Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Am I Dead?
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'Damn.'
Mok Ja Un muttered with his stuffy, numb mouth the moment he opened his eyes. Or rather, he tried to.
He tried to move his throat, but the pain only grew, with no sound coming out.
Indeed.
'In the end, I died.'
When you're dead, there's no body left, so of course you can't speak.
But why did the pain remain?
'Is this divine punishment?'
A life spent striving according to the teachings of Life is Struggle, pursuing the creed he himself had established.
Yet Mok Ja Un had made mutual prosperity his personal creed, exerting himself to live alongside the people of Shaanxi.
Sealing the rift with the Heng Mountain Sect to form a united front against this plague—it was all thanks to Mok Ja Un desperately persuading the Nether Luo Sect and sincerely conveying his heart to the Heng Mountain Sect.
Distrust. Anxiety. Dissatisfaction.
Mok Ja Un's struggles had been breakthroughs against all that.
In truth, it hadn't lasted long.
The epidemic that had turned Shaanxi into a land of death.
It had upended his entire mental world, transforming his outlook on struggle in the process.
'Damn it, Father. You said there was no afterlife.'
There is.
If not, how else could he explain what was right in front of him?
'At least I lived righteously in my later years.'
His abdomen and throat throbbed with pain.
But more than that, what made Mok Ja Un accept his own death was the face of the fairy maiden who had come to claim his soul.
'Did I live diligently enough to ascend to heaven after enduring this pain?'
"Don't try to speak so hard. Your throat hasn't healed yet."
'I lived?'
"Close your eyes for a bit. When you open them again, you'll see your family."
Mok Ja Un wanted to say something.
He wanted to ask if he had really survived.
He still couldn't believe it.
His memory had frozen at the moment he entered secluded meditation to endure the pain.
He had no recollection whatsoever of lying on the operating table of his own accord, displaying the miraculous willpower that had even amazed those around him, including the Weird Physician.
So he had no idea how he had survived.
He couldn't even recall the retainers' encouragement, promising to bring the Weird Physician.
No, more than that, Mok Ja Un wanted to ask.
'Who are you? At least your name... Ah, it's getting cold...'
"I made a mistake."
Wi Sowol immediately sought out the Weird Physician and confessed.
"How so?"
"I didn't expect him to wake up right then. I lightly circulated my qi to check the effects of the previous treatment, and it might have triggered his awakening."
"I told you to wear your mask outside."
It was inside.
Of course, Wi Sowol admitted her own carelessness.
'I need to come up with a separate method for indoors. This won't do.'
The chill from the Great White Light True Qi kept fogging up her glasses during meditation.
"What did you do?"
"I pressed the blood transfusion point to put him back to sleep for now."
"How long?"
"Probably about an hour."
She hadn't pressed the transfusion point deeply.
The hand guided by the principles of Dazed Haze Hand had acted as a simple sedative, lulling Mok Ja Un back to sleep. But he was a martial artist with internal energy flowing through his body.
Since she'd only infused it lightly with a touch of qi, he'd wake up soon enough.
"Not long, then. Jang Rok."
"Yes, Physician."
"Are you ready?"
"Anytime."
"It would have been better at night. This is my mistake."
If the Weird Physician had fully committed to using Dazed Haze Hand, he could have ensured Mok Ja Un wouldn't wake so quickly.
He had simply held back out of concern for arousing suspicion from the supreme masters.
"Jang Rok. Let's go. We're leaving the Nether Luo Sect."
Clunk!
"Brother, he's awake!"
"Is he?"
Gu Yang Ho, the only one in the Nether Luo Sect who could barge into the sect leader's quarters without notice, had rushed here after hearing the news from the Weird Physician.
He cherished his nephew, but the real reason his nephew was so precious was that Gu Yang Ho shared a bond of sworn brotherhood with the Nether Luo Sect Lord, closer than blood relations.
Still, the nephew he'd watched grow from birth was no different from his own child to Gu Yang Ho.
"Then I'll head over first! Come quick, brother!"
Gu Yang Ho showed his face as if he'd fulfilled his duty and promptly vanished.
He wasn't blatant about it, but he was weaving lightfoot skill into his run, a sign his worry for his nephew knew no bounds.
The Nether Luo Sect Lord felt a mix of resentment and reassurance watching his sworn younger brother's back as he fussed over his own son like that, then followed after him.
