The Terminally-Ill Side-Character Inside of a Martial Arts Novel

The gloomy afternoon passed and deep night arrived. Stealthy footsteps crossing the dark mountain birds gathered swiftly in one place.

It had already been ten days since spending time at the Huai River. A long time if long, short if short, but now it was time to end that too.

Among the numerous martial artists skillfully using the darkness, one shadow descended. That shadow turned back to examine the martial artists, then turned its body again and easily leaped across the wide valley between the Huai River. Then it went straight down the cliff.

The shadow that landed in the space at the bottom of the cliff cut across the waists of the guards guarding the cave.

Only the sound of those who died without even being able to scream collapsing and raising dust was heard.

Meanwhile, martial artists who had been waiting on the opposite side climbed down the cliff and arrived at the open space in front of the cave.

The martial artist who had cut down the guards pulled off his mask. Hyuk Dojin’s face was faintly revealed in the moonlight in the darkness.

He rolled his eyes as if looking for someone, then turned his gaze behind.

Eun Do revealed himself, cutting through the darkness. Eun Do bowed his head deeply and spoke quietly.

“I’ve taken care of all the guards patrolling the surroundings.”

“…Good. We’ll enter immediately.”

Hyuk Dojin nodded. He gripped his sword and took out a map from his bosom.

Before following Hyuk Dojin who was taking the lead, Eun Do selected those who would be in charge of guarding and assigned positions, then chose only a few people to follow behind Hyuk Dojin.

As soon as Hyuk Dojin stepped into the cave, he felt that the temperature filling the cave was completely different from the cool air of the Huai River.

Hyuk Dojin slightly narrowed his brows and scanned the dark cave. The darkness was no problem for the Demon Cult masters.

Hyuk Dojin’s legs, moving without hesitation as if striding in broad daylight, leisurely destroyed the first mechanism and continued to enter inside.

Eun Do and the martial artists following behind looked at Hyuk Dojin’s back and stepped exactly where he went.

Hyuk Dojin, who had been entering while destroying various geomantic formations, formations, and mechanisms shown on the map one by one, suddenly stopped his legs.

Eun Do approached close, wondering what was wrong. Hyuk Dojin was standing with a puzzled face.

“What’s wrong?”

“…It’s a strange feeling.”

“What?”

Hyuk Dojin stared blankly at the inside of the cave. It was a dark space with nothing. He looked at the map wondering if there was a problem, but there was no mark on the map.

Hyuk Dojin stared blankly at the dark space, then narrowed his brows.

“Why is the energy felt from inside there…”

“Energy, you say?”

“Eun Do. Don’t you feel it?”

At Hyuk Dojin’s question, Eun Do tilted his head with a strange face. Hyuk Dojin had asked if he felt something, but Eun Do only felt yang energy and didn’t feel anything else in particular. But Hyuk Dojin narrowed his brows at the familiar demonic energy and unfamiliar evil energy mixed in between.

When Eun Do shook his head, Hyuk Dojin narrowed his brows. Eun Do noticed something was strange and immediately opened his mouth.

“I’ll send martial artists to check first.”

“No. There’s no need for that.”

Hyuk Dojin narrowed his eyes and looked ahead again. He moved his lips a few times, then moved his feet forward with a small sigh.

* * *

I stared blankly at the sky while lying down leaning against Harang’s body, who had collapsed while still in wolf form.

Hyuk Dojin had left saying he would bring back the Five Leaf Fire Grass today with the information obtained from Namgoong Seolbyeok.

I said I would go together, but Hyuk Dojin only said to wait here since there could be battles there.

He said there would be no problem and he would be back soon, but I still couldn’t shake off the uneasiness.

While I was organizing my thoughts while quietly looking up at the numerous stars in the sky, Joo Hwarin approached and held out tea.

“Miss, it’s cold, please have some tea.”

I got up from my seat and received the tea Joo Hwarin handed over, then slowly tilted it. The rising steam and warm tea flowed into my mouth.

While I was quietly looking at the dark forest, I could see team leaders controlling martial artists in the distance. They were busily making a fuss and giving various instructions.

While I was staring blankly at them, Joo Hwarin spoke quietly.

“Miss.”

“Yes?”

When I raised my head, Joo Hwarin asked with a worried face.

“Are you alright? Your complexion doesn’t look good.”

Complexion? I pressed my cheeks with my palm a few times. My cheeks were ice cold. No matter how cold the dawn wind in the mountains was, it shouldn’t be this cold. Probably, my body condition was worsening again.

“Did you take your medicine today?”

“No.”

I shook my head and sipped the tea. Before Joo Hwarin could open her mouth as if to ask why I didn’t take it, I spoke first.

“I ran out of medicine.”

“…”

“I stopped Ji Seok from going down to the village to make medicine. If people see a Shaolin monk making medicine in the current situation, it could cause unnecessary misunderstandings. It’s not ordinary herbs, but medicine made with precious herbs.”

When I smiled slightly, Joo Hwarin looked at me worriedly. I looked at her with a smiling face, then shifted my gaze to the team leaders.

