Chapter 149
Chapter 149
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Try It on Me
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Gyeong Baekjun slowly opened his eyes.
An unfamiliar ceiling came into view.
"Nnngh."
His head throbbed as if it would split open.
After a short while, the headache began to subside.
Gyeong Baekjun tried to recall what happened before he lost consciousness.
'That insane monster.'
He hadn't even realized where or how he'd been hit. The same went for the man who was with him.
That man had sworn that if he put his life on the line, no one could lay a finger on him, yet this was the result.
'That man was definitely Byeok Taesan.'
He knew Byeok Taesan's face well. He had investigated thoroughly before making a move on the Golden Jade Trading Company.
The second young master of the Golden Jade Trading Company, as Gyeong Baekjun's research had shown, was a very peculiar person.
And an unknown master of martial arts.
He was also connected to the Underworld Sect in some way.
That was the extent of Gyeong Baekjun's knowledge of Byeok Taesan.
But meeting him in person and experiencing his power firsthand proved otherwise.
All Gyeong Baekjun remembered after encountering Byeok Taesan was the sight of the man next to him collapsing unconscious.
He had lost consciousness right after that.
And now, he had just woken up.
Gyeong Baekjun surveyed his surroundings. Captured was captured, but from now on, he had to find a way to survive.
He checked his body; his internal energy was still intact.
However, several of his acupoints were blocked, preventing him from circulating it.
'Damn, this is intricate and complex. I won't be able to undo this easily.'
To release this, he would likely need to get back to his master for help.
Gyeong Baekjun decided he had to get out of here first.
He was in a shabby room.
It looked like a room in an old inn.
Gyeong Baekjun got up and cautiously approached the door. He tried to sense for any presence.
He couldn't feel anything in particular.
But since his internal energy was completely inert, he couldn't fully trust his senses.
Gyeong Baekjun pressed his ear against the door and focused his hearing.
At that moment, the door burst open.
"Gah!"
Startled, Gyeong Baekjun fell backward.
His heart nearly leaped out of his chest. Calming his racing heart, Gyeong Baekjun looked at the open door.
A man stood outside, looking down at him with a pathetic expression.
For some reason, he felt a surge of something welling up from deep within his chest.
"Brother, I think something's wrong with this guy's head. Are you sure he's okay? Did you even check his pulse properly?"
"Damn it, are you talking to me? You doubt my diagnosis? I'm the One-Needle Eccentric, you hear me? The One-Needle Eccentric."
"Well, it's because you're always causing trouble. Maybe you should try doing a better job."
"Hey!"
The Divine Doctor of the Ages quickly entered the room.
The One-Needle Eccentric tried to follow, but the Divine Doctor slammed the door shut.
*Bang!*
"Shit! Hey! Open this door before I break it down!"
"Just stay there like that until the Young Master arrives. My heart starts pounding whenever I see you. Oh, how scary."
The Divine Doctor of the Ages said this and chuckled.
Gyeong Baekjun, still sitting on the floor, stared blankly at the scene.
The Divine Doctor of the Ages, holding the doorknob, turned his head to look down at Gyeong Baekjun.
"So you're awake? Do you have any idea how much my brother and I struggled to save you?"
Gyeong Baekjun looked bewildered.
Save him? What on earth did he mean? When he woke up, aside from his blocked acupoints preventing his internal energy from flowing, there was nothing wrong with him.
In fact, his body felt much better than usual.
"Tsk, tsk, so naive. How are you going to get by in this world being so clueless?"
Gyeong Baekjun thought to himself, *Why would I be begging for food? I'm not a beggar.*
"Hey! Open the door!"
The One-Needle Eccentric's shout came from outside.
Gyeong Baekjun thought again. *He could just break it down and come in, so why is he making such a fuss?*
"He's loud, isn't he? But what can I do? He's my only brother. I, the one blessed with wisdom, virtue, and strength, will have to endure."
"Hey! I can hear you! What wisdom, virtue, and strength are you talking about?"
The Divine Doctor of the Ages grinned and spoke to Gyeong Baekjun.
"Come here. I can't come to you, so I can't check your pulse. I mean, you're probably fine, but you never know with these things. If I had checked you, it'd be one thing, but my brother did it. It's not like he'd make a mistake, but if you were to just drop dead before the Young Master gets here, we'd be in real trouble."
As soon as he finished speaking, the force on the door suddenly increased dramatically.
The Divine Doctor of the Ages also gripped it tightly. His hand trembled from the strain, but he kept his eyes on Gyeong Baekjun.
"I said, get over here."
Gyeong Baekjun hesitantly approached and held out his hand.
