Chapter: 02
Chapter 1: A Child Fated to Die
“Jerky?”
Unhyun’s gaze fell to the small pouch the child was carrying.
Inside were two or three more pieces of dried jerky, each about the size of the child’s palm.
At that moment, he heard a click of the tongue.
Unhyun’s eyes widened as he looked at the child.
A tongue click? Did… did the child just click their tongue at me?
Before he could even process the question of why, the child strode into the room, pulled out a piece of jerky from the pouch, and held it out to him.
With an unmistakably reluctant expression.
Looking bewildered, Unhyun alternated his gaze between the child and the jerky.
The child shoved it closer to his face again.
“Here.”
“…I-I’m fine.”
Eating jerky the moment he had regained consciousness was impossible. His throat hurt so much that even speaking was painful.
“More importantly… some water…”
The child’s face instantly brightened.
They dashed across the room, grabbed a bowl of water, and hurried back.
“Th… thank you…”
Taking small sips from the bowl the child offered, Unhyun carefully observed the child.
The child hummed happily while carefully putting the jerky back into the pouch.
Who in the world is this child?
Come to think of it…
I didn’t even sense the child’s approach.
Unhyun looked down at his own hand.
He tried to sense whether anyone else was nearby besides the child, but he still couldn’t detect a single presence.
My meridians are in terrible condition.
It was only natural.
His body had been utterly destroyed by poison and battle.
Not only were his meridians in complete disarray, but there wasn’t a single part of his body that hadn’t been injured.
It was almost a miracle that he was still alive.
Unhyun looked at the child, who was still rummaging through the pouch.
“…Could it be… that you saved me?”
The child raised their head and met his eyes.
The child simply stared.
Unhyun asked again,
“I’m asking if you were the one who saved my life.”
But the child merely continued staring blankly, as though not understanding a single word.
Unhyun let out a quiet sigh.
Right… There’s no way such a small child could have saved me.
The poison had belonged to the Tang Clan—the greatest masters of poison in the Central Plains.
There was no way a child this young could have neutralized such a deadly toxin.
Then… who on earth…
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a round rice ball suddenly appeared before his face.
Startled, Unhyun looked at the child holding it out.
“Is this… for me?”
The child nodded.
“Eat.”
Right then, Unhyun’s stomach growled loudly.
His throat still hurt, but the water had eased it somewhat. Besides, hunger had set in, so he accepted the rice ball.
Its shape was clumsy, as though the child had made it personally.
The child stared at him intently.
As if urging him to hurry and eat.
Feeling that unwavering gaze, Unhyun took a bite.
“It’s delicious.”
The corners of the child’s mouth curled into a satisfied smile.
The child plopped down in front of him, pulled out another rice ball from the pouch, and began munching away.
Watching the child eat with grains of rice stuck to their tiny fingers was unexpectedly adorable.
The strange sense of peace lingered as they quietly ate together for quite some time.
Before he knew it, Unhyun had finished every last bite of the fragrant rice ball.
Smacking his lips, he glanced toward the child’s pouch.
“Do you… happen to have any more?”
The child immediately turned away with a huff.
The sharp look in those eyes was almost intimidating.
It was embarrassing to beg a child for food, but what could he do? As long as he was alive, he would inevitably feel hungry.
“I… am still hungry…”
The child stood up.
After rummaging through the pouch again, they walked straight toward him.
“Thank you. I will never forget this kindn—Mmgh!”
Something was suddenly shoved straight into Unhyun’s mouth.
It was a green herb that smelled strongly of fresh earth.
“Mmph! Mmgh!”
He tried to spit out the mysterious plant, but his weakened body couldn’t even pry away the child’s small hand covering his mouth.
Damn it!
I let my guard down just because it was a child!
By the time regret hit him, it was already too late.
His exhausted body couldn’t resist even the child’s small strength.
“Mmph! Mmmgh!”
At least shake the dirt off it… before feeding it to someone…!
The child even poured water into his mouth.
Forced to survive, Unhyun had no choice but to swallow.
Gulp.
“Cough! Cough! Hack!”
After swallowing the dirt-covered herb, Unhyun gasped for breath as he glared at the child.
“W-What… exactly… did you make me eat…?”
He never finished the sentence.
Before the words could leave his mouth, his consciousness faded, and he collapsed.
Watching him immediately fall into a peaceful sleep, the child smiled in satisfaction and wiped the splashed water from their face with the back of a hand.
