Chapter 47, The Divine Thief's Secret
After returning to the brothel, Goeui gave instructions to the manager.
"Do not allow anyone into this place."
The manager always listened to Goeui's requests, so he tightened security around the area.
Goeui took over the detached residence and began examining the old woman.
After treating her for nearly half a shichen, Goeui came outside.
Jaha asked,
"Is her condition serious?"
On the way here, the old woman had regained consciousness several times, only to lose it again.
"She is showing the early symptoms of qi deviation."
"Can you treat it?"
"I can. It will simply take time. If we had found her a little later, she would've spent the rest of her life paralyzed on one side. It's fortunate we discovered her condition now."
Jaha added,
"On top of that, she met Senior Goeui. Her luck must be extraordinary. What ordinary physician could possibly treat qi deviation?"
Goeui smiled.
"Those are pleasant words to hear. They're also true."
"But is that woman the Divine Thief?"
Goeui shook his head.
"No. The Divine Thief I met was a man."
"I thought so. That's probably why Hwancheonma was still waiting. Otherwise, he wouldn't have simply surrounded the place without acting. Then where is the Divine Thief?"
"That girl probably knows."
At Goeui's words, Jaha looked toward the girl as she carried water into the room where the old woman rested.
After caring for the old woman, the girl came back outside and approached Goeui.
"Thank you."
She bowed politely.
"What is your name? I can't keep calling you little girl forever."
Goeui spoke kindly.
It was a side of Goeui that Jaha rarely saw.
Goeui tended to be gentle with young girls, just as he was with Han Seol.
"My name is Ha Yeon."
Much of Ha Yeon's boldness from their first meeting was gone.
With her master lying ill, she had little reason to smile.
"Is the old woman inside your master?"
Ha Yeon nodded.
"Yes."
Her slightly red cheeks resembled peaches.
She looked cute enough to make someone want to pinch them.
Looking at Ha Yeon, Jaha suddenly missed Jo Unryong.
Sometimes, when Jo Unryong sulked, he would puff out his cheeks like peaches and stick out his lips.
Goeui was about to ask a few questions about the Divine Thief, but stopped.
The girl did not seem emotionally ready to answer.
Seeing Jaha watching her, Goeui spoke as if advising him.
"Let's ask when the old woman wakes up. She should regain consciousness sometime today."
Since Goeui said it, it was probably accurate.
Jaha understood his meaning and quietly watched Ha Yeon.
A happy voice suddenly came from inside the room.
"Master! You're awake?"
Hearing Ha Yeon's voice, Goeui, who had been preparing medicinal herbs outside, entered the room.
The old woman tightly held Ha Yeon's hand as the girl looked ready to cry.
"Don't cry. Did your master die or something?"
Her words sounded like a scolding, but her voice was full of affection.
"I thought you were going to die. Bad people even surrounded our shop. I really thought something terrible would happen."
The master and disciple looked almost like grandmother and granddaughter.
Watching them, Jaha suddenly wondered if other people saw him and Ha Seonbaek the same way.
The feeling flowing between these two was very similar to what Jaha felt from Ha Seonbaek.
The old woman looked toward Goeui, who was checking her pulse.
"You must be Goeui."
Goeui had never met the old woman before.
Yet she spoke as if she knew him.
He searched his memories.
"This should be the first time we've met."
Goeui relaxed his frown.
There was nothing wrong with his memory.
"Do you know me?"
"Very well."
"How do you know me?"
Goeui asked.
"You met my old man several times."
Compared to her snow-white hair, the old woman's face did not look especially aged.
If she gained a little weight, she could have passed for a middle-aged woman.
"My husband's name was Gung Cheolmu."
Goeui exclaimed.
"Ah! Brother Gung was your husband."
Goeui's eyes brightened.
"Then where is Brother Gung?"
"He passed away a few years ago, leaving us behind first."
"Mm!"
Goeui let out a heavy sound at the unexpected answer.
Jaha simply sat there and listened carefully.
