Chapter 9

9====================

Preparation to Leave

"Really take it off?"

Hyejin asked with a subtle expression. Sehyun replied with an unperturbed look.

"I already explained it. It's not like a regular massage, so that would be difficult."

"So, you're telling me to strip naked in front of you?"

"You can keep your underwear on, but I'll have to throw it away afterward... Anyway, it's necessary."

Hyejin, looking at Sehyun's serious expression, still had a lot to say.

However, in the end, she leaned toward listening to her brother. She knew he wouldn't ask for something unnecessary.

"Huh..."

"Don't worry, I won't mock your figure."

"What? What do you have to mock?"

Sehyun chuckled at Hyejin's derisive snort.

"Anyway, get ready and lie down. Please."

"What am I supposed to do..."

Muttering, Hyejin hesitantly took off her clothes.

"Ah, you need to take off your bra too."

"But this is underwear, right?"

Sehyun just shrugged. After a moment, Hyejin, still displeased, finished taking off her clothes.

"Then lie down here. On your stomach."

Sehyun pointed to a large towel he had laid out in the living room, which was three layers thick. As Hyejin lay down, Sehyun sat beside her and closed his eyes.

For a few seconds, he seemed to be meditating, then opened his eyes and said:

"Absolutely, no matter what, don't move or speak. Absolutely!"

"Got it."

Hyejin answered with a bit of tension due to the strong warning.

"Remember what I said. Don't move or speak. It could be dangerous."

Sehyun, who had warned her again, placed his hands near Hyejin's spine and focused his mind. A large amount of inner energy, known as Jaha, began to flow into Hyejin's body at a speed that couldn't be more cautious.

Hyejin flinched slightly as she felt it. The Jaha, which flowed cautiously into her small dantian, emitted a purple aura and circled around it once.

After confirming the territory, it took a step to break through the blocked meridians.

Hyejin's body shuddered. Sehyun, holding her back, focused on using Jaha.

Famaixi (伐毛洗髓) was initiated to artificially recreate the transformation of a newborn, known as Huanguetai (換骨奪胎), by a martial artist who had achieved supreme enlightenment.

In a world where power was everything and the truth, the greed of those who sought to possess it was indescribable. After thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of human experiments, they finally succeeded in developing a qigong technique that produced effects similar to Huanguetai in newborns.

This was the first proper Famaixi. It was much easier to perform Famaixi on a newborn with clean meridians.

Over time, the technique evolved, and it eventually became possible to perform Famaixi on adults, which was once thought impossible. Of course, not just anyone could do it. Only a handful of people in the martial arts world could.

One of them was Sehyun, and he was confident that he was the best among them.

The injected Jaha began to twist and rotate inside Hyejin's body like a drill. Though the amount was small due to caution, the rotational force was so powerful that it could pierce through steel. If it went wrong, Hyejin's meridians would be torn apart like paper.

However, the rapidly rotating Jaha did not damage the meridians at all. It cleared the impurities with its fierce penetration, moving through the channels without stopping. In the blink of an eye, it raced through the Ren and Du meridians, the dream of martial artists.

And it effortlessly broke through the notorious Shengsaxian (生殺玄關).

It didn't stop there. The Jaha, which had cleared all the important meridians in the body, expanded its range to the fine meridians.

If the martial arts world saw what was happening inside Hyejin's body, they would have found it hard to believe. They would have called Sehyun the greatest without hesitation.

It was that miraculous a technique. The one who fully benefited from this technique was Hyejin.

The feeling of major meridians being cleared and all the fine meridians opening up is indescribable.

She felt her mind becoming hazy, as if it was being sucked into her body.

At some point, Hyejin could clearly feel the Jaha moving inside her body and even the energy around her. She almost jumped up but managed to hold back, completely absorbed in the mysterious sensation.

How can one describe the feeling of a blind person who has never seen the world suddenly opening their eyes?

The shock she felt was not light, but it was a good shock.

Thus, the time that felt eternal finally came to an end.

As the Jaha, which had perfectly cleaned the last fine meridian, left her body, Hyejin felt a sense of loss.

"It's done."

Hearing Sehyun's voice, which sounded exhausted, Hyejin opened her eyes and got up. Suddenly, she frowned.

"What's this smell?"

"It's the smell from your body, sister."

"What?"

Hyejin, who had unknowingly raised her arm to smell it, gagged. Before Sehyun could say anything, she rushed to the bathroom.

After a moment, the sound of water running was heard, and the door, which had been closed, slowly opened, and Hyejin's voice came through.

"Can you bring me my underwear?"

"Sure, sure. I'll bring it."

He shook his head and got up. At that moment,

Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

Someone pressed the doorbell.

– Is anyone home? –

Sehyun, who had only poked his head out, said to Hyejin,

" Ignore it and keep washing. I'll take care of it."

"Okay."

He turned his stiff shoulders, which had been tense from extreme concentration, and headed for the door. As he stood in front of the door, a man's voice came from outside, pressing the doorbell repeatedly.

– I know someone is inside. Open the door, please. –

"Who is it?"

Sehyun asked, and a commotion arose on the other side of the door.

It wasn't surprising to Sehyun, who had already realized he wasn't alone.

– I live on the 24th floor. Do you know what's happening outside? –

"Yes, I do."

– I want to discuss a plan. Open the door first. –

"Why should I discuss it with you?"

– We need to work together in times like this. I have no bad intentions. If you're uncomfortable, you can lock the chain and open the door. –

Sehyun, who had been stroking his chin out of habit, chuckled and opened the door without locking the chain.

The cheerful sound of the electronic lock was immediately followed by someone grabbing the door from outside.

"Nice to meet you, student?"

A cold greeting came from a completely different tone than before.

There were five people in total, all holding weapons. The man in the lead, holding a broom, stepped into the house without permission.

Of course, Sehyun wasn't about to let that happen. He moved to the side to block him, and the man's fierce gaze immediately shot at him.

"You said you know the situation. I won't talk much. We've secured the safety of this apartment building, right?"

The man subtly waved the broom he was holding. Now, it was slightly stained with blood.

"We're thinking of gathering all the food here. So, I'll be intruding for a moment."

"So, you're here to take our food?"

"Don't misunderstand. It's not a robbery. We want to gather and share everything fairly."

The man pushed Sehyun as he spoke. But when Sehyun didn't budge, he looked a bit flustered.

"Student, can you move?"

"No. I have no intention of sharing anything. Go somewhere else."

Sehyun lightly pushed the man's chest. The man, pushed back a few steps by an unknown force, was quickly assessed by Sehyun, who then closed the door.

He tried to close it.

"Hey!"

A broom handle slipped through the gap as a shout was heard. The door was forced open again by a strong pull.

"Don't you understand the situation? You can't be so selfish in a situation like this, right?"

The man, who was speaking, suddenly looked at the bathroom connected to the living room, where the sound of the shower was still running.

"Is someone there?"

"None of your business. If you don't leave now, you'll regret it."

Sehyun casually loosened his grip. The man, ignoring him, scanned the entrance. Upon seeing women's shoes, he lowered his guard and reached out to Sehyun.

"Move."

It was a commanding tone, clearly intending to push him away by force. At that moment, a light sound of something breaking was heard.

"…What?"

The hand that was about to push Sehyun's collar twisted strangely. As the pain hit him a moment later, the man tried to scream, but Sehyun's hand, moving like lightning, pressed a point on his neck.

The sound that was about to come out disappeared. The man, whose pressure point was pressed, grabbed his broken hand and writhed, eventually falling to the ground. The broom he had dropped made a loud noise on the floor.

The other four men stood still, doing nothing.

The incident had happened so quickly that they were just stunned.

"What, what did you do?"

"I'll give you 10 seconds. Either take him and leave, or we all end up in pieces."

Sehyun said with a smile.

The four men, who had raised their weapons hesitantly, saw his smile deepen and slowly lowered their weapons.

An indescribable sense of danger tightened their throats.

"I, I'll go. I'm leaving."

"5 seconds left."

The men, in a panic, helped the injured man and disappeared down the stairs. Sehyun, watching them until the end, quietly closed the door.

They were despicable, but not yet.

He didn't need to kill or cripple them.

At least not yet.

============================ Author's Note ============================

I hope you enjoyed it, and I would appreciate your recommendation!! (__)