The Flower Awaiting a Hero

Watching the Ice Palace Lord collapse as if his soul had been ripped from his body, Dang Mujin realized what to call the poison.

Soul-Dragging Water.

No name could suit it better.

His entire body felt drained, as if all energy had been sapped from him. There was an odd emptiness in his core.

Yet, even that fatigue and emptiness brought him satisfaction. Like swordsmanship or martial arts, his poison techniques had now earned their place among the great martial skills.

Traditional poison arts were limited to weaving various toxins together. But Soul-Dragging Water was a breakthrough, a leap to an entirely new level.

However, Dang Mujin had no time to savor the afterglow.

He wasn’t the only one pressed for time; someone else was even more desperate.

“Dang Mujin, save Seolhwa!”

Hyeon Gong shouted. Of course, Dang Mujin intended to check on Seolhwa’s condition.

But there was something he needed to do first.

Approaching Baek Hyang-a, who was slumped against the wall, he applied pressure to her acupoints to ease her pain and removed the swords embedded in her shoulder and abdomen.

Despite his efforts, Baek Hyang-a writhed in agony. Her energy channels were in disarray, rendering the acupoint technique less effective.

“Ugh, ugh.”

With great effort, Baek Hyang-a stood, feigning composure.

Blood flowed steadily from her shoulder and abdomen. Somehow, despite the severity of her wounds, the bleeding wasn’t excessive.

Dang Mujin didn’t bother to examine her condition closely.

He knew, Baek Hyang-a knew, even Hyeon Gong knew.

It was too late for Baek Hyang-a.

Not even the greatest healer could save her now. Like many warriors who had burned their life force, Baek Hyang-a would soon meet her end.

Yet, a thought crossed Hyeon Gong’s mind.

Though he didn’t know the name of the poison, he understood how Seolhwa had drawn it into herself.

The poison was drawn to yin energy. Perhaps Baek Hyang-a could draw it from Seolhwa.

But he couldn’t bring himself to ask. It was too shameless a request.

To ask someone nearing death to take on Seolhwa’s pain and death as well? To ask for a quicker, more painful end?

Hyeon Gong and Baek Hyang-a had never been on good terms.

But there was no other way. Hyeon Gong prostrated himself before Baek Hyang-a.

“Baek Hyang-a. Save Seolhwa. Please, please…”

He couldn’t predict what Baek Hyang-a might demand. Would she ask for his limbs? His eyes? His life?

Yet he was prepared to accept any condition.

But Baek Hyang-a didn’t set any terms.

“Let’s go.”

“Are you saying you’ll save Seolhwa?”

“It’s not because of your plea. It’s because it’s Seolhwa.”

With that, Baek Hyang-a gathered her remaining energy and struck the corpse of the Ice Palace Lord with a palm full of yin energy.

In life, the Ice Palace Lord had been impervious to Baek Hyang-a’s ice arts, but now his corpse froze pathetically.

Despite her pain, Baek Hyang-a kicked the frozen corpse, shattering it.

Even the cruelest of souls wouldn’t vent their anger on a corpse. But neither Dang Mujin nor Hyeon Gong reproached her. They were relieved she stopped there.

Baek Hyang-a leaned on her knees, catching her breath.

Hyeon Gong knew what he had to do.

“Get on my back!”

Dang Mujin retraced his steps to where he had last seen Seolhwa.

“There, over there!”

Thankfully, Seolhwa hadn’t moved. She was half-buried in snow.

Dang Mujin finally understood why Seolhwa had refused treatment. She wanted him to help Hyeon Gong as quickly as possible.

Dang Mujin and Hyeon Gong rushed to check on Seolhwa. Her body was cold, her breathing—

Nonexistent.

Dang Mujin felt for a pulse at her neck. There was none.

Yet Seolhwa wore a satisfied smile. If Hyeon Gong had saved her and died, he might have smiled like that too.

Hyeon Gong, trembling with disbelief, asked Dang Mujin.

“You can save her, right? Please, please…”

But his voice was filled with despair, not hope.

The poison had long since reached Seolhwa’s heart. The blood at her lips had already dried.

Dang Mujin shook his head.

“No, no, no!”

Hyeon Gong collapsed, wailing like a wounded beast.

Even the howling blizzard couldn’t drown out his cries.

Baek Hyang-a knelt and embraced Seolhwa’s lifeless body.

The woman with blue eyes who had treated her like a sister.

Baek Hyang-a stood.

She untied the ribbon holding her hair, letting it whip wildly in the storm.

