Come
“Come.”
The demonic beasts of the Yeon-yeon Blood Valley lurked everywhere. Bing Ok-yeon hunted them down the moment she spotted them. Her movements had grown light and graceful, almost like a dance. With every step, her robes rippled like water, and her long black hair streamed in the wind, releasing a faint chill.
When a beast lunged, she simply turned her body. Her waist curved softly, her form swayed, and in that instant she seized the creature’s full attention. Her palm shot out like lightning and pierced its forehead. Blood sprayed, yet not a single drop stained her snow-white skin.
Yet Bing Ok-yeon’s expression remained dark. Normally she would have butchered the beast at once and wrapped the choicest cuts in clean cloth, but…
“I fed her meat laced with poison without even realizing it…”
Every day she had been feeding Hong Mae poison. Even knowing that the other woman’s body was not like her own, transformed by the Reverse-Blood Divine Art. Even knowing that the cold poison, which was merely a slightly chilly breeze to her, was lethal to Hong Mae. She had still fed her the flesh of beasts born beneath that poison.
“Genius. Hidden dragon. Heh…”
She had told herself she let those compliments slide past her ears, yet she had listened more carefully than anyone. That was why she had grown so careless. Why had she never once checked whether the meat suited Hong Mae? Why had she never used the medical knowledge Hong Mae herself had taught her to examine the woman’s body? Why had she noticed so late that Hong Mae was drawing closer to death with every passing day?
No—why had she turned away even after she knew?
“Because I was afraid Hong Mae would leave me. If my suspicions turned out to be true, there would be no taking it back.”
It was foolish. Had her body changing dulled her thirst for revenge? The horrific final moments of her mother and father still circled endlessly in her mind. She should never have grown this lax simply because she had received a little affection here.
Seven years. It was far too long a bond. Aside from the Baek family, no one else in Bing Ok-yeon’s life had remained at her side for so many years. Even Namgung Seong had only lasted about four.
“Let’s go back.”
She returned after a month of searching.
“I’m leaving.”
“So…”
Hong Mae’s face, seen for the first time in a month, was in terrible condition. No—there was no way she could have deteriorated this much in such a short time. Bing Ok-yeon had simply been turning a blind eye to it all along.
Hong Mae had once been counted among the greatest beauties of the unorthodox sects. In her prime, even the painters of the Central Plains had struggled to capture her likeness. When Bing Ok-yeon first met her here, she was still beautiful, though not quite as the rumors claimed. Even then her inner energy had already begun to collapse and her insides had started to twist. Over the past seven years she had grown steadily thinner.
“You thought well. I already passed everything I had to you two years ago. All that remains is for you to master it on your own. Staying here two extra years because of me was foolish, and—”
“So come with me.”
“Have you already forgotten what I said? I don’t want to be a burden on you.”
“I’ve been thinking about it for two whole years—whether you would become an obstacle to me or not.”
“I would. I can barely leave this place, and even if I did, I have no hope of recovering my strength. You know that. I’m already sixty.”
“Do you know what I’ve been doing these past two years?”
Bing Ok-yeon raised one hand. The cold poison drifting around her instantly gathered. A poisonous mist swirled above her palm, releasing a faint chill. Hong Mae felt her breath ease for the first time in years.
“Heavens…”
“I’ve reached the sixth star. Now that I have, I’ve begun to understand the principles of the cold poison that fills this valley. At the very least, I can control the energy around me.”
It was astonishing. Inner-energy cultivation normally meant accumulating a specific force within the body; it did not grant the power to command all things in the world. Yet at only the sixth star she could already control every trace of cold poison in her vicinity. If she perfected this, what heights might she reach?
Bing Ok-yeon smiled and extended her hand again. The smile was both cold and warm. A faint chill escaped with her breath.
“Come with me, Master. Help me with my revenge. I’ll help you with yours as well.”
Hong Mae gazed at that smile with sorrowful eyes.
“Is your breathing all right?”
“Quite comfortable.”
Hong Mae was being carried on Bing Ok-yeon’s back. After becoming a woman, Bing Ok-yeon’s height had decreased dramatically, so the difference in their builds was almost nonexistent. Yet Hong Mae had wasted away to skin and bone during her years in the valley. After seven years of steady training, carrying her was effortless for Bing Ok-yeon.
“You… You used to struggle just to hold a fire poker. Now you carry me without the slightest difficulty.”
“I’ll carry you as often as you like from now on.”
“Haha… How kind.”
After their brief exchange, Hong Mae fell asleep. She no longer possessed the stamina for even this much conversation.
“…”
Bing Ok-yeon clenched her teeth. She had been the one who turned away from the truth. If she had simply buried herself in revenge and ignored Hong Mae, it would not have hurt this much. She had neither fully pushed the woman away nor properly cared for her.
“We need to get out as quickly as possible. From the last place I checked… at our current pace it should take about nine days.”
Bing Ok-yeon unfolded the map she had redrawn based on the one her master had left. She had already visited every unusual location Hong Mae had marked. The farther they moved from the Thunder Prison, the denser the poisonous mist became; even with the Reverse-Blood Divine Art at the sixth star, she could not see beyond it. That was why she had walked every inch of the valley to create this map.
“I hope there’s an exit there, but… the chances are almost nonexistent.”
Even the minimum estimate meant nine days of wandering. And that minimum was already unlikely. How much longer could Hong Mae’s body hold out?
“Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”
“You asking over and over is what’s uncomfortable. You’re the one sweating far too much. You should rest for a moment. You can stop spreading your energy for a while.”
“I’m fine. As long as you are, Master.”
“I can endure as well. You’ve been looking after me for days now.”
“Your body can no longer withstand even the slightest trace of cold poison.”
Ten days. Ten days of searching beyond the areas she had already explored. They found no sign of an exit. Even extending her senses through the Reverse-Blood Divine Art changed nothing.
“Master, do you know something?”
Bing Ok-yeon did not want to burden Hong Mae with despair, so she kept speaking to her in a bright voice.
“What is it?”
“Beasts that look like dogs taste like dog, and beasts that look like oxen taste like ox. Maybe the animals that once lived here were changed by exposure to the cold poison.”
“Haha, that sounds plausible. They did seem to resemble those creatures. I can’t really taste anything anymore, though.”
“Ugh…”
Hong Mae had already lost her sense of taste. Her sense of smell was nearly gone as well, and her vision was visibly fading with each passing moment. Only her hearing still seemed intact…
“…I told you this place is near my hometown, Wungye County, right? When I was little I grew up hearing stories like that. ‘If you’re a bad child, the ghosts from the Yeon-yeon Blood Valley will come and take you away.’”
“Oh my, how frightening. I suppose I really do look like someone the ghosts would carry off?”
“…”
Since when had conversation become this difficult? Every word out of her mouth felt like a mistake.
“But you know, on the other hand, you could be the one taking away the bad children.”
“Pardon?”
“Isn’t that right?”
“Maybe…”
Of course, part of the problem was that Bing Ok-yeon could not focus. To maintain the protective field of the Reverse-Blood Divine Art, she had been sleeping only half an hour at a time before waking again. After twenty days of that, her body could not possibly be normal.
That was why she missed the demonic beasts’ attack—the very thing she had been constantly on guard against.
“Grrr—”
“Ah, of all times…”
Beyond the poisonous mist, a red light flashed. By the time she realized what was happening, they were already surrounded.
“Master, hide behind that rock. I’ll spread my technique wide, so you’ll be safe.”
“What? No! It’s dangerous!”
“It’s all right. I’ve dealt with this many times before.”
As always, the beasts circled quietly, gauging their prey’s strength. Bing Ok-yeon had learned early on that many of the convicts and fugitives thrown into the valley were powerful. That was why the beasts approached so cautiously every time.
She turned their habit against them. She charged straight at the beasts within the range of her technique. The creatures that had been probing whether their prey was dying like the others grew agitated. Bing Ok-yeon unleashed her palm technique at the leader of the pack—the one farthest ahead. Her movements were soft and elegant, as though she were embroidering patterns in the air. Her palm shot toward the leader’s forehead.
Shhhk!
With the sound of the poisonous mist parting, her palm crushed its skull. Blood gushed like a fountain.
“Kree—?!”
The leader let out a short scream and died. The rest of the pack, waiting for its command, froze in terror.
“If even one escapes, they’ll keep bothering us. Let them curse the fate that brought them face-to-face with me.”
Ordinary beasts would avoid anyone who had once bested them. But these were monsters raised on cold poison. She had spared a few that had tucked their tails between their legs out of fear, yet they had still attacked her at night or while she rested. Bing Ok-yeon had no intention of letting any of them live.
“Don’t be born in a place like this in your next life.”
She dispatched the remaining beasts with swift, clean movements. Every time her body moved, her robes fluttered. Blood sprayed, yet not a single drop stained her snow-white skin.
“Master—!”
She rushed over, forgetting even to wipe the blood from her own body. She had wasted no time at all. She had never once let her guard down regarding the range of her technique.
“Master?!”
Yet why was Hong Mae’s condition so much worse?
“Oh dear, you caught me…”
“Ah… Because of me…”
“No. It isn’t that, so don’t worry. More importantly, didn’t I always tell you to keep yourself neat and tidy? To always act as though someone might be watching?”
“But you’re in this state right now!”
“Not right now. You know that. It’s been this way from the beginning. I’ve been dying since the very start. You’re doing your best, aren’t you? It isn’t your fault, so there’s no need to make that face.”
Bing Ok-yeon burst into tears. Her hands trembled as she pulled Hong Mae into an embrace. She did not want to lose anyone else. She did not want to experience death again.
“I don’t want this… I don’t want this!”
“…”
Hong Mae gently stroked Bing Ok-yeon’s head as the girl clung to her. She had never wanted to die either. For the past seven years she had dreamed hundreds of times of returning to the Central Plains and rebuilding Plum Fragrance Pavilion. Of the man who had betrayed her begging for forgiveness and confessing his sins. Of Bing Ok-yeon, her revenge complete, coming to run the pavilion together with her. Of the child she had lost—
She had dreamed those things again and again.
“My child…”
She was no different from a daughter now. Not even that comparison was enough. Hong Mae did not want to leave her alone. She had seriously considered escaping—a thought she had once abandoned—precisely because of this girl. She had chosen to accompany her on this dangerous path because she loved her. Therefore, she had to leave now. She could not become a shackle around this beloved child’s ankle.
She herself had taught the girl how to capture men’s hearts, how to exploit their weaknesses, how to reveal her own frailty to shake them. She had taught her to achieve revenge through those methods. The one who had given those lessons was Hong Mae herself.
“My daughter…”
For the sake of her beloved daughter, she had to end this companionship.