Chapter 17 – Brush with death 17
[TL/N: Changing Magong to demonic arts]
How could a mere candle withstand a storm.
After all, even the sturdiest candle is just a candle. Despite the approaching storm, the blind who have eyes don’t even realize they are in a precarious situation.
The nameless old man tried to uproot the evil entrenched in the martial arts world, but ultimately failed miserably and lost everything he had built up until now.
Having barely escaped with his life and retreated to a mountain with no connections, the old man had tried to take his own life. After all, there was no hope in the martial arts world anyway.
When he thought about those who were as close as family who died because of his incompetence and unworthiness, his heart felt like it was shattering. Nevertheless, the reason he survived was.
“The vertical strike rises high and cuts down like lightning, resembling the sky delivering divine punishment, and the horizontal strike has a path as vast as the earth that contains all things……”
It was simply because he felt a sunlike radiance in the child he saved from a tiger on a whim. A life that might not last much longer anyway due to the severe wounds obtained in the bloody battle with those villains.
Even if the last remaining breath becomes firewood.
If only this ember could be passed on.
◇
“……”
The medicine pouch tied and hanging with a rope looked similar to what I had seen in historical dramas. Thanks to that, I could easily realize that where I was lying was a medical room.
Feeling the strong scent of herbs stinging my nose, I fell into thought. Now that I know where I am, I just need to figure out how and why I am lying here.
Fortunately, someone who could explain the reason entered the medical room. It was an elderly man with distinctive puggy nose wearing white doctor’s robes, with white hair and no vitality.
With a bit of exaggeration, I even thought for a moment that he might be a grim reaper who had come for me. Fortunately, he was not a grim reaper but Murong Su, the master of the medical room at the Murong family.
He was startled when he saw that I was awake, and then looked at me with disapproving eyes and took out needles to insert into my arms and legs. It’s surprisingly quite painful.
“Just looking at you, you seem to be around my age. At that age, do you still want to push yourself so recklessly?”
“……Excuse me, but how old are you?”
“This year I am sixty-six.”
Damn it.
I ended up being told I was the same age by an old man who had lived thirty more years than me. But as a doctor, shouldn’t he have noticed while treating my body directly?
“A martial artist’s body is indeed good. Looking at just your physique, you appear to be under thirty years old…… Could this be what they call that body transformation technique?”
“……”
Shit.
Seeing Murong Su grinding my face along with the herbs, I finally gave up on explaining. Let’s forget about such trivial things now and ask about the most important matters first.
“Why am I here?”
“The young miss over there who is sleeping next to you came running with you on her back.”
In the direction he pointed, tilting his head, I could see Sua sleeping soundly in a prostrate position right next to me. I asked with a doubtful expression at this unbelievable sight.
“……Sua, you say?”
“Yes! The young miss grabbed me and shook me while crying so loudly it could have split the heavens. Just thinking about that time still makes me shudder.”
“Then what happened to the head of the Murong family?”
“The great warrior sliced him splendidly. But like they say, even rotten fish still has bones, the family head wasn’t easy to deal with? I heard that after the life-or-death battle, the great warrior also collapsed and lost consciousness.”
It seems the medical room work had been quite boring. Thanks to Murong Su’s explanation, which included flying spittle, I began to form a mental picture of how the situation had unfolded.
Roughly, I succeeded in cutting down the family head at the end, but the family head also swung his technique at me with the determination to die together. And as a result, I lost consciousness at the end.
But looking at the result, it was quite an encouraging outcome. Because the opponent was at least a supreme master level or higher, while I was at most at the peak level.
The only thing that doesn’t make sense is how I overcame the difference in realm. Even a difference of one level in realm makes it very difficult to win. Trying to piece it together.
‘The martial arts foundation and roots are so solid that it is nearly impossible to overcome them head-on. However, demonic arts are fundamentally unstable, so I targeted that weakness… if I put it that way, it’s not entirely implausible.’
For a very brief moment, I wondered if I had reached the supreme pinnacle or enlightenment state. But if that were the case, I wouldn’t have fainted in the middle of the life-or-death battle.
‘Anyway, it’s true that Sua helped me.’
“The young miss was so worried about the great warrior that she stuck to you like glue and wouldn’t think of leaving. And she helped me quite a bit with my work, which made things quite manageable.”
“There must have been other injured people besides me.”
“That’s right. And among them, there were not a few who were critically injured with their lives hanging by a thread.”
Perhaps sensing my eyes falling on Sua. Murong Su told me about Sua with a grinning smile. Honestly, it was quite unexpected to hear that she had cried because of me.
“Mmm……”
“Are you awake?”
