The middle-aged nun, Venerable Myoryeong, struggled to speak, her face pallid.
“The Venerable Nun… has passed into nirvana.”
The moment I heard those words, my fist clenched on its own, and something deep in my chest sank with a heavy thud.
The two Elders of the Qingcheng Sect, who had rushed over after sensing the ominous atmosphere, widened their eyes and shouted,
“Venerable Myoryeong, what do you mean? The Venerable Nun has passed into nirvana?”
“That’s impossible! It can’t be!”
I already knew whom the Venerable Nun referred to.
She, too, had been one of the former-generation masters whose image was etched clearly into Jeok Cheongang’s memories.
She had a very forthright personality. She stopped at nothing against her enemies, and her martial arts were outstanding. There were even times when she was better than Hong Dao, that lazy bald monk.
During the Great Faction War, the Demonic Cult had feared her and called her the Blood Rakshasa, while the Murim of the Central Plains had given her the sobriquet Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun.
Even after time passed and the heroes of the past gradually disappeared, she remained on Mount Emei and held her place.
The Emei Sect’s sole Supreme Peak master and its respected Sect Leader.
And now, the Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun was dead.
After the Poison King, now the Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun too.
What a damned mess.
I finally spoke the words that had been circling inside my mouth.
“Who was behind it?”
“……!”
“……!”
Venerable Myoryeong, Gung Gibang, Hyuk Mujin, and the two Elders of the Qingcheng Sect.
Five pairs of eyes turned toward me at once. The emotion in all of them was surprise, but the reason for it differed.
“The culprit?”
“D-Do you mean the Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun was…?”
The two Elders of the Qingcheng Sect could not continue and fell silent. They had only belatedly realized what they had failed to notice in their shock at the news: Venerable Myoryeong’s current condition.
Her clothes were stiff with dried, dark-red blood, and her complexion was bluish and deathly pale.
She had been staring at me with wide eyes, but now she lowered her head.
“As expected, Young Hero Jin already knew.”
As expected?
At my questioning gaze, Gung Gibang gave a heavy nod.
“We couldn’t help it. The culprit who murdered the Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun…”
“He’s the same person as the culprit behind what happened at the Sichuan Tang Clan, or at least connected to him. I think so too.”
The Elders, realizing there was something they did not know, asked in urgent voices,
“You knew about the culprit? Has something happened at the Sichuan Tang Clan?”
“Tell us everything. Quickly!”
There was no way to hide it anymore.
Perhaps this had been inevitable ever since the Poison King was murdered.
I took a deep breath before parting my lips.
“A few days ago, Great Hero Tang Taesang, the Poison King, passed away. To be more precise, I should say that someone murdered him.”
“……!”
“The Family Head, Great Hero Tang Sadok—the Myriad-Poison Asura—declared that he would have his revenge. By now, he should be pursuing the culprit with the members of his household.”
But the Poison King was not the only victim.
I left the stunned Elders behind and looked straight at Venerable Myoryeong.
“What happened?”
“It was a middle-aged man. He was missing one arm.”
“One-armed?”
“Yes. He was…”
A trembling voice escaped between Venerable Myoryeong’s lips.
“He was a demon incarnate.”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The fierce wind howled, and the scenery around us flashed past with every step.
The nun in my arms was astonishingly light, and the qi I felt through the contact between our bodies was perilously faint.
In this condition, she still made it all the way here…
Venerable Myoryeong had not even finished telling us what happened before she vomited a basinful of blood and lost consciousness.
Gung Gibang, who was following close behind, spoke with a grim expression.
“How bad are her injuries?”
“Serious. I poured internal energy into her to bolster her vitality in an emergency, but… it won’t be enough.”
Gung Gibang let out a quiet groan.
“She wasn’t in this condition when she first set out. Venerable Myoryeong herself insisted that she could endure it.”
“You should’ve stopped her anyway, you bastard.”
“……I couldn’t. I’m sorry.”
My lips moved, but I soon pressed them tightly shut.
I knew. Even if I had gone myself instead of Gung Gibang and Hyuk Mujin, I wouldn’t have been able to stop Venerable Myoryeong.
Even as she vomited blood, the voice she had forced out still rang vividly in my ears.
“The Sect Leader and even the three Elders… They all died by that demon’s hand. I—we couldn’t chase him as he walked away smiling.”
She said the demon had descended upon Mount Emei, the holy mountain of Buddhism, only three days ago.
The demon had climbed the mountain like any other pilgrim and sought out the residence where the Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun lived. Three Elders happened to be there at the time.
Then a battle that shook heaven and earth had erupted. A mountain peak collapsed, and Mount Emei itself trembled.
What Venerable Myoryeong had witnessed after recognizing the disaster and rushing there from the nearest location was four dead nuns and a single demon.
“Don’t look so shocked. My killing arts were simply stronger than Emei’s Buddhist teachings.”
“H-How could you do such a thing? Are you truly not afraid of Heaven?”
“How laughable. The Buddha and Heaven you speak of are all lies and illusions. I will show you that I have another Heaven.”
That was the last thing he said.
The culprit struck Venerable Myoryeong with a palm and disappeared. While the Emei Sect was consumed by grief and rage, two young men arrived.
After hearing from Gung Gibang and Hyuk Mujin that the Qingcheng Sect was nearby, she ignored everyone who tried to stop her and descended Mount Emei.
“Please help us. Please! No matter what, we must stop that demon… Cough!”
Recalling Venerable Myoryeong crying out until the final moment before she lost consciousness, I clenched my teeth.
