Chapter 214. Why did you save me?

“How did you…….”

Yi Cheong-ha looked at Jang Guk-pyeong with eyes that couldn’t believe it at all.

Clearly she had fallen from the cliff of the Ten Thousand Jang Precipice and crashed into the river where rapids raged, so what kind of harmony was it that she saw the nemesis Jang Guk-pyeong’s face when she opened her eyes?

“You? Isn’t calling a benefactor ‘you’ a bit much?”

“Benefactor?”

“I snatched you just before you crashed.”

“……!”

“Thanks to that, I also almost drowned.”

Jang Guk-pyeong smiled a bitter smile and lowered his shoulder sseuk, showing a glimpse of bare skin wrapped tightly in bandages.

“Catching a person who fell from that height wasn’t an easy task. Thanks to that, my whole body aches even now.”

“…….”

Yi Cheong-ha ended up losing her words.

‘Why?’

Her head was full of questions.

Was fighting risking his life with Jang Guk-pyeong something that happened only for a day or two?

All this time, they exchanged lethal moves with the sincere intention of killing each other, and there were not just one or two moments that were truly dangerous.

Actually, on Yi Cheong-ha’s left chest, the sword wound Jang Guk-pyeong had carved remained intact.

That was the same for Jang Guk-pyeong, so it was clear that the sword wounds Yi Cheong-ha had carved into his back and various places on his body numbered over at least ten.

For him to save her risking his life…… for Yi Cheong-ha, it was something she couldn’t understand at all.

“Why.”

Yi Cheong-ha asked Jang Guk-pyeong.

“Why did you save me. To you, I must have been an opponent you wanted to kill.”

“Isn’t that your thought?”

“……?”

“I have never once thought I wanted to kill you.”

“What does that mean? Is it a day or two that you and I engaged in life-and-death duels?”

“That is because I tried to stop you since you committed evil deeds, it wasn’t that I wanted to kill the person Yi Cheong-ha.”

“……?”

“Ancient sages said to hate the sin but not the person. My fighting with you was to stop your evil deeds, not to take your life. And you see.”

Jang Guk-pyeong’s eyes sparkled.

“At least in my view, you were not sincere in committing evil deeds.”

“Not sincere?”

“Didn’t you do it unavoidably due to orders?”

“How did you……?”

Yi Cheong-ha flinched in surprise.

There was absolutely no one who knew she was reluctantly following orders all this time.

To the point where even the Heavenly Demon was completely ignorant of Yi Cheong-ha’s inner thoughts.

Of course, it might be that he knew but just left it alone…….

“How did you know?”

“Did you and I clash for a day or two?”

Jang Guk-pyeong spoke as if asking if that even needed to be said.

“If you mix swords, you come to feel everything.”

“Absurd nonsense.”

“Then how would I have known your inner thoughts?”

“T, that is…….”

“People can lie, but swords cannot lie.”

Jang Guk-pyeong smiled a bitter smile.

“If you were sincere, would I have been able to stay alive with my two eyes open until now?”

“I was always sincere.”

“Of course you were. I am not saying you went easy on me intentionally. However, unconsciously, a shred of hesitation was clearly felt.”

“Ridiculous words.”

Yi Cheong-ha denied Jang Guk-pyeong’s words saying they were absurd.

However, inwardly she could not be certain.

‘Did I really do that?’

Yi Cheong-ha could not know her own heart.

It was a truly strange thing.

That a stranger, Jang Guk-pyeong, knew those inner thoughts better than herself…….

“You must have suffered a lot of heartaches all this time.”

“Heartaches……?”

“How much of an ordeal must it have been to follow orders forcibly.”

“…….”

Yi Cheong-ha had to grit her teeth and struggle to hold back the emotions surging up, ul-keok, at Jang Guk-pyeong’s comfort.

She had never received something called comfort from anyone in her entire life, but who knew she would receive comfort from an enemy she had fought risking her life countless times all this time?

“Still, it turned out well.”

“Why is that.”

“Shouldn’t you not have to accumulate karma caused by others from now on?”

“What do you intend to do with me? Are you going to cripple my martial arts?”

“It isn’t that kind of talk.”

Jang Guk-pyeong frowned.

“If it were like that, I would have done so long ago. Or I wouldn’t have saved you risking my life. If I had made up my mind to cripple your qi center, I would have done so anytime.”

“Then why did you say that.”

“At least for a few months, you will have to strive only for treatment; would you be able to commit evil deeds by order like before?”

“Hmm.”

“Furthermore, this is a better than good opportunity for you. There is no one who knows I saved you. Using this chance, considering washing your hands of the martial world and living a peaceful life could also be an option.”

“It is still too early to wash my hands of the martial world.”

“Then return to the Demonic Cult and continue committing evil deeds. You can play the Heavenly Demon’s puppet like before.”

“…….”

“I am sorry for being sarcastic. It seems I spoke too harshly to a person who hasn’t crossed the threshold of life and death yet. First, rest well. You haven’t passed the crisis yet.”

“Sorr…….”

Yi Cheong-ha could not finish her words and fainted again.

As Jang Guk-pyeong said, she had not completely passed the crisis of life and death yet.

* * *

After that, Yi Cheong-ha had to cross the threshold of death several times.

Just what she suffered from enemies were injuries more than severe wounds, but because she fell below the cliff and crashed into the water surface, her muscles and bones were greatly damaged.

In the midst of that, since her qi center also suffered great damage, it wasn’t just once or twice that she passed the crisis of qi deviation due to demonic qi going rampant every other day.

Thanks to that, it was a daily occurrence to wander on the verge of death almost for over a hundred days, so Yi Cheong-ha’s life was like a candle before the wind.

“Wait just a little. I will obtain the medicine soon.”

