The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 100

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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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100
Woo Geom-san Contends for Hegemony
Woo Geom-san and Ning Yunxiao left the inn early in the morning and walked along the street.
The place they were heading for was the residence where Ha Baek-jin was staying.
As they walked together, Ning Yunxiao looked up at Woo Geom-san and spoke.
“Is Ha the Great Hero’s daughter doing very poorly?”
“It seems so. I hope Doctor Nam can cure her well.”
“You are also highly skilled in medicine, aren’t you, mister?”
“Even so, it’s merely at the level of self-study from books. I’m no match for a doctor who has formally studied medicine.”
“To me, it seems like you would be much more amazing, mister.”
Ning Yunxiao replied with an expression of disbelief.
Woo Geom-san smiled as he looked at Ning Yunxiao.
“I am not that amazing of a person.”
“You are a more amazing person than anyone else I’ve ever seen, mister.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Alright!”
Woo Geom-san patted Ning Yunxiao’s head.
It was an action he could do now since they had become quite close.
Having grown very fond of him over the past few days, Ning Yunxiao followed Woo Geom-san like his own flesh and blood.
If Woo Geom-san hadn’t stayed with him, he might have taken his own life.
This was because he thought that taking his own life would be less painful than being captured by his father and having his essence and blood sucked until he died.
Woo Geom-san was more amazing than any person Ning Yunxiao had ever met. Yet, since he never once showed off or looked down on others, respect naturally welled up.
Being next to Woo Geom-san, he wasn’t afraid of anything. Perhaps because of that, his footsteps following Woo Geom-san were also light.
The residence that the Hongjo Bang had provided for Ha Baek-jin was located within downtown Yichang.
It was a Byuon used by the Hongjo Bang for the purpose of entertaining important guests.
A martial artist of Ha Baek-jin’s caliber would receive a lavish welcome no matter which sect he went to.
This was because if one formed a good relationship in advance, they could receive help someday.
Among those who received such hospitable treatment, some would settle down in the Byuon, and these people were referred to as guests.
In exchange for receiving lavish treatment, the guests had to provide help or cooperate when the sect they were indebted to needed it.
Since a sect with many guests was treated as a prestigious one in Jianghu, they never treated those who visited them carelessly.
For this same reason, Ha Baek-jin was receiving hospitable treatment from the Hongjo Bang.
That was how much Ha Baek-jin was recognized in Jianghu.
The Byuon was located near the Hongjo Bang.
Thanks to that, finding it was not very difficult.
At the entrance of the Byuon, Hongjo Bang warriors were standing guard.
As Woo Geom-san and Ning Yunxiao approached, they brought them to a halt.
“Stop. No one is allowed to enter this place without permission.”
“My name is Woo Geom-san. I have come at the invitation of Ha Baek-jin, elder brother Baek진.”
“Ah! The Fist Expert said a guest would be coming, so it was you.”
“That is correct.”
“Please go inside. He is staying in the eastern annex, so it won’t be difficult to find.”
“Thank you.”
After offering a cupped hand salute to the warriors, Woo Geom-san and Ning Yunxiao entered the Byuon.
The Hongjo Bang’s Byuon was as large as a decent-sized sect.
Centered around the training ground in the middle, the left and right annexes faced each other, and there was a long main house in the center.
Woo Geom-san headed toward the eastern annex just as the warrior had instructed.
As soon as he entered the annex, he saw Ha Baek-jin bowing his waist to Nam Se-myeong.
“Doctor! Please, you must save my daughter.”
“Uh-huh! Didn’t I say I understood? If you keep pressing me like this, I might just not look at her!”
“I am sorry.”
Having a sick daughter was his sin.
Ha Baek-jin could not even budge at Nam Se-myeong’s words.
Only after the two of them drew closer could Woo Geom-san understand the reason why Ha Baek-jin was pleading like this.
Every time Nam Se-myeong spoke, the smell of alcohol was wafting out.
Even after parting with Woo Geom-san and returning to the Hongjo Bang’s Byuon, Nam Se-myeong had been drinking. Seeing how much he had drunk throughout the night, the stench of alcohol was still terrible.
It was enough to make Ha Baek-jin worry.
Woo Geom-san spoke cautiously.
“Elder brother, I have arrived.”
“Ah, Little Brother, you’ve come?”
Ha Baek-jin quickly put on an nonchalant expression and welcomed Woo Geom-san.
“Has your daughter not arrived yet?”
“Indeed, there is no word yet.”
An anxious expression naturally surfaced on Ha Baek-jin’s face.
It would be a problem if his daughter arrived too late, but it was also a problem if she came quickly.
It was questionable whether Nam Se-myeong could even conduct a proper diagnosis given his current physical condition.
It was then.
“Baek-jin! Where are you?”
Suddenly, someone’s urgent voice was heard from the entrance of the Byuon.
Ha Baek-jin recognized the owner of the voice in an instant.
“I am here!”
Hardly had he finished speaking when a group of people dashed into the annex.
