I'm a Eunuch?!
"Please... I beg you."
Hwa Yeon knelt before Hyeoncheong Doin, bowing her head low. The old Daoist watched her in silence, letting out a deep sigh. A trace of complication lingered in the stroke of his hand over his white beard.
"Hwa Yeon sojeo... What in the world is this madness?"
His eyes wavered. It was utterly incomprehensible—the promising Plum Blossom Sword Fairy of Mount Hua shielding the Poison Spider of the unorthodox paths.
"She says she knows a way to treat him."
"A treatment?"
Hyeoncheong Doin's gaze sharpened.
"Then make her spill it at once! A man's life hangs by a thread—why waste time?!"
His roar echoed through the medical hall. He looked ready to grab Jegal Jiun by the collar and shake her senseless. But Jegal Jiun just shrugged shamelessly.
"If I tell you now, you'll kill me. Gotta hold onto my lifeline, you damn geezer."
"You... you insolent wretch...!"
Hyeoncheong Doin's hands trembled. If he weren't a Daoist, he'd have fetched torture tools to pry her mouth open right then. But the honor of the Dao and Wudang's reputation held him back.
"...She claims there's a treatment in the North Sea."
"The North Sea?"
Hyeoncheong Doin's eyebrows twitched.
"So... you plan to take that Poison Spider all the way there?"
"Yes."
Hwa Yeon's answer was firm.
"Heavens... It's far too dangerous."
The Daoist sighed deeply.
"I've heard the Poison Spider, scourge of Hubei, has already reached the ranks of a Peak Expert. She's bound now, but who knows what schemes she'll hatch on that long road to the North Sea? One misstep, and you could get stabbed in the back, or this boy could reach a point of no return."
His concerns were entirely valid. It was like sleeping with a tiger at your side.
That was when it happened.
"Ow! You think I'd do that?!"
Jegal Jiun shrieked.
"If you were a disciple of Wudang, I'd stop you somehow... but no helping it."
Hyeoncheong Doin sighed in resignation, the deep wrinkles around his eyes growing darker.
"Clinging to life is the way of all things, and the will to save is the root of the Dao. Even if the path is perilous and fraught with danger, if there's the slimmest hope to save a life, it must be grasped. Even if it's a venomous serpent."
He closed his eyes briefly, murmuring like a chant. It was his way of invoking Daoist teachings to respect Hwa Yeon's decision. But his hands were already moving decisively.
"Very well. I'll take some minimal precautions. One can't sleep soundly with a tiger nearby."
Hyeoncheong Doin pulled a small needle pouch and a dark red pill from his robes. Jegal Jiun's pupils began to tremble at the sight.
"Wha...? Stay back! Put that down—right now!"
She scrambled backward on the floor, but it was too late. Wudang disciples pinned her limbs firmly.
"Aaaagh! Nooo!!! You damn geezer! Stop! I hate it! Let go!"
Jegal Jiun thrashed and wailed, but Hyeoncheong Doin's hands were swift.
Pok! Pok!
"Gaaah!"
Silver needles flew from his fingertips, embedding precisely around her Qihai and Guanyuan acupoints. They were sealing points that scattered the energy gathered in her dantian.
"These are temporary sealing needles to block your inner energy circulation. And this..."
He pried open her jaw forcefully and shoved in the dark red pill.
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
"Swallow it. This pill dilutes the qi-scattering poison. Try forcing your inner energy, and your organs will twist in agony instantly."
"Gack! Hack! Cough...!"
Jegal Jiun retched, tears and snot streaming down her face. The Poison Spider who terrorized the jianghu was now reduced to a writhing, powerless bug on the floor.
Hyeoncheong Doin looked down coldly and added,
"The road to the North Sea is long and treacherous. I pray that foul tongue and twisted skill don't hasten your end."
"The road to the North Sea won't be easy."
Hyeoncheong Doin's words dripped with heavy concern. He furrowed his white brows and handed me a bundle of herbs.
"These will cool your inner energy. Brew and drink them steadily—it'll help gather your dantian."
"Thank you, elder."
I bowed deeply in gratitude. The weight of the herbs in my hand felt like the burden of my very life.
"You're really skipping Mount Hua and heading straight there? Wouldn't it be wiser to stop at your clan for better preparations?"
I gave a bitter smile and shook my head at the Daoist's worried question.
"It's fine. If I show up like this, how heartbroken would the sect leader be...?"
A promising second-generation disciple of Mount Hua, toyed with by an unorthodox seductress, losing his inner energy and returning a cripple. It wasn't just my shame—it would tarnish Mount Hua's honor.
