Chapter 444: Expelling the Evil Qi
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 444: Expelling the Evil Qi
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Salhon let out a blood-curdling scream.
The moment the poison invaded his system, a massive, searing agony erupted throughout his entire body. From head to toe, he felt as if he were being incinerated. It was a pain comparable to being submerged in molten lava.
It hurt. It hurt far too much.
The sweet release of death would have been a mercy compared to this.
"P-plea...! P-plea...! K-ki... me...!"
Salhon begged. He pleaded for death, desperate to escape this torment.
But no matter how much he implored, it was useless. Sun-woo took no action. He simply watched in silence as the poison continued to flow.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
Salhon screamed again as the burning sensation intensified.
"Does it hurt?"
Sun-woo watched him, his voice mocking.
"It’s going to hurt until you feel like you're dying."
He spoke as if he had expected this exact reaction.
"Since you said you were used to suffering... I made this batch even more potent than the last one."
Sun-woo wore a look of mock pity.
"You’ll probably feel every nerve ending, from your fingertips and toes all the way to your central nervous system, burning away."
Sun-woo tapped his own head with a finger as he continued.
"Even if you’re an assassin who has experienced countless deaths and agonies, there’s no way this wouldn't hurt."
His tone remained calm and detached.
"Pain isn't something you ever truly get used to. Your nerves just die off and become dull. And do you know what the scariest part is?"
A playful, mischievous expression flickered across Sun-woo’s lips.
"The fact that you absolutely won't die. I’m going to keep saving you, over and over again, until your mind completely shatters."
Sun-woo flashed a cruel smile.
"So, try your best to endure it."
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
As if he understood Sun-woo’s words, Salhon’s screams became even more wretched, filled with absolute despair.
Tap. Tap.
Sun-woo reached out and tapped Salhon’s body twice.
Silence.
The assassin’s desperate wailing cut off instantly. His pressure points had been struck.
"Up we go!"
Sun-woo promptly hoisted Salhon onto his shoulder and began to move back toward where Kang Ha-yoon was.
*
Kang Ha-yoon slowly scanned her surroundings.
The area was littered with charred, blackened corpses—bodies mutilated by the force of the explosion.
‘If it weren't for Young Master Jang, I would have ended up just like them.’
The sight sent a shiver down her spine. She realized that she had been a hair’s breadth away from sharing their fate.
When the explosion first hit, Ha-yoon had been consumed by despair. Even though she had quickly raised her Protective Qi, she knew it wouldn't be enough to withstand the blast.
In that moment, she had instinctively pulled Sun-woo into an embrace. She had hoped to act as a shield so that he, at least, might survive.
But to her embarrassment, her sacrificial gesture had been utterly pointless. Sun-woo had deflected the entire force of the explosion with a single hand.
As the blast wave surged toward them, Sun-woo had raised his hand, and all the shockwaves and flames began to converge into his palm, forming a massive sphere.
Then, he had slammed the sphere into the ground.
The entire area was instantly engulfed in fire and secondary explosions, causing the terrain to collapse. The landscape was reshaped, flames soared, and trees were uprooted. The earth simply couldn't withstand the massive impact.
Watching the destruction, she realized that if she had taken that hit directly, her Protective Qi would have been as useless as tissue paper.
She felt a wave of sheepishness wash over her for her unnecessary heroics. From his perspective—having blocked the entire explosion so easily—how pathetic must she have looked?
‘Uuuu...’
Her face flushed crimson with shame. She wanted to find a hole to crawl into and hide before Sun-woo returned from chasing Salhon.
‘Now is not the time to be embarrassed!’
Ha-yoon shook her head vigorously. Even though the great explosion had passed, there was still a chance that other assassins from the Sea of Blood remained. This was no time to be twisting her body in embarrassment.
Step. Step.
She began to walk slowly, staying alert for any remaining threats.
Step. Step.
She hadn't gone far when she was forced to stop.
"Urgh..."
A sudden, sharp pain pierced her chest. At first, it felt like a slight pressure, as if a small pebble were resting on her heart. But that pressure rapidly intensified until it felt like a massive boulder was crushing her.
"Hngh!"
Thud.
Before long, Ha-yoon collapsed to her knees. Unable to withstand the excruciating pain, she slumped over.
Still on her knees, she quickly began to circulate her internal energy.
Vroooooom.
The energy stored in her Dantian surged, flowing through her acupoints and spreading throughout her body. Eventually, her energy reached her chest and collided with the source of the pain—a presence filled with omen and impurity.
‘...The Black Evil Palm.’
The moment she encountered that foul energy, Ha-yoon recognized it. It was the lingering power of the Black Evil Palm that Salhon had struck her with.
Vroooooom.
‘I have to drive it out!’
She began to pour as much internal energy as possible toward the area where the Black Death Qi was lodged.
Boom!
Her internal energy clashed with the Black Death Qi, creating a dull, thundering roar inside her body.
"Ngh!"
Ha-yoon bit her lip hard. The Black Death Qi ravaging her body was far more powerful than she had anticipated. Because she had left it untreated for too long, it had grown significantly.
‘This is dangerous.’
She realized she was facing a much more critical situation than she had thought. Closing her eyes, she focused even harder on her internal energy.
Vroooooom.
Her fierce, turbulent energy collided head-on with the foul, ominous Black Death Qi.
