As True as a Dream Chapter 115

Hongo stepped forward and looked at Hae-Joo, then looked at Yi Ho and said, “…I think she just collapsed from exhaustion.”

 

Without replying, Yi Ho tucked Hae-Joo’s disheveled hair behind her ears and carried her on his back.

 

His heart, which had fallen into a bottomless pit following the sound of her colorful, quiet breathing, returned to its place.

 

“…What are you going to do now, I think she’s seen it all, are you going to tell her everything?”

 

Hongo asked as he started to walk away and immediately followed.

 

“Do you think Hae-Joo would stay by my side after knowing what I am?”

 

The tone was casual, but it was the heaviest question Hongo had ever heard.

 

Hongo hesitated, unable to answer straightforwardly.

 

“…You won’t know unless you tell her, will you?”

 

Yi Ho muttered to himself as he carried Haizhu down the street.

 

“What if the answer is to leave me?”

 

“Ms. Hae-Joo is not like that, to be so unfaithful…”

 

“Just in case, just in case?”

 

Hongo was puzzled.

 

He had always been confident in his choices and never had any regrets.

 

But to see him so unsure and insecure now, Hongo was at a loss for words.

 

Yi Ho’s mouth dropped open, then he glanced at Hongo’s heavily clenched jaw and gripped her leg tightly, as if he couldn’t let go.

 

Just in case…

 

Yes, he hadn’t thought that one in a million possibility would be so terrifying.

 

He had no intention of letting her know what he was, and if that day ever came, it would be a long, long time from now.

 

He hadn’t expected it to come so suddenly and at such an unexpected moment.

 

Stupidly, his mind went blank as soon as he felt the embarrassment of the hazing.

 

How ugly.

 

“…I’ll go to the hospital first, so take the car and come there. Gyeongseong First Hospital.”

 

Yi Ho immediately shot forward like the wind, ignoring Hongo who was following behind him.

 

His eyes flashed golden once more, and his rounded brow instantly curved.

 

As he exerted himself, a trickle of bitter blood rushed down his chest and up his throat.

 

His legs suddenly gave out on him, and he fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around the swaying Hae-Joo behind him, and letting out an uncontrollable cough.

 

“Master!”

 

Hongo rushed over to Yi Ho, eyebrows waggling as he suddenly stood up.

 

Yi Ho coughed as if he was out of breath, then raised his head.

 

The blood at the corner of his mouth made his white face look even more sickly.

 

“…I’m fine.”

 

“I think you’re pushing yourself too hard. You should take the car…”

 

“I’m faster.”

 

When his breathing calmed, Yi Ho stood up.

 

He felt as if a hole had been punched somewhere in his stomach, as if his powers weren’t being concentrated.

 

His power had broken again.

 

He could feel his sickly body weakening.

 

But Yi Ho was undeterred, and he rushed forward, carrying Hae-Joo on his back.

 

‘Had he overloaded his body from all the searching and rescuing?’

 

Hongo, who had stayed behind, pursed his lips in a sullen manner.

 

He had vomited blood many times before, but never to the point where he couldn’t hold himself up like he had just now.

 

‘The Human Blood Stone… We must have it. Ha…’

 

He knew that recently, there had been a series of accidents in or near the area where Governor Saito had been traveling, killing at least a few dozen people and possibly hundreds.

 

It was unknown how many people’s blood the serpent at Saito’s side had absorbed into the human bloodstone, but it could not be many.

 

‘Could only the perfect human bloodstone heal Yi Ho? Will Yi Ho be okay until the human blood is complete? When will Governor Saito return?’

 

Yi Ho said that he would wait for the stone to be complete before taking it, but Hongo was impatient.

 

He threw his hands up in the air, and a crow perched in a nearby tree swooped down and landed on Hong’o’s shoulder.

 

“Where is Governor Saito now? We need to get back to the capital as soon as possible.”

 

Caw-!

 

The crow cawed as if to answer his question.

 

“Near… Jingsheng Province? He’s returning home early because of Mao Saito?”

 

Hongo raised an eyebrow.

 

***

 

Haie-Joo opened her eyes again, this time in a hospital in the city of Jingsheng.

 

The bright lights from the ceiling blinded her, so she closed her eyes and opened them again.

 

“Are you awake?”

 

She turned at the sound of a familiar voice and saw Hongo sitting by her bed, looking at her.

