Chapter 117: Your Eyes Will Get Swollen, Don't Cry

TL: FoodieMonster007

Lee Ahn was startled.

Lee Ahn had been surprised many times since meeting me, but this was the first time she looked so shocked. Her eyes, hidden by flesh, began to tremble.

"Lee Ahn, the day has finally come."

Lee Ahn could not say a word. She did not show it, but I knew without asking how long she had waited for this moment.

"When is the procedure?"

"……"

"Really, now? The moment I've waited for so long is coming so suddenly?"

"Things that change your destiny always come suddenly. That's why when you look back, it all seems like luck or coincidence."

"I'm nervous."

"It's okay. You can be nervous. As long as I'm not."

I made my hand tremble and pretended to place a needle incorrectly. It was just a joke to ease Lee Ahn's tension, but Lee Ahn was so nervous and excited that she only stared blankly, not even realizing I was teasing her.

If I had my way, I would have opened a magnificent space with the Spacetime Manipulation Technique to perform the procedure, but I could not, because of the inner arts required to maintain the space.

"Lie down on the bed over there."

Lee Ahn did as I told her and lay on the bed. She took several deep breaths. When she woke up this morning, she probably never dreamed she would be lying down for the Poison Self-Purification Art today.

I began placing needles in the designated acupoints, applying each one with all my strength. To a bystander, it might have looked like something any neighborhood physician could do, but unlike its appearance, the procedure involved the highest level of skill.

I had to inject a precise amount of qi into the needles and sometimes recite incantations while placing them. A single mistake would mean the procedure failed, and Lee Ahn would suffer severe internal injuries.

Between placing needles, I periodically injected qi into her body to control her rampaging blood and energy.

A high fever raged through Lee Ahn's body, and sweat poured down like rain. She groaned and moaned from the overwhelming pain.

"It hurts a lot, doesn't it? It's normal to be in pain."

Lee Ahn said something. She said she could endure it, but I could not hear her clearly. The procedure was just that difficult and painful.

I performed the procedure carefully until the very last moment.

After placing all the designated needles, I stepped outside for a moment. I quietly closed my eyes, sat cross-legged, and regulated my inner arts. It was an immense drain on my mental energy.

Placing the needles was not a one-time affair.

I retrieved all the needles, then started over, placing them in a different order. As the procedure progressed, the drain on my mental energy grew, and so did the pain Lee Ahn experienced.

"Ughhh!"

A scream escaped her lips.

Lee Ahn was usually stoic and endured pain well, but this particular agony seemed difficult to bear.

Hang in there, Lee Ahn.

It was pitiful, but Lee Ahn had no choice but to overcome it herself.

After the second round of acupuncture, I filled a tub I had bought with water. Then I crushed medicinal herbs and mixed them in. The measurements and the combination of herbs had to be precise.

After that, I began the acupuncture again.

This was the final hurdle for Lee Ahn as well. I did not know if she could hear me, but I spoke softly to her.

"This is the last one. Endure it well."

Lee Ahn clenched her teeth and bore the pain. I tried to lessen her pain by injecting qi to soothe her blood and energy.

Endure it, Lee Ahn.

Only after finishing the three difficult rounds of acupuncture did I place her in the medicinal bath. I connected a long tube to her throat and secured it so she could breathe.

I had done everything I could. All I could do now was hope the procedure would end successfully.

Lee Ahn had a dream.

It was a dream of her early childhood.

"Can you learn the Self-Petrification Art for the Young Lord?"

What is the Self-Petrification Art? She wanted to ask, but the atmosphere was not right for questions. The Master was always terrifying.

"……"

"There is a side effect to learning the Self-Petrification Art. Your body will swell."

She did not know exactly what 'swelling' meant.

"The swelling will not go down. Ever."

At the time, she did not understand what it meant for the swelling to never go down. She did not know how much the heavy weight of that one word, 'ever', would burden her life. Lee Ahn was only eight years old back then.

"Will you still do it?"

