Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 77

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#077

Where Gangbi gestured, three men were sitting together.

One was blankly staring at the sky, one was polishing his sword, and the last one was nodding off drowsily.

“These guys really don’t follow the Jeongsamahyeol camp, I suppose. It seems they’re here saying they’ll protect the Elder while receiving treatment from him. We’re not close enough to hang out together, but it’s not like they have difficult personalities either. They usually eat meals with us at the same time when possible. Oh, look over there. They’re greeting us.”

Sensing our gaze, the man who was polishing his sword nodded his chin in greeting and then focused on polishing his sword again.

“This place is…”

I said.

“Unbelievably peaceful.”

Peaceful times.

The campfire crackled and burned while the wind rustled the leaves.

Should I call it peace within anxiety?

Cheongwun suddenly asked.

“Brother, is something happening with the Baekdo Alliance or down below? Are they searching for you so desperately? I heard they’re even going so far as to falsely accuse Elder Yeophwaja of being a cult member. I’m happy that there are more people here after a long time, but since your family will probably be looking for you too, wouldn’t it be better to return quickly?”

“Cheongwun.”

Gangbi said reproachfully.

“Don’t ask unnecessary things and make Hero Hwi uncomfortable. To someone who’s trying to rest now…”

From what I could roughly gather, these people seemed to know the general situation too.

However, they had absolute confidence that this place wouldn’t be discovered, so they asked about the Baekdo Alliance as if talking about other people’s affairs.

And anyway, after a month when complete spring comes, these people would leave this place and scatter again, they said it was already arranged with Yeophwaja.

“…My family won’t be looking for me.”

Suddenly I opened my mouth.

Words that were lies but not lies.

I had no reason to say this.

Perhaps my heart had softened a bit in the campfire’s light.

“I’m not direct bloodline. But it seems I had some talent. However, in my situation, that seemed to be more of a source of trouble.”

Gangbi and Cheongwun quietly looked at me.

Anyone who wandered the martial arts world would know what happens when someone who isn’t direct bloodline has talent.

“You were envied.”

Gangbi said.

“I don’t know the detailed circumstances, but probably.”

I wasn’t sure if what I received could be dismissed with an expression like being envied, but I didn’t add any further details.

“Sigh, it’s the same everywhere.”

Cheongwun sighed.

“If someone has talent, they should nurture and embrace them, why do family members step on each other? Frustrating people.”

It was a calm voice, but I could feel sincerity in it.

“Anyway, Hero Hwi.”

Gangbi said.

“While you’re here, you can stay comfortably. Everyone here has their own stories, so we don’t pry into each other’s business.”

I nodded lightly.

“And there’s a message from Elder Yeophwaja. He said you’d surely be curious about when you might recover from that fainting symptom.”

Gangbi pointed to the side.

In one corner of the courtyard was an iron ball with a thick handle that couldn’t be grasped in one hand.

“He said if you can lift that with one hand, it would be good to consider your body somewhat recovered.”

“…”

I stood up abruptly and approached it.

Not only was the heavy iron ball weighty, but it had an incredibly thick handle. The thickness was such that I had to stretch my grip to the tearing point just to barely grasp it.

I managed to grab it somehow. No strength went into it at all.

It felt almost like I had just placed my hand on top of the handle.

I pulled with all my might.

‘…This is… impossible.’

Far from lifting the iron ball, I even let go of the thick handle.

***

Entering the third day, my physical condition improved noticeably.

However, I kept attacking the iron ball whenever I had time as rehabilitation, but it still wouldn’t budge.

‘No matter how thick the handle is, to have so little strength in my fingers…’

As my body and danjeon coordinated and aligned, my body’s precision increased extremely, but each muscle fiber felt as if it hadn’t been trained at all.

Before, though crude, once I gripped something, I never let go of anything.

When breaking through the Hwangbo Family’s Jiakpaekyeong, I even moved while gripping thick beams and supporting my entire body weight.

‘Damn it!’

Even out of anger, I attacked it with full effort.

In the process, I felt each muscle fiber, though minutely, regaining old memories.

The feeling of my whole body’s muscles awakening one by one through delicate use of my fingers.

It felt like muscles were moving, gradually tearing off old skin and emerging.

‘Still, with repeated concentration, they’re responding little by little.’

I gave up on my dulled ki sense.

Anyway, Yeophwaja had said this didn’t need rehabilitation and was temporary.

I would just live satisfied with being slightly better than ordinary people.

Pasabeolsik was unthinkable.

‘Internal energy is…’

I tried drawing up my internal power for a moment.

-Gurgle.

A fishy smell rose from my throat.

Reverse blood flow.

The feeling of blood flowing backward.

‘…I could use it, but the price would be high.’

After morning training ended, I went to find Yeophwaja.

