Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Plucking the Ringleader
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"Cough!"
With a heavy cough, Bing-seol spewed out a bowlful of seawater. She'd clearly heard her heart had stopped, yet she'd miraculously come back to life. But she promptly lost consciousness again.
"Why's she like that?"
Heuk Do-san asked.
"I barely pulled her back from the brink of death."
Dang Yak-ran placed her hand on the back of Bing-seol's neck, then rapidly tapped a series of acupoints whose names she didn't even know.
It was the Tang Clan's unique healing art, elevating the acupoint striking techniques martial artists used to paralyze foes into a medical practice.
"Give me a knife!"
Dang Yak-ran suddenly thrust her hand out toward Heuk Do-san. Gong Cheon-ak flinched, his expression hardening.
"Why do you need a knife?"
Heuk Do-san asked.
"No time to explain. Hurry!"
Heuk Do-san drew his dagger from his waist and handed it over. Gong Cheon-ak, unable to shake his unease, stepped forward to stop her.
Hyeon-gak extended one hand to block him, then quietly shook his head. Gong Cheon-ak glared at him for a moment before silently stepping back.
Dang Yak-ran heated the knife tip over the fire to sterilize it, then pricked Bing-seol's body in various spots. Her movements were quick and nimble, like inserting acupuncture needles.
Of course, only deep enough to draw a bit of blood. Dark droplets welled up at each puncture site.
It was the bloodletting therapy, delivering a temporary shock to rigid meridians to stimulate blood flow.
Dang Yak-ran drew blood from no fewer than twenty-six points, from toes to fingertips. Then, without hesitation, she plunged the knife tip into the Baihui acupoint at the crown of her head.
"......!"
The Baihui is also called the breath hole. In newborns, it's not yet closed, so it pulses with every breath.
Even someone on the verge of death can regain consciousness long enough to speak their last words if needled there.
Bing-seol's eyelids fluttered as her awareness began to return. The tense standoff from moments ago was forgotten; low exclamations rose from the group.
"Ah......"
"Amitabha. Truly the Tang Clan."
The most flustered was Gong Cheon-ak. To think he'd receive a life-saving favor from an enemy he'd been fiercely battling just hours before.
"Too early to relax."
Dang Yak-ran said.
"Still?"
Heuk Do-san asked.
"More likely than not, her heart stops again within an hour. Even if Hua Tuo came back to life, there'd be no saving her then."
Silence fell once more.
Just when they'd thought she'd pulled through, it was only a temporary reprieve.
All they could do now was bid farewell to the woman heading to the afterlife.
"Good work."
Heuk Do-san extended one hand to Dang Yak-ran alongside a cupped-fist salute, signaling for the dagger back now that the job was done.
Even amid a Demonic Cultist's dying moments, his first thought was reclaiming his dagger. Any talk of regret was just self-serving after all.
'What a heartless bastard!'
Dang Yak-ran slapped the dagger onto his palm with a sharp smack.
"Here!"
Defiance surged within her.
She wanted to save this woman somehow. Dang Yak-ran racked her brains, squeezing every ounce of strength and memory.
Among the countless healing arts taught in her clan, was there nothing for this situation?
Then her father's words surfaced.
"Using poison is like starting a fire, using medicine like extinguishing one. With poison, target the weakest spot; with medicine, tame the strongest."
Cold—drive out the cold!
"There might be a way!"
At Dang Yak-ran's words, eyes widened all around. A sliver of hope had emerged.
But Heuk Do-san said coolly,
"Better not to give false hope."
Dang Yak-ran shot him a guppy-eyed glare before addressing the group.
"Right now, cold has invaded her marrow, locking her meridians and blocking her breath. Infusing her with intensely hot yang energy might clear the blockage and save her."
Yang-gang qi was precisely that—robust, potent yang energy. If yin-han qi evoked moon and water, yang-gang qi was sun and fire. Hence it was also termed hot yang qi.
The internal arts of orthodox sects emphasizing fierce strikes were typically founded on yang-gang qi. And right here, one person fit the bill perfectly.
All eyes turned to Hyeon-gak in unison.
The Shaolin Temple's Damo Muscle-Altering Scripture was the pinnacle of all yang-gang qi arts. As one of the 18 Arhats, he'd surely mastered it.
Hyeon-gak looked around in bewilderment.
Heuk Do-san, Dang Yak-ran, Yeom Jin-sang, Gong Cheon-ak—all staring straight at him.
Gong Cheon-ak especially swallowed dryly, fearing refusal.
Hyeon-gak asked Heuk Do-san,
"Will this woman really be of help?"
"If I had to travel with just one here, I'd pick her."
"If this is truly the Buddha's will. Namu Amitabha, Kwanseum Bosal."
Hyeon-gak sat cross-legged at Bing-seol's feet. He pressed his palm centers firmly against the Yongquan points on her soles.
He prided himself on possessing the purest, strongest yang-gang qi. He'd kept his chastity since his wild youth days.
'Alright. Let's show them.'
The yang-gang qi flowed in through her soles, coursing her meridians and rising bit by bit. He felt the cold she'd been unable to endure venting out through her Baihui.
In moments, steam rose thickly around Hyeon-gak. Gradually, color returned to Bing-seol's face.
Sharing true qi lasted about an hour.
Finally lifting his hands from her Yongquan, Hyeon-gak was drenched in sweat.
