Chapter 223. A Pork Bone Saved a Man’s Life.

“Doctor……”

Murong Bai’s eyes widened the moment he saw me appear out of nowhere.

“Sect Leader, welcome.”

I nodded, then looked around the Murong Medical House.

“Has anything happened?”

“What could have happened?”

At the sound of my voice, the medical women came pouring out, so I glared at them as well. They greeted me in unison.

“Sect Leader, you have come.”

Black-White Soso was mixed in among the medical women, so I nodded only to them.

“Have you been well?”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

Unlike when I had seen Black-White Soso before, it was now difficult to distinguish them from the medical women.

After exchanging glances with Murong Bai, I pointed to his office. Murong Bai extended a hand and said,

“Please come in.”

I entered Murong Bai’s office and looked over the study anew. After being surrounded by murals and paintings depicting every sort of death, looking at Murong Bai’s study felt unbelievably peaceful.

I felt it all over again.

A study was peace.

As I stood there blankly, gazing at the study, Murong Bai sat at his desk and silently waited for me.

It was a sense of relief, as if I had returned from a study of death to a study of knowledge.

Only now did I realize that the hidden role of a study had always been peace of mind. In truth, I had run from Baekeungji to the White-Robed Scholar’s residence, then from the White-Robed Scholar’s residence all the way here without rest. It had been a journey that could not help but exhaust both body and mind, so simply looking at the study itself was rest for me.

“Phew……”

After looking around the sufficiently peaceful study, I sat across from Murong Bai, and he held out his hand first.

“Sect Leader, let me take your pulse.”

I waved him off.

“It’s fine. I’m perfectly all right. Body and mind both.”

Murong Bai answered in a doubtful tone.

“Is that so? Then let me see your eyes.”

Murong Bai reached out and examined the area around my eyes, flipping the lids up and down.

“Do my eyes look strange?”

“There is a faint reddish hue compared to usual, but it is all right. You say you are fine, Sect Leader, but to me, you seem like someone who has returned briefly in the middle of a war.”

I nodded.

“Well, that’s not wrong.”

“How is your pent-up anger?”

“That’s a matter of the heart. And since my heart swings back and forth, I can’t say I’m fully healed. My mood changes depending on the person, so it can’t be helped. These days, just hearing the words Demonic Cult makes my temper flare. I suppose even that can’t really be called an illness, can it?”

“That is true.”

Only then did I take a book from my robes and push the Yihua Jiemu Divine Art toward Murong Bai.

“……This is a secret manual for you, but there are things you must keep in mind.”

“Yes.”

“You remember the White-Robed Scholar who gave me the Moon Shadow Merciless Art before, don’t you?”

“How could I forget?”

“This is a secret manual that bastard is giving you as a gift. So examine it carefully. Check whether there are any sections that could cause qi deviation. If any problem arises while you are training, stop immediately. Study it as if dissecting every single sentence. As you know, the White-Robed Scholar is an insidious bastard……”

“I will keep that in mind. But why would the White-Robed Scholar go out of his way to give me such a secret manual?”

“Partly because he’s insane. He also said your comprehension is excellent. Since that bastard is no ordinary man either, he probably gave you the martial art that suits your temperament best. I saw his study, and it was packed with secret manuals.”

“Hmm.”

I tapped the Yihua Jiemu Divine Art with my finger.

“I haven’t looked at it.”

“Why not?”

“I was busy running around. And he said it was a martial art that didn’t suit my temperament, so I didn’t look.”

Murong Bai answered with a surprised expression.

“Even so, it is a secret manual. Is there any reason you should not look at it, Sect Leader? It would help Haomun if you became stronger.”

“Is that so? Then let’s take a look.”

With Murong Bai before me, I opened the Yihua Jiemu Divine Art, then widened my eyes.

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

“There are drawings.”

Murong Bai, who had confirmed the drawings, looked at me as well.

“There are.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

“Good grief.”

There were not drawings every time, but illustrations had been inserted here and there. In other words, the reason the White-Robed Scholar had no choice but to treasure those books was that while transferring the original bamboo slips, which had contained only text, into books, he had inserted illustrations containing his own interpretations.

There had been yet another reason the White-Robed Scholar accepted my warning that he would not be able to make such books again. After all, drawing the same pictures was difficult too.

‘He really was a scholar down to his very essence.’

