I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 22
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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22.
“This is….”
I infused my spiritual energy into him first, easing his pain at least temporarily.
“I’ll give you some medicine for now. But I’m not sure if it will be enough.”
Petrification sickness was an unusual affliction from the start.
If the Paecheonmun hadn’t intervened, it was a disease that would never manifest among ordinary people.
Because of this, conventional medicine and medical techniques proved ineffective.
The moment I realized this was beyond my ability to resolve, I immediately brought Eun Hui-gyeom back with me.
Fortunately, it was possible because Eun Hui-gyeom had returned to the Chingwoo Immortal Sect.
“I did administer the medicine, but it doesn’t seem to be working.”
“Even medicine I’ve created isn’t a panacea. There’s nothing I can do about that.”
“I understand, but…. Isn’t there some other way?”
I asked Eun Hui-gyeom cautiously, wondering if there might be an alternative method.
Eun Hui-gyeom shook his head.
“Either he dies as is, or we have no choice but to amputate his legs.”
“I heard he’s getting married soon.”
“Impossible is impossible.”
“You have a strangely cold side to you.”
“It’s because you’re unusually soft-hearted, Sister.”
At Eun Hui-gyeom’s words, I pouted my lips.
In truth, I understood what he was saying intellectually.
From the moment I chose the path of cultivation, even though I lived through similar years as ordinary people, I was living in a different world and a different life.
Perhaps as time passed, that emptiness would only deepen.
I wasn’t unaware of it.
Watching me close my mouth and ponder how there might be a way, Eun Hui-gyeom scratched his head and let out a deep sigh.
“Ah, seriously!”
“What? Why are you frustrated?”
“Why else. I guess I’m soft-hearted toward you too, Sister. …I’ll try to save at least one leg.”
“Really?!”
“This is just an attempt, so don’t get your hopes too high!”
“Thank you! There’s no one else like you!”
As I bounced around happily, Eun Hui-gyeom cleared his throat and turned away abruptly.
Eun Hui-gyeom and I returned directly to the Village Chief’s house.
“If you can save his life…. Anything is acceptable.”
“I’ll do my best.”
While Eun Hui-gyeom treated the Village Chief’s Son, I treated the other patients with relatively minor injuries.
Kang Jin-heon also came to find us after hearing that we were staying in the village.
In the end, the Village Chief’s Son had one leg amputated.
Still, I was grateful that he survived and that both legs weren’t lost.
“Thank you so much for saving his life.”
“No.”
“I don’t know how to repay such kindness….”
“I was merely doing my duty as a physician. But do you remember how you came to be in such a state?”
“Ah, well….”
The Village Chief’s Son, having regained consciousness, carefully broached the subject.
“I went to work in a mine in Nakryeong City for several months to earn money for my wedding.”
Nakryeong City was a mining region in the south of Baekryeon Kingdom.
‘As I thought….’
In the original story, the calamity of earth also occurred in the south of Baekryeon Kingdom.
Nakryeong City was one of the Holy Cities that suffered the greatest damage when the calamity of earth struck.
Given the severity of his condition, it was reasonable to conclude that the villagers had contracted petrification sickness through the Village Chief’s Son.
“Nakryeong City?”
“What is it?”
“I believe all the other patients I treated, as well as those who suffered relapses, had reportedly visited Nakryeong City.”
“It’s similar for me.”
Kang Jin-heon, who had assisted us and gathered accounts from the afflicted while visiting several villages, also relayed that he had heard from people who had traveled to Nakryeong City.
After completing treatment for the remaining villagers, we immediately took flight on our flying sword toward Nakryeong City.
As we drew closer to Nakryeong City, I felt a strange, throbbing sensation in my chest.
I stumbled.
“Sister!”
“Oh! Th-thank you.”
Concerned by my unsteady footing atop the flying sword, Eun Hui-gyeom quickly approached and steadied me.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
“You said you rode well before.”
“I’m not falling now, am I? It’s just…. I suddenly felt dizzy. My chest feels tight, I suppose. Don’t you feel it?”
Standing on the sword, Eun Hui-gyeom glanced around before looking back at me.
“Are you cold?”
“I’m not cold! I’m serious! It’s more like…. it’s hard to breathe?”
“I’m not sure. What about you?”
