Chapter 646 Healing (1)
'You... sea anemone-like idiot!'
Choi Yeon-Ha pointedly glared at the back of Kang Jin-Ho's head with eyes filled with primal rage.
'You... You utterly irredeemable, un-recyclable trash of a man!'
Her anger didn't want to cool down at all. The funny thing about this situation was, though... She wouldn't be feeling this crappy if only Kang Jin-Ho had pounced on her like an immoral animal!
However, Kang Jin-Ho didn't do that. What he did, though, was discarding Choi Yeon-Ha's pride on the dirt and stomping on it. No, wait! He even dug a damn pit in said dirt with a shovel to bury her pride deep underground!
'You... You... You idiot who wastes his good looks!'
What she couldn't forgive the most was how he made her jump the gun and make a total fool of herself! The ensuing embarrassment was hellish, wasn't it! What a relief that no one knew what she was going through... Otherwise, Choi Yeon-Ha wouldn't have hesitated to jump outside the hotel window to end herself!
Just thinking about all that prompted her legs to twitch ominously again. It seemed dozens of sheet-kicking earlier still wasn't enough!
“Urgh...!”
When Choi Yeon-Ha groaned loudly, the back of Kang Jin-Ho's head visibly flinched. Choi Yeon-Ha cocked an eyebrow.
'Oho? You aren't even asleep, yet you still wanna be like this?'
Of course she knew. Choi Yeon-Ha knew only too well that this situation wasn't Kang Jin-Ho's fault. Indeed, it was no one's fault but her own for misunderstanding everything.
However, Kang Jin-Ho still committed the gravest of all grave cardinal sins in history. And that was... the sin of being so dense! The sin of being unable to read the room!
Sometimes, such a sin was the absolute worst crime a man could commit against a woman!
'Just! Who! Am I!'
Indeed, just who was she? Wasn't she the one and only Choi Yeon-Ha? She didn't need any modifiers or adjectives added before her name, and people in South Korea would still know who she was. Choi Yeon-Ha was Choi Yeon-Ha. The one and only! Just her name alone was enough to let everyone know what was up!
And someone of that caliber opened herself up to Kang Jin-Ho, so how dare he! What was that about filming and whatnot?!
Choi Yeon-Ha growled again. “You sea anemone...!”
The back of Kang Jin-Ho's head flinched again. The way he desperately tried to avoid dealing with Choi Yeon-Ha was only stoking the flames of her anger, though. On the other hand...
'This guy probably doesn't even know why I'm so angry at him...'
She couldn't help but laugh when that thought suddenly popped up in her mind. Anger and amusement messily mixed together in her heart to endlessly torment her.
'Eii, seriously now...!'
Choi Yeon-Ha eventually buried her head in the pillow. Although she was angry and dismayed... If she was being honest with herself, only a tiny little part of head space was occupied by such emotions. No, the real emotion ruling over her right now was... gratitude.
What would've happened if Kang Jin-Ho hadn't shown up? Either Choi Yeon-Ha lost her life to that insane bastard or was in the middle of seriously considering killing herself. Although Kang Jin-Ho was late, he still made it in time.
Besides, if Kang Jin-Ho did come as soon as Choi Yeon-Ha had asked him to... He'd obviously have returned to Korea by now and wouldn't be able to protect her like this. In that sense, he had arrived at the perfect timing.
'It's not like we're shooting a movie here, you know...!'
Obviously, fantasy could never trump the harshness of reality. Even so, Kang Jin-Ho did come in the nick of time to protect her, so how could Choi Yeon-Ha not be grateful to him?
It was just that this gratitude had strayed into an... unexpected path, that was all!
Was that why she felt this way, though? As in, she didn't feel as scared despite experiencing something so traumatic? Seeing Kang Jin-Ho curled up in a ball like a frightened tortoise was making her smile. At the same time, Choi Yeon-Ha realized how dependable he was, too.
When her thoughts reached that far, drowsiness finally began rushing in.
'...When was the last time I got a good night's sleep?'
It felt like Choi Yeon-Ha had not enjoyed a relaxing sleep since arriving in China. Even as her health deteriorated and exhaustion piled up, she couldn't get enough rest for some reason. She'd often be startled awake during the night, frightened by even the smallest of small noises.
But now... The mistress of sleep was calling out to her. It was as if she was back at her home. Could it be because this guy was next to her?
Wuooooong...
Qi left his body and energetically raced within Choi Yeon-Ha's meridians. Something like this to Kang Jin-Ho was no longer as challenging as in the past. Actually, he had to be even more cautious to not harm Choi Yeon-Ha from his excessively-powerful qi.
