Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Facing the Dissector
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That very moment.
Hwangbo Yun, who had unexpectedly taken up the life of a gisaeng with no prior luck for it, was adapting surprisingly well.
"Sister! You look stunning today too!"
"You're wearing the sachet I gave you last time! Ah, Chaehye has no regrets in life even if she closes her eyes today..."
"Did you eat the food I prepared for you? I made it knowing it was something you liked..."
Yes.
Hwangbo Yun—no, Huang Yeon, the top courtesan of Twin Flower Pavilion, the finest brothel in Gangneung County—was currently enjoying the peak of her popularity in life!
'The gisaeng life... not bad at all?'
It was a sentiment she could never have imagined if she were a red gisaeng selling her body.
She never would have accepted the role of a red gisaeng, no matter the bet.
"Whose lunch box shall I accept today, adorned with flowers?"
With a refreshing smile more suited to a man than a woman, Hwangbo Yun teasingly extended her hand toward the young courtesans.
The young courtesans shrieked in near-ecstatic cheers, thrusting forward their prepared lunch boxes just to brush against those long, slender fingers even once.
"Sister! Mine!"
"Get out of the way, you wench! Huang Yeon Sister is going to eat the dish I made today!"
"You're only good for poetry and painting—I'm from a chef's family!"
"Arguing about backgrounds here of all places!"
Amid luxuries no man could dream of, Hwangbo Yun's self-esteem soared endlessly toward the heavens.
Naturally, her shoulders puffed up in tandem.
Having stirred the young courtesans' hearts from morning, Hwangbo Yun hummed a tune as she headed to her room.
"I wonder what pathetic challengers await today~"
Arm wrestling, string instrument duels, footbag, shuttlecock—anything would do.
She hummed merrily, ready to greet today's challenger, but the moment she entered her room and saw the man's face, her excitement vanished.
'Ah, so this life ends here.'
She recognized that face from a portrait.
§
Wi Sowol tailed Seopunmok.
Green Shadow Step had served its role perfectly.
By mimicking Jang Rok's steps that imitated all manner of movement arts, Wi Sowol was perfectly disguised as a complete outsider ignorant of martial arts.
Without arousing suspicion or bumping into anyone, Wi Sowol followed Seopunmok's trail.
'Just as I thought.'
When Seopunmok entered Twin Flower Pavilion.
Wi Sowol was certain her plan had worked flawlessly.
'Time to move.'
Releasing the Silver Sleep Technique mimicked from the Three Paths Assassins' Gate, Wi Sowol circulated Great White Light True Qi.
Using the intricacies of Redirecting Force, she unleashed Star Lodge Divine Traces, and her petite body shot straight up vertically.
Snap—thud!
Her toes landed lightly on the second-floor railing.
Then, channeling power into the Hidden White acupoint on her right big toe, she leaped again. In just two steps, Wi Sowol stood atop the fourth-floor veranda of Twin Flower Pavilion.
It connected directly to Hwangbo Yun's room.
As the planner of this scheme and the one who had pulled in the Shadow Fox Gate, of course Wi Sowol knew the location.
Two presences emanated from inside the room.
One was the familiar aura of Hwangbo Yun, the other that of the man she had just been pursuing.
Wi Sowol didn't hesitate.
Her pale, small hand roughly shoved open the veranda's paper-screened door.
Rattle—bang!
As the door slid open, her eyes clearly caught the man facing off against Hwangbo Yun.
'This bastard.'
Seopunmok.
It was the same impression from the portrait, but seeing him in the flesh drove it home anew.
Seopunmok's appearance was utterly unlike her imagination.
Everything about him was detached from his nickname "Dissection Sword Physician" and his mad exploits.
He didn't look insane at all.
Anyone would think the same.
Neat attire, refined features.
Even his clothes weren't the tight-sleeved martial robes but rather loose scholar's garb.
More striking than his outfit, however, were the tinted glasses covering his eyes.
He exuded the air of a refined Confucian scholar more than a martial artist.
His calm demeanor, faintly scented with ink, evoked the serenity of a true academic.
In person, Seopunmok gave an even softer impression than the portrait.
His gently closed eyes and mild features evoked a kindly warmth anyone would feel drawn to.
No one would peg him as the fiend who arbitrarily carved up others and inscribed names on their livers—such was Seopunmok.
"Well now. So it was you who summoned me, after all."
It was a pleasant baritone.
His measured tone and polite diction suited him so perfectly that Wi Sowol felt repulsed instead.
"You know me?"
"Of course. Teacher's prized disciple. I heard you passed the spring medical exam as top scholar. They call you the True Penmaster of Gansu and Shaanxi, don't they?"
"Then you know why I sought you out?"
Seopunmok, speaking fluidly, adjusted his glasses as if puzzled and asked back.
"Who knows? Did Teacher tell you about me?"
Wi Sowol suppressed the urge to draw her sword.
Hwangbo Yun seemed to feel the same; her frowning face watched as her hands and thighs twitched. She looked ready to charge with Heavenly King Step and smash Thunderclap Fist into him.
Wi Sowol asked again.
"Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"...Carve your name on his liver."
