Chapter: 307
A few years ago.
It had been less than a year since I had regressed.
When I attended the Tang Clan’s military conference with Wi Seol-ah.
My goal was to find the hidden secret of Geumcheonyeon-ga in Sichuan.
Back then, I had successfully located the secret with Wi Seol-ah’s help.
A concealed space hidden by some formation.
Wi Seol-ah found it so effortlessly.
Thanks to that, I was able to resolve something I couldn’t have predicted how long it would take in no time.
If you’re wondering why I’m suddenly bringing this up…
It’s because the situation I’m observing now somehow resembles that time.
‘Could it be…’
Wi Seol-ah crouching down, scrutinizing the grass.
And at her fingertips, flailing in the air.
I felt an uncanny sensation.
It was as if waves were rolling through the air.
Unless you’re someone with a serious handicap, you couldn’t possibly be oblivious to what that phenomenon is.
‘Really…?’
The formation.
Based on the information from my past life.
If someone knew that there was a vault beneath the Shinryongwan, they definitely couldn’t be unaware.
That was unmistakably a sign connecting the energy between the inner and outer spaces through the formation.
After slipping into the building and getting some time after a bet with Instructor Cheol Hwan-oh.
Even after rummaging around for days, I couldn’t find a single trace of it.
And now, you’re telling me you found it that easily?
Then…
‘Is this really the correct method?’
I couldn’t be sure yet.
Since this is around the building where the Gwanju resides.
There’s a possibility that the formation exists for his protection.
For the time being, I had approached Wi Seol-ah.
I tapped her shoulder to make my presence known.
“Ah…!”
As soon as I touched her, Wi Seol-ah quickly turned her head.
“What are you doing right now?”
It seemed like Wi Seol-ah genuinely had no clue I was right behind her.
She had a wholly surprised expression on her face.
The gestures she had been making in the air had suddenly stopped.
“Uh…”
“Is there something there?”
“I just had a feeling there was something, so I was touching it.”
Wi Seol-ah’s response made me chuckle involuntarily for a moment.
You’re telling me you were just poking around with such a light heart?
No, I mean, you can’t just touch what you want to…
How on earth do you do that?
I couldn’t figure it out.
Following Wi Seol-ah’s words.
I also reached out my hand to feel the empty space.
Nothing here?
Contrary to my hopes that I might touch something…
Just like Wi Seol-ah, I was only fidgeting with the air, but no remarkable phenomenon occurred.
It seemed Wi Seol-ah realized I was messing around and cautiously grabbed my wrist, guiding me in a different direction.
“Not there… around here.”
It wasn’t a drastic movement.
Just a tiny adjustment.
In doing so, she altered the shape of her fingertips slightly.
That was all it took.
Woo-hoo…
“…!”
I felt it.
I sensed that a formation was spread out in front of me.
Faint, yet distinct.
Right before me, a considerable level of formation had unfurled.
‘It really exists.’
I couldn’t tell what kind of formation it was, but one thing was clear—there was indeed a formation. And under the circumstances.
Rather than serving a protective purpose.
I could feel it was meant to conceal something.
If it was for protection, it wouldn’t have exuded this kind of vibe.
‘Then, is this the formation meant to guard the secret?’
The likelihood of that was quite high.
To understand more certainly, it would be apt to dissect the formation and venture inside.
‘Not now, though.’
I had to keep in mind that not too far away was Cheonghae Ilgeom.
Even if the formation wasn’t laid out by Cheonghae Ilgeom, if I broke through, the energy would undoubtedly get entangled for a moment.
There was a high chance that the nearby Cheonghae Ilgeom would sense it.
‘Why is there a formation so close to the government office?’
In a way, it could be seen as the safest option.
But as far as I knew, this vault wasn’t created by Shinryongwan.
What that means is it wasn’t positioned there intentionally.
So, to enter this formation safely…
It would be wise to do so when Cheonghae Ilgeom is far away.
‘I’ll find out later if this is really the strategy for the vault.’
For now, knowing that a formation exists in this spot.
Just that knowledge alone was a sufficient achievement.
I didn’t suffer for it; it was Wi Seol-ah who discovered it.
Yet, even after seeing this formation, Wi Seol-ah didn’t seem particularly interested.
Should I say that was lucky?
“Aren’t you amazed?”
“Yes?”
“This.”
Seeing Wi Seol-ah react like that was somewhat unexpected.
I asked outright.
There’s a formation right in front of your eyes; isn’t it surprising?
She rolled her eyes for a moment and then opened her crimson lips to reply.
“…Everyone has a few secrets they wouldn’t want revealed.”
If you’re going to go to such lengths to hide it, wouldn’t that be even stranger?
For some reason, Wi Seol-ah didn’t seem to care too much about it.
It felt a bit inappropriate for me to just barge in right now.
‘I guess I should say it’s fortunate.’
If it had been another person who found it, it might have caused trouble.
It was lucky that it was Wi Seol-ah who noticed it.
“By the way, why have you been dodging me lately?”
“…Huh?”
The formation is the formation, and at this point, I should’ve asked the pressing question.
Because that was the original purpose of this conversation.
Was it because I suddenly asked that?
Wi Seol-ah flinched.
“Oh, I didn’t avoid you.”
“Don’t lie; do you think I’m oblivious?”
You really think I’m that slow?
She avoided me every chance she got.
Whenever we made eye contact, she’d look away.
And if I tried to find her, she was nowhere to be seen.
