Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Confusion
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Carried on Jang Rok's back, Wi Sowol slipped out of the Nether Luo Sect's outer perimeter with remarkable ease.
"Miss, are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"I'm sorry. I used my falling technique, but it was such a ferocious blow."
The Nether Luo Sect Lord's strike hadn't been light by any means—at least not from the receiving end.
It was power worthy of being called the strongest in Shanxi.
Honestly, Jang Rok had blacked out for a moment.
It was just as the Sect Lord had boasted—he'd really meant to put him to sleep.
But behind Jang Rok was Wi Sowol.
The Dazed Haze Hand was originally a technique developed to anesthetize patients before surgery, so it naturally included ways to awaken someone from that induced slumber.
Wi Sowol had roused Jang Rok, concealed their presences with the Hidden Slumber Technique, and escaped the Nether Luo Sect.
The astonishing part was that, even without Jang Rok doing anything special, Wi Sowol's own presence was practically undetectable.
'No way, right?'
Jang Rok couldn't help but dredge up a possibility he'd once dismissed.
Wi Sowol was using the Three Paths Assassins' Gate's Hidden Slumber Technique.
And at a level rivaling his own.
"Miss... by any chance, are you from the Assassins' Gate?"
The question slipped out unbidden.
But Jang Rok steeled himself, knowing this was a question he'd inevitably ask the girl someday.
"No."
"Then, did you lose family or loved ones to the Assassins' Gate?"
Jang Rok wanted nothing more than to squeeze his eyes shut and cover his ears.
Even so, he focused intently on Wi Sowol's voice.
"That's not it either."
Wi Sowol's own family had been killed by worthless scum who weren't even proper unorthodox fighters.
She had no ties to the assassins.
'No, that's not it.'
Because Jang Rok was from the Assassins' Gate.
She'd known he was an assassin from the start, and she'd guessed at the sect from his techniques, but this question confirmed it for her.
"You're from the Assassins' Gate, aren't you?"
"Yes. But how did you see through our techniques? Even for you, Miss, replicating my Hidden Slumber Technique after seeing it just once..."
She'd seen it many times.
In her past life.
But no explanation would make him believe it, and Wi Sowol had no intention of trying.
Now it was her turn to question him, as if seizing the moment.
"River Heart Abyss, right? What number assassin were you?"
Jang Rok was stunned.
Among the Twelve Black Seats, the Three Paths Assassins' Gate was infamous for keeping its organization shrouded in secrecy.
Even more so than the Hao Clan, which constantly shifted its headquarters.
Of course.
How deep must the grudges run for those who made killing their trade, with "kill" right in their name?
If their location were exposed, martial artists would swarm to eradicate them.
Naturally, their internal structure was guarded as the utmost secret.
It might be whispered among the highest echelons of the jianghu, but not something a lone girl like Wi Sowol should know.
'Did the physician tell her?'
Jang Rok had mentioned the Assassins' Gate's rough structure to the Weird Physician.
Not the fine details—he didn't know them well enough himself—but the basics.
Managing to rationalize it somehow, Jang Rok answered.
"I was the Seventh Killer."
Seven Kill.
That was Jang Rok's true name.
"Number Seven, huh."
Wi Sowol lightly reviewed her memories of the Three Paths Assassins' Gate killers she'd encountered—and slain—in her past life.
'No Seven Kill among them.'
The River Heart Abyss was a group made up of the Assassins' Gate's elite.
It always consisted of nine killers, each assigned a number as their name based on rank.
In other words, Jang Rok had been the seventh strongest assassin in the Three Paths Assassins' Gate, excluding their lord, the Spirit Killer.
He must not have crossed her path in her previous life.
Even Wi Sowol couldn't say for sure—the Assassins' Gate's disguise arts, concealment techniques, and impersonation skills were so advanced that even those who'd mastered the Eye Arts to their limits sometimes failed to distinguish them.
Hadn't even the Nether Luo Sect Lord been fooled for a moment?
"Is your master connected to the Assassins' Gate?"
"No. My connection to the physician is purely personal..."
"Then we're good."
