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

As soon as I opened the door and entered, I saw Jeok Biwol sitting pretentiously, tilting her teacup. And right in front of her, I also saw Moyong Do sitting opposite her, likewise engaged in conversation.

At first, I tried to interfere with the two of them being together in any way possible, but after seeing this scene for two days already, I gave up now.

As soon as Jeok Biwol saw me entering, she slightly turned her head, drew an elegant smile, and lightly threw out words.

“You’re here? Want a cup of tea?”

“…”

I approached while forcibly suppressing my eyebrows that were rising at her nonchalant appearance. As I sat down opposite her, Jeok Biwol rested her chin on her hand and leaned her upper body forward as if appreciating my face.

“Why are you making that expression? Did something bad happen?”

“Well…”

The words that you constantly clinging to my brother is not at all to my liking almost came up to my throat, but I had to close my mouth tightly at the worried gaze looking from the side.

Jeok Biwol grinned as if she knew everything, smiling with her eyes.

“Well?”

“…Well, I just woke up, so that’s why.”

“Ah, you just woke up? You seem to be surprisingly fond of sleeping. The sun is high in the sky.”

I glared once at her smirking and tilting her cup, then twisted my waist to turn off my nerves. Moyong Do awkwardly examined me and Jeok Biwol, then smiled kindly when my gaze reached him.

“I’m glad you slept well. There’s nothing better for health than sleeping soundly.”

…Thanks to Jeok Biwol, I’ve become a sister who oversleeps. I nodded with a sour face, then glanced at Jeok Biwol. Moyong Do also seemed to read my gaze and glanced at Jeok Biwol.

“I have some things to talk about with Miss Jeok Biwol, so I was thinking of having a meal together. Do you want to eat with us too, Sowol?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m supposed to eat with Dojin a little later.”

“Come to think of it, he was moving busily from the morning, is something going on?”

“The people who were blocking the northern road have returned, and there’s also discussion about how to return to the Demon Cult, so he seems very busy.”

“Is it okay for you to be here at such a busy time?”

I turned my gaze at the voice coming from the side. Jeok Biwol smiled faintly with a nonchalant face and picked up her teacup.

I was about to say something, thinking she was being sarcastic, but the moment I saw Jeok Biwol’s calm eyes, I calmed my excitement. Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes weren’t.

‘…Is she telling me to get to the point quickly?’

I couldn’t know exactly what her intention was, but thanks to Jeok Biwol saying that, I could more easily bring up the reason I came here.

“…Actually, that’s why I came here.”

I took my gaze off Jeok Biwol and looked at Moyong Do. Moyong Do tilted his head slightly.

“The road from here in Anhui to Guangxi is quite far. Even riding horses, it would take a month of non-stop travel. And that’s assuming we travel the fastest route without any interference.”

“To go from here to Guangxi, we need to avoid Huangshan, so we’d have to pass through the southern part of Henan, cross Dongting Lake in Hubei to go to Jiangxi, or pass through Changsha or Yueyang, right?”

“We need to avoid Changsha too. Hengshan is watching with wide eyes, so if we happen to bump into it while passing by, it would be troublesome as it would grab our legs and hang on.”

“Then the remaining road is…”

“Only Zhejiang.”

The answer came from Jeok Biwol. She deflected the gazes pouring on her and continued speaking nonchalantly.

“If we can’t go to Hubei and can’t cross Dongting Lake, then in the end, we have to choose the farthest road from the Murim Alliance’s sphere of influence. The only remaining path is to pass through Zhejiang and Fujian, go through Guangdong and enter Guangxi. And, the reason you’re bringing this up to us… no, to be precise, to me, is because you need the power of the Golden Blood Sand Sect, right?”

“…”

I closed my mouth tightly at Jeok Biwol’s words. It was true that I didn’t like her and sometimes found her disagreeable, but Jeok Biwol’s ability to grasp situations or deduce was excellent.

With just a few words, she accurately guessed why I brought this up and what I wanted. I stared intently at her eyes, then sighed and nodded my head.

“That’s right. It’s because of that.”

As vast as the Central Plains was, each sphere of influence was separated. With Guangxi, where the Demon Cult was located, as the base, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangdong, and Yunnan regions were areas where the Demon Cult’s influence was exerted.

Conversely, based on Luoyang in Henan where the Murim Alliance was located, Anhui where the Namgoong clan settled, Hubei’s Zhuge clan, Shaanxi’s Mount Hua and Wudang, etc. The core of the Central Plains was all under the righteous sects’ influence.

And the evil sects’ sphere of influence was the areas below Jiangxi, Fujian, and Zhejiang. As there were no prestigious clans or sects, it was good for evil sects to settle, and they could also make money as it was by the sea.

Among the evil sects, excluding the Demon Cult, the one with the highest reputation was obviously the Golden Blood Sand Sect.

“If the Black Dao Sect and Murim Alliance aren’t blind with their eyes open, they’ll be able to figure out our route of movement no matter where we go. Then, even if we go through Hubei, Hunan, and Guangxi to Guangxi, if a pursuit team follows, the prestigious clans or sects settled in those areas will join in, and it will become very dangerous. Moreover, we won’t be able to hide our location either.”

“But if we move through Zhejiang towards Fujian, we can hide among the Golden Blood Sand Sect and evil sects… is that it?”

Jeok Biwol tilted her head. I nodded slowly.

“With the power of the Golden Blood Sand Sect, it’s not that difficult to erase the traces of less than fifty people, right?”

“It’s not difficult. Even the Murim Alliance wouldn’t dare to enter the evil sects’ territory and cause trouble. But you know…”

Jeok Biwol bent her wrist while holding the teacup from above. She rested her chin on the back of her bent hand and spoke with a leisurely face.

