Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 3

Yang Soryeong went into her room and sat lost in thought.

'I have to marry into the White Mountain Sect?'

Yang Soryeong didn't even know where the White Mountain Sect was.

To think she had to marry a man she didn't even know.

She felt a renewed resentment toward her father.

She thought she finally understood why her mother had been sighing constantly.

'Should I just die?'

But then her mother, left behind, would be sad.

Sad this way, sad that way.

What should she do?

Click.

The door opened, and Baekji came in with snacks.

"I told you to make a sound before entering someone else's room."

"Ah!"

Baekji closed the door, went outside, and cleared his throat.

"Can I come in?"

"Come in."

Baekji entered and offered her a tray of mooncakes.

Yang Soryeong shook her head. She had no appetite.

"They're delicious."

"You eat them."

"I'll just have one."

Baekji picked up a mooncake and swallowed it in one gulp. Then he just stared at the remaining mooncakes.

"You can eat them all."

"Really? Is that okay?"

"You're going to eat them anyway. Why ask?"

"That's true."

Baekji asked while eating the mooncakes, "Are you going to follow Shang Yiqing?"

"Shh. You can't tell anyone."

"I'm going to follow too."

Yang Soryeong sighed.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Why? Eloping at night is something lovers have done for a long time. It's not hard. We just have to leave at night."

"You'll say anything!"

Yang Soryeong slapped Baekji's back with a loud smack.

"Ow! That hurts!"

It was Yang Soryeong who cried out, not the one who was hit. It felt like she had struck an iron plate.

"...?"

Baekji stared blankly.

"Forget it. What am I even saying to you?"

Yang Soryeong sighed and said, "I'm not running away. Even if I did, my father would send people after me, and I'd be caught soon."

"I can help you run away very far. I'll even show you the sea."

Yang Soryeong let out a small laugh.

"Thank you, both Brother Sang and you. But if this is my fate, I will accept it. I can't put my mother in a difficult position."

"Why?"

"I'm all my mother has. If I run away, the people from the Yang Merchant Guild will torment her. I don't want my mother to be unhappy because of me."

Baekji nodded.

"I don't want auntie to be unhappy either."

"Besides, no matter what, a father is still a father, right?"

"Fathers decide on marriages."

Baekji nodded as if he knew.

"That's why children elope at night."

Yang Soryeong asked, exasperated, "What on earth have you been reading?"

"Hong Ye Mong. It's fun. They elope, but the man gets caught and killed, and the woman jumps off a cliff."

"Gasp!"

"Don't worry. They get reincarnated."

"Sigh. Let's just not talk about it."

Yang Soryeong sighed and said, "I don't want to trouble my father either. I guess this is just my fate."

"You said you were going to be rich."

"..."

"I'll make you rich."

At Baekji's innocent words, Yang Soryeong could only sigh.

* * *

It was noisy outside.

When Old Man Ma opened the main gate, a middle-aged man with sharp eyes entered.

Four guards followed behind him.

Zheng Qing, sitting in the main hall, watched them with a pale face.

"It has been a long time."

The general manager of the Yang Merchant Guild, Wu Ping, bowed to Zheng Qing.

"I have come to escort the Young Miss."

Yang Soryeong crossed over to the main hall.

Wu Ping's eyes narrowed slightly.

'Her beauty surpasses Joryeong's. The White Mountain Sect won't have any complaints with this.'

Yang Soryeong bowed to Zheng Qing and then went out the main gate.

A small carriage drawn by two horses was waiting.

As Yang Soryeong boarded the carriage, Baekji followed and entered as well.

"What is that brat?"

Wu Ping asked Old Man Ma, dumbfounded.

"Uh? Uh..."

Before Old Man Ma could speak, Baekji stuck his head out the window.

"Let's go quickly."

He was excited to be in the carriage.

Wu Ping scolded him with an angry face.

"Who do you think you are to dare ride in the Young Miss's carriage? Get out of there at once!"

"Me? I'm a disciple."

"Disciple?"

"Master Soryeong's disciple."

Baekji said it so casually.

"Disciple?"

Wu Ping looked at Old Man Ma.

Just then, Yang Soryeong's voice came from inside the carriage.

