Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Let's Stay Quiet
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The One-Needle Eccentric and the Divine Doctor of the Ages headed for the place where Seomun Jehak's group had taken Byeok Taesan.
The trail led to a small forest behind the Golden Moon Inn.
Though some time had passed since they left, the Divine Doctor of the Ages had tracked them here with uncanny skill.
"You're actually quite useful, aren't you?"
The One-Needle Eccentric looked at the Divine Doctor, surprised.
"My medical skills are so outstanding that I live my life respected as a physician, but the truth is, my other abilities are nothing to scoff at either. Not that I'm asking for recognition, it's just a fact."
"Stop puffing out your chest. What's there to be so smug about? Practically screaming for praise with your whole body is a talent in itself."
"I told you, it's not like that. People find out on their own without me having to say anything, so why would I bother? A sharp awl will always pierce through the pocket."
"Enough. Let's not talk. What am I even saying to you? We're in a hurry. Let's go before the Young Master kills them all."
The One-Needle Eccentric said, quickening his pace.
A few warriors stood at the entrance of the forest. Judging by their attire, they were from the Seomun Family.
The moment they saw the Divine Doctor and the One-Needle Eccentric, they tensed and blocked the path into the woods.
"I'm sorry, but you cannot enter here today."
The Divine Doctor of the Ages smirked.
"Does this forest belong to you? I've never heard that the Seomun Family owns a forest in Jingzhou."
At the mention of the Seomun Family, the warriors' expressions hardened.
"So you already know who we are. Should I assume you don't come with good intentions?"
"If you wanted to hide it, you should have done something about those clothes. Why ask if I know who you are when you're openly advertising you're from the Seomun Family?"
At those words, the Seomun warriors' faces flushed slightly.
"In any case, we need to enter, so how about you step aside?"
"We have our own orders, so please understand. We cannot let you pass. Please wait until our business is concluded."
"And when might that 'business' be concluded?"
"That... I'm not sure. But it shouldn't take long."
The Divine Doctor of the Ages smirked.
"Beating one person up probably seems like it would be over quickly. But you've miscalculated."
The Seomun warriors' expressions turned icy at his words.
"Your story seems to have changed. Didn't you just imply you came here without knowing who we were?"
"Did I?"
The Divine Doctor of the Ages looked at the One-Needle Eccentric with a bewildered expression.
"Did I say that?"
"You didn't say it exactly like that, but you certainly spoke in a way that could be misunderstood."
"Whose side are you on, anyway? Our Young Master's, or the Seomun Family's?"
The One-Needle Eccentric stared at the Divine Doctor, dumbfounded.
"Don't you think those are strange options? Enough, get out of the way. How long do you plan to drag this out?"
The One-Needle Eccentric stepped forward. He stood before the Seomun warriors and scanned them from head to toe.
An aura that had been completely concealed until now suddenly erupted from him.
He had released his contained energy all at once.
Under the immense pressure, the terrified Seomun warriors gripped their swords tightly.
They were ready to draw their blades if necessary. But they had a sinking feeling that even if they did, they stood no chance of defeating the old man before them.
They were already shrouded in the shadow of defeat before the fight had even begun.
"I am a physician known as the One-Needle Eccentric. Have you perhaps heard of me?"
"The, the One-Needle Eccentric?"
Of course they had heard of him. But why was the One-Needle Eccentric here?
"The Hubei Martial Alliance invited me. I suppose you haven't heard?"
"N-No, we have not."
"As it is, I'm in a terrible mood because that young brat from the Seomun Family who went in here insulted me. Do you intend to add to it?"
At those words, the Seomun warriors' faces turned deathly pale.
Only then did they recall the incident at the Golden Moon Inn. Come to think of it, this old man, the One-Needle Eccentric, had been there too. They vividly remembered what Seomun Jehak had said and done to him.
"Don't you think this is a good chance to salvage your reputation? The Guyang Family and Chu Manor won't get another chance to raise theirs."
"P-Please, enter. But..."
"But what?"
"You might be a little late. There have been screams coming from inside for a while now..."
