Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Chapter 23 - 23. 괴인
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Translator: crow
Chapter 23: The Mysterious Figure
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The monks of the Pill Refining Pavilion devoted themselves fully to their tasks.
The Great Returning Pill was already in the midst of refining, and its degradation had begun.
They ground herbs to delay the degradation as much as possible and prepared mixtures of herbs ready for immediate addition if Fire Spirit Herb could be obtained.
It was then that the Pill Refining Pavilion Leader entered the Pill Refining Pavilion.
"..."
Over the past few months.
The Pavilion Leader had pored through countless books every day, tormented yet relentless.
All to find a substitute for the Fire Spirit Herb.
Finally, he had let out a joyful cheer, softening the atmosphere in the pavilion.
But not long after, he had plunged back into anguish.
The monks of the Pill Refining Pavilion could only bow their heads and focus on their work.
One monk, well aware of the Pavilion Leader's efforts, thought to himself.
'The Abbot is too much. After all the Leader's hard work, he won't even listen to him. How are we supposed to get Fire Spirit Herb now?'
As the monk, silently grinding herbs, lifted his weary head for a moment, he unexpectedly saw the Pavilion Leader with a pleased smile on his lips.
'Huh? Did something good happen?'
Unable to contain his curiosity, the monk asked.
"Heh heh, that rascal Hyegang was scaling the wall, you see."
"Gasp! Monk Hyegang? He's finally becoming a Peak Realm expert! Congratulations!"
"Congratulations, Pavilion Leader. You must feel relieved now."
The monks paused their work and rushed over to offer their congratulations.
They were all well aware of the relationship between Hyegang and the other Four Great Vajras and the Pavilion Leader.
If they didn't know the circumstances, they might have thought he had four sons.
"Thank you all. Sorry, but let's focus on the refining again. Let's give it our all until the end. I'll help too."
Hyegang, who had struggled against the wall for years, was now breaking through without any special omens.
Seeing this, the Pavilion Leader set his mind at ease.
'Everything is the Buddha's will, so even if the refining fails, I shan't regret it. I'll pass on the method I discovered to posterity—that will be enough. Let me be content with that.'
***
Thanks to Yuseong inadvertently granting enlightenment to many, he was able to focus solely on cultivating the Fire Spirit Herb without further interruptions afterward.
The next day.
"Lay Disciple Baek... you truly succeeded..."
Abbot Jeonghae knelt in the herb field, unbefitting his position.
He gently caressed the Fire Spirit Herb that appeared to be over fifty years old.
"If it hadn't been the Fire Spirit Herb that Chosan harvested, but something less mature, it would have been hard to time it right."
"Chosan's instincts were spot on. He sent this Fire Spirit Herb and you to this junior monk, to our Shaolin Temple."
Yuseong had to stop Abbot Jeonghae, who was overwhelmed with emotion and repeatedly expressing deep gratitude.
"Let's talk later. We still have work to do, don't we?"
"There's still time. Thank you so much, Lay Disciple Baek. We shall regard you as a benefactor of our Shaolin Temple."
A benefactor of Shaolin Temple!
That was exactly what Yuseong had hoped for.
But outwardly, he remained humble.
"Your sentiments are more than enough. And I'm thinking of heading down now too."
"Back to the Luoyang Medical Hall?"
"Yes."
"I'll visit the Medical Hall soon."
With final words of thanks, Abbot Jeonghae departed with the Fire Spirit Herb.
'Visiting the Medical Hall—something to look forward to. And to think my Divine Power has built up this much already, so soon after acquiring the skill.'
Satisfied with the substantial Divine Power he had accumulated, Yuseong packed his belongings.
'I'd love to see the completed Great Returning Pill, but I've been away from the Medical Hall too long. I want to see my patients soon.'
Before he knew it, he had come to enjoy the fulfillment of treating patients.
Especially since treating them granted him real-time rewards of increasing Divine Power.
