Is the matter with Namgoong Woon all that’s left now?

Jin Cheonhee was tying up loose ends one by one.

After listening to Jin Cheonhee’s story, Namgoong Woon nodded, “Our clan has decided to consider the matter concluded, with no favors owed or grudges held, in exchange for you having broken the Great Azure Heavens Boundless Sword Formation.”

“That’s neat.”

“A noble family is a place where schemes and tricks run rampant, but in the end, martial arts simplifies everything. Since you, Jin-au, and that unknown Guest showed us that power, things have become quite simple.”

Namgoong Woon tilted his cup of tea instead of liquor. He looked quite displeased, but he had received an earful from the family elders, so he had to cut back on drinking for a while.

“Ah, and those eight hundred or so martial artists also made things quite simple.”

“…The ones my master sent…?”

“That’s right. They didn’t do anything particularly noteworthy… no, that’s not right. Just gathering that many martial artists in such a short time was a great feat in itself. It changed the entire backdrop, didn’t it?”

“Yes. My master did paint quite a backdrop.”

“In any case, the Divine Doctor White Dragon can’t stand to see his disciple being persecuted. Because of that backdrop, the matter became very simple. Even if they wanted to do something, it would require bloodshed, and if that happened, the Namgoong Clan wouldn’t escape unscathed. What could they do?”

His master had once said: You will save the world, and I will save you. I will build a dike for you.

Master, this dike is too… too big.

He hadn’t imagined it would be on this scale back then.

“One thing is certain. This wasn’t just a simple display of the White Dragon Medical Pavilion’s power; it was a demonstration of what would happen if anyone dares to touch his disciple. All the great families will have understood that now.”

“Ha… haha.”

“It’s something to be envious of… but I do feel a little sorry for you, brother. Now, wherever you go, the great families will voluntarily report your whereabouts to the White Dragon Medical Pavilion. Undertaking righteous deeds freely will be impossible.”

This is… a good thing, right?

Namgoong Woon looked at Jin Cheonhee with a gaze full of slight pity. “Still, it’s a good thing, isn’t it? The work you do is quite bizarre, Jin-au. You need at least that much backing to save your own life.”

Ha… Master. This is too much.

Before they parted, Jin Cheonhee performed a pulse diagnosis on Namgoong Woon and once again discovered a stone, in a similar condition to the last one. Just as he’d expected, it had relapsed.

How on earth did he survive until his life-and-death duel with Yeo Ha-ryoon?

Could it be that the reason he died by Yeo Ha-ryoon’s blade wasn’t because his footwork was lacking, but because he was fighting with a stone embedded in his abdomen and couldn’t display his full skills?

But the pain must be excruciating, right? How could he fight a life-and-death duel… Right. This is the martial world. There are plenty of crazy bastards who would fight as if they just had a knife stuck in their gut.

In any case, it was an event that wouldn’t happen now. There was no way to know the truth. A doctor simply does a doctor’s work.

Jin Cheonhee once again gently slapped Namgoong Woon’s abdomen with his palm, shattering the stone. And while he was at it, promising that he wouldn’t let him forget this time, he gave him a small taste of the agony of a urinary stone. He then sent a letter to the family elders, insisting that this time, a Prohibition of Alcohol[1] was absolutely necessary. He knew Namgoong Woon would probably drink anyway… but it couldn’t be helped. A doctor had to do his duty.

After finishing up the last of his arrangements, Jin Cheonhee, along with the White Dragon Medical Pavilion’s martial unit and Thieving Phantom, began the journey to Jiangsu Province, back to the Pavilion.

Yeo Ha-ryoon traveled alongside his brother, carrying the Blood Poisonous Pearl.

“Don’t you have to go straight to the Demonic Cult?”

“I’ve already sent a letter saying I’ve obtained it, so a little delay should be fine.”

“So you’re on vacation, in other words.”

“Mm.”

