Chapter 97: War (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 97: War (3)
Namgung Chang-hwi quickly gathered the critically wounded into a single tent.
He didn't waste time doubting Seo-jun. If left alone, these men would die anyway. Nine critically injured warriors lay clustered together, clinging to a final sliver of hope.
Seo-jun looked them over and nodded. "This should be doable..."
"Wait, my Lord. You know medicine as well?" Jang-geuk asked, scratching his head.
"No idea."
"Then what on earth...?"
Namgung Chang-hwi approached. "What should we do now?"
He was being remarkably cooperative. Seo-jun stared at him for a moment before taking a seat.
"Bring the one in the worst condition to me first."
No matter how skilled Seo-jun was, he couldn't cure actual diseases. At most, he could use his internal energy to expel harmful energies from the body. While that might alleviate some illnesses, most would remain untouched. However, physical trauma and internal injuries were a completely different story.
The first martial artist laid before him had a massive sword gash carved across his chest. The wound was festering, his face was deathly pale, and his body temperature was abnormally high. Of course, even observing all this, Seo-jun didn't understand the medical implications.
He didn't even bother checking the man's pulse. With zero medical knowledge, feeling a pulse wouldn't tell him a damn thing anyway.
"Amitabha..."
Seo-jun glanced at the monk chanting prayers beside him, then placed his hand on the patient's abdomen.
"Everyone, keep quiet."
Internal energy flowed from Seo-jun’s palm directly into the patient’s body. He quickly mapped out the internal damage and the exact locations of the wounds, then forcibly unraveled the tangled blood vessels.
"Cough...!"
Dark blood erupted from the patient's mouth.
There was no need to worry about the airway getting blocked. After securing the man's breathing using the patient's own latent internal energy, Seo-jun spread his aura further, cramming the layout of every minute blood vessel and meridian into his mind.
He identified the areas obstructed by turbid Qi, noted the unopened Governing and Conception vessels, and charted his path. Then, he guided his internal energy forward without a shred of hesitation.
Crack, snap!
The man's entire body began to violently contort.
Watching this, Great Master Jibaek’s eyes widened in alarm, and he reached out to intervene.
"......"
However, his hand never reached the patient. Namgung Chang-hwi stepped in, firmly blocking the monk's path.
Great Master Jibaek sent a Voice Transmission.
[What if something goes wrong?]
[And do you have an alternative if we stop him?] Namgung Chang-hwi shot back. [He’ll die either way if left like this. Since we’ve entrusted this to him, we must believe.]
At those words, Great Master Jibaek fell silent.
After some time passed, Seo-jun finally pulled his hand away.
Namgung Chang-hwi’s eyes flew open in sheer disbelief. "He really is healed..."
From what Namgung Chang-hwi could tell, this wasn't the work of medicine. If he had to categorize it, it was closer to Bone-cleansing and Body-changing. It was as if the wounded flesh and meridians had been completely recreated from scratch.
As Seo-jun wiped the sweat from his forehead, Jang-geuk handed him a wet towel.
"Ah, thanks."
"Think nothing of it, my Lord. But when did you learn to do something like this?"
"I didn't."
"Then...?"
Seo-jun smirked, casually using his Astral Qi to burn away the dried blood on his hands. "Can you throw an apple into the air and slice it in half?"
"What kind of obvious question is that... Are you looking down on me?"
"No, I'm not looking down on you. I'm saying it feels exactly like that."
Even if he had never done it before, he was absolutely certain he could. To Seo-jun, this wasn't particularly difficult. It was just a bit exhausting.
Stretching his stiff body, Seo-jun tilted his head back and looked at the elder warrior. "Um... what was your name again?"
"I am Namgung Chang-hwi," the man replied respectfully. "I haven't seen either of your faces within the clan before. May I ask your names?"
"Ah, I guess you haven't been at the main estate lately? I'm the Family Head's son-in-law."
"Then, you are Lady Su-ah's...?"
"Uh, yeah. That's right."
Even as they spoke, Namgung Chang-hwi quickly laid the next patient in front of Seo-jun. Instead of treating the man immediately, Seo-jun offered a stark warning.
"This method forces a crude Bone-cleansing and Body-changing by drawing on the patient's own essence. Their internal energy, cultivation realm, and lifespan will all decrease."
"What does that matter? Survival comes first."
"No, that's not my point. I'm saying they could still drop dead from exhaustion after the treatment is over, so you need to manage their recovery carefully."
"I shall do so."
Namgung Chang-hwi moved busily, organizing the remaining Namgung martial artists. Great Master Jibaek led his monks in continuous prayer, and any warrior who still had strength left pitched in to help.
By the time the long night passed and morning dawned, Seo-jun had finished treating every critical patient. Utterly spent, he collapsed right where he sat.
"Ugh, I'm dying..."
"You've worked hard." Jang-geuk, who had been guarding his side all night, handed him a fresh wet towel.
Seo-jun scrubbed his face with it as if washing up, then suddenly bolted upright. "So, what do we do now?"
"Well, I don't know either."
"Aha."
As Seo-jun sat there with his mouth agape, Great Master Jibaek, having just finished settling the last patient into a recovery tent, answered instead.
"Should we not retreat for now? Reinforcements for the Black Lotus Union will arrive soon, and our current situation is highly unfavorable."
"Is that okay?" Seo-jun asked. "If we retreat from here, what happens to the nearby cities and the Hebei Peng Clan?"
"That... I expect we would rotate with fresh martial artists after withdrawing."
Namgung Chang-hwi, who had just returned, furrowed his brows deeply. "That cannot happen. Even if a rotation is planned, we must hold this position until the replacement forces arrive."
