Jin Choyoung was Neung So-hwa's personal guard.
But before being a guard, she was her maid and companion, and they regarded each other like sisters.
Thus, even in this situation, she had no choice but to speak up.
"But miss, for someone blessed with such a heaven-sent serendipity to gobble down a Wall Grain Pill that fell from the sky... it's a bit..."
"Choyoung."
Neung So-hwa turned serious.
"Everyone has their own circumstances. You shouldn't judge by appearances alone."
Jin Choyoung's face flushed red.
"I'm sorry, miss."
"No, it's fine. Well, it was quite a shocking sight, so even I was pretty startled, despite what I say."
"I see."
"Yes, anyway."
Neung So-hwa deliberately shifted the topic with a bright tone.
"Let's rest today as well."
"Yes, miss."
"Tomorrow when we wake up, we'll have to scrounge up something to eat."
"Leave that to me."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Jeok Muryong didn't wake until the afternoon of the next day.
Judging by the unchanged scenery around them, they hadn't moved.
Sniff sniff.
Once again, a savory aroma teased his nose.
"Meat!"
"Wait a moment!"
Jin Choyoung shouted urgently.
"I know how starved you are, hero. But we've been eating next to nothing for days too, so please bear with us."
"Bear with what?"
"We caught five rabbits. We'll give you three, so let us have two."
Jeok Muryong thought for a moment.
He figured he could just about endure that much.
"Did you eat nothing while I slept?"
"Just some water and a handful of wild greens."
"Got it."
With that reply, Jeok Muryong first brought the nearest rabbit meat to his mouth.
Eat first, deal with the rest later.
As Jeok Muryong began eating, Jin Choyoung and Neung So-hwa started their meal as well.
"By the way, it's amazing. You wake up the instant we start roasting the meat?"
Jeok Muryong didn't reply, devoting himself solely to the food.
His body had put on noticeable flesh overnight.
It was still just bones and skin transformed into mere skinniness, but that was progress.
Above all, it was fortunate that his completely depleted qi had recovered somewhat.
'Then what about my internal energy?'
Chewing the meat with crunching sounds, Jeok Muryong pondered.
His dantian was as shriveled and withered as the rest of his body.
It had shrunk to a severe degree, as if tortured or overworked.
Even circulating the Great Heavenly Cycle through meditative breathing might not recover a tenth of his original internal energy—it was uncertain.
Of course, that was by Jeok Muryong's standards.
'A tenth by this seat's measure surpasses the internal energy of so-called peak masters.'
Jeok Muryong inwardly declared as much.
"Um, hero?"
Neung So-hwa spoke up.
"We should have a talk this time. You're busy eating, so if you could just nod or shake your head in response, I'd be grateful."
Nod nod.
"I am Neung So-hwa, Young Palace Lord of True Heaven Palace. This is my personal guard, Jin Choyoung."
Crunch crunch.
"Have you ever heard of True Heaven Palace?"
Shake shake.
"As expected. If it's all right, may I give a brief explanation?"
Gulp.
Having polished off one rabbit in a flash, Jeok Muryong grabbed the second with his hand and spoke.
"Make it as brief as possible."
"Understood."
Neung So-hwa began her explanation.
True Heaven Palace was a merchant conglomerate based in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
They operated numerous escort agencies and trading houses, amassing vast profits traveling between the lands south and north of the Yangtze.
"The problem started when the Palace Lord—my grandfather—passed away."
In short, it was a succession struggle.
The previous Palace Lord, Neung Juwon, had placed his granddaughter Neung So-hwa—daughter of his eldest son—in the position of Young Palace Lord.
By rights, it should have gone to Neung So-hwa's father, but he had died young along with his wife.
Thus, the young girl was designated successor, naturally drawing intense envy from those around her.
There were plenty of collateral relatives, after all, even if not direct kin.
However, while Neung Juwon was alive and healthy, no one dared voice open discontent or plot openly...
"Then the Palace Lord died suddenly."
"Yes."
Neung So-hwa nodded at Jeok Muryong's words.
True Heaven Palace splintered into various factions.
Each faction prioritized securing Neung So-hwa herself.
Install her as a puppet, and they could claim both legitimacy and actual power.
"In the ensuing chaos, Choyoung and a few guards smuggled me out and we escaped."
"And you fled all the way here?"
"Yes."
"Then what?"
"Pardon?"
"You didn't bolt from Hubei Province to Henan Province without some plan, did you? What is it?"
"Ah."
Neung So-hwa looked at Jeok Muryong with eyes tinged with surprise.
This man had a surprisingly keen eye for the situation, unlike his first impression.
"First, we're heading to Luoyang."
Jin Choyoung said.
"The previous Palace Lord has a friend there. The plan is to place ourselves under his protection for now."
"I see."
"So, hero, we'd like to make one proposal to you."
Neung So-hwa ventured cautiously.
Jeok Muryong nodded.
"Fine."
"Pardon? I haven't even... "
"Obvious. Protect you until Luoyang?"
"Ah... yes. That's right."
"I accept. Conditionally."
"I'm listening, hero."
"From next time, four rabbits."
Jeok Muryong said, looking at Jin Choyoung.
"Or an equivalent amount of meat."
