Chapter 138
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Blood on the Snow
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…!
Dan Ak-seon was so shocked he froze on the spot.
He never imagined the man would suddenly try to kill him.
The footwork and seizing arts he had learned were useless in this moment.
His mind had gone completely blank.
Even so, the dagger was plunging toward his solar plexus.
It was then that a soft, flowing stream of energy enveloped Dan Ak-seon.
Cho Ak-ryang, having assessed the situation, had acted just in time.
“Kuh!”
A suppressed groan escaped the lips of the man clutching the dagger with both hands.
The dagger was barely an inch from the boy.
But it would not go any further.
It was as if it had struck an invisible wall.
For a moment, time stopped and space distorted.
When time began to flow again.
The man was horrified to see Cho Ak-ryang appear before him as if time itself had been erased.
In that instant, a tremendous shock shot up his wrist, numbing his entire body.
*Crack.*
A gruesome sound echoed between them.
Cho Ak-ryang had twisted and broken the man's wrist.
*Clang.*
The dagger fell from the man's hand.
But the truly surprising event happened right after.
The man suddenly shuddered once, then went completely limp.
Cho Ak-ryang was utterly bewildered.
He had subdued him, but he hadn't used a killing blow.
He had intended to keep the man alive, at least until he could find out why he tried to harm Dan Ak-seon.
But as his opponent collapsed lifelessly, the light of life had already vanished from his eyes.
Seeing Cho Ak-ryang's expression, Dan Ak-seon sighed.
“It wasn't your fault, mister.”
“Are you alright?”
Though still pale, Dan Ak-seon calmly nodded.
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
When Cho Ak-ryang let go, the man's body crumpled to the ground.
Dan Ak-seon approached and checked his pulse.
It was as he expected.
The man was already dead, having succumbed to a lethal poison.
“How… ruthless.”
Dan Ak-seon bit his lower lip.
“Step back.”
After moving Dan Ak-seon back, Cho Ak-ryang began to search the man's body.
He was looking for any potential clues, but he found nothing.
“Let's go back for now.”
After saying so, Cho Ak-ryang looked at Dan Ak-seon with a puzzled expression.
Dan Ak-seon was still standing there, staring at the dead man.
That's when he noticed Dan Ak-seon's shoulders were trembling faintly.
Cho Ak-ryang reached out and took Dan Ak-seon's hand.
It was as cold as ice, a testament to how frightened he had been.
Cho Ak-ryang sent a stream of true energy through their clasped hands.
Dan Ak-seon, who had been stiff as a board, felt his body slowly relax.
And so, the two returned to the inn.
“Welcome back, Physician Dan.”
Beom Gye-wi, who had greeted Dan Ak-seon with a bright face, cast a questioning glance at Cho Ak-ryang.
It was because of Dan Ak-seon's unusually grave expression.
The same was true for Han Seol-hwa.
She studied Dan Ak-seon's face, her eyes asking what had happened.
With a grim face, Cho Ak-ryang spoke.
“Something happened in the village.”
As Cho Ak-ryang explained, a terrifying killing intent erupted from the eyes of Beom Gye-wi and Han Seol-hwa.
“Who dares?”
Unable to contain his surging anger, a fuming Beom Gye-wi stormed out of the inn, while Han Seol-hwa quietly pulled Dan Ak-seon into an embrace.
“You must have been so scared.”
Dan Ak-seon let out a long sigh.
“Yes. To be honest, my heart is still pounding.”
Han Seol-hwa nodded and silently rubbed his back.
Perhaps he had calmed down a little.
With a complicated look in his eyes, Dan Ak-seon spoke.
“So this… is what the martial world is like.”
He felt as if he had just glimpsed the dark side of the martial world he had only ever heard about.
Cho Ak-ryang and Han Seol-hwa exchanged pitiful glances.
A short while later, Beom Gye-wi returned with a look of dejection.
He had searched the entire village with a fine-toothed comb, but found no martial artists or suspicious individuals.
It was the result Cho Ak-ryang had expected.
