Chapter 355: A Flower Blooming in the Snow

When Baek Hyang-a didn’t die even after extracting the Jinwon energy for three days, the group’s mood turned peculiar.

“Why isn’t she dead yet?”

“How should I know?”

Baek Hyang-a had used her immense yin energy to slow the dispersion of the Jinwon energy as much as possible. While most people would perish within half a day of extracting it, she had roughly two weeks. But Tang Mujin’s group had no way of knowing this.

Not that they wished for her death, but they weren’t particularly invested in her survival either. Their reactions were more out of pure curiosity.

Hong Geolgae and Namgung Myung whispered to each other.

“Maybe she didn’t actually extract the Jinwon energy?”

“Impossible. Didn’t you feel her yin energy intensify suddenly?”

“Perhaps there’s a method we don’t know about. Some secret internal technique.”

“Where would you find a technique that amplifies internal energy like that? If such a thing existed, I’d be the greatest martial artist in the world. Be reasonable.”

“Then how do you explain her surviving three days after extracting the Jinwon energy?”

Unlike the others, who were merely curious, Tang Mujin was restless. The problem was simple: in his eyes, Baek Hyang-a was a patient.

She had been one since suffering from a blocked meridian, and after taking the Eternal Ice Crystal, her condition worsened. Now, she was a patient on the brink of death.

Oddly, he felt more at ease right after she extracted the Jinwon energy. It was beyond the realm of medical treatment, so he thought there was nothing he could do. But now, the possibility of saving her filled his mind.

‘Maybe, as Hong Geolgae suggested, she didn’t actually touch the Jinwon energy. Maybe I can save her.’

With that thought, Tang Mujin quickened his pace towards Baek Hyang-a. Hyun Gong, seeing this, was alarmed.

“Tang Mujin, where are you going?”

“Just going to check on her condition.”

“Her condition? Baek Hyang-a?”

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t you say…?”

Hyun Gong glanced at Seolhwa before sending a telepathic message to Tang Mujin.

• Didn’t you say you killed Baek Hyang-a’s father?

• I did.

• Doesn’t she know?

• Not in detail. But she seems to know I’m somehow involved.

Hyun Gong frowned.

• And you’re still going to approach her? You could die. If any other guy dies, maybe one widow is left behind, but if you die, there’ll be two.

• She wasn’t hostile last time. It’ll be fine.

• As if… Fine, wait. I’ll come with you. If I’m there, at least you won’t die.

Hyun Gong quickly caught up with Tang Mujin.

Tang Mujin’s group maintained a distance of about ten to fifteen li from Baek Hyang-a. A distance they could close quickly if they wanted. It wasn’t long before Tang Mujin and Hyun Gong spotted her, a small figure surrounded by tiny ice shards.

Tang Mujin called out as he approached.

“Baek Hyang-a!”

She continued her light-footed movement, only turning her head slightly to look at him.

“What do you want?”

“You’re not feeling well, are you? Can I check your condition?”

“No need.”

“You know I’m a doctor, right? I can treat most illnesses. At least let me take a look.”

“Who in their right mind would entrust their life to their father’s killer?”

“Uh…”

Baek Hyang-a knew that Tang Mujin had killed her father, Baek Chuseo.

She spoke indifferently.

“I didn’t try to kill you because you’ve lost someone important too. We’re not exactly on friendly terms.”

She was aware of everything. That Baek Chuseo had hired an assassin to kill Gwi-ui, leading to Gwi-ui’s death, and that Tang Mujin had killed Baek Chuseo in revenge.

Yet Tang Mujin didn’t back down.

“Then can I at least ask you some questions?”

“Questions?”

“I don’t have to take your pulse. Just let me ask about your condition. You won’t refuse that, will you?”

Baek Hyang-a sighed deeply.

“What do you want to know?”

“First, did you really extract the Jinwon energy?”

“Well…”

Baek Hyang-a began slowly, her gaze shifting slightly away from him.

At that moment, she extended her pale right arm, a clear intent to kill.

Tang Mujin instinctively dodged her attack.

Avoiding her hand was easy, but he felt countless small, hard objects pelting his skin. They were ice particles, frozen by her yin energy, swirling around him. They weren’t threatening.

