...This is what you chose?
What the hell does that mean?
I tried to hide my fear and harden my expression, but my mind was a complete mess.
The stench of blood heightened the terror.
The moment her finger touched my lower abdomen, it felt like the tip of an icy dagger pressing against my skin.
My body froze, and my thoughts kept retreating.
What did I choose?
What are you so pissed about?
Why are you doing this, damn it...!!
"...Miss, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Cheongwol let out a scoff.
"...You're gonna play dumb, huh?"
"You have to say something that makes sense..."
"For the past 47 days. Where have you been?"
I'd vaguely guessed that much time had passed, but the fact that she'd been counting every single day sent chills down my spine.
How long had she been stewing over this?
As fear tightened around my throat, I pulled out the excuse I'd prepared.
"...I'm sorry for being late, but I had business. Didn't I tell you I was going to sell new equipment? I even had some success. There was a merchant group that bought my gear at a high price. Probably from now on—"
"—Who with?"
"..."
...But Cheongwol's follow-up question was enough to shut my mouth.
Her attitude made it clear she already knew something.
Was she testing me? Or did she know?
She must suspect something, at least.
Since Dang Soran and I disappeared together.
Because that bitch Dang Soran didn't even send word to the Poison King, so they thought she was missing.
...But is this really worth getting this mad over?
We're not that close, are we...?
Whatever. It didn't seem like the right time to tell the truth.
Deny it. I decided to deny everything.
If I just say we parted ways, I can dodge everything after that...!
"Alone..."
A blue aura began to swirl around Cheongwol's body.
Her expression darkened even further.
I swallowed hard and whispered.
"...I traveled alone. Who else would I have gone with— Uht."
Cheongwol's finger poked my stomach.
I flinched.
Whoa...! It didn't go through, right?
Rolling my eyes to check my belly, my firm abs were still pushing back against her finger.
It hadn't pierced yet.
"...Is that so."
But hearing her calmly furious voice, it wouldn't be long before it did.
"Then what's this energy from Dang Soran I feel in your dantian?"
...What?
...Dang Soran's energy?
My mind went blank, and I couldn't say a word.
"Huh? Shopkeeper."
...Dang Soran's energy?
Dang Soran's energy in my dantian?
But Dang Soran said she left nothing behind...??
I didn't even want her energy in the first place??
Right then, I could almost hear Dang Soran's snickering laugh.
Ah.
That laugh made me realize just how screwed I was.
Hey, you fucking bitch Dang Soran...!!!
What the hell did you do to my body?!
I told you to cut the pranks!!
You don't know what kind of woman Cheongwol is, so you...!
Getting done in by a casual stone she tossed was so absurd and deflating.
"...Suddenly at a loss for words?"
As I stayed silent, Cheongwol's anger grew.
Like she'd found my weakness, she got even rougher.
"Shopkeeper, repeat what you just said. Say it's not Dang Soran's energy... Deny it in front of me."
"..."
Cheongwol's finger pressed right against my brand-new dantian, which couldn't even gather a handful of qi.
She was touching the energy I could barely sense myself, like she was about to smash it.
The moment that blue energy flowing through her body transferred to her finger, my belly would sink like pudding.
It had been a long time since death felt this close.
Far more gruesome and cruel than the death that pulverized Yeom Bo had offered me right beside us.
What should I say?
How do I make an excuse?
How do I salvage this...!
"Haa, forget it. I'll do what I want now."
That's when Cheongwol pulled something from her bosom.
"Huh...?"
I recognized that vial.
I'd seen it while touring Uncle Bang Biyeon's place and the Changhwa Merchant Group.
The blue energy flowing around Cheongwol's body began pouring roughly into the vial.
I recalled the conversation with Bang Biyeon.
'Milord. But if there's this much Thousand-Li Tracking Incense, wouldn't the whole Central Plains reek of it? I don't get how you distinguish between all this tracking incense.'
'Both Thousand-Li and Ten-Thousand-Li Tracking Incense hold a person's internal energy. Everyone's energy is unique, so the scents develop individual traits. That's how they tell them apart.'
Thousand-Li Tracking Incense.
Seeing the internal energy infuse it confirmed it.
And Cheongwol was about to sprinkle it on me.
I grabbed her wrist as she tried to douse me with it.
No way...!!
"What, what are you doing?"
The Life-Pursuing Ghost Cheongwol's tracking incense on me?
I didn't know how long it lasted, but getting sprayed with Cheongwol's of all people's would end my life.
The options of running away and staying out of the jianghu would vanish completely.
Of all people, Cheongwol, one of the Demonic Cult's Seven Heavens.
I couldn't let this woman mark me with her tracking incense.
"Hold still, shopkeeper."
"Isn't this tracking incense? Why the hell are you spraying it on me...!"
"...!"
She seemed surprised I knew what it was, but she brazenly pressed on.
"...You see the bodies around us?"
The corpses littered everywhere.
"I need heart demon treatment now. But you keep lying to me and running off. I'm tired of being fooled. From now on, I need to know where you are at all times. So you can't run."
"R-Run?!"
Cheongwol whispered on.
"All shiny words, but you don't care about someone like me."
"What?"
"...If you cared even a little about my heart demon, you wouldn't do this to me!"
"I-I did care! I worried a lot about you, Miss, but my situation was—!"