Dang Mujin looked up and asked her.

“What will you do now?”

It was an odd question to ask someone with little time left.

But it wasn’t about what she would do while alive; it was a roundabout way of asking where she wished to be buried.

Baek Hyang-a had been betrayed by the Ice Palace and lost her last hope. Surely she wouldn’t want to be buried in the north. That’s what Dang Mujin thought.

But Baek Hyang-a’s answer surprised him.

“What do you mean? Of course, I’ll be buried in the north. That’s why I came here.”

“What?”

“I promised the northern people I’d give them my body instead of the Eternal Ice Crystal. I made that promise to Seolhwa too.”

It was a story he couldn’t comprehend. Dang Mujin couldn’t help but question her.

“How can you say that? You lost your chance to survive because of the Ice Palace Lord, and you still say that?”

Baek Hyang-a laughed.

“You and I have lived such different lives.”

“What do you mean?”

“In my life, the north wasn’t such a bad place. Even with the Ice Palace Lord, the So Sang Pavilion Lord, and the Great Wall Pavilion Lord.”

Baek Hyang-a closed her eyes against the wind. Memories of the Ice Palace flashed by.

Seolhwa and her siblings, who treated her like family.

The villagers who approached with curious smiles.

The children who snuck up with wide eyes.

The young men who subtly showed kindness.

The people who stood against the demonic cultists with their bare hands.

Baek Hyang-a spoke.

“A few drops of ink on a white sheet of paper. Others might see it as ruined, but I see the untouched white space. The paper is still white, and the Ice Palace is still my sanctuary.”

“But—”

“Enough. This is my decision.”

As Dang Mujin tried to speak, Baek Hyang-a cut him off, speaking firmly.

“I’m not a fool. I came to the north knowing bad things might happen. Do you think I’ll be swayed now? Fleeing in anger to find a new sanctuary? No. I’ve decided to be buried in the north, and that’s what I’ll do. No one can change my mind.”

Her wounds no longer bled. The cold had frozen them halfway.

Yet Baek Hyang-a seemed at peace, like a child laughing in the rain despite being soaked.

She turned to Dang Mujin.

“I have one last request.”

“What is it?”

“Tell everyone I killed Seolhwa and the Ice Palace Lord.”

“What?”

“Why? Do you have a problem with me wanting a bit of fame?”

It wasn’t a simple desire for recognition.

As the head of the Tang family, Dang Mujin understood what Baek Hyang-a meant.

Just as he was the pillar of the Tang family, the Ice Palace Lord was the spiritual support for the northern people. A house without a pillar cannot stand.

If the truth of what happened in the Ice Palace got out, the Ice Palace would soon crumble.

For the northern people, the Ice Palace’s martial arts had to be invincible.

Even the renowned warriors of the central plains, the unorthodox sects, and the demonic cultists had to bow before the northern ruler. Only then could this icy land remain a paradise for its people.

If the Ice Palace Lord was killed, it had to be by the Ice Palace’s own martial arts.

Dang Mujin recalled Baek Hyang-a using her ice arts on the Ice Palace Lord’s corpse. It wasn’t out of spite. It was a calculated decision.

There was no need for Dang Mujin to intervene. The northern people would see the Ice Palace Lord’s frozen body and believe Baek Hyang-a was a monster.

Dang Mujin asked Baek Hyang-a.

“The northern people will hate you.”

“I don’t care. I’m going to die soon. I have no siblings, no children, no family. I’ve long since left the communal sect. There’s no one left to suffer because of me.”

A life lived in solitude.

Baek Hyang-a spoke as if it was all for the best.

“They’ll desecrate your grave.”

“There won’t be a grave. I’ll disappear quietly beneath the eternal snow. Let them search in vain, fueled by their hatred.”

Baek Hyang-a gently shook her head, dislodging the white snow that had gathered atop her hair.

“The people of the North will search for the demon who killed the princess and her daughter for a long time. My name will be passed down through generations. I see that as a form of immortality. I may die, but I won’t disappear.”

Even in the face of Tang Mujin’s opinion, Baek Hyang-a remained unyielding.

As if to say she would do as she pleased at least this once, she refused to bend or compromise.

“This is my last request. Take care.”

With a final farewell, Baek Hyang-a smiled brightly.

Then she turned and began to walk away, her steps leading her somewhere unknown.

Despite her youth, her retreating figure seemed utterly exhausted.

Soon, Baek Hyang-a vanished into the snowstorm. Hyun Gong sat there, still in a daze.

