Chapter 76
76th Episode
- An Unfortunate Extra
When I came to, I was lying on a shabby bed covered with unfamiliar bedding.
Blinking blankly, I gasped as memories flooded back.
I wasn't dead. I was alive.
Tears of relief streamed down my face. I couldn't believe I had opened my eyes again.
As I struggled to move my numb body, sensation returned to my limbs, and the tips of my index fingers twitched slightly.
Groping around the bed, I grabbed the edge and pulled myself up.
Perhaps it was because I moved my body suddenly, but dizziness washed over me for a moment.
I pressed my temples with my cold palms, trying to regain my senses. My forehead, damp with cold sweat, felt clammy.
Judging by the fact that my Dantian was intact, I seemed to have avoided Qi Deviation, thankfully.
How did I survive?
Trembling with anxiety, I looked around.
It was a small, old room.
Not the shack I had last hidden in. It didn't seem like a place with many people; I could barely sense any presence.
I slowly lowered my heavy legs to the floor. A throbbing pain ran through my thighs.
Glancing down, I saw the wounded area wrapped in clean cloth. Someone must have treated it.
The small room was old but well-maintained. I could sense traces of people everywhere, and there was a faint smell of medicinal herbs.
Something brushed against my toes, and I saw my Green Robe neatly folded under the bed. My pouch and silver coins were untouched.
As I wondered where I was, the door suddenly opened.
"You're awake?"
It was a hearty voice I had heard somewhere before.
"You don't seem fully conscious. Miss. Should I give you more time to rest?"
Staring blankly at the unfamiliar man in the doorway, I realized he was the owner of the voice I had heard before I passed out.
My body tensed up involuntarily. I cautiously opened my mouth, wary of him.
"Who are you?"
"Your savior, Miss."
The man chuckled and tilted his chin as if asking if he could come in.
The sunlight pouring in from behind him made his roughly tied hair glow crimson.
If he were to groom himself, he would have a handsome face, but the scar near his left eye gave him a somewhat delinquent air.
I nodded slowly, and the man strode in, placing a tray down.
He poured water from the kettle into a glass and handed it to me.
"Drink. I'm not in a position to offer tea, so all I have is cold water."
"...Thank you."
"Water is easy to get from the well."
My self-proclaimed savior grinned, revealing his white teeth.
Hesitating for a moment, I accepted the glass.
Even if it were Poison, it wouldn't be enough to poison me, so I couldn't be bothered to suspect and refuse.
I only intended to moisten my parched lips, but as soon as I swallowed a mouthful of water, I felt a burning thirst.
As I eagerly emptied the glass, the man refilled it. Fortunately, I was able to drink the second glass with a little more composure.
Whether it was freshly drawn from the well or because I was so thirsty, the water tasted sweet.
"Want more?"
"No. I'm fine."
"Alright. Give me the glass."
After placing the glass on the tray, he slowly sat on the edge of the bed.
"How's your body? Miss, if I had been just a little later, you would have fallen into Qi Deviation."
"How..."
"Your Inner Energy's nature is quite unique, you know? It felt like it would devour even my Inner Energy."
Cold sweat drenched my back at his nonchalant reply.
He was saying that he had managed my rampaging Qi and guided it.
He was a master.
Helping someone else circulate their Qi was not something anyone could do.
Moreover, he wasn't even from the Tang Clan. He was someone with such profound Martial Arts Technique that he could see through and manipulate the Sim Gong of another School.
It was clear that he was a master of a level I couldn't dare to challenge.
What did he want in exchange for saving me? To leave me at Yuju Merchant Guild in a fully functional state?
I hastily began to assess whether my body was in a condition to escape from him.
As my gaze sharpened, the man waved his hand as if telling me not to be wary.
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down. I have no intention of harming you."
"Pardon?"
"You had this little guy call me, Miss. If I had intended to harm you, I wouldn't have saved you in the first place."