Is this what avoiding looks like?
I couldn’t fathom why she kept avoiding me.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Although I can’t usually put people in their place…
I didn’t have many memories of doing anything wrong to Wi Seol-ah.
At least not in this lifetime.
“…”
Wi Seol-ah fell silent.
Because it seemed like she was trying to avoid eye contact again.
“Ugh…!?”
I grabbed her chin with my hand to prevent her from turning away.
“What’s bothering you?”
I really need to know.
I can’t just sit here guessing why she’s acting this way. I have to get to the bottom of it.
I mean, she used to cling to me!
And now she’s playing hard to get? That just wouldn’t fly.
I had no plans to let go either.
With trembling eyes, Wi Seol-ah looks at me.
Since she couldn’t turn away, she started darting her eyes around.
In the meantime, she didn’t seem to have any intentions of pushing me away.
I waited patiently.
I had no intention of letting her go until she spoke up.
The lips that were hesitating to respond finally opened slowly, but…
It was clear she was hesitant to speak.
“…I’m embarrassed.”
“Huh?”
Her voice was almost a whisper, barely audible.
But I certainly caught her words.
Embarrassed?
“What’s so embarrassing?”
What could possibly be causing her embarrassment all of a sudden?
She said something similar last time.
I remembered her saying she didn’t want to show off her changed appearance.
Yet, she’s running around without her usual hair now.
Maybe it’s something else she’s embarrassed about?
What on earth could it be?
As I pondered Wi Seol-ah’s words, she added.
“Confucius… looking at you makes me a little embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Why am I making her feel that way?
I don’t really dress up or anything.
“…It’s hard to look into your eyes.”
“Because they look scary?”
“That’s not it…! They’re not scary!”
“It’s my eyes, so why are you getting angry?”
Shouldn’t I be thanking her for being annoyed?
“Anyway… it’s not like that.”
“Okay, then what should I do?”
“…Just… give me some time.”
“What time? Time to avoid me?”
“Yes… Just a little time, please.”
She asks for time to escape, which sounds like the most ridiculous thing ever.
What did she want it for?
Once, she said she wanted to see me.
That she wanted to meet me.
What happened to that?
And now she wants time to avoid?
“How much do you need?”
“It won’t take long… I can get it done right away.”
Why did she say it with such a determined face?
What’s the rush on that?
“Are you trying to go back to how things were?”
Back to the days when she was a rotten little spoiled child.
It was only a couple of years ago—was she really longing for that?
Well, I doubted that it could be true.
“No.”
Wi Seol-ah answered firmly.
“No, that’s not it. Back then I had good memories, but… right now.”
“Right now?”
“I want to change from what I was then, that’s why I need time. Time for me to gather my thoughts.”
Are you mulling over so much that you need time to think?
In the meantime, a ridiculous thought crossed my mind.
If I voice that thought now, Wi Seol-ah might just storm off and refuse to look at me for a while.
“Do you know, Confucius?”
“What is it?”
I’m still not accustomed to being referred to as Confucius.
Especially when it comes to Wi Seol-ah.
Originally, she used to call me by a different name back in the day.
“They say that wanting something you shouldn’t have is greed.”
“Isn’t that just called greed?”
Not everything should be labeled as such.
I thought that might be included too.
However, it was a rather odd statement.
Why is there a sudden talk about greed?
As I pondered what she was trying to imply, Wi Seol-ah’s expression seemed unreadable.
It looked like she was trying to force a smile.
“You know…”
“Yeah.”
“I want to dabble in a bit of greed too.”
“Huh?”
That was a peculiar statement.
Wi Seol-ah wanting to be greedy?
If she were to deny having any greed at all…
I thought she might indeed have something like that.
Could this be a statement layered with another meaning?
Despite her fully mature appearance, there seemed to be remnants of a childlike innocence in Wi Seol-ah.
Although we had already crossed the age of maturity months ago, she still felt like a child.
“So, can you just wait a bit? It won’t take long.”
Wi Seol-ah smiled while saying that.
I wanted to probe further, but…
She was smiling, signaling me to back off on the questions.
And since she assured me it won’t take much longer…
For now, I decided to let it slide.
“…Alright, that’s all good.”
“Yes.”
“Why were you called by the official?”
“…”
In that moment, Wi Seol-ah’s face showed a thought of realization.
“Oh no.”
Two words popped into my mind.
It seemed she’d forgotten about that part.
“You said you caused an incident. What kind of incident did you cause?”
“I, I didn’t cause an incident.”
“I saw your face earlier confessing that you caused an accident.”
“…Oh, no.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away.
How could I possibly trust that?
I didn’t think Wi Seol-ah would act out like me.
If she were to brush it off, that would be one thing…
But she didn’t have that explosive personality like me.
“Are you really not going to tell me? Should I go back and ask the official?”
“…”
Of course, even if I did go and ask, the official wouldn’t spill the beans about the crimes of other officials.
Did my words make an impact?
Because, finally, Wi Seol-ah opened her eyes and explained the situation to me, albeit with her eyes still tightly shut.
In a tone that felt almost confessional.
“…You hit someone? You? That too…”
I couldn’t help but ask back as if I misheard her.
It sounded unbelievably ludicrous.
“Was it your personal guard or something?”
“…”
Wi Seol-ah bit her lip and averted her gaze without answering.
No matter how I looked at it, that silence was a confirmation.
It seems Wi Seol-ah indeed laid her hands on someone.
And it was quite a bit, too.
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