Chapter 266: TranQingdent (3)

When Qing entered the guest room, the seated guest hurriedly stood up and fidgeted, wringing their hands and rolling their eyes, not knowing what to do and just watching cautiously.

While doing so, they fidgeted with their lips in a way that seemed like they absolutely couldn’t speak.

“My goodness, Miss Murong. Your face has become half. No, how can you use such a pretty face so roughly?”

She looked like someone who had lost flesh from their face as if they had starved for a long time.

Her cheeks were sunken and there were dark blemishes under her eyelids, to the point where they almost seemed to reach her cheekbones if exaggerating a bit.

On top of that, her lips were white and her skin had a somewhat rough texture.

At this, Murong Juhui opened her mouth with difficulty:

“Hello… Have you been well…?”

“I’ve been well, but it seems Miss Murong hasn’t. Did something happen?”

“That…”

And then she went back to the beginning, completely shrinking and unable to continue speaking while mumbling.

Qing wondered what to do, then just sat down and waited for Murong Juhui to speak.

Had it been about one ke?

When Qing was getting impatient waiting and thinking of new lines to rub salt in the wounds with her Transcendent Realm:

“Um, you know. I wanted to ask if you could do that one more time…”

“Do what?”

“That, saying it will be okay. That everything will be okay, and that I did nothing wrong…”

At this, Qing sighed deeply.

What on earth did this child do at home to be in a worse state than when she was here? Her father seemed like a good person.

At Qing’s sigh, Murong Juhui flinched, no, her shoulders shook almost to the point of jumping.

Then she dropped her head.

At this, Qing sighed deeply again.

I can’t even sigh in front of a sick child.

Though she didn’t particularly hold back her sighs.

“Miss Murong? Come here.”

“Yes…”

As Murong Juhui approached cautiously and hesitantly, Qing patted her thigh.

It was a gesture anyone would understand the meaning of.

“Um…”

“Come on. Hurry.”

At this, Murong Juhui awkwardly sat on Qing’s lap. She became so stiff on her lap that it was hard to tell if she was a person or a wooden block.

At this, Qing hugged Murong Juhui and whispered in her ear:

“I hope Miss Murong doesn’t hurt too much. Miss Murong did nothing wrong. The bad ones are those Blood Cult bastards, so why are you hurting? It will be okay. It will get better. And it will get even better in the future.”

Then a faint trembling spread. At the same time, muffled sobbing was felt.

Aish, why are you crying so pitifully?

Instead of politely asking “May I cry a bit?” then crying proudly and justly going “Waaah wuaaah kiyahoo!”

Should I tell her to cry more thoroughly?

Cry out your purity, no not this. Why is it on my tongue? Where did I see this? Anyway.

Qing pondered for a moment then decided to just stay still. She was afraid if she told her to cry comfortably to relieve her heart, it might make her more conscious and try to hold back.

Is this right? Psychology lecturer whose name I can’t remember, or rather never remembered in the first place?

If a psychology lecturer had heard across time and space, they might have answered.

Reckless contact with a client, D. Don’t retake the class and let’s never see each other again, they would say.

In fact, Qing thinks that just hugging tightly is a panacea that calms anxious people’s hearts, heals wounded hearts, and since body and mind are one, the body heals naturally too.

It’s an a posteriori judgment learned from her own experience of being comforted by Gyeon Pohee.

After a long while, anyway with a superhuman body like steel, no, iron, having one Murong Juhui on her lap was nothing.

After crying quietly for a long time, Murong Juhui seemed to finally calm down and spoke in a choked voice:

“I’m, okay now.”

“I’m fine too so stay like this. But what happened? You don’t have to say if you don’t want to, but wouldn’t you feel a bit better after talking?”

“Well. Actually.”

Murong Juhui quickly told what her father had said.

Oh my, that uncle. I didn’t think he was like that, he had some extreme thoughts.

“If it’s this hard, why didn’t you just tell everything? Say I’m hurting so how can you say such things? Why, Miss Murong is good at that, right?”

“If father hadn’t said those words, I would have told him, but after hearing that I couldn’t. His heart would hurt twice as much…”

“My, how admirable.”

Then Qing suddenly thought:

I don’t like her father’s heart hurting, but was it okay for my heart to hurt? Wasn’t I the one who actually saved her?

Hearing this makes me feel upset?

Since Qing was hugging her from behind, Murong Juhui couldn’t see her face.

If she had seen, she would have seen an eerie color rising in the center of her pupils, a space that should be pitch black.

Qing is now in the Transcendent Realm.

The Transcendent Realm can use sword energy.

Sword energy is the emission of starlight inherent in martial artists, and the star Qing was born with was the Heavenly Slaughter Star, the most terrifying inauspicious star in the trichiliocosm.

It’s different from the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Qi that just laughs to itself with pathetic sounds like kukuk while getting beaten up when bored inside her dantian.

It just leisurely emits an ominous light from the deepest hell abyss in the desire realm of the six realms, because it knows that mere humans ultimately cannot overcome the will of the star of destiny, the will of fate.

So the lonely star of Heavenly Slaughter just went along with its avatar as if watching a child’s play.

Whenever she rebelled with trivial enlightenment achieved only through Daoist and Buddhist knowledge, it just pretended to be defeated and retreated.

“But, why did you hurt my chest so much? You used inner force then too, right? If I had been an ordinary person, I would have really been crushed.”

A chilling voice seeped in.

Murong Juhui’s insides sank.

“I, I’m sorry, I was, a bit out of my mind then, I won’t do it again.”

“It’s not a matter of being wrong. Why did you do it? Was I someone who could be hurt to Miss Murong?”

