[I Plan to Become a Person]

Seo-yeon and Yehwa, now part of the group, rode their horses straight out of the city and headed south at a rapid pace. Yehwa's pace was too slow. It was close to a miracle that she had even made it this far in her condition.

They had originally intended to take a carriage, but were told that they would have to wait several hours for a carriage going outside the city, so they reluctantly borrowed spare horses from the horse market. They would have to return the horses when they arrived in Hwayang County, but it was still much better than walking from the start.

Yehwa, who was holding tightly to Seo-yeon's waist as they rode, cautiously spoke.

"Experts are so skilled at handling horses."

Seo-yeon almost said that this was her first time riding a horse, but swallowed the words back. If she were to give her impressions, it was several times easier than riding Baek-ho. After all, Baek-ho was faster and the paths he took were incomparably rougher.

'Baek-ho only travels on mountain paths in the first place.'

Seo-yeon arrived in Hwayang County in no time. While the merchant checked the rental certificate Seo-yeon handed over, Yehwa dismounted weakly. Her face was contorted with pain from the chafing caused by riding for so long. Soon, the merchant finished checking the certificate and nodded.

"That will be two nyang of silver."

"……!"

Seo-yeon glanced at Yehwa, whose face changed at the exorbitant rental fee, and took out silver coins from her heavy coin pouch and handed them over.

'It's much more expensive than I thought.'

They say horses are worth their weight in gold. She hadn't borrowed it for that long, but she hadn't expected the fee to be so high.

As they were leaving after tying up the horses, Yehwa apologized with her head bowed.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

She still had plenty of travel money, so it was really okay. Rather, Seo-yeon felt even more uncomfortable because the sick girl seemed to be unnecessarily conscious of it. Seo-yeon was about to smile to reassure her when she narrowed her eyes.

"Are those people over there people you know?"

"Where?"

"Next to the side path."

"That's, that's Head of Branch Mae……."

Ten people who looked like members of Heukdo were walking casually, but a man with two swords strapped to his back in a cross stood out in particular. He looked menacing from the first impression, and it was obvious that he was Head of Branch Mae.

They stopped and turned their heads only after approaching twenty steps closer.

"Yehwa?"

When Head of Branch Mae asked, Yehwa couldn't answer and trembled, collapsing to the ground.

"So, you must be the female expert Yehwa brought with her? You look decent enough, but why are you covering your face? Is it only for your husband to see?"

Head of Branch Mae chuckled as if he found his own words amusing.

Then, wiping away his laughter, he gestured to his subordinates beside him.

"First, strip off that bamboo hat. I need to see her face."

The subordinates nodded and naturally drew their weapons.

Instead of being agitated, Seo-yeon moved her delicate hands and lifted a corner of her veil. Then, she slowly raised her peach blossom eyes and stared at the approaching men. It was an action she could take because she knew the power of her appearance and impression.

"……."

The underlings stared at Seo-yeon's half-face with dazed expressions. Some even had their mouths open, and they didn't seem to be able to move even though they saw Seo-yeon approaching right in front of them.

Thump, thump.

Seo-yeon moved forward as she touched the underlings' Blood Points with her hands. They were Blood Points she had memorized when she read the Manual of Human Meridian Points in the past. It was her first time touching them, but the movement was as natural as flowing water.

Is this True Qi wriggling from her fingertips? It wasn't important right now.

Seo-yeon finished touching the Blood Points of the underlings who were distracted by her appearance. The underlings whose Blood Points were pressed trembled all over while sweating profusely, but they didn't resist at all.

Half of them were subdued in vain. The beauty trap is this scary.

Seo-yeon stepped forward with indifferent eyes. Then, after taking a breath again, she said.

"I'm considering taking off the bamboo hat, as you said."

She tried hard not to show any signs of tension. Fortunately, this threat worked on Head of Branch Mae.

"……."

Because the talkative Head of Branch Mae closed his mouth.

Originally, Blood Point striking was the essence of Inner Energy cultivation, a technique that only martial artists of a very high level could perform. This was because they had to implant their Inner Energy into the opponent's body. If they made a mistake, it was a dangerous technique that could cut off Minor Meridians and Blood Points, let alone subdue the opponent.

Perhaps she was a Demon Sect expert disguised as a righteous sect member. That was why the subordinates who met her eyes had frozen like stones.

Perhaps because his thoughts had become complicated, Head of Branch Mae could no longer laugh.

Of course, the underlings had no way of knowing this. One clueless underling said.

"What are you guys doing? Stop messing around and attack quickly. Ah, maybe that woman will serve the guy who moves the slowest?"

"Hahahaha."

As Seo-yeon was about to lift her veil again, Head of Branch Mae spewed out curses.

"All of you shut your mouths. Before I tear those damn mouths apart. Is it sane to be making fun of someone the Brothel Owner ordered us to bring? If you utter another word of nonsense, I'll split your heads open."

The subordinates all shut their mouths. But there was another clueless guy here.

"Weren't you the one who was making fun of her first, Head of Branch?"

Then, without a moment's hesitation, Head of Branch Mae drew the sword hanging from his waist and struck the underling who had objected in the back of the head. The man who was hit with the flat of the sword didn't even make a sound and fell backward. Not satisfied with that, Head of Branch Mae raised his foot and stomped on the underling. In the end, the unconscious underling had his nose broken and all his teeth knocked out.

"Anyone else want to talk back, raise your hand."

"……."

"If you don't want to end up like that, all of you shut up."

The underlings didn't even dare to think about answering and just nodded.

When Seo-yeon touched her veil again, Head of Branch Mae, startled, prostrated himself.

"Please spare me. I didn't recognize you as an expert and acted rashly. Please allow me to escort you to the Hoehwa Brothel."

