Namgung Lyeo had never seen such an overwhelming person before. Clearly, he was a boy of her age, but he was strong and imposing.

‘Is this what prey animals feel like?’

She felt as if she was facing an untamable wild beast. Fearing that her hesitation would anger the beast, Namgung Lyeo stammered her words.

“I, I am called Namgung Lyeo.”

At her answer, Danmokbi’s eyebrows sharply raised. Danmokbi spoke in a cold voice.

“Who asked for your name? Do you live here too?”

The moment she said she lived here, she instinctively realized she would end up as one of the corpses scattered around. Namgung Lyeo pointed to the mountain beyond with a stiff tongue, barely moving it.

“No, no. I live over that peak.”

“Hmm.”

At Namgung Lyeo’s answer, Danmokbi exhaled through his nose. Whether he believed her or not, she knew she had barely averted the crisis.

It was when Namgung Lyeo let out a sigh of relief. Danmokbi’s eyebrows twitched.

“Oh? There’s a scum pretending to be dead without even dying?”

“Eh?”

They all seemed dead, but Namgung Lyeo tilted her head in confusion.

As Danmokbi began to move step by step, one of the bodies lying on the ground surprisingly sprang up, frantically begging with its hands.

“Please save me, young master! Please save me……!”

With a bursting sound, blood splattered again. Danmokbi, who had brutally crushed the man, wiped the blood splattered on his face with his sleeve cuff and muttered.

“When trampling a child, they willingly raised their hands, but now they don’t want to die, pitiful creatures.”

In his black eyes, there was an unmistakable loathing and deep wound. Namgung Lyeo, who instinctively felt a kindred spirit with him, opened her eyes wide and asked.

“Why are you killing these people?”

“Because they tormented me.”

Danmokbi’s answer was simple. After glancing briefly at the bloodsoaked ground, Danmokbi added in a cold voice.

“This is righteous revenge.”

Somehow, these people had clearly done wrong to Danmokbi. So he had grown stronger and come to take revenge.

‘I must be crazy. It’s a disgusting and creepy scene….’

So very enjoyable.

For a moment, Namgung Lyeo, her heart pounding, stared at the bloodsmeared scene before abruptly raising her head.

“I know where more of these people are.”

“Really?”

The strange group that had been causing mischief in the mountain wasn’t just this many. Having secretly watched them several times while staying on the same mountain, she knew well.

‘The person who seems like a researcher of symbols or something, and the man doing odd jobs, aren’t here.’

Even though they were lowly people, she had an intuition that Danmokbi would not let them go without revenge. As expected.

Danmokbi crossed his arms and looked down at Namgung Lyeo. She clasped her stomach with both hands and gave an awkward smile.

“Please, give me some food in return. I’m so hungry. I’ve hardly eaten in three days.”

“Tsk.”

At Namgung Lyeo’s words, Danmokbi clicked his tongue but didn’t push her away or scold her. Instead, he sat down on a large rock away from the bloody field.

And he spoke to Namgung Lyeo, who was standing away, staring at him.

“What are you doing? Sit down quickly. You asked for food.”

“Huh? Yes!”

Namgung Lyeo ran to where Danmokbi was. He pulled a paperwrapped package out of a bag that seemed to have been placed there from the beginning. Inside the lunch box were fistsized rice balls.

Biting a big mouthful, the hard yet sweet peanut seasoning mixed with the rice and chewed delightfully in her mouth. The unfamiliar taste and texture made Namgung Lyeo’s beautiful eyes sparkle.

“What is this? It’s really delicious.”

Danmokbi then snorted and turned his head.

“What does taste matter?”

“You don’t find this tasty?”

It was unbelievable. It went down so smoothly with every chew.

‘He must eat something
Then I can eat a bit more, right? Namgungryeo stuffed the rice balls into her mouth like a squirrel. Had she eaten about half? Danmokbi, resting his chin, murmured in a cold tone, as if he was not speaking to her.

“I can’t taste it. A precious person has left me.”

Holding rice balls in both hands, Namgungryeo asked,

“What does that have to do with that person?”

“He’s the one who cooked me warm rice for the first time.”

“Ah, I have to admit that.”

Even now, as she was getting food like this, she wanted to do anything for the boy in front of her, especially if he was the first person to cook her warm rice, the most precious person indeed.

‘When I had a mother, I didn’t live this miserably.’

Her stomach was full, and the emptiness of her heart felt more intense. An intense hatred, surprising even herself, crawled up her spine to her head.

“You know, I want to take revenge on someone too.”

She hated the woman who poisoned her, the author who carelessly buried her father in Shinshan, the warrior who cruelly treated the young her.

Namgungryeo quickly stuffed the rice balls in her mouth and lay flat on the ground.

“Can’t you help me? Then I’ll help you for the rest of my life.”