Chapter 56: The Road to Anhui-3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 56: The Road to Anhui-3
Everything is hazy. A giant screen stands before my eyes.
Light from a distant projector illuminates the screen, and images flicker past at high speed.
—I see. Since the dimension you want doesn't exist, I shall choose one for you.
A pale, hazy entity with white wings speaks.
The screen changes.
—It seems some correction is in order. Sleep for a while.
A stinging sensation pricks my neck, and someone whispers from afar.
The screen changes again.
—Then I’ll have to come back one more time. With you, In-ho.
Someone sits beside me, smiling brightly, though their face remains a blur.
I drifted through the darkness.
I flailed and kicked my limbs, but there was nothing to grasp.
Is this how an astronaut abandoned in space feels?
A sudden wave of anxiety washes over me.
—Yes, you are mine.
Where am I?
What on earth am I doing?
How do I get out of here?
My flailing limbs grow heavy, no longer moving as I wish.
My consciousness is awake, but my body is paralyzed.
An indescribable emotion, a mixture of frustration and terror, assails me.
Help me. Get me out of here.
Did I just make a sound, or was it merely a thought?
I feel as though I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound reaches my ears.
I pour every ounce of strength into my fingers.
Move, please...
Move!
My head spins. I want to get out of here right now.
Please, get me out of here.
—Sir.
Get me out.
—Young Master.
Please!
"Young Master Kang. Wake up."
"Ah... a dream?"
Had I been pinned by a nightmare? My back was damp with cold sweat.
I was lying down, and someone was looking at me.
Who?
Information about her face slowly trickles in, and like water bursting through a dam, my memories return.
"Good little So-yeon was giving you a lap pillow~"
A monster wearing the face of Namgung So-yeon looked down at me.
*
Having regained consciousness, In-ho stared blankly at the ceiling, looking as if he still couldn't distinguish between dream and reality.
Sensing that his gaze was strangely unfocused, Namgung So-yeon leaned her face closer.
"Isn't it nice? My lap pillow."
Only at Namgung So-yeon’s question did In-ho finally realize his situation.
Kneeling on the stone floor, Namgung So-yeon possessed the elegance of a lady from a prestigious family, but In-ho’s thoughts were elsewhere.
Crazy bitch....
He wasn't foolish enough to voice that thought.
The image of Namgung So-yeon’s madness-stricken face as she strangled him with bloodshot eyes immediately flashed through his mind.
He had no intention of provoking her.
His plan was to find a way out while avoiding anything that might sour her mood.
The Heavenly Demon’s obsession had been manageable to some extent.
Perhaps it was because he understood the Heavenly Demon’s feelings well, but at the very core of her obsession lay affection and concern for In-ho.
Because of that, they could communicate and negotiate a compromise.
However, In-ho realized instantly that such a thing would be impossible with Namgung So-yeon.
Setting aside the question of why she was obsessed with him, the foundation of her obsession was delusion.
She had fabricated a relationship between herself and In-ho that never existed, and she perceived herself as having heard titles he had never once called her.
Having applied her delusions to reality, Namgung So-yeon had become a being beyond the reach of words.
On the contrary, the more one tried to shatter her delusions, the more they would be 'corrected' to act according to them.
"I-it's nice. The lap pillow."
He forced an awkward smile, playing along with her mood.
Namgung So-yeon wore the same innocent smile she had shown during their journey to Sichuan as she toyed with In-ho’s nose.
"I'll do it for you often from now on. Now, get up. We have a long way to go."
When Namgung So-yeon grabbed In-ho’s hand and pulled, he popped up like a fish caught on a hook.
The sudden vertical movement made his head throb.
"Where are we going?" In-ho asked as he walked down the hallway, his hand still held by her.
"We have to go to Anhui. We agreed to go to the Murim Alliance, didn't we?"
Namgung So-yeon replied as if asking why he was questioning something so obvious.
Ah, that's right.
He remembered agreeing to go to the Murim Alliance together back when they were near Sichuan.
Trudging along as he was dragged out of the Palace of Sacrifice by Namgung So-yeon, In-ho’s eyes widened at the sight of the ruined Black Sky Cult.
"Why is it like this here...?"
"They were a vile lot. To think they would annihilate the Blue Dragon Corps. The cultists kept swarming us, and their leader used poison. They really were a wicked group!"
Pavilions were engulfed in flames; the Heavenly Demon Palace and other buildings had collapsed.
The gardens where Yeonhwa used to pull on my sleeve...
Everything was defiled.
"Ah..."
At the entrance of the Black Sky Cult, countless people lay scattered.
Most wore the robes of the Black Sky Cult. Their skin was rotting and discolored, with blood leaking from their eyes, noses, and mouths.
"What on earth happened...?"
"It's poison. Everyone ended up like this because of the poison used by the enemy leader. To use poison arts knowing his own cultists would be caught in it... he truly was a cruel man."
"Don't go near them, Young Master Kang. There might still be poison qi lingering."
Namgung So-yeon restrained In-ho as he tried to approach the corpses.
Even with his hand held, In-ho tried desperately to move toward them, but he couldn't break free, looking like a puppy on a leash.
"Hmm... I shouldn't have shown you such unpleasant things... I was thoughtless. Just a moment~"
Releasing his hand, Namgung So-yeon swung her arm, and the corpses began to fly through the air.
By some unknown principle, the bodies flew and piled up in one spot like a mountain.
With every corpse that was added to the pile, In-ho’s pupils shook violently.
And when a very familiar figure flew toward the pile, he collapsed to the ground.
"That's the enemy leader."
A lump of flesh—not only was the head severed from the body, but a massive hole had been gouged through the chest—flew through the air and was placed at the very peak of the mountain of corpses.
In-ho saw it clearly.
The face of Jegal-hwi, whose eyes remained open in resentment; the half-melted face of Maebwa; and the faces of the Black Sky Cultists who used to greet him as they came and went.
"Uh... ugh... no..."
"Fire is best for a thorough cleaning, right?"
Namgung So-yeon snapped her fingers, and sparks ignited at the base of the mountain of corpses.
The flames slowly spread upward, devouring the flesh and clothes of the cultists and the Blue Dragon Corps members.
Watching them turn into a single, massive pyre, In-ho could no longer hold back and burst into tears.
"Nooooo... Chief Steward... Maebwa..."
Wailing loudly, In-ho struck the stone floor.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Blood trickled from his fists as he struck the stone with all his might.
"I'm sorry... I... I'm sorry... It's because of me!"
He sobbed and coughed as if vomiting up his very entrails. Namgung So-yeon took his hands, which were covered in a mess of tears and snot.
"How much you must have suffered to cry like this..."
Namgung So-yeon knelt to match his height and embraced him.
Like a mother soothing a child, she patted his back.
"It's okay now. I've cleared away all the bad things. Rest easy."
Facing him, Namgung So-yeon smiled brightly and placed her hands on either side of In-ho’s face.
Press.
Gripping In-ho’s head firmly, Namgung So-yeon used both thumbs to push the corners of his mouth upward.
"It's a happy day. Smile."
A forced smile.
His tears continued to fall, but his mouth remained fixed in a grin.
Until the mountain of corpses turned entirely to ash, he wept and smiled.
"There, a happy smile~"
Finding the sight quite pleasing, Namgung So-yeon let out a girlish giggle.