Chapter 130
Chapter 130
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 130
Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village
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I headed to the Shadowless Sect's medicine hall as guided by the Sword Demon. Perhaps because the Shadowless Sect was the foremost unorthodox sect, they had a dedicated medicine hall that was quite prosperous, and the medicine hall master in charge was a stern-looking elderly man in his early seventies. He glanced at my condition and said,
"Sit down!"
His attitude showed no regard even for the Sword Demon beside me, so I quietly sat in front of him. It seemed the medicine hall master held considerable status even within the Shadowless Sect. He slowly probed my body, then pressed three acupoints.
"Does it hurt?"
"It does."
"The nerves are still connected. They must have been cut cleanly."
From the perspective of someone whose arm had been severed, his words were rather harsh, but the medicine hall master soon performed acupuncture at a rapid pace. My meridians activated swiftly, and I could feel the roughly attached arm healing much faster. It appeared he had used a secret acupuncture technique to enhance the body's vitality and the adhesion of flesh.
Finally, he wrapped a bandage around it and tapped my shoulder.
"All done! Get a good night's sleep, and it should fully attach by tomorrow."
"Thank you."
Then, he gave the Sword Demon a sharp look.
"Sect Master. What grudge do you have against this young one to cut off his arm like that?"
"Healer Kang, my apologies. It was my mistake."
"Hmm... I'm in no position to blame you."
Just as the medicine hall master was brushing it off awkwardly, I ventured a question, just in case.
"By any chance, are you Physician Kang Jeon-gil?"
Whoosh—both men's gazes snapped toward me simultaneously. The Sword Demon looked genuinely shocked, while the medicine hall master bulged his eyes. Stammering, the medicine hall master asked,
"W-Why do you think that?"
"There are the Five Great Physicians in the world, and for a Kang clan physician worthy of being the Shadowless Sect's medicine hall master, I figured it could only be Henan's foremost physician, Kang Jeon-gil."
Silence fell after my answer. The medicine hall master glanced at the Sword Demon, who nodded, and with a sigh, he said,
"You're right. I am Kang Jeon-gil."
Henan's foremost physician, Kang Jeon-gil!
Like Hwa Seo-myeong of the Radiant Divine, he was one of the Five Great Physicians, the five most skilled healers in the world. I wondered why a divine healer renowned for his supreme medical skills—even said to have saved a high monk of Shaolin Temple—had taken refuge in the foremost unorthodox sect, but I quickly realized the answer in my mind.
'It must be because of the White Lotus Cult's young leader.'
The Five Great Physicians had been semi-forcibly abducted by the White Lotus Cult to treat their young leader. They labored for about a year but failed to cure him, and though they returned safely to the Central Plains, they were accused of colluding with the cult as spies. Unable to endure it, Hwa Seo-myeong had relocated his clinic to Goryeo.
Medicine hall master Kang Jeon-gil spoke.
"Sect Master. What is this child? This tremendous inner energy, his boldness and composure... I have no idea what kind of kid he is."
"As you see, a once-in-a-generation prodigy. That's why my debt weighs even heavier on my mind."
"Hmm."
As Kang Jeon-gil let out a thoughtful hum, I looked straight at him and said,
"I am a collateral branch member of the Hwa clan and received instruction in medicine. The Hwa family head also told me the truth about the White Lotus Cult incident."
"......!!"
I wondered if I'd been too direct, but Kang Jeon-gil's face paled instantly. The Sword Demon watching beside him looked even more shocked. It seemed they shared that secret, and my knowledge of it stunned them anew.
Kang Jeon-gil feigned ignorance.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Do you have proof you were taught medicine?"
Without a word, I raised my intact right arm and took up needles. Infusing them with qi, I swiftly demonstrated the Hwa Clan's One Hundred and Eight Needles, quietly reciting the positions of the meridians and acupoints along the way. Kang Jeon-gil, witnessing the basic demonstration of the Hwa Clan's One Hundred and Eight Needles, gaped in astonishment. He recognized my medical skill had reached first-class level.
"As you know, it's the Hwa Clan's One Hundred and Eight Needles."
"Hah... hahaha... Could you be a disciple of Radiant Divine's Hwa Seo-myeong?"
"Yes. A collateral branch, but I received his guidance briefly."
Kang Jeon-gil let out a deep hum.
"A genius, indeed... To master martial arts and medicine to that level at your age...!!"