"That's right. He is my disciple."

With even Yang Soryeong saying so, Wu Ping was bewildered.

"The Young Miss taught him to read, so he calls her master."

"Why teach a servant boy to read?"

Wu Ping retorted bluntly and then shouted, "Why is a servant boy riding in the carriage? Get out and walk."

Baekji ignored him and closed the window.

"That, that...!"

Just as he was about to tell the guards to drag Baekji out, Old Man Ma sidled up and said, "General Manager, that boy is a bit slow. But he serves the Young Miss well, so please forgive him."

"Even so. How dare a servant ride in a carriage with his master?"

Wu Ping shouted but then closed his mouth. He saw people gathering around.

The gazes of those watching Wu Ping's party were not friendly.

He could hear murmuring, and it didn't sound like anything good.

Rumors travel fast. He couldn't tarnish the Yang Merchant Guild's reputation for no reason.

"What are you all looking at! Everyone, go back."

Wu Ping shouted, but the crowd only grew larger.

"Tsk, what do these ignorant fools know."

Deciding he needed to leave this place, Wu Ping mounted his horse and shouted to the driver, "Let's go!"

The carriage avoided the main road and took a side street.

Wu Ping rode at the head of the group.

When they reached a deserted road, Wu Ping stopped.

A young man stood blocking the middle of the road. He was a swordsman holding a sword.

Wu Ping frowned.

"Who are you?"

"Hand over Soryeong."

Shang Yiqing shouted in a solemn voice.

"What? Are you trying to kidnap a woman in broad daylight in the capital?"

Creak.

The carriage window opened, and Baekji's head popped out, surveyed the situation, and then quickly popped back in.

Shang Yiqing drew his sword and threw away the scabbard.

"Soryeong is my woman. I will not send her to the likes of the White Mountain Sect!"

For a swordsman to discard his scabbard meant he was prepared to die.

Wu Ping raised a hand to his forehead.

His head was throbbing.

'Who is this brat now?'

Wu Ping clicked his tongue.

He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. Seeing the handsome young man, he had a guess.

Wu Ping glanced at the carriage Yang Soryeong was in.

'So the quiet cat is the first to climb onto the stove. So young and already seducing men.'

Wu Ping's eyes suddenly widened like saucers.

The carriage was shaking. He could also hear sounds of a struggle.

An indecent thought flashed through Wu Ping's mind.

"That, that..."

Wu Ping's mouth fell open.

But then.

"Let go!"

"You can't go out. In this part of the story, you have to wait until someone comes to rescue you."

"What are you talking about? Ouch!"

"Huh? Does it hurt?"

Hearing the voices, Wu Ping realized he had been mistaken.

It seemed that when her lover appeared, Yang Soryeong tried to rush out, and the servant boy was stopping her.

'I need to get to the manor quickly.'

Wu Ping pointed at Shang Yiqing and bellowed, "Someone teach that brat a lesson."

Two guards dismounted, drew their swords, and charged.

Shang Yiqing, as if he had been waiting, extended his sword.

Clang! Clang-clang!

Shang Yiqing swung his sword left and right at the guards attacking him from both sides.

Flashes of sword light erupted as the three men clashed.

The Yang Merchant Guild's guards were skilled in their own right, but Shang Yiqing managed to push the two of them back.

The Qinghai Guan was one of the most prominent martial halls among the Qingcheng Sect's various secular branches, and Shang Yiqing was the Guan Master's direct disciple.

"It's the Qingcheng Sword Style! Be careful!"

The guards did not take him lightly and maintained their distance, attacking cautiously.

The Qingcheng Sect was a Taoist sect, but it was famous for its ruthless techniques. Moreover, they thoroughly pursued grudges. The main sect would often intervene even in matters involving their secular disciples.

This tendency of the Qingcheng Sect was why other martial artists often yielded to their secular branches.

Instead of using killing moves, the guards continuously circled and pressured him.

Their plan was to wear Shang Yiqing down and subdue him.

Wu Ping was also a martial artist. Realizing the young man was a secular disciple of the Qingcheng Sect, he frowned.

'Why is a Qingcheng Sect brat running wild all the way in Xi'an?'