But Baek Hyang-a’s attack wasn’t aimed at Tang Mujin. Her target was Hyun Gong.

“Watch out!”

Tang Mujin shouted urgently, but there was no need for a warning. Unlike Tang Mujin, Hyun Gong had been on guard from the start.

Hyun Gong drew his sword, countering Baek Hyang-a’s hand with a Tai Chi sword technique.

A metallic sound rang out between Baek Hyang-a’s grip and Hyun Gong’s sword.

The sword was one Tang Mujin had crafted. Not a masterpiece, but among the top ten in the world.

Despite the clash, Baek Hyang-a’s hand remained unscathed.

It was astonishing. Even the Iron Buddha, who dedicated his life to external martial arts, would have sustained at least a small cut from Tang Mujin’s sword.

And stopping her hand wasn’t the end.

Hyun Gong realized his right arm, holding the sword, was being engulfed by her yin energy. The speed was alarmingly fast.

He felt a chilling sensation as if ice was forming on his fingers, wrist, and elbow joints. The small ice shards burrowed into his joints, causing excruciating pain.

“Ugh!”

Hyun Gong immediately used the Mu Dang Sect’s top light-footed technique, Jeon Un Jong, to leap back. His body stretched like taffy.

Simultaneously, he employed the Six Yang Heart Method, the fastest way to gather yang energy, to counter the invading yin energy. As the yang energy clumsily balanced the yin, his joints slowly loosened, and the pain subsided.

Hyun Gong’s back was drenched in cold sweat.

‘That was close.’

If he had been careless, he would have died. Even without carelessness, if he had been a moment late with either Jeon Un Jong or the Six Yang Heart Method, he would have lost his right arm.

Thanks to his past enlightenment, allowing him to use both techniques simultaneously, he had narrowly escaped danger.

Hyun Gong shouted at Baek Hyang-a.

“A sneak attack? How cowardly!”

But Baek Hyang-a scoffed.

“I didn’t attack Tang Mujin because, even though he killed my father, my father played a significant role in Gwi-ui’s death. But you haven’t paid any price.”

“Price? What did I do wrong?”

Hyun Gong protested, feeling wronged, but Baek Hyang-a looked at him with disbelief.

If there was one person in Tang Mujin’s group whom Baek Hyang-a held the deepest grudge against, it was undoubtedly Hyun Gong.

Unlike his friends, who reluctantly took up arms, Hyun Gong had actively participated in the hostage situation, turning the tide of battle and leading to the death of Mu Ryangja, who was like a father to her.

“You… No, just die in ignorance. You’re not worth explaining to.”

Baek Hyang-a charged at Hyun Gong.

Any other martial artist might have stubbornly raised their sword, but Hyun Gong wasn’t one to engage in a fight with nothing to gain or no chance of winning.

So he once again used Jeon Un Jong to create distance, then seamlessly transitioned into the Yan Qing Eighteen Flying Steps to flee. With her unbalanced skills, Baek Hyang-a couldn’t keep up with Hyun Gong’s movement technique.

Baek Hyang-a looked around. Tang Mujin had also disappeared.

She let out a deep sigh and resumed her journey north.

The sun had set, and the moon had risen.

Tang Mujin’s group sat around a small campfire, chatting away.

“So, Hyun Gong, you almost lost an arm approaching Baek Hyang-a for no reason?”

“Yeah. You, who willingly became a one-armed man, and I, who overcame the crisis and kept both arms. That’s the crucial difference between us. Understand?”

“Why didn’t you just pull out a third arm like you did in the last sword duel?”

“Alright. I’ll do that next time.”

Namgung Myung, Hyun Gong, Hong Geolgae, and Seolhwa laughed and chatted until they fell asleep.

But Tang Mujin stayed quietly, waiting until everyone was asleep before getting up.

He approached Baek Hyang-a.

She sat alone in the darkness, without a fire, her head buried between her knees, shivering slightly.

Tang Mujin, careful not to startle her, spoke from a distance.

“Do you want me to make a fire if you’re cold?”

Instead of answering, Baek Hyang-a lifted her head to look at him.

“Why are you here?”

“We didn’t finish our conversation earlier today.”

Baek Hyang-a recalled Tang Mujin’s attempt to question her condition earlier.

Even after all that chaos, he still saw her as a patient. She thought this and smiled faintly in the darkness.

