Chapter 734
Bu Eun-seol didn't hesitate and immediately headed to the abandoned manor where Yeon-wol was located.
Inside the abandoned manor, patients still crowded the place like a bustling marketplace.
Even though it was late at night, lights remained on in various places.
As night fell, Yeon-wol wasn't treating the flood of incoming patients.
Instead, he seemed to be checking on the critically ill patients who were staying at the manor to receive treatment.
Bu Eun-seol stealthily infiltrated the manor using a concealed movement technique.
And finally, he found Yeon-wol moving about with a middle-aged man.
Thud, thud.
With the middle-aged man's assistance, he entered the abandoned building where patients were staying.
However, the middle-aged man only guided him to the building's entrance before Yeon-wol went inside alone.
"Ugh..."
Yeon-wol approached an old man groaning as he lay on a sickbed.
"How are you feeling?"
The old man opened his eyes with great difficulty, looking at Yeon-wol as he spoke.
"It... hurts too much."
The old man's face was gaunt and emaciated, with a tumor the size of a child's face protruding from his side.
"I... really want to give up now."
The old man couldn't move his body at all, and pus oozed from the bedsores on his back and buttocks.
"It's... too painful."
Every time he spoke, he gasped as if he might stop breathing.
"You mustn't. You absolutely must not give up."
Yeon-wol took a pill from his pocket and brought it to the old man's face.
His movements were so natural that one wouldn't think he was blind.
"Don't... waste any more precious medicine on me..."
The old man refused the pill with all his remaining strength.
"I... will give up."
"No. That's not an option."
Yeon-wol placed the pill into the old man's mouth. As soon as it entered, the pill dissolved like water and was absorbed instantly.
"I will definitely cure you. Just hold on a little longer."
"..."
"I'm blending new herbs to prepare another dose of medicine."
Tears and blood dripped steadily from the old man's eyes as he looked at Yeon-wol.
After taking the medicine, his fading pulse began beating strongly again.
But that was all.
His body still couldn't move, and as his pulse strengthened, the pain coursing through his entire body became even more pronounced.
He should have already passed away.
Yet here he was, unable to even twitch a finger, suffering endlessly in agony akin to death.
"Ughhh..."
A moan escaped the old man's lips.
An incomparable pain was spreading throughout his entire body.
"Just endure a little longer. I'll return soon with new medicine."
Yeon-wol moved again, this time approaching a young man nearby.
He, too, was paralyzed and unable to move, but his complexion was remarkably healthy, showing no signs of illness.
"How are you feeling?"
"Since you treated me, the pain has completely disappeared."
The young man spoke with a grateful expression.
"I spent every day in pain, waiting only for death, but thanks to you, it feels like I've found a new life."
"Humans have a natural healing ability. Simply purifying the blood and improving circulation can cure many illnesses."
Yeon-wol let out a sigh.
"But I'm worried. Once the human body is exposed to illness, the probability of recurrence is high."
"Is... that so?"
"That elderly man over there, suffering in agony, was born blind into another family's household and spent his life working himself to death."
Yeon-wol spoke with pity.
"But as he aged and weakened, he was eventually cast out. Though he worked his body to ruin, all that remains for him now is pain and sickness."
The young man's expression grew complicated.
He, too, had lived as a blind man before falling ill, and after being unable to afford the ever-mounting medical costs, he had been abandoned.
"Life is hardship and suffering from the very beginning. Human existence is ultimately... just a process of growing old while enduring physical and mental pain."
Yeon-wol sighed as he opened his acupuncture case.
"I've spoken needlessly. Let's focus on treatment first."
He carefully inserted needles into the young man's body with great precision.
Immediately, his complexion improved further, and vitality surged through his entire body.
But at the same time, unease crept into his heart.
What if I get sick again?
I'm receiving treatment now, but what if I fall ill later?
I might never meet such a divine healer again... Who will treat me then if I get sick?
All sorts of thoughts and anguish swirled through the young man's mind.
"If only... I never had to suffer this pain again, I would have no greater wish."
At the young man's words, filled with anxiety, Yeon-wol closed his eyes and smiled faintly.
"Life is suffering. Perhaps being born itself is pain."
Yeon-wol spoke calmly.
"Even the Buddhist Order speaks of liberation as ultimately severing the endless Chain of Reincarnation, doesn't it?"
"Is... that so?"
"Indeed. It would be best never to be reborn into this agonizing world again."
Yeon-wol spoke as he tidied the medical instruments.
"I've said something unnecessary, haven't I?"
