Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 49
>Chapter Title: Variable (2)
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Originally, Wei So-yeon hailed from a prestigious martial family under the Heaven and Earth Society.
The Wei Spear Clan.
Born as the second daughter of a spear-wielding martial house, she had been frail since birth, forever confined to her sickbed.
The clan head, Wei Hyun, whose innate martial talent was mediocre and whose skills had only reached a mature peak, dismissed her weakness as mere ordinary blocked meridians.
Thus, he did not teach her any martial arts and told her simply to live an ordinary life.
However, having inherited the blood of a martial family, she yearned to learn the family's arts just like her other siblings.
Lying idly on her bed and watching was far too agonizing.
Defying her sickly body, she secretly practiced martial arts without her father's or family's knowledge.
But for one born with Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians, self-cultivating martial arts was no easy feat.
In the end, her Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians went berserk.
[Aaaah!]
Unable to control her rampaging energy, clan head Wei Hyun took her to the inner fortress, clutching a commendation plaque awarded for his grandfather's merits.
He believed only the fortress's physicians or executives could save her.
Yet, there arose an unexpected twist.
[M-Meet the Leader!]
[Ahh. No need for formalities.]
The Leader, whom even her father had never laid eyes upon, had come to visit while receiving treatment in the inner fortress.
This Leader stared intently at her face, then stroked her head once and muttered something incomprehensible.
"Is it truly so?"
What was truly so?
Even amid the pain, the words puzzled her, but even more astonishing words flowed from the Leader's mouth.
"Do you wish to save this child?"
"Y-Yes."
"Then hand her over to me."
"Pardon?"
"Did you not hear? I said hand her over to me."
In that moment, having caught the Leader's eye, she was immediately taken as his disciple.
Intrigued by Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians—a bizarre condition where pure energy ceaselessly generated within her—the Leader accepted her as a disciple to attempt a cure.
Yet even he, one of the Six Heavens hailed as the pinnacle of the current martial world, ultimately could not fully cure the Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians.
The limit was a qi circulation method that temporarily sealed the meridians' pathways to suppress the rampaging energy.
The qi method of the Golden Gate Essentials, devised by the Leader, was exceptionally brilliant and effective.
But as the days passed, the Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians' rampages grew stronger, forcing her to endure periodic agonies where her entire body's meridians felt like they would burst, nearly killing her.
[Aaack!]
The cycle of this torment shortened with each passing year.
At first once every few months, then after two years every couple of months, and after another year, once a month.
Wei So-yeon was gradually intuiting it.
If this cycle shortened further, her life would one day be in peril.
'Is the curse of Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians truly incurable?'
Must she accept such a fate?
Fate had decreed she would not even pass twenty years.
Yet she had surpassed twenty.
This was surely thanks to her master's Golden Gate Essentials.
As the rampage cycles shortened, she keenly sensed her end approaching swiftly, growing ever colder and losing even her smile.
It was as if all zeal for life had vanished.
Then one day, it struck her.
If she died like this, what would she leave behind in this world?
'A meaningless death?'
Nothing but prolonging her life only to die.
With that, she resolved herself.
With her remaining time, she would pour everything into what she could achieve.
One such goal was the Leader at the pinnacle of the Heaven and Earth Society.
[Cough, cough. You want a chance too?]
"Yes."
Wei So-yeon visited her bedridden master and made her plea.
Win or lose, she intended to try everything possible, so there was nothing to lose.
"You wish to become Leader when you can't even control your own body?"
"......Yes."
As expected, it was denied?
But then,
[Hahahahaha! Cough, cough... How amusing. A girl with dead eyes like the world was ending suddenly aims for Leader... Truly as I said, you resemble... Cough, cough.]
"Pardon?"
"No. Fine. Do as you wish. If one has the talent, anyone qualifies for Leader. Try challenging for successor."
Thus, the Leader made his proclamation.
All three disciples qualified as successors.
This sparked open competition among the three disciples.
She intended to stake everything in this final contest of her life, burning with all she had.
She believed it was something she could leave to the world.
Yet,
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
A miracle occurred in the life she had forsaken.
Thanks to the man before her eyes, the door to a life she thought nearly over swung wide open once more.
'Why is my heart acting like this?'
Gazing at Mok Kyung-un, rather than shame, her chest pounded strangely.
And her face burned hot.
What emotion was this?
Utterly unfamiliar.
After staring piercingly at Mok Kyung-un's face for a long while, she unwittingly brought her hand to his cheek.
-Swish!
Startled, Mok Kyung-un, who had been glancing around, turned his gaze to her.
'Ah?'
What had she done?
Flustered, Wei So-yeon fidgeted anxiously.
Mok Kyung-un stared fixedly at her like this.
Meeting his eyes, she swallowed dryly.
'Why... why stare so intently? When you look like that, it's too...'
Was it shame from her nakedness, or the weight of his gaze? Her heart raced even harder.
Unlike her, Mok Kyung-un's thoughts veered elsewhere.
