Chapter 69: Sleeping Together…? (1)

A living corpse?

Shinui-nim’s unexpected words turned my mind blank for a moment.

As if mirroring me, Shinui-nim asked with a serious expression.

“You rascal, what on earth have you been stuffing yourself with?”

“What are you talking about…?”

“There’s more than one or two energies circulating within your body, yet how are you still walking around perfectly fine in this state?”

His words made me flinch involuntarily.

Having stuffed myself with so much recently, I could vaguely guess what he meant.

He must be referring to the demonic energy, of course, but also the fortuitous encounters from Sichuan, and the volcanic energy obtained from demonic beasts.

“Is it that big of a problem?”

“A martial artist wouldn’t possibly not know… What’s more astonishing to me is that a human can still be alive in this state.”

Is it really that serious?

I knew the energies of Tao and Gu weren’t compatible, but I thought I was managing them fairly well.

‘Is it because of that guy Shin No-ya mentioned is trying to run wild inside me?’

[It wouldn’t be just that. What lunatic would contain two energies within their body unless they intended to commit suicide?]

‘It wasn’t intentional on my part either…?’

[That’s precisely why it’s astonishing.]

That was the part I had worried and questioned countless times.

Having energies that are complete opposites existing within one’s body.

In other words, it means they clash endlessly.

Because they are incompatible, they will collide without end, and the shockwaves generated in the process must be borne solely by my body.

This will become an obstacle the higher my martial cultivation becomes.

In the first place, a normal body would have fallen into cultivation deviation and become crippled.

‘Did I take it too lightly?’

It was something I had brushed aside simply because it didn’t seem to cause any trouble.

So, the guy Shin No-ya mentioned suppressing refers to these energies…

[That’s not it.]

‘You say it’s not?’

[Yes, based on what that physician is saying, that guy is actually keeping you alive.]

[‘What do you mean by that?’]

[Some guy is watching over and suppressing the endlessly rampaging energies; even the ones that feel like they could explode any second are thanks to that guy…]

It wasn’t easy to properly understand what Shin No-ya was saying.

…What in the world is happening inside my body.

I urgently asked the physician.

“Then what should I do?”

“What do you mean ‘what should you do’? You either drain all the energies or live praying your body doesn’t explode.”

“What…?”

Something like that…?

“Your body right now is in a state where it wouldn’t be strange if it suddenly exploded this very moment. There’s nothing I can easily do about it.”

Even Shinui-nim is hesitant to touch it?

“Do you think they call you a living corpse for nothing? You could genuinely die suddenly while eating, or while taking a bath. That’s exactly the state you’re in right now.”

A state where dying at any moment wouldn’t be strange.

It meant that if the seemingly dormant energies were to rampage more than necessary, I’d be done for.

‘..I’ve been carrying a bomb inside me.’

Was it a mistake to think there were no problems after stuffing myself like that?

…No, honestly, I didn’t eat them on purpose, so ending up like this feels unfair from my perspective.

“This is a bigger deal than I thought?”

At Mae Hwa-seon’s words, Shinui-nim asked back incredulously.

“Weren’t you the one who told me to look at him knowing this?”

“How would I know that…”

“What? Even with a fancy alias like Mae Hwa-seon, you don’t know this!?”

“I had a general idea, but you wouldn’t know the specifics unless you looked closely, which is why I brought him to you, isn’t it?”

Even as the two old men argued in front of me, my mind remained complicated.

What should I do?

It wasn’t the time to worry about Zhuge Hyuk or things that might pop up later.

Without realizing it, I had put myself in a situation where I could die at any moment.

‘…What should I do.’

Right now, I’m holding on thanks to something inside me, but even that guy is said to rampage if I use too much internal energy, so it’s probably not a calm fellow.

And if that’s also being suppressed by Shin No-ya…

‘This is really a bigger mess than I thought.’

It meant a war was constantly raging inside my body.

Unwanted fortuitous encounters had gathered, leading to this state.

If I had consumed them willingly, at least I wouldn’t feel wronged.

As I pondered, Shinui-nim’s voice was heard.

“There is one way to survive.”

“Yes?”

“No, you are alive now, so there is a way to continue living.”

“May I ask what it is?”

I felt like I was grasping at straws.

Hearing that, Shinui-nim replied with a nonchalant expression.

“If you’re worried about the energies exploding uncontrollably, you can just seal your Dantian.”

“…!”

“Whether it’s cultivation deviation or your body exploding like fireworks, the problem already lies in the path from the Dantian to the meridians. If you seal it now while there’s no immediate issue, you can maintain your life.”

Shinui-nim’s words were plausible.