As expected of someone who had survived in Heukdo for a long time, Head of Branch Mae's actions were very swift. Head of Branch Mae cursed at the underlings beside him who were looking at him with eyes that seemed to say, 'What are you doing all of a sudden?'

"You empty-headed fools. Do you really think those standing there are just standing there because they're stupid? If you want to live, prostrate yourselves right now. That way, you might only lose an arm or a leg."

Only then did the subordinates prostrate themselves on the ground as Head of Branch Mae had said.

Head of Branch Mae opened his mouth again.

"I will discipline my subordinates well. Please spare us."

Seo-yeon remained silent. Her silence only froze Head of Branch Mae's heart. Cold sweat ran down his spine, and his heart pounded wildly like a ship in a storm.

"If you really don't believe me, I'll break their arms right here."

"Head of Branch……?"

"You crazy bastards. I'm doing this to save you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Head of Branch Mae stood up and broke the arms of his subordinates one by one. He broke all the hands that used swords, and for that reason, there were quite a few subordinates who glared at Head of Branch Mae fiercely. But none of them attacked. They knew that even if they all attacked, they couldn't beat Head of Branch Mae.

After finally breaking all the arms of his subordinates, Head of Branch Mae sighed deeply and broke his own right arm. Then, he prostrated himself on the ground and said.

"Please spare me."

Head of Branch Mae waited for Seo-yeon's answer and held out his left arm. It meant that she should break it since he was ambidextrous.

When Seo-yeon remained silent, Head of Branch Mae said again.

"Of course, as you know, there are guys watching us not far away. They're probably running to the Hoehwa Brothel right now. I know a shortcut to the Hoehwa Brothel. We can get there faster than them."

Seo-yeon also didn't want to accumulate sins. Seo-yeon looked back and forth between Yehwa, who was looking up at her with a shocked expression, and Head of Branch Mae.

"Carry Yehwa on your back and run."

It meant that she would leave his left arm alone.

"Thank you."

Perhaps because he felt like he was alive, Head of Branch Mae's legs were trembling as he stood up.

"Yehwa, get on my back."

"……."

"If I harm you here, we'll all die. So please get on my back. I'm begging you."

Head of Branch Mae said that and threw away all the weapons he was carrying.

"I know where Yeong-yeong is. She's probably locked up near the Brothel Owner's residence."

"……!"

Yehwa's face was stained with shock. She stared at Head of Branch Mae for a long time, and finally got on his back.

"May I depart?"

As soon as Seo-yeon nodded, Head of Branch Mae ran at a rapid pace. It was an excellent footwork for a member of Heukdo who operated on the outskirts. Seo-yeon stared silently at Head of Branch Mae running ahead, and then imitated his movements.

Head of Branch Mae, who was running while breathing heavily, was horrified when he looked back. It was because Seo-yeon had narrowed the distance in an instant with her feather-light steps. Even though she was running at such a fast speed, her bamboo hat didn't tilt. It was impossible to imagine it as a human movement.

He knew that it was the same footwork as he was using, even though he had only seen it briefly. But even so, the level of the footwork was different. Of course, there were limits to common sense, so Head of Branch Mae couldn't imagine that Seo-yeon had grasped the footwork after seeing it only once.

'……Even if we had run away, we would have all died.'

*****

They arrived at the entrance of the county after running along the mountain path for about an hour.

The county in front of them had a fairly bustling appearance. A Pavilion Tower with red dancheong and ornate patterns was located in a secluded place a little away from the crowded streets.

Head of Branch Mae looked at the Hoehwa Brothel and said to Seo-yeon.

"There's a back road that only the executives know."

Following Head of Branch Mae, they entered a warehouse where there was an iron door that only one adult man could barely enter. It was so cleverly hidden among the objects filled with shadows and dust that it could not be found unless carefully examined.

Head of Branch Mae said in front of the iron door.

"This is Head of Branch Mae. I've finished my work and returned."

Soon, the iron door opened without a sound.

"Head of Branch. Have you already been there and back?"

Head of Branch Mae looked at the gatekeeper and struck him on the back of the neck with his palm. Soon, the gatekeeper, who had lost consciousness, collapsed.

"I've knocked him out for now, but should I kill him?"

Head of Branch Mae said that and stomped on the gatekeeper's neck with his foot. He was ready to cut off his breath right away if Seo-yeon gave her permission.

At this moment, Seo-yeon couldn't help but realize once again how cruel the martial artists' actions were.

But instead of being lost in thought, Seo-yeon quietly touched the gatekeeper's Blood Points.

"Let's keep going."

"……Yes."

Seo-yeon organized her thoughts as she walked through the dark passage. The humid and musty smell of soil stung her nose, but her thoughts became clearer. Her thought that they were beasts had not changed.

What is a beast?

It is someone who has power and yet harms the same people. For example, those who kidnap, defile, and sell women for mere pleasure, and the ruffians who burn the homes of innocent people and tear families apart to satisfy their own selfish desires.

But these beasts were often blood relatives or friends to others, even though they were cruel beasts to some.

Because the black and white of the world were not so clearly separated, the Buddha taught to embrace and save all sentient beings with a heart of great compassion.

But becoming a Buddha was too difficult. This was because there were so many beasts in this world that were too cruel to show compassion. Seo-yeon was not patient enough to show infinite compassion in the face of evil of unknown depth.

But she thought she could become a person.

What is a person?

It is someone who corrects those who have gone astray and shows them the way. It is someone who accepts those who repent of their sins, and it is someone who guides beasts so that they do not harm people.

At the end of the dark passage, a faint light leaked in from where there was a ladder.

Seo-yeon was going to become a person in the martial world full of beasts.