Baek Hyang-a asked in a voice much softer than during the day.

“What are you curious about?”

“How’s your health? Any issues with your shoulders or the back of your neck? Any stiffness or soreness? Or maybe a feeling of tightness in your chest, like you’re all blocked up?”

“I’ve drawn out my life force.”

At first, it sounded like a non sequitur, but it was the most straightforward and definitive answer.

It meant she was going to die soon, so there was no point in wasting effort on treatment.

“So, go back.”

Dang Mu-jin considered insisting on checking her condition but decided against it.

In medicine, the skill of the healer is important, but so is the patient’s will to survive. Baek Hyang-a seemed to lack that will.

Pushing further would be more about the healer’s ego than saving the patient.

Yet, he didn’t want to just leave. So, he shifted the conversation away from medicine.

“Then, can I ask you something else?”

Baek Hyang-a replied without hesitation.

“What is it?”

“What are you planning to do at the Ice Palace? Were you thinking of causing chaos?”

”…No.”

Truthfully, not long ago, she had considered it. Her heart was so full of resentment that she wanted to make a grand mess.

But as always, her violent thoughts didn’t last long.

There was no one left in the Northern Ice Palace she held a grudge against.

Except for the two lords, everyone there was kind and good-hearted. She had once thought she could live there forever.

Baek Hyang-a hesitated before speaking.

“I want to clear up misunderstandings and end my life at the Ice Palace. I want to show that I didn’t steal the secret manual and the eternal ice crystal. I want to return the manual and offer my body in place of the ice crystal. I think that’s a decent ending.”

“You drew out your life force for that? That’s absurd.”

Dang Mu-jin couldn’t comprehend her reasoning.

If that was all, why not just return to the Ice Palace and live?

Baek Hyang-a looked at him intently in the darkness, then suddenly burst into laughter.

A high, slightly awkward laugh.

Dang Mu-jin thought it must have been a long time since she’d laughed.

Perhaps not since he and Gwi-ui treated her blocked meridians.

Or maybe even longer. It’s not easy for someone who’s been ill for so long to laugh.

After laughing for a while, Baek Hyang-a wiped away a tear with her sleeve and spoke to Dang Mu-jin.

“You really don’t think, do you?”

”…Why are you insulting me all of a sudden?”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s actually a compliment.”

Baek Hyang-a stretched and lay down on the ground, unguarded. The stars seemed especially bright in the cold weather.

“You know why the two lords followed me, right?”

“Yes.”

“They wanted my body. As gruesome as it sounds, my body could become a powerful elixir.”

“I know.”

“Was my body only an elixir to them?”

Baek Hyang-a looked at Dang Mu-jin as she spoke.

Only then did Dang Mu-jin understand why she had drawn out her life force.

Just as her body was an elixir to the two lords, it was the same for Dang Mu-jin’s group.

From her perspective, they were a threat.

Three supreme masters. Two peak masters.

They knew the value of her body and were somewhat antagonistic.

To reach the north alive, paradoxically, she had to risk death by drawing out her life force.

Otherwise, she feared they might kill her.

That was the worst outcome she could imagine.

Not reaching the north and not even having control over her own death.

A life where she chose nothing from birth to death.

Dang Mu-jin spoke in a slightly smaller voice.

”…You misunderstood. Some of us are eccentric, but none would covet your body.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

Baek Hyang-a spoke with a clear voice, but Dang Mu-jin still felt heavy-hearted.

“I’m sorry I didn’t understand your feelings. You probably didn’t want to die like this…”

“It’s okay. It’s not just because of you guys that I drew out my life force.”

“Huh?”

“There are others who want my body.”

“Who?”

Baek Hyang-a didn’t answer, instead looking at a point in the darkness.

“They’re here.”

Dang Mu-jin followed her gaze and saw two figures emerging from the shadows.

Coincidentally, both were familiar faces.

Yeon Sa-wook of the Demon Sect and Gwang Yeom-ra.

Gwang Yeom-ra raised a hand in greeting to Dang Mu-jin and Baek Hyang-a.

“How fortunate. The one I want to kill and the one I have to kill are together. How have you been?”

Baek Hyang-a whispered to Dang Mu-jin.

“The Demon Sect didn’t let me go so easily.”