Even A Mere Gaze Is Fate. (3)

The Southern Lands Sex Fiend felt like he could fly from joy.

“Heh-heh-heh. Perfect. I’ve really caught the best one!”

His light footwork skill sliced through the wind as he sped through the mountains without restraint.

He seemed eager to reach his destination as quickly as possible.

Yu Seol, slung over his shoulder, kept her mouth tightly shut without moving a muscle.

He, excited, spoke over his shoulder.

“Little one, you don’t know why they call me the Southern Lands Sex Fiend, do you? You’ll find out soon enough.”

It was truly a nauseating voice.

Yu Seol’s gaze darkened a little more.

Then she moved her cherry-like lips and replied in a heavy tone.

“Then who do you think I am?”

“Well, you’re from the True Heavens Six Warriors…”

Suddenly the Southern Lands Sex Fiend trailed off and opened his eyes wide.

The smile on his face froze instantly, only now did he sense something amiss.

In his excitement he had overlooked one fact.

‘What? Why is the kidnapped girl so calm?’

He’d abducted countless women regardless of age, but he’d never seen a reaction like this.

Normally they’d scream to be spared, cry and struggle, at least they’d thrash to get off his shoulder.

But this behavior, as if she were willingly being carried, was baffling.

Could she have gone mad from fear?

At that moment he heard the child’s continuing voice.

“I’ll let you know soon enough. Who I am.”

At best she was the True Heavens Clan’s youngest disciple.

Who was she to react so confidently?

She was just a child with no trace of internal qi.

Could she truly have gone insane from fear? Still, he couldn’t help but be bothered.

First, he wanted to shut her mouth and shake off the uneasy feeling.

After hesitating, the Southern Lands Sex Fiend extended his right hand to her left shoulder to press a pressure point.

“Keep your mouth shut until we arrive.”

He pressed the mute acupoint of Yu Seol, a point among pressure channels that silences speech.

But the incomprehensible continued.

“Is this fun?”

The Sex Fiend’s eyes widened as if he had seen something shocking.

He’d pressed the point and yet she spoke freely, had his point placement missed?

No matter how he thought about it, it shouldn’t be possible.

He again extended his index and middle fingers over her shoulder.

This time it was a sleep point that would drop one into a deep slumber with a touch.

He felt a definite sensation at his fingertips.

He was certain this time, until he heard the angry girl’s voice from his shoulder.

“Fun, you say!?”

The Southern Lands Sex Fiend, using light footwork skill, was startled so much he staggered as if about to fall.

The point still didn’t work? That was impossible.

Unless she was an absolute warrior with all channels open and energy flowing freely, it couldn’t be.

“What on earth are you?”

Yu Seol did not answer. She had to wait for the right moment.

If she revealed herself before confirming his hideout, everything would be ruined.

Her fists trembled but she held back.

Meanwhile, the Sex Fiend couldn’t shake his unease.

But what could he do? He decided not to overthink it.

‘Is she some odd constitution? Whatever, maybe that’s even better!’

Soon his footsteps reached the destination.

He saw the entrance to a fairly large cave, about ten feet wide.

His expression as he entered the cave turned hazy, as if intoxicated by an aphrodisiac.

A lewd moan escaped his lips.

“Haa…”

From deep within the cave came the sound of a woman’s sobbing.

Entering, he saw two women horribly battered.

One, appearing to be a murim warrior, trembled violently; the other lay limp, apparently dead.

They had been tormented so much their appearance was far from normal.

Seeing the Southern Lands Sex Fiend, she immediately knelt and begged.

“P-please, let me go. I beg you…”

The Sex Fiend nodded once with an expressionless face.

“That’s right. I don’t need you anymore.”

“R-really, you’ll let me go?”

At that moment one corner of his mouth curled up.

“I’m letting you go, to hell.”

The Sex Fiend tugged the scabbard he’d gripped in his right hand over his right shoulder.

He intended to strike down with the scabbard and kill her.

Just as he was about to act,

“She’s dead.”

It was the voice of the girl from his left shoulder.

The Sex Fiend tilted his head as if he had misheard.

But this time it came clearly.

“You’re dead now.”

That chilling line from her made the Sex Fiend’s hair stand on end.

He instinctively sensed that something was definitely wrong.

Then the kneeling woman’s pupils suddenly fluttered.

“…Yin, Yin Monster?”

Yin Monster? The Sex Fiend thought she was faking to avoid death.

She was the notorious leader of the Evil factions among the Ten Great Murim Warriors. There was no way such a Yin Monster would be on his shoulder.

“What kind of trick is this? She doesn’t seem eager to die peacefully.”

The Sex Fiend bristled with killing intent, but the kneeling woman ignored him as if he weren’t there.

Her gaze remained fixed on his shoulder.

“Um, you’re the Yin Monster hero, right? I saw you at the spear contest.”

“That’s right. Hurry up and get ready to go home.”

“T-thank you. Thank you!”

The Sex Fiend, incredulous, clenched the scabbard tightly.

“Are they mocking me? Let’s see…”

He stopped mid-sentence with his mouth agape, his shoulder suddenly felt empty.

The girl he’d kidnapped was now standing about ten feet away.

When had she gotten down? He hadn’t even seen her move.