"..."
"Just meat would make my stomach feel bloated, so some suitable greens or fruit would be nice too."
Jin Choyoung stared blankly at Jeok Muryong.
"No, um, hero?"
"Jeok Muryong."
"Jeok Muryong hero, sorry, but we're not at an inn or restaurant here?"
"I know. So you'll have to try harder."
"For hunting, surely you'd be far better at it than me?"
"That's true."
Jeok Muryong said calmly.
"But this seat is busy right now. Too busy to even consider hunting."
"Busy with what?"
"Resting."
With that, Jeok Muryong flopped back down.
The three rabbits were reduced to clean bones.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In the pre-dawn hours when all were asleep, Jeok Muryong opened his eyes.
After two hearty meals in a row followed by deep rest.
His body now held more qi than had been consumed in the previous battle.
Now it should be possible.
Jeok Muryong quietly sat up and assumed the cross-legged position.
His body still felt burdened by even the smallest movements.
At least his joints no longer creaked—that was a silver lining.
"Huu."
After a light deep breath, Jeok Muryong immediately entered meditative breathing.
Since he was doing it, no half-measures—he went straight for the Great Heavenly Cycle.
Plunging into a trance at once, he began voraciously devouring the surrounding qi.
Wuuuuung.
Three flowers bloomed above the head of Jeok Muryong as he meditated.
The literal realm of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown.
While imprisoned in the Bottomless Abyss, the only thing Jeok Muryong could do was think.
Thanks to that, his mental realm had far surpassed his former self.
Though by his own reckoning, it merely amounted to having more stray thoughts.
In any case, with his mental cultivation reaching its peak, the efficiency of his meditative breathing—which concentrated that power—had skyrocketed.
To the point where a single breath could draw in energy from a hundred-zhang radius.
Tsutsutsutsu.
The changes began in the distance.
In the forest far from Jeok Muryong's group.
The trees and underbrush there began withering at a rapid pace.
Not borrowing power from nature, but outright plundering it.
Unlike the harmony-focused absorption methods of Daoist schools, this was absorption at its demonic extreme.
Kwaaaaa!
The qi sucked in from all directions piled into Jeok Muryong's dantian with terrifying momentum.
Jeok Muryong controlled the energy and circulated it along his meridians.
The originally foreign qi flowed through his channels, gradually transforming into his own.
Once it settled in the dantian, the meditative breathing would be complete.
But at that very moment, an unexpected side effect occurred.
Grrrrrumble!
A sound like an earthquake erupted from his stomach.
'Damn it!'
Jeok Muryong panicked.
He had eaten his fill of rabbit meat not long ago, yet his stomach was already empty.
If that were all, it would be fine.
But this hunger didn't stop at hollowing his gut—it began affecting his internal energy too.
His meridians were on the verge of twisting.
'Kuhk!'
Jeok Muryong focused with all his might.
Wielding superhuman mental fortitude, he barely managed to anchor the internal energy in his dantian.
The real problem came next.
With its target lost, the hunger began gnawing at Jeok Muryong's body itself.
'Hungry!'
Jeok Muryong scanned his surroundings with bloodshot eyes.
'Food!'
Anything to fill his stomach would do.
Just then, Neung So-hwa entered his view.
She had been sleeping under her half-torn robe like a blanket, but now—with a startled expression as if she'd just woken—she was looking at Jeok Muryong.
"Jeok hero?"
"Food..."
At Jeok Muryong's words, Neung So-hwa's face tinted slightly red.
"Just a moment."
Rustle rustle.
After fumbling around inside her robe, she pulled something out and offered it.
"Here."
"...?"
Nestled in Neung So-hwa's cupped hands.
Tiny fruits like wild strawberries and bramble berries.
One could tell at a glance that she'd diligently gathered them.
"I actually meant to give them to you earlier, but you fell asleep right away."
"..."
"If these will do, why don't you have them for now?"
Jeok Muryong stared endlessly at her hands before nodding.
"Here."
"Mm."
Jeok Muryong took the fruits from Neung So-hwa and dumped them straight into his mouth.
Sour and cloying from being underripe, with a slight astringency to boot.
Still, it was food—exactly what Jeok Muryong needed.
This made twice now.
Both times when he desperately craved food, Neung So-hwa had provided it.
"Two."
"Pardon?"
"I'll grant two requests."
Jeok Muryong said calmly.
"Anyone you want dead, or made to wish they were—anyone at all. Sect leader of a great sect, patriarch of a renowned clan, even the emperor. Exactly two. Name them, and no matter who in the world, I'll take care of it."
Neung So-hwa felt certain it would come to pass.
"Two people, then."
"Groups are fine too. Out of generosity, I'll count it as one."
Jeok Muryong replied, then slightly furrowed his brow.
"I only really know fighting and killing, so repaying in any other way would be difficult."
"Understood, Jeok hero."
Neung So-hwa nodded.
"Then, for now, please come with us to Luoyang."
"That's already settled, so it doesn't count."
"You have a strict personality. All right, I'll think it over carefully."
"Mm."
"But is your stomach full now?"
"..."
A few berries wouldn't fill him up.
Still, the ravenous hunger was no longer driving him mad.
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