Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: Jin Hong and Du Baek
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Mu-heun told Jin Hong the story of Baek Jung-hyeok, the Divine Doctor of Sichuan. He explained why the man had dedicated his life to the Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation.
“It may have been compassion, the very root of benevolence.”
“Compassion…”
“Compassion is a sentiment that all humans hold in their hearts. In other words, it is the foundation upon which they can perform good deeds.
Imagine there was a well in a village, and a child was sitting on its edge.”
“…”
Jin Hong had no idea what Mu-heun was talking about. The conversation had started with his master, so why the sudden talk of compassion?
After discussing the criteria for distinguishing good and evil, now this?
Did that mean Baek Mu-heun’s standard for judging good and evil was pity?
Regardless of Jin Hong’s thoughts, Mu-heun continued speaking.
“The child loses their balance. They are about to fall backward into the well. At that moment, a villager spots the child.”
“…Did the villager save the child?”
“That reaction is only natural. The fact that any person would reflexively try to save the child—that is the essence of compassion. They would try to save the child regardless of their relationship with them, or any future gain or loss. The Divine Doctor was like that.”
Jin Hong was bewildered.
‘The story of the Divine Doctor again… It’s clear that the Divine Doctor of Sichuan had a profound influence on his heart.’
“Are you saying he performed good deeds based on compassion?”
“Yes. However, the world was vast, and the Divine Doctor realized he could not help all who suffered with his power alone. So he researched a certain formation.”
“Was that the one the Sichuan Tang Clan cooperated on?”
“Yes. The Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation. An unprecedented grand technique that could efficiently treat all diseases and injuries using fragrance. But…”
“Dang Baek-ho betrayed him.”
“That’s right. Dang Baek-ho intended to create a formation not to heal people, but one that would capture orphans and turn them into Poison Blood Demons. The Divine Doctor discovered this and died while trying to steal the formation’s core documents.”
“Wait, he died while stealing the core documents?”
“Yes. And on the boundary between life and death, he met the first Heavenly Demon, the founder of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
“…!?”
Jin Hong’s eyes began to waver. The story coming from my mouth had taken a completely different trajectory from what had been discussed so far.
“The Heavenly Demon asked the Divine Doctor this: Do you believe the current Orthodox martial world is righteous? But the Divine Doctor could not answer. After all, the Sichuan Tang Clan, a pillar of the Orthodox martial world he had believed to be righteous, one of the Five Great Families, had harbored wicked intentions and betrayed him.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
Jin Hong stared at me with fierce eyes. But Mu-heun did not yield. If he thought the man wouldn’t listen, he wouldn't have even started speaking.
To tell the story as it was, honestly. That was the only way to persuade this man called the Plum Blossom Sword Venerable.
Therefore, I unhesitatingly unraveled the story of the Divine Doctor—no, my story. The things I contemplated after meeting the Heavenly Demon, the deal I made with him. The Heavenly Demon’s request. The Heavenly Demon’s regret.
Possessing the fourth young master of the Heavenly Dance Family. Going to Blade Leaf Valley and defeating Golden Fang Poison Claw.
And what I felt upon returning and seeing the Demonic Cult.
I contemplated why the Bright Cult became the Demonic Cult,
and explained that I was now moving to set things right.
“What is good, and what is evil—I still do not know. I can only surmise from the results of actions. I’ve come to believe that the standard for distinguishing good and evil has nothing to do with one’s origins.”
“…”
Jin Hong’s pupils were trembling violently. I drove the final nail in.
“Just because a warrior belongs to an Orthodox sect does not make them good. If you think they all uphold justice and chivalry, you are gravely mistaken.
What is justice, and what is chivalry? Or what is good, and what is evil? To constantly contemplate these questions—this ambiguous answer is my current deliberation on good and evil.
Just as the Bright Cult became the Demonic Cult with the passage of time, if the Orthodox martial world does not continue this contemplation, the day the Five Great Families or the Nine Sects One Gang become Unorthodox Sects will not be a story of the distant future.”
Jin Hong briefly bowed his head and slowly closed his eyes.
He, too, was a man who had committed the same error as the Divine Doctor.
The Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation, which the Divine Doctor had devised for the world. Just as it had provided the Tang Clan with the key to a formation for raising Poison Blood Demons from orphans…
The mercy he had shown to the Waterway Gang had led to the deaths of all the nearby villagers.
In a way, the young man from the Demonic Cult before him was a wise predecessor who had walked the same path and contemplated it ahead of him.
Jin Hong slowly raised his head and lifted his closed eyelids.
“All my misunderstandings have been cleared, and you… no, Divine Doctor…”
“Please, just speak comfortably. Right now, I am not the Divine Doctor, Baek Jung-hyeok, but the Dragon Demon Pavilion Lord of the Demonic Cult, Baek Mu-heun.”
“…Ahem. I have come to deeply respect you. From now on, I will not distrust or unconditionally oppose any strategy or information you present in the fight against the otherworldly beings.”
“Thank you.”
“As long as I know you are a far better person than I, I personally wish to support you fully.”
“To hear you say that makes me feel as if I have gained an army of thousands. However, there is no such thing as ‘unconditional.’ I, too, can change, so I recommend that you, Sword Venerable, continue your own contemplation.”
“Hah…”
Jin Hong was genuinely impressed by Mu-heun's profound reasoning. Even by pure calculation, it was not difficult to see that Mu-heun's knowledge and experience surpassed his own.
“Thank you for your teachings.”
“It was nothing.”
“Well then, I shall take my leave now.”
