Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: The Secret of the Monk and the Witch
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With Heuk Do-san and Dang Yak-ran gone, only four people remained.
An awkward silence fell for a moment.
Just three days ago, Na Han-seung had been desperate to kill him, but now he lay defenseless within reach.
It wouldn't be difficult. He could simply pick up a rock and smash the back of his head with all his might, and it would all be over.
But Gong Cheon-ak did not do so.
"I'll go gather some dry branches. For now, no signs of the blood wolves nearby. Still, if you sense anything suspicious, shout."
"Got it."
"Take this."
With those words, Gong Cheon-ak handed over the spyglass and dagger he had received from Heuk Do-san. Then he pried the stone axe from Yeom Jin-sang's hand and walked off.
Yeom Jin-sang, who had sprawled out early, snored away obliviously, unaware that someone had taken his stone axe.
Bing-seol wasn't as skilled in medicine as Dang Yak-ran, but she still had some knowledge. This was a temporary symptom from blood loss inside the body. In other words, Yeom Jin-sang hadn't just fallen asleep—he had passed out.
But there was no great cause for worry. The cause of his injury was clear, and cauterizing the wound with hot iron would heal him quickly.
The problem was Hyeon-gak.
Bing-seol turned to look at him. Leaning against a tree, he seemed even more haggard in that short time. Touching his forehead, she found it burning with fever. If left like this, his organs would melt before the man himself cooked.
"How is it?"
"Not something to worry about."
"Hah, the Divine Maiden is good at lying too."
"Wait just a moment."
Bing-seol picked up the sharpened dagger and began carving spiral grooves into the stems of the white sandalwood scattered everywhere. Next, she embedded the conch shells people had given her one by one.
After making five water collectors, sap had gathered decently in the first conch shell. She removed it and poured it into Hyeon-gak's mouth.
"Drink it slowly, little by little."
Hyeon-gak gulped it down like an ox after plowing a field.
Bing-seol replanted the empty conch shell in its place and brought sap from the second one, pouring it into his mouth again.
Only after doing this five times did a bit of color return to Hyeon-gak's face.
"Ugh... Now I feel like I might live."
"I'm sorry. Because of me."
"Hm?"
"If you hadn't shared your qi with me, you wouldn't have collapsed from this level of poison."
"No need for that. I shared my qi with you solely to find a way back to the Central Plains. I swear, it wasn't out of pity for your life. How many Demonic Cultists have I killed..."
Hyeon-gak felt uncomfortable being nursed by a Demonic Cultist in his current situation. So he deliberately pushed away Bing-seol's kindness even more. It was also a vow to hold onto his fading resentment toward Demonic Cultists, which he wasn't even aware was dimming.
"Then thank you."
"......?"
"No matter the reason, Your Reverence has saved my life twice. I hope I can repay you someday. Though I doubt I have the power."
Bing-seol lowered her head weakly.
"Why do you think that?"
"I'm just a burden to everyone. My martial arts are worthless, and I'm not outstanding in medicine like Lady Dang."
"Well, you do have a tendency to freeload..."
"Do you remember the night we fought the storm on the sailing ship? I nearly fell into the sea. Everyone rushed over and grabbed me, so I barely survived. But when I got back on deck, one person was gone, swept away by the waves. If I hadn't fallen into the sea..."
It was the story of the hunchback Poison Needle.
Hyeon-gak's expression darkened.
Everyone else had forgotten, but it had weighed on Bing-seol's mind. She believed Poison Needle had died because of her.
"No need to take it that far."
"That's not all. No one knows, but three nights ago while crossing the sea, the Seventh Star Lord nearly lost his life to the waves trying not to let go of me. Last night, Lady Dang almost got bitten by a blood wolf protecting me, and today, it's Your Reverence..."
"Do you think the world revolves around you?"
"Pardon?"
"That hunchback Poison Needle or whatever dying that night was an accident. And if you think you owe people, you've already paid it back plenty. Three days ago when the ship sank, you showed us the direction to land. If you hadn't spotted that land hidden in the fog, we'd all be fish food by now."
"That was just luck. That kind of foresight doesn't come often."
*What is this woman saying right now?*
"Even without me, Heuk Do-san would have found the land. You saw it yourself—he never gives up in any situation."
"Ah, enough of that. I just need you to use your knowledge of the Nine Heavens Illusion Grand Ancestral Formation and your precognition to find the way back to the Central Plains. Succeed in that, and we're done in one shot. I repeat, Lady Dang and I are protecting you for that reason alone."
