Translator: Nox

Chapter 200

Episode 200

43. The Blue in Darkness

When I vaguely regained consciousness, a long shadow was cast over me.

My whole body was heavy.

My limbs, limp as waterlogged cotton, still wouldn't move, and my mind was hazy.

I thought I heard a distant murmur. Soon, an urgent voice reached my ears.

"So-hye!"

"Young Patriarch, the wound is... ...serious. Slowly, in a soft place...!"

"So-hye! Can you hear me?"

I barely opened my eyes to see someone shouting something and looking down at me.

Perhaps because my vision was blurry, I couldn't see their face.

Who is it...?

"...can't. You have to breathe... So-hye... ...try. Spit it out, please. Huh?"

Spit out? What?

I blinked slowly at the incomprehensible words, and he forcibly opened my mouth.

Long fingers rummaged through my mouth, scraping at the roof of my mouth, and I gasped for air, coughing.

"Cough! Hack, cough..."

Only then did I feel the lump of blood blocking my airway.

Leaning on him, I endlessly vomited blood that kept rising up.

"It's okay. You're doing well. Spit it all out. Yes, that's it."

A gentle voice reached my ear, as if to reassure me.

Turning my head towards him, he helped me spit out the lump filling my mouth.

As I limply leaned against his arm, soft silk touched my cheek.

My vision was all red.

The sight of pure white silk soaked in blood, dyed red, was terribly surreal.

I was simply amazed that a person could vomit so much blood.

Judging by the fact that I couldn't smell anything, even though it should have smelled of blood, my senses seemed to be numb.

Staring blankly at the blood, I soon mocked myself.

...I'm so weak.

I'm so weak, uselessly weak, that I couldn't protect Yeon-ryang.

I'm such an idiot who can't even protect myself, so...

My chest burned fiercely. I resented my helplessness.

I vomited blood endlessly, as if vomiting out my guilt.

"Cough, cough!"

"Damn it, the bleeding won't stop. Jeokroe, immediately...!"

"The medicine isn't working. Dang Sojeo. Calm your mind... ...please. Heart Demon... This won't do!"

Someone's shout faded into the distance. The excruciating pain in my left arm also gradually faded as if it wasn't mine.

I was terrified by the unfamiliar sensation.

Am I dying?

Not yet... I have to bring Yeon-ryang back...

"Law-Protecting Seo."

"Young Patriarch! Don't recklessly... ...use Internal Energy Transfer on a Martial Artist from another family, it's dangerous for you too! ...Even if you do, please listen to me. I'm going crazy, really."

"So-hye, ...I'll save you. Just a little..."

Someone said something and overlapped their body with mine, but I couldn't hear well, as if I were submerged in water.

I could only tell that he was holding me tightly.

Who is it?

The question faded with my blurring consciousness.

Soon, the world became quiet again.

The sound disappeared, my senses dulled, and the presence around me was erased. Everything was just darkness.

I felt something was wrong with the bone-chilling cold.

I could tell instinctively. If I couldn't hold on here, I would die like this.

I struggled not to lose consciousness, and a refreshing Qi flowed in from somewhere.

As I eagerly accepted the incoming True energy, my agonizing breath eased.

A blue light, resembling a clear sky, gently wrapped around my body as if to soothe me.

But I was impatient with the increasing thirst.

Give me more.

Just a little more.

When I lost my reason and clung on, demanding more, a huge amount of Internal Energy poured in.

Vivid blue soaked my parched Dantian, and corrected the flow of Qi and Blood Points that had been twisted into a mess.

An unfamiliar Qi circulated, pushing out the Demonic Bloom remaining in my body, and gradually dyeing my Energy Channels blue.

At the same time, the senses in my body began to return.

I heard the heartbeat of the person holding me, and felt the hand firmly supporting my back.

Hot breath touched my forehead, and a pleasant scent tickled my nose. Taking a deep breath, the humid scent of summer filled my lungs.

I struggled to move my fingertips and threw myself into the bright blue sky.

I didn't want to fall away from the True energy he was giving me. No, I couldn't fall away.

I had to accept even a little more of the pure Qi. I had to desperately eat it to survive.

Even with my struggle, he shared his Internal Energy without showing any displeasure. He even tightened his hand holding me, as if to say it was okay.

I didn't know who was giving me his Qi, but it was certain that he was not an enemy.

When I was sure that he wouldn't harm me, the strength drained from my tense body.

The shadow of death, which had been slowly tightening around my neck, was fading and losing its shape.

