Chapter 669
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 669
Chapter Title: I've Been Through It Myself
The Yeon Clan was plunged into chaos.
It was because the Clan Lord's Hall had suddenly vanished into thin air.
The moment the hall crumbled and disappeared.
Such an absurd event had unfolded right before their eyes that, for a brief moment, it felt as though time itself had stopped, leaving only stunned silence in its wake.
Then Ha Mu-baek's figure shot into the air and vanished, and one by one, people came to their senses.
And in surveying the intact underground space that remained, they discovered the temporary acting clan lord with his dantian pierced, Jin Na-yeon—the wife of the late second young master—and his children, Yeon Gong-hu and Yeon Ha-min.
What in the world was going on? Even as they wondered, some pieced together the situation from the massive bed that stood prominently in the underground space, as if on display.
In any case, with the temporary acting clan lord suffering a grievous wound that had ruined his dantian, people sprang into action.
They had to spread the news and manage the aftermath.
And in the midst of that, chaos erupted.
The annihilation of the Clan Lord's Hall.
An unimaginable event had occurred.
The elders, too, gathered one by one in response to the sudden calamity.
As the confusion grew and grew.
There was one place that escaped people's attention: Yu Wol-a's rear garden.
Only Heuk Hwa-rin was there, tears streaming down her face as she held Yu Wol-a in her arms.
Yeon In-hu and Yeon Da-hye had both rushed to the Clan Lord's Hall.
Ha Seol-ran gripped the hands of the two children, anxiously watching Yu Wol-a.
Her senses were still heightened to an extreme degree.
She was examining Yu Wol-a's condition in detail.
Ha Seol-ran's measures were merely a stopgap.
They couldn't fully block the demonic energy. The main flows had been stemmed, but there was no way to deal with the demonic energy that was seeping in bit by bit and slowly spreading.
To be precise, Ha Seol-ran didn't know how to stop it.
That was why she could only watch anxiously.
'Older brother, please come quickly.'
She prayed desperately like that.
How much time had passed?
"Ah!"
Ha Seol-ran's head whipped around.
Having narrowed the range of her senses and kept them acutely sharp, she had noticed too late.
Her older brother was already standing beside her.
The instant she sensed Ha Mu-baek's arrival and turned her head, he was there.
"Older brother!"
"Master!"
"Master!"
At the three cries, Yu Wol-a and Heuk Hwa-rin's gazes turned to Ha Mu-baek as well.
Ha Mu-baek, receiving their looks, cupped his hands in a formal salute and bowed at the waist.
"Thank you for your help. Thanks to you, the children are safe."
A deep bow.
"No need. I only did what had to be done."
Yu Wol-a replied with a faint smile on her pale face.
"I barely held out for ten exchanges. And even that was only because I was protecting the young lady..."
Heuk Hwa-rin bowed her head in embarrassment.
She had even retreated from the spot where she had made her stand at the end.
"Those ten exchanges saved the children. I am truly grateful."
It hadn't been a long time.
A short time.
But the duration of those ten exchanges was exactly how long it took Ha Mu-baek to collapse the Clan Lord's Hall and make it vanish.
Without that time.
Ha Seol-ran alone wouldn't have been enough to hold off Yeon Baek-woo.
After expressing his thanks, Ha Mu-baek's gaze lingered on Yu Wol-a's thigh.
The sword was still embedded there.
That sword was emanating demonic energy.
What had originally brought Ha Mu-baek here?
Yu Wol-a had asked him to treat her blocked meridians condition.
But now the situation had changed.
Ha Mu-baek said to Yu Wol-a,
"May I examine your condition?"
"Please do."
Yu Wol-a nodded from within Heuk Hwa-rin's embrace at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"This way."
He laid her down in one corner of the rear garden.
Ha Mu-baek turned to Ha Seol-ran.
"Did you do this?"
He was referring to how she had sealed the meridian paths to prevent the demonic energy from spreading, confining it to one spot.
"The demonic energy?"
"Yes."
