The Snake, the Flower, and the Tiger - Chapter 42

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

42

But the moment Lee Hee-seo pulled out her Mobile Phone and gripped it, the vibration ceased. She tried to check the missed calls by lighting up the screen, but it was a futile gesture.
The mountain where Baek Song-am stood was notorious for its treacherous terrain relative to its size. Even the asphalt path that wound halfway up the slope had only been constructed recently.
‘That’s strange. I could have sworn I felt it vibrate.’
Lee Hee-seo dismissed the thought and quickened her pace, tucking the Mobile Phone away.
The sun had completely set, and between the densely clustered trees came the cries of unnamed birds and the sound of wild animals bolting through the undergrowth.
This was a path where wild boar occasionally appeared, so she kept a vigilant watch on her surroundings.
“Damn it. Again?”
By now, she could have sworn she’d already descended to the asphalt section. Just a bit further and she’d make it—
Lee Hee-seo irritably patted her pocket. The Mobile Phone had vibrated once more. She broke into a trot and yanked the device to her ear.
“Hello?”
[Jo—…]
“What? Hello? Who is this?”
[—ra, be careful—]
What on earth? Annoyed, Lee Hee-seo pressed the Mobile Phone harder against her ear, raising her voice to compensate for the poor reception.
“I’m here. I can barely hear you right now. Who is this?”
[Lee Hee-seo, watch out!]
Whoosh! Crack!
The moment a garbled voice warned her, Lee Hee-seo’s instincts took over. She dropped her waist. Something swung from behind her, striking the tree where she’d been standing with a dull, heavy thud.
Before panic could take hold, she wrenched her arms free from the two hands that lunged for her, then spun away.
“Who the hell are you?”
Two burly men in masks and hats now stood behind her. Even in the thin moonlight filtering through the clouds, their black masks and gloves made their purpose unmistakable.
Her heart hammered against her ribs, flooding her veins with adrenaline at the shock of the ambush.
“Grab her!”
The man gripping the Baseball Bat shouted, and his companion immediately lunged toward her.
Lee Hee-seo deliberately raised her voice, but in the depths of a mountain forest, the odds of anyone coming to her aid were slim.
“What do you want from me?”
She yanked the bag from her shoulder and swung it, buying space between them.
When the man on her right grabbed for the bag, his partner hefted the bat high. He brought it down with vicious intent aimed straight at her head.
“Ugh!”
Thud, crack!
Instead, the bat smashed into bare earth. Lee Hee-seo, locked in a tug-of-war with the bag between them, had surrendered to his pulling force and yanked her own body toward him, using his momentum against him.
She rolled clear and was back on her feet before the man hit the ground.
“Get away!”
She drove her boot into his gut. The force sent him staggering backward, tumbling down the slope in a tangle of limbs.
She didn’t spare him a second glance. Instead, she bolted away in the opposite direction.
“Hah, hah, huh—”
Lee Hee-seo plunged into the trees, abandoning the path she’d come down. The man with the Baseball Bat pursued her quickly through the undergrowth.
The faster she ran, the more her face was scratched and her clothes torn by the thick, stubborn brush and branches that whipped at her.
She ducked behind a large rock to catch her breath. The man who had chased her this far seemed unable to pick up her trail; the sound of his footsteps grew steadily fainter.
Leaning against the rock, she slowed her breathing and eased her eyes shut. She felt every drop of sweat tracing her temples and every frantic pulse thrumming below her jaw.
“…This wasn’t a mugging.”
These attackers were practiced—so practiced that she hadn’t sensed them until the Mobile Phone rang.
Even as they’d tumbled down the mountainside, neither had cried out. Their grip on the blunt weapon was far too composed, too trained.
If that call hadn’t come through, she’d be lying on the ground now, defenseless.
The realization sent ice through her spine. Lee Hee-seo’s eyes snapped open. She turned on her Mobile Phone and stared at the screen. A hollow laugh escaped her lips, followed by a low exhale.