He had gained much from this Shaolin Temple visit.
Yuseong clenched his fist.
'Back at Baek Family Manor, when I sparred with warriors from various small and medium sects in Honam, I learned I could steal others' martial arts. But I thought it was because those arts were low-level. Who knew I could steal even Shaolin's supreme techniques.'
His spar with Hyegang was etched in his memory without a single discrepancy, from start to finish.
He didn't yet know the key internal energy circulation method, but he had already memorized the forms.
Once he healed his dantian, he would uncover the optimal internal energy method too.
The Shaolin supreme techniques Hyegang displayed would be disassembled piece by piece by Yuseong and absorbed into his own martial arts.
The power of the Ultimate Martial Body and Innate Five Stars trait.
Was it because it had been so long since his last intense spar?
Yuseong felt a deep thirst for martial arts.
'I want to witness more advanced techniques. I want to create my own martial arts. And someday, perfect them completely.'
***
As the Pavilion Leader was lending a hand to the task he had recently left to his disciples.
"Th-that...!"
Someone let out a frivolous cry.
"What's the commotion?"
"F-Fire..."
The Pavilion Leader gave a pitiful look to the disciple who couldn't string words together, then turned to see.
There stood Abbot Jeonghae, holding a Fire Spirit Herb longer than an adult's palm, cradling it preciously.
"Fire Spirit Herb!"
It was exactly as he had seen it hundreds, thousands of times in his dreams.
The Pavilion Leader was certain.
That Fire Spirit Herb was undoubtedly over fifty years old.
"Pill Refining Pavilion Leader, I've come to deliver the Buddha's will."
"Ahh...! Amitabha...!"
The Pavilion Leader prostrated himself on the ground in worship.
The sight of him chanting Buddhist invocations while prostrating was bizarre, but the other monks in the pavilion followed suit, one after another, bowing to the floor.
Abbot Jeonghae smiled faintly.
"If it isn't too late, please begin the final stage of refining at once."
"Of course. But who on earth procured this precious Fire Spirit Herb?"
"An old friend of mine and a benefactor of Shaolin."
***
The procession of people who had visited Shaolin Temple descended Mount Song in a line.
Yuseong mingled among them, scanning his surroundings.
'Beggars' Sect disciples are in disguise.'
Now that he was looking for them, he spotted several familiar faces.
Though the Beggars' Sect was composed of beggars, they didn't make their experts beg.
If they did, the sect wouldn't function properly.
They had their own funds from selling information, and it seemed some of that had been used to disguise the disciples this time.
Protected by the covert escort of Beggars' Sect disciples disguised as various professions, Yuseong thought he needed to resolve the matter of the mysterious man quickly.
Whatever his intentions, wasn't he causing too much trouble for too many people?
As Yuseong reached the midway point down Mount Song, the sky was dyed in sunset hues.
The time when most people headed home.
Yuseong usually clocked out around then too.
By the time he nearly reached home, the sun had fully set.
'If the one targeting me is an assassin... Hmm? Who's that? No way...'
A figure wrapped head to toe in loose black robes, wearing a large-brimmed bamboo hat, was pacing in front of Yuseong's house.
Coming right after thoughts of assassins, he looked extremely suspicious.
Yuseong whispered to a nearby Beggars' Sect disciple who had approached stealthily.
"Could that be the one surveilling me?"
The disciple glanced over and shook his head.
"That's not him, so rest easy."
"Ah, is that so? I'm starting to worry I'll suspect everyone of being an assassin."
"We're doing our utmost to uncover his identity, so please bear with the inconvenience a bit longer."
"Thank you. But you said 'that one'—do you know who it is?"
"...It wouldn't be proper for me to say. Disciples under Iron Fist Beggar Branch Leader are trained rigorously; our lips are sealed like a thousand catties. We'll keep a thorough watch around here, so rest easy."
"What do you..."
The disciple flashed a faint smile at the cryptic words and slipped away.
