Chapter 177. Got Some Money?
I had dozed off for a moment, but my dantian began tingling and I woke up. Should I call this narcolepsy? Or should I understand it as an aftereffect of growing stronger faster than others?
When my internal energy increased in Cheonok, the phenomenon of suddenly growing sleepy felt like a kind of warning. Because if this phenomenon hadn't existed, I probably would have been absorbing this person and that person's internal energy every time I fought.
The fourth calamity of the martial world.
It meant that I could become that.
If one were to possess martial arts powerful enough to transcend human consciousness. I warned myself that one could become a being other than human.
I looked around the quiet inn with my eyes open, and for a moment I mistook this place for the Jaha Guesthouse. Because the interior structure was different, I came to my senses and the sleep instantly vanished.
‘Phew, I thought I'd gone back again.’
I had no desire to return to the past again; it would be too bothersome.
After drinking the water on the table and looking outside the inn, I saw the errand boy who had stolen and drunk the liquor sprawled over a table, asleep.
‘What a perfect state of vigilance. Failed.’
The moment I came to my senses, all sorts of tasks I had to do came flooding in, and a faint sigh escaped me.
‘Am I addicted to meddling?’
I knew it wasn't good for a person to live this busily, yet I couldn't help but be industrious. Because as the Cult Leader said, I was currently flailing desperately.
Anyway, since there was a slight chance I could end up becoming an even crazier bastard than in my previous life by flailing around like this, I briefly steadied my mind with the Mukgye Mind Technique in the quiet inn.
Thinking of myself as a wooden fighting rooster, I erased all stray thoughts.
A short while later, I placed some common silver taels from my money pouch on the table, gathered my flashing-light throwing knives, and left the inn.
“See you again.”
From behind, the errand boy shouted at me in a startled voice.
“Sect Leader! The bill!”
“It's on the table.”
“Ah, thank you. But how do I join Haomun?”
“We don't accept punks like you.”
“Why not?!”
I answered as I gradually picked up speed.
“Because I feel like it.”
Truthfully, there was no need for a nondescript inn to join Haomun. With the mindset of training my qinggong, I gradually raised my speed and sprinted toward Uhyanggok.
* * *
Thanks to the White-Faced Young Master, I was in a situation where I didn't have to go to Mount Hua.
But because the White-Faced Young Master refused to reveal his main base until the very end, there was a need to return to Uhyanggok. Which meant there was a possibility that experts of the demonic path would appear in Uhyanggok within a few days.
The situation in Uhyanggok was, in a word, a chaotic mess with flowers strewn everywhere. In particular, many of the White-Faced Young Master's subordinates were sprawled out in the flower garden that supposedly had poisonous thorns.
It seemed Valley Master Uhyang had used his wits to deal with them. After passing through the flower path that had turned into a wasteland and arriving at the place where we had been conversing, Teacher Yukhap looked at me with an uninjured face.
“Sect Leader, you're back? What about the White-Faced Young Master?”
“I took care of him. How about here?”
Teacher Yukhap answered while wiping his sword with a cloth.
“Of course, I killed them all. Not a single one escaped.”
“As expected of Yukgap.”
Teacher Yukhap, seeming annoyed now, replied curtly.
“Yukhap.”
Looking around, I saw Shibi applying golden sore medicine to Valley Master Uhyang's shoulder on one side, and the wounded were being treated here and there.
I observed the expressions of the people and surveyed the ruined Uhyanggok, then called out to Lady Cheolseom, who was standing awkwardly.
“My lady.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
After confirming Lady Cheolseom was unharmed, I asked.
“Did you perhaps just watch?”
Lady Cheolseom smiled awkwardly and answered.
“...Ah, actually, I—”
“Actually what.”
“I stood still as if I didn't know martial arts, then saved a dangerous-looking subordinate of the Valley Master with concealed weapons. And I also took down experts who twice ambushed Teacher Yukhap from behind with concealed weapons. I'm not very used to stepping onto the front lines, you see.”
Teacher Yukhap nodded.
“I received some help.”
Listening to Lady Cheolseom's story, I wordlessly applauded.
“Now that I think about it, your concealed weapon throwing skills were extremely fierce even when we fought in the past.”
“Ah, yes.”
“You were as sly as ever back then and now, but you still saved Teacher Yukgap.”
Teacher Yukhap, listening from the side, muttered.
“It's Yukhap.”
Lady Cheolseom smiled as if embarrassed and said to me.
“That White-Faced Young Master looked incredibly strong as well, but as expected of you, Sect Leader.”
“Isn't that right? He was definitely much stronger than Erlong Laojun, who opposed me together with you.”
“Ah, I see.”
I met eyes with Lady Cheolseom, and we laughed at the same time.
“By the way.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“About what you told me before... You said you would tell your friends not to hinder my movements. Did you not pass that on to Valley Master Uhyang?”