"Ju-ryeong? Why are you there?"
Looking again, Ju-ryeong was sitting on the man's shoulder.
I had let him go so he could run far away, but it seemed he had sought help.
"Kkul-ruk."
Ju-ryeong stood up straight as if asking for praise. I chuckled and reached out my hand.
"Ju-ryeong. Come here."
Ju-ryeong scurried down from the man's shoulder and rushed into my arms.
"So, his name is Ju-ryeong? He lives up to his name. He's a good guide. Oh, I extracted the Spiritual energy from the Elixir Pill you swallowed and fed it to this little guy, so don't feel too bad. It's better than dying, right?"
"Kiee!"
Ju-ryeong nodded as if to say he had enjoyed it. I stroked Ju-ryeong and rolled my eyes.
He extracted only the Spiritual energy from my body and gave it to Ju-ryeong?
How was that even possible without using Demonic Arts?
And why didn't he absorb it himself?
It was a concentration of Spiritual energy that anyone would covet, even if it wasn't as good as the Ten Thousand Poisons Pill.
Wasn't a Martial Artist the kind of being who would go to any lengths to increase their Inner Energy by even a tiny bit?
He had the ability to kill me and take my Inner Energy, but instead, he suspiciously fed it to Ju-ryeong.
Seeing my poor complexion, the man waved his hand as if he knew what I was thinking.
"It doesn't suit me."
"Pardon?"
"If I had swallowed that Spiritual energy, my Qi and Blood Points would have been disrupted. It was mixed with your Inner Energy, Miss. It was quite poisonous."
Is that so.
It seemed understandable, yet it wasn't. Perhaps it was because I hadn't been awake for long, but my head wasn't working properly.
I knew that the man wasn't hostile to me. But that didn't mean I could trust him.
No, I shouldn't trust anyone.
'Where did the thousand silver coins go?'
A chilling voice echoed in my head, and a throbbing headache washed over me.
Clutching my head, I tried to maintain my composure and asked.
"What is your benefactor's name?"
"Yeon-ryang."
"...Pardon?"
I almost bit my tongue at the familiar name.
Yeon-ryang. He was the unfortunate extra who helped Namgung Hwi in <Namgung's World> and died.
In <Namgung's World>, there are a total of four fortuitous encounters that Namgung Hwi obtains.
First, the Ten Thousand Poisons Pill from Poison King Dang Jung.
Second, the Kongcheong Stone Milk and Elixir Pills obtained from the Hidden Cave of the Divine Doctor Gwisoo.
Third, the Inner Core of the Myriad Year Golden Toad.
Finally, the unique Secret Manual of Ju Cheon-gang, the Emperor of Chivalry.
Since I took Dang Jung's Ten Thousand Poisons Pill, should I say there are now three?
In any case, these four fortuitous encounters serve as breakthroughs in crises and help Namgung Hwi grow.
Like a protagonist, he monopolizes Elixirs three times, which others would never even see in their lifetime, and rescues Ju Cheon-gang, the Emperor of Chivalry, who was kidnapped by the Demonic Sect during a Murim Alliance mission.
The Emperor of Chivalry, who had no disciples, gives Namgung Hwi his unique Martial Arts Technique as a token of gratitude, and Namgung Hwi mixes its principles with the Azure Sky Boundless Sword Art, making progress in his martial arts...
In this process, Yeon-ryang is a helper from the Demonic Sect who helps Namgung Hwi rescue the Emperor of Chivalry.
I remember feeling sorry for Yeon-ryang's lonely departure, as he sacrificed himself to help Namgung Hwi and the Emperor of Chivalry escape, stalling for time until the end, knowing he would die.
He was quite a memorable death, so he was a popular extra.
So, he did use Demonic Arts. He's a member of the Demonic Sect.
I swallowed hard and stared intently at Yeon-ryang's face.
The Yeon-ryang described in the novel was middle-aged, but the current Yeon-ryang looked to be at most in his mid-20s.
