Sowol Inn - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21
Baek Ya answered with excitement in his voice.
“The Wall Tiger Technique!”
“……What did you say?”
“Lili’s a genius. Do the Wall Tiger Technique.”
So Wol’s face drained of color.
The Wall Tiger Technique was a lightness skill that let one scale walls by channeling energy through the limbs.
Lili had used power again.
In a moment of sheer vertigo, cold sweat began to drip down his back.
So Hye had definitely done the Acupuncture again last night, hadn’t she?
How in the world was the child clinging to the wall?
“No, Wall Tiger Technique or whatever — it’s not happening. If you get hurt scrambling up walls like that, what then? Lili! Come down this instant!”
So Wol stammered frantically, reaching out his hands toward Lili.
“Kyaha!”
Lili laughed, apparently thinking So Wol was playing, and crawled up toward the ceiling.
“No, no! Lili, get back here!”
When Lili crawled to the right, So Wol went right.
When Lili went left, So Wol went left.
He shuffled back and forth with his arms stretched overhead, tracking the child’s every move.
His heart clenched with worry that the child might slip and fall from the ceiling.
“Slow down now. No, don’t move — stay right there. Lili!”
“Uah!”
“How are you moving so fast when you just started crawling? Lili. Hold still there, and don’t you dare……”
“Ah!”
The moment So Wol tilted his head back to call out to Lili again.
One of the small palms gripping the ceiling slipped.
As the tiny body began to tilt to one side, So Wol’s eyes went wide.
“Lili!”
He threw himself forward instinctively and caught the child.
The soft little body tumbled directly into So Wol’s embrace.
“Kyah!”
Lili, clutching So Wol’s collar, broke into delighted laughter.
Seeing the child so pleased, as if having just finished some wonderful game, a rebuke escaped him.
“You think this is funny? My heart nearly stopped, you little terror.”
Grumbling, So Wol lifted Lili and examined him carefully from every angle.
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any injuries.
Only then did So Wol let out a long breath.
“Whew……”
But as his panic subsided, something strange caught his eye.
Until now, whenever the child exerted power, his irises would glow gold.
Today they remained black as always.
He hadn’t fallen into a deep sleep, nor was he limp and listless.
Watching those small limbs thrash about ceaselessly, he seemed to have energy to spare.
“What is this now……”
If he understood the cause, he’d try anything, but he was no physician — there was little he could do.
So Hye herself had said it was beyond her reach; calling her back seemed unlikely to yield any clear answer.
Beop Gong would have to look into it himself.
Even as he thought this, watching the child crawl across the ceiling like a gecko made him wonder if leaving things as they were was wise.
So Hye’s mention of the Meridians widening weighed on his mind.
Did he really need to show the child to a physician……
Yet dashing headlong to the Dang House wasn’t an option either.
For now, he had no choice but to observe and wait.
Even as So Wol gathered his thoughts, Lili continued to squirm restlessly with his limbs.
The child seemed eager to be put down.
“What is it. You want to play again?”
“Uh!”
“All right. But you can’t climb the walls.”
So Wol set Lili down carefully in the middle of the fur blanket.
Then he pointed at the wall and delivered the instruction once more, firmly.
“No climbing the walls. Understood?”
“Ah!”
Lili responded brightly, as though understanding every word.
So Wol turned back with a dubious expression, then glanced over his shoulder again.
Rustle.
In that brief moment, Lili was already climbing up the pillar.
“Lili, get down here!”
So Wol rushed back to him in alarm.
Each time the child moved, accumulated dust cascaded down from the pillar in clouds.
Terrified, So Wol scooped Lili up into his arms.
Covered head to toe in dust, Lili laughed with sparkling eyes.
“Papa, ah!”
“Good heavens, look at the state of you. Lili, you just bathed.”
Lili paid no mind to his complaint, happily patting So Wol’s cheeks.
Playing with So Wol was pure delight for the child.
“Why are you laughing? This is absurd. Let’s bathe again.”
He quickly prepared to wash Lili, still holding him.
The moment the grimy child was immersed in the tub, Lili splashed about with obvious joy.
“Look at this little one. He’s having the time of his life.”
So Wol grumbled as he scrubbed Lili clean and dressed him in fresh clothes.
When So Wol went to lay the now-neat Lili in the cradle, he hesitated.
If he set him down now, the child would surely find his way to some wall or pillar.
“……I suppose I’ll just have to carry him today.”