“…This is a dead zone. 3G doesn’t reach here, Lee Hee-seo.”
You had to get down to where she’d parked the car halfway up the mountain for even 3G signal to work. How could she have forgotten that? And that voice just now—surely it was—
She was turning over possibilities when she heard it.
A faint sound, distant but drawing closer. The man searching for her in the dark was on his way.
Lee Hee-seo steadied herself, and her eyes glinted sharply through the shadows.
Her instincts had been right. This man was no common thug. He knew how to move in silence, how to protect himself alone, and most crucially, how to lock onto a target with deadly precision.
The man crouched behind a large tree, listening as the sound drew nearer and nearer.
He gripped the bat handle hard with both hands, waiting for that perfect moment of timing. He wouldn’t repeat the same mistake twice.
And when that sound came within arm’s reach, he swung with all his might. The bat cut through the air with a terrible whistle, too late to dodge.
He’d aimed for her abdomen, anticipating that she’d crouch to evade. But his calculation, unfortunately, fell wide of the mark.
“Screech!”
The bat whisked past the creature’s massive head with inches to spare. The half-grown wild boar bolted in panic, startled by the swing.
The man suppressed his own alarm at the beast that had erupted from the darkness.
“Damn it……. I could’ve sworn that was a person.”
But even he couldn’t quite swallow the curse.
From the start, sending two men after a single woman had felt excessive. When the client had briefed him on her, he’d dismissed her as easy prey. And that assumption had made him careless.
“How far down the mountain did this bastard roll?”
He was turning away in frustration, thinking of the man who hadn’t landed a proper blow on the woman before tumbling down the slope, when it happened.
Suddenly—thwack! A sound like a watermelon splitting open.
The man’s vacant face moved slowly as he touched the back of his head. His palm came away hot and wet.
What the—? He fumbled at the fractured skull for a long moment, then collapsed. His eyes, unfocused and trembling, rolled backward.
From the darkness, Lee Hee-seo emerged with a large rock in her grip and tapped the man’s ribs twice.
“Sir. Are you dead? If you are, answer me.”
As if responding to her question, the man’s fingers twitched.
“Not dead then. That’s a relief. I was worried—it’s my first time using a rock on someone’s head.”
Though an unconscious man couldn’t nod his gratitude, Lee Hee-seo murmured to herself as she rifled through his pockets.
As expected, they were empty. Disappointed, she hurled the rock away and sat down on the man’s back, collecting her thoughts.
‘Who sent them? They were definitely after me. Who on earth would do this?’
The men who’d ambushed her weren’t the sort you could hire with pocket change from the marketplace. Even Lee Hee-seo, without advance warning, would have been taken without a fight.
“Ugh, seriously…….”
Who would orchestrate something like this? Who?
Deep down, only one name came to mind.
‘But why Kim Jong-hyup?’
Lee Hee-seo grabbed one of the unconscious man’s legs and dragged him forward, still puzzling it over.
Leaving him passed out in the mountains would mean the wild animals would get him. The man groaned whenever his limbs caught on a stone or root, but showed no sign of regaining consciousness.
“Is he trying to scare me into silence? Afraid the rumor will spread that his grandson is possessed?”
It was plausible. When Kim Je-eon woke after a week unconscious and the spirit that had clung to him vanished, Kim Jong-hyup had treated Lee Hee-seo as if she didn’t exist.
The last time she tried to see him to ask about his parents, she couldn’t reach him.
‘If he did this because he’s afraid I might hold a grudge, then Grandfather…….’
Through the trees, asphalt came faintly into view. Lee Hee-seo, exhausted from dragging the dead weight down the mountain, straightened and caught her breath.
The more she replayed it in her mind, the more her teeth ground together. A dark murmur leaked between her lips.
“You got a good look at me. Holding grudges—that’s what I do best.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————