“How is it?”

“Yes?”

Mookbi asked with a smile.

“The medical practitioners at the Medical Immortal Pavilion. Are they difficult to manage?”

Gi Uhui smiled back.

“No. They’re treating me far more comfortably than I expected.”

Je Gal Munho had gathered the physicians who would work at the Medical Immortal Pavilion with strict emphasis on character and diligence.

If the Martial Alliance had needed physicians with immediate skill, such a selection would have been impossible. Je Gal Munho believed the growth of the Medical Immortal Pavilion depended on the diligence and uprightness of its physicians, and he had no doubt Gi Uhui would become the foundation of that growth.

On top of that, most of them had lacked connections and had been unable to receive formal education, so they had studied on their own and built experience for themselves.

Naturally, they did not have the pointless arrogance or pride of the Medical God Association, which went around proclaiming Central Plains medicine the greatest in the world. Though Gi Uhui was from the Western Regions, they were people who would have almost no prejudice against her skill or character.

“Managing people won’t be easy.”

“It really isn’t. Even though they’re such good people, I have a lot to worry about. Speaking of which, the Evil-Smiting Corps troops follow you very well, Vice Commander Mook.”

Mookbi smiled awkwardly.

“The beginning was good. Young Master Yeon grabbed hold of them properly from the start too. Rather than saying I did well, it’s because Young Master Yeon built the first relationship well.”

“I see.”

Gi Uhui’s smile turned a little awkward.

Mookbi rose from her seat.

“I’ll go to the unit for a while. Please rest comfortably.”

“Ah, yes!”

With that, Mookbi left.

Left alone, Gi Uhui let out a low sigh.

Young Master Yeon.

To her, Yeon Hojeong could only be a special existence.

They had no personal friendship, nor had they met as physician and patient. But Yeon Hojeong had seen through Gi Uhui’s identity at once and forced a choice on her.

That was right. It had been coercion. The problem was that it had been coercion at precisely the right moment.

So Gi Uhui was grateful to Yeon Hojeong. Put badly, she had betrayed her father. Put well, she had become able to follow the greater cause.

Either way, Yeon Hojeong was someone who had greatly affected Gi Uhui’s life.

Gi Uhui let out a quiet sigh.

What kind of life has he lived?

A few days earlier, through the difficult-to-explain ability called Spirit Eyes, she had been able to fully feel Yeon Hojeong’s emotions.

Rage like an active volcano, sorrow reminiscent of a dark, lightless deep sea, worry that had not faded, and more.

It had been an array of every emotion a human being could hold. Emotions that could never be combined had been packed tightly inside one person’s chest, turning into explosives on the verge of bursting, breathing only in harsh gasps.

I have seen many people’s emotions until now, but I have never seen emotions that rich. He is someone who has experienced the extreme of every emotion a human can feel.

Spirit Eyes could sense a person’s emotions or distinguish truth from falsehood.

But they could not read thoughts. That was why Gi Uhui did not know Yeon Hojeong’s identity, or his past.

Gi Uhui was lost in thought for quite some time.

Thump. Thump.

Someone knocked on the door.

Gi Uhui was not startled. She already knew whose presence it was.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Yeon Hojeong stepped inside.

Gi Uhui forced a smile.

“What brings you—gasp!”

She shot to her feet.

“Commander Yeon. Are you badly hurt?”

Though nothing appeared wrong on the outside, she saw at a glance whether he had internal injuries. As expected, her skill was remarkable.

Yeon Hojeong shook his head.

“It’s nothing. It’ll heal on its own in a few days.”

“That still won’t do. Sit here first. For an accurate diagnosis, I’ll take your pulse...”

“I didn’t come to be treated.”

“Sit anyway!”

Her voice was firm in a way unlike her.

Yeon Hojeong looked at Gi Uhui in silence, then sat down in a chair without a word.

“I’ll take your pulse for a moment.”

Medicine from the Western Regions did not involve taking the pulse. It was obvious at a glance that she had learned both Central Plains and Western Regions medicine without favoring one over the other.

Gi Uhui took Yeon Hojeong’s pulse gate.

......!

What startled her the moment she took his pulse was the forceful movement of his blood.

The flow of blood through his veins was extremely vigorous, yet deep and unhurried. She had never before seen such a powerful pulse.

He really is extraordinary.

Qi was qi, but his body itself was in an extremely healthy state.

Either he had been born with an innately exceptional body, or else his training and terrifying True Qi had transformed even the body he was born with.

Whichever it was, it was an extraordinary body in every way. Gi Uhui recovered from her surprise and focused on the pulse examination.

A moment later.

“It is as you said, Commander Yeon. You suffered fairly deep internal injuries, but they have improved greatly over the last few days. Even if left alone, they should heal naturally.”

“I told you.”

“But when there is a physician here to look after your body, there is no need for you to endure the discomfort.”

Gi Uhui pulled a needle case from inside her robe.

“I’ll make the flow of qi a little smoother. I should be able to cut your recovery time in half.”

Yeon Hojeong shook his head.

“I’m really fine.”

“Commander Yeon.”

“I said I didn’t come here to be treated. Put the needle case away.”

When he went that far, it was awkward to force treatment on him.

In the end, Gi Uhui put the needle case back into her robe.

Yeon Hojeong asked, “How are the children?”

“Yes?”

“The Medical Immortal Pavilion people. This is your first time having many people under you, isn’t it?”

Gi Uhui spoke with an awkward expression.

“It is. But everyone is good, so it’s all right.”

“I heard their skill is below average.”

“To be honest, it isn’t good. That’s why we’re in the middle of making teaching manuals. So they can see and learn directly.”

“I see.”

He probably had not come here to ask that. In other words, this was a courtesy before getting to the main point.

And Gi Uhui’s judgment was accurate.

