Chapter 266

When Cheong entered the guest room, the guest sprang up awkwardly, fumbling with his hands and rolling his eyes as if he didn’t know what to do.

His lips were twitching as if he absolutely couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

“Oh my, Young Lady Mo Yong, you look like half your face is gone! What are you doing treating your pretty face like that?”

She looked like someone who had been starved for ages, her cheeks hollow and dark circles under her eyes threatening to reach her lower cheeks if one were to exaggerate.

Her lips were pale and her skin had a rough texture.

Finally, Mo Yong Joo-hee managed to speak up.

“Hello… Have you been well?”

“I’ve been well, but it doesn’t seem like you have, Young Lady Mo Yong. What’s wrong?”

“Well, that…”

She trailed off, becoming a complete mess again, unable to continue her words.

Unsure of what to do, Cheong sat down and waited for Mo Yong Joo-hee to find her words.

After a while, it seemed like an eternity passed.

Just when Cheong was coming up with potentially new lines that would utterly upset her, she suddenly said, “Um, can I ask if you could do that thing for me just one more time…?”

“That thing?”

“That, um, it will be okay. Everything will be alright, and that there’s nothing wrong with you…”

Cheong let out a deep sigh.

What on earth had that girl done at home to end up in worse shape than when she was here? Her uncle from the Mo Yong family seemed like a good man.

At Cheong’s sigh, Mo Yong Joo-hee flinched, not just flinched but almost jumped in surprise, lowering her head in defeat.

Cheong sighed again.

You can’t even let out a sigh in front of a sick kid.

Not that he was particularly holding back any sighs, though.

“Young Lady Mo Yong? Come here.”

“Yes…”

As Mo Yong Joo-hee timidly approached, Cheong patted his thigh.

It was a gesture anyone could understand.

“Um…”

“Come on, sit down.”

Mo Yong Joo-hee awkwardly took a seat on Cheong’s lap. She was so stiff it seemed impossible to distinguish whether she was a person or a block of wood.

Cheong wrapped his arms around Mo Yong Joo-hee and whispered in her ear,

“I hope Young Lady Mo Yong doesn’t hurt too much. You’ve done nothing wrong. The bad ones are the Blood Sect people, so why are you the one suffering? It will be okay. You’ll be alright. And you’ll be even better from now on.”

Then came a gentle tremble. At the same time, a muffled sob reached his ears.

Young lady, why are you crying like this?

Can I cry a bit too? After politely asking, he held back from outright wailing, instead it was more of a weak, painful sound.

Should I tell her to let it all out instead?

Letting her cry to her heart’s content to wash away her innocence? No, that’s not it. Why does this keep getting jumbled in my mouth? Where have I even seen this before? Anyway.

After a moment of pondering, Cheong decided to just stay quiet. If he encouraged her to cry, she might just hold back and become even more anxious.

Is this right? I can’t remember their name, that psychology teacher I’ve never even heard of?

If a psychology teacher from across time and space were to hear this, they might say something back.

Don’t contact the patient recklessly, and for goodness’ sake, don’t take the class again. Just don’t meet again.

In truth, Cheong thought that simply holding her would soothe the troubled mind of a worried person and heal a wounded heart, making the body heal itself too, like a universal remedy.

It was a judgment formed from his own experience of receiving comfort from Gyeon Pohee.

Time passed, anyway, with his extraordinary physique akin to iron, having Mo Yong Joo-hee perched on his thigh posed no difficulty at all.

After a while, Mo Yong Joo-hee, who had been quietly crying, finally spoke up with a slightly muffled voice.

“I’m okay now.”

“I’m fine too, so stay like this. But what happened? You don’t have to say if you don’t want to, but wouldn’t it feel a bit better to say it?”

“Well, you see, actually…”

Mo Yong Joo-hee started relaying her father’s words hurriedly.

Oh dear, I hadn’t seen it that way. Seems he had some rather extreme ideas.

“It’s so tough, why didn’t you just let it all out? I’m in pain, and you talk about that? Why, Young Lady Mo Yong, you’re good at letting it out, aren’t you?”

“If only my father hadn’t said those words, I would have been able to let it out, but after that, I just couldn’t. It must have hurt him twice as much…”

“Oh my, that’s quite something.”

Cheong suddenly had a thought.

It’s not okay that Uncle Mo Yong has a broken heart, but is it just fine for my heart to hurt? Wasn’t I the one who rescued her?

How could this feel kind of annoying now?

Of course, Mo Yong Joo-hee couldn’t see Cheong’s face because he was behind her, holding her close. But had she seen, she would have noticed the vibrant colors rising in the normally dark space of his pupils.

Cheong was now a Supreme Martial Artist.

As a Supreme Martial Artist, he could wield Sword Aura.

The Sword Aura was an emanation of the starlight possessed by a warrior, and the star that Cheong was born with was Heaven’s Kill, a fearsome omen from the three thousand realms.

He wasn’t like Pachen Magi, who would sit around idly laughing while getting beaten up. Rather, he confidently radiated an ominous light from the deep abyss of the human realm, knowing full well that a mere human could ultimately not escape the grasp of destiny.

So, thus, the lonely star of Heaven’s Kill merely played games with its avatar like a child.

To every rebellion stirred by the trifling insights of an unworthy existence, it would feign retreat as if to say, “I can’t win against the inevitable.”

“But why did you make my heart ache so much? Back then, I felt your Inner Strength too, right? If I was an ordinary person, I could have been crushed, you know?”

Her voice was a chilling whisper.

