I Am the Youngest Disciple of the Martial Arts World’s Mastermind
Chapter 33
Chapter 33
The Youngest Disciple of the Murim’s Hidden Mastermind
Chapter 33
“…….”
Without a word, Ryang tightened his arms around my neck.
I could see his calloused hands trembling slightly, his knuckles white.
When he spoke, his voice sounded strangely thick with emotion.
“Yeah. I won’t… ever give up either.”
After running for a long time, we finally arrived at the inn where Hyeonhak was waiting.
Hyeonhak had designated the location himself.
An abandoned inn standing alone in the middle of a deserted, lush forest. It felt eerie, yet somehow carried an atmosphere similar to the buildings on Cheongsanbong.
A small lantern was lit near the weathered entrance. It was the signal Hyeonhak had promised.
“Hyeonhak-sahyeong…! I’ve brought him!”
As I struggled into the inn with Ryang on my back, Hyeonhak’s eyes widened in surprise.
“…Are you injured? There is blood.”
“Ah.”
My clothes were soaked through and damp with Ryang’s blood.
Just how much blood did he lose…!
I shook my head, trying to hide my distress.
“It’s not my blood.”
“Then what happened to your hands?”
“Oh, my hands are… just a little.”
“A little?”
I had completely forgotten that I’d hurt my hands too.
I reflexively tucked my hands away and gestured toward Ryang, who kept sliding down my back.
“More importantly, he’s… he’s severely injured!”
Ryang had lost consciousness just before we reached the inn.
“…Is this the child you spoke of, Saje Soyoung?”
Only then did Hyeonhak turn his gaze toward Ryang, who was slumped over my shoulders.
“Yes.”
“Bring him here.”
He carefully took Ryang from me and laid him down on a table.
I scurried over to the table where Ryang lay and continued my explanation.
“He was struck terribly with a brutal whip. And last time, he was also…….”
“…….”
However, as Hyeonhak reached out to lift Ryang’s clothes and inspect the wounds, his hand froze in midair.
Anxious, I called out to him.
“…Hyeonhak-sahyeong?”
“…….”
Slowly lowering his hand, Hyeonhak looked at me and asked,
“This child—is he from the Demonic Cult?”
“…Ah.”
That’s right. I gasped.
With his shirt removed, the marks where the Gu poison had burrowed into him were even more vivid than the bloody gashes from the whip.
Centered below his dantian, black marks spread out like dark ink.
To anyone who knew what a Gu poison was, the symptoms were clear enough to be identified at a single glance.
There was no point in trying to lie to a physician like Hyeonhak.
“…Yes.”
I nodded slowly, my heart feeling as though it were sinking into my stomach.
…I had been so busy planning the reckless feat of infiltrating the White Horse Cave that I’d forgotten to find out what Hyeonhak actually thought of the Demonic Cult!
But he’s just a child…. Won’t he feel even a shred of pity?
“…….”
I looked at Hyeonhak anxiously, clinging to that tiny silver of hope.
“Did you bring him here out of pity?”
However, Hyeonhak’s low, blunt voice held not a single drop of emotion.
It was a failure.
I swallowed hard and replied,
“…No. Danhwi-sahyeong told me before never to pity the Demonic Cult. No matter how young they are.”
“Then why?”
“…….”
Ryang’s life now depended on how I handled this.
Hyeonhak was asking me for a reason to save this boy.
That meant there was still a chance to persuade him.
After pretending to hesitate, I slowly spoke.
“The reason I want to become strong isn’t just because I want to survive on my own.”
“…….”
I looked Hyeonhak straight in the eye.
“I want to become strong so I can save those who, like me right now, aren’t strong enough to save themselves.”
Choosing whether or not to save someone is a luxury that only comes with power.
And right now, I was in a position where I had to worry about simply surviving in the jianghu. That was why I had clung to the Blue Robed Hermit.
But if I could save Ryang this time—if I could prove to myself that I am someone capable of saving another…….
Then I felt like I could continue walking the right path in the future.
Once that thought took hold, the words flowed naturally and without a tremor, as if I had believed this for a long time.
“Right now, I have to borrow Sahyeong’s strength…. But if I can’t even save this boy right now, my journey into the jianghu is a failure from the start. So, I truly beg of you.”
