Chapter 35
Chapter 35
If I've hurt your feelings, I apologize. Anything you want?" "I said it's really okay..." "It'll ease my mind." She was stunningly beautiful, but her mindset felt oddly mature, like someone much older. Her speech patterns too. "Then... once you're done with your business in Anhui, let's go sightseeing together. Don't leave me alone then." That was all I wanted from her right now. Looking at my condition, I wouldn't recover in a day or two. The plans I'd made back in Henan were scrapped long ago in my head—what was left was just playing around in Anhui. And squeezing every last bit of fun out of it, like the silk I couldn't get before. "...
That do it?" "Yes... That's perfect..." "You could ask for more. Money, items—I've got the means." I laboriously lifted my head to look at her face. No matter how I squinted, she didn't look a day over mid-twenties. Yet her confidence suggested some powerhouse backing her. Come to think of it, reaching peak realm at that age meant her master had to be extraordinary too. "...
No thanks. You're enough for me, Miss Shin." Someone like that sounded intimidating. She was the unusual one—regular Daoists and I didn't mesh well. "..." "What's wrong...?" "Hoo..." She was thumping her chest with one hand while fanning her face with the other, using it like a fan. "Alright. Once my business in Anhui wraps up, we'll go together." "Yes..." In the silence that followed, she spoke first. "Come to think of it, we still don't know each other's names." "Ah..." "If there's no special reason, mind sharing?" Regular folks had no cause to hide their names. But... "I've got circumstances, so I'm keeping mine hidden..." "I see." I wasn't your average case. Nothing grandiose about it. Mystery building, I guess. I'd gone to the trouble of hiding my face—revealing my name would make it easy to pinpoint my identity and kill the mystique. Sure, it might come off weird, but for a fortune teller living off enigma, it was non-negotiable. Back when I plied my trade in Shaanxi, plenty of customers came drawn by the vibe of "a future read by a nameless, faceless seer." And it felt a tad wasteful to give away my name when I had perfect face-concealment means. Not to mention, if Master tracks me down... She had a ways to go before showing up, but I often dreamed of her appearing ahead of schedule to hunt me down. If she caught me like that, I'd probably spend the rest of my life holed up in the mountains. "I'm Shin Yuwol." "...
Pretty name." "..." Miss Shin stared at me blankly, maybe gauging my reaction. "What's up...?" "...
Nothing. Just call me Lady Shin outside." "Got it, Lady Shin..." I surrendered to the returning drowsiness and drifted off.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Kolok... Kolok..." His coughs showed no sign of easing, and the fever radiating from his body only grew hotter. All I could do was pass him water whenever he complained of thirst or place a damp cloth on his forehead. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell where his forehead was. "...
So helpless." Helping martial artists stuck at bottlenecks was routine. But nursing someone wracked by a bad cold? That was a first. Cultivators rarely caught such trifling ailments to begin with, and even if they did, a spirit pill or two fixed them right up. The ones I carried just in case were useless here. Forcing them on someone without a dantian—not to mention not even a regular mortal—could backfire spectacularly. "Hoo..." I didn't want to dredge it up, but I had no choice but to pull out those old memories now. Memories of my disciple I'd deliberately avoided thinking about, but it was the only time I'd ever nursed anyone. I took his hand first. Word had it back then that illness could be a trifle or fatal depending on one's mindset. The body bore it in the end, but the mind drove the body. Still hurting? Hehe... Not even a little now, Master.> I pictured the innocent, lovely face of that girl floating in my mind and painted it over. The greatest mistake of my life. The biggest sin I'd left in this world. My one and only disciple, undeniable inheritor of my arts and title. Sword Flower Han Soyeon. A disciple's crime was the master's crime. Knowing I'd committed an unforgivable sin, I couldn't stay idle. I had to find her somehow and apologize. "Euuu..." Thinking of her in front of this man I suspected was her made self-loathing surge, but I told myself there was no helping it. Is your name Dan Yuseong? Watching him lie there unconscious, the words nearly escaped my throat. If not, it'd end like all the countless misunderstandings before. But if it was... If he was the victim of my decade-long search for atonement, what then? If I'd dared to harbor feelings for such a man... ...
No way. Even imagining it disgusted me. I'd rage at anyone else committing such an act—how could I ever forgive myself? Dare someone like me hold feelings for him? After committing such a sin. Wait—what was I even thinking right now? Fe-feelings? No way. Impossible. Falling for a man whose name and face I didn't even know? Sure, he did plenty of cute, innocent things, but she wasn't some flighty girl swayed by sweet talk. And showing his face wouldn't help either—not with the massive age gap even after my rejuvenation. Heaven itself wouldn't forgive linking us... Euuu... The more I thought, the deeper into weird territory I sank. I slashed at the chain of thoughts with my sword will. My cultivated arts weren't wasted—I calmed my mind in moments. I must maintain clarity at all times. This had been happening since I met this man. Haa... As I held his hand and reached to cool my forehead, "Heuk..." A sob escaped, followed by "I didn't choose to end up in a body like this..." words I couldn't ignore.