Chapter 65. Orthodox-Demonic War (4)
Chapter 65. Orthodox-Demonic War (4)
While I chatted with my guardian spirit, the Medicine King boiled water with that Evian-like mineral water. At the same time, he laid out a frying pan and cutting board with practiced ease and began cooking.
A savory aroma filled the cave.
"Hoo, haah."
The Medicine King's hands were quick. A soup boiled with mussels, a dish of white fish grilled crisp like a steak with the skin on and served over asparagus, a stir-fry of some unidentifiable fish and long clam meat garnished with parsley, a porridge-like dish topped with cream and minced clam meat and mushrooms, and even a whole leg of lamb roasted—he finished it all in just fifteen minutes and set the dishes out with a clatter.
"Here, you lot! It ain't much, but eat up. You gotta eat well while you're young. Tsk tsk."
The Murim Alliance Master's eyes went wide at the spread before him.
"W-well, I'm one thing, but that Heavenly Demon wench has also gotten on in years..."
"Did you two eat some kinda immortality elixir or what? Good grief, if this were Silicon Valley, you'd have filed a patent! Anyway, if you're old, then eat well like old folks should! That's how your body holds up."
The Medicine King ladling mussel soup into a large bowl looked exactly like a foul-mouthed grandmother—no, a foul-mouthed grandfather.
I accepted a bowl of mussel soup as well. The smell seemed decent enough, and I figured mussel soup was just mussel soup, but the moment I put a spoonful in my mouth—
Good heavens.
'This is so damn good!'
Maybe it was because I'd just eaten those absurd scraps of food called Fasting Pills or whatever.
First of all, there wasn't a trace of fishiness. And it hadn't just been boiled in plain water—something like a red vegetable had been ground into it, giving the soup a red color. It was slightly tangy yet savory, and even just sipping the broth was delicious. The mussel meat was chewy and springy, wrapping around my tongue and teeth as it burst with juices that perfectly blended the mussel's own liquor with the broth. It was fantastic.
Truly fucking delicious.
For me—whose idea of luxury, even after winning the Merchant Alliance lottery, had peaked at a Venti quad-shot Java Chip Frappuccino with half-and-half and extra chocolate drizzle—this was a genuine shock.
The pharmacist, who hadn't yet gained fame and had been scraping by in the slums, seemed to feel the same way. The pharmacist's eyes went wide.
"Oh my god, it's delicious..."
The pharmacist broke down the flavor in words.
"This shrimp. It's plump and firm. And it literally tastes like shrimp... Not fishy at all... Ah, how can shrimp taste like this? And this mille-feuille dessert tastes like Nunetine was granted a peerage—not just any peerage, but made a marquess. The yogurt ice cream underneath has fresh passion fruit juice laid beneath it, like tartness squared... Ah, how can it taste like this."
The Medicine King puffed up with pride.
"That's because I earned three Michelin stars as an owner-chef in my fifties! Hmph. If I'd had a proper stove instead of this piece-of-crap burner, I'd have burst your bellies wide open."
Could this Medicine King actually be someone truly remarkable, not just a medicine maker?
Were all those claims about Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and being a boxing champion not just bluster but actually true?
"If you're such a big shot, why'd you come to the Tower?"
Viper must have been curious about the same thing, because he asked while chewing a big mouthful of seafood porridge (the official name appeared to be abalone truffle risotto).
The Medicine King snorted.
"Why, can't someone like me come? That bastard Marcus came to the Tower too!"
I see.
"So you knew each other from outside?"
"Knew him, my ass. He was just a filthy rich, filthy hateful brat born into some chaebol family. To a self-made man like me from Silicon Valley, he was nothing but a lucky bastard. And then that bastard, after a run of bad luck in his later years, went off his rocker and came to the Tower with a sword in hand..."
The words that had begun with a snort trailed off into a mumble.
The pharmacist, Viper, and I all looked at the Medicine King with faces that said we were seeing him in a new light. Perhaps those gazes tickled him, because the Medicine King waved his ladle as if shooing away birds.
"Just eat, will you!"
So we ate. It was truly, spectacularly delicious.
That was the moment the head chef of the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon expedition was decided.
"Truly, this is a supreme flavor."
The very protagonist of the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon, the Heavenly Demon herself, spoke while shoveling food into her mouth without pause.
"Are you perhaps a chef of the imperial court? Hmm, no. This is different from the cuisine of the Central Plains."
The Murim Alliance Master also slurped up cream pasta, spitting as he spoke.
"That fellow's words are exactly mine. I too have eaten a wide variety of dishes as Alliance Master, but this is a first."
"These strange dishes, and the air of abundance about you... I cannot help wondering where you people came from, and why you came here."
"Have you perhaps found a way to cure the jiangshi plague beyond the border?"