“Why should the Golden Blood Sand Sect help the Demon Cult while going against the Murim Alliance? I mean, even though the Golden Blood Sand Sect, an evil sect, has a bad relationship with the Murim Alliance, there’s no reason to take risks while preparing for an all-out war.”

Jeok Biwol’s pupils were curved in a crescent shape. Her words had some point. In fact, if you look at it, the Demon Cult and Golden Blood Sand Sect were almost hostile relationships.

Now we’re sitting face to face and having a conversation, but if there was no Murim Alliance or Black Dao Sect between us, it wouldn’t be strange to draw swords and growl at each other.

“Miss Jeok Biwol. That’s…”

“Hero Moyong Do, please stay quiet. This is a matter between Moyong Sowol and me, Jeok Biwol.”

Moyong Do, who was about to add a word, closed his mouth tightly like a mute who had eaten honey at Jeok Biwol’s words. I slightly raised my eyebrows at that sight.

“What kind of way is that to speak to my brother?”

“He’s your brother to you, but a stranger to me. Moreover, given the relationship between righteous and evil sects, if I can’t even say this much, where would my name resound? Right? Or what…”

Jeok Biwol showed an elegant smile and glanced at Moyong Do.

“Did you want to say that I’m interested in Hero Moyong Do, so I should make a good impression… something like that?”

“That’s…”

“Don’t misunderstand. I have no intention of becoming someone’s flower. I have no intention of forcibly inserting myself into someone’s flowerpot when they don’t like me and don’t want me. So if Hero Moyong Do pushes me away because I show this kind of appearance now, it can’t be helped.”

“…”

At Jeok Biwol’s bold words, my and Moyong Do’s mouths closed tightly. I glanced and rolled my eyes to examine Moyong Do. He too examined me, then spoke with a sour voice.

“…Um, I’m bewildered because I didn’t think Miss Jeok Biwol would have me in her heart.”

“I said that to bewilder you.”

Jeok Biwol smiled faintly and put down her cup. I let out a small sigh at her voice that shot back without giving an inch. Jeok Biwol’s gaze returned. Meeting her eyes, I spoke briefly.

“I’ll give you what you want.”

“Do you think I have something I want? No, even if I did, I don’t think you could give it.”

“No. I think I can give it. I’ll give you the Red Butterfly Fan that the Golden Blood Sand Sect has wanted and desired so much. How about it?”

“…”

Jeok Biwol’s expression, which had been smiling leisurely and opening her mouth, stiffened slightly. That was because the Red Butterfly Fan was known as a divine object made from a phoenix’s wings. It was a fan that appeared in legends that could create strong winds with just one swing, and if one mixed their blood and inner power in it, they could scatter poison like the wind.

For the Golden Blood Sand Sect, where poison slept in both inner power and blood, it was an object that could make them exert more powerful strength than any other weapon.

However, the Red Butterfly Fan had been sleeping in the Demon Cult for 500 years, and although the Golden Blood Sand Sect had attempted to raid and steal it several times, they were driven out without even being able to set foot.

Hyuk Dojin had said he would give that out.

“The condition is simple. Help all the Demon Cult members reach the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult safely. That’s all. If you agree to that, sign here.”

I took out a pre-written contract and held it out to Jeok Biwol. Her pupils rolled down and scanned the contract, then she raised her gaze with furrowed brows. Her voice flowed slowly.

“…Are you serious?”

“I’m serious. That mere fan isn’t more precious than the Young Cult Leader’s life.”

“It’s too expensive an object to call ‘mere’. There seem to be few things in the Central Plains that could be said to be more precious than the Red Butterfly Fan.”

“And the Young Cult Leader’s life is also one. Nothing more to say. If you’ll receive the Red Butterfly Fan and guide us, stamp your seal. If you don’t like it, I can choose another path.”

“You have another path?”

Who knows? When I smiled the same smile as Jeok Biwol had, her fine brows that had been spread out stiffly like expensive paper narrowed.

I laughed softly at her cracked brows and got up from my seat. I smiled faintly at Moyong Do who raised his gaze following me, then turned back to Jeok Biwol.

“What will you do?”

* * *

The Jade Pavilion in Luoyang was in the unusual location of being halfway up a mountain. Usually, taverns were in places easily accessible to people, but the Jade Pavilion was the opposite. So there weren’t many visitors, and the people who came were all sorts.

Moreover, since it was on a steep mountain, most of the visitors were martial artists. The Jade Pavilion naturally became a place where martial artists had secret conversations.

“How did the conversation go well?”

Namgoong Baek, sitting face to face with Lee Jehak at a table set in a wide pavilion overlooking the garden well, asked subtly.

His slightly narrowed eyes were revealing his inner thoughts to Lee Jehak. Lee Jehak, who had been staring blankly at the tea with lotus petals floating in it without any answer, slightly rolled his pupils to look at Namgoong Baek.

“The Leader…”

Lee Jehak trailed off his words slowly and pushed up the corners of his mouth.

“Was greatly distressed about this incident. He said his disappointment was indescribable as he let the Demon Cult’s Young Madam, whom he thought he could surely capture, slip away right before his eyes.”

At the words that came out of Lee Jehak’s mouth, a sigh flowed from Namgoong Baek. Namgoong Baek pretended to be troubled and scratched his eyebrows while moving his lips.

Lee Jehak quietly tilted his teacup and narrowed his eyes to examine such a Namgoong Baek. A face deeply imbued with worry, fear, or regret.

‘…Old man like a white snake.’

Namgoong Baek also pretended to look at the distant mountains with a regretful face while secretly examining Lee Jehak with sidelong glances.

‘That pale face doesn’t look like it will ever grow on me.’

The two were smiling at each other, but inwardly, a barrage of curses towards each other was pouring out.