Messenger from the Past (5)
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Yaryul Geuk felt a strange sensation. He was clearly getting beaten, yet the pain no longer registered. Had his wounds festered so badly that the nerves sensing agony had simply died off? Or had he come to see even feeling pain as a luxury he no longer deserved?
Conversely, his body couldn't endure half the time it usually could and toppled backward. He wanted to hold out longer, but his legs refused to support him anymore.
"See you tomorrow, then…."
Through his drooping eyelids, Ak Jupyeong's vile face came into view. Strangely, even the burning desire he'd harbored all this time—to land just one punch on the bastard—had evaporated.
'Ah… I need to get up.'
The receding sound of footsteps. The once-noisy surroundings fell into utter silence. Even the wind tickling his ears faded away bit by bit. In the perfect stillness, the chill of the air around him dulled as well.
'I have to go home… If I do, big brother will be disappointed, won't he?'
Why had he survived? Wouldn't it have been better if he'd died instead, letting his second brother enter the academy? If his third brother hadn't gotten hurt, maybe he could have mastered his martial arts?
Such futile thoughts tangled in his mind. It felt like sinking into the depths of an unfathomable ocean.
'I want to rest….'
If he got up and returned to the dormitory, he could wash off the filth caking his body and recover a little in the short time before lights out. Then maybe he could strike back at Ak Jupyeong and his gang, even if just a bit.
But what was the point? Tomorrow, he'd get beaten again.
His body wouldn't move. No—his heart wouldn't move.
He just didn't want to do anything at all.
'Maybe… it's fine like this.'
With his spirit utterly broken, Yaryul Geuk lost even the will to move. A quiet darkness enveloped his body.
#
"Huff, huff, huff, huff."
Yi Ja-gon, who had been chasing Jin Sowoon after the emergency summons, gasped for breath.
'What the hell kind of movement technique is that…?'
Moreover, Jin Sowoon had stopped by the dormitory first and snapped both of Ak Jupyeong's legs in directions they were never meant to bend. Even when the instructors and masters combined forces to form a encirclement, Jin Sowoon broke through it effortlessly, as if it were beneath his notice, and vanished somewhere.
'That was really Jin Sowoon?'
During the Sword Immortal examination, Jin Sowoon's prowess had been at the level of an outstanding late-stage disciple. Yet in such a short time, he'd achieved this level of growth. It was hard to believe.
But no one seemed to sense the danger. The ignorant ones were just venting their fragmented rage one after another.
"He headed to Yangsan Peak."
"We can't just let this slide."
"Violence inside the academy, of all places!"
Yi Ja-gon gave a bitter smile. Since when had violence within the academy been such a grave taboo? Weren't victims who slacked on training usually the ones blamed around here?
'The adults' politics, huh?'
Looking at the instructors shouting at the top of their lungs, they all had ties to the Baekdo Society. With Ak Jupyeong getting done in under their watch, they wouldn't have the face to show to the society anymore.
'And the opponent isn't someone they can afford to mess with.'
Jin Sowoon had been fighting a lonely battle all this time. Yi Ja-gon had thought he'd held up pretty well, but things had blown up here of all places.
'Ak Jupyeong's uncle works in the Inspection Hall, right?'
The Murim Academy already had powerful backers, and adding a Murim Alliance position to the mix would make the incident spiral out of control. For Jin Sowoon's sake, stabilizing things quickly was the top priority.
At that moment, a signal came in—they'd spotted the target.
The instructors reached a clearing on Yangsan Peak and found Jin Sowoon kneeling there.
"Jin Sowoon! You bastard! How dare you commit violence in the academy! Get over here now!"
One of the masters spoke sternly, but Jin Sowoon didn't budge.
As the instructors moved to drag him by force, Yi Ja-gon noticed something off and stopped them.
"Hold on a moment."
"What? This instructor says that punk needs to be disciplined right—"
"No, that's not it."
There was a kid lying in front of Jin Sowoon. As Yi Ja-gon approached slowly, the boy's face came into view. A academy student he'd seen in class now and then. From Yuyunmun? He remembered him as a disciple from some obscure sect, not well-known enough for the name to stick.
'Yaryul… Geuk! But did that kid have any connection to Jin Sowoon?'
