Surviving as a Rival in a Martial Arts Novel

Chapter 9 – Breaking Through the Poisonous Wheat (01)

“Cough!”

A man was spitting blood and collapsing to the ground.

Dressed in worn-out clothes like a laborer at the port, and with sun-tanned skin that made him look like a dockworker, the man was struggling to escape from here, even crawling on the ground if necessary.

“I have to inform Jegalsega about this fact.”

The man, who appeared to be an ordinary worker, was actually one of Jegalsega’s elite agents sent by Jegalsega. Originally disguised as a harbor worker, he was, in fact, the highest-ranked among Jegalsega’s agents deployed to observe the purpose and movements of ships going to and from Sacheon.

Note: All characters are fictional and above 21 years of age.

Lately, as the contact with Jegal Sae-ga’s spies was severed one by one, I tried to locate their whereabouts. But the moment I made contact with another one of Jegal Sae-ga’s information networks, I was immediately dragged into an alley and lost my life.

‘How do they know our identities so accurately… Has the information leaked…?’

There is a traitor among us.

And not just any spy, but one from the upper echelons of Jegal Sae-ga.

“Is this guy the last one?”

“According to the information sent by the traitor within Jegal Sae-ga, this spy is the last one they sent directly. The rest are locals who can deceive us by disguising their identities.”

“Make it so.”

The subordinate who obtained permission from the superior smirked and turned over the body of the dead spy with a gloomy gaze.

“Fool. If you had guarded the port until Jegal Sae-ga’s cunning woman arrived, you wouldn’t have died. Of course, they probably couldn’t gather any information about us.”

Tsk.

Using a thin silver needle, he peeled off the facial skin and carefully folded it into the amafo he had brought.

He intended to make a mask out of it later.

“Come back in two weeks. By then, gather all the people in Sachon who agreed to cooperate.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“The spies disguised as Jegal Sae-ga’s agents will take care of them, and Jegal Sae-ga himself will deal with the traitors. So, the compatriots in Sachon can rest assured… That’s what we’ll say.”

After reassuring and putting their minds at ease, they would proceed with their plan.

“So, Talmyeongwi (Mask Snatchers). Make sure to prepare masks made from the spies’ faces by then.”

“Kikihee… Understood. It’s exciting to think that those foolish Jungwon idiots will be taken in.”

As he caressed the amafo filled with facial skins in his hands, Talmyeongwi suppressed his excitement.

Although it felt disgusting to witness such a sight, the ability of the Mask Snatchers and their skill in making intricate masks by peeling off the facial skin of a living person were essential to secretly establish themselves in Jungwon.

“When the black moon swallows the world.”

The newly joined masked disciple reacted a beat late as the slogan flowed from the mouth of the senior male.

“The false world will announce its end.”

“Remember that. In about two weeks.”

“Don’t worry. hehehe…!”

* * *

“Samae. Can you come to my room for a moment?”

“Could you give me a moment? I’ll be up shortly.”

Today marks exactly one month since Samae and I arrived in Sacheon.

It has been 30 days since we descended from the mountain where our three families lived, and one month since the master examined Samae’s body with a light inquiry and bloodletting just before our descent.

Since absorbing the effects of the Solsam herb, Samae appears healthy, but still, with a cautious mindset, the master, not to the extent of consuming vital energy as before, has been lightly inquiring and checking Samae’s body once a month. Now that we have descended, it is my turn to care for Samae’s body.

“At first glance, he seems fine and healthy, but… well.”

Despite his calm personality, I can’t help but think that when he moves or uses martial arts, there might be a chance that Samae is stronger than me.

However, strength and health are different.

Even in martial arts novels or other media, health may quickly deteriorate as if one is on the brink of death, but martial arts have the unique attribute of being incomparably strong even in frailty.

“Until now, living in the pristine nature, I cultivated my inner energy, keeping my body healthy. But living in Sacheon, a large city, may have accumulated impurities. I need to check thoroughly.”

Life is unpredictable, especially considering that Samae is destined to perish at a young age within this novel. Each situation requires careful attention.

“More than that, lately, Samae seems to be wandering outside a lot.”

Until now, she used to quietly spend her time in the guesthouse unless I took her somewhere, and she used to plead with me to show her around, even begging for execution, but now she was able to roam around on her own.

As someone who needed personal time to thwart the conspiracy of the dark organization, it was a welcome development. However, seeing the way my cute sister disappeared and reappeared without a word, it left me feeling somewhat uneasy.

“Well, it seems I’m also having naive thoughts.”

Having various thoughts while spending time, I felt the presence of my sister and, sitting in place, sent a gentle gust of wind to open the door to her quarters.

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“Huh? Did you just take a bath?”

Observing my sister, with water droplets falling from the tips of her hair and the scent of fragrance subtly wafting from her body, I could tell that she had just bathed in the underground bathroom that had been prepared a while ago.

“Yes. Since today is the day you help me with the execution… I thought I should clean myself.”

‘Even if it’s interrogation and bloodletting, it was planned to be done over clothes…’

It was just because she was a fellow male, Ban Gyu-sung touched his bare skin to increase efficiency. Even though they were part of the execution system, I had no intention of touching my sister’s bare skin.