"..."
"Just a few more treatments, and you'll improve further."
As Yeon-wol rose, the young man, still lying down, bowed his head in gratitude.
"Thank you."
Though he expressed thanks, his expression remained dark.
Is this really the right way to live? How much longer must I endure this?
Unrelenting doubts clung to his heart, tearing through his mind.
When Yeon-wol stepped outside, a middle-aged man stood waiting respectfully.
"Now that all the patients have been seen, you should rest as well."
"You should rest too, Doctor. You haven't slept a wink in days."
The middle-aged man spoke earnestly.
His name was Jang Sam.
Once a crippled beggar who wandered near this abandoned house, he had been the first person Yeon-wol treated upon arriving here—fixing his leg without hesitation.
Then, Yeon-wol had instructed him to spread word through the village that he would treat the sick free of charge.
Overjoyed at no longer being lame, Jang Sam eagerly roamed the village, and as rumors spread, patients flocked like clouds.
When the abandoned manor became a clinic, Jang Sam naturally took on the role of Yeon-wol's attendant.
He managed the crowds of patients, ensuring they were comfortable, and directed the gathered people to repair the crumbling building.
This new life brought him a sense of fulfillment and happiness he had never known before.
"I'll take a short walk and return."
"At this pitch-black hour before dawn?"
"What does time matter?"
Yeon-wol smiled faintly.
"To these eyes, it is always night anyway."
Then, staff in hand, he stepped outside the manor.
Jang Sam hurried after him.
"Doctor, allow me to accompany you."
"Must I repeat myself?"
Yeon-wol's voice turned uncharacteristically icy, and Jang Sam hastily bowed his head.
"Forgive me."
To Jang Sam, Yeon-wol was a god—a treasure who had taken responsibility for the rest of his life.
Thanks to the doctor treating patients for free, a former beggar like him could now command people as if he were the chief steward of a grand manor.
There was no way he could ever leave his side now.
Tap. Tap.
Staff in hand, Yeon-wol soon arrived at a bamboo grove slightly removed from the village.
His steps were swift and steady—so much so that one would never guess he was blind.
Upon reaching the grove, he smiled faintly and murmured:
"If you summon someone, shouldn't you be waiting for them?"
His voice was low.
"I sensed the shockwave of your internal energy even while I was examining patients earlier."
Swish.
From the opposite side of the grove, a figure emerged.
Bu Eun-seol.
"If you'd pretended not to notice my presence, you could have held out a little longer."
"At most, ten more days."
Yeon-wol chuckled.
"But you were already convinced and searching for proof, weren't you? Eyes bloodshot with desperation... You would've uncovered it eventually."
"So. You deliberately showed me you killing a patient?"
Yeon-wol had known Bu Eun-seol was watching—yet he had continued treating patients anyway.
"Killing a patient? Surely you don't think the medicine I gave him was poison?"
Yeon-wol wore an expression of wounded innocence.
"To relieve the pain of a man nearing death, to eradicate the tumors in his body—there is no method other than prolonging life by using poison to counter poison."
Then, unflinching, he declared:
"When I first met Old Man Mak, he had only days left to live. But thanks to me, he has survived for over three months now."
"Ridiculous."
A sharp light flared in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
"You trap them in a state where they can neither die nor live, tormenting them—and call that prolonging life?"
Bu Eun-seol had already grasped the full picture.
The old man's body was no different from a corpse, yet due to the extreme poison Yeon-wol had administered, he lingered—neither dead nor alive, enduring a hellish existence.
"And you deliberately mixed in a poison that amplifies suffering."
Bu Eun-seol retrieved a pill from his sleeve and threw it to the ground.
It was identical to the one Yeon-wol had given the old man earlier.
"You seem quite knowledgeable in the medical arts."
As Yeon-wol closed his eyes and chuckled softly, Bu Eun-seol spoke gravely.
"Then why did you use the Hidden Blood Great Salvation Technique on a young man who still had hope of recovery?"
Rage burned in his pupils.
"That technique forcibly activates innate vital energy—only to let him wither away slowly."
"So you knew that much?"
Yeon-wol shrugged his shoulders as if surprised.
"Correct. In truth, that young man could recover quickly if treated properly."
He sighed before continuing.
"As you said, forcibly activating the Innate True Qi may temporarily relieve symptoms, but ultimately depletes the body's life force... At best, he'd live about three months."
Then he smiled faintly.
"By that time, I'll be treating other patients somewhere else."
"Why?"
