“Groooan...”
“Ugh!! Blech!!”
A greenwood bandit crudely patched together with various animal hides rolled on the ground.
Grown men groaning as if they were dying, vomiting as if they were dying, writhing as if they were dying.
I looked at Dang Soran, the one who had made them this way.
With a sunken expression, she wandered among the bandits, retrieving her poison needles and daggers.
As if she had memorized exactly which bandit she had stabbed where with what weapon, her movements were seamless.
The retrieved poison needles were dipped back into the poison vial, and the daggers were secured into the leather sheaths prepared in her sleeves.
I couldn’t say a word.
She had swept away all the approaching enemies with invisible speed, unbelievable skill, and insane precision.
I wondered if this was really the same whiny kid who had been complaining about hunger not long ago.
“Sp... spare me...”
“You won’t die. You’ll just be bedridden for a week.”
Even the still spry bandit got an extra needle to top up his poison.
Her finishing touches were impeccable.
As I stared at her in a daze, Dang Soran belatedly noticed me.
A brilliant smile suddenly bloomed on her previously dry face.
“How is it, Young Master? Do I look like the Poison Phoenix of the Tang Clan of Sichuan now, instead of some dirty little girl?”
She wasn’t wrong.
Her hair was a bird’s nest, her face smudged with soot... but it was the look of the Poison Phoenix.
Still, for the sake of any potential future SM play, I feigned composure to maintain my dignity.
Dang Soran burst out laughing.
“You’re not falling for me, are you? That would be troublesome... Don’t forget, we’re not on the same level. If it’s just as friends, I might allow it!”
Only after her teasing continued did I snap back to my senses.
There were eight fallen bandits around us. One of them was spryer than the others.
Dang Soran had deliberately left him to squeeze out information.
“...Let’s go for now.”
At my words, Dang Soran nodded.
She soon asked the remaining bandit.
“Will you guide us to your stronghold?”
.
.
.
“Groooan...”
“Ugh!! Blech!!”
Before long, the same scene unfolded at the stronghold.
This time, the chief of the Panan Mountain greenwood bandits’ lair was captured by us.
Second-rate martial artist, maybe?
Dang Soran was interrogating him this time as well.
“Fifteen days ago, a caravan escort passing nearby was attacked. Do you know anything about it?”
“Escorts die by the day...! How could I remember every single one!”
The chief hadn’t lost his spirit yet.
He just knelt there, rebelliously grinding his teeth in frustration.
Even as Dang Soran threatened him with deadly poison, distorted her face menacingly, or lowered her voice intimidatingly, nothing worked.
“We don’t know anything...! How can we answer if we don’t know!”
The chief actually raised his voice louder with each new tactic she tried.
Dang Soran looked at me.
As if asking what to do now.
Strictly speaking, Dang Soran probably didn’t want to dirty her hands here if she could help it.
She could do it, but she’d want to put it off until the very last moment.
Especially someone like her, who had grown up without getting her hands too dirty.
Dang Soran tried threatening him timidly once more.
“If you don’t answer... I’ll use the deadly poison needle. You’ll meet a painful death in less than an hour. At least tell us the locations of the other strongholds.”
She pulled out a new poison needle from her sleeve.
The chief seemed to sense her reluctance to kill and shouted.
“Have you ever killed anyone? A pampered young lady like you couldn’t have...! Go ahead and try! But remember this! I know nothing and won’t open my mouth, and you’ll be the one who killed an innocent man like me! Besides, if I rat out the other strongholds, the King of the Greenwood will kill me personally, so if I’m dying anyway, I’ll die keeping my loyalty!”
“...Don’t test me.”
Dang Soran clearly lacked the skill to properly interrogate someone.
I pushed her aside and stood before the chief.
“Young Master...?”
Unlike Dang Soran, I was pretty nervous.
I knew full well that if we didn’t get the Detoxification Immortal Root again, I’d be in deep shit.
“What’s this kid? Little brat, take your lady and get off the mountain. Cowards like you who rely only on skill end up like this. If you can’t handle taking lives, stay in your parlor and don’t set foot in the jianghu!”
I asked.
“You won’t say anything, right?”
At my slow but firm question, the chief squirmed for a moment.
“I won’t!”
“Got it.”
Both Dang Soran and the Panan Mountain bandit chief looked puzzled at my affirmation.
I snatched Dang Soran’s poison needle.
“Ah! Young Master!!”
I turned and approached the youngest-looking bandit among those collapsed on the ground.
He seemed about eighteen.
“You look just like him. Your son, right?”
At my question, the chief’s eyes shook violently.
I pressed the atmosphere, showing off the acting skills I’d honed from SM play with Cheongwol.
“...Uncle. You think I’ve never killed anyone?”
Forget never killing, I didn’t even have the courage...
It was burdensome and repulsive... the thought of someone dying by my hand.
That’s why Cheongwol was a crazy bitch who could slice throats while grinning...
But if it was convincing acting, I could do it.
“You have no idea who you’re messing with.”
No idea. He’s just cannon fodder.
That’s why I had to puff myself up with words.
I grabbed the young bandit by the hair and shook him.
“Th...at...”
The young bandit groaned deliriously.
The chief’s face twisted in every direction as he watched.
I said.
“Do you know... how furious I was when you stole my root? Do you know how much I suffered to get here?”
“...”
“Damn it... Do you know how much pain you bandits caused me!”
The last part was sincere.
Strictly speaking, the first reason I got tangled with Cheongwol was because of these bandit bastards.
With that thought, I infused real emotion into my words.
“You won’t die easy. If you have no information for me, at least you’ll serve as a stress relief. Scream nicely when your son kicks it. After him, I’ll take out the rest of your bandits one by one, so watch closely.”
