Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 67

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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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Episode 67
“The Dean of Jin Mi Dang said it was a Formation left behind by one of Hui Yi’s disciples, and my uncle’s eyes lit up. He said arrays like the Sumyeon Formation are rare these days and awarded three hundred Merit Points.”
At first, Je Gal Mun Yu had expected around a hundred points, but apparently the fact that it was a Formation created by a disciple of someone famous meant the Merit Points came out higher than anticipated.
“Should we split it evenly, seventy-five points each?”
Je Gal Mun Yu asked me, So Un, Maeng Ryeong Ji, and Gu Won.
He added that if everyone didn’t agree on how to distribute the Merit Points, they would be automatically divided equally.
“Don’t you think we should give So Un a little more?”
I asked the three of them.
Equal distribution didn’t seem right.
Without her, the three of us wouldn’t have even noticed the Formation existed in the first place, or if we had, we wouldn’t have had the nerve to enter. We might have blundered in by accident and still be trapped.
Maybe we’d have made a careless mistake and never escaped.
It was easy now that we knew the Breaking Method, but thinking about how we would have had to pick up stones and deduce everything without knowing anything was terrifying.
“No, no, I couldn’t have made it that far without you ladies opening the way. If anything, I should take the least credit.”
“That’s not true. So Un did the most work. Seol and Ryeong Ji worked hard too, so I should take a bit less since I didn’t do anything.”
So Un waved her hand modestly,
but Gu Won insisted, just as I did, that more points should go to So Un.
“Ryeong Ji, what do you think about this…….”
“Hmm? If Seol says so, then that’s how it is.”
Maeng Ryeong Ji agreed with me without much deliberation.
After the four of us bickered for a moment,
Maeng Ryeong Ji and I each took seventy-five points, a quarter of the total Merit Points.
So Un received an additional one hundred points, and Gu Won an additional fifty points.
“I only carried luggage though. Isn’t this too generous…….”
“The strategist is always the most important. Besides, Gu Won didn’t really do anything.”
“But she protected me…….”
And then twenty-five basic points for tidying the chamber were added.
So Un’s total jumped to one hundred twenty-five points, and Maeng Ryeong Ji and I each rose to one hundred.
So Un seemed quite flustered by this, while Maeng Ryeong Ji, in celebration of the substantial Merit Points gained, suggested we eat something delicious today.
“Perfect, I’ll join the hunt today!”
After thanking Je Gal Mun Yu for his approval, we slipped out of the Student Hall.
Until now, I hadn’t actively participated in self-sufficient cooking.
In fact, I could enter Jin Mi Dang now,
but since they had gone to Gujung Hwangcheon with me, I decided to join them today for hunting and gathering.
“Were you hunting all the way out to the Stone Cave?”
“Since the kids don’t go that far, there are lots of beasts coming out there!”
Maeng Ryeong Ji showed enthusiasm about making a hunting bet,
but So Un talked her out of it, saying that even if we caught a lot, we had nowhere to store the meat.
Ah, that was true.
When we were in Buk Hae, we had plenty of natural freezers, and if needed, everyone could use the Ice Skill anyway, so we never worried about that.
Since I wasn’t going to freeze anything with my Ice Skill, I simply caught one rabbit and focused on gathering herbs.
While searching the mountains with Eun Hyun before, hunting for Agarwood, I’d spotted several things I could use, so I managed a pretty decent haul.
Thanks to the scallions, garlic, and ginger Gu Won had brought from outside,
and thanks to plain shiitake and oyster mushrooms instead of blue ones,
this hot pot tasted much better.
* * *
I didn’t know about it in my past life, but the 5-Day Week System was a wonderful thing.
During my time in Buk Hae, when I spent all thirty days however I pleased, I never thought about it,
but at this Academy, we got only three or four full rest days in a month.
The Academy’s second day off.
I left immediately for Nogun Mountain as soon as afternoon classes ended the day before.
While outings weren’t entirely free, now that various activities were becoming possible, it wasn’t terribly difficult either.
Yak Seon gave me a Task Assignment to go to Nogun Mountain and learn about Wang Yak Ro, and I accepted it that way.
Probably from now on, I’d be sent to gather materials needed to treat the Gu Eum Jeol Maek in this manner.
My Merit Points were tight, but I’d have gone sneaking off anyway if asked, so I accepted gratefully.
“The path is rougher than I expected.”
“If we go a bit further, there’s a valley, and at its mouth there’s a small village. Let’s rest there.”
“Ah, good.”
And Gu Won…… had simply snuck out of the Academy and followed me.
She said it sounded fun, or something like that.
