Episode 52. The Liberated Woman, the Revived Man

The footsteps of the busy female physicians gradually faded, and the steady sound of Murong Bai grinding medicinal ingredients could be heard.

I sat cross-legged on the bed.

I could also hear Hongsin snoring and Geumhae occasionally letting out long breaths.

Though miscellaneous sounds were mixed in here and there, what I felt in the Murong Medical House was tranquility.

‘Good.’

Only after regressing did I learn that the Poison Demon Murong Bai had sometimes laughed like that in his youth.

Like me, there are those who laugh even when they are mad.

And there are those who do not laugh at all even as they go mad.

They have carved the very emotion called laughter out of their own hearts.

Because of that, to my eyes, the young physician Murong Bai looked far happier than when he was the Poison Demon Murong Bai.

With a faint smile on my lips, I began circulating my qi and regulating my breath. The energy of the seven roots of White Flame Grass had already been absorbed by the Heavenly Jade.

As usual, I converted the energy of the Heavenly Jade into inner energy.

There was no need to hurry.

Having experienced qi deviation several times, I know my own body.

There are cases where one falls into qi deviation because of anxiety and haste, so when it came to martial arts, I was thorough and slow, like a turtle wandering all under heaven.

Because of that, I did not spend the whole night circulating qi.

I focused for exactly about one shichen, finished, then lay on the bed and looked up at the ceiling.

Though I was lying down, I fell into a light sleep while paying attention to the surrounding sounds for a while, as if I were standing guard over the Murong Medical House.

At the hazy boundary between memory and dream, I was looking at a staircase.

* * *

A gaunt man wearing yellow dharma robes (the clothing worn by monks) slowly climbed the stairs while holding a corpse in both hands.

At the top of the stairs, a large man with a huge string of prayer beads around his neck looked down with an impassive expression, together with the other monks.

The faces of those atop the stairs were full of sorrow, but not a single emotion could be glimpsed on the face of the man of imposing build.

After checking the condition of the corpse, the man gave the other monks a brief farewell, then slowly descended the stairs alone.

As this man came down the stairs, his expression changed from moment to moment.

His calm expression vanished first, he cast off all empty formalities, declared his own apostasy, and then his face changed like a statue of Acala, the Immovable Wisdom King.

The monks at the top of the stairs shouted for him to return.

But the man who had declared his own apostasy stepped off the final stair with an expression that did not so much as twitch.

A dream, by nature, is not a story whose pieces fit together.

The man of imposing build who had come down the stairs walked through the darkness. Even in the dream, the moment I saw the man’s peculiar attire, I let out a sigh first.

‘Why are you looking at me again?’

The tough-boned man with thick prayer beads around his neck was a warrior monk of the Jabu Esoteric Sect, a branch of Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism.

Commonly known as the Grandmaster of Japmil.

The man swept his hand through the air, dispersing the darkness, then looked at me and smiled with a bizarre expression.

“Disciple, it has been a long time.”

My eyes opened on their own, and sleep fled completely.

‘Ah, damn it…….’

So, to summarize, this was a nightmare.

Because I had taken White Flame Grass, he seemed to have appeared in my dream by association.

I ate White Flame Grass after being dragged around by this mad apostate monk. The suffering I endured back then cannot be put into words.

In terms of my previous life, he was the man who would become the previous Mad Demon.

The Grandmaster of Japmil is my master.

But because of his origins, attire, and appearance, his enemies called him the Mad Monk.

There are a few men in the murim who are like natural disasters, whom martial artists should avoid crossing paths with if possible, and the Mad Monk is one of them.

Whenever I thought of the master with whom I had shared a brief connection, I was filled with disgust.

Saying I should have a taste of White Flame Grass, he dragged me from the Central Plains all the way to Tibet. Saying he was curious what sort of fish lived in the sea off the coast of Zhejiang, he went from Tibet through Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, and Anhui to Zhejiang. Every member of the Black Way or heretical faction we encountered on that journey was killed by the Mad Monk.

While I was being dragged around, I never once called him Master.

But he called me disciple the entire time.

Later, after I became the Mad Demon and looked back on it, he had been my master after all.

I carefully resolved to myself.

This time, I would absolutely not become his disciple.

It was not just once or twice that I nearly lost my life while being dragged around.

Since he was the previous Mad Demon, of course he was a madman.

If he had not one day attained enlightenment and returned to Tibet, perhaps half of the masters of the Central Plains would have been killed by that man.

* * *

Early in the morning, Murong Bai, who had been moving around without making a sound, discovered that I was already awake.

“Sect Leader, you are awake already?”

When I nodded, Murong Bai said,

“I will bring the decoction at once.”

The moment I saw Murong Bai’s face, I realized he had stayed up all night. Murong Bai soon brought over a bowl of decoction.

