Chapter 1177

A land of death.

Just as the name said, a place utterly devoid of life.

The truth I’d failed to notice came over me with the chill of a blade pressed to the back of my neck.

No living things at all? How is that possible?

I swallowed the question almost as soon as it sprang to mind.

It was a foolish question.

If the Lord of Heaven—no, the Demon King Asmodeus—stood at the beginning and end of all this, then it was even less surprising.

He’d dragged an apocalypse that had existed only in people’s imaginations into reality. From the moment I learned what he was, common sense had lost all meaning.

Another question quickly took the first one’s place. One that was more practical, and closer to the heart of the matter.

I stared out the window. Not a bird called. Not an insect chirped.

“What’s the purpose?”

It was far too late to ask how.

What mattered to me now—to us—was why.

And it seemed the person hiding in the sandstorm that had blown in from far away, whose presence had settled on the carriage roof a moment earlier, knew that too.

“One of two things.”

The Slaughter Saint’s voice was boyishly young, yet carried a bleakness that spoke of all the years he’d lived.

“The first is a final battle. Gathering everything in Xinjiang for one last fight.”

“Then the second is…”

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but the whole of Xinjiang has lost the breath of life. People and animals have legs; they could have gone elsewhere. But even the plants across the region have withered. Dark Heaven’s probably behind it.”

Jeok Cheongang cut in gruffly.

“Eavesdropping like a rat, only to tell us something that goes without saying.”

“Watch your mouth. That rat might cut your throat tonight.”

“I wouldn’t mind. We’re running low on food. Roast rat, nice and crisp, would make a fine breakfast tomorrow.”

“That mouth of yours never gets any better. What the hell have you done with all the years you’ve lived?”

With that curt reply, a shadow fell across the window.

Like a ghost with no substance, the Slaughter Saint passed through the window as if it weren’t there and entered the carriage. He stared at me as though he could see straight through whatever I was hiding.

“Anyway, you slept a long time.”

I smacked my lips.

I’d been traveling with the Slaughter Saint for quite a while, but this was the first time I’d been gone for a whole month. And by any ordinary measure, no one could sleep for an entire month.

But what could I do? The day would come when I told him the truth myself. For now, I’d have to bluff with a straight face.

“Yeah, I sleep a lot.”

“Even so, it’s impossible to stay asleep for a month.”

“I’ve got an unusual constitution.”

“I’ve wandered the land for fifty years and seen all kinds of patients. No such constitution exists.”

“Congratulations. After fifty years, you’ve discovered a new one.”

“…”

“…”

A suffocating silence filled the carriage. The Slaughter Saint and even Jeok Cheongang stared at me as if I were a madman.

Fair enough. You didn’t need medical training to know that was nonsense.

“I’m kidding. I did wake up a few times in between. You know, to take care of basic bodily functions and all that.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Of course not. Only Master knew. Right?”

Jeok Cheongang blinked at my sudden plea for help, then scratched the back of his head.

“Uh. Well, that is…”

His reaction was a little odd, but the most important thing when lying was to sound natural. I kept talking before the Slaughter Saint could notice.

“I woke up once a few days ago, too. After sleeping so long, I had to pee, and I was hungry.”

“When exactly was that?”

“Um… I wasn’t fully awake, so I don’t really know.”

“I see.”

The Slaughter Saint nodded as if he understood, then muttered to himself.

“Strange. You woke up several times, and nobody noticed.”

“Yeah. Strange, isn’t it?”

“Something even stranger happened. Would you like to hear it?”

Was it just my imagination, or had the air gone a little stale?

Uneasy for some reason, I shook my head.

“…No. Not really.”

“Surely you’re curious.”

“I’m fine. Sometimes it’s better not to know.”

“A good saying. But another one fits this situation better.”

The Slaughter Saint’s voice was gentler than usual, which made it all the more ominous.

“That mouth of yours is asking for a beating.”

“…”

“What do you think?”

What was I supposed to think?

I forced a smile.

“Now I’m very curious. I’d love to hear what happened.”

“Taken on its own, it’s nothing remarkable. From where I stood, it was mostly a nuisance.”

“What do you mean…?”

