Chapter 235: Conflict (5)
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Wheeze… Wheeze…
The face of Yang Cheon, who had lost his consciousness, looked more peaceful than expected.
His breathing was regular, and his complexion was red like a young person’s. Looking at his exposed arm muscles, there seemed to be no major problems with his body.
Yet he lost consciousness.
“According to the physician, it is difficult to accurately know the Manor Lord’s current state. However, they say the Manor Lord’s internal energy is gradually moving to the Upper Dantian, and they presume that might be one of the causes.”
“Did he usually drink a lot of alcohol?”
“He drank a lot. However, I do not think mere alcohol would deal a blow to the Manor Lord’s body.”
It was a natural analysis.
Just by becoming a peak master, one can almost immediately excrete the alcohol in one’s body using internal energy. It was an art possible even if one wasn’t necessarily a peak master as long as they had an outstanding understanding of internal energy.
Furthermore, internal qi continuously circulates in the body. Since true qi several to dozens of times that of an ordinary person who hasn’t learned internal energy circulates the whole body, it is difficult for even the strongest liquor to harm a master’s body.
Not to mention the Combat King, who was a transcendent of the current Murim.
“And one more thing.”
“Hmm?”
“There is a golden handprint on the Manor Lord’s chest.”
Lightning struck in Yeon Ho-jeong’s pupils.
“A golden handprint?”
“That is so.”
“……Are you perhaps thinking he suffered a surprise attack?”
“That is not it.”
White Rat spoke with an exceptionally stiff voice. He must have been trying hard to pull himself together.
“I heard that scar is a wound the Manor Lord suffered while fighting a certain master in the past.”
“…….”
“Even among the Twelve Earthly Branches, I am the only one who has heard of this matter. Although I have never seen it directly, of course.”
“If that mark hasn’t disappeared even now, does it mean he suffered from internal injuries usually?”
“That is something no one but the Manor Lord can know. However, since the physician didn’t say much about it, I see the possibility of it being the cause as small.”
Yeon Ho-jeong looked at White Rat.
White Rat still had a blunt face.
“Why did you call me?”
“…….”
“Although I have the Manor Lord’s trust, it is still unreasonable to call me a trusted subordinate. Weren’t the senior Twelve Earthly Branches the ones who served the Manor Lord longer?”
“The Manor Lord trusts you more than anyone else.”
“…….”
“At least within the Black Dragon Manor, the people who receive the Manor Lord’s favor as much as you do not exceed three. Considering that the Manor Lord is someone who doesn’t even trust the countless disciples he has gathered, the trust towards the Department Head of Information can truly be seen as exceptional.”
Disciples.
The madmen they clashed with when the Evil-Annihilating Army fought their first battle in the past came to mind.
“The authority to handle the large and small affairs within the Black Dragon Manor lies only with the Manor Lord. At least for now.”
“…….”
“If it were the Manor Lord, he would have called you first before anyone else. So I also blocked the other leadership and let you in.”
Certainly, White Rat was not ordinary either.
He wasn’t a vessel to act as the supreme ruler of an organization. However, he felt that there would be no one with an eye as good as his when it came to assisting a head.
“But do not be mistaken. The Manor Lord trusts you, but I do not.”
Yeon Ho-jeong nodded.
“Naturally, it should be so.”
White Rat also nodded in return.
“Since you have seen the Manor Lord, now talk to the physician. If there’s anything you need, handle it with the authority of the Department Head of Information, and try to arrange for other physicians as well.”
“I will do so. Before that…….”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.
“May I take the Manor Lord’s pulse once?”
White Rat’s eyes became chilly.
“Do you know medicine?”
“To some extent.”
“I cannot allow you to touch the Manor Lord’s esteemed body with a level of knowing to some extent.”
“You never know, do you? I might be able to catch something the physician doesn’t know with my meager skills.”
“…….”
“I understand you are anxious, but I also came to the Manor Lord harboring a big dream. For my own sake as well, the Manor Lord must not pass away now.”
It was a truly unhesitating remark.
But that remark rather bought White Rat’s trust. Because the words saying it was not out of loyalty but for his own sake matched Yeon Ho-jeong surprisingly well.
