Chapter 243
Chapter 243
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 67
>Chapter Title: Turning Misfortune into Fortune (2)
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The eunuch Deputy Inspector Fan of the Western Depot couldn't hide his bewilderment for a moment.
He had heard from Squad Leader Bae, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's attending physician before the medicine was administered, that the injuries were so severe he wouldn't wake up for days.
That's why he had been at ease, but now Mok Kyung-un, who had been lying there with eyes closed like the dead, suddenly snapped his eyes wide open and stared right at him. It was impossible not to be startled.
'What in the world is this?'
He didn't know what was going on, but it seemed the young man had awakened far sooner than the physician had predicted.
His heart skipped a beat in shock, but Deputy Inspector Fan quickly composed himself.
Sure, the eyes opening had startled him, but Mok Kyung-un was still an injured man.
And not just any injury—they said it was so dire he'd never walk properly again.
'They say a child startles you, but then a pot lid does the same.'
It must have been the trauma from that place that shook him up.
There was no reason for him to feel intimidated in this situation at all.
*Clack!*
Deputy Inspector Fan, who had hesitated, hurriedly placed his hand over Mok Kyung-un's dantian.
Mok Kyung-un, watching him, raised one eyebrow and spoke.
"What are you trying to do?"
"Your name is Mok Kyung-un, right?"
"So what?"
"Hah. Your nerve is as impressive as ever."
"......"
'Eyes not even twitching in a situation like this—quite the vessel he has.'
He couldn't move due to his injuries, and Fan's hand rested right on his dantian.
That meant a little pressure could shatter it.
Yet Mok Kyung-un showed no sign of alarm.
If anything, he was utterly calm.
*Grip!*
Deputy Inspector Fan pressed his fingers into Mok Kyung-un's abdomen over the dantian and applied force.
Then he said,
"It might be misfortune for you, but heaven is on your side."
"......"
"You're paying the price for insulting His Highness the Crown Prince and shattering this old man's shoulder. Don't hold it against us."
"His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Seeing Mok Kyung-un's puzzled look, Deputy Inspector Fan sneered.
"Didn't this old man clearly warn you not to touch such a noble figure?"
"So that 'noble figure' was His Highness the Crown Prince?"
"Don't speak his name lightly. A riffraff from the martial world like you has no right to utter it."
Deputy Inspector Fan scolded him sharply.
Mok Kyung-un chuckled and replied,
"The title 'Crown Prince' must be quite exalted. Telling me not even to mention it on my lips."
"Insolent brat."
He admired the boy's boldness.
But that snide remark in a situation like this was truly irritating.
Deputy Inspector Fan circulated his qi, forming a sharp energy at his fingertips, and thrust them into Mok Kyung-un's abdomen.
*Pierce!*
One knuckle of his finger sank into the flesh.
Deputy Inspector Fan curled his lips smugly.
Now the brat would have to beg......
'!?'
Deputy Inspector Fan furrowed his brow.
Five fingers had plunged a knuckle deep into the abdomen, yet Mok Kyung-un stared back without a change in expression.
What incredible endurance.
At this point, most would grovel pathetically.
Then Mok Kyung-un opened his mouth.
"It's a bit different from what I expected. It doesn't seem like someone above your Crown Prince ordered my death."
'This kid?'
A glint appeared in Deputy Inspector Fan's eyes.
How did he guess at that person's intentions?
As he puzzled over it, Mok Kyung-un tilted his head slightly and continued.
"You sent an even stronger eunuch than yourself to test me, so it didn't feel like that. But you're acting like this now—is it because I got injured and changed the mind of someone higher up? Or are you defying orders from above just to seize this chance for revenge since I got hurt?"
'!?'
Deputy Inspector Fan was utterly dumbfounded for a moment.
What was this kid?
He didn't even know who that person was, yet he read the situation from mere fragments.
He had already thought the boy was devilishly sharp from the inn incident in the storm, but this was tongue-tying.
His true value wasn't just in martial arts.
His mind was too sharp.
That made him all the more terrifying.
'My judgment was right. This one can never be allowed near His Highness.'
He had wanted to see fear or groveling, but now all he could think was to shatter the dantian quickly.