Yeo Ha-ryoon gave a short reply and rode his horse alongside him.

“In that case, let’s look for a fan on our way back,” Jin Cheonhee said.

Having stirred up so much trouble, his master’s anger was sure to be considerable. To lessen his punishment even a little, he absolutely had to find a fan that suited his master’s hand.

“My life is on the line… I must have that fan.”

At those words, Yeo Ha-ryoon’s brow furrowed slightly. “What on earth will this fan be used for… that it’s that serious?”

“It is. I’ve already marked the locations of all the famous fan workshops on the map.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to place a request with a merchant guild?”

“Already did that. All that’s left is to visit the workshops and ask around myself.”

His master was anything but easy to please, so the disciple decided he had no choice but to do the legwork himself.

***

Arc 31: To Fight Poison with Poison

“It seems you couldn’t find the fan you wanted, did you?”

At Thieving Phantom’s words, Jin Cheonhee’s shoulders slumped. She was right. On the way back, he had visited the most renowned workshops in each region, unfolding and feeling every fan the artisans had just crafted. But none of them were significantly different from the ones his master had previously rejected.

Yeo Ha-ryoon asked, “If it’s that much of a problem, how about taking the fan you broke last time and asking them to make an identical one?”

“I already tried that. In fact, I did that from the very beginning.”

“Hmm?”

“For some strange reason, he didn’t like it.”

Jin Cheonhee let out a sigh.

“I don’t know what’s so great about that man that he has to make such a fuss in front of his disciple over a single fan.”

Wow, he’s being harsh. Really harsh.

It seemed his brother wasn’t pleased seeing him run around like this just to find their master’s fan.

As they were talking, Jin Cheonhee suddenly felt a sense of wrongness.

What is this?

They were in a small tea room inside a large inn. Only the three of them were inside, while outside, hundreds of martial artists from the White Dragon Medical Pavilion should have been unwinding from their journey, sharing cups of liquor.

Driven by the strange sensation, Jin Cheonhee slid open the tea room door.

A woman was standing there. She wore a plain, unadorned robe of common cloth and carried a simple sword without any decoration. She had long hair as black as the night and eyes as sharp as a hawk’s.

“To think you noticed my presence. You’ve grown quite a lot.”

In that instant, Jin Cheonhee’s eyes flared with a blue light. All the martial artists around them acted as if she hadn’t been there from the start. Only Yeo Ha-ryoon remained seated, looking at her.

The Heavenly Demon.

[I heard you sent someone to retrieve the Blood Poisonous Pearl, but I never imagined the Heavenly Demon would come herself.]

Following Yeo Ha-ryoon’s telepathic message, he turned to look behind him, but Thieving Phantom had already vanished, having made her escape.

“…”

Truly the greatest lightness skill master under the heavens. Her movements were like a ghost’s.

The Heavenly Demon looked down at Yeo Ha-ryoon and spoke. “Still a child who knows no manners. The other cultists are all busy worshiping me as a god.”

“…”

Even in this situation, Yeo Ha-ryoon offered only a slight, cursory bow.

Dammit, even in a tense situation like this, the protagonist’s cool is dazzling!

No matter that Jin Cheonhee had reached the Transformation Realm, his opponent was someone on the verge of ascension. Yeo Ha-ryoon was not so foolish as to be unaware that at this distance, if the Heavenly Demon’s mood soured, his head could be sent flying with a single hand-chop. And yet, he did not show her the proper courtesy. He acted as if he were addressing a senior colleague, not a god or an elder, and the Heavenly Demon, finding it absurd, let out a small chuckle.

So cool. You really have to be on that level to be a martial arts protagonist! But… I wish he’d do it when I’m not around.

The thought that he could die along with him was bad for his heart. Inside Jin Cheonhee, the martial arts novel enthusiast and the modern-day coward were once again grabbing each other by the scruff of the neck.

The Heavenly Demon walked right into the tea room.

Thump, thump.