“Just where do you say you will obtain the inner core of a Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp.”

“That is my jurisdiction, so you concentrate only on treatment. While I am gone, you absolutely must not die.”

“Why do you go so far?”

Yi Cheong-ha could not understand Jang Guk-pyeong’s goodwill at all.

“I am a sinner. A person worth saving even while obtaining such a precious spiritual medicine…….”

“Do not speak like that.”

Jang Guk-pyeong opened his eyes fiercely.

“Why do you demean yourself?”

“But…….”

“Do not speak like that ever again. And saving you or not is solely my decision.”

“…….”

Yi Cheong-ha could not say any words at Jang Guk-pyeong’s frost-like scolding.

“Then, I will return soon. Take good care of your body.”

Ten days after that.

“I obtained it with difficulty.”

Jang Guk-pyeong returned holding a red bead like a ruby in his hand.

Seeing the blazing fire energy and strong spiritual energy felt from the red bead shining brilliantly, it was clearly the inner core of a Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp.

However, what entered Yi Cheong-ha’s eyes first was not the inner core of the Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp but Jang Guk-pyeong’s condition.

His appearance was truly a spectacle.

His hair was disheveled like a monster, his martial uniform was torn here and there and worn out to the point of being half-burnt and no different from rags, and on his exposed skin, burns that hadn’t been there long were evident.

Seeing that he didn’t even have the moment to tend to the wounds and the places where he suffered burns were all covered in burst blisters and festering sores, it was to the point where one couldn’t even imagine how severe the pain would be.

“What is with that state.”

Yi Cheong-ha frowned and tried to get up, but leaving the sickbed was far off.

Due to the aftereffects, her lower body was half paralyzed, so it was impossible even to raise her body alone.

“Are you worrying about me right now? Huhu.”

“Does laughter come out?”

Yi Cheong-ha’s two eyes shone sharply.

“I asked what is with that state.”

“What do you mean what! I had a bout with the fellow called Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp! Indeed, perhaps because it’s a ten thousand year old fellow, it was so strong; it was my first time in my life seeing a fish so strong! And how big the size was, it was a Big Catch big enough to make a house-sized bull go away! Probably the whale that lives in that vast sea is more than the Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp…….”

“…….”

Yi Cheong-ha was dumbfounded by the appearance of Jang Guk-pyeong boasting his saga proudly and ended up losing her words.

“Does such sound come out even after becoming half roasted?”

“To a manly man, burns like this are nothing. If I apply some spit roughly, it heals.”

“Do not speak idiot-like words!”

Yi Cheong-ha raised her voice.

Burns were something that should never be passed over lightly.

Light small burns might heal if one applied spit roughly as Jang Guk-pyeong said, but if one neglected large burns like Jang Guk-pyeong’s, trouble was bound to occur.

If it got infected, the flesh could rot and sepsis poison could spread to the whole body and kill him.

Severe burns required periodic management such as disinfecting the wound cleanly every few sijin and applying efficacious medicinal herbs.

“Receive treatment immediately! Immediately!”

“No, I went to the trouble of obtaining the inner core of the Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp and if you get angry abruptly…….”

“I would have said receive treatment immediately?”

“I, I understand.”

Jang Guk-pyeong lowered his tail and made a voice like crawling in.

Even though she was lying on a sickbed, Yi Cheong-ha’s spirit was so ferocious that even Jang Guk-pyeong could not keep trembling like a snake.

Even after that, Jang Guk-pyeong’s efforts to save Yi Cheong-ha were truly tearful.

Not only the inner core of the Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp, he obtained all sorts of rare spiritual medicines and medicinal herbs, and moreover, he kept by her side day and night and did not refuse nursing.

Through such efforts of Jang Guk-pyeong who did his utmost, Yi Cheong-ha recovered from her injuries in mere months and was able to shake off the bed and get up.

Then one day.

“Eat. I do not know if it will suit your taste. Huhu.”

“Why did you save me?”

Yi Cheong-ha, leaving the food, asked Jang Guk-pyeong instead of lifting chopsticks.

“That question again?”

“You would have never answered properly even once?”

“…….”

“Why did you save me.”

“That, I also do not know well.”

Jang Guk-pyeong answered honestly.

“I just wanted to save you.”

“Without any reason?”

“It wouldn’t be completely without.”

“What does that mean?”

Yi Cheong-ha frowned.

“I am your enemy. That is the same even now. And it will be so in the future.”

“That is the same for me. If you return to the Demonic Cult and repeat the evil deeds like the past, then I will really kill you. While beating the ground and regretting that I saved you.”

“Do you hope for me to turn over a new leaf?”

“To speak honestly, yes.”

Jang Guk-pyeong nodded.

“But I did not hope for turning over a new leaf from the start.”

“You didn’t have such intention?”

“I didn’t say. Why I saved you, I do not know even myself. If it becomes known that I saved you, I will also become a Public Enemy of the Murim.”

“Isn’t that the same even now?”

“Well, I admit it is half so. Since people who have as much hate stuck to them as me are rare.”

Jang Guk-pyeong smiled a bitter smile.

Here or there, people who speak right words and do right actions are bound to receive hate.

Jang Guk-pyeong was not a very welcome figure even to the Righteous Heavenly Alliance.

Why?

Because he tackled the Righteous Heavenly Alliance’s events too and was prone to interfering with work.

“Anyway, if I have to say…….”

Jang Guk-pyeong smiled a truly manly refreshing smile and spoke.

“I wonder if it isn’t affection.”

“Affection……?”

“It is so.”

Jang Guk-pyeong, watching Yi Cheong-ha open surprised rabbit eyes unlike her, voiced the sincerity he hadn’t even realized himself.

“Affection. That is the reason I saved you.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep