Chapter 206
“Little one, why don’t you and Grandpa...”
Hearing yet another round of little one this and little one that, Seoryak covered her ears with a look of utter disgust.
The old man’s shameless doting was so unbearable that merely hearing his voice was starting to irritate her.
How old does he think the child is? He treats her like an infant. Give him a little longer and he’ll start wiping the sleep from her eyes for her.
Her brows twitching in annoyance, Seoryak looked up to check the time.
It was already time to go see the nuisance.
As Seoryak prepared to leave, Tang Geunmyeong, who had been watching from a distance, approached and asked respectfully,
“Elder, is there anything you need?”
“No. Go tend to your master. I’ll be back in four hours, so if the Poison King asks for me, tell him that.”
“Yes, I under—”
Before Tang Geunmyeong could finish answering, Seoryak stepped out of the safe house and started down the deserted mountain path.
Her footwork was so uncanny that she left not so much as a trace behind her.
Moving as lightly as a breeze passing through blades of grass, Seoryak soon stopped before a small manor.
“I’ll never understand how these great clans waste their money. There are only two of them, yet they rented an entire manor.”
Shaking her head in disapproval, she pushed open the front gate without so much as announcing herself.
Namgung Hwi was standing just inside, as though he had been waiting for her, and gave her an easy clasped-hands salute.
“Welcome, Divine Physician.”
He did not look remotely surprised by Seoryak barging in uninvited.
Seoryak gave him a slight nod, strode past him, and headed farther inside.
Jeokroe, who had been brewing a medicinal decoction in one corner, sprang to his feet and bowed.
“No need for all that. Are the ingredients ready?”
“Yes, Divine Physician. I prepared everything exactly as you instructed.”
“Let me see.”
Seoryak inspected the medicinal ingredients Jeokroe handed over, loosely tied the bundle shut, and tucked it into her robes.
“I’ll make them into pills and bring them back. They won’t help nearly as much as the Myriad Poisons Pill, but they should help dissolve the remaining energy completely. Make sure he takes them on time.”
“I will. Thank you for your great kindness, Divine Physician!”
Jeokroe answered enthusiastically, visibly delighted.
Seoryak merely shrugged as though it were nothing.
“Your master is the reason the Tang child survived. Consider this repayment.”
“Pardon?”
“There’s a little brat who would be devastated if anything happened to that child.”
Seoryak answered as though it were of no consequence, then turned her gaze toward Namgung Hwi, who had already walked over.
For some reason, he was grinning from ear to ear.
Seoryak clicked her tongue at him.
“What are you so happy about? You’ve lost half your inner force. What exactly is there to smile about?”
“If you have enough time to come down every day and look after me, Divine Physician, it must mean Miss Tang’s condition has improved considerably.”
His perfectly calm answer left Seoryak momentarily speechless.
She frowned.
“...I truly don’t understand you. You and the Tang child aren’t betrothed, as far as I know.”
“No. We aren’t.”
“Then why would you go that far...? No, forget it. Don’t answer. Once someone goes mad with love, what won’t they do? You probably can’t see anything else.”
Seoryak waved a hand, plainly signaling that she did not want to know.
Namgung Hwi ignored that and smiled.
“Isn’t everyone’s first time special?”
“Your first? You’re hardly old enough to have been carrying on some grand love affair. What, did you share your first kiss with the Tang child?”
Namgung Hwi’s eyes flew wide.
His face turned scarlet.
Whatever image had entered his head, he began stammering and fanning himself with one hand.
“W-What are you saying? I-I mean, of course that would be nice...! No! That’s not what I meant!”
At his bashful reaction, Seoryak’s eyes narrowed viciously.
Standing a good distance away, Jeokroe turned his head as though he had seen nothing and scrubbed a hand down his face.
He looks normal enough. They said he was the Young Clan Head, didn’t they? With this child leading them, the Namgung Clan is either going to soar or crash spectacularly.
Having reached her conclusion, Seoryak folded her arms and looked Namgung Hwi up and down.
His head might be hopeless, but no matter how many times she looked, that body was almost offensively perfect.
What kind of sword path would unfold if she put a sword in those hands?
Recalling the Namgung swordsmanship she had seen long ago, Seoryak asked,
“The last Namgung swordsman I crossed blades with was the Gale Sword. Was that your father?”
“If you mean Gale Sword Namgung Wicheon, he is my grandfather.”
“Your grandfather? That child lived long enough to see a grown grandson? Time really has passed. But that isn’t important. Draw it.”
Namgung Hwi blinked at the abrupt command.
“My sword, you mean?”
“Yes. I’m curious about your swordsmanship.”
It was a request rude enough to be called presumptuous, but Namgung Hwi offered no objection and simply drew his sword.
The finely honed blade caught the sunlight and gleamed with a cold brilliance.
Seoryak’s eyes lit up as she admired the elegant sword.
“Oh?”
She had expected some gaudy piece of trash hung with jewels for show.
Instead, the weapon itself was a peerless sword that would be difficult to obtain even for a thousand pieces of gold.
“These great clans really do know how to throw money around. You must have poured a fortune into getting your hands on a sword like that.”
