Don't Touch What's Mine
Don't touch what's mine.
Namgoong Juhee's right field of vision went pitch black for an instant.
And then, something sticky slid past her eye and dripped down the smooth curve of her cheek.
She realized it was blood only after wiping her right cheek with her hand.
Ah, so my right face got completely shredded.
Her concentration had shattered from the pain surging in her womb.
This is why a woman's body is such a pain.
One in four odds, and I still drew the short straw. Isn't my luck just way too shitty?
Namgoong Juhee muttered to herself amid the pile of rubble from the shattered wall as she hauled herself to her feet.
"Cough! Ha… fuck. This damn period."
Black blood gushed out in a torrent.
Even so, she wasn't surprised.
She'd taken a direct hit from Cheolgeumgeom's attack, brimming with immense inner energy.
It was a miracle she wasn't dead. And hey, didn't they say one more chance was all you needed?
"You're still alive?! You monstrous bitch!"
"Is that a compliment?"
"Shut your trap!"
"Haa… Can't you see blood pouring from both my mouths, top and bottom? How heartless."
Namgoong Juhee's face flushed a little as she said it.
Turns out spouting vulgar trash talk while stone-cold sober isn't easy.
This is the moment I respect my usual self.
"Cough! Ah, fuck… this is driving me insane."
Even speaking was a struggle from the start.
She'd already drained every last drop of her inner energy, and her stamina had hit rock bottom ages ago.
Stamina had never been her strong suit to begin with.
Facing off against a twenty-five-year-old Peak realm master, on top of her period, while battling Cheolgeumgeom—no way her reserves wouldn't run dry.
Namgoong Juhee knew full well she could drop dead right then and there without it being weird.
"Your lungs are flooded with blood."
"Didn't you just tell me to shut up?"
"Yeah, so shut it."
"Selfish much? Well, yeah, harassing a post-Peak girl isn't exactly normal behavior."
"I said shut it."
A truly hopeless situation.
Yet Namgoong Juhee didn't give up.
She'd come here to protect her connections, and dying to let those bonds end up severed? That'd be the stupidest thing imaginable.
Yeah… pretty lame reason, huh.
"You know it too. This bout's my win."
"Talky talky. Scared of me that much?"
"Now I'll hack off your arms and legs, then toss you to my men."
"Not even listening anymore."
"Face got mangled… but that body's not half bad. My guys'll love it."
"If you can, go ahead."
"That's the plan!"
Golden flashes erupted from both of Cheolgeumgeom's feet.
She could sense it instinctively.
This move's his finisher.
Namgoong Juhee's eye darted quickly.
Cheolgeumgeom had shown a limp in his left leg from the first moment she'd seen him.
Still true now.
His charging momentum weakened every time he planted that left foot.
Plus, even in this state, he wasn't letting his guard down—he was being extra cautious.
Striking up conversation to gauge her condition, holding back on speed… it all pointed that way.
That's why Namgoong Juhee could predict his moves.
He'd go for a precise, powerful strike. So he'd pivot on his right foot.
And knowing her right face was shredded, the attack would target there.
All that was left was turning it against him.
"Gotcha."
Her one good eye flashed, pupil snapping left to right.
"What the—?"
Cheolgeumgeom's center of gravity shifted right to left in response.
Weight pouring onto the left foot he'd tried to avoid.
No way she'd miss that opening.
"Tricks like that are within my predictions!"
"Are they?"
Cheolgeumgeom had indeed considered something like this might happen.
His superiors had fed him plenty of intel on Namgoong Juhee.
She obviously had one last ace up her sleeve.
He was the cautious type.
Even caught off guard, he'd positioned himself to counter.
Luk Hap Sword? Emperor Sword Form? Or maybe some third hidden style.
Whatever sword attack came, he could block it. He was more than prepared.
That's what Cheolgeumgeom thought.
Shhriik!
Something whistled through the air, then thunk!—embedded deep.
"Guh…? H-heh?"
A deflating wheeze escaped Cheolgeumgeom's lips.
Yes, any sword attack, he could've blocked.
But a silver needle?
He was a master swordsman, not an assassin.
No way he'd anticipate that.
"It's over."
"Grrk! Not yet!"
"No. It is."
Namgoong Juhee's Amhyang Pyo traced a straight line.
That line pierced straight through Cheolgeumgeom's dantian—and in a flash, the area blazed bright!
Then, shhh… transparent energy scattered into the air.
The fall of a Peak realm warrior to mere mortal.
"…Huh?"
Cheolgeumgeom flailed his hands, grasping at the empty air.
But energy couldn't be clutched.
His power leaked away like sand between fingers, over and over.
Forty years of cultivation, all for naught.
"Ah…! Ah…! Uwaaaah! My inner energy! My… my inner energy!"
"…Must suck. I even spared your life."
"What did you do?! Kill me! Kill me, I said! Ahh—! This can't be real! Gyaaaah!"
They say a warrior's dantian is more precious than life itself.
Namgoong Juhee had never gotten it.
Lose your dantian, and you're just a normal person. A healthy one, at that—what's the big deal?
But hearing warriors out, it kinda made sense.
Once you build up martial prowess and gain inhuman strength, regular folks stop looking human.
Beings you could kill or kneel anytime.
Wild animals on the street, or bugs—nothing more, nothing less.
Then your dantian shatters, and boom—you're the beast.
A soul-crushing illusion of dropping from human to subhuman.
That's why they say: better dead than live as a beast.
Moral of the story—don't go looking down on people.
Anyway.
Cheolgeumgeom had been one