"Yes. I intervened, but did I do something wrong?"
As Ha Seol-ran asked worriedly, Ha Mu-baek shook his head.
"No. You did well. I simply hadn't realized you'd reached this level. Thanks to you, the demonic energy's invasion was minimized."
That said, it hadn't blocked all of it.
Since it was an instinctive acupoint seal by Ha Seol-ran, it naturally had its limits.
A tiny amount of demonic energy had already leaked through the gaps in the sealed points and circulated once through Yu Wol-a's entire body.
Even if it was a minuscule amount, demonic energy was demonic energy.
The pain it caused wouldn't be ordinary, yet Yu Wol-a endured it without a word or sign.
She knew that if she showed her agony, it would worry those around her, so she bore it alone.
She was far stronger than the likes of Yeon Baek-woo.
"Impressive. The pain must not have been light."
"I'm fine."
Yu Wol-a simply smiled.
Ha Mu-baek nodded and grasped the hilt of the sword embedded in her thigh.
"However, it will hurt now."
The one whose expression changed was Heuk Hwa-rin.
"She'll be fine right away. I'll make sure of it."
"I trust you, great hero."
Yu Wol-a replied calmly, maintaining her faint smile.
"Here we go."
With those words, Ha Mu-baek yanked the sword out in one swift motion.
"Ugh."
Yu Wol-a grimaced, clenched her teeth, and let out a groan.
She tried to endure, but it wasn't easy.
The pain she hadn't felt when it pierced her suddenly in that split second now hit her full force.
Blackened blood flowed from the spot where the sword had been pulled out.
Fortunately, it hadn't severed any major blood vessels, so the bleeding wasn't severe.
Instead.
Black energy billowed up in thick clouds.
Demonic energy.
The faces of those watching hardened.
Ha Mu-baek set the sword aside, and his hands moved busily.
One hand covered the wound where the demonic energy was leaking out.
The other grasped Yu Wol-a's wrist.
As he absorbed the leaking demonic energy, he infused his own energy as well.
In this way, he burned away every trace of demonic energy that had seeped into her body.
But there was one problem.
Thanks to Ha Seol-ran's quick action, it was only this bad, but a problem was still a problem.
The demonic energy had seeped into her blocked meridian as well.
Unlike the five yin blocked meridians or nine yin blocked meridians, this was a single blocked meridian in one place.
And it wasn't even in one of the meridians associated with the blocked meridian syndrome—it was in a completely unrelated one.
That was why it had deformed her face.
The meridian there affected numerous facial muscles, and with it blocked, the muscles moved erratically, creating a grotesque appearance.
That was the pallor she bore.
'Was this the natural order?'
The thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Even at Yu Wol-a's request, Ha Mu-baek had intended to refuse treating her daughter, Yeon Da-hye.
It had been the obvious choice.
Pitiable as their circumstances were, he had no connection to Yeon Da-hye to justify treating her.
Especially considering her temperament and past behavior.
But now the situation had changed.
Though the term "blocked meridian" included the character for "sever," the meridian itself wasn't truly cut.
It was so constricted that energy couldn't flow—like it was completely blocked—which was why it was called a blocked meridian.
"Closed meridian" would be more accurate.
And into that blocked meridian, constricted to the point where no energy could flow, the demonic energy had seeped.
That was the nature of demonic energy.
It infiltrated everywhere, corrupting and destroying its target.
Even meridians sealed by a blocked meridian.
Thanks to Ha Seol-ran stemming the flow, it was only this much.
Otherwise.
It would have been far more dire.
For now, he eradicated all the demonic energy that had spread through her body.
The demonic energy leaking from the wound, which Ha Mu-baek absorbed, was also completely burned away.
Since it was such a turbid, foul energy, annihilation was the best method.
The only remaining demonic energy was that within the blocked meridian.
In the meantime, Yu Wol-a's face had become remarkably serene.
As Ha Mu-baek had said, the pain was brief.
As the treatment progressed, it even felt warm and comfortable.