The two martial artists' eyes gleamed.
It was only natural. From their perspective, we were the first humans they had met in years. They couldn't help but find us wondrous, and couldn't help but hope that a cure had been invented.
I felt sorry for them inwardly, but I shook my head.
"No, we're still in the process of searching for a cure as well."
"Hmm. So it is as expected..."
Had their disappointment matched their expectations?
Both of their faces fell.
"Indeed. Every physician and Taoist in the jianghu threw themselves at curing this plague, but none succeeded."
"Even the masters of the Maoshan Sect, the experts on jiangshi, threw up their hands in surrender. Even beyond the border, the situation would not have been different..."
"Was there truly no cure at all?"
I spoke.
"I'm not boasting, but you saw the cooking just now. We possess knowledge different from yours. In particular, the pharmacist here excels above all others at treating illness and compounding medicine."
The pharmacist, who had been taking a big bite of lamb, turned red.
The Medicine King grumbling beside her that "it's just luck"—well, as someone eating delicious food for free, I did feel a little sorry for him.
"That person over there is also capable enough to assist the pharmacist. If you can help us even a little, we may be able to develop a cure."
"......"
The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance Master looked at each other.
"It's a bit awkward to call it a cure, but..."
"Well, it's not that there was no method at all..."
Color returned to the pharmacist's face.
"Wh-what is it?"
"...Wait here."
A moment later, the Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance Master brought out a large coffin.
When they pried open the coffin, a single zombie lay inside.
-......
Just like when we'd remarked on the Murim Alliance Master's warm body, the Sword Emperor kept his mouth shut with a furrowed brow.
The zombie was as docile as if it were basking in sunlight. Whether it was because it was bound tightly with iron chains, or because spikes the size of nails were driven into every joint, it lay there without so much as twitching.
I raised my head.
"This is...?"
"The sect leader of the Wudang Sect."
The Heavenly Demon said flatly.
"Immediately after being bitten by a jiangshi, he entrusted his body to us, asking us to use it for research. But we discovered only one method: blocking the blood channels throughout the body with needles."
The Heavenly Demon reached into the coffin.
"Be careful."
Pop. The Heavenly Demon pulled out the large needle lodged in the zombie's neck.
-Uwaaaaah!
At that very moment, the zombie that had been quiet as if asleep snapped its eyes open.
"Eek?"
The pharmacist startled and fell backward. The zombie opened its jaws to bite the pharmacist. Clang! Clang! Bound by the iron chains, the zombie's attack ended in vain, but the pharmacist couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.
"As you can see."
Thunk!
The Heavenly Demon drove the large needle back into the zombie's neck. The zombie's eyes slid shut again. Its expression relaxed as if it had never thrashed at all.
"If you block the blood channel between the brain and the spinal cord, you can put a jiangshi to sleep. It is the cervical point. However, this is not so much a cure as a mere temporary measure."
"......"
"Those bitten by a jiangshi are tainted by turbid qi through their blood and qi channels."
Turbid qi.
Could she be talking about a virus?
"This turbid qi cannot be expelled no matter how one sits in lotus position and practices qi circulation. Whether it be a demonic practitioner who has cultivated demonic qi from the start, or a Taoist with spirit as clear as a stream, once bitten, it is over. The whole body burns as if on fire, and before long, one becomes a jiangshi."
The Heavenly Demon slowly closed the coffin.
"The Shaolin monk lasted the longest. Even after his arm was bitten off by a jiangshi, he maintained his sanity for a year. But that is an exception among exceptions, and no matter how outstanding a master, it is difficult to last beyond a fortnight."
The Heavenly Demon sighed.
"Children from beyond the border. Can you truly find a cure?"
"......"
The pharmacist couldn't answer. Even the Medicine King, with his severe old-man temperament, was at a loss for words.
When no one in our party could respond, the Heavenly Demon smiled bitterly.
"It is fine. I thought only the old relic and I remained in the world, but simply meeting living people like this must be the Old Mother watching over us. If you wish, stay here as long as you like."
The Murim Alliance Master nodded.
"We shall prepare sleeping arrangements, so rest for tonight. There is much to discuss, but we can continue talking tomorrow."
Our first day in the Apocalypse.
We had no choice but to spend the night without any particular results.
5
"Ugh, I can't eat anymore..."
"Marcus, you bastard, if you go off like that, am I to spend my whole life stuck in second place..."
Deep night. The party members murmured in their sleep, deep in slumber.
We had laid out bedding near the open-air bath, and though it was slightly damp, there was no worry of shivering from the cold.
-Zombie, why aren't you asleep?
I looked up at the sky. The cave's ceiling was open, and the pitch-black night sky was clearly visible.
'There's something I need to confirm.'
Instead of asking what I wanted to confirm, the Sword Emperor closed his mouth. He must have had his own suspicions.