I couldn't find any traces of the novel in the face of the cheerful young man.
Instead of a sensitive man, emaciated from the loneliness of the Demonic Sect, a healthy and vibrant man stood before me.
As I paused, Yeon-ryang blinked as if puzzled.
"Miss. Do you know me? I didn't think my fame had reached Sichuan."
"You know it well. It hasn't."
Yeon-ryang chuckled at that. It seemed like a joke of sorts.
"You seem to have the energy to joke around, so you must be getting hungry. Wait here. I'll go get something to eat."
I shook my head. I hadn't eaten for days, but I had no appetite.
"I have no appetite."
"Still, it's best to eat something, Miss. I'll bet my entire fortune that if you skip another meal in that condition, you'll collapse again in less than a day."
Does he even have a fortune?
I scoffed, then realized that my wariness towards Yeon-ryang had eased.
Perhaps it was because I knew what kind of ending Yeon-ryang had met that I felt relieved.
If he was a man who was willing to risk his death to help others for the sake of what was right, then at least he wouldn't put me in danger.
"...Then just a little."
"Good thinking, Miss. Play with Dam-bi. I'll be right back. Oh, and about your clothes, the sleeve of your Long robe is torn. Should I get you new clothes?"
Come to think of it, I had torn the sleeve to stop the bleeding in my thigh. I asked cautiously.
"Could you perhaps get me men's clothing?"
"Men's clothing?"
"Yes. And I'd like the sleeves of the Long robe to be wide."
"Hmm. I don't think that's a good idea. You're small, Miss, so even if you wear men's clothing, you won't look like a man. You'll just look like a runaway girl with a story. Why don't you just wear clothes that fit?"
Yeon-ryang frowned and stroked his chin as he suggested.
There was no flaw in his words. I nodded and took out a few silver coins from my pouch and handed them to him.
"I understand. Will this be enough?"
"It's plenty. I'll get you new Martial attire too. Is the Long robe green?"
Yeon-ryang asked tentatively. He seemed to know that I was from the Tang Clan.
Well, it would be strange if he didn't know, even after seeing my belongings.
There couldn't be two Martial Sects in Sichuan that wore Green Robes with wide sleeves and carried all sorts of Hidden Weapons, unidentifiable powders, and medicine bottles in their sleeves.
"...No. Black."
There was no need to wear Green Robes.
No, I shouldn't wear them. I had to be someone who had nothing to do with the Tang Clan now.
"Alright. If you're going to get rid of the clothes you were wearing, give them to me. Even though it's torn, it's high-quality silk, so I can get about one silver coin for it."
"No. It's covered in Poison..."
I shook my head, then stopped talking. I couldn't feel any Poison from the Green Robe.
"You ate it?"
"Kyoo."
Ju-ryeong proudly puffed out his chest. It seemed he had purified the Poison while I was unconscious.
Slowly bowing, I picked up the Green Robe with the torn sleeve.
The gold thread embroidery, which was only allowed for the direct line of the Tang Clan, was stained black with blood. It was a mess, no different from me.
I suppressed my emotions and muttered.
"Will there be anyone who wants to buy a Green Robe? Green clothes are taboo in Sichuan."
People in Sichuan tacitly avoided wearing green clothes. It was because they could be mistaken for members of the Tang Clan.
Those who had seen what kind of end those who impersonated the Tang Clan met did not want to create any misunderstandings from the start.
At my worried question, Yeon-ryang shrugged as if I was talking nonsense.
"Miss. Silk bought in this way is cut into small pieces and used to repair other clothes. The original shape won't remain, so you don't have to worry."
"I see."
Nodding, I handed him the Green Robe. I was in a situation where every penny counted. If I could exchange it for money, it was better to sell it off.
"I'll bring you food first, so wait here."
Yeon-ryang smiled kindly, waved his hand, and closed the paper door.