A pitch-black medicine given by the Poison Demon, of all people…….

Even as I thought that this fellow was not yet the Poison Demon, the backs of my knees went slightly weak.

With innocent eyes, Murong Bai pushed the foul-tasting medicine that looked like a poison draught toward me.

“Sect Leader, please drink.”

Doctor, what did you make this with?

Suppressing the urge to ask, I drank down the bowl. Seeing as it slid smoothly down my esophagus, it did not seem to be poison.

“How is it?”

“Nothing much, aside from my chest feeling a little refreshed.”

“You mean it feels as though something blocked has been cleared away, yes? May I take your pulse once?”

When I held out my wrist, Murong Bai took my pulse, then tilted his head slightly.

“Have you had any difficulty accumulating inner energy so far?”

“Not particularly.”

In that instant, Murong Bai quickly pulled his hand away with a startled expression.

“There is some force pulling at……”

“Your inner energy?”

“Yes.”

Murong Bai touched the fingers he had used to take my pulse, then described the sensation.

“It feels as though it burns and absorbs.”

“It probably does.”

“Divine Palm Geumhae must have been done in by this as well, then?”

I grinned as I looked at Murong Bai. The man before me had more or less grasped the whole situation.

“Then when you said he had lost his inner energy, did that mean Divine Palm Geumhae’s inner energy had entered your dantian, Sect Leader?”

“That’s right.”

“Did you perhaps acquire it through a traditional method—an old martial art, I mean? Or is it a phenomenon gained in the form of a fortuitous encounter?”

“I suppose it would be called a fortuitous encounter.”

“In that case, until you have perfectly assimilated this phenomenon as your own, Sect Leader, it would be best to refrain from absorbing others’ internal energy as much as possible.”

“I was already thinking of refraining.”

“Where do you usually stay, Sect Leader?”

“At the Black Cat Gang, or somewhere in Ilyang County……”

“Even if you are busy, please come by from time to time.”

I openly revealed my course of action.

“Once I deal with the Great Rakshasa, I will come again with a lighter heart.”

Dealing with the Great Rakshasa meant seizing control of most of the black path forces in the Nanhwa region, including Ilyang County. If I could accomplish just that, then in the future, Murong Bai would no longer suffer some sudden calamity out of nowhere.

After treating Hongsin and Geumhae until morning and exchanging words of farewell, I climbed into the carriage and looked at Murong Bai once more.

“Doctor Murong, get plenty of sleep. Thank you for yesterday and today.”

Murong Bai replied with a smile.

“Sect Leader, I wish you success. If you ever feel unwell, please come see me anytime.”

I also left him with a word of caution.

“Doctor, be careful of people of the jianghu. If anything happens, I will come personally.”

“What sort of trouble could befall a physician? Still, thank you for saying so.”

As soon as the carriage set off, I let out a slight sigh.

‘I’m in the middle of a war right now to make sure that trouble doesn’t happen, you fool…….’

* * *

Geumhae’s complexion was better than yesterday.

However, beside him was Hongsin, who had overcome her diarrhea, and in front of him was me.

Geumhae, who was desperately guarding against being slapped, spoke to me in a cautious tone.

“Senior Brother Nok, may I not return home?”

I nodded.

“Home is nice.”

“Thank you.”

“No.”

“…….”

This time, Hongsin put her hands together and made an innocent expression.

“Senior Brother, you’ll give me the antidote, won’t you?”

“I already did.”

“When?”

“The Zihagu poison is a laxative. And Doctor Murong would have treated the diarrhea.”

I looked at Hongsin’s dumbstruck expression and said,

“Junior Sister, you should control your face, shouldn’t you?”

Hongsin beamed. But to my eyes, even as she smiled brightly, flames seemed to be blazing in her eyes.

“Junior Sister Hong, Junior Brother Geum.”

“Yes.”

“Is it funny that I, someone you had never even met, suddenly call you Junior Sister and Junior Brother?”

“No.”

“It isn’t funny.”

“What about your actual master, then? In a person’s life, nothing is as precious as ties of fate. If the two of you intend to stand on the Great Rakshasa’s side and oppose me, I will stop the carriage right now. The poison has been resolved, and your internal injuries have been treated to some extent, so there should be no major problem. Get off and each go your own way.”

“Hmm.”

“I’m not getting off, though?”

“I don’t have any particular affection for you two yet either, so if I see you standing beside the Great Rakshasa, I think I could beat you to death quite refreshingly, as if you were people I had met for the first time. The two of you should live however you please. Like me.”

Hongsin and Geumhae stared at me quietly.

I added one more thing.

“Neither of you is my slave. Nor are you the Great Rakshasa’s slaves, so it’s fine to do that.”