White Rat, who was staring blankly at Yeon Ho-jeong, took a step back.
“I will only allow taking the pulse.”
“Thank you.”
Yeon Ho-jeong carefully rolled up Yang Cheon’s sleeve.
Yang Cheon’s hand was fully embedded with calluses. The fact that calluses were still formed even though he would have peeled them off several layers with internal energy that had reached the extreme meant that he hadn’t neglected his training even until now.
Yeon Ho-jeong grabbed Yang Cheon’s pulse point.
‘…….’
As expected, it was amazing.
‘The elasticity of his blood veins and blood points is at an astonishing level. Although weaker than the me in the past.’
Unconcealable admiration arose on Yeon Ho-jeong’s face.
‘Indeed, the Combat King.’
One of the countless reasons why the Saintly Heaven Thirteen Seats were called the strongest in the Murim and monsters no one could face was exactly this internal energy.
Not to mention the quantity, the quality of the internal energy itself was on a different dimension from ordinary masters. If the internal energy flow of a peak master was like a stream, the internal energy flow of the Saintly Heaven Thirteen Seats was like a river right before overflowing.
Overwhelmingly mighty power. Even if they emitted the same amount of internal energy, the speed and destructive power were incomparable.
‘To interfere with such a mighty flow to this extent…….’
Yeon Ho-jeong knew. That the internal energy flow of Yang Cheon, who used Void Manipulation, was gradually reaching ruin.
It was an extremely minuscule yet large loophole. At first, it was strange that the person involved didn’t notice it, but thinking differently, he thought a third party might be able to notice it more easily.
Because a person walking a familiar path doesn’t value the pebbles on the side of the road.
‘Hmm.’
Yeon Ho-jeong, who examined various parts of Yang Cheon’s body, couldn’t hide his inward wonder.
‘For now, there seems to be no abnormality in the flow itself.’
He looked down at Yang Cheon’s chest.
The chest covered by clothes. According to White Rat, a golden handprint was stamped there.
‘Shall I check the subcutaneous nerves in the chest.’
Ooooooong.
The green-blue Azure Dragon Qi entered through Yang Cheon’s pulse point. The mysterious true qi of the East Heaven emitted a subtle glow as it went up Yang Cheon’s wrist.
Soon, the true qi passed the upper arm and shoulder and permeated into the skin of the chest in a single breath.
It was then.
Bzzzt!
It was as if a streak of lightning flashed.
Paak!
Yeon Ho-jeong hurriedly took his hand off the pulse point.
White Rat asked in a flustered voice as if surprised.
“What is the matter?”
“…….”
“Department Head of Information.”
“……?”
“I’m asking what happened? Did you find out something?”
Yeon Ho-jeong didn’t speak. He just looked down at Yang Cheon’s chest with endlessly deep and cold eyes.
White Rat wanted to beat his chest out of frustration.
“Look here!”
“……The cause.”
“…….”
“I haven’t figured out the cause. However, I felt something unusual from the wound engraved on the Manor Lord’s chest.”
“……?!”
“It is difficult to assert hastily. We should call a physician.”
With those last words, Yeon Ho-jeong left the Black Dragon Manor. He seemed to be in a hurry for some unknown reason.
White Rat hurriedly tried to grab him, but Yeon Ho-jeong had already escaped the Black Dragon Manor.
‘As expected, it was you.’
The eyes of Yeon Ho-jeong, who left the Black Dragon Manor and was returning to his residence, were heavily bloodshot.
‘Evil Lust Cult Leader!’
Yin Desolation Divine Palm.
One of the exclusive martial arts of the Evil Lust Cult Leader, it was an absolute skill he enjoyed using the most along with the Yin Desolation Finger.
The Yin Desolation martial arts were not the strongest martial arts the Evil Lust Cult Leader possessed. Nevertheless, the reason he enjoyed using the two martial arts was that if hit by the Yin Desolation martial arts, the heart meridian would unconditionally rupture unless the force was immediately expelled.
Heart meridian rupture. This meant instant death. There hadn’t been a single person who survived after their heart meridian was torn to shreds so far.
