Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Merciless Killing Physician (2)
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While the Heavenly Demon was declaring his intent to seek out the Merciless Killing Physician Yu Cheon-baek in order to save Yang Hui-gun by any means necessary, the Moyong Clan was plunged into unprecedented chaos.
"You call that nonsense? One man? You're saying a single person breached our clan's underground prison and its entrance?"
Moyong Gui, the Yonyeong First Sword and the clan's supreme expert known as One Sword Myriad Changes, could hardly believe the current situation.
'Even I, a transcendent master, would find it difficult and arduous to demolish the underground prison and shatter its entrance on a pitch-black night like this.'
Let alone some young expert whose face they barely knew and who wasn't even famous—it was simply inconceivable by common sense.
Moyong Gui had his subordinates confirm the reports multiple times, but their testimonies remained consistent.
-A young expert we've never seen before unleashed tremendous martial arts and slaughtered us.
Just who the hell was that young expert?
Even when they pinpointed his appearance and features, there was no news whatsoever.
"He vanished without a trace, like a ghost or a mouse—we can't pursue him."
"What about the escaped prisoners?"
Moyong Gui pressed his throbbing forehead and asked the warden in charge of the underground prison.
"There were 33 escaped prisoners in total, seven of whom were serious offenders."
The warden bowed deeply, terrified that the clan leader's fury might turn on him.
"How many of them have our clan's forces recaptured?"
"Twenty-eight."
Not one or two, but a full five had escaped—Moyong Gui's eyes brimmed with murderous rage.
Seeing that gaze, the warden paled and shrank back even further.
"Don't tell me... among those we failed to recapture is 'that one'?"
At the question, the warden's heart sank, his face confirming the worst.
"Unfortunately... yes, he is among them."
"This is insane!"
Upon hearing that Yang Hui-gun of Ghost Sword Manor—the one who must never be discovered—had not been recaptured, Moyong Gui exploded in rage, forgetting all decorum.
Normally, for the sake of appearances, he treated his subordinates with at least formal courtesy, but today was an exception.
"You haven't caught a guy who can't even move, let alone use his qi?"
Moyong Gui raised his voice.
He knew Yang Hui-gun's condition better than anyone.
After all, he was the one who had driven Yang Hui-gun into such a wretched state and subjected him to brutal torture.
"Well... it seems that among the five uncaptured prisoners, there may have been accomplices, or in the worst case, that mysterious young expert might have taken them."
The warden spoke frankly.
On that fateful dawn when the disaster struck, numerous testimonies reported that the young expert who infiltrated the underground prison had been carrying someone on his back.
"...!!"
Moyong Gui was dealt a massive shock by the escalating tale.
'If Yang Hui-gun survives and our clan's actions are exposed?!'
If that happened, the Moyong Clan would face such severe condemnation that they couldn't show their faces anywhere, and it was certain they'd be ostracized by the orthodox sects as well.
"Ghost Sword Manor hasn't sent experts suspecting us, have they?"
Moyong Gui asked his closest aides.
"We don't think so."
"Even though Ghost Sword Manor barely survived by defeating Fine Sword Sect, they don't have anyone capable of demolishing our underground prison and laying waste to its entrance."
This wasn't just the Moyong Clan's view—it was the consensus among all martial artists.
Even if Ghost Sword Manor was on the rise, compared to the Moyong Clan, one of the Five Great Clans, they were mere drops in the bucket.
"I think so too, but..."
"Clan Leader, for now, it's best to stay silent and wait."
"Exactly. Even if it was Ghost Sword Manor, if we deny involvement, what evidence do they have to press us?"
The aides proposed silence as the best course.
Moyong Gui quite liked the idea.
"Heh heh heh. Indeed. With no evidence left, how could they investigate? We can dismiss it as nonsense and bury it."
Greater power can cover the truth.
This held true not just for the unorthodox paths, but for the orthodox sects as well.
"Still, just in case—monitor Ghost Sword Manor's every move and keep tracking Yang Hui-gun, the Ghost Shadow Sword!"
"Understood!"
"Yes, sir."
And so, Moyong Gui temporarily closed the case of the underground prison collapse.
Only now did he exhale a sigh of relief and head to his residence.
Though he hadn't gotten what he wanted, he had no worries.
Unaware that the First Heavenly Demon would soon come to judge him, Moyong Gui savored this brief moment of peace.
A shabby house in a secluded mountain devoid of people.
"Urgh... uurrghhh!"
In that dark and wretched place, an elderly man of robust build writhed in agony.
His physique and complexion were impeccable for his age, but his eyes were strange.
Flash!
In the dead of night, his gaze gleamed blood-red, and his chest heaved ever more violently.
"Please! Please!!"
In utter torment, he smashed his head against the floor like a madman, begging over and over.
'I don't want to kill any more people.'
The one agonizing over his desire not to kill anymore was dressed as a physician—and astonishingly, he was none other than Yu Cheon-baek, the bizarre doctor who killed people instead of saving them, the Merciless Killing Physician.
