Surviving as the Villainess’s Servant in a Martial Arts Novel - Chapter 55

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 55

 

The child hurriedly continued speaking.

 

“So I got lost… I lost my way. I was going to the marketplace with Grandmother, but I lost sight of her, and while wandering around trying to find Grandmother, I ended up here…”

 

“Then why are your feet like that?”

 

“I stumbled while wandering in the mountain… I happened to roll down the mountain slope…”

 

“Ah.”

 

I nodded while being caught by a strange sense of unease.

 

‘You came all the way into the mountain forest trying to find Grandmother?’

 

The child’s words seemed plausible.

 

From the first time I saw the child, they were crying like a child who had lost their parents, and being covered in dirt all over would make sense if they had rolled down the mountain.

 

But there was something that didn’t sit right. For example, the frightened look when they first saw me…

 

I hid my suspicion and asked again.

 

“You said you were on the way to the marketplace? Then you lived somewhere close to here?”

 

“That’s… not exactly…”

 

“Then do you remember where you lost Grandmother? If you came here alone, it shouldn’t be too far, don’t you have any idea?”

 

“That too… I’m not sure…”

 

“…”

 

I became certain while watching the child ramble incoherently.

 

‘This kid is hiding something.’

 

There must be some circumstances.

 

But the child didn’t seem to have any intention of telling me. Rather, they seemed to be anxiously worried about those circumstances being discovered.

 

What should I do about this? Of course, I have no intention of leaving a sick child alone, but if they keep hiding things like this, I feel uncomfortable too…

 

The child, noticing my hesitation, hurriedly spoke.

 

“I’m sorry, I… I know I’m being strange. But I can’t move at all, and staying here is scary…”

 

“…”

 

“Just, just a little… could you help me? I won’t ask for anything unreasonable. Just… to outside the mountain, just take me that far. That would be enough…”

 

“That’s…”

 

Just as I was about to open my mouth.

 

“…!”

 

Thump.

 

Suddenly, I clutched my chest.

 

My eyes widened.

 

‘Wait, why all of a sudden?’

 

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

 

My heart began beating like crazy. Soon one side of my chest started aching sharply.

 

I knew this feeling well.

 

The sensation that had been tormenting me until just a while ago. This sensation that made my whole body tremble just thinking about it was…

 

“Aaah…!”

 

I clutched my chest and collapsed forward.

 

I couldn’t breathe properly.

 

It felt like countless awls were stabbing my body. No, it was like a giant nail was driven deep into my chest, gouging out the inside.

 

Saliva drooled out of my mouth. Soon the familiar chill struck.

 

Before I knew it, I was in the middle of a harsh winter.

 

My hands and feet turned pale and my teeth chattered. The chill that consumed my whole body penetrated deep into my organs. Terrible pain struck as if ice shards inside my body were carving out my organs.

 

It hurts, it’s cold, it hurts, it’s cold, it hurts, it’s cold, it hurts, it’s cold, it hurts, it’s cold, it hurts, it’s cold, it hurts, it’s cold.

 

“…! Hey, are you, are you okay?! Why are you suddenly like this… what should I do, what should I do about this…!”

 

In my blurry vision, I saw someone’s tearful face.

 

Young Miss? No, that’s not right. I parted ways with Young Miss.

 

Then who is it? Right, the child I had treated…

 

“…Kheuk!”

 

As soon as I regained consciousness, the pain rushed in again and I clawed at my chest. It was a gesture where I couldn’t tell if I was trying to wrap myself because of the cold or claw at myself because of the pain.

 

In that struggle, the collar of my chest area came undone. At the same time, I discovered something.

 

A blue handprint in the middle of my chest.

 

The child must have seen it too, as a shocked voice burst out from beside me.

 

“…Frostbite Palm!”

 

The child hurriedly continued.

 

“The blue handprint on your chest. It’s Frostbite Palm! How did this happen? Were you attacked by a master of Frostbite Palm?”

 

“Ugh, urgh…”

 

“No, this isn’t the time for this. If we leave it like this, the cold poison will penetrate your organs and it’ll become irreversible! We need an antidote, medicine to detoxify the cold poison…”

 

The child muttered incomprehensible words to themselves while hurriedly putting their hand into their clothes. Then they rummaged inside and pulled something out.

 

It was a small bottle.

