Kofi thanks to: Alilyana
(t/n: for the donators, I will get to yours in due time! i’m taking it slow)
Rather than demonstrating wit, it was the instinctive running of a weak, herbivore-like animal.
Instead of heading towards the apothecary, Cheongyeon ran back the way he had come, fearing that the drunkard might follow him all the way and discover the location of the apothecary. He worried that the man might come back to cause trouble later.
He had expected the man to give up after a short pursuit, but the drunkard was persistent. Profanities, too vulgar to even repeat, clung to Cheongyeon like filth.
“It’s okay, it’ll be okay. I’ll be able to shake him off soon.”
Cheongyeon comforted the panic racing within him as he continued to push his legs.
Every place in Cheonghwa Town was inhabited by plants. If a crisis ever befell him, even the mere weeds would take action, and the drunkard could end up losing his life in some way or another.
It seemed there were no longer any Peira members monitoring him. If there were, they would have shown themselves by now, if only to follow him as he fled. If those thorns in his side were present, it might have been better. But then again, on second thought, they had no reason to help him. After all, weren’t they the same people who turned a blind eye to thieves who steal bicycles?
Cheongyeon sped up, using his legs as fast as he could, heading towards the brightly lit main street. It was the time when the area around the Canal Inn was most crowded.
Heaving and panting, Cheongyeon’s own breathing was so loud it made his ears ring. Perhaps it was also the loud curses from the drunkard behind him that contributed to the discomfort. As the man sobered up, his voice grew clearer. Finally, Cheongyeon could see the area illuminated by street lamps. He desperately tried to calm his racing heart as he gasped for air.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
He wanted to rest a bit here before running again, but the sound of the pursuing drunkard showed no signs of fading. Even as he reached the more populated area, this was still Cheonghwa Town, where it was hard enough to safeguard one’s own life, so everyone could have pretended not to notice him being chased by a man.
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Just a little more running would take him to the main road leading to the Canal Inn.
“Arghh!”
Running along the canal, Cheongyeon was eventually caught by the hair by the man. As he let out a sharp scream, a window of a house located above a shop slammed shut. Soon after, the sound of windows closing came from various places. It was as he’d expected, so Cheongyeon wasn’t disappointed.
The man attempted to drag Cheongyeon into a dark alley while holding onto his hair. Cheongyeon hastily looked at his feet. Wildflowers growing in the cracks of the uneven stone-paved road were shaking strangely. Even though there was no wind, the heads of the wildflowers were moving. Every plant present seemed to be on alert towards the man.
He tried to calm the plants, eager to stir, insisting to himself that he would not be dragged away. When the man seemed overwhelmed by the effort and punched Cheongyeon in the temple, the world before his eyes spun.
Nevertheless, Cheongyeon didn’t give up. He picked up a stone from the ground and aimed it at the man’s head. Missing or perhaps only infuriating the man further, the other person’s breaths grew harsher. When Cheongyeon swung the stone again, the man momentarily loosened his grip in an attempt to dodge. Seizing the moment, Cheongyeon pushed the man and tried to run forward again.
Just then, a loud thud! A bottle, flying from somewhere, struck the man’s face. The sound of someone quickly approaching was also sensed. Seeing this as an opportunity, Cheongyeon extended his foot to escape. Unfortunately, the waterway, carrying seawater through the giant canal, was right beside him. Pushed by the fallen man, Cheongyeon lost his balance.
“Grab on!”
Simultaneously, someone extended their hand, and Cheongyeon reached out too. But it was a close miss. Their fingertips barely grazed each other.
Splash! Cheongyeon’s body fell into the waterway. Swept away by the swift current, salty seawater rushed into his mouth and nose. In front of Cheongyeon, which was being swept away, a ferry boat that had been docked after a business was seen. Not knowing how to swim, he struggled to hold onto the moored boat as he was carried by the flow. But his outstretched hand couldn’t even touch the stern of the boat.
