Chapter 202

Namgung Hwi met Seoryak’s eyes and blinked.

“Pardon?”

“If you came to see the Poison King, come back in four hours. That old monster is busy.”

“You said the same thing yesterday, Divine Physician, but then you closed the Life Gate.”

Seoryak shrugged at his polite reply.

“That wasn’t me. The Poison King did it because he was in a foul mood. Still, if you’ve managed to keep breaking through a formation that old monster personally modified, I suppose your head is good for something.”

“You flatter me.”

“I said it was good for something. I never said you were clever. You’re quite talented at gilding your own face.”

Namgung Hwi merely smiled at the sarcasm.

He had seen Seoryak often enough by now to know that this was simply how she spoke.

Old masters tended to possess a colorful assortment of foul tempers. Seoryak was hardly exceptional.

Seoryak regarded the utterly unruffled Namgung Hwi with mild curiosity before shrugging again.

“You’re different from what I heard. I was told you were insufferably arrogant.”

“It’s an honor that stories about me have reached even your ears.”

“They weren’t flattering stories. I heard some impudent brat kept trailing after my little sister and getting on her nerves. The Poison King doesn’t seem fond of you either. What did you do to make the Tangs dislike you?”

“Oh dear. You’re making me want to strangle ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) my younger self.”

Namgung Hwi jokingly raised both hands to his own throat.

Seoryak snorted and beckoned him over.

“Someone who was born yesterday talking about his younger days. Come inside. You need to settle matters with that old monster today, don’t you?”

“Thank you, Divine Physician.”

Joy spread across Namgung Hwi’s face at the long-awaited permission.

He bowed deeply to Seoryak and crossed the threshold of the safe house.

Seoryak quietly looked him over as he approached.

Seventeen, was it?

A child not even twenty had given away nearly everything he possessed, yet showed not the slightest regret.

He had nearly brought his own life as a martial artist to an end along with it, and still stood there perfectly calm. Seoryak could only wonder what went on inside his head.

Then again, what could possibly be going on in there?

His mind was surely so full of one thing that there was no room left for anything else.

Only fools driven mad by love have eyes like that.

Seoryak smacked her lips and folded her arms.

The boy had nerve, if nothing else. He kept coming back to a place where no one welcomed him.

And standing before people like her and the Poison King, he not only refused to shrink back but even had the gall to joke around.

His courage was anything but ordinary.

As a martial artist, he was the sort of talent whose future one could look forward to.

Which only made him more troublesome.

What would happen if affection great enough to make him throw away his own life was never returned?

If he eventually dismissed it as the foolish passion of youth, all would be well.

But if he did not...

Now I understand why the old man calls him a nuisance.

If Seoryak were in Tang Jung’s position, she would not welcome the presence of a boy who might ultimately prove either a blessing or a curse to his disciple.

Better to repay him properly and send him away before there was any chance for resentment to fester later.

Having more or less reached her conclusion, Seoryak spoke.

“Why not squeeze a Myriad Poisons Pill out of the Poison King?”

“That won’t be necessary. I didn’t do it expecting compensation.”

“I wonder. That old monster probably wants to settle the matter with a Myriad Poisons Pill. The martial world is the kind of place where you never know what shape an unpaid debt of gratitude will take when it comes back around.”

Seoryak tipped her chin toward him.

“Your hand.”

“Pardon?”

“Give me your hand. I need to examine you.”

Namgung Hwi’s eyes widened.

The greatest physician in the Central Plains was said to be difficult to meet even for a thousand pieces of gold. There was no possibility that Seoryak would examine someone for free.

He could not guess what motive lay behind the offer.

When he hesitated, Seoryak snorted and waved impatiently.

“Stop working that head of yours and give me your hand. I’m only checking your condition in the Poison King’s place.”

Only then did Namgung Hwi nod, roll up his sleeve, and extend his hand.

Pretending indifference, Seoryak checked his pulse and was privately impressed to find his condition far better than she had expected.

Despite everything he had gone through and despite losing most of his inner force, his energy channels had not narrowed.

That meant he had already adjusted his circulation so that even a small amount of inner force produced nearly the same efficiency as before.

The boy before her clearly possessed an innate gift for manipulating inner force.

“Hmm...”

Her interest piqued, Seoryak began feeling along Namgung Hwi’s arms and legs.

“Divine Physician?”

“Hold still.”

When Namgung Hwi twitched in confusion, Seoryak seized the back of his neck and held him in place as if subduing an animal.

A glint entered her eyes.

His physical foundation was superb enough to stir a physician’s curiosity.

Among all the martial artists Seoryak had examined over the course of her life, she could count on one hand the bodies this close to perfection.

His body harmonizes every kind of energy so naturally... Tempting. Is this a Heavenly Martial Physique?

So absorbed had Seoryak become in kneading and examining his muscles that she nearly forgot her original purpose.

Then she sensed someone approaching and looked up.

“Seoryak. What are you doing?”