When I opened the door, Yeophwaja was cutting medicinal herbs with a chopping knife.

“Oh, this breathing sound is Hwi?”

“Yes, Elder, I have something to tell you.”

I sat down.

“What’s the matter? Your body seems to have improved somewhat. Your breathing sounds peaceful. Though you’re still quite uncomfortable, of course.”

I spoke directly to the point.

“I came to continue what we were discussing before.”

“Is that so.”

I found and handed him the next medicinal herb he was fumbling to find, then said.

“As I mentioned before, I came here as part of the Baekdo Alliance scout group that gathered at the foot of Samyeong Mountain to hunt you, Elder.”

Yeophwaja continued cutting herbs without saying anything.

“To be precise, I was dispatched not by the Baekdo Alliance but by the Namgung Family, tasked with searching for and eliminating the Guiryeongseuui suspected of being a cult member in the heart of the orthodox faction for the greater good of the martial arts world. But that was the surface; the real reason was to have my rare constitution treated by you, Elder.”

“So that’s how you found your way here.”

“Yes.”

I spoke calmly.

“And Elder, you must flee.”

“…”

“The Baekdo Alliance has definitively branded you as a cult member regardless of the truth, so they will certainly kill you. The truth no longer matters. I don’t know if I can buy time, but I’ll repay the debt I owe you by helping you escape from here. I acknowledge that this place is a natural fortress with formations. But even so, I think you should leave this place as quickly as possible.”

Yeophwaja remained silent for a long while. Finally, the old man opened his mouth.

“Do you know the situation in the Zhejiang region?”

“I know roughly.”

“Do I look like a cult member to you, or someone who conspires with cult members?”

“…I don’t think so.”

“…Right. What cult member. I’m just a blind old man, nothing more than a physician. All I’ve done is treat people.”

Leaf Huazi turned his head toward the window. With his unseeing eyes, he seemed to be painting the scenery outside.

“No. It is my fault. Once I start treatment, whether that person is a villain or a virtuous person, I treated them without thinking about their essence, occupation, or position. So it is my fault.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Leaf Huazi took out a tea set.

Fumbling around, he took out teacups and a teapot, and began brewing tea.

“Defectors from Jeongsamahyeol, common people wandering to avoid war. There was no place to accept them. Naturally, they flowed into Samyeong Mountain in Zhejiang, which was no man’s land between the factions. The Baekdo Alliance promised active acceptance of them under the pretext of goodwill.”

“….”

“And after some time, they began to think of these new people as their main source of income. They sold them salt, collected bridge tolls, and sold medicine at high prices when they got sick. Under the pretext of caring for them, they extorted money from local notables and various temples under the guise of cooperation. With dying mothers, fathers, children… they exploited labor and took away all daily necessities with subtle threats asking if these were more precious than their lives.”

Leaf Huazi spoke with a small sigh.

“Once, something like this happened. A child was brought in. A girl not even ten years old. Her whole body was burning with high fever.”

Tea was poured into the teacup with warm steam.

“But the child’s parents went to the Baekdo Union physician first. They were turned away at the door for not having money for medicine. Just because they didn’t have a few silver coins. I could understand up to that point. The parents barely managed to gather silver coins. The mother cut her hair, and the father went to the government office to take beatings for others, somehow raising the money. But after taking that money, the physician refused to treat her, saying it was too late, and drove them away.”

The old man’s voice remained calm.

“I took that case. I treated her. The child lived. And that became the catastrophe.”

“The physician must have raged about his reputation being damaged.”

“That’s right. From then on, they began to see me as a thorn in their side in earnest, so ultimately this situation is my fault for giving them an excuse.”

Now I felt like the threads were finally unraveling.

But this was just background.

The most important thing was separate.

“Then the accusation of treating cult members is false?”

“In my active days wandering the martial arts world in the past, there were such occasions, but recently I cannot be certain.”

I frowned.

“Elder, I’m sorry, but that’s sophistry. Even if there’s a custom in this martial arts world of not questioning the crimes of retired people, setting aside the past, doesn’t that mean you recently treated and conspired with cult members?”

“Rumors of being connected with cult members started spreading over three years ago. I wondered what they were using to drive me like that, but the only thing I can guess is that incident.”

“….”

“A man covered in blood and dying was brought in. I just treated him. Because I’m a physician. But after I saved and sent him away, that man killed three Baekdo Union warriors at the bridge and escaped. And they said that man used demonic arts. He was a cult member.”

I remained silent.

Quietly, but sharply, I asked.

“Elder. Do you think that makes sense?”

“….”

“Elder, you are the world’s greatest physician, Guiryeongseuui. You saw through the essence of my danjeon that no one else could understand.”

I looked into the old man’s clouded eyes.

“Does it make sense that you couldn’t distinguish whether the energy flowing through a patient’s body was demonic energy or righteous energy?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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