[The sharp scent of medicines]
[The sound of the tent cloth fluttering]
[The faint, muffled sound of breathing from within]
The air inside the healer’s tent felt heavy.
Small clay containers were arranged on one side.
Bundles of dried herbs were stacked on the other.
Some held white powders.
Others contained bottles filled with green liquid.
Everything inside the tent seemed to be an answer to some kind of injury, poison, or lingering illness.
But when Arjun looked at Veerbhadra lying before him, he understood something.
Not every wound could be healed by medicine.
Veerbhadra lay on a wooden cot.
His face was pale.
His breathing was heavy.
And the old effects of corruption were still deeply rooted within his body.
The Great Healer checked his pulse once again.
Then he raised his eyes and spoke in a calm voice.
“This injury is not new.”
Arjun’s attention immediately shifted toward him.
The Great Healer continued,
“There is an old trauma within your body.”
“Someone severely damaged your cultivation power a long time ago.”
“The wound somehow healed enough for you to continue living…”
“But it never completely recovered.”
[A faint silence]
The other people inside the tent exchanged glances.
Aarav, who had been quietly looking in from outside, changed expression.
For the first time, genuine concern appeared on his face.
Arjun looked at Veerbhadra.
The old man lay there with his eyes closed.
Yet there was no fear or panic on his face.
It was as though he had known about all of this for a very long time.
The Great Healer continued.
“Yesterday’s battle, today’s battle, the corruption that entered his body, and the constant strain…”
“All of it pushed him beyond his limits.”
“I can give him medicine.”
“I can reduce the pain.”
“I can even give him a few more days of relief.”
“But I cannot completely repair the damage.”
A deep silence fell inside the tent.
Arjun slowly asked,
“Then what will happen?”
The Great Healer looked at him.
“If he cultivates again…”
“Or performs any strenuous breathing exercise…”
“The old injury will awaken.”
“And then…”
“He will die.”
The words did not seem to fall into the air.
They seemed to fall directly into Arjun’s chest.
Veerbhadra opened his eyes.
His gaze went straight to Arjun.
There was no fear.
No panic.
Only exhaustion.
A deep, endless exhaustion.
“So this is it?” he asked quietly.
The Great Healer lowered his head.
“Yes.”
“This is it.”
For several moments, no one spoke.
Then the faint sounds of the camp began drifting into the tent.
People talking.
Footsteps moving outside.
The distant sound of a sack falling to the ground.
Life continued as though nothing had happened.
But inside this small tent, the fate of a life had just been laid bare.
One thought kept repeating inside Arjun’s mind.
Veerbhadra could die? New chapters come out on g.com first.
The idea felt strange.
Veerbhadra, who always appeared so steady.
Veerbhadra, whose voice could silence an entire group.
Veerbhadra, who moved like a storm.
He could die?
Aarav’s face had gone pale.
His lips moved slightly, but no words came out.
The Great Healer spoke again.
“There is one more possibility.”
“If a rare medicinal treasure can be found…”
“A Life Flower.”
“Something capable of extending one’s lifespan…”
“He may gain several more years.”
“Perhaps even a few.”
“I cannot promise more than that.”
Arjun immediately focused on the name.
Life Flower.
The Great Healer explained,
“Such a thing is ancient, rare, and extraordinarily difficult to obtain.”
“Some people claim that it grows somewhere deep inside the Blighted Lands…”
“In a place so dangerous that very few have ever reached it.”
“But even that is only a theory.”
[A slow heartbeat]
Arjun looked at Veerbhadra.
Then at the Great Healer.
Then at the bottles of medicine arranged beside the wooden cot.
For the first time, he truly understood something.
Strength was not only about winning battles.
Sometimes, strength meant giving someone a little more time.
The Great Healer washed his hands.
“I have done everything I could.”
Veerbhadra slowly nodded.
“I understand.”
The Great Healer looked into his eyes and softened his voice slightly.
“Now take care of yourself.”
“And take care of that boy too.”
He glanced toward Arjun.
“This child is quiet.”
“But there is tremendous determination in his eyes.”
“People like that are rare.”
Arjun gave no response.
He continued looking at Veerbhadra.
The Great Healer eventually stepped outside.
Only three people remained inside the tent.
Veerbhadra.
Arjun.
And Aarav.
Aarav gathered his courage.
“There really is nothing else we can do?”
Veerbhadra gave a faint smile.
“Nothing?”
“No.”
“Don’t think about it so much.”
But the strength in his voice was no longer what it had once been.
Arjun looked toward the tent cloth.
Then toward the sunlight outside.
Then back at Veerbhadra.
“I’ll find the Life Flower.”
The air inside the tent seemed to stop for a moment.
Aarav stared at him in shock.
Veerbhadra raised his eyes.
“What did you say?”
Arjun’s voice remained calm.
But something inside it was unshakable.
“If that’s what you need…”
Veerbhadra stared at him for several seconds.
Then a quiet laugh escaped him.
It wasn’t loud.
But it carried many emotions.
Disbelief.
Pride.
And the hidden affection of an old man.
“You?”
He paused.
“Already?”
Arjun nodded.
“Yes.”
Aarav spoke softly.
“Arjun…”
“That is an extremely dangerous thing to search for.”
Arjun answered,
“This entire world is dangerous.”
Hearing that, a faint trace of Veerbhadra’s old spirit returned to his face.
“That’s right,” he murmured.
Then he looked toward the ceiling.
“But not yet.”
“First, learn how to control what you have.”
Arjun silently memorized those words.
The moment he stepped out of the tent, the camp’s air struck his face.
The sun was not yet at its peak, but the light was already bright.
The usual activity had returned.
People were eating.
Supplies were being tied and moved.
New faces were trying to establish themselves within the camp.
Yet something inside Arjun had changed.
Veerbhadra was no longer simply his companion.
He had become someone Arjun needed to protect.
Arjun tightened his grip on his bag.
Walking beside him, Aarav asked,
“You really intend to search for it?”
Arjun kept his eyes ahead.
“Yes.”
“And what if it’s inside the Blighted Lands?”
Arjun didn’t stop walking.
“Then I’ll go there.”
Aarav fell silent.
After walking some distance, Arjun turned around and looked toward the healer’s tent.
The white tent was still standing there.
Inside it, Veerbhadra lay between an old wound and an uncertain future.
Arjun made a decision in his heart.
This was a debt.
And Arjun understood how to repay his debts.
The camp was no longer merely a place for him to survive.
It had become a place where relationships were formed.
And those relationships created responsibilities.
If someone in this world had once stood beside him…
Then now, it was his turn to stand beside them.
[The distant movement of wind]
That evening, Arjun did not cultivate.
He only thought.
The Life Flower.
The Blighted Lands.
Veerbhadra’s ancient wound.
And the silent possibility that perhaps…
Some things could still be saved.
Night began to fall.
But there was still something resembling daylight burning within Arjun’s eyes.
A determination that refused to fade.
Chapter CliffhangerWill Arjun truly begin his search for the Life Flower?
How far will Veerbhadra’s old injury limit his future?
What did the Great Healer see in Arjun’s eyes that made him consider the boy special?
And will this new debt pull Arjun back toward the dangerous Blighted Lands?