Book 27 Chapter 5

Restraint with a phoenix tied to it

-Na Yerin, to look directly at

While Bi Ryuyeon and his comrades were fighting, Na Yerin was also fighting a lone battle.

She was fighting to break the bonds that bound her wings, to pull out the stakes that had been driven into her body, to set herself free.

Now Na Yerin existed alone in a world of silence, where there was no light, no sound, no sensation.

A state of total selflessness.

She had forgotten everything and entered a world of silence, a world of stillness. It was a realm not easily entered, even by an adept with decades of experience. Her consciousness was now trying to make contact with it.

What she was feeling now was the world itself, or the Tao, as some might call it, or God, or the Great Source, or the two pillars upon which the world rests, the Tao Pole. But names mean nothing in the face of it. The closer I got to the world, the less and less I saw Na Yerin.

If the human soul was a candle, "it" was like the sun burning in the middle heavens. A soul too close to the sun melts like wax. It is one and all, one and all, one and all, and there is no sense of distinction before it. But to throw oneself into it meant that the being, nay, the entity, that is, Na Yerin, would cease to exist. It meant that her relationship with Bi Ryuyeon would also cease to be meaningful, for the cessation of Na Yerin's existence meant the cessation of her ties. Liberation from all ties, liberation from cause and effect, that was liberation.

As she opened the dragon eye to its fullest capacity and let it sink into her, Na Yerin suddenly felt her soul being pulled into something huge. She resisted desperately. If she allowed herself to be drawn in any further, she would cease to be herself.

So she began to reclaim herself, Na Yerin, piece by piece, from her oblivious state of forgetfulness.

Bones form, muscles grow, and skin covers them. She is a beautiful maiden, with slender arms and long legs, a waist as smooth and supple as water, full breasts, long hair, eyes that sparkle like stars, red lips, a prominent nose, skin as white as marble.

'Beautiful. Who is this woman?

And then I remembered.

"Oh, and this woman is me?

And she was stunned.

"What do you mean I think I'm pretty?

Being beautiful was not her good fortune, but rather her misfortune. Because of this beauty, she must have had a dark childhood.

But to think it's beautiful, or to think it's enviable?

I couldn't believe it myself.

She was now taking a step back and looking at herself objectively.

It was a very subtle experience, a feeling of no longer being able to deny what you've been denying, of being able to see yourself objectively and rationally, rather than subjectively.

And then I remembered who I had forgotten.

'류연…….'

There was no doubt in her mind that he was doing everything he could to save her now.

'And my name is Na Yerin……. disciple of Sword Kak, master of the sword, and daughter of the martial artist Nabaxian, and one…….'

I finally remembered the name I'd forgotten.

And she was completely herself again.

Her will became an invisible hand, spreading to all four limbs.

From head to toe, every hair on her body was filled with her will.

Her entire body was now under complete control.

Na Yerin could tell that she had reconstructed herself from dust.

I just found out.

The presence of thirty or forty disparate foreign objects embedded in various parts of his body.

The Six-Six Chains of Bread and Wine!

Another nickname for it is the Shattered Seal!

Thirty-six golden needles, thinner than a human hair, are driven deep into the flesh to completely seal off the flow of qi, the ultimate form of qigong, meaning that once it's done, it can never be released again.

That's the name of the invisible stake embedded in her wing.

They were not part of the fabric of her being in the first place. But now she could find them, even if they were tiny and insidious. For even if they were small, they would not be smaller than a speck of dust.

The trance of seeing the unseen, hearing the unheard, and touching the untouchable.

I was once told, because of something that happened with Biyou, that what we see is only part of the picture. What we see is only a small part of the universe. There are ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine, ninety-nine.

Gold needles, thinner than a human hair, were now embedded like stakes in her veins.

That number is exactly thirty-six.

The golden needles, which would have been harmless on their own, interlocked with each other to form a giant tapestry. The cursed tapestry disrupted her inner being and bound her flesh.

"Found it!

Finally, she was able to locate the presence of Zubak that was binding her.

Now all that's left is to figure out how to get them out.

She could see them now, but they were still buried deep within her flesh, untouched.

We need to do it now.

There was no point in hesitating. Waiting would only expend more energy pointlessly.

Once we could see it, anything could happen.

His hand wasn't long enough to reach the golden needle, but her 'will' was long enough to reach it.

She was now in complete control, able to bend every hair on her body to her will.

A feeling of fullness, like nothing is impossible.

She immediately commands the muscles around the golden needle.

I started with the gold needle in my left wrist.

She moves her will, and immediately her body moves. Muscles grip the golden needle, pushing it upward, inch by inch. Slowly, slowly, slowly, the golden needle slides out of her body and falls to the ground with a thud.

"First one!

Feeling confident, Na Yerin telegraphs her will.

Remove the remaining thirty-five golden needles from his body.

Every part of her body begins to move at the same time, in response to her will.

She pushed out the thirty or forty golden needles simultaneously, as one would push out a foreign object embedded in one's body. Soon the needles were being pushed out of her body, her body and her will rejecting and building upon them. As they were pulled out one by one, it was as if an invisible hand had grabbed them and pulled them out.

Then thirty-three golden needles were pulled out.

That leaves two.

One was in the white gray blood vessel at the top of the head, and the other was right at the terminal. These are the most critical acupuncture points where even the slightest mistake can cause insanity or death.

But Na Yerin doesn't hesitate.

Do not harbor any doubts. No fear.

With complete confidence, she commands.

-Get the fuck out of my body!

Answer.

The two golden needles that would hear her commands began to slowly, slowly withdraw from her body, resisting to the very end, but unable to break her will or sway her.

Grrrrr! Grrrrr!

