“How about we hide out together for a while?”

“Huh? Uh? Eh? Hek?!”

Seol Lihyang suddenly let out strange noises. She kept gasping but couldn’t exhale properly, and her limbs flailed about without rest.

Even in that state, her eyes kept scanning over my upper body.

I gave a hollow laugh and shook my head at her odd behavior, like she’d short-circuited or something.

“It’s a joke. Don’t take it seriously.”

“Hey! What kind of joke is that?!”

“Did you think I was serious?”

“A little?”

Maybe it was because she had just shouted, but Seol Lihyang seemed slightly calmer now. She let out a deep sigh and leaned back against a nearby rock.

It looked like she was facing me. Though her eyes were closed, as if exhausted, she continued speaking.

“The situation is what it is. Even if you seem reckless, Cheon Hwi, I know you’ve thought this through. I was prepared for at least a month or two. After all, the Bloodflame Fist Demon will come after us, right?”

“He probably will. If he wants to gain the upper hand over Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin, he’ll have no choice but to take one of us hostage.”

Maybe it was because he was so easy to read. Seol Lihyang seemed to be slowly understanding the Bloodflame Fist Demon’s mindset.

Whether or not he could actually find us, I didn’t know, but I was certain he’d thoroughly search the path downstream from the river.

It would come down to whether Seo Mun-Hwarin or the Bloodflame Fist Demon found us first, and how long we could stay hidden. That would be the key to this entire situation.

Nodding, I added jokingly,

“So we’re screwed?”

“Not yet, so shut your mouth! Don’t you know words have power?!”

A strange sense of déjà vu in this conversation. Seol Lihyang must’ve felt it too, as she reflexively shrieked.

Afterward, she looked like she was mulling something over, her lips moving silently for a while before she finally spoke.

“If. If the Bloodflame Fist Demon finds us first…”

She continued in a voice full of certainty, the kind only someone who had truly thought things through could manage.

“Then just use me as bait.”

“What did you say?”

“You’re going to get stronger, Cheon Hwi. There’s so much you still need to do. But I’m not at that level, right? Besides, I’m only alive thanks to you.”

“You said the Bloodflame Fist Demon reached Sub-Perfection while we were still crawling as babies. And yeah, you’re at Peak Stage now. But it’s still dangerous, isn’t it?”

“So if it comes to that, just leave me behind. If there’s only one hostage, he won’t be able to kill me easily. Come back later with Sister Seorin and save me, okay?”

I didn’t respond, just listened to Seol Lihyang’s words. After turning them over in my mind for a moment, I slowly stood up.

“W-what? You said the Bloodflame Fist Demon is strong and evil, and that we only got away because of Seorin! Isn’t it better that at least one of us survives rather than both getting caught or one dying—”

Maybe she sensed something unusual as I stood up, because she started rambling in a panic.

I covered her mouth with my hand.

“Mmmp?!”

The soft feel of her lips and the tickle of her breath against my palm—warmth that should’ve been calming only made things worse.

I took a deep breath to settle the whirlwind of mixed emotions swirling within me.

Then, with a bit of resentment, I grabbed Seol Lihyang’s cheeks with both hands and pulled.

Stretch. Stretch!

“Ow! That hurts! What the heck, why are you doing this all of a sudden?!”

“That’s what I should be asking you.”

I kept pulling her cheeks as I continued.

“Yeah, I might’ve said something weak. Things aren’t going great right now.”

What I couldn’t say was that I had already challenged the Bloodflame Fist Demon multiple times before regressing—and lost every single time.

“But so what? If I’m the type to run away and leave my people behind out of fear, I wouldn’t have picked up a sword to begin with.”

Swinging a sword whenever you feel like it is disgraceful, but not being able to draw it when you must—that’s just pathetic.

I never wanted to become that kind of person.

“So don’t go around saying crap like ‘leave me behind.’ Got it?”

“Nope. I don’t get it.”

Still in the same cheek-pinched position, Seol Lihyang reached out and pinched my cheek in return.

She stared at me with an indignant, sharp gaze and continued.

“Then what, we all die together? At least one of us should make it back alive!”

“You think you’ll be able to sleep peacefully if you survive that way? I know I wouldn’t.”

“You’re right. But do you have a plan? If you don’t have a method, you need to be prepared for the worst!”

“Then we just win. That’s the plan.”

“And how exactly are we going to win?!”

“We’ll figure it out now.”

“That means you don’t have a plan!”

Seol Lihyang pinched my cheek harder. I also kept pulling on hers, and we went back and forth like that for a while.

Eventually, I let go, wondering what the hell we were even doing.

“Huuu…”

“What now?”

She also let go awkwardly after I released her first. I shook my head at her.

“We’re too old for this nonsense.”

“Eighteen’s not too bad, right?”

In the face of a real eighteen-year-old’s cautious logic, the fake one—me—couldn’t say anything.

Instead, I sighed deeply and sat down beside her.

Seol Lihyang, still rubbing her reddened cheek, looked at me for a moment before letting out a small laugh.

“Doesn’t this feel kind of nostalgic?”

“Nostalgic… ah, right. We did have a similar talk when we first met.”

Back in front of the Pavilion Master of Honghwaru, when I kidnapped Seol Lihyang and had to shake off the pursuing Hao Sect members…

When I was getting worn out, Seol Lihyang had said something similar back then too.

She brought her knees together and rested her forehead on them, speaking in a slightly subdued tone.