It was a large man carrying a weak, limp young girl on his back, a middle-aged woman with a whip wrapped around her waist, and a sharp-looking young man.
Seeing the young girl riding limply on the large man’s back, Ha Baek-jin’s expression crumbled.
“What is wrong with our Yeong-ryeong?”
“Her condition deteriorated rapidly starting from one shijin ago, and she finally lost consciousness.”
The large man carrying the girl replied urgently.
Without even thinking further, Ha Baek-jin took the girl from the man and laid her down on the wooden bench floor.
“Yeong-ryeong! Wake up. Yeong-ryeong!”
Ha Baek-jin shook the girl, but she could not regain consciousness.
Due to the high fever, the girl’s body was as hot as a furnace.
Ha Baek-jin shouted to Nam Se-myeong.
“Please hurry and save our Yeong-ryeong. Doctor!”
“Tsk! Leave the child and step back.”
“You must save my daughter.”
“I said I understood. If you keep doing this, I might not look at her.”
“I am sorry.”
Ha Baek-jin hastily left his daughter and stepped back.
Nam Se-myeong approached leisurely with a waddling gait and sat on the wooden bench. Then, holding the girl’s wrist, he began to perform a pulse diagnosis.
With his eyes gently closed as he took the pulse, Nam Se-myeong’s appearance was quite doctor-like.
Looking at his daughter with eyes that seemed ready to shed tears at any moment, Ha Baek-jin’s face was incomparably sorrowful.
The large man who had carried Ha Yeong-ryeong placed a hand on Ha Baek-jin’s shoulder and spoke.
“I am sorry! We tried to bring her as quickly as possible, but…”
“Not at all! I know that you all did your best.”
“Whew! Don’t worry too much. The doctor will surely save your daughter.”
“He must.”
“Whew!”
The name of the large man letting out a sigh was Gong Pyeong-hae.
The woman with the whip around her waist was Yi Se-gyeong, and the sharp-looking young man was Jo Geum-ik.
All of them were martial artists active as Rogue Warriors just like Ha Baek-jin.
They shared only one thing in common.
It was that they had received life-saving help from Ha Baek-jin. Therefore, in order to repay the favor even a little, they had brought Ha Yeong-ryeong all the way here. However, since Ha Yeong-ryeong’s condition had worsened, they felt too ashamed to look at Ha Baek-jin.
They watched Nam Se-myeong while holding their breath.
Finally, Nam Se-myeong opened his eyes and removed his hand from Ha Yeong-ryeong’s wrist.
“Doctor! How is my daughter? You can save her, right?”
“Mmm!”
“Why… are you doing that? Is it that bad?”
Ha Baek-jin’s voice trembled involuntarily.
No matter how much he was recognized as one of the Four Great Vagabonds or the Fist Expert, he was the father of a child.
The fact that, as a father, he could do nothing even when his daughter was in a critical situation tore his heart to pieces.
Gazing intently at Ha Baek-jin, Nam Se-myeong finally opened his mouth.
“Why did you bring her so late?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s the Three Yin Severed Meridians. Yin and yang must achieve harmony, but the balance has collapsed. If you had brought her even just a year earlier, she could have been saved, but it’s too late.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Tsk! As a father, I don’t know how you could be so indifferent to your child. To leave her neglected until she ended up like this.”
“N-No… I showed her to several doctors, but none of them said it was the Three Yin Severed Meridians…”
“Are you comparing me to some neighborhood doctor right now?”
Nam Se-myeong glared at Ha Baek-jin with an angry expression.
Ha Baek-jin did not dare to say anything in reply and lowered his head.
He was someone who had visited every medical clinic out there to treat his weakened daughter. If there was a renowned doctor, he would seek them out no matter how far, and he fed her every medicine said to be good for the body.
None of the doctors he had met had diagnosed Ha Yeong-ryeong with the Three Yin Severed Meridians.
“I-Is it definitely the Three Yin Severed Meridians?”
“The Taiyin, Shaoyin, and Jueyin are disconnected. The Yang Qi has declined, and the Yin Qi has condensed but cannot circulate. When the three yin are severed like this, even if she is breathing, she is not truly alive. It’s close to a miracle that she is still breathing until now.”
“Is there no treatment method?”
“I told you. You should have come at least a year earlier. It’s too late.”
“T-That can’t be…”
Ha Baek-jin’s expression turned stark white.
Nam Se-myeong indifferently clicked his tongue and stepped away from Ha Yeong-ryeong. It was an attitude as if whatever happened to Ha Yeong-ryeong had nothing to do with him.
Ha Baek-jin grabbed Nam Se-myeong’s leg and pleaded.
“Please take a look just one more time. Please, Doctor…”
“I told you it’s useless.”
Nam Se-myeong coldly brushed off Ha Baek-jin’s arm.
At Nam Se-myeong’s attitude, the other Rogue Warriors flared up.
“Y-You…”
“No, can’t you just look at her one more time? Even if you are a doctor from Saengsagok, isn’t this too much?”
“Taking a pulse one more time isn’t a difficult task, is it?”
