Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 4 - People Are Not Objects

Chapter 4 – People Are Not Objects

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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When Ju-seong spiritedly shouted the alias of the Divine Physician of Life and Death, the Divine Physician behind him lightly tugged at his sleeve.

“Why is that?”

When he asked, the Divine Physician spoke with an embarrassed expression.

“That alias is still unofficial, so do not use it. It is embarrassing.”

‘As I thought, this old man…’

Sure enough, the whole Divine Physician of Life and Death thing was an alias he had made up himself.

And yet did he have any right to criticize Three Steps One Kill’s alias as shabby?

While Ju-seong was flabbergasted, the customers, intimidated by his bellowing, were scattering out.

The truth was probably that they did not want to get involved with crazy martial artists.

But some men remained. Looking at them, they were all martial artists carrying weapons.

Ju-seong shook his head and said.

“Indeed, they do not shed tears until they see the coffin. So these are the types who have to taste a spoonful of everything to know what it is.”

At this point, the Divine Physician stepped forward and spoke.

“Now then, all you lot who carry trifles in your lower belly pretending it is internal energy. There is nothing for you here, so get out quickly.”

It was a voice imbued with internal energy.

It was internal energy so mighty it made your skull ring. Ju-seong, who was right beside him, momentarily felt dizzy and swayed.

-Wooong…

The Divine Physician’s voice echoed throughout the dining hall and shook it.

The martial artists who had been sitting proudly were startled and hurried out.

“Ahem, pardon us.”

“We failed to recognize a senior of the martial world.”

Soon, only the martial artists belonging to the Full Moon Tower remained in the hall.

Perhaps because he had heard the Divine Physician speak with internal energy, a man who appeared to be the tower master also descended the stairs.

He was a man whose appearance was the very model of a vile dark path fellow. His eyes were dark and his cheeks were sunken in, the face of a con man.

Seeing him come down in his silk robe, Ju-seong could barely contain the itch in his mouth.

He decided to run his mouth, trusting the “Divine Physician of Life and Death” behind him.

“So you are the Full Moon Tower Master? For someone who sells people and stolen goods, you sure look the part. Your alias is Three Steps One Kill, right? Indeed, anyone who gets within three steps would smell the rot. What is the use of wearing a silk robe, you plucked peacock? A face makes the outfit.”

‘Ah, maybe I went too far?’

He regretted it the moment he finished speaking. But what could he do about a tongue that moved on its own?

A freewheeling tongue was Ju-seong’s chronic ailment.

Despite the barrage of insults, the tower master showed no change in expression.

Is this the composure of a dark path man who has rolled through everything? Just as Ju-seong was admiring it.

“…!”

Before he knew it, the tower master’s form had charged at Ju-seong.

-Shwaaak!

A sword drawn from its scabbard had reached right in front of his nose.

He felt a chill run down his spine and lowered his gaze to look at the tower master’s sword.

The blade of the sword the tower master had thrust was firmly held in the Divine Physician’s hand.

The Divine Physician let out a small sigh and spoke to Ju-seong.

“Clown.”

“Yes, Elder.”

“From what I see, you are the type who cannot stand not running your mouth wherever you go. But the martial world is not a forgiving place for those who are all talk. If you want to live long with that mouth, you must become much stronger.”

“I will engrave it on my bones.”

While the clown and the physician exchanged words.

The tower master was desperately trying to pull his sword back, his face turning red, but the Divine Physician’s hand held the blade like a vise and would not let go.

After trying for a while, he let go of the sword hilt and stepped back, asking.

“Who are you, senior?”

Ju-seong spoke up from the side like a lackey.

“This is the Great Hero Divine Physician of Life and Death, you scum. How dare you look straight at him and ask who he is?”

The tower master ignored those words and looked straight at the Divine Physician.

“Among martial artists who claim to be physicians, there is only one with your age, build, and formidable martial arts. What brings the Death-Playing Demon Physician here, Senior?”

‘Death-Playing Demon Physician!’

Upon hearing that, Ju-seong felt all the hairs on his body stand on end.

The acrobatic troupe was well-versed in martial world news.

From stories of absolute beings who looked down on the martial world, to stories of rising talents called the Four Dragons or Three Phoenixes, the rear waves pushing the front waves of the Yangtze.

The Death-Playing Demon Physician was treated as a master of a slightly earlier generation, so he was not extremely famous.

Even so, Ju-seong had heard of the name.

A mad physician.

A man said to hold death and life in the palm of his hand, possessing both transcendent martial arts and medical skills in one body.

