008
008
What is the best method of impersonation in the Murim?
Martial arts. If you want to pretend to be a Shaolin monk, you don't recite sutras — you demonstrate Shaolin martial arts. If you want to pass as a Demonic Cult foot soldier, you use demonic arts.
And if you want to impersonate a disciple of the Divine Doctor, you use the Divine Doctor's martial arts. I never managed to kill the Divine Doctor myself, but I did take the blood of someone who called himself the Divine Doctor's disciple.
The Blue Bag Heart Method.
A mind method said to have descended from Hwata, the Divine Doctor of the ancient Later Three Kingdoms period. It was a martial art that unified every medical technique that had existed before it into a single system.
From the medicine of the current age all the way back to the medicine of the age of myth.
The book that compiled all of it was called the Blue Bag Divine Book.
Originally created with the conviction that to save the wounded in battle, you must fight the enemy and save lives at the same time, the art passed through the ages until its lineage ended with me.
So although I can't use every medical technique of the Divine Doctor, the fundamentals — basic acupuncture, medicinal compounding — are within my ability. Martial arts and memories learned through blood are no illusion.
"Single-successor secret arts. There's nothing easier to impersonate."
To approach Paeng Yuwol, I decided to pose as the Divine Doctor's disciple.
"Young hero, is it truly so? You are a disciple of the Divine Doctor?"
"Y-your voice is loud."
Paeng Yuwol was so excited that she leaned in close enough for her breath to reach me. I played the youth whose heart was racing at meeting her, circulating blood energy throughout my body.
"The Divine Doctor instructed me to keep his name hidden. The reason I came here is simply that the rumors reached me."
"The Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill?"
"Yes, my lady. I have taken one apart to determine whether it is genuine or counterfeit. It belongs to the medicine shop owner, not to me."
"Ah..."
A Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill — worth enough to buy a manor — had been dismantled like a child's mud pie.
"And so, is it genuine? Or... counterfeit?"
"I wouldn't know yet. You have to dissect it a bit more to be sure."
"Is that so..."
"Though, it turns out it is genuine."
Her hand flinched. Paeng Yuwol's fingers went stiff. I wore a guileless smile and picked up the thing that used to be a medicinal pill, now torn apart by my careless hands.
"The Divine Doctor's compounding method is unmistakable! Only the Divine Doctor dices the root of human-shaped snow ginseng so finely."
"Human-shaped snow ginseng..."
Certainly, if any ingredient belonged in the world's finest pill, human-shaped snow ginseng sounded plausible. At the word that the pill was real, a faint smile crept across Paeng Yuwol's face.
"Owner, I am ashamed, but..."
"Take it. An object like that in my hands would only be a burden."
"Pardon?"
The old man rolled a leaf and lit the medicinal herb in it. The eyes he rested on the pill were tinged with bitterness.
"A rustic like me is not fit to handle such a thing. The worth of medicine lies in reaching the one who needs it most."
"Elder..."
"I already know the young lady's circumstances well. Has that Chu cur been running his mouth for only a day or two? It is not my place to say this to a daughter of the Paeng Clan, but choose whom you trust with care."
At the old man's earnest counsel, Paeng Yuwol's eyes grew red. She secured the wooden case holding the pill, then produced two small jade tokens and handed one to the old man and one to me.
"A token given to benefactors of the Paeng Clan. The Paeng Clan will not forget this kindness."
Instead of a martial salute, Paeng Yuwol bent at the waist a full ninety degrees, took the wooden case, and left. The floral scent she left behind tickled my nose and made things below my waist ache dully.
"Tsk. She's gone."
The medicine shop old man crushed out his burning leaf and scratched his head.
"Paying for medicine with a token that's of no use at all. This is outright banditry."
"Why? Even if a Paeng Clan jade token isn't worth a Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill, it's an object of considerable value."
"If I don't use it, it's worthless to me. And you — what in the world are you? Do you really know the Divine Doctor's martial arts?"