These were the kind of people who wouldn't hesitate to ingest lethal poison to prevent any possible confession.
There was no way such meticulous bastards would leave behind any trail that could be followed.
“Who the hell are they?”
Beom Gye-wi was still seething. In response to his words, Cho Ak-ryang spoke with a grim face.
“Even if the ambush had succeeded, that man would have died. He was already afflicted with a lethal dose of poison.”
“So you're saying he attempted the assassination knowing he would die? And he took the poison himself to destroy evidence?”
As Cho Ak-ryang nodded, Beom Gye-wi muttered grimly.
“There aren't many people that ruthless.”
Then, someone suddenly came to mind.
“Could it be them?”
“...?”
“The Tang Family! They openly picked a fight with us not long ago.”
Although they had backed down after the Abbess Jeongyeon's threat, they weren't the type to give up so easily.
The attacker was poisoned.
The Tang Family were experts in poison; any discussion of toxins had to include them.
But Cho Ak-ryang shook his head.
“It wasn't them.”
As much as the Tang Family was known for being unscrupulous in achieving their goals, this was not their style.
As a clan that proclaimed itself to be part of the Orthodox Faction, they still had their own principles and justifications.
Besides, they still hadn't obtained the Jeolmyeongjeon they wanted.
With room for negotiation still on the table, it was unlikely they would resort to a reckless ambush.
Most importantly, if the Tang Family had directly tried to kill Dan Ak-seon, they wouldn't have used such a clumsy method.
*'Could this have been the goal?'*
Cho Ak-ryang suddenly felt a chill.
What if this ambush was intended to provoke an all-out war between them and the Tang Family?
He didn't know who was behind it yet, but this was certainly a plausible scenario.
At that moment, Han Seol-hwa asked Cho Ak-ryang.
“Are you sure they were targeting Physician Dan specifically?”
“The man knew that Physician Dan was a physician.”
Cho Ak-ryang explained the circumstances once more.
“He had a precise understanding of Physician Dan's character—that he can't ignore a patient.”
“Could it be related to us?”
Cho Ak-ryang shook his head.
“He paid me no mind. From start to finish, he was focused only on Physician Dan.”
Beom Gye-wi tilted his head.
“Could it be related to the Divine Physician or the Demonic Physician?”
At his words, Cho Ak-ryang and Han Seol-hwa fell into thought.
It wasn't an entirely impossible notion.
The Divine Physician and the Demonic Physician had walked different paths, and their grudges and favors were intricately entangled.
The fact that Dan Ak-seon was their child was already somewhat known.
It was only natural, in a way, for the grudges against two people no longer of this world to be directed at their child, Dan Ak-seon.
It was then that Dan Ak-seon, who had been silently thinking, spoke up.
“Perhaps I'm the direct target of that grudge.”
The three of them looked puzzled.
“What grudge could anyone have against you, Physician Dan?”
At Beom Gye-wi's question, Dan Ak-seon looked up at the three of them.
“The Joint Signature Petition.”
Dan Ak-seon continued, his face calm.
“Wouldn't there be people who don't want the petition to be completed?”
As if struck by an unexpected truth, the three of them showed looks of alarm.
Dan Ak-seon was right.
Someone could certainly despise the current situation.
The problem, however, was that there was no way to find out exactly who it was.
On the other hand, Dan Ak-seon, having regained some of his composure, nodded with calm eyes.
“I expected something like this would happen someday.”
He just didn't know that day would be today.
“For now, let's get some rest for today.”
Cho Ak-ryang offered a gentle smile for Dan Ak-seon's sake, knowing how shaken he must be.
“Don't worry, we're here.”
Dan Ak-seon forced a smile and nodded. But as he was heading to his room, he looked back at the group.
“Don't worry too much. This is the path I chose. I was prepared for this level of danger.”
The three of them smiled back and nodded.
As soon as Dan Ak-seon disappeared into his room, the smiles vanished from their faces, which instantly turned ice-cold.
