Chapter 231: The Truth of Bukri Sehee (2)

If I were to be angry, it should’ve been at Bukri Chang, not at Bukri Sehee.

Even so, seeing Bukri Sehee so obedient made my anger boil over, and my tone grew harsh.

“Hhhuhuhu, then what am I supposed to do? I’m a child with neither the will to defy my father nor the courage to run away. I even tried to die, but I couldn’t because a martial art technique was placed on me.”

Bukri Haeng and Bukri So had been sent to monitor her.

Bukri Sehee suddenly changed the subject.

“Do you know when I was the happiest in my life?”

I gently stroked her back, hoping her emotions would settle.

“When was it?”

I asked softly, feeling regret for raising my voice.

“When I was with you. Even though there were people who tried to kidnap me back then, being with you was the best time of my life.”

“Don’t call me ‘brother’ when you know you’re a woman. It’s creepy. It makes me feel like I’m into men.”

“Then what should I call you?”

“Call me ‘Orabeoni’.”

Bukri Sehee looked into my eyes for a moment, blushed, then shook her head.

“No.”

“Why?”

“I always dreamed of becoming your woman while looking at you.”

“You little brat, what nonsense—”

“I’m not little.”

Bukri Sehee snapped back, lifting her head with defiance.

I gently stroked her hair with pity.

I used to think I lived a pitiful life, but compared to Bukri Sehee, I had lived happily.

Feeling compassion, I held her tightly in my arms.

“I’ll release the martial art technique that’s bound to you. That’s probably what’s stopping you from running away. That kind of technique restricts one’s will.”

“They said it’s not something just anyone can undo.”

“I can do it. I can.”

“Because you’re the Heavenly Sword Hero Yong Hwarin.”

That used to be what I’d always say, puffing my chest whenever I spoke.

It was a tone I used when speaking to match Bukri Sogun’s level.

“Do you know when I was happiest?”

Bukri Sehee pulled away from my embrace and asked.

“When?”

“When I was at the Sky Ocean Merchant Union and you came asking about Bukri Sogun. Realizing you hadn’t forgotten me made me so happy. I cried all night after seeing the concern in your expression and eyes. No one had ever worried and searched for me like that.”

She continued, wearing a bitter smile.

“And do you know when I was saddest?”

When I looked at her with a calm smile, Bukri Sehee blushed and spoke.

“That day, when you came looking for Bukri Sogun, I was so sad. I wished the one you were looking for wasn’t Sogun, but Sehee.”

Tears streamed down Bukri Sehee’s face.

“I didn’t know you thought of me that way.”

I pulled her head to my chest.

Gently patting her back, I tried to calm her.

I held her like that for quite some time.

“Let’s start by releasing the martial art technique bound by the Forbidden Restriction.”

I had seen a Demonic Master undo various martial arts techniques and learned from it.

Though I wasn’t as skilled as a Demonic Master, I could dispel most Soul Reaping Arts.

“Sit here.”

Bukri Sehee sat down in front of me.

Most Soul Reaping Arts were implanted in the mind or the Upper Dantian, so I had to circulate qi through the Crown Point.

I placed both hands on the top of Bukri Sehee’s head and infused the energy of the Tai Chi Dantian.

The energy of the Tai Chi Dantian contained the essence of the Realm of Self-Existence, intended to heal whatever had caused her condition.

My qi soon harmonized with Bukri Sehee’s energy.

As my qi resonated with Nature’s Energy, it easily blended with hers.

I could sense every corner of her body as if seeing it with my own eyes.

Bukri Sehee had indeed formed a Lower Dantian, suggesting she had trained in a martial art technique.

She probably needed it to store the energy of spiritual medicine within her body.

Because of that, she could manifest telepathy and the Sky-Piercer Halberd, though she hadn’t trained in other martial arts.

The Upper Dantian in her head wasn’t formed at all.

‘They say those under Soul Reaping Art have one of the acupoints in the head sealed. That point reacts to the caster’s commands. The more blocked acupoints, the more powerful the Soul Reaping Art… That’s what the Demonic Master said.’

I recalled what the Demonic Master had once explained about Soul Reaping Arts when tracing someone’s memories.

‘There’s no blocked acupoint in her head. Then where was the Soul Reaping Art placed?’

I was momentarily confused.

I had expected the art to reside in her head, but it was completely clean.

Refusing to give up, I examined her more thoroughly and guided my qi down to the Lower Dantian.

That’s when I sensed a peculiar presence squirming in the Lower Dantian.

‘What is this?’

As I carefully probed the energy, my expression twisted.

‘Don’t tell me… they planted a parasite in the Dantian?’

“Uugh!”

Bukri Sehee let out a groan as her Lower Dantian suddenly throbbed.

The parasite hidden in her Dantian had reacted to my qi.

Then, as the parasite stirred in her Dantian, I sensed a similar energy within her mind.

‘In her head too?’

Sensing the same parasitic energy in her head, I was startled.

‘The parasite in her mind was lying dormant until the one in the Dantian reacted. Now the two are resonating and awakening each other. The parasite in her mind is imposing the Forbidden Restriction on Sehee’s will. There’s only one kind of parasite in this world that can do that.’

The Spirit-Heart Parasite (靈心蠱) resided in the body and, when the host attempted to die, it sensed the crisis and forcibly suppressed the host’s will.

