Chapter 430: Numbness (No Feeling)

Death.

The word, feeling both familiar and distant, caused Gu Yangcheon’s brow to furrow.

“What is that supposed to…”

It was such a sudden statement.

I’m going to die soon?

He stared at Shin-ui, his eyes wide, as the latter calmly continued his explanation.

“Every human has something called a vessel. You know this too, right?”

“…Yes.”

The vessel that every human possesses.

You could call it a mold for containing energy, or the source of the presence each human holds.

What was Shin-ui’s intention in bringing up the topic of such a vessel?

Gu Yangcheon waited for the rest of the words with slightly sunken eyes.

“Your vessel has reached its limit right now.”

Shin-ui’s words sent a chilling sensation through his insides.

“…What you mean is.”

“Being able to use multiple energies simultaneously is one thing. Your vessel reaching its limit is another.”

It meant that even if the danger of energies colliding and exploding had been resolved, the vessel containing the energies overflowing or breaking was a different matter entirely.

What arose was a question.

“I don’t recall hearing such a story before.”

Even after receiving several check-ups from Shin-ui, he had never heard such a story.

Hearing Gu Yangcheon’s words, Shin-ui repeatedly let out exasperated breaths.

“It’s a story because I didn’t know you’d possibly bring in more energies. Do you think it’s reasonable for a normal person to stuff things to the limit of their vessel?”

“…”

“Your vessel isn’t small compared to others. Yet, it’s filled right up to the brim. Don’t you know what that means?”

If water overflows from the vessel, the energy that couldn’t be contained will explode within the body.

Or even if it doesn’t overflow, it means the vessel could break and make a mess at any moment.

“Is there no way?”

“As I said before, the fastest method is to seal your dantian.”

The fastest and relatively safest method was indeed to seal and block the dantian.

“…I can’t do that.”

This was a choice no different from death.

It wasn’t just one or two things that would happen from now on.

For Gu Yangcheon, becoming a commoner by destroying his dantian was an unacceptable option.

“Are there no other methods?”

At Gu Yangcheon’s words, Shin-ui’s brow furrowed deeply.

He was blaming Gu Yangcheon’s foolishness for needing to protect his martial arts even at this cost.

To Shin-ui, martial artists had always been like that.

‘Idiots who prioritize power over their own lives.’

You need to protect your life right now to see the people you cherish.

You need to live to promise a future.

These damn people were still no different from moths drawn to a flame.

Shin-ui, not knowing Gu Yangcheon’s situation in detail, could only feel frustrated.

Is that more important than death?

Recalling the martial artists who died like that, Shin-ui could only frown.

“If you don’t like that, there are two methods.”

Nevertheless, he presented the methods.

Because he thought that was at least what a physician should do.

So there are ways. Just as Gu Yangcheon’s expression changed upon hearing that.

“You just need to stop increasing the amount of energy. If you maintain your current state, and if you’re lucky, you might live out your natural lifespan.”

“…”

What those words meant was.

It meant stopping training and not increasing internal energy any further.

It meant giving up on the idea of increasing other energies, even if not internal energy.

Does it mean stop growing and live maintaining the present?

Perhaps, that might be the right thing to say.

If he just fixed the uncomfortable parts that felt like an incomplete Hwagyeong, he was in a relatively okay state.

Considering that the number of Hwagyeong martial artists in the Central Plains is at most in the thousands, maybe he could live with his head held high even maintaining his current state.

But…

‘That too is futile.’

He knew better than anyone that he couldn’t do that.

Shin-ui, seeing Gu Yangcheon’s complex expression, let out a deep sigh.

Because he realized this wouldn’t work either.

“You’re no different from the other idiots. Can you really not abandon martial arts (武)?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Shin-ui wouldn’t know.

Gu Yangcheon had considered abandoning martial arts at any time.

If he wished, he could have easily sealed his dantian right then and lived as a commoner.

‘Then who will save them?’

This is something that must be done.

It wasn’t about grand words like saving the world.

The ones he needed to save were simply the people around him.

This martial art was for that purpose.

Therefore, he couldn’t possibly give up on growing.

“Are there… other methods?”

He had said there was still one more method.

Is that the only hope?

