Chapter 238

A big door leading to the surface stood prominently at the top of the stairs.

It was nothing like what Qing had imagined when thinking about a secret passage and a secret door.

Although the door was bolted shut from the outside, Qing opened it effortlessly and stepped out into the world.

Finally emerging into the open air, the warm breeze of early June enveloped her as soon as the door opened.

In that majestic moment of escape, Qing thought to herself.

Hmm, the underground was cool, that’s for sure.

But for Qing, who had been captured in the dead of night, then managed to nap a bit before having lunch and finally stepping out in the late afternoon, it didn’t feel all that remarkable.

However, for Mo Yong Joo-hee, who hadn’t seen the sunlight for a long time, and even despaired that she might never see that bright scenery again, her feelings were quite different.

So, when the warm air of early June wrapped around her, Mo Yong Joo-hee let out a small, muffled sob.

Qing forced a wry smile and looked around. There was a backyard snugly fitting between the back of the building and the wall, just wide enough for about three shoulders to fit, or was it not exactly a backyard? What do you even call a space like this?

Turning back, Qing realized it was a surprisingly clever hiding spot.

No outsiders would bother to come this way, and even if they did, anyone would glance at the staircase leading down and the hastily rigged wooden door and assume it was just a dumpy storage area.

According to the Blood Sect Warrior’s testimony about the Blood Sect’s ecosystem, they mostly stayed above ground when not on duty.

In that case, this manor must be one of the Blood Sect’s strongholds, Qing thought.

Of course, the best approach is to have a quick look inside first.

As she untied the bundle around her waist and carefully set Mo Yong Joo-hee down, she asked,

“Could you wait a moment? I’ll tidy up the manor first.”

“Are you going to leave me?”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Let’s go together. Don’t leave me alone.”

Mo Yong Joo-hee clung to Qing’s arm as she pleaded.

“I promise I won’t abandon you. Just wait a little, okay?”

“I-I don’t want to! Let’s go together. Just don’t leave me.”

“Mo Yong Joo-hee, I won’t keep you waiting long! Just—just one million seconds and I’ll be back.”

“No! I don’t want to! Don’t leave me behind, okay? Huh? Seomun Joo, you can’t do that to me. It’s your fault, anyway. You should take responsibility.”

Qing gently cupped both of Mo Yong Joo-hee’s cheeks and met her gaze.

“Mo Yong Joo-hee, look at me. I will never abandon you. Do you understand?”

“Then let’s go together.”

“I just need to sort out the inside a bit. If there are any Blood Sect pests around, it’ll only hurt you again.”

“I’m fine. It’s just pain; I can take it.”

She was throwing a tantrum like a child, making Qing feel exasperated.

Hmm. Isn’t she supposed to listen when I say it like this?

Was this truly just a movie and nothing more?

As Qing sighed, she caught a glimpse of Mo Yong Joo-hee’s desperate eyes pleading at her and held it in.

Alright, I’ll try to coax her three more times.

“Mo Yong Joo-hee, what are you so afraid of? It’ll just be a moment. Are you scared something might happen in that short time?”

“But, when I’m alone, I-I shouted and nobody came to help me…”

Mo Yong Joo-hee began to spill out her story incoherently.

As it turned out, she’d been caught off guard by Ji-tan Gwangma while going home alone without any sense of caution.

Unable to escape, they tore her nails off and hung her with a noose around her neck at just the right height so that standing meant excruciating pain, and trying to breathe would only pull her back into that pain…

“They said that if I swallowed solitude, they would let me down. I-I wanted to say that, but it was so painful to breathe. Why didn’t anyone help me? Why are they laughing when I feel like I’m going to die?”

Apparently, the Blood Sect thugs found her writhing in agony and laughed at her until dawn.

“So you can’t be alone. If you get caught again, it’ll happen just like that. No, no.”

Mo Yong Joo-hee was streaming tears.

“I’m pathetic, right? A silly girl who got caught wandering alone and suffered through that. A foolish girl who got taken off guard and lost her guards. I know, I know, but I was just so scared. I’m just a worthless girl. Worthless as a woman and a warrior.”

“No. Mo Yong Joo-hee, you’re neither pathetic nor foolish. You haven’t done anything wrong. Is it wrong to go home? It’s all those Blood Sect jerks’ fault. You did nothing wrong at all.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Yes. Really. You can trust me, right?”

“Yeah, I trust you.”

“And besides, you are a heroine of the Martial World. You have such a beautiful face and you’re a proper woman. Plus, you’ve avenged yourself as a warrior splendidly. So don’t say things like that.”

“Okay. Thank you. Thank you…”

“Mo Yong Joo-hee, can you gather just a little bit of courage and wait for me? Just a little bit, really. I promise I’ll be back in one million seconds. Got it?”

“Just a little. You’ll be back in a hundred seconds, right?”

“Of course. Just stay put for a bit. Ugh, I’m so mad right now. I’ll make sure to take down those rotten bastards.”

“Yeah, yeah, I understand.”

With that, Qing embraced Mo Yong Joo-hee tightly.

“Oh, you’re so kind and brave. You’re truly strong and resilient, Mo Yong Joo-hee. Do you get that? You believe me, right?”

“Yeah…”

“If painful and difficult memories pop up, just focus on the memories of taking revenge on those bastards. Revenge is sweet, right? I’ll be back in no time.”

Saying that, Qing flew away with a gravity-defying leap.

Mo Yong Joo-hee, for the first time, gathered her focus and hugged her legs as she started counting. Then suddenly, a question struck her.

“Revenge…? Huh…?”

Mo Yong Joo-hee’s focus scattered again, and she began to tremble.