“Ah, you remembered. I relayed that to all the friends I know. However, since I had relayed it as Heimiao Lodge at the time, I corrected myself and passed it on to Valley Master Uhyang here earlier as well. I told them that the Heimiao leader back then is the current Sect Leader of Haomun, you see.”
“So that's what happened.”
I approached Valley Master Uhyang with my hands behind my back.
“Are you alright, Valley Master?”
Valley Master Uhyang answered in a gentler attitude than before.
“I'm fine.”
I placed a chair in front of Valley Master Uhyang and sat down, then looked around and beckoned Valley Master Yuhwa and Byeokgeom over.
I seated the three of them before me and spoke.
“Valley Master Yuhwa, you know a bit about medicine?”
Valley Master Yuhwa answered in a calm tone.
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
I told Valley Master Yuhwa the prescription I had in mind.
“Listen well. If withdrawal symptoms appear from not taking the antidote, the first thirty days will be excruciating pain throughout the entire body.”
“Yes.”
“The next twenty days will be the pain of being gnawed on by insects. The next ten or so days will be an itchy pain. The following three to four days will be a high fever...... If one endures up to here, they enter a recovery period—what do you think?”
Truthfully, if I had told Murong Bai the specific withdrawal symptoms of this, he would've handled it much better. However, right now, Valley Master Yuhwa had no choice but to handle it.
Valley Master Yuhwa thought deeply.
“Full-body pain, insects, itching, fever, in that order.”
“You know what I'm trying to say, don't you? If each stage isn't dealt with, your friend will probably lose his mind and be difficult for those around him to handle.”
Valley Master Uhyang and Byeokgeom looked at each other, then sighed at the same time.
Valley Master Yuhwa said,
“If the pain truly is that terrible, then as the Sect Master said, there is no choice but to endure it with four separate prescriptions.”
“For example?”
“When the pain throughout the body begins, we prescribe medicine that can bring mental calm. As for the Valley Master himself, he must either completely exhaust his energy and stamina, or sweat until an extreme state arrives, so that it can be expelled from the body even a little sooner.”
“Is that right?”
“I will judge the situation and respond accordingly.”
“Next.”
“The pain of being bitten by insects will be handled with the standard prescription. Since the itching is an aftereffect, we will deal with it by applying medicinal herbs. As for the high fever, it is a sign of recovery, so he will have no choice but to endure it as if it were an extreme bout of body aches.”
I pointed at Byeokgeom.
“Can you take care of Byeokgeom as well in that manner?”
Valley Master Yuhwa nodded.
“Yes, that is what must be done.”
After first resolving the matter of treating the poisoned, I looked at Valley Master Uhyang. This time, it was a different problem.
“What will you do now, Valley Master?”
“What do you mean?”
“We failed to learn their base from Young Master Baengmyeon. All of Baengmyeon’s subordinates here have been killed as well, so soon, someone above Young Master Baengmyeon will come……”
“Hm.”
“Since they say Young Master Baengmyeon’s superior is the Third Young Master of the Demon Cult, he may come in person. Or the Third Young Master’s maternal grandfather may appear.”
I pointed here and there around Uhyanggok with my finger.
“I’m saying that if you stubbornly hold out here for no reason, everyone could die.”
Valley Master Uhyang closed his mouth.
I honestly shared the state of our fighting strength.
“If the Third Young Master comes, he’ll be someone worth crossing hands with me. If that bastard is a genius, I might be pushed back. But martial arts aren’t everything when it comes to ability. However, if that bastard’s maternal grandfather appears, even I can’t guarantee anything. I’d only be able to deal with him by fighting, running away, doing this and that, and making a complete damned mess of things. At the very least, he’ll be an old demon over sixty. There’s a very high chance he’s a veteran of a hundred battles who even participated in the Demon Cult’s war of succession.”
Suddenly, all of Uhyanggok fell silent.
“What will you do?”
With a bitter expression, Valley Master Uhyang asked me,
“If the Sect Master offers guidance, I will follow it. By my own arbitrary judgment, all of Uhyanggok was handed down to me by my late father, so I have no desire to leave…… but hearing the situation, it seems that truly is nothing but arbitrary judgment.”
He was not the completely frustrating type, but since something still sat ill with me, I tested Valley Master Uhyang.
“First, bring out some of the spiritual medicine Uhyanggok possesses. We’ll give it to Yukkab.”
“Spiritual medicine, all of a sudden……”
“Why? Are you going to fight? Then you don’t have to give it. Hey, Yukhap.”
Master Yukhap, whose name had been called properly, answered at once.
“What?”
“Let’s go.”
“Shall we?”
Master Yukhap and I stood up at the same time. I waved to Lady Cheolseom and the others.
“Then, I wish you fortune in battle.”
“…….”
Lady Cheolseom trotted over to Valley Master Uhyang and whispered in an exasperated tone.
“Do you think eating that will let you…… handle this, Valley Master?”
“No, that is not it. I was flustered and misspoke.”
Valley Master Uhyang called out to me.
“Sect Master, so many things have kept happening today that I lost my composure.”