While Gu Yangcheon swallowed his lingering anxiety, Shin-ui brought up the topic with a sigh.

“While it may not be a cure, extending this period is possible.”

“What you mean is…?”

“It means it’s possible to lower the risk through medicine. A cure is impossible. That’s something even I cannot do.”

“…”

Gu Yangcheon fell into thought upon hearing Shin-ui’s words.

Shin-ui quietly observed him.

Throughout the conversation with Gu Yangcheon, Shin-ui felt an inexplicable sense of strangeness.

Perhaps finished thinking, Gu Yangcheon touched his lips with his hand and asked Shin-ui.

“…That medicine, are you the only one who can create it, Shin-ui-nim?”

“Yes. In the entire Central Plains, I am the only one who can do it.”

That would be right.

Gu Yangcheon had never heard of medicine that could maintain a vessel on the verge of breaking.

It might be somewhat good news, but there was something most important.

“Do you, Shin-ui-nim, intend to give it to me?”

Whether Shin-ui would actually make that medicine for Gu Yangcheon himself.

“No. I have no intention of doing so.”

Shin-ui stated his firm refusal regarding this.

“At best, it only extends the period, and to you, who refuses to act despite having other viable methods, I will give nothing.”

“…”

At Shin-ui’s voice filled with anger, Gu Yangcheon simply watched him.

Shin-ui felt that gaze approaching him in a truly subtle way.

“Shin-ui.”

Amidst the stifling atmosphere, Gu Yangcheon asked.

“If that extends my life, how long can it be extended?”

Shin-ui felt increasingly angered by Gu Yangcheon, who, even now, was only asking that.

“No matter how well the medicine works, you won’t exceed forty years. If your body doesn’t react well to the medicine, you might barely exceed ten years.”

Hearing this, Gu Yangcheon sank into deep thought, as if trying to calculate something.

Seeing that, Shin-ui added.

“Perhaps, abandon the thought of extending your life with medicine while waiting for a cure. This medicine…”

“…Ten years at the very least.”

Shin-ui tried to explain the risks.

Gu Yangcheon, seeming to find this unimportant, looked at Shin-ui and said in a flat voice.

******************

“-That much is enough.”

“…”

A dry voice and a toneless manner echoed in his ears.

As the sun was gradually setting.

In the plaza, a banquet celebrating the return of the Poison King was underway.

Shin-ui was sitting on the floor of his quarters, pouring alcohol.

“So…”

Shin-ui was reviewing his conversation with Gu Yangcheon, pondering why he kept feeling a sense of strangeness from him.

It took him quite a while to realize that.

No, perhaps he had known from the very beginning.

‘That child hasn’t changed.’

It wasn’t that the thorns had died and the tension had risen. He was merely hiding it.

He recalled the first time he saw Gu Yangcheon.

The boy he met then, unlike his fierce personality, had dead eyes.

The eyes that the martial artists who took their own lives due to the incident at Majing possessed.

Gu Yangcheon possessed the exact same thing.

Shin-ui recalled that and poured alcohol into his mouth.

‘You…’

‘You have no attachment to life in the first place.’ That’s how Shin-ui saw Gu Yangcheon.

He should have realized that sooner.

His appearance, pondering something even while talking about his own death.

There was no fear in it.

There was only the complexity of organizing the schedule laid out before him.

The vessel being so unstable would surely be influenced by psychological factors.

Even though he might have often felt extreme pain or headaches normally.

In Shin-ui’s view, Gu Yangcheon seemed serene even while experiencing such situations.

‘He’s not serene. He’s just worn out.’

The mind that would waver from pain.

The fear that would tremble at death.

Those things were no longer left in that child.

The moment Shin-ui met Gu Yangcheon, brought by the Poison King, he knew immediately.

A martial artist might not know, but Shin-ui’s eyes were different.

Gu Yangcheon was in a state where dying at any moment would be no surprise.

That was precisely why, when he had only intended to greet him casually, he asked Gu Yangcheon to offer his wrist.

Inside, it was a mess.

Gu Yangcheon’s energy was somehow in harmony, but it was close to coercion.

The forcibly created harmony would eventually cause ripples within the body.

