Ian was startled.
She had been surprised many times after meeting me, but this was the first time I had ever seen her so shocked.
Her two eyes, which had been hidden beneath layers of flesh, began to tremble.
“Ian, the day has finally come.”
She could not say a word. She had never shown it outwardly, but I did not need to ask how long she had waited for this moment.
“When will the procedure be performed?”
“Now.”
“Really? Now? The moment I’ve been waiting for all this time just came so suddenly?”
“Things that change one’s fate always arrive unexpectedly. That’s why, when you look back, everything seems like luck or coincidence.”
“I’m trembling.”
“That’s all right. You’re allowed to tremble. I just can’t.”
I deliberately made a show of trembling as I pretended to misplace the needle. I was only joking to ease her tension, but Ian was so nervous and excited that she stared blankly, unable to tell whether I was joking or not.
I would have liked to open a splendid space with the Time-Space Transposition Art and perform the procedure there, but I could not, because maintaining the space would consume too much internal energy.
“Lie down on that bed.”
Ian lay down on the bed as instructed. She took several deep breaths. Until she had woken up that morning, she truly could never have dreamed that she would be lying there for the Divine Poison Purification Technique today.
I began inserting needles into the designated acupoints. With every needle, I performed the acupuncture with all my might. From the side, it might have looked like something any neighborhood physician could do, but despite appearances, the technique involved was of the highest order.
I had to inject the prescribed internal energy into each needle, and at times I had to recite incantations as I inserted them. A single mistake would cause the procedure to fail and inflict severe internal injuries upon her.
While inserting the needles, I periodically infused her body with internal energy to calm her rampaging qi and blood.
Heat poured from her body, and sweat streamed down her like rain. She groaned and whimpered beneath the onrushing pain.
“It hurts a lot, doesn’t it? That’s normal.”
She said something. She seemed to be saying that she could endure it, but I could not hear her clearly. The procedure was that difficult and painful.
I performed the procedure with care until the very last moment.
After inserting all the prescribed needles, I stepped outside for a while.
I quietly closed my eyes, sat cross-legged, and regulated my internal energy. It had truly consumed an enormous amount of mental strength.
Inserting the needles would not end after a single round.
After withdrawing every needle, I inserted them all again from the beginning, this time in a different order. As the procedure progressed, the strain on my mind grew greater, and so did the pain Ian endured.
“Uuuugh!”
A scream escaped her lips.
She was normally quite stoic and had an exceptional tolerance for pain, but this seemed to be more than even she could endure.
‘Hang in there, Ian.’
It pained me to watch, but she had no choice except to overcome it herself.
After the second round of acupuncture, I filled the tub I had bought with water, pounded the medicinal herbs, and mixed them into the water. The amount and the combination of herbs had to be exact.
Then I performed the acupuncture again.
This was the final ordeal for her as well. I did not know whether she could hear me, but I spoke softly to Ian.
“This is the last one. Endure it well.”
She gritted her teeth and bore the pain. I infused her with internal energy at intervals, gently soothing her qi and blood as I did everything I could to lessen her suffering.
‘Endure it, Ian.’
Only after the three grueling rounds of acupuncture were complete did I immerse her in the medicinal water. I connected a long tube to her throat and secured it so she could breathe.
Everything I could do was finished. All I could do now was pray that the procedure ended successfully.
* * *
Ian dreamed.
It was a dream of her earliest childhood.
“Can you learn the Whole Body Stone Transformation Art for the young master’s sake?”
She wanted to ask what the Whole Body Stone Transformation Art was, but it was not the kind of atmosphere in which she could ask. Her master had always been frightening.
“Yes.”
“There are side effects to learning the Whole Body Stone Transformation Art. Your body will swell.”
She did not fully understand what it meant to swell.
“The swelling will never go down. Ever.”
She did not understand what it meant for the swelling never to go down, either. She did not know how heavily that single word—ever—would weigh upon her life and make it so difficult. She was only eight years old at the time.
“Will you still do it?”
“Yes.”
The atmosphere made her feel that she could not say no.