Dan Ak-seon might be able to let this go, but they could not.
They would hunt down the mastermind behind this incident, root them out, and punish them thoroughly!
For now, that was their only vow.
The next day, at dawn.
It was still long before sunrise, but Dan Ak-seon's party had already left the inn.
The three of them formed a protective triangle around Dan Ak-seon, their sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.
“Right side is clear.”
Beom Gye-wi nodded at Cho Ak-ryang's words.
“Same on the left. Not even an ant.”
Han Seol-hwa, staring ahead, also gave a silent nod.
To preempt any possible ambush, they were moving with their energy senses fully extended in all directions.
Seeing their tense gazes, Dan Ak-seon gave a troubled smile.
“Please, don't be like this. Let's just travel joyfully, like we usually do.”
Despite Dan Ak-seon's plea, the three of them merely nodded in silence.
In the still-stiff atmosphere, Dan Ak-seon let out a low sigh.
“I'll have to train harder in martial arts from now on.”
Through this incident, Dan Ak-seon had also come to a realization.
If Cho Ak-ryang hadn't intervened in time, he wouldn't be alive.
But he couldn't rely on the three of them forever.
That's why he wanted to become stronger.
*'My body, and... my mind.'*
There was no telling when he might face a similar crisis again.
He couldn't afford to show the same pathetic side of himself as he did yesterday.
And that was the path that would benefit everyone.
Having firmed his resolve, Dan Ak-seon gazed at the towering Kunlun Mountains in the distance.
Their destination was just ahead.
That afternoon.
After a full day of travel, the party arrived at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains and came to a halt.
It was because of Cho Ak-ryang's low voice.
“I smell blood.”
The wind blew down from the mountain peak.
Carried within it was the metallic scent of blood.
For a moment, his cold eyes swept the area.
Cho Ak-ryang raised his hand and pointed.
“It seems to be that way.”
Protecting Dan Ak-seon, they began to climb the Kunlun Mountains.
How long had they walked?
They saw blood staining the snowy fields red.
And they also saw five bodies, half-buried in the piled snow.
“They look like Kunlun disciples.”
Cho Ak-ryang nodded at Beom Gye-wi's words.
The red, blue, and yellow cord decorations on their sleeve cuffs.
And on the back of a Taoist who lay dead face down, a peculiar Taegeuk symbol was embroidered.
It was the symbol of the Kunlun Sect, called the Three-Part Taegeuk, or the Joyful Swirl.
Unlike the Taoist sects of the Central Plains that used the two-part Taegeuk, the Kunlun Sect still insisted on using the three-part version.
“Hm?”
Cho Ak-ryang, examining the causes of death, furrowed his brow.
“What is it?”
Cho Ak-ryang remained silent at Beom Gye-wi's question.
He just stood there silently, a complicated expression on his face.
After a moment.
Cho Ak-ryang pointed to one of the bodies.
“This one's internal organs were burned away by a powerful, fiercely positive martial art.”
Then he immediately pointed to another body.
“That one's energy meridians were frozen by a chillingly negative power that pierced his vital points.”
Cho Ak-ryang looked down at the body at his feet and gave a bitter smile.
“This one's insides are liquefied and every bone in his body is shattered. He was clearly hit directly by an incredibly powerful shattering force.”
“Huh? Doesn't that sound like they were killed by us?”
Beom Gye-wi looked at Cho Ak-ryang and Han Seol-hwa with a flustered expression.
Then he quickly shook his head.
“Huh? No, that's not right. We were together the whole time.”
It was then.
“Halt!”
A voice boomed, shaking the cold air.
As the group turned toward the voice, they saw figures in the distance, kicking up snow as they rushed down the slope.
A moment later.
The eyes of the people who arrived on the scene trembled violently.
They had just noticed the bodies lying scattered about.
“How dare you! To murder Kunlun disciples here, so close to the Three Saints' Pass!”
The middle-aged Taoist at the head of some twenty Kunlun Sect disciples.
Cried out Goengdoja, his voice filled with rage.