No, there was exactly one person.
Tang Kwan.
Even after receiving a fatal wound where his chest was pierced by the Evil Lust Cult Leader’s Yin Desolation Finger, Tang Kwan endured to the end and ultimately drove a Cow-Hair Needle into his solar plexus.
Since Tang Kwan was the strongest in the Central Plains when it came to poisons, there was a possibility that he delayed the heart meridian rupture in some way. Of course, it should be seen that Tang Kwan also eventually died from a ruptured heart meridian.
‘That’s not what’s important right now.’
Something boiled up furiously from deep inside his chest.
However, as time passed, he was able to regain his composure at some point. Because getting angry now wouldn’t allow him to catch the Evil Lust Cult Leader anyway.
Yeon Ho-jeong fell deep into thought.
‘The important thing is, why didn’t Yang Cheon die immediately.’
He didn’t know if history had changed. But in this timeline’s history, it seemed Yang Cheon had fought quite viciously with the Evil Lust Cult Leader.
‘A golden handprint. That is a representative trace of the Yin Desolation Divine Palm. But it’s normal for even that handprint to disappear when one dies.’
Step.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who stopped walking in a secluded passage, found a shaded spot and stood leaning against the wall.
With his arms crossed, he fell into deep thought.
‘Except for passing out, Yang Cheon’s body was extremely normal. The internal energy flow of Void Manipulation was strange, but there was actually no problem with his dantian, blood points, or blood veins.’
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.
‘It’s the Yin Desolation Divine Palm. The handprint of the Yin Desolation Divine Palm was gradually eating away at Yang Cheon.’
The facts weren’t figured out? That didn’t matter. Yeon Ho-jeong was certain that Yang Cheon’s abnormality was due to the Yin Desolation Divine Palm.
The reason was that the basic principle of the Yin Desolation Divine Palm was a Hidden Palm.
A Hidden Palm meant an Infiltration Force. And the Infiltration Force was specialized in causing internal injuries, but it didn’t necessarily kill the opponent.
Depending on the caster’s capability, one could kill a person in a single breath or continuously induce internal injuries.
And the Evil Lust Cult Leader Yeon Ho-jeong knew was a master capable of naturally using that level of force control like breathing.
‘In the end, it’s like that. Black Sheep’s existence is like that too, and from the beginning, the Evil Lust Cult Leader didn’t join hands with Yang Cheon. After deceiving Yang Cheon and making him his running dog, he intended to thoroughly use him to become a stepping stone for advancing into the Central Plains.’
In fact, he could fully expect that much. He just hadn’t been certain.
But how is it right to interpret Yang Cheon collapsing this quickly? With the Evil Lust Cult Leader’s skills, there was no way he would make a mistake?
‘Could it be, he is already trying to covet the Central Plains?’
If that was really the case, this wasn’t an ordinary matter.
‘…….’
Yeon Ho-jeong, who had been deep in thought for a long while, formed a chilly smile in an instant.
“This is fun.”
Perhaps because too many incidents erupted at once, even he felt his head getting dizzy for a moment.
But thinking carefully, it wasn’t like there was no way to solve all these problems at all.
“I can’t be certain, but the Evil Lust Cult is slowly trying to infiltrate the Central Plains. Murong Jun is running wild, and the Operations Group and I must safely escape from the Black Dragon Manor…….”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes spewed fire.
“You, Yang Cheon, will have to be really thankful to me.”
That night.
“Senior.”
“Have you arranged for a physician?”
“That is so. And I came back because I have a matter to discuss.”
“Discuss?”
Yeon Ho-jeong spoke in a blunt tone.
“The Manor Lord decided to meet with the Murong Clan Head. And there will be contact from the Murong Clan Head within three days.”
White Rat’s eyes deepened.
“But the Manor Lord collapsed, didn’t he.”
“However, we cannot act as if this meeting didn’t exist either. The reason is that the Manor Lord proposed the meeting first.”
“……What is the Department Head of Information saying?”
“That is right.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed wickedly.
“Please attach leadership and troops to me. I will go meet the Murong Clan Head as the Manor Lord’s proxy.”
Isn’t life originally all about one shot.