'What now?'
It had deviated from the original plan.
He didn't know why Cheong-ryeong's energy had weakened, but possession had clearly failed.
Even if it returned, success was uncertain.
'If possession fails, this was all pointless meddling.'
It might have been better to let her rampaging energy kill her.
Or he should have sought the second disciple, Jang Neung-ak, first.
His plan to possess both and unite their factions had gone awry from the start.
Mok Kyung-un stared fixedly at Wei So-yeon.
'Can't kill her either.'
Killing her now would cause major issues.
He needed clues from the Leader, so he couldn't make an enemy of him yet.
He wasn't ready to face him anyway.
'Need to change plans.'
A different approach was required.
If possession wouldn't work, should he use the Six Yin Spirit Control Technique to turn her into a living corpse?
But he lacked confidence it would succeed.
After breaking through the blocked energy in her body, her unstable qi had stabilized, and her martial prowess had surged far beyond before.
The technique might not work.
He needed some way to control Wei So-yeon... but how?
It was then.
Wei So-yeon, hand on Mok Kyung-un's cheek, mustered courage and spoke.
"Hey, you can keep your promise."
'!?'
Promise?
What promise?
Recalling her words, Mok Kyung-un remembered.
[Want me? Then break this cursed power too.]
'Hm?'
Was she referring to that now?
Puzzled, Wei So-yeon, face flushed red, averted her eyes shyly and said,
"You're my lifesaver."
"Lifesaver?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"......"
Mok Kyung-un stared fixedly at her.
Unable to read his feelings from the intense gaze, Wei So-yeon's mind grew chaotic.
She had already felt so embarrassed saying it, yet why just stare without a word?
Hadn't he said he wanted her, even staking her life, and overcome her Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians?
She acknowledged it, so why the hesitation?
Or did he want something else?
Fidgeting restlessly, she cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Ahem. I... I don't... dislike you... either."
"......"
At her words, Mok Kyung-un's eyes took on a strange glint.
Mok Kyung-un wasn't oblivious.
He sensed the emotion emanating from her was markedly different from before.
This woman now saw him as a man.
'Emotions...'
Still unfamiliar territory.
But this emotion held value worth exploiting.
Unlike verbal oaths of loyalty, it was a different beast altogether.
Mok Kyung-un's lips twitched.
Then,
"If you don't dislike it, that's as good as saying you like it."
"What? N-No, more like..."
It was right then.
Mok Kyung-un wrapped one arm around her slender waist.
And pulled her fiercely toward him.
Their naked skin pressed fully together.
"Eek!"
Wei So-yeon let out an involuntary cry.
Flustered by his sudden action, she didn't know what to do.
She had overheard about relations between men and women from Gi Ok-ryeon and others, but with her terminal life, it had gone in one ear and out the other.
Yet now those dismissed words flooded back.
'...This is too much.'
Her face felt like it would burn away.
As she trembled violently, Mok Kyung-un whispered in her ear.
"Then will you be my woman?"
"Y-Your woman?"
Her eyes quivered at his words.
Becoming someone's woman was something she had never considered.
Already feeling a strange pull toward Mok Kyung-un, hearing this made her face not just hot, but melting.
To her, Mok Kyung-un said,
"Why no answer?"
"......"
"No answer means you don't want..."
-Swish!
As he spoke, Mok Kyung-un loosened his grip on her waist.
Panicking, Wei So-yeon hurriedly wrapped both arms around his neck, embarrassment peaking as she said,
"Wh-who said I don't want it? It's just... too fast. We barely know each other yet..."
"We'll get to know each other starting now."
"What?"
It was precisely then.
"Hah!"
A novel sensation from below, her first ever, drew a moan from Wei So-yeon's lips.
Flustered, she twitched her waist, at a loss.
'I-It... entered.'
So abrupt.
Having endured meridian pains for so long, this didn't even register as pain.
Just utter bewilderment.
So different from what she'd heard.
She thought there'd be a gentler process, not this bold intrusion.
"Hah... hah... you... too sudden..."
"We said we'd get to know each other."
-Sear!
At Mok Kyung-un's words, Wei So-yeon flinched helplessly and buried her face in his chest.
Why was this guy, who seemed mild, so direct and beastly?
Too embarrassing.
Even if they were alone now, doing this in the middle of the courtyard?
"Why act like that? Embarrassed? It's just us anyway."
-Swish!
With those words, Mok Kyung-un moved his waist.
"Hngh."
Caught off-guard by the motion, Wei So-yeon shuddered, biting her lips tight.
Suppressing the sounds threatening to escape was torture.
"You... you really..."
This wicked man.
She had consented, so why push so relentlessly?
Wei So-yeon whispered like a plea.
"Please... inside..."
At her words, Mok Kyung-un smirked.
Then, still joined, he rose from his spot and carried her hugging into the main hall.
Soon after, intense moans erupted from within the hall.
End of Chapter 49: Variable (2)