 

“The doctor said you didn’t have any major injuries, thankfully, and that your voice will be fine in a few days.”

 

Hae-Joo stared at Hongo blankly, then sat up.

 

“The doctor said that when you wake up, we can pay the hospital bill and leave.”

 

Hae-Joo nodded slowly and looked around.

 

Nearby, there were several white iron beds at regular intervals, just like the one she was lying on.

 

Some were empty, others had people lying on them, but none of them had the look of the person she was looking for.

 

“Where’s the boss?”

 

Hae-Joo asked as she looked around wordlessly, and Hongo rolled his eyes before answering.

 

“He… he, the boss… eh, he has some important business to attend to… he needs to go back to Song Yue Pavilion first, and he’ll be back soon.”

 

“Important business? What kind of important business…”

 

Hae-Joo swallowed the question she was about to ask reflexively.

 

When Hongo didn’t ask, she hurriedly changed the subject.

 

“…Isn’t there anything else that’s bothering you? If there’s anything else that’s bothering you, you should come to the hospital.”

 

Hongo trailed off when she saw Hae-Joo looking at her with mesmerized, unfocused eyes.

 

“Miss Hae-Joo?”

 

Hongo’s hand gently touched her shoulder, and she turned around, mesmerized.

 

The words of Hongo, who had served the Ban family since ancient times, flashed through her mind.

 

“Earlier…”

 

She wanted to ask about the ‘figure’ of Yi Ho that had occupied her mind, but her mouth was no longer open.

 

She didn’t even know where to start or how to ask.

 

“You know?”

 

Hongo asked, scratching his head when Hae-Joo didn’t answer.

 

“…No. Mmm! Mmm!”

 

Hae-Joo’s voice was locked, cracked, and tingling, and she made a face and cleared her throat.

 

“Go back… Hmph, do you want to go back?”

 

Hongo asked, barely above a throaty whisper, and Hongo smiled and nodded.

 

“Just wait for a moment. I’ll take care of the discharge procedures.”

 

“Please, thank you, Mister Hongo.”

 

Watching Hongo leave the room with a smile on his face, Hae-Joo lowered her eyes.

 

The image of Yi Ho’s golden eyes and the way he hadn’t even groaned as he gripped the pillar of fire with his bare hands replayed in her mind.

 

‘What the hell was that? How was that possible?’

 

Moreover, Yi Ho was ill.

 

The man she had seen and experienced was sickly.

 

Sometimes he was as hot as a ball of fire, sometimes he would cough up blood, and usually he had a low body temperature that was as cold as the aura he gave off.

 

So when she tried to ask him for answers to his grotesque behavior, she could find none.

 

The same was true of his golden eyes.

 

She had never heard of a person’s eyes changing color at will.

 

And the strength to hold up a beam with one hand that could hold three or four men?

 

Earlier, Yi Ho had avoided her, but she had seen it.

 

The burn marks on his hands looked like they had already begun to heal, not like he had just been injured.

 

The more she thought about it, the more nervous and anxious she became, and she stood up from her seat.

 

As she thought about it, she realized that Hongo hadn’t come back for a while, so she decided to look for him.

 

It was late at night, and there were only a few doctors and patients walking through the hospital corridors.

 

As she walked in silence, she suddenly stopped and looked back down the hallway she had just passed.

 

She heard Hongo’s voice coming from that direction.

 

“Is it really you, mister?”

 

She poked her head out of the twisting hallway and saw Hongo’s back.

 

He was standing in front of a wide-open window and seemed to be talking to someone.

 

‘Who was outside the window?’

 

“Are you sure you went to the governor’s residence to find Saito Mao? Are you trying to see the end of it?”

 

Hae-Joo, who had just opened her mouth to call Hongo, was stunned.

 

‘The boss went to Governor General Saito’s residence? What do you mean, to see the end?’

 

Hongo told him that Yi Ho was away on important business.

 

And that important business is to go to the residence to find Mao Saito?

 

Hae-Joo remembered the eerie sight of Mao Saito when she last saw her in the latrine.

 

She knew that it was Saito Mao, the crazy woman, who had left her in the fire pit of that abandoned house.

 

That’s right.

 

That woman was a mad bitch who would do anything for what she wanted, just as she spat it out.

 

Not just a box of dead mountain birds.

 

This had shown her just how dangerous Mao Saito was.