Chapter 108. Genius, Genius, Genius!
The Demonic Gentleman of Kuai Hall, who had watched the Hao Sect Leader with great interest at Wushan Gorge, was one day leisurely waving a folding fan as he gazed at a signboard.
“Murong Medical House”
‘I found the right place.’
It was the place the Demonic Gentleman had tracked down from the name Murong Bai alone. He had abruptly come to Murong Medical House.
* * *
Once the Demonic Gentleman took a seat, Murong Bai asked in an even tone,
“What discomfort brings you here?”
After the question was asked, the two men looked at each other for a moment as if in a staring contest.
Murong Bai knew at once that the other man was from the martial world, but he did not bother to show it.
The Demonic Gentleman set his folding fan down on the desk, then replied,
“To be honest, I came because I have business with you, Doctor.”
“I will hear you out first.”
The Demonic Gentleman placed a book he had taken from his robe onto the desk.
“After we speak, I am thinking of handing this over to you.”
“What book is it?”
“I ask your understanding in advance. I intend to tell you after I have finished speaking with you.”
Murong Bai replied with a dubious expression.
“I hope I haven’t suddenly become caught up in something bad?”
The Demonic Gentleman nodded.
“That is not the case.”
“Then please speak freely. I will listen.”
Murong Bai already knew that the man before him was no ordinary person.
The Demonic Gentleman extended his hand.
“First, please take my pulse. I did come to a medical house, after all.”
Murong Bai placed his middle and index fingers on the Demonic Gentleman’s wrist.
“……”
After a short while, the Demonic Gentleman asked,
“How is it?”
Murong Bai withdrew his hand and said,
“There are no major problems. No, you are in perfect condition. However, please stand for a moment.”
The Demonic Gentleman replied with a surprised expression.
“You want me to stand?”
“Yes. Please stand as you are.”
When Murong Bai gestured with his hand as if urging him to get up, the Demonic Gentleman stood.
“I’m sorry, but please slowly turn around once.”
Since the other party was a physician, the Demonic Gentleman turned once in place without complaint. Murong Bai nodded and indicated the seat as if telling him to sit again.
Murong Bai said,
“You are healthy. However, because you have maintained a certain posture for long periods, the lines of your neck, shoulders, waist, and pelvis are not good. And it seems you have used your legs far too much; overall, the balance between your upper and lower body is also poor.”
The Demonic Gentleman touched his own neck and asked as if testing Murong Bai.
“Why is my neck bad?”
“You have likely spent long hours reading books.”
“Mm.”
“Come closer. I will look at your eyes.”
The Demonic Gentleman thrust his head forward.
After checking the Demonic Gentleman’s eyes, Murong Bai reached out and pressed a spot on his shoulder with his finger.
“How does this feel?”
The Demonic Gentleman replied,
“Extremely painful.”
Murong Bai formed various shapes with his hands as he explained the Demonic Gentleman’s condition.
“First of all, your posture when reading is far too rigid. The muscle at the spot I indicated is raised, and because your cervical spine is curved like this… like a bow, you likely suffer from migraines. Your eyes must also be very fatigued. Are you training in qinggong?”
The Demonic Gentleman asked back,
“How did you know that as well?”
Murong Bai gave an embarrassed smile and said,
“That was merely a guess. I suspect you have trained in qinggong for a long time with your hands clasped behind your back. Nothing may be wrong right now, but if you maintain this state for another three or four years, the pain your body gives you will be no small matter. Still, it is not a major problem. Since you train in martial arts, if you pay just a little attention, you can correct it within a year or two.”
“A year or two?”
“I shortened it because your martial arts are profound.”
“How did you judge my martial arts?”
“Did I not take your pulse?”
“You mean a physician can also examine internal energy?”
“I did not examine only your internal energy. Internal energy is also part of the body, so I examined it together.”
The Demonic Gentleman completely withdrew the suspicion from his gaze and looked at Murong Bai again.
‘He is a rare master physician.’
Thinking so and looking at him anew, he was indeed the sworn brother of the Hao Sect Leader.
The Demonic Gentleman said in an easygoing tone,
“Doctor, please instruct me. I will steel my heart and fix it.”
“In truth, because you have trained in martial arts for so long, you likely already know the method. This is simply a matter of awareness. Sit properly, straighten your posture, and run properly. The words are simple, but carrying them out is tedious and painful, so it is also something difficult to resolve with ordinary willpower.”
The Demonic Gentleman nodded.
“That answer suited me perfectly.”
After stretching, the Demonic Gentleman moved his neck this way and that, and a series of cracks rang out.
