Chapter 45: Chapter 45
“Not a plague? What kind of talk is that?”
“I cannot explain it accurately right away, but it is likely poison. If we check, it will become certain.”
“…Just how do you mean to check?”
Even though it was an unbelievable story, Escort Leader Jang deliberately continued to ask. Having an obligation as an escort leader to finish the escort journey in time, perhaps he wanted to grasp even a sliver of hope.
Cheon Woo-jin answered casually.
“We will know once we see the patient.”
“What do you…”
Cheon Woo-jin immediately turned his steps and approached the middle-aged men who were talking about the plague.
Because Cheon Woo-jin’s attire and appearance were unmistakably that of a martial artist, signs of them being somewhat intimidated were evident.
Noticing this, Cheon Woo-jin revealed his identity first.
“I am Cheon Woo-jin, belonging to the Black Tortoise Squad of the Martial Alliance.”
As if the name of the Martial Alliance carried weight even in a rural village, their wariness seemed to ease even if only a little.
Having confirmed this, Cheon Woo-jin continued speaking calmly.
“Having heard the conversation, I believe you roughly know the situation. Please guide us to the home of the person called Butcher Ma.”
When Cheon Woo-jin mentioned Butcher Ma, the man was greatly startled and hurriedly lowered his voice.
“Ahem! C-Could you please speak a little quieter?”
Butcher Ma’s temperament was extraordinary. Before coming to the village, there were even words saying that he had been a martial artist.
If it was discovered that he had gone around spreading such rumors, it was obvious that he would come looking for him with that terrifying face while holding a butcher’s cleaver.
Whether that was so or not, Cheon Woo-jin asked once more.
“Please guide us. It is a matter of saving a person.”
If Cheon Woo-jin’s prediction was correct, and if only an antidote method could be found, several people of Baokang County could also be saved.
When Cheon Woo-jin spoke earnestly, the man, while groaning, also sank deeply into thought.
Just how much time had passed like that?
The man, rising from his seat, suddenly downed the liquor cup atop the table and spoke in a low voice.
“…Follow me.”
* * *
Zhushan County, a small rural village.
In that place that had always been only peaceful, a man’s booming roar erupted.
“What kind of nonsense is that! My daughter has a plague!”
“N-No. Isn’t he saying it might not be a plague…”
The man who guided Cheon Woo-jin’s group here was on the verge of feeling dizzy from the chilly butcher’s cleaver swinging back and forth before his eyes.
Escort Leader Jang and Song Yi-yeon also showed troubled expressions. No matter how much they were from the Martial Alliance, they could not barge into another person’s house without permission or proof.
“Ahem, Young Hero Cheon. Seeing that he comes out so stubbornly, his daughter truly seems unharmed. Apparently, a misunderstanding…”
“What misunderstanding!”
The man who guided everyone abruptly shouted. Based on testimonies from multiple people, he was also certain that the daughter of this house had caught the plague.
If he admitted it was a misunderstanding like this, he would end up merely becoming a fellow with an unnecessarily loose mouth.
In particular, he was also afraid that the warriors of the Martial Alliance would reprimand him for making a pointless trip because of him.
When the man came out like that, Butcher Ma’s face flushed red and blue with rage. If left alone like this, that butcher’s cleaver seemed poised to cut down not cattle or horses, but the man.
Song Yi-yeon glanced sideways and looked at Cheon Woo-jin.
Even while the situation was steadily turning into a complete mess, Young Hero Cheon was merely standing still.
‘Young Hero Cheon, please do something…’
The fury of the man called Butcher Ma was so fierce that if it truly was a misunderstanding, they would be in a situation where they had to bow their heads and apologize.
It was then.
“Will you leave your daughter to die?”
“Wh-What! What did you bastard say just now!”
Butcher Ma unleashed a heavy roar like a Lion’s Roar.
Even Escort Leader Jang and Song Yi-yeon, who were martial artists, were startled, but Cheon Woo-jin merely looked straight into Butcher Ma’s pupils calmly.
“The energy felt from inside is extremely unstable. That means the flow of qi is abnormal. Left as is, she will die in two days at most.”
