One's Tale

"I apologize to Young Master for acting too strange. My residence's still a mess because I haven't found the energy to organize and settled in. Half of my stuff is scattered carelessly, please excuse this servant for a moment." He deeply bowed his head towards So Eun. The scrolls and tomes huddled together in his arms. After that, he did excuse himself behind the bamboo shelves. Incessantly putting back the books in order.

However, So Eun didn't believe that in the slightest, he tilted his head lightly, and decided to wander around him.

He walked through the rich wooden floor and took a step up to the cultivator's bedroom-which he supposed. He's been taking on a guess this whole time and thought it wouldn't hurt to conclude that this cultivator's residence was wealthy. Compared to So Clan's Pavilion and their Library, this small building beyond the eyes could see, was insignificant but rather luxurious.

As he mulls it over, no one except the owner, his parents, and he could enter. The place of his residence was being obscured by the pavilion ahead, almost inconspicuous.

So Eun head over the first line of bookshelves and gaze up at the elder. The elder didn't notice him, delicately lifting the pages of the book in his hand.

"Can you tell me now what's the story behind that book of yours?" So Eun's eyelashes fluttered gently as he looked behind the elder, to the pile of books neatly resting on the bookshelf.

On the cover of the thick book as big as an adult's palm, is written the enormous '18th' symbol.

The elder looked at So Eun through his book before turning around. He'd known that there are no excuses to evade the topic now, as he heard his voice sounding a bit suspicious. That can alarm the elder and supposedly tell him the truth, or if chances are that he'd lie instead, he can easily discover him to his parents.

But rather than hearing what he had expected him to say, the elder calmly put the book back in his hand.

"Those are credentials from one of the people I treated as a family." The woeful tone of his voice didn't ease the turmoil in So Eun's head. He'd only expressed his doubt with a crease between his eyebrows and a silent response.

The elder didn't even spare him a glance this time and walked over to fetch the book.

"This isn't stories, it had lived with me since when I was 18. My people written here already passed as I grew up." He caressed and dusted off the body of the book, while seemingly deep in thought.

As simple as that, the elder didn't show his usual expression that depicts his dubious character, but somehow he wasn't entirely sure, his demeanor appeared to be rather vulnerable. As if he's seeing a far gone memory through the book, his lips pressed in a thin line, his eyes reflecting something hard to describe.

At that moment, So Eun eyed him for a while and believed that this time, he wasn't reasoning anymore.

After scrutinizing him, he stayed silent. His lashes lowered and thought of something. After the atmosphere had turned to something serene, Rong Wang's quiet voice resounded through the Pavilion.

"18th birthdays are quite special, right? I'd like to give you a present of your legal age. Is that allowed, Young Master?" So Eun was surprised, looking up at the elder, he can quite feel the guilt deepening in his chest. He didn't know what to say and ended up nodding awkwardly. The elder didn't speak any further, ending the topic. He nonchalantly placed the book gently where it stands before, and walked in front of So Eun.

"I assumed aside from seeking a flower, you came in the first place to listen to my tales?" His voice sounded like he was interested to hear from him. And So Eun concluded only then that he recognized him at the entrance despite the bands of people. He nodded at him with his mouth agape, looking a lot like a toddler learning something from his parents.

The elder seemed to be pleased and tapped his shoulder, gesturing at the bamboo seat right beside the bookshelves. "What stories do you wanna hear?" So Eun sat there and placed both hands on his lap.

He originally attempted to leave despite hearing nothing of his tales, but certain words stopped him earlier. So Eun wondered about it and excitedly jumped on his seat when he found the right words.

"The story about The Phantom?" He asked in an unusual timid voice, not wanting to appear rather excited like the other kids. Rong Wang didn't see him as the elder turned around for a second to fiddle on something. The moment he was done, he turned around again holding a book in his hand. He paused for a while when he processed the child's words.

"The Phantom? Then I don't need to read this book anymore." He watched him set aside the book.

He gave him a once-over before standing in front of him. Preparing to tell a story. "It's the first time that someone looked evenly interested in the tale as I am." The elder crossed his arms, shutting his eyes for a while.

"Because people didn't find to care or be terrorized about a creature that doesn't exist for a hundred years. But that didn't limit the spread of the tale despite the zero records it had on history books." His thick lashes lifted upwards and gaze at the relaxed bamboo behind So Eun.

"The Phantom was neither a demon nor a god, but to put it simply, it was a human." He paused again, before looking down at the child sitting below him.

"Like you."

After a moment, So Eun still waited. Gazing at the elder who looked like he was trying to recall something.

"I don't know how, but looking over this vast world, I believe that there was still someone who tried to relive the tales of the Phantom over the decades. There was someone who is still interested too." The corner of his lips lifted slightly.

"Why is that? Are the tales about The Phantom so boring that no folks paid attention to it?"

He received a chuckle from the elder.

"No. It wasn't boring but rather intriguing. And it doesn't have an exact end, just putting the commoners on the cliff hanging as they no longer found the next to last page of an unfinished book."

"For a long time, without fulfilling the need to finish a fascinating story, it keeps the commoners on edge and tried to find some answers."

"If that's the case, why looking at it now, the Phantom was unknown to most of the people?" So Eun asked, the creases between his eyebrows appearing.

"Because back then, it existed for one hundred years ago. Its writer remains anonymous alongside its publishing label that doesn't exist anymore. Those people back then were eager to find at least a corporeal body of the Phantom. Then eventually, after years of searching, the sea of people dried out and became a desert, and not even a group of people was left. After endless digging through everything, the people lost interest and dump this nonsense tale."

"The majority of them don't know that a tale doesn't mean it's entirely the truth. Yet they had been enraged by this book and spent their lives a lot of time organizing strategies for searching, instead of working to ascend the heavens or at least lift their socioeconomic status, they wasted it on a book. So, the commoners decided to dump it all together and leave the believer badge to it."

"Time came in a blur, things and people changed, four hundred years had passed, the tale of the Phantom had been completely forgotten."