In an instant, Nam Se-myeong glared at them with fearsome eyes.
“Do you dare doubt a doctor of Saengsagok?”
“It’s not that…”
“If it’s not that? It seems you think lightly of Saengsagok.”
“How could we dare think lightly of Saengsagok? We are just asking you to look at her one more time…”
“Doubting the skill of a Saengsagok doctor is exactly what it means to think lightly of Saengsagok. You all are practically insulting Saengsagok right now!”
At Nam Se-myeong’s fierce, frost-like voice, the complexions of the Rogue Warriors turned stark white.
They could not utter a single word to Nam Se-myeong, who was browbeating them by using Saengsagok.
This was because crossing paths with Nam Se-myeong was no different from crossing paths with Saengsagok, one of the Ten Pillars.
As mere Rogue Warriors, they could not dare to stand and fight against Saengsagok.
They had no choice but to stagger backward.
It was then.
“Are you truly certain it is the Three Yin Severed Meridians?”
“Who else dares…”
Nam Se-myeong glared irritably toward the direction where the voice was heard.
The owner of the voice was none other than Woo Geom-san.
“What do you know that makes you babble like that?”
“I am saying this because to me, it does not seem to be the Three Yin Severed Meridians.”
“An ignorant fool who knows nothing of medicine, how dare you babble so recklessly?”
“I also know a bit about medicine.”
“Ha! Unbelievable…”
Nam Se-myeong snorted with an absurd expression.
It was mind-boggling to see a young fellow dripping with wet behind the ears stepping forward and babbling that he knew medicine.
Ha Baek-jin lifted his head and looked at Woo Geom-san.
“Little Brother knows medicine?”
“Yes! I learned from my grandfather.”
When Baek Ho-yang was brought up, Ha Baek-jin’s expression changed.
He thought that if it was Baek Ho-yang, who inherited the secret heritage of the Quanzhen Sect, the origin of Taoism, he would also know profound medicine.
If he had learned medicine from Baek Ho-yang, Woo Geom-san’s level would also be extraordinary.
“Then, Little Brother, please take a look.”
“Ha, you are ignoring the pulse diagnosis of me, a doctor of Saengsagok, and going to entrust the diagnosis to a young brat like that right now? Do you speak while knowing that this action is an insult to me and Saengsagok?”
Nam Se-myeong shouted in great rage.
Woo Geom-san gazed intently at him and spoke.
“I have no intention of ignoring your diagnosis, Doctor. However, since a human life is at stake, I am simply saying that I want to verify it one more time.”
“In the end, isn’t that the same thing? That you can’t trust me and Saengsagok…”
“If the smell of alcohol hadn’t been coming from your mouth, Doctor, I wouldn’t be doing this either. A medical condition is difficult to distinguish even when focusing with a sober mind, so how much more so when you performed the pulse diagnosis while drunk? Since a person’s life hangs in the balance, isn’t it only natural to check one more time?”
“Eeek!”
Nam Se-myeong’s face turned beet red.
He felt that he had been insulted by a greenhorn whose hair wasn’t even dry yet.
Although Nam Se-myeong’s shoulders trembled violently from the sense of humiliation, Woo Geom-san approached Ha Yeong-ryeong without paying any heed.
Nam Se-myeong pointed a finger at Woo Geom-san and shouted.
“You bastard, you will definitely have to take responsibility for your actions right now. Me and Saengsagok will absolutely not sit idly by regarding this matter!”
“I do not know which part of my actions insults Saengsagok. Rather, isn’t Doctor Nam’s current behavior the one bringing insult upon Saengsagok?”
“You brat! I won’t let you get away with this!”
At Woo Geom-san’s words, Nam Se-myeong’s anger exploded, and he lunged forward.
In Saengsagok, medicine and martial arts are fundamentally learned together. It was the same for Nam Se-myeong.
He had mastered a supreme technique called the Wanying Zhegu Shou, one of the secret martial arts of Saengsagok.
The Wanying Zhegu Shou was a mercurial joint-locking method, and once caught, one could absolutely never escape before their bones were broken and flesh was mangled.
Nam Se-myeong intended to snap Woo Geom-san’s arm to teach him a lesson.
It was at the very moment his hand roughly tried to snatch Woo Geom-san’s wrist.
Whish!
Suddenly, Nam Se-myeong’s body spun in midair like a spinning top.
Woo Geom-san had instead snatched and twisted his wrist using Chaeuolsu.
Thud!
“Argh!”
With a scream, Nam Se-myeong was thrown flat onto the floor.
Looking down coldly at him stretched out like a frog, Woo Geom-san sharply rebuked him.
“Understanding the pain and suffering of others is the basis of medicine. Why do you not know that a single word you carelessly spit out can become a dagger and cause greater agony? Remember that medicine is soon the art of healing, and the art of healing begins with understanding people. If you do not admit your own shortcomings and threaten others by using Saengsagok, I will not sit idly by either.”
“…”
Overwhelmed by Woo Geom-san’s momentum, Nam Se-myeong could only open and close his mouth, unable to say a single word.

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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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