Chapter 23
When Dokgo Ryeong regained consciousness, the first thing she felt was a rocking motion.
The comforting sway of being held in someone's arms.
‘… My head hurts….’
As Dokgo Ryeong winced from the splitting pain in her head, the hulking man holding her reacted first.
“Oh, Miss Dokgo’s awake.”
“…Ryeong, are you awake?”
“…Yeah. Give me some water.”
“Here.”
The hulking man set Dokgo Ryeong down and handed the water to Baekri Sohyeon.
The moment Dokgo Ryeong took it, she glared at Baekri Sohyeon.
“Try it first.”
“…I didn’t put anything in it this time. I swear….”
“…”
Dokgo Ryeong glared at her for a moment, then gulped down the water.
As the cool water ran down her throat, Dokgo Ryeong came to her senses.
“Phew… I feel alive.”
“Hehe, are you all right, Miss Dokgo?”
“…You’re with the Hao Sect, right?”
“Yes, I’m Gwan-yeong~.”
The hulking man, with a thick beard, winked and stuck out her tongue.
Seeing that, Dokgo Ryeong felt her mind grow muddled.
“Do that shitty thing one more time and I’ll gouge your eyes out next time.”
“Hiiing… That’s so mean….”
“Think I’m joking? Try it again, and I’ll—”
Just then, Dokgo Ryeong’s heart sank.
She hurriedly looked around, but Wi Ilcheong was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh, Brother Wi went to hold off the pursuers. He recovered a tremendous amount of inner energy thanks to you, Miss…”
“Kyaaa! Shut up! Don’t say another word!!”
“…Hiiing.”
“I said I’d gouge your eyes out if you did that one more time, didn’t I?”
“…I’m sorry, Miss.”
Eun Gwan-yeong lowered her voice and spoke in the gruff tone befitting her appearance.
“So, where are we going? Cheongniwa… right?”
“Yes, we’re heading there.”
“…I was worried when you fainted, Ryeong. Even if you did it to yourself….”
“You too, blockhead. Shut up.”
“…Hehe, Ryeong.”
“Hey! Stop hugging me!!”
When Dokgo Ryeong shoved Baekri Sohyeon away in disgust, Baekri rolled across the ground.
“…Huh?”
Until just a little while ago, there had clearly been a gap between her and Baekri Sohyeon: one was a trained martial artist, and the other had never learned martial arts.
No matter how much Dokgo Ryeong struggled, Baekri Sohyeon hadn’t budged.
But now it was different.
Baekri Sohyeon was just as bewildered.
“Rye… Ryeong, are you mad…?”
“No…, um…. Wait a minute.”
When Dokgo Ryeong suddenly sat cross-legged on the ground, Baekri Sohyeon and Eun Gwan-yeong quietly watched her.
Dokgo Ryeong began examining her insides.
As always, the yin energy at her Huiyin acupoint was pure and as abundant as a great river.
But her twelve regular meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians were different.
For some reason, the meridians that had once frozen solid now had a small opening.
‘The Yang Linking Vessel among the Eight Extraordinary Meridians has opened…!’
With the Yang Linking Vessel unblocked, a passage had opened for yang energy to circulate again, bringing vitality back to Dokgo Ryeong’s body.
Simply put, she could now circulate the inner energy she hadn’t been able to use all this time.
When Dokgo Ryeong opened her eyes again, she saw Eun Gwan-yeong, who had returned to her female form, and Baekri Sohyeon staring at her.
Seeing Dokgo Ryeong open her eyes, Eun Gwan-yeong and Baekri Sohyeon asked,
“Miss Dokgo… is something wrong?”
“…Ryeong, are you okay?”
“My Yang Linking Vessel has opened.”
“!!”
The two widened their eyes at Dokgo Ryeong’s answer.
“Huh…? Wait, was your meridian blockage really that easy to cure?”
“…I don’t know either. But one thing’s certain.”
Clang.
Dokgo Ryeong drew the flexible sword tied to her arm and swung it.
A nearby tree slid neatly down, leaving a clean cross-section.
Even though she herself had done it, Dokgo Ryeong stared at the sight and murmured in amazement,
“I can use inner energy….”
“…Congratulations, Ryeong. Then the Four Suns Sword Art…”
“I’m not calling you Big Sis. You’re dead if I do, seriously.”
“…”
Baekri Sohyeon’s expression fell.
Dokgo Ryeong smiled and stroked Baekri Sohyeon’s head as she lowered it in disappointment.
“But if you teach me, I’ll be grateful to learn.”
“…Yeah. I’ll do my best as your senior sister.”
“…”
Thinking that a senior sister was still a big sister in the end, Dokgo Ryeong began wondering whether she really had to call this blockhead Big Sis.
Just then, Eun Gwan-yeong cut in from beside them.
“M-Miss Dokgo. Weren’t you born with blocked meridians?”
“…Huh?”
“No…, the whole atmosphere changed all of a sudden just because you can use inner energy?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Before, you were like a cute little rabbit, but now you’re like a tiger just starting to grow….”
Whack.
Dokgo Ryeong’s hand shot out and smacked Eun Gwan-yeong on the head.
“Hiiing… Why’d you hit me…?”
“You wanna die, huh? I’ve been a tiger since birth. Got it?”
“…Yeees.”
Eun Gwan-yeong rubbed the spot where she’d been hit and said,
“…So what do we do now?”
“What about?”
“…We were going to Cheongniwa because Miss Dokgo couldn’t use movement techniques, right? Now wouldn’t it be fine to just cross the Pajeo River?”
“Why bother?”
“Huh?”
Dokgo Ryeong looked down at her hands.
‘…The inner energy I can use is still no more than a handful. Even if I make up for it with experience….’
Dokgo Ryeong answered honestly.
“I’m still dead weight.”
“…You knew?”
“You wanna die, seriously?”
“Aah! W-why… Miss Dokgo admitted it herself!”
“Just because you’re right doesn’t mean you won’t get hit, you punk!”
“Hiiing….”
“…Ryeong, stop picking on Gwan-yeong….”
“S-She’s right! You’re so mean!”
“…”
Eun Gwan-yeong hid behind Baekri Sohyeon.
Baekri Sohyeon patted Eun Gwan-yeong’s head and said,
“…Ryeong, you’re too hard on Gwan-yeong.”
“What are you talking about…. I hate seeing some strong punk pretending to be weak, and I hate seeing a girl from a shady sect like the Hao Sect hide her true thoughts and act cute.”
“…Gwan-yeong’s a good person.”
“A good person’s the Hao Sect’s next Sect Leader? Ha! Why not say the Demonic Cult is actually a gathering of warm, decent people?”
“I-I’m not the next Sect Leader, just a candidate….”
“…”
Crack.
Hearing Eun Gwan-yeong talk back, Dokgo Ryeong clenched her fist with a chilling sound.
“…So there’s one person here I can test how much of my inner energy works on without holding back.”
“H-Hiiik! Big Sis Sohyeon!!”
“You’re dead today…!!”
“Kyaaa!!”
Dokgo Ryeong lunged at Eun Gwan-yeong.
*
After shaking off the pursuing Murong Clan martial artists and returning to where Dokgo Ryeong and the others were, Wi Ilcheong was bewildered.
He was surprised, first, that they hadn’t gotten as far from the place they’d last parted as he’d expected, and second, that Dokgo Ryeong looked like a complete mess.
“…Miss Dokgo?”
“What the fuck.”
“…What happened to your face?”
“Shut up.”
When it seemed Dokgo Ryeong wasn’t going to tell him anything, Wi Ilcheong looked at Baekri Sohyeon.
“Miss Baekri?”
“…Ryeong’s Yang Linking Vessel opened.”
“…! Is that true?”
“…Yeah. She can circulate inner energy. But Gwan-yeong fought with Ryeong.”
“How did that happen?”
“…Ryeong didn’t like Gwan-yeong and attacked her, but lost. That’s why she looks like that.”
“Shut up! Who lost?! I’m just calling it here for today!!”
Dokgo Ryeong shouted as if throwing a fit, but Eun Gwan-yeong looked tearful at the sight.
“Hiiing… I’m hurt. Brother Wi….”
“…You said Miss Eun won. Why does she look like this?”
Dokgo Ryeong had only one large bruise around her eye, but Eun Gwan-yeong’s clothes were torn, her hair was a mess, and she’d been clutching her arm for a while.
“We agreed to match our inner energy and only use hand-to-hand combat (搏鬪術), but Miss Dokgo came at me like she was trying to kill me, hiiing….”
“…Hand-to-hand combat (搏鬪術)?”
“Yeees….”
Wi Ilcheong tilted his head.
Who was Eun Gwan-yeong?
She was a candidate to become the Hao Sect’s next Sect Leader, and one of Sect Leader Eun Yak-byeok’s cherished disciples.
Besides, as far as Wi Ilcheong knew, Eun Gwan-yeong’s greatest specialty was hand-to-hand combat.
Eun Gwan-yeong excelled at close-range fighting, using her hands and feet quickly to grapple with her opponents. Even if they’d matched their inner energy, how had things ended up like this?
“How did the spar between the two of you go?”
“…Gwan-yeong was losing the whole time, then turned it around with that one hit. So Gwan-yeong won, but…”
“Ha!”
A hollow laugh escaped Wi Ilcheong.