Boom!
Another collision, another internal roar. The acupoints where the two energies met were torn asunder, unable to withstand the shockwaves.
"Uuuuugh..."
Ha-yoon let out a pained groan internally. The sensation of her acupoints being shredded was agonizing. But she gritted her teeth and endured. She wanted to scream, but she knew that doing so would break her concentration.
Vroooooom.
Fighting through the pain that brought tears to her eyes, she focused everything on expelling the Black Death Qi. However, the foul energy showed no signs of receding. Its resistance was too fierce, and her internal energy, already depleted from the battle, wasn't enough to suppress it.
‘What... what should I do...?’
Ha-yoon’s complexion grew increasingly pale. She feared that if this continued, the Black Death Qi would seep into her very bone marrow. Despair began to cloud her eyes.
*
Sun-woo, with Salhon slung over his shoulder, hurried back. He wanted to return to Kang Ha-yoon as quickly as possible. Even though he had left to capture Salhon, it weighed heavily on his mind that he had left her alone. That guilt spurred him to move even faster.
Whoosh!
Focusing his internal energy into his legs, he ran with incredible speed. He moved so fast his body seemed like a blur of light.
After some time...
Tak.
Sun-woo arrived at the clearing created by the explosion. He quickly scanned the area, searching for Kang Ha-yoon.
And then, he saw her.
She was collapsed on the ground.
"Hall Master!"
Sun-woo’s face paled, and he let out a panicked shout. The sight was completely unexpected and sent a jolt of shock through him.
Thud.
He unceremoniously dumped Salhon off his shoulder and rushed to her side.
Shake. Shake.
"Hall Master! Hall Master!"
Kneeling beside her, Sun-woo called her name repeatedly while shaking her shoulders. But despite his efforts, Ha-yoon showed no sign of waking.
Grab.
Sun-woo quickly grabbed her wrist to check her pulse. He sent his energy into her as fast as possible to gauge her internal state.
He immediately felt it—her chest was saturated with a foul, ominous energy.
‘That son of a bitch!’
Sun-woo’s rage flared. He began to pour Nature Qi through his hand into her body with everything he had.
Vroooooom.
He was determined to drive out that disgusting, impure energy.
Rumble.
The Nature Qi he sent in collided with the foul energy, and thunderous sounds began to erupt from within her.
Boom!
Again and again, the energies clashed.
After a while, Sun-woo realized something. It was impossible to suppress this ominous, evil qi through sheer force. It had already penetrated into her bone marrow. If he tried to overpower it with force, her entire body might be torn apart from the inside.
‘What do I do... what do I do... what the hell am I supposed to do?!’
Sun-woo’s expression was grim as he agonized over the situation. He couldn't find a clear solution. If he used force, her internal organs, acupoints, and Dantian wouldn't survive. But if he did nothing, the foul, evil qi would consume her entirely. She would die.
What could he possibly do in this situation?
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
Sun-woo cursed repeatedly. The lack of an answer made the profanities spill out instinctively.
He regretted his past self—the one who hadn't properly checked her condition. He had noticed she felt warm, but he had dismissed it as a natural result of combat and only touched her forehead. If he had properly checked her energy then, the Evil Qi wouldn't have reached her bone marrow.
No, he shouldn't have sent her to face Salhon alone in the first place. He should have gone. He should have taken better care of her.
‘Damn it all!’
Sun-woo felt a crushing sense of regret. At this rate, she was going to die. His favorite person was going to die.
‘To hell with that!’
Sun-woo shook his head violently, casting aside the negative thoughts. He refused to give up. He wouldn't let her die. He had to save her, no matter what.
Vroooooom.
Sun-woo began to circulate his Yin-Yang Harmony Divine Art to its absolute limit. But this time, unlike before, he began to flow the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi into her very slowly.
He guided the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi toward the foul Black Death Qi.
Immediately, the Black Death Qi lunged at the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi like a predator. It began to stain the pure energy, trying to turn it into the same foul, ominous power.
Sun-woo allowed it. He let the Black Death Qi stain and consume his energy as much as it wanted.
Not only that, he funneled even more Yin-Yang Harmony Qi into her, providing the Black Death Qi with more "food." He allowed it to grow larger and more bloated.
After some time, Ha-yoon’s entire body began to take on a dark tint. The Black Death Qi had grown so massive it was starting to expand.
Sun-woo then began to slowly draw the bloated Black Death Qi toward himself. Using the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi as bait, he lured it like a fisherman tempting a fish.
Small amounts of the Black Death Qi began to migrate toward where his Yin-Yang Harmony Qi originated.
‘It’s working!’
Sun-woo felt a surge of triumph. He had successfully lured the Black Death Qi. Maintaining a delicate distance, he carefully guided the massive amount of evil qi into his own body, moving with extreme caution so as not to alert the energy to his true intentions.
Sssssss.
The Black Death Qi began to flow through his hand and into his own body. Sun-woo offered up his empty Dantian to the invading energy.
The influx of Black Death Qi accelerated, filling his Dantian in an instant.
Vroooooom.
Sun-woo’s lower Dantian became saturated. Once it was full, the Black Death Qi began to settle into his middle Dantian as if it had found its rightful place.
Soon, most of the Evil Qi that had been ravaging Kang Ha-yoon’s body had been transferred into Sun-woo.