Chapter 80
Interlude – Liyeon
Deep in Mount Luo, Huizhou, Guangdong Province.
Liyeon was lying collapsed at the bottom of a mountainside.
‘Danna….’
After parting ways with Seo Dan, Liyeon stayed there for a while before slowly beginning to move. He headed in the opposite direction from where Seo Dan had run off. Even as he cautiously kept watch over his surroundings, Liyeon kept turning his head to look back.
“I’m going to miss you a lot.”
‘So will I. I’m really going to miss you. Even now, I still…’
But there was no one left to convey those words to.
Liyeon repeatedly looked back with eyes full of lingering regret, but eventually shook his head. He did not have much time to waste like this.
He had to hurry. Liyeon hurriedly picked up his pace.
Each step was heavy. His body, which had been moving nonstop from late at night until now, had already reached its limit. His thighs trembled, and his breath rose all the way to his throat.
But he could not stop here. Liyeon bit down on his lip and thought.
‘First… first, let’s go to Jiangxi Province. Once I reach the Jiangxi branch, I’ll be able to gather people. I should also ask the experts nearby for help. If I lead those people back there….’
Can I save you?
Hoping desperately that he could, Liyeon hastened his steps. At some point, he forgot even his exhaustion and ran forward mindlessly.
Twigs scratched his face, and wounds formed on his hands as he pushed through the bushes, but he felt no pain. He was solely focused on getting out of the mountain, and just as he leaped over a ditch…
“……!”
Liyeon suddenly clutched his chest.
His heart pounded violently as a chilling sensation spread through his body. Liyeon knew this symptom well.
This symptom that had tormented him his entire life…
‘A seizure…!’
Why was he about to have a seizure?
The Great Master Yeongro had definitely said that his illness had improved considerably. He had even assured him that such seizures would be rare as long as he managed himself properly, so why…?
But he had no time to think any further. The pain in his heart was growing stronger by the moment.
Before long, the pain would dominate his entire body. The agony of every single meridian being hacked apart with a knife would come crashing down, and gradually, his body would lose its strength and his consciousness would grow hazy.
If that happened, he would be unable to move. And if he could not move, Seo Dan would…
‘No.’
Liyeon gritted his teeth and kicked off the ground. He struggled to get even one step farther somehow, but his pace only grew slower.
Eventually, his body crumpled, and he could only move forward almost on all fours. Liyeon panted heavily and repeated to himself.
‘No, no, please.’
Please, move.
When Liyeon took another step.
Tap.
“Ah.”
He misstepped.
Liyeon hurriedly stretched out his hand, trying to grab something. But there was nothing within his grasp.
His body abruptly tilted sideways.
Liyeon looked to the side. Pitch-black darkness had opened its jaws, seemingly ready to swallow him whole.
Only then did Liyeon realize.
It was a cliff.
‘No…’
Crash, thud, shaaaah
When he came to his senses, he had already rolled down the mountainside.
Liyeon wriggled his body.
Surprisingly, there was no pain. No, it would be more accurate to say that the pain inside his body was so severe that he had no chance to feel the pain on the outside.
But perhaps his body had already exhausted all its strength, because he could not move a muscle. He did not even have the strength to scream from the pain.
He could only wriggle his body like a useless insect. Feeling as though he might cry, Liyeon bit his lip tightly.
‘Why?’
Why had things turned out like this?
All he had to do was run away, so why could he not even manage that?
Why was his body always like this?
Born with such a damned weak body. Why, even at the very last moment, did it have to turn out like this…
‘Danna… I’m sorry.’
Eventually, a single tear streamed down from the corner of his eye.
The time Seo Dan had desperately bought for him had become meaningless. The opportunity Seo Dan had created by trusting him and even sacrificing himself had been ruined by Liyeon himself.
He had asked him to trust him.
He had said that no matter what happened, he would never leave him. That he would keep his promise, so he should wait for him.
He had said that. And now, I cannot even keep my promise to wait for you.
‘No…’
Please, not like this…
Liyeon painfully stretched out his hand.
But his body, which had already exhausted its strength, would not move at all, only the tips of his fingers twitching a few times.
His vision gradually darkened.
Liyeon desperately stared ahead.
Just as he thought he could see a hazy figure nearby…
‘Who…’
In the end, Liyeon lost consciousness.
