I Need Your Body
The palanquin stopped right in front of me.
Beside it stood an elderly woman I had crossed paths with a few times during my stay at Emei. Clean-shaven head, deep wrinkles, fierce brows drawn tight—she was Seo Hyemun, the Dharma Protector of the Emei Sect.
She stared down at us sprawled so pitifully on the ground. More precisely, she was staring at me, the man among us, with pure, undisguised disgust.
That gaze needled me, but every scrap of my attention was already locked on the palanquin that had rolled right up to my face.
My eyes fixed on the silhouette beyond the bamboo blinds.
Through the swaying figure, I could see hair.
The Guardian had not yet undergone the tonsure ceremony.
She still had hair.
Host, what's wrong? Your breathing and pulse just spiked all of a sudden.
Mumyeong still didn't know about my conversation with Mara Jin.
I had never once told him about the contract with the Heavenly Blood Demon.
Panic blanked my mind.
No time.
I hissed under my breath in a desperate rush.
"I need to get her hair."
What? Hair, all of a sudden?
Mumyeong's voice came back bewildered.
No time.
I whispered faster.
"Mara Jin! Mara Jin said he'd give me a reward! To get it, I need the Guardian's hair before twilight falls!"
What in the world are you talking about? Mara Jin, out of nowhere—what do you mean by—
Mumyeong cut himself off.
Host.
His voice froze solid.
Do you mean that Mara Jin of the White Lotus Demon Sect?
"…"
Even while I stammered, the Guardian kept approaching with steady purpose.
Ho—tch.
Mumyeong had been about to press for answers, then seemed to read the situation and fell silent.
The palanquin halted right before us.
The bamboo blinds hid even her face. All that showed was the shadow of a small frame.
"You stand before the new Guardian of Emei. However chaotic the scene may be, will you not all show proper courtesy?"
Seo Hyemun said, her wrinkled brow furrowing deep.
This was Emei territory. Before the Guardian of Emei, offering due respect was simply the way of the Jianghu.
So Yeomgyo straightened her posture and offered a formal bow.
"Forgive our discourtesy."
"I—me too!"
I tried to scramble up in a panic.
So Yeomgyo startled and moved to stop me.
"Hey, wait—if you move, the pressure points I just sealed will—!"
—Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Something that had been dammed up inside my body burst open, the sound flooding my skull.
I felt an intangible force, like a dike collapsing and everything behind it pouring through at once.
"—!!!"
I finally understood, for the first time in my life, what people meant when they said someone foamed at the mouth. Literally.
The pain So Yeomgyo's finger technique had temporarily blocked came crashing in all at once.
I screamed a pure white scream and toppled backward.
"Ghk! Guhhk! Ugh…!"
With wet, choking noises I clutched my side and rolled.
Seo Hyemun's face twisted with open disgust.
So Yeomgyo flinched and scrambled to support my convulsing body.
"Pull yourself together. If you do this now, the embarrassment isn't yours—it's mine for hiring—huh?"
Her face went cold and hard.
The crowd around us murmured and stared.
"Wait. You."
—Pa-pa-pat.
So Yeomgyo's pale fingers swept over my body in an instant.
Her crimson eyes trembled.
"You thick-headed… with a body like this."
All I could do was groan with a sound like grinding metal, unable even to open my mouth, just thrashing weakly.
The bamboo blinds swayed, and a clear, bright voice drifted out from within.
"Is that person badly hurt?"
So Yeomgyo answered in a rush.
"His body is ruined beyond words. This isn't the time. We need a physician—any physician—this very second so he can rest and recover…!"
"W-wait."
I managed to stop her with what little strength I had left.
If I was going to fulfill the promise with Mara Jin, it had to be now.
If I let this chance slip, there was no telling when I would ever get another private audience with the Guardian of Emei.
I had to seize it.
It wasn't simply because I wanted to become the strongest under heaven.
It was so I could live.
With no backing, no money, and no roots, I needed even a single fistful of real skill if I was going to survive.
This was all I had to lean on.
No matter how strong I became, it would never be enough.
