Ah Geol had told her. To lie still for two days without moving.
He didn’t even need to say it. She couldn’t move even if she wanted to. When she moved her body, a suffocating pain would wash over her. It hurt, it really hurt, so she couldn’t move.
The fact that she wasn’t wearing clothes was also gradually forgotten as time passed.
Her body was covered with a blanket, and she was floating along the river on a boat, so she didn’t meet anyone.
She looked at the blue sky.
Splash!
The waves hit the side of the boat. The gentle waves would slide in, gently push the boat, and then subside shyly.
It was peaceful.
But Mongseol read the tension in the peace. She waited for the fight that would soon break out.
“Treatment.”
Ah Geol broke the peace.
When he said ‘treatment,’ it meant that he would remove the blanket.
‘Embarrassing.’
She squeezed her eyes shut.
The blanket that had covered her body was removed.
In broad daylight, the scorching sun shone down on her exposed naked body. She could feel the sunlight on every corner of her body.
Ah Geol applied the green juice three times a day.
The effect of the green juice was miraculous. When she had moved her body in the stable, it had been terribly painful, but after only one day, it had become bearable to some extent.
Her wounds had healed a lot.
There was no way to check the wound on her back, and she couldn’t even look at the wound on her side. Because he had scolded her so much not to move her body… but she could tell by feeling that it had healed considerably.
“Energy circulation.”
It meant that he would place his palm on the Mingmen acupoint on her back.
However, Mongseol was always puzzled. She could feel his palm on her back, but she couldn’t feel any true energy flowing in.
‘I don’t feel anything…’
It seemed like he was just placing his hand there, but she, who could not move her body, just waited until Ah Geol took his hand away.
She also knew about true energy healing.
She also knew how to infuse her own true energy. And that it was used to heal the internal injuries of others.
In this case, both sides would circulate their energy. Both the one receiving the true energy and the one giving it would circulate their energy together. To absorb the infused true energy more effectively, the receiving side also had to circulate their energy.
Ah Geol had told her to stay still and do nothing.
It was a part that she could not understand with the true energy healing techniques she knew, but since he had told her to do nothing, she stayed still. Because there were many martial arts in the world that she did not know.
Swoosh!
Ah Geol took his hand away.
‘Porridge.’
Mongseol predicted what Ah Geol would say next.
“Porridge.”
It did not deviate from her prediction at all.
He was going to feed her porridge, so she should open her mouth. He told her not to move even when eating.
He blew on the hot porridge to cool it down. And he fed it to her mouth with a small spoon.
Ah Geol was doing his best to save her.
“Why are you saving me?”
“…”
“You don’t have to go this far. If you just send a message to the Drunken Flower Garden, someone will come.”
“The wounds will heal in two days. It’s a bit of a problem that the wounds have to be exposed to the air for two days, but it’s much better than suffering for several months. You’ve endured one day, so just endure one more day.”
Ah Geol said gruffly.
On the second day, Ah Geol brought the boat to the riverbank.
‘Why are there no attacks?’
Mongseol was puzzled.
By now, the Living Sword Sect disciples should have attacked fiercely. Even if they didn’t attack, they should at least have conducted a checkpoint.
They had passed about ten ferry crossings.
Ah Geol had not moved very secretly either. No, on the contrary, Ah Geol had not hidden at all. In fact, Ah Geol had not even rowed. He had let the boat be carried down by the current.
It was a great fortune that the boat had moved towards the center of the river instead of being pushed to the riverbank.
He had not hidden so blatantly… but the Living Sword Sect swordsmen had not conducted any checkpoints at all.
She had prioritized taking care of her own body, so she hadn’t thought about it for long, but it was strange.
Swoosh! Thud!
The boat reached the riverbank.
“Here, I couldn’t find any women’s clothes, so I stole them from a farmhouse… Even if they don’t fit, just wear them.”
Ah Geol said, handing her a set of clothes.
Mongseol looked at him blankly, wondering what he was talking about. How could he suddenly tell a person who couldn’t even move her body to put on clothes?
“Get up.”
“Get… up?”
“…”
“Am I, am I all better?”
She asked with a disbelieving face.
She had been so severely injured… and only two days had passed. It was impossible that she had healed. She had gotten considerably better, but she still had to suffer for several months to be able to move.
She knew that she had been hit that badly.
“The wounds seem to have healed roughly. There’s a stream over there, so go and wash. It’s a place untouched by human feet, so you can wash without worry.”
Ah Geol gestured.
Ah Geol had applied the green juice before. It was certain. He had given her clothes and immediately told her where the stream was.
In fact, she had wanted to bathe for a long time.
To be precise, from the moment he had applied the green juice, she had felt like she was rolling in a mud puddle.
A strong stench emanated from the green juice.
It was not a stench that others could smell. She couldn’t say what it was… but there was a strange smell that only the person who had the green juice applied to them could smell. It was a smell so terrible that it gave her a headache.
But it didn’t attract flies or bugs.
If the stench was this bad, it would be reasonable for bugs to be attracted… but they weren’t attracted at all. She thought that perhaps the bugs didn’t approach because of the toxicity contained in the green juice… but she didn’t know if that was right.
