NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29
Early morning hours.
“Lord Mo Yong, the situation has been stabilized.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
The head of the Mo Yong Family, Mo Yongsan, lamented as he gazed at the Medical Hall building following the report from the steward.
“I paid a pretty penny to build this place.”
“Lord…”
“Ever since learning that Seol-i was afflicted with the Sickness of Absolute Meridians, I went to great lengths to bring in numerous physicians. And to ensure they could stay here more quickly and safely to treat Seol-i, I outfitted the facilities to the highest standards.”
“…….”
“It’s been well over ten years. Buildings are supposed to last at least thirty years, and their purpose often changes with time…”
Mo Yongsan shook his head while watching people being carried one by one into the Medical Hall.
“I never imagined this place would become a playground for the Demon Cult’s schemes.”
“U-Um, Lord?”
A group of men approached Mo Yongsan, who was looking at the Medical Hall with his arms crossed, their faces embarrassed.
They tried to tidy themselves up as best as they could, but the red marks on their bodies and skin, along with the traces of having doused themselves with cold water instead of properly washing up, couldn’t be completely hidden.
“You all worked hard. How about it? Were any of you not ‘first-timers’ here?”
“Not me.”
“Me neither.”
“…Same here.”
With embarrassed expressions, all the warriors shook their heads.
All the women they encountered were first-timers, and now they had truly become women in every sense.
“I see. The schemes of the Demon Cult are indeed frightening.”
“Lord Mo Yong?”
“They get women addicted to Spring Medicine and deliver them just like that. It’s not just a matter of throwing their bodies away.”
Mo Yongsan gritted his teeth as he continued.
“You are all good men. You do not casually associate with women. You take responsibility for your actions and are righteous young men who are weakened by women’s tears.”
“…….”
“Perhaps ordering you to treat those women was my selfishness, my arrogance. Just as the Demon Cult seeks to use you, I too had hopes of using you.”
“Lord, how can you say such things?”
Mo Taebok stepped forward first to take charge.
“You have explained everything in advance, and we accepted it.”
“Yes. We all resolved to take on this mission.”
“…I didn’t expect to have two women, but isn’t it not a big deal for a man to embrace two women?”
“Thank you for saying that. I will definitely keep my promises.”
Mo Yongsan pointed seriously at the Medical Hall building.
“Now, that place will serve as the temporary residence for your ‘wives.’ Neither Physician Seok nor Seol-i would want to stay in a place where people have died. After all, this was made possible because the head of the family allowed you two to have the Saint’s Sanctuary.”
“The Saint’s Sanctuary…”
“Although someone died on the third floor, they died due to their own deeds. The evil energy that has seeped in will be comforted by monks and Taoists, so you can all rest assured and treat your women well.”
Mo Yongsan looked over the warriors with a heavy expression.
“The Demon Cult has placed shackles upon you. The shackles of marriage. They have bound you with ‘responsibility’ using all women except one.”
“…….”
“Some of you might be thinking: how can marriage be shackles? Well…”
Mo Yongsan subtly glanced at his left ring finger and continued with a deep sigh.
“You’ll understand once you experience it. And now, you shall.”
“…….”
“Becoming the husband of one woman. And the father of multiple children. The Demon Cult sent you maiden, and now you’ve lost your freedom. You became responsible for the woman due to their schemes, but I hope you won’t think poorly of that.”
“That cannot be, Lord.”
At Mo Yongsan’s words, the warriors all bowed deeply.
“Rather, we are grateful. Thank you for allowing us to marry like this.”
“How many foxes seek to enter the Mo Yong Family for our assets, our name, or even the family itself? If such women were to enter, they would inevitably be expelled from the family when hindered, making it impossible to casually associate with women.”
“In that sense, thanks to your carefully considered approach, we were able to take virtuous women as our own. Though they have emotional scars and are ‘orphans’ with nowhere to go, how could a man not be responsible for the woman he chooses to be his wife?”
“…I am truly, truly grateful.”
Mo Yongsan wiped away the tears that welled in his eyes with his sleeve.
Were those tears of emotion for the sense of justice and responsibility that the Mo Yong Family warriors held?
Or was it sadness for leading them into the grave of life known as marriage to uphold the family’s prestige?
