Sweet (달달)

Chapter 50

"Haah!"

Dong-chi ran, desperately avoiding the scary pursuer.

Everything before him was drenched in a vivid red. It was due to the blood streaming down from his torn forehead. However, he had no time to wipe it away.

He needed to keep running. To survive the impending threat of the five prepared arrows.

No, now it was three arrows.

He had already dodged two, so if he could evade the remaining three, he might survive.

The first arrow came flying before he could fully escape the outeryard. It grazed his ankle, causing a minor injury, but fortunately, it wasn't a severe wound.

The second arrow struck while he was leaning against a tree, catching his breath. Piercing through the rain, it appeared unexpectedly next to his neck. He narrowly avoided it, but the precision of the attack felt like a relentless urging, similar to instructing an animal to run.

Though he had dodged two arrows, Dong-chi wasn't foolish enough to interpret this optimistically. Instead of rejoicing at avoiding two, he should despair at the fact that three remained. Therefore, Dong-chi had no choice but to keep running blindly.

The rain gained momentum as Dong-chi's body became increasingly soaked and the ground turned muddier. Consequently, his speed dwindled, and the muscles in his legs ached as if they might burst. Despite this, Dong-chi didn't stop. No, he couldn't stop, sensing that halting would bring about the end.

Just when he felt like he might reach the edge of the world, the fourth arrow seized the ankle that had seemed destined to reach the limit. A resounding impact followed.

"Aaah!"

The sound of slicing through the air was swiftly followed by Dong-chi's scream. Unluckily, this arrow didn't evade him as gracefully as the previous ones. Agh! It was just at that moment that Dong-chi, who pursed his lips and swallowed his tears, raised his hand to pull out the arrow stuck in his back.

Another loud impact.

"Euaaaak!"

The arrow precisely pierced the center of his left thigh. Dong-chi, losing balance, toppled forward.

The fact that two arrows hit him accurately meant that the hunter had an exact understanding of Dong-chi's position and fired with precision, similar to targeting prey.

The instinct for survival is universal, whether in animals or humans. Despite Dong-chi's intuition about the conclusion of the hunt, he couldn't bring himself to abandon hope.

He crawled forward, sobbing quietly.

Eventually, he reached the end of the bushes surrounded by foliage. The landscape before him was familiar even to Dong-chi. It was the hunting ground. Unlike the bushes, this place had been landscaped by human hands, but there was no significant cover or hiding place in sight.

Dong-chi crawled behind the nearest rock, although it provided limited shelter; it was only a matter of time.

Tears streaming down his face, Dong-chi pondered the situation.

Why?

Why had he become prey, hunted like an animal?

It was clear that it wasn't a matter of bad luck or an unfortunate mistake.

The Young master had precisely singled him out. Having lived in Chae Ga-won for two years as a slave, he had rarely seen the Young master's face.

Conversations about the Young master were nothing more than rumor, and he had never exchanged a word or glance with him.