SYM 10
by EmerlynEary update! Thank you for the ko-fi Jenny!
Eun-hyeon was being chased.
He didn’t know what was pursuing him or where he was. The only thought in his mind was that he couldn’t let it catch him.
He frantically moved his legs, gasping for breath as he kept looking back into the pitch-black darkness. He couldn’t see anything, but an inexplicable fear made it impossible to stop looking behind him.
His legs grew heavier with each step. A whistling sound like a flute came from his throat, and he tasted blood.
It felt as if someone was grabbing and twisting his lungs. He felt like he might collapse and die at any moment, but he couldn’t stop moving his legs.
Eventually, his movements were neither running nor walking, yet Eun-hyeon forced his legs to keep moving.
Saliva dripped from his half-open mouth.
A headache struck as if his entire head was being pulled off.
His feet felt as if someone underground was gripping them, making each step a struggle, as though his legs were stakes driven deep into the ground. Every step he took felt like torture.
He thought he shouldn’t stop, but he could no longer move.
That’s when it happened.
Screeeech—bang!
A sharp, loud noise echoed.
Eun-hyeon’s body trembled as if in a seizure.
Since the day his parents died in a car accident, the sound of screeching brakes was what terrified Eun-hyeon the most.
Whoever was chasing him seemed to know exactly what he feared. The screeching noise rang out repeatedly from all directions as if to mock him.
His entire body shook. He felt nauseous.
Unble to bear the sound any longer, he covered his ears with his hands. But that couldn’t block out the noise.
Screech—, Screech—Bang.
The sharp sound piercing his ears made him feel sick. To make matters worse, the sound that had been distant was getting closer and closer.
Closing his eyes or covering his ears was useless.
He felt like he was suffocating.
Anyone, please save me…!
Help me…!
‘It’s alright.’
Suddenly, everything went quiet and a familiar gentle voice was heard.
Before he could recall who it was, the voice spoke again.
‘It’s alright, rest now.’
What was alright? He was in such distress.
Eun-hyeon was surprised to realize that his surroundings had become quiet even as he thought this. The sound of cars that had been approaching him like a drive hunt was no longer heard.
The ominous atmosphere that had been swirling around suddenly vanished without a trace. He no longer felt the gaze of whatever it was that had been chasing him
A deep sense of relief pervaded his body.
A cool hand stroked Eun-hyeon’s head.
The cool hand moving over his feverish head was a welcome sensation. With each pass of the hand, the burning heat seemed to subside little by little.
The throbbing headache also disappeared. The cool sensation gradually traveled down his body.
The energy flowed between his cramped muscles, slowly relaxing his tense and stiffened body.
Eun-hyeon unconsciously focused on this energy.
As his labored breathing steadied, his body began to feel more at ease.
Eun-hyeon instinctively rubbed his head against the hand that was touching him, as if seeking comfort.
He instinctively knew that this was what was saving him.
‘…Nothing can harm you.’
This statement was both a firm declaration and an order that nothing in the world could harm him. The moment he heard these words, he felt the anxiety hidden in his chest melt away and disappear.
‘Rest comfortably.’
The hand that had been transmitting the cool energy patted his chest gently as if lulling a child to sleep. A smile involuntarily spread across his face.
And then he immediately fell into a deep sleep.
Eun-hyeon woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in a long while.
How long had it been since he felt like this?
When he first possessed Namgung Eun-hyeon’s body, he thought he was having sleep paralysis.
His body had been so heavy and sluggish that it felt like a waterlogged sponge, and his limbs refused to move the way he wanted them to.
He had stumbled and bumped into things or fallen to the ground multiple times. Even when he had awoken from a coma in the past, it hadn’t been this bad.
He felt like he would truly die in a few days if he didn’t do something, so he desperately tried to circulate his qi. The meridians were so blocked that he couldn’t even properly complete a simple small circulation, let alone attempt proper qi circulation. Still, after a few days of attempting something like qi circulation, he was at least able to move around.
But today, his body’s condition was completely different.
