Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign Novel - Chapter 108

Chapter 108

‘A little faster.’

Seomun Da-yeon unleashed her ability of lightness with all her strength.

Running at full speed through the dark mountains was never an easy task, but the choice she could make now was to accomplish this difficult feat and survive, or not to do it and die, one of the two.

The dantian of it, which had been causing him sharp pains like needles for a while, was now fully drained of real energy and felt as if it was being pierced by a hot iron spike.

‘Not yet.’

Her vision was blurred and her legs had lost all sensitivity, but she could not stop.

Those who chased her were ruthless people. If they caught her, she would not end up with a simple death.

Knowing this fact well, no matter how exhausted I was, I could not stop at all.

‘A little more!’

Seomun Da-yeon forced strength into her trembling legs and deployed her ability to lightness over and over again.

But willpower alone had its limits.

When his internal energy reached its limit, his speed began to decrease and his eyesight became blurred, which made it difficult for him to distinguish his surroundings.

Realizing this fact, Seomun Da-yeon had no choice but to make a drastic decision.

“This won’t work.”

From the beginning, those who pursued her possessed a martial dexterity far superior to hers. Even if she fled in perfect condition, the probability of being caught was high, but if her inner energy was exhausted like that, they would catch her in a matter of seconds.

Before his resistance ran out even more and prevented him from thinking clearly, he had to come up with a plan.

‘Flight is impossible.’

After reaching this conclusion, Seomun Da-yeon sought an alternative. If he could not keep running like this, he had no choice but to find a place to hide. He had to find a suitable place, hold his breath and wait for them to pass.

The probability that they could not find Seomun Da-yeon hidden and simply passed by was not high, but it was a much more realistic plan than to keep running away.

Her thought was brief, her action fast.

Seomun Da-yeon’s gaze toured the surroundings. His life depended on finding the most suitable hiding place.

‘The floor doesn’t work.’

Those who pursued her would probably anticipate their actions, so she needed to take them by surprise.

Seomun Da-yeon’s gaze moved upwards.

I needed to find the most visible place in this area.

Isn’t it said that under the lamp it’s darker?

The place where no one would think of hiding would be the safest place.

‘There!’

Seomun Da-yeon’s eyes lit up.

She could see a big tree in front of her.

If there was a more striking place in this area, it was definitely that tree.

It was a risky bet, but to fool them completely, this tree was the ideal hiding place. Seomun Da-yeon bit his lip hard and slammed into the tree.

With two or three jumps he approached the tree, and then quickly climbed onto it with quick movements.

Seomun Da-yeon, who had hidden his body between the dense branches, breathed down.

‘Calm down.’

Her heartbeat was irritating.

Thanks to the martial dexterity of those who pursued her, they were able to locate her just by hearing her heartbeat. Seomun Da-yeon breathed deeply and calmed her rapid breathing.

‘Please!’

If she tried to hide her body clumsily, they would discover it immediately. She had to perfectly hide not only her appearance, as if she were pampered with the environment, but her own existence.

It was hard, but he could do it.

It was at that moment, when he closed his eyes and began to blend slowly with his surroundings, that he felt something strange.

‘Why do I feel such discord?’

The mix wasn’t easy.

For her, who had been trained to become one with nature since childhood, and who had been taught that unity with nature was the basis of martial arts, this was the first time such a thing had happened.

‘Is it because my mind is urgent?’

Well, I had never tried to reach a state of unity between itself and the object in a situation like this. Should I change direction and use Turtle Breathing Technique? As I reflected on this and opened my eyes…

‘Kyaaaaaaak!’

If he hadn’t covered his mouth at that moment, he probably would have screamed.

What, what’s going on?

Under his gaze, as he hung from the branch, a whitish figure rose. A man lay dispatched on the larger branch.

‘Why didn’t I notice?’

It was impossible.

Persecuted as she was, her nerves were in bloom. However, only now did she discover a man lying there, in plain sight.

She was so startled that she felt her heart coming out of her throat.

‘What the hell is this person?’

It was preposterous enough that he was sleeping in a tree, but wasn’t he brazenly lying there with a blanket on him?

The man also seemed to notice the presence of Seomun Da-yeon, opened his eyes closed and looked directly at her.

“Oh…”

His mouth began to open wide.

‘No, don’t!’

In normal circumstances, I would have asked her why she slept in that place, but unfortunately, it was not the time for those questions. Even at that very moment, the evil spirits chasing her would be quickly approaching that place.

Seomun Da-yeon jumped without time to think.

“Huh?”

She then covered the man’s mouth with one hand and grabbed his throat with the other.

“…Gulp?”

“Shh.”

Slightly loosening her grip on the throat, Seomun Da-yeon put her mouth in the man’s ear and whispered as low as possible.

“They persecute me. Those who persecute me are terribly frightening people, so if they discover us, you will not be safe either, young master. If we remain silent and remain silent, we will be safe, so please remain silent.”

