Martial Arts Worlds

Chapter 174 The Woman

Tap! Tap! Tap!

In a dark cave, Kiernan limped one step at a time. His face was pale, as if all blood was drained from his face.

Behind him, a trail of blood followed like a crimson shadow, weaving a jagged line across the uneven ground.

"Hehehe... Hahahaha! AHAHAHAHA!"

Kiernan stopped walking, leaned against the wall, and just laughed maniacally.

However, this time around, the laughter sounded different from before. It wasn't only pure madness anymore. It sounded quite sad and lonely.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Blood dripped from his right leg—it was because his leg was missing—there was only a stump where it should have been.

"Haa! Haa! Haa!"

Kiernan tried to catch his breath and touched his bleeding stump of a leg, then tightened his muscles to try to close up the wound, but it wasn't completely successful.

"Tight Binding..."

The blood kept trickling still.

'I-I'll need to leave the cave. I-I need my strength back, or I will die.'

Kiernan groaned in pain, kept moving forward, but he soon fell on his only remaining knee.

It was very hazy for him to think clearly, his vision blurred as he tried to stand up.

"Heh, well shit..."

Kiernan sat back down and leaned on the wall, too tired to move anymore.

'M-maybe a quick nap...'

Kiernan closed his eyes, and his head dropped down, but as soon as he began to slip into sleep, he saw the flash of the afterlife.

The dull gray skies, the dead trees, and the chilling wind that seemed to never stop.

Kiernan slammed his eyes back open and shook his head furiously.

'I am not going back there!'

He wanted to stand up, but then a hand appeared on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"?!"

Kiernan looked over and felt his breath stop as he saw the woman standing over him.

He then saw that he wasn't the only one in the room.

Julian was sleeping in the corner of the room, snoring softly in his uncomfortable-looking chair. It didn't look like he had showered properly lately.

His face was unkempt with some beard budding out, and his hair just looked like a mess.

Kiernan picked up the TV remote and hurled it at Julian. It landed perfectly on his face.

"Ouch!" Julian jolted awake and looked groggily around. "Who...?"

As he asked, he noticed that Kiernan's eyes were open, staring straight at him.

"You're awake!"

Julian jumped to his feet and almost tripped over his legs but managed to walk over to the bed.

"Are you alright?!"

"Uh..." Kiernan rubbed his eyes. "I don't know. What time is it?"

"Uh, four in the morning." Julian checked from his wristwatch.

"I only slept like three hours?" Kiernan asked in surprise.

"Uh..." Julian scratched the back of his head. "Try three weeks."

"Three weeks?!" Kiernan's eyes almost popped out of his skull. "What the hell, man?"

"You were really exhausted when you came to the hospital," Julian said. "You were in a short coma, but luckily you received the best possible treatment."

"Three weeks..." Kiernan whispered, and then remembered. "Oh shit, my father must be panicking. The school is also supposed to start soon!"

"You sure focus on the wrong things at the moment."

Julian wryly smiled and then showed Kiernan's phone.

"No worries. I knew you didn't want to worry him, so I was texting on your behalf. I hope I managed to convince your father that I was you."

"Oh..." Kiernan relaxed again and then remembered that one hazy face from his memory.

"That woman. Who was she?"

"I don't have any idea." Julian shrugged his shoulders. "Raquel and I met her briefly at the forest. She probably thought I was the kidnapper at first because she seemed very hostile.

"Luckily for my life, Raquel quickly explained everything to her, and she had a complete transformation in behavior. She asked where the kidnappers were, and I told her about you.

"She brought you out of there and took you to this hospital. I guess you can thank her for saving your life with her medicine."

"..."

Kiernan just nodded silently, still processing everything that had happened.