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

Hyuk Dojin, who was entering the cave, stopped his legs. He stared blankly inside, then narrowed his brows.

Eun Do, who was following behind, looked at Hyuk Dojin with a puzzled face. Hyuk Dojin shook his head slightly at Eun Do’s gaze, then moved inside again.

The strange energy felt from inside. Hyuk Dojin frowned at the strange energy that shouldn’t be felt here.

The heat grew stronger as they went deeper. Except for Hyuk Dojin, who had resistance to heat, the martial artists surrounded themselves with inner power like a curtain to counter the heat as they continued to descend inside.

Eventually, when they reached the end of the cave marked on the map, a quiet voice flowed from Hyuk Dojin’s mouth.

“This is it.”

Eun Do, who was following behind, examined the appearance inside the cave. It was a wide empty land with nothing special. However, it wasn’t a naturally occurring open space, but an artificial form as if someone had carved it out.

A single pillar stood tall in the middle of the open space. Grass was growing at the end of the pillar.

Hyuk Dojin looked up, then immediately moved his feet as if there was nothing more to see. It was quite a high pillar, but Hyuk Dojin landed on top in just one leap and examined the grass.

The characteristics of the Five Leaf Fire Grass that Ji Seok had told him about. He scanned the grass recalling the characteristics, and soon, he was able to find grass with the characteristics Ji Seok had mentioned among the grass.

Hyuk Dojin, who had been staring blankly at the grass, slowly reached out his hand, removed the grass, dug it up by the roots, and slowly lifted it. The moment his hand touched the roots, he quickly withdrew his hand.

Despite being a Transcendent Demonic Realm master with resistance to heat, he felt a deep pain in his fingers.

Hyuk Dojin raised the corners of his mouth at the sight of his fingertips swelling red.

‘…I found it.’

This is the Five Leaf Fire Grass. The spirit herb of extreme yang energy that everyone wanted. And the only medicine that could save Moyong Sowol.

Hyuk Dojin swallowed hard, then took out a cloth from his bosom and carefully wrapped the Five Leaf Fire Grass from the roots. After wrapping the Five Leaf Fire Grass very carefully lest it be damaged even a little, Hyuk Dojin put the spirit herb in his bosom and came down.

Perhaps because the Five Leaf Fire Grass had disappeared, the temperature inside the cave seemed to be going down too. The martial artists who had been sweating were also improving in condition.

“Did you find it?”

“I found it. Let’s go back.”

“Understood.”

Eun Do nodded with a bright face, then gave the order to withdraw.

Hyuk Dojin took the lead first. He wanted to quickly return and tell Sowol about this fact and brew the medicine for her to drink. A smile was drawn on his lips at the fact that he could finally help his wife who was standing at the crossroads of death every day.

He carefully pressed the Five Leaf Fire Grass in his bosom and stepped out of the cave with as little shaking as possible, when he immediately swung his sword at the chilling energy felt above his head.

With a clang, a heavy impact rang on his sword. When Hyuk Dojin stepped back slightly, a rock about the size of a human torso that had just been split in half by his sword rolled to the ground.

Eun Do, who had been following behind, urgently approached and blocked in front of him. The martial artists too emerged from the narrow cave and surrounded Hyuk Dojin.

“Did you find what you wanted?”

A low voice resonating gently. It wasn’t a voice he was hearing for the first time. Hyuk Dojin raised his chin at the strange resonance that felt somehow familiar.

In Hyuk Dojin’s view, he saw a man calmly using the corpses of the martial artists they had brought as a chair.

Hyuk Dojin narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth as soon as he saw the opponent.

“Lee Jehak.”

The disciple of the Black Dao Sect and the disciple of Black Demon. Lee Jehak grinned. He briefly looked around at the dozens of martial artists behind him, then looked at Hyuk Dojin again and spoke quietly.

“Did you like my gift?”

“…Gift?”

Lee Jehak jerked his chin to point at Hyuk Dojin’s chest. It was where the Five Leaf Fire Grass that was still emitting heat was located.

When Hyuk Dojin frowned, Lee Jehak leisurely stroked his chin.

