-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Baek Jung-hyeok, One of the Three Divine Doctors of the Central Plains
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Gasp, gasp…."
On a night as black as pitch.
The city of Chengdu in Sichuan was submerged in darkness, and I was racing down a mountain path barely visible in the faint moonlight. I was breathless, but I couldn't stop.
'If this keeps up, I'll be caught and killed for sure.'
If that was to be my fate, I would at least burn these documents.
I pulled out the papers I had been carrying in my robes and pressed a talisman engraved with the character for 'fire' against them. As I chanted the incantation, a flame ignited, and the inferno, feeding on the talisman, instantly turned the documents to ash.
The contents of those documents were the hope I had harbored to make this world, so full of disease, poison, and injury, a more peaceful place. It was the great cause I had held in my heart my entire life.
The image of the blazing flames was reflected in my pupils.
As I burned the documents with my own hands, I felt as if I were incinerating myself.
From a young age, I had shown an exceptional talent for scholarship. I mainly studied medicine and formations. As I frantically healed people for many long years based on my learning, they eventually began to call me the Divine Doctor.
But no matter how many sick people I treated or how many disputes I mediated, it was futile. The world was vast, and there was a limit to what one person could achieve. That was why I began creating the formation.
The Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation.
It was an unprecedented formation capable of curing all poisons and healing all wounds in the world. To complete it, I researched every text I could find.
Whenever I encountered something I didn't know, I would seek out renowned scholars and sages to discuss it. It seemed that news of my endeavors had reached their ears as well.
Two years ago, martial artists from the Sichuan Tang Clan came to me, offering to support my research. They provided me with a secret location suitable for my work and ancient texts.
They also spared no expense, providing me with personnel to support my research and all the necessary materials I desired.
Thanks to the generous and meticulous support of the Tang Clan, my research gained momentum. And so… its completion was truly not far off.
Once the formation was complete, all I had to do was disseminate it among scholars, and we would be able to save far more people, far more efficiently.
That was what I thought…
Until I discovered the Tang Clan's wicked and insidious intentions. As a result, I was now being pursued by their assassins, having stolen the core documents of the formation only to burn them myself.
Just then, I felt a sharp pain as something pierced my ankle.
"Gah!"
One of the three great hidden weapons of the Sichuan Tang Clan, the man who betrayed me: Golden Fang Poison Claw. The bastard, who deserved to be torn to shreds, was looking down at me from a tree.
"For an old man who hasn't even learned martial arts, you've run quite far."
Golden Fang Poison Claw threw more daggers in succession, piercing my limbs and chest.
"Gah!"
Beside a mountain stream, Golden Fang Poison Claw looked at the pile of ashes that were once my documents and spoke.
"You are relentless…."
Even as I coughed up mouthfuls of blood, I glared at him with all my might.
"What is the meaning of this…."
"To burn all the core documents…. I won't waste words. Tell me the core of the formation, and I will grant you a painless death."
In an instant, he was upon me. He began to pierce my fingertips and toes with his long, poison-laced fingernails—his poison claws.
"Gah!"
I felt a searing pain as if my bones and flesh were being burned away, starting from the very extremities of my body.
"Hah!"
But I was not a man to yield to pain or death. Instead, I spat out the blood filling my mouth and roared with all my strength, venting my indignation and rebuking him.
"Yes… I'm sure the Divine Doctor feels wronged and aggrieved…. I understand. But such is the way of the Central Plains. From an individual's perspective, it may seem unjust, but isn't that how the greater good works?"
These sons of bitches dare to speak of a greater good…
You're the ones who destroyed my great cause!
He pulled the poison claw from my toes and plunged it into my calf.
"Aaaargh!"
You scum…!
My heart dissolved, consumed by a sense of injustice, and blood surged up my throat. But an even thicker rage filled my eyes.
"You spew whatever nonsense comes to your mind. Where in your actions is there any semblance of a greater good? Can you still call yourselves members of the Orthodox Sects, claiming to uphold righteousness and chivalry?"
The Orthodox Sects.
The so-called righteous ones. However, in the current Central Plains, the term had come to refer to the martial artists of clans and families who proclaimed themselves righteous.
Originally, the title of an Orthodox Sect martial artist was something to be bestowed by others, but they had taken to patting themselves on the back.
"Righteousness and chivalry… The prosperity of the Tang Clan is righteousness, and making the name of the Tang Clan renowned throughout the land is chivalry. Do you understand?"
"I see… so you're a madman…."
