Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Chengdu Tang Clan Inner Courtyard (1)
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"Better to see it once than hear it a hundred times, as they say. Grove Master. Will you come with me?"
The Tang Clan Lord's words carried a hint of frailty.
Right now, he was neither the Tang Clan Lord nor the Poison King. He was just an old man burdened with worry.
More precisely, a grandfather who cherished his grandson. That seemed about right.
"Sure. Oh, mind if these kids come along too?"
"Of course. Myeong-un will be delighted to see a familiar face after so long."
And so we left the Tang Qing Pavilion, following the Tang Clan Lord as he led the way.
We passed through several halls and gates, heading deeper into the compound.
This must be the inner courtyard.
The heart of the Tang Clan, accessible only to its core members. A place normally reserved for women.
As we entered one such hall, a sharp medicinal scent assaulted our senses.
It was like the apothecary where Tang Cheol had been, but amplified a hundredfold. The thick aroma of herbs hung heavy in the air.
At the far end, white curtains draped the space. Parting them, we stepped inside to find a bed in the center, where a figure lay.
"Tch."
I couldn't help clicking my tongue at the sight.
It was human in form, barely clinging to that shape.
Like a shattered porcelain vase forcibly pieced back together.
He looked identical to Dang Myeong-un.
No—the boy we knew was the stand-in. This was the real Dang Myeong-un's appearance.
But his frame was gaunt to the bone, his body marred by dark discolorations in patches.
If Yeonhwa had been left untreated for a few more years, would she have ended up like this?
Probably. It seemed likely.
In any case, Dang Myeong-un—his body little more than a wretched corpse—rolled his eyes toward us.
What was astonishing was the clarity in those eyes.
Just looking at them, you wouldn't believe he was on death's door. They sparkled with sharp intelligence and unyielding will. Cunning flickered there, and hope too.
How could someone in such a state have eyes like that?
His body could give out any moment without surprise—how was this possible?
What was holding this boy together?
He whispered something, and the woman impersonating Dang Myeong-un hurried over, pressing her ear close to catch it.
She straightened up and addressed us.
"Young Master Myeong-un says he's sorry for not rising to greet the Grove Master properly. He also conveys his joy at seeing Lady Namgung Yeonhwa and Lady Ha Jinhee after so long."
"Sounds like he's holding up. Got some leisure in you?"
At my words, Dang Myeong-un managed a faint smile.
A smile that seemed it might shatter at any second. One barely mustered.
Damn, the guy's got a knack for tugging heartstrings.
But it wasn't unpleasant to see. Just poignant.
"Mind if I take a look?"
I asked the Tang Clan Lord, who clasped his hands together and bowed politely.
"Please, we beg you to do so."
As I approached Dang Myeong-un, the impersonating woman stepped back.
"Oh. Who's this girl, then?"
"She's Dang Sohye, my other granddaughter. She's Myeong-un's cousin."
"With the clan head dead and even the young master like this, you had her play the role to maintain the family's morale? At least until she recovers safely?"
"Shamefully, yes."
For any ordinary injury, they wouldn't resort to such measures.
But this was poison. If word got out that the young master of the world's preeminent Tang Clan of Sichuan was writhing from some unknown toxin, it would be disastrous.
It would broadcast to all under heaven that even the Tang Clan, famed for poisons, couldn't handle it.
Once fearsome predators were revealed as paper tigers, wolves and jackals would band together to devour them.
So they needed a way. To proclaim outwardly that the poison was cured and the young master hale and hearty.
Hence this troublesome charade.
"...That about right?"
I summarized my thoughts and asked the Tang Clan Lord. He nodded gravely.
"Your insight is remarkable, Grove Master. Spot on. Not a word differs from the truth."
"I see. Alright then. Time to check him out. That okay with you, young master?"
He smiled again at my words, nodding faintly and rasping a barely audible "yes" with deflating breath.
Sigh. Smiling again. Just his nature?
Fine. Let's see just how messed up the inside is.
I placed my hand on Dang Myeong-un's abdomen, channeling qi inward to probe his condition.
Examining the details closely, I realized it was far worse than I'd imagined.
He must have had considerable inner power originally. Meaning his dantian was sizable too.
