The cold air stung her nose.

Damp and the smell of blood hung tangled together, and for a moment it stopped Song Biryeong in her tracks.

She raised the torch and lit up the room.

A ring driven into the wall.

Manacles hanging from the ring.

And a man hanging from the manacles.

Yoo Geonwoo.

His martial robes hung in ribbons, and on the skin that showed through, the marks of torture were layered one over another like ugly brands. It was hard to look at.

He was clinging to life by a thread, and the sight of him like that was enough to make anyone's breath catch.

"Hey, you came?"

Only then did Song Biryeong notice she had her fists clenched.

He smiled, and before she knew it, she was smiling back.

That idiot. What did he have to look so pleased with himself about?

She wanted to slap him across the face right then and let him have it, but she couldn't, in case it actually killed him.

She sighed and went to him.

"So you managed to stay alive."

Her tone was cool, and Yoo Geonwoo laughed.

"Heh. When I was a kid with nothing, I survived the Hangzhou slums. If I died over something this small, it'd be unfair to all the grit that got me through that."

"You keep getting this wrong. You really think you'd have survived back then if I hadn't been right there with you?"

Grumbling, she took hold of the steel ring sunk deep in the wall.

Crack!

With a heavy, splintering sound, the solid stone wall crumbled and the ring tore out, roots and all.

Thud!

She pulled out the second ring, and Yoo Geonwoo slumped to the floor.

"And it's the same now. If I'd been any later coming to get you, you'd have been dead before long."

He dragged in a ragged breath and waved a limp hand.

"Keep nagging like that and you're the one who'll kill me."

She glared at him, then sighed.

He was usually so sure of himself, so easygoing. Seeing him this weak…