“…….”
“Please. Please help him.”
Hyeonhak’s deep blue eyes searched mine for a long time.
A heavy silence followed.
Only the sound of Ryang’s ragged, unconscious breathing echoed in the room.
And then.
“Ha.”
Hyeonhak let out a small, dry laugh.
“You really make things difficult…….”
It was the first time I’d heard Hyeonhak use informal speech.
Muttering in a low voice—whether he was laughing or angry, I couldn’t tell—Hyeonhak set down his medical tools.
“……!”
My heart dropped.
As I feared… would he really refuse to treat someone from the Demonic Cult?
But if he doesn’t, then Ryang will…….
For some reason, I felt like I was going to cry. Because I had interfered, Ryang’s fate had been twisted.
As I hung my head and bit my lip hard, a blood-stained hand gently grasped mine.
“…….”
Lifting my gaze, I saw Ryang looking at me, having struggled to open his eyes.
“Ryang…!”
Did he hear our conversation? What if he thinks I’ve given up on him?
Just as I was about to speak, Ryang cut me off.
“It’s okay.”
He could barely even keep his eyes open. Within his half-lidded gaze, a flicker of light wavered precariously, as if it might go out at any moment.
He whispered in a fading voice.
“…Because I got to see you, one last time…….”
“What…?”
“That was enough. I would have died sooner or later inside that place anyway. For me, even this is…….”
“……!”
Trailing off, Ryang lost consciousness again, his head lolling to the side. Only the strength in the hand gripping mine didn’t fade until the very end.
“…….”
Tears threatened to spill over.
What do you mean, it’s okay!
I couldn’t let this happen. Determined to cling to the hem of Hyeonhak’s robes if I had to, I turned to him and cried out.
“Hyeonhak-sahyeong, I’ll do anything. Just this once, please save him…….”
“Yes, I will treat him.”
“…Huh?”
Did I hear him wrong?
As my eyes widened, Hyeonhak calmly continued organizing the rest of his medical tools.
“However, it cannot be done here.”
“What? Then…?”
“There are specific tools I require.”
“Does that mean…….”
“To treat this child, we must go to Cheongsanbong.”
Tak. Having packed all his equipment, Hyeonhak spoke firmly.
He was going to take Ryang to Cheongsanbong? Now, it was my turn to hesitate.
“…U-Um, I brought this too. Won’t this work?”
I reached into my skirt and fumbled to pull out a pouch.
“This is…….”
Inside were plenty of Blue Elixirs. I had remembered what Danhwi gave me before and made sure to grab them from the storehouse.
However, even after checking the Blue Elixirs, Hyeonhak shook his head firmly.
“This is not enough. The Gu poison has burrowed deep; I must perform a direct incision.”
“……!”
There was no way to perform surgery in this dilapidated inn.
I bit my lip anxiously.
My original plan was to leave Ryang in a safe place once his treatment was finished.
But if I had to take Ryang all the way to Cheongsanbong…….
‘Master might find out.’
The scope of the responsibility I was prepared to take on had changed completely.
What I feared was that I couldn’t predict Master’s reaction.
Master was strong, kind, and cherished me. But because I didn’t know the reason why, he was sometimes frightening.
Why? Why did he listen to my tantrum about being accepted as a disciple out of the blue and……?
“…….”
Slap!
No, now was not the time for such thoughts.
I lightly slapped my own chubby cheeks with my small hands to snap myself out of it.
“Whew.”
After taking a deep breath, my mind cleared a little.
Simply put, the problem was this:
Is it okay for Ryang to go to Cheongsanbong?
“…….”
Hyeonhak would know that better than I would.
As I tentatively looked up with an uneasy expression, Hyeonhak thought for a moment before nodding slowly.
“Yes, it will be fine.”
“Re-Really?”
“Yes. It is fine. More importantly……”
Tucking the medical tools into his robes, Hyeonhak slowly raised his head and looked out the open door.
“We need to deal with the pursuers.”
“…Pardon?”
The wind blowing through the door suddenly felt chilly.
Hyeonhak gave me a quiet look, his tone suggesting I should have expected this.
“When you smuggle someone out of the Demonic Cult, pursuers will naturally follow.”
“…Ack.”
No way…….