“What do you know, you bastard…”
“Could it be that an acquaintance physician was scheduled to come?”
“…”
Butcher Ma shut his mouth.
Cheon Woo-jin gazed at Butcher Ma intently. Although he seemed to be striving to conceal his aura, traces of having once trained in martial arts could be felt.
“It seems among the connections you built while traveling the jianghu, there was a physician as well. Having something to believe in, you have stubbornly denied it despite harboring hope that your daughter might live.”
“W-What…”
“Even if the physician you called arrives right now, he will likely not be able to cure her. Because there is a high possibility that she suffered from poison arts rather than a plague.”
Butcher Ma’s flushed face gradually cooled down. Cheon Woo-jin’s words were all correct. Even so, the reason he could not easily let them in was…
“Are you perhaps on the run?”
“…”
Butcher Ma could say nothing. In the past, he had belonged to the Unorthodox Path. Having had a daughter, he belatedly came to his senses, but the evil deeds he had committed did not easily let go of his ankles.
Truly, there was no land in the Central Plains he had not visited. Fleeing and fleeing again, the place where he finally settled down was precisely this Zhushan County.
Yet his daughter caught the plague. If this fact was revealed, they would be chased out of the village. Even if not, the moment the Martial Alliance bastards discovered he was from the Unorthodox Path, rumors would quickly spread and they would be chased out.
Therefore, he wanted to chase them away quickly. Since he had urgently summoned a physician he was acquainted with, that man would resolve it. He was a physician who had quite a high reputation during the days he eked out a living in the Unorthodox Path.
“Step aside.”
Cheon Woo-jin said to Butcher Ma. There was no longer polite speech. Because he clearly sensed a person dying inside, he had no mind to consider the circumstances of a cowardly man.
Butcher Ma instinctively stretched out his hand to block Cheon Woo-jin.
In an instant, making eye contact with Cheon Woo-jin, Butcher Ma froze as he was.
‘Wh-What kind of human eyes…’
Long ago, during the days he rolled around in the Unorthodox Path, such eyes were not common. He had seen them only once in his life, and that man, who was an unknown nobody back then, was called the foremost figure of the Unorthodox Path today.
Having glanced at Butcher Ma, Cheon Woo-jin entered the house, and Escort Leader Jang and Song Yi-yeon, watching the mood, followed behind him.
* * *
Seeing Butcher Ma’s daughter, Cheon Woo-jin narrowed his brow. A foul stench filled the room, and as if a fever had risen severely, her face was bright red.
Cheon Woo-jin let out a deep sigh.
“In this kind of situation, to think you were waiting for a physician…”
Standing behind, Butcher Ma merely kept his mouth shut and lowered his head. With matters having come to this point, there was nothing he could do. He merely hoped that Cheon Woo-jin’s words were the truth.
Examining the woman’s condition, Cheon Woo-jin was certain.
‘It is the same as what Master Black Elder spoke of.’
It was clearly the doing of the madman called Dok-ra-su, or someone who had learned poison arts from him.
“I will channel qi.”
Having spoken thus, even before Butcher Ma’s reply could be heard, Cheon Woo-jin gently placed his hand atop the woman’s chest right away.
“Th-This!”
“Oh dear…”
“Ahem!”
The men truly showed awkward expressions and gauged Butcher Ma’s reaction. However, contrary to expectations, Butcher Ma was composed.
Having once been a martial artist himself, he knew. That the method to effectively display qi cultivation for a daughter without a dantian was to target the middle dantian.
What was commonly called a dantian accurately referred to the lower dantian, and in reality, the middle dantian near the chest and the upper dantian near the head existed. As one’s martial arts grew profound and the breadth of enlightenment widened, one came to awaken the middle and upper dantians.
Of course, unlike the lower dantian, the middle and upper dantians were possessed from birth.
Cheon Woo-jin aroused his internal energy and channeled it into the woman’s middle dantian.
‘The poisonous energy is damaging the meridians.’
The detoxification method was simple. Burning away all the poisonous energy and discharging it outside the body was all. Of course, had someone profound in poison arts heard this, they would have been flabbergasted and overturned.