The way she walked, making noise so casually, made her seem at first glance like someone who knew nothing of movement techniques. However, strangely enough, not a single strand of her hair moved without purpose as she walked. It was as if it was tracing a graceful arc, moving with an understanding of the very essence of martial arts.

She took a seat as if it were her own and, without so much as lifting a finger, closed the tea room door with her will alone.

“…”

Then, she picked up the hawthorn liquor that had been placed in front of Thieving Phantom’s empty seat and filled a vacant cup. Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. It seemed the Heavenly Demon also preferred liquor over tea.

“Minor Cult Leader Ha-ryoon. Take out the sacred treasure of our cult.”

“As you command.”

Yeo Ha-ryoon took the Blood Poisonous Pearl from his robes.

“Hmm.”

The Heavenly Demon used her telekinetic ability to lift the Blood Poisonous Pearl, spun it around once, and after murmuring, “It’s genuine,” she tucked it into her sleeve.

Inside the Heavenly Demon’s sleeve. Now, not even Thieving Phantom could steal it. It was no exaggeration to say it was now in the safest place in the world.

The Heavenly Demon sipped her hawthorn liquor and then spoke to the empty air. “Shadowless Thieving Phantom. I (We)[2] already know your granddaughter is here. You can’t have run far, so why don’t you show yourself?”

“…”

“Since the Blood Poisonous Pearl has been returned so quickly, I promise I will not lay a single finger on your granddaughter.”

Thud—

Only then did Thieving Phantom leap down from the rafters above.

“As I thought, you couldn’t run far.”

“…You seem to have already guessed my location. The fact that you left me alone until now must mean you intended to spare me from the start.”

“Well, thanks to you, I have learned a little about what kind of people my cult’s young leaders are. I am satisfied with that.”

Slurp—

Drinking the blood-red hawthorn liquor, the Heavenly Demon continued. “You have stolen countless items from my cult over the years. Do you know why I let you live despite that?”

“It must be because I never touched anything that could be considered a divine artifact or a sacred treasure.”

“Correct. The wealth of my cult is as plentiful as feathers. Even if you covet some of it, I need only behead the one responsible; there is no need to mobilize the entire Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. However, stealing the Blood Poisonous Pearl, was crossing the line.”

“…”

“I would like you to know that I found it bothersome to even lift a hand to catch a mere mosquito.”

Likening Shadowless Thieving Phantom to a “mosquito,” the Heavenly Demon extended an empty cup toward her. “Care for a drink?”

“…Ugh.”

“Has it not been an age of you running away every time you saw my face? Once I ascend, we will have no reason to see each other anyway. This is a suitable farewell drink, would you not agree?”

At those words, Thieving Phantom reluctantly poured the hawthorn liquor into the Heavenly Demon’s cup. The Heavenly Demon, in turn, poured a drink for her.

“You have survived a long time, Shadowless Thieving Phantom. I thought you would surely die this time.”

The Heavenly Demon spoke as if she were talking about someone else, even though she herself had been the one to issue the assassination order.

“…”

“Well, all’s well that ends well. Among the martial artists of our generation, you are the only one to have properly formed a family.”

“…While you are set to ascend,” Shadowless Thieving Phantom said, mustering her courage with great difficulty.

At her words, the Heavenly Demon let out a small smirk. “That is so. I will soon reach the heavens. However, you, who have no ambition in the Martial Arts, will remain on the earth forever. Have you ever considered how tedious and empty that life will be?”

“Not at all.”

“How reckless. You lost your daughter, and you will eventually lose your granddaughter as well. You do not pursue the path of the hegemon as I do. Nor have you abandoned your human heart like that other Eccentric, the Bloodborne Elder Eccentric. Do you think such a person can endure eternity? How foolish.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“That I shall grant you mercy before you are worn down to nothing.”

“Mercy?”

Screee—

As if sensing its master’s intent, the Heavenly Demon’s sword hummed softly from within its sheath.