Murong Bai said with a smile,
“Now, shall I hear the true purpose of your visit?”
The Demonic Gentleman nodded, gathered what he wanted to say, and then opened his mouth.
“Do you know the Hao Sect Leader?”
“Yes.”
“I met him before, and he called you his sworn brother. Is that true?”
Murong Bai replied with a composed expression.
“He never specifically asked that we become sworn brothers……”
“Ah, was it a lie?”
“That is also somewhat ambiguous. For one thing, if the Hao Sect Leader were gravely injured, I would set everything aside and run to treat him. And if Murong Medical House were undergoing hardship, the Hao Sect Leader would come running. We address each other as Doctor and Sect Leader, but if one considers the righteousness between us, calling us sworn brothers is not excessive.”
“I see. Is the Hao Sect Leader suffering from qi deviation?”
This time, Murong Bai did not answer for a moment. Instead, he responded with a question.
“Sir, are you the Hao Sect Leader’s enemy?”
The Demonic Gentleman grinned.
“I do not know why you would think that. And what would you do if I were?”
Murong Bai stroked his chin.
“I suppose I would be in trouble today.”
“There will be no such thing. An enemy, you say…… I will say it again: I came with goodwill. Since I have a rather difficult matter on my hands, I came to consult with you first, Doctor Murong.”
“That is a relief.”
“What exactly is the Hao Sect Master’s condition?”
Murong Bai said, looking at the book.
“He suffers from madness.”
“Madness? Is it serious?”
“Even as a physician, I cannot say for certain.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he himself is aware of his madness. His condition is complicated. There are psychological aspects to it, and it is also linked to his martial arts. Nor is it purely a side effect. It is connected to the ambitions he harbors in his heart, as well as a faint sense of loss, suppressed anger, melancholy, and a tendency to act while wearing a mask.”
“A mask?”
“I do not mean an actual mask. Perhaps I should call it a psychological phenomenon in which a person changes in certain situations.”
“By certain situations, you mean……?”
“When he fights, I suppose. I have a great interest in the Sect Master myself. Partly because he is my patient, but also because the man himself is an exceptionally rare type. So I often ask around about what he has been doing lately, and whom he has been fighting these days. It is not merely because he is a patient who comes here. This, too, should perhaps be called a kind of righteousness.”
“How does the Sect Master fight?”
“Well, according to his subordinates and people from here and there, most accounts are similar. In other words……”
“Like a madman?”
“Yes.”
“Is the entire organization called the Hao Sect like that, by any chance?”
“Only the Sect Master is.”
“Aha. Then just what sort of force is the Hao Sect? What do you think, sir?”
“Have you looked into it?”
“I spent a few days wearing out my shoes, asking around, but I thought they might simply be part of the Black Path. It is not as though I do not know what the word hao means.”
“You have not yet spoken at length with the Sect Master, then.”
“That is so.”
Murong Bai explained.
“The Hao Sect is not of the Black Path.”
“Yet he seems to have beaten down the Black Path several times……”
“This is difficult for me to explain as well. If you have the chance, ask him. In any case, the Hao Sect does not collect tribute. The Sect Master dismantles Black Path groups that extort tribute from merchants and laborers, kills most of their leaders, and then absorbs their forces. But it is not simple absorption. For the most part, he either leaves them alive or lets them scatter. It is more like telling them to go off and find their own work. That is why the discipline is not strict either…… To be honest, it is a complete mess. And yet, knowing full well that this is the situation, he continues to act in that manner. Do you understand a little now? In the future, many forces will likely be forcibly dismantled by the Sect Master.”
“Ah…… Is that so?”
“Yes. As I understand it, in that process he tells only those bottom-of-the-barrel lives who truly have nowhere else to go to remain by his side…… That is why I think it may be called the Hao Sect.”
The Demon Gentleman turned Murong Bai’s words over in his mind several times.
‘What a strange way of thinking he has.’
The Demon Gentleman suddenly asked something that had been bothering him.
“Then are you also of the Hao Sect, sir?”
“I am not someone with nowhere else to go, you see. As you can see, I am a physician of the Murong Medical Family.”
“Ah, then you are not?”
Murong Bai grinned.
“But the Sect Master would consider me part of the Hao Sect. Even if I am not formally affiliated.”
The Demon Gentleman suddenly looked down and saw goosebumps rising on his forearm.
“Ah, so it is that sort of organization. In that case, it will become a force far greater than its concrete form.”
“It is probably continuing to grow.”
Murong Bai pointed at the book.
“Have you not yet explained this?”