I buried my head in his arms and took a breath.

The string of consciousness that I had barely been holding onto loosened with relief.

I wanted to rest just a little, just a little.

Just one hour, let's rest for one hour. And then again...

Again...

.......

Jeokroe, who was holding the sword hilt tightly, bit his lip. Blood droplets dripped from the torn skin, but he didn't care at all.

What was a few drops of blood in a yard reeking of blood?

Jeokroe glared at the fluctuating flow of Inner Energy and groaned in agony.

The sight of a huge amount of True energy draining away made his insides burn.

His master was crazy. He wouldn't do such a crazy thing unless he was out of his mind.

Internal Energy Transfer!

Even Absolute Masters craved a handful of Inner Energy and coveted Elixirs, so how could there be such a crazy person in the world who poured his Inner Energy into someone else!

It was a pity that Dang So-hye was injured to the point of being on the verge of death, but it was a completely different story for his master to risk his life to save her.

It wasn't even certain if he could save her. Even to him, who was far from medicine, Dang So-hye looked no different from a corpse.

What if both of them were to die in front of his eyes?

Jeokroe fidgeted.

He wanted to separate the two of them right away, but there was a high possibility that even Namgung Hwi would be in danger if he touched them carelessly.

But if he left them alone, all the achievements that Namgung Hwi had built up would be in vain.

In a dilemma, Jeokroe, who was trying to find a solution, staggered and knelt down without realizing it.

A Martial Artist exuding a murderous aura so intense that his body stiffened was approaching quickly.

'A Demon?'

Jeokroe, who was overwhelmed by the momentum, tried to calm down and gripped his sword again. But the moment he did, someone who rushed in slammed Jeokroe to the ground.

Before he could resist, Jeokroe, whose Blood Vessels had been subdued, gasped at the eyes that looked like demons.

Eyes with dark blue flames were burning fiercely.

"You guys, you're from Namgung."

Unlike the thick murderous aura that made him mistake him for a Demon, Jeokroe, who was embarrassed by the familiar face, made a choking sound.

"D- Poison King, Elder...?"

Gray smoke rose from the long pipe.

Dang Jung looked at the sky, trying to soothe his boiling insides. The cloudy sky seemed to represent his heart.

He listened to the breathing coming from the room and lightly shook the long pipe.

It had already been three months since he had spent sleepless nights worrying that the faint breath would be cut off, and that the child would give up her will to live.

But his only disciple was still wandering on the verge of death.

He had used all the methods he knew, but all he could do was keep her breathing, and there was no improvement.

He had no choice but to ask Im Seol-yak for help, but the damned old monster hadn't been heard from yet, as if he had put honey on the Bamboo Sea.

'Im Ga... Please come quickly.'

Dang Jung bit his lip anxiously and calmed his breath, suppressing the urge to twist the Patriarch's neck.

Who could he blame?

It was the result of his foolishness in coddling those who couldn't see an inch ahead, calling them his bloodline.

He pressed his eyes tightly and calmed his anger, then threw down the long pipe and ran out in a hurry.

The presence of the person he had been waiting for was approaching.

"Im Ga...!"

Im Seol-yak, who was about to get annoyed at being told to come and go, was startled and shut his mouth at Dang Jung's cry.

The old man, who always looked down on people with an arrogant face, was in a mess, unlike him.

'Seol Yak...'

Like that day when he was holding a blood-soaked jade ring and looking up at him with despair.

A ripple also arose in Im Seol-yak's heart.

He wondered what was going on when the man, who would propose a deal but never ask for favors, was trembling and asking for help...

'Damn it.'

If it was a minor injury, that guy wouldn't have made such a face. Feeling the seriousness of the situation, Im Seol-yak gestured without saying anything.

"The child?"

"Come this way. She's been unconscious the whole time. The prognosis is not good."

"You're saying it's to the point where you can't do anything about it? Where is she hurt? Unless she's been invaded by Demonic Bloom..."

Then Dang Jung gritted his teeth. Im Seol-yak, who noticed the situation from the fluctuating murderous aura, sighed.

'Another Demonic Sect. You unlucky old monster.'

He decided not to ask about the details.

If he provoked the old monster who was barely holding on to his reason, he would definitely start swinging his sword without looking back.

He already had a record.

Im Seol-yak quietly opened the door and entered the patient's room, frowning and sitting on the bed.

The child in front of him was not the lively girl he remembered.

Dang So-hye was lying there in such a mess that he was worried about what had happened to her.

With a face that looked exactly like Dang Hwa-yeon.