Regression of the Yong Clan Heir

Chapter 445: Chased Chouhui (1)

By the time I arrived at Imyeong County, the first face that came to mind was Mae Yeongyeong.

Since the last time I visited her to mobilize the Martial Flower Unit, I hadn’t heard a single word about her.

The only things I knew were that the warriors of the Martial Flower Unit had protected Sangmubo and that Mae Yeongyeong had successfully relayed the messenger pigeon.

‘Hope she’s okay.’

Thinking of her cute face calling me “Lord” like a joke made me suddenly miss her.

She was the only woman who had truly loved me in my previous life.

Because of that, the bond from my past life naturally felt special.

In my past life, I had no connection with Namgung Yoo, Jeong Minji, Bukri Sehee, or Mo Biyoung. Only Hoi Unkyung and Mae Yeongyeong had been tied to me.

Maybe that’s why, whenever I met them, I felt an inexplicable fondness.

To hear news about Sangmubo and the Martial Flower Unit, I would need to see Mae Yeongyeong anyway. So, before heading to Dongwolru, I first made my way to the government office in Imyeong County.

The Heavenly Central Sect’s warriors were spread out across inns and nearby areas in Imyeong County, setting up military tents and awaiting orders.

I no longer felt any of the anxiety I used to feel about moving alone, even with those warriors around.

After all, within my entourage were Cho Wonmuk, the Greatest Sword Under Heaven, and Namgung Bi, the Sword King. Even if other forces launched a surprise attack, there was nothing to fear.

Feeling at ease, I slipped away and headed toward the government office, running through the mountain path using Floating Petal Steps.

It was too risky to use Movement Arts on the main road, so I chose the mountain trail instead.

While I was dashing along the path, Gunwi and Gunyeom visited the inn and received a secret letter from a guest.

They burned the letter after reading it.

"Miss Jeong, we’ll be stepping out to the marketplace to purchase a few items."

Jeong Minji nodded at the Gunwi siblings’ words.

"Take care."

She was grateful that the Gunwi siblings were helping her despite not returning to their clan. On top of that, they had participated in the Ten-Year Martial Summit as representatives of their family for her sake, which made their support immeasurably valuable.

Because of that, she took meticulous care of the two.

After leaving the inn, the siblings quickly oriented themselves and sprinted south.

Chouhui paid no mind even as tree branches scratched her face, leaving wounds.

Her face was already soaked in blood from cuts, so more scratches hardly made a difference.

“Huff, huff.”

She gasped for breath.

The reason she was this exhausted was because she was carrying a woman on her back.

The woman she carried had no consciousness—her head drooped to the right.

“Yeongyeong, hold on! We’re almost at the place where Lord Yong is.”

Chouhui forced her trembling legs to move again.

Shockingly, the one she carried was Mae Yeongyeong.

“If I don’t tell Lord Yong about this, he’ll be in danger!”

Mae Yeongyeong’s complexion had turned an eerie blue.

She had been poisoned. Her face had gone pale, her lips stained with a bluish hue.

Her breathing was so faint it felt like she could stop at any moment.

Knowing that, Chouhui had no time to circulate her qi, even though the poison was already invading her heart.

If she delayed, not only would she die, but Mae Yeongyeong might never regain consciousness.

Mae Yeongyeong, having weaker inner energy, lacked the strength to suppress the poison. Unlike Chouhui, who had taken the same poison, Mae Yeongyeong had lost consciousness quickly.

Chouhui ran through the forest.

While fleeing, she had heard rumors that the Heavenly Central Sect’s warriors had arrived in Imyeong County and was heading there.

Just as she exited the forest path, three masked figures blocked her path.

Without a word, they drew their swords and attacked.

Their chests bore an emblem of a tangled scorpion and serpent.

Chouhui was being relentlessly pursued by them.

They were masters. Five masters from the Martial Flower Unit had bought her a path of escape, only to die in vain.

These pursuers were all above first-rate martial artists—absolute experts.

Left with no choice, Chouhui set Mae Yeongyeong down and drew her sword.

“Impressive. You killed over ten of our Snake-Scorpion Alliance’s masters and still managed to flee. Who’d believe Chouhui was once just a courtesan?”

A warrior of the Snake-Scorpion Alliance spoke with admiration as he launched an attack.

“You’ve earned your name, so just give up now. If we weren’t ordered to capture you alive, you'd be dead already!”

As the three warriors moved in a formation and attacked, Chouhui steeled herself to sacrifice an arm.

She knew she couldn’t win against these three.

Had she not been poisoned, she might have stood a chance, but in her current state, even one opponent was too much.

But thankfully, she had saved one final trump card just for this kind of moment.

Chouhui charged straight into the center of the three attacking warriors.

It was like throwing herself into a trap.

As expected, three swords pierced at her simultaneously, and she spun, parrying them.

Chaeng!

But she lacked both qi and stamina to deflect the three attacks fully.

She barely knocked the blades aside, but her own sword flew out of her grasp into the air.

She couldn’t match the seasoned skill of the three warriors and lost her sword.

Seeing this, the three surged forward.

They aimed to grab her with both hands—but then, Chouhui suddenly unraveled her hair and spun her body.

Whirl!

Then, she infused her internal energy into her hair and sliced it off cleanly.

Immediately after, she flung the severed strands of hair toward the charging enemies.

Pipipip!

“Guh!”

Along with the whipping sound of hair flying, the three warriors let out pained groans.