Bu Eun-seol stared at Yeon-wol's sinister smile as he spoke.
"Why inflict suffering on the sick? Why make patients who could live slowly waste away?"
"You truly know nothing."
Yeon-wol replied.
"Those with serious illnesses are afflicted due to karmic retribution from their past lives."
"What did you say?"
"But if they endure prolonged pain and agony while ill..."
He spoke with unwavering confidence.
"They can cleanse those sins in this lifetime and be reborn into better forms."
It was utterly bizarre logic.
An unpleasant intuition flashed through Bu Eun-seol's mind, but he forcibly suppressed it.
"And the young? They aren't seriously ill—they could live. Why waste their life force and condemn them to death?"
"Consider it a form of charity."
Yeon-wol smiled faintly.
"The weak must die quickly to be reborn as stronger individuals. Through my medical arts, I'm accumulating good karma."
His disturbing premonition had become reality.
Only those inheriting the legacy of the Demonic Cult would commit such atrocities under such twisted reasoning.
"Neither-Human-Nor-Beast."
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast.
Those who hasten the deaths of the weak to reincarnate them as better people.
A descendant of the Demonic Cult, espousing this grotesque doctrine of accumulating good karma.
Yeon-wol belonged to that faction.
"Impressive."
Yeon-wol smiled with his eyes closed.
"Is it because you're a Special-Grade Wanderer? Or perhaps as Bullet King's disciple? How does someone so young know so precisely about Heaven—something even murim veterans scarcely understand?"
A chill ran down Bu Eun-seol's spine.
Not because Yeon-wol had discerned Seol-so's identity.
Until now, he had believed Neither-Human-Nor-Beast was a new faction created by the Demonic Cult's descendants.
But Yeon-wol had just said "Heaven."
Did that mean Neither-Human-Nor-Beast was merely a subset of a larger power?
"So Neither-Human-Nor-Beast isn't the name of the Demonic Cult's descendant faction?"
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Yeon-wol let out an amused sound.
"Fufufu. Surprised? I really thought you knew us."
"'Us'? You mean the faction you belong to?"
Yeon-wol laughed playfully.
"Who knows? Ponder it yourself."
"What is your goal?"
Bu Eun-seol demanded.
"Simply to kill the weak through various methods? Or is there another purpose?"
"I told you. To accumulate good karma."
"Good karma?"
Bu Eun-seol's gaze turned icy.
"Turning those with no hope of survival into half-corpses, subjecting them to agony akin to death."
"..."
"Making those who could fully live waste away without understanding why—what kind of 'good karma' is that?"
The old man force-fed life-extending poison couldn't move a single finger or toe.
He was enduring every conceivable suffering a human could experience.
Meanwhile, the youth who believed he had recovered from serious illness now felt inexplicable unease at Yeon-wol's words.
He was withering away without understanding why.
Bu Eun-seol had encountered countless evil individuals and Killing Ghosts.
But never someone who killed people through methods as vile as Yeon-wol's.
"I told you. Those with serious illnesses can cleanse their sins by enduring the maximum pain a human can experience."
Yeon-wol's expression radiated pride, as if performing sacred work.
"Meeting me is their fortune. Without great effort, they gain the opportunity to cleanse their sins and be reborn splendidly."
Bu Eun-seol had nothing left to say.
Yeon-wol was simply a madman consumed by deranged doctrine.
Claiming the terminally ill were sinners, he subjected them to hellish torment.
And for simply being born weak—
He robbed them of hope, drained their life force, and condemned them to death...
He was no different from a demon.
"One last question."
Bu Eun-seol asked with a devastated expression.
"What is Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's organizational structure? What does 'Heaven' signify?"
"..."
"Why are you creating Ghost Children and sending them into the murim?"
"Hmm."
Yeon-wol tilted his head as if recalling something.
"You truly seem to know nothing, so I'll tell you just one thing."
Yun-wol smiled faintly.
"Ghost Child was merely a small experiment."
Flames flickered in Bu Eun-seol's pupils.
Did that mean there were other things besides Ghost Child?
If so, could it be that another wave of chaos created by the Neither-Human-Nor-Beasts would soon descend upon the murim?
'I must steel my Resolution.'
If toppling the Infinite Realm had brought forth the Neither-Human-Nor-Beasts,
then destroying the Azure River Realm would unleash the factions they had controlled.
And if the Unity Realm were to fall, something else might emerge in its wake, like a Counterforce.
'It doesn't matter.'
After all, the Three Realms themselves had been exploiting, killing, and experimenting on innocent people at will.
