Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 70

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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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Chapter 70
Gu Won and I held our breath as we crept along the Narrow Path.
With a sheer cliff face mere inches to our right, a glance downward made my heart seize.
An ordinary person would fall and die without question.
As for me—well, I might manage to cling to the cliff face with the Qin Na Hand and clamber up or down somehow, but the prospect of risking combat here didn’t appeal to me in the slightest.
I had no desire whatsoever to invite that kind of danger.
From a defensive standpoint, wasn’t this terrain flawless?
Even if a thousand men came pouring in—not that it would happen—only two or three could pass through at once on a path so narrow.
With a master-level expert holding the choke point, the overwhelming numerical disadvantage could be negated entirely.
“Aren’t you being foolish? They should’ve posted a sentry at the entrance and lit a beacon fire.”
“Perhaps they didn’t expect intruders to arrive this quickly.”
But despite discovering such a natural fortress, they didn’t seem to be especially thorough about it.
Even as we moved silently and traversed the entire Narrow Path, no sentry appeared.
“They were planning to build a fortress here.”
Without encountering any resistance, Gu Won and I passed through the Narrow Path, rounded the peak, and emerged into the Basin above.
What lay before us was clearly a fortress site in its earliest stages of construction.
They had carved the slope to create level ground, gathered stones and timber to one side.
While no major structures had been raised yet, they had quarried stone into brick-shaped blocks.
Two logs stood upright where the Narrow Path ended.
They must have intended to build a gate here.
“Judging by the cutting marks, they definitely have skilled carpenters and stonemasons,” Gu Won murmured.
He spoke quietly.
We slipped easily between the logs and crouched behind some unhewn timber to scout the area.
No one was working the site—they apparently didn’t push construction into the dark hours of night.
“There are only two night sentries.”
Perhaps with families living in the nearby Village, they’d never attempted escape or rebellion?
They didn’t seem wary of the laborers they’d brought; they clearly weren’t expecting any external assault whatsoever.
Several tents were pitched in front of the Taoist Temple.
But the only people standing guard outside were two figures sitting by a fire pit.
They looked less like sentries and more like they were simply tending the flames.
“Should we take those two out first?”
“I’ll do it.”
Since Gu Won said he could wield a Dark Blade, that seemed like the better option.
I nodded my agreement.
Whoosh! Snap!
He caught both of them by surprise, striking from behind in an instant while they faced away.
He struck one on the back of the neck, and on the other, he covered the mouth while pressing something on the throat—a Pressure Point Strike?
A Pressure Point Strike, perhaps?
Gu Won lifted both men by the waist and carried them off behind another tree.
He then gestured for me to follow him over there.
“So the night sentries aren’t even warriors?”
“Seems not. They look similar to the ones we passed on the way up.”
“Hmm, given how much noise we’ve made and no one’s come out, I’d say there aren’t any impressive martial artists in the tents. The village people must be imprisoned in the Taoist Temple, and the bandits are staying inside the temple structure.”
This particular tree wasn’t far from the tents.
By my perception and Qi sensing, we were cutting it close, though a warrior of Baek Woong’s caliber would certainly have detected our presence.
The fact that no one emerged, and no one noticed when Gu Won subdued the night sentries, suggested it was safe to assume there were no strong martial artists in the tents.
“Hmm… wouldn’t there be more guards if that were the case? I suspect they’re mixed in with the others, or perhaps Nok Rim Do is actually camped in the tents.”
Ah, now that I heard it, that made sense.
If the bandits were encamped in the courtyard, the trapped villagers in the Taoist Temple wouldn’t dare attempt escape.
It did seem odd to have locked them inside the building at all, though spatially speaking, that arrangement made the best use of the terrain.
“Still, Chae Ju must be somewhere inside the temple, right?”
“Probably.”
“Then what if we slip quietly through the tents and deal with Chae Ju first? Like how you just took out those sentries—strike him while he’s sleeping.”
If we moved quietly enough, couldn’t we infiltrate the temple and catch him off guard?
I’d suggested a cowardly night ambush, but Gu Won’s expression darkened.
“Ha, I haven’t had Assassin Training, so I can’t move that stealthily. And the timing’s uncertain—no guarantee Chae Ju will be asleep. We might end up surrounded by martial artists inside and forced to fight in close quarters.”
Imagining the scenario Gu Won described, it didn’t sound appealing.
“Right… both of us excel at movement techniques, so if we’re going to fight anyway, open ground would be much more advantageous.”
It would be better to simply wipe out all the bandits in the tents, then face off against Chae Ju.
If they were ordinary civilians armed as bandits—the sort we’d encountered on the way up—then even dozens of them in the tents could be dispatched quickly enough.
