Chapter 61
“Ghk! You little rat…!”
The man eventually threw his sword away. Since he couldn’t subdue me with sword techniques, it seemed he intended to use fist-and-foot techniques instead. But no matter what technique he used, it was the same.
Pyeonghyeon saw through all of them. Even if the man merely assumed the preparatory stance for a technique, Pyeonghyeon would uncannily see through the technique and rattle off its direction of attack, openings, and so on.
Whether it was a fist technique, palm technique, leg technique, and so on… At this point, even I was starting to find it frightening.
‘What on earth is this kid?’
Switching from one technique to another midway through was something only a peak expert who had reached the pinnacle of their martial art could do. But the man had not reached that level.
Which meant…
‘This is my chance!’
If I continued responding calmly like this, there would definitely be a moment when the man became shaken, and I had to seize that opportunity.
If I could strike his opening in that split second…!
“Long River Fist Technique! Dodge ba–”
That was when it happened. The man suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
I was about to step backward as Pyeonghyeon instructed when, in an instant, a foot flew up from below. The man had hooked my foot.
“Gasp…!”
My body staggered violently. The man didn’t miss the opportunity and grabbed me by the collar. Then he lifted me up and slammed his fist downward.
Thwack!
“Unnie!”
The horrible pain in my face left me unable to think straight. In my dazed state, there was only one thought in my mind.
‘What… what technique was that? Why didn’t Pyeonghyeon tell me about it? What is this…?’
“You thought this was going to be a technique too, didn’t you?”
The man’s laughter reached my ears.
“This isn’t a technique. It’s nothing but the kind of dogfight street thugs get into. Crude punching without techniques or rules. But it’s the perfect method for a piece of trash like you.”
“…….”
“I was thinking about it all wrong. Why bother using sophisticated techniques on someone who isn’t even a martial artist? I can just beat you like a dog…”
The man’s eyes gleamed as he looked at me.
Just as a chill ran down my spine…
“Ready yourself?”
Thud!
The man’s fists began raining down on me.
The man really did punch me like a madman. He beat me relentlessly, and at one point, he even started hitting only my face simply because he didn’t like the way I was looking at him.
My vision turned red. Suddenly, a high-pitched ringing sounded in my ears, and the strength drained from my body.
Thud.
Before I knew it, I had collapsed onto the floor. Through my muffled ears came a familiar crying voice.
“No, no. Please, please. Save her. I’ll do anything. I won’t run away ever again! I’ll follow you obediently, so please just let Unnie live. Please, stop now…”
“Haa, haa, then why did you put up such a pointless resistance? Do you know how startled I was? I thought you were some hidden master, but you’re just some useless little brat.”
“Please stop! I’ll do anything, I’ll do everything you tell me! At this rate, she’ll really, really die. If Unnie dies, sob, if she dies…”
“If she dies, she dies. Why do you keep whining beside me? Come to think of it, you were partly responsible for getting on my nerves like this, weren’t you? Fine, I’ll teach you a lesson while I’m at it…!”
Thud.
But the man couldn’t finish his sentence. Because I had grabbed his foot.
It wasn’t an action I thought through anymore. It was simply instinct.
The instinct to cling to the man’s foot until the very end…
Perhaps my stubbornness had provoked the man’s anger. His chilling voice reached me.
“So you want to try me, huh? Fine.”
From then on, the man’s one-sided beating began.
“Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see how long you can last, huh?”
The man’s foot kicked my abdomen.
“You think you’re some great chivalrous hero. Huh? All you can do is get beaten, and that’s it!”
The man’s foot stomped on my hand.
“You pieces of garbage don’t even know your place!”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Die!”
His feet kept flying at me without pause.
“Guh…”
I shook with every blow the man delivered.
Somewhere, I heard the sound of something cracking with a crack. But I felt no pain.
At some point, my body no longer felt like my own. It felt as though my body were floating. I simply swayed with every kick the man delivered, watching only Pyeonghyeon sobbing through my fading vision.
Without realizing it, my lips moved.
‘Why are you just standing there? Hurry and run…’
Had Pyeonghyeon understood my words?
Pyeonghyeon flinched.
When Pyeonghyeon reached out a hand toward me, the man’s sinister laughter rang out.
“Hehe, I’ll finish you off now.”
Whoosh.
The man raised his fist. I instinctively knew. If I took that hit, I’d die.
But could I dodge it?
No.
I no longer had the strength to dodge.
Then… was everything going to end here?
‘No.’
I hadn’t done anything yet.
