The courtyard of the Third Young Master of the Han Clan, Han Yoon-Min, was located in the deepest regions of the Clan. A place that was restricted to the ordinary Clan Members, as well as servants.
After entering his courtyard, one would be met with a spacious but desolate front yard. The Third Young Master was quite resistant to servants waiting on him, so besides the ones who came to clean the courtyard a few times a week, he was the only one inside this large courtyard most of the time.
Perhaps due to this, rumors were created as to what the Third Young Master could be up to inside his home.
A prominent rumor was that he was secretly bringing female courtesans back to his room to sleep with them. Also, an extension to this rumor, which was quite outrageous, was that he had a secret underground chamber in his home where he would tie up those female courtesans and torture them.
Needless to say, the servants of the Han Clan were scared to even look in the direction of the Third Young Master's courtyard, as if it would result in a wicked curse being placed on them.
So, given everything that was just explained, the Third Young Master, Yoon-min, was inexplicably confused by the situation he found himself in upon waking up in his room.
Just before waking up, he was having a pleasant dream about how he would utilize his knowledge of the future to reach the pinnacle of the cultivation world. However, just as he was about to complete his Heavenly Tribulation and become an Immortal, a Great Snake Demon appeared suddenly and attacked him.
His mind was already filled with ecstasy about becoming an Immortal, so how would he have time to react to a sudden ambush? Thus, the Great Demon Snake successfully captured him by wrapping its large, slender body around him.
No matter how hard he struggled, his hands were firmly stuck to his sides. He could even feel the snake's body pressing his abdomen, trying to destroy his internal organs. However, it was after struggling for a few breaths that he realized this pressure on his stomach felt a bit odd. It was restrictive, but unlike what he had initially thought, it wasn't strong enough to hurt him.
It was after this realization that Yoon-Min awoke from his dream to see a boy sitting on his abdomen. At first, he thought that this was another dream, so he just lay there and dumbly stared up at the boy for a few seconds. But after realizing that he was not waking up, he was forced to accept this odd situation he found himself in.
However, rather than panic, Yoon-Min's heart was calm, though he feigned confusion on his face under the guise of assessing the situation. He first observed the boy.
He was wearing coarse clothes, ones you would find being sold at the edges of the district, but he found some details in the threading around the outer robes' cuffs that suggested they came from the Northern Region.
He also wanted to observe the boy's face, but his messy hair was blocking his eyes, so Yoon-Min could not see his face clearly to tell his exact age, but he should be around the same age as him, judging from his build, and his somewhat small, slender fingers that were pressed against his bare chest.
After noting the cleanliness of the boy's nails, Yoon-Min decided to look around his room. The door was closed, but the window by his bed was cracked open, which allowed a ray of light to stretch along his bed and run across the boy's sleeves before stopping on top of a pair of unfamiliar shoes he could see at the side of his bed from the corner of his eye. After looking at this, he set his gaze back on the boy.
This took a while to explain, but Yoon-Min's analysis of the boy only took a glance to complete, while the room was done in the same way. If someone were looking at him, they would only see him glancing at the boy on top of him in confusion and then glancing at the door before turning back to look at the boy. Everything about his actions seemed normal.
"Who are you?"
Yoon-Min asked in a suspicious tone, and in response, the boy on top of him had the corners of his lips upturned in a smile. Seeing this smile, Yoon-Min felt somewhat uncomfortable. He was unable to see the boy's eyes, so his smile was akin to seeing the smile of a statue; absolutely no emotion could be detected behind it.
After not receiving a response from this strange person, Yoon-Min frowned and spoke again, this time in an angry tone.
"I asked who are you! How dare you enter my room without permission?!"
Ah Mieu tilted his head; the smile was still on his lips. He had been observing this Third Young Master underneath him ever since he woke up, and needless to say, he received quite a shock.
He had long black hair and a face that could be said to be beautiful. Yes, beautiful. His eyebrows were long, with a slight curve at the end. Underneath them, his eyes were bright, with the black and white of his eyes clearly distinct. Meanwhile, his lips had a natural redness to them, which contrasted with his pale, smooth skin.
Indeed, if he were to hide his Adam's apple and touch up a few key areas on his face to hide his boyish features, he could be a kingdom-toppling beauty.
However, his appearance was not what shook Ah Mieu; after all, the number of handsome men and beautiful women he had seen while he was working in the Nine Desires Pavilion was numerous. Rather, it was the calmness he observed behind Yoon-Min's feigned confusion that surprised him and somewhat caught him off guard.
When he was inside the Nine Desires Pavilion, he had met a lot of people around his age who had vastly different personalities and temperaments. All of them were from noble Clans and powerful Sects. Some were haughty, others were humble, and some were even both. However, they all had one thing in common, and that was their ability to hide those emotions and scheme against each other.
He figured this was a result of the environment they were born in, so despite their privileged status that guaranteed them to have power, wealth, and strength from birth, it came with the price of being wary of everyone around them who would want to take those things. Thus, they develop an instinct to regulate their emotions, while being on guard of everyone at all times.
Given his observations of these aspects were found in those Young Masters and Young Ladies who were from those powerful Sects and Clans, Ah Mieu was obviously surprised when he noticed those qualities in this Third Young Master, who, despite coming from a powerful Clan in the Outer Circle that had ties to a Sect in the Main Circle, was nonetheless someone insignificant and extremely weak compared to those people.
Also, was it not said that he was a good-for-nothing?
Thinking back to the latter end of his conversation with Grandpa Mo, Ah Mieu's smile couldn't help but grow wider, and he finally answered Yoon-Min's question.
"Young Master Min, my name is Ah Mieu."