Finally, the most central stake holding her wings together was pulled from her body. Her body was drenched in sweat from the tremendous exertion of willpower and energy, but now her mind was filled with joy rather than fatigue.

Thus, the phoenix finally regained its two wings to soar into the sky.

* * *

"Um…… where am I?"

The silver-haired man muttered to himself as he looked up at the sign that read "Warehouse". The silver-haired man had a look of incomprehension on his face, but it wasn't the silver-haired man who was on the verge of losing his mind. Sighing, Zhang Zhiyao said, "Go away.

"Where is it, it's a food warehouse, and according to the sign next to the door, it's a special food warehouse that's only used by the top brass."

"Uh, why aren't we there, we only have one warehouse, that's discrimination."

He cringed a little at the thought of eating something better. He was a nameless man who seemed to be unperturbed by anything and always maintained an excessive level of composure, but when it came to food, he was obsessed.

"That's because you're the commander in chief."

"……I can't stand this kind of unfair discrimination. We'll have to ask for one of our own."

As expected, they weren't listening at all.

"This isn't about the food storage, Captain, do you know where you're supposed to be right now?"

"Ah!"

Zhang Ziyi glanced at the sky as if to say, "So be it," and rubbed his stiff back.

"Captain, are you lost again?"

This has happened to me before, so I'm not surprised anymore.

"What's that, the look in your eyes? I'll tell you right now, I'm not a gilch, and don't get me wrong. When you're the captain of a unit, you have to trust the captain a little more."

"That's like the hundredth time you've said that, boss."

It was not the first time he had heard it, but he denied it vehemently. As if it were a cosmic insult to his character and intelligence.

"Uh-huh, I'm not a guilty party, I just get lost sometimes because I can't remember things."

There are tons of excuses in the world for not doing something. Anonymity was one of them.

"That's dementia, Captain. It's worse, you know what they call you in other units?"

"Oops, I forgot."

Placek let out a long sigh and shouted.

"I call you Captain Dementia, Captain Dementia!"

"Gee, forgetting this and that, dementia, that's too much, y'all."

But if he didn't even know where his sword was in his room, there was no room to argue with being called a demented captain. Zhang Ziyi often thought so too, almost hopelessly.

"Okay, let's do this. You lead the way, and I'll follow, how about that?"

That's what he wanted. No more circling the area, no more traveling the same roads over and over again.

"But where do I go, boss?"

"That's right, of course you go where the intruder is. Didn't we talk about that?"

As if to say that it was you who was so forgetful, he added a word to the astonished Jang Ji-ok that he didn't need to say.

"But I'm thirsty. Xiao'er, I'll be waiting for you, but first, fetch me some water, and don't worry, I won't touch the 'special food'."

"……."

* * *

'Do it, let's try…….'

But my willpower quickly wanes.

Your resolve, so strong and clear a moment ago, fades like a candle in the wind.

"Is it really okay to do that?

I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of doing something like that.

Na Yerin pondered.

It was so unlike her to do 'such a thing'. But it was the only way to get out of this prison.

Now that she was facing herself, Na Yerin was clearly convinced.

This should work. No, there's no other way to do it.

Once upon a time, I was talking to Bi Ryuyeon. He had once said something like this about what he would do if Na Yerin herself was in great danger.

"Smile, that'll do."

As if that question was too easy, he said. And then added

"When Yerin smiles, she'll catch her opponent off guard, and you can take advantage of that and give her the upper hand, which she does now, but she rarely smiles, so her smiles are even more rare. You'll know it when you see it, but it would be a shame to let anyone see her smile."

But again, I hesitate.

To be honest, I'm embarrassed - embarrassed enough to go hide somewhere.

"Why not?"

I couldn't imagine myself doing that.

'This beauty as a weapon…….'

A man who has brought mostly bad things upon himself.

The fact that she thought to use her appearance as a weapon was surprising. Most of all, I was surprised at myself. On the one hand, I thought to myself.

"If you can use it, doesn't that mean you can control it?

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel resistance. The old her wouldn't have allowed herself to do it, not out of pride, not out of obsession, not because of the mental scars she'd suffered in the past. It wouldn't have even been an option.

But by opening up and facing herself, Na Yerin was able to look at what she had quite objectively, something that had brought her nothing but misery up until now: beauty. This put her in a position to take advantage of it. By being one step away from it, she was able to reach for it.

"How long are you going to say no, Yerin?

She asked herself. Do I really want to wait here, dreading his arrival? Do I really want to be here, shivering with the horrors of the past, clutching at wounds that have yet to heal.

"You can't do that, Yerin, you know that, right?

It was even more foolish to be trapped inside this prison, waiting for the monster to come and kill him.

She had to get out of here as soon as possible-for herself, for Bi Ryuyeon, and for her father.

To do that, I had to be unafraid to use whatever means were available.

It's much easier to accept that fact than it used to be.

This was possible because I was able to look at myself objectively.

Of course, this was a first for her as well.

I never wanted to do that.

But this is an emergency. Not when you're trying to cover up a hot meal with a cold one.

So she made a decision.

It may seem small, but it was huge.

Because it means she's taken a step away from the past.

Awareness gave her access to her most powerful weapon. A weapon she had, but kept sealed and never used.

A weapon called "beauty.

We can't stay stuck in the past forever. In order to walk toward tomorrow, you must rise above the past. The man who had taught him that was out there now, fighting to save himself. It wasn't a guess, it was a certainty. Na Yerin didn't need anyone to tell her that, she knew it, and she was glad. It gave her courage.

'I will fight, Ryuyeon. To find my freedom. Under my own power.'

I was willing to risk shame to do it. The shame. Maybe…….

Na Yerin's face, always immaculate and white as jade, flushed slightly. She dabbed at the stains on her clothes, and then nodded with determination.