I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 85

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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85.
“I don’t know either. But I have a memory of meeting you long, long ago.”
Yeon-poong offered nothing more, as if that was all she could tell me.
“Go now. Before I start longing for that child again.”
The crimson thread wound around my wrist trembled once.
Im So-ha was pulling me from outside.
I adjusted my grip on Ha Gyeong-un and bowed once more toward Yeon-poong.
“I’ll return.”
As I lifted my head, the world began to fade white, as if painted over with watercolor.
***
My eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
Someone was shaking my shoulder forcefully.
A familiar voice pierced through my ears.
“…Sister! Sister, wake up!”
“Mmm…”
“Come to your senses! Open your eyes!”
As I slowly opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the narrow stone chamber ceiling and blue smoke rising from below.
And Eun Hui-gyeom’s face pressed close above mine.
“…You’re too close!”
“Oh, I apologize.”
Eun Hui-gyeom startled and stumbled backward.
I staggered as I pushed myself upright.
“How long was I…?”
“Two hours! Two hours!”
“…”
“When Im Susa said your spiritual power was nearly depleted, you can’t imagine how shocked I was!”
Eun Hui-gyeom finally fell silent and turned away.
Two hours.
It felt like less than half the time I’d experienced within the meditation realm.
I tried to stand fully but stopped mid-motion.
My legs had no strength—I couldn’t rise.
My entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, Im Susa…”
Im So-ha’s condition was equally dire.
Meditation realm techniques are already spiritually taxing arts.
Since she’d expended nearly twice the hour she’d originally mentioned, Im So-ha’s spiritual power must have been completely exhausted.
“Thank you for coming back.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m the one who…”
Thinking of Im So-ha holding the line outside filled me with remorse.
Im So-ha’s complexion was also terribly pale.
“What about Ha Susa?”
The moment I rose with Eun Hui-gyeom’s support, I asked about Ha Gyeong-un’s condition.
Im So-ha turned her head and looked down at Ha Gyeong-un.
Sweat beaded on Ha Gyeong-un’s forehead, and though his lips remained pallid, the azure luminescence that had suffused his skin was faintly fading.
The foreign energy that had been driven deep like tree roots was beginning to dissipate.
“His breathing has returned. His meridians are normal. He’s alive…”
Kang Jin-heon caught Im So-ha as she swayed, the tension finally releasing from her body.
Eun Hui-gyeom employed the Hyeon-su Yeon-maek Technique on Ha Gyeong-un.
It was a singular vitality cultivation art that had become available to him after joining the Chukgi Sect.
The azure water energy flowing from Eun Hui-gyeom’s fingertips seeped into Ha Gyeong-un’s blood vessels, stabilizing his spiritual essence.
“Mm…”
Not long after, Ha Gyeong-un’s eyelashes trembled faintly and his eyelids opened.
His unfocused eyes wandered across the ceiling for a moment before settling on Im So-ha’s face.
“Im… Sajeo?”
“Gyeong-un.”
“How long was I asleep?”
Ha Gyeong-un spoke with a hoarse voice.
Seeing this, Im So-ha finally embraced Ha Gyeong-un and burst into tears.
***
When we emerged from the Stone Chamber, the night had grown deep.
Starlight poured through the leaves of Unbyek Rim.
The chirping of insects drifted from distant to near.
The sounds and winds that had vanished had returned as if it were all a lie.
The familiar sensation of wind brushing my cheeks felt strangely unfamiliar.
Ha Gyeong-un was carried on Im So-ha’s back.
Though Eun Hui-gyeom’s vitality cultivation art had barely restored his consciousness, his body had not yet regained its strength.
Still, color had returned to his cheeks, and his breathing was steady.
Unbyek Rim no longer rejected us.
The scattered glimmers of insects seemed to be guiding us out of the forest.
Eun Hui-gyeom walked closely beside me as I left Unbyek Rim.
Under normal circumstances, he would have unleashed twenty rounds of nagging, but he said nothing after we emerged from the Stone Chamber.
He simply followed a step behind, walking near my elbow, worried I might stumble.
Kang Jin-heon walked ahead.
The iron wire in his hand slowly unfurled and folded repeatedly.
It seemed he was checking the wind.
“There’s still no wind at that point.”
I could say nothing.
The wind at that location was the wind Yeon-poong had swallowed.
The wind she had confined along with her own soul for a thousand years.