Jin Sowoon was a prime surveillance target in the academy. The masters had already mapped out who he was close to and who might clash with him.
'He definitely had no ties to Jin Sowoon….'
As Yi Ja-gon pondered this, one impatient master stepped forward.
"We'll take him in for now. He might run. Get up, Jin Sowoon."
The master grabbed Jin Sowoon's shoulder and yanked him up.
Crack.
"Aaaagh!"
But Jin Sowoon twisted the master's hand and hurled him aside. Some bizarre technique no one could even comprehend.
At Jin Sowoon's single move, the masters and instructors dropped into combat stances. Some even drew their swords.
"Jin Sowoon! What nonsense is this? Attacking a master? Is this a challenge to the academy itself?!"
Still facing away, Jin Sowoon spoke.
"…Why'd you come here?"
His voice dropped low and gravelly.
"Is jumping around a bit inside campus really worth throwing around words like 'arrest'?"
"Jin Sowoon! You harmed another academy student on the premises!"
"Is that guy dead?"
Was it just Yi Ja-gon's imagination, or did that low voice carry an eerie chill? It felt like a blade pressed to his throat, parching his mouth.
"…This kid's been getting beaten half to death by those bastards over months."
Jin Sowoon turned his head, staring down each of the surrounding instructors and masters one by one.
"Some of you masters and instructors here probably recognize this kid's face, right?"
"…."
Swallows echoed here and there.
"If you wanna punish me, start by punishing Ak Jupyeong and his gang first. Until then, none of you have the right to discipline anyone."
Crack, pop. The master whose arm had been broken staggered to his feet and reset it.
"Urk! What are you all doing? This is a challenge to our authority!"
The hesitating instructors tightened their stances at his words.
Jin Sowoon slowly rose and fixed his gaze on the master who'd given the order.
"After seeing this mess, there's no way anyone could look at it favorably."
"What the hell are you—"
Whoosh— Jin Sowoon's figure halted abruptly, then faded like smoke.
Thud.
A heavy impact rang out from a short distance away.
'When did he…?!'
Jin Sowoon had left an afterimage and already smashed the master's jaw. So hard that three white fragments—teeth—flew from his mouth.
That sparked the others; the remaining masters and instructors charged at Jin Sowoon, deciding they had no choice.
Then Yi Ja-gon spotted something and bellowed.
"St-Stop!!"
His voice boomed across Yangsan Peak, drawing all eyes to him.
Yi Ja-gon approached Yaryul Geuk slowly and checked the boy's condition. Bruises covered his face, and his whole body was black-and-blue. It looked like a corpse, no exaggeration.
'But!'
Yi Ja-gon had clearly seen it—Yaryul Geuk's chest rising, ever so faintly.
'He's breathing!'
Too weak to notice easily, but he was alive. His pulse was erratic and faint, but beating.
"Ah, he's still alive!"
"Alive?"
Jin Sowoon appeared beside Yi Ja-gon before he knew it.
"H-Hurry to the medical hall."
As Yi Ja-gon reached out, Jin Sowoon scooped up Yaryul Geuk first.
Without a word, he vanished like the wind.
Whoosh—
Watching Jin Sowoon depart, Yi Ja-gon couldn't shake his unease. Somehow, this didn't feel like it would end simply.
Jin Sowoon's expression as he left lingered in his mind.
#
Arriving at the medical hall, Jin Sowoon ignored the attendant girls' demands to register and barged inside, laying Yaryul Geuk on a bed. He immediately checked his pulse.
'H-He’s alive!'
Before he could even rejoice, unwanted guests intervened.
"You can't just barge in here like this!"
The attendants' sharp voices rang out. But Jin Sowoon scanned the room.
"Where are the herbs?"
"What… You can't just—"
"Where are the herbs?!"
At Jin Sowoon's forceful demeanor, one hesitant attendant finally pointed in a direction.
Jin Sowoon strode into the herb storage without pause, grabbing containers as if he already knew exactly what he needed, filling them one by one with practiced familiarity.
Then, a man entered.
"What in the world is going on?"
"D-Doctor! Some guy just burst in and…."
Sama Jeong, the medical hall's chief, glanced between the new patient on the bed and Jin Sowoon in the storage, then told the attendants,
"I'll handle this. Everyone else, get back to work."