Clicking her tongue, Seoryak lazily jerked her chin, telling him to show her what he could do with it.
At her signal, Namgung Hwi slowly tightened his grip on the hilt.
He showed no sign of nervousness even before a supreme master.
Soon, a pure, refined energy that would not have seemed out of place in a Taoist sect wrapped around the blade.
It was little more than a faint sheen across the sword’s surface, yet Seoryak was privately impressed.
He can still manifest that much force around the blade in his current condition?
If he could make the sword glow even now, then at his full strength the entire blade must once have shone a brilliant blue.
As Seoryak watched the forms Namgung Hwi demonstrated, a crooked smile crept across her lips.
“The Namgung Clan is still just as insane as ever. You obsessed lunatics insisted on pursuing weight and domination with a sword instead of a saber, and somehow you actually made it work.”
The words sounded like criticism, but the judgment behind them was high praise.
Then Seoryak thought,
He would complement those poison freaks rather well. Not that I know whether they’ll ever have reason to fight side by side...
His was a spectacular sword that drew the eyes of both allies and enemies.
It compensated naturally for the openings in Tang Clan martial arts. Personal preferences aside, their styles would work well together.
“Not bad. Fix a few bad habits and there won’t be much left to criticize.”
At Seoryak’s praise, Namgung Hwi grinned as though he had expected nothing less.
“You flatter me. My sword still has many shortcomings.”
The words were modest, but his tone brimmed with confidence.
Seoryak’s eyes narrowed.
Still, it was not empty arrogance.
How many promising young martial artists from great clans had Seoryak seen over her long life?
Their elders could personally give them body-cleansing treatments and feed them precious medicine at every meal, but if they lacked natural talent, plenty of them still collapsed before ever reaching the threshold of the first-rate realm.
Yet the child before her was displaying the skill of a first-rate martial artist even with a body that was effectively bound hand and foot.
His innate talent was simply on a different level from the mediocre rabble.
Seoryak could say with confidence that if he recovered the cultivated power he had lost and continued training properly, he would one day become a formidable master whom few could hope to challenge.
Genuinely regretful, she said,
“It’s a shame you’re a direct descendant of the Namgung Clan.”
He’d be fun to teach.
Namgung Hwi apparently understood the words she had left unspoken.
Smiling, he dropped to his knees.
“What are you doing?”
“What does my family name matter when it comes to forming a bond between teacher and disciple?”
He placed his neatly clenched fists atop his knees and looked up at Seoryak, his blue eyes curving gently.
Seoryak snorted in disbelief.
“Impudent brat. Why would I teach a child from a great clan just so your family can reap the benefits?”
Her tone suggested she had never heard anything so ridiculous.
And yet a trace of hesitation had already crept across Seoryak’s face.
Her title as the Ghost-Hand Divine Physician caused many people to overlook the fact that Seoryak was also a martial artist.
How could someone who had spent her entire life honing the sword have no desire for a worthy successor?
She had merely spent so long unable to find anyone worth taking in and teaching that she had nearly given up on the idea.
To someone who had secretly wanted a disciple all this time, Namgung Hwi was an extremely tempting piece of raw talent.
But the child before her already had a lineage of his own.
And not some insignificant sect, either.
He was the heir to the Namgung Clan.
Far from inheriting Seoryak’s teachings intact, he would strip out only what suited him and fold it into the Namgung sword.
Eventually, not even the original form of her art would remain.
Absolutely not.
If that were the alternative, she would rather write a secret manual and hope that one day it found its way into the hands of someone worthy.
She had no intention whatsoever of doing those obnoxious great clans a favor.
“Stop dreaming and get up. I have no intention of taking you in.”
“Every teacher I’ve had has told me I learn quickly. I’m sure you would enjoy teaching me.”
“I’ll at least give you credit for knowing how to praise yourself. But there are limits to insolence. Don’t make me angry.”
𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Seoryak lowered her voice in warning.
Namgung Hwi did not so much as flinch.
He simply continued looking up at her with clear, guileless eyes.
Seoryak. Don’t be angry.
Those eyes brought someone to mind so naturally that the corners of Seoryak’s mouth slowly softened.
“My, my. One shameless brat who climbs all over me is quite enough.”
Though she muttered the words under her breath, her tone had already softened, and so had her expression.
Perhaps adjusting the Namgung child’s swordsmanship would not be such a bad thing after all.
Wasn’t it possible that this child might one day defeat that damned old monster’s disciple?
Better yet, if the Poison King saw traces of her sword in a Namgung child—the very clan he could barely stand the sight of—he might clutch the back of his neck and collapse on the spot.
...That has possibilities. If his precious disciple gets pushed back by the very sword that used to give him trouble, he might actually take to his bed. I’d pay to see the look on his face.
It was an unexpectedly delightful thought.
A wicked smile spread across Seoryak’s lips as she slowly extended three fingers.
“Three moves.”
“Pardon?”
“Survive three moves from me. Don’t misunderstand—I’m not saying I’ll take you as my disciple.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. If you make it through all three safely, I’ll correct those bad habits of yours.”
One corner of Seoryak’s mouth lifted.
With an elegant motion, she drew her sword.
Its point settled on Namgung Hwi.