The Third-Rate Warrior Saving the Girl (6)
“Where the hell are you, Soso?”
The Wang family village, where the people of the Wang Merchant Group gathered to live, had been lit up without cease for three straight days. All operations at the twenty branches scattered across the country had ground to a halt, focused solely on gathering information about girls Soso's age. Countless shops under them had shuttered their doors to aid the search, disrupting people's daily lives.
“What nonsense is that?!”
Wang Geumsan was aghast at the words of the former royal physician who had just examined Soso's condition.
“Didn't you say she could last at least a week outside the Ice Pavilion?!”
The former physician glanced back at the people from the Medical Pavilion. They kept their heads bowed, giving him looks that screamed for him to hold his tongue—lest they all face even greater punishment later.
“Well... normally, yes, but...”
“...”
“The Solar Physique has cycles where its energy surges to extreme yang levels. And right now is exactly...”
The physician trailed off, unable to finish. He'd witnessed countless patients die from this with his own eyes and tried explaining it to their guardians, but it never ended well. And the man before him was none other than Wang Geumsan, lord of the Wang Merchant Group.
“Then... how long does she have?”
“...”
Unable to voice the exact moment of death, the physician merely worked his lips silently.
“How long can she hold out?!”
“...It's already too late...”
“Aghhh!”
“Lord! My lord! Someone fetch a pillow, quick!”
Wang Geumsan collapsed.
Soso, who had briefly woken, fainted again almost immediately. The cause seemed obvious—her body was burning with fever—but he'd never heard of a simple cold causing symptoms like this.
“Where was that medical text by Physician Gong Yak-chun again?”
Gong Yak-chun, hailed as the reincarnation of Hua Tuo. His life's work, the Treatise on Curing All Diseases, was classified as a top-secret document in the Myriad Communications Division.
Why? Hell if I knew. It was a book that could save countless lives if released, but the division had never even considered it.
I scoured the Treatise on Curing All Diseases cover to cover and finally found something matching Soso's symptoms—buried deep in the section on constitutions, long after the disease entries.
“A woman's body with a Solar Physique. Just my luck.”
The treatise offered only a diagnosis and methods to stabilize the energy—nothing more.
“Let's stabilize her first. She'll die like this...”
Following Gong Yak-chun's instructions, I struck over twenty acupoints. Soso's fever gradually subsided, and soon she stirred awake.
“Ugh... Wh-who are you?!”
“I'm Jin Sowoon of the Tae-eul Gate. And who might you be, little one?”
Acting like I knew her would only raise suspicions. She wasn't just anyone—she was Wang Geumsan's only daughter. If the guy who came to rescue her admitted knowing about the kidnapping in advance, anyone would suspect foul play first.
“I-I'm Wang Soso.”
“Hmm... Wang... Soso?”
“...Y-yes. I'm the daughter of the Wang Merchant Group.”
“How did you end up in a mess like this...?”
“I don't know. Where are we?”
“In the mountains near the Ye River. You were with some shady characters.”
“Th-those guys... what happened to them?”
“I took care of them.”
“...”
Unlike my expectation that she'd panic, she quickly regained her composure. Had her father, Wang Geumsan, drilled her on handling situations like this?
“We should move. I think there were more of them.”
“N-no, I can't!”
“Pardon?”
“I-I can't move.”
I tilted my head.
“Wh-what day is it today?”
“It's the gyemyo day of the ninth lunar month.”
“Th-then it's the day the solar surge hits. I should be in the Ice Pavilion with the Ice Pill...”
Come to think of it, Gong Yak-chun's treatise had mentioned that. The Solar Physique periodically unleashed a massive surge of yang energy, granting immense inner power. Total cheat, right? But for Soso right now, it was a ticking poison bomb spreading through her body. A real headache all around.
“Just to confirm—is it really the Solar Physique?”
Soso hesitated a moment before nodding.
“Yes. It is.”
“Can't move even a little?”
“A bit might be okay, but anything strenuous and the solar energy will burn through my meridians.”
Layer upon layer of problems. From what I'd overheard earlier, reinforcements from the gang weren't far off.
What to do...
