Volume 2 Chapter 22 – Grandfather and Grandson

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“All of you, leave the room.”

At Jeong-ah’s instruction, the triplets quickly left the spot.

Even after they left, only silence lingered in the room for a while.

“…So-hyeon.”

When the old man called his name once more, Yeon So-hyeon let out a deep sigh.

“The old man has good eyes. I hid it so tightly, yet you noticed it all?”

To be completely honest, this situation was not intended by Yeon So-hyeon either.

Involuntarily, it ended up proving once again that the name of the Medicine King was not a hollow one.

“…What happened to your body, and how tightly did you hide it, that even the breathing of the upper dantian starting from the Baihui acupoint cannot be felt.”

In the end, it meant that thoroughly hiding everything to conceal the demonic qi of the Scripture of Controlling Darkness and Shaking the Heavens was the very reason that made it be revealed.

“The old man’s wits are at the hundredth level . This is why there is a saying in the world that one should die when one grows old.”

Jeong-ah felt Yeon So-hyeon’s desperate heart from his words, not wanting to wound his teacher’s heart until the very end.

“…So-hyeon, give me your wrist.”

Since he could not see the old man’s eyes, he rather closed his eyes.

Jeong-ah gently placed her hand on her master’s shoulder without a word.

At that, Yeon So-hyeon, who let out a deep sigh, extended his hand.

“…Just don’t faint. There is no one here to clean up an old man’s mess.”

It was meant as a warning to prepare his mind in advance.

However, the old man did not care in the slightest and was in the middle of beginning the pulse diagnosis without hesitation.

Who would dare stop a grandfather who worried for a child who was no different from his grandson?

“…What is this.”

A fine spasm occurred on the Medicine King’s face.

“The Conception Vessel and the Governing Vessel are also twisted. No, that is not all. The Eight Extraordinary Meridians have all been inverted …!”

Cold sweat flowed down from his forehead without rest.

Jeong-ah quietly wiped away the old man’s cold sweat.

“This makes no sense. This makes no sense. This is not the energy of a living person…!”

The old man’s eyes snapped open.

“This is demonic qi …! However, it is so different from that of the Demonic Cult .”

The old man’s pupils rolled back, and a large spasm occurred throughout his entire body.

“I, I…! To think it is such a terrible demonic qi…! Such a thing I have never heard of or seen in my life…!”

Yeon So-hyeon forcefully pulled his wrist away.

Beyond wounding the old man’s heart, anything more might destroy his mind and body.

“……”

The old man wrapped his face with his trembling hands.

He was feeling a terrible despair.

There was nothing he could do.

No. Honestly, just by grasping what it was, his own mind had almost crumbled into pieces.

Even though Yeon So-hyeon had tightly blocked that unidentified demonic qi with an unknown, strange method.

A long time passed.

The old man raised his face, which looked several times older in the meantime, and looked at Yeon So-hyeon.

“…You are no longer human.”

Yeon So-hyeon could do nothing but silently nod his head.

* * *

A heavy silence dominated the room.

The old man bit onto a short tobacco pipe and quietly recalled the past.

[I have given birth to a child. It is a healthy baby boy.]

When Yak So-yu sent a letter through her acquaintance to inform him of the birth, the old man was in the middle of continuing important research in India for several years.

However, when the disciple he cherished the most, who was like his own daughter, had given birth to a child, did research matter?

He reached Luoyang in a single bound.

[This child’s name is So-hyeon.]

To her teacher who was dirty beyond measure from not washing and not sleeping properly, Yak So-yu smiled warmly as always.

She held out the new life making small breathing sounds from the wrapping cloth.

However, he did not dare to receive the child.

How could he touch a child, untouched by any stain of the world, with dirty hands that had not been washed for months?

Unable to distance himself far, yet unable to approach close, he merely looked at the child with faint eyes.

Yak So-yu whispered to the child with a smile that brought to mind the spring sunlight.

[This person is your grandfather.]

What do you mean, me…?

He, who had spent his lifetime with medicine, had obtained the name of the Medicine King, but had not obtained any descendants.

The warm-hearted disciple’s introduction calling him grandfather was enough to make dew form around the old man’s eyes.

He bowed his head to not let that moisture be noticed, and merely looked at the child endlessly.

The child, who looked at him with dark eyes while squirming, was kinder and more noble than any child he had ever seen.

[Our So-hyeon. He is so cute, right?]

She was a disciple who had lived a life that was by no means smooth.

Her fame pierced the heavens such that everyone knew her, but there was almost no one who knew what kind of adversity she had gone through.

At the exceedingly dazzling appearance of his disciple, the old man could not bring out any words.

He merely looked at the picture-perfect, beautiful appearance of the mother and child.

It was too late when he realized that his disciple had protected her child at the cost of her lifespan.

[Master, please stop by Luoyang occasionally to look after our So-hyeon.]

The letter of Yak So-yu held in his hand trembled.

It was her last will.

The letter was filled in detail with so many stories expressing gratitude to him.

However, requesting him was that single line in its entirety.

She returned to the embrace of nature at an age when she was so beautiful.

For several months, he performed rituals every night in the direction where her body slept, praying for her rebirth in the Pure Land .