If the Dantian were simply crushed, the energies would dissipate, solving the problem.

Doing so would allow me to survive.

However, as a martial artist, I would be dead.

‘That’s unacceptable.’

It’s not because I begrudge the internal energy and cultivation I’ve built up so far.

If the Dantian is sealed, I will inevitably die later anyway.

Whether by the Demonic Master.

Or by the Martial Alliance.

‘…Shit.’

Why is there never an easy way? Can’t I just take a safer route?

[You have no intention of giving up, brat. Well, it’s true that martial artists value their Dantian more than their life.]

It might seem foolish, but the lives of martial artists are mostly like that.

Shinui-nim glanced at my expression, clicked his tongue briefly, and said.

“Judging by your expression, it seems you can’t bear to give up your Dantian.”

“….”

“In that case, I don’t have any particular methods beyond this. All I can do is pray your body continues to endure by sheer luck, just like now.”

“You said you’d just touch him and do nothing else, but you’ve already thought of all the treatment methods, you stingy Imperial Physician!”

“…You damn scoundrel, just get lost already!”

My head is really throbbing….

Shinui-nim gestured towards the door with his hand, as if telling us to leave now that we’d heard everything.

“This is where the patient is. Hurry up and get lost.”

“Still so cold-hearted…”

“Especially you, Do-hwa, get lost quickly.”

Mae Hwa-seon flashed a good-natured smile and naturally got up.

As Geom-hu immediately rose to bow, Mae Hwa-seon stopped her with a hand gesture, telling her not to.

“Rest well. I’ll visit often.”

“Yes… Sect Leader.”

“I told you not to come because it’s distracting, you damn nuisance…”

“I’ll come again next time, Imperial Physician.”

“Damn it.”

Mae Hwa-seon went out the door, and just as I was about to follow him immediately.

“W-wait.”

Turning around, I saw the owner of the voice was Gu Ryeong-hwa.

Gu Ryeong-hwa was looking at me with visibly trembling eyes.

“Why?”

“…Are… you dying?”

“What?”

“Are you going to die?!”

After I asked a few times, Gu Ryeong-hwa suddenly shouted.

What is this talk all of a sudden?

Having not seen her for so long, it was a bit difficult to know how to react.

Did she ask because she wanted me dead? Were we that bad of terms…

-Get lost from my sight, you make me sick just looking at you.

…It’s possible, isn’t it?

A memory flashed through my mind, and I let out a deep sigh. I couldn’t deny it, as those were words I had clearly spoken.

I looked at Gu Ryeong-hwa and said.

“I guess so.”

“…Why, why…”

“Hm?”

“Why are you so calm…?”

“What’s there to be scared of? They say I’m not dying yet.”

“But they say I might die tomorrow…!”

“But I’m alive right now.”

At my words, Gu Ryeong-hwa’s expression changed strangely.

Are these words so strange? Moreover, why did Gu Ryeong-hwa become even more serious because of them?

There’s no way she still has any affection for me.

[They are strange words, indeed. A youngster who hasn’t experienced the boundary between life and death wouldn’t casually utter such things.]

[‘Hmm.’]

[I thought you were like an old man, but this is a bit excessive. I hope this is also something you’ll tell me later.]

[‘How can you be so certain whether that will be part of the story or not?’]

[If not, then so be it.]

[‘….’]

Sigh.

Having pointless talk carry weight only doubled my fatigue.

Shaking it off with a deep sigh, I looked at Gu Ryeong-hwa and said.

“I’ll be returning to the family manor in a few days. You have to go too.”

“I… won’t.”

“You won’t go?”

“Why would I ever want to go back to a place like that…!”

“Fine, suit yourself.”

When I casually said she didn’t have to go, Gu Ryeong-hwa’s expression turned even stranger.

Her expression already showed she didn’t want to go.

“Are you really not taking me?”

“You said you didn’t want to go.”

“Ah…?”

“What do you think Father will say if I tell him I couldn’t bring you because you were throwing a tantrum, refusing to go?”

“…”

“That’s right, just as you’re thinking, he probably wouldn’t say anything.”

He’d likely end it with his characteristic stiff voice saying, ‘I see.’

The Tae-seon Pill I was supposed to receive… Ah, the Tae-seon Pill is the problem.

‘Honestly, taking and eating it now seems like it would only make things worse.’

With fireworks already going off inside my body, wouldn’t adding more just be poison?

It seemed like there might be issues in that regard.

Looking back and forth between Geom-hu and Gu Ryeong-hwa nestled in her arms, I started wondering if there was really a need for her to come.