A moment later, Kang Jeon-gil said,
"Fine. So what? Why reveal it now?"
"I want to know more details about what really happened back then. Why the young leader couldn't be cured, what the White Lotus Cult was truly thinking..."
"......"
"If that's rude, I apologize."
Kang Jeon-gil glanced at the Sword Demon again.
The Sword Demon said,
"I want to know too."
"What is this child to you, Sect Master?"
"As you see, I owe him an irredeemable debt from my mistake. I want to tell him what he wishes to know."
It seemed the Shadowless Sect's Sword Demon Master intended to repay his debt of conscience this way.
"And share the secret with you as a bonus."
"I won't deny it."
"......"
Kang Jeon-gil let out a heavy sigh. Then he said,
"First, tell me what Hwa Seo-myeong told you."
I briefly explained the young leader's treatment and the false spy accusation against the Five Great Physicians. He fell silent for a moment, then said,
"I see. So the old Hwa codger thought that way. And he up and moved to Goryeo."
While Hwa Seo-myeong had chosen to emigrate and relocate his clinic to Goryeo, Kang Jeon-gil, living alone, had simply taken refuge in the Eight Demonic Sects' Shadowless Sect, the foremost unorthodox faction. Indeed, as the Shadowless Sect's medicine hall master, no one in the martial world would dare challenge him.
"What do you think?"
"What do I think? I went through the same thing. The Five Divine Healers pooled their efforts for a year, but it was impossible. The difference is that a black tiger-masked dharma protector came to me."
That was a dharma protector of the Wind God Style. I asked,
"Not the silver fox mask?"
"Right."
Kang Jeon-gil continued,
"But I see it differently. I'm not sure if the old Hwa codger just thought the young leader's illness was an incurable disease beyond our reach, but I suspected it might not have been a disease at all."
"Not a disease?"
"Exactly."
Kang Jeon-gil said gravely,
"We had the full cooperation of the world's supreme White Lotus Cult, and the Five Great Physicians gathered. Frankly, I was confident I could revive even a dead man if within half a shichen. Yet we couldn't treat the young leader—we couldn't even identify his symptoms. I can say for certain it wasn't any disease."
"If not a disease..."
"I think it might have been a curse."
A curse!
It was the most vicious and cruel of sorceries, a dangerous spell channeling powerful grudge to inflict harm on the target—a technique born solely for an enemy's destruction.
I thought for a moment, then said,
"Then why call physicians? Curses should be treated by sorcerers."
"...Who knows. But unlike the bone-deep physician old Hwa, I considered sorcery or curses as possibilities. Dongbang Mu-gyeol did too. The old Dongbang's skills were a notch above ours, yet even he couldn't do a thing."
"Hmm."
"That's all I know."
He gave a wry smile and added,
"The old Dongbang might know more. On the last day before leaving, he had a one-on-one talk with the White Lotus Cult Leader."
"Couldn't they have used the Holy Lotus to heal the young leader?"
"Well..."
Kang Jeon-gil hesitated, then said as if recalling,
"Ah, right. That was strange. They got tense and fidgety whenever the Holy Lotus came up. I don't know why, but it seemed the Holy Lotus hid some secret."
"Hmm."
Thanks to losing my arm, meeting Kang Jeon-gil had yielded an unexpected harvest.
And one hypothesis surfaced in my mind.
'Then, doesn't that mean the Black-White Lotus has curse-healing abilities?'
In my 10th life, the White Lotus Cult's young leader had been saved by the Black-White Lotus. So the difference between Holy Lotus and Black-White Lotus could be the presence of [curse-healing ability]. The Holy Lotus dramatically boosted inner energy but clearly lacked abilities like the Black-White Lotus. Somehow, this fact seemed useful in the future.
Once the talk ended, I said to the Sword Demon,
"I'm sorry, but I can't stay long."
"Why?"
"I have urgent business to handle now."
"Hmm."
The Sword Demon let out a hum. Indeed, just making Kang Jeon-gil spill his secret hardly repaid the debt for cutting off my arm. Not to mention the debt for saving his daughter from the pirates.
After pondering, the Sword Demon said with resolve,
"Come back soon. I'll prepare a gift for you."
"Thank you."
"It's a promise. You must return."
"Yes. Farewell."
I bid the Sword Demon goodbye and left the Shadowless Sect.
