Chapter 29: Murim (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 29: Murim (6)
It was afternoon, with the sun high in the sky.
After a quick lunch, we continued our walk toward Xi'an.
Pushing our way through the untrodden undergrowth, we looked like a pair of pioneers.
That’s right. It means we were suffering like hell.
“Can I ask you something?”
“No.”
“Is there no other way besides this forest path? It would be easier to walk if there were at least some tracks from other people.”
My clothes weren’t torn and I hadn’t been cut, but I’d occasionally feel a prick from something, and I’d sometimes step on something unidentifiable. It really felt like I was going out of my way to suffer.
“Do you remember what I said yesterday?”
“?”
“...I had suspected you were an assassin. I no longer do, of course, but if you are not one, then there must be assassins hired by the 1st Young Master searching for me somewhere. If we take a well-traveled road, we risk being discovered by them.”
“Ah.”
I didn’t think an assassin would come at me with a dagger in broad daylight, but then again, in a world without CCTV, it seemed entirely possible.
To put it bluntly, if you killed someone and threw their body to the wild animals, who would ever know who the culprit was?
“...You.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa tugged on my sleeve.
“I cannot explain the detailed circumstances, but traveling with me will put you in danger as well. I can tell you the way to Xi'an, so how about we part ways here?”
Her voice, and the hand gripping my sleeve, were trembling slightly.
“Although our meeting was born of a misunderstanding, I have incurred a great debt to you in this short time. I cannot allow you to...”
“Sorry, but I can’t do that.”
I grabbed her wrist.
If we were going to go our separate ways, we would have done so already. I had no intention of backing down now.
In fact, I thought I was going to go bald from the stress of trying to figure out a good reason for us to stick together after we reached Xi'an.
“I have a terrible sense of direction. Even if you told me the way, I’d get lost before long and probably fall to my death.”
She had just handed me a perfect excuse to travel with her. I’d have to be dumber than a dolphin not to take it.
I’ll be taking that sweet, sweet settlement reward.
“...Thank you.”
Cheon Yeo-hwa was grateful for his cheerful reply, but at the same time, she felt a pang of guilt that tightened its grip on her heart.
This, too, was an emotion Cheon Yeo-hwa had never felt during her time as the Moon Spirit Witch.
She had already received so much from him.
Yet, she hadn't been able to repay him in any way, and now she couldn't even bring herself to firmly push him away as he offered to accompany her on this dangerous path.
She loathed her own weak-willed choice, yet as she gazed at his broad back walking ahead of her, a strange feeling washed over her.
Ever since meeting him, she had been learning new emotions, one by one.
·
·
·
After walking and resting in turns for a good while longer, the sun began to set.
If we didn't want to be searching for a campsite in the middle of the night, we had to get a move on.
Fortunately, we found a suitable clearing nearby, where we set up the tent and brazier just like yesterday.
As we hurried to prepare dinner, the sun set completely, and the dark of night arrived.
If we had been just a little later, we would have had to set up the brazier and tent in the pitch-black darkness. It would have been a nightmare.
Of course, I could have just used the Light spell, but I didn't want to use up my magic power after being exhausted from walking all day.
“What is this...?”
“A hamburger. If it’s hard to eat, just press it down a bit.”
Some people call it heresy to eat it like this, but it’s not like you can eat a hamburger with a knife and fork, right?
Either that or you unhinge your jaw.
“This is the first time I have seen such a food. Where in the world are you from, to keep producing these things...?”
“Curious?”
She didn't answer.
Perhaps Cheon Yeo-hwa, who was hiding many things from me herself, felt it wasn't right to pry into my identity.
“If you really want to know, how about we ask and answer one question each? I’ll even give you the chance to go first.”
To be honest, I wasn't all that curious about Cheon Yeo-hwa.
I already had a rough idea of her name, age, origin, and her current situation.
This wasn't so much an exchange of information as it was a means to get closer to her.
Of course, I wasn't expecting to become lovers like with Iris after a single game of truth or dare. That would be too greedy.
But if we got closer, wouldn't a possibility arise?
