Chapter 384

Chapter 384

Eat The World Tree.

Episode 384: Sansuyu Tree (3)

“…Shieon?”

Was she intentionally twisting it?

She called his name so terribly wrong that he couldn’t help but think that.

A faint vitality returned to Sansuyu’s haggard face.

It was impossible to call her healthy, and she was clearly still a critical patient, but this was nothing short of a miracle.

Lee Shiheon’s face, who had woken up from his stupor, livened up.

No matter how close the power of healing was to a divine power, she was someone whose part of the brain had stopped functioning.

What should he say to her?

Something about her family? Her secretary?

These were the questions he had pondered countless times alone.

What if she had lost her memory? Or if she fell into a panic?

Could Sansuyu, who had been the target of political violence, calm down?

Lee Shiheon’s hardened face turned self-deprecating. His lips, bearing a faint smile, slowly parted.

“Are you okay?”

The best he could say right now.

It took quite a while for him to utter that one word.

“How’s your body?”

His voice trailed off, and his eyes trembled, betraying how nervous he was.

A forced smile reflected in her bright yellow eyes.

It almost looked distorted.

Nevertheless, he tried to greet her with the most sincere expression possible.

It felt like a short but long time had passed, and they had shared a long period of emotional connection.

Without saying a word, Sansuyu’s eyes, which were fixed on Lee Shiheon, slowly began to waver.

“…Why.”

What flashed through Sansuyu’s mind was bewilderment.

She had lost her precious person, and everything was over.

She thought it was all over, but she was saved by the person she had once abandoned.

By the friend she had cut off contact with, without saying a word.

‘I shouldn’t be with you.’

Sansuyu, who had been branded a heretic, could cause trouble even for the person who saved her.

It shouldn’t be like that. That’s why she had cut off their ties.

Lee Shiheon was someone who should never be in the same situation as her.

A friend who was so precious to her.

Sansuyu’s face was filled with confusion and worry.

She couldn’t understand.

Why?

She tried to move her body, but Sansuyu quickly realized.

-Throb!

Her body was more broken than she thought.

And unlike before, she could feel the pain more vividly.

Sansuyu’s eyes were bloodshot, as she had always taken medicine and spent almost every day in a drugged state.

“Ugh… ah-”

A shrill groan burst from her mouth.

Pain and helplessness as if her whole body was being bent.

As she returned from unconsciousness, Sansuyu began to swim from the bottom of the extreme pain she had been ignoring.

“Ugh!!!!”

Excruciating pain that didn’t get better even if she struggled.

Pain like being burned with fire was felt all over her skin, and she writhed in the vivid pain as if her intestines were hanging out.

Sansuyu’s face was filled with fear of the indescribable pain.

A completely negative expression was revealed on her emotionless face.

Lee Shiheon’s hand brushed against Sansuyu’s struggling hand.

-Grab!

A small hug and the infusion of the power of healing.

“Ah… ugh, ugh….”

She barely escaped the pain that made her wish she was dead.

Sansuyu’s skin was trembling with fear.

The feeling of death approaching.

How severe her coma had been.

Freezing cold tears streamed down from the corners of Sansuyu’s eyes.

Her trembling hands squeezed Lee Shiheon’s shoulders, showing no sign of letting go.

-Why did you save me?

That question shattered and disappeared.

-He’s the one who freed me from pain.

Sansuyu, clinging to him like a child, hugged Lee Shiheon tightly and knocked him down onto the bed.

-Thump!

“Ugh!”

Sansuyu pressed down on Lee Shiheon, who had fallen.

-Tremble tremble.

“It hurts… it hurts. Shiheon, I….”

She looked like a completely frightened child.

Lee Shiheon’s back was scratched by her sharp fingernails.

Lee Shiheon stared at Sansuyu’s face, then calmly responded.

“It’s okay.”

“…It hurts….”

“It’ll get better soon. Let’s take a deep breath. Slowly. One, two.”

Surprisingly, as he stroked her hair, the pain gradually disappeared.

Sansuyu’s hands, still trembling with tension.

The strength in her hands gradually relaxed.

Her fierce hands slowly and gently hugged Lee Shiheon’s back.

Only then could Sansuyu regain some sense of reason.

“Ha… ha.”

Sansuyu’s cold, pale face was buried into Lee Shiheon’s chest.