As I couldn’t take medicine, my body started to rapidly deteriorate again. Even the meal I ate this evening was difficult to digest.

That’s probably why my hands and feet were cold. Amidst this, the warm tea in my hand was at least a sweet comfort. I quietly organized my thoughts while sipping the tea a few times.

‘Why is the Five Leaf Fire Grass…’

The question was still unresolved. I couldn’t understand at all why the Five Leaf Fire Grass wasn’t on yellow earth but inside a cave.

No matter how much the information I knew changed because I didn’t die, I could understand that to some extent. It was the result of interactions with people, not stationary objects.

But the Five Leaf Fire Grass was different.

It was a legendary spirit herb that no one could easily discover. Moreover, I knew where it was discovered.

Even when I tried to recall if my memory was wrong, there was no existence of a cave from the beginning. Does that mean, as expected, someone moved it?

Or is this also a phenomenon that occurred because I’m alive?

Thoughts continued to link one after another. I told Hyuk Dojin to be careful because something was strange, but in the end, I couldn’t say what was strange.

They were pasts that I had no choice but to hide from him. No, would he even believe me in the first place? So I was just waiting, trusting Hyuk Dojin.

“Miss.”

“Yes.”

Joo Hwarin quietly called me and pointed to one side.

“It seems some problem has occurred.”

“A problem?”

When I tilted my head up, the team leaders who had been controlling personnel and giving orders were urgently moving somewhere. The quiet forest suddenly became noisy.

What’s going on? I straightened my back while lowering the empty teacup.

While I was turning my head to examine the situation, one of the team leaders who had disappeared approached me and spoke urgently.

“It seems there are intruders. The formation on the west side has been broken.”

“…Intruders?”

“Yes. The members who just went out for reconnaissance reported that they discovered them.”

I stared quietly at his shaking face, then narrowed my brows. It had been quite some time since we settled in this forest.

We changed the location of the formation every day and repaired it to make it difficult for outsiders to infiltrate.

If someone were to forcibly break the formation, it would be difficult unless they were a master like the Murim Alliance Leader.

“When you say it’s broken, do you mean it was forcibly torn through and entered?”

“No. If it had been forcibly torn through, there would have been cracks. But this isn’t such cracks. It wasn’t forcibly torn, but as if someone who knows the formation well deactivated it and entered.”

“…Is that possible?”

The team leader frowned with a complicated face.

“It’s not impossible. If it’s someone who knows the formation well, it’s not difficult to deactivate it from the outside and enter. But the formation spread out now is one that only a very few in the Demon Cult know about. Besides us, only the Young Cult Leader and the Commander know well about the formation here. Just those two.”

“But Hyuk Dojin isn’t here now, and Yoo Doha…”

“The Commander headed north this morning.”

That means those two can’t be the culprits.

The team leader quietly looked at me. He seemed to be asking what to do. After thinking for a moment, I nodded my head.

“I understand. For now, proceed with the search and let me know immediately if anything happens. And since enemies might attack, organize things so we can flee immediately except for necessary luggage.”

“Understood.”

“Also, send someone to Hyuk Dojin so he can follow if we leave this place and disappear.”

“Understood.”

The team leader bowed his head and immediately turned to move. I stared blankly at his back, then turned my head.

Joo Hwarin was looking at the team leader’s back with a worried face.

“…Will it be alright?”

“I don’t know about that.”

I couldn’t be certain of anything. But the fact that the formation was broken means this place isn’t safe anymore.

I got up completely from my seat and scanned the surroundings. Is there someone aiming for this place somewhere in that dark forest now?

I looked around with narrowed eyes, then picked up the sword I had put down on the ground.

“Hwarin, you go and prepare…”

Just as I was about to tell Joo Hwarin to prepare so she could flee immediately, Harang, who had been sitting quietly, perked up his ears and raised his head.

Harang raised his head and looked around briefly, then bared his teeth.

“Harang?”

“Grrrr…”

Harang glared at the darkness and got up. While examining Harang’s reaction, I too drew my sword.

I turned my head in the direction Harang was looking.

A moment later, a scream burst out from the direction Harang was looking.

“Aaaaaaah!!”

It was a long scream filled with pain echoing through the dark and quiet mountain. Those who had been moving stopped in their places and stared blankly at where the scream had come from.

The scream rang out a few more times from the forest where darkness had settled, then gradually subsided.

I swallowed while glaring at the forest. After sending the trembling Joo Hwarin behind me, I narrowed my eyes.

The bushes shook. The moon that had been hidden by clouds revealed itself and reflected moonlight.

Beyond the temporarily brightened vision, the silhouette of one person was visible. A silhouette with a long sword lowered.

It was small and petite. On the other hand, the sword it was holding was very long, enough to drag on the ground.

Eventually, when the silhouette emerged from the bushes and fully revealed itself, my brows narrowed sharply.

“…A woman?”

Pale white skin and black hair falling down to the waist.

It was a young woman wearing pure white clothes that didn’t match this place at all.

As soon as she revealed herself, she met my eyes and smiled brightly.

At that moment, her form disappeared. And when she revealed herself again, she was right in front of me in an instant.

The woman’s sword cut across my shoulder.