Chapter 177: Deathshroud (1)
When Jin Seong-un stepped straight into the hall.
Several children were lying on the floor, trembling violently as they cried out.
In their eyes, clear fear lingered. All the Black Path men who tormented them were already dead, so what could possibly be terrifying them this much?
Seomun Ak looked at Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom with an unusually flustered expression.
“I really didn’t do anything?”
Seo Yu-gyeom cast a doubtful look at Seomun Ak. Jin Seong-un then approached the children who were suffering seizures and quietly released a thread of Women’s Moon Qi.
There was no improvement. Instead, even the slightest physical contact only made the children more terrified and intensified their seizures.
“…What should we do.”
Jin Seong-un looked one by one at Seo Yu-gyeom, Seomun Ak, and Lee Seowon. Naturally, none of the three had any experience taking care of children.
They were neither parents nor physicians, so they had no idea what measures to take.
Seo Yu-gyeom, who had been observing the children with one hand placed on his hip, finally spoke.
“We need to bring the Divine Physician.”
Jin Seong-un nodded. A moment later, his body vanished like smoke in an instant.
Lee Seowon’s eyes widened in astonishment.
By contrast, Seo Yu-gyeom and Seomun Ak maintained calm expressions as they kept watch over the children.
Seo Yu-gyeom approached one of the children who was not seizing. The child flinched slightly but did not appear overly afraid.
“Has this happened before?”
The child hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Seo Yu-gyeom continued.
“What did they do then?”
“…They hit us.”
“What?”
Seo Yu-gyeom’s brow furrowed.
The child, still hesitant, continued.
“They beat us with a stick… until the seizures stopped.”
“Enough. That’s enough. I understand well enough.”
Seo Yu-gyeom’s gaze sank low.
It seemed those Black Path bastards had used crude and brutal methods whenever the children suffered seizures. He felt once more that killing them all had been the right choice.
At one side, Seomun Ak, who had been patting the back of a seizing child, let out a long sigh. After hearing the child’s words, he had to exhale heated breath just to suppress the rising fury within him.
While the two struggled to comfort the children, Lee Seowon busied himself preparing firewood and water.
“Urgh! Damn brat, how can you just grab someone and sprint off like that!”
A retching voice came from outside. Startled, Lee Seowon dropped what he was doing and rushed out.
The Divine Physician was bracing himself against a tree, vomiting while cursing.
Beside him, Jin Seong-un scratched his head awkwardly and muttered an excuse.
“You’ve already trained in martial arts to some degree, and time was urgent…”
“You’ll kill me, boy.”
The Divine Physician, after one last retch, shook his head and spoke.
“So, the children are inside? And the Black Path bastards?”
“They’re all dead.”
“Well done. Let’s go.”
The Divine Physician strode straight into the hall.
The children once again tensed up, staring at him warily.
“You’re here.”
“They suddenly started screaming and seizing. We couldn’t calm them at all.”
Seo Yu-gyeom and Seomun Ak gave a brief explanation. The Divine Physician nodded and said.
“All of you, step outside.”
“Will you be alright alone?”
At Seomun Ak’s question, the Divine Physician nodded.
“Your faces are only making things worse.”
Seomun Ak looked menacing, and Seo Yu-gyeom gave off a chilling aura.
Without a doubt, their presence would do nothing to ease the children’s condition.
At those words, the four of them stepped outside to wait.
Seomun Ak dropped onto the dirt ground and grumbled.
“Why do these bastard martial artists always torment people who don’t even know martial arts…”
His voice trailed off.
It was because his own past came to mind.
From the very first meeting with Jin Seong-un, he had thought of him as just a weak inn boy without martial arts. And so, he had thrown his mighty fist at him.
Seomun Ak let out a deep sigh.
Whenever he recalled his past while confronting the filth of the jianghu, an indescribable sense of self-contempt always washed over him.
As Seomun Ak lowered his head, the air grew heavy.
