CHAPTER: Chapter 30
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Chapter 30
“……!”
When the Exalted One’s cold rebuke pierced his eardrums, Elder Muk Wigyu’s entire body trembled like an aspen leaf.
His face turned deathly pale, and he hurriedly dropped to his knees, slamming his head against the ground.
“M-My apologies, Life-and-Death Exalted One! I did not know that someone as noble as you was present, and committed a grave discourtesy…!”
The situation had reversed in an instant.
The arrogant elder of the Sagal Muk Family was now crawling on the floor.
However, the Life-and-Death Exalted One, who had removed his bamboo hat, paid no attention to Muk Wigyu lying prostrate on the floor or to anyone else.
He approached while staring only at Uncheon.
At last, his dry lips opened.
“…So it was you. The one who called this Exalted One here. If not for Yeong-ah, I would not have stepped forward.”
The dry voice of the Life-and-Death Exalted One rang out.
Only questions circled in everyone’s minds.
‘Yeong-ah…?’
‘A mere cadet moved the Life-and-Death Exalted One?’
No one in the assembly dared to voice their thoughts aloud before the overwhelming presence of the Life-and-Death Exalted One.
A heavy silence descended upon the training ground.
At that moment, the Life-and-Death Exalted One, who had been examining Uncheon, spoke in a low voice.
“…Ho. Just as Yeong-ah said, you have an unusual constitution. You have no dantian, and you suffer from congenital Severed Meridian Affliction.”
The diagnosis of the Life-and-Death Exalted One was itself like a verdict.
‘S-Severed Meridian Affliction? Then was his body unable to accumulate internal energy properly from the beginning?’
‘And they said such a boy displayed Orthodox internal energy? Absurd!’
‘Does that mean the child was innocent? Those bastards from the Sagal Muk Family and the Inspectorate!’
The moment Muk Wigyu sensed the shifting atmosphere, his eyes rolled darkly.
‘Damn it! To think the Life-and-Death Exalted One would step forward here! The entire board has been overturned!’
Muk Wigyu’s hand quietly slipped into his sleeve.
It was a trump card he had prepared without even the Inspectorate knowing.
‘If this continues… it is over.’
But before his hand could grasp anything—
“Petty trick!”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One roared without even turning his head.
At the same time, his sleeve seemed to flutter, and something invisible shot out like a flash of light!
WHIZZ—!
“Keuk!”
Along with a heavy impact, Muk Wigyu screamed.
What had flown was the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s unique Hidden Weapon, the Life-and-Death Needle.
With a sharp sound as it tore through the air, it lodged itself in Muk Wigyu’s shoulder, just as he had been trying to slip his hand into his sleeve.
“Keugh!”
His arm stiffened like a block of wood and would not move.
Only then did the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s gaze settle coldly on Muk Wigyu.
“Elder of the Sagal Muk Family! What wicked trickery is this? Do you wish to die?”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Elder Muk Wigyu’s stiffened hand.
At his fingertips, a small black poison pouch that he had failed to hide hung precariously.
“How dare you draw poison before this Exalted One? Now that it has been confirmed that the child is not a spy, were you planning to silence him with poison?”
The assembly gasped in shock and began murmuring.
Driven into a corner, Muk Wigyu shouted desperately.
“Y-You misunderstand, Life-and-Death Exalted One! Th-That is…!”
“How dare you spout such worthless excuses!”
When the Life-and-Death Exalted One held out his hand, the poison pouch in Muk Wigyu’s grasp floated into the air like a living butterfly.
“Void Object Seizing!”
Amid the shocked gazes of the assembly, the poison pouch slowly rotated once, as though being displayed for everyone to see.
“How vicious. As expected of the Sagal Muk Family.”
Soon, the pouch descended politely onto the palm of the Life-and-Death Exalted One.
The Life-and-Death Exalted One smelled the powder inside the pouch and snorted.
“Hoh… Heavenly Secret Blood-Sealing Powder. You brought something even the old men of the Tang Family would rarely get to see.”
He spoke as though explaining to the assembly.
“This poison leaves no trace. It merely twists the victim’s blood meridians and disguises the death as if the victim severed his own heart meridians and committed suicide.”
Once the poison’s identity was exposed, Muk Wigyu stopped his meaningless shouting and closed his eyes as though giving up everything.
“With this, it would have been perfect to turn that child into ‘an Orthodox spy who committed suicide out of fear that his identity would be exposed.’ Is that not so, you Muk Family bastard?”