I had lived long enough in this dogshit Jianghu to know, bone-deep, that this world beyond the heavens never accepted the words "that should be enough."
Everything was lacking. Everything was missing.
Even if I grew twice as strong as I was now, then twice that again, I still might not manage to live as easily as ordinary people.
And for once, the Guardian herself had come to me.
I had to endure, somehow, and speak with her while I still could.
I grabbed So Yeomgyo's sleeve.
Panting, I forced the words out one by one.
"I… I'm fine…!"
Even getting a single sentence out felt like lightning striking my entire body.
—Riiip.
My grip tightened until the edge of her sleeve began to tear bit by bit.
So Yeomgyo quietly watched her own sleeve coming apart in my hand.
Then she looked at the nape of my neck—caked in dust, pouring cold sweat.
"Hey, you—."
Fire blazed in her eyes.
"You thick-headed bastard! What do you mean 'wait'? If you were hurt this badly you should have said so from the start! Are you that eager to die on me? You don't even have money, so now that I've hired you, you're planning to get yourself wrecked and collect a big payout—is that it?! Shut up and, if you don't want me killing you again, hurry up and—!"
"Ahem!"
Seo Hyemun cleared her throat roughly.
"Lady So Yeomgyo. Even if you do have ties with the Strategist, causing this kind of ruckus in front of our new Guardian over some underling who crawled out of who-knows-where just because he got a little hurt—"
"Shut up! My people got hurt—how is that not important?!"
—KWA-AAAAA!!
A massive surge of crimson qi exploded outward from her body in a radial wave.
—Piiit, pii-piiit!
Clothing flapped wildly in the blast.
Whoa.
She was genuinely furious.
This was worse than when Moyong Taese had provoked her.
She seized me by the collar.
My face was yanked roughly toward hers.
For a split second her red lips filled my vision—then, just as fast, she had slung me over her shoulder.
"Gyaak!"
The impact wrenched a sound out of me like a fish being pressed into dried jerky, and I thrashed.
Damn it.
Patcheon Hyeolma Gunrimbo or not, with every bone in my body shattered and moving independently, stabbing me from the inside, coherent thought was impossible.
She yanked free her own headband, bound my body with it, and shouted.
"Any other time you can drop dead for all I care! But while you're under my employ—absolutely not! You understand?! Hold on to your consciousness until we reach a physician! If you pass out, I really will kill you!"
"N-no. If I leave now…"
I flailed and slapped desperately at her back with my palm.
Mumyeong shouted.
Details later! That Mara Jin you mentioned—is he the Mara Jin of the White Lotus Demon Sect?! If yes, nod!
"Ghhk!"
Even while writhing in agony, I nodded.
You damned fool! Why didn't you tell me that sooner?! We cannot let this chance slip!
Mumyeong let out a short, sharp cry.
Hair! You said the Guardian's hair before twilight falls! The reward for that will be no ordinary thing. It will be absolutely vital to our survival! Get free of there right now!
Mumyeong's voice was frantic.
I muttered while still draped over So Yeomgyo's shoulder.
"Mumyeong… even if I thrash with everything my healthy body can give, I might not break free of So Yeomgyo…"
Then at least shout! The Guardian is right there!
My mind went blank.
No one knew it better than I did.
If things stayed like this, I would get neither rice nor porridge—nothing.
I wasn't some philanthropist. Why else had I thrown my entire body into protecting the Flowering Ceremony?
I opened my mouth and floundered.
I needed to say something, but the words wouldn't come.
Mumyeong, wildly agitated, yelled.
Just parrot me if you have to! Hair, body—whatever! Right now you have the right to make a demand!
"H-hair or body, I can demand…!"
Half-delirious, panting, I simply echoed him at random.
Even if body, hair, and skin are received from one's parents, if you demand it properly, she will have no choice but to give it!
"B-body, hair and skin! Demand…! Ghk."
So Yeomgyo panicked.
"Have you—have you lost your mind? What the hell are you even saying? What is this about body, hair, and skin?"
I was already half gone.
Only pure obsession kept me focused on one goal: somehow getting my intent across to the Guardian.