The limbs that had felt as heavy as lead were now so light that he felt he could even perform lightness skills. The lingering mild fever and persistent headache were completely gone as well.
“How did this happen?”
The last thing he clearly remembered was Madan Hwang’s visit.
Given that he had been in poor condition due to lack of sleep and overexertion, meeting Madam Hwang should have made him feel worse, but instead, he felt lighter.
Eun-hyeon quietly rose from the bed and lightly moved his body.
As he was gently clenching and unclenching his fist, he noticed a small bottle beside the bed.
“This is…”
The tiny porcelain bottle, no bigger than a fingertip, was clearly extraordinary at a glance.
Creating such a small item was far more difficult than making a larger one.
“…Un-ah.”
Eun-hyeon instinctively guessed who this object belonged to. Come to think of it, he had moved his injured arm without much discomfort. Eun-hyeon suddenly looked at his injured wrist and furrowed her brow. The bandage, faintly scented with medicine, was different from the one that Soso had tied for him last night. Eun-hyeon began unwrapping the bandage.
The wound, which he thought would take a long time to heal, was almost completely closed.
“What kind of medicine could heal a wound this quickly…”
Even with modern medicine, it wouldn’t have healed this fast. After examining the wound for a while, Eun-hyeon rewrapped it with the bandage.
He couldn’t understand why Ha Yeo-un had shown such kindness, without knowing that he was his master.
Eun-hyeon had thought that being the leader of the demon cult would have made him twisted and sinister, but perhaps that was not the case.
Maybe his early education had paid off, and even though Un had inevitably become the Heavenly Demon, his temperament was more righteous than that of the orthodox sects.
Eun-hyeon chuckled at this imagination that even he found hard to believe.
Afterwards, Eun-hyeon continued with his qi circulation. He thought he should do it while his body was in good condition.
Energy flowed smoothly along the meridians of the small circulation. This was something he could never have dreamed of before. As the small circulation began to turn, he directed his energy deeper into his dantian and started the grand circulation.
Compared to the small circulation, which moved lightly, the grand circulation felt sluggish due to blocked meridians, but the fact that it was moving at all was a significant improvement.
A faint smile spread across Eun-hyeon’s lips without him realizing it.
It wasn’t enough to do much yet, but he was overjoyed as it was evidence that his body was improving.
Moreover, thanks to his diligent qi circulation so far, a decent amount of inner energy had gathered in his dantian.
As he circulated his energy through the grand circulation, Eun-hyeon began to rapidly expel the toxins that had accumulated in his body.
At this rate, it seemed his wretched body might become functional sooner than expected.
As Eun-hyeon was engrossed in qi circulation to the point of being drenched in sweat, a commotion arose outside.
“Huh? F-Family Head? J-Just a moment, let me inform the young master…!”
“Move aside. How dare a mere maid block the Family Head’s path!”
At the mention of the Family Head, Eun-hyeon’s closed eyes snapped open.
In the Namgung family, there was only one person called the Family Head: Namgung Juwon.
Finishing his qi circulation, Eun-hyeon hurriedly tidied up the bed and got up.
His appearance was a mess from sweating profusely while doing qi circulation after waking up, but there was nothing he could do about it.
As he hastily brushed off his crumpled clothes, the door suddenly swung open, and a group of people dressed in luxurious silk robes entered.
It was Namgung Juwon, Madan Hwang, and Namgung Eung-wang.
Note:
- Baihui (百会) Acupoint: It is located on the midline of the head, approximately at the crown. Stimulating Baihui is believed to help clear the mind, enhance mental clarity, uplift mood, and regulate the body’s overall energy flow.
2. Huiyin (会阴) Acupoint: Huiyin is considered a vital acupoint as it is the meeting point of the Ren (Conception Vessel), Du (Governing Vessel), and Chong (Penetrating Vessel) meridians. It is often regarded as the base of the body’s Qi circulation and is crucial for grounding and stabilizing the body’s energy.
3. Dantian (丹田): The Dantian refers to three energy centers in the body. Developing and strengthening the Dantian is fundamental for internal energy work, enhancing vitality, stability, and power.