NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8
Whatever the Sword Saint says to the representatives of the Martial World outside, I have my own tasks to attend to.
Record.
I hold my brush and write down everything as detailed as I can.
In two different directions.
One is written in a refined manner, so that readers won’t feel awkward about it and that it can be presented in official settings.
To briefly excerpt some of the contents—though I wrote it—
-…The Sickness of Absolute Meridians fundamentally arises because the Yin energy suppresses the blood vessels. We need to fundamentally approach this; if there is an excess of Yin energy, we can inject the corresponding Yang energy into the patient’s body to achieve a balance of internal energy…
“…….”
-While external application can temporarily convey Yang energy through the skin, its effect is minimal and almost meaningless. Therefore, injecting an ‘elixir’ containing Yang energy directly into the body would be…
“Physician, are you done recording?”
“Indeed.”
Mo Yongseol approached me.
From the dressing room of this now-mansion, she emerged with a fragrant aroma after having properly washed herself.
“Wow, it’s fragrant.”
“It cannot be helped.”
“Can’t you just say I slept, did my business, and got better? Isn’t that enough?”
“If you could say that directly in front of the Martial World Alliance Leader, New Ascendant, and Emperor, that would indeed be wonderful.”
I lightly unfolded the second piece of paper—the earlier one I had written.
“Hi, hi…!”
As soon as I opened the paper, Mo Yongseol gasped and her face turned red.
“W-Why is it so explicit…!”
“I merely transcribed the actions you took as they were. If other patients with the Sickness of Absolute Meridians behave in the same way, it might lead to a cure.”
“Y-Yes, but that’s still a bit embarrassing!”
“So you’re just realizing that now? Were you not embarrassed when doing what’s written here?”
“Well…”
Mo Yongseol lowered the paper while shyly smiling.
“Since I was thinking of you, it felt more of joy and happiness than embarrassment…”
“I feel the same.”
“Physician…”
“So now I’m considering whether to include such matters in this report.”
I took her hand that stretched toward me, intertwined our fingers, and pulled her into my embrace.
“The one injecting the Yang energy shouldn’t simply be someone drawn to beauty; they should have the will to genuinely save the person they care for, which has been held in their heart since three years ago.”
“Is such a condition really needed for treating the Sickness of Absolute Meridians?”
“At least from the perspective of the healer, yes.”
If that is indeed the true condition for treatment, then most patients with the Sickness of Absolute Meridians might find it difficult to be treated.
Instead, from now on, each family with a patient will likely look for a man of similar age to guard and care for the patient for the next three years.
And only after three years will the patients start to recover.
“It doesn’t have to be exactly three years. The heart’s sentiments don’t necessarily take three years to mature.”
“…Physician.”
“You must have known. On the day I first saw you, what kind of look I gave you.”
“…It was no different from what other men showed. You looked at me as if asking, ‘Is this my first love?'”
Mo Yongseol caressed my face.
“But everyone else knew I had the Sickness of Absolute Meridians, and they all rapidly withdrew their gazes. Even those who claimed it didn’t matter that I had the Sickness of Absolute Meridians turned their eyes down due to your name as the Sword Saint. Only you did not.”
“I genuinely thank you for being a physician. I was able to be by your side for three years.”
“…I bet you disliked it a lot, didn’t you?”
Mo Yongseol lowered her hand and reached for my shoulder.
“Considering how much I’ve hurt you.”
“A patient making a physician bleed is quite normal.”
Under her hand, a rather deep scar remains.
I’m not just referring to the scratch from this time, but the traces of wounds from something sharp like a sword that have healed and burst open.
Did the Demon Cult inflict these scars on my body?
No.
It was Mo Yongseol.
“At that time, I was….”
“Anyone facing a terminal illness inevitably endures the pain of dying that feels better than death, leading them to desire to destroy everything. It’s quite normal to have clawed and bitten my shoulder in that state.”
“…….”
For three years, Mo Yongseol was driven to madness.
Just hearing the words that she would die in three years would make anyone insane. But enduring daily torture and spitting blood would lead to madness being a normal reaction.
“I’m sorry. Truly, I’m very sorry.”
“Did that remorse bring you to me?”