Also, the green juice was very sticky.
An unpleasant stickiness? The urge to wash off the place where the green juice was applied had arisen several times a day.
She thought it might be a juice that could be used as both a poison and a medicine.
“When you’re done washing, come here. I’ll prepare some snacks. You can go to the Drunken Flower Garden if you want.”
“I can go?”
“No one is stopping you. You don’t owe me anything.”
“But you saved my life…”
“Forget it.”
Ah Geol said gruffly.
* * *
She waited until Ah Geol had disappeared far away.
He had given her clothes, saying that she was all better, but she couldn’t bring herself to move her body.
If she moved her body, that terrible pain would wash over her again.
Twitch!
She twisted her waist slightly.
The blow that had cut her back was very fatal. It was not a sword wound that could heal in a day or two. But then!
‘It doesn’t hurt!’
She blinked her eyes.
This time, she moved her body more. She moved to the extent of bending her waist.
‘It doesn’t hurt!’
The pain was completely gone.
She placed her two arms on the side of the boat and carefully raised her body. Slowly, slowly, she sat up.
She didn’t feel any pain at all.
The wounds probably hadn’t healed. Even a cut from a razor blade would take time for a scab to form and for the wound to heal completely, let alone a body that had suffered a fatal wound.
“Hmm!”
She let out a groan in disbelief.
As Ah Geol had said, her body was all better. She didn’t feel any pain. It was the same as before she had been hit by the sword.
No. It hadn’t healed yet.
She lowered her head and looked at her side. Back, armpit, side… she looked at the wounds she could see with her eyes.
There was a black hole sunken in her side.
The mark where the sword had been embedded was clear.
The wound was still there, but she didn’t feel any pain, and no blood was flowing. It was okay to move her body.
“It’s a strange medicine.”
She thought of the green juice and wrapped the blanket around herself and went to the place where the stream was said to be.
“Ah!”
She was impressed.
There really was a stream. There was a waterfall about the height of an adult’s waist, and water flowed below it.
The water flowed into the river.
How did Ah Geol know about a place like this?
It was understandable that he was familiar with the geography of Dongseung, but the stream was located about a hundred li away from Dongseung.
Ah Geol had been here before.
She took off the blanket, folded it neatly, and put her body into the water.
Chwaaaa!
The cool touch of the stream water wrapped around her entire body.
‘It’s cool!’
She felt very refreshed, as if ten years of grime had been washed away at once.
To think that she would feel this way just by washing off the green juice.
It was like going into the water in the snowy winter, breaking the ice. A cold energy washed over her. But it was good.
She leisurely enjoyed the coolness.
Rustle!
Just then, a sound came from the forest.
‘Such a beast in human form!’
Her eyes immediately hardened coldly.
Ah Geol had said that there was no one around. In fact, it didn’t seem like there would be anyone coming and going. The only way to approach the stream was from the river. The other places were surrounded by a very dense forest. And beyond that, large cliffs were visible.
It was a very secluded place.
So if someone had approached… it was Ah Geol.
Was he peeping at a woman bathing?
As he had said, he had seen everything, so what was the point of peeping at her bathing?
She was furious.
She knew that Ah Geol was a master who was difficult to face. There was also the grace of him having saved her life. In the process, a shameful event had occurred, but she could not blame him.
But that did not give Ah Geol the right to insult a woman.
‘It’s your fault for peeping!’
Shwaeeek!
She shot up from the water like a spring. And she rushed towards the forest at a fast speed.
Hwirik!
She picked up a fallen branch from the ground. She used the branch as a substitute for a sword and executed a sword form. Because the opponent was a master she could not handle, she also used a killing move.
Parararak! Papapapat!
The branches were cut by the sword form. The leaves were cut off as if by a blade and fell.
In that instant, the forest was covered in death.
It was a martial art recorded in the Blood Sword Sutra.
She did not know the power of the Blood Sword Sutra, and had only learned a few forms through diagrams.
She did not know the names of the forms, nor the beginning and the end. So she was usually reluctant to use it because it was an incomplete martial art, but the situation was different now. The opponent was an ultra master. The thought of Ah Geol swinging his chopper gave her goosebumps. The thought of that blade coming at her was just frightening.
She had to perform her best martial art.
Shwaeeeeek!
The sword of death, the Death Sword, broke through the forest. But then,
“Huk!”
She quickly let out a gasp of air and withdrew her form. No, she couldn’t withdraw it, so she raised the branch to the sky.
Papapapat!
The trees that had been hit by the Blood Sword swayed.
She was so focused on withdrawing the Blood Sword that she couldn’t get her body under control.
Her body was shot forward with the momentum of her charge.
She collided roughly with the black object in the forest. A thud rang out, and a fierce impact, as if her body had hit a cliff, washed over her.
“Ah! Are you okay?”
She looked at the black object without even thinking of checking her own condition.
Hee hee hing!
The horse neighed.
It was the black horse. The black horse called Black Dog had followed her.
She had thought that Ah Geol had abandoned the black horse, but the black horse had followed her to the riverbank. Over the mountains, and across the fields.
“How did you get here? You must have had a hard time following me, right?”
She hugged the black horse tightly.