At first, I was more interested in the settlement reward, but now I found myself interested in Cheon Yeo-hwa as a person.
Her looks were, of course, a given, and as for the rest...
‘...Then again, her looks are so overwhelming, do I even need another reason?’
Her personality seemed a bit peculiar at first, but the more I saw, the more I found her cute side.
Like the way she was nibbling on the hamburger, om-nyom-nyom, like a squirrel.
She had the looks of a total girl-crush, like a third-generation chaebol heiress you'd see shopping in Cheongdam-dong or Gangnam.
“Your name.”
“Huh?”
“We have not yet properly introduced ourselves, have we?”
Come to think of it, only I knew her name. It had been almost sixteen hours since we met, yet she still didn't know mine.
Wasn't it stranger that we'd spent sixteen hours together without knowing each other's names and it hadn't felt awkward at all?
“Kang Hyun-woo.”
Hyun for ‘to appear,’ and Woo for ‘to help.’
I don't really know what it means. My parents passed away without ever telling me what kind of person they hoped I would become when they named me.
“Kang Hyun-woo...”
Cheon Yeo-hwa repeated my name quietly, as if savoring it.
Her reaction felt a little embarrassing.
Thinking back, the only people who had ever said my name like that were the head nun at the orphanage, Iris, and now Cheon Yeo-hwa.
“My turn, then.”
I decided I would visit the orphanage for the first time in a while after this matching was over.
“What’s your name?”
“...Cheon Yeo-hwa.”
“That’s a nice name.”
A day had passed since we met, just before the second day began.
We finally learned each other's names.
*
“It’s your turn now. Aren’t you going to ask anything else?”
“That is enough.”
We had finished dinner and my question had been answered, but Cheon Yeo-hwa seemed to have no intention of asking anything more.
“You... no, Hyun-woo. If there is anything you are curious about, you may ask.”
“...?”
I was a little surprised that she suddenly called me by my name, but what surprised me more was the 180-degree shift in her mood.
Why does her personality seem to be softening over time?
“In that case.”
I knew what I wanted to ask.
Who exactly was this 1st Young Master she mentioned, why was she facing assassination threats, and where did she come from?
The reason I was asking, even though I already knew, was simple.
To become closer by sharing secrets.
But my question had to end before it even began.
Thud—
“Huh?”
Cheon Yeo-hwa, who had been warming herself by the brazier, suddenly collapsed.
“Cheon Yeo-hwa!”
I shot up from my spot and rushed toward her.
“Haa, haa, haa...”
She was on the ground, clutching her chest as if in terrible pain.
Her face was pale, and cold sweat dripped down endlessly.
Even at a glance, she looked to be in a very serious condition.
‘What’s going on? Is she sick? But she was fine just a moment ago.’
Regardless, I couldn't just leave her like this.
I immediately picked her up, ran to the tent, and gently laid her down.
“Cheon Yeo-hwa! Snap out of it!”
“Ugh, ugh...”
Is she in too much pain to even answer?
“What should I do in a situation like this...”
Should I just pick her up and run all the way to that place, Xi'an?
But I don't know the way.
Even if I did, she might not make it before we get there.
Leaving her here is also a problem.
I have no idea if this is something she can recover from on her own just by resting. I'm not a doctor.
“There has to be a way... Ah!”
At that moment, a method suddenly flashed through my mind.
“Weakness Insight.”
Weakness Insight is a skill that, as the name suggests, shows a target's weaknesses.
For humans or humanoid monsters, the head and heart usually glow the brightest.
But just because they glow the brightest doesn't mean humans only have two vital spots. In reality, any place with major blood vessels, a high concentration of nerves, breakable bones, or bendable joints is a vital spot.
So, what about a patient?
An injured area, an organ weakened by illness. Wouldn't such places glow more brightly than others, after the head and heart?
“Found it.”
When I used Weakness Insight on Cheon Yeo-hwa, her head, heart, and lower abdomen were glowing brightly.
To be precise, it was her Danjeon—a place that's a staple in any story with a Wuxia setting.
“The color seems to have a purplish tint... Could it be poison?”
