Chapter 739: PAID

Drip.

“Cough.”

Blood poured from Yung Pung’s nose and mouth.

The impact must have been severe—he couldn’t even gather his senses properly.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

To make matters worse, he had been sent flying to the edge of the sparring arena.

This meant that if the arena hadn’t been expanded for the main match, unlike during the preliminaries, Yung Pung would have been disqualified on the spot.

‘Damn it.’

I hit him too hard without meaning to.

I didn’t intend to leave him in such a state with one blow, but my fist flew out on instinct.

‘And of all faces, it had to be that one.’

An old man with an unlucky and unpleasant face.

I had only seen him properly once before, but the moment I caught sight of him, my fist lashed out.

Was it instinct?

‘What the hell?’

I frowned as I looked at Yung Pung, who was coughing violently.

Now, he looked completely normal again.

It was as if the previous state had been an illusion, and he had returned to his original form.

Then what exactly had just happened?

‘It didn’t seem intentional.’

It wasn’t a hallucination or an illusionary formation.

In other words, Yung Pung hadn’t done it deliberately.

Moreover—

‘The audience doesn’t seem to have noticed anything.’

If they had seen the change just now, they would have been shocked.

But the crowd was only reacting to Yung Pung being sent flying—they didn’t seem to notice the earlier anomaly.

Which meant—

‘I was the only one who saw it.’

This phenomenon had happened in my perception alone.

‘Just now… that face was Shin Noya’s.’

It was the face I had seen in that broken vessel—etched into my memory, clear and vivid.

What I saw in Yung Pung just now was undoubtedly Noya’s face.

What the hell is going on?

While I was lost in thought, trying to make sense of the sudden development—

“Huff… huff….”

Yung Pung slowly pushed himself up.

The bleeding had stopped—he must have used his Qi to staunch it.

Staggering to his feet, he reached out his hand—

Clang—! Shiiiing—!!

The sword he had lost earlier shot into his hand as if drawn by a magnetic force.

“Haa….”

After steadying his breath, Yung Pung assumed a stance.

Suddenly, the faint scent of plum blossoms that had vanished earlier began to linger again.

“I apologize… I was too overexcited and failed to respond properly.”

The words sounded oddly composed, despite his swollen nose and lips, but his eyes carried a weight of seriousness.

“Thank you… for holding back.”

“…”

I nodded slightly.

I had been a little surprised at how far he’d been sent flying, but Yung Pung’s condition was not what I expected.

‘He’s taken less damage than I thought.’