For Yeon-poong to return, her seal would need to be completely broken.
I gazed up at the star-studded night sky.
‘Senior Yeon-poong.’
She was likely spending time alone in that forest again, solitary and isolated.
The thought of it left an ache in my chest.
Bringing Ha Gyeong-un had been the right thing to do, yet it felt as though I had wounded her once more.
A single leaf fluttered in the wind, obscuring my view.
Without thinking, I waved my hand and brushed it away.
“Sister, are you still not fully recovered?”
“No. I’m just… tired.”
“Would you like me to carry you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m serious. I’m quite strong.”
“I said no. What’s there to carry?”
“Fine then. If you pull something like that again, I really will carry you whether you like it or not.”
Eun Hui-gyeom muttered in a sulky tone.
His expression was rather endearing, and I found myself laughing softly despite myself.
Perhaps because of that small smile, the weight pressing on my chest seemed to ease a little.
Clouds illuminated by moonlight drifted slowly, gently carried by the wind.
***
Ha Gyeong-un and Im So-ha returned directly to Chui Ok Gok Mun.
Though he still could not speak properly, he bowed deeply toward me once.
I waved my hand in response to Ha Gyeong-un.
Eun Hui-gyeom and I returned to Bikyun Pavilion.
The moment I opened the door, the first thing I encountered was Baek Un-jin’s gaze.
Baek Un-jin stood beneath the plum blossom tree in the courtyard of Bikyun Pavilion.
A half-read book was held in his hand.
“Master. We have returned.”
Eun Hui-gyeom clasped his hands in salute and bowed.
“You have returned.”
Baek Un-jin looked us over from head to toe.
“You must have had a difficult time.”
“Not at all.”
“Come inside and have some tea. Rest yourselves.”
“Yes.”
Eun Hui-gyeom and I went to Baek Un-jin’s room and drank tea.
Unlike the tea we usually drank, this one carried a rich floral fragrance—a scent I had never encountered before.
Eun Hui-gyeom tilted his head at the unfamiliar tea.
“It is Yeong An Flower Tea.”
“Cough…!”
Eun Hui-gyeom, who had been drinking without much thought, suddenly coughed.
He covered his mouth with his hand and swallowed the remaining tea in his throat.
“What’s wrong?”
“Sister. This is, uh, incredibly rare. One cup is worth a spiritual stone….”
He whispered quietly to me.
Yeong-an Flower was a spiritual herb with jade-colored petals that grew deep within Yeong Mountain.
It bloomed on sheer cliffs and was said to flower for only four days each year.
“What?”
After hearing that explanation, the flower petals floating on the tea suddenly looked like gold rather than flowers.
“Both of you have suffered significant damage to your spiritual energy. It’s fine—drink it.”
“Yes, understood.”
There was a reason Baek Un-jin had specifically told me to drink the tea, uncharacteristic of him.
Knowing it would be impolite not to drink something my master had given me simply because it was expensive, I took a sip of the Yeong-an Flower tea.
Strangely, the impurities accumulated in my body seemed to dissolve, and I felt my mind and body becoming calm.
“It’s delicious.”
The tea had little of the usual bitter taste, and was instead sweetly pleasant, as if honey had been stirred in.
“Sister! Stop drinking. Stop!”
“Why? Our master brewed it for us anyway. Besides, if it’s expensive, I should drink every last drop!”
“W-well, that’s true, but. Then, I’d like another cup too!”
Eun Hui-gyeom came over and took the teacup that had been in front of me, pouring himself more Yeong-an Flower tea to drink.
Baek Un-jin watched me and Eun Hui-gyeom bickering in silence.
Only after we had nearly finished the tea and my fatigue had begun to ease did he speak.
“What happened at Unbyek Rim?”
“Ah, that….”
I hesitated, unsure where to begin my explanation.
In the meantime, Eun Hui-gyeom summarized and recounted the events that had occurred.
However, even Eun Hui-gyeom did not know what I had experienced when I entered Ha Gyeong-un’s inner world.
The moment Baek Un-jin heard that I had entered Ha Gyeong-un’s inner world, his gaze shifted from Eun Hui-gyeom to me.
I set down the empty teacup.
“…I met a woman. She appeared to be from an ancient monastery, over a thousand years ago.”
“A monastery?”
“Yes. I’m not sure which sect she belonged to, but for a moment I became that woman and glimpsed her memories.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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