Chapter 59: Chapter 59
“Who?”
Jang I-seo asked immediately. The Demon Physician finally picked up the cup before him, swallowed a mouthful, and spoke.
“The Mad Physician.”
The Mad Physician? That meant a crazy doctor.
Jang I-seo tilted his head. No matter how he racked his brain, he’d never heard the alias. He prided himself on knowing every notable figure as a spy.
Among the Gangho’s foremost physicians, the renowned ones were the righteous sects’ Life-and-Death Divine Physician, the Demonic Cult’s Poison-Born Demon Physician, and the Tang family’s Heaven-Filling Needle Physician.
“Who is the Mad Physician?”
When Jang I-seo asked again, the Demon Physician didn’t answer. He merely glanced at Jang I-seo’s arm. The forearm, where black veins bulged prominently. Sensing the gaze, Jang I-seo pulled down his rolled-up sleeve.
The Demon Physician smirked and spoke.
“Demonic aura has saturated your body. Tsk tsk, ten days at best even if you hold on. That deep black coloring, I know of only a few sources… Have you met the Cult Leader?”
Hah. Jang I-seo gaped, genuinely startled. How could the man diagnose him at a single glance? Remarkable.
“How did you know?”
“The Cult Leader occasionally bestows his sacred heavenly demonic internal energy upon those he fancies.”
“Fancies? I got the impression he didn’t care for me at all.”
“Hmph. When would a runt like you ever get another chance to harbor such supreme internal energy? Consider it an honor.”
A man of the righteous path, honored by demonic arts. Still, hearing that others had received the same treatment brought a measure of relief. At least some of them must have found the answer.
Jang I-seo asked carefully, unable to hide his desperation.
“Then what happened to the others?”
The Demon Physician replied as if asked the obvious.
“They died.”
“What?”
“Without the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, how could the body withstand it? They’d go mad from qi deviation, rampage until muscles and bones twisted, and die.”
Damn it!
“You said he fancied them.”
“He fancied them, so he gave them a chance. They failed to seize it, so they died. Whose fault is that but their own? What’s the problem?”
“That’s what we call negligent homicide.”
“You impudent whelp! Are you saying the Cult Leader deliberately killed talented individuals? Is that what you say to an Elder?!”
At the Demon Physician’s roar, Jang I-seo realized he’d gone too far. Elders were the Demonic Cult’s legislators and judges. He’d overstepped.
“My apologies. I spoke without thinking.”
“Correct.”
“Sir?”
“The Cult Leader did eliminate them. That much is true.”
This man was unbelievable.
“Those who possess talent but fail to utilize it properly only cause unrest in the cult. The Cult Leader knew this and cleaned house personally.”
Jang I-seo’s face went blank. What kind of minds did these people have? Cult Leader, Elder, what exactly went on inside their heads?
If talent couldn’t be realized, just kill them.
“Understood. Anyway, the Soul-Befuddling Powder, the Mad Physician, none of this concerns me. Go investigate elsewhere.”
Enough. What more was there to say with a Demonic Cult Elder? Expecting anything was his mistake. Jang I-seo sighed deeply and waved dismissively.
Then.
“Let me take your pulse.”
“No!”
Damn it. The small, elderly physician’s hand seized Jang I-seo’s wrist in a vice grip.
On the outside, a nagging, crotchety old man. In reality, a Sixth Elder and one of the Demonic Cult’s top experts. If he got serious, there was no escape.
“Let go.”
Despite Jang I-seo’s stern tone, the Demon Physician closed his eyes as if wondering where a dog was barking and muttered.
“Hold still. What kind of fellow are you that the Cult Leader took such a fancy to? He wouldn’t give a second glance to anyone with less than extraordinary bone structure, so… oh?”
Oh, what. Jang I-seo strained to pull free, but the grip showed no sign of loosening. How could such a withered, bony hand possess such strength?
But right at that moment.
“You… are a genius?”
The Demon Physician’s eyes flew open in astonishment. Jang I-seo seized the momentary relaxation of grip and yanked his hand free.
“What are you doing?”
But arguing was useless. The Demon Physician still shook his head in disbelief, muttering.
“The Nine-Orifice Body… Heh heh, to think I’d encounter this adorable creature in my lifetime!”
“Adorable… what does that even…”
“Hold still. Let me examine you properly.”
“Hey!”
CRASH! Jang I-seo bolted from his seat in panic. The Demon Physician’s face went slack, and he advanced like a zombie. Utterly different from before.
“Stand. Come here. I need to examine you today.”
“L-listen!”
Jang I-seo felt the deepest crisis of his spy career and prepared to fire White Thunder. What kind of catastrophe was this?
But right then, the Demon Physician paused mid-approach. Something seemed to occur to him. He tilted his head and spoke.
“But the Cult Leader couldn’t possibly be unaware of the Nine-Orifice Body. Why would he transmit his internal energy to you?”
That caught Jang I-seo’s attention. Don’t fall for it again. This man had a gift for pulling people in and out. But this was about his own body. He couldn’t help but burn with urgency.
“Sit.”
