Chapter 306: A Kiss with Her
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 306: A Kiss with Her
How much time had passed since the massive explosion?
As the billowing smoke slowly cleared, Neung So-hwa finally revealed herself. Despite the cataclysmic blast, she appeared completely unscathed.
Once the smoke dissipated, Neung So-hwa slowly scanned her surroundings. She was searching for Sun-woo, who had been caught in the explosion.
Soon, her eyes landed on a figure lying scorched and collapsed on the ground not far away.
"Sun-woo!" Neung So-hwa cried out, her expression filled with panic.
Step, step.
She hurried toward the spot.
Step, step.
Arriving at his side, Neung So-hwa looked down to check on the fallen Sun-woo. His condition was far more severe than she had anticipated. His entire body was charred black from the blast, covered in burns from head to toe. Moreover, as if the aftershocks hadn't yet subsided, faint wisps of smoke were still rising from his skin.
Seeing this, Neung So-hwa felt a wave of bewilderment. She had never intended to wound him this grievously. Knowing Sun-woo possessed a martial art capable of reflecting attacks, she had used the Explosive Wheel Tribulation without hesitation, assuming he would emerge unharmed.
But Sun-woo had been caught in the blast, his body ravaged by the shockwave and the heat. She couldn't help but be shaken.
"Cough... hack... cough!"
Just then, Sun-woo, lying on the ground, began to cough violently. Neung So-hwa’s face brightened at the sound. Fortunately, it seemed he wasn't dead yet.
"Neung... So... hwa..." Sun-woo stammered, calling her name.
"Are you conscious?" Neung So-hwa asked urgently, looking down at him.
"That... explosion... what was...?" Sun-woo managed to speak, his face a mask of shock.
"It is the Explosive Wheel Tribulation, one of the secret techniques of the Extreme Yang Flame Emperor Demonic Art," Neung So-hwa explained, her expression pained. "It is a technique that surrounds the user with a massive ring that explodes at the slightest impact."
"I... see..." Sun-woo replied, a bitter smile touching his lips.
"You are the strange one! Why were you caught in the blast? Do you not possess a martial art that reflects attacks?" Neung So-hwa’s voice rose slightly. She couldn't understand it. Why would he take the full force of the explosion with his body instead of reflecting it? It was obvious he would end up in this wretched state.
"I... couldn't..." Sun-woo squeezed the words out.
"What!?" Neung So-hwa asked back, bewildered.
"Reflecting... an attack... takes more... mental effort... than you'd think... I couldn't... use it... while doing... other things..."
"You fool!" Neung So-hwa shouted. He was truly an idiotic man. Why would he act so recklessly when he had a perfectly good way to protect himself? She couldn't wrap her head around it. If he had just focused on reflecting the attack and holding his ground, he would have been perfectly fine. Why choose such a stupid path?
"Sohwa... I had... no choice... I wanted... to bring you back..."
"I told you! I am simply who I am! How can you speak of 'bringing me back'?" Neung So-hwa snapped, her temper flaring. She was herself. How could he deny her very existence?
"True... you are you... so why... did I... make that choice...?" Sun-woo muttered, his words heavy with regret as he looked at her.
"You are a fool! How could you make such a senseless decision!"
"Sohwa... I... ugh... argh..." Sun-woo groaned in agony, finding it difficult to even speak.
"Stop talking! You will only aggravate your wounds!" Neung So-hwa tried to stop him. How could a man with such critical injuries have so much to say?
"Argh... no... if I don't... say it now... ugh... I never will." Sun-woo forced the words out through his groans.
"Don't say that! Don't speak as if you are about to die!"
"Ugh... Sohwa... I... from the moment... I first saw you... I liked you..."
"Stop! Stop it!" Neung So-hwa shook her head, her voice rising. Under normal circumstances, those would have been the most wonderful words to hear, but she didn't want to hear them from a Sun-woo who was currently a broken mess. "Save those words for when you've recovered!"
"Sohwa... I know... my own body... best..." Sun-woo looked at her with a sorrowful gaze. "Argh... I'm going to die... I might look okay on the outside, but my internals are completely twisted... It's hard to breathe... and now, even moving my mouth is a struggle..."
Sun-woo’s voice grew even slower and weaker than when he first started speaking, as if his strength was failing him.
"No! Sun-woo! I have not given you permission to die!" Neung So-hwa cried out in denial. She didn't want him to die. Was he not the man who told her she was the most precious thing in the world? She couldn't let him go like this. She didn't want to.
She wanted to reach out and pour her internal energy into him right this second. However, the flames burning around her body restrained her. If Sun-woo were to touch the flames flickering on her skin, he would undoubtedly suffer even more excruciating pain. Neung So-hwa fell into a deep, agonizing dilemma.
"Sohwa..." Sun-woo called her again. "Can I... ask... a favor?"
"Ask anything! I will grant whatever you wish," Neung So-hwa answered immediately.
"The villagers... please... don't hurt them..."
"You fool! How can you think of others until the very end?" Neung So-hwa’s voice cracked. How could this foolish man worry about others even as he was dying?
"Can you... do that... for me?" Sun-woo pleaded.
"Fine... I will! So stop talking!"
"That's... a relief..." Sun-woo said, his expression finally relaxing.
"Fool! You are a total fool! Why do you only worry about others until the end? Ask for something for yourself!"
"...For me?"
"Yes! Make a request just for you!"
"Sohwa... is that... really okay?" Sun-woo asked tentatively.
"Of course! Say it!"
"Then... can you... k-kiss me?"
Whoosh!
Neung So-hwa’s face turned bright red at his words. "What are you...! I'll get pregnant!"