I’d been worried we might get lost in the mountains with only a map and compass,
Gu Won knew the treacherous ridge that climbed and descended endlessly like the back of his hand—as familiar as his own courtyard.
“But you, what exactly is your real identity?”
I’d asked him point-blank once.
“A student from the Gak Jai Inn, enrolled at Cheonmu Academy.”
He merely smiled with that insufferable ease.
Ever since that first night I caught him trying to slip away in secret, he hadn’t shown even a flicker of alarm.
In any case, by the time we’d put a fair distance between ourselves and the Academy—
“Stop right there!”
I’d thought we would reach the town without incident, just as Gu Won had promised.
But impossibly, we’d encountered people in this harsh mountain wilderness.
“These slopes of Bok Woo Mountain are the territory of the Heo Uk Chae. Pay your toll if you wish to pass!”
“What, bandits?”
There were two of them, so I suppose I should say “bandits” plural.
One wore a tattered robe hanging open and a head wrap, clutching a club in his hand.
The other was dressed in rough leather and wielded a chipped blade with wild sweeps through the air.
I hadn’t encountered a single bandit the entire journey from Buk Hae to Luoyang.
To stumble upon them here, like this, by sheer chance!
“……Don’t stand there gawking—spill your coin purse! We’re no mere brigands, but members in good standing of the Nok Rim Chil Sip I Chae!”
The bandit with the club swaggered forward, bellowing his proclamation.
The Nok Rim!
The Nok Rim Chil Sip I Chae were a confederation of bandits from the Central Plains—a pillar of the heterodox faction.
I’d heard that the Nok Rim Tu Wang and certain other masters were quite formidable.
On my journey from Buk Hae to the Academy, I’d worried about meeting the Nok Rim. Now, strangely, I felt almost pleased.
Even among the Nok Rim, did the rank-and-file not know how to wield a proper weapon?
These were mere rabble—not warriors at all—and posed little actual threat.
I studied them with something like pity.
“Hand over fifty coins and I’ll let you pass without trouble!”
Since a thousand coins equaled one silver tael, the sum they were demanding wasn’t exorbitant.
“And if you don’t let us pass without trouble—what then? You planning to fight?”
Gu Won let out a smirk.
“Don’t provoke them needlessly. Weak as they look, the bandit chief could be strong.”
But I rebuked him.
Admittedly they appeared feeble, yet one couldn’t afford carelessness.
“Hmph!”
“You brats!”
For some reason, my attempt to restrain them only fired them up further.
Was I going to have to fight?
I drew my blade.
The bandit with the club showed no awareness of the gap in martial skill, treating us like children and preparing to charge.
“……Wait.”
But the one with the blade stopped him.
Still, he seemed a more seasoned bandit than the club-wielder.
“Could you possibly be a student of Cheonmu Academy?”
“Yeah, you know about Cheonmu Academy? That’s right.”
I nodded.
“An Academy?”
“A Cheonmu Academy student!”
“Eek!”
What had they thought then?
Two adolescents who weren’t even proper warriors—surely they hadn’t thought we were just wandering through this treacherous mountain by coincidence?
Hadn’t they heard the Martial World Maxim about being wary of the old, women, and children?
“The chief told us never to lay hands on Academy students.”
“So what do we do?”
They murmured among themselves, but all martial artists can hear such words.
“Ah, forgive us—we failed to recognize students laboring so relentlessly without rest! Please, proceed!”
The seasoned bandit made a swift judgment and stepped back several paces with hurried shuffles.
His partner glanced at my sword, then turned tail and followed.
“What? You’re not going to fight? How disappointing.”
“How could we dare cross blades with a martial expert! We wish you safe passage, honored master!”
The bandit with the blade sheathed his weapon entirely and bowed with clasped hands.
It seemed she believed that a righteous martial artist would never strike first against an opponent with no will to fight.
“Hmm…….”
I glanced sideways at Gu Won.
Gu Won shrugged.
“Go on.”
It was absurd, but I saw no reason to demonstrate my strength against them.
With a road this treacherous, how many ordinary travelers could possibly venture through?
Perhaps they’d managed to extort a hundred coins once in a while?
These pathetic bandits didn’t look like they’d yield much of anything worth the effort.
We simply let them go on their way.
And shortly after, we arrived at the village at the mouth of the valley Gu Won had mentioned.
“Oh my.”
“What in the world…….”
But there was something strange about the village’s atmosphere.
While it shouldn’t have been common for travelers to pass through, the village women paid us no particular mind.
I looked around the neighborhood with Gu Won, searching for something resembling an inn.
……Why were there only women?
Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the Buk Hae Ice Palace (Serialized)
Author │ Musk Deer
Publisher │ Kim Ju Hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
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ⓒ Musk Deer 2026
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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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