I skimmed through the Yihua Jiemu Divine Art once, then handed it to Murong Bai. While I folded my arms and reviewed the contents in my mind, Murong Bai also read through it once in full.

The two of us exchanged glances, and Murong Bai spoke first.

“This martial art is far too difficult. I think I understand why he gave it to me.”

“Indeed. At the very least, one must know all the acupoint-striking methods. Prepare a fan or judge’s pens for self-defense. An iron fan would be better if possible.”

“Yes.”

“At any rate, while it is a high-level martial art, there are parts that are difficult for me to understand.”

“What parts do you find difficult?”

“You can just beat them to a pulp, but it goes on in too much detail about counterattacking methods, so it doesn’t quite sink into my head. In other words, after acupoint striking, this goes on about comprehensive counterattack techniques, feints used in counterattacks, and methods of turning the opponent’s strength against them. It’s a martial art that feels like something added on after learning internal energy, finger techniques, palm techniques, and qinna techniques.”

“Is that a problem?”

“If the opponent deliberately takes the hit and then counterattacks, you die. It’s a fairly dangerous domain of martial arts. First, you have to master it perfectly. Second, you have to use it while judging the opponent’s skill. Third, you must always be careful not to have it turned against you.”

Murong Bai smiled.

“You understand all of it, so why do you say it is difficult?”

“Doctor.”

“Yes.”

“Techniques of this level are useless before an overwhelming gap in strength. How could you redirect a crashing wave with a countering technique like grafting flowers onto trees? It is nothing more than an auxiliary consummate technique added on after learning the martial art that forms your foundation.”

Murong Bai gazed at me for a moment, then took a small box from a drawer and looked at the steel needles inside.

Holding a steel needle, Murong Bai said to me,

“The overall essence is a countering technique that subtly returns the opponent’s strength or internal energy.”

“And?”

“My internal energy is not yet deep, so if I use it, it will serve as a survival technique. Especially if I have a steel needle like this, I can strike while accounting for the possibility that the opponent might turn it against me. If I coat the steel needle with paralysis powder, the match is as good as over there.”

“I see.”

I extended my right hand toward Murong Bai.

“If I unleash palm force from here, how would you block it?”

Murong Bai slowly reached out and pushed my wrist, changing its direction. With my left hand, I slowly seized Murong Bai’s wrist as he altered the direction of mine.

“And if I anticipated that and grabbed your wrist at the same time to crush it? A fight is a continuous exchange of psychological warfare and reading techniques.”

Murong Bai laughed.

“Only you could do that, Sect Leader. Do you think most people in the jianghu fight like you? I’ll have to choose who I use it on.”

The two of us each tilted our heads, then looked at the book at the same time. Perhaps Murong Bai had sensed something as well, for he extended his hand first.

“Please examine it first.”

Only then did I turn to the latter half of the Yihua Jiemu Divine Art and look over the illustrations and phrases again. One sentence I had passed over earlier stood out particularly, so I read it to Murong Bai.

“At its ultimate stage, it aims to copy the opponent’s technique in its entirety and return it to them. To copy a technique is to imitate it exactly, so it is right to examine as many martial arts under heaven as possible. Only then will Yihua Jiemu shine all the more.”

I rested my chin on my hand and continued.

“So it was a martial arts manual for studying martial arts. In the end, it doesn’t suit my temperament. Will you research it?”

Murong Bai nodded.

“Yes. I find it interesting.”

“Good. As the White-Clad Scholar said, I can confirm through martial arts that he and I indeed differed in nature. What about the sections that might lead to qi deviation?”

“I will be cautious as I study it.”

“If there’s anything frustrating, don’t agonize over it alone. Discuss it with me.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

When I rose, Murong Bai asked.

“Are you leaving already?”

“It’s been a while since I came, so I should look around. Check on the construction too.”

As I was about to leave the office, Murong Bai spoke to me from behind in a tone different from usual.

“Sect Leader.”

“What?”

“Stop wandering around and get some sleep.”

“Ah……”

I looked at Murong Bai and nodded.

“Understood. I had forgotten.”

* * *

As I headed toward Ilyang County, I realized why my eyes felt dry and stiff. It seemed the time when I should have slept had long passed. I was curious about the progress of construction on the Zaha Inn, and I also thought of Chunyang Restaurant’s whole pork bones.

I was about to stop by Chunyang Restaurant first when a young beggar I had never seen before leaned against a wall by the roadside, looked at me, and slightly lowered his head.

I had no choice but to nod back and say.

