Chapter 89
“Ugh!”
Jegal Haesu vomited a mouthful of blood and collapsed limply to the floor. It was a miracle he had managed to stay standing throughout the entire ordeal.
He stared blankly at the dark, viscous blood that had spilled from his lips.
“D-did the treatment work?”
“No! I merely used a temporary measure to drive out the Turbid Qi for a moment. It will fill up again before long.”
“I see... Then what you just did is similar to the Acupoint-Striking Technique.”
“That is correct.”
Jegal Haesu wiped his blood-stained mouth with a swipe of his hand and spoke.
“Can you not cure me, Sir?”
The Bewitching Healer of the Moonlit Night slowly shook his head.
“Regrettably, only the Healer Immortal could cure your condition.”
“…….”
Jegal Haesu’s face grew noticeably gloomier.
“Or, you could achieve Rebirth of the Bone and Marrow with the help of a Peak Master.”
“…….”
He looked up with a hollow gaze, his face on the verge of tears.
Whether it was the Healer Immortal or a Peak Master, both were utterly preposterous suggestions.
Jegal Haesu’s expression was so despairing that the Bewitching Healer, uncharacteristically, felt he should at least offer advice worth the consultation fee.
“Listen well, Jegal Haesu.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“If the Golden Divine Healer improves her abilities, she will be able to cure your illness.”
“……!”
“Your Turbid Qi is not something that can be solved by drawing it out little by little. It must be expelled entirely at once. That will require a very powerful force.”
“Are you saying only the Golden Divine Healer can do that?”
“Indeed.”
Good grief. I went through all sorts of trouble to find the Bewitching Healer of the Moonlit Night just to avoid overworking Soso.
And in the end, the answer to my illness lies with her.
Jegal Haesu let out a hollow, bitter smile at this bizarre conclusion.
……But wait. Does the Bewitching Healer even know that Soso is the Golden Divine Healer?
“Sir, do you know the true identity of the Golden Divine Healer?”
“Why else would I have brought up Lady Baek!”
“Hahaha……”
Jegal Haesu laughed awkwardly. Was this really something to be scolded for?
“However, she will never see the peak of her abilities unless her body and soul are unified.”
Body and soul not being unified.
That was what I heard from Soso yesterday.
Soso had said that the Bewitching Healer was searching for someone whose “body and soul were not unified.”
“Could it be that the person you were looking for was Soso?”
“And what if it was?”
“Do you happen to know about her mysterious nature as well?”
“Hmm. If you mean the fact that her body is unstable because her soul and body are not unified, then I know enough.”
“……!”
Soso, it seems I’ve learned about your condition without even having to reveal your secret first.
Jegal Haesu resolved to find out everything she might be curious about, on behalf of the woman who had already escaped the illusion.
“How can her body be stabilized?”
“…….”
The Bewitching Healer, who had been answering readily, pressed his lips shut. He narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Jegal Haesu.
“Please, I beg of you. If you need more money, I will bring it.”
It would be a painful sacrifice, but for Soso’s sake, he would even sell the family’s debt documents he had guarded like his own life.
“The money you gave before is enough.”
“Then……”
“Come to Sichuan.”
“Sichuan?”
“I will be waiting for you there.”
*Hehehe.* With a hearty, open laugh, the Bewitching Healer’s body began to blur.
Along with him, the pavilion that had been sitting alone in the pitch-black space vanished like smoke.
When he blinked his eyes, everything was gone.
The scene around him was a corridor in an inn.
It had truly been like a dream.
Just as he was about to search for Soso and Sau, who had escaped the illusion before him, he heard something.
“Kyaaaah!”
“H-help me!”
Screams and shouts erupted from somewhere.
As he strained his ears, he could hear the sound of things breaking and weapons clashing.
“Soso!”
Jegal Haesu sprang up from where he had been sitting and drew his fan.
He didn’t know what was happening, but thanks to the Bewitching Healer’s treatment—similar to the Acupoint-Striking Technique—his body was in peak condition.
He felt he wouldn’t need to worry about the Turbid Qi for at least an hour.
‘No matter what kind of enemy has swarmed here, this time, I will protect Soso at all costs.’
Jegal Haesu’s body vanished in a blur.
* * *
One hour before Jegal Haesu escaped the illusion, when Sau and Baek Soso first appeared in the inn’s corridor.
Sau had intended to wait for Soso’s companions while enjoying a cup of Jukyeopcheong liquor at the inn.
However, he couldn’t take a single step down the corridor. He had begun to sense a strange presence in the surroundings.
‘Evil things have surrounded the inn.’
The identity of the energy, faint but unmistakable, was Demonic Energy.
Sau found this strange and abandoned the thought of drinking.
‘This is truly bizarre. There were no reports of madmen or Demonic Cultists attacking this inn.’
Ever since he had become the Heavenly Demon, Sau had not attacked or destroyed places where innocent commoners resided.
He saw no need to use force unnecessarily. His plan was only to annihilate the Five Great Clans and the Nine Sects.
Furthermore, he didn’t bother touching clans or sects with whom he had no grudge. He planned to eliminate the forces that had harmed the Demonic Cult one by one.
And yet, things reeking of Demonic Energy were near the inn...?
It was completely incomprehensible.
While Soma-gi was somewhat foolish and often acted without a plan, he wasn’t the type to commit such an act without consulting him.
And Baek Sam was even less likely to do so.
‘Something has gone wrong.’
Sau sensed it instinctively.
Of course, that didn’t mean he was afraid or intimidated.
He was now a master who had reached a realm high enough to shake the heavens. There was nothing anywhere that could make him afraid.
Of course, he couldn’t use the martial arts of the Demonic Cult, as he had to hide his identity from Soso.
But he had the martial arts of the Qingcheng Sect, which were perfect for showing others.
He was confident he could defeat most opponents even with the Qingcheng Sect’s techniques.
“Soso, do not leave my side, no matter what.”
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“It seems there are evil things nearby.”
“……Could it be related to the Demonic Cult…….”
At that moment, a roar echoed.
*CRASH!*
The wall near the corridor where they were sitting had been shattered.
A man bleeding profusely was thrown out through the broken wall.
The man, still clinging to life, muttered in a small voice.
“R-run……. The m-madmen are……. Gaaack!”
Madmen.
Sau’s face hardened.
He could feel the Soul-Chasing Sword at his waist trembling at the scent of blood. It was crying out, wishing for him to draw the blade and unleash the Sixth Hand of the Asura.
Sau stubbornly ignored the trembling and looked at Soso.
He thought it would be best to quickly escape after confirming why there were madmen here.
But…….
“……Soso?”
In the brief moment he had looked away, she was already treating the man who was coughing up blood.
With that golden energy that had captivated Sau’s gaze.
“Phew! I’ve just stopped the bleeding for now. At this rate, he won’t turn back into a Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.”
Her face was stained with tears that had been falling, though he didn’t know when they had started.
Not content with just treating the unconscious man, she dragged his body to the side of the corridor and hid him well.
“…….”
Sau couldn’t understand her actions.
They were in a desperate, time-sensitive situation, and this wasn’t even someone she knew.
Yet, without realizing it, Sau raised his hand and carefully wiped the tear-streaked face of the woman.
Because he felt that was what he had to do.
0 Comments