“That’s not it. It’s not for atonement… Even while I went crazy like a woman driven to madness, you always embraced me and treated me.”
Mo Yongseol pulled my hand, pressed it to her cheek, and buried her face.
“I can’t say when it began. But perhaps… that’s why I became more crazy. Knowing there was someone who loved me this much, I could only show him the sight of my dying self, ultimately leaving just a corpse.”
“Dearest.”
“Perhaps if I were to remain a villain, it might leave no regrets. I thought that way, but I was just too selfish.”
Mo Yongseol hugged me tightly.
“A woman who is dying tomorrow wishes to leave traces so that the man she loves might remember her forever; it’s nothing but a selfish act.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is selfish, isn’t it? A physician never asked, and for my own comfort, you forced….”
“It is both selfish and forceful, but from the moment you held onto me like that, I was also happy.”
“Ah….”
“You think only you were happy? That’s a misunderstanding.”
“…Indeed.”
Mo Yongseol lowered her head.
Her clothes began to dampen, and that dampness felt warm rather than cold like ice.
“Your selfishness is what saved you. Because you reached out to me first, that’s why you could pierce your own condition and survive. So don’t worry about it.”
I gently patted Mo Yongseol’s back.
“Love is naturally selfish.”
“…Thank you for the words, but in saying that, it feels as if you’re speaking of loving someone else.”
Mo Yongseol puffed her cheeks and pinched me playfully.
“You seem to know more about love than I do?”
“Of course. Naturally. It’s been three years since I learned what love is, so I must certainly be your senior.”
“Ah.”
“What? Did you perhaps have someone else in your heart before? Hmm?”
“That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
Mo Yongseol smiled brightly and pinched my body.
“I’ll admit it, senior. But if I said I loved someone else… oops.”
“…Tsk.”
My side hurt.
Mo Yongseol immediately pulled off my clothes, and there was a trace of red blood running down from where her nails had scratched.
It’s not severe, just scratched a bit.
“I-I’m sorry. I did it without realizing…!”
“It’s fine. Just adds another line to the report.”
“What?”
“As the energies of Yin and Yang harmonize, the vital energy begins to flow properly through the blood vessels, overflowing with life.”
When she was in pain, her strength was just at the level of a relatively strong woman.
At this point in good health, she is the very definition of a high-level martial artist.
“A woman who overcomes the Sickness of Absolute Meridians will start to explode in growth, rapidly becoming a master from that moment. That’s my perspective.”
“Uh… So what you mean is.”
Mo Yongseol flexed her hands and smiled softly.
“Are you saying I’ve reached the pinnacle?”
“That could very well be the case.”
“Wow…!”
20 years old. A pinnacle-level martial artist.
Though one might say that’s rather late for the daughter of the world’s greatest, among her peers, Mo Yongseol unequivocally ranks first.
“Hehe, is this all thanks to you, Physician, letting me reach my various peaks countless times?”
“Ha. You might as well say you’ve entered a state of ecstasy.”
“Hehe….”
“No.”
I grabbed Mo Yongseol.
“Should I torment you so much that you won’t be able to tell whether you’re alive or dead?”
“W-What do you mean by that…?”
“Going back and forth between life and death, you might reach a state of life and death.”
“Ahaha…! That state is, heh, a realm even the Sword Saint cannot reach?”
“You’ll find out if you try.”
“Hehe, you just want an excuse to keep me close, don’t you…?”
Mo Yongseol pulled her hand to her mouth, lightly licking her fingers that wiped my wound.
“Like this, are you… hmm?”
“Hmm?”
“…Hmm?”
Lick.
“……Huh?”
“Why do you say that?”
“No, um, it’s just….”
Lick, lick.
“……Peach?”
“??”
“Oh, um. Physician. Can I try licking once? It’s sweet.”
With a serious tone, I cautiously licked the finger Mo Yongseol offered.
Lick.
“All I can feel is my blood and your sweet trace.”
“Oh no. I’m not saying something romantic; I really do feel that way. This is.”
“……Wait.”
I suddenly reached out my hand toward Mo Yongseol’s neck.
Thud, thud.
“……Dearest, open your mouth.”
