Chapter 13
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: The Frame-Up
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CRASH!!
A tumultuous sound echoed through the Nanjung Medical House.
It was the sound of the head of the house, Geum Yeo-hwi, roaring.
What did those bastards from the Medical Immortal House say?! They want a twenty-to-one exchange ratio?
Th-thats right. They said if it comes to it, theyll close their doors even if cholera breaks out.
Those goddamn bastards!
In truth, it wouldnt matter to the Medical Immortal House if they closed their doors.
Who could blame them for closing because they had no medicine?
Of course, the Medical Immortal House wouldn't actually go that far, but between the two, the Nanjung Medical House was the one feeling the heat.
If any of the Nanjung Medical House's high-status regular clients were to die from improper treatment, the blame would fall squarely on them.
Everyone knew that the Nanjung Medical House was the culprit behind this whole affair.
The government officials also seem to want us to negotiate reasonably. They say the people's complaints about this incident are serious.
Hah! After taking so many bribes, theyre no help at all!
Geum Yeo-hwi gritted his teeth.
It seemed this move had been a mistake.
Twenty-to-one is unacceptable. Five-to-one is the maximum.
But, the men from the Medical Immortal House are adamant?
If they wont listen to reason, well have to force them. Bring me Grandmaster Eun.
Surely not?
The Zhejiang Blood Sword, Eun So-wi.
As his title suggested, he was a master from the Unorthodox Faction who had made a name for himself in Zhejiang Province.
He was currently staying at the Nanjung Medical House as a guest warrior.
A master of the Unorthodox Faction in a medical house? One might question it, but it was surprisingly common.
The logic was that since medical houses treated patients regardless of their alignment, it was acceptable to take in masters from the Unorthodox Faction as guest warriors.
The medical house gained a reliable protector, and the Unorthodox master got a chance to clean up his reputationa mutually beneficial arrangement.
Wasnt the one who orchestrated all this that reckless brat, Wi Ji-cheon? A taste of how cruel the world can be should snap him to his senses.
Geum Yeo-hwi said grimly.
Are you the one they call Wi Ji-cheon?
Walking down a quiet back alley in Nanyang, Wi Ji-cheon looked up.
A tall, intimidating man in a bamboo hat was glaring down at him.
He took the bait.
Suppressing a triumphant cheer, he deliberately asked in a cautious voice.
Who are you, mister?
I am Eun So-wi, the Zhejiang Blood Sword. Youre coming with me.
Eun So-wi was a master who had earned quite a reputation in Zhejiang Province.
His level was none other than the Peak Realm!
...Well, not quite. He was half a step into the Peak Realm, able to wield Sword Ki, albeit in a limited capacity.
This placed him a level above Jang Sam, the master of the Black Ghost Sect who had yet to even glimpse Sword Ki. At this level, he could be considered a respected master anywhere.
However.
I dont want to, you son of a bitch.
??
Eun So-wi couldn't believe his ears.
Son of a... what?
Who just said that to me?
Before him was only a boy with a beaming face.
Just as he was about to dismiss it as having misheard.
Who the hell are you? Zhejiang Blood Sword? A nobody acting all high and mighty. What a joke. You wont come to your senses until youve been beaten bloody.
You little brat?!
Eun So-wi raised his hand sharply.
He had been told to bring the boy back unharmed if possible, but no one from the Unorthodox Faction would stand still after hearing such words.
Besides, Eun So-wi wasn't the type to go easy on someone just because they were a child.
Ill teach you some manners!
Whoosh!
He went to slap him, but.
Huh?
His hand struck empty air.
He dodged?
His bewilderment didn't end there.
Help! Someone, help me!
Y-you little?!
They were in a deserted back alley.
Before people could gather, Eun So-wi urgently reached out to grab Wi Ji-cheon, but.
This thug is trying to kill me!!
He dodged the hand, hopping around.
The infuriating part was that he simply couldn't be caught.
He wasn't even that fast!
Eventually, people started to notice.
