Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Unveiling the Truths (1)
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“Ha Song, with the death of the Sword Pillar, a power struggle within the cult is about to begin. You've met Hyeon-woo, so move freely and observe their movements. If you find anything suspicious, report directly to me.”
“Yes, sir!”
The balance of the Demonic Cult had been broken.
From now on, it would be a battle of who could read the flow of events the fastest.
So, I instructed Ha Song to observe carefully and re-entered the infirmary.
‘After I meet the Demonic Doctor, I’ll have to make my move as well.’
Waiting while perched on the bed given to me was quite tedious.
‘I should at least wet my throat.’
Several hours was a long time to just sit around.
However, for me, who had fought quite a few battles in the main plaza, it was also a necessary period of rest.
So I emptied the water canteen in one go and was about to circulate my energy, but…
“What are you looking at?”
That bastard Kim Mu-myeong next to me had been staring intently for a while, and it was getting on my nerves.
“Uh, huh? Me?”
‘Something’s suspicious.’
He had been acting a bit strange anyway.
‘Both when I scolded him and when he heard I had taken the Sword Pillar’s head… It’s not like him.’
That bastard Kim Mu-myeong, like his master Geom Cheon-ha, had a rash and fiery temper.
But even when I deliberately provoked him, his spirit was unusually broken.
Of course, he might be like that after learning that not only the Sword Pillar but also three elders had died at my hands.
However, given his personality, he wasn't the type to accept it so quickly.
‘He might have charged at me, shouting that it was impossible.’
His gaze had been particularly suspicious ever since I picked up the water canteen to wet my throat.
A look of expectation, perhaps?
‘As if he had poisoned it.’
I had seen this kind of gaze countless times in my past life.
During the war with the Orthodox Faction bastards, when I unified the Green Forest—it was the look of rats hiding among allies.
‘Well, there’s no harm in checking.’
I had already downed it, so I couldn't spit it out, but it didn't matter.
The Divine Arts of the Green Forest Tiger was, true to its name, a divine art.
It elevated not only the exterior but also the interior to a transcendent level, so at my current level of martial prowess, I was practically immune to all poisons.
“Hey. What did you put in my water canteen?”
“...!”
It was just as I expected.
When I asked with sharp, certain eyes, the bastard flinched.
‘There’s something going on.’
It was then.
“My lord. Is there a problem?”
Dang Hyeon-woo, who had briefly stepped away for a medical matter, approached and asked.
“Oh, right. You should be able to figure something out.”
Since Dang Hyeon-woo was from the Sichuan Tang Clan, masters of poison and hidden weapons, I figured he could find a clue from the empty canteen alone.
So I handed the canteen to Dang Hyeon-woo and explained why the man was suspicious.
“Sniff, sniff. So he intended to use that poison pill on you, my lord…”
“That poison pill?”
Dang Hyeon-woo sniffed the canteen he'd been handed, then looked at Kim Mu-myeong as if he'd figured something out.
“Take the wooden box out of your robes right now. You know what'll happen if I find it myself, right? Take it out with your own hands while you have the chance.”
“Kuh.”
Thanks to growing under my tutelage, Dang Hyeon-woo could exude an aura unbecoming of a physician.
The patient, Kim Mu-myeong, was overwhelmed by that aura and meekly took a wooden box from his robes.
“Hah… How did you know?”
Dang Hyeon-woo had figured out the man was hiding a wooden box in his robes just by sniffing the canteen.
He clearly knew about the wooden box beforehand.
Looking at Kim Mu-myeong's expression, it seemed even he hadn't known.
That Dang Hyeon-woo would know he had a wooden box in his robes, and that it had once contained a poison pill.
Amid everyone's curiosity, the truth came from Dang Hyeon-woo's lips.
“It happened right after the joint battle, when this man was brought into the infirmary. You see…”
To summarize Dang Hyeon-woo's words:
When Kim Mu-myeong first came to the infirmary, Dang Hyeon-woo happened to find a wooden box containing a poison pill in the fallen man's robes.
Feeling suspicious, he had swapped the poison pill with a medicinal pill from the dispensary.