Why should there be a distinction between men and women?

“You don’t have to do that next time.”

“Yes, master.”

Actually, even our master, except when my sister was in danger at a very young age, performed interrogation and bloodletting over thin clothing. Could I, who hadn’t even mixed blood, touch my sister’s bare skin?

At most, it was at the level of patting the head or holding hands. If I touched her internal organs, I would be insane. What if the master rushed in and smashed my head.

“For now, sit down. I’ll start with pulse diagnosis.”

Perhaps because my sister had health issues, our master had not only martial arts skills but also basic medical knowledge. As his disciple, I also had a certain amount of basic medical knowledge.

It’s said that when there’s a patient at home, family members naturally acquire medical knowledge. Is this similar to that situation? In the modern era, there are many hospitals and medicines, but in the world of this martial arts novel, without obtaining special skills or specially manufactured elixirs, it’s difficult to see the effects of medicine. Therefore, there was much reliance on individual medical skills.

When my sister extended her arm, still moist, I grabbed her slender wrist, closed my eyes, and injected my internal energy little by little, making her internal energy harmonize with mine.

“Let’s see… For now, there doesn’t seem to be any problem with the flow of Qi…”

The act of infusing Qi into the meridians of a martial artist who has learned martial arts is extremely difficult and often results in a backlash of internal energy. However, Sa-mae and I had a special situation where we shared the same lineage and learned the same martial arts since childhood, so it was possible for us to share our internal energy like this.

“It seems like we can confirm everything like this…”

Sa-mae’s vitality was flowing along with my senses, almost as smoothly as my own body. If I concentrated well enough, it was possible to perform remote treatment without even touching him.

“Maybe there’s no need for further probing and bloodletting…”

Even before my master retired, he mentioned that until now, he only lightly probed and bled me out of caution. If I judged that Sa-mae had recovered, there was no need to do it anymore.

Just occasionally checking Sa-mae’s meridians to ensure there were no blockages should be enough, right?

“Thank goodness. It looks like you’ve recovered quite well now.”

As I wondered how to deliver this good news, I was about to tell Sa-mae that there was no need for further probing and bloodletting.

Snap. Snap.

As soon as I let go of his hand, Sa-mae immediately turned towards the wall and began to untie his clothes. Since Sa-mae had received bloodletting and probing right after the Jinmai, it was a movement that he was accustomed to.

“Um… Sa-mae?”

“……”

No response.

He seemed to be focusing to prepare for the pain of bloodletting and probing.

“There might not be a need to do it today…”

I briefly hesitated, but since bloodletting and probing were good for the body despite the pain, I cautiously placed my hand on Sa-mae’s back, thinking it was for his health.

“Huh…! What is this… suction?”

As I brought my hand closer to Sa-mae’s back, I felt a gravitational force pulling my palm, as if a magnet was attracting iron filings. It seemed that because Sa-mae and I had the same attribute in our internal energy, we were even developing a tendency to merge into one.

‘Be careful.’

As I entrusted my hand to the pull of Sa-mae’s internal energy, I felt her smooth skin sticking to my rough palm as I placed my hand on her back.

Given that I trained my body in forensic skills, realistically, the muscles on my back should be well-toned to the point of protrusion. However, this is the world of martial arts novels.

When cultivating internal energy, muscles don’t develop well. So, someone like Sa-mae, with substantial internal energy, had a slender and smooth back instead of a muscular physique.

‘Let’s not have strange thoughts. The back I’m touching now is Sa-mae’s back… just family, like family.’

I closed my eyes, fearing that if I kept them open, distractions would fill my mind, and carefully infused my internal energy into Sa-mae’s back.

‘I don’t need to infuse a lot of energy, as I won’t collapse from exhaustion like in the past. Just lightly massage, as if…’

Through Jangsim, I infused my internal energy into Sa-mae’s soft back.

There was no need to inject a large amount, and just infusing a tiny amount of internal energy caused Sa-mae’s internal energy inside her body to resonate and start moving. It was as if the internal energy was being absorbed into my body in reverse, like the phenomenon of fresh water turning into brackish water in dense saltwater.

‘It’s probably an interaction of similar internal energies… interesting.’

Following the flow of internal energy through Sa-mae’s body, I tried to process the impurities accumulated in the blood vessels. Thanks to my master managing my blood vessels since childhood, even though I sometimes felt something was caught, it was like smoothly driving on an eight-lane highway with no obstacles.

‘Huh? But here, I should slow down the speed.’

Near the area with the main arteries and veins. Even in parts where it should have been blocked, and I should have slowed down and detoured, Sa-mae’s flow did not stop.

‘Collision…!’

I tried to control the flow to reduce the speed, but Sa-mae didn’t stop.

Boom!

“Argh!”

It felt like someone suddenly struck the back of my head hard enough to make me almost exhale, but if my breath was disrupted here, there was at least a risk of injury, and in the worst case, even the possibility of falling into a coma.

In the worst case, both Sa-mae and I could end up in a coma simultaneously, so I gritted my teeth and maintained the flow of energy.