I raised the poison needle high.
“W-Wait!!!”
The chief finally shouted.
Phew!!
I let out a massive sigh of relief inwardly.
Thank goodness.
The once-arrogant Panan Mountain stronghold chief now pressed his head flat to the ground.
“...I’ll tell you everything I know.”
****
“Little boss, let’s go that way.”
“...”
Dang Soran followed behind Han Seojin, recalling the scene from earlier.
Even she had held her breath at the aura Han Seojin had shown then.
A non-martial artist like Han Seojin had tried to stab someone with a poison needle.
She later heard he’d even thought about antidotes, so it made sense...
...But the more she thought about it, the more mysterious Dang Soran found him.
Just what kind of person was Han Seojin?
It was like two people in one body.
One was the bumbling leather shop owner.
...The other was a man with an overwhelming presence that could dominate anyone.
Peel back the mask, and the man hidden beneath Han Seojin popped out.
And every time that side emerged, Dang Soran struggled to calm her pounding heart.
Of course, her heart raced when she saw the bumbling owner’s mushroom or during their high-level teasing.
...But it pounded even harder when she saw Han Seojin smiling calmly, dominating the atmosphere with lofty confidence.
It had been so long since she’d faced the man who had spanked her bottom.
And she couldn’t understand the reactions her body had around him.
He was colorful.
The stimuli he gave were always varied.
“...Little boss, are you okay?”
When Dang Soran unusually chose silence, Han Seojin asked with concern.
“Huh?”
“If... subduing the bandits was too hard or...”
It wasn’t that, so Dang Soran tried to reassure him with her usual joke...
“...Ah... uh... th...”
...but no joke came to mind.
Her spirit was completely crushed.
“...I’m fine.”
Her mind complicated, she could only whisper something clichéd.
.
.
.
The number of strongholds they raided grew steadily according to the information from the Panan Mountain chief.
And during that time, Dang Soran lived with a lightness as if her heart demon had vanished.
It wasn’t anything else. Han Seojin’s colors had captivated her.
Han Seojin, rolling around like this for Namgung Yeon, whom he admired.
Was there anyone else who would throw himself so willingly, so recklessly, for another?
Did everyone in the Central Plains live like this?
His way of pouring himself into every moment was dazzling to Dang Soran.
And in that process, she too was being dyed in his colors.
Even trivial daily life now brought her joy.
The old her would have turned away from even a feast.
But now, after trudging mountain paths together, a meager bowl of porridge boiled amid bickering and laughter tasted so savory.
Even with bugs floating or tiny pebbles to crunch, Han Seojin’s ineptitude at cooking made him oddly cute, drawing giggles.
Watching him wolf it down made Dang Soran’s mouth water too.
Because his tastes felt like hers now.
The filthy ground she wouldn’t have dreamed of lying on before.
Even outdoors, in a fearful space where bandits might pop out anytime, with the biting wind scraping her face... seeing Han Seojin sprawled out made her think she could too.
Just leaning her head carefully on his arm turned that harsh ground warm, letting her sleep deeply without nightmares.
Even if her clothes got muddy, when Han Seojin dusted them off, Dang Soran smiled and brushed her own hem.
Getting dirty together was somehow fun.
Was that why?
“Another bust.”
Han Seojin whispered in a disappointed voice.
“...Hoo.”
Dang Soran let out a small breath.
“Huh?”
“Oh, nothing.”
She shook her head, mumbling an excuse, but something was definitely growing in a corner of her heart.
The Detoxification Immortal Root that Han Seojin sought so desperately.
Every time it didn’t appear, she oddly felt relieved.
...Why?
“...”
She already knew the answer.
Because these peaceful times she spent came from Han Seojin.
Who would treat her so casually?
Who would make her feel so at ease?
If not him, who would give the Tang Clan’s eldest daughter such experiences?
If not him, no one.
So if he left, the colors he brought would vanish too.
Back to gray, back to a parched world.
Back to the old her who found no joy in food, sleep, or life.
That’s why she was praying for that herb not to appear.
It was an ugly wish.
Ugliness always grew within her.
But what could she do?
Han Seojin, who hated getting involved with martial artists, wouldn’t stay close anymore. No reason to.
Just as he always wanted... they’d go their separate ways.
“...”
Of course, she didn’t dream of spending her life with him.
That made it more agonizing, more pathetic.
Why me...
Why do I breathe leaning on someone else’s life, without a world of my own?
Unlike her past plundering of others, Dang Soran genuinely enjoyed her moments with Han Seojin.
But the thought of him drifting away tormented her.
If I were a proper person, I wouldn’t have such ugly thoughts.
It wasn’t that she cherished him too much to let go or harbored romantic feelings.
She was just terrified of returning to that colorless world.
“...Huh?”
But if that ugliness were easy to overcome as it sounded... Dang Soran wouldn’t have been consumed by her heart demon.
Day 25 of the search.
“Ah... Aaaah!”
Dang Soran froze and glanced back.
Han Seojin was rummaging in some odd spot, screaming.
Dang Soran swallowed hard and looked at what she had found.
From the collapsed bandit’s bosom, groaning... familiar silk.
High-grade Tang Clan fabric.
Sneaking it out without Han Seojin knowing, what was inside was...
...the Detoxification Immortal Root.
Dang Soran’s heart chilled in an instant.
The very item they’d wandered dozens of days for.
The journey’s end.
“...”
In a brief moment of anguish, her heart demon swallowed her whole.
Dang Soran’s eyes turned vacant.
...Sorry, Young Master.
Hiding the root in her sleeve, she murmured inwardly.
Just a little longer...
Until I find my own world... just a little longer.