Chapter 76
The days that followed were like hell.
He had thought there was no pain greater than slowly waiting for death.
But he learned for the first time that there was a sense of loss in this world even greater than that.
At first, he even found his own feelings strange.
‘Why?’
It wasn’t as if the affection Hong-seol gave him was particularly special. He had received more than enough love his entire life.
Then, it suddenly dawned on him.
Among all those people, she was the only one who had recognized the loneliness within him.
“You mustn’t die, even when you turn twenty!”
“I am unconditionally on your side, Brother.”
“Ha, haha...”
Namgung Baek laughed bitterly, recalling the conversation from that day.
The only child in the world who understood him.
Namgung Baek constantly replayed that day, when Hong-seol had been lying there with a pale, gaunt face.
‘Never again. I cannot bear to see her like that again.’
Namgung Baek gritted his teeth.
“What do you think, Baek?”
It was only natural that Namgung Ho’s voice, laced with satisfaction, did not reach his ears.
“Baek!”
“Yes?”
“I asked you what you thought of Seol-ah’s fist technique. Isn’t it amazing?”
Hong-seol, too, was looking this way with her ears perked up, as if curious about Namgung Baek’s praise.
Even without using the Art of Disguise, she looked just like a kitten, paws tucked together, waiting for a compliment.
But this time, he could not give Hong-seol the praise she wanted.
Namgung Baek hardened his face and replied.
“...It is not a great achievement.”
At those words, Hong-seol’s eyes welled up with tears in an instant.
Seeing that, Namgung Baek’s heart, which he had hardened on purpose, ached sharply.
“Is that so?”
Namgung Ho looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected that.
He had thought that if anyone could recognize Hong-seol’s talent at a glance, it would be his eldest grandson, who was called a genius.
“Hmph, it seems your eyes are not yet sharp enough.”
However, the seasoned Namgung Ho knew how to steer the conversation where he wanted.
“Why don’t you try practicing your martial arts more properly? Then, your eyes will open to recognize Hong-seol’s talent.”
“I refuse.”
At Namgung Baek’s sharp refusal, Namgung Ho lowered his voice and scolded him.
“Did I not tell you that a path to your recovery might open! Why have you given up on everything like that?”
Perhaps finding the nagging bothersome, Namgung Baek closed his eyes and bowed his head. But Namgung Ho did not stop.
“One must live with hope for the heavens to be moved and open a way to survive.”
It was then.
Hong-seol, whose feelings had been hurt by Namgung Baek’s assessment, scurried past the door and disappeared.
“Seol-ah...?”
Sensing something was wrong, Namgung Baek lifted his head and ran after her.
“Truly, raising a child is not easy.”
Left alone, Namgung Ho sighed.
* * *
“Seol-ah!”
Hong-seol’s Heavenly Wind Movement Technique, without the use of Inner Energy, was insignificant compared to Namgung Baek’s.
Tap, tap, tap!
Before long, his footsteps could be heard right behind her.
It was clear she would be caught soon, but Hong-seol didn’t want to stop.
‘I don’t want to talk to Brother right now!’
I worked so hard on my training.
I thought Brother Namgung Baek would be happy to share in my achievement!
The greater the expectation, the greater the resentment.
‘Brother, I hate you!’
Just as Hong-seol squeezed her eyes shut and quickened her pace.
“Haa...”
She heard a ragged, unexpected sound of heavy breathing.
The moment a puzzled Hong-seol glanced back.
She saw Namgung Baek kneeling on one knee, clutching his chest.
“Brother...?”
Namgung Baek’s chest was heaving with shortness of breath. At that sight, Hong-seol was suddenly struck with worry.
‘Is he sick somewhere? Could it be that the poison in Brother’s body has flared up...!’
Hong-seol, who had been running, stopped in her tracks.
“Brother!”
Forgetting that she had been running away, Hong-seol scurried over and crouched down in front of him.
“Brother, are you okay? Does your body feel strange?”
Namgung Baek winced with one eye and let out a ragged breath.
Soon, a fair, slender hand brushed against Hong-seol’s cheek, which was trembling with shock.