“Ha! So that’s what it was. No wonder the water tasted a bit bitter.”
“It was a pill from the dispensary, so it should be good for your body.”
The truth of the incident was revealed, and now it was time for punishment.
I asked Kim Mu-myeong, who was trembling at Dang Hyeon-woo's words.
“So you were staring so intently to see my reaction to the poison.”
“…That’s right, you unforgivable bastard. Did you think you could live comfortably after becoming the sworn enemy of the Sword Pillar’s Gate? You will live the rest of your life in constant fear, never free from the threat of assassination and poisoning, and you will die in anxiety.”
The man seemed to have lost his mind after even his last attempt at revenge failed.
At a time when he should be begging for his life, he was threatening me instead.
“The Sword Pillar’s Gate has a surprisingly warm side. To think you’d worry so much about your sworn enemy.”
“You bastard!!”
Unable to endure my provocation, the man finally charged.
However, even the Sword Pillar couldn't lay a single scratch on me; there was no way this man could be a threat.
*Swoosh.*
I easily dodged his pathetic punch and grabbed his head.
*CRACK!!*
“Kuaaagh!”
The man groaned under the pressure on his head.
I intended to smash his head against the floor.
‘This is the Demonic Cult. I must deal with this decisively to avoid future trouble.’
But just before his head hit the floor,
the Demonic Doctor I had been waiting for appeared earlier than expected and interfered.
“Halt!! It was noisier than usual, so I came down to check. You dare try to kill someone in my domain!!”
Unlike his long, flowing white beard, the Demonic Doctor was hale and hearty.
Judging by his aura alone, he seemed to have surpassed the peak level.
*Thud.*
“Greetings, Elder Demonic Doctor.”
I tossed the limp Kim Mu-myeong to the floor and greeted the Demonic Doctor.
‘Now is the time to be deferential. I am a cadet, and there is something I want.’
However, the Demonic Doctor's anger did not easily subside.
“How dare a mere cadet cause a disturbance in the infirmary!”
“Master! Your disciple, Dang Hyeon-woo, will explain everything. Please calm your anger.”
“What! A physician trying to defend such a thing!”
Even Dang Hyeon-woo's direct attempt to stop him was of little use.
‘Looks like I’ll have to be direct.’
So I decided to be blunt.
“Elder Demonic Doctor, I came seeking information about the First Heavenly Demon. So, how about you calm your anger and we talk?”
I subtly released my energy, adding weight to my words.
Thanks to this, the Demonic Doctor, sensing something unusual, showed a different reaction than before.
“This sinister yet profound energy… You must be the one who turned the main plaza upside down with the Sword Pillar’s blood.”
“It seems word has already reached your ears, Elder Demonic Doctor.”
“Yes, indeed. So, who told you that I have information about the First Heavenly Demon?”
“I heard it from the Sword Pillar’s severed head.”
“Hah…”
It wasn't exactly a lie.
It was thanks to the Sword Pillar that I learned someone with information about the First Heavenly Demon existed.
I was the one who deduced that person was the Demonic Doctor, but I didn't expect him to admit it so easily.
‘If the Cult Leader, the elders, or the other Pillar Lords knew, they would have made progress using that information. But they haven't, which means it's not them. Therefore, the only one left is the Demonic Doctor, the most senior figure in the Demonic Cult, whom even they cannot treat lightly.’
The Demonic Doctor was, in fact, older than even the Great Elder.
To the point that no one knew his actual age.
So, as soon as I happened to hear about him from Ha Song, I thought the Demonic Doctor might be the person the Sword Pillar had mentioned.
“Then you should have gone to the Sacred Black Flame and followed the formal procedure. Why did you come to me?”
“I will tell you after I have heard all the information about the First Heavenly Demon.”
“If even the Illusion Pillar acknowledges you, it can't be a complete fabrication… It seems you have a story.”
The Demonic Doctor pondered for a moment, then made me a proposal.
“May I check your pulse? If I also feel that you have inherited the legacy of the First Heavenly Demon, then I will tell you everything he left behind.”
