Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 47

After a few days, Baekji's symptom of laughing heartily at any time subsided.

'That's a relief.'

The pure Baekji was too ignorant of the ways of the world. The fierce Baekji was cunning, but he beat people too much.

She had once thought it would be good to combine the two and divide them exactly in half, and it had really happened.

'Although he's still strange.'

It was good that Baekji had returned to a positive state, but a new tendency had manifested.

He had become very affectionate.

Even now, he had brought in a stray cat he had passed by and was playing with it. He had attached a bird's feather to his bamboo staff and was waving it in front of the cat.

"Biho, catch it! That's right! That's how you catch it."

Yang Soryeong sighed as she watched him.

'He doesn't say he'll kill people at the drop of a hat, does he? That's something. But that's a bit...'

She thought it was not right.

Every time the baby cat caught the bird's feather as Baekji waved the bamboo staff, he laughed loudly with joy.

Zhongmei, the youngest of the Seven Plums, was playing with him.

"Biho! Roll! Roll to the left!"

"Master Bai, Biho is not a puppy. Rolling is what dogs do."

"I know. I was just trying. But what are cats good at?"

"They're good at jumping down from high places."

"Really?"

Baekji picked up Biho and, whoosh, climbed up a high tree.

Zhongmei was startled and shouted, "That's too high. He'll die if he falls from there!"

"I know. I'm just showing Biho the wide world."

Baekji held Biho by the armpits and turned him this way and that, showing him various places in Zhaojia County.

"Isn't it nice?"

"Meow!"

It seemed Biho didn't like it. He bit Baekji's hand.

"Ouch!"

Baekji dropped Biho.

"Oh my! Biho-yaaaak!"

Zhongmei screamed, kicked off the ground, and flew to catch him.

"Master Bai! Biho almost died!"

"He wouldn't have died. I was going to catch him. I was just trying to build his courage."

Yang Soryeong's heart was heavy as she watched the two play.

'Surely he hasn't become Baekji, has he?'

Whether she knew that Yang Soryeong was watching with a worried gaze or not, Baekji was playing a game of catching mice with Biho.

Zheng Qing, who was watching, said, "Baekji is the same as when he was at home."

Although Yang Soryeong had grown much taller, Baekji had only grown his hair and was still the same.

"Baekji was originally tall."

"No, he hasn't lost his childishness. You seem to have grown up."

"Oh, mom. It just looks that way to you."

"Well, they say boys mature late."

Yang Soryeong looked out the main gate and said, "But, why is the broker grandfather so late? Time has passed."

Zheng Qing felt burdened living at the White Mountain Sect. As soon as they brought Old Man Ma, she said she would get a house in Zhaojia County, the village below the White Mountain Sect, with the money from selling the house in Xi'an, and live there.

The house Zheng Qing had chosen was coincidentally in a commercial district not far from the Hongmeng Brothel.

It was a shop that made sweets, and behind it was a fairly large living house and a small back garden.

Today was the day they had promised to make the transaction.

Yang Soryeong was secretly worried because the old man who had brokered the sale had not come on time.

-At this price, you're really buying it cheap. It's because the owner is in a hurry; otherwise, you would have had to pay twice as much.

'Could the owner have changed his mind?'

As she was worrying, the old man came in through the main gate.

"Why did you come alone?"

The owner of the house, who was the party to the sale, had not come.

"He entrusted the transaction to me. The owner was hesitating. I was late because I was persuading him."

When Yang Soryeong handed over the money, the old man handed over the house deed.

"But what are you going to do with a house with a shop?"

Zheng Qing smiled and said, "Since it's a sweet shop, we should sell sweets."

"This house, the sweets were really bad. There were almost no customers. It's been empty for quite a while. The sun seems to be setting already. You seem to have some skill, so will it be a little better?"

"I'm going to try to learn. It's not that difficult, is it?"

"If it's delicious, I'll come to buy it too."

The old man left, telling them to do well.

* * *

"Of all places..."

Hongyan frowned.

