Chapter 122
Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Collision
So-hyang sensed the presence of a consciousness that penetrated the money pouch, perceiving and discerning the presence or absence of qi.
The sensory ability the boy was using instinctively—a power to perceive space through his consciousness and will—resembled divine sense endlessly.
No, it was divine sense itself.
Though it did not manipulate thoughts, it instinctively opened his consciousness wide to perceive external information.
In So-hyang's case, she wielded divine sense through the perfect harmony of her extreme mental power and spirit energy. The boy's divine sense, however, felt closer to a kind of physical ability.
When she extended her divine sense deep into his brain to check the interior, her suspicions were confirmed.
Not only was his Crown Acupoint pierced open, fully activating his Upper Dantian, but the shape of the endocrine gland at the center of his brain—the pineal gland—had undergone a heterogeneous transformation.
Known by another name as the pineal body.
Also called the conarium.
A philosopher from her past life, advocating mind-body dualism, had called it the point where mind and body met.
Some even considered it the origin of supernatural powers like extrasensory perception.
So-hyang had dissected the nonexistence of such powers in her previous life, but she knew better now.
She had observed a living example firsthand, no proof required.
To think he emitted divine sense from his pineal gland like an echolocation device, perceiving the surrounding space.
Innate or awakened later—either way, it was fascinating.
"-Wh-why are you looking at me like that…?"
His eyes curved like crescent moons. Under her gaze, which seemed about to devour him whole, the boy trembled violently.
"Hm, it's nothing."
So-hyang disentangled herself from the boy, with whom she had been pressed close, arms linked and fingers intertwined, and slipped her hand behind her back out of sight.
"Suddenly, I'll give you a test. How many fingers am I holding up?"
"…Pardon? How would I kno—"
"You can see it, can't you? Just like peering through the money pouch—if you could do that, seeing behind my back shouldn't be impossible…"
"…! Wh-what are you talking abou—!"
The boy visibly panicked.
He was used to being outmatched in status, wealth, and martial prowess. He had never held the advantage in such things to begin with.
But this ability to project his mind from between his brows and perceive his surroundings—this was his sole refuge.
A special trait unique to him, unknown to rich young masters, high nobles, or even mighty martial artists radiating sword light. No one had ever detected it.
This one thing was the source of his confidence that he was superior to others.
And now, it had been discovered.
"…Ah, did I spring it on you too suddenly, and you're not in the mood? If you get the number right, I'll give you those three stolen silvers for free."
"-Three."
His sister's life mattered more than fear. And her life was tied directly to money.
His decision was swift. The boy immediately focused his mind between his brows and extended his divine sense.
"Two, one, five, four, fist."
"Mm-hm, as expected…"
So-hyang smiled in satisfaction.
Having the boy deploy his divine sense served to reconfirm its existence, but she also wanted to test something else.
What would happen when one divine sense touched another?
So-hyang gazed at the bundle of divine sense piercing her abdomen to observe her back and countered by deploying her own divine sense against it.
"…Ah? Aaaah, aaaggggh!!!"
And then, a universe brimming with swords to the brim slammed into the boy's consciousness. He convulsed as if struck by lightning, blood gushing from his nose.
"-Oh, dear."
Startled by the excessive reaction beyond her expectations, So-hyang hurriedly withdrew her divine sense and flicked his forehead sharply.
The emergency measure she had used on the Imperial Princess before—a technique to reset an overloaded mind by delivering shock to the brain and erasing memories.
As his head snapped back and he cleanly fainted, collapsing, So-hyang's hands gently caught and supported him.
As she had felt when injecting divine sense into the minds of the Palace Death Sect assassins before, So-hyang knew her mind and consciousness were extremely hazardous to others.
Moreover, since the boy—Mokchong—could wield divine sense, his capacity to receive information was undoubtedly superior to ordinary people.
Even so, despite closing her mind's gates as much as possible and extending her divine sense conservatively…
Mokchong's divine sense had slipped through the cracks and peered inside.
An imagination-defying receptivity. Extraordinary insight for a commoner untrained in martial arts or similar mysteries.
It was literally exceptional talent, but at this moment, it was the worst possible mismatch.
He had collapsed from overload after seeing what he should not have.
Fortunately, So-hyang had sensed the anomaly just before his focus blurred and nosebleed started, withdrawing her divine sense immediately and minimizing the burden he bore.
A fraction of a fraction of an instant—contact shorter than a blink.
Even that had far exceeded the upper limit his mind could handle, driving him to convulsions and seizures.
"Sigh, this was definitely my mistake…"
Through this, So-hyang learned for certain.
When divine senses—consciousness domains—make contact, they blend into each other.
Like saltwater and sugar water mixing, without minute control, they fuse in an instant.
In truth, it was only natural. Divine sense was the mind and consciousness itself—perhaps even closer to the self than the brain.
In So-hyang's case, her mind was abnormally resilient, so she suffered no harm. But for one with an ordinary mind to extend divine sense outward was no different from exposing a vital point in open terrain.
Though Mokchong had casually extended his divine sense in daily life without issue until now, had he encountered a being able to sense consciousness tendrils, he might have met spiritual death on the spot.