Their faces were now riddled with strands of hair like needles.

Chouhui had long trained in a hidden weapon technique known as Hair-Feathered Dark Sky, which used hair as a deadly tool. She had been suppressing the poison in her body by concentrating it into her hair.

That had been her final trump card.

The technique was already powerful, but now it was enhanced by the poison channeled into the strands.

Though her long hair had turned short, Chouhui paid no mind and bent down to carry Mae Yeongyeong again.

At that moment, she noticed a pair of feet before her.

A chill ran down her spine.

They had approached her without her noticing a thing.

Even in her prime condition, she couldn’t be sure she could withstand even a single second against someone of that level. In her current state, there was no question.

Still, she refused to just give up. She raised her gaze to meet the owner of the feet. Then, she forced a bitter smile.

“Quite the surprise. I didn’t know you were spies. If Miss Jeong learns of this, she’ll be terribly disappointed. Did you come to capture me?”

“If it took even us to come after you, that means you gave it your all.”

Chouhui muttered.

“You must be in a rush—bringing those two who are by Miss Jeong’s side.”

At her words, the Gunwi siblings’ faces hardened.

“We cannot allow Eungga’s secret to be exposed.”

Chouhui felt her strength drain. The will to fight vanished.

No—more accurately, she had no strength left to fight.

After unleashing Hair-Feathered Dark Sky, her qi had been completely depleted.

Chouhui sensed the end was near.

Turning her gaze toward Mae Yeongyeong, she saw that the woman was also lying there, on the verge of death.

“I'm sorry. If only I hadn’t dragged you into the Martial Flower Unit… you wouldn’t be dying like this, in vain.”

Chouhui murmured a line she knew Mae Yeongyeong wouldn’t hear, then locked eyes with the Gunwi siblings.

“Ugh!”

In that instant, Gunwi’s dagger stabbed deep into Chouhui’s chest.

Letting out a stifled groan, she stared up at the sky. The figure of Yong Hwarin faintly appeared above her.

‘Ah… when death draws near, you see the face you long for most.’

Chouhui stretched her hand toward the void.

It looked as if Yong Hwarin was flying toward her through the sky.

‘You’re too late.’

With a forlorn smile, Chouhui slowly collapsed.

Thud!

Startled, Gunyeom shouted,

“Brother! Why did you kill her? They said to bring her back alive!”

“There was no way we could drag her with us. It’s better to finish her off cleanly. Otherwise, we’d have ended up like those over there.”

Gunwi replied, pointing toward the Snake-Scorpion Alliance warriors who had been killed due to their carelessness.

Gunyeom let out a sigh.

“Then let’s kill that woman too and return. If we’re late, Miss Jeong might start to get suspicious.”

“Miss Jeong trusts us completely. She won’t doubt us, even if we’re a little late.”

Gunwi said as he approached Mae Yeongyeong.

Just as he was about to stab his dagger down into her chest, Gunyeom noticed something in the sky.

Someone was soaring toward them like a bird, slicing through the air.

Staring into the sky, Gunyeom cried out in shock.

“Brother! It’s Lord Yong!”

At her shout, Gunwi backed away from Mae Yeongyeong. Just in case, he quickly stabbed his dagger into the hearts of the Snake-Scorpion Alliance warriors.

‘How did Lord Yong end up here?’

He didn’t know, but Yong Hwarin had been on his way to the government office in Imyeong County, choosing the mountain path. When he heard the sound of fighting, he changed direction and came here.

At last, Yong Hwarin landed on the ground.

Even though he had descended at a speed far from light, he seemed unaffected by the impact, surveying the area with a grim expression.

Because he had spotted Chouhui.

“Miss Cho!”

Yong Hwarin was shocked to see her already lifeless body, but he was soon startled again.

As Gunwi awkwardly stepped toward him, he caught sight of Mae Yeongyeong, whose body had been blocked from view until then.

Yong Hwarin rushed over at once.

“Miss Mae!”

Thankfully, unlike Chouhui, Mae Yeongyeong was still alive.

She was clinging to life with barely a thread of breath.

Without even a second to sigh in relief, Yong Hwarin questioned the flustered Gunwi.

“Who did this?”

“We don’t know either. We rushed over when we heard the sounds of battle, but by the time we arrived, those people had already killed Lady Cho. They were trying to kill that woman too, so I killed them.”

It all fit together a bit too neatly—his arrival didn’t quite feel like a coincidence. But Yong Hwarin had no reason to doubt the Gunwi siblings. Seeing the dagger in the hearts of the masked attackers, he nodded.

“Well done.”

Still, there were questions that lingered in his mind.

‘Why were Miss Cho and Miss Mae collapsed in a place like this?’

As he examined the fallen corpses, his gaze landed on the insignia embroidered on their martial arts uniforms.

‘The Martial Flower Lord suspected that the force trying to overthrow the Imperial Palace was the Heavenly Demon Sect and had been investigating its backers. Were they perhaps surveilling Eungga to find out who was behind it all?’

If that were the case, it explained why Mae Yeongyeong and Chouhui had ended up here.

For now, that seemed like the most reasonable conclusion.

Yong Hwarin immediately approached Mae Yeongyeong and infused her with qi from the Realm of Self-Existence.

The priority was to suppress and detoxify the poison.

‘The toxin has already invaded her internal organs. This won’t be resolved in a day. If I’m not careful, she may never wake again. I was too late.’