“Gu Won, I’ll handle the cleanup here and draw Chae Ju out. You fall back for now.”
“Hmm? You’ll be all right on your own? I thought you were the cautious type.”
“It’s the strong ones I’m worried about—Chae Ju and his ilk. I’m keeping your strength hidden for now. If it looks like I can’t win, that’s when you step in.”
Gu Won laughed softly.
“So you want a proper chance to test out that Desert Sand Martial Art of yours? Fair enough.”
Red dust and all.
Not that it matters exactly, but I won’t deny I’m curious to see how it works.
In any case, we’ve planned this thoroughly enough.
“Right. I’m going to keep quiet as much as I can, so I’ll need you to reassure the villagers.”
“Sure, understood.”
The Veiled Hat and face covering hid our expressions from each other.
But we nodded at the same time.
* * *
Riiip!
I deployed the Red Dust Turbid Yang Gong and tore through the nearest tent in a single breath.
Inside were four bandits, all resting.
Two lay sprawled; two sat upright.
“…!”
“W-who is it?”
Before the shout from the lying bandit even finished,
I swept the two sitting ones off their feet with a single kick.
A sinister sword aura clung to the Excalibur I’d drawn with bravado,
but if I slashed at men who couldn’t even grip their weapons properly with this blade, all four would end up on the road to hell.
There might be villagers or carpenters mixed in here—I had to subdue them carefully.
Thwack! Crack!
One of them managed to grab a sword and sit up, but the two who’d been lying down scrambled about before finding an Axe and Club.
Even a martial artist trying hard to hide their strength would draw upon their Internal Energy for attack or defense in an emergency like this,
but seeing them do nothing at all, it was clear they’d barely learned any martial techniques.
Since they were weak enough that even using the blade would feel awkward, I lightly struck the remaining two on the head with the flat of my sword, knocking them unconscious.
“W-what’s happening?!”
“An enemy! An ene—”
Still, thanks to that first man’s cry, those who came tumbling out from the neighboring tents did have weapons in hand.
But that was all.
They weren’t much different in that it was inconvenient to deploy any real martial technique,
and I felled three of them at once with a single swing of my blade.
“Where did—gack!”
“One man! Surround him!”
Bandits poured out from the remaining tents all at once.
Hmm, I had quite a bit of experience with one-against-many fights when the opponent was weaker than me.
Ever since entering the Academy, Life-and-Death Combat Practice has been mostly one-on-one Martial Duels,
but back at the Ice Palace, all the children my age were weaker than me, so they’d sometimes have a dozen or twenty of them come at me at once.
“Kyaaaagh!”
“Gugh!”
“S-spare me…!”
“He’s… an incredible expert!”
Even children who’d trained in the Ice White Divine Technique to some degree couldn’t stand against me,
let alone bandits who hadn’t learned proper martial techniques at all.
They fell to the ground like autumn leaves before the wind.
“Chae Ju! We’re under attack!”
Just as Gu Won and I had predicted, Chae Ju was in the Taoist Temple.
Several men rushed toward it to alert him to my presence.
Since I’d wanted to draw Chae Ju outside anyway, I didn’t stop them.
Instead, I dealt with those who were floundering about helplessly and those trying to flee toward the Narrow Path.
I noticed the bandit duo I’d encountered a few hours ago, but since I wore the Veiled Hat, they didn’t recognize me.
“Hhhngh!”
“Argh!”
The situation was resolved in an instant.
Nearly thirty lackeys who’d been resting in the tents were all knocked unconscious or left writhing on the ground.
“What’s this commotion? In the dead of night…!”
“W-what in blazes—!”
“Chae Ju, they’ve all fallen!”
After dealing with them, I walked slowly toward the Taoist Temple.
How perfectly timed—four martial artists suddenly burst out from the temple’s entrance.
Were these the executives of Heuk Woo Chae?
At a glance, the largest one in the middle had to be Chae Ju.
Including his three retainers, the four of them carried themselves with enough Qi Aura to suggest they’d trained in meaningful martial techniques.
Step. Step.
I closed the distance between us gradually.
The four warriors drew their blades and took up an adequate stance, though they didn’t employ any coordinated formation.
“……Who are you?”
“…….”
“You brought down all our people alone? I don’t understand what grudge you bear against us, but…….”
Chae Ju, in fact, addressed me with surprising courtesy.
Ah—wearing a veiled hat in the dark night, silver hair streaming, it seemed I cut quite an impressive figure.
Enough to pass for an old master, apparently.
Surviving as an Heiress of Buk Hae Ice Palace with a Limited Lifespan (Serialized)
Author │ Sah-hyangno-ru
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
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ⓒ Sah-hyangno-ru 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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