In the end, the Three Realms were nothing more than the lesser evil—no different from the Neither-Human-Nor-Beasts.
Swish.
Bu Eun-seol extended his index finger,
Gooooh.
and the surrounding air gradually gathered toward it.
Known as the Bullet King's disciple, he was now attempting to mimic the Inner Energy Bullet Art.
"In the name of Heaven, I shall punish you—a wretch who capriciously steals and toys with the lives of innocent commoners."
Even as Bu Eun-seol prepared to unleash the Inner Energy Bullet Art, Yun-wol kept his eyes closed, a faint smile playing on his lips.
It was as if he were daring him to strike.
If Bu Eun-seol truly were the Bullet King's disciple...
He wouldn't have been able to launch a preemptive strike against Yun-wol, who stood defenseless with his eyes closed.
After all, his master had once been a Renowned Chivalrous Hero, his name etched upon the Hero Stele in life.
KWA-BOOM!
Yet Bu Eun-seol fired the Inner Energy Bullet Art without hesitation.
Of course, it wasn't the true technique—
merely a terrifying Finger Wind, compressed air propelled by roughly five centuries of Internal Power.
Pak!
But something astonishing happened.
The Inner Energy Bullet dissipated like mist before it could even touch Yun-wol's body.
Zzziiing.
As it turned out, a mysterious Energy had already enveloped him.
Uuuung.
Unfazed, Bu Eun-seol flicked his finger again.
This time, dozens of pebbles levitated before him.
Fully mimicking the Bullet King's technique, he unleashed the Inner Energy Bullet Art once more.
BOOM! BOOM!
Each pebble that struck Yun-wol's body exploded into dust, scattering in all directions.
Yet even this failed to shatter the mysterious Energy shielding him.
Swish!
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol closed the distance, drawing the iron sword at his waist and thrusting it toward Yun-wol's throat.
But the blade, infused with his formidable Internal Energy, could not pierce through.
Ghk.
Rather than pressing the attack, Bu Eun-seol swiftly retreated.
"A Black Divine Artifact?"
"Oh, you truly know many things."
A gleeful light flickered across Yun-wol's closed-eyed expression.
"Knowing of us, recognizing a Black Divine Artifact... You must have clashed with our kind quite often. I wonder why you've remained undetected until now."
After a brief pause, a chilling voice seeped from Yun-wol's lips.
"Or perhaps even the identity of 'Seol-so' itself is someone else's shadow."
Bu Eun-seol remained silent.
With just a few words, Yun-wol had deduced far too much.
"Shall I take a look, then?"
Seeing Bu Eun-seol's silence, Yun-wol—
Shuuk!
closed the distance in an instant and thrust his staff forward.
The motion was so fluid,
Bu Eun-seol nearly had his brow pierced before he could even comprehend it.
Pat.
Twisting his neck aside at the last moment, he narrowly avoided the strike—only for the staff to arc through the air and slash downward toward his chest pressure point.
Though it seemed like an effortless swing, the force behind it was terrifying.
With every motion, leaves scattered in all directions.
'No openings.'
KWA-RUNG!
Finding no gaps in Yun-wol's staff technique, Bu Eun-seol fired another Inner Energy Bullet.
Yet Yun-wol dodged them effortlessly, as if he already knew their trajectories.
Whiik. Whoosh.
The staff techniques of this blind man were more flawless than any Sword Form Bu Eun-seol had faced before.
Not a single weakness could be found, and with every swing, an oppressive weight pressed against his chest.
'I'll clash with Internal Energy.'
Bu Eun-seol precisely stabbed the tip of his iron sword against the staff driving toward his vital point.
Zzziiing.
A circular Shockwave erupted between the two weapons, unleashing a storm in all directions.
The moment their weapons met, they poured their full True Qi into a direct contest of Internal Energy.
Shuuuu.
Leaves rained down like a downpour.
Astonishingly, Yun-wol was effortlessly blocking Bu Eun-seol's four centuries' worth of Internal Power.
Though his expression remained serene, the space between them was engulfed in a storm of nearly eight centuries' worth of True Qi.
If he lost this battle of Internal Energy...?
Eight centuries' worth of power would surge through his body. There would be no room for miracles.
'So that's it.'
Despite Yun-wol's overwhelming Internal Energy, the flames of Fighting Spirit only blazed brighter in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
By forcing this contest, he had realized—
just how strong Yun-wol truly was,
just how absurd his techniques were.
He had uncovered the Secret.