"Ah, that. Yes."
As if just recalling, Seopunmok replied lightly.
"For record-keeping, naturally."
"Record-keeping?"
"Indeed. For subjects I've examined once, knowing any changes is crucial. Regrettably, I suffer from a condition where I can't remember faces well. To recall patients, I memorize by build or voice, but as your teacher surely taught you, the human body changes so easily."
"So you carved your name?"
To that question, Seopunmok answered forthrightly.
"Yes."
Skreee! Clang!
Lightning-quick sword strikes scattered two flashes of blade light.
Wi Sowol's sword was blocked by Seopunmok's.
While Wi Sowol had fully drawn her blade, Seopunmok's was still more than halfway sheathed—yet he had parried it. By that measure, it was Seopunmok's victory.
"You're not going for the kill."
The lenses of his glasses reflected the sword light, gleaming white.
A cold gaze hidden within fixed on Wi Sowol.
"I still have much to learn. You could lose an arm or so."
"That would be a problem. I can't perform surgery without arms."
Tang!
Seopunmok flicked his blade hard.
Wi Sowol smoothly redirected the rebound force, spinning her body midair.
At the same time, she awaited his incoming counterattack.
Movement was naturally restricted in the air.
Exploiting that gap was only natural.
But that was precisely Wi Sowol's aim.
The chill of Great White Light True Qi froze the moisture in the air, allowing her to use it as footing for free movement even in midair.
A single toehold was enough.
The principle of Four Taels Diverting a Thousand Catties dwelled in her toes.
'I'll send him flying with Severing Moon Flash.'
The instant Seopunmok thrust his sword would be the moment he forever lost his wrist.
Wi Sowol was set on that.
But Seopunmok's strike never came, even as Wi Sowol landed.
'Because of Bo-yun?'
She wondered if he refrained due to concern for Hwangbo Yun, but no.
He hadn't even assumed a defensive stance guarding her.
He merely alternated glances between Wi Sowol and Hwangbo Yun before saying,
"Let's talk more. And this room's too cramped for swordplay. Shall we step outside?"
Curiously, it was the fuming Hwangbo Yun who agreed.
"Yeah, Sowol. Let's handle it outside."
Hwangbo Yun had grown fond of Twin Flower Pavilion.
This level of commotion was nothing new for her usual antics, so no one below would mind much. But if furnishings broke, they'd notice something amiss.
Though Twin Flower Pavilion was run by the Shadow Fox Gate, not all courtesans knew martial arts.
Someone might get hurt.
"...Fine. Follow me."
Wi Sowol led, Seopunmok in the middle, and Hwangbo Yun bringing up the rear, surveilling him.
The three stopped at the spacious clearing Wi Sowol had scouted earlier.
Maintaining their formation flanking Seopunmok front and back, Wi Sowol pointed her sword tip and commanded.
"Shadow Fox Gate Yangyang branch leader Ji Hosan. Tell me why you opened his belly."
"Ah, him. I remember now. His pulse seemed superficial yet stringy and tight—nothing like a normal gate pulse. Almost reverse gate pulse, but not quite. Pulsations near the Divine Pivot acupoint, with the vessel swollen like pig urine."
Seopunmok spoke as if vividly recalling the moment.
Beneath his glasses' lenses, his eyes gleamed dangerously.
"If you're a physician too, you know that thrill of encountering a new condition! It had to be verified. That's what physicians do. So I cut."
He said it as if it were the most obvious thing.
Like stating water flows downward—a profound truth. He casually declared that bizarre symptoms warranted slicing open the body to check.
Seopunmok had always done so.
A single exchange of words, and he'd step forward as a physician to take the pulse; spotting something odd, he'd inevitably dissect to confirm.
Abdominal openings were most common, but for certain unique patients, he'd even opened arms, legs, or necks.
"But rest assured. I am a physician. I don't want patients dying. I sutured them all. For Ji Hosan, you've probably seen it yourself, but without my surgery, he'd have died."
Seopunmok proudly began explaining the procedure that saved Ji Hosan's life.
"A massive blood clot had formed a tumor in the main vessel. I removed it and sutured the vessel. Without clearing the clot, he'd have died for sure."
She knew.
Wi Sowol had seen it herself.
The sutured vessel.
But that was mere hindsight.
Saving his life didn't entitle him to scribble on the liver as he pleased.
And above all, even by results, Seopunmok was wrong.
"No. He'd nearly died because of your dogshit surgery."
"What do you mean?"
"You botched the abdominal pressure and skipped aftercare. You're just someone who likes slicing and stitching bodies."
The reason Wi Sowol hadn't killed Seopunmok on sight but tried talking.
It was because, as he claimed, his fundamental goal might be saving lives.
Traces of intent to treat Ji Hosan were visible in the surgery.
She sought dialogue to resolve the dilemma he posed.
Was a physician's duty merely saving lives?
Did treating justify petty atrocities?
Having preserved the sanctity of life, could one claim any price?
Wi Sowol hadn't settled that yet.
But she had decided Seopunmok's fate.
"Your head intrigues me. Mind if I open it?"
If you're a physician as you say, offer it up willingly.