TSBIRBV chapter 4

“When will he be able to wake up?”

Every time Yegyeol drifted in and out of sleep, he would hear the voice of the senior brother.

“Perhaps… we should be prepared…”

The conversations he faintly overheard would scatter before their meaning could sink in. His body, now in recovery, demanded rest.

Yegyeol’s consciousness, which had slowly settled, would awaken at the sound of Je Haryang’s voice.

“How is the patient?”

“The internal injuries are severe… We need to monitor his condition closely.”

An elderly voice answered. The previous time, it was a middle-aged woman’s voice, but this time it was an old man.

‘Could it be the doctor?’

The only voice that remained unchanged was Je Haryang’s.

‘He really is a diligent person.’

Thankfully, it seemed that Je Haryang had kept the promise he made before Yegyeol fainted. The guiding had stabilized his energy.

At this rate, he would recover quickly.

When he was in a state of frenzy, Yegyeol thought he was close to death, but meeting his guide had reignited his will to live.

Moreover, Yegyeol had many questions to ask his senior brother.

Like how many years had passed since he died.

‘I don’t think it’s been that long…’

Je Haryang’s voice was more mature than he remembered from his previous life, but it still belonged to a young man.

‘If decades had passed, the senior brother wouldn’t have called me Yegyeol the moment he saw me.’

He would have thought Yegyeol was a distant relative or kin.

He wondered how the senior brother had been and if he had occasionally thought of Yegyeol.

Most of all—

‘How could he so easily accept that I’m alive?’

It was only now that Yegyeol, immersed in the joy of meeting his guide, realized something was off.

Yegyeol had definitely died in front of Je Haryang.

His chest had been pierced by the hand of a master from the Demon Sect, leaving no chance for survival.

Yet, the senior brother called him Yegyeol. There was no hesitation or doubt in his voice.

This realization made him uneasy.

But Yegyeol’s body, now in a half-dormant state, couldn’t even lift a finger.

Though he wanted to leap up and move around, every time sleep overtook him, he let his body succumb to it.

Staying awake would only slow his recovery.

‘I need to recover quickly… so I can talk to my senior brother.’

Yegyeol closed his eyes with determination.

Perhaps it was due to his efforts and resolve, but the next time Yegyeol regained consciousness, he was finally able to open his eyes.

This time, instead of a black cloth, a white bandage-like material was covering his eyes.

‘Did he figure it out?’

He hadn’t even had the chance to explain that the darkness had frightened him, yet somehow the senior brother knew.

It must have been a coincidence, he thought, as he groped upward with his hand when a low voice spoke.

“Stay still.”

The voice that cut through the silence had a chilling undertone.

Yegyeol was suddenly reminded that this was the martial arts world.

If it were modern Korea, no one could deceive an Esper’s sharp senses, but here, a martial artist who had honed their skills could easily mask their presence.

“…senior brother?”

As he called out, a rough cough escaped him.

His parched throat, not having had water for a while, was irritated by the mere movement of his lips, bringing tears to his eyes.

“Oh dear.”

Je Haryang hurriedly supported Yegyeol’s waist and gently rubbed his back.

“Here, some water. I’ll hold the cup to your lips, so drink slowly, just wetting your lips at first.”

Soon, a lukewarm cup touched his lips. It felt strange.

Je Haryang’s arm supporting his body was strong, but the cup trembling against his lips revealed a subtle shakiness.

Pretending not to notice, Yegyeol obediently moistened his lips. His parched mouth cried out for more, but Je Haryang carefully tilted the cup.

As Yegyeol impatiently licked his lower lip, Je Haryang softly admonished him.

“If you drink too quickly, it will upset your stomach.”

After finally finishing the water, Je Haryang removed the cup from Yegyeol’s lips.

The sound of the cup being set down gently on the floor echoed in the silence.

Yegyeol raised his hand to remove the cloth covering his eyes and to wipe away the moisture, but before his hand could reach his face, Je Haryang grabbed his wrist.

Though the grip was gentle, it was firm, as if he had no intention of letting go.

“I understand it’s uncomfortable, but you mustn’t touch it. It’s soaked in medicinal herbs.”

“Medicinal herbs?”

Yegyeol asked, puzzled.

“Your eyes… are in bad shape.”

Je Haryang’s voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

“When I first found you, the blood vessels in your eyes had burst, and you were crying blood… The doctor said you might lose your sight.”

“I see.”

Yegyeol, however, was surprisingly calm.

He had seen an Esper with half an arm missing fully recover within days after receiving guidance at the Center.

That Esper once did push-ups in front of the guide to show off how healthy he was… Of course, right after that, he was dragged to the infirmary.

Back then, it seemed so pathetic. But now, hearing Haryang’s voice, YEgyeol find himself wanting to do something just as reckless.

