Chapter 109. Can't You Tell at a Glance?

"Were you busy?"

"I had some business to run around for."

After settling matters with the Paegeomhoe, I came to the Murong clinic.

According to Chief Manager Byeok, Murong Bai had come to the Black Cat Chamber several times with a face growing increasingly haggard.

Now that we sat down and I examined his face, a sigh escaped me of its own accord.

"Teacher, why does your face look like that?"

Murong Bai forced a smile as he answered.

"It seems I have been studying too hard as of late."

I studied Murong Bai's expression and replied.

"I may have lived my life walled off from studying, but I can tell that face of yours isn't from reading too many books. You look like you've exhausted your mental energy; something must have happened."

I glanced around Murong Bai's study.

Books on high shelves were often left untouched, yet fingerprints were impressed into the book dust, as if quite a few volumes had been taken out and examined.

'What has this punk been researching all of a sudden?'

At any rate, Murong Bai's complexion was poor, so I scolded him for now.

"A physician's condition is a sorry sight indeed. Who do you intend to treat in such a state? I think you should be the one lying down first."

Murong Bai kept laughing emptily.

"I am a bit tired."

"Teacher."

"Yes."

"Hurry up and spill it all."

Murong Bai nodded and changed the subject.

"By the way, how were you so busy? I went to the Black Cat Chamber several times."

I briefly explained what had transpired.

"There were bastards who kept sending assassins, so I've been struggling to track them down. The faction that hired the assassins has been completely smashed, and even now my subordinates are struggling to clean up the mess."

"They must have been quite a large faction?"

"They're called the Paegeomhoe."

"I have heard of them."

Seeing Murong Bai's pale complexion, I stopped my story. It seemed today was a day I needed to listen carefully to Murong Bai's story. Since he did not seem likely to open his mouth easily, I hardened my expression and spoke.

"Teacher Murong."

"Yes."

"Tell me everything without leaving anything out. Why you exhausted your mental energy. I must know."

"Of course I must tell you."

Murong Bai took out a book and placed it on the desk.

"I obtained the Binggong."

I nodded with my arms crossed.

"Is that so. And?"

Murong Bai spoke with slight bewilderment.

"Are you not surprised?"

"Binggong is just Binggong. Is there any reason I should be surprised? Continue. You obtained the Binggong, and then?"

"Naturally, I thought it would be good to give this to you, my Lord, so I first read it thoroughly from beginning to end. Strangely, the contents of this martial arts secret manual are quite similar to books that organize medical science."

"I imagine so."

"I examined whether there was anything that might cause you harm."

"And was there anything that might harm me?"

Murong Bai pointed at the book with his finger.

"To raise the stage of the Binggong, it recommends a type of Caiyin method. It is a heretical methodology like the Caiyin Buyang you may know of. Cai means to extract, so the target that has its roots pulled out is bound to die. In other words, it describes in detail a methodology of growing stronger by killing people, and the one who created this martial art actually completed the Binggong through the Caiyin method. That is, this book is less a secret manual and more a type of diary. Originally, I intended to arbitrarily edit out the unnecessary portions and……."

"Teacher, Teacher, Teacher Murong……."

"Yes."

"Have a drink of water. Slowly……."

Murong Bai poured himself a drink of water, drank it, and looked at me.

"I had wanted to edit it and give it to you, but it was no easy task. The contents are intertwined with the diary."

"And so?"

I felt pity, but for now I listened to Murong Bai's story.

"In the end, I visited several times to discuss it with you, my Lord, but you were not there, so I was studying the book alone."

I nodded.

"So that was the story. That Caiyin method must have been too cruel?"

"Yes. It was not only cruel, but a book written by a martial artist who felt not a shred of compassion or pangs of conscience. Though it is not written in the book, one cannot even guess how many people were killed. I became very depressed while reading it."

I understood the situation.

"It is a demonic art."

"Yes."

"Did that fan-waving punk deliver it?"

"How did you know? He asked me to keep it secret for the time being."

"If he truly thought I would not know, then he was looking down on me far too much."

It seemed Magunja had come by.

As the archivist of the Demonic Path, obtaining the ancient Binggong would not have been difficult for him. But if he had secretly smuggled out a secret manual from the archives, it would not be strange if he were expelled.

However, Magunja was originally that kind of man.