Unlike the bewildered Lee Seowon, who did not understand, Seo Yu-gyeom knew very well why Seomun Ak reacted this way.
So, he said.
“Even as a thug, did you kill more than an assassin?”
Seomun Ak raised his head and looked at him.
Come to think of it, the one who should feel the most unpleasant in this situation was not himself but Seo Yu-gyeom.
After all, the true culprits behind this might not just be assassins, but Deathshroud itself.
The more the children seized, suffered, and trembled, the heavier Seo Yu-gyeom’s heart must have become.
Seomun Ak nodded and muttered.
“Well, I’m still better off than you.”
“Are you insane?”
Seo Yu-gyeom stared at him in disbelief. Just then, the children’s cries from inside the hall faded away.
Soon, the Divine Physician’s voice called out.
“All four of you, come in.”
Jin Seong-un, Seo Yu-gyeom, Seomun Ak, and Lee Seowon all sprang up and went back inside.
The children no longer looked uneasy even at the sight of them. It seemed the Divine Physician had administered acupuncture to those suffering the worst seizures.
He began explaining.
“Choe Jeong-myeong, the boy—this is the same condition.”
Choe Jeong-myeong was the child brought by Jang Gwang.
Because he possessed the Yin-Yang Body, he had been targeted by the Shui Stronghold, but after being rescued by Jin Seong-un’s group, he was now at Wudang with Hyeon-un.
That child had lost his words after witnessing his parents’ death right before his eyes.
According to the Divine Physician, these children had suffered trauma of a similar degree.
“It’s no wonder. Children who were living ordinary days, laughing and playing, were plunged into hell overnight. Their bodies and hearts were cruelly abused, and the ones who sold them into that hell were none other than their own parents.”
The betrayal, shock, resentment, fear, and sorrow these children must feel were unimaginable.
Jin Seong-un let out a small sigh and asked.
“Then what should we do?”
“The same as with Jeong-myeong. Medicine can only soothe them temporarily. To heal them at the root, they must learn how to calm their own hearts.”
“You mean martial arts?”
“It could be so, or it could not. That boy, Choe Jeong-myeong, happened to have a rare talent for martial arts, and with the White Cloud Sword by his side, it was natural to set him on that path.”
Every person had different talents and different paths in life. The Divine Physician said that it did not matter what means were used, so long as the children found a way to heal their hearts and strengthen their spirit.
The Divine Physician continued.
“For now, I will watch over the children with acupuncture and herbal decoctions, but know that this is not the true solution.”
He added that in such a place, it was impossible to properly care for them. They would need to secure at least an inn nearby.
Jin Seong-un nodded, then stepped outside and let out a small sigh.
A feeling of helplessness weighed on him.
It was far easier to fight a cruel and powerful enemy.
But soothing the human heart was a far more complicated matter, and when the ones suffering were children, the approach required even greater delicacy.
“We must first find an inn.”
According to the Divine Physician, returning to the original village was not an option. Meeting their parents again could very well worsen the children’s condition.
So the group began walking in the opposite direction from the village they had left behind.
Since they were traveling with a large group of children, their pace was slow.
Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom spread their senses sharper than ever, guarding the surroundings.
After roughly half a shichen of coaxing and comforting the children along the way, they reached a small village, similar in size to the previous one.
The group went straight to an inn.
When they explained the situation, the middle-aged innkeeper looked troubled.
“Well now, I don’t have that many rooms…”
Still, for the Divine Physician to care for the children, it was best for everyone to stay together in one inn.
As the innkeeper scratched his head, the Divine Physician spoke in a soft tone.
“That young fellow there runs an inn in Yichang. Isn’t it only right for people in the same trade to lend each other a hand? And as for myself…”
The Divine Physician glanced around, then lowered his voice.
“They call me the Divine Physician. Just an old man, that’s all.”
The innkeeper’s eyes went wide.
He looked at them with a grave expression, then said,
“…Please wait a moment.”
He quickly rushed out.
After some time, he returned, having persuaded his current guests to move to other inns. He had negotiated with nearby innkeepers, emptying his entire inn for them.
