Surviving as the Terminally Ill Young Lady of the North Sea Ice Palace - Chapter 84

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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 84
“We’d need a poison with a convergent nature that suppresses the dispersive action of Mountain Empty Poison. It would have to be stronger than the Mountain Empty Poison remaining in each person’s body.”
Wait—so what Dan Ri Hyang and Namgung A Yeong were doing earlier wasn’t entirely wrong?
With Eun Hyun speaking seriously and possessing knowledge of herbal lore, his words carried weight.
“Since most of it’s already been expelled by now, a non-lethal poison should be able to suppress it, shouldn’t it?”
Pressing down with a blindly stronger poison right after ingesting Mountain Empty Poison would be dangerous.
But now it might be worth trying.
“That’s my thinking as well. However, even so, there’s no obvious way to obtain such a poison.”
Eun Hyun nodded, his expression tinged with slight disappointment.
He didn’t seem particularly interested in the students’ recovery of Internal Energy.
……Was he perhaps eager to test the hypothesis?
No—I shouldn’t carelessly reinterpret my pure-hearted friend as some mad scientist.
That would make me no different from those who’d slandered Eun Hyun for cruelty in his methods.
I pushed aside the useless thought and considered where we might obtain poison.
Dang So Yeor certainly wouldn’t give us any.
Poison wasn’t something you could simply purchase with money once you stepped outside the Academy.
“Ah, what about mushroom poison?”
Right then.
A memory surfaced—we’d all eaten blue mushroom hotpot together at Inbon Hall and worried about poisoning.
Remarkably, that blue mushroom contained no actual toxin.
But if there were colored mushrooms, there’d be plenty more on the back mountain.
Surely some of them would carry genuine poison!
“……Mushroom poison tends to have coagulating properties. It seems feasible. We could suppress the remaining Mountain Empty Poison with mushroom poison, then expel the toxin all at once using Internal Energy.”
Eun Hyun nodded softly, as if impressed.
* * *
After meeting Eun Hyun at the Training Grounds, I sparred with him briefly to help with his swordwork.
Then I stopped by the Dormitory and distributed apples, pears, quince, and dried persimmon among everyone.
I gave all the tangerines to Maeng Ryeong Ji, and apparently pomegranate was unexpectedly popular.
“Are you certain it’s all right to give us so much?”
“Sure. It needs to be eaten before it spoils.”
Gu Won had found a cool spot in the Stone Cave and offered to show me the location if I wished.
But the quantity wasn’t so great that storage was essential, and I worried about beasts making off with it, so I decided to have everyone eat it quickly instead.
“The main problem is if the Mountain Empty Poison isn’t suppressed, or if the mushroom poison proves more severe than expected…….”
“Yak Seon doesn’t seem to dislike treating patients. If we carried someone there, he’d probably treat them—though we’d lose Merit Points for it.”
I’d discussed the risks with Eun Hyun in case the hypothesis was flawed.
I’d suggested that the Academy and Yak Seon probably wouldn’t let anyone die.
Eun Hyun nodded in agreement.
In fact, it might be advantageous for me.
If my Merit Points went negative, wouldn’t I have more companions to descend to the Nine Layers of the Underworld with?
The previous party had good synergy, but needing four people made it difficult to coordinate schedules.
Well, I’d think about that if we failed.
“……I came up with this method. Would you be willing to experiment with it?”
In any case, after organizing the logic of Poison Counters Poison with Eun Hyun,
I presented the hypothesis the next day, before the comprehensive martial arts instruction began, when all the students from every dormitory had gathered.
“Splendid! Let’s try it at once!”
“If the lady proposes it, how can we refuse?”
No—wait, you two.
We need to be more cautious about this.
To my bewilderment, the moment I finished speaking, auction candidates number 3 and 4 from the previous bidding—Paeng Jin Cheol and Wi Jong Haeng—immediately volunteered to ingest mushroom poison.
“It wasn’t my idea…….”
I tried to credit Eun Hyun, but
in that instant, he shook his head with an expression of distaste.
Huh—he’s uncomfortable with being noticed?
“……I was just making an educated guess based on what Yak Seon said. I can’t be responsible if the suppression fails, and if it succeeds, you all need to give me ten Merit Points.”
Myeong Seong, whose relationship with Eun Hyun was strained, happened to be present.
If something went wrong, I worried he might seize this as an opportunity to attack Eun Hyun.
Since no one would blame me if it failed, I’d let them think it was my idea instead.
And if we succeeded, I’d take the Merit Points and distribute them.
“Give it a shot! You’re out in the dense forest all the time anyway—you eat poisonous mushrooms without even knowing it! Nobody dies!”
“Mushroom poison is mushroom poison—some of it will kill you.”
“Just spit it out, and we’re done!”
I wasn’t entirely certain, but weren’t there things like neurotoxins?
Maeng Ryeong Ji had urged us so confidently to consume the poisonous mushroom.
It was I who grew cautious instead.
“I’ll give it a try.”
“Me too.”
“Me as well!”
“……I shall partake too, sir!”
And yet, Wi Jong Haeng and Namgung A Yeong, along with Paeng Jin Cheol and even Dan Ri Hyang—who had harbored doubts about the blue mushroom stew—all stepped forward to attempt it.
“This seems dangerous.”
