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

Bang!!

“Damn it!!”

The solid wood desk, split in half and shattered into pieces, was unrecognizable.

The fist that struck the desk trembled, and Baek Geon’s beard trembled twice as much. He gritted his teeth and turned his head.

Lee Seonghak, who was at the end of his gaze, let out a deep sigh. Baek Geon’s eyes flashed.

“Lee Seonghak!!”

At that shouting exclamation, Lee Seonghak squeezed his eyes shut.

Although Lee Seonghak’s rank was higher and he was actually 20 years older, Baek Geon didn’t care about such things. In the Demon Cult, power and position determined a person’s status.

“Has your judgment become clouded with age? Or are you thinking of sucking up to the Young Cult Leader now that you’ve left the Holy Stream League?”

“How could I…”

“If that’s not it, then how could you handle the task I entrusted to you in such a way?!”

The inkstone that flew from Baek Geon’s hand struck Lee Seonghak’s forehead and fell. Despite getting hit on the forehead by the heavy and thick inkstone, leaving a deep wound, Lee Seonghak showed no reaction.

Blood flowed down Lee Seonghak’s cheek, but he stood still without even thinking to wipe it.

Baek Geon glared at Lee Seonghak and gritted his teeth.

“With one mistake you made yesterday, we’ve ended up announcing to the world. That we intended to poison the Young Madam, and at the same time, that there are many in the Demon Cult who dislike that girl and are willing to kill her anytime.”

“…”

“Do you know what was posted on the bulletin board today? It said traitors who dare to challenge the sky of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult are everywhere.”

Baek Geon took a long breath, calming his rough breathing. Lee Seonghak closed his eyes, waiting for Baek Geon’s anger to subside.

Yesterday, the plan was perfect. They had coated the cup the Young Madam would receive with Vein-Bursting Powder dissolved so it would seep into the drink. And everything up to actually placing the cup on the martial arts arena was perfect.

But Beon Yang didn’t attend, and in the end, the cups shifted one by one, and that cup was received by the innocent daughter of the Geumnak clan who lost her life.

“Lee Seonghak. This failure is painful. The Young Cult Leader, who has become sensitive after the recent assassination attempt on the wench from the Righteous Sect was revealed as a failure, will not let this incident pass easily. Moreover, it was an attempted poisoning that happened in front of everyone. There’s justification, and the atmosphere in the Demon Cult has tilted that way. Is that all?”

Baek Geon slumped into the chair that had lost its owner and rubbed his face.

“From now on, he’ll be more careful about protecting the wench from the Righteous Sect. Assassination will become even more difficult, and eventually, if we keep postponing and that girl establishes her position, do you know what will happen?”

Baek Geon placed his hand on his neck and drew it across.

“We’re both dead men.”

“…”

“The day the Young Cult Leader ascends to the position of Cult Leader, he will slaughter the Holy Stream League who killed his mother and all the clans who joined in that affair, having been released from our grasp. You don’t think you’ll be free from that, do you?”

“Of course not.”

It was Lee Seonghak who had shouted at the forefront to kill Geum Soso. If someone were to die, Lee Seonghak would be the first to have his limbs cut off and killed. Knowing this, Lee Seonghak had no choice but to cling to this matter.

Baek Geon hugged his complicated head and sighed. A long silence flowed, and then Baek Geon’s closed mouth opened slowly.

“We can’t end it like this. We can’t die like this, unable to deal with just a wench from the Righteous Sect.”

Murderous intent swirled in his eyes.

* * *

While I was soothing my muscles that had been overworked yesterday by applying a hot cloth to my calves, Joo Jonghak entered the room and explained the situation.

“As the Young Cult Leader said, powder presumed to be Vein-Bursting Powder was found on the surface of the broken wine cup. Since this couldn’t happen naturally, we are thoroughly investigating the people who touched the cup, or could have touched it. Also, we went to ask if anyone had recently sold to those who cultivate and grow Vein-Bursting Powder, but…”

Joo Jonghak trailed off as if troubled, then quietly said.

“They were all dead. It seemed they had been dead for a few days, as decomposition was progressing.”

“Were there any witnesses to that situation?”

“None.”

At the firm answer, Hyuk Dojin clicked his tongue lowly. He ran his hand through his hair with a complicated expression.

Hyuk Dojin thought about something in silence for a while, then nodded and dismissed Joo Jonghak. I stared at Hyuk Dojin while rubbing the cloth.

There had certainly been times when Hyuk Dojin had shown a serious expression before. It was an appearance he often showed when things weren’t going well or when the situation was more difficult than expected.

But it was the first time I had seen him look so frustrated, as if being chased by something.

I wanted to ask what was wrong, but when he bit his lip, I had to hold back, feeling like I would be asking something I shouldn’t.

As I watched his side profile keeping silent with his head resting on his palm, I saw Joo Jonghak, who had just left, gesturing to me through the slightly open door.

