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

Although the Moyong clan belonged to one of the powerful clans among the Five Great Clans of the Central Plains, they weren’t a perfect orthodox sect

As descendants of the scholar-officials, they had the grand dream of rebuilding the soon-to-perish Yeon Dynasty.

However, regardless of their aspirations, the power of the clan weakened as time passed.

Jaegal, Namgoong, Sichuan Tang, and finally Habei Paeng.

The families of the Five Great Clans, generation after generation, constantly produced arts masters and roared over who would become the master of the Murim Alliance, but Moyong wasn’t among them.

Therefore, there were murmurs recently whether the Moyong clan should be excluded in the Five Great Clans, and Jinju Eon should be included instead.

However, as Moyong Danli, who was supposed to be the pillar of the Moyong clan, was still holding on to the edge, it was just a rumor.

Moyong Danli had been struggling for eighty years to uncover the late-stage successors, who would lead the Moyong clan, but had poor results in his hands.

Compared to other clans, the martial arts passed down within the clan were too difficult and profound, making it hard for the young children to understand.

Moreover, even after years of training, one could barely reach the level of a beginner.

Because of this, while the successors of other clans learned martial arts and progressed, the Moyong clan sighed at the unremarkable children in their family.

In the midst of this, Moyong Do, born within the family after three generations, was expected to be the successor to Moyong Danli.

And I was the obstacle and hindrance that absorbed his talent.

So, my fate had already been decided by the people who were now clamoring in front of me.

“Elder, please reconsider the disposal of my daughter, Moyong Sowol!”

“The decision has already been made. What more is there to talk about?”

The elders sitting in a long row on the other side, while I was sitting quietly in the chair, gave a rather resolute expression.

They looked coldly at my parents who was trying to protect me. Among them, an old man with long white hair and beard down to his waist had an even more stern expression.

“But if we give up like this, my child will-!”

“She was destined to die anyway. Isn’t it enough that we raised a child who has no talents or abilities just because she was born with Moyong’s blood?”

It wasn’t a wrong statement. From the beginning, I was a mutant here.

Albinism. Being born with white hair and skin in a world, where black hair was everything, was nothing short of a curse.

That’s why the Moyong clan wanted to hide my existence.

Their concern was that as Moyong’s influence waned, my existence would worsen their already precarious situation.

I remembered my past life about five years ago.

When I was thirteen, there was a time when I caused a big fuss, insisting that I would learn martial arts, and ended up suffering from a serious fever.

For three days, I wandered through visions and realized that there was a place completely different from the world I had lived in, where I could recall myself from my past life.

It was just a whim to pick up the novel that the boy of my age, who was hospitalized in the same room, was reading.

I had a longing for something new, and that longing helped me forget my pain.

And crucially, I felt that the character Moyong Sowol resembled me.

Suffering and loved, but ultimately, I had to leave them behind.

I wanted to know. The sadness my beloved family would experience after I left.

So, I could concentrate a little more on reading.

But even if I remembered my past life, I was still in pain, and there was no way to get better.

Even in my past life, I had to constantly carry the medicine given by the hospital. I had to take painkillers every day because it was too painful.

As a result, I had developed tolerance to the pain. I could endure it better than anyone else.

But I couldn’t bear to see my parents give up everything because of me alone.

Nineteen, on the verge of adulthood, the winter of that year, when I thought I could live like ordinary children because of the doctor’s words that I showed symptoms of improvement, was bitterly cold.

The hope and expectation I had harbored for the future at the doctor’s words lasted less than two weeks and shattered into pieces.

Eventually, my last winter settled in coldly, and the sky scattered snow as if comforting me.

I was always in pain and always struggling.

So, it didn’t matter that this place was in the novel.

All that remained was the fact that I was a supporting character with a limited time to live.

My parents were kind, but I was always the painful finger. When they poured elixirs that should have been given to Moyong Do only to slightly prolong my life, they often wore a sad expression.

Now, even that was gone.

I already knew.

That this winter would be my last.

In the novel, Moyong Sowol leaves the world like being sold to a Demon Cult.

The Moyong clan, lacking funds for their secret dealings with the Demon Cult, devised a business plan to raise money and sent Moyong Sowol, who was destined to die anyway, as a hostage.

In the end, Moyong Sowol meets a cold death there, and Moyong Do, furious with this, leaves the clan.

That was the beginning of the novel.

So, all of that could only begin if I died.

“But she’s still a child! She can’t even learn martial arts, let alone survive on her own! If you abandon this child…!”

“She’s already as good as dead. Even if she’s a woman, don’t you understand that she’s useless without learning martial arts? You know that for sure.”

Moyong Danli, who got up from his seat, walked slowly and bent his knees in front of me, crossing our gazes.

He looked at me with a cold voice.

“This child’s existence slows down Moyong Do’s growth.”