It was also he who had sent a personal letter close to a threat to the imperial family of the Central Plains, making them build shrines honoring her nationwide.

[Have you come?]

His first visit was in the second year since Yak So-yu had left.

So-hyeon met him with a resolute attitude that was not suitable for his age at all.

Since he was an exceedingly brilliant and outstanding child, he wanted to accept So-hyeon as a disciple.

However, looking at So-hyeon’s face was extremely painful for him.

Whenever the remnants of Yak So-yu were seen in So-hyeon’s face, expressions, and actions, the emotions that piled up and piled up became to the point of being unmanageable.

Would the heart of a father who sent his daughter first be like this?

He came to feel the reason why a child departing before the parents was referred to as an incomparable lack of filial piety .

He left behind books containing all of his secret transmissions .

As if knowing his mind to disappear quietly, So-hyeon saw him off on a night when the moon was bright.

[I will see you again, Grandfather.]

Since then, he had stopped by the Sword Family occasionally to hang out with So-hyeon.

At some point, they came to get along like friends.

They spoke ill of each other and also belittled each other’s skills.

Then, one day.

His grandson was called the Swordless and had become the shame of the family.

The old man, like the others, persuaded him several times, but So-hyeon merely smiled gently, closely resembling his mother.

[Being content with poverty and enjoying the path is simply my wish. The rumors of the world will also have a day when they clear up eventually.]

He said it was fine even if the rumors did not clear up.

He said it was good to live quietly without greed and then depart.

He asked if not stepping foot into the muddy mortal world was also a way of living.

The old man beat his chest and lamented.

He was a child who was too gentle .

He was an all too soft child.

He was a child who resembled his mother too much.

The child resembled a small, beautiful grass flower that was all too unsuitable for the cruel world.

The child, who was too clever, had become disappointed in the world early.

He had aged prematurely .

There was no way to know what had happened.

His grandson had thus stopped involving himself in the affairs of the world .

* * *

That child of his, his grandson, had now lost his existence as a human.

Not a trace of vitality could be found in that body.

He harbored a terrible demonic qi within his body that was beyond imagination.

[…I just want to take responsibility too.]

What responsibility did he mean to take?

What and how much did this grand family do wrong, and how wrongly was the world turning, that this child abandoned humanity and tried to take responsibility?

His grandson was so kind and gentle-hearted that he was a child who did not raise his voice even to the servants who ignored him.

He was a child who merely said he wanted to live quietly for his lifetime and then depart.

He was a child who, even after being poisoned, quietly treated himself because he did not want to cause unexpected trouble in the family.

He was a child who, having been poisoned by so many poisons, had reached a stage higher in dispelling poison than the grandfather called the Medicine King.

How painful it must have been, how resentful he must have felt.

If it were him, he would not have held out for a moment.

“This mad family…!”

The bowl the old man threw smashed to pieces against the wall.

“A family like this, filled with garbage…!”

His angry shout rang out loudly.

It rang out sorrowfully .

“These cursed bastards! These damn bastards who know nothing but power and money!”

He fell prostrate on the spot and wept.

He wept sorrowfully.

He wailed.

Tears and snot flowed down, making the already shabby old man’s face look even uglier.

However, no one could mock that.

He had sent his daughter first.

And now, it had become no different from having sent his grandson first as well.

* * *

“So, are you planning to stir things up now?”

“Will I only stir it up?”

There were only two people in the room.

Jeong-ah had long since left the room out of consideration for the old man’s dignity.

Yeon So-hyeon bared his teeth and smiled.

“If necessary, I intend to empty it all out and fill it anew.”

They were chilling words.

The old man clapped his hands in joy.

“Good! Since you are doing it, is it not natural to do it properly?!”

He burst into a hearty laugh.

“Those bastards will get to know who they have touched!”

The grandfather and grandson clinked their cups and celebrated.

“Is there anything more I can do for you?”

“Can you stay in Luoyang for a while?”

The old man nodded.

“I was visiting anyway because of a prescription I might hear from your father.”

He ground his teeth.

“I should take this opportunity to waste the wealth of this family that has nothing but money.”

Yeon So-hyeon chuckled.

The old man looked at So-hyeon and spoke cautiously.

“Before visiting you, I was just returning from seeing the fellow Bi first. Because I needed the secret transmission poison of the Sichuan Tang Clan . Of course, I received the poison…”

Bi was the name of the Fourth Young Master.

“Did he pester you about something again?”

At Yeon So-hyeon’s words, the old man scratched his head.

“It is always the same. That fellow likes you so much, doesn’t he? But since you are holed up and do not even meet him…”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded readily.

“I see. I was planning to visit him this time anyway.”

The old man’s face brightened.

“That’s good. Then…”

At that moment, Jeong-ah’s voice was heard from outside.

It was filled with trouble for anyone who heard it.

“Master. A guest has arrived.”

A guest at this hour.

“Who is it?”

The answer came not from Jeong-ah, but from the one who was the guest.

“Eldest Young Master. This steward has come to escort Elder Medicine King by obeying Elder Yeom’s command.”

The Medicine King’s eyebrows twitched.

“These crazy bastards…”

He was about to kick his seat and rise, but Yeon So-hyeon had already kicked the door open.