I had to do something anyway.
Having come this far and met this man, I couldn't back down.
“Fine.”
As soon as I gave my permission, the Demonic Doctor placed his hand on my wrist.
“Hah…!! How can this be!”
“…?!”
He was astonished the moment he checked my pulse.
I couldn't help but be surprised as well.
However, I didn't pull my wrist away and let the Demonic Doctor mutter to himself.
“Someone born with the Heaven and Earth Body possessing such a profound divine art…! Wait, this cultivation method, could it be?”
He seemed to have discovered something even I didn't know, which piqued my curiosity.
The master who taught me the divine art had never told me its origin.
“…It is done. Follow me.”
But after checking my pulse, the Demonic Doctor didn't offer any answers and simply told me to follow him.
* * *
“What did you sense to react like that?”
Some time had passed since I followed the Demonic Doctor out of the infirmary.
It was tedious to just follow the silent Demonic Doctor.
So I asked the reason for his reaction after checking my pulse.
“The divine art you are practicing. From whom did you receive your teachings?”
The Demonic Doctor, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly replied to my question with formal speech.
It seemed there was something to it.
“I cannot say who my master is, but I can tell you its name.”
“This old man was too greedy. Then, please tell me at least its name.”
“It is the Divine Arts of the Tiger.”
I deliberately omitted the two characters for 'Green Forest', which would reveal its origin.
At this, the Demonic Doctor muttered with a look of deep emotion.
“Ahh… so that was the name of his external martial art. The Heavenly Demon returns, ten thousand demons submit…”
He looked like he had a screw loose, just like a demon from one's imagination.
“Ah, we have arrived. This humble one is only permitted to go this far, so please understand that I cannot accompany you further.”
For some reason, the Demonic Doctor's words were becoming increasingly polite. I looked ahead and saw the entrance to a cave in the distance.
“Are you saying the information about the First Heavenly Demon is in there?”
“Everything is there.”
“Hmm…”
Judging by the Demonic Doctor's eyes and voice, he didn't seem to be lying.
If he were lying, he wouldn't have to be so subservient.
“The answer to my question is also in there, right?”
“Yes.”
The Demonic Doctor bowed his head once more.
He must have felt sorry for not answering my question on the way here.
‘Well then, let’s go.’
I was curious.
Why the Illusion Pillar’s Gate mistook me for the current Heavenly Demon, why the Demonic Doctor was reacting this way, and furthermore, whether it was related to my reincarnation.
*Trudge. Trudge.*
And so, I took a step toward the answer.
“It’s closer than I thought. Is it some kind of mechanism?”
The cave entrance that had seemed so far away was closer than expected.
There must be some kind of mechanism at work.
‘I’ll probably find out inside why it affects me.’
I had one more reason to investigate the cave.
With no reason not to enter, I threw myself in without hesitation.
*Fwoosh.*
The inside of the cave was truly incredible.
Expensive luminous pearls were scattered about like common pebbles; that said it all.
The luminous pearls emitted light as if guiding me somewhere.
“Is this also part of the mechanism?”
I didn't know if it was a mechanism or the effect of the expensive luminous pearls, but one thing was certain: this cave was extraordinary.
After walking inside for some time,
I found a rock just like the one at my master's home, which I had visited with Ha Song before.
“This feels somehow familiar.”
I naturally placed my hand on the rock and infused it with my internal energy.
With a loud rumble, a large room was revealed.
*RUMBLE!*
The walls there were densely covered with unknown characters, and in the center lay a coffin and a wooden box the size of a coffin.
My gaze shifted from the writing on the wall to the objects in the center.
“Let’s check those first.”
The tangible objects were more appealing than the unknown characters.
“Urgh.”
Strangely, the coffin was locked in a way that even I couldn't open it.
So, I opened the wooden box first…
“This is?”
Inside was an enormous number of cipher books for deciphering the characters.
I had no choice but to grab the cipher books and begin deciphering the writing on the walls, one character at a time.
But the contents were, one by one, astounding.
“Master Maeng Eun-ho’s true identity is…!”