“As I told the Soul-Stealing Immortal, I would like you and the Alliance Leader to move around Monk Gwiwon’s vicinity if possible.”
“Understood.”
Jin Hong rose from his seat, clasped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute, and said.
“I shall invite you to Mount Hua someday.”
Mu-heun looked at Jin Hong, smiled pleasantly, and replied.
“I shall invite you to the Heavenly Mountains as well.”
* * *
Hye-nang, following Mahoraga’s command, once again transformed into a young child. She sat and waited in back alleys or deserted places.
It was to lure and kidnap weak martial artists. Those warriors, filled to the brim with a paltry sense of justice. They were weak to a lone child sitting in such a deserted place. They would surely come and offer their pity.
“*Kekeke*.”
Hye-nang smiled slyly.
She planned to abduct the martial artists who offered her sympathy.
Especially.
She only targeted those among them with weak ki.
Hye-nang was not a powerful ghost spirit. In fact, she was rather weak. That was why, when targeting martial artists, she only went after those weaker than herself, around the second-rate level.
Her Ghost-Piercing Eye could accurately measure a person’s energy, no matter how well they concealed it, so she never made a mistake in choosing her targets.
This time, too, a mediocre martial artist took the bait.
“Child. Why are you all alone here? Are you lost?”
The pathetic sympathy of humans. It was something the ghost spirits, for whom the law of the jungle decided everything, did not possess.
Hye-nang took the hand of the martial artist who was showing her kindness. Then, she stealthily cast her ghost art.
‘Sleep.’
Those with strong energy could resist her ghost art. Against a first-rate master, the success rate dropped to less than half. There had been times when she had failed and had to flee.
However, martial artists of the second-rate or lower were different. These fools lacked the strength to resist her ghost art.
“Uh… Suddenly, my vision is blurring…”
As expected.
The martial artist who had offered kindness fell into a deep slumber under Hye-nang’s spell. Hye-nang began to expand her body from that of a child. Then she slung the martial artist over her shoulder.
If I take him to Lord Mahoraga, he will lessen the weight of my shackles.
Just then.
She felt ominous energies around her. It was instantaneous. In a moment, they had surrounded her.
‘This is…’
That’s right. She was surrounded.
“Kill the ghost spirit!”
A warrior who seemed to be at the transcendent level shouted. Behind him, peak masters soared into the air and plunged their blades into Hye-nang.
“*Puak*!”
A deathly pain washed over her. This was bad. But there was no way she could die. If her physical body was destroyed like this, she would be sucked back into Lord Mahoraga’s artifact.
If that happened, she would have to endure that hellish time all over again.
‘Ah… I don’t want to die…’
Hye-nang transformed back into the form of a child and crawled on the ground. However, the martial artists were merciless.
They hacked at her entire body, including her limbs, with their weapons.
‘*Kuaargh*…’
Do I have to go back again…?
At that moment, the martial artists chanted something. Not the ones who were killing her, but the ones behind them who had only been watching the fight.
Around their necks hung necklaces called Totua-dae.
*Snap.*
*Snap.*
‘Uh, ugh… What is happening?’
She felt an impossible sensation. The feeling of the threads binding her soul snapping one by one. She had struggled her entire life, but nothing like this had ever happened… why now?
No, could it be the work of those martial sorcerers?
‘If so…’
Hye-nang stopped resisting. No, she joyfully threw herself into the technique being cast by the Totua-dae.
Soon, all the binding threads on Hye-nang’s soul were severed.
*Sssshhh*
Hye-nang turned to dust and vanished.
“Heh, thank you.”
* * *
In Wuhan, Hubei Province, the Martial Alliance headquarters seemed deserted. It was usually bustling with members, but not now. The reason was that all the warriors had been dispatched under the command of the Martial Alliance Leader.
Currently, the Martial Alliance had left only a minimal force to prepare for a potential invasion.
“All the elites are gone.”
“I know… I wonder if we’re going to be attacked.”
“An empty-house raid, you mean?”
“Exactly…”
“Do you think the Alliance Leader wouldn't know about that? Don’t worry.”
“Ah, by the way, what happened with that story about the Shandong Ak Clan you mentioned before?”
“Ah, well… I just happened to overhear it, so I don’t know the details. Why do you ask?”
“I’m worried, what with the Jinju Eon Clan causing such a ruckus.”
“The Alliance Leader will take care of that too, now that he’s out there.”
“We’ll have to hope so… Good heavens, evil spirits. I don’t know what the world is coming to.”
“You can say that again.”
The remaining forces felt a sense of anxiety, as if doom was approaching. However, unlike them, those who had been dispatched were resolute. Their target was Hubei itself.
The members of the Martial Alliance that spanned the Central Plains, and that wasn't all. Masters from the Nine Sects One Gang, warriors from the Five Great Families, and countless disciples of the Beggars' Clan spread out from the edges of Hubei, tightening their dragnet.
Even the skilled martial artists among the disciples of the Hao Clan had rolled up their sleeves and joined in.
The mission given to most members was the annihilation of the ghost spirits running rampant throughout Hubei. They formed teams with the sorcerers of the Totua-dae, a unit directly under the Soul-Stealing Immortal.
According to the Soul-Stealing Immortal and Baek Mu-heun, the ghost spirits currently in Hubei were under some powerful binding that prevented them from dying. No, it wasn't that they couldn't be killed by force, but they would just resurrect.
But they were told not to worry.
Because Baek Mu-heun and the Soul-Stealing Immortal had found a way to kill them permanently.
The Alliance Leader had said:
“Trust, and follow.”