Jewon Baek Family
Questions of what is best, or what is right, are things to consider before the deed is done.
But Goiyi had already acted, and Tang Mujin's only remaining choice was to follow him.
"Should we give her the medicine right away?"
"No. First, let's leave. Moving her somewhere stable comes before anything else."
Carrying the limp Baek Hyang-a on his back, Goiyi slipped out of the main hall and lightly vaulted the wall.
Before following, Tang Mujin cast one last glance at Baek choo-seo, still immersed in cultivation.
His knees trembled with exhaustion, yet he showed no sign of stopping.
Devoted yet horrific, desperate yet vile.
If I were the clan lord, how would I have acted? Tang Mujin thought, leaping over the wall after him.
***
The night air was too chill to proceed outside. With no other choice, Tang Mujin and Goiyi entered an inn room and lit a lamp.
Dan Seol-yeong, who had been asleep in the next room, must have sensed their presence. Rubbing her eyes, she walked into their chamber.
"Where were you in the middle of the night… oh?"
Her expression twisted strangely when she saw Baek Hyang-a slung over Goiyi's back. She couldn't tell if this was dream or reality.
"Isn't that… Lady Baek? Why did you bring her here?"
"I'll explain later."
Goiyi pried open Baek Hyang-a's mouth while Tang Mujin tore the pill into small pieces and placed them inside.
Goiyi massaged her throat skillfully, helping each piece slide down.
He then laid her on the floor and grasped her left hand.
Tang Mujin needed no explanation; he understood Goiyi's intent and held her right hand.
"The medicine's energy must be guided to break open the blocked meridians."
"I know."
Of the twelve meridians connected to the hands, six ran through.
Among them, the Lung, Heart, and Pericardium meridians—collectively the Hand Three Yin Meridians—linked the torso with the hands.
Tang Mujin and Goiyi circulated their inner force, directing the medicine's energy from her stomach to spread through her body.
Had Baek Hyang-a been conscious, her instincts would have done this. But now, they had to move the medicine's energy for her.
They guided the medicine's yang energy to clash against the yin energy clogging her meridians. Each time, her body twitched violently as if struck.
Dan Seol-yeong asked nervously,
"Is she going to be okay?"
"Probably."
How many times did they repeat the process? Finally, one knot of yin energy was broken through.
Cough!
Baek Hyang-a, still unconscious, vomited blood. Dan Seol-yeong quickly turned her head so it wouldn't block her airway.
The blood spreading across the floor was closer to black than red.
With the stench of iron, the long-festered yin energy seeped out in waves. Even Dan Seol-yeong, who knew nothing of martial arts, felt the sudden chill pervading the room.
"Good. Keep going."
Tang Mujin again guided the yang energy.
It could not be done crudely or harshly—if the meridians twisted, the treatment would become worse than useless.
But it couldn't be too slow either. Before the medicine dispersed, they needed to open as many channels as possible and melt the yin energy.
After a long time, quiet footsteps echoed in the silent inn.
Tang Mujin remained focused on circulating qi, but Goiyi let go of Baek Hyang-a's hand and listened toward the door.
The steps drew nearer, then someone knocked.
Goiyi gestured for Tang Mujin to continue and cracked the door open. As expected, Baek choo-seo stood there.
"Physician, forgive me for disturbing you so late."
Unable to contain himself, Baek choo-seo fidgeted. Goiyi wore an uncharacteristically kind smile.
"It's fine. I've never needed much sleep. What brings you here?"
"Have you seen Hyang-a? She disappeared without a word, and I cannot find her anywhere."
Goiyi's mind spun quickly. How had he come so soon? Had Baek choo-seo already pieced everything together?
No—the only ones who knew of her condition were Tang Mujin's group. From his perspective, they were the most suspicious. If his daughter, who had spent years quietly at home, suddenly vanished, coming here first was natural. Just a bit sooner than expected.
Feigning surprise, Goiyi replied,
"Oh my. Perhaps she stepped out for a breath of air?"
"You know as well as I do, Physician, that my daughter's body isn't fit for strolls."
"If Lady Baek doesn't return by morning, I'll help you search. For now, go home and rest."
Baek choo-seo stepped back slightly.
"Very well. But I must ask one more thing."
"What is it?"
"The chill in this room, the smell of medicine, and faint traces of blood—what are they?"
Before Goiyi could answer, Baek choo-seo yanked the door wide.
With a loud crash, Baek Hyang-a's collapsed form was revealed.
His hand went to his sword as he growled,
"Physician. I'll give you a chance to explain yourself."
Goiyi's expression changed completely. There was no need to pretend calmness now.
"The one who owes an explanation isn't me. It's you, who rejected treatment and trained Flame Fist under false pretenses of marriage talks."
Baek choo-seo froze, then let out a deep sigh.
"So it cannot be smoothed over. I had hoped to keep this civil because you were a physician."
A confession in itself.
With a swift draw, Baek choo-seo slashed his blade toward Goiyi's neck—an unmistakable killing strike.
Whatever his lack of talent or the crudeness of his swordsmanship, decades of practice gave Baek choo-seo's sword a heavy weight.
But not enough to take Goiyi's head. With a simple motion, Goiyi drew his own blade and blocked.
Clang!
When the strike was stopped, shock flashed across Baek choo-seo's face.
"You're not a physician? Cunning fiend!"
Eyes blazing, Baek choo-seo thrust again.
Annoyed at being interrupted mid-treatment, Goiyi slashed back, irritation clear on his face. But the circumstances weren't favorable for a decisive end.
