Chapter 292

“......”

For a moment, I held Seongheon’s gaze. Then, seeing the crease in his brow, I grabbed the Yuyeon clinging to me and shoved her off.

THUD—!

Yuyeon rolled across the floor, limp from the force.

Even while she glared like she wanted to ask why the hell I’d pushed her, I ignored it. I couldn’t afford to care about Yuyeon’s eyes when Seongheon’s were that sharp.

“From the looks of it, you seem pretty healthy.”

“No. I’m more hurt than I look.”

My head—everything—felt like it was being stirred up.

Maybe it was just a sensation.

‘Though the pain doesn’t actually feel that intense.’

I lightly brushed my back with my hand. The side the Strange Demon had hit.

ZAP—!

There was pain, but not enough to make me scream.

“Don’t touch it. The wound isn’t deep, but it’s not something you should be prodding.”

“......Ah. Yes.”

“Yuyeon.”

At Seongheon’s call, Yuyeon looked up at him from the floor.

“Step outside for a moment.”

“......”

“I have something to say to that child. Go out for a bit.”

Yuyeon didn’t argue. She carefully went out, just as Seongheon told her.

She did glance at me once on the way out, but it was only a moment. Then she left.

And just like that, the room held only me and Seongheon.

[Well, I’m here too.]

Ignoring the ghost Yoo Cheongil for the moment.

I met Seongheon’s eyes again, and he walked up to me.

“Give me your arm.”

At that, I immediately held out my right hand. Naturally, he set his fingers against my wrist.

WOOOONG—!

I could feel energy flowing through my body.

“Fortunately, the treatment seems to have gone well. Your energy is stable, and while there’s still some poison left, it’s at a level your body can clear on its own.”

I silently watched Seongheon as he reported the results.

“Even the external wound wasn’t aimed at a vital point, and it didn’t touch the bone, so there won’t be any aftereffects. For a martial artist, that’s fortunate.”

“......I see.”

I nodded. And at the same time, I said to him—

“Why did you save me?”

“......”

“Wasn’t it your intention not to step in?”

I knew he’d wanted to hide that he was the Medical Immortal.

Maybe it was different when he was a living spirit, but now that he had no memory, I’d thought he meant to keep it that way.

I didn’t understand why he’d gone out of his way to act.

“You seem confident that I saved you.”

“Even just looking at this, it’s obvious.”

He’d already taken my pulse and even explained the poison’s progression. Telling me to pretend I didn’t know would be cheap as hell.

“......Child, who do you think I am?”

“No idea.”

Who, exactly.

“The Sect Master of Mount Hua. A hero of the war. Heaven-Beyond-Heaven among martial artists....”

Too much came to mind, so I just said it all.

“And the Medical Immortal. That’s what I know you as.”

“......”

At the last part, Seongheon smiled bitterly.

“Who did you hear it from?”

“I heard it from the Strategist. But even aside from that, my Teacher told me before he left.”

“Cheongil, that bastard? Heh heh. He’s a friend with a loose mouth, but he isn’t someone frivolous.”

[......Loose mouth? That bastard’s saying that about me......?]

There was a faint trust in Seongheon’s words.

“Believe it or don’t. I don’t care.”

Whether Yoo Cheongil had said it or not wasn’t important.

That wasn’t what mattered here.

“What matters is that you’re the Medical Immortal, Sect Master.”

“......”

“I know you didn’t want to reveal it. I know you deliberately avoided it. That’s why I’m asking.”

Swoosh. I shifted my upper body slightly. The bandage-wrapped torso showed.

“Why did you save me? You must have plenty of Therapists....”

“They can’t save you.”

Seongheon gave a short, humorless smile.

“Removing the poison without an antidote isn’t something an ordinary Therapist can do. You need to be a martial artist who’s reached a certain level, and you need a fair amount of knowledge about it.”

“......There wasn’t an antidote?”

“It doesn’t grow in this region. If you want to obtain it, it’s something that takes time... and it happened at the exact moment we’d run out.”

“So that’s why you saved me?”

Because there was no other way.

Because if he left me like that, I’d die—so he stepped in.

Just as that thought formed—

“No.”

Seongheon denied it.

