-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Black Peony
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Huh...?"
I couldn't exactly see what the strange physician had done. I just figured he must have swung his sword since his shoulder moved.
But the result was clear. The knife-wielder's head was rolling across the ground, and blood was spurting from the headless body.
This was the first time I'd witnessed the skill of a top-tier martial artist.
There was no reason for a Qingcheng Sect warrior to show off in front of the Dang Clinic, and no warrior from another sect would come all the way into Qingcheng territory to cause trouble.
The strange physician's movements were incredibly fast. Far beyond what an ordinary person or even a middling martial artist could manage.
"What's wrong? Do I look different now?"
Dang Mujin answered in a slight daze.
"A bit unexpected... No, more importantly, how did you know to come here?"
"When you didn't return even after the treatment was done, I asked Wi Rip, and he said you'd gone toward the stream. You didn't seem to have gone downstream, so I traced my way back up."
"Oh."
Dang Mujin blankly looked around before gazing at the fallen Ma Jeon-gae.
His heart suddenly sank.
Dang Mujin rushed to Ma Jeon-gae's side and tore open his upper garments. There were eight axe wounds. He'd endured eight agonies while embracing the enemy.
"..."
The bleeding had been so severe that no blood came out anymore.
Still, hoping against hope, Dang Mujin held a finger in front of Ma Jeon-gae's nose. No breath, no pulse.
Maybe the strange physician could do something. Dang Mujin looked at him and shouted.
"Sir! Do something!"
"He's already dead. Even the Great Immortal of the Eastern Florescence couldn't save him."
Instead of treating Ma Jeon-gae, the strange physician carefully flipped his body over.
Ma Jeon-gae's wide-open eyes stared up. The strange physician brushed the dirt from his face and gently closed his eyes with calm hands.
No matter how renowned a physician one might be, that was all they could do for someone whose time had passed.
The strange physician stood and raised his sword. He pointed the tip at Yeom Physician.
"I have a question. What's this guy's deal? Is he part of the crew that made the corpse pit?"
Dang Mujin replied, his voice filled with rage.
"Crew? No. He's the ringleader. The mastermind behind all of this."
"The mastermind, huh."
Yeom Physician sensed the dire atmosphere and immediately turned to flee.
But an ordinary person couldn't outrun an absolute peak expert.
The strange physician skimmed over the grass like a shadow and seized Yeom Physician. It took only a few breaths.
The strange physician roughly threw Yeom Physician down.
Thud—
"Oof!"
Dang Mujin rushed to Yeom Physician and kicked him hard in the side.
"You filthy bastard! A physician spreading pestilence just to rob the villagers blind?"
"Urk!"
The strange physician, watching from the side, shook his head.
"No. That was probably just part of what this guy was after. He had a real target."
"A real target?"
As Dang Mujin asked, Yeom Physician staggered to his feet.
His eyes burned with the will to live.
"Heh, it seems you know your stuff, elder. How about a deal with me?"
"A deal?"
"Spare my life, and I'll give you an incredible spiritual herb. Something far more valuable than the paltry wealth of these mountain villagers. Have you heard of Black Peony?"
"Black Peony!"
Dang Mujin was a physician. He knew as much about spiritual herbs as any martial artist.
Black Peony was a spiritual herb brimming with powerful yin energy.
True to its name, it had remarkable effects for building inner power, but compared to top-tier elixirs like Millennium Snow Ginseng or Great Return Pill, it was considered a step below. And it rarely appeared in the world.
Yet Black Peony was as famous as the finest spiritual herbs. Many legendary heroes were known to have claimed it.
Black Peony bloomed amid chaos.
It sprouted among corpses after the Orthodox-Demonic Great War, or grew small in a forgotten corner of a battlefield after a massive conflict.
And as if it were only natural, Black Peony ended up in the hands of the heroes who dominated those turbulent times.
That was why it was nicknamed the Hero's Flower. Not that it made heroes, but heroes claimed it.
"You have Black Peony?"
Seeing Dang Mujin's interest, Yeom Physician pointed beside the corpse pit.
"Yes. Right there."
A flower with dozens of petals layered in a circle.
Unlike the red or white peonies, its petals were blacker than the night sky.
'Is that idiot serious?'
Even if Dang Mujin took the Black Peony right now, Yeom Physician was in no position to stop him. Dang Mujin strode toward it.
But it wasn't Yeom Physician who stopped him—it was the strange physician.
"Halt."
"Who said I was going to eat it? I'm just going to pick it so this guy can't mess with it."
"No. Black Peony kills anyone unprepared who touches it."
"Kills them?"
"Yes. Black Peony grows by feeding on hundreds, thousands of deaths. That's probably why this guy gathered the corpses—not to kill villagers, but to cultivate the Black Peony."
"No way..."
"The deathly qi it harbors is beyond what an ordinary person can handle. Touch it rashly, and you'll be swept away and die."