How many hours…
No.
How many days had passed?
Unhyun slowly opened his eyes once more.
That brat!
He bolted upright—
Then froze.
…What?
He opened and closed his fist several times.
The body that had previously felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton now felt noticeably lighter.
No… it’s not just my imagination.
Even my meridians are far more stable than before.
As he wondered what could possibly have happened, the door burst open.
The child appeared once again.
After giving him a quick glance, the child casually walked inside.
With a tense expression, Unhyun asked,
“How long have I been unconscious?”
The child rummaged through the pouch again before answering.
“One day.”
“One day? Only one?”
His body had improved this much in merely a single day?
“Th-Then… what exactly was that thing you fed me yesterday?”
“I don’t know.”
“You… don’t know?”
The child had fed him an herb without even knowing what it was?
“I just thought it’d probably be good for Grandpa, so I picked it.”
“What kind of reasoning is that…?”
The child had simply thought it looked healthy and fed it to him.
What kind of ridiculous luck was that?
“Hungry?”
The child reached into the pouch.
The moment Unhyun saw the movement, memories of yesterday flashed through his mind.
He instinctively flinched backward.
After clearing his throat awkwardly, he cautiously replied,
“…I am hungry.”
“Here. Eat this.”
Fortunately, what the child offered this time was another rice ball.
Glancing suspiciously at the child, Unhyun accepted it.
Just like yesterday, the child sat across from him, happily ate their own meal, then quietly left the room.
After that, Unhyun’s recovery accelerated rapidly.
His meridians remained too unstable to circulate his internal energy, but his external injuries steadily healed.
Every day, the child visited him with rice balls and water.
Occasionally, the child also brought unknown herbs and held them out to him.
He had wanted to refuse because he didn’t know what they were.
But refusing wasn’t an option.
The child would stare at him until he ate them.
And if he refused…
The child simply forced them into his mouth.
After this happened two or three times…
Unhyun finally realized something.
The reason his body was recovering at such an abnormal speed…
Was because of the medicinal herbs the child kept bringing him.
From then on, he accepted everything the child offered without complaint.
A month passed like that.
Unhyun often sat out on the wooden porch, enjoying the sunlight.
His internal injuries were still severe, making it impossible to circulate his internal energy, but outwardly he looked perfectly healthy.
During the month he spent here, Unhyun discovered several things.
First.
The child lived alone.
This was the child’s house.
The child’s room was right next to his.
In other words, they shared a tiny house with only two rooms.
Throughout the month, he paid close attention to every presence entering and leaving the house.
The only one he ever sensed was the child.
There was no sign of parents or siblings.
Second.
Someone did take care of the child.
The child never cooked.
That was only natural for someone so young.
The important question was where the daily meals and snacks came from.
After observing carefully, he discovered that someone delivered food once every day.
That person never entered the house.
They simply left a day’s worth of food in the yard before leaving.
During the entire month, that person was the only visitor to the little house.
Finally.
Third.
“…”
Unhyun took out the book he had been keeping inside his robes.
Black Heaven Art (黑天功)
It was…
A demonic cultivation manual.
Not a martial art for cultivating ordinary internal energy—
But a cultivation method for accumulating demonic qi.
The fact that this book had been inside the room meant only one thing.
The child belongs to the Demonic Cult.
And that also meant…
This place is within the territory of the Demonic Cult… the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
Did they save me simply because they don’t know who I am?
Or do they have another purpose?
Ever since realizing that this was the Demonic Cult’s territory and that the child belonged to it, Unhyun had remained constantly on guard.
The Demonic Cult…
A clan of demons who thirsted for blood.
People who would kill even their own family for greater strength and power.
Lawless monsters who lived by the law of the strong devouring the weak.
Beasts that spread death wherever they went.
Therefore…
It wouldn’t be surprising if the child revealed their true nature at any moment.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Silently, Unhyun watched the child enter the yard.
His eyes fixed on the axe in the child’s hand.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The child walked toward him.
With every step, the blade of the axe swung gently up and down.
“Grandpa.”
The child stopped in front of him.
So… the moment has finally come.
Meeting the child’s strangely determined gaze, Unhyun heightened every one of his senses.
If a fight breaks out here… I must avoid harming the child as much as possible…
“When are you going to stop making me feed you and give you a place to sleep?”