“You’re working hard.”

The beggar held out a brass bowl to me and tapped it with his chopsticks. I ignored the beggar’s request and quickened my pace.

Why had the Beggar Gang appeared here?

Curiosity suddenly seized me, and I sprinted toward Chunyang Restaurant. A little while later, I stopped in front of Chunyang Restaurant and looked around. Sure enough, I saw beggars I had never seen before sitting on the ground, playing gonggi (拱碁). But the gonggi stones did not look like children’s playthings; they all appeared to be made of iron.

‘What are these beggar bastards doing in Ilyang County?’

I entered Chunyang Restaurant and could not help but be surprised. Junior Sister Hongshin, who had been wiping the floor, jumped in fright and stared at me.

“Eldest Senior Brother.”

“Oh, Junior Sister Hong.”

This time, the moment Brother Deuksu came out of the kitchen and saw me, he too looked startled.

“Oh, you’re here?”

Since we kept startling each other as we looked at one another, I was left bewildered. I planted my backside in my usual seat and said.

“Why are there so many beggars? And why are you here, Junior Sister Hong? First, give me food.”

“Got it. I’ll bring it right out. Wait.”

Jang Deuksu fled into the kitchen, while Hongshin kept wiping the table with a dry laugh.

“Eldest Senior Brother, have you been well?”

“Yeah.”

Hongshin gathered a kettle, a water cup, and chopsticks, then set them down in front of me. The problem was that her movements were extremely practiced.

“Junior Sister Hong, did you get a job here?”

“Yes. They said they would need many hands once they move to Zaha Inn.”

“Since when have the beggars been here?”

“They suddenly increased in number starting yesterday morning.”

“Ah, you mean they were here even before that?”

“Yes.”

“And you know they’re from the Beggar Gang?”

“They all looked like they had learned martial arts, so I guessed as much.”

I nodded.

“Beggars have increased in Ilyang County, so this is an auspicious occasion. Junior Sister Hong, stand in front of me.”

I had Hongshin stand across from me and examined her expression. Hongshin’s eyes could not look directly at me, instead flitting here and there around Chunyang Restaurant like reflected rays of light.

From inside, Brother Deuksu came out carrying a bowl of whole pork bones, flinched again, and looked at me.

“Ah, eat this first. I’ll put together noodles and bring them right out.”

I rubbed my hands together and said.

“Wow, the whole pork bones were ready right away. Almost as if you’d prepared them in advance. Did you know I was coming? No way that could be. Anyway, I’m lucky. Junior Sister, you should eat with me too. Brother Deuksu, you should give some to Junior Sister Hong too.”

After setting down the whole pork bones, Brother Deuksu fled back to the kitchen and answered.

“Ah, got it.”

I pointed to the chair across from me and said to Hongshin.

“Sit.”

“Yes.”

I watched Jang Deuksu come out carrying the whole pork bones for Hongshin, then beckoned.

“Brother, you sit here too.”

When I pointed to the seat on my right, Jang Deuksu gave an awkward smile and answered.

“Ah, should I?”

I smelled the whole pork bones on the table, then examined the expressions of the two of them. I wanted to tease them a bit more, but I started laughing too and couldn’t. For the moment, I forgot about the beggars of the Beggar Gang waiting outside in formation and said to the two of them.

“Brother Deuksu, Hongshin. You two.”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, Eldest Senior Brother.”

Unable to hold back my laughter, I finally stated the conclusion first.

“……You look good together.”

In an instant, Hongshin’s face turned bright red, and Brother Deuksu scratched the back of his head. I never thought I would feel such great satisfaction from having regressed in life here at Chunyang Restaurant. After all, Brother Deuksu had once lived his life as an old bachelor without ever meeting a woman.

Wow…… Is this what makes life so mysterious?

I laughed to myself, then asked the two of them.

“Say something, anything. Or should I tell you what I’m guessing?”

Hong Sin and Jang Deuksu looked at each other, then said to me.

“Yes.”

“What are you guessing?”

“Junior Sister Hong is a bit of a glutton too, so she often came here to eat pork backbones...”

When I said what I was thinking, Jang Deuksu threw his head back and burst into loud laughter.

“Hahahahaha...”

I asked Hong Sin.

“Am I wrong?”

Hong Sin answered shyly, smiling.

“You’re right.”

The three of us burst into laughter at the same time.

To think something like this could happen in the world...

Pork backbones had saved a person.