Chapter 1
A woman was running through the trees in the forest, gasping for breath.
“Look! She’s getting closer and closer!”
Behind her, men brandishing machetes pushed through the bushes, panting heavily.
At the very front, a burly man with a thick beard draped in a tiger skin, No-cheol, bared his yellow teeth.
“Tang Ha-ryeong! Why don’t you just give up? You must know by now that you can’t keep running forever!”
“Shut up!”
The girl, Tang Ha-ryeong, retorted sharply.
But No-cheol merely laughed heartily.
“Fine, go ahead and give it your best shot. No matter how much you run, you’re still within No-cheol’s grasp!”
Tang Ha-ryeong squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the pain radiating from her dantian.
‘These bastards are nothing. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t even be a match for me.’
Tang Ha-ryeong was not in good shape.
It was due to an injury she sustained at the tournament held by the Murim Alliance some time ago.
The internal injury she received back then continued to hinder her.
She had already used up all the poison she brought from her household.
Even throwing hidden weapons would be futile, as her internal energy could no longer sustain sufficient power.
“Your husband is right here, so where are you rushing off to?”
The bandits roared with laughter, and Tang Ha-ryeong’s expression hardened.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before she got caught.
Tang Ha-ryeong bit her lip.
If she were caught by them, the outcome was as clear as day.
The fact that they were pursuing her despite knowing who she was meant that they were prepared to risk their lives.
There’s no other choice.
What she took out was a small gourd bottle.
Tang Ha-ryeong bit her lips as she stared at the gourd bottle.
Even as a martial artist of the Tang Clan, she couldn’t have resistance to all poisons.
She had developed resistance to most poisons since she was young, but there were still many poisons to which she hadn’t built immunity.
Inside the gourd bottle was the Cold Snow Poison.
A poison that was extremely difficult to make and so dangerous that only direct descendants of the Tang Clan leader were allowed to possess it.
The moment it is ingested, the extreme yin energy rampages through the body, causing all the blood to freeze solid and leading to death.
However, this was not meant to be used on them.
Tang Ha-ryeong closed her eyes and downed the entire contents of the gourd in one go.
It felt as if her throat was being scalded by mint water, and her insides chilled as though she had swallowed ice water.
Tang Ha-ryeong felt a tremendous amount of yin energy surge up in her dantian.
“Ssss… Haa…”
Every breath she exhaled emitted a frosty white mist.
And at the same time, a trickle of blood ran down from the corner of her mouth.
With the yin energy rampaging through her body, which was already injured, her body couldn’t withstand it.
Tang Ha-ryeong casually wiped the blood from her mouth with her sleeve.
“Have you finally changed your mind? Heh heh.”
When she finally stopped running, the bandits cheered.
Tang Ha-ryeong’s beauty had stirred up their lust.
Moreover, she was not an ordinary beauty but the legitimate successor of the Tang Clan, Tang Ha-ryeong.
A woman they couldn’t even dare to look at under normal circumstances.
The sight of Tang Ha-ryeong, who had been frantically fleeing without being able to put up a fight, filled them with delight.
Even though she was a woman from a martial clan, it seemed she had reached her limit despite being able to run this far in such a poor condition.
“No matter how lofty the Tang Clan’s flower is, she’s nothing in front of the mighty heroes of the mountain!”
No-cheol laughed boisterously as he spread his arms wide.
“Have you finally understood your situation? Come on, throw yourself into my arms!”
“……”
Tang Ha-ryeong obediently took a step forward.
No-cheol’s grin widened, stretching almost to his ears.
Look at that figure.
A desirable body that fills out in all the right places, like a well-crafted gourd bottle.
Even under the plain martial robes, her voluptuous figure exuded sensuality.
Her hair was dishevelled, and her clothes were in disarray from the chase, but she still exuded an air of nobility.
There was a reason people called her the most beautiful woman in Sichuan.
Eyes as sharp as a snake’s, with low and somber pupils.
And lips tightly pressed together.
Just imagining the screams that would burst out from between those lips made something twitch inside him.
‘What a masterpiece!’
The closer Tang Ha-ryeong got, the more goosebumps rose on his skin.
His body trembled uncontrollably.
No-cheol had never been so excited in his life.
But he began to sense something was wrong.
‘But that vicious girl wouldn’t be so obedient.’
Tang Ha-ryeong, who had been throwing poison smoke and poison needles to keep them at bay, was now approaching calmly.
She was a viper of a woman who would at least try to take one of them down with her in a death struggle.
It’s common knowledge in the martial world that anyone whose name includes “Tang” has neither a gentle nor kind nature.
If she were going to fight to the death, she’d fight, but she was not the type to quietly follow a bandit’s words.
‘Something’s not right.’
The bandit leader position wasn’t won through a game of chance.
No-cheol narrowed his eyes.
He wasn’t the strongest in terms of martial prowess among the bandits, but what made him stand out was his sharp intuition.
Sensing that something was amiss, he raised his hand, signalling the others to stop.
“…Stop right there.”
“But you called her over.”