"……"

The atmosphere was so intimidating that she felt she could not say no.

However, her decision was not based solely on the atmosphere.

She wanted to be by Geom Mugeuk's side. She had liked Geom Mugeuk from the moment she first saw him.

Did she truly not regret it?

Time passed in the dream.

Lee Ahn stood before a broken bronze mirror. A strange girl in the broken mirror glared at her. The girl, who had become so fat that Lee Ahn could no longer tell if it was her or someone else, was angry.

Why are you the one who's angry? I'm so sad because of you.

Time flowed again.

She watched a drunk Geom Mugeuk from behind.

"damn it !"

She knew. She knew what Geom Mugeuk wanted to say right now.

What am I lacking compared to my brother!

That must have been the words he could not bring himself to say. The Cult Leader trusted the First Young Lord more, and rumors openly circulated that the First Young Lord would be the successor.

After the Heavenly Demon Hall announced that anyone with ability could become the successor, people began to openly disrespect Geom Mugeuk. Some even thought that disrespecting him was a way to get on the First Young Lord's good side. Everyone thought Geom Mugeuk would lose the succession battle and die.

Only she knew how hard Geom Mugeuk had tried to look good for his father.

"……"

Geom Mugeuk slammed his fist on the table. A wine bottle fell from the broken table and shattered.

She went and cleaned up the bottle.

Stay strong, Young Lord.

At some point, Geom Mugeuk stopped giving her even a single warm glance. His entire mind was consumed with whether or not he would become the successor. Still, she liked Geom Mugeuk.

The dream took her to another day.

It was the fateful day when everything began to change.

Geom Mugeuk, having returned from the Divine-Demonic Martial Competition, stood before the bronze mirror.

The way he looked at himself had changed.

Geom Mugeuk asked. [How do I look?]

It had been so long since she had seen such a warm gaze from him. He must be in a good mood because he won the duel, right?

[You're the most handsome man in all of jianghu.]

[That's no fun.]

[The answer to a question from the person who pays my monthly salary is always predetermined.]

When was the last time they had exchanged such jokes?

In the mirror, Geom Mugeuk stared intently at her. [Why are you looking at me like that?]

At that moment, she awoke from her sleep and opened her eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling came into view.

After a moment, she realized this was the place where the Poison Self-Purification Art had been performed.

Is the Poison Self-Purification Art finished?

She slowly sat up. Her body felt different.

Then she saw her hands.

They were slender, jade-like hands, white and long.

"!"

Her heart sank, then immediately began to pound like a hammer.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

I might still be dreaming.

Please, don't let this be a dream!

With a desperate heart, she opened her eyes again. Her hands were not the same bear-like paws they used to be. Her dream had been for them to just get a little smaller, but now, they were breathtakingly beautiful, slender hands.

Suppressing the urge to scream, she slowly pushed the blanket away. They were unfamiliar legs. Two long, white legs stretched out, so beautiful.

In the end, she could not help but scream. It was the first time she had experienced that people scream without realizing it when they are overjoyed.

She got off the bed. As her feet touched the floor, fear washed over her that her legs might suddenly become huge and she would wake from the dream.

But that did not happen. It was the moment she took the first step into her new life.

Getting off the bed, she slowly walked to the bronze mirror.

"Ah!"

A strange woman stood in the bronze mirror. She was strange, yet familiar. She had the face of her youth. How long had it been since she had seen her true self?

Her face was beautiful, and her figure was perfect.

How could a single face possess both splendor and purity at the same time? Her gentle eyes looked intelligent, and she exuded an unapproachable elegance.

No other description was needed. In a word, it was an overwhelming beauty.

She felt like tears were about to pour out, but surprisingly, they did not.

She still felt dazed, unsure if this was a dream or reality.

Then she saw underwear and a white palace gown laid out for her beside the bed. The moment she saw them, her heart swelled with emotion. She realized that all of this was not a dream.

[Whose are these? They belong to a very slim woman, don't they?]