“Normally, I would never dream of sending guests away like this…”
The innkeeper cast a look toward the children.
He himself had a daughter around their age.
“Given the circumstances, I put in a little effort.”
At his words, the Divine Physician’s shoulders straightened slightly. It seemed his reputation had played no small role here.
The innkeeper added,
“And, I have always admired the Hero Guest Dragon.”
The Divine Physician blinked in surprise, realizing the man’s admiration was not for him, but for Guest Dragon.
Jin Seong-un also asked curiously,
“How did you know? He only said he ran an inn in Yichang.”
“There are hardly any innkeepers so young. And if someone were traveling with the Divine Physician, who else could it be but Guest Dragon?”
“Ah.”
Jin Seong-un nodded honestly.
The innkeeper continued,
“As someone who also runs an inn, I heard much about the recent events in Yichang. I doubt I am alone—every merchant who runs an inn or a trading company must feel the same.”
Lately, such rumors had filled the Central Plains.
A young merchant, barely in his twenties, had gone head-to-head with Myriad Gold Manor, separated by just a street, and won.
And the fact that this young merchant was none other than Guest Dragon, one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, only gave the tale more flavor and helped it spread even faster.
He had defeated the arrogant Rising Dragon and earned the alias of Guest Dragon.
He had fought and won against Myriad Gold Manor to protect his inn.
With no backing, only his own ability, he had calmly withstood the attacks of the privileged.
To ordinary people, such a story felt like a reflection of their own struggles and hopes.
The middle-aged innkeeper of this small village felt the same.
“Hero Guest Dragon, while you stay here, I will do my utmost to help. Especially if it is for the children, there is no reason for any human wearing a face to refuse.”
He even felt a little pleased with the situation. It gave him the sense that he, too, was contributing in some small way to the famous Guest Dragon’s righteous deeds.
Jin Seong-un clasped his fists in thanks and said,
“I will be sure to repay this kindness. Of course, we will also pay properly for the rooms and meals.”
And so, the Divine Physician and Lee Seowon took the children upstairs first. Thanks to the innkeeper allowing use of part of the kitchen, they could easily prepare the herbal decoctions.
Remaining at the table, Jin Seong-un, Seo Yu-gyeom, and Seomun Ak ordered a bottle of wine, pouring themselves drinks as each sank into thought.
Then the innkeeper cautiously approached and asked,
“Will there be a fight here?”
He was a man who had run an inn for many years. Inns were often smashed apart whenever martial artists dropped by, so his intuition was sharp.
But he was not worried. After all, this was the renowned Guest Dragon. Even if the inn were damaged, he trusted that somehow it would be compensated.
‘In fact, it will be a rare spectacle to witness.’
Thinking this, he brightened as Jin Seong-un nodded.
The innkeeper’s eyes lit up, and he asked,
“Who is the opponent? What kind of villains could make you look so serious…”
“An assassin group.”
Jin Seong-un replied without hesitation.
Since assassins could very well appear at this inn, he thought it only right to warn the innkeeper.
The innkeeper faltered. Assassins were feared even more than most martial artists.
Martial artists usually fought among themselves, but assassins were infamous for sparing no method.
“Surely it isn’t Deathshroud?”
“There is that possibility.”
Deathshroud was a name even village children knew. Whoever they targeted was said to inevitably die.
The innkeeper nodded gravely, then said,
“Perhaps I should take a short trip, then?”
Jin Seong-un, Seo Yu-gyeom, and Seomun Ak all turned to look at him. Clearly, as men of the same trade, there was some unspoken understanding.
Click. The three raised their thumbs, and the innkeeper solemnly nodded back, packed his things, and left.
…
…
…
That night.
As the three impersonated innkeeper, chef, and waiter in another man’s inn—
Two men quietly arrived, standing in the doorway with the rain at their backs, gazing silently at them.
Seo Yu-gyeom spoke in a low voice.
“Deathshroud.”