I wasn't certain, but it was the most plausible theory right now.
“Shop.”
The moment I thought it might be poison, I remembered an item from the shop.
Please don't have been reset.
[Shop]
[Lowest Grade Antidote: Sold Out]
[Sweet Apple: 250 Coins]
[Imperial Army's Magic Sword: Sold Out]
[A Book of Etiquette for the Dazzling Lady: 540 Coins]
[High-Grade Random Scroll: 600 Coins]
·
·
·
“There it is!”
[Would you like to purchase Sweet Apple?]
[Y/N]
[Y]
[You have purchased Sweet Apple.]
[Remaining Coins: 1,200 Coins]
The Sweet Apple. It was an item that had appeared alongside the Lowest Grade Antidote when I was poisoned in the dungeon and searched the shop for a cure.
[Sweet Apple]
[Grade: Rare]
[Grants a positive effect upon consumption.]
It was 50 coins more expensive than the Lowest Grade Antidote, but its grade was one step higher. In a way, buying this might have been a better deal, but what I needed back then was an antidote with a guaranteed effect.
So I had just skimmed the description and moved on.
“But she can’t eat an apple in her current state, can she?”
It smelled sweet, but its size and shape were no different from a normal apple. How could someone who was barely conscious from pain eat this?
“...As long as she consumes it, it should work, right?”
I quickly washed my hands with drinking water and gripped the apple.
“Just wait a moment. I’ll grind it up for you so it’s easy to eat.”
Of course, it was more like squeezing than grinding.
Squeeeze— My grip, enhanced with magic power, easily performed as if the apple had been put through a juicer.
An incredibly sweet fragrance wafted from the apple juice that flowed into the cup.
“This should be enough.”
Now, I carefully brought a spoonful of it to Cheon Yeo-hwa's lips.
“Ugh...”
“...This isn't working either?”
Even though I had juiced it into a liquid and brought it to her on a spoon, Cheon Yeo-hwa was still unconscious, seemingly in too much pain.
In this state, she probably couldn't even drink water on her own.
I have no choice.
“I’m saving your life, so don’t blame me for this later.”
I took a mouthful of the apple juice and pressed my lips against hers.
I barely had time to register the soft, moist sensation before I carefully parted her lips and let the juice flow in.
It wasn't a kiss to satisfy my own desires, but I couldn't help the strange, thrilling feeling that washed over me.
After three such kisses disguised as a life-saving effort, Cheon Yeo-hwa's complexion looked much better.
Ting—
[Positive effect activated from consuming the Sweet Apple.]
[Decomposing Heavenly Heart Extreme Yang Flower Poison Lotus.]
[Decomposing...]
[Decomposition failed.]
[Positive effect activated.]
[The poison of Heavenly Heart Extreme Yang Flower Poison Lotus subsides.]
[The remaining poison of Heavenly Heart Extreme Yang Flower Poison Lotus struggles.]
[Positive effect activated.]
[The remaining poison of Heavenly Heart Extreme Yang Flower Poison Lotus falls asleep.]
*
In the dead of night, when even the wild animals were asleep.
“Ugh... huh...?”
Waking from her sleep, Cheon Yeo-hwa was bewildered to find Kang Hyun-woo asleep, holding her in his arms.
“Hyun-woo, why are you...?”
She was flustered.
It was one thing to find him sleeping while holding her, but she couldn't remember how this situation had come about at all.
Her throbbing head held only fragmented memories.
Aside from a minor headache, Cheon Yeo-hwa felt much better than usual, and she was quickly able to piece together what had happened from the broken fragments of her memory.
‘Did the poison act up and cause me to collapse...?’
She had experienced seizures like this before.
The poison would suddenly flare up, causing her excruciating pain, but she had always managed to stay conscious and endure it.
This was the first time she had ever fainted.
As the poison grew stronger, her internal energy was hitting rock bottom. She likely no longer had the strength to resist it.
In fact, before meeting him, she had half given up, thinking she had a month to live at most.
“I was so sure of it... but what is this...?”