A calming scent. The scent of a person who used to sleep next to her when she was in the cradle. The smell of a human like her mother.

Comfort that could be felt next to death. The hot breath of the man blowing out of the outside of her earlobes.

Everything she could hold, embrace, and feel was inside that breath.

Clothes stained with sweat and dirt. The faint scent of blood.

That alone made it clear what kind of treatment Lee Shiheon was receiving now.

Above her red blush, Lee Shiheon’s tired face, trying his best to calm the frightened Sansuyu, flashed by.

“…Sorry.”

In Sansuyu’s drowsy words, what came back was a calm answer.

“If it hurts, let’s get some rest today. I’ll explain everything.”

She had cut off contact with Lee Shiheon.

She even had her secretary deliver her messages.

The family’s long-cherished wish, which had been hammered into her almost like brainwashing since childhood.

That became the reason why Sansuyu cut off all relationships.

Compared to that, her relationship with Lee Shiheon was short.

Her instinct had judged so.

Was that bad?

It’s not a matter of distinguishing good from evil.

However, it was enough to make Lee Shiheon disappointed and turn away.

Even so, why?

-Squeeze.

Lee Shiheon’s hand, holding Sansuyu, tightened.

A trace of obsession.

What was the thought he held, exhausted from pain, twisted once in the past?

His gray eyes were slowly covered by his eyelids and sank.

Slowly, his face, which began to return to the past, was like-

Cheap rubber clay that had hardened and began to crack.

[Baekdo… did you just see that? Her body was all chopped up….]

Taeyang’s face stiffened awkwardly at Baekdo’s frosty gaze.

Next to Taeyang’s hand, which was slumped on the floor, Aori’s torso was rolling around.

No, she was a bit taken aback.

What kind of girl…. Her limbs were so brutally…

‘Let’s get a grip.’

Baekdo glared at Taeyang.

At this, Taeyang and Aori’s faces hardened coldly.

Aori, who spoke first, said,

“Those are some big boobs.”

“…What?”

“Just ignore what she says. She’s always like that. You saw her limbs flying off, right? She’s the type to get her arms chopped off while saying weird things.”

Taeyang hurriedly scooped up Aori’s rolling body and held her in his arms.

Aori, pouting, fixed her gaze on Baekdo’s chest.

“I just wanna suck on those tits once- cough!”

“Do you have two lives? Shut up, Aori.”

“Hmph….”

Baekdo’s mind began to fray.

As she clenched her fist, Aori and Taeyang shut their mouths completely.

“Where’s Lee Shiheon?”

“Aheoi~ Why would you ask us that?”

“I know you’ve been hanging around him recently. Tell me.”

It was nearly impossible to recognize Taeyang, even though he belonged to the White Ants and was acting as the Tree Spirit King.

He rarely engaged in combat, so his magical power was unknown.

When he acted in his Tree Spirit King persona, he changed his face, and he still underwent periodic plastic surgery.

Even Mugung and the World Tree didn’t know Taeyang’s face.

Aori, who had encountered Mugung many times, could recognize him by his magical power, but Baekdo didn’t know that.

How did she find them in the first place?

Taeyang immediately deduced,

‘…She must have seen us together in the Cradle and tracked us.’

She probably thought of him as Lee Shiheon’s friend, junior, or colleague.

The fact that she came to him meant that Baekdo was severely lacking in information.

She must have been digging around all of Lee Shiheon’s acquaintances.

They were probably the last ones she reached.

They were the only ones who had recently met Lee Shiheon.

“Why are you looking for him so desperately?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Are you so fond of that disciple of yours-”

-Crack!

Cracks appeared in all the concrete around Baekdo.

Taeyang’s face turned deathly pale.

“Damn it. I’m against violence.”

“Where is he?”

“No… You sounded so polite and cool on TV…. This is weird.”

“Lee Shiheon! Where the hell is that bastard?”

She had gone mad.

Taeyang thought, watching Baekdo kick the ground nervously.

The sweat on his forehead disappeared.

Anyway, she seemed reasonable, so he decided to talk to her calmly.

“Please calm down.”

“…He’s disobeying his teacher’s orders to save some insignificant woman, does that make sense?”

Some insignificant woman.