As he tried to apply more force to his fingers,
*Tremble!*
Suddenly, it was as if something blocked them—they couldn't dig deeper into the flesh.
Even the qi already in his fingers began to dissipate.
'What is this?'
In his bewilderment,
A powerful rebound from within the body flung his embedded fingers outward.
'No way?'
What in the world was happening?
The physician had said as much, and even the Embroidered Uniform Guard overseeing the prison confirmed Mok Kyung-un's internal injuries were so severe he could barely hold his own body.
With ruptured meridians and muscles, qi circulation impossible—he should be little more than a cripple.
So how was this power emerging?
Startled for a moment, Deputy Inspector Fan tried to strike the abdomen again.
'I have to destroy the dantian.'
He didn't know what was happening, but destroying the dantian would end it all.
His palm surged toward not just the dantian but with enough force to burst the five viscera and six bowels.
That was when something unexpected occurred.
It was this:
*Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!*
The needles embedded all over Mok Kyung-un's body shot outward.
If they had just been pulled out, it would have been fine, but each carried qi and scattered like hidden weapons,
*Pierce-pierce-pierce-pierce-pierce-pierce!*
"Hup!"
Deputy Inspector Fan hurriedly swung his hand to block, but seven needles pierced straight through his body.
Three into the abdomen, one into the shoulder, one above the right clavicle, and another through the left palm and right thigh.
"Urk."
The pain was so excruciating that Deputy Inspector Fan toppled backward.
Especially the abdomen and clavicle wounds—they were dire.
All vital acupoints.
Deputy Inspector Fan hurriedly circulated his internal energy to seal the pierced areas.
But,
'My qi is scattering.'
Centered on the wounds, his internal energy was dissipating.
Panicking, Deputy Inspector Fan drew up even more qi and circulated it fiercely.
If it was scattering, he had no choice but to overpower it with stronger qi.
Right then,
*Swish!*
'!?'
Deputy Inspector Fan's eyes bulged.
He saw Mok Kyung-un raising his upper body from the bed.
And that wasn't all—black steam erupted from all over his body, and the bruised skin was gradually brightening.
'No way—he's healing?'
No matter how he looked at it, that's what it seemed.
And his guess was spot on.
As he sat up, circulating the rampaging energy within, it began to stabilize, rapidly repairing the bruised skin.
No—in truth, Mok Kyung-un's body had already undergone miraculous self-recovery overnight, and the externally visible wounds were now healing.
"Ahhh."
A small exclamation escaped Mok Kyung-un's lips.
The rampaging energy, once circulated and soothed, had grown far beyond before.
Especially the demonic qi—it had increased by over 40%.
'What is this?'
Mok Kyung-un himself had realized it when he collapsed.
The technique concentrating all sword intents into one had exceeded his body's and enlightenment's limits.
His overtaxed body had given out and broken.
It was the first time something like this had happened since learning martial arts.
-Are you alright, mortal?
Cheongryeong, who had been waiting anxiously for him to wake, asked worriedly.
She too had worried something was wrong, seeing him exceed his limits and hearing the physician.
If possession were possible, she would have taken over briefly to aid recovery.
But since she couldn't possess him, she could only watch.
-Yes. I feel much better.
-How in the world did you unleash such power?
-With that kind of power......
-The one where you gathered the sword intents into one.
She too had been shocked witnessing that technique.
It was a realm even she, who clung to sword obsessions after death, couldn't reach or imagine.
How had this boy approached the sword's pinnacle, even if momentarily?
-Well, nothing else came to mind besides that.
-Nothing at all?
Hearing this, Cheongryeong was genuinely impressed.
In that split second, he deemed it the absolute best move, beyond any realm.
Mok Kyung-un had simply executed it.
But since his enlightenment and body weren't fully prepared, he bore the full backlash.
Clicking her tongue in admiration, Cheongryeong soon said,
-Mortal, you truly are a heaven-sent martial prodigy.
Her words brought a glint to Mok Kyung-un's eyes.
She rarely spoke much, even in most cases, yet this was her first real praise.
It felt like true acknowledgment.
-But don't overdo it. Even if heavenly insight let you touch that realm momentarily, you've learned with your body what happens without preparation.
-Well, that's true. But......
-But what?