“Even if there were no method, I don’t think I would have stepped in. I had resolved not to save anyone anymore, so I probably wouldn’t have moved.”

“......”

His tone was firm. A resolve to never save people again.

‘Hmm.’

I didn’t know what had happened, but it sounded like he had his reasons.

Which meant—

“You broke that resolve and saved me?”

Why save me if you’d made that kind of vow.

At my question, Seongheon smiled.

A bitter smile—somehow aching.

“Because a tiny, tiny spring wanted it.”

“......Pardon?”

“A child who lived as if every year were winter. In that brief instant, spring came—how could I ignore it.”

“......”

[What the hell is he talking about?]

Yoo Cheongil put my thoughts into words, clean and simple.

What does that even mean. I get that he’s emotional as hell, but I don’t understand a word of it.

‘......Doesn’t fit me.’

That kind of conversation really didn’t fit me. Because it meant I had to interpret it myself.

“......I see.”

So I gave up on interpreting. He saved me—wasn’t that enough.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I can think straight again.”

I expressed my gratitude for saving me.

‘......I can’t ask about Divine Spear.’

Now that I owed him, it was hard to spit out anything more than this.

And even if that weren’t the case—

‘Divine Spear’s situation is impossible anyway.’

I’d heard Seongheon’s circumstances from the living spirit’s side.

I knew better than anyone that he couldn’t go to Henan to save Divine Spear.

Then—

“Child.”

“Yes, Sect Master.”

Seongheon called to me and spoke.

“I’ll ask first—does the reason you sought me include your body’s condition as well?”

“.......”

My eyes widened. He’d noticed.

No—maybe he’d known from the moment he first saw me.

“It’s about half.”

“How did you end up in that state.”

“......Yeah. Good question.”

Inner power that had increased explosively.

My realm had risen because of it, but I’d ended up living with a bomb that could explode at any moment.

I’d sought the Medical Immortal to fix that, but—

“Before you misunderstand—your body’s problem is not something I can solve.”

“......!”

Seongheon’s face hardened as he spoke to me.

“......Even you, the greatest physician in the Central Plains?”

“Your condition isn’t something that can be approached through medicine.”

“What do you mean—”

“Do you know that a human’s meridians are small and fragile?”

“I know, more or less.”

“As a martial artist’s realm rises, the flesh strengthens, and that strengthened body holds swollen inner power. The more inner power you have, the more strength you can draw out, but.”

Seongheon chose his words, then continued.

“In the end, what holds and channels that inner power is the meridians. And even though meridians strengthen alongside a martial artist, their limit is very clear.”

Unlike other parts of the body, meridians had a hard limit—that seemed to be what he meant.

“Do you know why a martial artist only holds one internal art in the body?”

“......Because if you hold more than one, qi and blood twist?”

“Correct. Different inner powers collide and twist qi and blood. The cause is that the already-weak meridians can’t endure that collision. That’s why even the strongest martial artist doesn’t hold more than one internal art....”

SNAP—!

“......!”

Seongheon suddenly clamped down on my wrist.

“Sect Master?”

“How is this possible. You know your body is abnormal as well, don’t you.”

“......”

I couldn’t answer. What Seongheon was talking about—

‘He means the Bang Clan’s internal art and the Blue Moon Heart Art existing together in my body.’

The thing I’d known, the thing I’d passed out from.

That was what he seemed to be pointing at.

“How...”

Seongheon spoke to me like that—

“How can your body be holding three energies?”

“...What?”

I couldn’t help but stare, dumbfounded.

“......Three? What do you mean, three.”

Three?

Not two—three?

What the hell was he talking about? I looked at him in panic, and this time Seongheon looked genuinely puzzled.

“......You didn’t know?”

“......No. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Three energies. I had no idea.

“In your body, three energies are coexisting right now. If you were anyone else, it wouldn’t be strange if your body had already been torn apart and burst long ago—yet somehow you’re maintaining the flesh. I can’t understand how.”

“.......”

“This isn’t medicine’s territory. Setting aside the massive inner power you carry, this part is simply a hair-trigger situation.”

“......Are you saying it can’t be treated?”

“I don’t even know if ‘treated’ is the right word. This is my first time seeing a case like this as well.”

“Heh....”

