Turn Misfortune to Fortune
Late at night, with the moon tilting beyond the ridgeline.
"Sir. If anything should go wrong, I will have fallen into demonic qi deviation from forcing myself to train beyond my limits."
Seeing Seomun Hwi speak of death with such a calm face, Hong Chilsong could not help feeling a pang of sorrow.
Even if he was the young clan leader of the Seomun Clan, one of the Six Great Clans, he was still only a child who had barely come of age.
And yet instead of trembling in fear, he was asking to be lied for, all to prevent yet another split within the Orthodox faction.
If it were up to him, he wanted to tell the boy to stop worrying over useless things and think first about recovering safely under the Divine Doctor’s care.
And yet, paradoxically, the righteousness and chivalry he had chased all his life tied his hands.
If the Seomun Clan and Namgung Clan began to stand opposed to each other now, what power would there be to contend with the Alliance Leader?
"...Very well."
Only after hearing that confirmation did Seomun Hwi finally exhale the breath he had been holding.
"Thank you. And I would be grateful if you would also take this."
As he stared at the crumpled letter, folded and unfolded so many times that it was wrinkled at the creases, Seomun Hwi gave an awkward smile.
"I have written down the words I failed to tell Cheongwol. If possible, I would have liked to hand it to her myself, but..."
Seomun Hwi could not finish. He bit his lower lip instead.
Hong Chilsong felt a heaviness in his chest as well, but he forced the corners of his mouth upward.
"If you had handed it to her yourself, she would’ve had material to tease you with for years."
"...That was my concern as well."
With a single candle between them, the two men laughed in an effort to erase their sorrow.
And the sorrow they could not quite drive away, they left for the darkness to hide.
As Hong Chilsong swallowed down bitterness while thinking of the letter tucked inside his robe, Dang Sohye paced restlessly around the room.
"Why is there still no news? It’s already gotten dark."
Usually, Dang Gangjin would have remained composed, but even he could not hide his anxiety this time.
"Don’t worry. If something had gone wrong, there would be no reason for word to come this late. Wouldn’t you agree?"
At the question that sounded almost like a prompt, Ak Seo-ah nodded.
"So-in thinks the same."
Only then did Dang Gangjin smile faintly and take Ak Seo-ah’s hand resting on the table.
"Nothing will happen. It isn’t just anyone in there—it's the Divine Doctor himself handling the matter."
Despite his confident tone, a faint tremor ran through Dang Gangjin’s hand.
They had said it would take no longer than two shichen at most, yet, as Dang Sohye had said, the shadows around them were already growing dark.
The shadows on the floor lengthened and lengthened, and still no one dared speak first.
Then hurried footsteps rang out, followed by the sound of someone breathing hard just outside the door.
"Young Clan Leader. The clan leader has sent a message."
-Thud!
The needle in Jeok Hanseong’s hand pierced Seomun Hwi’s Governing Vessel acupuncture point, and his eyes immediately rolled back, the whites showing.
"Divine Doctor!"
Namgung Cheon and Dang Hyeongeuk looked startled at the sight, but Jeok Hanseong only raised his voice in return.
"Do what you’re supposed to do! I already told you how!"
Only then did the two men come to their senses and place their hands on Seomun Hwi’s back.
They had worried they would not know how to channel energy into another body, but their fear proved unnecessary; the inner power they stirred from their dantians surged without resistance along Seomun Hwi’s ruined meridians.
What in the world is this...
Namgung Cheon’s brow furrowed. It felt as though he were being drawn into some enormous current.
"The Silver Ink Soul Needle will soon reach the Qi Sea point near the dantian, so the two of you must not spare your strength."
Holding Seomun Hwi’s head in both hands, Jeok Hanseong poured inner power into the Silver Ink Soul Needle and pushed it deeper.
If the force applied was even slightly too much or too little, a horrific catastrophe beyond bearing would unfold.
The one fortunate thing was that Seomun Hwi came from a distinguished clan and had long been subjected to diligent bone-washing and marrow-cleansing methods. Thanks to that, opening the Conception and Governing Vessels progressed more smoothly than anyone had initially expected.
Just how much inner power had the three of them poured in before at last Jeok Hanseong wiped the rain of sweat from his sleeve and drew a breath?
"...The Silver Ink Soul Needle has begun to melt inside the body. All that remains is to wait, so you two should withdraw your power now."
The moment Jeok Hanseong finished speaking, Namgung Cheon and Dang Hyeongeuk removed their hands from Seomun Hwi.
"Are you all right?" Dang Hyeongeuk asked.
Namgung Cheon gave a crooked smile.