But fear was not the only reason she had made that decision.
She wanted to remain by Geom Mugeuk’s side. She had liked him from the moment she first saw him.
Did she truly have no regrets?
Time passed within the dream.
She stood before a shattered bronze mirror. A strange girl in the broken mirror was glaring at her. The girl had grown so fat that Ian could no longer tell whether she was looking at herself or someone else, and she was angrily shouting.
‘Why are you angry? I’m the one who’s sad because of you.’
Time passed once more.
She watched Geom Mugeuk, drunk, from behind.
“Damn it!”
She knew what he wanted to say.
What do I lack compared to my brother?
That was what he could not bring himself to say aloud. The Cult Leader placed greater trust in the Eldest Young Master, and rumors openly circulated that the successor would be the Eldest Young Master.
After the Heavenly Demon Palace announced that anyone with the ability could become the successor, people began openly ignoring Geom Mugeuk. Some even thought that disregarding him would help them curry favor with the Eldest Young Master. Everyone believed that Geom Mugeuk would lose the succession struggle and die.
Only she knew how hard Geom Mugeuk tried to win his father’s approval.
Bang!
Geom Mugeuk struck the table. A wine bottle fell from the shattered table and broke.
She went over and cleared away the bottle.
Please stay strong, Young Master.
At some point, Geom Mugeuk had stopped giving her even a single warm look. His entire mind was consumed by the question of whether he would become the successor. Even so, she still liked him.
The dream carried her to another day.
The day when the fate that would change everything began.
Geom Mugeuk had returned after completing the Divine-Demon Tournament and was standing before a bronze mirror.
The look in his eyes as he gazed at her had changed.
Geom Mugeuk asked,
—How do I look?
It had been far too long since she had seen such a warm gaze. He must be in a good mood because he had won his match.
—You are the most handsome man in the martial world.
—How boring.
—The answer to a question from the person who gives me my monthly stipend is always predetermined.
When had they last exchanged jokes like that?
The Geom Mugeuk in the bronze mirror was staring intently at her.
—Why are you looking at me like that?
At that moment, she awoke from her dream and opened her eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling came into view.
Only after some time had passed did she realize that she was in the place where the Divine Poison Purification Technique had been performed.
‘Is the Divine Poison Purification Technique over?’
She slowly raised herself. Her body felt different.
Then she looked at her hands.
They were slender, white, and long.
‘!’
Her heart dropped, then began pounding like a drum.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
‘Perhaps I’m still dreaming.’
Please, let this not be a dream!
With an anxious heart, she opened her eyes again. Her hands were no longer the ones that had been as large as a bear’s. Her dream had once been simply to become a little smaller, but now she possessed hands so beautiful and slender that they seemed carved from jade.
Suppressing the urge to scream, she slowly pulled back the blanket. The legs beneath it were unfamiliar. Her two legs, white and straight, were breathtakingly beautiful.
In the end, she screamed. It was the first time she had experienced how a person could scream involuntarily when overcome by joy.
She climbed down from the bed. The moment her feet touched the floor, fear washed over her that her legs might swell to their enormous former size and she might awaken from the dream.
But that did not happen. It was the moment she took the first step into her new life.
After climbing down from the bed, she slowly walked toward the bronze mirror.
“Ah!”
A strange woman stood within the mirror. She was unfamiliar, yet familiar. The features of her younger self were still there. How long had it been since she had seen her true appearance?
Her face was beautiful, and her figure was perfect.
How could such a single face possess both dazzling splendor and innocence? Her gentle eyes gave her an air of intelligence, while an aloofness that discouraged any careless approach could be felt in them.
No other description was necessary. In a single word, she was overwhelmingly beautiful.
She felt as though tears should pour from her eyes, but unexpectedly, they did not.
She was still dazed, unable to tell whether she was dreaming or awake.
Then she saw underwear and a white court robe laid beside the bed for her. The moment she saw them, her chest swelled with emotion, and she realized that none of this was a dream.
—Whose are these? They’re for an incredibly slender woman.
—There is someone I intend to give them to.
