The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Chapter 169: An Unexpected Encounter - 6

“Woke up because of an unexpected sound, huh?”

The tone of his voice... it was like catching a friend who swore off snacks for a diet sneakily making bibimbap in the middle of the night, raiding your fridge while visiting your apartnt.

“I thought maybe an intruder was bathing, so I woke up.”

“W-What... ahem. I see. So the sound of the water woke you up.”

Cheong-un had started to squawk indignantly at the absurdity of what I’d said, but then composed himself, cleared his throat, and answered as though he understood.

Well, at least I confird it wasn’t so intruder wasting the water bill. Maybe I should just go back to sleep. As I rubbed my drowsy eyes and glanced toward the washroom, sothing white shimred in the moonlight.

A bandage?

“Young Hero Cheong-un. Were you injured?”

I asked in a concerned tone.

“No, why do you ask?”

“I saw a bandage near the washroom door.”

“...Ah! I must’ve gotten so small scratches during the battle.”

So “minor scratches” don’t even count as injuries for martial artists? I’d probably scream “dic! Is there a dic in the house?!” just from a paper cut.

Now that I think about it, Cheong-un did have his arm bandaged after saving us. The fact that he cut down that many black-clad assassins and walked away with only scratches is honestly impressive.

I avoided being killed by a stray blade thanks to the Jade Face Body Protection Technique, but I wouldn’t even dream of trying sothing like “catching a sword with my bare hands.”

“Kang Master, are you asleep?”

Creak. I was still lost in thought when the washroom door opened slightly, and I heard Cheong-un’s careful voice as if worried about waking .

“I’m not sleeping.”

“Ah!”

Thud! The washroom door slamd shut in a panic.

“Do you need a towel?”

I glanced at the towel I had lazily tossed on the nightstand. I’d been so distracted eating the dumplings he gave that I forgot to lay out a fresh one.

“I-I have a towel!”

Then what does he need?

In the dark and quiet room, the water sounds stopped, and I could hear the patter of bare feet shifting on the damp floor.

“Young Hero Cheong-un?”

I called to ask if there was sothing else he needed besides a towel.

“Ah, uh, would you mind going to the room at the far left and asking the innkeeper’s daughter if she could turn the hot water back on?”

...Really? So that’s what this was about? Must’ve been colder than he expected.

“Haha. Of course—warm water’s always better than a cold bath. But it’s late. Will she even be awake?”

“She told to co by late if I needed to. So she’s probably still awake.”

“Aha.”

...That’s probably not what she ant. But, well—guess I have to go anyway.

“It’s harder than I thought, with this cold. I’m sorry.”

I could hear a mix of embarrassnt and desperation in Cheong-un’s voice.

“No need to apologize. I’ll go.”

Even if it’s a little awkward, he saved my life—I can’t just refuse a favor like this.

I ntally noted: even a Taoist priest can't endure a cold shower in this weather. With that, I stepped out into the hallway.

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“Oh my. You’re not the Taoist.”

When the door opened, I was t with the sight of a woman dressed like she was about to engage in the battle of her life.

I quickly scanned her barely clothed, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) curvaceous figure—just fast enough to morize the details in my head—and then, as if I’d seen nothing, I looked her straight in the face.

The innkeeper’s daughter looked visibly disappointed upon realizing I wasn’t Cheong-un, but since there was no way I could beco him, I simply delivered my ssage.

“Hmph. It’s not a problem. But since you’re here, want to co in and see sothing interesting?”

She gave a long once-over, then gestured to so sort of contraption inside her room.

“I have to leave early tomorrow. I’m sorry for the late visit, but I’d appreciate it if you could just turn the hot water on.”

What’s there to see about a boiler control? I turned to leave, leaving behind the innkeeper’s daughter who nodded with obvious disappointnt.

Late-night show. What a sight.

That woman... actually tried to seduce soone for a one-night stand. If Young Hero Cheong-un hadn’t been a chaste Taoist with no clue about won, he would’ve been devoured the mont he walked into her room.

With how good-looking he is, this kind of thing will probably keep happening. As soone experienced in matters of love and lust, I should probably offer him so advice when the ti cos.

“Kang Master?”

As I turned back toward my room, pushing aside my envy for flower-boy lives, I bumped into a mber of the dical Pavilion who was coming out of the room holding a water jug.

“You’re still awake?”

What was he doing out here?

“We’re rotating guards to protect Lady Hwa-rin.”

Ah, so he’s on watch duty. Even at an inn, they weren’t letting their guard down—makes sense, considering enemies could ambush us anyti.

“If you were heading sowhere, you could’ve asked .”

“It’s alright.”

“Well, it’s not alright for .”

I intercepted the jug from his hands.

“...Then could I ask you to fetch the spring water from the wagon?”

I wanted to help, even just a little, those comrades who were suffering for the sake of my friend. I nodded, went to the wagon parked near the stables, filled the jug with spring water, and headed back to the room.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

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“How is Hwa-rin doing?”

I placed the water jug down in the room where Hwa-rin lay and asked the dical Pavilion mber who had been looking after her.

“She’s unconscious, but fortunately, the poison inside her hasn’t spread further into her body.”

“It’d be nice if she could at least open her eyes, though.”

