Chapter 306: Medical Contest (3) |
After the duel ended, the Beast Palace Lord formally announced that Tang Sowol would be in charge of his treatment, and that from this point on, the Sichuan Tang Clan would become a close ally of the Beast Palace.
The Demon Physician, whose patient had vanished in an instant, showed no complaints. He accepted the outcome and quietly left the Beast Palace.
Meanwhile, Tang Sowol’s research, now supplemented by parts of the Beast Palace’s martial arts techniques, progressed smoothly.
It was an ideal result in every sense.
But precisely because of that, he found himself increasingly troubled.
“What on earth happened…”
The Demon Physician, who should have remained at the Sub-Perfection stage, had reached the Flowering Stage.
And that enlightenment wasn't some half-baked, externally imposed insight—it was complete and genuine.
There had been no trace of madness or vengeful obsession in him either.
Creating aura required willpower, and willpower was heavily influenced by one's inner state.
Thus, martial arts always reflected the practitioner's mind, and the pure energy known as aura was essentially one’s mental landscape made manifest.
How could one conceal something that was literally a part of their being?
All martial artists who reached the Flowering Stage had, at least once, faced their truest selves and come to a personal answer.
That’s why he had believed it impossible for the Demon Physician—plagued by madness and unrelenting vengeance—to ever reach that realm.
But to put it another way—if the Demon Physician had let go of his madness and vengeance, then he was ready to grasp willpower.
Just as he himself only reached the Flowering Stage after abandoning his obsession with survival, and just as Seo Mun-Hwarin ascended only after accepting and coming to terms with her regrets.
Unless everything he had learned about martial arts was wrong—and unless his impressions during the duel were mistaken—
Then the Demon Physician had miraculously relinquished his madness and vengeance, and ascended to the Flowering Stage on his own.
Before regression, he had been utterly consumed by madness—unable to let anything go.
He didn’t know what had changed the Demon Physician’s future.
But one thing was certain—
This transformation was not what the Heavenly Demon wanted.
If he were the Heavenly Demon, he would have guided events according to the original plan.
The Demon Physician would still be mad, clinging to impossible zombie arts, secretly planting fail-safes in all his patients.
Eventually, the fragile Orthodoxy-Unorthodoxy Alliance would collapse from within, unable to act.
After all, the Heavenly Demon himself possessed unmatched might, but the other cultists were relatively weak—this scheme had been the most effective way to act from the shadows.
So the Demon Physician’s change likely hadn’t come from the Heavenly Demon.
Then what had changed him?
And more importantly—what should he do about the current Demon Physician?
“Haa…”
“You sigh again, my dear. Are you still troubled about the Demon Physician?”
“Yes, well…”
He was supposed to be meditating to further analyze the traces of the Azure Cold Serpent embedded in his killing intent—but his mind was fixated on something else entirely.
Given how long he had been like this since the duel, it was no wonder Seo Mun-Hwarin noticed.
“Hmm. This one doesn’t really know. You can’t possibly predict everything in the world, can you?”
“That’s true, but… this one feels too dangerous to brush off lightly.”
“Isn’t it actually a good thing? That there’s a possibility the Demon Physician won’t become an enemy?”
“But what if he becomes a stronger enemy—one I couldn’t even anticipate?”
“By that logic, I too might one day be consumed by anger I thought I had discarded, and strangle you in your sleep.”
“...Excuse me??”
“Didn’t you defeat the Black Heaven Sword Sect Leader? That left my revenge incomplete. So naturally, you should bear the weight of my fury... or so I might say. What would you do then?”
“Hmm…”
After a moment’s thought, he nodded.
“Then I suppose I’ll just have to let Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin kill me once.”
He took her hand and guided it to his neck.
Seo Mun-Hwarin reflexively grasped his throat, then flinched and paused. He grinned at her.
“It’s not like I can resist you, Senior.”
“But that doesn’t mean you should just take it! Put up a fight!”
“Ah, I see. So you’re saying you’d prefer if I resisted—”
“Isn’t that wording a bit off?!”
“It’s just right, considering we’re imagining the scenario where you lose your mind.”
“You... you—!”
As she stomped her feet, I let her go. Immediately, she yanked her hand away.
In the process, she must’ve scratched me with her nails. A mild heat spread along the back of his neck.
My body had undergone refinement, even a form of rejuvenation. It didn’t hurt much.
It would probably just turn a little red and fade by dinner.
I thought nothing of it and started to unfold my legs to stand up—
“Stay still.”
Perhaps feeling a bit guilty, Seo Mun-Hwarin shyly approached and sat on my lap.
Her cheeks puffed with embarrassment from earlier teasing, but her eyes had already softened.
“It doesn’t hurt that much.”
“This one knows. Still, stay put.”
Speaking curtly, she grabbed his jaw, adjusted my angle, and then leaned in.
Lick.
A warm, soft sensation spread across my neck.
Seo Mun-Hwarin was licking me.
“...What are you doing?”
“Hmph. If this one is going to do this much, you should just say thank you.”
“You sound like an old lady today, but... you’re not wrong.”
