Chapter 82
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Hidden Curse's Seed (2)
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I quietly released my fingers from Riu's wrist.
Xiao Lin looked at me with a face full of anxiety.
"A seed? What on earth do you mean?"
"This cursed seed has been growing by sucking away every bit of Riu Hunter's life force over the past three years."
"Th-then! If we just remove that seed...!"
A glimmer of hope crept into Xiao Lin's voice.
"Yes. Removing the seed itself might not be that difficult. But, Lin, this isn't as simple as it seems."
"What?"
There was one thing that struck me as odd.
"Is China so short on S-rank healers that Riu Hunter is the only one?"
"No... there are three more."
"Naturally, they must have tried treating her too, right?"
"Yes. For the first year, they visited regularly to check on her condition."
"That's strange, then. There's no way they wouldn't have noticed this seed."
"What?"
Xiao Lin's face hardened at my words.
"It's one thing not to know the cure. But to not even detect the presence of this foreign object? That doesn't add up."
"Th-then..."
"They probably knew. They knew what was inside Riu Hunter's body and why her recovery was so slow."
"They knew and deliberately let it be? Why... why would they do that...?"
From the moment I'd first heard about Riu's condition from Xiao Lin, something had felt off.
A single dragon's curse leaving an S-rank hunter bedridden for three years?
And now, the sinister energy of that seed pulsing inside Riu's body.
It felt almost like...
"Xiao Lin. What do you think happens if this seed fully matures or bursts out of Riu Hunter's body?"
"Huh?"
"Whether its true nature is revealed or it remains a mystery, it wouldn't be something China would welcome."
Her expression grew confused as she listened.
"Did China not know about Riu Hunter's condition?"
"..."
"Or did they know and pretend otherwise?"
Xiao Lin's eyes began to tremble uncontrollably.
Until now, she'd only thought China had abandoned Riu.
But perhaps...
A far more horrifying secret might be hidden.
After examining Riu's condition, Xiao Lin seemed to need time to gather her thoughts.
I decided to step out for a bit until her mind settled.
Since I was already here, I figured I'd check out the local sights.
"This must be the place."
The nearby market Xiao Lin had mentioned.
Even in the early evening, red lanterns lit up the streets, and crowds bustled with vibrant energy.
-Hrmut?!
Muryong poked its head out of my shirt pocket, eyes wide as it looked around frantically.
The sizzling aroma of grilled lamb skewers, the sweet scent of fruits.
The air was thick with tempting smells that could make even Muryong dizzy.
"Want some of this?"
A tanghulu skewer loaded with colorful fruits.
I bought one and handed it over. Muryong's eyes went wide with delight at the sweet, crunchy taste.
-Hrmyuut!!!
Oblivious to the sticky sugar syrup coating its body, it chomped away happily, crunching loudly.
We weaved through the lively market alley like that.
"Looks like something fun over there."
I spotted a flea market corner tucked in one side.
It was crammed with fake antiques and random junk.
'Anything special here?'
Nothing caught my eye, so I turned to leave.
-Hrmyu?
Muryong, mid-bite on its tanghulu, nudged at a corner of one stall with its paw.
The item there was...
'A broken fishing rod?'
The line was snapped, and the bamboo pole was cracked in the middle, covered in dust.
I leaned in to check the description.
[Item: Broken Fishing Rod]
[Rank: Common]
[Description: An ordinary fishing rod that broke long ago.]
"Doesn't look like much."
As I went to put it back, Muryong tugged at my shirt like a fussy child.
-Hrmyu! Hrmyuu!
Come to think of it, last time Muryong had picked something from the catalog, and I'd transformed it.
"Alright, let's buy it."
-Hrmut!
I stood at the stall and asked,
"How much?"
The vendor held up five fingers.
50 yuan.
I handed over some Chinese cash I'd brought and pocketed the rod in my inventory.
"If it's nothing special, I can always give it to Gorani as a toy."
The toys I'd gotten it from the Tower were starting to wear out anyway.
Time to think of some new ones for Gorani.
China National Security Bureau, Hunter Management Bureau Special Investigation Team.
"What's Xiao Lin been up to lately?"
The team leader's question made the deputy tense as he reported.
"She's confirmed to be holed up at home, caring for Ryu Riu."
"Any outside activity?"
"None since the Okinawa Great Rift incident."
"Hm."
The team leader stroked his chin.
Xiao Lin.
An S-rank hunter and heir to the prestigious Xiao family.
Every move she made was the Special Investigation Team's top priority.
"Team leader, there's a peculiar report on Xiao Lin."
"What is it?"
"Last week... we detected signs she visited Korea unofficially."
"Korea? For what?"
The deputy skimmed the incoming documents and said,
"Not confirmed intel yet, but rumors say it was to meet Gorani-man, the one who cured S-rank hunter Yu Jin-hyuk."
"Gorani-man?"
The team leader's eyes narrowed.