“But…”

“If the medicinal herbs and elixirs used on this child who could die at any moment were invested in Moyong Do instead, he could have achieved the Complete Nature Transference by now.”

“Elder.”

“I want to ask you the other way around.”

He withdrew his gaze from me.

He stood up and looked down at my kneeling parents, uttering a frosty voice.

“Is this child worth enough to hinder Moyong Do’s achievements? It is natural and a good thing to say that parents love their children equally. However, Moyong Do is the most highly regarded child among the later generations of the Moyong clan. In particular, this child could become the next head of the Moyong clan.”

The gaze that was looking down at my parents turned to me.

I looked up. His forehead furrowed. His eyebrows that had snow as white as my hair shivered and soon turned.

“Is there any reason to keep this child alive while hindering Moyong Do’s achievement?”

My parents couldn’t say anything in response.

I knew it. The answer to that question.

In the declining Moyong clan, Moyong Do was destined to succeed Moyong Danli as the head of the family, and I was the bottleneck who stood in his way.

While brushing my hair, which was as thin as silk, my parents always reassured me that everything was okay, but in the novel, they implicitly thought that my presence was interfering with Moyong Do.

I don’t think that’s wrong. Because parents can’t love their children unconditionally and equally.

And there was nothing strange about this thought, if you look at Moyong Do’s talent.

So I wasn’t angry. Even if they didn’t answer or even if they abandoned me, I didn’t care.

“The child is going to die anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to use her to help Moyong Do? She has lived as a parasite on Moyong Do her whole life. It’s time for her to repay that favor.”

He returned to his seat and said coldly.

“As I said before, I plan to respond to the Demon Cult’s letter.”

“Elder…!”

I closed my eyes calmly, listening to my parents’ crying.

The Moyong clan lacked the finances to raise children, and the Demon Cult, which was advancing from Guangxi to Honam and Hubei, wanted to avoid conflict with the Murim Alliance.

To achieve this, the Demon Cult proposed a strategic marriage to the Moyong clan.

At first, the noble clan was displeased with establishing ties with the Demon Cult, but things changed when they promised substantial financial support.

In the process, they decided to dispose of me, the card they could discard.

After all, he didn’t want to get a wife from the Demon Cult anyway.

I sighed. A long-awaited breeze swept through my clogged airway. I lifted my head after gathering up the scattered thoughts.

Moyong Danli’s gaze, which was looking down at my parents, landed on me.

Facing Moyong Danli’s cold, hardened eyes, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Elder Moyong Danli.”

“…Speak.”

I got up from my seat. I calmly ignored my parents’ worried looks at me, walked in front of him, bent my knees and calmly bowed.

I could hear some commotion around me, but I didn’t care.

“What…”

“Thank you, Elder.”

I raised my head. Moyong Danli looked like he couldn’t understand what I meant. I met his eyes.

I knew what kind of person he was. He was ruthless and cold. He was a man who thought of the family before individuals.

I didn’t think it was wrong.

He was the head of the Moyong clan and the person who had to choose the successor to lead the future.

So, it wasn’t impossible to understand why he coldly kicked me out.

Although it was inevitable to resent and be angry as the involved person, if I thought of it as the life of a time-limited supporting character, I could somewhat accept it.

“I will follow your words.”

“Sowol!”

I turned to face my parents and bowed slightly.

“Thank you for everything.”

For not showing any signs of being in pain.

I couldn’t refuse fate.

* * *

It took about three months to ride a carriage from Liaoning to Guangxi, where the Hundred Thousand Mountains were located. However, there was no guarantee that I could safely travel such a long distance.

I was weak from the start. Riding a carriage might make me die even faster.

So, a noble clan decided to skip the complicated wedding ceremony and chose only a few people, including me, to head to the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Moyong Do, my brother, protested asking how they could do that, but he was still powerless against the elders and the power of the head of the family.

“Sowol…”

Moyongdo hugged me tightly as I tried to get on the carriage and cried for a long time.

He was a truly caring brother. He always felt sorry for me.

He was a kind man who was so kind that he would blame himself for my pain.

“Don’t cry, brother. I’m not going to die.”

In fact, it was no different from going to die. I knew how unfairly the wives from the Righteous Sect would be treated among the Demon Cult.

And in the Demon Cult, where strength was the law, I was a useless being who couldn’t use even a single bit of martial arts.

“So, don’t worry. We’ll see each other again next time.”

“Don’t go. This brother will grow up and protect you. So don’t go-“

“If I don’t go, it will be hard for our parents.”

Interrupting his words, I opened my mouth calmly, but Moyong Do’s lips remained tightly closed. He was as gentle and caring towards my parents as he loved his younger sister.

I covered his cheek with my palm and smiled faintly.

“Please smile. Like you always do.”

Like a withering morning glory, Moyong Do weakly smiled at my request. After his smile, I whispered softly as I got on the carriage.

“Goodbye, brother.”