"I simply learned for a time by chance. I'm not his disciple."
The old man shuddered at me. Still, I did have a conscience: I never once called the Divine Doctor my master.
"So, at your request, I handed the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill over to Paeng Yuwol. What do I do now?"
"Keep selling medicine here, or else split that up into tiny pieces and sell them at a high price calling them Lesser Divine Pills."
I tapped the chest hidden behind me. It was because of what lay inside that chest that the medicine shop old man had agreed to this recklessly dangerous transaction with me.
"You're certain that even split into a hundred pieces, the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill's effect is roughly the same?"
The pill I had shown Paeng Yuwol was only one of countless fragments I had divided. Chu So-gwang had left feeling reassured it was a fake, but the pill had been real.
One one-hundredth of a Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill, but real.
"Of course. Do you need me to swear on my own mother? From simple fatigue recovery to restorative tonics to incurable-disease cures, the effects are limitless. Whether you take one whole pill or a hundred tiny beads ground from it."
"...I'll trust you. Damn it, I should've cottoned on when you kept bringing me a hundred-year-old fleeceflower root every single month, right on schedule."
"Heh-heh-heh. Just pay up properly. Hand that over. That."
I extended my hand shamelessly and demanded my price. True, in exchange for fooling Chu So-gwang, engineering Paeng Yuwol's chance to obtain the real pill, and providing about ninety fragment pills, the compensation was modest.
"You actually mean to go through with this?"
"Just give it here, will you? Everyone lately drags things out unbearably!"
"Hng. Fine. I'll give it."
The old man pushed his desk aside and took out a small bottle from a hidden case underneath.
Inside a fine glass bottle — the kind you'd never expect to find in a shabby medicine shop — swayed a pale pink liquid whose purpose was obvious at a glance.
"Just where, exactly, do you plan to use an aphrodisiac and virility tonic?"
"I plan to use them for yin-yang union. What, did you think I was going to sit alone pathetically under the moon, grabbing my cock and shaking it? Honestly."
"A thing worth the price of a castle, and that's what you're after? Who are you planning to use it on?"
"Heh. As you said yourself — medicine belongs to the one who needs it."
The old man's face scrunched hard. I scooped up one of the subdivided Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill fragments and slipped it into my pocket.
"If that fellow Sam-gu ever shows up, give him this. Tell him whenever he comes back from getting stabbed somewhere, to use it on the wound. He's going to show up thinking it's thousand-year fleeceflower root and get the fright of his life. Heh-heh-heh."
"You call him your servant and boss him around, yet you take quite meticulous care of him."
"Debts must be repaid. He's the second person in my life who helped me."
I brushed off my trousers and stood.
"By the way, where did you say you got this Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill again?"
"This? That Chu bastard's storehouse. Why do you think I deliberately covered it in gold foil? Did you see him fail to recognize it once it had gold foil on it? The idiot."
"...You lunatic? Do you mean you stole that Chu bastard's Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill? And that rat didn't realize?"
"Something like that."
I stuck a leaf-rolled cigarette in my mouth and slipped into the gaps of the crowd.
"Hey, you son of a bitch!"
The child of a man worse than a dog — so "son of a bitch" was accurate. I waved my hand at the old man pouring double-barreled curses at me.
Now that the pill was in Paeng Yuwol's hands, she would certainly make some sort of move against Chu So-gwang.
"Hoo boy. I'll go to any lengths to devour Paeng Yuwol."
I infiltrated the Chuso Escort Agency once more. Having learned the agency's layout and geography, I could slip right to Chu So-gwang's quarters in no time.
'They've posted Paeng Clan warriors as guards.'
The warriors I'd seen at the pleasure house were now stationed in pairs right in front of his sleeping chamber. The man was so terrified he'd left his door open while he slept.
"Ugh, guh, hrrrgh..."