In truth, his own steps weren't leisurely enough to criticize Gu Yang Ho's.
But suddenly.
The Nether Luo Sect Lord's steps halted.
'Where's the Weird Physician?'
No way...!
The Nether Luo Sect Lord veered in a new direction.
He unleashed his internal energy at the Yongcheon acupoint and kicked off the ground, soaring high into the air.
Then his eyes caught sight of a figure dashing across the tiled roofs.
Something small was piggybacked on the figure's back, and both wore beak masks.
'That presence. It's the Weird Physician!'
The Nether Luo Sect Lord deployed the Nether Luo Sect's secret movement technique, Dark Shadow Flight, and gave chase.
'He used his head.'
There were currently two supreme masters in the Nether Luo Sect.
The Sect Lord himself and Fighting Ghost Gu Yang Ho.
The Weird Physician was ambiguous, but his scouting skills were at the peak level, and his guard couldn't be weaker, so that made another peak master.
From the Weird Physician's perspective, shaking off the two supreme masters would make the rest easy.
'The ten days was a feint too. To inflame my emotions and my brother's.'
He'd used Mok Ja Un's regained consciousness as bait to lure them out.
While the two were distracted checking on Mok Ja Un, the Weird Physician would slip away. That was the plan.
Given the affection they'd shown Mok Ja Un, it had plenty of potential.
Unfortunately, it didn't work on the Nether Luo Sect Lord.
"Weird Physician! If you're lost, call a servant—why climb onto the roofs!"
The Nether Luo Sect Lord's speed was impressive.
His control over his power was exquisite.
He kicked off the roofs forcefully, yet not a single tile cracked.
Perfect command of his internal energy.
It didn't take long to catch up to the Weird Physician.
"Come down now. The Nether Luo Sect is vast, but its layout is simple—you won't get lost... You're not the Weird Physician."
Only upon closing in did the Nether Luo Sect Lord notice something off.
A shape-shifting technique that could fool even a supreme master's presence sense?
The Nether Luo Sect Lord hadn't misjudged.
The guard had perfectly mimicked the Weird Physician's movements, presence, and build—as if he were the man himself.
The Nether Luo Sect Lord knew only one sect capable of such a bizarre art.
"Assassins' Gate...?"
But why would someone from the Assassins' Gate be with the Weird Physician?
Would the Nether Luo Sect Lord have overlooked the Weird Physician's guard from the surgery?
Naturally, he'd observed Jang Rok as well.
He hadn't realized it then.
He hadn't even considered the Assassins' Gate, and Jang Rok's shape-shifting was that masterful.
The Nether Luo Sect Lord didn't hesitate, spreading his presence sense wide.
The sect disciples who sensed his energy would, as pre-instructed, set out to find the "lost guests."
Meanwhile, he addressed Jang Rok.
"You're from the Assassins' Gate. Think Spirit Killer will let you be?"
Assassins' Gate.
Formally, the Three Paths Assassins' Gate.
Like the Nether Luo Sect, it was one of the Twelve Black Seats forming the backbone of the unorthodox factions.
But even banded as the Twelve Black Seats, the unorthodox world—unlike the orthodox—ebbed and flowed, each surviving on their own.
To the Nether Luo Sect Lord, a background in the Three Paths Assassins' Gate was hardly enough to make him hesitate against an opponent he could kill leisurely in three exchanges, stretching it to four or five while pondering.
Two breaths' hesitation was an eternity for a supreme master—proof of the deep loyalty and brotherhood among the Twelve Black Seats.
"Back off now, and we'll call it even."
He didn't even bother asking where the Weird Physician was.
His demand was simply a warning: don't follow.
If a killer of that caliber decided to grab his ankle, it would be quite the nuisance.
Especially if killing the assassin wasn't an option.
"That's not going to happen."
"Figured as much."
He didn't know the connection between the Assassins' Gate and the Weird Physician, but would common sense apply to those lunatics?
He hadn't expected words alone to suffice from the start.
The Nether Luo Sect Lord's great saber gleamed, absorbing the sunlight into its black blade.
"Don't worry, though. I won't kill you. Of course not. Would I harm a guest invited by my lord?"
Just sleep for a while.
With those words from the Nether Luo Sect Lord, Jang Rok's body slammed down below the roof.
The Nether Luo Sect Lord eventually tracked down the real Weird Physician.