“Come look at this. This boy’s physical foundation is—”

Seoryak answered with unconscious excitement, then abruptly fell silent.

Tang Jung’s dark blue eyes had gone cold.

The look in them plainly asked why she had allowed Namgung Hwi into the safe house.

Seoryak narrowed her eyes.

“What a temper. Haven’t you sulked long enough? Do you know how long this boy has been waiting? Settle your debts properly.”

“This has nothing to do with you, Seoryak.”

“What? You begged and pleaded with me for help, and now suddenly it has nothing to do with me? Have you gone addled?”

“Seoryak. That isn’t what I meant...”

“Enough. I’ll watch your disciple, so go settle the debt you owe the boy. I’m tired of sending him away in your place.”

Seoryak snapped coldly, muttered a curse, and turned her back on him.

“She’s sulking again. What a troublesome old monster.”

Tang Jung rubbed his forehead, looking thoroughly weary.

Namgung Hwi, who had been watching the exchange, quickly bowed.

“This humble junior of the martial world, Namgung Hwi—”

“Enough with the formalities.”

Tang Jung waved him silent, then asked sharply,

“I told you I would contact you myself. Why do you keep coming back?”

Namgung Hwi did not flinch beneath the wary stare.

He smiled.

“I was simply worried about Sohae, sir.”

Tang Jung’s eyes immediately sharpened.

“You. I don’t recall the two of you being close enough for you to toss our girl’s name around so casually. Did she even give you permission to call her that?”

“...Ah.”

Faced with the old master’s blatant displeasure, Namgung Hwi hurriedly corrected himself.

“My apologies. Has Miss Tang shown any improvement?”

“She’s much better.”

Tang Jung answered curtly, then sighed as he looked at Namgung Hwi.

The boy himself did not look particularly healthy either.

“And how are you?”

“I’m perfectly fine, sir.”

“You poured out your inner force like a madman. Of course you’re not fine. Had I arrived even a little later, you would have been wandering the road to the afterlife yourself.”

Tang Jung’s lips twitched as though he had just heard something absurd.

Then his entire face twisted, and he jabbed a finger at Namgung Hwi.

“You—! Where under heaven is there another lunatic who would pour sixty years’ worth of inner force into a martial artist from another clan? Reckless fool! If you had ended up crippled, the Namgung Clan would have drawn its swords against the Tang Clan. Are you trying to make me fight a bloody war with the Namgungs at my age?”

“We both survived. What problem is there?”

At Namgung Hwi’s perfectly calm reply, Tang Jung’s face flushed red, then blue.

“What did you say? You irresponsible brat! Judging by the way you behave, you must give your father endless headaches! And you call yourself the young clan head of a great family, with that kind of—!”

His voice rose before he abruptly covered his face with one hand.

The moment Tang Yeongho came to mind, he realized he was behaving like a filthy dog mocking another for a little dust.

Tang Jung shot Namgung Hwi a look mixed equally with irritation and envy.

The boy was certainly insolent, but Tang Jung could understand the source of his confidence.

His physical foundation was impressive enough to interest the Ghost-Hand Divine Physician. His mind seemed quick, and his comprehension was clearly extraordinary.

In the short life he had lived so far, he had probably achieved everything he wanted without suffering a single real failure.

Naturally, he would trust his own ability enough to throw himself into danger.

“Ugh...”

Recognizing the glaring difference between the heirs of two great clans, Tang Jung groaned.

At least someone else’s child had something to rely on.

His own had nothing at all.

He sighed, rubbing at his throbbing head.

He had already scolded Namgung Hwi thoroughly for his madness, but if the boy had not risked his life by pouring that inner force into Sohae, Tang Jung would have found only a cold corpse to cradle in his arms.

The boy had saved her life.

It was only right to treat him as her benefactor.

Seoryak was correct.

This debt had to be settled properly.

...But was this really a debt that could be repaid with material things?

How was he supposed to answer affection so immense that the boy had staked his very life as a martial artist on it?

Tang Jung silently pressed at the corners of his eyes for a moment, then pulled a small wooden box from his sleeve and tossed it over.

Namgung Hwi caught it reflexively and looked at him.

Tang Jung jerked his chin, telling him to open it.

Namgung Hwi slowly lifted the lid.

Confusion entered his eyes.

Inside lay a legendary precious medicine said to rival Shaolin’s Great Return Pill.

A Myriad Poisons Pill.

“The price of our girl’s life.”

“Sir, I didn’t act in hopes of being repaid. I only—”

“Don’t talk back while an elder is speaking.”

Tang Jung barked the words, then softened his voice.

“How am I supposed to face Sang with you looking like that? Instead of wasting time coming here, take care of your own body.”

There was genuine concern beneath the rebuke.

Namgung Hwi bowed respectfully.

“Yes, sir. I’ll accept it gratefully.”

“Then go. This old man is tired.”

Despite the blunt dismissal, Namgung Hwi did not move.

He remained where he was and quietly looked at Tang Jung.

“Sir... Could you let me see Sohae—no, Miss Tang—even once?”