This was something even Sado Myeong, whom Muk Wigyu had bribed, had not been told.
“L-Life-and-Death Exalted One, is th-that true?”
Judging from the atmosphere, if things went wrong, Sado Myeong’s head might fly along with Muk Wigyu’s.
He had only intended to pocket a small bribe.
He had no loyalty worth risking his life for.
“I-I know nothing of this! The informant was indeed Muk Wijin, a cadet of the Sagal Muk Family! All of this happened because that Elder Muk Wigyu said we only had to bring the cadet named Uncheon to the Inspectorate, under any pretext…!”
The identity of the unknown informant was revealed.
It was the branch family member of the Muk Family who had previously lost to Uncheon and been knocked unconscious during the Night Sparring Matches.
‘…I keep becoming entangled with those Sagal Muk Family bastards.’
A sect at least had its own cause and rules to uphold, but in blood-tied families, such things were usually blurred.
‘They act exactly like noble clan bastards.’
It seemed that simply suppressing Muk Wijin or Muk Hajin was not enough to stop them.
After today’s incident, Uncheon and the Sagal Muk Family would likely be unable to live beneath the same sky.
The moment every gaze focused on Sado Myeong’s testimony—
A venomous light appeared in Elder Muk Wigyu’s eyes.
“You traitorous bastard…!”
He suddenly struck with his other arm, which had not been sealed.
A pitch-black Poison Palm flew toward Sado Myeong’s chest.
THUD!
It was a desperate surprise attack launched while everyone’s attention had been stolen by Sado Myeong’s words.
“Keuheuk!”
Sado Myeong, struck by the blow, collapsed while vomiting black blood.
It was a move even the Life-and-Death Exalted One had not anticipated.
“You bastard!”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One immediately reacted and suppressed Muk Wigyu, but Muk Wigyu had already bitten down on the poison pellet hidden inside his mouth.
“Grrk…!”
Dark red blood flowed from the corner of Elder Muk Wigyu’s mouth.
“You wretch!”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One lightly struck up his jaw and forced his mouth open.
After looking inside Muk Wigyu’s mouth, the Life-and-Death Exalted One clicked his tongue.
“Tsk. The Sagal Muk Family’s people have always been like this. Even hiding a poison pellet beneath the tongue remains unchanged.”
Even as Muk Wigyu was dying, he burst into mad laughter.
“Kuhahaha! And what will you do about it? Did the Life-and-Death Exalted One not declare that he would no longer practice medicine?”
“You truly….”
“There is no way an Exalted One of our Cult would break his oath and practice medicine on someone like me! Kuhahaha!”
Muk Wigyu seemed to have chosen suicide by using the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s oath against him.
Anger appeared on the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s face, but he did not move readily.
“Hmph… You are a cunning bastard. However, what you said is true.”
The dying Elder Muk Wigyu merely stirred a little anger in the Life-and-Death Exalted One.
When he thought of his granddaughter dying as the Qi and blood in her body froze, there was no possibility of him practicing medicine on anyone else.
“I will not break my oath to save corrupt trash from the Inspectorate or a malignant tumor of the Sagal Muk Family. Die where you are.”
“Hehehe… I knew you would say that.”
The assembly accepted the deaths of Elder Muk Wigyu and Sado Myeong as a foregone conclusion.
“…Hah. How vicious.”
“When he failed to poison that child after trying to turn him into an Orthodox spy, he instead silenced his own collaborator….”
“Shut your mouths!”
Muk Wigyu squeezed out the last of his strength and shouted.
“Who silenced a collaborator? This elder merely punished Sado Myeong for insulting the Sagal Muk Family with false testimony! Do not frame the Sagal Muk Family without evidence!”
At his venomous will to muddy the board even as he died, voices filled with anger and resignation burst from the observer seats.
“Hah, to think there is no way to act even when that viper-like bastard is destroying the evidence right before our eyes!”
Sighs mixed with resignation came from the other observers.
“Unfortunately, nothing will remain except that bastard’s corpse….”
“Without physical evidence, directly touching the Sagal Muk Family would be rather….”
“Tsk… Since Elder Muk Wigyu’s life has been taken as the price, this matter will likely have to end here.”
There was circumstantial evidence, but the physical evidence had vanished, and the two key witnesses who had opened the board were dying right before their eyes.
The truth was before them, but no one dared to seize that truth.
Before the authority of the Twelve Guardian Families, the conspiracy seemed about to end while leaving behind a bitter aftertaste.
