Chapter 198: Chapter 198

At the loud shout of Hoyeon Ji, Dan So-mi looked up at Chu Mun-won with a puzzled look.

At his expression that had turned vicious, the color drained from Dan So-mi’s face in an instant.

Soon, he raised his hand and swung it fiercely toward Dan So-mi.

Splat-!

“Ugh!?”

However, the raised hand did not achieve its purpose. The white cat that had been hiding in her arms leaped up and swung its claws. At that rapid speed, Chu Mun-won retreated in hesitation, unable to react in time.

Blood dripped from his scratched chest.

“A spiritual beast?”

The white cat stood before Chu Mun-won with its fur standing on end, staring at him intently. Its golden eyes had turned fierce, as if it would not miss even a single movement of Chu Mun-won.

Not knowing she would have such a thing hidden in her arms, Chu Mun-won looked down at his chest. The dripping blood showed no sign of stopping.

Although he felt no pain, he realized that the claws had gone deeper than he thought.

‘There is no time!’

Now that he knew the child was of the Hunan Dan Family, and even a troublesome figure from the Hoyeon Family was right in front of him, he had to move without hesitation.

Just because there was no pain did not mean the bleeding would stop, and if all his blood leaked out like this, even Chu Mun-won would be pushed into a highly dangerous situation.

Therefore, his energy grew even more violent.

He moved his body with a rustle. Although his internal energy had not fully returned, his martial arts were not so pathetic as to lose to a mere spiritual beast in front of him.

He reached out his hand and unleashed palm force.

Boom!

“So-mi!”

In the meantime, Hoyeon Ji, who had rushed over, hurriedly took Dan So-mi’s hand and ran.

Although the violent explosive sounds that echoed deafened her ears, her only thought was to escape this place.

She began to run down the rough mountain path quickly.

Even as she slipped, fell, and had her clothes and flesh torn by branches, she never let go of the hand holding Dan So-mi, running with the determination to save at least this child.

‘Why is that man…!’

In a place like this?

In such a ruined state?

As she ran, Hoyeon Ji glanced back. Perhaps struggling against the swift movements of the white cat, he had not yet caught up.

But that was only temporary.

Gradually, Chu Mun-won’s movements became sharper.

It was a movement that surprised even the white cat.

If they did not widen the distance even a little more, it felt like he would catch up in no time.

“Pant, pant, Sister?”

Dan So-mi tilted her head, not grasping the situation. Until just a moment ago, he had been a very nice uncle, but suddenly he turned vicious and became as scary as a ghost.

Dan So-mi’s face looked as if she would burst into tears at any moment. But knowing it was not the time to throw a tantrum, she silently followed behind Hoyeon Ji.

Boom!

At that moment, an explosive sound was heard once again.

Dan So-mi looked toward the sound with an uneasy gaze.

The white cat had not followed yet.

That pained the heart of this small child.

Thud!

“Aaargh!”

Suddenly hit by something, Hoyeon Ji fell forward, hugging Dan So-mi.

Tumbling on the ground, she curled her body to protect Dan So-mi at all costs.

“Did you think you could escape?”

The one who revealed himself while stretching his body was none other than Chu Mun-won.

There were wounds here and there that appeared to have been inflicted by the white cat. Although an ordinary person would definitely not even be able to stand properly due to the pain, Chu Mun-won did not waver in the slightest.

Indeed, he seemed like a human who did not know what pain was.

“Seeing that we met like this here, heaven is helping me.”

Chu Mun-won let out a low laugh and looked at Hoyeon Ji and Dan So-mi. The moment she fell, Dan So-mi, who had taken the impact, had already lost consciousness.

Clutching Dan So-mi, Hoyeon Ji grit her teeth.

She had to get out of this place by any means.

“If that is truly the case, I should curse heaven.”

“If heaven were helping you, how could there not be a single person to save you?”

Chu Mun-won sneered and approached Hoyeon Ji. Gradually closing the distance, he stepped right in front of her, crouched down to meet her eyes, grabbed her face with his hand, and forced it up.

“How else would you bitches have appeared so defenselessly before me?”

“Pui!”

Hoyeon Ji frowned and spat.

As the spit dripped down his face, Chu Mun-won wiped it off and smiled even more deeply. Although she had a determined look in her eyes, she would soon fall into despair.

Rustle-

At that moment, at the sound of something brushing past, Chu Mun-won startled and stood up.

His gaze swept in all directions. However, he could not see what had moved.

‘Was it just the sound of the wind?’

He tried to dismiss it, but it felt somewhat too heavy for wind.

Rustle-!

“Who is it?!”

There was no mistake.

Something was there.

The thought that it was a simple illusion vanished.

Perhaps the spiritual beast he saw earlier had returned.

However, even if he had not completely ended its life, he wondered if it was possible to survive after being showered with enough palm force to inflict critical wounds.

