world, to teach others..."

"Why do I have to do that?"

"..."

Sometimes, Yang Soryeong found it difficult to answer Baekji's questions.

During the day, he followed Yang Soryeong to the marketplace, where he learned to buy and eat various things, and how to bargain for goods.

"How do you know so many things?"

In Baekji's eyes, there was nothing Yang Soryeong didn't know.

"I'm going to be rich. To make money, you have to know how the world works."

Yang Soryeong pointed to a dried fish shop on the street.

"That's expensive here. But wouldn't it be cheap by the sea?"

"The sea?"

"They say it's a huge body of water."

"A lake?"

"It's a hundred times bigger than a lake. They say it's just water as far as you can go."

A blue sea unfolded in Baekji's mind.

"I think I've been to the sea before."

Yang Soryeong looked incredulous.

"You've been to the sea? I haven't even been there yet."

"Then let's go."

Baekji grabbed her hand and pulled.

Yang Soryeong laughed.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Do you know how far the sea is from here? You say 'let's go' as if we're going to the next village, of course I'd laugh."

"Ah! Where is this place?"

"You didn't even know where you were until now?"

Yang Soryeong said with wide eyes.

"This is Xi'an."

"Xi'an?"

"Xi'an alone is huge. It would take several days to go through every corner."

"Really?"

The two wandered around Xi'an and only returned when it was almost evening.

Old Man Ma, who was pacing in front of the main gate, hurriedly approached Yang Soryeong when he saw her.

"Your father has come and is waiting."

Old Man Ma's expression was not good.

As Yang Soryeong went in to meet her father, Baekji tried to follow, but Old Man Ma stopped him.

"You stay here."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

Old Man Ma smacked Baekji on the head.

"I told this brat to use honorifics with adults..."

"I don't want to."

For some reason, Baekji found honorifics awkward.

Old Man Ma clicked his tongue.

"Aigoo. What am I doing with a boy who's not in his right mind?"

When Baekji tried to go to the inner quarters where Yang Soryeong had gone again, Old Man Ma pulled him back.

"Go and eat."

"Ah."

Come to think of it, he was hungry.

Whoosh.

Baekji's figure disappeared in an instant.

Old Man Ma was startled.

"What? Was that brat always that fast?"

* * *

"I like it here. I'm going to live with my mother."

"That is for me to decide. How dare you talk back?"

Yang Jongu reprimanded his daughter with a stern face.

"I've brought clothes and jewelry, so get ready and come. Don't embarrass me."

Although his words were harsh, his heart was not at ease either.

If he could, he would want the mother and daughter to live quietly. But the world did not turn as he wished.

'Think of it as fate. If you go to the White Mountain Sect, you will be treated well. It might be better than living like this, hidden away.'

Yang Jongu comforted himself as he looked at Yang Soryeong.

The White Mountain Sect in Sichuan had sent a matchmaker last autumn.

Yang Jongu's wife, Mei Yancheng, had insisted that she would rather die than send her daughter to the White Mountain Sect.

Although the White Mountain Sect was a righteous sect, it was rumored to be somewhere between righteous and evil.

The sect leader, Bai Renguang, was very cruel and greedy, and often had conflicts with neighboring sects.

However, since they had considerable power in the Sichuan area, Yang Jongu could not ignore them.

If the White Mountain Sect decided to, the Yang Merchant Guild would suffer a significant blow. It might even lead to the guild having to close down.

On the other hand, if they received their support, it could create more opportunities for the merchant guild.

Yang Jongu was reluctant to form a marriage alliance with a martial arts family and tried to refuse, but the greedy Mei Yancheng played a trick.

She replied that since her eldest daughter, Yang Joryeong, was already engaged, she would send her younger daughter, Yang Soryeong, and the White Mountain Sect accepted.

"Joryeong is the greatest beauty in Xi'an, so they would naturally be greedy for her. But Soryeong is also beautiful. Since they are in a position to just ask for a marriage, let's send Soryeong."

Yang Jongu said that Soryeong was still too young to marry, but Mei Yancheng was adamant.

"Are you crazy? Are you going to throw away the opportunity to expand into Sichuan? Soryeong will be sixteen soon. What do you mean she's too young?"

Mei Yancheng intended to use the marriage as a pretext to obtain a portion of the Sichuan market from the White Mountain Sect.

In the end, Yang Jongu couldn't resist Mei Yancheng's nagging and agreed.

He couldn't bring himself to tell Yang Soryeong the truth.

He planned to take her home and, after a few months, formally marry her to the White Mountain Sect.

"I will send a palanquin at the beginning of next month, so be prepared."

Yang Jongu finished speaking and stood up.

"I'm leaving."

Yang Jongu shouted towards the inner room and went outside.

