***
“Where on earth are you, So-so?”
The Wang Manor (the village where the people of the Wang family lived).
The lights had not been turned off here for three days already.
In the twenty branches spread across the country, all work had been suspended, and only the collection of information regarding girls of Wang So-so’s age was being carried out. Countless shops under them had also closed their doors to find Wang So-so, threatening the daily lives of the people.
“What is that supposed to mean!”
Wang Geum-san was greatly surprised at the words of the attending physician who had just been examining Wang So-so’s health.
“Didn’t you say she could endure for a week even if she left the Bing-gak (Wang So-so’s room)!”
The attending physician looked at the people of the medical pavilion behind him.
They kept their heads bowed in silence, merely signaling the attending physician to be careful.
If he didn’t speak now, he might face an even greater punishment later.
“That is....... Usually, that is the case, but.......”
“.......”
“The Tae-yang-ji-che has a period where the energy periodically surges to extreme Yang. As it happens, now is exactly......”
The attending physician could not bring himself to finish his words.
He had seen countless patients die with his own eyes and had spoken to their guardians, but he had never received a good response. Moreover, the person in front of him was Wang Geum-san, the master of the Wang Manor.
“Then...... how long can she endure?”
“.......”
At the guardian’s request to know the deadline until her breath finally ran out, the attending physician only moved his lips.
“I asked how long she can endure!!”
“......It is already too late.......”
“Ugh!”
“M, Master! Master! Quickly, bring the needles!”
Wang Geum-san collapsed.
Wang So-so, who had briefly regained consciousness, soon fainted again.
The cause seemed clearly to be the heat rising as if to burn her whole body, but this was the first time he had heard that a simple cold had such symptoms.
“Where was the medical book written by the Medical Immortal, Gong Yak-chun?”
Gong Yak-chun, the Medical Immortal, was called the reincarnation of Hua Tuo.
His life’s work, the medical book ‘Man-byeong-tong-chi-seo’ (The Book of Treating Ten Thousand Diseases), which he had compiled over his lifetime, was classified as a confidential document in the Man-tong-bu.
The reason? I did not know.
It was clearly a book that could save far more people if released to the world, but the Man-tong-bu never considered it.
I scoured the Man-byeong-tong-chi-seo from cover to cover and found information regarding Wang So-so’s symptoms within it.
It was only after passing the part about illnesses and going to the part about physical constitutions that I could figure out the cause of the symptoms.
“Tae-yang-ji-che in a woman’s body. Of all times, in this situation.”
Even the Man-byeong-tong-chi-seo only contained diagnoses of the symptoms and methods to stabilize the energy.
“For now, let’s stabilize her. If things go on like this, she will die.......”
When I pricked about twenty acupuncture points as described in Gong Yak-chun’s book, the heat in Wang So-so’s body gradually began to subside, and soon after, Wang So-so woke up.
“Umm...... Wh, who are you!”
“I am Jin So-un of the Tae-eul Sect. Who might you be?”
If I pretended to know her here, I could not avoid suspicion. She was not just anyone; she was Wang Geum-san’s only daughter. If I said that I, the person who came to save her, knew she would be kidnapped, she would have been suspicious from the start.
“I, I am Wang So-so.”
“Hmm...... By any chance, Wang... So-so.......”
“......That’s right. I am the daughter of the Wang Manor.”
“How did you end up in this situation.......”
“I don’t know, either. Where is this place?”
“It is in the mountains near Ye-gang. You were with some suspicious people.”
“Th, those people...... what happened to them?”
“I took care of them properly.”
“.......”
Contrary to my expectation that she would be flustered, she quickly found stability. Had she been educated that such things might happen because her father was Wang Geum-san?
“It would be best to move for now. It seemed there were more of the group.”
“N, no!”
“Yes?”
“I, I cannot move.”
I tilted my head.
“Wh, what is the date today?”
“Today must be the Gye-myo day of the Sin-sa month.”
“Th, then it is the day the Tae-yang-gi (Sun Energy) rises. Originally, I should be holding the Bing-hwan (Ice Pill) inside the Bing-gak.”