"Right... I guess not... I knew... it wouldn't work... Cough!" Sun-woo’s expression slumped. "Gah... huff... ugh..."
Soon, Sun-woo began to groan violently, his breathing becoming rapid and shallow.
"Sun-woo! Are you alright!" Neung So-hwa cried out, her face filled with worry. By all appearances, his condition was becoming far more critical than before.
"Argh... it's okay... it's just... the process of... returning to nature..."
"Don't say that! How can you say such things!"
"Sohwa... I think... my hearing... is starting to fade. Your voice sounds so faint... I want to hear it more... I want to hear your voice more..." Sun-woo spoke with a voice saturated with sadness. "And my eyes keep closing... my eyelids feel as heavy as Mount Tai... I shouldn't... I can't close them... I have to see... your beautiful face..."
Sun-woo began to describe his fading senses one by one. It seemed the shadow of death was stripping them away from him.
"No!" Neung So-hwa screamed. She felt that if she let things continue, she would lose him forever. She had to keep him conscious. She had to make him snap out of it. She had to reach him.
Neung So-hwa began to suppress the fiery heat radiating from her body. The Extreme Yang Flame Emperor Demonic Qi resisted, causing the flames to flare up even more violently.
"How dare you!" Neung So-hwa growled, feeling the resistance of the energy. How dare a mere energy that lived as a parasite in her Dantian defy its master?
With a surge of will, Neung So-hwa crushed the Extreme Yang Flame Emperor Demonic Qi.
Vroooooom.
The flames dancing on her body began to subside.
Flicker.
Sizzle.
Soon, every last flame on Neung So-hwa’s body vanished. The Extreme Yang Flame Emperor Demonic Qi had finally yielded to her overwhelming will.
Once the heat was gone, Neung So-hwa quickly sat on the ground and shook Sun-woo. But he didn't move an inch.
"Sun-woo! Wake up! I said wake up!"
She shook him even more violently, but there was still no response. Fearing the worst, she placed a finger under his nose. She felt no breath.
Panicking, Neung So-hwa placed her hand over his Dantian and began to pour in her internal energy. She tried to jumpstart his body. She attempted a Full Circulation again and again to awaken the dormant energy in his Dantian, but it was useless. The energy remained stagnant, showing no sign of movement.
After some time had passed, Neung So-hwa slowly pulled her hand away from his Dantian. She had realized the truth. Sun-woo had departed for a place from which he could never return.
Suddenly, her vision began to blur, as if a thick fog had rolled in.
Glisten.
A strange sensation prickled at the corners of her eyes—a feeling she had never experienced in her entire life.
Drip.
The source of that strange sensation began to roll down her cheek. Neung So-hwa slowly raised a hand to touch her face. She felt a damp liquid.
She realized then that she was crying.
A piercing ache erupted from deep within her heart, and a staggering sense of loss washed over her entire being.
"Sob... hic... ugh..."
Neung So-hwa wept. She cried and cried.
She regretted it. She regretted her past self who couldn't control her anger and unleashed the Explosive Wheel Tribulation on him. She regretted her past self who hadn't kissed him before he died.
"Sun-woo... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... sob..."
Neung So-hwa whispered her apology through her tears. They flowed endlessly, showing no sign of stopping.
"I am sorry... This lady was so indecisive that she could not even grant your final wish."
Neung So-hwa looked down at the fallen Sun-woo with eyes full of remorse. She slowly pulled him into her arms and laid his head in her lap.
"I do not know if it will be any comfort to you, now that you have gone where you cannot return, but I hope you can at least fulfill your wish in death."
Neung So-hwa spoke through her tears.
"I like you. I like you so much. In truth, I think I liked you from the very beginning. Being rescued like that was a first for me in my entire life. From then on, my eyes kept following you. I wanted to speak even one more word to you, and I wanted to be in the same space as you. Even sharing the carriage with you was actually out of curiosity, wanting to know more about the man you are."
Perhaps moved by the tragedy of his death, Neung So-hwa began to speak honestly about the feelings she had harbored.
"When I spoke with you, I felt like an ordinary woman rather than a Commandery Princess. That feeling wasn't bad at all. No, I actually liked it. You were fundamentally different from those who only sought to flatter me. And the day you told me I was beautiful... my heart pounded so hard I thought it might explode."
Neung So-hwa gazed at Sun-woo with a distant, longing look.
"And when that insolent girl, Bukgung Yeon, said she wanted to have your child, I felt an incredibly unpleasant emotion rise within me. I liked you first! You were mine! How dare she covet you? I was furious. And then I realized... that unpleasant feeling was jealousy, and that I liked you enough to be jealous of Bukgung Yeon."
Neung So-hwa looked down at Sun-woo resting on her lap and slowly began to lean down.
"I love you."
She puckered her lips slightly and brought them toward Sun-woo’s.
Mwah.
Before long, Neung So-hwa’s lips were fully pressed against his. A sensation she had never felt in her life surged through her lips.
Shiver.
Her body began to tremble. The awkwardness of the new sensation, the embarrassment, and the fluttering of her heart all hit her at once.
'...I'm so embarrassed.'
Having experienced her first kiss, Neung So-hwa was overwhelmed with shyness.
It was then.
Lick.
Suddenly, she felt something wet and slimy on her lips.
Lick.
Lick.
It wasn't just once. The wet sensation continuously stimulated Neung So-hwa’s lips before prying them apart. Soon, the thing that had forced its way between her lips touched her tongue.
She knew instantly. That wet, slimy sensation was a tongue.
Neung So-hwa’s eyes flew wide open.