Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Wu Qing
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The Flesh Mask's first-rate killer, Wu Qing, found himself in a dire predicament.
Being assigned to the pursuit squad hunting the Strange Physician was perfect, and even more so taking charge of reconnaissance.
The squad's lineup was excellent, making mission success a foregone conclusion. And even if they somehow failed, it wouldn't be a big issue for Wu Qing.
The recon role meant no direct involvement in combat—your job was to flee if things went south.
You just watched from afar, and if the situation turned bad, you bolted like hell.
Since he wasn't leading the actual kill, failure wouldn't bring any blame on him.
No risk, and juicy rewards if successful. After rolling in the Flesh Mask for over a decade, this was the first time he'd snagged such a sweet gig.
The problem arose when all five assassins who charged in to kill the Strange Physician ended up dead.
'...What do I do?'
Whether those direct combatants lived or died, the primary goal of killing the Strange Physician seemed achieved. All that was left was retrieving proof of the kill and heading back.
The issue was there was no good way to grab that proof.
The surest evidence was the target's head. But the area around the Strange Physician, slumped against a tree, was stained dark—suspicious as hell to anyone who saw it.
'Poison? But first, is he really dead?'
The Strange Physician sat utterly still.
He looked dead, but from a distance, it could pass for sleep.
Wu Qing started toward him, then thought better and observed from afar.
This was the guy who'd taken down peak experts with bizarre methods. A barely first-rate newbie like him charging in bravely might get his head lopped off.
And so a full day passed, with the Strange Physician remaining motionless.
Wu Qing stayed wary regardless. Unlike the others, he knew the value of his own neck.
Instead of approaching rashly, he pulled a dagger from his bosom and hurled it at the Strange Physician. It sank right into his head.
'Good. Definitely dead.'
Wu Qing crept toward the corpse.
At about five paces, he sensed an odd energy in the air. Eyes blackened—that was poison, no doubt.
He retreated hastily, facing the cold wind to circulate his qi and expel the toxin.
'If I hadn't accounted for poison, I'd have been done for.'
Wu Qing pondered.
He needed the head to confirm mission success, but poison made cutting it impossible.
'Go back and explain?'
No, that wasn't ideal. The Flesh Mask wasn't sloppy enough to accept claims without proof.
Only one option left: wait for the poison to thin, then dart in, sever the head, and bolt.
The weather was frigid. But he could hold out a few more days.
Wu Qing fetched the fur cloaks from his fallen comrades, wrapped himself up, and hunkered down where he could see the corpse.
*
Dang Mujin tracked the Strange Physician's path.
It had seemed hopeless at first, but somehow he managed to follow the traces.
Qinghai Province had few people and even fewer outsiders.
That very sparsity made locals remember the Strange Physician vividly.
"That guy? Passed through right as winter started. Paid for an inner room, slipped out slyly toward the west after less than an hour. Thought he might come back begging a free night, but hasn't shown yet."
"Yeah. I was scouting spots for ice fishing when some lunatic swam downstream. Colder than now... Bet he's bedridden. Must've suffered."
Piecing together witness accounts, the Strange Physician had roamed Qinghai pulling all sorts of antics.
Mojiao ties had spooked him at first, but the stories painted a guy living it up.
'...Am I wasting my time?'
Maybe it wasn't as dangerous as imagined. He even considered heading back to Chengdu.
'Lounge in Chengdu half a year, grab books from the Assembly Leader?'
'No. Better squat at the Assembly Leader's, collect all three medical texts, then return to Chengdu. Triumphant return with glory. The village folks would be awed.'
With such leisure in his mind and steps slowing, Dang Mujin heard crucial info from a kid.
"That uncle? Saw him, but dunno where he went. Some guys in black were hunting him too. Friends of yours?"
"Guys in black?"
"Clothes showing just their eyes. About five?"
Dang Mujin sensed it instantly. The butterfly-tattooed killers from the road to Luoyang. Half-forgotten, but they'd caught up to the Strange Physician after all.
'Old man probably won't fall to those punks.'
Still, unknowns abounded. Dang Mujin hurried after the traces again.
*
Entering sparser areas, sightings grew rare.
Then Dang Mujin focused his mind, scanning surroundings for faint poison traces.
As if knowing he'd follow, the Strange Physician had sprinkled light poison everywhere he went.
Barely enough to kill small critters, but not enough to evade Dang Mujin's sharp senses.
How long trudging through deep snow? Something snagged his foot.
He leaped back, fearing a hibernating animal.
But this was different—no reaction. And fairly large.
Dang Mujin brushed snow off it. A corpse. In black garb.
Intense poison wafted—familiar, welcome Strange Physician poison.
'Old man took 'em out.'
Dang Mujin cautiously checked around.
Soon found three more poison-soaked bodies, and one with a clean sword thrust through the throat.
'As expected. No need to worry about the old man.'