Which is why he must have moved from the Demonic Path faction to the Murim Alliance.

Meaning he had caused some sort of trouble in his past life as well.

But for now, Murong Bai's condition was more important than Magunja, so I set Magunja aside for the moment.

I sat askew with my chin propped in my hand and scolded Murong Bai further.

"How old are you to read such a book and suffer a heart demon? Teacher, you really are an unfathomable person."

"Yes. It is because I am angry. I am a physician who saves people, yet as I looked at the diary of one who kills without compunction, gradually……."

"Gradually what?"

"I grew angry and could not sleep. I began to wonder what use the medical arts I am painstakingly learning even serve."

"And?"

Murong Bai finally revealed his true feelings.

"To be honest, if this man is alive somewhere, I kept thinking I want to find him and kill him."

I nodded.

I could only reply inwardly to Murong Bai's words.

'That's right. That must be the Poison Demon.'

The Divine Physician and the Poison Demon are but a single sheet of paper apart.

This man too had the potential to snap at any moment.

Because that "paper" I was thinking of was thinner the more pure a person was.

Today I firmly resolved to give Murong Baek a good scolding.

Of course, because he was someone I held dear, there was a need to do so strategically.

While I was devising that strategy, Murong Bai, whose condition was poor, asked me.

"My Lord, this fellow must already be dead, mustn't he?"

“He’s dead.”

“When do you suppose he died?”

“Shall I take a look?”

“Yes.”

I picked up the troublesome book the Demonic Gentleman had left behind, skimmed through it, and muttered.

“Why are there so many words? Grumble, grumble… it really is a diary. Ice arts are a branch of yin arts (陰功). Yin arts are divided into cold arts (寒功) and ice arts. Cold arts aim to infiltrate the body, while ice arts aim to spread frigid energy outward. In training cold arts, nine times out of ten one suffers qi deviation. However, because ice arts emit cold energy outside the body, they are somewhat freer from qi deviation. What I describe here is the Yueying Wuqinggong (月影無情功). Yueying Wuqing… Teacher, this ice art.”

“Yes.”

“A woman created it.”

Murong Bai jumped in surprise and replied.

“Pardon? There was no mention of that.”

“No. A woman made it. Yueying Wuqing? It means the moon’s shadow is heartless. No matter how I look at it, it sounds like some ill-fated woman who was betrayed in love. When useless men like us get betrayed, wine always appears. If this were an ice art realized while drinking under the moonlight, I’d understand. But the moon’s shadow is heartless? Ah, that’s not the sentiment of useless men. It’s obviously a woman. Can’t you tell at a glance?”

Murong Bai answered.

“I see.”

“From the look of it, it seems like a martial art she trained in to take revenge on some scum of the White Path.”

Once again, Murong Bai started in surprise.

“Pardon? There was no mention of that either.”

“No. Listen carefully. If she hardened her heart this much and trained an ice art, who would she have taken revenge on? To become the greatest under heaven? No. In my view, the target of her revenge was a hypocrite. And one with tremendous power, whose martial arts must have been terrifyingly strong as well. Practically the greatest under heaven, perhaps? He would have been impossible to defeat by training martial arts in any normal way. His reputation must have been sterling, and he would have been hard to approach. He may have been called a great hero, or perhaps he was even an alliance leader. In any case, this woman must have been truly beautiful.”

“All of a sudden?”

Murong Bai seemed to be gradually giving up, merely nodding as he listened to my story.

“Of course. She must have been very beautiful. Her martial arts must have been strong too. The hypocrite approached her and shared love with her, and the woman must have been happy, thinking they would spend their lives together. When the hypocrite left for another woman… how would she have had to live in order to forget those memories? To erase the happiest moments from her mind, I mean. It seems that hypocrite underestimated this woman far too much. This calm, clear handwriting… she must have written it beneath heartless moonlight.”

Murong Bai examined the handwriting again.

“Now that you mention it, the handwriting is very neat.”

“It resembles the handwriting of the Demonic Path Grandmaster Wei Lingxia (韋玲霞).”

“Is that not too much of a conjecture?”

“Do you know Wei Lingxia?”

“I do. Was she not the female expert who challenged Kunlun’s founding patriarch? Come to think of it, that founding patriarch was once an alliance leader as well. As I understand it, the group Wei Lingxia created was completely exterminated by Kunlun. Only after its destruction did it earn the name Demon Cult.”