Ah, the Divine Thief is dead.
He felt strangely empty.
There was something he had wanted to learn from the Divine Thief.
Now that opportunity seemed gone.
Goeui let out a long sigh.
"Ah, to think the vigorous Brother Gung left first. How unfortunate."
Goeui closed his eyes for a moment, apparently remembering the past.
After a brief silence, the old woman spoke.
"We originally moved together. There were two Divine Thieves. That's why no one could ever catch us. The sect no longer exists, but we were the final disciples of the Ghost Shadow Sect."
The Ghost Shadow Sect was a unique sect that had developed its own martial arts long ago by combining esoteric Buddhist techniques with martial arts from the Central Plains.
When some of its disciples entered the assassin world and gained terrible reputations, the righteous martial world declared the sect a public enemy.
Because of that, Ghost Shadow Sect disciples could not openly reveal their origins.
Three hundred years ago, the sect was destroyed by an attack from the Martial Alliance.
The Martial Alliance had feared that the Ghost Shadow Sect's techniques might be absorbed by demonic or unorthodox factions.
Afterward, the Ghost Shadow Sect barely preserved its lineage.
In the end, Gung Cheolmu and his junior martial sister So Rihyang became its final disciples.
Near the end of their lives, the two took in the orphan Ha Yeon and passed down their sect's ultimate techniques to her.
That was why Ha Yeon knew nothing about her sect's true origins.
Gung Cheolmu and So Rihyang had wanted Ha Yeon to live an ordinary life, so they never told her.
So Rihyang's scattered explanation allowed Goeui to understand everything without needing a thousand more words.
"Don't speak anymore. Rest. I understand what you mean."
"I know this may be shameless, but since you were once acquainted with my husband, I have a request."
"Tell me."
"Please take care of my disciple."
Goeui gave a bitter smile.
"I have no intention of doing that. Besides, you're not going to die."
"I suffered qi deviation. I know very well that I cannot recover."
"That might be true with another physician, but I am Goeui. I've already stabilized most of your condition. So stop thinking that way."
So Rihyang had not yet tried circulating her internal energy, so she did not realize that her acupoints and meridians had already returned to their proper state.
When she heard Goeui's words, emotion filled her eyes.
"Thank you. I couldn't close my eyes peacefully while leaving that child behind."
For some reason, those words struck Jaha's heart.
He suddenly wondered if Ha Seonbaek had also endured so many years bedridden for the same reason.
A normal person would struggle to endure such a long illness.
Perhaps Ha Seonbaek endured because of his disciples.
Through So Rihyang, Jaha suddenly felt he could understand Ha Seonbaek's heart.
Something surged inside him.
His eyes suddenly became hot.
Byeok Ho, calm down. You'll see your master soon.
Because of Byeok Ho's longing for his master, even Jaha found it difficult to remain calm.
Byeok Ho had also seen Ha Seonbaek in So Rihyang.
After So Rihyang settled down somewhat, Goeui asked,
"It seems Hwancheonma has been searching for Brother Gung. We saw him surround your shop today, so we brought you out."
So Rihyang let out a relieved sigh.
"But how did you know our location?"
"We found it while following Hwancheonma."
Goeui explained everything that had happened.
So Rihyang nodded.
"So that's what happened."
"But is Hwancheonma chasing Brother Gung because of the spiritual medicine?"
At that question, So Rihyang stiffened slightly.
She could not know whether Goeui might also desire the spiritual medicine.
On the other hand, she thought that if giving away the medicine could ensure Ha Yeon's safety, then she would not regret losing it.
Once she thought that way, there was no reason to hide the matter.
"I don't know how Hwancheonma heard about the spiritual medicine, but before my husband died, he did steal a spiritual medicine for Ha Yeon's sake."
Goeui and Jaha nodded.
As she spoke, So Rihyang carefully observed the two men.
Their lives depended on this.
She knew what kind of object the spiritual medicine was.
If things went wrong, not only she but even Ha Yeon could be killed over it.
