Chapter 95 : Chapter 95
Chapter 95 : Granddaughter
As soon as we arrived in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, the entire party booked an inn and fell fast asleep.
Although it was called training in the Training Cave, it was to relieve the fatigue of intense tension which hadn't been relieved at all while traveling to Yunnan.
While the party was relieving their fatigue at the inn like that.
“Finally... it is Yunnan.”
It took too long to come from the Ice Palace to Yunnan.
Glance, glance.
The Divine Physician, who was scanning the surroundings, started to move.
Although he told the party that his granddaughter was in Namman.
Since much time had passed, the Divine Physician also didn't know where or how she had moved.
So, he had previously told his disciple about the safe house in Yunnan Province.
Because if the Divine Physician's disciple had safely escaped with his granddaughter, there was a high possibility they were hiding in the safe house in Yunnan.
Rattle.
As soon as he opened the door and entered,
Whoosh!
Someone extended a sword.
“It is me.”
At the Divine Physician's single word, blocking the sword with his finger.
“Master!”
The man made an emotional expression.
“You, you really came back!”
“Did you think I would leave my granddaughter and disciple here and not come back?”
“N, No!”
“Where is Sang-ah?”
“She is over there!”
Seong I-han's steps quickened.
“Sang-ah!”
“Grand... father.”
Her weary complexion remained the same.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes... I am okay, to be able to meet my grandfather again... I am so happy.......”
Seong I-han held his granddaughter's hand at the sight of her speaking as if she would die any moment.
“You must not... lose hope yet.”
“But Master... without spiritual medicine, Junior Sister is.......”
“Jeong-cheon-a. So I brought reinforcements comparable to the Poison Palace of the Southern Barbarians.”
“Yes? Who is it? Is it someone from the Murim Alliance? Or perhaps from the Sichuan Tang Clan.......”
The Divine Physician's disciple, Gu Jeong-cheon, looked cheerful at Seong I-han's words.
“It is neither.”
“If not, then from where on earth.......”
“It is the Ice Palace.”
“Yes?”
Gu Jeong-cheon was surprised to hear that someone came to help the Divine Physician's granddaughter from a place almost on the opposite side of Namman.
“Where are they?”
“First, stay here for now. I will go and bring the reinforcements now.......”
“Master.......”
“Why?”
“I am really, really sorry.”
Just as he was about to ask what he was so sorry about.
Thwip-
Seong I-han realized that a fine needle was stuck in his neck before he knew it.
“Je, Jeong-cheon-a.......”
“Thinking when the Master would return... how could I wait for my Master....... Besides, I felt I couldn't live taking care of Sang-ah who might die any moment.”
“So I told Master's hiding place to those targeting Master and waited for your return. Since the Master would absolutely never abandon his granddaughter....... I am sorry.”
“G, Grandfather.”
Seong Sang-ah, who was lying on the bed, tried to raise her hand seeing that, but she had no strength.
“G, Grandfather.......”
She wanted to shout for someone, anyone, to help, but.
Her voice didn't come out anymore either.
“Soon... the experts of the Poison Palace will come to take Master. Then meanwhile... Thank you. Sang-ah... I am sorry!”
As if it couldn't be helped, Gu Jeong-cheon tried to run out of the safe house leaving the collapsing Divine Physician and the sick Seong Sang-ah behind.
“And even after doing that... Can you go around calling yourself a physician who saves people?”
If I hadn't appeared, that is.
***
At the time when everyone was asleep.
I felt the Divine Physician moving quietly and secretly came out of the inn to tail him.
Originally, I wouldn't have tailed him like this.
But now that Namman is really not far away, moving alone in Yunnan was too suspicious.
And.
Stab- Stab- Stab-
I heard through Seol Ye-rin that while I was paying attention to Mu-myeong in Guizhou, the Divine Physician had killed all the poison men from the Poison Palace of the Southern Barbarians.
To that extent, it seemed the Divine Physician had a deep grudge against the Poison Palace.
In such a situation, would the Divine Physician really have left his granddaughter in Namman?
I thought absolutely not.
Even if he entrusted her to his disciple, I could predict that he came to the Ice Palace after bringing his granddaughter to a place where he could be at ease.
So I tailed him and what do you know?
“To think there was a safe house.”
However, if such a safe house existed, he could have brought our party here immediately.
Why didn't the Divine Physician come straight here?
Because he didn't trust us?
For that, I asked our capable Elders.
‘Elder Sword Venerable, Elder Demon Queen.’
-Keulkeul, somehow I feel like you are using us often these days?
-Indeed, Disciple.
‘Please do me a favor!’
-Keulkeul, alright, understood.
The Sword Venerable and the Demon Queen, who infiltrated the safe house, had directly watched everything from the relationship between the Divine Physician, his disciple, and his granddaughter, to the sight of the disciple trying to sell out the granddaughter and the Divine Physician and run away.
The Demon Queen relayed the situation inside the safe house to me in real-time.
Thanks to that.
“And even after doing that... Can you go around calling yourself a physician who saves people?”
I was able to stop the Divine Physician's disciple, Gu Jeong-cheon, from running away.
“Y... You are.......”
“You won't be able to pull tricks on me too.”
First of all, the difference in martial prowess is too great.
Vwooom-
“Keuheup.”
I could make Gu Jeong-cheon kneel just by raising my energy.
“You know well what you just did, right?”