Yang Soryeong's mother, Zheng Qing, was lying down and did not come out.

She could only blame her own powerlessness.

* * *

"I heard the news and rushed over. Let's run away together."

"No. Then Mom will be left alone to suffer."

Yang Soryeong shook her head.

A tall young man said with a regretful face, "Your mother would want you to be happy too. You're being sold to the White Mountain Sect right now. Don't you understand?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I heard it myself. A person from the White Mountain Sect came and said it while talking to my master. They said they were arranging a marriage with the Yang Merchant Guild and asked for a blessing from the Qingcheng Taoist Master."

"Sister Joryeong?"

"No, they said it was the second daughter."

Yang Soryeong couldn't quite understand. Why would her father marry her off to the White Mountain Sect? She had an older sister, didn't she?

Just then, the young man looked up at the wall with a fierce expression and shouted, "Who are you? Why are you eavesdropping on other people's conversations?"

Baekji, who was sitting on the wall eating a rice cake, looked down.

The young man's hand went to the sword at his waist.

"Older brother Sang! Don't do that. He's part of our family."

The young man was Shang Yiqing, a disciple of the Qingcheng Sect's secular branch, the Qinghai Guan.

He and Yang Soryeong had been close since childhood, but they hadn't been able to see each other often since he went to the Qinghai Guan.

Shang Yiqing would occasionally send letters, and Yang Soryeong was flustered when he suddenly appeared today and suggested they run away.

Baekji smiled at Shang Yiqing, who was glaring at him, and said, "Me? I'm Baekji. Yang Baekji."

"Baekji? What happened? Who is he?"

"Um, he's my... friend."

Yang Soryeong couldn't think of a suitable word to introduce Baekji, so she said he was a friend.

"No. She is master. Yang Soryeong is my master. I'm her disciple."

"Master?"

Shang Yiqing looked back and forth between Yang Soryeong and Baekji.

"She teaches me how to read and tells me various things, so she's my master."

"Well... you could say that. Hehehe."

Yang Soryeong let out a hollow laugh.

'A master at this age. Well, if you teach, you're a master.'

Feeling a sense of pride, Yang Soryeong said to Baekji, "Why are you up there? What if you fall? Come down quickly."

Baekji slid down lightly.

Shang Yiqing was startled and took a step back.

Baekji's movements were so light, as if he had learned martial arts.

"Baekji. This is Brother Shang Yiqing. Brother Sang is a very close person to me."

"Uh-huh. Are you two going to get married?"

At Baekji's words, both Shang Yiqing and Yang Soryeong's faces turned as red as ripe persimmons.

"You shouldn't say things like that carelessly."

Yang Soryeong said, but Baekji didn't listen properly and asked again, "Alright. Are you two running away?"

Shang Yiqing looked Baekji up and down.

His way of speaking seemed a bit slow.

'He's handsome, but he acts like a fool.'

Recently, Baekji's hair had started to grow a little. The area where his eyebrows were was also sprouting dark hair.

Except for his chestnut-like hair, his facial features were distinct, and he was quite handsome.

"No. It's not like that."

Yang Soryeong denied it, but Shang Yiqing took her hand.

"No, do as I say. If you go to the Yang Merchant Guild like this, you'll have to marry into the White Mountain Sect. The White Mountain Sect Master is a cruel man. You'll be unhappy for the rest of your life."

A flicker of fear crossed Yang Soryeong's eyes.

But she couldn't run away alone, leaving her mother behind.

Besides.

"If we run away like this, Brother Sang will be in trouble too. Don't do it."

Shang Yiqing was the son of a fairly successful merchant in Xi'an and a promising disciple at the Qinghai Guan. She couldn't ruin his life because of her.

"It's better than watching you become unhappy. Don't you know my heart?"

Shang Yiqing became agitated as he spoke and grabbed Yang Soryeong's shoulders, shaking her.

Swoosh.

"You shouldn't bully my master."

Baekji's hand came in and grabbed Shang Yiqing's hand.

"Huh?"

Shang Yiqing was surprised.

Baekji had grabbed him lightly, but he couldn't move at all.

Baekji pulled Shang Yiqing's hands away and said, "Use your words. Do you know the saying that a gentleman's three-inch tongue can save a nation?"

"...?"

Yang Soryeong burst out laughing as she listened.

It was good that Baekji read diligently, but he often said things that didn't fit the situation.

"What? What did you say?"

Shang Yiqing was dumbfounded.

"If it can save a nation, it can also win a woman's heart."

"What are you talking about?"

Yang Soryeong intervened.

"Don't mind what Baekji says. I understand what you mean, Brother. I'll think about it too."

"There's not much time. We have to hurry."

Shang Yiqing made up his mind and turned to leave.

(End of Chapter)