“What a close Master and Disciple you are. From the first day of our journey, a certain ill-tempered old man raised hell unless I checked on you morning and evening. Not a single day went by in peace.”

The Slaughter Saint’s eyes sank as he glared at Jeok Cheongang, as though just remembering it exhausted him.

“Lately, his fits reached new heights. You’d been asleep for nearly a month, so he decided something must be wrong. He shouted at me, demanding to know why I couldn’t find the problem.”

“…”

“That was only two days ago. Anything to say?”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Of course I had nothing.

I knew something had felt off. Now I understood Jeok Cheongang’s strange reaction earlier.

Under the Slaughter Saint’s stare—and mine—Jeok Cheongang looked out the window and muttered, “Well, I didn’t shout that much…”

“You even called me a quack.”

“I didn’t put it quite that directly…”

“True. You were a little more roundabout. You asked if I’d learned medicine at a gambling den.”

“I did say that, but it wasn’t so harsh…”

“And what possessed you to accuse me of trying to live up to my title as the Slaughter Saint by killing your Disciple?”

“Hmm. I suppose I went too far there. My pride won’t let me apologize, so I’ll offer my regrets instead.”

The answer was steeped in the essence of the Fire Gate Clan—a clan that had been making Murim’s people furious on a regular basis for more than three hundred years. A sound almost escaped me.

Then I saw the Slaughter Saint’s expression and held it in with everything I had.

“You fucking—!”

I was very relieved Cheongpung wasn’t here.

If he’d seen this, he would’ve spouted some nonsense like, Wow! I’ve never seen the greatest assassin of all time swear before! Then I would’ve had to watch the greatest assassin of all time lose his temper and go on a rampage.

Fortunately, the man with another identity as the Divine Physician knew how to keep to a minimum standard of decency—unlike my dear Master—and, as a former assassin, had a near-supernatural skill for recovering his composure.

“Fine. Yes… It happens. People close to a patient sometimes can’t think clearly. It happens. I understand.”

After muttering as if trying to hypnotize himself, the Slaughter Saint took a steadying breath and turned to me.

Then he asked something I could never have anticipated.

“So, did you take care of things over there?”

“What?”

“Your hometown. The realm of immortals, wasn’t it?”

“……!”

For a moment, the world seemed to stop.

If not for the carriage’s constant rattling, the sand slipping through the window, and Jeok Cheongang’s conspicuously deliberate clearing of his throat, I might have believed it had.

“Ahem. Well, that’s how it happened.”

That happened. That happened. That happened…

His words seemed to echo, though we weren’t in some deep mountain valley. I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them and looked at Jeok Cheongang.

He was trying very hard to look stern.

I said nothing. I just kept looking at him.

“W-why are you looking at me like that?”

“…”

“Well, I couldn’t help it. You’d been out cold for a whole month. I was worried, and the Slaughter Saint kept getting suspicious…”

“…”

“I only explained a little! Just a little! He’s a physician. When he asks about a patient, he ought to know something about the patient’s condition!”

I let out a long sigh at his halting excuses.

“I understand.”

“You’d always woken up after a few days at most. This time, I even wondered if you’d been poisoned with some sleeping drug from the demonic, heterodox arts… What did you say?”

“I said I understand. You had your reasons.”

Well, what was done was done.

Maybe it was just me, but I’d grown pretty close to the Slaughter Saint. He was one of my most dependable allies, too. He deserved to know my secret.

To be honest, part of me was relieved it was out.

Besides, the decision had been made by my Master. Jeok Cheongang must have had his reasons. If he’d slept for a whole month like a bear hibernating through winter, even I would have started to suspect something.

Anyway…

“How much did you tell him about me?”

“Hmm. Well…”

Why did I suddenly feel a chill?

I’d only asked in case I needed to fill in the details, but Jeok Cheongang hesitated and glanced at me before answering.

“I told them more or less what I knew. Their reactions varied at first, but they all believed me.”

“Oh, that’s fine. I was planning to tell him soon anyway… Wait. Their reactions varied?”

That was strange.

There was only one of him. How could there be several reactions?

A shout from somewhere in the distance answered my question.

“Waaah! Benefactor! You’re back! Did you have a good trip?”

Ah.