At Baekdo’s muttering, Taeyang’s face, who was trying to persuade her, hardened.

‘This person doesn’t know anything about Shiheon’s mental state, does she?’

Lee Shiheon had told him that Baekdo was the type of teacher who bickered but liked him, but was shy about showing it.

That affection had made Taeyang and Aori fans of her.

Of course, the fact that she was the most beautiful of all the existing trees also played a part.

Wouldn’t they look good together, like an emperor and empress?

He and Aori often joked about it.

Baekdo didn’t understand much about Lee Shiheon.

‘No… I guess that’s natural. He never showed his true feelings to his people.’

Taeyang slowly spoke.

“…I know where he is. But what will you do if you find him?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

“If he’s in danger, I’m not telling you, no matter what.”

“What?”

“Threatening me with my life won’t work. You saw her, right? She won’t say a word even in this state.”

Taeyang smiled at Baekdo, who was baring her teeth.

Baekdo frowned slightly at the sly schemer look in his eyes.

Aori, who was next to him, puffed out her cheeks and said, “I’m really tight-lipped!” but he ignored her.

“I’m that bastard’s teacher. Do you need another reason?”

Baekdo sighed at his slight nod.

“…I plan to find and protect him.”

“He wouldn’t want that.”

“How do you know that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I think I know him much better than you, Baekdo-”

-Crunch!

An ominous sound came from his shin.

Taeyang, who had been speaking fluently, smiled.

“-Heh. My leg’s turned into jerky. I’ll be joining her in hell soon.”

“Is Taeyang getting his limbs chopped off too?”

“Shut up, you.”

It hurt.

But he had no intention of talking.

“But seriously. You don’t know anything, do you?”

“Do you really want to die?”

Baekdo’s voice lowered. Taeyang raised his hands in surrender at the murderous intent.

“If you knew him well, you wouldn’t call her ‘some insignificant woman.’ No, isn’t it too much to call a girl you’ve ever taught ‘some insignificant woman’?”

“…….”

“You’re talking about Sansuyu, right? You’re too worked up right now.”

The murderous intent intensified.

Taeyang barely squeezed out his voice, enduring the pain of his shattered shin.

“I’m talking to all three of you.”

At that moment, Baekdo stopped her fist.

“Do you know that there are mental illnesses in the world? Mental illnesses that deteriorate if not treated in time. Things like not being able to make rational choices and finding one’s value in other things.”

Taeyang hobbled backward, limping.

Sweat dripped from his chin.

“It’s a disability, in a way. You’ve probably never heard of it.”

Their faces hardened at the same time. Even Aori looked like she had never heard of it.

Not knowing that was a big problem.

“A teacher should know this.”

Of course, the turning point was when Lee Shiheon went to the past, so it was impossible for Baekdo to notice.

Taeyang had never heard about Lee Shiheon’s past directly from him.

He seemed to avoid talking about it intentionally.

But he had seen and heard things.

Sometimes.

When he was asleep or nearby.

He had seen the man’s body twitch like a broken doll.

He was still feeling the pain from some kind of training in the past.

Only those who had seen his self-splitting while sleeping knew.

Human emotions were complex, trauma was deeply ingrained and never goes away, and everything changed depending on experience.

“…….”

Baekdo couldn’t say anything.

There was a point when Lee Shiheon changed.

She didn’t know why. As his teacher, she hadn’t even thought about approaching him.

Usually, Cheondo or Hwangdo would have taken on that role, but they were naturally alienated as Lee Shiheon pushed them away.

Lee Shiheon’s mental strength was strong.

That’s why it was harder to see.

What he was thinking about in his daily life.

“Well. I don’t care if you abandon him. But if you really care about him and are going to him to protect him,”

He might not even understand his own perspective right now.

He might be watching his daily life from a step away, instead of experiencing it himself.

“At least try to understand him. If you promise me that, I’ll tell you.”

Taeyang looked at Baekdo.

The two of them were the most emotional and at opposite ends of the spectrum.

“He’s not a superhuman.”

So go and see for yourself.

You can think about it later.

A wicked smile spread across Taeyang’s capable lips.

He chuckled mockingly and bowed his head.

Baekdo bit her lip, looking embarrassed. Taeyang wiped away tears as he looked at his shin.

‘…Can this be fixed?’

His leg hurt too much.