I looked at Hwa-rin, who seed to be peacefully asleep. It felt strange— being awake, while she lay there with her eyes closed.

Back when I wrote late into the night, she’d stay up until I finished, and every morning, she was up before . It was rare to catch a glimpse of her sleeping face, defenseless like this.

‘Hwa-rin... ti to get up.’

I missed her voice, urging to wake up so the bookstore wouldn’t open late. I wanted to see her get flustered and swear when I teased her. I wanted to hear her snickering giggles when sothing made her laugh.

Hwa-rin... you’re going to wake up, right?

That terrifying, unwelco thought pressed like a stone against my chest.

“Lady Hwa-rin seems to be in a kind of winter slumber.”

The dical Pavilion mber spoke up after seeing the dark shadow cloud my face.

“Winter slumber?”

“Yes. Animals hibernate to conserve energy and survive the cold of winter. I believe Lady Hwa-rin is doing sothing similar—minimizing all unnecessary bodily functions to focus entirely on resisting the poison.”

“So for now, there’s no imdiate danger?”

If she’s holding off the poison the way animals use hibernation to survive the cold, then maybe she really is safe for now.

“Yes. The concern is...”

“The concern?”

“If winter lasts too long, so animals never wake up from hibernation.”

“Then we need to get to the Tang Clan as soon as possible.”

I spoke as I gently held Hwa-rin’s hand.

“If she can be treated at the Sichuan Tang Clan, she should regain consciousness. We’ll first need to help her awaken and then have her absorb the Poison Pellet of the Flesh-Masked Lord to neutralize the Millennium Centipede Poison.”

So there is a way to bring her back once we reach the Tang Clan. That makes it all the more urgent.

“I’ve probably troubled you unnecessarily at this hour. I’ll excuse myself now.”

The night was deep. I didn’t want to cause more stress for the already exhausted dical Pavilion mbers.

“How could concern for a dear companion be considered unnecessary? Please don’t worry too much, Master Kang. Try to get so proper rest.”

I nodded, imprinting Hwa-rin’s unconscious face in my heart, and returned to my room.

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As I stepped back into the room, I felt Cheong-un, lying on the bed, flinch ever so slightly.

He bathed quickly. Judging by the lingering steam near the washroom, it must’ve been warm water after all.

“Young Hero Cheong-un. Are you still awake?”

I called out to him quietly.

“Yes. I’m awake.”

“About the bandage...”

“B-Bandage? What about it?”

Cheong-un answered with a mix of confusion and suspicion in his voice.

“I got fresh bandages from the dical Pavilion. If you’re still using the old ones, I can help rewrap the wound.”

I raised the bandages in my hand for him to see, only his eyes peeking out from under the blanket.

“I’m fine!”

“It would be better to replace it with fresh ones, though.”

“It’s not—no, I an, I only have it wrapped to stop the bleeding, and it’s already stopped. So it’s alright.”

Considering the risk of infection, a fresh bandage would be better... but since it was late, I didn’t press. It would just feel like nagging at this point.

He’s a martial artist. With internal energy, healing is probably faster anyway.

“Then I’ll just leave the clean bandage here. Keep it nearby in case you need it later.”

“Thank you.”

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Now that I’d made peace with Young Hero Cheong-un and no attacks had occurred, our journey continued without major issues.

“Have you read any other novels besides the one about Hero Gu-gai?”

Of course, I had to keep him company the entire ti—but if that’s the price to have a powerful bodyguard, I wasn’t about to complain.

“We’ll handle the room reservations and the dicinal shopping.”

After a few days of travel, we arrived in the next town.

“I’ll go buy food supplies.”

“I’ll write up a list for you.”

“I’ll co with you.”

And so, I went out with Cheong-un to replenish our food stock.

“Please help us!”

While browsing food stalls, three boys around the age where you just start growing facial hair ca running toward us, clearly panicked.

“What’s wrong?”

Cheong-un gripped his sword’s scabbard, ready to act at a mont’s notice, and asked in a calm but sharp tone. The boys hesitated for a second, visibly nervous, then finally spoke.

“Our brother was taken away by people in black masks!”

Black masks? Black-robed figures?

My eyes t Cheong-un’s. Could they have been lying in wait here?

“Where? Take us there.”

“It’s in that alley—over there!”

One of the boys pointed to a nearby alleyway.

Isn’t this a bit too risky? If they really are black-robed assassins, we shouldn’t be following them—we should alert the Tang Clan people imdiately.

I was about to stop Cheong-un from heading into the alley when I noticed sothing... highly amusing.

So that’s what this was.

“Young Hero Cheong-un. There’s no need to go.”

I swiftly grabbed one of the boys by the wrist and lifted him off the ground, stopping Cheong-un in his tracks.

“Ow! Let go!”

His feet flailed mid-air, and he scowled at in panic.

“Kang Master, what are you doing?!”

Cheong-un still hadn’t caught on and looked at , startled.

Ah, right. This must be his first ti dealing with this sort of thing in the martial world. Then I’d better explain directly.

With an exasperated look, I turned to Cheong-un and said:

“It’s a trap.”

The boy I was holding?

In his hand was Cheong-un’s money pouch.