At the words “not medicine’s territory,” cold sweat slid down.

Three energies.

‘......If one is the Bang Clan’s internal art, and the other is the Blue Moon Heart Art...’

Then what’s the third?

I couldn’t even guess.

“As I am, I don’t have a way to help you. If the issue were only the swollen inner power, I might be able to assist, but once I know there are three energies inside you, touching it carelessly is even more dangerous.”

“......Then, is there truly no method?”

“For now, the best you can do is pray that these strangely docile energies don’t erupt.”

“.......”

This is insane.

The more I listened to Seongheon, the more it felt like there was no answer.

I turned my head and glanced at Yoo Cheongil.

Yoo Cheongil had narrowed his eyes and gone rigid, like he was sunk deep in thought.

Three energies. Did he sense something there?

‘That old man. Does he know something?’

Maybe. If it was Yoo Cheongil, he might know something.

He was the kind of bastard who knew every weird thing in the world.

“......Anyway.”

Seongheon spoke and rose to his feet.

“For now, I cannot help your body. This is my best. There won’t be anything more beyond it.”

As the Medical Immortal—his work was finished.

“When you’ve recovered a bit more, I’ll call for you separately. For now, rest.”

“Sect Mas—”

“I also have things to ask regarding the Strange Demon and HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.”

“Mm....”

I shut my mouth. Strange Demon and HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE. Seongheon knew.

‘Of course.’

If I woke up here, it meant he’d heard the situation, at least roughly.

“Rest.”

“......Thank you.”

Seongheon left.

“Shit....”

I swallowed a groan, feeling like things had gotten tangled.

‘This is bad.’

Not easy. If it turned out like this—

‘The biggest problem is...’

The Strange Demon had recognized me, and HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE had realized this side noticed the problem and started investigating.

‘Which means....’

They’d move now.

So.

‘The first move they’ll make is...’

Yeah. It’s probably obvious.

The moment I thought of it—

Knock knock.

I heard someone outside.

—Excuse me. Are you in there?

“Yes.”

—I brought you a meal.

“Ah, thank you.”

The door opened, and someone who looked like a disciple of Mount Hua Sect came in carrying porridge.

“It’s a simple nourishing rice porridge.”

It was snow-white porridge. It looked like something meant to warm the body—plain and simple.

“Thank you. I’ll eat.”

I took it, then looked at the disciple.

Glancing at him, I asked—

“Um. Disciple.”

“Ah, yes. Would you like me to bring you water?”

“No, not that.”

I smiled brightly as I asked.

“Do you happen to know where Disciple Taeyong went?”

The third-generation disciple who was supposed to be in charge of me. I asked because someone else had shown up instead.

The disciple responded.

“Ah, Disciple Taeyong couldn’t come because of an errand, so I came in his place.”

“I see. Understood. Ah—then, who are you...?”

“I am Taemyeong, a third-generation disciple of Mount Hua.”

“Ah, understood. Thank you for bringing it.”

“Yes. Then.”

The disciple bowed to me properly and left.

“.......”

I stared at the porridge placed on the table.

“Mm.”

Then I set ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the spoon I was holding down on the table.

[You’re not going to eat?]

“I can’t, obviously.”

[Why? You must be hungry.]

“Hahaha.”

I let out a quiet laugh.

That old man—seriously.

“Why are you messing with me when you already know.”

[Know what?]

“What do you mean what. You know.”

Tap tap.

I poked the porridge with the tip of the spoon.

“There’s poison in it.”

There was poison in the porridge.

That was both an expectation and a certainty.

Because—

‘That guy who just showed up, Taemyeong.’

He was a spy from HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE. The energy he gave off was unmistakable.

‘And that’s not all.’

That first move I’d thought they’d make.

It was—

‘They’re going to start messing with me.’

If it had come to this, then the simplest answer was to seize and eliminate me, the apparent cause.

For them, that was obviously the top priority right now.

‘Ah, what a pain in the ass.’

I stirred the poisoned porridge and thought.

What do I do.

What should I do.

“......”

I thought for a moment, and an answer came.

Three methods.

The most likely one was—

“I need to meet the Commander.”

I needed to meet Sacred Wind, the Plum Blossom Commander, first.