Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Carrying On the Fight
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In the Lian'an direction, the Mount Hua Sect clashed with the Contention Cult several times.
There had been two battles worthy of the name, and dozens of small skirmishes and guerrilla engagements.
Casualties were heavy.
Even in victory, sacrifices must be made.
News trickled in of the deaths of masters who had made their names against the Zhongnan and Kongtong Sects.
In this great war against the Contention Cult, the Mount Hua Sect's sect leader had personally taken up his sword at the vanguard.
Thanks to that, the aggressive Mount Hua Sect's casualties were comparable to those of the defensive-focused Kongtong Sect.
And they had seized the advantage.
Victory at Gamcheon, and now the Contention Cult fully driven from Lian'an.
Yet Yulcheon Daoist's expression was not bright. It was surely because he could not forget even the smallest sacrifice.
Among them was even his own direct disciple, whom he had personally taught.
And one more thing.
"Sect Leader. Your decision."
There was also anger and frustration at the Contention Cult's schemes.
Having been pushed back even in Lian'an, the Contention Cult split into two, scattering east and west.
Yulcheon had to decide whether it was a trap or not—if it was, how to counter it; if not, where to advance.
At the urging of Cheonmunzi, an elder who had gladly joined despite his status for this great Contention Cult battle, Yulcheon Daoist asked back.
"What of the Grand Physician?"
Elder Yultak Daoist replied.
"He's treating the wounded. He plans to select those to return to Mount Hua with the upcoming reinforcements and rotate them out."
"How far off are the reinforcements?"
"At least five days."
He wished to hand both fronts to Cheonheo-ja upon his arrival with the reinforcements, but that seemed impossible.
The only transcendent master here was Yulcheon Daoist himself.
Judgment must be made carefully.
"The Blood Prayer Evil Saint is definitely to the west, yes."
Yi Jeok-yeon, the Contention Cult's top leader, Blood Prayer Evil Saint.
Only Yulcheon Daoist, another transcendent master, could face him.
"Our sect heads west."
Going east would border the Nether Luo Sect's territory.
The Nether Luo Sect, already furious at losing southern Shanxi to Mount Hua, would cause no small trouble if they interfered.
"We'll join with Zhongnan to drive out the Contention Cult from Gyeongyang County and advance north."
"And leave the east as is?"
"We can't do that."
No sense leaving enemies in the rear.
"Leave the east to the Grand Physician."
"Will he accept?"
The one who aimed for the Contention Cult's annihilation was the Weird Physician.
If the west was the main battlefield, the east was merely secondary.
Considering his goal, he'd prefer the main front.
The Weird Physician was an ally, not subordinate to Mount Hua.
And his gathered forces, while not matching Mount Hua's, were far from negligible.
"Don't worry. We've confirmed the Patrolling Exterminator among those who fled east."
"Ah...!"
Patrolling Exterminator.
One of the twelve key leaders of the Contention Cult, his mission was to invade and judge traitorous Hui villages.
In other words, the perpetrator who forcibly circumcised the Weird Physician and his sister.
Yulcheon Daoist's decision was immediately relayed to the Weird Physician.
Through Jong Yeom, a Mount Hua disciple who had once guarded him.
"So you want me to hunt down the Contention Cult scum who fled east?"
"Yes, Physician."
At Jong Yeom's answer, the Weird Physician muttered lowly.
"They give me a chance at revenge, but let Mount Hua claim the greatest merits."
"...It's not like that. It's the sect leader's intention to move more efficiently. And if you dispatch them quickly, you can join the assault on their main base. Going west would mean coordinating with Zhongnan, and as fellow orthodox sects, Mount Hua would be easier to..."
"No, Jong Yeom."
The Weird Physician raised his palm, halting Jong Yeom's excuses.
There was no need.
He wasn't blaming Mount Hua.
"Tell the sect leader I'll comply."
The Weird Physician gladly accepted the proposal.
A fierce light gleamed in his eyes.
"And relay this too: Striking their main base won't be easy, so be cautious."
Thus, the warriors gathered at Lian'an divided into two.
