97 – Lifeline (2)

Lifeline (2)

Gang Woong was quite surprised.

‘That person is Yak Seon?’

He had heard of Yak Seon’s reputation, but the woman was very different from what he had imagined.

Baek Ryeo-il also looked puzzled. That was because Yak Seon was one of the old masters they had heard about since they were young. He had heard that she was about the same age as the Sect leader, but Yak Seon had somehow maintained her fresh youth.

“You…?”

As Baek Ryeo-il, regaining his senses, tried to step forward, Gang Woong unknowingly grabbed his master’s sleeve. At the same time, the Sect leader raised his hand to stop him. Then, he gazed at him as if telling him to stay quiet for now. Fortunately, Baek Ryeo-il did not act rashly and quietly retreated with Gang Woong.

The Sect leader rose from his seat to greet Yak Seon.

“I’m sorry to have brought you all the way here.”

“If you know you’re sorry, there must be a satisfactory price to pay.”

Yak Seon replied in a light tone. The two treated each other without formality, like old friends.

“So, did you find out what I asked you to look into before?”

Yak Seon asked, leisurely looking around the Sect Leader’s Hall. Her gaze reached Gang Woong and Baek Ryeo-il, who were standing in a corner, but soon flowed away naturally, as if she had no interest.

“Of course. But that’s not the only reason I called you.”

“Then?”

“There’s someone I’d like you to take a look at.”

“Is it a patient?”

As Yak Seon asked keenly, the Sect leader nodded. Yak Seon chuckled.

“I thought so. Seeing Sect leader Hwa asking for a favor so openly, it seems like an important person. Is it a Mount Hua Disciple?”

The Sect leader gently shook his head.

“I’ll show you the patient first. Follow me.”

The Sect leader led her outside. Gang Woong and Baek Ryeo-il followed behind them.

Gang Woong looked at the two old masters walking ahead with excitement.

‘This is it!’

Yak Seon’s reputation was famous enough for everyone to know. Now that such a renowned figure in medicine had come, Seong Mu-yeon would soon get up. Gang Woong reaffirmed his respect for the Sect leader. Looking at that reliable back, he had nothing to fear in the world.

But his excited heart was only temporary, and when he glanced to the side, his master Baek Ryeo-il’s face was stiff.

‘Why is he like that? Young master Seong Mu-yeon will wake up now.’

Gang Woong was puzzled, but before he could think deeply, they arrived at the Hall of Medicine.

Even before they entered the Hall of Medicine, Seomun Yuha’s voice rang out loudly.

“Masters, I will help Young master Seong Mu-yeon! I can do it!”

Hearing that voice, his excited mood quickly subsided. Gang Woong calmed himself down. He didn’t know why he was so confident, but with the great Yakseon Daein here, Seomun Yuha would be speechless.

As expected.

As Gang Woong wished, Yak Seon coldly said to Seomun Yuha as soon as she entered the Hall of Medicine.

“Don’t touch him. If you touch him, he’ll die.”

She ruthlessly pushed Seomun Yuha away from the bed.

“Yes? What do you mean…! I don’t know who you are, but don’t interfere. I’m…”

“You, you have Flowering Bone, right?”

“H, how did you know…”

“I can tell just by looking at you. Step aside. Unless you want to kill him.”

Yak Seon’s voice was filled with a strange authority and power. Seomun Yuha immediately judged that she was not someone he could handle, so he shut his mouth and quietly stepped aside.

Gang Woong didn’t know what Flowering Bone was, but he felt a thrilling sense of pleasure because he didn’t like Seomun Yuha anyway.

“Let’s see.”

Yak Seon bent down and examined Seong Mu-yeon, who was lying on the bed. During that time, the inside of the Hall of Medicine was as silent as death. This was because the Sect leader stopped Ma Jin-cheon and the others, who did not know her identity, from trying to intervene with a sharp look.

‘It’s a relief.’

Gang Woong was grateful. He also thought he was lucky to receive appropriate help in a moment of crisis. His master still didn’t ease his furrowed brow, but he was originally a person who was dissatisfied with everything, so it was okay to ignore it.

After a while, Yak Seon raised her back.

“How is he?”

As the Sect leader asked, Yak Seon clicked her tongue.

“It’s rare to see such a serious condition. Where did you pick this up? Amazing. And he’s still alive until now? He has a very complex pathogenesis among the severed meridians.”

In a quiet atmosphere where everyone was listening intently, Yak Seon continued.

“It’s hard to survive even if you’re born with only one type of energy, so severed meridians are called heavenly punishment. This person was born with the most difficult constitution among them. Extreme Yin, Extreme Yang, and the Five Elements at the same time. Tsk tsk… And you were trying to attach Flowering Bone?”

