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?
A smile subconsciously formed on her face. Because she thought it was humorous.
Wasn't she fretting nervously until a few minutes ago like an idiot? Worried about what lewd things he might do to her? So, feeling relieved and safe by the sight of the same man's back and falling into a much-needed slumber seemed ironic and humorous.
'Something feels so warm...'
What a strange sensation this was. It felt like something warm was trickling out of Kang Jin-Ho. However, that couldn't be right.
'Wow. As it turns out, I... really, really like this guy.'
When Choi Yeon-Ha finally accepted the truth she had been sneakily avoiding until now, her heart grew lighter. She finally felt at peace. Her eyes gradually closed, and Choi Yeon-Ha drifted into a relaxing trip to the land of dreams.
***
“Hmm...”
Kang Jin-Ho carefully sat up. A hint of relief was visible in his expression.
'Thankfully, it worked.'
He figured that the sharp daggers of a woman's glare would continue to stab him in the back throughout the night if nothing was done. So, he tried putting her to sleep by transmitting a little bit of warmth in her direction. Although it was a taxing task, he eventually succeeded in his quest.
Kang Jin-Ho got off the bed and silently moved to Choi Yeon-Ha's side, then lightly tapped on her pressure point. With that, she shouldn't wake up for a while.
'Okay, next is...'
Kang Jin-Ho's sharp eyes observed the state of Choi Yeon-Ha's body. It was as he feared.
'It's a mess.'
His expression stiffened a little. Honestly, it was rather amazing how Choi Yeon-Ha managed to bite his head off in anger when her health was in such a bad state. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't have been strange for her to suddenly collapse and get hospitalized. That was how terrible her state was.
Not only that, but...
'Turbid qi, too?'
The crown of her skull was brimming full of turbid qi. Unsurprising, considering her mental trauma from this experience must've been severe.
Kang Jin-Ho let out a soft sigh. He'd never understand what 'acting' meant to Choi Yeon-Ha. Even so, he still thought that forcing herself to power through the punishing filming schedule was being too greedy.
One had to be healthy enough to stand on their own two feet first before they could start doing other things.
'Still, I... I probably would've acted the same as her.'
To Choi Yeon-Ha, acting in front of the camera must be the same as 'family' to Kang Jin-Ho. Indeed, he'd not care about looking after his well-being if his family was in deep trouble. Since that was the case, he didn't have the qualifications to criticize her.
He could do only one thing for her, at least for the time being. And that was alleviating some of her physical issues.
Kang Jin-Ho carefully climbed up on the bed. He might have already tapped Choi Yeon-Ha's acupuncture point, but that method wasn't absolute. To get the best effect, he'd have to drive more qi into Choi Yeon-Ha's body, but that could cause an unintended side effect in someone this frail. That was definitely not what Kang Jin-Ho wanted.
After successfully climbing on the bed as carefully as possible, he confirmed that Choi Yeon-Ha was still asleep, then slowly pulled the sheets down. It felt like his fingers were shaking somewhat.
Kang Jin-Ho sucked in a deep breath, then cautiously spread open Choi Yeon-Ha's robe.
'Yup, if she wakes up now, I'll be cursed at for the next ten years straight.'
Wasn't this a perfect situation to breed a serious and painful misunderstanding? Kang Jin-Ho stopped moving and checked Choi Yeon-Ha's complexion again to confirm she was still asleep. Once he got his confirmation, Kang Jin-Ho carefully reached down and pressed his palm on her lower abdomen.
Didn't he do something similar to this in the past...?
Indeed, he did. That was before he tried to heal Sister Yi, the former director of the Seongsim Orphanage. Back when he had just returned to the modern era.
After briefly recalling the past, Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head to rid himself of all the distracting thoughts, then focused on the matter at hand. Obviously, he knew now wasn't to lose his focus like that. He securely pressed his palm against Choi Yeon-Ha's lower abdomen, then carefully, oh-so-carefully, injected his qi.
Flinch!
Choi Yeon-Ha's body spasmed noticeably when hot energy entered her body. However, she shouldn't wake up from that.
Kang Jin-Ho's eyes grew cold and withdrawn. There wasn't much he could do about her nutrition deficiency. But he certainly could eliminate all the turbid qi accumulated within her that her body failed to expel due to the lack of nutrition. Once he took care of all the turbid qi clogging up her meridians and restored the natural flow of her energy, her health should start recovering again. After that, he planned to remove the turbid qi currently filling up her head next.
Kang Jin-Ho calmly regulated his breathing before closing his eyes.
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.
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