“I was going to give it to you as a gift since you seemed to need it, but while thinking about how to convey my sincerity, I reluctantly prepared this place. I hope you liked the gift.”

Lee Jehak lightly tapped his knee while putting his hand on it. In time with that, Lee Jehak’s lips opened.

“By the way, what are you planning to do now? Are you going to return with the medicine as it is?”

“…”

Hyuk Dojin only looked at him with cold eyes without giving any answer. Lee Jehak smiled while spreading his hands as if telling him not to be so wary, but Hyuk Dojin’s face didn’t relax.

Lee Jehak smacked his lips and lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“You don’t need to look at me with such scary eyes. I just wanted to give you a gift and also wanted to help you.”

“I don’t know what nonsense you’re talking about. It doesn’t seem necessary to exchange more words here, so let’s not waste time on both sides and end this quickly.”

Hyuk Dojin drew his sword. He briefly looked around, then glared at Lee Jehak again.

“The Murim Alliance will come when the sun rises soon, so before that…”

“The Murim Alliance won’t come. And I didn’t come to fight you.”

“Then did you come to play word games?”

How could that be. Lee Jehak chuckled and got up from his seat. He approached Hyuk Dojin leisurely with his hands behind his back.

Eun Do and the martial artists blocked his way. Lee Jehak stared blankly at Eun Do, then turned his gaze back to Hyuk Dojin and spoke gently.

“No. As I said earlier, I came to give you a gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes, a gift. I’m going to give you something very good.”

He leisurely put his arm on Eun Do’s shoulder and pushed him aside. Eun Do tried to resist Lee Jehak’s force, but he made a bewildered expression as he was pushed aside too smoothly.

Lee Jehak lightly stepped on the path that opened up in an instant and approached Hyuk Dojin to meet his eyes. He looked Hyuk Dojin up and down, then spoke bluntly.

“Don’t you want it? It’s a very precious gift.”

“I have no particular interest in a gift from an ominous fellow like you.”

“No. That can’t be. The Young Cult Leader will surely be interested.”

At his attitude full of confidence, Hyuk Dojin deeply wore a sneer.

“How would you know that?”

“Well, because it’s something the Young Cult Leader has wanted for a very long time.”

‘Something I’ve wanted for a long time?’

Hyuk Dojin frowned at his words. Hyuk Dojin thought about his words for a long time, but nothing came to mind.

More than such things, healing Moyong Sowol with this medicine was more precious than anything else.

If there was something he wanted, it was Moyong Sowol. Her health.

Hyuk Dojin was about to open his mouth with a sneer at his words, but Lee Jehak’s lips parted first.

“You lost something quite precious, didn’t you? Something so precious that you remembered it for a lifetime and desperately wanted it enough to carve it into your heart… But you ended up losing it.”

“…”

“…Don’t you have it?”

As Lee Jehak’s words continued, Hyuk Dojin’s expression froze coldly. The words he was trying to say seemed to burrow into Hyuk Dojin’s blood vessels and strangle his heart.

Hyuk Dojin’s gaze, which had been fixed on the ground, quickly rose. Lee Jehak let out a grin.

“I’ll give you that.”

“You’re mocking me…”

“In exchange, I’ll take one thing I want too.”

How about it? He leisurely approached and put his hand on Hyuk Dojin’s shoulder. Lee Jehak, who had come close, quietly whispered in Hyuk Dojin’s ear.

“Won’t you make a deal?”

“…”

“Didn’t you want it so badly? Wasn’t it more precious than anything else? You tried to become stronger for that person all your life, tried to devote yourself, tried to make efforts, but in the end you couldn’t reach them. I think that desperate feeling of not even being able to see that person’s last moments is still remaining somewhere.”

Breath lingered in Hyuk Dojin’s mouth, then disappeared as if scattered in the wind. Lee Jehak’s voice continued.

“I’ll give you another chance. Instead, give me the most precious thing you have now. Then… I’ll return your past. How about it?”

Lee Jehak grinned and stepped back. The sight of Hyuk Dojin’s eyes rolling with a confused face was captured in Lee Jehak’s eyes.

Lee Jehak looked at Hyuk Dojin, then jerked his chin. Lee Jehak’s subordinates waiting behind disappeared in an instant at his chin gesture.