"That mystery figure met Xiao Lin? The one we couldn't reach despite every method?"
"That's not all. A few days ago, reports came in of a masked man visiting the Xiao family estate."
"Masked?"
"Yes. Witnesses described a bizarre mask—like a deer or reindeer with teeth."
"...Gorani-man."
The suspicion slipped from the team leader's lips.
"No way. Surely Gorani-man didn't come to China himself?"
The whole world was desperate to recruit Gorani-man.
Even the US President had publicly expressed a desire to speak with him.
For such a figure to cross into China—not on a national summons, but for a single family's request?
If true, it could only be to treat Riu.
"..."
A heavy silence fell over the meeting room.
Assuming Gorani-man had contacted Riu made things dangerously complicated.
If the miracle-worker learned of her condition...
"No. No outsider can ever discover that truth!"
The seed inside Riu's body.
It was a secret the Xiao family had meticulously hidden from everyone for three years.
"If it's exposed..."
To prevent the seed from growing, they'd deliberately kept host Riu's life force at minimal levels.
Reduce meds when she improved, ramp up life support when she worsened—walking a tightrope all along.
"We're so close now!"
Riu had at most three months left.
Kicking her from the S-rank sanatorium recently was part of a calculated plan—the Xiao family's funds could no longer sustain cutting-edge life support, nudging her toward a natural death.
Everything was falling into place.
"From now on, 24-hour close surveillance on Xiao Lin."
The team leader's voice rang cold.
"Report immediately if Riu shows any improvement. Understood?"
"Yes, sir."
They had a tiny mana sensor implanted in Riu's body.
A safety net monitoring her vitals in real-time.
"Remember: If things go south, activate Plan B."
The deputy bowed, but cold sweat trickled down his back.
Plan B.
Forcibly shutting down Ryu Riu's life support.
'Ryu Riu must never wake up.'
The disaster seed growing in Riu's body.
The day it sprouted on Chinese soil would plunge the nation into uncontrollable chaos.
Better to sacrifice one for the safety of 1.4 billion.
That was their greater good.
Back at Xiao Lin's house.
I faced her, composure somewhat regained.
"This issue... I think I need to consult my parents."
"What about Riu's parents?"
"Riu's an orphan. We're her only family."
Xiao Lin fiddled with her terminal.
"My parents are away on important business, so it might take a while."
She looked at me again, voice trembling.
"...That seed. Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes. Positive."
Of course, I didn't have a clear treatment yet.
"One thing I can say: It's an incredibly powerful, immense force."
I recalled the energy I'd sensed in Riu's body.
"Honestly, Riu Hunter surviving three years with that inside her is a miracle. If not for her pure, vast mana core as a top-tier S-rank healer, her body would've collapsed long ago. She's a true genius hunter."
I didn't know how she'd gotten the seed, but enduring this long showed her resilient, pure mana.
Yet it also made her precarious, forcibly containing such vast power.
"Did China really know what that seed was?"
"Probably not in detail. They likely just saw it as an unmanageable risk. Without knowing its full destructive potential, they figured hiding and neglecting it was safest."
"...That sounds like them."
A hollow glint passed through Xiao Lin's eyes.
She seemed numb to their way—sacrificing individuals for the nation's gain.
"Of course, I don't know everything clearly yet. Not by a long shot."
A non-healer like me sensing this much was purely thanks to internal energy.
A power to read life's primal flow, beyond mana.
That alone detected the seed.
If I raised my internal energy higher, peered deeper into its essence... but for now...
"I see. Even this much... I don't know how to repay you... Oh! The library I promised. Want to see it now?"
Right, that.
If I found a new heart method for wielding internal energy there...
I might unravel the seed's secrets.
"If possible."
"Of course."
With that, Xiao Lin led me to the deepest basement of the estate.
Clang-
Through heavy steel doors and layers of barriers, we arrived.
"!"
The Xiao family library exceeded imagination.
Dozens of towering shelves stretched endlessly, like a grand hall.
Ancient tomes labeled with heart methods, qi arts, martial techniques piled up like mountains, just as she'd said.
"...Impressive sight."
"Take your time. Take any you want."
I wandered the shelves, entranced.
'Where to start.'
It felt like being adrift in an endless sea.
The scent of old paper and ink.
Overwhelmed by the ancient aura slumbering within.
Whoosh-
A gentle current of energy wafted from the books.
"..."
Eyes closed.
I reached for the single book my internal energy guided me to.
The next morning, Xiao Lin headed to the library, worried.
'He hasn't been seen since.'
She'd prepared the best guest room for Gorani-man.
But the servants only reported he hadn't returned.
"Huh?"
There he was, dust-covered, holding a single book.
He'd apparently spent the night buried in the stacks.
"Gorani-man...?"
Without a trace of fatigue—in fact, with sharper eyes than ever—he looked at her and said,
"Lin, I think this book can save Riu."