"It seems the Divine Doctor is mistaken…. If you create the Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation, which can cure all poisons, what do you think will happen to the Tang Clan, whose primary weapon is poison?"
"…"
"It might be helpful in a war against the Unorthodox Sects or the Demonic Cult, but after that, it would hinder the Tang Clan from spreading its influence across the world. If all poisons can be cured, would the world still fear the Tang Clan… fear our poisons?"
"You despicable cowards…."
"The Orthodox Sects only have meaning because the Unorthodox Sects and the Demonic Cult, who embrace evil, exist. We will use the formation you created to take in orphans and raise them as Poison Blood Demons."
"Gah! You sons of bitches!"
Blood sprayed from my mouth as I screamed at Golden Fang Poison Claw.
Could these people, who would turn parentless orphans into murderous demons for the sake of their clan, truly be called followers of the righteous path?
"Tsk, tsk. If you had just cooperated, we wouldn't have had to kill you like this. Truly foolish. Tsk, tsk."
Golden Fang Poison Claw clicked his tongue as he looked down at me. His gaze was that of someone looking at a stubborn old man ignorant of the ways of the world. It was filled with intense disgust.
"Then again, what would an old man who has only ever buried himself in his studies know?"
This was his miscalculation.
It wasn't that I didn't know.
I had simply thought that the Orthodox Sects, who at least preached that even hypocrisy was a form of good, were better than the ruffians of the Unorthodox Sects who used martial arts for their own selfish desires, or the Demonic Cult that sought to crush everything with force.
I had simply wanted to trust the Tang Clan, which held absolute power in Sichuan and occupied a seat among the Five Great Families of the Orthodox Sects.
While they weren't free of corruption, it was also true that their presence maintained the peace in Sichuan. I had wanted to believe, and did believe, that the Tang Clan had at least a shred of conscience left.
"You scum…! I would rather be torn limb from limb by you than cooperate in such a vile affair."
"Tsk. Very well. I have no desire to torment the Divine Doctor any longer. It seems you won't talk no matter how much pain I inflict, so I shall end it now."
"Heh heh, you blockheads…. No matter how much you rack your brains, you will never figure it out. I have burned the core principles of the formation."
"That is a problem. I don't know how you found out, but you acted quickly. However, there is one thing you do not know."
"…"
"We have already won over all of your disciples for the research. Ah, of course, we deceived them, telling them you didn't die at our hands but rather slipped and fell on a mountain path."
"Leave my disciples… alone…!"
"Your disciples will be researching the formation for raising Poison Blood Demons. They will believe it was your dying wish. Hehehe. To think the disciples of the Divine Doctor will be conducting research not to save lives, but to take them. Hehehe, the world truly is a mysterious place."
"You…!"
"Ah! And we have also discovered the location of the Myriad Fragrance Blood Jade Tree fruit, the core ingredient for the Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation. It seems to be in a place called Blade Leaf Valley…. The only problem is that it's in the Demonic Cult's territory, but we have found a way. So, you need not worry."
"You won't have your way…."
At that moment, his poison claw pierced my heart.
"Gaaah!"
"Once the great formation is complete, the name of the Sichuan Tang Clan will be known throughout the world. We must endure the sacrifices until then."
My heartbeat, which had been gradually slowing, stopped.
Dammit…
It hurts.
My breath is fading.
It was a life full of regrets.
As if signaling the end, my life flashed before my eyes.
My childhood was not a happy one.
Since ancient times, whenever war broke out between the Orthodox and Unorthodox Sects, small villages would often get caught in the crossfire.
A village that vanished without a trace due to a poison mist spread by a fleeing poison master of the Unorthodox Sects—I was the sole survivor of that village.
'It was a gruesome sight.'
People whose bare skin melted away, whose blood flowed in reverse, whose joints contorted. Like a scene from the depths of hell, I watched in despair as they writhed in agony and died one by one.
If some monks and martial artists from the Orthodox Sects hadn't cleared the poison mist and rescued me, I too would have died in agony like the other villagers.
However, the undeniable truth was that if the Orthodox Sects hadn't recklessly waged war against the Unorthodox Sects, my village would never have been sacrificed.
Yes, I do not like martial artists. Regardless of the process, are they not ultimately people who kill?
I was brilliant from a young age and mastered all fields of study, but I never trained in martial arts. It wasn't that I lacked the opportunity…
Perhaps I subconsciously rejected it because the people precious to me had fallen to it.
I began to save the injured and sick with the knowledge and medical skills I had learned.