Because Baekji had looted the Hongmeng Brothel, she was short on funds. So, she had sold the house she had been using as a safe house.

She had gone to sign the contract and had been so startled to see Baekji throwing a cat from a tree that she had run away.

'Could it be, did he know and buy that house?'

The house Zheng Qing had bought was connected to the estate where Hongyan was staying by a secret passage. It was a house she had purchased for that purpose.

Although she had blocked the secret passage before selling it, in case of an emergency, she could open it from this side and get out at any time.

If a situation arose where she had to use the secret passage, it would be the day she left Zhaojia County, so she had sold it, thinking she didn't need to keep it, but for that brat to buy it.

She felt uneasy for no reason.

"You cruel brat. To throw that cute baby cat."

The image of him dropping the cat with a smiling face was vivid in her mind.

She didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore.

Hongyan checked the issuance date of the promissory note on her desk. It seemed to be her own money that had been looted from the Hongmeng Brothel.

In that case, she would have given her house and received her own money, becoming a fool.

"Surely not. It can't be."

Thump. Thump.

Someone was tapping her head.

'What?'

Startled, she stood up.

Baekji was standing there.

"Long time no see. It's nice to see you again."

"H-how..."

She had seen Baekji jump up into a tree and had quickly hidden, but it seemed she had been caught.

Hongyan lowered her eyes and slightly bent her knees to bow.

It was an ingrained habit.

"I see you again, elder."

"So it seems. Shall we see each other often from now on?"

"For me, it would be good if you could visit me at any time. It is the duty of a courtesan to receive people."

"That's not it. Shouldn't the person with business be the one to visit?"

"..."

'Why would I visit you? You crazy brat.'

Hongyan regretted the moment she had performed the Nine-Tailed Jade Shattering again and again. If she had just taken a few hits then, she wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

She had run away in a hurry, had her property looted, and even Menghua had been captured.

'But...'

Since the Eastern Divine General had stepped forward.

'You're dead.'

Once he was dead, they would have no business with each other.

"I... I have no business."

"You do."

"I really don't."

"You abandoned Menghua? You said she was your sister."

"That's..."

'A terrifying person will visit you soon.'

She couldn't bring herself to say it.

Baekji grinned.

"A rather old master came. He's getting along well with Menghua."

"What? What do you mean..."

Thump!

The bamboo staff lightly struck her head.

It wasn't hitting, nor was it stroking.

He tapped it playfully.

"Sorry. I really hate it when people make me repeat myself. My hand almost went out without me realizing it. I barely held back."

"...!"

If he hadn't held back, her head might have been split open.

The thought of herself dying with her white brains spilling out made Hongyan's face turn pale.

"It's okay. Don't be so surprised. I'm trying to get rid of my old habits. I've been reborn. New hobbies, new habits. Well, if I do that, won't I become a new person? I'm trying."

Trying?

What if it doesn't work out even if he tries?

It's useless to regret it after your head is broken.

Hongyan firmly closed her mouth.

But Baekji reached out his hand, touched Hongyan's chin, and licked his lips.

"You have a pretty chin. I think I remember pulling out a chin before. I must have been angry because the other person didn't answer."

"...!"

"Did I really do that? I probably didn't. I wouldn't have done something like pulling out a chin while they were still alive. Well, even if I did then, I definitely won't now. I've been reborn."

"Yes. I see. Congratulations."

Hongyan answered, trembling.

She was so nervous that Baekji's words stuck in her ears.

"That's right. It's something to be congratulated for. Being reborn, it's a strange feeling."

'He said he was crazy... he's strangely crazy.'

"What were we talking about?"

Baekji asked affectionately.

"You said some person was staying with Menghua..."

"That sounds a bit strange. It sounds like they've set up house together. It's not like that. They're like comrades who get along well. Menghua was treating him very well. I didn't know she had a heart that respected the elderly."

"But who is that person?"

"A Demonic Cult member. I was a little surprised that he had reached that level with demonic arts."

"...!"

"If you're curious, come and visit."

"..."

"I'm leaving."

As Baekji was turning away, he saw the promissory note in Hongyan's hand.