'If I had the same power as now back then... Would things be different?'
What if Kang Jin-Ho's cultivation was as good as now back when he tried to treat Sister Yi? Maybe the future would've changed. Maybe Sister Yi could have lived.
Even though he couldn't help but wonder, Kang Jin-Ho still didn't regret anything. What he felt wasn't regret but this lingering aftertaste. If only he had been slightly stronger back then. If only...!
What was important wasn't beating himself up with regret. No, it was to learn from the wounds of the past. Heaven and Earth never moved according to his will, to begin with, so he needed to thoroughly prepare for all contingencies.
His preparation must be so perfect that not even a sudden, unexpected variable joining the fray could faze him. And that preparation for Kang Jin-Ho was getting much stronger than now. Strong enough to withstand the tides of the unforgiving world! Strong enough to hold on to the hands of everyone around him as waves crashed into them!
Wuoooong...
The turbid qi washed away from her meridians and began concentrating on her head.
'Carefully... Slowly...'
A person's head was different from their body. That didn't mean Kang Jin-Ho could do a sloppy, careless job with the body, though. Still, a human head demanded carefulness several times greater in intensity.
Kang Jin-Ho manipulated qi as slowly as possible to minimize the burden on Choi Yeon-Ha. In principle, slowing the qi flow down to a crawl was several times harder than making it go fast. However, Kang Jin-Ho didn't feel taxed at all.
This was the proof of his improvement in strength. Without a doubt, he had become much, much stronger than before.
Even though he hadn't given his all to improving his cultivation nor did he push himself to the absolute limit, Kang Jin-Ho was still rapidly regaining his previous realm.
Of course, that realm was still far away. However, if Kang Jin-Ho kept up with this rate of growth, the modern era would see the descent of Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor sooner rather than later.
After sucking out every strand of turbid qi accumulated in Choi Yeon-Ha's head, Kang Jin-Ho retrieved his qi before carefully injecting a different sort of qi from earlier.
The previous qi was to eliminate the turbid qi, but this new energy was to invigorate Choi Yeon-Ha's vitality. He peppered just enough energy inside her to improve and revitalize her condition, then slowly opened his eyes. He sighed softly while taking his hand away from her abdomen, then carefully closed her robe.
'Well, at least she won't try to murder me if she wakes up now...'
For some reason, Kang Jin-Ho couldn't help but chuckle a little. Besides his mother, not much could scare him in the modern era, but it seemed a new name had been added to his list of scary things. He wasn't simply humoring Choi Yeon-Ha's whims anymore. He really was scared of this woman. In various meanings of that word!
After covering Choi Yeon-Ha up to her neck with the sheets, Kang Jin-Ho silently walked toward the suite's large window. He easily exited through the window frame that normal people would've struggled with and climbed up the walls to reach the hotel's roof. The first thing he did after reaching his destination was mouthing a cigarette.
'That could've been dangerous.'
Something terrible could've happened if Kang Jin-Ho had taken too long to get here. Maybe, he had been too lackadaisical and arrogant in his attitude recently.
It was always too late to do anything after the crisis had occurred. So, he must stop it before the crisis could happen in the first place! Which meant he needed to focus on securing the two things he lacked right now—information and protection.
Kang Jin-Ho looked below the hotel and scanned the cityscape covered in the cloak of darkness, occasionally broken up by still-up neon signs. Before him was China.
Zhongyuan gave him freedom. It felt like coming here had liberated him from all the limitations tying him down until now. That was why...!
'It's time to let them know...!'
He needed to teach them the terrible sin of lusting after what was his. He must make them pay for trying to harm his people!
Crack...!
Kang Jin-Ho's tightly-clenched fist produced the noise of his joints popping. His expression had grown icy-cold, which was a complete 180 to how he was like in Choi Yeon-Ha's presence. And that coldness extended to the smile forming on his lips.
Two people managed to appear on Kang Jin-Ho's targeting radar. However, Kang Jin-Ho wasn't going to stop at those two only.
'Never leave a source of future troubles alone!'
Even if that was going against Choi Yeon-Ha's wishes, even if that wasn't what his people wanted from him... Kang Jin-Ho had zero plans to compromise his own principles.
So, they should soon learn. Those calling Zhongyuan their home...
They would soon learn that Kang Jin-Ho was here. That Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor had returned to his home once more!
As the chilly winds blew past him, Kang Jin-Ho smoked the cigarette right down to its filter before silently flicking it away.