I hadn’t brought Pyeonghyeon back to her grandmother. We hadn’t even gotten to live happily yet. I hadn’t returned to the young lady either…
‘Young lady…’
The man’s fist slowly descended toward me.
I closed my eyes.
At the moment, I resigned myself to everything…
Bang!
Something exploded.
Hot liquid splattered across my face.
I opened my eyes in surprise.
And saw him… A man without a head.
No, more precisely, the corpse of the man whose head had been blown apart.
‘What is this…?’
“Tsk, tsk. Something less than a bug was making such a fuss. What an unsightly mess.”
A bug? Who was he talking about?
I tried to look ahead, forcing strength into my eyes. But my blood-red vision wouldn’t come into focus properly.
All I could make out was that the voice sounded like an old woman’s.
Grandmother…?
“Rest. This old woman will take care of what comes afterward.”
Could it be that this person…
That was my final thought before I lost consciousness.
It was a peaceful rest.
***
When I regained consciousness, the first thing I noticed was the bitter smell of medicine.
I had experienced a situation like this before.
No, I’d experienced it quite often. Back when I was constantly getting beaten up by the young lady at the Xiao Family Manor.
Whenever I passed out back then, I would always be carried to the medicine hall. And when I opened my eyes, I would see the physician or Aso.
Maybe even now…
“……!”
My eyes flew open.
At the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.
‘As expected…’
What came into view was nothing but an unfamiliar ceiling.
Not the house I shared with Mother, nor the medicine hall of the Xiao Family Manor, but an unfamiliar place.
Then where was this?
“Unnie!”
I blinked.
What? Who was calling me like that…
“Unnie, are you okay? Are you awake? Unnie!”
At the tearful voice, I finally came to my senses.
Right.
That voice was…
“Pyeong… Cough, hack!”
I tried to call Pyeonghyeon’s name, but a dry cough came out instead.
My throat felt like it was being torn apart.
No, actually, it wasn’t just my throat. My entire body throbbed and ached.
But… It didn’t hurt as much as I expected.
Considering how badly that man had beaten me, it wouldn’t have been strange if something had been broken somewhere, yet surprisingly, the pain was bearable.
And I soon learned why.
“You need to be careful. Eom Papa… I mean, my grandmother used Paralysis Powder, so the pain should be less severe, but you’re still in bad condition. You only just woke up after ten days.”
“Ten… what?”
Even at my astonished voice, Pyeonghyeon calmly continued.
“Please drink some water first. Your throat is very dry, so wetting it with water should make it feel a little better.”
Pyeonghyeon supported me and helped me sit upright. Then Pyeonghyeon brought a bowl of water to my lips, and although I felt a little embarrassed, I obediently drank.
Once I had caught my breath, Pyeonghyeon finally began speaking slowly.
“When that man was about to do something terrible to Unnie, Eom Papa… that is, my grandmother, found us. She had been looking for me the whole time.”
“Yeah.”
“Grandmother saved both you and me. I woke up before you did. We stayed at a nearby inn, but for your proper treatment, we moved to our residence in Guangxi Province…”
“Wait. Grandmother? That person is your grandmother?”
“What?”
Pyeonghyeon tilted her head in confusion.
“Yes, my grandmother…”
‘As I thought.’
The thought I’d had before losing consciousness must have been correct.
‘She was Pyeonghyeon’s grandmother.’
When I heard that old woman’s voice, I had wondered if that might be the case. And there was the fact that she had suddenly appeared and saved a complete stranger like me.
Come to think of it, she’d said she’d been looking for Pyeonghyeon all this time.
Then was the expert who had barged into their hideout and turned the place upside down also Pyeonghyeon’s grandmother?
Thinking back, the man’s head had exploded in an instant. Somehow, that sent a chill through me.
Just how strong was this grandmother…?
“…So Grandmother treated you, Unnie. But your injuries were so severe that she said you might die…”
“…….”
“Sob, when Unnie was hovering between life and death for ten, ten days, everything really went dark before my eyes. Unnie ended up like that while protecting me, but I couldn’t do anything. I…”
“Pyeonghyeon…”
“Then when I heard that Unnie had gone blind…”
“What? My eyes?”
My eyes widened. It was strange.
Considering she’d said I’d gone blind, I could see perfectly well right now.
What was going on?
Pyeonghyeon wasn’t the kind of child to say something like that for no reason.
What did she mean by blind…
“Ah.”
I suddenly raised my hand and felt my face.
At some point, the entire right half of my face had been wrapped in bandages.
Come to think of it, the reason I had been able to see was that I had only been looking with one side…
Pyeonghyeon’s muffled voice reached my ears.
“My right eye is blind. They couldn’t fix it.”
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