Come to think of it, such things were written in Gong Yak-chun’s medical book. The Tae-yang-ji-che periodically had Tae-yang-gi surging up, allowing one to gain immense Nae-gong (Internal Energy)? Wasn’t this a total cheat?
But from Wang So-so’s current position, it was an anxious situation where she did not know when the poison would spread throughout her body. It was troublesome in many ways.
“I am asking just in case, but is it true that you have the Tae-yang-ji-che?”
Wang So-so hesitated for a moment on whether to answer or not, then spoke.
“Yes. That is right.”
“Can you not move even for a moment?”
“A little bit would be fine, but if I move intensely, the Tae-yang-gi will burn the acupuncture points all over my body.”
It was a mountain within a mountain (an endless series of difficulties).
I had heard earlier that the time for the other group to arrive was not far off.
‘What should I do.......’
Then, I remembered the ‘Man-cho-bo-rok’ (Ten Thousand Herb Record) that had been classified along with the Man-byeong-tong-chi-seo.
It was a rare treasure that contained methods to create excellent medicinal effects with common herbs and poisonous plants rolling around in the fields, and it was said there was no disease it could not cure.
“Young Miss, this might sound a bit strange in this situation, but if you could change your constitution, would you do it?”
“Yes?”
If there was the Medical Immortal Gong Yak-chun for acupuncture, there was the Life-and-Death Divine Physician for herbal medicine.
His name was Dang Won-ho. Unlike most of the Dang family descendants who spent their lives researching within the family, he was a strange hero who came out to the Jianghu early and spent his whole life wandering.
He had no equal in curing diseases with medicine and killing people with poison, so he was given the nickname Life-and-Death Divine Physician, as the decision of life and death hung in his hands.
I could not know why the Man-cho-bo-rok was in the Murim-maeng and not the Dang family, and why the Dang family did not know of its existence.
But that was not important right now.
Fortunately, there was a person in the Man-cho-bo-rok who had the same worries as Wang So-so.
So-su-ok-nyeo, an absolute master who graced the same era as the Life-and-Death Divine Physician.
Born with the Tae-eum-ji-che (Moon Body), she reached the absolute realm of Ice Arts thanks to her constitution, but because of that, she could not conceive.
So, So-su-ok-nyeo visited the Life-and-Death Divine Physician and made the absurd request to change her constitution, and the Life-and-Death Divine Physician gladly accepted.
They found a way to change the constitutions of Extreme Yang and Extreme Yin, but the downside was.......
“I’ll do it! I will do it!”
Wang So-so nodded her head, brightening up even before I finished my explanation.
I thought that as a child of Wang Geum-san, she would be wary because of her education about con artists. But there was absolutely none of that.
“You are clearly different from the person who kidnapped me. I can distinguish between someone who cares for me and someone who tries to harm me.”
Or was it that she had already finished the calculations in her head?
I looked forward to how the merchant world of the Jianghu would change in the future if Wang So-so survived.
“Please listen to the rest. Once this procedure is performed, you must take a specially manufactured Dan-hwan (Elixir) every day for the rest of your life, and you can never return to your original constitution.”
So-su-ok-nyeo eventually gave birth to descendants, but she could no longer use her Ice Arts.
“Moreover, because the medicine is toxic, you must perform Woon-gi-jo-sik (Circulation of Energy) every day, and since purity is more important than anything else, once you learn it, you cannot learn other internal energy heart techniques.”
The main ingredient of the elixir that changes the constitution is poison.
When poisoned, the poison that cools the body begins to eat away at the Tae-yang-gi.
And the remnants of the poison remaining in the body must be neutralized with internal energy.
Since purity was paramount, one could not learn other internal energy heart techniques.
If one wanted an internal energy heart technique that was pure and also gathered a lot of energy, there were the high-level martial arts of the Wudang Sect or Shaolin Temple, but the only thing I could get right now was the Tae-eul Heart Technique of the Tae-eul Sect.
“I will do it!”
“......So, if you learn the Tae-eul Heart Technique now, other high-level martial arts will......”