Wi Sowol harbored no particular grudge against the Assassins' Gate.
Even though she, more than anyone, had been hounded by them relentlessly.
'Thanks to them, I learned techniques like concealment arts, so that's that.'
The Assassins' Gate had killed countless people.
She had no desire to defend them.
But at least her past self couldn't condemn them even if they'd killed her.
"Miss, I..."
"More importantly, Jang Rok. Can we really just leave like this?"
A powerful aura rippled from afar.
The clash of supreme masters was shaking Taiyuan to its core.
'Mount Hua Sect. Not sure who, though.'
Even in her past life, Wi Sowol had little involvement with Mount Hua Sect.
She only vaguely knew their internal energy signatures; no one memorized which master used which technique in detail.
"Looks like we started a fight."
"No need to worry about it."
Thud.
Wi Sowol turned and bowed her head politely.
"You've arrived."
It was the Weird Physician.
Unscathed, in perfect condition.
"Yeah."
And beside him was Jong Yeom, the Mount Hua Sect Daoist she'd seen at Crimson Tide County.
"Who is the Nether Luo Sect Lord fighting?"
"Pure Void Daoist. An elder Daoist of Mount Hua Sect."
"Next stop is Mount Hua Sect, then."
"Right. There's someone badly injured there too."
At Crimson Tide County, Jong Yeom had told the Weird Physician about a severely wounded man at Mount Hua Sect.
Not on the verge of death—he'd been overwhelmed by Mok Ja Un—but since they'd dragged Mount Hua into this, they planned to make it worth it.
"Ignore their fight. Neither can finish the other off."
If either died, Mount Hua Sect and the Nether Luo Sect would become mortal enemies.
Mount Hua might not mind, but the Nether Luo Sect wouldn't want that.
They were already stretched thin dealing with the plague.
And Pure Void Daoist, coming alone, couldn't intend to kill the Sect Lord here either.
Unlike him, the Nether Luo Sect had another supreme master, the Fighting Ghost, holding the fort.
"They'll spar just enough to save face and call it quits."
I see.
Wi Sowol found this so-called "nominal deathmatch" unfamiliar.
A duel pretending to be a life-or-death struggle.
Her own fights had always been true gambles of life and death, ending only when one side perished, so this felt novel.
"We'll have to travel another thousand li."
"It'll be quick."
The Weird Physician smirked and took the lead.
As the Weird Physician had said, by the time they'd fully left Taiyuan, Pure Void Daoist rejoined them.
Perfectly intact.
"It's been a while, Weird Physician."
"The elder Daoist is as vigorous as ever."
The two were old acquaintances.
Wi Sowol, watching from beneath her new bird-beak mask, gauged Pure Void Daoist's skills.
'About on par with the Nether Luo Sect Lord. Half a step above the Crimson Blaze Twin Dragons? Definitely above the Fighting Ghost.'
She'd need to develop an Eye Art for him.
The Nine Yang Absolute Meridian and Nine Yin Absolute Meridian seemed similar, but their usable acupoints were polar opposites, so her past life's methods had limits.
Feeling the need for a proper Eye Art once more, Wi Sowol welcomed the new companion.
"We'll head to Mount Hua Sect, but I decide the route."
Even against Pure Void Daoist, the Weird Physician was firm.
They needed him, after all.
"As you wish."
Surprisingly, Pure Void Daoist accepted readily.
Did he have no close ties to the wounded man at Mount Hua?
Even in the same sect, friendships and connections varied, leading inevitably to factions.
Wi Sowol was pondering how even the Nine Great Sects weren't immune when Pure Void answered the Weird Physician's question.
"My grand-disciple."
"Grand-disciple?"
Disciple's disciple.
A generational junior, like a grandson.
Yet in a major sect like Mount Hua, where they used terms like first- or second-generation disciple, calling him "grand-disciple" meant direct lineage.
And yet Pure Void Daoist chuckled carefree, strolling with hands clasped behind his back like he was out for a leisurely drink.
He'd come here personally and crossed swords with the Sect Lord, so he wasn't entirely indifferent...
Wi Sowol appraised him as a refreshingly unique character.