"That's exactly the problem."
"Hm?"
"To be honest now, I'm not as versed in the Nine Heavens Illusion Grand Ancestral Formation as you all think. My foresight isn't that great either. At best, I can sense if blood wolves are nearby. If you're keeping me alive to find the way back, then it's late, but I'll confess: I won't be any help."
Hyeon-gak was stunned.
All that suffering and risk for this, and now she says she can't find the way back to the Central Plains. What kind of bolt from the blue was this?
*'This bitch I could rip apart'* nearly rose to his throat. But looking at the crestfallen Bing-seol, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"Why say this now?"
"I wanted to from the start. But I was afraid you'd all abandon me..."
Tears welled up in Bing-seol's eyes.
The pressure of finding the way back, the guilt of being a burden, the fear of the blood wolves—it all mixed and burst her emotions without her realizing.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said useless things."
Bing-seol hurriedly wiped her eyes and stood.
By then, the five conch shells were full again. She removed them one by one and poured into Hyeon-gak's mouth.
When she brought the fifth conch shell, Hyeon-gak waved it off.
"Are you trying to assassinate me?"
"Pardon?"
"My stomach feels like it might burst."
With that, Hyeon-gak patted his bulging lower belly like a tadpole.
Each conch shell matched the size of a gourd. Gulping down nine in quick succession would make anyone's belly ready to explode.
"Hah!"
Bing-seol let out an involuntary chuckle. As the awkwardness faded, she began removing Hyeon-gak's fur garment. The startled monk flinched and asked,
"What are you doing?"
"Checking your body. We need to drain the pus when the heat boils up. That way the fever drops faster."
"No need. I'll do it."
Hyeon-gak flung off the fur garment. As Dang Yak-ran had predicted, his chest was covered in inflamed boils. The pus was already brimming, on the verge of bursting.
"Squeezing with hands won't cut it. And there's no clean cloth. What to do."
"This much pus? Forget it."
"Wait a moment."
Bing-seol quickly cut a fresh branch and peeled off its bark. Then she scraped Hyeon-gak's chest like shaving, exposing the white inner wood.
Pus burst out with each scrape, coating the branch thickly.
"Doesn't it disgust you?"
"It's gross."
"Honest, I like that."
"What more is there to hide."
"Actually, I have one confession too."
"......?"
Hyeon-gak glanced around before pulling a small chunk of meat from his bosom.
"What's this?"
"Blood wolf meat."
"Why would Your Reverence have this...!"
"Last night on watch, I snuck a piece. Then after switching with Lady Dang, I pretended to sleep and chewed it up. Seeing everyone eat it so tasty, how could I resist the craving."
Bing-seol's eyes widened.
Wasn't this the same Hyeon-gak who preached that weighing situations over precepts couldn't make one a true disciple of Buddha? And yet he had secretly eaten meat.
"But this morning, I woke with a slight fever. At first I thought it was a cold, but by noon my guts felt like they were tearing."
"Why?"
"Foolishly, I only realized when Lady Dang said she was poisoned earlier."
"No way...!"
"Yes. Because of this."
"Everyone else ate blood wolf meat too. Why was Your Reverence the only one poisoned?"
"Because this is the blood wolf's liver. All poisons accumulate in the liver. That's why even when beasts are poisoned for hunting, the liver is discarded."
"Then...?"
"Judging by circumstances, the northern martial artists left corpses that the blood wolves nibbled on. I ate the liver raw, thinking it good for vitality and nourishing blood, oblivious."
"But why hide it? If you'd known it was organ poison from the start, Lady Dang could have found a treatment much sooner."
"I wanted to. But if people knew I ate meat, how much finger-pointing would there be? Especially that Gong Cheon-ak—he'd nag endlessly. He already suspects me of eating shellfish meat."
"What's that mean?"
"After spending the night by the sea, while passing through the forest the next day, he said to me: 'We ate the shellfish, so why do you smell like it?' I made excuses about the smell sticking from making wooden clappers with shells, but I nearly got caught."
"Nearly got caught...?"
"I ate shellfish meat too."
"......!"
It was so absurd she couldn't speak. Might as well have eaten openly from the start.
Hyeon-gak continued.
"No need to be shocked. Gong Cheon-ak surely has some weakness I don't know. Yeom Jin-sang is definitely hiding something too, but damned if I know what."