The Demon Physician sat back down with an expression of deep contemplation. Jang I-seo exhaled shallowly, cautiously lowered his guard, and sat across from him.
Eccentric, yes. But this man was comparable to the Martial Alliance’s elder, the Life-and-Death Divine Physician. He might learn something new about his condition.
“How much do you know about the Nine-Orifice Body?”
“Not much. Nine holes in the dantian, internal energy leaks out. Can never break through to the absolute realm. Is that correct?”
“Correct. But in exchange, your perception and sixth sense reach the pinnacle, allowing you to grasp and execute martial principles instantly.”
As he spoke, interest flickered in the Demon Physician’s eyes. Jang I-seo felt a faint sense of alarm. The man seemed to be questioning how someone with such talent had lived quietly until now.
In moments like these, confidence was the standard response.
“So what? Can’t use what I learn anyway. Qi deviation, coughing blood, passing out at every turn.”
“Well… that’s true enough. A pity.”
Good. The suspicion seemed to have lifted. Jang I-seo hardened his expression and asked.
“So. What about the Nine-Orifice Body?”
“Hmm. Curious, are you?”
Curious? Jang I-seo stared in disbelief and answered.
“Yes.”
Obviously, he was curious.
“Hahaha! I like the lack of pretense. Fine. If you do me a favor, I’ll tell you what I know.”
“A… favor?”
“Yes. The Soul-Befuddling Powder the Slaughterhouse possessed. Find out where it came from. With your head, you should be better than those dim-witted tigers.”
Jang I-seo’s eyebrow twitched slightly. Hadn’t he already handed that matter to the Hall Master? A firm refusal left his mouth.
“Pass.”
Not simply because he didn’t want to.
“Because of time? The demonic aura will consume your body soon?”
The Demon Physician asked with a teasing smile. Right. That was why. He was curious, but he had no time to chase the Slaughterhouse’s trail.
“Someone of considerable standing told me to find a clue to cure this body. I’m busy with that.”
“A clue to cure the Nine-Orifice Body… I can state definitively that none exists.”
“Then the Cult Leader really is trying to kill me?”
“Perhaps.”
Damn it all…
“But if you learn something you didn’t know about qi rooted in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and your Nine-Orifice Body, you might find a way. At least with your mind, which has reached the pinnacle of perception.”
Jang I-seo’s heart stirred. Honestly, he was tempted. Right now, even the smallest thread was precious.
“How about it. Will you make a deal with me?”
After deliberation, Jang I-seo spoke.
“Only tracking its whereabouts. I won’t involve myself further.”
“Hahaha, straightforward as always. I don’t expect anything beyond that either.”
“…Tell me.”
At Jang I-seo’s acceptance, the Demon Physician nodded and spoke evenly.
“Fundamentally, internal energy has what we call affinity, depending on one’s constitution. For example, a person with strong yang energy who goes to the Northern Sea Ice Palace and learns a yin-based art would die young. Same principle.”
The example was extreme, but the logic was sound. There was even a saying that cultivation methods had partners. No matter how great a supreme martial art, if it didn’t match one’s constitution, it was useless.
“But the Nine-Orifice Body has no such affinity restriction. Any garment fits well, and you can wield it without issue. Therefore, the reason your body is failing is, strictly speaking, partly the absence of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, but more precisely, the demonic aura leaking through the nine holes is invading your body without your awareness.”
Was that it? Honestly, it was a considerable shock.
He’d thought the tragedy stemmed from lacking a cultivation method to govern the demonic aura. But it was simply the way his body was built.
Organizing his thoughts, Jang I-seo’s eyes snapped open and he asked.
“Wait, then… even if I learned the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, death would be unavoidable?”
That was a bolt from the blue. Did that mean there truly was no cure? Then why had the Cult Leader told him to find a clue?
‘Surely he’s just toying with me?’
Impossible. No matter how unfathomable the Demonic Cult’s supreme leader was, this was too much. What was he, a mere speck?
“Hmm. It seems you still haven’t found the answer. Then how about this.”
The Demon Physician toyed with the snake head on his cane and spoke.
“The more extreme the nature of internal energy, the more intelligent it becomes. Did you know that?”
What on earth did that mean? Intelligent? Internal energy didn’t have a physical form, nor was it a living, breathing creature.
“I have no idea.”
As Jang I-seo shook his head, the Demon Physician laughed and answered.
“Literally what I said. Even a mere pigeon can be trained to find its home. If internal energy modeled itself only on the most supreme essence of nature’s spiritual qi… would that not be a spirit entity?”
A concept he’d never considered. Internal energy as a living, breathing spirit entity. He’d always thought of it as a consumable resource controlled through breathing and will.
“Let me demonstrate. Here, stab me with these chopsticks.”
“Anywhere?”
“Yes, anywhere. I won’t defend at all.”
The Demon Physician gestured at the chopsticks on the table and closed his eyes.
Do as you please.
Jang I-seo picked them up without hesitation, spun them around, and poked the back of the Demon Physician’s hand with the blunt end.
Fzzzz. The instant they made contact, the chopsticks turned deep green and corroded to dust, vanishing entirely.
“Poison arts?!”