—-

Unfortunately, there were only two members of the Blood Sect left at the stronghold.

After both of them hastily testified in a bid to save their lives in the ultimate truth showdown, Qing, who had memorized the locations of their hideouts, determined the final winner.

Thus, the loser in the truth showdown belonged to Qing, while the winner was left for Mo Yong Joo-hee.

“Um, I’m okay. You don’t have to do anything if Seomun Joo wants to…”

“There’s nothing to take back. We need to repay what we owe, especially since we’ve suffered, so let’s do it. Now, you’ll just follow my lead, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah…”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have much time, so let’s keep it simple—let’s just remove the skin and hang them up.”

And just like that, two skinned corpses were left hanging.

After that, as they washed off in the abandoned manor’s bathtub, Mo Yong Joo-hee was horrified by the water and let out a piercing scream, shaking her head frantically.

Thanks to that, Qing had to coax her more while trying to wash her, and when she splashed some water on her hair, Mo Yong Joo-hee thrashed about and screamed that it hurt while still refusing to close her eyes, leading to another long bout of coaxing and washing, causing Qing to break out in a cold sweat.

Finally, when they dressed her in the clothes found in the manor, she finally looked somewhat human again.

They had to head back to Muchen Pavilion, but there was no way they could show up at the Martial Alliance looking like blood-soaked monsters.

“I’m so sorry, I’m really sorry. So sorry.”

“It’s fine, just stop apologizing.”

“But these bruises are all black and swollen; how am I supposed to deal with that…?”

“Well, I guess that explains the constant throbbing.”

“You can take off my nails if you want to.”

“No, it’s really fine. I might be split in half, but this is just a bruise; in a few days, I’ll be fine. Don’t apologize too much; you had no choice, and it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault, Mo Yong Joo-hee.”

“Yeah…”

With that, while she continued to quiver and whine about nails, Qing finally managed to return to Muchen Pavilion with Mo Yong Joo-hee in tow.

Once inside, loud sounds of wooden swords clashing echoed from the backyard.

Qing’s friends didn’t even bat an eye.

That was because Qing had often been absent due to training with Cheon Yu-hak.

Even if she went a whole day without showing her face, they figured she was just off training with the old lady (because it couldn’t be called Shintu’s class).

Qing tsked her tongue, feeling how relaxed they were, and headed up to the guest room with Mo Yong Joo-hee.

“Seomun Joo, you can’t go anywhere…”

Mo Yong Joo-hee said this as she tightly gripped Qing’s hand while lounging. However, the extreme anxiety, fatigue, and the long-awaited comfort lulled her to sleep almost immediately.

After asking Sibi to bring Tang Nan-ah over, she glared fiercely at Mo Yong Joo-hee as soon as she saw her.

“What’s this? Is that Geomhwa? Why is she here? You’re bringing more women into this? No way. You actually held her hand? Wow, you’re really something.”

“It’s not like that. Nan-ah, Mo Yong Joo-hee is currently poisoned.”

“Oh, right, poisoned. Every time Qing-ah calls me, it’s always something like that. What poison is it?”

“Uh, it’s the Blood Sect toxin.”

“Huh…?”

Tang Nan-ah leaned on her hip and stared wide-eyed.

“Did you just say Blood Sect?”

“Yeah. The Blood Sect toxin.”

“Are you joking?”

“Do you think I’d joke about something like this?”

Only then did Tang Nan-ah’s expression turn serious.

“No way, does that mean it’s the Queen Solitude’s toxin?”

“Hmm, I know it’s going to be tough to remove, so I’m thinking we should completely put her to sleep, alright? Can I ask you for help? I can’t let this get around.”

Whatever bugs have the ability to send signals with telepathic powers, the Queen Solitude can order subordinates to commit suicide.

Then the toxin inside the solitude’s body spreads, and the infected are also sent on a one-way ticket to the afterlife.

There’s even a chain suicide signal that the Queen Solitude uses, which allows the solitude to spread messages of “we must die” among each other, resulting in a large-scale massacre.

The Blood Sect members are also under the command of the Great Lord and Deputy Lord, which is why they’re sprawled across this stronghold as human transmitters.

So it was necessary to put Mo Yong Joo-hee into a deep slumber to prevent the solitude from receiving the suicide signal from the Queen.

Of course, this wasn’t an idea that Qing came up with on her own.

It was a clever trick shared by the Blood Sect Warrior.

Letting out a sigh, Tang Nan-ah said,

“So, you got tangled up with the Blood Sect? If so, wouldn’t it be better to just ask the older folks from the Martial Alliance for help?”

“That would turn a lot of heads, and I don’t want that. I just want to handle this quietly. My master and I can handle it alone.”

Mo Yong Joo-hee firmly claimed that she never did anything improper, and there was nothing she would yield to.

But if rumors spread that she was captured by the Blood Sect, who would believe that? Qing had already heard the truth about the hobbies of the Great Lord of the Blood Sect and the Deputy Lord.

Besides, that would also lead to ruin for the ronin, who would lose their honor entirely in an instant.

Those who had managed to maintain their integrity as ronin while living on the fringes couldn’t just let it go because they took the wrong medication.

“There are more people than just Mo Yong Joo-hee poisoned by the Blood Sect. Can we manage to keep them asleep for about three days?”

“You mean we’ve got to put the solitude to sleep too? Well, that’s not difficult, but wow, Qing, you really know your stuff.”

“If I set my mind to it, this is what I can do.”

“Ugh.”

Tang Nan-ah slapped Qing’s arm lightly.

“You’ll tell me what’s going on later, right? For now, I’ll prepare the herbs. Get the people who need to be put to sleep together and let me know what’s needed.”

---