He groaned in torment in his sleep while snoring. I offered silent condolences to the warriors who'd have to listen to that death-rattle snore until the next shift change and crept into another room.
"...What should we do."
"You must break the engagement, young lady."
Everyone from the clan except the warriors standing guard had gathered in Paeng Yuwol's room to hold a strategy meeting. They were members of the Paeng Clan too — surely they didn't want to be in a nauseating place like this either.
"But what if this isn't the real Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill?"
"You confirmed it with your own eyes, my lady. Trust yourself."
"No matter how you look at it, it seems designed to swindle someone like Chu So-gwang."
"So you mean to live your whole life here under that man?"
The warriors were split in their opinions.
To help them reach a slightly faster decision, I breathed internal qi into my throat and whispered low. I had knocked a servant unconscious and was using the Soul-Hooking Technique to make him walk beside me.
"...that storehouse."
The warriors all held their breath. As we passed in front of Paeng Yuwol's door, I held back my laughter and continued speaking through the servant.
"I heard an intruder got in. Yeah, the place where that's kept. If it gets out, it might be a big problem. The truth is, that's actually a fake... ahem."
Thud. Thud. After passing through the corridor, I made the servant walk like a puppet, then slipped out of the manor. The mood among Paeng Yuwol and the Paeng Clan people began to turn foul.
"Tomorrow, I will verify it myself."
At Paeng Yuwol's resolute voice, I silently cheered her on from a distance.
"Even annulment counts as justice when the marriage was fraud."
The next day.
"I want to see the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill in person."
Chu So-gwang, who had been bouncing with excitement at the prospect of meeting Paeng Yuwol since morning, went completely bloodless.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"I am truly sorry. But after seeing all those counterfeits yesterday, I couldn't stop thinking: what if the one you prepared isn't genuine."
"That's...!"
If this were an ordinary day, he would have threatened her, demanding to know how she dared doubt him. Unfortunately, the real item was currently not in his possession. At Chu So-gwang's hesitation, Paeng Yuwol radiated killing intent and pressed him.
"Why can't you show it to me? Surely... it isn't a lie?"
"Nonsense! The item in our possession was authenticated as genuine even by Shaolin! Do you imagine we would commit deceit regarding the life or death of the Evil Slash Sword?! Preposterous! Absolutely preposterous!"
"Then show me. Evidence that it is genuine. If it is real, I will marry you tomorrow — I don't even mind if we consummate the union tomorrow. That way the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill can be sent to the clan head even one moment sooner."
Paeng Yuwol was rolling the dice. Chu So-gwang had never been a trustworthy figure from the start, and everything about his behavior had aroused her suspicion.
"F-fine! But follow me alone! Leave your Paeng Clan warriors at the agency!"
"...Very well."
Paeng Yuwol accepted the deal with confidence. The setup reeked of a match she was certain she could not lose, and she was already envisioning the annulment.
An intruder of unknown identity.
A shoulder wound that appeared out of nowhere.
A Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill that suddenly surfaced the next day.
Unnatural occurrences were piling up, not just one or two, but she had no leisure to examine them now. The priority was the annulment and the delivery of the pill.
"Follow me. I will show you the genuine article."
Chu So-gwang took Paeng Yuwol and left the manor.
A broad clearing in the middle of the forest.
I straightened my stance, holding an old blade I'd obtained at a smithy. The moment I took the initial form, my surging blood began to whisper the martial formula to me.
— The Five Tiger Door-Breaking Blade is an overbearing blade.
I started with lightness. I stamped the Quake Step, leaped, and swung the blade wide at an imaginary existence.
— To shatter and cut down everything that blocks the path: that is the Overbearing Blade.
Swish! Swish!
Imaginary foes are swept aside in a single stroke. A form slamming downward scatters dust in all directions, and a heavily armored external-art expert is cleaved through, breastplate and all.
— Therefore, the Five Tiger Door-Breaking Blade is...