Mount Hua's forces to the west, the Weird Physician to the east.
"A bit late, huh?"
Welcoming Wi Sowol and Hwangbo Yun upon arrival at Lian'an was not a throng of righteous warriors, but an empty outpost.
"So it seems."
Still, it wasn't entirely deserted.
They gathered not in the training grounds, but guarding a certain building.
It was the ward housing the wounded.
"A word."
The warriors tensed at Wi Sowol's appearance.
Protecting their injured comrades made their auras especially sharp.
In the atmosphere thick with imminent sword-drawing, someone who seemed the leader stepped forward.
"Little Physician?"
"They call me that."
"Do Jung-hyun."
Hwangbo Yun seemed to recognize the name as Do Jung-hyun clasped his fists, letting out a soft "Oh" of admiration before whispering in Wi Sowol's ear.
"I know him. White Sword Crane Do Jung-hyun. One of Mount Hua's top lay disciples, right?"
Surprising perhaps, but Hwangbo Yun was well-versed in the world's notable figures.
His demeanor seemed foolish, yet he possessed a prodigious memory for reciting even Buddhist scriptures flawlessly.
As heir to the Hwangbo family, he had received the finest education befitting the role.
Even now.
Instead of sending a transmission, he whispered aloud enough for Do Jung-hyun to hear.
It seemed foolish at first glance, but it was a subtle tactic rooted in the Hwangbo imperial arts—lavish praise to disarm the opponent's heart.
Do Jung-hyun smiled warmly and replied amiably.
"Haha. The world's youths call me that. Come inside. After such a long journey, better to rest a bit while we talk, no?"
"How many days ago?"
Do Jung-hyun understood instantly.
"If it's the Grand Physician's departure, three days ago. Headed east."
"Thanks. Let's go."
Wi Sowol turned on her heel the moment she got her answer.
Hwangbo Yun gave an awkward fist-clasp to Do Jung-hyun and hurried after her.
"Why the rush?"
"Bad feeling."
"Wait."
Do Jung-hyun called out to Wi Sowol, about to depart immediately.
"You two plan to go alone?"
Did he see Hwangbo Yun as male?
She was still in male disguise, but without the veil.
'Because of the height.'
At five-and-a-half chi, hard to think woman.
Wi Sowol unconsciously compared herself to Hwangbo Yun as a measure.
'Four chi seven cun... no, eight cun. Still growing. Of course taller.'
Wi Sowol from her past life, Wi Soil, had reached six chi.
Just young still.
It had to be.
Not entirely pleased her disguise worked, Hwangbo Yun stepped up to answer.
"Yes. We fought the Contention Cult several times on the way."
"The guerrillas have been quiet, so I wondered... but still, two is too reckless."
"Time's short. Just this."
"...If you insist, I'll go too."
No need, but no reason to refuse added strength.
White Sword Crane Do Jung-hyun was Mount Hua's top lay disciple expert.
"We'll hurry."
"Don't worry. Plenty here to guard even without me."
The trio, now joined by Do Jung-hyun, passed through Lian'an's east gate and moved out.
Soon deploying lightness skills, Do Jung-hyun was repeatedly astonished.
'Fast. And refined. Her aura suggests minimal internal energy use...'
Active mainly in Henan and Shandong, he couldn't identify it as Hwangbo arts.
Still, he knew it was an extraordinary technique.
And how difficult to wield properly.
'Has the Yangtze's undercurrent grown this swift? Does Mount Hua have juniors to match them?'
He'd heard Yu Jin Dojang had risen recently but suffered a major injury requiring long recovery.
Without him, no other Mount Hua juniors immediately came to mind.
'This battle should stimulate Mount Hua too.'
As Do Jung-hyun pondered the sect's future, the three forms shot forward relentlessly.
Heavenly King's Child Gait. Wildfire White Path. Plum Blossom Thousand Li Fragrance.
The three lightness skills wove ahead and behind, splitting the canyon winds into three streams.
Heading toward Saeburi Pass, Wi Sowol's eyes below her two-jing lightness fixed firmly ahead.