Hongyan quickly hid it behind her back.

"That's my master's mother's entire fortune... you shouldn't use it for strange things..."

He licked his lips and then just left.

Hongyan let out a sigh of relief and then replayed Baekji's words in her mind.

'So, a certain old master... could it be! The Eastern Divine General was defeated?'

A moment later.

A carrier pigeon flew up from the estate.

* * *

More than ten days had passed, but Baekji had no intention of going to Xi'an.

He had rushed Bai Renguang and the others to go, but now he seemed to have completely forgotten about it and didn't even ask how things were going.

The White Mountain Sect, with all its martial force gone, was peaceful. It had the atmosphere of a normal estate rather than a martial sect.

Only the general manager, Ajok, was busy.

About a month later, a messenger came from Xi'an.

Ajok frowned as he looked at the letter in his hand.

It was a letter from the martial force that had gone to Xi'an, asking for funds.

"Why do you need so much money? You said you were staying at the Yang Merchant Guild. Don't they cover the costs?"

"How would I know?"

The messenger who had brought the letter closed his mouth.

'Look at this.'

Ajok asked, "But how is the war situation?"

"I have brought a separate letter."

"Give it to me."

"I must deliver it directly to the Sect Master and the Honored One."

"Really? Then let's go together."

Ajok took the messenger to the Songhua Hall.

Yang Soryeong received him in the living room. Baekji was playing with a cat next to her.

The messenger delivered the letter to Yang Soryeong.

The letter was written by Yu Mungwang.

-We marched through the night and arrived in Xi'an, but the Iron Horse Fang, the Zhaoling Sect, and the Nanil Sect had already occupied it. We are in a standoff with the Yang Merchant Guild as our base... we are in a seesaw battle... our forces are at a disadvantage, so it seems the Honored One must come.

The gist of the long letter was that Baekji had to come in person.

Yang Soryeong handed the letter to Baekji, but he didn't even read it.

"What are you going to do? You ordered it."

Baekji didn't even pretend to listen.

"Roll to the left! Roll to the right! That's right! You can do it too, Biho!"

Yang Soryeong didn't want Baekji to go to Xi'an to fight. She said to the messenger, "Tell them that the Honored One is not going."

"The war situation is currently unfavorable..."

"Then tell them to just come back."

"It is a situation where we have already ridden the tiger, so it cannot be reversed."

Baekji said, rolling Biho, "If they don't want to come, then don't."

"...?"

"We're struggling here too. The new general manager has a big hand."

"What?"

The messenger, without realizing it, asked back, which was forbidden. Baekji's hand twitched, trembled, and then he stroked Biho.

The messenger, unaware that he had just come back from the brink of death, looked at Ajok.

Ajok, after taking over as general manager and grasping the household's finances, was furious.

Among the thousand or so family members, about three hundred and fifty were warriors. Among them, three hundred were in the martial force, and about fifty were the escort warriors who guarded the estate.

The remaining six hundred and fifty were maids and servants, and in the meantime, General Manager Ximen had been exploiting them.

The servants' monthly salary was two iron coins, and the maids had no monthly salary at all. All they got was a little something on holidays.

As a general manager who had been a servant, he could not overlook such treatment.

Ajok had drastically raised the servants' monthly salaries and had also paid the maids.

Even so, it was a drop in the bucket compared to operating one martial force.

But.

"Ajok, we don't have any money, do we?"

Baekji asked.

'We don't have any...'

There was a lot.

Since Baekji had looted Bai Renguang's secret vault, taken the money hidden by General Manager Ximen, and had even confiscated the property of the Hongmeng Brothel, there was quite a lot.

Ajok thought for a moment and then said, "It is true that we are short."

Baekji said to the messenger, "You heard him? We have no money. They'll starve if they come. Tell them to go to their respective homes."

'Th-this... what a load of crap.'

The messenger was dumbfounded.

He had been driven to the battlefield and then abandoned.

The face of Bai Renguang, who had told him to lure him in at all costs, flashed before his eyes.

(End of Chapter)