The One-Needle Eccentric snorted.
"Screams? Good. Sounds like he hasn't killed them. After we go in, don't let anyone else in, and don't come in yourselves. Do you understand what I mean?"
"O-Of course."
The One-Needle Eccentric strode into the forest with the Divine Doctor of the Ages.
A Seomun warrior, watching them go, muttered quietly.
"But... was that really the One-Needle Eccentric? Did we just let him in without even checking?"
A sense of unease began to creep in.
But the water was already under the bridge. What could they do now that he was already inside?
From the start, they had been so crushed by the One-Needle Eccentric's presence that they couldn't react with their usual composure.
It wasn't that they had simply failed to check; the One-Needle Eccentric had pressured them with his aura, leaving no room for them to do so.
In any case, the Seomun warriors swallowed their anxiety and returned to their guard duty with utmost vigilance.
***
"Oh, so this is why a man must build a name for himself. He got through just by dropping his title."
"You think he got through with his name? You amateur."
"Pressuring them with his aura only worked because his name carries weight. So, it was his name. If he were a nobody, there would have been a few clashes of steel."
"That would never happen. My needle would have been in his crown before he could draw his sword."
"You came because you were worried the Young Master would kill someone, but now you're talking about killing someone yourself? Let's try to be a little consistent."
The One-Needle Eccentric stopped and glared at the Divine Doctor of the Ages.
He was about to ask what was wrong with him when the Divine Doctor suddenly sped up, breezing past him.
The One-Needle Eccentric once again looked up at the sky, then hung his head and let out a long sigh.
"Should I stitch his mouth shut? I think even the Young Master would allow that."
As if he had heard, the Divine Doctor's pace quickened even more.
"Huh? Young Master!"
It seemed the Divine Doctor of the Ages had found Byeok Taesan.
The One-Needle Eccentric chuckled and hurried toward him.
"Young Master, what are you doing there?"
Byeok Taesan was standing, and the three men who had been quarreling with him earlier were lying face down on the ground in a row.
The Divine Doctor of the Ages stared at Byeok Taesan with horrified eyes.
"D-Don't tell me!"
"One more word and I'll put you in the same state."
The Divine Doctor of the Ages clamped his mouth shut.
"But what's wrong with them?"
"I just hit a few of their pressure points. They foamed at the mouth a bit when I pulled back, but their bodies are fine."
He didn't know what had been 'pulled back,' but he needed to check.
"May I go take a look?"
When Byeok Taesan nodded, the Divine Doctor and the One-Needle Eccentric hurried over to Seomun Jehak's group.
After briefly checking their pulses, they nodded.
It was just as Byeok Taesan had said. Their bodies were a bit stiff, as if from a shock, but they were in no mortal danger.
"What should we do now?"
"What do you mean? We wake them up. We haven't had a proper conversation yet."
The Divine Doctor of the Ages looked at Byeok Taesan, aghast.
"You did this to them without even talking first?"
Byeok Taesan simply stared at the Divine Doctor.
The Divine Doctor sheepishly averted his gaze and stimulated a few of Seomun Jehak's pressure points.
"Ughhh."
Seomun Jehak slowly came to. The other two also regained consciousness one by one.
"Hah!"
The three of them shot up simultaneously. Then they saw Byeok Taesan and began to tremble.
"They look like they're about to shit themselves. Stop it."
The moment Byeok Taesan's words fell, the Divine Doctor of the Ages sprang into action.
*Th-th-thump!*
With the speed of a sunbeam, he struck the three men's pressure points.
They were points that halted bowel activity, forcibly inducing constipation. As a physician, he knew exactly which points to hit.
The One-Needle Eccentric watched the scene, stunned. He had no idea why the man was doing this.
But the Divine Doctor of the Ages, having been through this before, knew he had no choice.
There was no need to subject oneself to a foul smell, after all.
Byeok Taesan slowly walked toward them.
As he approached, the three men's faces grew noticeably paler. Cold sweat poured down their bodies, so much so that one might worry about dehydration.
"You said it yourselves earlier, didn't you?"
"Yes? W-What did we say?"