"Pardon? But…."
"Looks like the young fellow knows a thing or two about treatment. Best to just watch in cases like this."
"…."
The attendants, thinking the man from the Alliance's medical pavilion had a different mindset from past chiefs, finally left.
"Hmm…?"
Sama Jeong approached Yaryul Geuk and took his pulse.
'Vital energy disrupted, body full of blood stagnation… What the hell happened to make him like this?'
He was on the brink of death. Instead of calling a doctor, the boy was personally brewing medicine—Sama Jeong's curiosity piqued.
Peering into the storage, Jin Sowoon was already processing the herbs: grinding some to powder, slicing others large.
He wrapped the prepared herbs in oilcloth and squeezed them between his palms.
'Hm?'
Soon, white smoke rose from his hands, and black liquid dripped steadily.
'He's making medicine like that?'
A method Sama Jeong had never seen. He worried the potency might fade, but Jin Sowoon's confident expression suggested otherwise.
Filling a bowl completely, Jin Sowoon unwrapped the cloth, selected a few more herbs, ground them to powder, mixed with honey, and formed three pills.
"…."
With the medicine ready, Jin Sowoon eyed Sama Jeong blocking the door.
Sama Jeong snapped to and stepped aside.
"Ah, sorry. Got mesmerized watching. Go ahead."
Jin Sowoon passed without a word and fed Yaryul Geuk the medicine slowly, prying open his mouth.
"Do you know acupuncture?"
"…Please."
"Good thing you're useful."
As Sama Jeong applied needles, Jin Sowoon crushed the prepared pills, mixed them into a decoction, and fed it to Yaryul Geuk.
Sama Jeong checked the pulse between needle placements. Miraculously, it was pulsing back to life in real time.
'What in the…?'
Decoctions weren't supposed to work this fast. Yet the strangely prepared medicine was producing near-instant effects.
Aware of it, Jin Sowoon crushed the second pill and administered it. The pulse strengthened further.
"Um… Mind if I ask a question?"
"…."
Sama Jeong knew better than to irk a warrior in such a tense atmosphere, but as a doctor, he couldn't contain his curiosity.
Realizing he hadn't even introduced himself, he added hastily,
"Ah! I'm Sama Jeong."
"Sama Jeong? Heavenly—"
Jin Sowoon cut himself off.
"Heavenly? What's that?"
"Nothing. Are you with the medical hall?"
"No. I was with the Alliance's medical pavilion."
For a split second, Jin Sowoon's eyes flashed—Sama Jeong felt it—but he pressed on.
"Mind if I ask some questions? Seems like we've got time before the next pill."
Jin Sowoon glanced at Yaryul Geuk and nodded.
"Go ahead."
"I know it's hard to get such quick effects from decoctions and pills. How'd you do it?"
"…Don't you know?"
As Sama Jeong puzzled over the implication, realization struck like lightning.
"You used poison?"
"Yes. Gu-eum Temple's poison spreads fast through the blood, paralyzing the body as a side effect, right?"
"Heh! You actually used poison?"
Jin Sowoon shrugged like it was nothing.
"But I added nourishing yang grass to slowly chase and neutralize the Gu-eum poison."
"Brilliant—using the poison to spread the effect rapidly, then detoxing gradually with yang grass."
Jin Sowoon nodded, and Sama Jeong marveled inwardly. He'd only theorized it himself as a doctor. For this young man, barely past twenty, to wield poison so masterfully… His identity intrigued Sama Jeong deeply.
Time for the third pill. The frantic pulse began to stabilize.
"Heh… You really saved him."
Color returned to Yaryul Geuk's pale face. His sealed eyelids fluttered and slowly opened.
Blearily scanning the room, he spotted Jin Sowoon and scowled fiercely.
"Jin Sowoon, you… I warned you I'd never forgive you if you showed up in front of me again…."
Sama Jeong, who'd overheard, was baffled. This young man had saved his life, yet his first words were curses at his benefactor? Utterly lost, he watched Jin Sowoon tensely.
But contrary to expectations, a faint smile tugged at Jin Sowoon's hitherto stony lips.
"Hah, this rude little shit…."
Amusement and strange relief softened Jin Sowoon's exasperated expression.