—If you’re giving her underwear as a gift, she must be someone very close to you.
—She is close.
The clothes Geom Mugeuk had prepared for someone close to him had been for her.
She put on the underwear and court robe, then stood before the bronze mirror once more. She was even more beautiful than before.
She was overjoyed that Geom Mugeuk had bought the clothes for this moment. His thoughtfulness toward her made her happier than she could express. At least for this moment, knowing that Geom Mugeuk had cared for her felt even better than having the side effects cured.
She slowly walked outside.
The person she had wanted so desperately to see stood in the courtyard with his back turned to her.
Ian slowly called out to him.
“Young Master.”
Geom Mugeuk slowly turned toward her.
He saw her standing there in her court robe. His eyes widened in an instant.
He had already seen her beautiful transformation when he finished the Divine Poison Purification Technique and laid her down on the bed. But the woman now standing before him with her eyes open was different from the one he had seen then. She was so beautiful that he was rendered speechless.
“The Divine Poison Purification Technique succeeded. Congratulations, Ian.”
Only then did tears begin to flow from her eyes.
“Your eyes will swell. Don’t cry on a day like this.”
“It’s all right if they swell. I lived with swelling for my whole life.”
“From now on, you must live differently.”
“No. My life hasn’t changed. Before you performed the Divine Poison Purification Technique and now, I’m still the same Ian.”
“Yes. To me, you are still the same Ian.”
Ian ran to Geom Mugeuk and threw her arms around him. She wept in his embrace for a long time. She did not say thank you. She felt that speaking the words aloud would diminish the gratitude in her heart.
“Can I ask you again?”
“Ask what?”
“Why are you so kind to me?”
“Don’t ask. It’s a question you’ll have to ask again soon enough.”
“What?”
With an enigmatic smile, Geom Mugeuk took her hand and pulled her along.
“Come on. We have to go show you off.”
“To whom?”
“Who else? To the worst bastard in the world—the one who teased you by calling you an ugly heart.”
Ian beamed at his words.
* * *
I walked down the road with Ian.
The people split apart to either side as though water were parting. Every one of them stared at her, completely entranced. Men and women alike looked at her. Children stared, and so did the elderly. Monks gazed at her, as did Daoists. Even the dog that had been barking stopped and stared at her.
—Everyone is looking at you. How does it feel?
—It’s too burdensome.
—Enjoy it.
—How am I supposed to enjoy it when they’re all staring like that?
—Enjoy those gazes. Ah, I wish people would look at me like that, too.
—Please, take them all!
—You won’t say that once you get used to it.
It was no different when we arrived at Cheonhwa Pavilion. Everyone’s attention focused on her. Exclamations of admiration rang out from all around.
There were famous beauties among the courtesans, but comparing them with Ian was impossible from the start. They possessed the same kind of beauty, yet Ian carried an air of noble dignity. She was not wearing even a trace of makeup, but her face seemed to radiate light.
And so we entered the room where Geukak Soma and the Cheonhwa Pavilion Lord were staying.
Geukak Soma was lying with his head on the Cheonhwa Pavilion Lord’s lap.
“Fortunately, you’re still here.”
“We waited until you arrived. What kept you so busy?”
Geukak Soma glanced at me, then saw Ian beside me and was startled. He sat upright.
I felt that Ian’s beauty could be summed up in a single sentence.
She was beautiful enough to make even the reclining Geukak Soma sit up.
“Who is she?”
“My new heart.”
“What happened to your old one?”
“I threw it away.”
“Did you perhaps kill that ugly heart?”
Knowing that he was asking sincerely, I laughed.
“Yes. I killed it with my own hands.”
“How could you kill it?”
“Why? Surely you don’t want to see that ugly heart again?”
“No. I haven’t finished paying back the money for repairing the carriage.”
Ian beamed at his words. When she smiled, it felt as though the entire room brightened.
Then the Cheonhwa Pavilion Lord casually asked Geukak Soma,
“She’s prettier than I was when I was young, isn’t she?”
I hurriedly looked at Geukak Soma.
‘Careful! It’s a trap, Soma.’