What kind of bastard was he…?
A one-armed middle-aged man. A master whose martial prowess was terrifying enough for him to single-handedly kill the Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun, a Supreme Peak master of the former generation, and three Elders.
What purpose could he have had? Why had he done something like this? And was he the same culprit who had murdered Tang Taesang, the Poison King?
What if he wasn’t?
The moment my thoughts reached that point, a chill ran down my spine, and my heart began pounding violently.
If the culprits behind the two incidents were different people… it would only be a matter of time before Sichuan became a land of death.
Just as my previously effortless steps began to grow heavy, the two Elders of the Qingcheng Sect spoke.
“I think we should part ways here.”
“I’m sorry, but our circumstances don’t allow us to do otherwise.”
It was the obvious choice for men worried about their sect.
The Sichuan Tang Clan had been attacked, and now the Emei Sect had suffered the same fate. Anyone with a brain could guess that the Qingcheng Sect would be next.
“There’s no need to apologize. I would have done the same.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Are you going straight to Mount Qingcheng?”
The older of the two Elders shook his head.
“I will lead some of our Disciples to help the Emei Sect. My Junior Brother will return to the main sect with the remaining Disciples. And you?”
“Venerable Myoryeong’s injuries are more serious than I expected. I’m going to find a physician, then contact the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
With a substantial portion of their members away, the Sichuan Tang Clan and the Qingcheng Sect had both been left virtually undefended. We had to warn them in case something happened.
The Elder, whose sect was in the same position, understood that as well.
“For now, focus on treating Venerable Myoryeong. We will send someone to the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. May fortune favor your martial path.”
“And yours.”
We clasped our hands in a martial salute and split into three groups.
The two Elders each led their Disciples away to the north and east. That left only four people, including me.
Ah. Jeok Cheongang and Venerable Myoryeong were here too.
We had come all the way to Sichuan to heal a patient, but instead of finding the Divine Physician, we had gained another patient.
What is this? A hidden-camera prank?
Fuck, as if.
I let out a deep sigh inwardly and was about to start walking again when—
Step. Step.
Light footsteps came up the dirt path, accompanied by a cheerful humming sound. A boy climbing along the mountain trail finally spotted us and opened his eyes wide.
“Huh? Wha—?”
It was a familiar face. The boy’s name was Mungyeong.
I was glad to see him again after only a few days, but before that feeling could fully surface, another thought crossed my mind.
“Mungyeong.”
“What brings everyone here…? Huh?”
“You’re a medical apprentice, right?”
I still remembered him treating patients on the deck of the Swift Tide.
I did not know exactly what kind of treatment he had provided, but according to the river bandits, he was quite skilled.
“Yeees. I am, but…”
Mungyeong answered with a bewildered expression, then turned his gaze toward Venerable Myoryeong in my arms. No further explanation was necessary.
He took a wooden case containing acupuncture and moxibustion tools from the travel bag he had been carrying and strode toward us.
“First… let me examine the patient.”
Swish.
The time it took Mungyeong to feel her pulse and place the needles was no more than an instant.
But even though he handled the entire process as smoothly as flowing water, a shadow remained over his face.
“…How is she?”
I did not need to ask to know that the result would not be good.
As expected, Mungyeong quietly shook his head.
“It’s not good. Really.”
“At least you were able to provide some treatment, right?”
“Yes.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
It might have sounded unkind, but I had never expected much from Mungyeong to begin with. He was still young, and he had only been practicing medicine for a short time.
All I wanted was that minimum treatment.
“You’ve done enough. That’s sufficient for now. If we get to Chengdu as quickly as possible and find a way…”
“Will that really be enough?”
“What?”
“After a month, her flesh will begin to rot. After four months, her bones will melt away.”
“Hold on. What the hell are you talking about…?”
But Mungyeong’s quiet voice continued without stopping.
“If she spends half a year in terrible pain, she’ll start to look like a walking corpse. A year at most. Once her organs begin to rot, she’ll finally stop breathing.”
“…What?”
“Even if you go to Chengdu, there won’t be any suitable treatment. The physicians available among ordinary people can only treat women’s ailments, the sort suffered by high officials and nobles. And the Sichuan Tang Clan…”
I was surprised twice.
First, by the fact that Venerable Myoryeong’s injuries were that serious.
Second, by the unfamiliar sight of Mungyeong calmly continuing to speak such terrifying words.
“I heard rumors throughout the marketplaces that the Tang Clan’s martial artists headed west. It will take several days at least for them to return. By then, it will be too late. How long has it been since she was injured?”
Hyuk Mujin answered haltingly.
“Th-Three days. A little over three days, I think.”
“Three days…”
Mungyeong let out a quiet groan and continued in a heavy voice.
“The Black Hand Seal is a terrifying evil technique. Once seven days and nights have passed, there will be no turning back.”
Grab!
That was as far as he got.
My patience had run out, and I could not hold back any longer. I seized him by the collar.
“You… How the hell do you know that?”
A teenage medical apprentice had just named an evil technique that no one here had ever heard of.
If this was the Mungyeong I knew, such a thing was impossible.
“Tell me. Now.”
Mungyeong swallowed hard at my chilling aura before answering,
“My Master… My Master told me everything.”
“Your Master?”
“Y-Yes. Yes… Cough!”
A sudden flash of insight passed through my mind.
The strength ebbed from the hand gripping his collar.
A murmur like a groan slipped between my lips.
“The Divine Physician…?”
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