A Wanderer's Loyalty
A wanderer has a wanderer's code. Moyong Juhee had been holding back her screams the entire time. Or perhaps she simply couldn't hold them back anymore. The horrific sensation of flesh being ripped apart. The jailer kept screaming. Her ears were so numb it felt like she was submerged underwater. She couldn't tell whether her own screams were mixing with his or not. Dismembering a human being was filthy and horrifying. Even if the victim was an enemy she had hated enough to want dead.
Yet through it all, a clean voice kept whispering sweetly into her ear. In this utterly horrific place, this completely horrific and terrible world, these horrific hours, this horrific version of herself, these horrific memories, and every last horrific thing around her, that voice remained pure.
“You did very well. Next, let’s work on the torso together. Shall we open up the abdomen? We do it like this—”
Long, beautiful white fingers slid across the jailer’s belly. The skin parted as smoothly as if a razor had kissed it, revealing everything inside. Yellow, lumpy fat spilled into view. After the finger passed once, the pulsing organs beneath were fully exposed before they sank into the shallow pool of blood that quickly rose to cover them.
“Urp.”
“Oh dear. Lady Moyong, you seem to have a weak stomach.”
“N-no, I’m fine. I can endure it.”
I can’t show any weakness. I mustn’t. Moyong Juhee desperately fought back the urge to vomit. If Lady Seomun thinks I’m pathetic, she’ll abandon me. Just like everyone else.
“It looks disgusting at first glance, but if you examine it closely, you’ll find the human body is rather sloppily designed. Quite charming, really. We call them the five viscera and six bowels. The five viscera are—”
“Ugh, blech…”
Moyong Juhee could no longer hold back the rising bile. Thin, milky gastric fluid poured from her mouth into the open abdominal cavity. The jailer, now drenched in acidic liquid across his organs, began convulsing with a broken, creaking motion like a malfunctioning machine. In the throes of it, his arm—already stripped of its bones and dangling like a rag—flailed wildly and slapped weakly against Moyong Juhee’s cheek with a wet smack.
Ah, no…
“Hic, haa… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I dirtied you. I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright. Really, it’s fine. Yes, that can happen. Those dog bastards should have at least left you a chamber pot if they were going to act like humans.”
Moyong Juhee struggled in Cheong’s arms, trying to escape the warm embrace where she had been held against the other woman’s thigh. No. Please no.
“It’s okay. These things happen. None of this is Lady Moyong’s fault. You haven’t done anything wrong at all.”
“Let me go! Let go! No, I’m sorry, please release me. I’m dirty. I—”
“Shh. Lady Moyong isn’t dirty. You told me yourself, remember? That you hadn’t done a single dirty or vulgar thing. You endured it all so well. You were magnificent.”
The warmth of that unconditional affirmation nearly made her burst into tears. Yes. If I just listen well, if I obey every word…
“Now. He’s starting to run out of breath. Shall we watch this insect die together? The man who tormented Lady Moyong was nothing but this pathetic little creature. There’s no need to fear him anymore.”
Moyong Juhee looked at the dying jailer. His limbs were stripped of muscle, white bone exposed in several places. His belly and chest lay wide open, and he clung to life with only a wet, gurgling rattle.
“Look there. At his eyes. They’re desperately begging for help. Isn’t it amusing? That such a wicked man would look so pathetic and earnest, pleading for mercy right before his death.”
“Hic…!”
Moyong Juhee could only desperately swallow her screams as she met that bloodshot, frantic gaze begging to be saved.
In the distant past, Cheong had received the highest grade in her liberal arts psychology class. It wasn’t because she was particularly motivated, academically passionate, or quick to understand. The class was notoriously boring, and while half the students didn’t even bother showing up, Cheong had simply managed to stay awake through the lectures. That alone had been enough to earn top marks among the graveyard of failed registrants.
If that psychology professor could see the current Cheong, they would have spent the rest of their life regretting it and beating the ground in frustration.
Counseling, after all, was an act of healing a wounded heart through unconditional acceptance, affirmation, and empathy. The greatest taboo was offering solutions. If solutions had worked, the person wouldn’t have been wounded in the first place.
Cheong had done the exact opposite. In her own way, she had been trying to be considerate. Revenge lost its flavor once it became too easy, didn’t it? Then life itself started to feel empty. So rather than killing the man quickly, she thought Moyong Juhee should watch him suffer as much as possible and find some comfort in that.
People tended to assume their own thoughts were universal, so Cheong had believed that this brutal, heavenly-slaying anatomy lesson would also help Moyong Juhee.
“Lady Moyong, are you feeling better now?”
But if brutal anatomy lessons could heal a person’s heart, Moyong Juhee would have had to be born with a vicious fate—something on the level of an earth-slaying or earth-fiend star, if not quite a heaven-slaying one. It might have been more refreshing if Cheong had simply let her strangle her enemy to death. Instead, this misguided kindness had become yet another torture Moyong Juhee had to endure.
“Y-yes, I… I did well, right? I did everything Lady Seomun told me to do. You won’t abandon me, will you? You’re not going to leave me behind, are you?”
“Abandon you? Don’t say such things. Though I will admit Lady Moyong was rather unpleasant before—”
“It was my fault. I’m sorry. I apologize. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault, isn’t it? No, it’s yours! This is all because of you! If it weren’t for you! It’s all your fault! Take responsibility! You have to take responsibility!”
Oh no. Cheong inwardly clicked her tongue. She hasn’t come back to her senses yet. I can’t even joke with her.