What was most terrifying was the third character of his alias.

Those with “Demon” in their alias had made their infamy known in one way or another.

The Death-Playing Demon Physician was no different. The eccentricity of capturing those who blocked his path and conducting all manner of experiments. The madness of always keeping them alive nonetheless.

Above all, the first time “Demon” was attached to his alias was decades ago, when he caused a large-scale massacre in Yunnan Province.

The Divine Physician wore a dignified expression that did not suit such infamy at all.

He gently stroked his beard and said.

“I have a new alias, Divine Physician of Life and Death, so why call me by such an ominous name?”

“Divine Physician or Demon Physician matters not. I do not know what brings you here, Senior, but please turn back now. The Full Moon Tower works under contract with the Blood Sword Sect.”

The Divine Physician just looked at the tower master as if to say “continue.”

“You may have been away from the front lines of the martial world for a while, Senior, so you may not know. Anyway, there are places where you should not tread. If you cause any more trouble here, you will face the blades of the Blood Sword Sect.”

Ju-seong admired the tower master’s stupidity. He was truly a fool.

Whether it was the Blood Sword Sect or the toilet door, this old man was not the type to care about such things.

‘Can you not tell at a glance?’

Ju-seong was similar, so he knew well.

If he were the type to weigh and measure everything, he would not have barged through the front gate of the Black Dragon Gang.

This tower master must have lived comfortably until now, hiding behind the Blood Sword Sect’s reputation and his ridiculous alias of Three Steps One Kill.

Throwing around his sect’s name when it looked like a fight with a master might happen, oppressing the powerless without hesitation.

‘Avoiding everything difficult and dangerous like that is why he is so oblivious.’

He was a greenhouse weed, a spoiled dark path man if there ever was one.

And now, the time had come for him to taste the bitterness of the world.

“This child lacks manners.”

The Divine Physician moved like an arrow shot from a bow. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of the tower master.

The next moment, the Divine Physician’s pot-lid-sized hand struck the tower master’s cheek.

-Smack!

A dozen or so pearly white teeth scattered and rolled across the floor.

When the tower master went down in one blow, the Full Moon Tower’s martial artists who had been gathered behind him obediently put down their weapons and knelt.

Ju-seong was dumbfounded and sneered.

“What excellent dark path men. The Full Moon Tower is truly full of fine specimens of dark path manhood.”

To spare the Divine Physician from having to exert himself, Ju-seong went around among the kneeling martial artists and chopped the backs of their necks with the edge of his hand to knock them out.

Of course, his internal energy was pitiful, and he did not know even half a move of martial technique, so it was not easy.

Some of them had to be hit several times in a row before they finally passed out.

Ju-seong knocked out one martial artist who seemed to have some rank after striking him twenty-five times, caught his breath, and said.

“If you keep tensing your neck and resisting, this hand blade might turn into a real blade. Let us make this easy on each other.”

Once he said that, they started passing out in one hit. They were happy to keep their necks, and Ju-seong was happy to keep his dignity.

“Elder, I have suppressed them all.”

“Ah, are you done? I almost fell asleep.”

The Divine Physician fired finger winds in rapid succession, shattering the dantians of the unconscious martial artists with red energy from his fingertips.

That must be the finger wind he had heard about. The skill was so refined that none of the unconscious martial artists woke up.

They found a long corridor lined with VIP rooms, and at the end was a space that was obviously the tower master’s office.

When there was no one in that room, the Divine Physician stuck his head out and shouted down the corridor.

“Is there no chief manager here?”

“…”

The corridor was silent. But there was a presence.

Someone jumped in surprise and dropped something, the sound echoing through the corridor.

The Divine Physician nodded upon hearing it.

“I guess not. Then that fellow in the room at the end is not the chief manager and is therefore useless. I shall have to sever the tendons of his four limbs.”

“Ah, oh my. Ha ha. The chief manager is right here! I am the chief manager of the Full Moon Tower!”

A goat-bearded man hurriedly slid open his door and came out, having been hiding in a VIP room.

Ju-seong rushed over like a hawk, grabbed the chief manager by the collar, and snarled.

“Why did you not come out quickly?”

“S-sorry!”

Somehow, using force had become the Divine Physician’s job, while intimidating and threatening from the sidelines had become Ju-seong’s role.

“Chief Manager, do you know who that man standing over there is? The terror of dark path men, the grim reaper of all villains, the slaughterer of the evil path, the Death-Playing Demon Physician Elder. The Elder is currently searching for a stolen item, and if he cannot contain his fury, you, me, and all the trash of this damned Full Moon Tower will become a handful of blood and water.”