It would not be that spiritual beast.

For the pressure felt right now was truly immense.

The spiritual beast, which had a small body, also had a formidable presence, but now it felt like a completely different level.

Squinting his eyes, Chu Mun-won scanned the surroundings.

Rustle-!

At the sound heard once again, he quickly turned his head.

At that moment, something massive burst out from the bushes.

Roar-!

“A white tiger!?”

It opened its huge maw, aiming for Chu Mun-won’s neck. Because the distance was too close to do anything else, he quickly twisted his body and tried to block the creature’s maw with his arm.

Thwack-!

“Ugh?!”

However, as if it had anticipated this, the white tiger snapped up the outstretched arm, ripped it off, and landed gracefully after performing a somersault.

Landing lightly, the white tiger looked at Chu Mun-won, who did not even let out a single groan, with a strange expression.

It then discarded the arm it was holding, as if spitting it out.

“This beast…”

He could not hide his embarrassment at the sudden appearance of the white tiger.

It did not seem to have appeared simply to hunt. This was because the white tiger’s gaze looking at Hoyeon Ji and its gaze looking at Chu Mun-won himself were different.

Its massive body and sharp eyes made one shudder just by looking, but Chu Mun-won did not panic and raised one hand to unleash his energy.

Boom-!

The white tiger avoided it lightly.

Chu Mun-won had already lost one hand.

Since the balance when he had both hands was different from when he had only one, he could not properly strike with his palm force.

The power was significantly reduced, and instead, it only gave the white tiger an opportunity.

The massive white tiger leaped up as if to swallow Chu Mun-won in a single bite.

Although he tried to move his body quickly at that nimble movement, the beast flew straight in and swung its claws.

Slash!

It was his chest that had already been torn by the white cat.

The large claws cut even deeper into that spot. It felt as if his entire rib cage was being severed.

“……!?”

In the meantime, Hoyeon Ji’s dagger, which had rushed in, dug into his chest. Having penetrated deeply, it had undoubtedly pierced his heart.

Chu Mun-won, who could not even feel that pain, felt this situation was unrealistic.

Having his heart pierced was fatal.

Yet, to think he had not noticed until a mere girl approached him?

Chu Mun-won’s lips trembled as he looked at the white tiger.

Because the white tiger’s presence was too massive, he had forgotten the girl’s presence.

The moment he frowned, thinking that it was a mistake.

It filled his vision.

The sharp teeth of the lunging white tiger.

The wide-open maw looked as if it could bite through anything, and there seemed to be nothing it could not chew and swallow.

He burst into a hollow laugh in spite of himself.

‘For me… Chu Mun-won… to end like this…’

It was the end of the man who believed no one would ever surpass him, at least in Hunan.

Crunch-!

The white tiger flew straight in and crushed Chu Mun-won’s neck bone. The body and the head were separated, and the torso spurted a fountain of blood before collapsing onto the ground.

Twitch, twitch-!

The headless body of Chu Mun-won convulsed several times.

The white tiger tossed Chu Mun-won’s head, which it held in its mouth, to the side.

Covered in blood, the beast licked the blood it was tasting after a long time.

“Pant… pant… pant…”

Even as she looked down at Chu Mun-won’s body with the dagger she had stabbed still embedded in it, Hoyeon Ji could not properly process whether this was truly reality.

She raised her trembling hand.

Her hand was drenched in blood, emitting a fishy smell.

“Sigh…”

Hoyeon Ji let out a sigh mixed with many emotions.

Since she had plunged a blade into the enemy’s heart with her own hands, if this was revenge, then so be it.

To think she had achieved the revenge she thought she would never be able to exact, like this.

Her pounding heart would not easily calm down.

However, it was not the time to be swept up in emotions.

Dan So-mi was still unconscious, and if she woke up, she would be shown this gruesome sight.

Since she did not want that at least, Hoyeon Ji spoke while looking at the white tiger.

“Could you… take So-mi to a place with water?”

The white tiger looked at Hoyeon Ji. The white tiger, which had licked away the crimson blood before anyone noticed, sauntered over and stood beside Dan So-mi.

Hoyeon Ji quickly wiped her blood-stained hands and carefully placed So-mi on the white tiger’s back.

Meow-!

It was also then that a small cry was heard.

Unnoticed, the white cat had approached and hopped up beside Dan So-mi.

It looked as if it was guarding the child.

Watching the situation, Hoyeon Ji smiled and spoke.

“Let’s go to a place with water. After washing off the blood, we must get away from here as quickly as possible.”

Before Dan So-mi woke up.

Before leaving, she looked back one last time at the corpse of the dead Chu Mun-won.

She spat at it, let out a sneer, and turned her head.

Hoyeon Ji, who had never laid down her heavy burden since the destruction of the Hoyeon Family, took steps that felt somewhat lighter.

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