A strange sensation on her crown—hot yet cold.
Her upper dantian flared white, a near-prophetic intuition drawing her.
"Where's the biggest canyon around here?"
Wi Sowol's words reached Do Jung-hyun via internal energy.
A clear question, crisp as her unperturbed voice, returned the same.
"Jin-Shan Great Canyon!"
"There."
A wondrous natural marvel of Yellow River and mountains.
Known as Jin-Shan Great Canyon for its location in old Jin lands, now Shaanxi, where red tinged the yellows of earth and river more readily.
Blood.
"Mount Hua was wrong."
In the battlefield that was Jin-Shan Great Canyon, the Weird Physician gripped his weapons with both hands at full strength.
A surgical saw-blade and bone lever for realigning fractures—his tools for killing.
Using medical implements for murder; perhaps speaking to why he learned medicine.
A loathsome true art he couldn't pass to his disciple.
"Patrolling Exterminator, you weren't alone."
The Weird Physician growled at his archenemy before him.
Patrolling Exterminator Bi Rap sneered mockingly.
"Did you think our cult would meekly fall to Daoist riffraff? Pity your insight, as a fellow Hui."
Even masked, he revealed his Hui origin.
Proof the Patrolling Exterminator remembered the Weird Physician too.
One of the traitors he'd circumcised.
Originally just a roadside pebble he'd kicked.
Yet he'd gained the grand title of one of the Six Great Physicians, then dared obstruct the Sacred Offering Cult's holy rites.
Proudly listed among the Sacred Offering Cult's apostates: Weird Physician Ma Yu-seung.
"You won't die here."
Even threatened, the Weird Physician boldly scanned the surroundings.
Warriors fought fiercely.
Even elites, they were pushed back by the Contention Cult.
Outnumbered?
No.
With Shaanxi natives joining Mount Hua disciples, they held numerical superiority.
Yet one presence turned the tide.
Sacrificial Leader Breaking Army Saber Baek Han-bu.
A peak elite nearing transcendence, wreaking havoc like a wolf in the fold.
Jang Rok held him somehow, but it was grueling.
Jang Rok's body was already drenched in blood atop his robes.
'Same here.'
In the end, the Weird Physician was a physician, not a warrior.
His hands trembled gripping the saw-blade and lever.
Not fear.
His body couldn't withstand the shock accumulated clashing with the Patrolling Exterminator.
'Internal energy depleted too.'
Even borrowing disliked pharmacology, only this far.
Firm Chastity Heart Method wasn't suited for combat from the start.
Hardly a martial art; better called a pure cultivation method.
In that sense, praise was due for holding this long against the Patrolling Exterminator.
A man who sought the path of blood.
Yet chose patients' blood over enemies'.
The blood from his surgeries surely exceeded that of cultists he'd slain.
"You'll offer all that knowledge at the main base, then die and repent in hell."
Only belatedly did the Weird Physician realize breathing was hard.
He hadn't noticed the Patrolling Exterminator gripping his throat.
In that moment, the Weird Physician felt no rage at failed revenge, no fear of death.
Instead, despite suffocating, his face relaxed.
'Good...'
Utter relief eased his body.
'Sending Sowol was the right call...'
Followed by regret.
Warriors had gathered to aid him.
Their deaths were his responsibility.
But wasn't that the life of warriors?
They knew and came.
Many would have died already without him.
So the Weird Physician closed his eyes.
'Sister, to your side...'
At least, revenge would be had.
As the Weird Physician prepared his final gambit to end his long life and rejoin his sister.
*Ching-*
A heavenly summons?
So clear a bell chime, pure enough to cleanse the soul, roused him.
*Skrrk!!*
The slicing sound followed the bell.
And the Weird Physician's world flipped.
His eyes, fixed on the vile Patrolling Exterminator amid carnage, now beheld another sight.
Clear blue sky, and the moon's incarnation descended to earth fleeing the sun.
His disciple, long hair flowing with silver light.
"That bastard."
Her lips moved, familiar voice flowing like celestial melody.
"May I behead him in your stead?"