Yak Seon turned her head sharply and glared at Seomun Yuha, who was standing in the corner.

“Flowering Bone is basically a bloodline with condensed Extreme Yin energy. He has barely survived until now thanks to a precarious balance by heavenly luck. If you had touched him unnecessarily and that balance had been disturbed even a little, he would have died without any chance to do anything.”

“Hic.”

Seomun Yuha’s face turned pale.

“So… can you save him?”

As the Sect leader asked, Yak Seon put her chin on her hand as if measuring something and stared at Seong Mu-yeon.

‘Please.’

Sweat soaked Gang Woong’s hand as he swallowed hard.

“I can save him.”

‘Young master!’

Gang Woong’s eyes welled up, but the tears disappeared as Yak Seon continued.

“For now.”

Yak Seon said, rummaging through her sleeves.

“Fortunately, I came in time. If you hadn’t brought me here in time, he wouldn’t have made it through tonight. Even if he overcame the crisis and survived, these kinds of seizures would occur periodically, and he would lose consciousness and collapse. Each time, even if you poured all the best spirit pills of the Central Plains, the frequency of the seizures would gradually shorten, and eventually, no matter what you did, he would not wake up.”

‘…Young master.’

It was such a serious illness.

It was surprising that Seong Mu-yeon didn’t show it at all. He felt depressed when he realized that he was the only one who didn’t know that fact, and that most of the people in this place knew it.

But it was still a relief.

Yak Seon rummaged through her sleeves for a long time and took out a small box. There were several round pills inside. She was a master of medicine, so she always carried medicine with her.

“This is a medicine that enhances energy. It’s not a cure, but it strengthens the weakened body. The seizure will stop, and he will soon regain consciousness.”

She bent down to the bed to feed Seong Mu-yeon the medicine.

Now Seong Mu-yeon will wake up. That’s all that matters. Everything will be fine.

“Wait a minute…”

Suddenly, Yak Seon’s back stopped and stiffened.

In that moment, Gang Woong sensed the moment when the air, which had been floating leisurely in the air, suddenly turned sharp.

Yak Seon slowly straightened her back. Still holding the pills she hadn’t fed him, she very slowly raised her body.

At that time, when he couldn’t recognize how the situation was turning, Yak Seon turned her head. Unlike before, her turned face was filled with a fierce aura. Those two eyes were fixed straight on the Sect leader.

“…This guy, he’s Seong Hyeok-gwang’s son. Isn’t he?”

‘Ah!’

Gang Woong’s heart sank. He unknowingly gasped and covered his mouth.

Seong Mu-yeon’s existence had naturally permeated Mount Hua for a long time, so he had forgotten about it. The label ‘Young master of the Demonic Cult’ that could not be separated from him…

Ma Jin-cheon and the others were also familiar with Seong Mu-yeon like Gang Woong, and saving his life was the priority now, so it had been pushed out of their minds.

He now realized why Baek Ryeo-il had been tense all along.

To feed medicine to an unconscious person, you had to open their mouth, so Yak Seon naturally had no choice but to look at their face in detail.

She realized a fact that she hadn’t known when she had examined him briefly.

A face that was surprisingly similar to the Demonic Cult Cult Leader Seong Hyeok-gwang, whom she hated so much.

“So Master.”

The Sect leader called her with a faint sigh, but what came back was an angry shout.

“How dare you!”

A fierce aura exploded as if expanding.

“How dare you deceive me and try to feed my medicine to that dirty bloodline!”

Red blood vessels stood out in Yak Seon’s whites of her eyes. As her inner force fluctuated due to intense anger, the inside of the Hall of Medicine was swept away in a mess.

“Ugh!”

Those who could withstand the aura stood and endured, but young Gang Woong could not. As the boy’s feet floated as if swept away by a gust of wind, Ma Jin-cheon grabbed him and hid him behind his back. Seomun Yuha had already crawled under the bed.

The Sect leader was standing in the center of the chaos, but only his clothes fluttered, and he did not waver in the slightest. He took a step forward and approached Yak Seon.

“Calm down.”

“Calm down? Did you just say calm down? I’m sorry, but Sect leader Hwa, you made a mistake. You shouldn’t have shown me this guy.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I have to kill him to eliminate future troubles.”

Yak Seon immediately raised her hand without delay. A vivid energy lingered on the hand blade she had made with her hand. Seong Mu-yeon, who was unconscious, would lose his life without even being able to resist if that hand just touched him.

“No!”

Gang Woong shouted like a scream.