“I said you’d find out who I am soon, remember?”

Though she barely reached his chest, she felt like a giant towering before him.

The Sex Fiend’s heart sank.

‘No, that can’t be. There’s no way I carried the Yin Monster!’

But if not that, the situation made no sense.

Could she have pretended to be kidnapped to learn his hideout?

Her overwhelming presence made the Sex Fiend feel utterly insignificant.

But he couldn’t simply die quietly, he wasn’t someone to be so easily bested.

He was, after all, the notorious Southern Lands Sex Fiend who controlled the northern reaches of Henan.

Opportunity came but once. He planned a sudden ambush.

“You bitch!”

With a shout, his right hand darted to the scabbard.

Sword-Drawing Technique. He intended to end it with a devastating, lightning-fast strike.

But his sword wouldn’t come free from the scabbard.

Just as his hand gripped the hilt,

the Yin Monster’s instep shot up between his legs.

It was as fast as a lightning strike; he couldn’t even attempt to block it.

CRACK-!!!

“Guhhhh!!!”

He felt a pain in his lower body like nothing he’d experienced in his life.

Before he could gather himself, his knees smashed into the ground.

Then, as if waiting for the moment, a fist flew straight for his face.

The punch was compact like a chestnut, but packed with rock-shattering force.

WHAM-!!

Blown away by the impact, the Southern Lands Sex Fiend flew some ten feet and slammed mercilessly into the cave wall.

“Gah!”

His mouth was full of blood; less than half his teeth remained, the rest knocked out in a single blow.

But the Yin Monster’s assault did not end there.

Yu Seol’s leg shot out like a beam of light.

In that instant, the knee folded like a weapon and crushed his face.

The Sex Fiend’s head was embedded about an inch into the cave’s outer wall.

He lay motionless as if unconscious.

It had all happened in a flash.

The woman who watched had her mouth agape in terror.

“Come on, let’s get out of here together.”

Having taken care of the situation, Yu Seol led herself out of the cave.

To ease the trembling woman’s nerves, she spoke first.

“My name is Seol. And you, ma’am?”

“I-I’m Yang So-hee of the Yang family. Thank you so much.”

Suddenly Yu Seol murmured to herself with a dazed look.

“So-hee… it’s the same name as my mother’s…”

Yu Jinsan’s youngest daughter-in-law, and Yu Seol’s mother’s name, was Jin So-hee.

Although their surnames differed, perhaps because the names matched, a warm feeling stirred deep inside her.

At the same time an inexplicable anger surged up.

“Wait here for a moment.”

“Y-yes…?”

Yu Seol strode back into the cave.

While Yang So-hee, left alone, tilted her head and stared at the entrance,

the cave echoed endlessly with brisk strikes and agonized screams.

What on earth was happening inside?

After a moment passed.

Yu Seol emerged again, holding a blood-stained cloak in her hand.

“…Would you like to wear this? I found it inside the cave.”

A cloth meant to be draped over outerwear, it was enough to cover torn clothing.

Yu Seol shyly handed over the cloak.

Then she crossed her arms, looking back at the cave entrance.

By her standards she had punished the Southern Lands Sex Fiend, but she hadn’t killed him.

She still felt uneasy leaving him as he was.

‘What to do? Take him to Mister Wang and guillotine him?’

But when would she have time to go all the way to Beggars Union’s base? That would be a real hassle.

Having made up her mind, Yu Seol clenched both fists.

She then began to unleash palm strikes at the cave ceiling.

BAM-! BAMBAMBAM-!!!

The enhanced Hundred Step Divine Fist unleashed by the Profound Realm was tremendous.

The cave entrance collapsed and caved in instantly.

With his dantian even destroyed, there would be no escape even if he were reborn; she intended to make him repent in the pitch-black darkness until he died.

Yu Seol finally dusted off her hands as if relieved.

“So-hee… sister.”

Her address had already changed from ‘ma’am’ to ‘sister.’

What did it matter how she was called? She was the benefactor who’d saved her from the Sex Fiend.

Yu Seol blushed shyly and asked.

“…W-would you hold my hand?”

“Ah, yes. All right.”

They clasped each other’s hands at the same time.

At that moment dimples bloomed on Yu Seol’s face.

“It’s warm… your hand is warm.”

It was natural to feel warmth from another person’s hand.

A bewildered Yang So-hee glanced to the right.

The Yin Monster’s face wore a smile, an innocent, pure smile like that of a child.

It was a completely different expression from when it had just beaten the Southern Lands Sex Fiend.

The inexplicable comforting aura eased Yang So-hee’s tension.

“Thank you so much. But where are you going?”

“Hmm. First I’ll go to my grandfather, okay? Then I’ll take you home.”

Yang So-hee immediately sensed that the ‘grandfather’ the Yin Monster mentioned was referring to the Yang Monster.

She couldn’t be mistaken.

After all, that was the one who had fought Yang So-cheon, the Yang family’s top warrior, in the spear contest’s runner-up match.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“Hee-hee. Then hold on tight.”

“You’ll fly like a bird.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than she felt her body lift into the air.

Looking down, the ground below seemed dizzyingly far away and she could hardly focus.

“Eeeeeek!”