Although urgent, he spoke as carefully as possible, thinking that if he showed fear, the man could panic and do something unpredictable.

The man seemed to understand Seomun Da-yeon’s words and showed no particular reaction.

“Breath gently.”

The man nodded.

‘Uf.’

He at least seemed to understand what he was saying.

She had even considered strangling him unconscious if she did not understand, but luckily, she seemed to understand. A sleeping person would make more noise than someone who repressed his presence, so if possible, it was better to stay awake and hold your breath.

‘Position…’

At that moment, from far away low noises of air cuts began to be heard.

Seomun Da-yeon’s face turned slightly pale.

He had not even positioned himself well, but they were already approaching. It was too late to move. Seomun Da-yeon pressed his hand harder against the man’s mouth and approached him.

Since it was such a large branch, its forms could be hidden if seen from below.

Seomun Da-yeon grabbed with his foot the blanket that had fallen and lifted it as he pressed as close as possible to the man.

“Mmm…”

“Shh.”

The man tried to say something, but Seomun Da-yeon calmed him down urgently.

“Please shut up. If we get caught, we’ll both die.

The man looked at Seomun Da-yeon with eyes that did not understand the situation.

“Please.”

Although he did not understand the situation, he seemed to fully understand the urgency.

The man nodded.

Although he wanted to explain more, even speaking was dangerous. Seomun Da-yeon pressed his hand firmly against the man’s mouth as he squeezed his body as close as possible to his own.

The sound of the rustling bushes came to his ears.

Although she could not see it with her eyes, it was certain that they had approached.

A cold sweat began to flow through her forehead.

“They won’t catch us.”

Seomun Da-yeon repeated this as a mantra.

If they discovered his hiding place, what would happen was obvious. Seomun Da-yeon would never escape his hands and suffer a miserable death.

No matter how much the martial world was a place where you lived with your life at stake, she had no desire to die at this tender age.

At that moment, the man’s mouth moved.

Seomun Da-yeon, horrified, pressed the man’s mouth hard. Then, with his other hand, he took a finger to his lips. He wanted to ask for silence, but the man did not understand it or kept twisting.

‘Why are you doing this?’

She had clearly explained it to him for him to understand, but so…

‘Ah!’

Seeing the man’s face turn blue, Seomun Da-yeon was startled and gently removed his hand.

The man breathed out slowly with a face that seemed about to burst. Even in the midst of this, he thanked him for not breathing loudly, but he also felt sorry for having blocked someone’s breath… it was a complex feeling.

The man, with his face full of resentment, looked at Seomun Da-yeon in silence, then leaned his head on the branch and closed his eyes.

“What a strange person.”

Even in that urgent situation, such a thought occurred to him.

Usually in these cases people would want to take a look around to wonder if someone is coming, or at least sharpening their ears.

But this man showed no interest in such things and simply closed his eyes.

It was a curious reaction, but it was not time to worry about those things. Seomun Da-yeon begged the man not to make noise and breathed down.

You could hear the sound of the clothes brushing the bushes.

Just because of the sound, it seemed that something was moving slowly, but in reality, it was only because the martial skill of those in the vicinity was very high; they would move at great speed while searching for their tracks.

Right then.

“Where to?”

A low voice was heard directly from below.

Hit.

Just as she was about to scream out of the surprise, a hand appeared from below and covered Seomun Da-yeon’s mouth. Then she drew her down.

‘Ah!’

Realizing that she had almost made a serious mistake, Seomun Da-yeon looked down. The man who had been with his eyes closed until a moment ago looked at her with eyes that described her patheticism.

“We can’t find any clues.”

“Find them.”

“Yes!”

From below you could hear noises of air cuts and you could feel the presence of several people spreading in all directions.

Seomun Da-yeon repressed his presence as much as possible and crouched. With his head resting on the man’s chest lying on the ground, he could hear his heartbeat. Although it was uncomfortable to be so close to an unknown man, it was better than dying.

How long had it been?

Seomun Da-yeon, who had been holding his breath for a long time, raised his head.

The man closed his eyes again.

‘Have they all gone?’

Since they had not discovered her trace, there was no reason to stay there. But just in case, she sharpened her senses and examined the surroundings, confirming that there was no one before letting a long sigh escape.

When she released the tension, she became fully aware of the position she was in.

Her face blushed and quickly sat down, then bowed her head toward the man lying on the ground and spoke quietly.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Her voice came out too low because of her concern about what might happen, which made her doubt if the man had heard her correctly, but the man seemed to have heard her words clearly and opened her eyes.

‘Huh?’

When her eyes met those of the man, she felt her heart turn for a moment and covered her cheeks in confusion.

The man opened his mouth very slowly.

The voice that reached Seomun Da-yeon’s ears as he waited for the words of the man with the nervous heart was filled with extreme irritation.

“Please step aside, auntie.”