"Sigh... If that's your will... I'll send a letter to Mount Hua as requested, but remember: delay too long, and it may be irreversible."
Hyeoncheong Doin clucked his tongue in pity.
That was when it happened.
"Jeez, it's not like we're marching to war with the North Sea Ice Palace. Why the fuss?"
A gruff voice piped up from the side. Jegal Jiun. The ropes binding her were gone, replaced by Wudang's seals on her dantian. She pouted, kicking the dirt with a sulky expression.
"Just go politely ask for the treatment—they'll hand it over. Who do you think I am? I've got a name in Hubei..."
"Quiet."
Hwa Yeon snapped coldly, lightly smacking the back of Jegal Jiun's head.
"Ow!"
"Let's go."
Hwa Yeon wrapped her arm around my shoulders. And so, leaving Wudang Mountain behind, we took our first step on the long journey to the North Sea.
Under a sky heavy with gray clouds, a chill wind tugged at our collars. Wudang's gates faded into the distance, shrinking to a distant speck.
The jolting carriage rattled my body, but Hwa Yeon's embrace at my back was steady and warm. She held me like a fragile doll of her own making. Her breath brushed my ear rhythmically, blurring my mind and dulling my sense of reality.
"...Still so cold."
Her slender fingers gently stroked my lower abdomen, over my dantian. The faint heat from her palm warmed the chilled core of my body. She never lifted her hand, sensing every shift in my energy. As if one break in contact would snap my lifeline. Her touch bordered on obsession, beyond mere pulse diagnosis. The pressure through my clothes was sometimes suffocating, sometimes strangely reassuring.
"Phew, anyone'd think you two were lovers."
Jegal Jiun, propping her chin across from us, clucked her tongue mockingly.
"Coddle him like that, and you'll give him issues he doesn't have. Tch, such a drama queen..."
She turned to the window, grumbling. But her sidelong glances held a strange mix of jealousy and resentment.
Hwa Yeon's eyebrow twitched. Her hand on my abdomen shot up into the air.
"Eek!"
Jegal Jiun reflexively shielded her face, hunching like a scared pup. But Hwa Yeon's hand wasn't aimed at her. She was just fixing my rumpled collar.
"...Stay still. Don't test my patience with that tongue."
Hwa Yeon snapped icily, then refocused on me. Her hand settled back on my dantian, deeper and heavier this time.
"Yi Yi. Just endure a little longer. Once we reach the North Sea Ice Palace... I'll make you whole again. I promise."
Her voice trembled faintly. She pulled me tighter against her. In her arms, I felt her heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump. A fierce, precarious rhythm blending pity for me and fury at Jegal Jiun.
I could only nod weakly and burrow deeper into her embrace. Right now, all I could do was cling to her warmth to keep my fading lifeline from slipping away.
"...We're far from Wudang now. Time to talk. What exactly is this treatment?"
I asked, feigning calm. But anxiety clung to the end of my quivering voice.
Jegal Jiun snorted and stared out the window.
"Uh... hello?"
As I called again, Hwa Yeon poked my side.
"Yi Yi. No need to be polite to a wench like her. She's not worth your courtesy."
"Oh... r-right?"
I fumbled to adjust. "Then... explain yourself? No, explain?"
Jegal Jiun's eyebrow twitched. She whipped her head around.
"Hah, get outta here."
She glared at me incredulously.
"You little punk... Hey, I'm thirty this year—thirty! A fresh-faced kid barely past twenty, who the hell are you to talk down to me?"
"Pardon...?"
I blinked in shock. She looked so young—I hadn't guessed she was ten years older.
"Prisoner or not, show some respect to your elders! Huh?! Jianghu manners may be in the gutter, but still—don't gawk at me like that!"
She wagged her finger, ranting. Her voice boomed, shaking the carriage.
That was when it happened.
Shing—
A chill sound rang from behind me.
"Eep!"
Jegal Jiun's face drained of color. The Poison Spider's bravado vanished; she hunched like a frightened village wife.
"I-I mean... what I was saying is..."
She yanked back her pointing finger, clasping her hands politely. Her eyes darted, gauging Hwa Yeon.
"Ahem. The treatment? Right, right. Time to explain. Our young master is curious, so big sis here will kindly tell all."
She leaned toward me with a forced smile, her face a weird blend of servility and shamelessness.
"The treatment is..."
Jegal Jiun paused. Her eyes rolled slyly, a strange smile curling her lips.
"What else?"
She slyly raised her left hand, forming a circle with thumb and index finger. Then, with her right index, she blatantly thrust in and out of the ring.
"Fucking."