"Yeom Jin-sang is hiding something?"
"Honestly, none of us know what he looks like. Sure, with so many Demonic Cultists in the war, that might be fine, but he knows nothing of Demonic Cult customs or doctrines—like a complete outsider."
"But we don't know Heuk Do-san's face either, do we? He hasn't revealed his background yet."
"Not quite. For some reason, Lady Dang and Heuk Do-san seem to have known each other for a long time."
"Is that true?"
"It reeks of it."
The idea that Dang Yak-ran and Heuk Do-san knew each other was the biggest shock. Then why had they pretended not to in front of everyone?
Were they lovers, perhaps?
"But why tell me all this?"
"Everyone has one unspeakable circumstance. And unspeakable means just that—you can't speak it. No need to force it out, right?"
"I don't quite..."
"Let's keep playing dumb to the end."
"But Your Reverence and I know about each other."
"Exactly—so it stays our secret."
Hyeon-gak startled himself with his own words. He, a Shaolin Arhat, sharing a secret with a witch from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. What nonsense was this?
*Why am I doing this?*
Just then, Gong Cheon-ak appeared, arms full of dry branches.
Hyeon-gak and Bing-seol flushed like children caught doing wrong.
"I'll start the fire."
Bing-seol tossed aside the pus-covered stick she'd been holding and hurriedly pulled out the spyglass. She focused sunlight onto pre-prepared dry mugwort.
Gong Cheon-ak glared piercingly at Hyeon-gak before unloading the branches. Then he plopped down and said,
"Doesn't something feel off?"
Bing-seol's expression hardened.
Hyeon-gak feigned ignorance and asked,
"Off? What?"
"The blood wolves have suddenly gone quiet. This split-up is perfect for an ambush. Especially with two injured."
Bing-seol and Hyeon-gak sighed in relief. Hyeon-gak gave Bing-seol a knowing glance before saying,
"They're waiting for night, probably. Unlike humans, they see clearly in the dark, so hunting suits the night better."
"Whose side are you on?"
"Just the situation. The situation."
"You think a mere beast plans that far? Ridiculous."
"Those mere beasts wounded two of us. The northern martial artists lost three lives to them. They're not mere beasts."
"Maybe."
"So be careful. If I were a blood wolf, I'd hunt you first—your flesh looks the firmest. Come to think of it, you probably ate the most blood wolf meat last night?"
"Your jaw's working fine, so you're over it. No need for antidote."
"I won't die from this poison."
"Big talk from a rockhead."
In the meantime, Bing-seol succeeded in sparking the fire.
Gong Cheon-ak threw on plenty of branches, then thrust the dagger Heuk Do-san had given him deep into the flames.
Soon, when the dagger glowed red-hot, he grabbed it and woke Yeom Jin-sang.
"Bite down hard."
"Wait a sec."
Yeom Jin-sang looked around and spotted a wooden stick lying nearby. Someone had cut it to two hand-spans and peeled the bark—perfect size. He quickly grabbed it and bit down.
The startled Bing-seol and Hyeon-gak tried to say something, but it was too late.
Yeom Jin-sang said,
"I'm ready."
But Gong Cheon-ak couldn't bring the hot dagger close. A sudden vibration shook the ground.
"Earthquake?"
Hyeon-gak said.
"Foolish talk."
Gong Cheon-ak snapped.
Moments later, a sound shaking the earth began from afar.
Dudududududu...
"That's hoofbeats."
Hyeon-gak said again.
Everyone's faces stiffened.
As Hyeon-gak said, it was hoofbeats. The thunder of thousands of heavily armored cavalry charging.
Why would battlefield hoofbeats echo in the middle of this forest?
Sensing something amiss, Gong Cheon-ak and Bing-seol jumped to their feet. Hyeon-gak and Yeom Jin-sang craned their necks from their seats, staring toward the sound.
The hoofbeats grew rapidly louder. Sounds of trees snapping echoed too.
When the hoofbeats boomed like war drums, the treetops visible in the distance shook entirely. It was like a massive tidal wave crashing through the forest.
"Something's coming."
Hyeon-gak said.
"Who doesn't know that!"
Gong Cheon-ak bellowed.
"Damn, what now?"
Yeom Jin-sang spat through clenched teeth.
At that moment, two shadows burst forth like gale winds from the collapsing forest ahead. It was Heuk Do-san and Dang Yak-ran, who had gone for herbs.
Heuk Do-san shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Run!"