Cheongyeon remembered the man who had reached out to him. Assuming he would give up now that he had fallen into the water, he resigned himself to fate, but then he saw a man running along the waterway. The man had chosen to cut across on land first.
As he was being carried away, a vivid golden light flashed before Cheongyeon’s eyes. The man who had outrun him took off his shirt and dived into the canal.
The man stretched his arm out to Cheongyeon, preventing him from being swept away into the giant canal. Cheongyeon, whose entire body was drenched in cold water, clung to the man’s body heat as if clinging for life, not wanting to be swept back into the sea in the dark of night. His entire body was shaking.
“Fuck, you’re so weak.”
The man scolded Cheongyeon as he swam to where the boats were moored. Still desperately clinging to him, Cheongyeon was hoisted onto a boat by the man, who then used the buoyancy to climb up himself. Cheongyeon gripped the wooden railing of the wobbly boat.
Only then, regaining his senses, he looked at the man before him with his mouth agape. The person who saved him was none other than Tae Muwon.
Even in the darkness, Tae Muwon’s yellow eyes shone in front of him. Although Cheongyeon was relieved that he survived, he did not know why Tae Muwon was there. He then was laid down by Muwon on the roadside outside the canal before he quickly turned away. The person lying there was the drunkard who had been pursuing him.
Tae Muwon strode over, grabbed the unconscious man’s hair, and dragged him over. The man’s jaw was awkwardly twisted from being struck by the heavy bottle, which seemed to have been thrown by Tae Muwon.
He lifted the limp man by the collar and punched him in the face. In particular, after hitting his temple repeatedly, his face was immediately disfigured. Cheongyeon couldn’t even say to stop. He was just too scared that his whole body trembled like an aspen. He didn’t know if it was the death that had almost reached him or the merciless violence of Tae Muwon that frightened him more.
After throwing the man to the ground, Tae Muwon, still not satisfied, glanced around and walked over to a cylindrical cutting board at a nearby seafood shop. He then pulled out a knife stuck in it, meant for chopping huge fish. Tae Muwon kicked the lying man again. The man lying on his back didn’t even move, as if he had fainted or was already dead.
Raising the knife, Muwon chopped down on the man’s wrist. With a thud, the man’s hand was severed as cleanly as a sliced fish. He presented the severed wrist to Cheongyeon.
Cheongyeon couldn’t even scream and just covered his mouth with his hand.
[Where I come from, having the hand of your enemy means you’ve succeeded in revenge. Here, take it.]
The unforgettable day when he last saw his nanny. That day, too, a child had handed him a severed wrist with words in an unknown language. He couldn’t remember the child’s face, but the shock of that day was still vivid.
“What, isn’t it this hand?”
Cheongyeon just kept shaking his head. Muwon lifted his gaze to the starless dark sky then back at him. Then, he abruptly lifted his bangs to check his temple.
The temple hit by the man was already turning a deep purple. Muwon cursed under his breath again. Since it was the left temple, it meant the man had hit him with his right hand. Muwon then threw the severed right hand into the canal. He also threw the man, whose life or death was uncertain, into the canal. Cheongyeon couldn’t bear to see the man floating past him, lying face down, and closed his eyes tightly.
Peeewwww—!
At that time, something with intense light soared into the air. Cheongyeon, startled, looked ahead where the blaze had erupted. There stood Venus, holding a spent flare. The red flare drew a trajectory like a phoenix soaring, then oxidized high in the sky.
The black sky was marked with flames, visible throughout Cheonghwa Town.
“Ah, h- hyung-nim.”
Venus looked awkward. Caught up in the thought that he should signal immediately upon finding the apothecary, he had inadvertently fired the flare.
Peira members stationed everywhere – on floating buildings, in bars, and on the streets – moved in perfect order following the red signal.
Now Cheongyeon recognizes Muwon possibly 💞
All of peira are gonna surround them hahahaa