“No, that’s not it. At that time I, when I saw Miss Ximen, painful memories came up, I was a bit out of my mind, I’m sorry.”

“Hmm.”

An alluring nasal sound as if wondering what to do.

Murong Juhui stiffened like a wooden block.

“Is everything resolved just by saying sorry? How can I believe Miss Murong’s sincerity?”

“Th-then, my nails, nails. Since you like pulling them out.”

“It’s too wasteful to pull out the nails of such pretty fingers, isn’t it? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, they say.”

Qing’s hand that was tightly hugging from behind quietly dug under Murong Juhui’s jacket. A hand so cold, a chilly coldness slowly crawling like a snake towards her chest.

And then a low laugh, huhut.

“My goodness. There needs to be something to squeeze to do the same. This is why.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“How will I know if you just say that? Will you tell me properly what was wrong, what you did wrong?”

“It’s too small, so I’m sorry.”

“You should speak properly. It’s not small, at this level it’s right to say there’s nothing, wah, what’s this? My goodness. With something like this attached. Should I twist this a bit? Here, sting.”

“Huk.”

Sting. Murong Juhui made a sound like her breath was cut off.

It was a strange thing. Usually it was a reverse scale that would burst and make her hate the other person if touched, but at this moment it wasn’t like that, it hurt, it should hurt. A lot, very much. A fear like her heart would burst, afraid? But, but.

“If, if you want, if Miss Ximen wants to do that, as much as I did…”

Murong Juhui’s answer trembled.

At this, Qing blew on her ear, hoo.

Murong Juhui skillfully jumped up from Qing’s lap but was stopped by Qing’s arms holding her tightly.

“Oh my. It was a joke. Miss Murong wasn’t in her right mind then. I understand that much. So, does it still hurt to see me?”

“No. That wasn’t it. The memories keep coming up, I thought I would feel at ease if I saw Miss Ximen, I wanted to hear your voice…”

“Really? Ah. I see. Since Miss Murong is being honest for once, shall I ask everything? Why did you follow me to the training ground and crouch there like such a pitiful person? I was actually constantly worried because you looked so pitiful.”

“I, I can’t sleep at night. I can’t sleep when there’s no human presence because I’m scared. I’m so scared that if I open my eyes I’ll be in that box again, or I’ll be captured again, so, that was the most reassuring place.”

“Ah.”

At words that didn’t feel like someone else’s at all, Qing’s mind cleared with intense empathy.

Qing was also in a position where she couldn’t sleep alone due to the same fear.

She had been sharing the same insomnia symptoms with someone nearby without knowing.

“No, then you should say so. How would I know if you don’t say anything? When you can’t sleep at night, that’s so painful. Oh my, it must have been hard? I was thoughtless. I’m sorry.”

“No, no. Why is Miss Ximen sorry? I, I only acted terribly. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Anyway, it was completely different from before when she mixed casual and polite speech and her gaze alternated between friendly and suddenly turning.

Even sitting on her lap she’s stiff and uncomfortable, afraid of causing discomfort, and her voice is extremely polite so her true apology comes through.

Qing suddenly tilted her head.

But what’s with “Miss Ximen”? When did this strange honorific get attached?

Anyway, this seems like enough mental treatment.

It doesn’t seem like she’ll aim for my chest again either.

Qing was very generous.

“If it’s really hard, you can stay at Wucheon Pavilion. Well, I have to go back after the Murim Conference closing ceremony so there’s only a few days left, but.”

“Can I really do that?”

“If that’s what Miss Murong wants.”

But Murong Juhui shakes her head.

To Qing, it just looked like the back of her head right in front of her was shaking.

“No. I want to, but. I feel like I’ll just stay in this weak state, this pathetic state if I do that. As time passes, someday I’ll be able to forget everything and be fine, right?”

It was suddenly admirable words.

Qing’s expression became pleased too.

This, am I going to end up spreading psychiatry in the Central Plains?

If I tell Nanah later, maybe the Tang clan could develop it.

Anyway, Qing thought it was a good thing and answered with some sincerity:

“I’m sure you will.”

And then the atmosphere became a bit awkward.

It felt like the conversation had just wrapped up, but rather Murong Juhui was leaning back comfortably.

What’s this? Wasn’t she going to leave now? Why is she leaning?

Do I have to keep hugging her? Shouldn’t I put her down now that she seems calmed?

But usually in this atmosphere, don’t they say it’s okay and ask to be put down first?

Why is she still lingering?

Meanwhile, Murong Juhui quietly spoke up:

“But you know.”

“Yes.”

“I still feel like I did something very wrong to Miss Ximen. I think I’ll feel uncomfortable like this, so, since you said an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, how about continuing what you were going to do earlier…”

“Come on, I said it was a joke. Then what would I become? I can’t even joke.”

“It’s not that, I think I’ll feel better if we do that, can’t we?”

“Let’s just pretend it never happened. You weren’t in your right mind then, Miss Murong.”

“But, I keep feeling bad about it…”

Despite Qing saying it’s okay, it was quite a persistent request.

Moreover, since she said she would feel better that way, Qing also thought maybe it was unavoidable for mental healing.

“If you really need to be revenged on to feel better. Can you stand up for a moment? And close your eyes tightly.”

At this, Murong Juhui gulped.

And she obediently stood up and closed her eyes tightly-

Qing sighed deeply.

She wondered if she really had to go this far, but what could she do if the person herself said she needed to hurt to feel better.

The moment of the first commemorative nuclear launch after reaching the Transcendent Realm is coming so quickly, she thought.

And so, onto the head of Murong Juhui with her eyes tightly closed, Ximen Surin-style nuclear fusion ballistic noogie, the final move “Solemn Punishment” fell.

Thwack!!!