The Little Immortal of Nanyang?
That man? Hes the Zhejiang Blood Sword, a guest warrior of the Nanjung Medical House!
The Nanjung Medical House is trying to harm the Little Immortal of Nanyang!
Kagh!! Shut up!!
Growing anxious, Eun So-wi even unleashed his internal energy.
Just then, thwack!
What is the meaning of this?
And who are you?
Jang Sam of the Black Ghost Sect.
Jang Sam said with a constipated look on his face.
Young Master Wi Ji-cheon is the benefactor who taught me how to live a new life. I will protect him.
Damn it. Hes using me again!
Jang Sam's appearance was, of course, part of Wi Ji-cheon's plan.
Grandmaster Jang Sam of the Black Ghost Sect has stepped in!
Hooray! Long live Grandmaster Jang Sam!!
Eun So-wi let out a dry laugh.
You seem to be a friend from the Unorthodox Faction. Dont you know the most important rule in our faction is to never challenge someone stronger than you?
He knew.
That was how Jang Sam had risen to his current position.
Normally, Eun So-wi was an opponent Jang Sam would never fight.
But right now, Jang Sam wasn't here of his own free will.
Hmph. Mister Jang Sam is going to teach you a lesson! Go get him, Mister Jang Sam!
Shut up!
Shut up!
Jang Sam and Eun So-wi shouted at the same time. Of course, Jang Sams was timid and only in his head.
Jang Sam or whatever-sam, youll regret this!
Fwoosh!
A dark brown Sword Ki erupted.
He couldn't afford to waste any more time, so he intended to end this in one blow.
The force of the Sword Ki was more intense than expected, and just as Jang Sams face turned pale.
- Lower right. Second form of the Divine Ghost Heavenly Arts.
!!
The Divine Ghost Heavenly Arts was a fist and foot technique.
Jang Sams foot swept upward from the lower right.
Subtly.
With a movement like a true ghost, something unimaginable from his previous use of the arts.
At this rate, before the Sword Ki could slice through Jang Sam, his foot would strike Eun So-wi squarely in the head.
Y-you bastard?
Eun So-wi, startled, pulled his sword back.
The problem was the Sword Ki he had summoned.
Eun So-wi was not yet a complete master of the Peak Realm.
His control over the Sword Ki was not fluid.
His internal energy became tangled.
Of course, this didn't mean he suffered from Qi Deviation or sustained internal injuries.
It was just a momentary disruption in the flow of his ki.
Against an opponent like Jang Sam, who was a level below him, it wasn't a major issue.
Just then, Wi Ji-cheon seized the opening.
Flick!
It was a Finger Wind.
One that no one noticed.
The Finger Wind precisely struck the pressure point where his ki was tangled.
!!
Eun So-wi's eyes became bloodshot.
Wh-what? Which master?
At least a Peak Realm master.
A Finger Wind of a level only possible for someone who had reached a mature stage within that realm.
Then, Eun So-wis gaze fell upon Wi Ji-cheon.
His finger was pointed directly at him.
Could it be? Impossible
Eun So-wi's thoughts were cut short.
The sin of trying to harm my benefactor. I will repay it with this fist.
POW!!
Jang Sams fist struck Eun So-wi squarely in the face.
...It was a powerful blow, filled with emotion, as if fueled by some pent-up frustration.
Attempting to kidnap a young boy in broad daylight.
All of Nanyang was in an uproar.
I mean, even for the Nanjung Medical House, isnt this too much?
How can they wear human faces yet act worse than beasts? How can such a place be called a medical house?
No matter how corrupt the world was, there were lines one did not cross.
What the Nanjung Medical House had done this time was far beyond crossing the line.
Even those who had tried to side with the Nanjung Medical House threw up their hands in surrender.
Damn it all!
Geum Yeo-hwi exploded in anger.
Deny it! Say we weren't trying to kidnap him, but were inviting him for a conversation.
Well too many people witnessed the Zhejiang Blood Sword attacking the boy. It will be difficult to pass it off like that.