Mo Yong Joo-hee felt a cold drop in her stomach.

“I was wrong, I wasn’t myself back then. I’ll never do it again.”

“It’s not about whether you were right or wrong. Why did you do it? Did you think I was someone you could hurt?”

“No, that’s not it! It was just when I saw Young Lady Seomun, her face reminded me of painful memories, and I lost my mind, I’m sorry!”

Cheong made a curious sound as if pondering deeply.

Mo Yong Joo-hee stiffened like a piece of wood.

“If just saying sorry would resolve everything, do you think I could trust your words, Young Lady Mo Yong?”

“How about my nails? You seem to enjoy pulling them out.”

“You’ve got pretty fingers, why pull out your nails? An eye for an eye, right?”

While Cheong’s hand, which was holding Mo Yong Joo-hee from behind, quietly slipped under her coat, his ice-cold fingers crawled up her chest like a snake, causing a chill.

A soft giggle escaped him.

“Well, if there’s nothing to squeeze, then I can’t give you that. But if we’re at it, here we go.”

“Ahhh.”

It was a bizarre occurrence. Normally, his mere touch would spark fury in others, but at this moment, it wasn’t just pain; it was a stark feeling of fear surging within her, terrifying and yet…

But, but…

“If you wish it, Young Lady Seomun, if that’s what you want, then I’ll take whatever you give me…”

Mo Yong Joo-hee’s voice trembled.

Cheong exhaled a breath into her ear.

Mo Yong Joo-hee almost jumped off Cheong’s lap but was halted by his strong grip.

“Oh come on, it was just a joke. You weren’t in your right mind back then anyway. I can totally understand that. So do you still feel pain when you see me?”

“No! Not at all! It’s not that. The memories keep replaying, and seeing you gives me reassurance. I just want to hear your voice…”

“Oh, is that so? Ah, well then, since Young Lady Mo Yong is being honest for once, why not ask everything? Why did you come to the training hall and crouch there, looking so pitiful? In reality, you actually looked pathetic which kept me worried.”

“I couldn’t sleep at night! When there’s no one around, I get scared. If I open my eyes, I fear being back in that box, or worse, being captured again. It’s terrifying, so the safest place was there.”

“Ah.”

That wasn’t something he could brush off. Cheong felt a surge of empathy that jolted him awake.

He too was restless at night from the same fear.

Even without knowing, they shared the same insomnia.

“No, you should have told me! If you don’t speak up, how am I supposed to know? Not being able to sleep at night is horrid! Oh dear, must have been exhausting for you. I was careless. I’m sorry.”

“No, no! Why are you apologizing, Young Lady Seomun? I’ve been so tough on you. I’m so sorry, I’m really sorry.”

Regardless, things had completely shifted from the past, where they exchanged casual insults, now sitting on his lap all stiff and squeaky clean, her voice oozing genuine remorse.

Cheong, puzzled, tilted his head a little.

But what’s with the newfound strange honorifics for Young Lady Seomun? When did that start?

Anyway, considering all of this might as well be a successful mental therapy session.

He didn’t think she’d try to stab his heart again.

Opening up, Cheong offered his generosity.

“If it’s really tough, you can stay at Muchen Pavilion. Although, I’ll have to leave soon after the Martial World Tournament’s closing ceremony, so you won’t have long.”

“Really? Is that okay?”

“If that’s what Young Lady Mo Yong wants.”

But Mo Yong Joo-hee shook her head.

From Cheong’s perspective, only her head bobbed in front of him.

“No, I’d love to, but that’ll make me remain weak, sitting here feeling sorry for myself. Time will pass, and someday I’ll forget it all and feel nothing.”

That was quite a surprisingly admirable statement.

Cheong’s expression softened.

Could it be that she might spread mental awareness throughout the Central Plain someday?

He could talk to Nan about advancing this back at the Tang Family.

With that thought, Cheong sincerely replied,

“I’m sure that’s the case.”

Then the atmosphere became a bit awkward.

It felt like the conversation was wrapping up, but Mo Yong Joo-hee leaned back comfortably into him.

What’s going on? Didn’t you say you were going? Why are you leaning?

Should I keep holding her? I think she’s already calmed down, right? Shouldn’t I set her down now?

But, don’t people usually tell you to let them go if they’re fine?

Why’s she still hanging around?

While pondering, Mo Yong Joo-hee slightly broke the silence.

“Um, excuse me…”

“Yes?”

“I think I’ve done something terribly wrong to you. I have a feeling this will keep bothering my heart, so, since you mentioned an eye for an eye, what if we continued from what you were going to do earlier…?”

“Hey, that was just a joke! What am I supposed to do about that? Now I can’t even joke with you?”

“No, that’s not what I mean! I just think it’ll help me feel better, is that alright?”

“Let’s just forget about it. Young Lady Mo Yong wasn’t in her right mind back then.”

“But I can’t shake it off…”

Even as Cheong insisted it was fine, her persistence grew strong.

And if she thought this would help, well, seems he had no choice for mental healing too.

“If it helps you feel better to get back at me, do you want to stand up for a moment? Just keep your eyes closed.”

At that, Mo Yong Joo-hee gulped.

Then she obediently stood up and closed her eyes tight but—

Cheong let out a deep sigh.

Is it really necessary to go this far? She has to hurt me to feel okay? What else could he do?

It seems his first nuclear launch moment as a Supreme Martial Artist came much sooner than expected.

With that, over Mo Yong Joo-hee’s tightly closed head, the “Majestic Punishment” descended like Seomun Sulin’s destructive shell.

Thwack!!!

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