Chapter 58: Chapter 58
“Y-you!”
Cheon-hwi frowned at Danmok Jin-gang’s voice, which pierced his ears like a needle.
“Do you know why Rin’s condition is like this right now!”
“It’s the Extreme Yin Foundation Physique, isn’t it.”
“R-right. What is that?”
“Yes? You don’t even know that… Ah!”
He stopped speaking.
‘Ah! It is understandable that he does not know. If I also had not read the World’s Number One Medical Book, I would have dismissed it as a disease and moved on.’
If it was natural, it was a natural thing.
Doing fine, and then suddenly one day, out of the blue, one’s internal energy disappears?
Who would think it was a physical problem.
Most would think they caught an unidentified disease like those two.
The physicians were also sure to do so.
Danmok Jin-gang looked at Cheon-hwi, who suddenly shut his mouth, and as if feeling impatient, spoke pressingly before even hearing an answer.
“C-could you tell me about that Extreme Yin Foundation Physique. It is a matter related to Rin’s life…”
Around the time Danmok Jin-gang’s voice, which had been firm no matter what happened, grew louder and louder.
Grab…
Two fingers of the emaciated Danmok Rin tugged at his sleeve.
“Uncle, please calm down.”
Danmok Rin restrained the excited Danmok Jin-gang. After that, she slightly raised her chin and stared straight at Cheon-hwi.
“Young hero. So you are saying that my body is not a disease, but a physical problem?”
As if she could not hide her excitement, her voice was faintly trembling.
“If we are being exact, yes, but.”
In an instant, a pitch-black veil came close.
Her dense veil, which had been far away, fluttered right in front of his nose, and hot breath leaked out through it.
When Cheon-hwi glanced over the veil that seemed to be looking at him, her voice flowed out.
“Could you… tell me about the Extreme Yin Foundation Physique in detail?”
Her earnestly appealing voice was cracked like parched land.
“Is that what you were going to ask just now?”
“It is not that, but…”
“Well, fine.”
“Really?”
Cheon-hwi nodded his head.
‘There are still some things I am a little curious about.’
His gaze headed towards the girl’s abdomen, that is, the lower dantian.
“The Extreme Yin Foundation Physique is a constitution that gathers yin energy just by breathing.”
“……!”
Danmok Rin’s eyes widened.
Just as he said, yin energy had accumulated in her just by breathing since the past.
“Thanks to that, you must have had an outstanding sense of qi since you were young, and thanks to that, if you practiced an internal energy martial art, you must have accumulated internal energy at a faster speed than others, isn’t that right?”
“T-that is right.”
She answered with a bewildered expression to the accurate words, as if he knew her.
“But problems arise because of such an advantage.”
“…A problem, you say?”
Cheon-hwi, who was looking at her flinching, opened his mouth while staring at her lower dantian.
“When you accumulate internal energy, the yin energy also becomes stronger accordingly. And that yin energy slowly freezes the blood vessels and takes your life, but the person involved will probably know that change best.”
Danmok Rin’s veil fluttered greatly.
‘So that was why.’
Hearing it like that, everything fit together.
Her own outstanding sense of qi, and the fast achievements that could not be compared with other disciples.
And the identity of the cold energy that the physicians said was freezing her body.
“Then young hero, do you know how to treat this physical problem?”
Danmok Jin-gang, who was watching, asked Cheon-hwi with the feeling of grasping at straws.
“Originally, the proper method for the Extreme Yin Foundation Physique is to learn an internal energy martial art after the growing bones and blood vessels have completely settled… but looking at it, it is already too late.”
“Y-you mean it is because she learned a martial art.”
“Because yin energy has accumulated to the point where it cannot be handled that much.”
“Ah…”
Danmok Jin-gang looked at Danmok Rin with a miserable expression as if the sky had collapsed, and weakly dropped his head down.
“I am sorry. It is all my fault. If only I had not urged you that you must learn martial arts when you were even one year younger…”
Danmok Jin-gang was drenched in remorse.
‘I made a mistake.’
It was him who recognized Danmok Rin’s outstanding talent and told the Patriarch that she must learn martial arts from a young age.
“No. Uncle.”
Danmok Rin grabbed Danmok Jin-gang’s hand.
“I also said I would learn martial arts, after all.”
She comforted Danmok Jin-gang.
Soon, she looked at Cheon-hwi and asked.
“…Is there no other way?”
“I am not sure, but it should be fine if we just completely remove the yin energy that has infiltrated the body.”
Cheon-hwi did not speak with certainty.
He only knew about the Extreme Yin Foundation Physique, but he did not know about the method to treat it.
‘Since the Life and Death Eccentric Physician did not write it for the purpose of treating it.’
“Only the yin energy, you say?”
“…That is impossible.”
The two showed a skeptical reaction.
To only touch the yin energy that had infiltrated the body was a ridiculous thing.
It was something close to impossible unless it was an internal energy operation that had reached the realm of gods.
However, the two did not know.
That the person who could do such a thing was right in front of them.
Crackle crackle.
The sound of the bonfire burning spread out.
As the day retreated and night came, the group settled down on a quiet plain.
Five blankets in the empty lot.
However, one blanket was empty.
Around the time everyone fell asleep, Cheon-hwi found a nearby empty lot and walked there.
Step… Step…
Taking the sounds of insects coming from all directions as his companion, he took a step forward.
The world spread out under the sky where faint moonlight poured down was filled with a different kind of vitality and vigor, completely different from broad daylight.
“Is there no suitable place.”
Cheon-hwi, who discovered an empty lot where grass grew sparsely, plopped down on the spot.
“Phew.”
He slowly steadied his breathing.
In the quiet empty lot where only the sound of insects could be heard, as he breathed in, the cold night air cooled his lungs.