Yeom Physician smirked.
"You know your stuff. As you said, there are procedures to safely harvest Black Peony. I know how to gather and process it, so why not work together?"
The strange physician crossed his arms and stared at Yeom Physician before giving a curt reply.
"No."
He stepped toward the Black Peony.
Excitement flickered across Yeom Physician's face. He still held his trump card. Even if they took the Black Peony and died, he could survive, and if they accepted the deal, he'd avoid the worst.
'Just drop dead!'
But against Yeom Physician's hopes, the strange physician effortlessly uprooted the Black Peony. He shook the dirt from its roots with his usual impassive expression.
Yeom Physician cried out.
"Impossible! Just touching Black Peony with bare hands kills you!"
"Not ordinary people."
"Even martial artists! I've confirmed it!"
"Ordinary martial artists, maybe. But I'm different. Do you know my nickname?"
The strange physician approached Yeom Physician, hand on his sword hilt. A sinister smile played on his lips.
"I'm Yi Chung, the Strange Physician. My knowledge of medicine and spiritual herbs is no shallower than yours."
Yeom Physician froze stiff. The face of a man who'd lost his last bargaining chip and sensed his doom.
In the next instant, the strange physician's shoulder blurred.
One stroke. This time, Dang Mujin saw the movement.
A perfectly clean strike. No excess motion, no hesitation.
Yeom Physician's head flew into the sky, blood gushing forth.
For a man who'd sacrificed a village for wealth and glory, it was a pitifully pathetic end.
The strange physician wiped the blood from his blade on Yeom Physician's clothes, then sat cross-legged beside the corpse pit.
The Black Peony rested on his knee, cradled in his folded hands.
"...What are you doing?"
"I'm going to absorb the corpse qi and the Black Peony's poison qi. It's dangerous to get close, so stay back."
The strange physician half-closed his eyes and sank into qi circulation.
Any other warrior wouldn't circulate qi with an outsider like Hong Geolgae nearby, but the strange physician was the exception.
Poison qi from the corpse pit and the Black Peony's black poison qi swirled around him.
Thick enough that an ordinary person would risk their life just approaching.
'Vicious poison qi.'
After a long session of circulation, the strange physician rose.
The corpses in the pit had withered dry, and the stench had faded.
The most dramatic change was in the Black Peony itself. It had shed its inky black hue and turned a pale gray.
"Take it."
The strange physician tossed the Black Peony to Dang Mujin. He caught it reflexively and panicked, but nothing happened.
"It won't kill you. I absorbed the poison qi, remember?"
"Then I can just toss it, right?"
"Fool. That's how Black Peony is when others absorb it. All the poison qi extracted, leaving only its pure spiritual qi."
Dang Mujin stared at the strange physician in confusion.
"Why give it to me?"
"Obviously to eat."
"...Isn't this valuable?"
"Of course it is. Something you couldn't buy even a single petal of in a lifetime as a physician."
Greed stirred. Dang Mujin asked in a quieter voice.
"Then why...?"
"You found that physician and the Black Peony. And absorbing the poison qi is enough for me."
"...Even with the poison qi gone, won't it kill me? I heard spiritual herbs can be dangerous if eaten carelessly."
"That might be true for others. But processed Black Peony is fine. It won't explode your inner power like some elixirs, but it'll help you steadily, without side effects. Slowly, over time."
Dang Mujin gazed at the pale Black Peony.
Thoughts flooded his mind.
The self-justifications he'd repeated while fleeing down the mountain, abandoning Ma Jeon-gae and Hong Geolgae.
The fear that kept him from stepping forward rashly while watching the two martial artists in peril, fumbling instead.
But the stone he'd hurled, as if possessed, for the sake of Ma Jeon-gae in danger.
Did someone who'd fled deserve such a priceless spiritual herb just for that one stone?
Dang Mujin hesitated, then returned the Black Peony to the strange physician.
"I don't think it's for me."
"Why?"
"I don't deserve it. I ran away in fear—how can I take something like this?"
"You were here, weren't you?"
"I ran and came back. All I did was hide behind a tree, shaking, and throw one stone."
At Dang Mujin's words, the strange physician flashed his usual mischievous smile.
But it hid unmistakable pride.
"That's enough."
"Huh?"
"It's harder to return after fleeing than to never run at all. That requires facing your duty and owning your mistakes."
"...But if it happens again, I'd probably run."
"So what's the problem?"
"..."
"If you still don't get it, ask Hong Geolgae yourself if you deserve it."
Dang Mujin looked up at Hong Geolgae.
He was crouched beside his master's body but met Dang Mujin's gaze and nodded.
Not a trace of resentment in his eyes.
The strange physician placed a hand on Dang Mujin's shoulder.
"Run again. And come back. In the final moment, don't turn from your duty. That's enough."
Dang Mujin nodded and swallowed the Black Peony.