“I, I do not want to be a Murim person. What I want is to see flowers bloom in spring, use a fan in the heat of summer, and go boating with my family in autumn. I want to hug my beloved family when I want to, and hold the hand of the man I admire and have a conversation. I want to have children and watch myself grow old slowly. That is exactly where my wishes end.”
The desperate heart of Wang So-so, who had everything in the world but could not have what others could enjoy, struck me deeply.
“Understood.”
“Are you really going to do it for me! I will definitely tell my father......”
“Let’s talk about that after we return home first. It is almost time for the pursuers to come.”
I carried Wang So-so as carefully as possible and ran slowly to put some distance between us and the hideout, even if only a little.
“What do you mean?”
“That is... the last carrier pigeon stated that Wang So-so’s condition is strange.......”
The brow of Bang I-nam, the head of the Secret Palace Unit who was listening to the report, wrinkled deeply.
“I have told you repeatedly. How dare you disobey my orders and touch that child?”
I didn’t need to see it to know.
They were guys who were more faithful to their instincts than their reason.
They must have been doing this work as people from the Nam-gung-se-ga because of those impulsive actions, but even so, it was Nam-gung-sang-won’s order. Whose order did they think they were disobeying to do such a thing?
“No! I spoke thoroughly about that part. It is just that it seems she had some kind of underlying illness from the beginning. They said the temperature of the room when they went to kidnap her was also strangely low.”
“The temperature was low?”
Thinking about it, it was strange.
Even if she was a girl, what was the Wang Manor afraid of to keep her hidden away inside the house?
Perhaps their words might be true, and a sense of anxiety that things might go even more awry because of it began to linger.
“So, you are saying they are waiting at the hideout now?”
“Yes. It was a request to come with a doctor.”
“Stupid! If a doctor goes with you, won’t there be a witness left?”
No one other than the insiders should know about this.
Those who swore loyalty to Nam-gung-sang-won within the Chang-gung-san-dan (Long Bow Merchant Group).
Other than them, no one should know about this.
Because if this were discovered, it wasn’t just a matter of Nam-gung-sang-won’s and their own lives flying away.
“Th, then what shall we do?”
“For now, just go. If it’s absolutely impossible, they were told to kill to silence them.”
It would be best to keep her alive and use her as a hostage, but if that didn’t work, they had to kill her cleanly.
At the very least, considering Wang Geum-san, who valued Wang So-so dearly, that alone would be enough to shake the opponent.
However, such optimism of Bang I-nam did not last long.
“Wh, what is this!”
“Look around! Survivors! Search for survivors!”
“There are none. All of them have stopped breathing.”
“Wang So-so’s figure is not visible, either.”
“.......”
Bang I-nam’s head began to get complicatedly tangled.
Things had gone wrong.
It was not simply that the kidnapping case had gone wrong.
The entire grand plan of his superior, Nam-gung-sang-won, and the entire Nam-gung-se-ga branch had been ruined.
“H, here are traces. There is only one set of footprints, but seeing the depth, it seems they carried Wang So-so.”
Bang I-nam’s head, which had been burning with complexity, cooled down coldly.
“You two, dispose of the corpses. The rest, follow me. Unless you are going to kill them for sure, you must never use the sword of Nam-gung.”
The anger of the warriors who lost their colleagues was no less than Nam-gung-sang-won’s.
They were pouring out their grudges on someone who had clearly interfered with their work and killed their colleagues.
The warriors of the Secret Palace Unit followed the guide and entered the forest.
The mountain forest was filled with darkness, not even reflecting the moonlight, and since they also had to carry out secret work, they could not carry things like torches.
At that moment.
“Keuk.”
With the sound of spitting out blood foam, the first casualty appeared.
“It’s him!”
“Where is he?”
“How many are there!”
“Keu-heuk.”
Although they had learned excellent martial arts in the Nam-gung-se-ga, it was not an easy task for those who had not received training in stealth and assassination to respond in the forest where darkness had fallen.
Soon, the scream of another person was heard, and an urgent bell rang in Bang I-nam’s head.
This won’t do. Losing Wang So-so was a problem, but their dying here was an even bigger problem!