"Ughhh!"
Unable to overcome the powerful murderous impulse, Yu Cheon-baek finally,
Ching!
drew his sword.
'No. I can't lose my reason like this!'
Yu Cheon-baek feared that if he continued, he might slaughter the nearby herbalists gathering herbs or hunters at will.
In the end, he raised the sword he had drawn.
Pfshk!
And without hesitation, plunged it straight into the center of his chest.
The sharp blade pierced clean through, protruding from his back—yet astonishingly, Yu Cheon-baek didn't flinch.
Drip drip!
There was some bleeding, but only briefly.
His blood reversed course, as if time itself were rewinding, flowing back from the wound into his skin and veins.
But the most astonishing scene was yet to come.
Shruk! Shruk shluk!
The fatal wound through his chest that had impaled him pushed out the sharp blade as if it had never happened, regenerating with horrifying speed.
Not ordinary regeneration, but flesh bubbling like boiling foam, healing so rapidly it transcended human limits—like that of a monster.
"This cursed body that won't die no matter what I do!"
Yu Cheon-baek truly despaired, loathing himself.
The only way to kill the monster he had become was not martial arts or a sharp sword, but solely time.
Time alone.
Living out his allotted lifespan and dying naturally was the only path to liberation from this interminable curse.
"Huff... haaah!"
Having lost much blood and undergone massive regeneration, the Merciless Killing Physician Yu Cheon-baek gasped for breath.
Even so, this outburst of swordplay and bloodshed subdued his killing intent to some degree.
But even that was reaching its limit soon.
'How much longer can I hold out?'
He knew all too well that suppressing himself like this wouldn't last—it would explode eventually.
Yet Yu Cheon-baek was exhausted.
He had learned medicine aspiring to be a noble physician who saved lives, but now the lives he had taken with his own hands outnumbered those he had saved.
Without a doubt, that outcome inflicted deeper pain and wounds than death itself.
"Kill me. Kill me, please... anyone, just do it!"
Yu Cheon-baek had confined himself in this straw hut like a prison in the mountains, refusing food or even a sip of water.
He knew well that this wouldn't kill him—in fact, as time passed, his killing urge would only intensify.
Yet he had no choice; without tormenting himself, he lacked the will to endure this agonizing life any longer.
How much time had passed like this?
"Myeong-ah! Myeong-ah!"
Soon, hallucinations appeared and phantom voices echoed.
"Are you there?"
Incredibly, people had come searching for the straw hut where the Merciless Killing Physician was hiding.
"Are you home?"
Sogang raised his voice and called out again.
With still no response, Sogang felt troubled.
'Did we get the wrong place?'
Looking back, it had been nearly a year since he heard the rumor from his fellow storyteller.
That meant he could have moved elsewhere—or worst case, it might have been a lie.
"Gu... Gunryong-nim."
Sogang paled, fearing he had wasted time and delayed Yang Hui-gun's treatment, and glanced at Gunryong.
He expected that even the Heavenly Demon, who cherished him, would be unable to contain his fury and turn him to pulp for this mistake—when,
"There's someone inside."
Instead of raging or venting, Gunryong said something unexpected.
"Huh? I don't sense any presence at all?"
Sogang said, but Gunryong shook his head.
'Faint breathing... ragged, tormented breathing.'
The reason he sent Sogang ahead and didn't open the door himself was simple.
Since they were here to request—and if needed, demand—treatment for Yang Hui-gun, as the Heavenly Demon, he observed minimal courtesy.
"Pardon the intrusion."
The Heavenly Demon sensed someone inside gasping in torment and, concerned something might have happened to the Merciless Killing Physician, moved to open the door—when,
"Stop! You can't come in!"
Someone shouted from inside the hut.
Naturally, it was the voice of the Merciless Killing Physician, Yu Cheon-baek.
He was utterly desperate.
'In this blood-starved state, if I meet people now, I...'
With his self-control utterly shattered, encountering defenseless people would turn him into a monster swinging his weapon unilaterally, without even proposing to take a life in exchange for saving one.
"So please... just go."
Yu Cheon-baek wanted to end his life as a man rather than continue as a monster.
As he pleaded from the depths of his heart,
Clank!
the door opened.
The one who opened it was, of course, the Heavenly Demon.
Starved for blood and wracked by murderous impulse,
upon encountering the two young men, Yu Cheon-baek's iron resolve crumbled helplessly.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
In the end, he let out not a human cry, but the howl of a bloodthirsty killer, losing his reason and charging forward.
At that moment, Yu Cheon-baek had no weapons.
The sharpest thing he had were silver needles for treating patients, but as a monster now, he had no need for them.
His entire body—his two fists—were weapons and tools of slaughter.
Kwaaaaaah!
Completely broken by the Heavenly Demon's approach, Yu Cheon-baek lunged like a magnet drawn irresistibly.
Unaware that the young man before him was an even greater monster.