Though the compound had the same siheyuan layout, the Shaanxi branch differed from the Hebei one in its rectangular shape.
Thus, paths out of the Nether Luo Sect had clear long and short routes.
Strangely, the Weird Physician had taken the longer one—perhaps deliberately ambiguous, avoiding the shortest path.
He'd likely assigned the shortest to Jang Rok to draw attention that way.
Upon catching up, the Nether Luo Sect Lord said,
"Listen to me, Weird Physician. Even if I'm an unorthodox warrior, I know gratitude and grudges. We unorthodox folk emphasize them even more. You think a bit of money erases the favor? Not at all."
He meant it.
The Nether Luo Sect Lord felt indebted to the Weird Physician.
He continued, sounding aggrieved.
"Why would I stop you from leaving by force? I'll send you off with ample travel funds. But isn't it too soon to go now? That's all I'm saying."
This was sincere too.
The Nether Luo Sect Lord had planned to let the Weird Physician go when the time was right.
He wasn't foolish enough to think blind detention wouldn't backfire.
"Didn't you say ten days at first? Leaving after just two—how does that look? The world will curse the Nether Luo Sect for issuing an expulsion order without properly honoring our benefactor!"
The Nether Luo Sect Lord's plan was simple.
Just buy time to get friendly.
It wasn't mere fatherly bias—Mok Ja Un truly was an outstanding man.
Only just past thirty, yet at peak mastery, with the resolve and execution to shoulder and lead the sect's future.
Witnessing him climb onto the treatment bed under such excruciating pain of his own will, the Nether Luo Sect Lord became convinced: the next Sect Lord could only be Mok Ja Un.
And his looks?
Over six feet tall with a sturdy build and handsome, manly features—unknown to no one in Shaanxi Province.
When he'd personally visited the Heng Mountain Sect to resolve the plague crisis, even the nuns had shown interest.
If such a Mok Ja Un showed goodwill and attention as a lifesaver, wouldn't even the Weird Physician's disciple feel a spark of interest?
"So stay a bit longer and..."
The Nether Luo Sect Lord's words cut off abruptly, his expression hardening.
"Hey, Weird Physician. Where's your disciple?"
"Hm. So it was that way after all."
The Weird Physician gave a wry smile.
A disciple too capable was a problem too.
"My guard's watching him, no doubt."
"This guy...!"
"You should've said so from the start. That I wasn't the target—you wanted my disciple. Of course, it wouldn't have changed today's events."
Caught from the beginning?
The Nether Luo Sect Lord belatedly realized the Weird Physician's insight was no joke and gave a wry smile in turn.
"Still, shouldn't you check on your freshly awakened patient before going?"
First, detain the Weird Physician.
His disciple would follow naturally.
The Weird Physician read the quick recalculation in the Nether Luo Sect Lord's mind.
He'd been through such situations countless times.
"Hey, Nether Luo Sect Lord."
And in all those attempts, the Weird Physician had never been detained.
"You think I'd let my cherished disciple wander off with just one guard?"
The answer to that question came from neither the Weird Physician nor the Nether Luo Sect Lord.
"Nether Blade Divine Demon. Detaining a guest who wishes to leave is hardly proper host etiquette."
A hearty voice echoed through heaven and earth.
Six Harmonies Voice Transmission.
The voice resonated from all directions, masking the speaker's position.
But there was no need to probe for his presence.
The speaker had no intention of hiding.
The Nether Luo Sect Lord squinted at the elderly Daoist standing outside the compound, hands behind his back.
"Pure Void Daoist."
An elder of Mount Hua Sect.
A senior even to the sect leader, the old master had appeared via subtle lightness skill, spreading a faint plum blossom scent.
The Mount Hua escort said,
"Nether Luo Sect Lord. How about releasing these guests now? Be content that your son survived."
"Ha. Then why doesn't Mount Hua stay satisfied with Shaanxi lands and get out of Shaanxi?"
"Land has no master, but man is master of himself—how can you equate the two?"
Can't win a war of words against Daoists, the Nether Luo Sect Lord thought, turning back to the Weird Physician.
"Since when?"
Bringing in Mount Hua, that is.
"Well."
The Weird Physician's face, unhidden by the beak mask.
The corner of his mouth curled up.
"From the start."
In response to the Nether Luo Sect Lord's foolish question, the Weird Physician gave the sage's retort.
"I never trusted martial artists to begin with."