As if nothing had happened, his breathing had calmed down.
“Asking if I’m okay. I don’t know who should be asking whom that question.”
I was tricked!
At that sight, Hong-seol felt a surge of emotion.
“What is this! You’re perfectly fine, but you pretended to be sick on purpose!”
Hearing Hong-seol’s words, Namgung Baek put on a deliberately sorrowful face.
It was an expression he never showed to anyone else, not even Heuk or Jeok.
“Seol, did you wish for me to be sick?”
Hong-seol looked at his face, frowning and puffing out her cheeks.
It was clear that Namgung Baek was whining, pretending to be hurt on purpose. That was a fact Hong-seol knew well.
But whenever she met those blue eyes and that fair face, her heart softened for some reason.
“That’s... not it, but...”
At Hong-seol’s softened tone, Namgung Baek smiled faintly.
The two sat side by side by the pond in the rear garden.
After watching the koi swimming and creating ripples for a long time, Hong-seol asked.
“My achievement, was it really that bad?”
“Hm?”
Namgung Baek, who had been dazed, understood her words and looked troubled.
“...No.”
“Then was it okay?”
“It was astonishing.”
“Then why did you say it like that?”
Namgung Baek sighed and picked up a white pebble from the pond’s edge.
“Because I was worried.”
“About what?”
“I was afraid that if you became greedy for martial arts, you would want to receive the Energy Transfer Technique at any cost.”
After finishing his sentence, Namgung Baek threw the white pebble into the pond.
Plop, plop.
The pebble didn’t even bounce on the surface before sinking.
It was because the heart of the one who threw it was troubled beyond measure.
“You’ve heard about the dangers of the Energy Transfer Technique, haven’t you?”
Hong-seol nodded silently. It was a story she had heard so many times her ears were tired of it.
Namgung Baek sighed again.
“Well, everyone cherishes you so much, there’s no way they wouldn’t have told you.”
After a moment of hesitation, Namgung Baek looked down at Hong-seol as if he had made a decision.
“There is still something you need to know.”
“Yes?”
At his voice, which sounded more subdued than usual, Hong-seol grew tense.
“This is a story about my body. And it is also a story about you.”
Namgung Baek looked past the pond. There was nothing there.
“You know that I was struck by a poison that flares up when I turn twenty, right?”
Hong-seol nodded. Namgung Baek continued calmly.
“After that happened, my family searched everywhere for a way to save me.”
Of course they would have.
Hadn’t the Head of the Medical Hall risked his life to travel the Central Plains just a short while ago?
“But they couldn’t find a way to create an antidote. Even the Poison King of the Tang Clan, who is second to none when it comes to poison, threw up his hands and retreated.”
A giant, white snake.
Hong-seol recalled the appearance of the Poison King, Dang Yimu, whom she had met at the lake on the peak of Mount Daechok.
Even his terrifying appearance had seemed divine.
For it to be a poison that even he couldn’t find a cure for—she couldn’t even imagine how vicious it was.
“But my family didn’t give up. My father searched through the family’s ancient records again and again until he found a way.”
Hong-seol blinked quietly, waiting for Namgung Baek’s next words.
“It is the Golden Dragon Jade Blood Pill.”
The Golden Dragon Jade Blood Treasure, a spiritual medicine said to be able to detoxify all poisons under heaven.
The Golden Dragon Jade Blood Pill was an antidote made from it, a precious item so rare that one might not see it once in a lifetime, even if they searched the entire world.
The reason was simple.
The Golden Dragon Jade Blood Treasure itself was incredibly difficult to obtain, and it took a full three hundred years to refine it into an antidote.
“However, here in the Namgung Clan, there is one Golden Dragon Jade Blood Pill that has been passed down for generations. It is an item brought back by the Azure Sky Sword Emperor, Namgung Wiyo, who fought the Heavenly Demon in the past.”
If that were the case, Namgung Baek’s body would surely recover.
There was no poison in this world that the Golden Dragon Jade Blood Pill could not neutralize.
But there was a reason why Namgung Baek had not yet taken it.
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