“Actually, I think the same way you do, Cheon Hwi. I didn’t want to be a burden in times like this. That’s why I decided to learn martial arts.”

“Is that why?”

“Yeah. I thought if I got strong, I could be helpful, like Sister Tang. But it’s not easy.”

“Nothing in life ever is.”

“You know, sometimes you talk like an old man. Like just now.”

She didn’t know I had regressed, so that’s not what she meant—but still, it felt like a gut punch for some reason.

I just stared at her instead of answering, and she stared right back without flinching.

It felt like I’d lose if I looked away first.

As our sudden staring contest continued, I found myself peering into her dark eyes… and then a thought came to me.

“Could you focus your Yin Qi on me with your sound arts, but make sure it doesn’t harm me?”

“Huh? You mean just cool you down? I already do that all the time.”

Seol Lihyang hadn’t been in the martial world long, so while she had learned martial arts, she wasn’t constrained by a martial artist’s traditional thinking.

Unlike the orthodox sect warriors who treated their swords as sacred objects and hesitated to even cut meat with them, saying swords were only for battle…

Seol Lihyang freely used her martial arts for practical purposes when needed.

When it got hot, she’d come into my or Tang Sowol’s room and release Yin Qi to cool the place down.

When we drank water, she’d chill it with her internal qi to make it icy.

During particularly hot nights, Tang Sowol often hugged Seol Lihyang to fall asleep.

But what I was asking for now was different.

“It’s similar, but not quite. Before, you just adjusted the intensity to make things cool. Now, I want you to go all out and try to freeze me—but keep the chill on the surface only, not letting it enter.”

“Hmm. Like clothing, then?”

“Exactly like that.”

I had never once beaten the Bloodflame Fist Demon.

But that didn’t mean I was absolutely weaker than him—it was more about me not being able to withstand his blazing yang qi.

Natural Qi is fundamentally balanced, with Yin and Yang in harmony.

Martial arts techniques usually absorb this balanced Qi, making one’s internal qi neutral as well.

But some rare techniques build up either Yin or Yang exclusively—like Seol Lihyang’s Glacial True Qi or the Bloodflame Fist Demon’s Bloodflame Serpent Demon Art.

Normally, such imbalance causes side effects—but those with special constitutions like Seol Lihyang, or those willing to endure the side effects like the Bloodflame Fist Demon, can wield terrifying power.

It turns their internal qi into a weapon, like a sharp awl. A slip, and that unbalanced qi will tear through an opponent’s insides.

That’s why Seol Lihyang had been able to fight so effectively against those stronger than her at the Yongbong Gathering.

And why, despite my sword not being inferior to the Bloodflame Fist Demon’s fists, I was still overwhelmed.

Even a small mistake would lead to internal injury. Even with sword qi for defense, the heat would make my sword too hot to grip properly.

And just raising my qi caused intense heat, draining me quickly.

I couldn’t show my full strength, but the Bloodflame Fist Demon could.

That’s why martial artists hide their techniques and only pass them down to disciples or blood relatives.

Once a technique becomes known, counters arise. And if there’s a counter, the technique’s power becomes meaningless.

Techniques like extreme Yin or Yang-based arts are rare, so counters are less known.

That’s why I knew what the problem was but couldn’t deal with it—until now.

Because Seol Lihyang was right beside me.

Her cultivation level was lower, but her purity and control of Yin Qi were second to none.

And everyone with even a basic understanding of martial arts knows—Yin cancels out Yang.

If I fought in front while Seol Lihyang backed me up with Yin Qi, maybe… just maybe, we could do this.

“That’s why I asked. Can you do it?”

“I’ll try… but it’s hard. I’ve never done it this way.”

Of course. It’s basically asking someone to swing a sword with full strength and stop just before it hits.

That’s not easy for Seol Lihyang right now.

While I nodded to myself, Seol Lihyang scratched her head with a complicated look.

“You want to use my Glacial True Qi to block some of the Bloodflame Fist Demon’s qi, right? I get what you’re thinking, Cheon Hwi. But even if it works, you’ll still be moving all over the place during the fight, right? I don’t think I can keep up.”

“Oh.”

I hadn’t considered that—but she was right.

Even if Seol Lihyang had a genius talent for handling Yin Qi, it would be hard for her to match the speed of a Sub-Perfection master and maintain Yin coverage around me.

It’s practically saying she’d have to follow the battle between two Sub-Perfection level experts using pure qi techniques.

If she could do that, she’d be at Sub-Perfection herself already.

After a short pause, I came up with another solution.

“Then I’ll just have you inject the Yin Qi into me from the start.”

“H-how?”

Seol Lihyang gulped and asked. I shook my head at her.

“Don’t be dirty. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking, Cheon Hwi?!”

“Besides, we haven’t trained in Seduction Techniques. Even if we did ‘unite,’ it wouldn’t change much.”

“U-unite?! I wasn’t thinking that!”

Despite her protests, she hid her face in embarrassment.

I let her flustered excuses go in one ear and out the other as I continued.

“Just place your hand on my back and inject the qi. As long as you guide the purest Yin Qi into me while avoiding my meridians, I’ll handle the rest.”

“Oh, if it’s just that…”

Seol Lihyang nodded, eyes still tightly shut.

After that, we spent a few days traveling along the river, practicing with her Yin Qi in various ways.

Then, the Bloodflame Fist Demon appeared in front of us.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep