Chapter 78: Hua Ran (4)
v1eB『Ahh, my daughter. My daughter… Finally… You finally woke up.』VNP
rzWWhen she first opened her eyes, what Hua witnessed first was her ‘master’ tearing up while looking at her.6xp7f
8skpDKang Yu called her his daughter, and called her Ran. The newly born jiangshi thought that was the name given to her.Z9fZH0D
Fgkg『Dad?』SlEK
cXygfEven though she just repeated that word like a parrot without knowing the meaning of it, her master was incredibly happy and gave her a tight hug.zk52
ZzMOeb1That was probably the moment when Hua realized that she had to act like Ran.sr1HHz2
JX5hqQlShe had a feeling that her ‘dad’ would throw her away after noticing that she was different. She was scared that he would try to retrieve Ran, and because she imagined a future without the ability to control her body, Hua had to act like Ran.AxCg
AZJWhat was fortunate was that the memories of the original body slowly started to come back to her.FWmGKA
w8SqAlthough imperfect, she managed to act like Ran and just like that, she stole Ran’s family and her life.DgX9XK5
CoQp『Oh, Ran! Are you well now?』bY7GFtw
QLt『Oh my! Ran? Are you with your dad again?』FA3WBC
xkxjCLiving as Ran was a sweet experience. She was the beloved daughter of the renowned Kang family, and the health of the unfortunate girl who couldn’t even leave the house due to her illness until 14 years of age was something the entire city was interested in.buQUQU4
hiItxU5But Hua knew that they were happy and glad for the recovery of Ran, and not herself.eWN
eCYCfThat deceitful life crumbled down to pieces due to a small catalyst.FaZ
2vm6iT7『You… are not my daughter.』3a6LV2w
AyHaQw………Cgv4dD
cfuIFzW……Zke
Uzv1J…MVrVtSN
gf78xq『How could a jiangshi deal with a Grade 1 youkai[mfn]Youkai = Monster; Japanese term. They’re using a term that’s different from demonic beast.[/mfn] this easily?!』oJl5dat
UTRX5YUThe first time she saw blood was when she had to save the city from a sea monster that suddenly attacked the city. Because of the request of the castle lord, her ‘dad’ had to order her to kill the monster and after that, she was visited by her ‘dad’s’ brother who came to ‘heal’ her.A94J
PNOhsCaressing her head, he said with a content look on his face.Rvirmr
wAO『Hua. Well done.』Ga6Kh
1VJThe name, ‘Hua’ was also the one he gave her. His scorching gaze of greed pervaded into her body.oTQs
r05That was the first time she realized she could be ‘useful’. Added to that was the neglect of his ‘dad’ who realized she wasn’t his daughter.cHDMJz
zussyPHer massacre began. The castle lord, the imperial family and the sages gave her requests. Demonic beasts, demonic spirits and… humans. Regardless of the opponent, she killed as they wanted and as they commanded.8aSI
cw5Gc6wThat was how the Heavenly Yaksha was born.Azpv
R8WBTqJ****D6d
WowI3n7– Zaaaah!mOGYZd
aPFxOdA heavy rain was pouring down on the forest. Sitting next to the large and heavy raindrops falling endlessly, there was nothing to do but reminisce in one’s memories.Ryf
LvlyHowever, Hua Ran was not fond of meditations like this. Closing her eyes, she couldn’t help but think back to what happened on that day.kvZhCZW
QIgZgCLooking back, it had also been raining heavily that day.hD5VJR
vG6When she came to her senses, she was standing on a scorched ground. The smell of sulfur was mixed in with the odor of corpses… the once-gigantic buildings were in rubble, and the sky seemed so touched by the soaring walls of flames that it sent out heavy rains in return.QSi5
az3yqAShe was the only one alive in that place.44Ij5PB
GH9xABlankly walking forward while looking for her disconnected memories, all she could see were people that were now in ashes.HwCET
XE1S‘What happened to them?’ was not a question; it was probably her that did it.ggAXEX
RWgR『Hua. Kill all the humans of this land. There should not be anything living left behind in this place.』WAF
0ohdAThe last memory she had was the command of her ‘master’.3dnVLWX
4HHdHer jumbled-up memories were confusing her mind so Hua Ran decided to stop thinking ‘as always’. Ever since the talismans attached to her chains had been burned down, the memories of the past constantly started to creep back up.nqv
7t7poJI『Hua, just where is my daughter?』lhrb
k3gaz『It’s my body! Give it back!』EgK3c
or1dHR『You’re not Ran. You’re just a monster that stole her body!』YTfQbjr
I9TCM‘No…’J4f3Dr
5c42This body is mine. She wanted to argue that this was her body that she acquired after getting rid of the weaker self.ybo
5B9lb5l『It is clearly not yours. Don’t you know that yourself?』o81Df
8sTpkYes. She knew that better than anyone else.70M
IhHI2OBHua and Ran.yZw
oEaE1The two were completely different beings. In fact, one of them wasn’t even a human. The innate nature of Hua was that of a demonic beast – she was an evil being that was pushed into a dying human; an uninvited guest that entered the body.g4N5474
vrHkIeIA body with two souls. She had read countless similar stories where two souls fought for the body and every time, she was closer to the one that always had to lose.ScdOw
ix8K5xJThose were the common plotlines of didactic novels where the evil got defeated and eradicated by the good. Despite knowing that it would always be the same conclusion, she looked for similar stories without an end;9rcfRR
ikMjWhile hoping, that there could be a story out there where the evil triumphed over the good.f8z6N
XKattHowever, whenever she found those stories and read their conclusions, she was made to constantly doubt her existence and reject her own self.NUqU
hWLAThey made her think that her existence itself as an uninvited guest might truly be a wicked thing.b2klkT
kaIrT“Let’s see. It’s a bit dark. We can’t make it too strong though, so…”bNbfr1
RO8YKM『 ᛊ 』 — SowiloeZuBLHp
0vKA rune letter was carved into the insides of the old tree. He reduced the mana usage so much that it was too feeble to be that of the sun.feg
R9GJ2CVBut even that was enough to light up the tree. After lighting the surroundings up, Korin started looking around the hole.w2ayj8
kej“Nice. There’s one here.”r34okn
zAOAfter seemingly finding something, he picked it up and handed it over to her.Z1hF
dyoi“Here you go, Hua Ran.”vqu
MpvrU“…What’s this.”P6tRP
vUZRo“It’s a beehive. Owlbears tend to steal beehives and store them in their nests.”UlX55Qv
xBGHe handed her a small beehive with abundant honey as Hua Ran bewilderedly received it from him with a shiver.SmjY
VBLsThe wood of a peach tree that she was made to swallow by Kang Ryun was still harassing her body, to the point that she even dropped the beehive immediately after receiving it.UKTr
FIBUV“You look even worse than I expected.”EyG
LYJJ2“Don’t worry. This much… is nothing.”uSEaf46
XQ89Hua Ran – the Heavenly Yaksha – was strong.uQTfG
PprhCompared to Ran who was nothing but a weak feeble girl, she was incomparably stronger. That was the only merit she had; it was her pride and the only thing that allowed her to keep her sense of self.avPS
8fnsWaThere was no way she could possibly admit her weakness, even though it was already very clear that her strength had crumbled down to pieces.8OhO
xI1NIf she didn’t even have this, then Hua wouldn’t have the right to control Ran’s body – that was what she was thinking.aCV
3iDk“Stop pretending to be strong. In times like this, you’re just supposed to say thanks and accept what you get.”q8i
3UnfPkMKorin slowly pushed away the beehive she dropped and brought a new one to her mouth. She had enough power to lick the beehive in her mouth but instead of licking, she munched through the beehive while blankly gazing at him.LapY
4UDsYjWhile receiving that quiet and incomprehensible gaze, Korin thought about his two close friends.108Sc
qTE6KDespite their individual unique characteristics, both Marie and Alicia had honest expressions and gazes. They were very expressive about their honest emotions but compared to them, most of Hua Ran’s gazes were indifferent without any hint of emotion.8YD8EJx
lkiFKHer eyes rarely ever reflected any intense emotion.saVDhzd
3F9slL“What is your objective…?”R56kg
sL4pRp9She barely forced those words out with a sunken voice. Even that didn’t contain any emotions but Korin noticed that she was fairly serious about this question.BnmfPZ
qnnawPlus, he also realized that the girl was still shivering so…cTrc3
4KsSZvv– Flop!eYGTqZ
k2FHe took out a blanket and cast it over her. It was something he had prepared beforehand because he was expecting to spend the night outside.lX4dJ8
t1QK“I don’t need…”m4Y7
d3bRrXj“Ehey! Just take it. Or we can do what they do in those books and hug each other naked. That will be more effective,”62V59oW
w7a‘But you don’t want that, right?’ He added, forcing her to make a choice between those two options.r1mt3
4IAZeOHua Ran thought about hugging the boy naked throughout the night compared to just using the blanket.4dA17
oo3She didn’t like either of the options, but had to go with the option that was at least a little bit better than the alternative.5nWx
JeQo44Hua Ran just couldn’t guess what he was thinking.b5WRY9b
Mo2RBeing unable to read Korin’s intention made her very confused, because everyone that she had met until now had been wanting something from her.7HZ6
mcs6qA lost daughter;xT3zo1z
brcA healthier cousin;6DxI
my9egSWA weapon that can destroy everything.TUoQwjt
QuiShe could instinctively tell that this boy also wanted something from her but she had no idea what that exactly was.y2tzFY
xO0wwvM“Do you want… something from me?”4JRClcx
BwSfIt wouldn’t be anything like a close relationship; that was something that was only permitted to Ran. The only value Hua had was in her strength as a Yaksha – an unbreakable body that could crush through everything.kcLOGl
Bj5jIf that was what he was after, she could somewhat understand his actions.xW6v
PsnbP“Do you remember what I said before?”Qnzts5q
sSxWhile taking the blanket that was about to fall and bringing it all the way to her neck, he opened his mouth.irNqB
Ev7“When do you think was the start of civilization?”W6H7kP6
DB45JH“Don’t bother if you’re going to talk riddles.”Gmy8dyQ
b4qlEven though she remembered his words, she didn’t reply back. It was because she was certain that his statement about the traces of another ‘person’ waiting until the ‘person’ with broken legs healed back up, was a story that did not apply to herself.0ot
ks0MG“It’s nothing. It’s just normal to help when things are rough.”hBjg
Fym“That’s how it is for human civilization. That has nothing to do with a monster like me.”1Y5mGrh
IWsdxx“A monster shivering from the cold, huh? So scary.”pNH
iDB73“Stop making jokes and be honest. What do you want from me?”SCuG8
6OG0DFpHer quiet gaze even contained a touch of killing intent. Those scorching ruby-colored eyes did not permit any lies.FOVA
PqURThere was no way that he didn’t want anything from her; there was nothing more devious than the thoughts of a human who claimed they were helping a monster out of goodwill.P1jIq
sfFFCOn the receiving end of that gaze, instead of being scared by them, Korin found her pitiful.9wDZ
KasJFnHer voice was cold, and she was in self-denial. She was heart-chillingly certain that she was a monster that would never receive any love.LUS2cMU
8imBecause Korin knew of the story of Hua Ran, the Heavenly Yaksha, and her background… he couldn’t help but pity her. If she was a brazen monster that shamelessly shouted ‘survival of the fittest’ after taking over another person’s body, would her life have been a lot easier?tcQ2NeX
3RQSSuch a future would never come because Hua wasn’t a piece of garbage like that.oVrwJ2
3xGT9l“Do you remember the first time we met?”eXy
HnNThe conjoinment of two souls inside Korin Lork – after seeing through that, Hua Ran had said something to him, who was in a similar condition to herself.8vbcG
Pr0t“You said I was not the owner of this body. And that I’m a thief and a robber with no right over it.”fQZWh
R5QPThe origin of her harsh criticism back then was quite simple if you were to link it back to her agony. It was as clear as day that the target of her criticism was herself, and not Korin Lork.1GIVTgU
e6Nt“My reply stays the same.”lrn
dMRbXGThere is no sin in being born.vyxyY
ZrvHua Ran still remembered that reply, but there was something she wasn’t expecting.StgE92
LRK3omRather than an insincere remark given to obtain her favor, she realized from his firm and stubborn gaze that it was a serious reply he was giving to her question.jDjoM0
xgDZP9“That’s irresponsible,” she said.s5n
HHbIA9z“Huh?”C2YRo
HF0“That is very irresponsible. Even Josephine and the Chairman know just how dangerous it is to free a monster using those ambiguous words.”eAa6
gHU5e9uIt was rare for her to talk this much. As if she was throwing her complaints and her distress at the world, she lamented while looking at the boy with condemnation.GcY
7lZ9o“Does a monster become less of a monster if you just talk big like that? Does the world change?”h3r0QT
no5k“It’s true that I am trying to do this stuff to save the world but… that’s a secondary thing.”6OHBni
bgsD6“What?”ZqfrHWg
X3CogNO“I’m simply trying not to ignore the things that are just there in front of me. People with predestined misfortune; because I am the only player there is for them.”gxm
bku“…What does that even mean?”i2VvI
YuZYsB“If I try a bit harder, they can survive, and they’ll die if I give up. In that case… why not try a little bit more?”Gie
TdxZKK– I’m a bit of a romanticist, you see.8ZkIJF
Uy2“More importantly, I’m the only one you have next to you right now. That’s why I have to do it. Let me help you. I can carry you around and feed you until your broken leg heals back up.”ltmycY
drpxQ9wHis words with a grin were just things she couldn’t understand. However, she could still tell the sincerity behind his words, which was why her heart stung a little in pain.5dr
o0Xglhp“You, you…”OasR9d
e4ABHDespite feeling the necessity to say something, Hua Ran did not know what she was supposed to say.NSse
SkqxtjShe couldn’t understand the boy in front of her nor the situation at hand, so much so that she didn’t even know the face she was making. There was probably no way for her to tell just how foolish of an expression she had on her face.Kie