Kang Jin-heon also shook his head, uncertain.
With both of them at a loss, I began to wonder if it was merely my imagination.
We flew for another hour before arriving at Nakhyeon Village, located on the outskirts of Nakryeong City.
“What is this….”
“It’s severe.”
When we arrived, the village was already in ruins.
Corpses were discovered inside the empty houses, all hardened like stone from petrification sickness.
Rather than bodies, they resembled statues.
As a cold wind blew into the houses, the portions it touched crumbled into stone dust and scattered away.
We decided to search the village to see if anyone remained alive.
Yet the village appeared already dead—not a single living soul remained.
‘And Paecheonmun hasn’t even begun its rampage yet, and it’s already come to this.’
The earth calamity wrought by Paecheonmun was catastrophic in its own right, but I’d heard the damage to the land was beyond measure.
Witnessing it with my own eyes, the devastation was utterly heartbreaking.
Night fell as I surveyed the ruins of Nakhyeon Village.
“I wish we could at least build them graves before we leave. What do you think?”
“…Do as you wish.”
“What?”
“Why?”
“The you I know would’ve said something like, ‘Are you planning to build graves at every village we pass through?!’ I was sure of it.”
“That’s… a fair point. But….”
I glanced toward the dilapidated thatched cottage along the path we’d come from.
Inside that house lay a boy my age, along with his parents—all dead.
Perhaps it reminded me of myself, back when I lost my parents before becoming a disciple.
“See? You’re human after all.”
“I didn’t say anything! If we’re making graves, let’s do it quickly and go. This place looks perfect for vengeful spirits to emerge.”
Swish.
Kang Jin-heon silently withdrew a fan from his robes.
“What, the fan again…? Ahhhhh! It came out!”
“You’re the one who mentioned vengeful spirits!”
“How is that my fault?! The thing that came out is the problem!”
I quickly drew my sword and took my stance.
Bluish mist seeped through the darkness, gradually coalescing into a defined form.
Kang Jin-heon snapped his fan open with a flourish.
Black shadows erupted from all corners of the village, and the vengeful spirits began kneading together like mud.
Simultaneously, a voice like metal scraping filled the minds of all three of us.
[Why why only we die don’t want to die mother save me]
Dozens of voices overlapped in an eerie cacophony that pierced the eardrums.
I quickly brought my hand to my ear, blocking the sound with spiritual force.
[Krraaaaaagh!]
This one was a nameless stray spirit among vengeful ghosts—a thing without identity.
As it swung its massive arm, the old thatched cottage nearby crumpled like paper.
“Senior Brother! I’m coming!”
Eun Hui-gyeom pushed off the ground and charged forward.
In an instant, his blade flashed through the air as he closed in on the vengeful spirit.
For a spirit, this one was remarkably large.
Specters influenced by the vengeful spirit began to reveal themselves.
Slash—
The moment Eun Hui-gyeom’s sword touched the vengeful spirit, it rippled violently and transformed its shape.
As a result, the blade merely grazed through empty air.
Eun Hui-gyeom landed below and spun his body around to glance back.
Boom.
In that instant, a massive arm descended toward Eun Hui-gyeom’s head.
Kang Jin-heon swiftly wielded his fan in a wide arc, unleashing the Windmoon Technique.
The surging wind cut off the path between Eun Hui-gyeom and the wraith.
While the two of them held the wraith at bay, I gripped my blade and wove hand seals with my other hand.
Lotus Flash Shadow.
Pap pap pap pat.
With each swing of my sword, azure light streaked forth relentlessly, lashing across the wraith’s back.
The wraith’s body lost its balance and crumbled forward.
As if he had been waiting for this moment, Eun Hui-gyeom assumed his stance and raised his blade high, unfurling the Great Heaven River Sword Technique.
Kang Jin-heon’s wind bound the wraith’s feet once more, and seizing that opening without hesitation, Eun Hui-gyeom’s blade cut mercilessly through the wraith.
The wraith’s body was severed in two, its essence scattering, and black mist billowed outward in all directions.
The moment Eun Hui-gyeom felled the wraith, I wove a simplified hand seal and unleashed the Azure Lotus Technique in the opposite direction.
Azure light erupted from the empty void.
“Sister? What’s wrong?”
“Sorry, it must have been my imagination.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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