Ju-seong advertised the Divine Physician’s terribleness with all his might and stimulated the chief manager’s fear. The chief manager flailed and answered.

“Y-yes, yes!”

Ju-seong grinned and stated his demands.

“Right now, bring me all the Full Moon Tower’s cash, the secret vault key, the debt contracts of the courtesans, the building and land deeds, the most expensive liquor, and all of your personal slush fund.”

At the last words, the chief manager seemed to freeze for a moment, but when Ju-seong glared at him, he immediately nodded.

“Y-yes, yes!”

Ju-seong nodded in satisfaction as he watched the chief manager scurry away.

‘I am made for this.’

It seemed intimidation, threats, and oppression were truly Ju-seong’s talents.

Finding his aptitude before even reaching adulthood was truly lucky.

The Divine Physician stopped the chief manager who was about to rush off and said.

“That is… all fine, but first tell me where the Full Moon Tower financial ledger is.”

“It is in the drawer of the tower master’s desk, Elder.”

The Divine Physician went to the desk drawer based on that information, pulled out the ledger, then beckoned the chief manager over.

“Now, Chief Manager. First, find the entry about the women recently tributed from the Black Dragon Gang.”

The chief manager wet his finger with saliva and quickly flipped through the pages.

“Ah, um, here it is. Uh… Day of Gyeyu, Hour of the Ox. Three women from Black Dragon Gang. Offered as goods at Full Moon Black Market. Blood Sword Sect won at no cost… That is… all… of it…”

The chief manager’s voice began to shrink as he saw Ju-seong’s expression twist like an evil god.

By the time he said “that is all of it,” his voice had become as small as a mosquito’s.

The Full Moon Black Market was the underground auction held at this Full Moon Tower. It said the Blood Sword Sect won them, but since it was at “no cost,” it was essentially tribute.

In other words, they were tributed from the Black Dragon Gang to the Full Moon Tower, then passed on again to the Blood Sword Sect.

What grated on Ju-seong was the word “goods.”

‘People are not objects.’

His family members were absolutely not objects. Ju-seong felt his head burning.

The Divine Physician seemed to say something from beside him, but it sounded muffled as if underwater. He stepped toward the chief manager and raised his fist.

Just as Ju-seong was about to throw his punch.

“…Clown, clown. Please get a hold of yourself. If you keep rolling your eyes at every turn like this, what am I supposed to do?”

The Divine Physician placed a hand on Ju-seong’s head and sent some peculiar energy flowing into him. Ju-seong felt his head suddenly cool down, and his senses returned.

In other words, he had just been in what they call a “seeing nothing” state. The chief manager was trembling, having wet his pants without realizing it.

The Divine Physician cleared his throat once and asked.

“Recently, there was also an elixir pill that came in from the Black Dragon Gang. Could you look that up too?”

When the Divine Physician snapped his fingers with internal energy, the chief manager snapped to attention and began searching through the ledger. He did not seem to realize his pants were wet.

“Ah, yes! Um, Black Dragon Gang, Black Dragon Gang… Ah! Here it is. From Black Dragon Gang, unidentified elixir pill. Effect unknown. Maker unknown. Dead stock. If unsold at next month’s auction, scheduled for disposal… That is… all…”

This time, the Divine Physician’s expression began to twist like an evil god. The chief manager’s voice became even smaller than before.

At this rate, he looked ready to soil himself from both ends.

Ju-seong worried that the Divine Physician might finally forsake the path of saving lives and open his killing intent.

If that happened, he would no longer be able to joke around freely in front of this old man.

Ju-seong was a quick-witted man.

He quickly approached the chief manager and slapped his gaunt cheek.

“You blind fool!”

He began stomping on the chief manager, who collapsed like a bundle of straw.

“You ignorant lowlife worm! A pill crafted by the great Divine Physician of Life and Death is what? Dead stock? Even if a gold nugget rolled in front of you, you would think it was dung and throw it in the toilet!”

Even while being stomped on, the chief manager desperately defended himself to survive.

“Ack! Ahhh! The tower master is the one who writes the final ledger entries! I did not write it! Ack! Ahhhh!”

“That is enough, clown.”

At the Divine Physician’s words, having seemingly calmed his anger, Ju-seong immediately removed his foot.

“Yes.”

The chief manager felt the pain in his bones and screamed inwardly.

‘What the hell are these crazy bastards?!’