Then I remembered the Compendium of Ten Thousand Grasses, filed alongside the Treatise. A legendary treasure claiming no disease could resist its remedies made from common field herbs and poisons.
“Little one, this might sound odd in your situation, but if you could change your constitution, would you?”
“Pardon?”
If Gong Yak-chun was the master of acupuncture, Dang Won-ho ruled pharmacology. From the Tang Clan two hundred years ago, unlike most who holed up researching within the family, he'd wandered the jianghu his whole life—a true eccentric. No illness his medicines couldn't cure, no foe his poisons couldn't slay. Hence his moniker: Life-and-Death Divine Physician.
No idea why the Compendium ended up in the Murim Alliance instead of the Tang Clan, or why they didn't even know it existed. But that wasn't important now.
Fortunately, the Compendium had a case just like Soso's. The Absolute Expert, Lesser Frost Jade Maiden, who dominated her era alongside the Life-and-Death Divine Physician. Born with an extreme yin Lunar Physique, she'd reached the pinnacle of ice arts—but it left her unable to bear children. Desperate, she begged the physician to alter her constitution. He gladly obliged.
They found a way to swap extreme yang and extreme yin physiques. The downside...
“Yes! I'll do it!”
Soso nodded eagerly before I even finished explaining. I'd figured Wang Geumsan's kid would be wary of con artists, but nope—not a hint.
“You're clearly not with the ones who kidnapped me. I can tell who wants to help and who wants to harm.”
Or had she already crunched the numbers in her head? If Soso survived, the jianghu's merchant world was in for some shakes. Exciting times.
“Hear me out first. Once done, you'll need a specially crafted elixir every day for life. No going back to your original constitution.”
The Jade Maiden had borne heirs afterward, but lost her ice arts forever.
“The medicine is essentially poison, so you'll need daily meditation to circulate it. Purity is paramount, so no other inner arts after this.”
The elixir's main ingredient was poison. It chilled the body, slowly eroding the solar surge. Residual toxins had to be neutralized with inner energy. Other arts were off-limits due to the purity requirement. Pure, high-capacity ones like Wudang or Shaolin's supreme arts would've been ideal, but right now, only the Tae-eul Heart Technique was on hand.
“I'll do it!”
“...Meaning, if you learn the Tae-eul Heart Technique now, no supreme arts later...”
“I don't want to be a murim warrior. What I want is to see flowers bloom in spring, fan myself through summer heat, boat with family in autumn. Hug my loved ones whenever, hold my beloved's hand and talk, bear children, watch myself age slowly. That's all I ask.”
Her desperate plea—possessing the world's riches yet denied the simple joys everyone else took for granted—hit like scattered beads.
“Understood.”
“You'll really do it?! I'll make sure to tell Father...”
“We'll talk rewards after you're home. Pursuers are almost here.”
I piggybacked Soso as carefully as possible, moving slowly to put distance between us and the hideout.
“What did you say?”
“The last messenger pigeon said something's wrong with Wang Soso's condition...”
Milgung Squad Leader Bang Inam's brows furrowed deeply as he heard the report.
“I warned you time and again. Dare to defy my orders and touch that girl?”
It was obvious without seeing. Beasts loyal to instinct over reason. That's why a Namgung family branch member like him handled dirty work like this. But it was Namgung Sangwon's command. Who were they to ignore it and pull this stunt?
“No! I gave strict orders on that. They say she had some preexisting condition from the start. The room temperature when they grabbed her was unnaturally low.”
“Low temperature?”
Now that he thought about it, something was off. Sure, she was a girl, but what did the mighty Wang Merchant Group have to fear, hiding her away like that? Maybe they were right, and this could derail everything. Unease crept in.
“So, they're waiting at the hideout now?”
“Yes. They asked for a physician to come.”
“Idiots! A physician leaves witnesses.”
This affair had to stay secret from everyone outside their circle—loyalists sworn to Namgung Sangwon within Cheonggung Merchant Group. Exposure meant not just their heads, but the entire branch family's grand scheme in ruins.
“Wh-what do we do?”
“We go anyway. If it goes south, murder and silence as ordered.”