Those suspicions were probably the same as mine.
I pulled the blanket up to my face. Then I closed my eyes and pretended to be fast asleep.
The night deepened.
Slither—
I felt someone approaching. It wasn't one person. It was two. I held my breath quietly without opening my eyes. The two presences lingered near us and whispered in very small voices.
"...Are they asleep?"
"...It seems so."
"...Then let's take this chance, quickly."
"...Yes. Let's finish it quickly."
The voices of the Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance Master.
The presences gradually moved away from us. A soft splashing sound of water could be heard. Taking advantage of the moment when our entire party was asleep, the two martial artists had begun to bathe.
'Now.'
Whoosh!
I sprang up by surprise and ran toward the open-air bath. Beyond the thick steam. The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance Master were soaking in the bath in white mourning clothes. The two had been enjoying the hot spring with weary faces, but they startled at the sight of me suddenly charging over.
"Gah!"
The Murim Alliance Master hurriedly sank his body deep into the bath. The old man couldn't hide his flustered expression.
Just as I thought.
After one glance at the two martial artists' bodies, I was certain my prediction had been correct.
"Wh-what is it! You! I thought you were asleep!"
"......"
The Heavenly Demon narrowed her eyes. She seemed to have grasped the situation a little faster than the old man. She sighed lightly and stared at me quietly.
"...You are a sharp child. When did you realize?"
"I thought something was a little off from the first time I saw you."
I spoke.
"The weather is this cold, yet your clothing was light. One of you wore only a martial arts uniform, and the other was in full mourning clothes."
The weather outside was the dead of winter.
Cold enough that one couldn't endure even a little without using Aura.
Yet in such bitter cold, the martial artists before me maintained attire that was practically naked.
"That means you were circulating internal energy to protect your bodies from the cold. In other words, you're people who excel at operating internal energy... But people like that getting into a dogfight, or getting tired after walking a little—that's strange."
I spoke slowly.
"There's only one interpretation that explains this. You two are concentrating all your internal energy on [something else]."
"......"
"You said earlier that once bitten by a jiangshi, the whole body is stained with turbid qi."
I looked straight through the steam at the Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance Master.
"You two have already been bitten, haven't you?"
"......"
"Here's what I think. Heavenly Demon, Alliance Master. You two were infected by a jiangshi a long time ago. It's just that, as befitting leaders of the Demonic Cult and the orthodox faction, you're using tremendous internal energy to suppress the turbid qi. Am I wrong?"
Silence settled over the open-air bath.
Splash.
The sound of the water's surface rippling could be heard, and soon the Heavenly Demon rose to her feet.
"Y-you demon woman. You..."
"Enough, old relic. We've already been found out, have we not?"
The Heavenly Demon shook her head.
"Child from beyond the border, your words are correct."
She turned her back to me.
The Heavenly Demon's pure white back.
"The old relic and I were bitten by a jiangshi three years ago."
A purple, rotting wound marred her back.
The Murim Alliance Master also slowly revealed the back of his neck.
"However, strictly speaking, there is a part of your words that is incorrect."
A similarly rotted and festering wound was there.
But the wound stopped at the neck.
"We are not suppressing the turbid qi."
Above that point was a clean human face, just as they had shown all along.
With that clean face, the Murim Alliance Master spoke.
"We have blocked the cervical point itself with internal energy, cutting off the turbid qi."
The Sword Emperor clicked his tongue.
-Insane. That's telekinetic object manipulation.
'Telekinetic object manipulation?'
-Gong-ja, you know about Sword Control, right?
'Yes, wrapping a sword in internal energy to make it fly... No way?'
It was exactly that "no way."
-Yes, blocking the cervical point means losing all sensation below the neck. Obviously, you can't move either. In other words, they're paralyzed from the neck down. But the reason they can move right now is... they're moving their entire bodies [with internal energy], just like using Sword Control.
My guardian spirit said.
-Their hearts beating.
Even the beating of their hearts.
-Breathing with their lungs.
Even inhaling and exhaling air.
-Extending an arm and moving the joints, stretching a leg forward and controlling the waist, knees, ankles, and soles of the feet.
In short, everything necessary to live and move.
-Those bastards are controlling every single thing with internal energy.
To prevent the zombie virus from traveling up the spinal cord and spreading to the brain.
The two martial artists had sealed off their own brains.
"......"
I fell silent.
In other words.
-Those bastards are essentially maintaining Sword Control on their entire bodies 24 hours a day. That's why they get exhausted after just a few steps. Crazy bastards...
As if picking up where my guardian spirit left off, the Heavenly Demon spoke.
"That is how we have been fighting the Orthodox-Demonic War."
The Murim Alliance Master picked up her words.
"And so three years have already passed."