As the Nether Luo Sect's teachings went, people truly came in all varieties.
Another realization dawned on her mind.
'I can use this for developing an Eye Art.'
Every moment was inspiration.
Life was a series of utterly unique instants.
And so the group set off on their new journey, chatting amiably as they headed south.
Mostly the Weird Physician and Jong Yeom catching up after so long, with Jong Yeom occasionally asking Jang Rok something or the Weird Physician querying Pure Void.
Wi Sowol pondered something deeply, unable to resolve it alone, and asked the Weird Physician.
"By the way, the Nether Luo Sect's young lord seemed to want coexistence with the orthodox sects. Why did Mount Hua try to stop him from surviving at Crimson Tide County?"
"That's exactly why they stopped him."
Wi Sowol furrowed her brow slightly, not understanding.
Before Jong Yeom could speak, the Weird Physician continued.
"He's a solid heir, sure, but if the Nether Luo Sect actually forged an alliance with Shanxi's orthodox forces, where would that leave Mount Hua with no room to intervene? If Heng Mountain Sect complains, Mount Hua's face would be utterly lost."
Heng Mountain Sect would prefer the Nether Luo Sect—unorthodox but reasonable and cooperative in crises—holding strong over chaos engulfing their own backyard in Shanxi.
Already strained fighting northern nomads, with plague disrupting the rear, they'd welcome this alliance with the Nether Luo Sect.
"The Nether Luo Sect and Heng Mountain could support each other without worry because they communicated well. If one holds back while the other spends freely, anyone could predict they'd seize it all by force once things settle. So even if one wants to spend, they can't. If the young lord dies, prior agreements could fizzle out, making it far easier for Mount Hua to meddle in Shanxi."
"Oh..."
Wi Sowol, who'd never pondered such human relations or political structures, found it hard to fully grasp.
"Ahem. Physician... we chose the surer path. The young lord is said to be a righteous guest, but who knows the truth? And if he suddenly died of this strange plague like now, it could spark even greater chaos."
Jong Yeom earnestly defended his sect.
He kept glancing at Pure Void Daoist, who merely chuckled as usual, content to observe.
Wi Sowol neatly ignored Jong Yeom's explanation and asked the Weird Physician again.
"Then is Mount Hua evil for letting the young lord die to prevent orthodox-unorthodox harmony in Shanxi?"
"Evil? Ph-Physician! With the elder here, my words as a disciple are too much..."
"It's not so simple."
Exactly! Jong Yeom inwardly praised the physician's understanding, but the Weird Physician silenced him with a gesture.
"Mount Hua has saved many in Shanxi and still does. You know about the massive earthquake in Shanxi decades ago?"
"Yes."
How could she not?
Rumors had even claimed Heaven itself was determined to destroy the Ming.
That single quake had devastated Shanxi.
A million lives lost.
A million—a small nation would have collapsed entirely.
Vanishment wouldn't be too strong a word.
Shanxi still hadn't fully recovered.
"The imperial court alone spent 100,000 taels of silver on reconstruction. No records for Zhongnan and Mount Hua, but together they'd match that. Much time has passed, so buildings, canals, fields are probably restored. But the most vital thing is missing."
"People."
"Right. Half the population vanished. Recovery will take more time. Bandits still roam Shanxi occasionally, and worse villains too. Without Mount Hua and Zhongnan, Shanxi might have been abandoned after the quake."
"Precisely."
Setting aside the agreement, Wi Sowol grasped the Weird Physician's point.
"It's complicated."
"The world is. No place is purely good or purely evil. The Nether Luo Sect took plenty of wealth from Shanxi as unorthodox, but they emptied their own coffers to fight this plague."
Good and evil intertwined.
Nothing clear-cut.
What mattered was how one responded to that tangled potential.
Killing took away chances to make things right.
Saving granted opportunities to start anew.
Good and evil.
Just a little.
Wi Sowol felt she could glimpse the boundary.
"Good thing I became a physician."
"You'll keep thinking so."
About a thousand li to Mount Hua Sect.
The Weird Physician planned to treat every village along the way.