Mok Kyung-un clenched his fist silently.
The strength coiling in his hand.
It was far greater than before collapsing.
As if the swollen, torn muscles had toughened to endure it.
This wasn't mere sensation.
'The meridians too.'
Circulation speed had quickened dramatically.
It was so even crossing the wall, but now it was as natural as breathing.
Because of this, Mok Kyung-un felt a strange sensation.
'How peculiar.'
Did others undergo such rapid bodily changes surpassing limits?
Probably not.
From herbal medicine learned from Grandfather and various medical texts, human bodies adapt slowly to limits or harsh conditions, not change this drastically.
'Hmm.'
In that regard, he seemed distinctly different from ordinary people.
Just then, Mok Kyung-un turned his head.
There was Deputy Inspector Fan of the Western Depot, dragging himself quietly across the floor, suppressing his presence to escape.
Mok Kyung-un chuckled and stepped down from the bed.
'D-Damn it!'
Startled, Deputy Inspector Fan slammed both hands onto the floor.
*Crack!*
Using the recoil, he tried to stand.
But,
*Thud!*
"Urk!"
As his body rose, Mok Kyung-un kicked him, sending him tumbling back down.
Mok Kyung-un's foot then pressed down between Deputy Inspector Fan's neck and chest.
*Grip!*
"Kek!"
Not just pressing—it crushed his breath.
To the gasping, suffering man, Mok Kyung-un said,
"You don't seem too attached to life."
"Guh...... W-What?"
"You sat back last time too, and now again. Yet you just had to poke."
*Flinch!*
Deputy Inspector Fan's face flushed red, then paled at Mok Kyung-un's words.
Enduring the suffocation, he urgently said,
"Guh-guh...... I-If you...... dare harm me here...... His Highness Prince Jingqin will never let you......"
"Ah. So it was him."
Mok Kyung-un's lips twitched.
Seeing this, Deputy Inspector Fan's pupils shook.
What?
It wasn't the reaction he expected.
The brother of the Emperor, one of the four powers of the realm—Prince Jingqin.
This cunning brat must understand what he said, so why that ominous expression?
Right then,
*Crunch! Crack!*
The sound of his clavicle snapping rang out.
Deputy Inspector Fan tried to scream in agony.
But Mok Kyung-un kicked his jaw.
*Thud! Crunch-crunch!*
"Grraaah!"
Teeth clashed and shattered.
Leaning down to face the writhing Deputy Inspector Fan, Mok Kyung-un asked,
"Does it hurt a lot?"
"Grraaah."
His open mouth revealed cracked and shattered teeth crumbling down.
Chunks fell into his mouth, making him choke wildly.
As he coughed up blood, Mok Kyung-un grabbed his face, examined it, and smiled faintly.
"Fortunately, the facial skin is intact."
Deputy Inspector Fan scowled amid his pain.
What nonsense?
After mangling his jaw and teeth, calling the face intact?
'Damn bastard.'
You've made a grave mistake.
By reducing him to this state, he now had cause to persuade His Highness.
You don't keep a dog that won't wear a leash.
'Prepare yourself.'
He already had the crime of attempting to assassinate the Crown Prince—use that as pretext and surely......
*Pierce!*
Deputy Inspector Fan's eyes widened.
He felt sharp sword energy piercing from his jaw up into his nasal cavity.
The pain surged instantly; he twisted and thrashed.
But,
*Tap-tap-tap-tap!*
Mok Kyung-un sealed his acupoints, immobilizing him.
He even struck the mute acupoint, silencing his voice.
To Deputy Inspector Fan, eyes bulging in agony yet speechless, Mok Kyung-un whispered softly in his ear.
"If you'd just died back there last time, none of this would have happened. Such a shame."
'!?'
*Scrape!*
With those words, Mok Kyung-un carefully moved the sword energy up and down.
As if thinly peeling the skin.
'W-What are you doing?'
Deputy Inspector Fan's eyes widened further, pupils trembling madly.
Regardless, Mok Kyung-un grinned delightedly and continued.
*Scrape! Scrape!*
'Stop! Stop it!'
Watching his facial skin peel away bit by bit with eyes wide open, Deputy Inspector Fan's pupils gradually lost focus.