Hyun Gong would need more time to calm his heart. Tang Mujin removed his thick fur coat and draped it over Hyun Gong before heading in the direction Baek Hyang-a had disappeared.

Baek Hyang-a’s pace wasn’t fast, so it didn’t take long for Tang Mujin to catch up with her.

“Hyang-a!”

Baek Hyang-a had said she wanted to be buried where no one would find her. The idea of Tang Mujin following her was absurd.

Yet, when she saw him, she gave a faint smile, at least not displeased by his presence.

Tang Mujin walked alongside her.

Whenever the wind blew fiercely, Baek Hyang-a staggered slightly. Her steps grew slower and slower.

Eventually, Tang Mujin crouched in front of her, offering his back. After a moment’s hesitation, Baek Hyang-a climbed onto his back.

“Tell me where you want to go.”

“North, to the north.”

That was the end of their conversation. Tang Mujin trudged on through the blizzard in silence.

There was so much he wanted to say, but he feared it would be too much for Baek Hyang-a, so he kept his mouth shut.

How long they walked, he couldn’t tell.

Baek Hyang-a shifted slightly on his back.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“No.”

The conversation opened up.

“Won’t you regret being buried in the North?”

“Not at all.”

Baek Hyang-a fidgeted a bit behind him, her voice growing weaker.

“I’ve learned how to live. The key is to let go of malice and remember kindness. Even if the last thing I face is malice, I won’t forget the greater kindness I’ve received from so many.”

A strong wind blew. A ray of light broke through the clouds. The blizzard was slowly subsiding.

Baek Hyang-a asked softly, “If things had been a little different, you and I might have…”

Her voice trailed off. Was the end near? Tang Mujin quickened his pace.

Fortunately, Baek Hyang-a’s story wasn’t over.

“…could have been friends, don’t you think?”

“Certainly. And maybe we still are, in a way.”

“That’s a relief.”

Baek Hyang-a relaxed, leaning heavily against Tang Mujin’s back with a sigh.

Tang Mujin felt her faint breath against him as he walked.

Before long, they reached a snow-covered coniferous forest.

“Are you okay?”

“Mm.”

Baek Hyang-a’s voice was barely audible. Tang Mujin hurried on.

In the forest, he found a clearing.

A small, natural opening among the trees, untouched by shadows, bathed in sunlight.

Tang Mujin instinctively knew this was where he should stop.

He wanted to tell Baek Hyang-a that this would be her resting place. He was sure she would be satisfied.

But he didn’t speak. Baek Hyang-a had already stopped breathing.

”···.”

Tang Mujin gently laid her down and began to dig into the snow.

Once he had cleared it down to his waist, the dark earth appeared.

He dug into the earth as well, then laid Baek Hyang-a to rest within it.

She had said she didn’t want a grave. So Tang Mujin didn’t build a mound. Instead, he softly covered her with earth. That was all he could do for her.

He stepped back, waiting for the wind to come.

A fierce wind swept through the coniferous forest. The cold gusts scattered the thick snow, smoothing it over.

Soon, the place where Baek Hyang-a lay was indistinguishable from the rest.

Yet, the sunlight continued to shine brightly there.

Baek Hyang-a had promised to return a miraculous elixir to the people of the North. One day, an extraordinary herb, imbued with the essence of the extreme cold, would grow where she rested.

Baek Hyang-a faced death but sought immortality. She dreamed of being remembered, even if only as a villain.

But such immortality was fleeting.

Her true immortality would be carried on through the herb that would grow above her resting place.

The elixir she left behind would give rise to a hero of the North.

When that hero passed, another herb would bloom, welcoming the next hero.

No one would know, but it would all be the result of Baek Hyang-a’s decision.

One day, a single flower would bloom over her grave, basking in the cold sunlight, ready to greet the next hero.

Tang Mujin turned and left the coniferous forest.

The clouds had cleared, and the snowstorm had ceased. The wind had died down, and the snow no longer swirled.

Tang Mujin looked back at the path he had taken and the one he now had to follow.

The footprints he had left were long gone. An endless expanse of snow stretched before him.

And above, the sky was a painfully clear blue.

For the last time, Tang Mujin thought of Baek Hyang-a.

The people of the North would call her a demon or a witch.

But Tang Mujin would remember her as a woman who never broke, even amidst countless adversities, as a queen sleeping beneath the northern snow.

He took a deep breath.

And then he stepped forward, toward the vast white snowfield and the blue sky beyond.