Guardian! I have something to say to you!
I barely lifted my head and shouted.
"Guardian! I have something to say to you!"
The pain had gone past pain; I couldn't even feel sensation anymore.
"…What?"
So Yeomgyo stopped walking.
Everyone was looking.
I could feel the Guardian of Emei focusing on me from beyond the bamboo blinds.
I panted and forced the words out.
"I… I…!"
The pain was so bad I could no longer form words; my mind flickered in and out.
No.
My Patcheon Hyeolma Gunrimbo!
I couldn't give it up.
I had a rightful claim.
I had protected the Flowering Ceremony.
"I… I need… the Guardian's…!"
The Guardian tilted her head beyond the blinds.
"Pardon? What of mine do you need?"
I clawed my fading consciousness back into place.
Strength drained from my whole body as if I were being sucked into a swamp.
Hair is as intimate as the body itself. If you offer it as tribute, Mara Jin will bestow an enormous reward!
Mumyeong cheered me on.
I clenched my teeth.
"Your… your…!"
I would say it.
I would force the words out!
For what I needed!
Shout it! The Guardian's body—same as her hai—!
"I need your body, Guardian!"
…What?
Ah.
Only a beat after the words left my mouth, through the haze of pain, did I realize what I had just said.
"…Hey."
So Yeomgyo stood frozen like a complete idiot.
Even with my head blanked by pain and cold sweat, I scrambled to add something.
"N-no! I mean hair! B-body, hair and skin…!"
…
No one reacted.
Everyone had frozen. Time itself seemed to stop.
A cold autumn wind blew through.
"Let's just die."
Outside the window, a leaf drifted down.
…Host.
"Mumyeong, you son of a bitch…. You kept repeating body and hair over and over while my mind was flickering, so without thinking I…"
I squeezed my eyes shut and buried my face in the blanket.
…Call me if anything comes up.
Mumyeong fled into sleep like a man escaping a crime scene.
The room filled with silence.
Outside, it wasn't twilight—it was broad daylight.
I looked down with only my eyes.
My limbs were trussed and suspended from the ceiling by bandages.
All manner of medicines, cupping jars, and needles were stuck into me as if I were a side of pork being prepared for the market.
Even I, who knew nothing about medicine, could tell.
This was not treatment applied over a single day.
At least three days had passed.
I was finished.
I had failed to keep my promise with Mara Jin.
I closed my eyes.
A long, heavy sigh escaped me.
"This really is my life."
"Well, well. You lecher."
I choked.
I coughed for a long while.
The coughing itself was agony.
My whole body prickled and burned.
"I'm not exactly a model of Jianghu etiquette myself, but you… you're the kind of bastard history will remember forever. Saying something like that to the Guardian of Emei?"
"No. That was—"
—Scratch-scratch.
So Yeomgyo was peeling a piece of fruit with a small knife.
The peel never broke. It spun in one continuous, impossibly fine spiral from start to finish.
"I'm making an interesting little bet right now. Want to hear it?"
"What kind?"
So Yeomgyo flicked the red fruit peel.
"If this peel doesn't break by the time I finish, I let you live. If it breaks, I kill you. How's that?"
"…"
I stared at the red spiral of peel.
So Yeomgyo smiled faintly, her Flame Eyes flashing as she spoke.
"Just kidding."
"I know you're not."
"Oh. Quick on the uptake, aren't you, grunt. Finally starting to get a feel for the Jianghu?"
She set the fruit down and, with practiced skill, sliced it into six pieces with the fruit knife.
One of them was even shaped like a rabbit.
She picked up the seeds, stuck them in as eyes, and finished the little rabbit fruit.
Throughout that entire sequence, not a single sound filled the room.
Only So Yeomgyo and I were here.
Only my breathing and the soft rustle of her clothes echoed in the space.
"Well, enough teasing for now."
—Clack.
She set the knife down on the plate.
"Moyong Bi. From this moment, I'm going to ask you one thing."
"Huh?"
"Answer me honestly."
There was no trace of a smile left on her face.
"Who was it that told you to go get the hair of the Emei Guardian."