“How can a person be so badly wounded and still act like nothing’s wrong?”
Yeon Pa looked at the grotesquely swollen wound with sympathy, then glanced at Qing’s face.
For a moment, it felt like I had just been whacked hard with a hammer.
How did I only just now notice the corner of her eyes twitching in pain?
When I thought the girl was pouting, she was actually just clumsily holding back the agony, so it made total sense her expression was stuck in that uncomfortable state.
Looks like that old hag has been pushing this poor kid around.
This wasn’t the time for Yeon Pa to be tending to Wang Ya.
Shouldn’t it be Wang Ya who’s supposed to take care of her?
It’s him, after all.
The one who cherishes her like nobody’s business; it’s almost laughable to think that it’s at the level where Yeon Pa feels guilty about it.
Yeon Pa’s expression deepened with remorse.
But Qing’s eyes weren’t good enough to read anybody’s expressions.
So, no matter what, Qing proceeded to apply medicine to her side, taking a large piece of cloth and wrapping it around the wound, suddenly pulling tight—
“Aaaah!!”
Unable to hold back, a scream escaped her lips.
It was bound to hurt when the pressure was applied all at once, especially with the wound still in the sad state of healing. Of course, pain was inevitable as they pinched the angry, swollen center.
Qing crumbled into herself, gasping for air as her body shook, sound escaping her through the gaps in her trembling frame.
Yeon Pa was startled and shouted.
“W-What are you doing?”
“What’s happening?”
After the terrible scream, a loud shout echoed, and Jayu burst through the door.
Qing was still in her underpants while tending to the wound.
In Jayu’s eyes, the sight of Qing’s bare back, as Yeon Pa bowed deeply, instantly struck him.
It was so white it was blinding, like a perfectly sculpted piece of marble; it was the kind of sight that could take a man’s breath away.
Then he suddenly noticed the grotesque bulge at her side, his expression stiffening in response.
“Yeon Pa? What the—”
“Wang Ya!”
Yeon Pa quickly stepped in front of Qing.
“How dare you barge into a lady’s room so recklessly! Get out, right now!”
“Ah, um, s-sorry!”
“Leave at once!”
Jayu was taken aback.
He’d never seen Yeon Pa so angry before.
Even if Wang Ya were to do anything, even if it involved harming someone, she’d usually be the type to just let it slide, thinking our Wang Ya is the coolest man around—even drenched in blood, he’d look fabulous!
But with those fierce eyes glaring at him, it was hard not to be flustered.
Jayu blundered backward, politely holding the door as he stepped outside.
Then, as if a thought had struck him, he called through the slightly ajar door.
“Um, if I’m not mistaken, it looked like your friend isn’t doing so well. Is she—”
“Close the door!”
Whether it was the door or his mouth he was told to shut, the command was cutting.
Not wanting to risk asking which it was, Jayu promptly closed both.
Only then did Qing finally manage to lift herself up.
“Huff, I was almost—”
“What are you doing!”
Yeon Pa shouted loudly.
Qing hurriedly tried to explain.
“Haa, huff, I need to tighten the bandage just right to move. If it shifts even a little, I might just black out at the spot.”
“Ahem.”
“I can’t do this alone. I really appreciate you being here, so can you please help me?”
“Appreciate? What the heck, kid…”
It was lucky they had met Qing at all when things were this critical.
If that kid had passed right by, things wouldn’t be this horrifically dire.
But that didn’t mean they could just let the wound be.
The winds were blowing; a forest fire wouldn’t spread too quickly, but then again, why would those village idiots flee their hometown without due cause?
It didn’t mean the village was safe either.
So, Yeon Pa had no choice but to press the cloth firmly.
“Ugh, don’t pull so tight. No, just a little harder, no, just a bit more, more, more, ahhh.”
“Are you alright?”
“Not really, but you have to press harder.”
Even with pain, it had to be done in one go.
But the one assisting was hesitating, not applying enough pressure, which wasn’t helping.
Seriously, get a move on.
And what’s with this? Why’s the original foul-mouthed granny suddenly putting on a show to act all sweet?
Sure, her insults were dipped in affection before, but this sudden change?
Are grandmothers supposed to act weak in front of patients or something?
And thus it took one good jolt of pain to finalize a long, drawn-out treatment, stretching the agony far more than necessary.
Qing shivered slightly under the strain.
With a sharp pain like a nail driven home in one blow, the discomfort pierced through.
But hey, I can handle that, right?
At least I wasn’t seeing stars or trembling uncontrollably because I couldn’t breathe.
—-
The man named Gyeodu, the seventh among the eight warriors who obtained the great golden blood from the Golden Guard, was smashed into the ground by Makseok’s crafty tricks.
Well, to be more precise, he dove down towards the earth like a human projectile.
In a way, one could say it was a human challenge against nature.
But the result was a crushing defeat.
Humans cannot battle the forces of nature, and it was a lesson he learned with a crooked nose.
Not just his nose, mind you.
He had scraped his entire face across the frozen ground of December, resulting in a nose that was all sorts of crooked, a face covered in scabs that looked like black rain had fallen on it.