"Fortunately, I've restored her breath. But to purge the cold from her bones, she'll need this treatment once a day for at least half a month. Miss even one day, and her limbs stiffen, followed by sudden vomiting of blood and collapse."
Framed as briefing Heuk Do-san, it was really a warning to Gong Cheon-ak. Don't dream of whisking the witch away and running off.
Gong Cheon-ak saw through it: Hyeon-gak had deliberately left some cold in her bones.
'Obvious ploy, but he saved Bing-seol, so no loss. That monk's skill is no joke—drawing marrow-deep cold in just an hour.'
Normally he'd curse the petty, scheming monk. Realizing his attitude toward Hyeon-gak had softened unwittingly, Gong Cheon-ak snapped to.
'What am I thinking?'
Just then, Bing-seol slowly opened her eyes.
Gong Cheon-ak asked quickly,
"Feeling better?"
"Where are we?"
"On land."
"Ah, everyone's safe."
Bing-seol took in each person with clear eyes. She seemed happier that they were all unharmed than her own survival. A bright smile spread across her face.
"Really glad. Everyone's okay."
The one who'd nearly died fretting over others' safety. The mood grew solemn at Bing-seol's compassion.
In that moment, there were no orthodox or demonic—just stragglers, all human.
Then—
Slap!
Gong Cheon-ak backhanded Yeom Jin-sang viciously. Loaded with solid inner force, Yeom hit the sand face-first with a thud like he'd taken a club.
Hyeon-gak and Dang Yak-ran exchanged bewildered looks at the sudden turn.
Gong Cheon-ak, who'd clung desperately to his qi as a Demonic Cultist—his actions made no sense.
Even Heuk Do-san narrowed his eyes.
'Did he notice?'
Pale, Yeom Jin-sang turned his head, blood trickling from his mouth.
"Why... why are you doing this?"
"You dare ask why?"
Thud!
A kick to the ankle sent Yeom's bulk airborne. Gong Cheon-ak grabbed his shoulder with his left hand and yanked him up.
He spun him half a turn in midair before slamming him mercilessly to the ground.
Splat!
Pruning Shears followed by Four-Two Thousand Jin Drop!
It happened too fast for evasion. Yeom Jin-sang's meager skills couldn't dodge Gong Cheon-ak's strikes.
"Cough, cough......"
Yeom spat heavy coughs. His organs must be shaken, spine rattling.
Proof: nosebleed streaming. Internal injuries first manifest as nosebleeds.
Heuk Do-san's eyes gleamed.
'Hm?'
He spotted Yeom clutching a handful of sand while pretending to rise.
His other hand hid a jagged stone shard up his sleeve, procured from who-knows-where.
'Ho, not going down easy?'
Yeom Jin-sang glared fiercely.
"Why are you doing this?"
His voice cut sharp, deliberate. Ready to hurl sand in the eyes and slit throats if needed. Visible only to Heuk Do-san.
"Recite the Ten Precepts of the Divine Cult."
"Pardon?"
"Do it now!"
Out of nowhere, recite the Cult's precepts? What nonsense from this bald bastard?
Once Blood Sea Gang's leader, later a Hebei Peng Clan warrior allied with the Righteous Alliance—Yeom Jin-sang wouldn't know Demonic precepts.
'Damn it, how would I know that?'
Yeom paled.
Sympathy from shared secrecy? Heuk Do-san pitied him oddly.
'Time to help a bit.'
"First Precept: Revere the Cult Leader and Holy Lords as heaven itself."
Gong Cheon-ak glanced at Heuk Do-san, then glared at Yeom and bellowed sternly.
"In peace or hardship, peril or danger, you should have put me first. Your life is mine. You can't die without my say-so! Yet you ignored my safety and fled to save your own skin?"
Only then did Yeom realize Gong Cheon-ak wasn't angry over his identity.
He hopped like a frog and slammed his head into the sand. Then, in a fervently boiling voice:
"A misunderstanding, my lord."
"Misunderstanding?"
"At first, this lowly one sought only to serve you. But when the holy maiden threw herself into the sea and you seemed at a loss, seeing you rescue her personally changed my mind."
"What nonsense?"
"This one's paltry skills wouldn't get me halfway before exhaustion set in. Given your compassionate nature, you'd save me after her—how could I burden you? So I deliberately swam apart."
"But you made it here just fine alone."
"Live or die, if luck favored me, I'd reach land first and light a fire to warm you upon arrival. That was all this unskilled subordinate could manage......"
"That true?"
"Else why return? Don't doubt me, my lord."
'No way.'
Heuk Do-san eyed Gong Cheon-ak skeptically. Four days together showed him as hot-headed, fists before words.
Simple and brutish, in short. But even a brute wouldn't fall for such obvious playacting?
Gong Cheon-ak glanced at the firewood stack Yeom had hauled and piled upon landing. He wore an inscrutable expression for a while, then cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Ahem. Seems I misunderstood briefly."
Heuk Do-san was dumbfounded.
'What an idiot.'
"All my fault for seeming disloyal."
"Get up."
Yeom rose stealthily at last.
"That hurt much?"
"Alive is enough."
"Haha, I like your guts."
"I'll serve with utmost loyalty."
Gong Cheon-ak patted Yeom Jin-sang's shoulder.
Yeom bowed repeatedly, face beaming with gratitude.
'Bunch of fools.'
Heuk Do-san was incredulous. He'd known from Yeom's past of his tenacious life force. But escaping so neatly?
'Yet somehow, I doubt your future's bright. Old man's intuition?'