Only Namgung Min, a single dissenting voice, furrowed his brow.
But when everyone else moved as one, the wisdom of the cautious invariably went unheard.
“Hmm? Why are all of you so bright-eyed today?”
Class began shortly after, yet it was plain that poisonous mushrooms filled every young mind in the room.
Je Gal In found it remarkable that not a single student slept through the lesson.
The moment instruction ended, however—
Both the cadets committed to the plan and those curious about its success had scoured the mountainside for colored mushrooms.
The reasoning was simple: attempting during daylight meant rushing to the Medical Hall would be easier should anything go wrong.
“Does anyone here know anything about mushrooms?”
Eun Hyun likely wasn’t deeply versed in fungi, even if he knew medicinal herbs.
I posed the question to Gu Won with some hope, but—
“This orange mushroom would be ideal. It’s poisonous, but not severely so. You vomit, your stomach aches, you have diarrhea for a bit, and then in about two days you’re fine!”
The answer came, unexpectedly, from So Un.
Ah, right—she’d mentioned that the Yu Family Estate rarely fed her, so she’d sampled whatever she could find in the mountains.
“Even if it looks like a similar orange cap with tiny holes underneath, the ones where those holes have turned blue are more potent. Ugh, I vomited so much I felt like all the water was draining from my body. If a passing woodcutter hadn’t shared water with me, things could have ended badly.”
……She knows all this in such detail?
“Oh, and this one! The hairy brown ones are genuinely dangerous! When I ate one, my limbs trembled violently, and I even saw a vision of my dead father!”
……The estate simply starved her—not conducted mushroom research, surely?
I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had transpired at the Yu Family Estate. Had my break afforded me more leisure, I would have visited to investigate.
“Very well. I shall taste the orange mushroom first.”
Eager though I was to proceed—
Faced with fungi that looked unquestionably dangerous even at a glance, the cadets hesitated.
“……If you vouch for it, I shall trust your judgment.”
Wi Jong Haeng grasped the orange mushroom—the one said to cause mild diarrhea—with the solemn countenance of one embarking on a perilous expedition.
Though truthfully, it wasn’t my hypothesis but Eun Hyun’s, and So Un’s knowledge……
“……How do you feel?”
Still, my curiosity about the outcome was genuine, so I made no move to stop him.
“It’s hard to say just yet.”
“It takes a bit of time for digestion!”
Since no immediate effect appeared, we simply waited a full hour.
“Ugh…… My stomach feels a little strange, perhaps?”
Before long, Wi Jong Haeng was rubbing his abdomen, pacing back and forth.
Hmm, simple abdominal discomfort then?
So Un’s knowledge of the mushroom’s weak toxicity had proven accurate, yet it seemed to have failed to suppress the Mountain Empty Poison.
Was the toxin too mild? Or was the hypothesis itself flawed?
I reached for a different mushroom, one perhaps more potent—
“Cough!”
Wi Jong Haeng suddenly coughed up blood.
“Are you all right?”
“Wi, help!”
I rushed to steady him, alarmed.
Wi Jong Haeng’s companions approached with deep concern.
“Ugh…….”
But Wi Jong Haeng’s expression was not that of one poisoned by lethal toxin lacking internal cultivation.
“Kra-ha-ha-ha!”
He erupted in great laughter as though he had become a martial lord, radiating Internal Energy outward from his body.
“Success!”
“It truly works!”
“Ha, ha-ha! Thanks to you, lady! Ooh-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
“Did you burn away all the mushroom poison too?”
“Of course! If I can use my Internal Energy, this is nothing!”
At first, as the mushroom digested, a dull ache crept through his belly.
But when the pain sharpened, he realized he might be able to draw up his energy after all.
And indeed, he succeeded.
“Me too, I want to eat it!”
“I shall partake as well!”
“Me!”
One success case had emerged, but the difference between zero and one was absolute.
Paeng Jin Cheol, Namgung A Yeong, and Dan Ri Hyang rushed forward to eat the mushrooms.
“Fine, fine……”
“Argghhhhh!”
As Paeng Jin Cheol and Namgung A Yeong succeeded in their detoxification, the remaining cadets, fearing they might be too late, began swallowing the mushrooms one after another.
When So Un’s variety of mushroom ran scarce, cadets who’d come to watch began gathering the same mushrooms from the mountain for their friends.
“Everyone’s recovered so well……”
“Cough—gag!”
“Hack!”
“Argh!”
The cadets all coughed up blood, expelling the San Gong Poison.
“……Why isn’t it working for me?”
“Perhaps it remains too deeply embedded in my body, and I haven’t suppressed it yet?”
Growing impatient as her Internal Energy did not return even with the passage of time, Dan Ri Hyang
consumed an Orange Mushroom, which was said to carry a stronger toxicity.
“Gack!”
Yet mercifully, she succeeded.
Though the Academy floor was painted with blood, the cadets erupted in cheers.
“Whoooooo!”
“Now we can use our Internal Energy!”
“We shall never forget this kindness!”
Surviving as a Young Mistress of the Buk Hae Ice Palace with a Time Limit (Serialized)
Author │ Sahjang Noru
Publisher │ Kim Ju Hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae Hyuk
Address │ 401, Ace Tech Tower 8, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Sahjang Noru 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. The content may not be used in any form or means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this will result in civil and criminal liability.

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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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