When I turned back, Valley Master Uhyang rose and said to me,
“Sect Master, we do possess spiritual medicine. Of course I should offer it to you.”
I answered in a dry tone.
“It isn’t some adorable level of poison that also requires taking an antidote, is it?”
“How could that be?”
“What is it?”
“It is called Uhwahyang (雨花香), and it is a spiritual medicine we cultivate with painstaking care.”
“Its effect?”
“Usually, upon first taking it, internal energy equivalent to seven or eight years up to twelve or thirteen years is added, depending on each person’s internal cultivation method. It is a spiritual medicine whose effect decreases the more one takes it continuously, so it has the drawback of needing to be consumed at intervals.”
At this level, it was still top-grade among mass-producible spiritual medicines. Because of the Cheonok, it would not make even the slightest ripple in me, but it would be of great help to Master Yukhap.
I looked at Master Yukhap.
“Have you heard of Uhwahyang?”
“I have.”
“Can you tell the difference? Whether it’s fake or genuine?”
Master Yukhap nodded as if it were not difficult. I whispered to Master Yukhap.
“Is it good?”
With his back turned to the others as he looked at me, Master Yukhap raised his thumb, then lowered it.
But because I did not like Valley Master Uhyang’s attitude, I kept speaking sharply.
“I see. It must be quite a waste.”
“Not at all.”
In an even tone, I poured out everything I wanted to say to Valley Master Uhyang and tore into him.
“Listen, Valley Master. You’ve eaten more years than I have, yet your judgment of the situation is like this. Looking at your expression, it seems the spiritual medicine is a waste, the money is a waste, and Uhyanggok is a waste too. Your way of thinking is no different from some upstart rich man’s. Your martial arts are weaker than Baengmyeon’s, and it’s not as if you’re a righteous hero of the orthodox path. Nor are you a man of the black path who risks his life on pride alone. No wonder you were called someone between the righteous and the wicked, attaching yourself here and there and living according to your temper. I was planning to beat down just about every demonic path scum I got entangled with, but seeing the things you do and say is making me doubtful.”
Before he could answer, I said to Lady Cheolseom,
“Madam, help appropriately, then withdraw. You may get swept up in this and all die. If an old demon comes, you will not be able to handle him.”
Perhaps Lady Cheolseom was somewhat angry as well, for she glared fiercely at Valley Master Uhyang.
“Valley Master Uhyang, are you truly going to act like this? Where else do you think you will find an ally like the Sect Master?”
Valley Master Uhyang, whose complexion had turned pale, suddenly strode toward me and stopped nearby.
“Sect Master.”
“Speak, Valley Master.”
“I have never in my life had to speak regretfully to anyone, so my attitude and manner of speech must have displeased you greatly. Since you have already helped Master Yukhap and us once, even if you return as you are, I will offer you the Uhwahyang. If we survive, I will cooperate with Haomun’s affairs from now on as well.”
Hm. A slightly correct answer had come out.
Even so, I was in a foul mood, so I glanced at Master Yukhap. Perhaps Master Yukhap wanted to take the Uhwahyang quickly, because he jabbed me in the ribs with his elbow and opened his mouth.
“Let it pass this once. If we had not known, our hearts would be easy even if we left as we were. But now that we know a formidable enemy is coming, would it not sit poorly with us if we simply walked away like this? In any case, we set out to kill those of the demonic path.”
I looked at Master Yukhap with an absurd expression.
Since meeting me, this bastard was speaking at his greatest length yet.
Spiritual medicine was that frightening to martial artists.
Contrary to my true feelings, I said to Master Yukhap in a composed tone.
“Master Yukgap, you’ve become quite the knight-errant.”
“Not at all.”
“Could it be because of the spirit medicine……”
Master Yukhap hastily cut me off.
“No, no. That is not it. I only thought I would feel more at ease helping. Well, I have been injured and all, so eating it would surely be of help.”
I grabbed Master Yukhap by the shoulder.
“Master, even if you and I join forces, there’s a chance we’ll be pushed back by that old demon. That means we might die while helping someone else. Are you still fine with that?”
For a moment, the Ghost Demon from my previous life fell into thought.
The expression of a villain from a past life agonizing between spirit medicine and an act of chivalry was truly something to behold.
Master Yukhap said to me.
“May I speak honestly?”
“You should be honest.”
“I want to eat the Uhwahyang. If I eat it, I will owe a debt to this place. If I bear a grudge, I must repay it; if I receive a favor, I must repay that as well before I can feel at ease. Those who live in the jianghu grow stronger by breaking through hardships. Help me a little, will you?”
If he thought I would readily agree to help at this point, he was gravely mistaken. I looked at the Lord of Uhyang Valley, then deliberately opened my mouth in the tone of those bastards who used to collect tribute in the old days.
“Lord of Uhyang Valley.”
“Yes, Sect Master.”
I rubbed my fingers together and asked.
“Got any money?”
“……”
Since he had annoyed me, I steeled my mind with the resolve that I would absolutely not help for free.