Geumhae opened his mouth.

“Senior Brother, if I betray the Great Rakshasa, my entire family may be wiped out. Could you tell me roughly how skilled you are, and how great your forces are? This is not a matter that concerns only my life.”

I suddenly recalled Murong Bai’s words.

The thought occurred to me that the disciple who had abandoned his identity as one of the Twelve Divine Generals after the Great Rakshasa’s death and lived an ordinary life might very well have been Geumhae.

Originally, this fellow was the young master of a wealthy family, so it was entirely possible.

If so, then in his previous life, this fellow had received treatment from the person who had killed him.

The corners of my mouth rose.

‘Life really is…….’

“Is it because you’re a merchant? You mean you want to compare our forces and calculate things meticulously?”

Geumhae lowered his head slightly.

“I apologize. It truly isn’t a matter that concerns only my life……”

In the jianghu, there is no calculation more hollow than comparing forces. That is because fights do not produce results according to such calculations.

I explained it in my own way.

“Let’s think of it this way. Assume that I lose. The Great Rakshasa probably still has many disciples. It would only be natural for my forces to be inferior. But let’s suppose that insufficiency is because you two, Hongsin and Geumhae, left my side. Because the two of you rejoined the Great Rakshasa, I lose by a narrow margin. If that happens, do you think your lives will be satisfying?”

For a moment, neither of them gave any reply.

“It will still be, ‘Go steal this.’ ‘Bring me money.’ From what I saw earlier, the medical women at the Murong Clinic were quite beautiful. If they catch the Great Rakshasa’s eye, Murong Bai may have to offer up a medical woman to him as well. Because that’s the kind of man he is. Until the Great Rakshasa dies, you will have no choice but to live as slaves.”

I shook my head.

“Comparing forces is not what matters. Even if I am weak, will you continue living as slaves from now on, or will you not live as slaves? That is what matters.”

A short while later, the carriage stopped, and the coachman reported,

“We have arrived at the Black Cat Gang.”

I said this to Geumhae, who had followed me this far.

“Geumhae, you were born into a wealthy family and grew up lacking nothing. You may take pride in your clan as well, but look at the situation now. How is that money yours? Your entire household is the Great Rakshasa’s storehouse of funds. If you are truly rich, I would think how you spend money is more important than hoarding it with all your might.”

Geumhae, avoiding an immediate answer, replied,

“Senior Brother, I’m sorry, but could you give me one more meal?”

I asked Hongsin,

“And Junior Sister?”

Hongsin asked back with a bewildered expression.

“Me what? Food? I am hungry too, though.”

Geumhae jabbed Hongsin in the side with his elbow.

“He’s asking whether you’re going to side with the Great Rakshasa.”

Unlike Geumhae, Hongsin was simple and clear.

“I am on Senior Brother’s side no matter what.”

Geumhae asked the question in my stead.

“Why?”

Hongsin answered.

“You took me to the restroom, and to the physician. We ate pork backbone too. It does bother me a bit that you gave me poison, but it was a laxative. And if Martial Uncle Daenachal had given me poison, it would have been real poison, so I would have died, right? You wouldn’t have taken me to the restroom; I would have soiled the grass, right? Just thinking about it is terrible, so I will go with Elder Brother.”

So I’d won a lady’s heart with laxatives once again.

“Let’s go eat.”

We got off the carriage, and even the coachman came with us into the Heukmyo Bang. As we entered through the wide-open main gate, we saw the subordinates in the middle of training.

When I appeared without my mask, So Gunpyeong cupped his fists and spoke.

“Greetings, My Lord.”

The subordinates then offered their greetings while maintaining their painful training stances.

“Greetings, My Lord!”

With Hong Shin to my left and Geum Hae to my right, I nodded and strode through the inner courtyard.

In the midst of this, Geum Hae looked around with an expression that couldn’t understand why the subordinates of the Heukmyo Bang were calling him Lord, then stopped dead in his tracks.

“Elder Brother Nok is Elder Brother Myo? Ha, the servant is Elder Brother Myo. Is it Elder Brother Nok? The Sect Leader was a servant?”

I turned around and looked at Geum Hae.

“Th-that… look at him. Another qi deviation coming on. Junior Sister Hong.”

“Yes.”

Hong Shin, ever sharp and reading the mood instantly, smacked the cheek of Geum Hae, whose face was filled completely with bewilderment.

“Not coming to your senses?”

Geum Hae held his cheek, having returned from the gates of hell. Just how many slaps had he taken yesterday and today?

I clicked my tongue and said,

“Jeez, what good is that rich young master?”

I said to those who had been freed from diarrhea and slapped back to life,

“Let’s go eat.”

Surviving in the martial world is no easy task.