“Flint! Use the flint!”
At Bang I-nam’s shout, the warriors quickly took out flints from their bosoms and made sparks, click, click.
And at that moment.
Swoosh!
With the sound of a sword blade cutting through the wind, another warrior collapsed.
“Unit Leader! If we go on like this, we will be annihilated.”
“Turn on the light! And unfold the Chang-gung (Long Bow)!”
“Keu-heuk!”
While turning on the light, another warrior met his end, and when only five people were left, a light cutting through the forest appeared.
“Come out! Show yourself! If you do not show yourself, I will go to kill Wang So-so right away.”
Nam-gung-sang-won was skeptical whether the guy would come out at this shout, but.
“I thought you guys weren’t good people ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) even before. But I didn’t know you were this bad.”
He wore a mask on his face, and his clothes were old martial arts attire. The sword was a Cheong-gang-geom (Blue Steel Sword) that could be bought at any blacksmith’s shop where the black forces could not be identified.
“Reveal your identity.”
“Identity? Isn’t it comfortable for you too to be wearing a mask like this? And I already know who you are.”
“......If you do not reveal it, I will force you to reveal it.”
“How many do you think we are?”
“No matter how many, we will not lose.”
“Why? Because you are the Great Nam-gung-se-ga?”
“!!!!”
“Ah! To be precise, you are affiliated with the Chang-gung-san-dan of the Nam-gung-se-ga, right? Nam-gung-sang-won’s secret lackeys.”
“!!!!”
“!!!!”
The warriors of the Secret Palace Unit were so surprised that they turned their heads to look at him without even noticing.
At that sight, Bang I-nam’s expression was completely crumpled. Isn’t this the same as admitting it?
“No need for more words! Attack!”
As soon as Nam-gung-sang-won’s shout fell, the warriors unfolded the Chang-gung-mu-ae-geom-beop (Long Bow Free Sword Technique).
Since their identity had already been revealed, removing the enemy as quickly as possible with the best sword technique was the way to wrap things up quickly.
However,
“Keu-heuk.”
“Keuk.”
Two warriors were struck unexpectedly, and the swords of the remaining two people did not feel that sharp, either.
‘This cannot be!! The sword technique of the Great Nam-gung-se-ga!’
The swords of the Secret Palace Unit warriors could not even reach the uninvited guest, let alone touch him, and they fell over, and the guys were having a very hard time even holding their swords.
As if they were people with no strength at all. It was a sight that could not be considered the elite of the Chang-gung-san-dan.
“Keu-heuk!”
“Keuk!”
Those who were so precarious eventually died, and the uninvited guest slowly approached Bang I-nam.
“Y, you! What is your identity!”
“My identity?”
“Y, you surely are! Wudang, or, yes! Huashan! You are a guy from the Huashan Sect!”
“Huashan...... I have a little connection with them.”
“No matter how much you are from Huashan, do you think you can be safe after interfering with the work of the Nam-gung-se-ga?”
“I didn’t say I was from Huashan.”
Swoosh.
A cool sensation passing by his neck along with a dizzying feeling.
Bang I-nam desperately turned his head.
“Oh.......”
“Y, you damn bastard.”
“It’s a pity. It would have been better if I met Nam-gung-sang-won today. No, wait, since the treason of the branch family hasn’t started yet, is it a bit awkward to meet now?”
“Who on earth are you.......”
Blood flowing from the nape of his neck.
In a situation where his head was dizzy, Bang I-nam braced himself and began to unfold the Chang-gung-mu-ae-geom-beop to the level of the twelfth stage.
“!!!!”
However, the sequence could not even last three moves.
An unknown, unprecedented force was cutting off the moves and making the internal energy tangle wildly.
“Did you not learn even after seeing your subordinates die just now?”
“......Ho, how can the invincible Chang-gung-mu-ae-geom-beop......”
“The Chang-gung-mu-ae-geom-beop is not invincible.”
Bang I-nam collapsed powerlessly.
Dying, he could not know the expression of the masked man in black, but he thought that perhaps the uninvited guest was grinning creepily.
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