Even holding onto it forcefully, it was a state where not much time was left.

Did that child really not know this?

Shin-ui could only question it.

“…”

Yet, his appearance of being quite pleased at the prospect of delaying it by ten years was truly frightening to Shin-ui.

It wasn’t the look of someone happy simply to be able to live.

‘What on earth….’

What had broken that child so badly?

It was a look far too chilling for a child who was barely close to twenty years old.

‘What are you planning to do, really?’

Shin-ui recalled Gu Yangcheon leaving the place at the end.

As if forgetting his words that he would absolutely not give the medicine, Gu Yangcheon left, saying he would visit again next time.

Watching that retreating back, Shin-ui felt as if a heavy rock had settled in his heart.

Seeing someone without attachment to their own life was like that for Shin-ui.

“Aish, tsk.”

Even so, Shin-ui would not give the medicine as he had said.

Manufacturing the medicine wasn’t easy, nor were the ingredients easily obtainable.

The medicine he currently possessed was even only enough for Wi Seol-ah.

Of course, even if he had the ingredients, it was something he couldn’t give to that child, but this medicine was irreversible once started.

Not only would attempting to seal the dantian later make survival impossible,

but if not taken continuously after the first dose, it would eventually cause problems with the innate vital energy.

As a physician, how could he possibly give such a medicine?

Since it was a meeting he had anticipated, albeit slightly.

The way it unfolded like this felt quite unpleasant and bothersome.

Just as Shin-ui was pouring himself another glass of alcohol.

Deureureuk.

He sensed someone entering as the door opened.

Sensing that, Shin-ui snorted.

“Hmph, you said you wouldn’t come around for a while, yet you decided to crawl your way in?”

Although it was a rather harsh remark, the person who heard it simply chuckled briefly.

“Finding you was harder than I thought. Seems you hide quite well.”

A deep yet seemingly gentle tone. Though the old man was full of wrinkles bearing the marks of time, his neatly straightened shoulders and upright back revealed him to be a martial artist.

“Come now, if the child dislikes it, you should consider backing off. Is it right to be so forceful?”

Keukkeuk.

At Shin-ui’s words, the old man chuckled repeatedly.

“Calling him a child might be a stretch; he’s quite old.”

“What does his age matter?”

“If you care so deeply, why don’t you go yourself? You surely aren’t the only one with family.”

“If I were to try and visit them, knowing what kind of things you people would do, how could I possibly see those children?”

The old man didn’t offer much response to Shin-ui’s words and approached the floor seating area.

Swish.

With the old man’s gesture, the alcohol bottle lifted into the air and was instantly drawn into his hand.

Although the levitation of objects in mid-air was displayed effortlessly, Shin-ui showed no particular surprise.

“Drinking alone so meagerly, that’s unlike you. Did something happen?”

“Don’t worry about it. I was just craving alcohol today.”

“Hmm… I see.”

Perhaps that was the extent of his interest, as the old man didn’t ask further.

Ttuk-beok.

As the old man slowly walked towards Shin-ui, his martial robe fluttered behind him.

Clearly inscribed on the martial robe were the characters Namgung (南宮).

“Ah, so you saw that child too.”

“…”

At the old man’s words, Shin-ui’s shoulders trembled slightly.

“So Yeom-ra…. was that her name? I’m talking about the child called that.”

“If you wish to see her, go ahead and see her. It seems the young lady from that family is with her.”

At Shin-ui’s words, the old man grinned, approached, and sat down next to Shin-ui.

“It’s a bit disappointing to see her now… I’ll see her later. Since I’ll see her eventually anyway, I can postpone the pleasure a bit.”

“You still have an incredibly eccentric personality.”

“That’s rather uncomfortable to hear from you.”

The old man, speaking with a laugh, shook the alcohol bottle.

It was cheap liquor he didn’t often drink, but it wasn’t bad for drinking under the moonlight as a side dish.

Before long, the sun set, and it was a night of the full moon rising in the night sky.

The living history of the Namgung family and one of the supreme figures of the orthodox martial arts world.

The Hegemon of the South.

Heavenly Venerate (天尊) Namgung Jeolcheon gazed intently at the moon and took a sip of alcohol.