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

“You can’t…”

“You’re not going to say I can’t, are you?”

As soon as I intercepted the words coming from Hyuk Dojin’s mouth, his brows narrowed. Hyuk Dojin stared blankly at me with his mouth slightly open, then said quietly with a sigh mixed in.

“…Are you serious?”

“I’m serious. Moreover, look.”

Hyuk Dojin’s gaze rolled in the direction I pointed. Yoo Doha leaning against a tree looking tired came clearly into view.

“If you take Yoo Doha now, there will surely be problems. Wouldn’t I be better than Yoo Doha who’s accumulated fatigue? If we can’t find it immediately, we have to take a long-term view, don’t we?”

“…”

“So I’ll take Yoo Doha’s place for today. I won’t collapse just from moving a little. So don’t worry.”

I stepped back, picked up the sword hanging in my place, put on my rain cape, then smiled at Hyuk Dojin.

“You can use me freely today, so use me comfortably.”

“…”

At my bold expression, Hyuk Dojin let out an empty laugh as if he couldn’t believe it. He stared blankly at me as if asking if I was serious.

When I didn’t avoid his gaze, Hyuk Dojin let out a deep sigh and nodded as if he understood.

I opened my eyes wide, slightly surprised that he gave permission so easily when I thought he would firmly refuse.

Hyuk Dojin’s voice fell.

“You clearly said it, Sowol. To use you comfortably. I’m the type who does what I say I’ll do, so I won’t go easy on you even if you’re my wife.”

“I know. Use me comfortably.”

I smiled brightly.

* * *

“This time, we need to go down this way.”

“…”

Hyuk Dojin turned to look at me with a tired face. Sand and gravel were smeared on his face, which had just climbed up the cliff. His eyes looked down the cliff urgently as if asking if it had to be right now.

Clearly, unlike what he had said when we came here that he wouldn’t go easy on me and I should be prepared to suffer, it was actually Hyuk Dojin who was climbing up and down the cliff.

At first, I said I would go down directly, but Hyuk Dojin seemed to have realized something after showing a few demonstrations.

Seeing him mutter ‘…Yoo Doha’ in between, I couldn’t tell if he had realized Yoo Doha’s preciousness, or realized how much he had suffered, or if it was anger towards Yoo Doha who had collapsed.

But after going down once, Hyuk Dojin didn’t let me go down.

Hyuk Dojin’s face looked very tired after climbing up and down more than six cliffs from morning until almost lunchtime.

He had taken off his outer coat long ago. Although a chilly wind was blowing by the river, Hyuk Dojin was radiating heat from his whole body as if it were midsummer.

I took out a handkerchief from my bosom and wiped off the sand and gravel on Hyuk Dojin’s face.

His eyes, which had been looking at the cliff, turned painfully towards me. Hyuk Dojin’s mouth twitched slightly. For a brief moment, his pupils shook.

“Is it hard?”

“…I’m fine.”

“Do you want to drink some water?”

His head nodded painfully. When I took out a water bottle from my waist and handed it to him, he opened the lid and stared blankly inside.

Then he let out a deep sigh and gulped down the water. I stared blankly at that sight, feeling pity. After receiving the water bottle back from Hyuk Dojin and closing the lid, I said:

“Should we stop?”

“…We can’t. There are over twenty places to search. Even if we have time until tomorrow, after that this place won’t be safe either. So it’s better to search now even if it’s strenuous.”

“But what if you collapse doing that?”

“Do I look like someone who would collapse from something like this?”

Hyuk Dojin closed his mouth tightly as if telling me not to underestimate him, then lightly jumped down the cliff.

Looking down the cliff, I could see Hyuk Dojin hopping down.

He looked like he was easily going down such a steep slope as if walking on flat ground.

But that too would consume considerable inner power. Going up and down wasn’t much of a problem, but having to hang on that steep place for a long time to search and then come back up quickly depleted stamina and inner power.

If I had done it, I probably would have collapsed after doing two.

I stared blankly at Hyuk Dojin disappearing down the dizzying cliff, then turned my head.

Unlike down below where the sound of the Huai River roared loudly in my ears, it was peaceful on top of the cliff.

It was a place full of grass and flat ground, safe and, if time allowed, I would like to lie down and enjoy a vacation.

I stared blankly at the surroundings, then sat down and crossed my legs. I closed my eyes and slowly drew up my true energy, taking care of my body condition while circulating qi and breath to the point where my meridians weren’t stimulated.

I focused on feeling the flow of the wind and the sound of swaying grass, meditating for a while, then opened my eyes at the presence I felt behind me.

The presence caught in the range of my expanded senses was felt from the opposite side. It wasn’t just one or two. At least dozens.

I stared quietly at the place that looked like a clustered dot, then hurriedly approached the cliff and looked down.

I urgently searched for Hyuk Dojin, who had disappeared somewhere and couldn’t be seen, then bit my lip tightly.

‘I shouldn’t have trusted that Namgoong Seolbyeok…’

The information clearly stated this place was safe today. But the group approaching from the opposite side wasn’t Demon Cult warriors.

I gritted my teeth in resentment and anger towards Namgoong Seolbyeok while looking at the group, then slowly retreated towards the cliff.

…There’s no choice.

If they came a little closer, they would be able to see me with their eyes.

Unable to delay any longer, I immediately moved down the cliff. I stepped on the small ledges on the steep cliff and balanced my body leaning downwards using inner power.

At the same time, I moved looking for a place where I could hide. As I carefully went down, I saw Hyuk Dojin rummaging through the grass diagonally below.

When I quickly approached him, Hyuk Dojin discovered me and opened his eyes wide.

“Wife? Why are you here…?”

“Shh. Come here.”

I grabbed his hand that was rummaging through the grass and pulled. Hyuk Dojin smiled with an awkward expression as if troubled.

“Wife. That… No matter what, in a place like this… It’s true we haven’t done it for a long time, but still, here…”

…What on earth is this man saying? I pointed my finger upwards repeatedly.

Hyuk Dojin looked up with a puzzled face.

A moment later, the sound of footsteps from the group was heard from afar.

Although faint, it was close enough to be clearly audible to Hyuk Dojin’s sensitive ears. The smile disappeared from Hyuk Dojin’s face, which had been smiling awkwardly, and his expression hardened coldly.

“They’re Murim Alliance warriors. There seem to be at least twenty of them.”

“…To be precise, thirty.”

I don’t know how he accurately determined the number just from the sound of footsteps heard from this far distance, but Hyuk Dojin said that and then frowned.

“…I shouldn’t have trusted that guy’s words after all.”

“That’s not important right now. The fact that those warriors have moved means forces might be moving on other sides too. Will the others be safe?”

“They’re not ordinary Demon Cult members, so they probably won’t be discovered easily. But what’s worrying is that the search will be hindered.”

Hyuk Dojin muttered quietly with a frown, then looked around the cliff. Below, the Huai River was emitting a rough roar, and above, warriors were passing by. We could hang on the cliff for a long time, but it was impossible to move from here to the camp.

Hyuk Dojin organized his thoughts and grasped the cliff.

“I’ll go up and take care of it.”

“No. If it becomes known that there was an attack here, the security will be strengthened even more.”

“But we can’t just hang here quietly.”

At his words, I bit my lip and looked up, then suddenly something occurred to me.

“…But why are warriors passing by here?”

“The information Namgoong Seolbyeok gave us was a lie, or he was trying to trap us.”

“I understand that, but why now? And with only that many people, isn’t it strange?”

Hyuk Dojin made an expression of not understanding what I was saying. I continued speaking while looking at his face.

“Namgoong Seolbyeok only provided us with information, he doesn’t know which direction you and I will move. No, even if he knows, that number of people is hard to explain. If I were the Murim Alliance, I wouldn’t try to attack with just thirty people. I would have thought to bring at least a Flowering Realm master.”

As soon as my words ended, Hyuk Dojin’s eyes shook as if he finally understood.

When I looked up, Hyuk Dojin also looked in the same direction as me and nodded.

“Wait a moment.”

With those words, Hyuk Dojin immediately stepped on the cliff. While I was admiring Hyuk Dojin’s light body technique as he quickly jumped up the cliff diagonally as if running on flat ground, he had already moved far away and was looking up at the end of the cliff.

When Hyuk Dojin returned to me after hanging up there for a long time assessing the situation, his expression was quite excited.

“What…”

“I found out.”

“What?”

“The Five Leaf Fire Grass!”

Hyuk Dojin, who answered quickly with a rarely excited voice and face, pointed upwards and continued speaking.

“I overheard what they were saying. They were talking about the reason for their sudden movement. This isn’t a trap, nor is it misinformation. It’s simply because they discovered the Five Leaf Fire Grass.”

“…They discovered the spirit herb?”

Does that mean the Murim Alliance discovered it first?

My head started turning white. That was the only hope, but if the Murim Alliance discovered it first, it would be hopeless for it to come into my hands no matter what.

However, unlike me, Hyuk Dojin’s very excited appearance was puzzling.

“Then isn’t that a big problem? If the Five Leaf Fire Grass has fallen into the Murim Alliance’s hands…”

“It hasn’t fallen into their hands. They’ve only discovered it.”

“…What does that mean?”

They discovered it but couldn’t get their hands on it… While I was pondering, Hyuk Dojin regained his composure and continued speaking.

“To be precise, they say a place where the Five Leaf Fire Grass is expected to be has been discovered. However, geomantic formations and various other formations are spread out, so they can’t easily enter and seem to be cramming warriors in.”

“Do you mean there’s a hidden cave or something?”

“Yes. Moreover, since massive heat is coming from inside, they’re guessing the Five Leaf Fire Grass is growing in there.”

I stared blankly at Hyuk Dojin and slightly narrowed my brows.

Something was strange. In the novel, it was written that Moyong Do discovered the Five Leaf Fire Grass on land where yellow earth appeared. That was an unchanging fact.

But now there’s a cave where that Five Leaf Fire Grass is?

I pondered repeatedly if I had missed something, but nothing particular came to mind.

“But…”

“For now, we need to send someone to examine the situation. While continuing the search, if there are signs that the Murim Alliance has broken through all the geomantic formations and formations and is about to enter, we should immediately attack and snatch the Five Leaf Fire Grass.”

Hyuk Dojin exhaled a sigh of relief and smiled gently.

“It’s really fortunate.”

But even while looking at his face, I couldn’t hide my uneasiness.

If what’s inside that cave is really the Five Leaf Fire Grass…

‘Does it mean someone discovered it first and moved it?’

Who on earth could have done that?

-I don’t let go of prey I have targeted once.

I bit my lip tightly as Lee Jehak’s words came to mind along with the uneasiness.