Certainly, this place would be more comfortable for Gu Ryeong-hwa than the Gu family.

[Is it the heart of a brother, something like that?]

[‘Don’t say such creepy things.’]

I’m about to die, and you’re talking about blood ties…

Just like in my past life, I decided not to care.

[You always say the opposite of what you feel.]

I lightly ignored Shin No-ya’s words and bowed to Shinui-nim and Geom-hu.

Next, my eyes met Zhuge Hyuk’s, but I just took him in for a moment.

For now, at least.

Closing the door and stepping outside…

Mae Hwa-seon must have already left, as he wasn’t outside.

Did he leave already…?

Thinking I needed to return before nightfall, I channeled internal energy into my feet and prepared to leap.

“Wait, I don’t know the way…?”

…Huh?

---

“How peculiar.”

These were the words Shinui-nim uttered inside the cabin after Gu Yangcheon left.

Peculiar.

Truly peculiar.

The fact that such energies were concentrated in the body of a boy far from reaching adulthood.

The fact that the energies, despite growling hostilely at each other, weren’t causing his body to explode.

Even the attitude of the boy listening to his words.

‘I’ve seen those eyes somewhere before.’

Eyes that remained unfazed even after hearing of their imminent death.

A face that should have trembled with anxiety about dying, yet accepted it so calmly.

Those eyes were definitely a gaze Shinui-nim had seen somewhere.

But perhaps due to his old brain, he couldn’t quite recall.

Shinui-nim asked Gu Ryeong-hwa.

“Little one, what kind of fellow was your older brother?”

“…Yes?”

Gu Ryeong-hwa was taken aback by Shinui-nim’s sudden question.

What kind of fellow was Gu Yangcheon…

An older brother, one year my senior.

At first, he was a kind and proud person, but at some point, he changed drastically.

And.

The one who witnessed their mother’s final moments.

The memories from that time were blurry and dreamlike, as she was too young, but Gu Ryeong-hwa knew for certain Gu Yangcheon was there.

Along with their father, Gu Cheol-un.

“…”

“Ryeong-hwa-ya…?”

Gu Ryeong-hwa tightly gripped Geom-hu’s hand, looking anxious.

“Ahem…”

Seeing that, Shinui-nim turned his head.

It seemed there was something he shouldn’t have asked.

“Then, where exactly did I see…”

…!

It came back to him.

Shinui-nim remembered who those individuals with the same eyes as the boy were.

It was something he had forgotten for a moment due to the memory being so old.

A long time ago, around the time he was just starting to make a name for himself as a physician, there were people he treated.

Their eyes held a deep abyss that humans could hardly dare to contain, and whether they had transcended death, they seemed to have no lingering attachment to life.

As if to prove it, those were the eyes of people who, shortly after, took their own lives, leaving behind the joy of survival.

“…How could that child possess such eyes…”

Demonic Mirror.

Those eyes resembled the eyes of the survivors who had returned from the Demonic Mirror.

---

By the time I painstakingly made my way back to the Mount Hua Sect, the sun had already set.

“It’s already night, and I haven’t even had dinner.”

Mae Hwa-seon, upon seeing me arrive late after finding my way, apologized with a look of realization.

He really forgot about me…

What’s more, when I asked what to do about the volcanic energy in my body.

‘I can’t even take the energy with me… Since there seems to be no immediate solution, wouldn’t it be fine to just keep it without acknowledging it?’

He brushed it off with such a flimsy excuse.

Seriously, if that’s the case, why did he bring me along…?

In the end, the only things I learned from visiting Shinui-nim were the random fact that Zhuge Hyuk was his grandson,

and that I was currently living on borrowed time.

[‘…My life.’]

Nothing ever comes easy, does it?

What sins did I commit in my past life…

[‘I did, quite a lot…’]

Thinking about it, that’s true…

Is this also karma? I tried to console myself thinking that,

but some things just can’t be helped.

Just like now.

“…What is this situation exactly?”

This was a room provided for guests at the Mount Hua Sect.

The guards would be nearby for watch duty, and the attendants would also be close.

“But what are you doing here?”

A room of moderate size, neither too spacious nor too small.

In the middle of it, someone was diligently spreading out bedding.

At first, I thought it was an attendant, but I couldn’t mistake the distinctive hair.

“What are you doing there?”

The figure met my gaze at my voice.

Then, tilting their head as if asking what the question was.

The one diligently spreading the bedding was Namgung Bi-ah.

“Bedding…”

“Why are you doing that, So-jeo…?”

“To sleep?”

“Where… Surely not here?”

“Yeah.”

“Together?”

“Yeah.”

“…Why?”

…Seriously, why?