“There have been more than a few who were called Demon Cults. Someone elsewhere may have accepted Wei Lingxia’s martial arts, or one of her successors.”

Murong Bai spoke with a dazed expression for a moment.

“Now that I think about it, the man who brought the book seemed to have read far too much. His posture was very poor. His eyes were also extremely fatigued.”

“Teacher Murong.”

“Yes.”

I glared at Murong Bai.

“I am not a grandmaster of the Demonic Path. I have no need for methods like harvesting yin. There is no need for your heart to be wounded by the evil deeds written in some old book like this. There is more than one way to become strong. If you keep losing your head like you did today…”

I picked up the book and shook it lightly.

“It would be better to burn it instead.”

Murong Bai was startled and reached out his hand.

“Ah, please don’t. I understand. Please don’t burn it. In any case, I have no intention of reading it anymore.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

I set the book down and spoke in an even tone.

“In any case, there are many evil deeds in this world that we cannot understand. That is why I am running around so busily now, killing them. I am scraping them all up with a hook and dragging them into the pit of fire. Those who harvest yin, those who see people as elixirs, those who do not regard people as people—I will drag them all into the fiery pits of hell.”

“Yes.”

“Teacher, you just keep your head on straight and tend to your patients as you have been. I will handle the killing. Understood?”

I looked into Murong Bai’s eyes. Murong Bai also looked straight into mine as he replied.

“Understood, Sect Leader. But do you understand why that man brought you the book?”

“I do.”

“What was it?”

“He told me to compete with him in qinggong. He’s mad for qinggong.”

“Did you compete?”

“No? He seemed faster than me at the moment, so I strategically avoided it. This means he wants me to learn this properly and compete with him later. He is no ordinary lunatic.”

“What do you think will happen if you win later, Sect Leader? His martial arts seemed profound as well.”

I grinned and replied.

“He will truly…”

“Yes.”

“Be delighted.”

“He will be delighted by defeat?”

“No. He will be delighted to gain motivation to train. A match must be viewed over the long term. Someday he will appear again and challenge me with a smile on his face. Who will win then? A man who does not lose to such a bookworm, a desk-bound scholar, a running addict, a fellow who looks like a turtle shell—that man is me.”

Murong Bai nodded.

“Splendid.”

I took hold of the book and shook it carelessly.

“If I cannot obtain ice arts through proper means, I will burn this without regret as well, so keep that in mind. What is this, anyway…? Ice arts are nothing. They are merely one among many martial arts.”

“Yes.”

In truth, I had no need to harvest essence through all sorts of methods, nor did I need to seek out and consume elixirs. I could simply draw upon and use the extreme yin energy contained within the Heavenly Jade. I could not tell Murong Bai even that much.

I pointed at Murong Bai and spoke in a commanding tone.

“Close up for today and get some sleep first.”

“I will.”

“No. Go in and sleep immediately. I will circulate my qi and regulate my breathing here today, so tell the women physicians to close the doors.”

I suppose I will stand guard here tonight.

Unlike in my previous life, Murong Bai had not deeply trained in martial arts, so he was instinctively afraid of the Demonic Gentleman. And he must have been angry at himself for fearing him.

The reason for his anger was simple.

He was a man confident that he had only had little time to train in martial arts because he was a physician, and that if he threw away the work of a physician and devoted himself solely to martial arts, he could become far stronger.

A person’s state of mind is truly subtle, so the flow of cause and effect is not always sensible.

Just by my spending the night here circulating my qi and regulating my breathing,

Murong Bai would be able to sleep peacefully, at any rate.

I rose first and, for the first time in a while, sat cross-legged on a bed used by patients.

Perhaps because I was a patient, the bed was comfortable.

For a while, there were many female physicians bustling about, so I opened my mouth with my eyes still closed.

“Noisy. I need to circulate my qi and regulate my breathing, so all of you be quiet.”

“…….”

“Am I talking to myself?”

“Understood, Sect Leader.”

A man who could circulate his qi and regulate his breathing even while keeping watch in all directions—that was…….

.

.

.

Murong Bai’s voice came to me through my sleep.

“……He must have been tired. You all go in and rest as well.”

“He’s snoring while sitting up.”

“Shh.”

“…….”