“O-Old lady…”
Apparently unable to ignore that, she slapped my thigh with her small hand.
There she was—sitting on my lap, licking my neck, slapping mys thigh. What a bizarre moment.
Eventually, she seemed satisfied, stopped her tongue, and leaned against me, half-reclining.
“Do you know why this one is going to such lengths?”
“I’ve only thought you were troublesome one out of three times, and not this time… but it’s probably because I’ve been overthinking everything, and it shows.”
“That many times...? Hmph. In any case, you're right. You handle most things decisively, but this time you’ve been curling up and hesitating. How could I not be concerned?”
“Tch. Was it that obvious?”
“It was. So why don’t you explain more clearly? What’s different about this case that’s making you so conflicted?”
“It’s nothing big. I’m just wondering—what if the Demon Physician really did change on his own?”
“Hmm?”
Most members of the Demonic Cult, aside from exceptions like the Sword Demon, carried their own "demons" inside them.
But that didn’t mean they were pure evil. These demons were the chaotic emotions inside people—and thus, they existed everywhere.
He had killed demonic cultists not because of what they were, but because their path opposed his, and because their vengeance often crossed the line.
Victims who had become perpetrators. People who became monsters to slay monsters. Warhorses who couldn’t stop even when they knew it was wrong.
As someone who had lived through deep inner madness for a long time—
He pitied demonic cultists.
If he had gone through what the Demon Physician had, he doubted he’d have reached a different conclusion.
Thanks to regression, he had gained a second chance—but even so, he had to burn away the flames of his own killing intent before he could move forward.
Only by letting go of his obsession could he recognize what he truly wanted.
If he could do it, maybe others could too.
Even without regression, perhaps after a long time—or with the right push from him or the Heavenly Demon—they might arrive at a truth they never reached in their previous lives.
Take Sama Suryeon, the Demon-Eyed Witch. She didn’t care about the world—just her own revenge.
Unlike her comrade, who wanted to wipe out all of Murim, she thought eradicating the Sama Clan would be enough.
But she hesitated. She never took action. That’s why, when she tried to kill him and Tang Sowol under orders from the cult, she was cut down in turn.
But what if he hadn’t killed her?
Not long after, Sama Yuryeon and the Lord of the Black Lotus Sect married and wiped out the Sama Clan.
If Sama Suryeon had been part of that, perhaps things would’ve changed.
Of course, he knew it was all just speculation.
What mattered was the present—not hypothetical outcomes.
Sama Suryeon had tried to kill him and Tang Sowol. No matter how many times he regressed, he would’ve made the same choice.
So his current dilemma wasn’t about what-ifs from the past.
It was about the present—if the Demon Physician had arrived here after passing through countless variables and coincidences, what should he do?
Even if the man had let go of his obsession, the truth remained—he still had the ability to trigger the patients he had once treated.
Imagine top experts, both orthodox and unorthodox, suddenly going mad one day.
It would be a nightmare to contain.
In his past life, fear and tension had spread throughout the alliance long before they knew the cause was the Demon Physician.
At one point, there had even been talk of breaking apart and surviving individually.
He hadn’t heard all the details back then, but rumors suggested the royal court experienced similar incidents.
Given the Demon Physician’s fame, it wasn’t strange that even imperial officials would seek him out.
No, things might’ve been even messier there, considering the level of political intrigue.
If this were years ago, he wouldn’t even be thinking this hard.
He had felt it during the duel—he was now clearly stronger than the Demon Physician.
If it came down to a life-and-death duel, especially with Killing Intent Infusion, he would win easily.
So rather than risk the unknown, it would be better to just kill the man.
But...
He didn’t want to.
What made him different from the Demon Physician? From Seo Mun-Hwarin, who, long after her revenge, was finally able to let everything go?
He had only spoken aloud the parts he could say without triggering the mental restriction.
Seo Mun-Hwarin nodded solemnly and said:
“I understand now. You feel a kinship with him. Then why not just ask?”
“...Pardon?”
“Ask the Demon Physician directly. If he’s hiding something, then kill him.”
“Isn’t that... a little too unorthodox...?”
They both tilted their heads slightly, then Seo Mun-Hwarin stood from his lap and motioned with her chin.
“Enough. Let’s get ready. Before he gets too far, ask Sowol to track him.”
“But…”
“You’ll regret it no matter what—whether you let him go, kill him, or do nothing. So do everything you can first, then make your decision.”
Now that she said it, it was true.
Maybe, because it involved one of his major memories from before regression, he had tried to handle this too perfectly.
When in doubt, investigate first.
“Understood. I’ll speak to Tang Sowol.”
“Then this one will tell the Beast Palace folk that we’re taking a brief night stroll. But what about Lihyang?”
“Seol Lihyang...?
The Demon Physician was now a Flowering Stage martial artist. Having Seo Mun-Hwarin in case of trouble would be reassuring.
Tang Sowol was essential for tracking, so she was out of the question.
After brief thought, he shook his head.
“We’ll leave Seol Lihyang behind. This’ll be over before dawn anyway.”
He refrained from saying the obvious—that Seol Lihyang was the weakest among them.