Yuseong tilted his head in confusion at the baffling remark and headed toward his door.
The bamboo hat figure, who had been glancing around, suddenly turned his gaze this way.
Flash!
Though his face was hidden under the lowered brim, Yuseong felt as if something shot from the man's eyes.
The bamboo hat figure closed the distance to Yuseong at astonishing speed, as if deploying a movement technique.
'What the— he looks suspicious no matter how I see it?'
Just as Yuseong prepared to unleash Unshadowed Divine Steps if needed.
A thin, desperate woman's voice emanated from the bamboo hat figure.
Yuseong, who had assumed it was a slightly short man, was startled.
"Physician Baek, why are you so late...! Do you know how long I've been waiting? Do you really want to see me die?"
"...!"
Yuseong realized a fact he had forgotten amid various events.
That he had left Jegal Yeongyeong, who received headache treatments from him every morning, unattended for two full days.
"I'm sorry. So it was you, Chief Strategist. You came all the way here for a headache?"
"Oh, come on, let's go inside quick. I couldn't enter because the house was empty."
"Uh?"
Yuseong had no choice but to enter the house with her as Jegal Yeongyeong used her internal energy to drag him along.
'Surely that disciple didn't misunderstand something weird?'
Just before the door closed, Yuseong locked eyes through the crack with a Beggars' Sect disciple far off, grinning broadly this way.
Clack—
The door shut completely.
The misunderstanding was about to deepen.
***
"So, how could you just wait around like that? How did you know when I'd return?"
Yuseong asked as he unpacked and took out his acupuncture kit.
"First, fix this headache. I really feel like I'm dying. It hurt yesterday too, but today it's so much worse I couldn't sleep properly or get any work done."
Yuseong thought she was quite cute as she poured out her words, serious yet whiny.
To feel this charm from an older woman.
Perhaps it was because he had no real dating experience.
Jegal Yeongyeong tossed aside the bamboo hat and flung off the loose black robe, then flopped down anywhere.
Her usually pristine white scholar's robe was quite disheveled, indirectly showing how desperate her situation had been.
"刺 me quick!"
Begone, you lewd demon.
Yuseong dispelled the rising delusions and hurriedly took out his needles.
"I'm inserting it."
"Hurry!"
Without hesitation, he thrust the needle into her Baihui acupoint and swiftly activated his Healing skill.
"Uuugh... Haaaah... This feeling... yesssss...."
A moan like melting honey burst from Jegal Yeongyeong's lips.
She flailed her arms languidly, her eyes glazed over.
"How does it feel now?"
A natural question: was the headache gone?
Of course it was, thanks to the Healing skill, but as a physician, courtesy demanded it.
However.
"It's ecstatic... The best, Physician Baek... Haaaah... So good..."
"..."
Yuseong was grateful they were alone in the room.
If that Beggars' Sect disciple had heard, it would have sparked a massive misunderstanding.
Her voice and words sounded that suggestive.
"Ah! Sorry, I couldn't help it!"
Jegal Yeongyeong, who had been rambling strange impressions with dazed eyes, jolted upright with a shout.
Moments ago she had been half-dead; now she was lively as a flopping fish.
She bit her lip hard, eyes wide round.
Her eyeballs darted about.
Seeing her flustered, Yuseong felt mischievous.
"It was so ecstatic, huh. I'm glad too."
"Y-Yes?!"
"Chief Strategist praising my acupuncture as the best makes me happy."
Only then realizing Yuseong was teasing, Jegal Yeongyeong shot him a delicate glare.
"Anyway, sorry. I must have made a fool of myself. The headache was really... unbearable earlier. But..."
"Yes?"
"If you disappear without a word for days again, I might actually die. At least tell me before you go. Got it?"
"..."
Seeing her pout and grumble, Yuseong had a slightly wicked thought.
'Maybe giving her acupuncture only every two—no, three days occasionally wouldn't be bad...?'