‘Good.’
With that, his eyes gently closed.
The vitality that had filled the surroundings created a flow, then slowly swallowed him up.
While Cheon-hwi was taking a breathing exercise.
Rustle…
Danmok Rin woke up from her sleep.
What woke her, who had been sleeping fitfully, was the faint moonlight stroking her cheek.
‘…Extreme Yin Foundation Physique.’
Looking at the moonlight in the sky, she stood up from her spot as if possessed.
The moonlight shone on her standing figure.
Her unique hair, mixed half and half with black and white, harmonized with the pouring moonlight and gave off a mysterious atmosphere.
‘To think it was not an unidentified disease, but because my blood vessels were frozen by yin energy…’
Since what she thought was a disease was originally a physical problem, her mind was disturbed.
Around the time she was clutching her chest like that.
Swoosh…
Instantly, her neck turned.
“That is…”
A strong energy was felt far away.
An ocean-like energy that felt as if it would swallow her up if she did not focus.
‘This is from that time…’
She hurriedly put back on the hat she had taken off next to her.
Then, her sparkling black and white hair hid inside the veil attached to the brim, and subsequently covered her face.
She, who had pulled her hat down low, quietly took a step towards the energy.
Step… Step…
As the energy grew stronger, her feet also naturally kept getting faster.
After a while, her steps stopped.
‘In this place…’
In the empty lot, there was Cheon-hwi.
And nearby, an amazing sight, almost like a fantasy, welcomed her.
‘Plum blossoms?’
Her breath hitched and a shiver ran down her spine.
In the empty lot where there had been nothing, there were plum blossoms… no, Mount Hua, which she had heard of in rumors.
She stared at the world that seemed to be divided with him as the boundary, as if possessed.
“Ah… “
A hoarse voice flowed out.
She, who entered the scenery he created, felt as if she had escaped the Heavenly Punishment that bound her and gained freedom.
‘She is not coming any closer.’
Cheon-hwi, who was taking a breathing exercise, was wary of Danmok Rin who was gradually approaching, and opened his eyes.
Rustle…
He slowly undid his lotus position and stood up.
At that moment.
“Ah.”
Danmok Rin let out a lamentable sigh.
The sweetness that felt like a dream disappeared like melting snow.
Coming to her senses, she closed and opened her eyes.
Then, she felt Cheon-hwi’s gaze looking at her, blushed, bowed her head deeply, and apologized.
“I am sorry.”
“It is fine.”
Cheon-hwi coolly passed over the apology.
It was fine as long as she did not touch his body during his breathing exercise.
The moment he was turning his body to get some sleep afterwards.
“Young hero!”
At the call, Cheon-hwi turned his head.
She, who had a smaller frame than his shoulders, was raising her head and looking up at him.
“Please help me.”
As soon as Danmok Rin made eye contact with Cheon-hwi, her voice burst out.
The powerful energy she felt just a moment ago.
If he could handle that level of energy, she felt that he would be able to fully remove only the yin energy inside her body.
She, who was waiting for Cheon-hwi’s answer, slightly raised her head at the ensuing silence.
‘Ah…’
Seeing Cheon-hwi’s indifferent expression that had not changed even a little bit as time passed, she unknowingly gripped her sleeve tightly.
It was a desperate and instinctive gesture of someone with death right before their eyes, clinging desperately to a person who seemed likely to save their life.
“…Please help me.”
Danmok Rin pleaded once more.
Her voice was so hoarse that it would have made other people frown, but Cheon-hwi felt the earnest sorrow contained in that voice.
‘Help you?’
But that was all.
Cheon-hwi did not feel even a sliver of sympathy from her.
Whether she was on the verge of dying or whatever, what did it have to do with him?
“Why should I?”
“Ah… “
Danmok Rin’s frail frame swayed heavily at the icy answer.
Cheon-hwi looked at Danmok Rin, who seemed like she was going to collapse in that state, and fell into thought.
Actually, treating her was not difficult.
However, in order to treat her, he had to raise his internal energy and carefully circulate it, which was quite bothersome, so he had refused.
‘Hmm, she said she was a daughter of the Danmok Clan.’
He pondered for a moment and opened his mouth.
“Hmm, alright. I will help you.”
Instantly, Danmok Rin sharply raised her head.
“Is it true?”
“But I will not do it for nothing.”
Cheon-hwi cut off her words.
“If I treat you, what can you give me?”
Danmok Rin’s expression, which had swayed in frustration at Cheon-hwi’s answer, brightened. However, that was also brief as she fell into thought.
‘What must I do for him…’
As she was thinking, her eyes wavered.
The first thing that came to mind was the backing of the Danmok Clan and her own value.
However, what use was that?
She had briefly forgotten, but her opponent was a Daoist of the Mount Hua Sect.
It was one of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang that had a feud with the Danmok Clan, which belonged to the Flying Heaven Society.
The name of the Danmok Clan that she could put forth was likely not something coveted from the opponent’s perspective.
‘Even so, I cannot just give money either. In that case, it should be at least a Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp or a Ten Thousand Year Snow Ginseng…’
She bit her lip slightly.
The current finances of the Danmok Clan were in a bad state to obtain a Ten Thousand Year Fire Carp or a Ten Thousand Year Snow Ginseng.
Even so, she could not pay it off with money.
Because resolving the price of a life with money was something that lowered one’s value.
‘…If only we had not bought elixirs.’
A belated regret flooded in.
She had consumed countless elixirs and inner cores, but there was not a single one remaining right now.
However, what could be done?
It was already a past matter.
In the end, what she could bet was only the name of her clan and herself.
“The price is…”
Now that she actually tried to open her mouth, she hesitated.
However, she soon shook her head and opened her mouth with a firmly determined expression.
“I will offer my everything.”
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