It had been so long since she felt such coziness that she couldn't even remember.
For some reason, the bleeding from the wound had stopped, and the blackened skin had returned to normal.
"I've removed most of the demonic energy now."
Ha Mu-baek stated calmly.
Heuk Hwa-rin's expression visibly brightened at his words.
"However."
But she froze at Ha Mu-baek's follow-up.
"There's demonic energy left in one spot. I'll remove it now... but it will be extremely painful. To the point where you'll want to die."
Heuk Hwa-rin's face drained of color at Ha Mu-baek's words.
Her expressions shifting so rapidly showed just how sincerely she cared for Yu Wol-a's well-being.
"W-why is that...?"
Heuk Hwa-rin asked in a trembling voice.
The treatment so far had been utterly serene.
"Demonic energy seeps into everything. Thanks to Seol-ran blocking the main flows, the amount that got in is small, but it still seeped in."
Ha Mu-baek explained calmly.
He was also curious about Heuk Hwa-rin and Yu Wol-a's reactions once they heard this.
Given the outcome of the treatment.
"And that includes meridians blocked by a blocked meridian."
At that point, both Heuk Hwa-rin and Yu Wol-a flinched.
Ha Seol-ran tilted her head.
A blocked meridian, all of a sudden?
She didn't know Yu Wol-a suffered from this unusual blocked meridian condition.
"It's so tightly blocked that even her own energy can't flow through... but demonic energy seeps in anyway. That's where the problem arises. Since even her own energy can't enter, my energy can't either. To annihilate the demonic energy, my energy needs to seep in."
Heuk Hwa-rin wore a confused expression.
Did that mean treatment was impossible? She was lost in such doubts.
Meanwhile, Yu Wol-a, who had been listening calmly, suddenly flinched.
She realized what Ha Mu-baek intended.
"Then, surely you don't mean...?"
"Yes. To annihilate the demonic energy, I must first treat the blocked meridian. Since it's just one, it's not too difficult, but because it's a blocked meridian, the pain will be immense."
Heuk Hwa-rin and Yu Wol-a's expressions turned profoundly complex.
Especially Yu Wol-a's.
What she had hoped for was treatment for her daughter Yeon Da-hye's blocked meridian.
Yet now, she herself was about to receive treatment for hers.
She couldn't refuse it either.
It was to remove the invading demonic energy, after all.
"Here we go."
Her deliberations couldn't continue.
Ha Mu-baek sent his energy toward the blocked meridian, found the tiny gap in the tightly sealed blockage, and began to pierce through.
"Grrrrrr...!"
An overwhelming pain that turned her mind blank crashed over her.
"Ah, young lady!"
Startled by the sudden change, Heuk Hwa-rin tried to rush forward, but Ha Seol-ran swiftly blocked her.
And shook her head.
"It's okay. That level of pain is normal for blocked meridian syndrome."
Heuk Hwa-rin stared at her in stunned shock.
"Pardon?"
"I've been through it myself."
And hers had been five blocked meridians.
Yu Wol-a's was just one, which would normally be called a single yin blocked meridian, but it wasn't.
The typical blocked meridian syndrome blocked nine specific meridians, and one of those was a single yin blocked meridian.
Yu Wol-a's wasn't among those nine.
Yu Wol-a bit her lip.
Her teeth dug in, drawing blood.
"Gaaahhh."
Even so, she couldn't stop the groans.
Her whole body trembled uncontrollably.
Ha Mu-baek's energy was steadily breaking through the blocked meridian.
Ever stronger energy forced open the minute gap in the blocked meridian and poured in.
In that process, any demonic energy it touched was burned away on contact.
Which only intensified the pain.
"Grrrrr...!"
Even Yu Wol-a, who had shown such formidable endurance, couldn't hold back and groaned repeatedly.
Heuk Hwa-rin trembled all over, her face contorted as if she were experiencing the pain herself.
She wanted to rush in right away, but Ha Seol-ran was blocking her.
"Interfering now would only make things worse."
Hearing that, she couldn't move rashly.