At that very moment.
Uncheon moved.
‘…I cannot allow this matter to end with the death of that one bastard.’
Uncheon approached the Life-and-Death Exalted One and whispered in a voice only he could hear.
“Life-and-Death Exalted One, I have obtained a Spiritual Medicine that may help treat your granddaughter’s illness.”
“……!”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One’s eyes shook.
His granddaughter, Yeong-ah.
His only reverse scale, and the reason for his life.
“You brat…. You have grown arrogant because you calmed Yeong-ah’s rampage. You dare mention my granddaughter as a bargaining chip? Do you wish to die here?”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One grabbed Uncheon by the collar, but Uncheon did not avoid his gaze and looked straight at him.
“I am saying this because I do not wish to die. You will know if you examine my body. I also… suffer from Severed Meridian Affliction, just like her.”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One’s gaze swept over Uncheon’s dantian.
Abnormally twisted Qi Meridians.
It was certain that the boy suffered from Severed Meridian Affliction.
‘But… it is different from ordinary Severed Meridian Affliction. Moreover, what is this energy I feel inside his body?’
The boy’s body existed beyond the common sense of the Life-and-Death Exalted One.
“…I received word that a thousand-year Spiritual Medicine, Kongqing Stone Marrow, has been secured. With that, even if it cannot bring about a complete cure, would it not help improve your granddaughter’s condition?”
At the words Kongqing Stone Marrow, the strength in the hand gripping his collar loosened ever so slightly.
However, the suspicion and vigilance in the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s eyes deepened.
“A mere cadet of the Hidden Demon Cave obtained Kongqing Stone Marrow? Do you think that makes sense?”
“…I was not the one who obtained it. The Ilwol Merchant Guild did. The board was merely disturbed because of those people. I, too, intended to ask for your help in exchange for it, Life-and-Death Exalted One.”
Instead of answering, the Life-and-Death Exalted One stared intently into Uncheon’s eyes.
They were the eyes of the Life-and-Death Exalted One, who had seen through deception and lies at countless crossroads between life and death for decades.
‘That gaze… is not false. This brat intended to come to me from the beginning.’
In Uncheon’s pupils, he saw not mere deception or petty trickery, but a transparent will.
Once his head cooled for a moment, the ruined board came into view at last.
To begin with, the one who had nearly been poisoned to death by Muk Wigyu was Uncheon, and the ones who had caused all this uproar were the Muk Family bastards.
There was no logic in thinking that the brat had designed all of this.
“Tsk… It would not make sense for you, who nearly died from Elder Muk Wigyu’s poison, to have plotted this. So what do you want me to do?”
“First, please save those two. It would be troublesome if this matter ended here.”
In the end, the Life-and-Death Exalted One suppressed his boiling anger and released Uncheon.
‘…True. If those bastards die like this, the anger of the Sagal Muk Family and the Inspectorate will fall entirely upon this boy afterward.’
No one would bear that burden in his place.
The immediate direct threat had been avoided, but it was obvious that he would suffer from their harassment for a long time to come.
“…It seems your head works rather well.”
As he said that, the Life-and-Death Exalted One took out an old, faded wooden plaque from within his robe.
“Whew… Very well. Considering your merit in stopping Yeong-ah’s rampage, I will trust your words once. However, if this is a lie, you will meet a fate far more terrible than those bastards.”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One stared at the wooden plaque for a moment, then slowly tightened his grip while glaring at Uncheon.
On the wooden plaque in the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s hand were carved two characters: ‘No Healing.’
It was the proof of the oath that he would practice medicine on no one if his medicine could not even save his granddaughter.
“…My medicine was utterly useless before my dying granddaughter. That is why I discarded it. And yet… and yet, you have brought its use back to me.”
The wooden plaque was nothing more than an oath containing the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s despair.
If there was a way to save his granddaughter, the story was different.
The Life-and-Death Exalted One’s eyes blazed.
‘If there is Kongqing Stone Marrow, even if it cannot cure her, it should at least be possible to extend Yeong-ah’s life….’
It was a light too desperate to be called hope, and too sorrowful to be called obsession.
“Good. If it can allow Yeong-ah to live longer…. How could this trifling oath matter?”
CRACK—!
The wooden plaque crumbled into powder and flowed down between his fingers.
“…The deal is made. But remember this, brat. This is a transaction. If you fail to keep your promise, you had best… prepare yourself.”
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