The Shaanxi region, where Xi'an was located, was the territory of the Huashan and Zhongnan sects.

'Let's subdue him first and see.'

At Wu Ping's gesture, the remaining two guards also charged.

With four guards taking turns defending from a distance, Shang Yiqing, the attacker, grew frustrated.

"Let's end this!"

Shang Yiqing resolved to use a killing move and changed his sword stance.

Just then.

"Stop!"

A ray of light, imbued with sharp energy, fell from the sky.

The guards retreated in unison, and a sword was embedded in the ground in front of Shang Yiqing.

Shang Yiqing's face turned pale.

Then, three people appeared.

The man in front was a middle-aged man in a blue robe with a magnificent long beard, followed by two young men with swords strapped tightly to their backs.

"Master!"

Shang Yiqing knelt.

Wu Ping immediately recognized who had appeared.

'Qinghai Guan Master, Qiu Yanhai?'

The Qinghai Guan, located on the border of Shaanxi and Sichuan, was a fairly well-known martial hall.

Although it was a martial hall that taught martial arts for money, its master, Qiu Yanhai, was a renowned expert, making it one of the top secular branches of the Qingcheng Sect.

Qiu Yanhai looked at Shang Yiqing and Wu Ping's group with eyes flashing with brilliance.

Wu Ping dismounted and approached, cupping his fists.

"Are you not the great hero, Guan Master Qiu of Qinghai Guan? I am Wu Ping, the general manager of the Yang Merchant Guild."

Qiu Yanhai looked at Wu Ping with an arrogant expression before speaking.

"Why is the Yang Merchant Guild persecuting a disciple of the Qinghai Guan?"

'They say the Qinghai Guan Master is arrogant, and it's really true.'

Wu Ping suppressed his rising anger and said, "The Yang Merchant Guild did not persecute him. That young man attacked us, and we were forced to respond."

Wu Ping's backing was not to be trifled with either.

The family of the Yang Merchant Guild's mistress, Mei Yancheng, the Meixian Fang, was a secular branch of the Huashan Sect and was considered one of the Four Hegemons of Shaanxi.

Wu Ping was from the Meixian Fang.

"To my eyes, it looks like four people ganging up on one."

"The young man's sword was so sharp that we had to use several people to block it to avoid bloodshed. Indeed, the sword arts of Qingcheng are truly sublime."

Wu Ping was eloquent. Although he was not pleased, he subtly flattered his opponent.

Qiu Yanhai nodded with an arrogant expression.

"I see. It must have been difficult to face the sword of Qingcheng."

The four guards looked quite skilled, yet he was proud that Shang Yiqing had not been pushed back.

Qiu Yanhai approached Shang Yiqing and said, "Let's go!"

Shang Yiqing tried to reply, but Qiu Yanhai swept his right hand.

Papapat.

Shang Yiqing's vital points were struck, and he couldn't move.

Even his mute point was sealed.

Qiu Yanhai's skill was so fast that no one except Wu Ping noticed.

"Yiqing seems tired, so support him."

Qiu Yanhai instructed the disciples behind him and, as if his business was done, abruptly walked away.

The disciples supported Shang Yiqing on either side and followed.

"How rude..."

To take away someone who had attacked without provocation and without an apology.

Wu Ping was dumbfounded but couldn't argue.

In the eyes of the Qinghai Guan Master, the Yang Merchant Guild was just one of many mediocre merchant guilds in Xi'an.

'My fists are crying!'

His tightly clenched fists trembled.

Wu Ping's eyes turned to the carriage. He saw Baekji, who had opened the window and was peeking out.

His newly growing, chestnut-like hair looked detestable.

Baekji waved his hand as if to say everything was fine here, but somehow it felt like he was mocking him.

'That bastard!'

Just as Wu Ping was about to explode in anger, Baekji closed the window.

Wu Ping's pride was in tatters, but since the parties involved had left, he couldn't even protest.

'Just you wait.'

Wu Ping mounted his horse with a menacing glare.

"Gallop to the merchant guild!"

Dudududu.

The carriage passed, and the deserted road, where a brawl had just taken place, sank back into silence.

(End of Chapter)