The Divine Doctor of the Ages placed his fingers on Gyeong Baekjun's wrist and began to check his pulse.
"Well... you're fine."
Hearing this, Gyeong Baekjun looked at the Divine Doctor of the Ages with a gaze completely devoid of trust.
The Divine Doctor was about to say something when a sharp pain shot through the hand gripping the doorknob, as if it were about to be torn off.
"Aargh! Brother! What are you doing! You really want to go at it?"
No sooner had he cried out than the door burst open.
The Divine Doctor of the Ages, feeling a searing pain in his palm, let go of the doorknob. He stared at the open door with a dumbfounded expression, then scrambled back in surprise.
The person who had opened the door was Byeok Taesan.
Byeok Taesan glanced indifferently between the Divine Doctor and the One-Needle Eccentric, then strode into the room.
The Divine Doctor of the Ages quickly spoke up.
"His condition is excellent. The treatment was perfect."
He felt like he would suffocate if he didn't say something. The Divine Doctor surreptitiously checked his palm.
'It's not torn.'
Still, his hand was throbbing.
The Divine Doctor's lips jutted out in a pout. Come to think of it, there was no need to pull the door open so violently.
If he had just said he was here, he would have moved aside in surprise.
While the Divine Doctor was sulking, the One-Needle Eccentric sidled up to him.
He jabbed the Divine Doctor's side with his elbow.
"Ugh!"
His breath was suddenly knocked out of him. The Divine Doctor took a moment to quell the pain and catch his breath, then glared at the One-Needle Eccentric.
Just as he was about to retort, the One-Needle Eccentric spoke in a low voice.
"Shut up. The Young Master is speaking."
The Divine Doctor of the Ages had the strange experience of his words getting stuck in his throat.
And again, his lips jutted out.
The two men clamped their mouths shut and looked at Byeok Taesan.
Byeok Taesan stood before Gyeong Baekjun, looking down at him quietly.
Gyeong Baekjun, sitting on the floor, looked up at Byeok Taesan with fearful eyes.
"I've unblocked your acupoints."
At Byeok Taesan's words, Gyeong Baekjun's eyes widened. He quickly tried to circulate his internal energy.
It flowed as smoothly as water. But the thought of trying to escape didn't even cross his mind.
He knew what a monster Byeok Taesan was, so for now, he had to suppress all his desires and plans.
"Why are you doing this to me? I'm just a humble martial artist who knows nothing."
Gyeong Baekjun said, forcing a servile expression onto his face.
"The thing you did to Chae Miryeong. Try it on me."
"Pardon?"
Gyeong Baekjun's heart sank for a moment, but he forced a look of incomprehension.
"The man who was with you didn't know how to do it. He didn't know much of anything, either."
The warrior who was with Gyeong Baekjun had also been perfectly treated by the Divine Doctor of the Ages and the One-Needle Eccentric.
Byeok Taesan had met with that man first before coming here.
All he had managed to learn by extracting the man's soul was the location of a few gathering points for the warriors under his command, not the true location of the culprit.
And the man didn't know how to taint a soul with that filthy spiritual power, like what was done to Chae Miryeong.
In short, he was useless.
But this one had done that to Chae Miryeong, so at the very least, he could confirm one thing.
It would be even better if he also knew the culprit's location.
He had been feeling uneasy about one of Nameless's cells still hiding in Wuhan, and thanks to Chae Miryeong, he now had a thread to follow.
Once he dealt with them, he probably wouldn't have to worry about Wuhan for a while.
Gyeong Baekjun felt the pressure mounting.
Somehow, Byeok Taesan's gaze felt like it was physically crushing him.
"I... I really don't know what you're talking about."
Byeok Taesan smirked.
"This."
The moment he finished speaking, Gyeong Baekjun's body thrashed like a fish out of water.
If he had been an ordinary martial artist, he wouldn't have felt a thing.
Or rather, he would have only felt a slight sense of unease and discomfort.
But Gyeong Baekjun was no ordinary martial artist.
He was one who understood and had accepted the power of the spiritual realm.
Therefore, when a problem related to spiritual power arose, he was far more sensitive to it than usual.
Like right now.
The foul sensation of something piercing his soul was something no one who hadn't experienced it could ever imagine.
Gyeong Baekjun looked up at Byeok Taesan with horrified eyes.
"Now, you understand, don't you? Do that to me. I'm truly curious."
Gyeong Baekjun hesitated, his eyes wavering uncontrollably.
But soon, as if possessed, he began to manipulate his spiritual power.
It was the only technique he knew.
A faint wisp of spiritual power touched Byeok Taesan's soul.