Cheong let out a long sigh. Moyong Juhee flinched violently at the sound, then crawled forward on her knees so frantically it seemed she would scrape them raw, once again clinging to Cheong’s leg.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean it. Please don’t throw me away, okay? You’re all I have left, Lady Seomun. I did everything you asked. I’ll keep listening to you from now on. What should I do? You like breaking things, right? Should I smash my head? Or maybe gouge out my eyes? Will you believe me then?”
“You shouldn’t play with corpses.”
“Ah. Then, then tell me what to do. I’ll do anything you say…”
Cheong pulled Moyong Juhee back into a tight embrace.
“I’m sorry. It was a joke. I will never abandon you, so stop worrying. There. Good girl.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.”
Cheong swallowed another sigh. Well, I suppose she must be terrified of being left behind right now.
“Mm. We should head back up to the surface. Lady Moyong, can you wait here for just a moment? I need to clean up some Blood Sect stragglers on the way out—”
“Let’s go together! You can’t leave me!”
“They’ll use the poison again. You’ll be in pain. You hate pain, don’t you? Just wait a little and I’ll clear a path—”
“It’s fine! It’s okay, so let’s go together. I can endure the pain. I’ll bear it, so please don’t leave me alone…”
Cheong roughly scratched at her head. Why is she being so clingy?
“The poison from the solitude is painful, but it won’t kill you. Can you really endure it?”
“Yes! I can endure it. So—”
“Alright. Stand up. Let’s talk after we get out.”
Moyong Juhee took Cheong’s hand and staggered to her feet. After two shaky steps, her body lurched. Cheong quickly caught her before she could fall.
“Lady Moyong? Your feet… those damn bastards pulled out your toenails—”
“I’m fine. I can walk. It just hurts a little.”
“How can you walk when all your toenails are gone? This won’t do.”
“No, I can walk! I can walk!”
“Calm down. Yes, I know you can walk, but it would hurt too much. I’ll carry you. Come here.”
In the end, Cheong secured Moyong Juhee to her back using the jailer’s upper and lower garments tied tightly together.
Hm. This is the greatest invention in human history, praised by the entire world—the po daegi. Why does everything end up like this?
From what she had heard, the unit leader had been missing since last night and Budaeju had left after the morning incident claiming he had work to do. This was the perfect time to sneak Moyong Juhee out.
Cheong had only received a rough description of the underground paths, and following verbal directions was never easy. Still, she wasn’t particularly worried. If she didn’t know the way, she simply needed to find someone who did. Smart people always made others do the work for them.
She walked slowly, concentrating on finding any presence, and eventually located her target.
“W-who goes there! Here—mmph!”
When Cheong stamped her foot, a pitch-black shadow surged forward at terrifying speed and clamped over the Blood Sect warrior’s mouth.
Unfortunately, the solitude could not be controlled with words. A burning heat flared in her solar plexus. When a person’s pain exceeded what the mind could endure, they would reflexively grab onto something and squeeze with all their strength, trying to crush it. Hard enough to tear the tendons in their own hands. It was monstrous strength that ignored the usual subconscious limits the brain placed on the body to prevent injury.
Since Moyong Juhee was being carried on Cheong’s back, her large hand had ended up perfectly positioned over one of Cheong’s most sensitive spots.
“Ugh.”
Cheong’s vision went pure white. The pain was comparable to the bone-and-tendon restructuring of her Flowing Softness Softening Refinement training. Female martial artists simply had more vital points than men.
Naturally, Cheong’s own hand tightened in response. At that moment, she had been gripping the Blood Sect warrior’s lower jaw to keep him silent. The man’s upper and lower jaws were instantly crushed to pieces, cutting off his breath.
And then Cheong collapsed as well.
Moyong Juhee was a martial artist who wielded twin swords. Because she handled a sword with each hand individually, her grip strength far surpassed that of ordinary swordsmen or blade masters. That tremendous grip, now amplified by pain into monstrous power, was crushing Cheong’s vital point.
Cheong couldn’t even cry out for her to let go. She simply collapsed, twitching on the ground. The Blood Sect warrior was dead, but the solitude was still alive and continued sending pain signals. The nightmare lasted nearly an entire incense stick’s time until the creature finally realized its host was dead and calmed down.
This was karma.
She was paying the price for forcing Moyong Juhee to participate in that horrific live dissection.
“I’m sorry, I apologize, I’m so sorry. Please don’t abandon me. I didn’t mean to. I’m truly sorry. I really didn’t mean to do it. You can hit me. Ah! You like pulling out fingernails, don’t you, Lady Seomun? I have ten of them, so if you want…”
With her acting like this, Cheong couldn’t even get angry.
Cheong discreetly lifted the front of her clothes and checked. It didn’t seem torn. But maybe something ruptured? It keeps throbbing. Is this okay? It hurts so much…
“Sigh. It’s fine. And who’s spreading these terrible rumors that I enjoy pulling out fingernails? Though I do enjoy it. A little.”
Cheong tore the Blood Sect warrior’s sleeve into strips and pressed the bundle into Moyong Juhee’s hand to prevent any further accidents.
Thanks to that one painful lesson, the second attempt succeeded. After the Blood Sect warrior received a parasite-removal procedure that left a hole in his stomach, he was so moved that he changed careers on the spot to become a kind guide.
“If you go this way, you’ll reach a corner of the northwest passage. Then, as promised…”
“Promises must be kept. But I didn’t make any promise with Lady Moyong, did I? Lady Moyong? If you would.”
Moyong Juhee reached out with both arms and snapped the Blood Sect warrior’s head clean around. Leaving the man whose neck had turned more than ninety degrees where he fell, Cheong steadily climbed the stairs.