Chapter 28
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Die and Live Again (Fainting and Awakening) (3)
The seal was coming undone.
Every time the old woman released an acupoint, excruciating pain surged through him. It was pain he never wanted to feel again. But he endured it. Whenever he fainted briefly and came to, his body felt noticeably lighter.
On the third day, he sat up.
The surroundings were still pitch black. He had fainted in broad daylight, yet whenever he awoke, it was always dark.
He sat up and peered into the darkness.
The night, the deep night, was always comforting.
First, it said nothing. Second, it was as warm and enveloping as his mother's embrace. Third, it made him feel free.
Clunk!
He opened the door and looked outside.
The moonlight was incredibly bright, as if it were midday. Even in the dead of night, with no houses lit up, everything was visible in all directions.
The stars were packed densely overhead, like sand scattered across the sky.
Now was the time to make a decision.
At the shortest, three or four days; at the longest, five or six... Once that many days and nights had passed, Vanguard would return.
He needed to recover enough to pull his weight by then.
He was the only one who could do it. Only he could stand up—or sit idly by. The old woman couldn't. It had to be him.
What will you do? Will you stand?
"Hoo..."
He let out a long, thin sigh.
Following Vanguard meant entering the gates of hell, killing countless people, days on end with blood never drying from his hands, right up until his dying day.
The moon was especially bright tonight.
"Will you open the Baihui acupoint for me?"
"..."
The old woman stared at him intently.
"Even if I live, I'll just be a tool for killing people... But still, I'll live. Come on... Let me see for myself. How many people I'll end up killing."
"How do you know about the Baihui acupoint?"
"I felt along the meridians."
"You circulated your internal energy?"
"You don't necessarily need internal energy to probe the meridians."
"..."
The old woman narrowed her eyes.
Four Thousand Four was right. There were ways to examine the meridians without circulating internal energy.
A martial artist of high attainment could sense the flow of qi. The entire network of meridians formed a single image etched into their mind, allowing them to see it all clearly.
They sensed not just the qi, but the meridians themselves.
That was why experts could instantly detect any anomaly in their meridians without using internal energy.
Did that mean Four Thousand Four had reached such a level?
When one could wield internal energy freely, it was called attaining "capable qi." When the paths of qi flow became visible at a glance, granting sight of the entire body, it was said to be reaching "complete humanity."
What was complete humanity? Omniscience and omnipotence.
The old woman wouldn't dare claim such a state, yet here was Four Thousand Four speaking of it?
Of course, Four Thousand Four wasn't there. Not even close.
The method he described wasn't what she had in mind. It was something entirely different. Probably some kind of trick or workaround to sense the meridians.
Regardless, Four Thousand Four clearly knew where the blockages were.
"Since you know, it makes this easier. My concern is..."
"Do it."
"..."
The old woman furrowed her brow again.
It seemed Four Thousand Four also knew the side effects of mishandling the Baihui acupoint.
"Have you studied medicine?"
"I know nothing of medicine. But I know deadly acupoints well. I know the Baihui is a fatal one. I don't know how to save a life through it, but killing..."
"I see. If you know that much."
The old woman opened a long needle case.
Inside were four thick, long needles, golden-yellow as if made of gold.
"The odds of success are one in ten. Still want to proceed?"
Four Thousand Four had already assumed a cross-legged position.
Odds of one in ten...
Mishandling the Baihui could mean instant death. Especially with needles, caution was essential.
Many physicians would find such a warning puzzling.
The Baihui was a major acupoint commonly used in treatment. As long as one was careful with the needle, it posed no danger. Physicians were so familiar with it from frequent use that it became second nature.
The old woman's "one in ten" referred to when the Baihui was sealed. That was the chance of successfully unsealing it.
Sealing the Baihui was difficult to perform, and even harder to undo.
In the current martial world, only a handful could seal it, and equally few could release it.
Four Thousand Four must have seriously pissed someone off. They'd sealed it with intent. Not like the superficial seals on Wild Boar or the Fox of Bireung Mountain. They'd completely blocked the Baihui, making it impossible to undo.
A powerfully sealed acupoint, impervious to release.
The tiniest deviation could bring death.
Worse than death was madness. The mind could lose its place and twist.
In fact, forcing open a sealed Baihui more often led to mental derangement than death. Hence the saying: "one life, one death, eight madnesses."
One in ten chance of success.
One in ten chance of death.
Eight in ten chance of living as a madman, mind adrift.
The old woman had found no special technique.
She would brute-force it like others, betting on that one-in-ten hope.
Shh! Thunk!
The old woman touched the crown of his head.
She knew the Baihui well and would place the needle precisely... but with such slim odds, she checked first by feel.
"Do it."