So, with the parasite residing in both the head and the Lower Dantian, they would interact and control the host’s body whenever the host attempted to take their own life.

But Yong Hwarin, who had only heard of such a parasite by name and had never believed it truly existed, was deeply shaken inside.

‘To eliminate them, I need to burn them both at the same time. That’s the only way. If either one dies first, the other might go berserk, and Bukri Sehee could die as a result.’

Yong Hwarin sent telepathy to Bukri Sehee.

– From now on, I’m going to burn the parasites in your body using my qi. It’s going to be extremely painful.

– Please do it.

Hearing a voice filled with resolve, Yong Hwarin decided to see it through.

Now was a perfect time—no one could interfere, and thanks to the spiritual medicine he received from Bukri Sehee, he had more than the power of Three Gaps to spare. It was the ideal moment to destroy the parasites.

Yong Hwarin split the energy of his Tai Chi Dantian into two—sending one to the parasite in the Lower Dantian, and the other to the parasite in the head.

Then, simultaneously, he amplified the energy and used the incantation of the Samadhi True Fire to ignite the parasites.

“Uuuuugh!”

Bukri Sehee trembled violently, as if a red-hot iron rod was piercing through her head and Lower Dantian.

There was a reason she so desperately wanted to destroy the Forbidden Restriction, even if it meant enduring such pain.

The restriction not only prevented her from taking her own life but also barred her from experiencing love with another.

Even if she were forced into intimacy, Bukri Sehee would feel excruciating pain, making it impossible to consummate a relationship.

The parasite had been planted with the intention of preventing her from being held by any man, so she could fully serve her purpose as a human spiritual medicine.

Bukri Sehee couldn’t bring herself to tell Yong Hwarin such details.

That was why she could endure this level of pain.

“Aaaaah!”

Bukri Sehee was drenched in sweat as if she had just stepped out of water.

‘Just a little more.’

Yong Hwarin devoted all his qi to burning the parasite.

With more than Three Gaps worth of power surging through the Tai Chi Dantian, the parasite could no longer endure and was incinerated.

Bukri Sehee felt as if a heavy spike lodged in her head had suddenly been pulled out.

The same sensation occurred in her Lower Dantian.

‘If Bukri Sehee hadn’t given me the energy of the spiritual medicine, I wouldn’t have been able to destroy the parasite. I might’ve only put her at greater risk.’

Yong Hwarin lifted his hands and took a deep breath.

“Hoo…”

Looking at Bukri Sehee’s small body, soaked entirely in sweat, Yong Hwarin spoke.

“You endured well.”

Bukri Sehee smiled softly.

“I’m good at enduring things. Please keep circulating your qi. I’ll go rinse off this sweat in the rain.”

Since Yong Hwarin had nearly depleted all his qi, he was already about to start circulation training regardless of her words.

“All right. I’ll continue circulating my qi, so go and come back.”

As Yong Hwarin quietly entered meditation, Bukri Sehee took off her clothes and stepped outside into the cave where the rain was still pouring down.

Yong Hwarin finished circulating his qi and opened his eyes.

But he flinched at the sight before him.

Bukri Sehee, not wearing a single thread, had released her Sky-Piercer Halberd and was sitting in front of him.

After washing off her sweat in the rain, she had returned and waited silently, gazing only at Yong Hwarin’s face until he awakened from his meditation.

As Yong Hwarin opened his eyes wide in surprise, Bukri Sehee smiled faintly and spoke.

“Do you remember? Bukri Sogun once said she’d introduce her older sister Bukri Sehee.”

“I do.”

“I’ll be sacrificed anyway once I return to the clan. And sometime later, I’ll probably become the plaything of that old man called Sam Taegong. Before that, I want to give my heart and body to the one I’ve kept in my heart.”

It wasn’t easy for a young woman to say such things, yet Bukri Sehee met Yong Hwarin’s gaze with confidence that bordered on boldness.

“I’m not ready for this emotionally.”

“I’m not asking you to return my feelings, Orabeoni. I’m just saying I want to give you mine. Please just accept it.”

Yong Hwarin closed his eyes.

As he said, he wasn’t emotionally ready. Accepting another person into his heart was still too difficult.

But he knew what kind of situation Bukri Sehee was in—and he also knew her heart.

Rejecting her feelings now would make him feel no different than Sam Taegong.

‘There’s an old saying that when a woman asks a man to take her, she’s prepared to die. Pretending to be noble and aloof won’t save either myself or Sehee.’

Yong Hwarin, at least in this moment, decided to yield to his instincts.

He believed it was the only way to save both himself and Sehee.

“You might regret this later.”

Bukri Sehee smiled softly.

“No, I won’t. I’ll probably look back on this as the best decision of my life. It’s not because I find it a waste to give myself to Sam Taegong. It’s because I know I’ll regret it if I don’t give myself to the person I truly love.”

Yong Hwarin murmured.

“You used to sneak into my bed often back then… You’ve picked up all the wrong habits.”

Bukri Sehee’s cheeks flushed red.

“I couldn’t fall asleep unless I was in your arms. I was so anxious. But when I curled up against your chest, I would somehow feel calm and fall asleep. There were no nights I slept more peacefully than those. After we were separated, I couldn’t sleep properly again. Even tonight, lying in your arms, I finally got real rest for the first time in who knows how long.”

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