“I will spare no effort to support you, just as I promised for your families.”
Mo Yongsan bowed deeply to the warriors.
“On behalf of the head of the family, I offer my thanks… to the heroes who will protect Mo Yong and their families.”
Whoosh.
The wind blew.
“Even if they force us to treat the Sickness of Absolute Meridians and put us in awkward situations, we shall surely overcome.”
* * *
The Saint’s Sanctuary is a place that fundamentally no one can enter.
While there may be some management within the Mo Yong Family, no one can enter without the Sword Saint’s permission.
It is not just a warning left unanswered.
Near the Saint’s Sanctuary lies the last sword of the Sword Saint, the “Seventh Star Sword,” always lying in wait.
In other words, the moment someone attempts to sneak into the Saint’s Sanctuary, the sword will fly and slay that person.
Although unofficial, there have indeed been a few who were killed this way, so the Mo Yong Family has shared this story in the most roundabout way to prevent anyone from getting too close.
Thus, if something is to be secretly carried out, there’s no better place than the Saint’s Sanctuary.
For example, human experimentation, which is difficult to talk about carelessly in the Central Plains.
“I considered it, but I never thought it would actually happen.”
I brought the two corpses I had transported myself in a cart to the back yard of the Saint’s Sanctuary.
No one could enter here, so I had to pull the two bodies loaded in the cart myself to bring them.
“Hmm.”
One had its head severed but, for now, it was reattached.
It was cut so cleanly that as long as the head and body were aligned, it looked perfectly intact.
The other was split in half from the chest down.
Thanks to having bled so much, neither corpse bled further from the cart, but one could easily tell they were lifeless bodies.
After all, they were to be burned away.
Then again, it wouldn’t hurt to check one thing.
‘If there hasn’t been a change of heart, perhaps they’re preparing for any unforeseen circumstances.’
When the Sword Saint first raised that possibility and hinted at it to me, he asked in a slightly resigned tone.
If it is indeed possible to resurrect the dead, that would be beyond mere miracles—
‘What meaning could such miracles have if I can’t even bring back the one I want most?’
The Sword Saint had suggested that if there were someone among the dead he truly wished to revive, it might be one unjustly slain.
“Ha.”
So, at first, he told me not to attempt it, but as time passed, he regained his composure.
Not only himself, but there may also be others who could find themselves in such a situation.
I would stake my life to protect them, but if Mo Yongseol was to be harmed, knowing how to respond would be more comforting than acting blindly.
“…….”
I pulled back the cloth covering Yu Giyeon’s body.
Then, perhaps as a precaution against any unforeseen circumstances, I took a few measures and opened Yu Giyeon’s mouth.
“Haah…”
Can it really happen?
I’m not sure.
The Mo San sect creates zombies from the bodies of the dead, but there are ethical considerations that make it a topic not to be handled lightly.
Above all.
The zombies controlled by the Mo San are just ‘controlled’ corpses, and what I or the Sword Saint are worried about isn’t something of that nature, it’s a ‘miracle’ altogether different.
It could be said that I might be overly conscious.
Yet if such a miracle truly occurred, how should I regard my own body?
‘Could it be that I truly possess some unknown quality?’
Though I don’t clearly recall childhood memories, was I not instead a human experiment raised by some organization?
To counter the Shaolin Temple’s Great Hwan Dan, it could be that I embody the essence of all medicinal herbs in this world, generating the blood not from my heart but rather producing medicine.
Or perhaps the loneliness ingrained in my being leads to some sort of mutation, turning my body into an elixir-quality—an elixir being.
Why is it that when I consume an elixir, my cultivation seems to advance?
Such tales existed.
That consuming the Golden Carps of Sunlight, filled with Yang energy, would cure the Sickness of Absolute Meridians.
‘But those are mere common sense in the Martial World.’
I can assert that what I am about to bring forth is distinctly different from those miracles.
“…Could it really happen?”
I’m not sure.
But I can assert one thing.
If it works, that’s great.
If it doesn’t, then so be it.
Swish.
I drew a dagger and cut my palm.
The red blood dripped down, pooling into Yu Giyeon’s wide-open mouth.
Drop.
Drop.
Drop.
Indeed, miracles—
Zing!
“?!”
Yu Giyeon opened her eyes.