I Spent One Night with the Terminally Ill Daughter of the World’s Greatest Warrior

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Miracle.

It’s called a ‘miracle’ when something that shouldn’t happen actually occurs, but there are always limits to it.

When humans reach areas beyond their power, people usually refer to it as a miracle.

Behold, the realm of the gods.

When certain sages polish their skills in hopes of becoming ‘immortals,’ or when monks from the Shaolin Temple or the female disciples of Amitabha wish for a ‘Buddha’ to dwell in them, or when the sun god worshipped by the Southern barbarians is involved, that too can be considered divine.

We can aptly refer to entities such as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors or the Queen Mother of the West, known to be up in the sky, as gods.

For instance, just by feeding a peach, Dongbangsac gained a life span of three thousand years.

Such occurrences are extremely natural and easy in the realm of gods, yet impossible in the human realm. This leads humans to revere and glorify them as gods.

And yet.

What is this?

“Huh.”

The dead opened their eyes wide.

It’s not that a spirit simply inhabited the dead body, causing the eyes to open.

Crack, crack.

A bizarre sound was made, accompanied by something being put together.

Clack, squeeze, smack.

Flesh that didn’t seem to fit, now fitting together due to some strange energy.

Creeeak.

It was hard to express, but something that had been stiff was slowly loosening and trying to move—

“Whoa.”

It falters.

“I was worried, but thankfully, I took precautions beforehand.”

“Uh, indeed.”

On the opposite side, Mo Yongseol, who had already drawn her sword, was startled, but she pointed down with a look in her eyes that hoped for something from me while infusing her sword with energy.

“Shall we cut again?”

“For now, it seems she’s able to hear us.”

“Um…”

“It’s not merely because her neck was severed that she can’t talk… it seems she can’t speak because there’s blood clotting in her arteries.”

I pointed to the long needles embedded throughout Yu Giyeon’s body.

Before pouring my blood into her mouth, I made a prior preparation in case of an unexpected situation—this was a measure for [Yu Giyeon’s resurrection].

So that she wouldn’t spring up like a zombie and attack the practitioner.

Just as I was worried, a miracle truly happened.

Perhaps it’s a miracle Yu Giyeon wished for.

“Hah…”

Momentarily, a deep fatigue washed over me.

‘This is maddening.’

I can treat the sickness of absolute meridians.

I can perform the reversal of aging at the age of twenty.

…But something completely different from that miraculous [miracle] had popped up.

Is this possible with any corpse?

If I sprinkle blood on a skeletal remains, will new flesh grow?

Or is it only possible with bodies that haven’t been dead for too long?

If there exists a soul, then is the Yu Giyeon who’s now rolling her eyes trying to assess the situation the same Yu Giyeon who died?

“Yu Giyeon, my lady.”

Yu Giyeon looked at me in response to my question.

Seeing her respond properly, it’s clear she’s a being with intellect.

“You are dead.”

A zombie merely reacts to sound without sending such intense gazes.

“To bring the dead back to life is a violation of human ethics. Therefore, I will kill you again.”

I pulled out a long needle from my pocket.

“Physician.”

“Mo Yong, let me handle this.”

Mo Yongseol cast a glance at me, but I continued to lower my hand holding the needle.

“Yu Giyeon, with your foolish head making reckless judgments and interpolating meanings, you have brought an indelible shame upon Mo Yong.”

A behavior so disgraceful that even those from the Demon Cult would say, “Ah, that’s too much.”

“And that shame has also been conveyed to the Demon Cult.”

From now on, this is a threat mixed with falsehood.

“You somewhat know about me, don’t you? There’s a common saying in the Martial World, right? Among the descendents of various factions, those with a relatively dark future are weeded out, and the seats are filled by the Demon Cult’s puppets.”

I’m also a puppet, and this is a secret that various factions within the Martial World have tacitly kept sealed.

“The targets of the puppets can sometimes be factions, but there may also be occasions where it involves an individual. And if that person’s disciple is lackluster or deemed to be better off without them, the faction or family may decide to take in that person as a successor even knowing they’re a puppet.”

For example, the case where the disciple of Sword Saint Mo Yongcheon had their head severed by the Jeonchang Faction.

Although they didn’t know she was the hidden daughter of the Heavenly Demon, the new grandmaster of the Jeonchang’s faction—So Yeonjeok—stayed in Jeonchang because they welcomed her as their disciple with cloudy eyes.

“It’s the same with Mo Yong.”

The Mo Yong family also accepted me and my master, the Witch Doctor Baekmyeon, to treat Mo Yongseol.

“In this era, where the boundaries between black and white are blurred and the individual strengths of various sects and families matter more than anything, you truly, for no sensible reason, acted foolishly toward the Mo Yong family.”

The long needle came close to her eyes.

Yu Giyeon’s pupils shook wildly, but she could only watch in horror as the needle approached her face and came to rest there.

“Not only you, but many others will soon seek out Mo Yong. They may not be as foolish as you, but those who come with even more cunning schemes will.”

Yu Giyeon’s eyes widened.

It seemed she grasped something about those I spoke of and eagerly wanted to communicate something with her eyes.

“Why? Do you want to live?”

Nod.

Her eyelids firmly closed and opened again, expressing affirmation.

“After dying once, are you now afraid of death?”

Nod.

I have never experienced death, but Yu Giyeon has died and awakened.

To be honest, I’m quite curious about the ‘process’ from the moment she died to now.

Could she be wandering as a spirit?

Or is she feeling sensations as if she’d simply entered a deep sleep and awoken?

Or perhaps, if there exists a place called hell, did she just briefly set foot there before suddenly returning to her physical form?