His own complexion was terrible, and yet he was worried about someone else?
"I’ll know more after I examine his internal condition, but for now it seems he has lost roughly twenty years’ worth of inner power."
Looking down at his own hand, trembling with violent spasms, Namgung Cheon bit his lip.
Had this been enough to atone, even a little, for failing to protect his wife and child?
Sensing what was on his mind, Dang Hyeongeuk gave his shoulder a light pat.
"You put on such a front, acting like a man with no greed at all. Don’t worry. I had a feeling this day might come, so I hid away some elixirs."
At Dang Hyeongeuk’s teasing words, Namgung Cheon slowly shook his head.
"I’m fine. Give it to that child instead."
Just as the two men were exchanging idle remarks and recovering their strength,
-Crack!
The sound of something violently breaking echoed through the room.
"Gghhh..."
Startled, they turned—and saw Seomun Hwi give a pained groan as his body jerked.
"It’s starting faster than expected."
Jeok Hanseong hurriedly laid Seomun Hwi flat on the floor and pressed a palm to his chest to keep his back from buckling.
"So the Reconstitution is happening?"
"Yes. It seems the inner power overflowed too strongly."
"Don’t tell me something went wrong..."
At Dang Hyeongeuk’s grave expression, Jeok Hanseong let out an incredulous laugh.
"You wasted more inner power than necessary, so for you two, that’s what it feels like. But for this young martial artist, it’s no different from a fortunate encounter. Look."
Veins stood out at Seomun Hwi’s temples, and his body began to twist in grotesque directions from the neck down while leaving only the neck and waist untouched.
-Crack, crack.
Even Namgung Cheon winced as the gruesome sounds kept battering his ears without pause.
"As you both know, transferring inner power to another person is terribly inefficient. But your inner power is so pure that it seems to have mixed into the dantian along with the energy of the Silver Ink Soul Needle, without losing much at all."
"...So you’re saying he may actually have needed even more inner power than this?"
At Namgung Cheon’s question, Jeok Hanseong shrugged.
"That is why I made you both swear to it so many times."
"..."
Namgung Cheon lowered his gaze with evident displeasure to where Seomun Hwi was writhing in pain, twisting his body.
It was bad enough to have to give his inner power to that black-haired beast; to think that it could have put him in danger as well.
"You’re leaking killing intent in front of the patient. Have you lost your mind?"
At Jeok Hanseong’s gruff rebuke, Namgung Cheon clicked his tongue and reluctantly looked away.
Then Dang Hyeongeuk, who had stepped back a pace, spoke.
"There is one thing I find worrying."
"Speak."
"From the looks of it, Reconstitution places a considerable burden on the body. Will the Seomun Clan’s young leader truly be all right?"
Jeok Hanseong answered in a calm voice.
"Of course not."
"...?"
"How could anyone be all right when bones are breaking and sinews are tearing over and over again? And his body wasn’t exactly in perfect condition to begin with."
Then he turned his head again and looked down at Seomun Hwi.
"As I said earlier, Reconstitution is the process of transforming the body into the one best suited to unleash martial prowess. It won’t stop until that is done, so whether this young martial artist lives or dies now depends entirely on heaven’s will."
For everyone else, it had been the longest day in memory, but for Seomun Hwi it had lasted only a fleeting instant.
As if sleep had simply severed his consciousness, when he came to himself again he found that the room around him was washed in darkness.
Did I survive?
Remembering what had happened before, he did not recklessly draw up inner power this time. Instead, he first put strength into his toes.
No pain.
Then his fingertips?
His index finger touched the bedding covering his body, and all he felt was the softness of the cloth.
His heart pounded wildly, and a thirst like fire seared his throat.
After swallowing dryly, the instant he tried to draw up the inner power in his dantian, a sharp scream tore through the silence and rang out in the inner chamber.
-Bang!
"Hwi!"
Had he only just blinked a couple of times?
As he was still clutching his chest and gasping in shock, someone brutally shoved the door open and stormed into the room.
The room was too dark to make out the face clearly, but from the familiar figure it could only be Cheongwol.
"Are you all right? Does something still hurt? They clearly said you were fine."
Cheongwol rushed to his side, sat on the edge of the bed, and reached out with a voice thick with moisture as she felt along Seomun Hwi’s face.
"No, it’s not that..."
"I found you. Close your eyes for a moment."
When he did as she asked and closed his eyes, he could feel a faint light slowly brightening from within the darkness.
She must have been worried that a sudden flare of light would hurt his eyes.
But why was she saying nothing for so long?
Unease rising, Seomun Hwi could not wait any longer and slowly lifted his eyelids.