“A woman needs to put up some resistance; coming over so obediently is no fun.”
“Bullshit.”
Her eyes glinted with a chilling light as she was suddenly evaluated by the bandit.
Tang Ha-ryeong struck out with a lightning-fast palm.
“Huhhk!”
In an instant, her palm energy swept over No-cheol and his subordinates.
Tang Ha-ryeong stood tall in front of No-cheol, her presence like a biting winter wind.
No-cheol’s teeth chattered involuntarily.
The yin energy invading his body paralyzed him.
‘That crazy bitch, she’s decided to die!’
Her already pale skin was now covered in a frosty sheen.
Her transparent skin was so pale that even the blue veins underneath were visible.
Only then did No-cheol realize why her skin had appeared exceptionally pale.
The extreme yin energy wasn’t just affecting Tang Ha-ryeong’s body but was also altering the surrounding environment.
Tang Ha-ryeong slowly exhaled her breath.
She truly looked like the Snow Maiden from legends.
“Did you really think you could provoke the Tang Clan and still survive?”
“You wicked bitch! Were you deceiving us all along?”
‘She must have suffered internal injuries, but she can still unleash this much power?’
No-cheol noticed the faint bloodstain on the corner of Tang Ha-ryeong’s mouth.
‘She’s ready to die!’
He never imagined she would be this tenacious.
No-cheol wanted to flee, but his body refused to move.
His entire body, except for his face, was frozen solid.
“Spare me! I’ll tell you who hired us…”
“I don’t need it.”
Only a select few in the Murim Alliance knew that she had suffered internal injuries.
If those who plotted against her knew, it’s unlikely they’d let her get caught by mere bandits.
Tang Ha-ryeong slowly covered No-cheol’s mouth with her hand.
A chilling smile hovered on her lips.
The Tang Clan would take care of her revenge.
“Everyone connected to you… Anyone tied to my death won’t die peacefully. Those who know you, those related to you by blood, and everyone who’s been around you—they’ll all turn into mere piles of poison.”
Tang Ha-ryeong declared.
“No, please don’t!”
“Feel slowly the weight of the consequences for provoking the Tang Clan.”
The Extreme Yin Energy from her hand turned into ice that penetrated No-cheol’s mouth.
Like a bit, the ice tightly sealed his mouth.
It slowly dug deeper inside.
“Mmph, mmph!”
The Extreme Yin Energy gradually spread throughout No-cheol’s body.
No matter how much he struggled in fear and pain, it was useless.
His abilities might have been at their peak, but now they were amplified by the Extreme Yin Energy.
Someone of No-cheol’s calibre, barely first-class, could not escape from Tang Ha-ryeong’s grasp.
When Tang Ha-ryeong withdrew her hand, a fully frozen statue was left in its place.
“Cough!”
Blood trickled down Tang Ha-ryeong’s eyes, nose, and mouth.
It was because she kept circulating her energy despite her internal injuries.
‘According to the medical book, those suffering from frostbite experience pain akin to burning alive.’
Although not dead yet, this man would die slowly and painfully.
Tang Ha-ryeong placed a hand over her chest.
Little by little, her heartbeat was slowing down.
Even moving her body was becoming more difficult.
Unable to withstand the Extreme Yin Energy, her body was freezing.
“So cold…”
Alone in the forest, her innermost thoughts were finally revealed.
A single tear that fell down her cheek turned into a snowflake as it touched the ground.
Who would have thought she would die like this?
Tang Ha-ryeong slowly leaned her body against a tree.
She wanted to face her final moment with her back straight.
She exhaled her remaining breaths.
The overwhelming cold energy filling her lungs brought indescribable pain.
She swallowed back the blood that welled up.
Rustle.
At that moment, she suddenly sensed a presence, and her eyes sparkled sharply.
Did something remain unfrozen when she unleashed her technique earlier?
Step. Step.
The footsteps drew closer.
Tang Ha-ryeong’s eyes glinted with malice.
She flicked her fingers and sent out a Wind Blade.
“Whoa!”
But the new figure quickly dodged the attack and hid behind a tree, shouting.
“You’re trying to kill someone out of the blue!”
“Did you really think I’d let people like you live?”
Tang Ha-ryeong focused her eyesight.
What stood before her was not a bandit but a neatly dressed boy.
He was young enough that it was hard to believe he was a bandit, and his attire was surprisingly tidy for the middle of the mountains.
“…You’re not a bandit.”
“How could I possibly look like a bandit?”
“…Sorry.”
“Is ‘sorry’ enough?”
The boy strode forward.
As he got closer, the boy’s brows furrowed at the sight of Tang Ha-ryeong’s condition.
“Huh. You’re dying.”
“You noticed correctly.”
The boy shuddered at the chilling energy emanating from Tang Ha-ryeong.
“How did that happen?”
“I drank poison.”
“Why did you drink poison?”
“To end my own life rather than die by someone else’s hand.”
Then, the boy burst into laughter.
The boy, Lee Seon, laughed heartily and then casually spoke.
“Do you want me to save you?”
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