[I have someone to gift them to.]

[If you're giving underwear as a gift, she must be someone very close to you.]

[She is.]

The clothes Geom Mugeuk had prepared for someone close to him were for her.

She put on the underwear and the palace gown and stood before the bronze mirror again. She was even more beautiful than before.

She was so happy that Geom Mugeuk had bought these clothes for this very moment. His consideration for her felt so good. At least in this moment, Geom Mugeuk's consideration felt even better than having the side effects cured.

She slowly walked outside.

The person she had wanted to see so much was standing in the yard with his back to her.

Lee Ahn slowly called out to him.

"Young Lord."

At her voice, Geom Mugeuk slowly turned toward her.

Geom Mugeuk saw her come out wearing the palace gown. For a moment, his eyes widened.

He had already seen her beautiful transformation when he laid her on the bed after completing the Poison Self-Purification Art. However, seeing her standing before him with her eyes open was different. She was so beautiful it left him speechless.

"The Poison Self-Purification Art was a success. Congratulations, Lee Ahn."

Tears finally streamed from her eyes.

"Your eyes will get swollen, don't cry on a day like today."

"It's okay if they get swollen. I've lived my whole life swollen."

"You have to live differently now."

"No, my life hasn't changed. Whether it was before you performed the Poison Self-Purification Art or now, I'm still the same Lee Ahn."

"Yes, you're the same Lee Ahn to me too."

Lee Ahn ran and threw her arms around Geom Mugeuk. She cried in his arms for a long time. She did not say thank you. She felt that words would cheapen her gratitude.

"Can I ask again?"

"What?"

"Why are you being so good to me?"

"Don't ask. It's a question you'll have to ask again soon enough."

"……"

With an enigmatic smile, Geom Mugeuk took her hand.

"Let's go. We have to go show you off."

"Show who off?"

"Who else? Starting with the worst bastard in the world who teased you for being an ugly heart."

At Geom Mugeuk's words, Lee Ahn smiled brightly.

I walked with Lee Ahn.

People parted to the left and right as if water were splitting. Everyone stared at her, mesmerized. Not just men, but women too. Children stared, and the elderly stared. Monks stared, and Daoists stared. Even a barking dog stopped to stare at her.

[Everyone is staring at you. How does it feel?]

[It's too much pressure.]

[Enjoy it.]

[How can I enjoy it when they're all staring like that?]

[Enjoy their gazes. Ah, I wish they'd look at me like that.]

[Please, take them!]

[You won't be saying that once you get used to it.]

It was the same when we arrived at the Thousand Flower Palace. All eyes focused on her. Gasps of admiration erupted from all around.

There were renowned beauties among the courtesans, but they were incomparable from the start. Though they were all beautiful, Lee Ahn exuded a noble dignity. She wore no makeup, yet her face seemed to glow.

And so, we entered the room where the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon and the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman were.

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon was lying on the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman's lap.

"Thankfully, you're still here."

"I was waiting for you to arrive. What kept you so busy?" the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon asked.

The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon glanced at me, then was startled when he saw Lee Ahn beside me. The Extremely Evil Smiling Demon sat up.

I thought one fact summed up Lee Ahn's beauty.

A beauty that could make even a reclining Extremely Evil Smiling Demon sit up.

"Who is this?"

"She's my new heart."

"What about your old heart?"

"I threw it away."

"Did you perhaps kill that ugly heart?"

I knew he was asking in earnest, so I smiled.

"Yes, I killed it with my own hands."

"Why would you kill her?"

"What's the matter? Surely you don't miss the ugly heart?"

"No, she still hasn't paid me back for the carriage repairs."

At his words, Lee Ahn smiled brightly. When she smiled, it felt as if the whole room lit up.

Just then, the Thousand Flower Palace Chairwoman casually asked the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon.

"She's prettier than I was in my youth, isn't she?"

I urgently looked at the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon.

Be careful! It's a trap, Smiling Demon.