And then, it evaporated completely.
There was no way such filth could cling to Byeok Taesan's soul, which was constantly enveloped by the power of the Soul-Devouring Demonic Arts.
But from that alone, Byeok Taesan saw through how Gyeong Baekjun manipulated his spiritual power and the fundamental principles behind it.
To put it bluntly, it was definitely not the Soul-Devouring Demonic Arts.
"How crude."
But it was based on a technique derived from the Soul-Devouring Demonic Arts. Just as Byeok Taesan had said, it was incredibly crude.
It wasn't that Gyeong Baekjun's skill was crude, but the fundamental technique itself was.
No amount of effort or separate training could ever change that. It was a technique of a much lower class to begin with.
"And filthy."
The stench of blood emanated from Gyeong Baekjun's soul and his spiritual power. It was an exceptionally foul spiritual power.
Byeok Taesan turned his head to look at the Divine Doctor of the Ages and the One-Needle Eccentric standing to one side.
"Why are you two still here?"
"Pardon? We were... checking his pulse and providing treatment..."
Byeok Taesan turned fully to face the Divine Doctor who had just spoken.
"You seem to have a lot of free time."
"Not at all! We're incredibly busy!"
"That's right. We have a mountain of work to do."
"But we put all of it aside to faithfully carry out the Young Master's orders. Aren't we admirable?"
The Divine Doctor of the Ages said this and grinned sheepishly at Byeok Taesan.
"Well, you can watch if you want."
At Byeok Taesan's words, the eyes of the Divine Doctor and the One-Needle Eccentric went wide as saucers.
"I-Is that really okay?"
Byeok Taesan nodded, then gave the two a sweeping glance.
"Enough time has passed that quite a bit has stuck to you. It should be fine."
Hearing this, the Divine Doctor of the Ages and the One-Needle Eccentric looked at each other.
Honestly, they didn't know exactly what Byeok Taesan's words meant.
But the moment they heard them, they were reminded of what happened when they went to the Hubei Martial Alliance.
The memory of being summoned every night by Byeok Taesan and enduring harsh torment suddenly resurfaced.
"Hey, Brother, do you remember if we finished preparing the Divine Pills of the Ages?"
"Huh? Now that you mention it, I don't think we did."
"Oh no, that's a big problem. If we leave them too long, they'll be ruined and we'll have to throw them away."
"Then we can't be standing around here. Let's go, quickly."
The two exchanged this banter-like conversation, then looked at Byeok Taesan and smiled awkwardly.
"Young Master, we should be going now."
"We wish you the best of luck."
The two hastily fled the room.
Byeok Taesan watched them go with a smirk, then turned back to face Gyeong Baekjun.
"Well then, now it's your turn."
Gyeong Baekjun swallowed dryly, his eyes filled with fear.
"Who do you work for?"
Gyeong Baekjun didn't answer. He had no intention of ever saying. No, he couldn't say. It was a restriction engraved on his soul.
"Is it Hyeokryeon Bigwang?"
Gyeong Baekjun's eyes widened.
He didn't work for Hyeokryeon Bigwang, but that name should not have come so easily from Byeok Taesan's lips. It was impossible.
But his surprise was fleeting, replaced by a flicker of self-reproach that vanished from his eyes.
He had let his emotions show at just a name. He should have feigned ignorance.
Once he gave up on hiding it, his heart felt a little lighter.
"How do you know him?"
"I've met him."
"Really?"
Gyeong Baekjun couldn't understand. Hyeokryeon Bigwang wasn't one to reveal his name carelessly. To have revealed it in a direct meeting made even less sense.
"He ran away because he didn't want to die."
He couldn't believe that either. The Hyeokryeon Bigwang, running away because he didn't want to die? That could never happen.
"Anyway, it seems it's not Hyeokryeon Bigwang... Then which of the other two is it?"
Gyeong Baekjun had no choice but to admit it now. This man, Byeok Taesan, knew a great deal about Nameless.
He might even be an affiliate.
"And where is that bastard hiding now?"
Gyeong Baekjun didn't answer. But Byeok Taesan paid him no mind and continued to ask.
"Where is your real base?"
As the questions continued, Gyeong Baekjun frowned and looked at Byeok Taesan.
"Surely you don't think I'll answer you?"
Byeok Taesan smirked.
"It doesn't matter whether you answer or not."
As Gyeong Baekjun looked on with a puzzled expression, Byeok Taesan continued.
"Because I'll hear it one way or another."
With those words, Gyeong Baekjun's soul was pulled straight out from the top of his head.
Now it was time to wring every last bit of information from this man, then go after the sinister figure behind him.