"Ah, shit."
My body stopped. The memories went no further. My Five Tiger Door-Breaking Blade stalled out at a mere third form.
'Now that I think about it, I don't recall crossing blades much with the Paeng Clan.'
Maybe it was because their bold, hearty nature manifested as belligerence — by the time I was rampaging as a Blood Jiangshi, the Paeng Clan had already collapsed near to annihilation.
Paeng Yuwol would later bring about the family's revival, but so many of the Paeng Clan's people died that it became hard to distinguish the main line from collateral branches.
'Whose blood did I drink?'
Even when I rummaged through my memories, nothing surfaced. Day after day, I'd absorbed the blood and essence energy of more than a dozen people to build my martial arts, and among them, it seemed I had also held a woman of the Paeng Clan.
'I'm certain I held her often...'
I'd held so many women that the memories blur together. Or maybe the moment I saw Paeng Yuwol, I deliberately erased her from my recollections.
At any rate.
The Paeng Clan's Five Tiger Door-Breaking Blade was truly a refreshing, straightforward martial art.
'The Paeng Clan arts are so free-swinging they're perfect for beating someone to death.'
The phrase "pleasure to the blade" exists for a reason. Back in my Demonic Cult foot-soldier days, its officers and elders would joke that if they had to fight, they'd rather die fighting the Paeng Clan's fighting dogs.
'Times like this, I almost miss the old days.'
To learn martial arts, you must carve your body with effort.
But as a Blood Jiangshi, I had no such need. Thanks to the Absorption Technique, the Absorption of Yin to Nourish Yang, and the Blood Cult Leader's unique secret art, I could acquire martial arts by absorbing my opponent's blood.
Back then, right before I was killed at the end, the other name I carried as a Blood Jiangshi was the Blood Martial Repository. All manner of martial arts in the Murim were recorded in my blood, and I was called a living secret-manual vault.
That was why so many came after me. Rumors flew: that I possessed the martial arts of Jang Sam-bong, that I knew the Demonic Cult Leader's secret arts, that I had mastered the Changcheon Sinroe Sword of the Divine Sword who was the greatest under heaven five hundred years ago.
'Ultimately, they all died.'
When I returned to the past, the blood did not follow. But the memories remain in my head. The secret manuals and martial arts I gained as a Blood Jiangshi survive in my memory without the loss of a single detail.
Hebei Paeng Clan.
Five Tiger Door-Breaking Blade.
Third form.
...Up to the realm mastered by the murim warrior whose arts I devoured.
"Tch. That idiot Blood Cult Leader. If she'd just made me eat the secret manuals, it would've been better."
If she'd forced me to consume entire manuals, maybe I'd have mastered the Five Tiger Door-Breaking Blade to its utmost form. Now to learn more of it, I'd have to enter the Paeng Clan and train directly, or else take someone who'd trained beyond this level.
Taiji Blood Heaven Art.
The Blood Cult Leader — at the time, the young clan head or a woman of equivalent rank — used that accursed art to make me learn all varieties of martial arts while she controlled me through my blood.
I don't know the art of controlling others, but absorbing another person's blood to absorb their martial arts is unchanged. Only, I refuse to become the same thing in this life.
'I won't become that hideous monster again.'
I have a fine face for once. I don't want to become ugly again. When you want to take a woman, your face gives you bonus points right from the start.
Take Paeng Yuwol right now — with my beautiful features—
"...are you sure this way is correct?"
"......"
I hid. Two figures, a man and a woman, were passing diagonally along the mountain path in the distance.
Paeng Yuwol and Chu So-gwang.
'So they've come.'
The place where I'd been training was the Chuso Escort Agency's storehouse — near the place where I'd stolen the Heavenly Rejuvenation Pill. The two had finally arrived to confirm the pill.
"Heh-heh-heh. And now..."
Shhk. I neatened my stealth garment and pulled the mask over my face.
"It's Lust Demon time."