Lighter-hearted, Dang Mujin followed the poison trail.
Nearby loomed a big rock. A man in layered furs slumped against it, dozing.
'Must be the old man.'
Dang Mujin sneaked up and smacked his back.
The man jolted up, wide awake. Not the Strange Physician.
"Shit, who the hell are you?"
At the cursing, Dang Mujin mumbled awkwardly.
"Ah, sorry. Thought you were someone I know."
"Kid. Think 'sorry' fixes it?"
Shing. The man drew his sword outright.
Dang Mujin startled but fluidly drew his own, aiming it.
The man, seeing the unnatural draw, softened.
"...On second thought, easy to mistake in this mess. No pointless stabbing, so scram."
"Ah, yeah..."
Dang Mujin grumbled inwardly, sheathing his sword.
Annoying how the guy drew first and called it quits unilaterally, but Dang Mujin had startled him. Letting it slide was mercy enough.
About to leave, curiosity hit—why squat in snow? He scanned.
Not far off, under a snow-blanketed tree, someone sat.
A dagger in his head. Head bowed, skin blackened and frozen from days dead—features indistinct from afar.
But the build, jawline felt familiar. And graying sideburns.
"Huh...?"
Mind blanked. Dang Mujin trudged over. The man behind yammered, unheard.
Poison from the corpse enveloped him.
Dang Mujin breathed it in and out naturally, trying to tilt the head. Frozen solid, wouldn't budge.
He squatted, checked the face. Unmistakably familiar.
"...Old man?"
No reply from the Strange Physician.
Obviously—with a dagger in his head, frozen dead.
Heart plummeted. Dang Mujin's breath quickened.
Hah, hah. Short gasps, he glared back. Eyes bulging, whites bloodshot.
The snow-sitter, assassin Wu Qing, knew something was wrong. He bolted to flee.
But Dang Mujin unhesitatingly flung daggers from his bosom.
Three sliced through the flurry. One missed, hit snow.
The other two pierced Wu Qing's back and thigh.
The thigh one was fatal. Wu Qing tumbled into white snow, steaming blood pooling.
Dang Mujin beast-like charged, yanked the back dagger, stabbed deeper twice.
"Aaagh-!"
Wu Qing writhed in agony; a dagger clattered from his bosom. Identical to the one in the corpse's forehead—dull black.
Dang Mujin crushed Wu Qing's hands underfoot, shattering finger bones, then grabbed his hair and dragged.
Snapping sensations from fingers—nails ripping? Unclear.
Dang Mujin forced Wu Qing's head to face the Strange Physician's corpse.
"You... what the hell did you do? Know who you killed?"
Wu Qing knew the Strange Physician, not Dang Mujin. But clearly they were close.
"I-I didn't kill him!"
Dang Mujin stomped the dagger hilt in Wu Qing's back.
Unthinkable for usual Dang Mujin, but no hesitation now.
Blade ravaged innards; Wu Qing screamed wildly.
"Your dagger's in his forehead, and you didn't kill him? He look alive to you? Wanna test if you'd survive one in yours?"
Terror filled Wu Qing's eyes. Gasping,
"Really, I didn't! It was a mercy throw! After he was dead!"
Wu Qing's excuse fueled Dang Mujin's rage.
"Mercy? Means your gang did it. You're the same scum."
"No. I swear, I never scratched the living Strange Physician..."
The black-clad watchers from Luoyang road surfaced in mind. This guy had been the lookout.
But no excuse to forgive. Old man dead—how could reason spare them?
Head spinning, Dang Mujin blurted,
"Then you should've stopped your gang. Kept them from killing the old man..."
Wu Qing rasped defiance.
"How?! Orders from above! And they were way stronger!"
"My father said: no excuses for wrongs."
Dang Mujin yanked the back dagger, slammed it into Wu Qing's left palm. Fresh shrieks, then sobbing pleas.
"Sorry, sorry! Couldn't stop 'em! My fault! Forgive me once!"
Foam bubbled from Wu Qing's mouth.
Blood loss, pain, or corpse poison? He'd die soon regardless.
But Dang Mujin wouldn't let him go easy.
Released the hair, stomped the back, drew his Soul-Severing Sword and swung. Head rolled across snow; red soaked white.
With the Strange Physician, he'd seen deaths aplenty, even caused some. Kill or be killed.
Even then, guilt lingered. Physicians save, not slay—wrong profession?
But killing this man felt utterly different.
Not for survival. Old man already dead; this wouldn't revive him.
No mercy like before. Would've died anyway, but impulse demanded beheading.
Unlike ever, not killing for life. Pure murderous intent and fury. No regret. Unstoppable.
Dang Mujin hacked the corpse to bits longer, then howled like a beast.
Sun set, night deepened.
His cries slowly faded.
Dang Mujin stood motionless a while, then hoisted the frozen Strange Physician corpse onto his back.
Braving the blizzard, he retraced his steps.