Best to keep her alive as a hostage, but if not, a clean kill. Shaking Wang Geumsan, who treasured her, would be blow enough.
But Bang Inam's optimism didn't last.
“Wh-what the hell?!”
“Search the perimeter! Survivors—find survivors!”
“None. They're all dead.”
“No sign of Wang Soso either.”
“...”
Bang Inam's mind tangled in chaos. This wasn't just a botched kidnapping. It threatened his superior Namgung Sangwon and the entire branch family's grand plan.
“Tr-tracks here. Single set of footprints, deep—someone carried Wang Soso.”
Bang Inam's fevered mind cooled instantly.
“You two, handle the bodies. Everyone else, with me. No Namgung blades unless we finish them for good.”
The squad's fury matched Namgung Sangwon's—someone had interfered and slain their comrades. They followed the guide into the forest.
The mountain woods were pitch-black, moonlight unable to pierce. No torches for their covert mission.
Then.
“Guhk.”
A gurgle and foam at the mouth—the first casualty.
“It's him!”
“Where?!”
“How many?!”
“Kuhuk.”
Trained in Namgung arts, but not stealth or assassination, they struggled in the dark woods. Another scream soon followed, urgent bells ringing in Bang Inam's head.
This won't do. Losing Soso was bad, but dying here was worse!
“Flints! Use the flints!”
Warriors fumbled flintstones, sparks flying—
Swaek!
A blade slicing wind, another down.
“Squad leader! We'll be wiped out!”
“Light up! Deploy Cheonggung!”
“Kuhk!”
Another fell while igniting flames. Now only five left, firelight cut through the trees.
“Come out! Show yourself! Hide longer, and I'll head straight for Wang Soso!”
Namgung Sangwon might doubt it'd work, but—
“I never thought you lot were good guys, but this rotten? Didn't expect it.”
Face masked, worn training garb. A plain Cheonggang Sword, available at any forge—untraceable to any faction.
“Reveal yourself.”
“Myself? Isn't the mask comfy for you too? Besides, I already know who you are.”
“...Refuse, and we'll force it out.”
“Think you outnumber us?”
“Numbers don't matter. We won't lose.”
“Why? 'Cause you're Namgung elite?”
“!!!!”
“Ah! More precisely, Cheonggung Merchant Group under Namgung Sangwon. His secret lackeys.”
“!!!!”
“!!!!”
Shock froze them; even idiots like these turned to stare at Bang Inam. His face twisted in fury—practically admitting it.
“No more talk—attack!”
At Namgung Sangwon's shout, they unleashed Cheonggung Infinite Swordsmanship. Identity exposed, best to end it fast with their finest art.
But.
“Kuhk.”
“Keurk.”
Two down in a blink. The remaining pair's swords felt dull.
Impossible! The great Namgung's swordsmanship!
Their blades couldn't even graze the intruder before collapsing one by one, barely able to grip their hilts—like men drained of strength. Hardly elite of Cheonggung.
“Keurk!”
“Guk!”
The shaky foes perished. The intruder approached Bang Inam slowly.
“Y-you bastard! Who the hell are you?!”
“Who I am?”
“M-must be! Wudang—or wait! Huashan! Huashan Sect!”
“Huashan, huh... I do have a bit of a connection there.”
“Even Huashan can't interfere in Namgung affairs and walk away?”
“Didn't say Huashan.”
Swaek.
A chill grazed his throat. Bang Inam whipped his head aside desperately.
“Oh...”
“Damn you.”
“Too bad. Would've been nicer to meet Namgung Sangwon today. Wait, no—the branch rebellion hasn't started yet, so maybe not.”
“What are you...”
Blood trickled from his nape. Amid the dizziness, Bang Inam steadied for Cheonggung Infinite Swordsmanship at the Twelve Forms level.
“!!!!”
But the forms shattered before three could chain. An incomprehensible force severed them, tangling his qi wildly.
“Didn't learn from watching your men die?”
“...H-how can invincible Cheonggung Infinite be...”
“Cheonggung Infinite isn't invincible.”
Bang Inam crumpled powerlessly. Dying, he couldn't see the masked man's face but somehow pictured a chilling grin.