‘A woman who’d suffered from blocked meridians all her life pushed around a martial artist who specialized in hand-to-hand combat just because she unblocked one Yang Linking Vessel?’
Wi Ilcheong’s gaze shifted to Dokgo Ryeong.
When Dokgo Ryeong met Wi Ilcheong’s eyes, her heart began pounding.
She remembered what had happened before she lost consciousness.
‘Y-you crazy bastard….’
Just seeing Wi Ilcheong’s face made her remember his enormous manhood and what had been smeared across her face….
“Miss Dokgo?”
“D-Don’t come any closer!”
“May I take a look at your arm?”
“Y-You lunatic! Don’t touch me!”
“…?”
When Dokgo Ryeong recoiled in disgust, Wi Ilcheong was taken aback.
“But you didn’t mind before. Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”
“Get lost, you lunatic!”
“…I’m trying to check for signs of hand-to-hand combat.”
“E-Even so….”
Dokgo Ryeong’s face reddened.
What if Wi Ilcheong was tricking her again?
But at the same time, an inexplicable, strange feeling welled up in her chest.
No, a little lower than her chest.
Her lower dantian throbbed again.
“…For real?”
“Yes, truly. Ah…, if this is because of what happened earlier…”
“S-Shut up!!”
Dokgo Ryeong’s fingers shot fiercely toward Wi Ilcheong’s eyes.
Catching her fingers, Wi Ilcheong touched her outstretched arm with his other hand and spoke.
Recalling the attack that had flown toward his eyes in a flawless, beautiful arc, Wi Ilcheong honestly marveled.
“…You’re amazing, Miss Dokgo. Truly beautiful.”
“W-What nonsense are you going to spout now?”
“You’ve been stammering for a while. Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, you son of a bitch!!”
This time, Dokgo Ryeong swung her leg hard.
Watching her skillfully strike toward his vital points, Wi Ilcheong marveled once more.
“As expected…! You truly are the Mad Demon Senior’s daughter.”
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
“Every attack is fierce. It seems you instinctively know exactly where to hit to hurt your opponent, Miss Dokgo!”
Wi Ilcheong, unaware that Dokgo Ryeong was Dokgo Jin, the Mad Demon, grabbed her shoulders, breathing hard through his nose with excitement.
“W-What lewd thing are you going to do now…”
“You’re a genius blessed by heaven! If you cure your Nine Yin Absolute Meridians, I can’t even imagine how far you’ll soar! Such martial talent… truly amazing!”
“…What?”
“Miss, you should start training in martial arts with Miss Baekri right away. And learn some more hand-to-hand combat from Miss Eun. I feel like I’m witnessing a once-in-a-generation genius of the martial world right before my eyes!”
“…”
Only then did Dokgo Ryeong realize what nonsense Wi Ilcheong was spouting.
He thought Dokgo Ryeong was a once-in-a-generation genius of the martial world.
Since he didn’t know Dokgo Ryeong was Dokgo Jin, once called the Mad Demon, and thought she was merely a frail girl born with Nine Yin Absolute Meridians, it seemed that was the source of the misunderstanding.
‘…Well, I guess I would’ve found it strange too.’
Once Dokgo Ryeong’s misunderstanding—if it could be called one—was cleared up, she calmed herself again.
‘Phew…, maybe I should circulate my energy to calm down…?’
Just then, Dokgo Ryeong’s mind stopped.
‘…What cultivation method should I practice?’
Until now, she hadn’t been able to circulate a cultivation method at all, because the yin energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade lodged in her Huiyin acupoint—in other words, her lower dantian—couldn’t move.
But now that her Yang Linking Vessel had opened, she could accumulate energy, which meant she could practice a cultivation method.
Now that she could finally cultivate inner energy, she wanted to use the best possible method.
‘…The Nine Yang Divine Art is the supreme cultivation method, but it has too many risks….’
She’d only just gotten rid of her madness.
If she still had her madness, she thought she would have charged at Noh Sun-pyeong in the inn long ago and been cut in half—and before that, she probably would’ve been killed by bandits.
‘The Nine Yang Divine Art is out. Then….’
She thought hard, but couldn’t come up with an answer when it came to cultivation methods.
So in the end, Dokgo Ryeong asked the others.
“…What cultivation methods do you guys practice?”
“I practice the Su Nü Jing.”
“…I do too.”
“I practice the Su Nü Jing too….”
“…”
With a sliver of hope, Dokgo Ryeong asked them,
“Th-That Su Nü Jing, does it happen to be…”
“Sharing the pleasures of the bed..”
“…Yin-yang union.”
“It’s fucking, hehe.”
“Fuck.”
Dokgo Ryeong decided to put off practicing a cultivation method until later.