"Amitabha... It is impossible. Even if we try to hold out, it will only result in the meaningless deaths of the martial artists here."
"And if we retreat?" Namgung Chang-hwi countered. "Every single person in the cities occupied by the Black Lotus Union will be used as blood sacrifices!"
"But what meaning is there in holding out here? It is clear as day that we cannot withstand an attack if the Black Lotus Union strikes now. We will only be throwing our lives away."
Seo-jun blinked at the sudden, heated argument. Jang-geuk subtly sent a Voice Transmission.
[What are you going to do?]
[I don't know. They both seem to have a point.]
In truth, martial artists had no inherent obligation to protect commoners. To put it bluntly, commoners lived almost like parasites under the umbrella of martial factions.
Of course, it was equally true that martial artists enjoyed comfortable, affluent lives because of those same commoners. The food, goods, and luxuries they required were all produced by ordinary people. However, if martial artists truly wanted to, they could easily enslave the masses by force. They could demand grueling labor just for the privilege of living near a sect.
The Central Plains was an incredibly dangerous land; commoners without the protection of a martial faction simply couldn't survive. Even putting aside the threat of rogue martial artists, the Central Plains was a place where demonic beasts roamed and attacked whenever they pleased.
Ultimately, commoners provided convenience and wealth for the martial artists in exchange for protection. This symbiotic relationship was primarily the way of the Righteous Faction. The Black Lotus Union felt no need for such mutually beneficial arrangements; they treated commoners as mere slaves and livestock.
It was only because the Righteous Faction valued chivalry—even if sometimes just for the sake of appearances—that ordinary people could live decent lives.
To Seo-jun, who had originally lived in a modern world governed by democracy, this dynamic was a bit foreign, but it wasn't incomprehensible. This was a world where a single individual's martial prowess could annihilate an army of hundreds of thousands. It wasn't a world where sheer numbers meant everything. Here, commoners could never truly be the masters of a nation.
The only absolute truth was Martial Arts (武).
The only reason this brutal world was even slightly livable was that there existed a minimum baseline of Chivalry (俠) to temper the violence.
Hence, Wuxia (武俠)—Martial Chivalry.
Namgung Chang-hwi’s voice broke through Seo-jun’s musings. "What do you think, Young Master?"
"Me?"
Great Master Jibaek and Namgung Chang-hwi were both staring intently at Seo-jun. It seemed the ultimate decision-making power had somehow shifted entirely onto his shoulders.
After a moment of thought, Seo-jun reached a conclusion.
"Let's try holding out for now. Honestly, I think it's doable."
Their reactions were mixed, a blend of relief and deep concern. Seo-jun gave the two men a brief nod and retreated into the tent assigned to him.
Jang-geuk, who followed him inside, laughed heartily. "Haha! It turns out my Lord is a great man of chivalry after all!"
"Chivalry? It's nothing like that."
"What is risking oneself for the commoners if not chivalry?"
"I'm doing it because I actually think we can win. If I thought we couldn't, I'd obviously run away. What are you even talking about?"
His own life was naturally infinitely more important than the lives of people whose faces he didn't even know. The primary reason he wasn't retreating was simply that he believed holding the line was possible. The secondary reason was a nagging fear: if the Righteous Faction kept getting pushed back and ultimately lost this war, the Namgung Clan would suffer the consequences.
The only times he was willing to truly risk his life were when Chun-bong—and now, the Namgung Clan—were in danger.
Since he didn't have much lingering attachment to his own survival, making such a choice wasn't particularly difficult. In fact, wasn't he basically living this life on bonus coins anyway? If he died, well, it would just be a damn shame.
Seo-jun flopped down onto the floor, utterly exhausted.
*
Surprisingly, the Black Lotus Union didn't launch an immediate attack.
When Seo-jun stepped out of his tent after a long, well-deserved rest, a few familiar faces eagerly greeted him.
"Thank you, Young Master!"
They were the critically wounded patients he had treated the night before. Seo-jun scratched his head awkwardly as he watched the proud warriors bow deeply at the waist.
"It's cold out here. Go back inside and rest. Your bodies can't possibly be back to normal yet."
"Not at all! We feel fine!" A martial artist from the Namgung Clan shouted back with a fierce grin. "We will surely demonstrate the indomitable spirit of the Namgung on this battlefield!"
"Oh. Good for you."
Seo-jun gave them a thumbs-up and exchanged a few more brief greetings before heading toward the command tent. The overall morale of the camp was much better than he had expected. Whether it was because reinforcements had arrived or because their dying comrades had miraculously been saved, he couldn't tell. Either way, it was a good thing.
Entering the command tent, Seo-jun immediately blurted out, "Since they haven't attacked yet, it looks like their reinforcements haven't arrived either. Why don't we seize the initiative and attack them first?"
"That would be difficult," Namgung Chang-hwi replied. "Their base is likely heavily protected by all sorts of demonic sorcery. It is far too dangerous to strike blindly."
"Aha..."
Sorcery? Was that really such a big deal? It probably wasn't much to worry about. Seo-jun scratched his head awkwardly. Then, a sudden question occurred to him.
"By the way, don't we have a strategist here? Or a tactician to plan our moves?"
"We did, but..."
"But?"
"He died a week ago."
"Oh."
Seo-jun instinctively covered his mouth with his hand.
What the hell is the Murim Alliance even doing?
The frontline situation was this dire, and their main reinforcements still hadn't arrived? Were those old fools insane?
Seriously, couldn't the Namgung Clan just defect to the Demonic Cult as a whole?
As he stared at the map on the table, Seo-jun actually began to ponder the thought quite seriously.