Between the energies of the two cultivation arts he had learned from White Elder and Black Elder respectively, Cheon Woo-jin chose the dark side.
To treat the woman’s meridians without the slightest damage, wielding gentle energy would be right, but since the damage to the meridians was already severe, eradicating the poisonous energy in a single stroke was better.
Master Black Elder’s martial arts were truly domineering, and in particular, the internal energy accumulated through the Dark Heavens Mind Art was more destructive than anything in the world.
“Ugh…”
The woman let out a pained groan. At that, Butcher Ma was greatly alarmed and tried to approach Cheon Woo-jin, but Song Yi-yeon and Escort Leader Jang barely held him back.
In a situation of delicately wielding energy like now, if interfered with, there was a possibility that both sides would fall into qi deviation.
Cheon Woo-jin narrowed his brow.
‘It is solid.’
He had already burned most of the poisonous energy that was blocking the qi and blood. However, the poisonous energy at the most critical Baihui acupoint was lumped together exceedingly solidly.
If it could be burned away in an instant, that would be fortunate, but if even a little poisonous energy remained, it would tear through the inside of her head as if putting up a final struggle.
If things went wrong, she would die, or even if lucky, become an idiot and have to live receiving recuperative care for the rest of her life.
Cheon Woo-jin focused his nerves on his fingertips. At this stage, he could not withdraw his energy either.
In the end, he had no choice but to trust the Dark Heavens Mind Art, Master Black Elder’s teachings, and decisively, what he himself had accumulated.
Soon, Cheon Woo-jin blew in his energy in a single breath.
“Aaaaaargh!”
A voice filled with agony leaked from the woman’s mouth. However, Cheon Woo-jin did not stop. On the contrary, he merely shoved the energy in even more roughly.
Boom!
An explosion was heard from behind. Butcher Ma had roughly hurled Escort Leader Jang away.
“P-Please wait a moment. Young Hero Cheon, are you still far from finished?”
Song Yi-yeon was at least striving to hold back Butcher Ma, but his strength was so formidable that it was gradually reaching an overwhelming level.
Whether he was originally a martial artist of high realm or it was the superhuman strength of a father facing his daughter, he did not know.
It was merely certain that the dark pupils were gradually disappearing from Butcher Ma’s eyes.
It was then.
“It is finished.”
Cheon Woo-jin removed his hand and rose from his seat.
Song Yi-yeon, praying, ‘Please don’t let it mean that woman’s life has finished,’ released his hold on Butcher Ma’s arm.
Simultaneously, Butcher Ma’s fist shot toward Cheon Woo-jin like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
Even while everyone was startled by his erratic behavior, Cheon Woo-jin merely stood in his spot without budging an inch.
Soon, right before his fist the size of a pot lid reached Cheon Woo-jin’s face.
“…”
Astonishingly, leaving merely an inch behind, it halted abruptly. Butcher Ma’s gaze was directed not at Cheon Woo-jin, but at his own daughter.
His daughter, who had not even been able to properly open her eyes, was looking at him. Her flushed face seemed to slowly regain its original color, and above all, her expression looked much more comfortable.
“Father?”
Butcher Ma collapsed to his knees and examined his daughter’s condition.
She lived. Although she had not yet recovered her strength, his daughter had definitely lived. Soon, the bear-like Butcher Ma embraced his daughter and wept streaming tears.
In the midst of that, Cheon Woo-jin moved his steps without lingering attachment and said to Song Yi-yeon.
“It was poison arts indeed. We may conclude the escort journey by traversing straight through Baokang County. It turned out well.”
“…Is that what is important right now?”
Cheon Woo-jin tilted his head. They were in the middle of a mission, so of course that was important; what else would be important?
Song Yi-yeon shook his head with an expression of giving up on talking.
Soon, looking at Cheon Woo-jin’s receding back, Song Yi-yeon gulped down dry saliva.
‘Just how delicate is his qi manipulation anyway…’
To think he detoxified such a severe deadly poison in a single breath. He had never heard of such a method in his entire life.
“Just how much more do I have to be surprised before nothing surprises me anymore?”
Somehow, the thought arose in Song Yi-yeon that such a day might never come.