My guesses are:
a) He never really intended to kill her, only to scare her enough or something like that, as in making her really regret.
b) His battle was against a clone and she was just dumb enough to get herself tangled in that garden somehow.
c) He almost killed her but in the end he, for whatever reason, decided not to in the last second.
d) All of the above.
Looks like a Snake swallowed her somewhat and then its mouth was wrapped up by thread? Its a 50/50 guess if it was the Old man's fault or hers, or perhaps a mixture of both.