In a small city like Donghwahyang without such experts, he had survived unscathed.
But that was from the perspective of Mokchong, whose accessible knowledge was limited. So-hyang had to consider the possibility of such disasters.
At least, that was how she saw it.
"Ahem, I was too rash."
Fortunately, his soul, mind, and brain had not suffered irreparable damage—just a temporary shock from the immense impact.
"-Kyaaah!!"
The pickpocket boy, Mokchong, snapped his eyes open and regained consciousness, immediately letting out a shrill scream.
He had no memory of it, but it felt like he had witnessed something utterly horrific.
Terror imprinted on body and mind, the sensation of being crushed by an incomprehensible colossal form.
Not mere illusion—his head spun, leaving him too weak to rise, his body unresponsive as if gripped by sleep paralysis.
"Hahk, hahk…"
"-Oppa, are you okay?"
Still, it was reassuring that upon waking, he heard his sister's voice beside him and saw the familiar ceiling.
"Haa, it was a dream…"
An abandoned shack in the woods far from the city and back alleys—the best home the siblings could claim, humble though it was.
Holes and cobwebs dotted it here and there, but it still sheltered from rain with its plank walls.
Though most of his view was obscured, it was the only space where the boy could feel safe.
Yes, he must have had a nightmare from exhaustion the day before. Him failing at pickpocketing, only for the target to be a peak-level expert or beyond? Absurd.
But wait.
"Most of his view obscured"—what did that—
"Good, you're conscious now?"
The soft sensation on the back of his head, the massive presence blocking nearly all sight, the gentle hand stroking his hair, and the voice from his dream.
The boy's mind went blank.
"Ah."
It wasn't a dream.
"-Kuhk!"
The daze lasted only a moment. The boy urgently sat up, escaping So-hyang's lap.
He grabbed a broken plank from the floor for a weapon, secured his sister behind him.
He knew resistance was futile if she truly meant harm, but this was instinctual vigilance.
They were hiding from city folk, especially the back-alley underworld organizations.
This was an unknown place, thus safe.
But no longer.
If only his own life were at stake, perhaps surrender. But with his sister to protect, he could not yield.
Even a lowly thief crawling the gutters had something to guard.
Less human reason, more beastly instinct—his body moved to protect family on its own.
"Hm, given what I did, that reaction isn't strange… but I truly mean no harm."
Facing his bristling, snarling feline ferocity, So-hyang smiled awkwardly and urged calm.
"Yeah, calm down a bit. Oppa."
Followed by his sister's voice from behind, mumbling through a mouthful.
"I don't know what this lady does, but after talking, she seems nice."
"What? Hey, what did you—"
"She made me porridge, even abalone porridge? Don't know what abalone is, but best thing I've ever eaten."
"Mok Dang-hwa! How do you know it wasn't poisoned…!?"
"I'm half-dead already—what, poisoning's harder than just killing me outright?"
"…Hey, don't say that—"
"Aaa, got it. So quit fuming and sit, eat some porridge."
"No, this is… haa."
Indescribable confusion crossed the boy's face before he sighed in resignation, slumped to the floor, and took the porridge.
…It was delicious.
"-Why help you two? Well, when kids are starving, you feed them, right?"
"Wh-what does that…"
The boy heard such pure benevolence for the first time in his life.
"…"
The emotion in her milky-white eyes, gazing warmly as she tilted her head, was—unbelievable as it was—genuine goodwill.
At least, he was certain the martial expert before him, who had given her name as So-hyang, meant them no harm.
Of course, other questions flooded his mind.
How she detected his "sense," why he fainted suddenly, how she found their home…
So-hyang answered each patiently.
She noticed because she used the same sense.
He fainted from the shock of senses colliding, his mind crushed.
And their home's location came from that clash too.
"In short, the 'sense' we both use is a kind of mind. When they overlapped, we shared memories and thoughts."
In other words, she had traced the path home from his memories and followed it.
"But… I couldn't read So-hyang-nim's memories?"
"Ah… well, unavoidable…?"
To read anything, one needed to maintain consciousness at minimum. But the gap between their minds was too vast.
With So-hyang as the benchmark, who wouldn't have a vast gap?
"So, unintentionally, I read all of Mokchong's story. Sorry?"
"…No need. Our siblings' tale isn't something to hide."
Orphaned young, cast to the streets.
To make matters worse, his sister fell ill, requiring unaffordable medicine.
An amount impossible through honest work.
A commonplace back-alley story—barely even worth calling one.
"…But here's the thing. The medicine you bought with your pickpocketing and ill-gotten gains—is this it?"
So-hyang lifted a jar of powder from the shack's corner, her eyes oddly sunken.
"Yes, the physician said dissolve in water once after meals, once a day…"
As the boy reached to give his sister her dose, as if reminded, So-hyang gently stopped his hand.
"This medicine… isn't for treating your sister's illness."
"Pardon? What do you…"
A narcotic painkiller—crude even by her past life's standards, let alone Central Plains technology.
"…Truly, no corner of the world lacks these vermin."
Her faint mutter, unheard by the boy, held not a trace of amusement.