Her words sounded calm.
He had entered the Nineteen Hells precisely because he hated killing. He had no intention of ever leaving that place. Yet this damn world wouldn't even let him have that.
One in ten to live—fine by him.
Death—fine too. Dying in the Nineteen Hells or here was the same. It would fulfill his promise in the letter. The one who killed him would be the old woman sent by the organization.
The remaining eight in ten, wandering mad—fine as well.
The body lives, but the soul roams astray. No different from being locked in the Nineteen Hells. No, it would be fleeing even farther.
Any outcome was acceptable.
"Don't lose your mind. Grit your teeth and hold onto your wits."
If he kept his mind, he'd get life or death—one or the other. No need to worry about the eight in ten.
But could he control it? If he could, he'd control fainting too. Losing consciousness happened without warning—how do you rein that in?
He could try to stay alert, but there were limits.
Shh! Thunk!
The needle pierced the Baihui.
In truth, he only felt the prick at the moment of entry. Afterward, he sensed the scalp's pressure, not the needle inside his skull.
But... he felt it.
Before the needle even touched, he had relaxed his body. Relaxed his mind. Just as when he first learned the Baihui was blocked, he was peering into his meridians.
The needle prodded the sealed spot.
Shh! Thunk!
The second needle sank into the Baihui.
Two needles in one acupoint defied common sense. No physician would use such a technique.
The old woman wasn't a physician.
She wasn't needling to heal. She was needling to break the seal. She had no choice but unconventional methods.
Shh! Thunk!
The third needle pierced the Baihui.
The case held four long needles; three now stabbed into the Baihui.
And that wasn't all. He felt intense heat from the needles embedded there.
Whoosh!
Flames poured through the crown into his head.
The sensation started mildly warm. But soon it was like gripping red-hot coals—scalding beyond endurance.
The object grew red-hot from the heat!
Heat turned the matter crimson.
Four Thousand Four saw the Baihui cooking red. The seal was being heated.
Shh! Thunk!
The fourth needle pierced the Baihui.
The first three formed a triangular pyramid, the last at the apex.
Twang!
The final needle broke through the apex, pushing forward.
Deeper, deeper it stabbed.
'Hngh...'
His mind went hazy. Like drifting into sleep, it felt like his consciousness would drop in an instant.
When do you fall asleep? Can you catch the exact moment?
Most say "no." The vast majority say "no." Out of thousands, millions—even tens of millions—one might smile faintly.
That moment had to be seized.
Fainting in this state was inevitable. But catching the moment it happened, sensing it, could delay it slightly.
He had to guide his mind toward "one life, one death." Avoid the "eight madnesses." It wasn't something willpower alone could do—but it had to be done with willpower. Absolutely.
'Urk!'
He widened the eye of his mind.
Flash!
His eyes snapped open.
The first thought upon waking: Ah! I fainted!
He hadn't caught the moment.
His mind had dropped clean away in that instant. He'd tried to seize it with will, but failed.
The second thought: He hadn't fallen into the "eight madnesses." And he hadn't died, of course.
That absurd one-in-ten chance... it had happened.
'Did she unseal the meridian...'
He was conscious but didn't leap up. Nor did he circulate qi.
He closed his eyes again and calmly examined his body.
Crimes of passion arise in excitement. When overwhelming emotions crush reason, impulsive killing occurs.
Killers never get excited.
A killer's heart is ice-cold. Unshaken by pity. Guilt, naturally, never arises. Such emotions can't seep into ice.
The first requirement of the Killing Arts was an "icy heart."
But maintaining it twenty-four hours a day would be idiotic.
Anyone would spot such a person instantly.
A killer must hide their nature. Blend among ordinary folk as someone unremarkable. Ordinary... never special.
The icy heart should manifest only when killing.
Right now, he was in that icy heart state. Like during a kill... cold and rigid, no emotions stirring. Even observing himself, it was through a murderer's cold gaze.
He scanned from head to toe.
No anomalies. No blocked meridians.
'It's open.'
The seal was finally broken. That brutally clamped seal... Ah! No! It wasn't fully open!
'She didn't unseal it completely... Just cracked the path open a bit. A half-measure release.'
If he'd checked with circulated qi like usual, he might not have noticed. But under the killer's meticulous scrutiny, he saw the tattered nets clinging raggedly.
Qi could pass through the nets' gaps. But overuse might tear them... leading to qi deviation. With the source at the Baihui, it could paralyze his body or kill him.
He had to carefully guide qi to avoid further damage to the frayed nets.
In the end, a half-measure release.
The seal was undone, only to be trapped by another.
'Even this is...'
He sat up.
Cross-legged, after so very long, he began circulating his qi and regulating his breath.