"That you hate it when people talk about you behind your back."
Suddenly, their own words and actions from the Golden Moon Inn came flooding back to them.
"W-We did!"
Byeok Taesan nodded.
"Same here. I really hate it when people talk about me behind my back. So from now on, let's stay quiet. Do you understand?"
"O-Of course! We won't say a word to anyone!"
Byeok Taesan grinned.
"It's hard to believe you, but I'll try. Well... if you want to talk, go ahead. If you think you can handle the consequences."
Byeok Taesan swept his gaze over the three of them.
"If by some one-in-a-million, one-in-ten-million chance I catch you talking about me behind my back... you should seriously consider whether you can handle it."
With those parting words, Byeok Taesan turned on his heel.
"Let's go."
As Byeok Taesan led the way, the Divine Doctor and the One-Needle Eccentric quickly followed.
After walking a short distance, the Divine Doctor seemed to remember something, turned back to the three men, and said.
"The pressure points I just blocked will release on their own later. So don't worry."
Leaving them with that, the Divine Doctor of the Ages disappeared.
The three men stood there blankly for a moment before their legs gave out, and they collapsed to the ground.
"Wh-What was that? What in the world just happened?"
"I... I don't know either."
"It was like being possessed by a ghost. What was all that...?"
Not only was it unbelievable that Byeok Taesan was so powerful, but they also couldn't fathom what had just happened to them.
One thing was certain: they had experienced excruciating pain.
The memory of that agony still lingered in their minds, causing their bodies to tremble.
They should have been filled with rage, but even that was absent. There was only fear and dread.
It seemed it would take some time to overcome this.
'But I will overcome it. And when I do...'
Seomun Jehak quietly ground his teeth, careful not to be noticed.
Realizing what he was doing, Seomun Jehak let out a hollow laugh.
He felt empty.
"Hoo. Let's go for now. I think we need some rest today."
They picked themselves up and left the forest.
The news that greeted them after their ordeal only made things worse.
"That old man was the One-Needle Eccentric? Is that really true?"
Seomun Jehak asked, aghast.
"Well... we didn't confirm it for certain, sir. He only claimed to be. But... he is clearly a man of extraordinary skill."
"Extraordinary skill? To me, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary old man."
"That's how I saw him at first, too. But for a moment, his energy just exploded..."
Seomun Jehak stared blankly at the warrior.
"In any case, he said he would settle his feelings regarding the Seomun Family."
At those words, focus returned to Seomun Jehak's eyes.
"Is that so? Did he say that for sure?"
"Yes."
That was a relief, at least. But for the two with Seomun Jehak, Guyang Su and Chu Yeonghak, it was a different story.
He had settled his feelings toward the Seomun Family, which meant his feelings toward their families remained unchanged.
A headache was already beginning to throb in their temples.
The One-Needle Eccentric was an extremely troublesome opponent to have. The best course of action was to either maintain a good relationship with him or have no relationship at all.
But now that they were entangled in such a bad one, what excuse could they possibly give when they returned to their families?
They could never, ever admit that this mess happened because they tried to crush Yeon Harin's fiancé.
'Still... we can't just stand by and take this, can we?'
As a little time passed, the thought stealthily crept into their minds.
Seomun Jehak looked at Guyang Su and Chu Yeonghak. With grim expressions, they looked back at him, apparently thinking the same thing.
Some unspoken understanding passed between the three. They nodded at the same time.
"Anyway, for today... I'd like to rest. What should we do about lodging?"
"Well..."
They considered finding another inn but quickly shook their heads.
Wouldn't that be like running away?
"How about we go to the Golden Moon Inn? And I don't think we need a separate villa this time..."
"Agreed."
"I think so, too."
The three, united once more, headed for the Golden Moon Inn.
Of course, as they entered the inn, they didn't forget to scan their surroundings very carefully.
They did not want to run into Byeok Taesan or the One-Needle Eccentric.
Fortunately, they managed to get rooms without being spotted by anyone.
They soon fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.
And so, they failed to notice when the pressure points the Divine Doctor of the Ages had blocked were released.