I scratched the tip of my finger with my fang and then pushed it straight into Mo Yongseol’s mouth.
“!!”
Mo Yongseol gasped, her eyes widened in surprise, but she soon gently grasped my hand with both of hers.
Lick, lick. Suck.
As she slowly licked and sucked, I focused all my attention on her meridians.
“…….”
Although weaker than when I first infused the Yang energy, its effect, albeit lesser, was still undoubtedly a ‘shift.’
When the overwhelming Yin energy overflowed, aiming to disrupt the balance within her blood vessels, the red Yang energy began to spread throughout her body from her mouth, gradually restoring equilibrium.
Though the speed and extent were not as assured as we knew to be the most effective method—
“…Physician, could this be just a misunderstanding? Am I only feeling this way because I’m a lewd woman?”
Mo Yongseol asked, lightly biting my finger, looking at me earnestly.
“…I think my body is heating up.”
* * *
Until late in the evening, those gathered in the Mo Yong Family’s reception room engaged in fervent discussions.
There were many topics.
Is it a condition to perform Yin Meridian Healing on the Day of Adulthood?
Did the medicine prescribed by Physician Seok Muwol take time to work?
Did the knowledge Mo Yongseol acquired from the Mo Yong Family’s traditions significantly impact the treatment of the Sickness of Absolute Meridians?
Logically, medically, and martially, they had no choice but to approach these issues.
And they organized all possible scenarios, reaching their own compromise.
However.
“In the worst-case scenario, if only the elixir possessed by Physician Seok Muwol can treat the Sickness of Absolute Meridians…”
There was one instance where they found no consensus.
“What will we do then?”
“My son-in-law is not a public good of the Martial World.”
The Alliance Leader suppressed a sigh at the Sword Saint’s firm stance.
“Sword Saint, they are currently camped outside the Mo Yong Family.”
“…….”
“It would be easy for you to solve it through martial arts. But what if they plead for mercy, appealing to the sentiments of being fellow members of the White Path, desperately requesting your fatherly duty?”
“…….”
“Sword Saint, you too struggle to find an easy answer, don’t you? How could it be….”
“If it is indeed the secret techniques of the Mo Yong Family that provide the key to treating the Sickness of Absolute Meridians, I would willingly share that knowledge with the Martial World.”
“!!”
A martial family sharing its techniques openly is tantamount to handing over its very pillar to others.
“Is that how precious my son-in-law is to you?”
“He is the man my daughter loves. That alone should suffice as the answer.”
“However…”
The Martial World Alliance Leader cast a glance at the others present, swallowing the most troubling point.
Even if the Demon Cult has become inconsequential and poses no significant threat anymore—
“I will ask the Mo Yong Family.”
The New Ascendant spoke up.
“What will be our response to the Demon Cult?”
“…….”
In response to the New Ascendant’s question, the Sword Saint fell silent for a moment.
“You know well that there are more patients with the Sickness of Absolute Meridians in the Demon Cult than among the White Path. Out of 108 patients, almost two-thirds are daughters of the depraved.”
“…….”
“They are not like those who currently plead as fellow members of the White Path just outside the family walls. In the worst-case scenario…”
The New Ascendant lifted his teacup.
“Numerous demons from the Demon Cult might attempt to kidnap your son-in-law to cure their own disciples or daughters, or even their wives’ Sickness of Absolute Meridians.”
“No one can force my daughter to share her husband. Not even the Demon Cult… or even the world itself.”
The Sword Saint twisted his lips at the New Ascendant.
“I’m sure those present here are not directly tied to the patients with the Sickness of Absolute Meridians, but ultimately, are you not just one man as well?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Now, now. Sword Saint and New Ascendant, please restrain yourselves. If the two of you quarrel, it would cause a bigger ruckus than the cliffs of that volcano collapsing.”
The Alliance Leader stepped in between their tense standoff.
“Let’s quietly wait for the examination results. And also for the results from other places. Surely, it shouldn’t come to that, right?”
The Alliance Leader chuckled lightly to ease the tension in the air.
“Only the elixir of Physician Seok Muwol can cure the Sickness of Absolute Meridians… Well, it simply cannot happen in a world of common sense, can it? Hahaha!”