As though he had forgotten, the Demon Gentleman placed his hand on the book.
“Ah, I should explain. Let me make one thing clear. If you hear my story, you may be put in danger as well.”
“If I take that risk, what can I gain?”
The Demon Gentleman replied with a grave expression.
“Perhaps you will be able to cure the Hao Sect Master’s illness.”
Only then did Murong Bai keenly feel that the man before him was no ordinary person. It was because he had answered after grasping Murong Bai’s character.
‘This man is not to be underestimated.’
Murong Bai let out a brief sigh, then answered.
“In that case, I will listen.”
The Demon Gentleman nodded.
“Good. Do not worry too much.”
The Demon Gentleman stroked the book with his hand as he spoke.
“This is a demonic art. And quite an old one at that.”
This time, Murong Bai truly let out a deep sigh.
“I already feel as though I have been placed in danger.”
Why would a man who looked like a scholar from a prestigious White Path family suddenly bring him a book containing a demonic art? It was not something Murong Bai could have anticipated.
Murong Bai said,
“You will have to explain in detail.”
The Demon Gentleman explained.
“After meeting the Hao Sect Master, I very impulsively, inadvertently—as though possessed by something—came to look for this book. I heard the Hao Sect Master has a yin-yang constitution. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“They said the disharmony between extreme yang and extreme yin causes an imbalance, and that this is the reason for his qi deviation. This is a demonic art that allows one to cultivate extreme yin energy—in other words, an ice art.”
“Mm……”
“Do you know why ice arts are gradually disappearing from the world?”
“I do not know that much.”
“Because there is a shortage of materials to support them. Spiritual medicines and spiritual beings containing yang energy are rare, but they do exist. However, the materials necessary when learning martial arts of extreme yin are markedly lacking. Even if one learns them, progress is difficult…… so few people have achieved great success. And because few have achieved great success, the number of people researching and practicing them is also gradually declining.”
“Still, were they not sometimes found in the Demonic Path?”
“That is why it is the Demonic Path. Spiritual medicines are difficult to obtain, and spiritual beings are rare. How much stronger could one become just by luckily eating a single root of snow ginseng? So they tried to supplement extreme yin energy by other means, and what they chose for that method was people. Do you understand what I mean?”
“What I do not understand is this: is an ice art not a martial art that can be strengthened through circulating qi and regulating the breath?”
“It is possible. It is merely slow. Because it is slow, they turn their eyes to other methods.”
“You mean they extract a person’s true qi and absorb it like a spiritual medicine?”
“Roughly speaking, yes. If you investigate the causes behind the large-scale massacres sometimes committed by demonic fiends, it amounts to them trying to obtain something to replace spiritual medicine. In the end, some of the Demonic Path became the Demonic Path because they stopped at nothing to learn martial arts.”
Murong Bai listened with a composed expression, then pointed at the book with his finger.
“Is this one like that as well?”
The Demon Gentleman smiled.
“One ought to hear a man out to the end. Such methods are indeed written in it, but why do you think I came first to you, the Hao Sect Master’s sworn brother? Erase all the inhuman methods, and remove the parts that do not suit your standpoint as well. Can you organize it purely into a method for drawing upon and using extreme yin true qi, then deliver it to the Hao Sect Master? You would reinterpret the ice art and pass it on to him.”
Murong Bai tilted his head.
“There are parts I understand, and parts I do not.”
“Ask.”
“How is it that you think I could do something like this?”
“That, I only learned just now myself, after coming here and speaking with you.”
“Mm. In any case, if the Haomun Master obtains an ice art, it will help him. His condition certainly was strange.”
Murong Bai extended his hand toward the Demon Gentleman.
“But why on earth are you trying to offer such help to the Haomun Master… I cannot understand your motive.”
The Demon Gentleman grinned.
“That question comes very late indeed. Your patience is remarkable, sir. If I truly reveal my inner thoughts frankly, you will understand well enough.”
“I’ll hear it.”
The Demon Gentleman organized his thoughts with a peculiar expression, then opened his mouth.
“How should I describe this feeling? I….”
“…….”
“I want to see whether the Haomun Master is more of a genius than I am.”
Murong Bai abruptly sharpened his senses and looked at the man before him.
A truly extraordinary, arrogant madman was looking back at him. That arrogant madman continued speaking with a composed expression.
“Master Murong Bai, you too will understand how I feel.”
“…….”
The Demon Gentleman smiled with certainty.
“We are not people bound by common sense… are we?”
Only then did Murong Bai stare silently at the book. His feelings were truly complicated and subtle.