"What situation? More important than me? More important than treating my heart demon? I'm serious enough to follow even your pathetic orders like a beggar...!! But you don't think of me at all!!"
Instead of answering, I reached into my bosom.
Time for the final defense.
"...Here!"
I held the hairpin, rolled up in a handkerchief, right in front of Cheongwol's eyes.
Her gaze scattered for a moment.
"...Isn't this from the Tang Clan of Sichuan—no—"
"—Do you know the Changhwa Merchant Group?"
I wiped my cold sweat as I spoke. Damn! She even recognized the handkerchief?
First, divert her attention quick.
"I hear the Changhwa Merchant Group's hairpins are all the rage among women in the Central Plains."
"...Hairpin?"
Cheongwol's menacing expression slowly softened.
I could breathe again.
"Top quality, and just the name 'Changhwa Merchant Group' draws envious stares—everyone wants one. As a man, can you guess why I'm carrying this precious thing close to my heart right now?"
Cheongwol wasn't stupid; she seemed to realize it was a gift for her.
"...You think I'd be happy with something like that? I have no desire for luxuries—"
"—It's about my feelings, isn't it? Who cares about the item's value! You should appreciate the effort I put into getting this for you!"
"..."
"Think about it! If I wasn't thinking of you, would a poor guy like me even dream of getting something like this? Do you know how many dumplings this hairpin could buy?!"
"..."
"After that grueling trip, all that hardship, I come back and this is the welcome I get! Do you really think I wasn't thinking of you! A man has duties as a man, what can I do?!"
I grabbed Cheongwol's hand from my stomach and set down the hairpin.
Cheongwol, speechless, tucked the tracking incense away to touch the hairpin.
I caught my breath too.
"..."
Cheongwol's momentum had died down a lot.
Her touch was careful now.
I could tell, even without her saying it.
She liked the hairpin.
"Open it up quick!"
The more she did, the more I pressed her.
"I spent over half the money from this trip on that one hairpin! Check it already! If you don't like it, just toss it!"
"...T-Toss it? Why would I..."
Cheongwol swallowed hard—uncharacteristically—and began carefully unrolling the handkerchief with slightly trembling hands.
Watching her, she looked like a delicate woman moved by a gift.
"Have you ever gotten a present like this before! And you're a nun!"
I raised my voice at her attitude, like getting revenge.
My way of reasserting control.
"...Shopkeeper."
Cheongwol finally picked up the hairpin and whispered.
I'll be a true loyal customer of the Changhwa Merchant Group from now on.
This is how it saves my life.
"...You're kidding, right?"
"...Huh?"
Cheongwol held up the hairpin.
Betrayal and absurdity mixed in her eyes.
I blinked and looked at the hairpin.
A straight tree branch stuck out.
"..."
"..."
For the first time in front of Cheongwol, I showed genuine bewilderment.
I blinked, grabbed the hairpin.
"Ah... No, why is this..."
"..."
"Wha...? I definitely... got a really nice... jade-colored hairpin..."
Fuck. Fuck, fuck...!
What? Why...!
"Shopkeeper."
When... did this...
'The Beggars' Sect aren't the only ones good with sleight of hand—us from the Tang Clan of Sichuan are better, you know?'
'We're packaging it for you! No delicacy!'
'Pfft...! Puhaha!'
Ah.
Dang Soran, you fucking bitch.
She swapped it back then.
Cheongwol asked.
"...Done with excuses?"
"..."
"...Shall we go back to our earlier talk?"
Cheongwol asked with an even more menacing expression.
She placed her hand back on my lower abdomen, like sentencing me to the execution block again.
Still displeased with the energy settled in my dantian.
"Why'd you abandon me and choose Dang Soran? What's so great about that bitch?"
I don't even know anymore. Why I chose Dang Soran.
"My heart demon, our promise... Was spending time with that wench more fun?"
Was it the hairpin combo?
Cheongwol's emotions blazed hotter than ever.
"Why? You knew me first, shopkeeper. We're closer...! Why care more about Dang Soran than me, whom you met and befriended first...!!"
Fuck...!
She's gonna blow...!
Her voice started mixing sorrow with anger.
But I had no excuses left.
I was being backed into a corner too.
Dangerous.
Think fast...!!
"Is it because Dang Soran's rich? Is that why?"
As if fueling her own rage by saying it, blue energy surged more fiercely from her body.
Her expression, tone, aura—nothing pointed to anything good.
Ah.
I sensed it instinctively.
It's over now.
Cheongwol can't hold back anymore.
"You like giving her your body too? Felt good handing over your dantian to Dang Soran—I'm asking—"
"—Wol-ah."
I took a gamble at the cliff's edge.
Cornered, so I bite back.
The method I'd avoided to the end.
I knew it was random.
Cheongwol was furious.
Corpses everywhere.
Still broad daylight.
No mood for SM play.
But this was my only option left.
Even if we moved or I stalled.
I had to start now.
Staying put meant death, and failing this gamble meant death anyway.
"...Why no answer? Wol-ah."
As expected, flustered, her attitude softened, and Cheongwol averted her eyes as she replied.
"...You think I want to play right now—"
I pressed relentlessly.
"—That tone."
Eyes as icy as possible.
Voice colder than ever.
Go all-in, shamelessly.
"...Is that how you talk to someone who accepts you?"