But that dantian was riddled with fractures from the unknown poison—much like Yeonhwa's.
The problem lay in the Tang Clan's interventions.
They'd tried every method to stem the leaking qi from the shattered dantian.
That was likely what kept him alive now.
The reason he retained such spirited eyes and consciousness.
But that made it harder to treat.
Like a program tampered with by amateurs—impossible to fix later.
These were like comments left behind, but unraveling them one by one wouldn't be easy.
In short, Dang Myeong-un's state was horrific.
Enough to make me resent the Tang Clan Lord for even asking.
"What a mess."
My honest take, unvarnished.
The best solution was to wipe it all clean.
Even with programs, if it's hopeless, you format.
Then install fresh software.
The issue was dismantling this dantian without dooming it.
Yeonhwa's was intact in essence, just cracked.
Dang Myeong-un's was patched, reinforced, and stitched together haphazardly.
Touch it wrong, and it could collapse entirely.
Crashing down. And that meant his death.
"Is it too difficult?"
The Tang Clan Lord's anxious voice.
He knew full well how tough this was.
"You tried it in the medical hall, right? And when it failed, you came to me?"
"Embarrassingly, yes."
After learning the method from me, they'd eagerly tried it on Dang Myeong-un.
But hit a wall. No chance they'd succeed where even I struggled.
A new approach was needed.
Smashing the dantian bit by bit was impossible.
His body couldn't endure it.
Even Yeonhwa had needed built-up stamina for gradual demolition.
Let's think. Is there another way? How to fix this body?
I stood motionless, continuously examining Dang Myeong-un.
My mind raced with solutions to this crisis.
Sixty-seven years in the Black Wall Cavern, experimenting on my own body more like research than cultivation.
There had to be a way. I'd find it.
I lost track of time.
Thoughts expanded, countless possibilities raised and discarded.
After deep deliberation, it boiled down to one.
The highest-probability method now.
The only means to save him.
"Hey, young master."
"...Yes."
Still a mosquito-wing whisper. But clear.
"Do you want to live?"
He worked his lips, then nodded. Of course. Who'd choose death?
"Then endure. It might hurt enough to wish for death. You might think dying's better."
Dang Myeong-un glanced at Dang Sohye. She hurried over, ear to his mouth.
His faint whisper. Having heard, she straightened and spoke to me.
"He's endured such pain endlessly for years, so it's fine. He says he won't entertain thoughts of death being preferable. He's long erased them."
Her voice grew misty with emotion as she spoke.
Yeah, now she sounds like a woman. Is that her real voice?
"Good. I like that resolve. Then brace yourself. I'll heal you, my way."
I settled properly beside Dang Myeong-un, hand back on his abdomen.
What I planned was extraction.
I'd suck out every trace of his inner power, dantian remnants, meridians' impurities, the Tang Clan's fixes—even the unknown poison.
A feat only someone with vast qi and mastery over it could achieve.
Thus, I summoned qi from my entire body.
Concentrating it, I unleashed a single powerful technique.
There exists a martial art called Suction Finger Technique.
True to its name, it draws things in.
With it, you can cling to cliffs or walk vertically upward.
Applicable to Air Grasping Palm too.
Versatile and quite useful.
My plan: Maximize Suction Finger to absorb everything from Dang Myeong-un.
This might qualify as the Absorbing Star Great Technique.
No real difference. Suck it all in—inner power or whatever—and it's the same. Nothing special.
I gathered qi.
Not complicated. Use my qi to create a vacuum space in my dantian.
Like a vacuum cleaner's principle.
The motor spins the fan, creating low pressure to suck in debris.
So I'd do the same.
Operate qi to form a vacuum inside me.
But fully extracting Dang Myeong-un's substantial inner power was no small task.
Thus, I ramped up the output.
Not all my power, but immense nonetheless, to demonstrate the Absorbing Star Great Technique.
"Oh... oh..."
Even the watching Tang Clan Lord let out an admiring murmur at the sheer force.
Impressive, right? Even for him, a first.
With that, I began drawing out from Dang Myeong-un's body: his inner power, shattered dantian, the Tang Clan's patches, impurities, and the nameless poison—everything.