He’d thought things would be easier once the child learned to walk on his own.
Watching the chaos a crawling infant could cause, he realized he’d been mistaken.
He wrapped Lili snugly in a baby sling and secured him firmly to his back.
Better that than having the child scale walls in front of the guests.
After the commotion, the main room had grown rather untidy.
Fallen dust from the pillar and scattered chairs caught his eye.
“Sigh.”
So Wol picked up a cloth and got to work.
* * *
“One bowl of thin noodles, please!”
“So Wol, bring me a plate of dumplings and two bowls of wonton soup!”
“Coming right up!”
By lunchtime, the Inn was bustling with patrons.
So Wol attended to guests with Lili hanging from his back, serving noodles and washing dishes.
Throughout it all, Lili remained content, sitting quietly without complaint.
He seemed quite fond of So Wol’s back.
“Look at that—the child doesn’t even squirm. Lili, do you love your father’s back that much?”
“Ah!”
“Ha ha, did he answer? So Wol, the child seems to grow every time I see him.”
A guest chuckled and made a show of knowing the child.
So Wol replied with good humor.
“Is that so? I wish he’d grow even faster.”
“Ah, children grow in the blink of an eye. You’ll miss these days later on.”
“I don’t need to wait that long. I already miss when he’d lie still and quiet.”
So Wol gestured dismissively, and the guest laughed heartily in agreement.
“That’s true. He’s prettiest when he’s still and peaceful.”
“Innkeeper, a bottle of Imperial Wine, please!”
“Oh, coming at once! Yes, right away!”
At another guest’s call, So Wol turned to leave.
Once the lunch rush ended, the Inn emptied as though it had never been crowded.
So Wol cleared the empty bowls and wiped the sweat from his brow.
For some reason, the guest’s words lingered in his mind.
You’ll miss these days later on.
It was a curious thought for someone like So Wol, who’d never given much thought to “later.”
By the time the child grew older, he probably wouldn’t remember So Wol at all.
Come summer, So Wol would leave the Inn.
“Never mind if he forgets. As long as he stays healthy, that’s enough.”
So Wol let out a soft laugh and gently stroked Lili’s head.
Lili then pouted, lips quivering in protest.
“Mmm.”
“Are you hungry?”
Judging by the hour, it was indeed time for a bowl of rice gruel.
So Wol stepped into the kitchen and retrieved the small pot he used to cook Lili’s gruel.
Lili craned his neck over So Wol’s shoulder, peering in.
“Uh?”
“Stay still. The fire is hot.”
So Wol patted the child’s back gently, then poured water into the pot with practiced ease and stirred in finely ground rice flour.
He added a bit of finely minced meat and carrot as well.
Bubble, bubble.
The pale gruel rose to a boil, fragrant steam curling into the air.
Pleased with the aroma, Lili tapped So Wol’s back with his tiny fists.
“Ah!”
“Yes. It’s yours. Just wait a little longer.”
So Wol chuckled softly and drew the pot down from the flame.
As he poured the gruel into a bowl, Lili fidgeted and smacked his lips eagerly.
Suppressing his laughter, So Wol stepped into the main room.
Baek Ya, who had been wiping the table with a cloth, pulled out a chair.
“Sit here.”
“Of course. Thank you.”
Once seated, So Wol stirred the gruel with a spoon and tested it on his lips.
The gruel had cooled enough for the child to eat safely.
Satisfied, he unfastened the baby sling, settled Lili onto his lap, and tied on the bib.
“Go ahead. Open wide.”
The moment the spoon appeared, Lili opened his mouth eagerly.
“Aah.”
“Were you really that hungry?”
So Wol fed him a spoonful, and Lili swallowed it readily, lips working with contentment.
Spoonful after spoonful, the small bowl was soon empty.
Satisfied, Lili smacked his lips and squirmed happily in So Wol’s lap.
“You eat well, don’t you.”
So Wol smiled and wiped the gruel from Lili’s mouth.
Then it came.
Knock, knock.
Someone tapped lightly on the Inn’s door.
“It’s open.”
So Wol’s eyes turned cold as he answered.
A foul and ominous presence seeped through the gap of the door.
It was unmistakable.
Demonic energy.
Baek Ya too let his smile fade.
“Who is it,” he whispered.
Killing intent flickered in Baek Ya’s eyes.
Shring.
Baek Ya had already drawn his blade.
So Wol pulled the child close into his arms.
Creak.
A long shadow stretched across the doorway as it opened.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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