'I could squeeze every last debt from the Sword Demon, but not now.'
It had been quite some time since I stored the pirate captives in the storage pouch. Returning them home swiftly was priority. Using the shuttle, I moved to Shandong Province, where dawn was just breaking.
Throb.
'It hurts...'
The nerves had connected, but intermittent pain lingered. It was impossible to use my left arm reliably until it stabilized. Deciding to avoid combat as much as possible, I released the people from the storage pouch in a deserted area.
Rumble.
Excluding the women who went to the Shadowless Sect, the pure Central Plains men poured out one after another. I checked the injured one by one—fortunately, no wounds had worsened. Retreating them, I asked,
"Are you hungry or need to relieve yourselves?"
An unexpected reply came.
"What are you saying? We went in and came out, and it's night already."
"......?"
"It feels like time suddenly jumped."
I was startled by their words.
'Does time barely pass inside the storage pouch?'
By their account, much time had passed since I stored them, yet it felt like the blink of an eye. Clearly, time inside the storage pouch flowed much slower than outside.
First calming myself, I led them to an inn.
"Innkeeper, come out."
To the innkeeper roused from predawn sleep, I laid out a fortune exchanged from Mang-ryang's gold ingot and said,
"We'll take over this inn today."
"What?! You're joking, right?"
"If this money looks like a joke, nothing to be done."
As I slyly withdrew the money pouch, the innkeeper grabbed it desperately. I stared impassively, and he grinned sheepishly.
"Of course not. Use it as you wish."
I fed them, let them wash, and sleep soundly. Even at dawn, the inn bustled. The innkeeper, his wife, and even the errand boys all attended to them. I rechecked the injured and waited for sunrise.
By midday, once they'd rested enough, I gathered them and said,
"It's time to part. I'll give you some travel money each—hope it helps you get home."
"Oh, milord..."
"Thank you..."
Handing silver to each as I sent them off, they wept with joy. A familiar sight, but helping felt rewarding. With ample silver, their travel funds wouldn't fall short.
Then I faced the one-eyed old captive again.
"Benefactor... I've received too great a grace to not repay... So with my life on the line... I offer this secret commission token... For anyone... just one person... if there's someone you want dead... take this wooden plaque to the Seven Kills Village on Mount Tai... Just one person... no matter who..."
I received the black wooden plaque.
Having listened to the end, I asked him. Last time I dismissed it as nonsense, but this time I wouldn't let it pass lightly.
"You're no martial artist, yet if I take this plaque, a martial expert from Seven Kills Village will accept my commission?"
The one-eyed elder trembled with joy and said with a beaming smile,
"You're interested... aren't you..."
"Not uninterested."
"No... it's not martial arts... The god grants your wish."
"God?"
His absurd words puzzled me.
Why would a god accept a kill commission?
Coughing, the elder said,
"I only know... that taking that plaque... makes the god grant the wish... but that wish... is solely to kill one being... nothing more..."
"Hmm..."
"Come anytime... Our villagers... in exchange for living in Seven Kills Village... can give that plaque to one benefactor for life..."
"Understood."
Seeing no more to learn, I reluctantly sent the one-eyed elder off. Out of curiosity, I examined the black wooden plaque.
'Commission a killing to a god?'
Something interesting seemed afoot.
With all captives freed, I felt my tasks nearly done. The only remaining was drawing the Thunder God Style into an alliance with the Anti-Heaven Alliance, but Mang-ryang said it wasn't necessary. Better to fully persuade General Hwang Yeon and meet as equals than force entry into the Azure Dragon Martial Hall risking suspicion.
In short, I was free now.
Nor did I particularly want to go to the Azure Dragon Martial Hall. In martial cultivation, having surpassed the Awakening stage into the Accumulation stage, steady practice mattered more than short-term breakthroughs.
Returning to the Sword Demon for 'payment' didn't appeal either. With lingering resentment over my severed arm, I wanted to forget it for now and seek new pursuits.
With spare time, I wanted to create change somehow. New info meant more places to roam. To optimize shuttle use, I pondered what to do.
"Hmm... Shall I visit Seven Kills Village on Mount Tai?"
I lay in the inn for a day and a half until my arm properly healed, then decided.
Seven Kills Village, which kills anyone—for just one person, no matter who.
I grew curious what would happen if I commissioned them to kill the [Emperor].