“You still look confused. It seems hard to believe too.”

Lee Jehak leisurely retreated. Hyuk Dojin’s gaze followed his footsteps.

“Go back. When you return, one of the two gifts I gave you will have arrived. Then, if you see that gift with your own eyes and are willing to respond to my deal, please contact me directly.”

Lee Jehak retreated with a smile and gave a final greeting.

“Then, have a good night.”

* * *

Hyuk Dojin and Eun Do moved their legs quickly. After Lee Jehak’s sudden appearance, they instinctively felt that Moyong Sowol might be in a dangerous situation.

Eun Do narrowed his eyes while glancing at Hyuk Dojin moving quickly beside him.

The words Lee Jehak had said. And what he had offered.

Although Eun Do didn’t know much, he could guess to some extent the story he had told. If Eun Do’s thoughts weren’t wrong, what Lee Jehak had given as a gift was the Five Leaf Fire Grass, and…

[Don’t think unnecessarily, Eun Do.]

[Young Cult Leader.]

[No matter how much I’m bound by the past, I know better than anyone that what that guy said is nonsense. Even if it’s true, it’s already in the past. So, don’t worry about it. What’s important now is to heal Sowol with this medicine. That’s all.]

[…]

Eun Do bit his lip tightly at Hyuk Dojin’s voice transmission. He stared quietly at Hyuk Dojin, then nodded his head and spurred on his light body technique.

As soon as Hyuk Dojin arrived at the mountain where the camp was, he quickly approached a Blood Flow Thousand Wolves Corps member coming down from the opposite side.

The corps member quickly prostrated himself at Hyuk Dojin’s appearance and spoke urgently.

“You’ve come!”

“What do you mean? Why is a corps member who should be guarding the camp here?”

“The formation was broken through. So, to inform the Young Cult Leader of this fact…”

Before the corps member finished speaking, Hyuk Dojin’s form disappeared. Scattered with the wind, Hyuk Dojin was already climbing the middle of the mountain.

He felt his lips drying up. Moreover, by now he should have felt the formation they had laid, but he felt nothing. It meant the barrier had been broken as the corps member said.

[Young Cult Leader!]

[Hurry!]

Hyuk Dojin climbed the mountain faster while grinding his teeth. Far in the distance where his gaze reached, he saw firelight.

His legs moved faster to climb the mountain, and soon, the moment he saw signs of people, Hyuk Dojin’s eyes caught sight of Moyong Sowol with a sword pierced in her shoulder.

“Sowol…!!”

At that sight, Hyuk Dojin shouted and tried to approach quickly, when Eun Do flew in and pulled Hyuk Dojin’s shoulder.

“Young Cult Leader!”

“Let go, Eun Do!!”

“You need to calm down!”

Eun Do suppressed Hyuk Dojin who was trying to roughly shake him off and sent a voice transmission.

[If you rush in, the Young Madam will be in danger! There’s a person in front!]

Hyuk Dojin’s body abruptly stopped at the voice transmission that penetrated his mind as he was struggling.

Hyuk Dojin slowly rolled his gaze, which had narrowed from losing his reason. Only then did he see the woman holding the sword that had pierced Moyong Sowol’s shoulder.

Hyuk Dojin quietly looked at the woman’s back. Moyong Sowol’s pupils moved slowly to examine Hyuk Dojin.

Hyuk Dojin clenched his teeth while receiving her gaze. And he shouted quietly.

“Who are you…!”

“You’re still swayed by emotions. You’re still a child, Young Cult Leader.”

Before his words could completely flow, a calm and gentle voice covered his voice.

‘This voice…’

Hyuk Dojin quietly looked at the woman’s back. The woman twisted her waist that had been turned away. Her hair fluttered, and behind it, the face of a woman with a gentle smile came into view.

At that moment, Hyuk Dojin’s face hardened and his body stiffened.

On the other hand, the woman’s gently relaxed lips opened once more.

“Have you forgotten… the teaching that you must kill your emotions?”

Young Cult Leader. Hyuk Dojin, who had been frozen, opened his lips powerlessly at the quiet voice calling him.

“…Mother.”