Cheon Yeo-hwa confirmed that the power of the Heavenly Heart Extreme Yang Flower Poison Lotus, which had been coveting her Danjeon, had diminished by nearly eighty percent.
Even the remaining twenty percent was as quiet as a mouse.
Heavenly Heart Extreme Yang Flower Poison Lotus was a type of Scattering Poison that carried a powerful yang energy.
It was the absolute worst match for her, who was filled with yin energy, and was one of the three ultimate poisons from the Heavenly Poison Pavilion, which was cooperating with the 1st Young Master.
An antidote was considered practically impossible. She had thought that even the head of the Tang family, known as the masters of poison, or a divine doctor said to be able to raise the dead, would find it a hopeless task.
But what on earth had happened for her condition to improve so drastically?
Cheon Yeo-hwa decided to try and recall more of her memories.
In exchange for digging through her memories, her headache intensified, but through the pain, she caught a glimpse of a short, intense moment.
“?!!”
The moment Kang Hyun-woo had taken something into his mouth and kissed her.
‘Ah, ahhhh...!!’
A scream she couldn't let out echoed in her mind.
Cheon Yeo-hwa's face turned beet red, as if it were about to explode.
‘It was my first time...’
Cheon Yeo-hwa carefully touched her own lips.
It felt as if his warmth still lingered there.
Moreover, the kiss wasn't the only thing she saw in the fragment of memory.
As she could tell from the image of him feeding her something from his mouth to hers, it was undoubtedly him who had neutralized the poison that had been about to take her life.
The fact that an antidote for Heavenly Heart Extreme Yang Flower Poison Lotus even existed was surprising, but greater than that was her gratitude toward him for saving her yet again.
Cheon Yeo-hwa recalled the moment she was struck by the bandit's iron net.
The moment of helplessness when her qi and blood were twisted by the suddenly rampaging poison, leaving her unable to lift a single finger.
Her past self would never have been caught by the ambush of such street thugs; she would have sensed their presence from dozens of yards away and lopped off their heads.
But as she herself had said, that was the past.
A past that would never return.
If Kang Hyun-woo hadn't saved her then, she would have been dragged away by the bandits without being able to put up any resistance.
Of course, she would have pushed her internal energy to its limits and killed the bandits, even if it meant suffering from Qi Deviation.
And as a price, she would have died alone, miserably coughing up blood.
Cheon Yeo-hwa quietly snuggled into Kang Hyun-woo's embrace.
As if it was where she belonged.
In that moment, she felt a deep resentment for ever having doubted his identity.
‘No matter what happens, I will never doubt him again...?!’
Squeeze—
“Eek?!”
Before she could stop him, Kang Hyun-woo's large, thick hand grabbed her butt.
“H-Hyun-woo...??”
“Mmm...”
She was so startled that she let out a shrill cry and even called his name, but Kang Hyun-woo only let out a soft breath, showing no other reaction.
His hand, however, did not stop caressing her butt.
“What kind of sleep-talking is this...”
What on earth was he dreaming about?
Kang Hyun-woo was mercilessly groping Cheon Yeo-hwa's butt.
Cheon Yeo-hwa didn't know what to do, having never been sexually harassed like this in her life.
If it had been some lecher, she would have cut off his wrist and genitals without a moment's hesitation, but she couldn't do that now.
“Hngh, heuk... A-aren't you squeezing a bit too hard...?”
Despite her complaint, Kang Hyun-woo continued to knead her butt as he pleased, as if it were clay. His rough touch sometimes caused her flesh to spill between his fingers, and at other times, he tormented her by stroking her gently like a pervert.
She wondered if this was something a sleeping person could even do, but she couldn't bring herself to suspect him of faking it.
“Do you desire my body so much...?”
In a way, Cheon Yeo-hwa was happy.
All her life, she had considered men to be nothing more than monkeys with filthy thoughts in their heads.
But in her twenty years of life, the only man she had ever given her heart to was Kang Hyun-woo.
“H-Hyun-woo...”
If it's you... if you desire it...
“I would gladly...”
“...Iris.”
“.........Ha?”