Climbing five hundred steps wasn't a small feat, especially when you have to finish it before dawn and return home. Su Wan was on her personal mission to replace the red string that Lin Yan had so much faith in. She was all bloody and bruised by the time she made it to the four hundred and ninety-eighth step.

  She was panting as she somehow stood up once again. Her legs and arms were shaking, and the thought of giving up came into her mind again and again. Every time her eyes were dyed red due to the blood dripping from her forehead, a part of Su Wan would wish to turn around and leave.

  But going back without a replacement would be useless, wouldn't it? She has shed blood anyway, and her legs and back were also killing her. After this torturous struggle, she might as well climb up to the top and get what she came here for. That's what she thought but -

  "So fucking annoying," cursed Su Wan as she kowtowed again on the four hundred and ninety-ninth-step. She continued to bruise her already injured forehead even more with her repeated kowtowing. Another gush of warm red blood dripped down her forehead, and Su Wan wiped it away before it went inside her eyes. Her face was bloody, her forehead was throbbing, and her entire body was aching so badly as if something was pressing down her. "This is so fucking annoying!" she shouted, letting out her frustration before she climbed another step and then once again kneeled down with shaky legs to kowtow again.

  "Hah…… Hah! Hah……" Su Wan stumbled the second she made it to the top of the flight of stairs built into the mountain. She didn't even want to think about how she would go back down. On all fours, she panted as she scolded the entire line of generations of the high priest for building their temple on such a high mountain. A hundred steps were enough, weren't they?! Was there really a need to add another four hundred on top?! What if someone dies because of a heat stroke or something? What are they going to do then, let that guy rot in the middle of the stairs?

  "Certainly not," answered a new voice that startled Su Wan, causing her to look up. But her expression was still full of loathing. The person standing in front of her was a withered old man, but his eyes were full of wisdom. He smiled down at Su Wan despite knowing that she was scolding him internally. "We do not let our benefactors die in the middle of the steps. We send them back respectfully to their house, though such a thing rarely happens here. Because everyone here knows that only those with a will stronger than Mount Tai can climb these steps."

  Su Wan felt her eyelid twitch. Did this old man just read what was going on in her head?

  "No, no, reading a lady's mind is impolite. That's not a good thing," said the old man as if Su Wan was the one asking this question instead of thinking it in her head. "That's something rude. I don't believe that such a rude act would be well suited for me. It's just that benefactor's expressions are so vivid that it's easy to read what's going on in your head, and oh, before I forget, here, take this and clean the blood. It's not good for such a young girl to bleed so much."

  Su Wan narrowed her eyes at the clear salve bottle that the old man held in his hands. However, beggars cannot be choosers. She took the white towel from the old man and wiped her face clean before applying the cool, medicinal salve on her face. Just as the old man said, her forehead stopped bleeding after a short while.

  "Thank you, old master," said Su Wan as she handed the old man his medicinal salve back. Though she was angry and frustrated because of the sufferings she just had to go through, she knew that she was the one who decided to come here and no one forced her. She tried to keep a check on her anger as much as she could, and since the old man helped her, she had to act even nicer towards him.

  "No worries, No worries," said the old man as he put the salve back inside his robe. "This is something that I should do. After all, our benefactor has come from rather far away searching for me, haven't you?"

  Su Wan felt a cold breeze blow past them as she stared into his eyes that looked so old but wise. She couldn't help but have a feeling that the old man could see right through her, whether past or future. Under his serene gaze, she couldn't help but look away. The pressure of the gaze from the old master before her was too great to maintain eye contact for very long.

  "Dear, Dear," said the Old master when she broke from his gaze. He seemed disappointed, as if she just interrupted his favorite noon drama or something. "Do I scare you, young Benefactor?"

  "Are you going to hurt me?" asked Su Wan, glancing to her left and right, trying to avoid the gaze that was locked firmly on her face.

  "Oh dear, of course not. Harming our benefactor, that's not something one does." answered the Old master at once, sounding both genuine and earnest.

  "Then I don't see the point of being scared of you-" Su Wan jumped back when she caught the old master leaning close to her. She didn't know how he was able to get close to her so swiftly.

  "You are scared, I see," mused the old master. His marble-like white eyes peered down at her. "Afraid that I will see what you hide, pain, revenge, and the urge to get back what belongs to you. You want to let go and start afresh, but your heart holds its grudges rather tight. You fear the past and the future, my, my - I have never seen such sad eyes. You haven't let go of your mother either, I see."

  Su Wan's eyes widened as she pushed away from the old man and retreated further away from him. Haven't let go of her mother? She has long let go of that woman-

  "You haven't," said the old master rubbing his long beard as he hobbled away on his walking stick. "She still stays in your heart, your mind, because if she didn't, you wouldn't be holding yourself back."

  "Shut up! You don't even know me!" snapped Su Wan as she ran after the old master. How dare he! How dare he say that she was holding on to that woman! That woman who abandoned her, after all her fuck ups. Why would she hold on to her?! For what!

  "I know you rather well. I know where you come from, and I do know why you are here as well," said the old master hobbling past the beams and arches interlaced with each other. "But I only have one answer for you. Go back."

  "What did you say?" said Su Wan losing a bit of her momentum when she heard the old master telling her to return. "You - what did you just say?"

  The old master turned around and looked at her with a serene gaze as if nothing could move him. "This one asked you to go back, the thing that you want - you cannot get it. So go back."

  Su Wan suddenly felt her heart burn with red hot fury. She has broken the skin of her forehead, climbed five hundred steps in just a day, all to listen to a 'go back? Who was he kidding!

  She stomped her legs, and in seconds she ate up the distance between herself and the old master as she pointed her finger at him. "Go back? Go back?! I don't care what you have to say, you old foggy, but I'm getting that red string whether or not you like it! Just who are you to act as if you know every fucking thing?! Just because you say I can't have it, does it really mean I can't get it? If you won't give it to me - I would take it from the high priest. If he doesn't give it up either, I will snatch it, but I'm getting that -"

  "That boy is supposed to be dead," said the old master putting a stop to Su Wan's rambling. "He wasn't supposed to survive, but he did, you see. His mother came here and begged for that boy's life, and the master here took pity on her. He gave the red string to his mother, delaying that boy's death. The master's kindness interfered with the laws of this world. Death doesn't wait for anyone. If it does, then it takes something in exchange. Do you know what death took in exchange for that boy's life?"

  The wind rustled past them, and Su Wan could feel her fingers going numb. That gaze told her that she should know the answer to this question. If she knew the answer to this question, there was only one person she knew of who could have died in his place. The one who died and that person was -

  "The girl whose shell of a body that you inhibit," answered the old master verifying her doubts at once. "That girl was supposed to be alive and well. Her death wasn't determined. But when the master's kindness interfered with death, it took away what would be most dear to the boy. His soul mate, that girl's destiny was something different. She was supposed to be his alone. But the master's kindness made a joke of her destiny. The girl lost her life, her future, for the sake of that boy. Because of her death, the boy will one day have good Fortune in his next life because of what was snatched away from him. It will be compensated…… But only when he dies."