The martial world was a place where countless people died over spiritual medicines and martial arts manuals.
So Rihyang also found it difficult to trust these two completely.
However, she already owed Goeui her life.
For Ha Yeon's sake, she also needed to gain Goeui's goodwill.
"My husband heard a rumor long ago. It said the final spiritual pill of the already destroyed Medical Righteous Sect still existed."
Goeui flinched.
"The Medical Righteous Sect's spiritual pill?"
Jaha was even more shocked than Goeui.
It was because of the name Medical Righteous Sect.
I never expected to hear about the Medical Righteous Sect here.
The Medical Righteous Sect had a connection to Seong Seok, the Demon Physician whom Jaha had considered almost like a grandfather.
The Demon Physician Seong Seok had originally been a disciple of the Medical Righteous Sect.
He was the only surviving descendant after the sect was destroyed.
The Medical Righteous Sect had been famous for treating patients without caring about their status.
They even treated people from the demonic and unorthodox paths.
Because of that, many people in the righteous martial world considered them troublesome.
The number of powerful demonic figures the Medical Righteous Sect had treated was not small.
Then the Medical Righteous Sect obtained a legendary Ten-Thousand-Year Fleeceflower Root and refined it into spiritual medicine.
Rumors spread throughout the martial world.
Soon, martial artists attacked them.
The Medical Righteous Sect was not a martial sect, so it had no power to resist.
The Demon Physician believed that the righteous martial world itself had deliberately spread the rumors about the spiritual medicine.
Because of that, after surviving the sect's destruction, he joined the Demon Cult to take revenge on the righteous martial world.
Later, Jagang noticed him and made him one of his most trusted subordinates.
Jaha asked,
"Where did Senior Divine Thief obtain the Medical Righteous Sect's spiritual medicine?"
So Rihyang silently looked at Jaha, then turned toward Goeui.
She had avoided asking earlier because it seemed impolite.
Now, she was asking about Jaha's identity.
Goeui spoke.
"He's a boy who intends to take revenge on the Demon Cult. He also inherited my true techniques."
So Rihyang blinked, still looking doubtful.
Goeui continued.
"It's fine to tell him. He's trustworthy."
"Is he your disciple?"
"Not exactly. His talent was too valuable to waste, so I passed my ultimate techniques to him."
Only then did So Rihyang examine Jaha carefully.
She knew what kind of person Goeui was.
He was one of the few people who had fought Jagang directly and survived after facing one of the strongest martial artists alive.
Gung Cheolmu had once praised Goeui, saying that if he had focused entirely on martial arts instead of medicine, he might have even surpassed Jagang.
Hearing someone like Goeui praise Jaha forced her to look at the young man again.
"I heard about him. Ha Yeon said he detected her Ghost Spirit Traceless Steps. If he's a young man chosen by Goeui, I suppose that makes sense."
After catching her breath, So Rihyang continued.
"Since Young Hero asked, I should answer. My husband didn't tell me at first. But the spiritual medicine was clearly extraordinary, so I kept questioning him."
The longer So Rihyang's introduction became, the more curious Goeui and Jaha grew.
Then So Rihyang finally said the name.
Goeui and Jaha looked at each other.
They could hardly believe it.
"He brought it from Jo Ryang's residence."
Goeui and Jaha shouted almost simultaneously.
"The Jo Ryang known as Ten-Perfect Martial?"
"Silver-Haired Ghost Sword?"
Those two opposite nicknames belonged to the same person.
Ten-Perfect Martial was the name used by the righteous martial world.
Silver-Haired Ghost Sword was the name used by the demonic path.
Since Jaha came from the demonic path, Silver-Haired Ghost Sword naturally came out of his mouth.
However, even righteous martial artists would not strongly object to the title.
They believed the demonic path used the name because they feared Jo Ryang.
Jo Ryang, known as both Ten-Perfect Martial and Silver-Haired Ghost Sword, was the current Leader of the Martial Alliance.