They say Espers lose about ten screws when they meet their own guide, but after experiencing it himself, that’s putting it mildly.

‘You’ll get better soon.’

If he were a more troublesome Esper, he might have deliberately blinded himself just to rely on the guide.

But Yegyeol was a sensible person who had regularly attended the center and completed the Esper ethics training.

“It’s not just your eyes. When you were found, there wasn’t a single part of your body that was unharmed. Not just external injuries, but internal ones too… they said there was nothing that could be done because all the energy channels in your body were twisted.”

Haryang’s voice trembled slightly.

‘Neither acupuncture nor any spiritual techniques could help.’

Yegyeol could vaguely recall parts of a conversation he had overheard.

“Is that why the voice I heard last time told me to be prepared?”

If the physician had diagnosed him right after his rampage, it wouldn’t have been surprising to assume the worst.

Modern medicine still hasn’t figured out what Espers truly are.

“Even if a legendary healer or Hua Tuo himself came, they wouldn’t be able to save you…”

Je Haryang’s voice abruptly stopped.

The sorrowful trembling in his voice was palpable.

Yegyeol remembered that this wasn’t the first time he had died in front of him.

“It’s really okay, Senior Brother.”

The voice that spoke firmly while holding Je Haryang’s hand had strength in it.

“I’m fine.”

Would Haryang have been less worried if Yegyeol hadn’t had a seizure last time?

For a moment, the senior brother remained silent.

The unusually long silence made Yegyeol blink his eyes beneath the bandages.

‘Is he crying?’

It was hard to imagine Je Haryang crying.

In the stories Yegyeol had heard, the senior brother was always a great hero and a chivalrous man.

If possible, he wanted to see his face and confirm it himself.

But there was no way the man who thought Yegyeol was a patient on the verge of death would allow him to remove the bandages.

“Is this Kunlun?”

Yegyeol changed the subject.

It’s better to see for oneself than to hear a hundred times. Once he recovered completely, his senior brother’s worries would disappear.

“…No. This is Qinghai Manor.”

Haryang’s voice was very calm.

If Yegyeol hadn’t been paying close attention to his every move, he might not have even noticed that the senior brother had hesitated for a moment.

“I see.”

Yegyeol accepted it in his own way.

This wasn’t the 21st century, so there were no cable cars or mountain helicopters; it wouldn’t have been easy to bring a physician up the rugged mountain.

“Indeed, it would have been difficult to bring a physician up the steep Kunlun Mountains.”

The Kunlun sect had a medical hall, but considering how severe his condition was, it would have been impossible to treat him within the sect.

Moreover, like all martial sects, Kunlun’s medical hall was specialized in treating external injuries and making spiritual pills.

“Are you personally taking care of me, senior brother? You must be holding a high position in the sect… I feel bad for keeping someone so busy here.”

Of course, even if he was really busy, Yegyeol had no intention of letting Haryang go. But he needed to understand the situation: how high up his senior brother was and whether taking care of him was a burden.

‘After finally meeting a guide, it’s not enough to just look good.’

In response to Yegyeol’s concerned words, Je Haryang firmly replied,

“No. Right now, nothing is more important or urgent to me than you.”

His voice was so cold it could freeze if touched, but to Yegyeol, it sounded gentle.

It felt like his chest was floating on a cloud.

“Don’t worry about me. Just focus on getting better so you can walk around again.”

Yegyeol obediently nodded. Haryang gently laid Yegyeol’s body back and withdrew his hand.

“Where are you going?”

Sensing him stand up, Yegyeol hurriedly grabbed Haryang. He felt like the guide he had just met was slipping through his fingers.

“Now that you’ve finally woken up, I need to bring the physician.”

Was this the unique separation anxiety of an Esper?

Yegyeol hesitated for a while before slowly loosening his grip.

“I want to get better soon and return to Kunlun with you, senior brother.”

He voiced a modest wish. He also intended to show Haryang his determination to recover and reassure him.

But as soon as he finished speaking, a heavy silence fell. Haryang froze in place, not even making a sound.

‘Is he not taking me back to Kunlun because he’s suspicious of a disciple who died in front of him and then came back to life?’

Before he could blurt out something out of anxiety, a pained voice came from the motionless Je Haryang.

“Yegyeol, this foolish brother of yours can’t go to Kunlun.”

“What?”

Without thinking, Yegyeol questioned him, only to realize he had overlooked a possibility.

‘If the Kunlun sect hadn’t recovered from the attack, was it eventually destroyed?’

He hadn’t believed that such a long-standing sect could be completely wiped out, even with the demonic cult’s invasion.

But what if Kunlun had indeed collapsed during the attack?

Yegyeol realized that he had unwittingly scratched the surface of the pain Je Haryang must have felt watching Kunlun’s demise.

As Je Haryang quietly looked down at the faintly pale Yegyeol, he finally spoke.

“…I became a merchant.”