Yet, miraculously, his face wasn’t shattered—thanks, of course, to the grace bestowed by the infinitely supreme Emperor and the miraculous blood techniques.
Either way, while they left their dazed captain striped across the ground, the Golden Guard warriors found themselves deep in thought.
If they let that mysterious runaway rickshaw and its passengers slip away, there would be hell to pay.
Not only would he throw a fit, but that bastard was the type to whip his underlings with a riding crop.
He wasn’t always this nasty, though.
But ever since he became a part of the elite force, his level went up so much he turned into a nasty piece of work.
According to the others, once someone made it big, their true colors came out. All that bad nature was just suppressed until now, waiting to erupt.
So if they let him down, he was certain to blow up like a volcano, but—
The solution was quite simple.
Just don’t let him down.
The warriors concocted an excuse that would just barely suffice.
They claimed that a rickshaw coming down the dangerous Bow Path had plummeted down the southern cliff.
However, all their efforts were for naught as Makseok, having regained consciousness, was fuming and thrashing wildly.
“How can eight of us struggle against a mere handful of idiots? This is the level of the Golden Guard? No, this is utterly unbelievable! You pathetic fools!”
The expressions on the Golden Guard’s faces soured.
Six were dead, and two were seriously injured, but instead of mourning, he was venting about why they failed to capture the rickshaw.
And to top it all off, he was complaining while being knocked out cold himself—it was dreadful.
Makseok’s anger boiled within when he witnessed his subordinates’ attitudes.
“Their leader, that dirtbag, following a lowly farmer’s spawn like Chang Cheon-ho, pays them respect while I, the eldest scion of a famous family, hold the title given personally by the Emperor—how on earth do they dare disrespect me?”
In that moment, the warriors had a sudden realization.
Maybe they’d been coveting that esteemed general, who they had despised like a lifelong enemy, and now were a bit envious.
But you couldn’t win respect through status or rank.
Sure, you could gain some respect that way, but true respect had to come from within.
Shouting “Respect me!” wouldn’t suddenly earn them admiration.
Especially when coming from someone with a disfigured face.
Makseok pouted alone until he finally wore himself out, spinning the mountain pass with a frown.
The warriors exchanged worried glances, thinking, “He’s throwing a tantrum again.”
When Makseok sulked, he wouldn’t issue commands and act like he was testing whether they could manage without him, glaring with only his eyeballs.
So, they decided to continue with their tasks.
But what were they doing again?
Right! Heading home.
Now, the warriors felt a surge of annoyance wash over them.
If they had just let the rickshaw pass, none of their comrades would have perished, and there wouldn’t be all this trouble.
Among the dead were four who were due for a promotion, so it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
They could’ve fake-chased it, but instead, they stuck their necks out for Makseok’s sake, blinding by the hope of advancement, and as usual, made the common mistake of drawing attention to themselves.
As the warriors descended the mountain, the flames were chasing them, so they crossed the river—
“Ha, what dumbasses. They’ll just cross the river again as they were bound to head north anyway. Look at those dummies, getting wet every time they jump into the river, how many times have they gotta cross, I wonder?”
Makseok grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.
It felt familiar yet extraordinarily obnoxious.
But he wasn’t exactly wrong, as when he tried to head back north, the river they had just crossed started to twist and obstruct their path again.
On top of that, the riverbank twisted back around, forcing another crossing to the northeast.
Now they were looking at crossing the river again, twice over.
Couldn’t ya give us a heads-up about that, you jerk?
The warriors crossed the river again, and again.
Finally, smoke started to rise from a fortress-like village.
With the river breeze blowing against them, their wet clothes felt like ice, their teeth chattering and frozen stiff.
The warriors approached the closed door (which Qing had locked when she went in) but then Makseok muttered again.
“What? Is it that easy for these scrap folks to relax here? Not knowing when a forest fire might spark up? They just lounge around, acting all cozy like it’s no big deal, looking all wet and rat-like; they fit right in with the animals.
A vein popped up on the warriors’ foreheads.
If it hadn’t been for their skills, they would’ve collectively knocked him upside the head.
The reason they refrained from doing so was simply that he was their superior.
In both the East and West, a battle unit leader’s incompetence is almost a license for betrayal; it’s the top cause of demise for subordinates.
With no choice, the warriors reluctantly moved away from the village.
But seeing the smoke billowing up made Makseok yearn for a hot cup of tea. So, moving around, he stopped and bellowed at the village’s wide-open north gate.
“Ha, don’t they care to treat the injured? Is this really what brotherhood looks like? These disloyal bastards, but then again, I already knew that.”
While they were drawing lots for search parties, his incessant mutterings were just downright irritating.
I want to kill him, I really do.
But had they not seen this scene a million times before?
If they had just taken the search parties out without drawing lots, they would’ve grumbled about not scouting the new land.
With that being the nature of their mission anyway, they couldn’t build up any real wrath this time.
Thus, the warriors got the fire burning stronger, took their wet clothes off, wrung them out, and strung them up as they prepared for a proper rest.