My curiosity about the afterlife continues to rise, but that’s something to discuss with someone capable of conversation.

“The daughter of the Demon Cult’s disgraceful Purple Sword Gate, Yu Giyeon, my lady. I have only one thing I’m curious about.”

I lightly tapped the needle against her forehead.

“Right now, you have died and come back to life.”

Tap, tap, focusing all my attention on her forehead.

“When you received the prescription for Extreme Yang Reversal, you wished not only for the sickness of absolute meridians to be cured but also wanted to become young again.”

Tap, tap, tap.

“Then what is it that you wish for now?”

If this miracle grants what the target desires, then…

“Oh, there’s no need to think too hard about it.”

Be it what pops into your head or what the spirit desires, at least the [dead] must have only one wish.

“I merely want to confirm one thing.”

What to confirm?

As I face the Martial World moving forward, there’s one significant question I cannot ignore.

“How many times will miracles truly occur?”

I pushed the needle in deeper.

“!!”

“What are you so surprised about? It’s not like I pierced a bone.”

A reaction came from Yu Giyeon’s body.

“If you wish, blink three times quickly.”

Yu Giyeon trembled as she asked with her quaking eyes.

“What?”

“If you don’t wish to revive again, or if you long for eternal death.”

I stepped back.

“My lady, again, is it possible? This time, the heart.”

“Could you move aside, please?!”

Mo Yongseol firmly gripped her sword in reverse and, as soon as I stepped back, plunged it downwards.

Thump!

Blood did not splatter.

Was it because all the blood has drained out already?

I had driven the needle into the wound, and yet if blood does not flow from the wound, what on earth is that motion I just halted?

“…If there’s no blood, then what on earth does it mean to be alive?”

A fleeting curiosity arose, yet Yu Giyeon met her second death just like that.

“My lady. Stay still.”

I drew my palm across the blade once more, letting that blood flow down towards Yu Giyeon’s body.

Drip, drip, drip.

Blood flowed down, and after a little while—

“……!!”

“Wow, really.”

“Uh, um….”

“This actually works.”

Yu Giyeon opened her eyes again.

“Yu Giyeon, my lady.”

I swiftly retrieved the needles near Yu Giyeon’s jaw.

“Now, you’ve died three times.”

“Ugh, ah….”

Even before I pulled out all the needles pressing against her wounds, Yu Giyeon seemed to be struggling to say something.

“Tw, uh….”

Just as I was about to extract the last needle.

“Tw, once, this isn’t an, ahhhh…!”

With fierce, anger-filled eyes, she glared at me and spat out blood.

“No.”

I collected the needles and pointed to Yu Giyeon’s neck for Mo Yongseol.

“Three times.”

Shlick!

“……Huh.”

“Uh, physician…?”

“…Mo Yong.”

I gazed at Yu Giyeon’s neck, which had been severed just as before, and lightly wiped the blood flowing from my hand with my thumb.

Lick.

“Ph, physician?!”

“……Hmm.”

I had wished earnestly, yet even with that, no effect seems to exist.

“It seems this does not work on the person themselves.”

“What did you wish for….”

“To be the strongest under heaven?”

Truly.

“To put it more clearly, I wish for the ability to protect myself even if everyone in the world were to aim for you.”

Yet, it appears I cannot achieve that.

“…Then.”

Mo Yongseol approached me, firmly grasping my hands with both of hers.

“Wouldn’t it be okay if I became that instead?”

With determination in her eyes, she tugged at my hand.

Lick, lick.

Ah, this is what it means when they say that saliva heals.

* * *

And at that moment.

Whoosh.

In the middle of the snowy plains.

A white-haired woman and a middle-aged man in black continued northward amid the snowstorm.

“Hey, Physician Baekmyeon. Is that really true?”

“…….”

“That Seok Muwol fellow? Is he really such a being?”

“Um. Are you, perhaps, earnest?”

The white-haired woman, Baekmyeon turned her head.

“The celestial way looking down at human figures in the shape of the immortal?”

“…….”

“If you truly desire it, then follow me now. Even if you want the immortal, it will mean nothing if your head is severed before you possess it.”

“Death….”

“What we need is a shield to protect us from the absolute sword of death that descends upon us.”

Baekmyeon smiled faintly and pulled out an old piece of paper from her bosom.

“This is a lifeline capable of protecting us from the Sword Saint. It can also create greater chaos in the Martial World.”

“…What do you desire?”

The man in black asked.

“Why did you leave it unattended despite knowing he’s the Sword Saint, and that you can monopolize it at any time?”

“Well, the destruction of the Demon Cult? Or perhaps the chaos of the entire Central Plains?”

Baekmyeon chuckled softly.

“The Heavenly Demon has been stirring the world with the Heavenly Demon Arts, causing fear throughout the realm.”

In the snowy field, Baekmyeon’s eyes sparkled as white as the snow, stretching her arms wide.

“But he was crushed by the Sword Saint. While the Sword Saint lives, chaos will not emerge in the Martial World.”

“You…”

“But now, things have changed.”

Baekmyeon turned her head and pointed one finger toward the man in black.

“You only hid the identity of just one person, yet what chaos do you think will unfold in the Martial World from here on?”

“…….”

“Oh, I almost forgot to mention it. Before you get ‘saved’….”

Grinning.

“Someone mentioned that Mo Yongseol should have an intense romance with a man before her death.”

“…Could it be.”

“Yes.”

Baekmyeon beamed widely.

“My disciple.”

Baekmyeon placed her hand on her chest, smiling gently.

“Will break through the sky of the current Martial World and usher in a new era. Yes, indeed….”

Flutter.

“A true era of the Heavenly Demon will begin.”