“A few days ago, I captured the Divine Flame Cult’s Twelfth Warrior-General.”

“......!!”

“You know, don’t you? What kind of people the Eighteen Warrior-Generals are.”

Gi Uhui swallowed.

That was then.

It must have happened in the early dawn of the day she had sensed Yeon Hojeong’s emotions with her Spirit Eyes.

“Before he died, he coughed up a few pieces of information. There were quite a few parts even I didn’t know.”

Gi Uhui swallowed again and asked, “Do you believe what he said was true?”

“I do.”

“Why? The Eighteen Warrior-Generals are not positions one can reach simply because one’s martial arts are strong. Without absolute faith in the Cult, no matter how excellent one’s martial arts may be, one cannot obtain the position of Warrior-General.”

“I still believe it was the truth.”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes turned murky.

“It was torture that even someone more vicious than him could not withstand. The chance of it being false is extremely low.”

“......!!”

Gi Uhui’s face paled.

Was it because she had felt Yeon Hojeong’s emotions once? Though she could not see it with her eyes, she could imagine just how ruthless and terrible the torture he had inflicted must have been.

“The important thing is this. I know a fair amount about the Perverse Lust Cult. But I don’t have that level of knowledge about the Divine Flame Cult or the Mad Blood Cult.” 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Yeon Hojeong leaned forward and clasped his hands.

That slow movement alone seemed to change the atmosphere. A darker, heavier mood tightened around Gi Uhui’s throat.

“Originally, I wasn’t going to ask you any more than this. From what I heard before, it seemed you didn’t know that much either. I’d heard everything worth hearing, and even if you were hiding something, I thought it would be better to wait until you told me with your own mouth.”

“.......”

“There is one thing you haven’t told me, isn’t there?”

“Yes?”

“The Divine Flame Cult Leader’s bloodline.”

“......!”

“I haven’t heard a single thing about your brothers and sisters, apart from you. Beyond that, I haven’t heard in detail what kind of person the Divine Flame Cult Leader is, or why you are suffering because of your bloodline.”

“......Is that important?”

“It is.”

“May I ask in what way it is important?”

“When I caught that man called Hidden Shadow One, I had some idea. And when I captured the Twelfth Warrior-General this time, I became certain. The Divine Flame Cult is trying to seize the imperial palace and the authorities.”

Gi Uhui’s eyes trembled.

Yeon Hojeong continued in an even tone.

“But no matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand it. One of the reasons the empire, though weakened, has been maintained until now is bloodline—legitimacy. No matter how corrupt it is, it isn’t so easy that it could be seized by someone from the Western Regions.”

“The people in power... may simply be that rotten.”

“My thoughts are a little different. If the empire’s power holders were that rotten, the empire should have collapsed long ago. It would mean they were fighting past the line.”

“.......”

“A line that cannot be crossed, even while living as a treacherous minister. The Orthodox Path and the Dark Path both have their own lines. Then what is the line of the statesmen who govern a nation?”

“......Legitimacy.”

“There would be several things. But among them, the greatest is, as you said, legitimacy.”

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes shone.

“Whether they stuff themselves with bribes or are oppressed by force, there must be a minimum of justification. And the greatest justification in imperial politics is bloodline—legitimacy.”

“.......”

“Tell me. How is the Divine Flame Cult Leader connected to the Central Plains empire?”

Gi Uhui looked at Yeon Hojeong quietly, then let out a frustrated sigh.

“You truly are sharp, Commander Yeon.”

“.......”

“You’re right. I did not tell you everything about the Divine Flame Cult. To be precise, I didn’t even think to tell you. Because I had been trying to forget it too.”

Yeon Hojeong smiled coldly.

“Recall that memory you were trying to forget. Then tell me.”

*****

“What?!”

Donggak’s eyes bulged as if they might tear open.

“You say the Twelfth Warrior-General has not arrived yet?”

“Th-that is correct.”

The old man swallowed.

“With the Twelfth Warrior-General’s ability, it would be normal for him to have already passed Xuchang and arrived at Kaifeng. Yet they say he still has not appeared.”

Donggak’s face twisted.

“What in the world could have...?!”

Gyu Jeok was a thoroughly meticulous person.

Leaving skill aside, he was a man who handled work with certainty. He was not someone who would vanish without a single word like this.

Then?

“Could he possibly have been taken down by someone?!”

The old man stopped himself from saying without thinking that such a thing could not be.

We do not know.

This place was close to the Martial Alliance. And the Martial Alliance was like a sacred ground for martial artists of the Orthodox Path. That meant many masters came and went there.

It would not be strange for something to happen at any time, anywhere. There might not be many masters capable of capturing someone as great as the Twelfth Warrior-General without anyone knowing, but even so, one never knew.

“There is one suspicious point.”

“What is it?”

“I saw it while returning. There were traces of a forest fire not far from here. After a brief investigation, there was much talk, including that it had been caused by lightning, or that it was a fire started by a campfire lit by an unknown traveler.”

Donggak’s eyes turned cold.

“Fire?”

The Divine Flame Cult worshiped fire.

Naturally, Divine Flame Cult members also trained in heat-yang arts. Among them, the Eighteen Warrior-Generals trained in the highest-grade heat-yang arts.

If they set their minds to it, starting a forest fire would not be difficult. The problem was why the Twelfth Warrior-General would have started a forest fire.

“Were there perhaps traces of a fight?”

“I was unable to find out that far.”

“Go and find out immediately. If, by any chance, traces are found that someone fought there...”

Donggak gritted his teeth. He would rather there be traces of a fight.

If Gyu Jeok had vanished without a word, then the higher-ups would not leave him, the last witness, alone.

“At that time, we report to the leadership. We must summon a higher-ranked Warrior-General.”