4Ty“I… am scared.”GabNYF5
Cg3gIHer following words were her honest thoughts that Hua Ran unintentionally slipped against her will.pE2
siiHThe scariest thing for the world’s strongest three-year-old child, who was indifferent to most of the things in the world, was that one day she had to give back the thing that was never her’s.kBtSg
2OU2ApX“This… is not my body. This is Ran’s, and not Hua’s. It was never mine; and everyone says I must give it back to her.”rnqvHMx
VbaRan’s beloved family;ENG0r
5t8The enemies that hate Hua;5bP
GXS5Just like the protagonists of many stories that talked about two souls;WyjM
30nThe soul of a demonic beast had entered the body of a sick child. There was no need to even bother asking others on who the illegal trespasser was.tApTG
0my“I need to return it. I know that, but if I give it back… what would happen to me?”zQo7
fNyHer ‘master’ was the only one who said she didn’t need to.OVx9G
7D7P7Would this boy say the same thing? That it was okay for her to live? Would he say it was okay for her to take over this body? Wouldn’t he say that though since he said he would help her?qTa4e
Bwr8PRK“Tell me. Do I have to give it back?”j6K
d6yCB“You do need to give it back.”8El
CTiLrHHer eyes widened into circles, before rapidly sinking back down.wBx9h
kXfHIt was such an honest and reflexive response. It was so evident that that was what he wholeheartedly believed in, so even though it made her feel unpleasant, she understood his point because that was the right solution.AXtEd3
t3iKKrIn the end, even he was choosing Ran.Tli5
z6dmuwFeeling like she had lost her one and only ally, her heart felt stifled.BC6kMnD
98aqW“I see. Even you…”An6Yb
esOQd9“Don’t think it’ll be over with you giving it back to her. Things might not work out immediately but it might actually be resolved in the blink of an eye. You can wait and see through the result of your decision.”bRqEcB
JepQCRh“What do you…”vRsZLV
L6ai“Remember the story about Hulk… I mean, the smart green man? There is the possibility of mutual acknowledgement and cohabitation. There are instances like mine as well, right?”85T4X
dyFxp“…”ZADCYYc
OeN“Besides, you are a bit overly frightened by it as well. Your mindset of, ‘Ran is going to steal this body away from me, but no; it’s mine!’ is wrong. Of course, it’s right to be scared because Hua and Ran are different beings. But you have no choice but to plead and constantly beg for her cooperation. Tell her, ‘Hey boss. I can pay the deposit and the rent so what’s wrong with living together, ey~?’ and that might increase the likelihood by a little, right?”VoQvYK6
8TeeNonsense. Cheap logic.zgdC
1yWOThat was nothing but an overly optimistic view of the future, and there was no way words would be enough to settle this relationship.ARrQsk
8Gb0NThinking that, Hua Ran raised a rebuttal.Z3aeJa
EDrH“A conversation… is meant to be between people. You… know about my origin as well.”RJfYw
ezia7“Is that important?”HmPoH
GL3g1“What?”Y3Afs
3StWR“The things that decide who we are are our choices and our actions. Your origin isn’t that important.”P4YfLMr
mVQhoCYYour origin as a demonic beast is not that important; your choice is what matters.bYDm6gQ
D5yJ“There are plenty of people in the world that do worse things than demonic beasts. Some wicked people even pretend like heroes while massacring people in the back. What’s always important is your choice.”wFF
kJEHe could say that because he had suffered from that exact experience.Gq5Lb
MhqHua Ran, and the boy who was believed to be a hero. Looking at the two of them, Korin Lork could say without any hesitation that the boy who was acting as the hero was the real ‘monster’ among the two.RBcLt3k
n8HZ8“You haven’t made any choice yet. I can help you until you make a decision.”TFx0R
vUVnlHua Ran wanted to shout out loud that he was wrong, and that everything he said was but a delusion.hfT1
W9NCzHe was just ignorant and thus kind enough to reach out to the wounded monster who happened to be put in a seemingly pitiful state.0MdJk
C4iRBut…2LilmK
9iHdADmI cannot concede this body to Ran.sdQ
7FOThat was her intention from the start because she was frightened of the future that was waiting for her if she were to pull herself back by even a little. Despite that, she couldn’t be honest about it to the boy.bvn
fSJteNNBecause she knew that the one-and-only hand that was being reached out to her would also vanish the moment she said that.HpnwJlz
kWzZt…Her heart ached in pain.NhMu9
jsnn3She couldn’t accept nor reject the hand in front of her.rPgps4
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