The crowded inn room left little space for techniques, and Baek choo-seo's level was enough to block hasty attacks.
Troublesome.
Goiyi tossed aside his sword and fought barehanded.
His hands shot at Baek choo-seo's wrist and face. After only a few exchanges, Baek choo-seo realized Goiyi was the superior fighter.
"Ugh!"
As he groaned, Goiyi said coldly,
"Stand down. If you don't interfere, I'll keep this matter quiet."
"You'll keep it quiet?"
"Yes. Surely you don't want this spread across all Jianghu. Let's settle this peacefully."
Of course, it was a lie. Goiyi wasn't the type to forgive someone who had shown killing intent.
If Baek choo-seo calmed down, Goiyi could finish the treatment leisurely and then decide whether to kill him or spare him.
But Baek choo-seo refused to yield. Perhaps he was too rattled to think clearly.
"I despise people like you most—who strut about as if superior just because they're born with talent, who pretend to be generous while lording it over others."
"You're mistaken. I'm not a great man. If anything, I'm below average. The real problem is you, crawling in the dirt, who dares covet your daughter's body just to climb one more step in martial arts."
Goiyi's sneering words made Baek choo-seo's eyes waver.
Baek choo-seo knew full well it was wrong. But he blinded himself with the excuse that it was all for the sake of the clan.
To protect that flimsy excuse, he devoted himself to training, even avoiding his daughter these past few days.
Yet Goiyi's sharp tongue laid bare his true thoughts.
Guilt, shame, inferiority, self-loathing, anger—his mind was a mire of all these emotions.
Before he knew it, Baek choo-seo shouted:
"I just want to be acknowledged, for once! Even if I can't raise the clan, at least to stop it from collapsing so quickly. Is that such excessive desire?"
"Fool. A dream isn't excessive only when it's grand. If your ability is meager, even an ordinary dream can be excessive."
That was the fatal blow. Though he had always felt inadequate, no one had ever said such words to his face. Goiyi was the first.
Baek choo-seo's vision went white with rage.
"You damned cur!"
He swung his sword madly, not caring if it scraped the inn walls or hacked through the door. He looked half-mad.
The innkeeper, who had stepped out wondering about the commotion, froze in terror at the sight of the sword fight and quickly hid back in his room.
Baek choo-seo's frenzied sword carried heavy power, but the movements grew sloppy and full of waste.
Seizing the opening, Goiyi shoved aside his arm to disrupt the strike and jabbed the Jikcheon acupoint in his armpit. Strength drained from Baek choo-seo's arm.
Goiyi reached again, striking his fainting point, and aimed both thumbs at the hollow behind his ear—the Cheongeuk point, a fatal acupoint.
But just then, Tang Mujin's hand darted in and pushed Goiyi's aside.
Surprise flickered in Goiyi's eyes. This brat's skill has grown this much?
"What are you doing?"
"There's no need to kill him."
Goiyi's technique hadn't been flawless, but the important thing was that Tang Mujin had successfully stopped it. Just months ago, that would have been unthinkable.
A strange satisfaction welled up in Goiyi.
"How many times have I told you? Anyone who bears a grudge must die."
"I know. But if you kill Baek choo-seo, what will happen to Lady Baek?"
Tang Mujin had pointed out what Goiyi hadn't considered.
Killing Baek choo-seo would only earn Baek Hyang-a's hatred as well. And what then?
Of course, Goiyi had no intent to kill Baek Hyang-a. For one reason: she was a patient, and patients must be treated.
"I'll just take her along, treat her, and once she's cured—kill her then."
"Elder, don't twist things. You didn't set standards just to break them."
"Baek choo-seo already swung his sword at me. If I don't kill him here, who knows what he'll do?"
"It was for the clan's sake. Besides, once her meridians are healed, Lady Baek will possess remarkable talent. If she revives the Jewon Baek Family, won't the clan lord repent his mistakes?"
The peculiar yin energy of Severed Meridian Syndrome, and the yang energy from the medicine—
Though still insufficient, the two forces were beginning to balance, accumulating inner strength in her body.
How much inner force would she have once the yang fully balanced the yin?
Inner force wasn't everything in martial arts. But abundant inner force undeniably meant rapid progress.
Even with average talent, Baek Hyang-a would surpass Baek choo-seo in a few years. To Goiyi's eye, she even had a fair chance of breaking through the wall of the peak realm.
Goiyi looked at Tang Mujin, who met his gaze steadily, certain his judgment was right.
Yes, his reasoning sounded plausible enough.
But Goiyi had seen too much of the world's filth. He knew things never unfolded so ideally.
Soft. Too soft.
Tang Mujin possessed much, but his nature was too gentle.
Well, what else could be expected? A countryside physician who once only treated villagers—how could he bear a ruthless heart?
No martial artist is born without blood or tears.
So it had been for novices in Jianghu, and so it had been for young Goiyi.
But likewise, no martial artist stays soft forever.
In time, he will change.
For the first time in ages, Goiyi yielded.
Clicking his tongue, he stepped back from Baek choo-seo.
Was it a whim for his first disciple? Or a whim born of the fact he hadn't much life left?
Tang Mujin's eyes widened.
"You'll spare him?"
"What, should I kill him after all?"
"No, of course not. You made the right choice."
Tang Mujin smiled brightly, satisfied, and resumed treating Baek Hyang-a.
Goiyi quietly watched him.
He knew that even a half-formed master would, in time, make his half-formed disciple into a ruthless martial artist.
Yet at the same time, he hoped the process wouldn't be too painful.