“……Great warrior?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
Having awakened due to the commotion, Sua rubbed her eyes and slowly raised her upper body. She stared at me with a blank expression for a moment, then threw herself into my arms.
“I was worried day and night that something might happen to the great warrior!!”
“Nothing like that happened, so please calm down!”
“Oh my, excuse me. I must also tend to the patients.”
“Are you running away alone now?!”
It seems her words of concern weren’t just empty talk. It took about an hour to calm down Sua, who burst into tears in my arms, before I could finally hear the story.
Surprisingly, there were some, albeit very few, within the Murong family who said I should be punished. They were probably proposed by the families of the martial artists who lost their lives by my hand.
“To plot to stab in the back the benefactor who saved the Murong family, rather than helping them. You people don’t even deserve to call yourselves martial artists!!”
Fortunately, Murong Hyun, who became the acting head, was enraged when he heard those words and personally whipped them, and even expelled all those who had mentioned it.
“Thanks to you, young warrior, I no longer have to worry about being stabbed in my sleep.”
“This is not something to laugh off. Even now, we should tell everyone the truth……!!”
“Just leave it be. What more is there to say here?”
I’m not exactly sure what truth Sua is talking about. But from the beginning, I didn’t have the energy to care about the political struggles of the Murong family. Besides, they had already been punished and expelled.
Looking at the results of this battle, it was my victory.
But it was hard to see it as a complete victory.
Of course, until I got caught up in the demonic arts, I fought with mercy in my hands, trying to subdue him somehow. But after falling into the demonic arts, giving my all meant only dying together.
I even fainted in the middle. But what if the Murong family’s martial artists had attacked me in that state? Or what if I hadn’t killed the opponent with one strike?
In the end, I won only because I was lucky.
So, I understand why people are talking like that.
But that’s not a reason to despair. Although the opponent was not normal because of the demonic arts, and I also fainted. Anyway, I got a decision victory against a supreme master.
‘Now is not the time to waste time unnecessarily. I need to receive martial arts and internal energy training as a reward from the Murong family and quickly return to training.’
With a little effort, I think I can reach a higher realm.
There was no proof, but I just had that feeling.
◇
When the bloodshed that had blown through the Murong family finally stopped. Sua was surprised for a different reason. It was an unchanging truth, even if heaven and earth were turned upside down, that the nameless great warrior had cut the sky.
However, not a single person besides herself had witnessed it with their own eyes. Does that make any sense? Despite such a sharp blade slicing even the sky?
Thanks to this, the overwhelming result was changed to a paper-thin difference. To Sua, who knew the whole truth, it looked like a mere attempt to cover the sky with a palm.
“They say that the battle between absolute masters is separated by a paper-thin difference, that saying is accurate.”
“If the great warrior had been defeated… I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened next.”
“We must humbly accept this terrible result. After all, it is our fault for standing by and watching injustice.”
“No, I’m telling you!! That battle was a perfect victory for the great warrior?!”
Having seen the sight of the sky being split with a single technique, Sua was going crazy with frustration as they calmly spoke words that no one could agree with even if they wanted to.
In the end, Sua had informed the great warrior directly about what she had experienced, even to protect his honor. However, the great warrior’s reaction was completely beyond Sua’s expectations.
“Just leave it be. What more is there to say here?”
Ah, I see.
Sua could finally understand the great warrior’s intention. Sighing heavily doesn’t make the ground cave in, and resenting the sky doesn’t make it fall.
After all, heaven and earth steadfastly keep their place unchanged. Don’t move foolishly, how could a sparrow understand the intentions of a phoenix? If necessary, it can be proven at any time.
This was in line with the great warrior’s teachings. Despite being a master who had reached the peak level, the great warrior did not take lightly even the basic techniques of the Three Disasters Sword Technique.
‘……However, there is one thing that bothers me.’
Fifteen days ago, that is, right when the great warrior had achieved an overwhelming victory in the life-or-death battle with the family head. It was none other than Sua who carried the unconscious great warrior to the medical room.
Since the great warrior was the benefactor who saved the Murong family. The doctor Murong Su also started treatment immediately without asking questions. However, the results of the treatment turned out to be unexpected.
[I’ve examined thoroughly, but there are no external injuries at all, and the internal injuries are not that serious either. But judging from the slight rupture of the blood vessels, it seems he was attacked internally by that demonic art or whatever it was.]
‘But that doesn’t make sense. The great warrior finished the family head with one strike. So there wouldn’t have been any chance to use demonic arts or whatever.’
Sua’s monstrous comprehension could easily reach one hypothesis. What if the great warrior’s internal energy was so vast and powerful that his body couldn’t withstand it?
What if he fainted from his own power?
……No way. Could such a thing be possible?