I turned my head to glance at Hyuk Dojin, then slowly got up from my seat and approached the door.

He was so focused that he didn’t react even as I moved. I quietly opened the door and went outside.

Joo Jonghak looked around, then led me to a room some distance away before exhaling.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for… Why suddenly…?”

When I asked carefully, Joo Jonghak opened his mouth in a small voice.

“I don’t know if I should dare to say this, but I think the Young Madam should know, so I’m going to tell you.”

“What is it?”

As if saying no answer was needed, he spread his fingers and brought them to his mouth, then continued speaking.

“Do you know about the poison called Vein-Bursting Powder that I reported earlier? No, you wouldn’t know. When you mix five kinds of herbs that grow in the Hundred Thousand Mountains and dry them for three days and nights, small powders are produced. This powder is colorless and when inhaled, it tears all the blood vessels entering the lungs and fills them with blood. It’s a terrifying poison.”

I almost ate such a poison. The image of Geumnak Ju, still vivid in my memory, flickered before my eyes.

“Leaving aside the details… The important thing is that the Young Cult Leader abhors Vein-Bursting Powder.”

“Because it’s poison?”

“That too, but decisively…”

Joo Jonghak trailed off, then moved his lips. He quietly spoke with a face full of worries, closing his eyes intently.

“When Lady Geum Soso died, that poison was detected in her medicine.”

“…What?”

Hyuk Dojin’s mother with that poison?

“The frightening thing about Vein-Bursting Powder is that if you take it little by little, your lungs slowly rot. It becomes difficult to breathe, blood mixes with coughs. Then you can’t walk, can’t breathe well, and slowly wither away. Currently, no cure is known.”

“…”

“…Anyway. The reason the Young Cult Leader is sensitive now is because of that incident. It’s not simply a poisoning murder using Vein-Bursting Powder, but the fact that they deliberately tried to use Vein-Bursting Powder means…”

“Is it a warning or challenge to Dojin?”

Joo Jonghak nodded. He said a few more words and then opened the door. Before leaving, Joo Jonghak turned to me and said softly.

“From now on, whenever you eat any food, have Hwarin taste it first. She says she didn’t touch simple meals… But you never know. The remaining Vein-Bursting Powder hasn’t been found and we don’t know who has it, so even a small inhalation could be a very big blow to the Young Madam whose body is still weak. Be careful.”

He finished speaking and left the room.

I followed Joo Jonghak’s back with my eyes, and even when I returned to my room, Hyuk Dojin was still sitting in the same posture.

The name Geum Soso overlapped with his appearance, which seemed to be in serious contemplation.

“…”

Biting my lip, I approached him and sat on the opposite side.

Only then did Hyuk Dojin notice me and turn his eyes. His eyes, which were always brimming, had lost their light. Feeling sorry for that appearance, I reached out and covered the back of his hand.

“Dojin. Are you okay?”

At those words, Hyuk Dojin slightly opened his mouth, then narrowed his brows and nodded.

“I’m fine. More importantly, are you alright? Yesterday, that…”

I hurriedly interrupted him as he hesitated to bring up the story of Geumnak Ju.

“I’m fine. There’s no problem with me.”

Hyuk Dojin slowly relaxed his stiff expression. His mouth moved slightly to say ‘That’s a relief’ and then closed again.

I quietly examined his tightly closed lips.

Man Do had said that Hyuk Dojin saw his mother’s shadow in me.

He doesn’t overlap me and his mother, but he sees that shadow in me. In the midst of that, the thought that I could have been poisoned by Vein-Bursting Powder was surely enough to shock him. What words of comfort should I use?

What should I do? After pondering for a while, suddenly remembering how Moyong Do used to comfort me occasionally, I got up from my seat.

As my palm disappeared from the back of his hand, Hyuk Dojin’s gaze rose again. I approached him. His gaze followed me.

“Sowo…?”

And before his words could come out, I hugged his head while he was sitting and quietly pulled him to my chest. His body, startled by the sudden action, was stiff.

I quietly hugged his back and head, reaching out my arms, and slowly stroked them.

Sometimes slowly, or lightly as if patting. Lightly burying my lips in Hyuk Dojin’s hair, I quietly said.

“It’s okay. There’s no problem.”

I would never leave him.

On the day I vowed to stay by his side, the day he led me to the light, I thought this person would be my first and last.

“So lean on me. It’s okay.”

At the quietly whispering voice, Hyuk Dojin’s stiff arms slowly moved.

He hugged me in the same posture as I was hugging him.

Hyuk Dojin’s body, with his arms around my back and waist, trembled slightly.

I tightened my arms around his body a little more, hugging him close.

I closed my eyes, listening to Hyuk Dojin’s breathing.

“I’ll stay by your side.”

The reason I should live.

It might be partly because I was faithful to my instincts, but that wasn’t all.

The man quietly holding his breath inside me.

“It’s okay…”

We were mirrors reflecting each other and medicine healing each other.