The familiar darkness swallowed him whole.
***
He had a strange dream.
In the dream, his eyes were closed.
No, he did not know whether his eyes were actually closed or whether he simply could not see what was in front of him. The only thing he knew was that this darkness was quite familiar to him.
At that moment… A strange sound reached his ears.
It sounded somewhat like someone gasping as though their breath were being cut off, and somewhat like the growl of a wounded beast.
Before long, Liyeon realized.
This was the sound of crying. Someone was sobbing quietly.
‘……?’
When he realized this, Liyeon felt a strange emotion. It felt as though his chest were being tightly squeezed, making even him feel sorrowful.
Don’t cry.
When Liyeon instinctively reached out his hand…
“……!”
Everything around him disappeared.
It was the end of the dream.
***
Liyeon opened his eyes.
What he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.
Liyeon blinked blankly. It was strange. He had clearly collapsed in the mountains, so why was he looking at a ceiling?
It felt as though he were lying in a room…
‘A room?’
When he abruptly sat up–
“Ugh…”
Liyeon had no choice but to curl up again. A sudden wave of pain had struck him.
Only then did Liyeon examine his body.
The seizure had subsided long ago. Instead, bandages were wrapped around various parts of his body, apparently from being injured while rolling down the mountainside.
Then, the person who had treated these wounds was…
“You’re awake.”
At the same time, the door opened, and someone entered.
Liyeon raised his head, and his eyes widened.
His first impression was ‘white.’
The woman before him was white from head to toe, quite literally. She was dressed entirely in white from head to toe, and aside from her pitch-black hair and eyes, there was not a single other part of her that had any color.
The woman was young and beautiful in appearance, but strangely, she did not seem particularly young. Rather, she even gave off an air of experience.
As Liyeon unconsciously examined the woman…
“How does your body feel?”
“Huh?”
Ignoring Liyeon’s flustered expression, the woman approached and sat down on a chair beside the bed.
“None of your bones are broken, nor have you suffered any serious injuries, so I treated you lightly. However, you suffered bruises, so you will have difficulty moving around for a while.”
“…….”
“Is there something you wish to ask?”
Only then did Liyeon speak.
“Are you the person who saved me?”
As he said those words, Liyeon was certain. It was her.
A certain memory had suddenly come to mind.
Just before losing consciousness, he had definitely seen her. The white figure that had been nearby. At the time, he had thought he was seeing an apparition, but it had not been an apparition.
It had been this person. Just as Liyeon had guessed, the woman calmly nodded.
“Yes.”
Liyeon immediately bowed his head politely.
“You saved my life, benefactor. I am truly grateful. I do not know how I could ever repay this kindness…”
“That is enough.”
The woman answered bluntly.
“I merely happened to find you collapsed while passing by. The fact that you survived is simply because you were fortunate.”
“Even so, if it were not for you, benefactor, I would not have been able to remain alive. May I ask for your honored name? No matter when, I will surely repay this kindness.”
“…….”
“…Benefactor?”
Only then did the woman finally say a word.
“Jade Snow Wanderer (玉雪散人).”
“…….”
“Call me that.”
Liyeon secretly thought.
‘Does she not want to tell me her name?’
From what he had heard, there were quite a few reclusive eccentric masters like that. But he had never heard of such a title before, either, so Liyeon nodded curiously.
“Yes, Jade Snow Wanderer.”
After that, Liyeon asked the Jade Snow Wanderer various other questions. And he learned several things.
First of all, this was an inn in Gwiseonhyeon.
Gwiseon County was a village southeast of Bakrahyon, and the distance between them was not particularly far. He had been worried that perhaps he had been brought somewhere extremely remote, but apparently that was not the case.
However, there was no time to feel relieved.
“…Three days have passed?”
It turned out that three days had passed since Liyeon collapsed.
Liyeon was deeply shocked. He had been prepared for the possibility of not waking for a day or two, considering how seriously ill he had been, but he had never imagined that three days would have passed. And three days was enough time that he could not even begin to guess what had happened to Seo Dan.
Had he escaped safely? Was he hiding somewhere safe? Or perhaps…
‘No.’
He could not jump to conclusions until he saw it with his own eyes.
Liyeon forced himself to calm down and raised his head again. Then, he asked one final question.
“I am sorry, but may I ask you just one more thing? By any chance… were there people who came after me?”
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