“Of course I know... but I had no choice either!”
No choice indeed.
It was all self-rationalization.
“You have no qualification to be a physician.”
I stomped on Gu Jeong-cheon's hand which was touching the floor while kneeling.
“Argh!”
“I will make it so you can never... use those dirty hands again.”
Through my past life's experience, I knew too well how great a pain it is to take away a physician's hands.
“Aaaargh!”
After trampling and crushing both his hands, I sealed Gu Jeong-cheon's acupoints and quickly entered the safe house.
I could have killed him, but I didn't.
The ones who can punish Gu Jeong-cheon are the Divine Physician and his granddaughter, not me.
“Elder, Elder!”
“...Only his numbness acupoint was sealed, Young Master.”
“Ah, that's a relief.”
“More than that, please quickly take my granddaughter and leave. Soon the experts of the Poison Palace will barge in. If my granddaughter is handed over to them.......”
The Divine Physician was babbling as if he had fallen into panic.
“Elder, please calm down. Have you forgotten who I am?”
Only then did the Divine Physician start to calm down.
“Wh, Who.......”
“Nice to meet you, granddaughter of the Divine Physician. I am called Hyeokryeon Yeom.”
“Gu... Jeong-cheon is.......”
“I crushed his hands but he is still alive so don't worry too much.”
More than that, I quickly grabbed the wrist of the Divine Physician's granddaughter and checked her pulse.
“Excuse me.”
I checked how much the poison had spread through her energy meridians.
‘Hmm?’
She was poisoned.
But the poison was not spreading to the fine veins of her whole body.
“Did you take measures, Divine Physician?”
“Yes, that was my limit.”
Instead of stopping the poison from spreading, it seemed the Divine Physician drove all the poison into his granddaughter's qi center and sealed it.
Energy needs to circulate through blood vessels via the qi center, but since he blocked those blood vessels, it was natural that a person couldn't move properly.
“I am sorry. I did it to somehow reduce the possibility of the safe house being exposed.”
“I see.”
I understand.
He tried to minimize the situations where his granddaughter could be in danger.
“Still, I am a little disappointed. Were we that untrustworthy to you?”
“It wasn't... like that. I am sorry.”
“Yes. I will receive your apology after cleaning up the uninvited guests first.”
“Uninvited guests?”
The poison men of the Poison Palace were gathering at the safe house one by one.
***
“Damn it. They say an incident occurred in Guizhou, so what are we doing in Yunnan.”
“Why? Since the Divine Physician's disciple betrayed him, we just need to catch the Divine Physician and that granddaughter now, what's the problem?”
“Hey, who do you think is higher, the Divine Physician or the Poison Venerable?”
The poison men of the Poison Palace, Jang Cheol and Tae Jin-ak, entered the Divine Physician's safe house prepared in Yunnan while grumbling.
“What the?”
As soon as they entered, the two discovered Gu Jeong-cheon who had fainted in the yard with his hands turned to dust.
“What happened?”
“Damn it!”
Thinking that if the Divine Physician and his granddaughter disappeared from here, they would have to take all the blame, the two hurriedly tried to run into the room.
“Careless too.”
Thwack-
“Gasp!”
A fine needle embedded itself into the poison man, Jang Cheol's fatal acupoint.
At the sight of his colleague collapsing, dying instantly, Tae Jin-ak shouted.
“Cheol-a! Quick poison.......!”
“Hands are slow too.”
Ten Thousand Heavens Poison Hand.
Before Tae Jin-ak could release poison, my black-dyed hand moved faster.
Crunch-
“Aaaargh!”
After twisting and breaking both of Tae Jin-ak's hands, I put my foot on Tae Jin-ak's qi center with a cold expression.
“Those who use poison must all die.”
Crack-
“Cough!”
As Tae Jin-ak's qi center shattered, the poison art gathered in the qi center was released and poison spread to the fine veins of his whole body.
His whole body dyed purple, Tae Jin-ak went limp.
“Just two?”
How lightly did they take the Divine Physician.
And how much more of a piece of trash is Gu Jeong-cheon who sold out his master and the one he loved to guys like these.
“The number of uninvited guests was on the small side. Let's go.”
“...Thank you.”
I moved to go out of the safe house carrying the Divine Physician's granddaughter, Seong Sang-ah, on my back.
Seong Sang-ah and Seong I-han, who came outside, were surprised.
Because they discovered three corpses—no, two corpses and one who was alive but became not living.
“I broke his hands. Since I thought killing him wasn't my role. What will you do?”
“...I want to make him regret it for the rest of his life.”
Seong Sang-ah, who was carried on my back, muttered.
“...I have no intention of killing him either. Let him live regretting becoming a body that cannot perform medical arts.”
“Yes, I fully understood both of your intentions.”
Carrying Seong Sang-ah, I approached Gu Jeong-cheon just like that.
“Hm?”
Crunch, crunch-
“Groan-”
“To live regretting for the rest of his life, I thought just two hands were insufficient. So I broke both his legs too. Let's go now.”
At my answer,
“Th, Thank you.”
Seong Sang-ah reacted.
“You're welcome.”
Like that, I returned to the inn where the party was staying with the Divine Physician and his granddaughter.
“Husband, that woman is.......”
“I brought the Divine Physician's granddaughter....... Is there perhaps a problem?”
As soon as I returned, I had to endure Seol Ye-rin's stinging gaze.