It wasn't for some ulterior motive like the Orthodox Sect members, who masked their violence by claiming to establish righteousness and chivalry while extorting money from people. I did it simply because I wanted to.
The people I saved began to call me the Divine Doctor with one voice.
When wealthy and reputable figures tried to oppress me with their money and power, my tongue grew sharp, and I revealed my fiery temper, earning me the name Mad Doctor as well.
But what did it matter?
Saving lives was what was important.
Those less than human deserved a good scolding.
However, a poor, powerless old woman shed tears of gratitude before me, and a boy with no parents or family bowed to me endlessly.
I made a name for myself as a physician and a scholar, and before I knew it, I had lived past seventy years. Then, I began taking in orphans who were in the same situation as I had been. I taught them medicine and scholarship.
'The children….'
Yes, even in my final moments, it was the children I thought of. I cared for and taught those pitiful children with all my heart. They were my disciples, my children. We shared the same surname, Baek, and lived like a family.
Among them, the memories of the three who were with me until the end—Baek Ji-pyeong, Baek Yeon-ho, and Baek So-so—were impossible to forget.
'For the sake of the greater good, I pushed even the children away….'
And this is the result?
The betrayal of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
They would use even my disciples to create Poison Blood Demons.
Once the formation was complete, my disciples would surely be killed.
'Ji-pyeong, Yeon-ho, So-so. You fools, those men are not the type to leave loose ends. You could be witnesses, so you will be killed. Please, run away. You, at least—yes, you at least—must not walk the same path as your worthless master.'
I cried out as I thought of the children, but my voice reached nowhere.
If I had known it would come to this,
I would have spent the rest of my life with my disciples…
*Gnash—*
I felt my teeth grind and my blood boil. Sorrow soon turned to rage. That bone-deep fury made me scream at the world even as I faced death.
You scum! And you call yourselves the Orthodox Sects?
What the hell is chivalry, and what the hell is righteousness?
But my anger, too, lost its way.
I had no strength left.
It was truly… a miserable feeling.
Baek Jung-hyeok.
My name, once respected as one of the Three Divine Doctors of the Central Plains.
But now, on the verge of death,
there was no one to hear my story.
In the silence,
my life came to an end.
***
*Flash!*
My eyes shot open.
I saw a space that was entirely white. My body, which should have been covered in blood, was unblemished, clad only in white robes.
"Have you awakened?"
Startled by a voice that suddenly came from behind, I hurriedly turned around. There stood an old man dressed in black robes.
Before I could identify who the old man was or where I was, I asked the most important question.
"Am I dead?"
It was the first question that came to mind when I opened my eyes.
"You are between life and death."
But the old man's answer was ambiguous.
Between life and death? Where in the world is that? And who is this old man discussing life and death with me?
The old man in the black robes was sitting at a desk, writing with a brush. As if reading my thoughts, he added.
"Wait a moment. I have matters to attend to."
Matters to attend to…? Could this old man be a grim reaper? Is he here to guide me, now that I'm dead? Does he need to record it in a document first? If so, what will happen to me now?
Countless questions arose,
but only one sentence escaped my lips.
"I have lived my entire life for others."
It was a statement that testified to my entire life.
In a situation where the being before me could be a grim reaper or a judge of the underworld, I was defending myself.
Then, the old man gave me an unexpected response.
"What if your final creation became the cornerstone of a great slaughter?"
His final creation? Was he talking about the Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation? But that should have failed due to the Tang Clan. Could it be that the Sichuan Tang Clan inherited my great formation and succeeded in raising Poison Blood Demons?
If that were true…
*Gnash—*
It was my fault for being so foolishly used. But I was worried about my disciples. If I could take all the responsibility, I would gladly do so.
I gritted my teeth and said.
"I am ashamed."
"What a ridiculous fellow."
The old man laughed as if in disbelief.
No.
His lips smiled,
but his face was stern,
and his eyes were filled with rage.
Seeing his expression, my throat went dry, and I swallowed hard. The aura emanating from him was so menacing it was suffocating.
'Indeed. A messenger from the underworld.'
A golden dragon pattern was embroidered on his black robes. The elegant cut of his clothes and the subtle yet powerful aura spoke of the old man's dignity. A lofty grace I had never seen anywhere in the world filled the white space.
"My name is Cheon Mu-hyeok. In the mortal realm, I was known as the Heavenly Demon."
"…!"
What? The Heavenly Demon…?
Unbelievable words came from the mouth of the old man I had mistaken for a grim reaper.