 

The child tilted the bottle and took out a pill the size of a fingernail. Then they brought it to my mouth.

 

“You have to swallow this. Quickly!”

 

I didn’t have time to question it and struggled to swallow the medicine that entered my mouth.

 

Somehow I felt a refreshing energy going down my throat. When the refreshing energy traveled down and reached my chest.

 

“…!”

 

My eyes widened.

 

The pain was subsiding!

 

‘Really?’

 

It didn’t disappear all at once like magic, but the pain was slowly and surely disappearing.

 

My trembling body calmed down and the chill began to fade. The temperature inside my body returned to normal and finally I could breathe again.

 

When the pain subsided to just a slight ache in my chest, I raised my head.

 

In front of me was a small figure.

 

Precisely, the benefactor who had freed me from this pain.

 

“How is it? Are you feeling a bit better?”

 

The child was looking at me with worried eyes.

 

“Huh? Uh, yeah…”

 

The child was confusing, and I was also exhausted from the bout of pain, so I caught my breath and barely managed to speak.

 

“I did get better… but what exactly happened here…”

 

“Thank goodness! The Baedog Seokhaehwan must have been effective. Ah, this medicine was made by my papa who analyzed a hundred poisons to create an antidote. It has some effect on most poisons.”

 

“Really…?”

 

“Yes, but cold poison is a bit special, so it’ll be hard to completely detoxify it. With Baedog Seokhaehwan, we can only prevent it from getting worse…”

 

“Special, you say.”

 

I asked urgently.

 

“What’s special about it? Cold poison? What is Frostbite Palm?”

 

The child hesitated. I asked desperately again.

 

“If you know something, please tell me. Actually, as you said, I was attacked by a suspicious person. This pain has been coming since then, and I thought I was going to die without knowing why…”

 

“That’s…”

 

The child seemed to hesitate for a moment. However, they soon slowly began to speak.

 

“Frostbite Palm is a combat method where a master who has trained in cold internal energy emits powerful cold energy to inflict fatal wounds on opponents.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“If you get hit properly, cold poison seeps in along with fatal internal injuries. This is what’s special about cold poison. Like internal injuries, the cold energy damages the meridians and slowly freezes the blood.”

 

“…”

 

“Eventually, when cold poison erupts, your hands and feet freeze within three days and you can’t move, and after seven days, all your blood freezes and you die. When you die from cold poison, the corpse doesn’t rot either, so it remains for a long time.”

 

“Huk…”

 

I rubbed my arms that had goosebumps.

 

If what they said was true, wasn’t I in tremendous danger? I almost froze to death on the streets, let alone meeting Young Miss.

 

Even if the corpse doesn’t rot… As I shuddered, the child muttered to themselves.

 

“But Frostbite Palm is such a vicious and cruel martial art that it was said to be almost lost, except for what the evil demon lords of old learned…”

 

‘How do you know that?’

 

The child was definitely more than just ordinarily suspicious.

 

I had thought she was hiding something from the time she couldn’t answer properly, but seeing her rattle off information I’d never heard or seen before, she clearly wasn’t an ordinary child.

 

‘What exactly does this kid do? Could she be a young lady from some great martial arts noble family?’

 

However, since it was obvious the child wouldn’t tell me even if I asked, I asked about something else.

 

“Then… what happens to me now? Baedog? You said that medicine can’t completely detoxify it. I’m feeling much better now… but maybe if I keep taking the medicine, I’ll recover?”

 

The child came to her senses and shook her head.

 

“That’s not it. As I told you, Baedog Seokhaehwan is only a temporary treatment. To eliminate the cold poison, you need to be properly seen and treated by a physician.”

 

“By a physician?”

 

“Yes, but not just any ordinary physician. Cold poison is also related to internal injuries, so it has to be a physician who understands internal energy well. Ah! My grandmother might be able to treat it. She’s not only knowledgeable about poisons, but also deeply versed in medical arts…”

 

“Ah…”

 

I looked at the chattering child with clouded eyes. The child seemed to be thinking about going to her grandmother with me for treatment, but for me, those were troubling words.

 

What was it that I needed to do right now? Wasn’t it to quickly go to Gangseoseong and find Young Miss?

 

But when would I have time to find the child’s grandmother and even receive treatment? I didn’t even know where the child’s grandmother was right now…

 

‘What should I do?’

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