Dammit! What kind of master uses martial arts to bring in one little brat?!
After fuming for a while, Geum Yeo-hwi spoke.
Say we knew nothing about it. That the Zhejiang Blood Sword acted on his own.
B-but?
Theres no proof I ordered him to do it anyway. Pin it all on the Zhejiang Blood Sword. Hes just a strong fighter with no connections, so we dont have to worry about repercussions.
Y-yes, I understand.
The general manager swallowed hard.
Is this really okay?
He felt as if they were sinking deeper and deeper into a swamp.
Ever since getting entangled with the Medical Immortal House.
No, to be precise.
Its because of that little brat.
Wi Ji-cheon.
The source of all the trouble the Nanjung Medical House was now facing.
It was absurd.
Originally, the likes of the Medical Immortal House were no match for the Nanjung Medical House.
They were incomparable in every aspect.
A weak medical house that should have been crushed under the Nanjung Medical House's heel.
That was what the Medical Immortal House was, but everything turned upside down when the young boy named Wi Ji-cheon stepped forward.
Somehow, he had coaxed Jang Sam, mobilized the beggars of the Beggars' Sect, and was said to be the one who proposed the ridiculous ratio in the negotiations for goldthread and schisandra fruit.
Escaping from the Zhejiang Blood Swords grasp was also astonishing.
Geum Yeo-hwi cursed the Zhejiang Blood Sword for his incompetence, but the general manager, who had interacted with him often, knew he wasn't someone who would make such a mistake.
Wi Ji-cheon must have pulled some trick.
It's also strange that Jang Sam of the Black Ghost Sect appeared so quickly. It was as if a trap had been set.
Thinking that far, the general manager shuddered.
Wi Ji-cheon he wasn't the good-for-nothing the rumors claimed. He was a hidden dragon, lying in wait. And we just plucked the sleeping dragons whisker.
But they did not yet know.
That the terror they had experienced from Wi Ji-cheon was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Why, in his previous life, he had been grouped with the Blood Demon and the Heavenly Demon as one of the Three Calamities.
Drip, drip.
Late at night.
Water dripped from the ceiling of the underground prison in the Nanyang constabulary.
The Zhejiang Blood Sword, Eun So-wi, who was sitting in his cell, looked up.
Someone was approaching.
Huh?
Eun So-wi looked puzzled.
It was Wi Ji-cheon.
How did you get in here?
The prison was a place no one could enter unless they were a guard.
Wi Ji-cheon didn't answer, and Eun So-wi realized it was strangely quiet around them.
He couldn't sense the presence of any guards.
That wasn't the only strange thing.
For a moment, seeing Wi Ji-cheon's cold, sunken eyes, a chill ran down Eun So-wis spine.
Why? He remembered the Finger Wind that had subdued him at the critical moment.
I asked you, wh-why are you here?!
Zhejiang Blood Sword. Fled Zhejiang Province after killing an innocent commoner while drunk. After that, you wandered through various provinces, committing crimes big and small, before finally taking refuge at the Nanjung Medical House. Is that correct?
Wh-why are you suddenly bringing that up?
Because youre about to die. It seems I won't have to feel guilty about killing you.
What?
Well, it is a bit funny for me to be talking about conscience.
And then.
Slice.
Blood spurted from Eun So-wi's neck.
Kuh, keok?
Eun So-wi clutched his neck in disbelief.
He didn't die instantly.
The wound was intentionally made that way.
Deep enough that he would die from blood loss before long, but not so deep as to cause immediate death.
S-save me.
Eun So-wi reached out a blood-soaked hand, and Wi Ji-cheon nonchalantly grabbed it, extended the finger, and wrote a single character on the floor with the blood.
-Geum ().
The surname of Geum Yeo-hwi, the head of the Nanjung Medical House.
He was framing Geum Yeo-hwi as the mastermind behind the murder.
It was the moment of the Nanjung Medical House's downfall.