Chapter 21: The Blood Physician Butcher
The underground prison reeked of rotting corpses.
The stench of decay was so thick that even breathing felt heavy.
The scraping of chains across the floor, weak groans, and screams mixed together from every direction.
“AAAAAAARGH!”
“P-Please! Save me! AAAAAARGH!”
The metallic smell of blood mixed with the bitter scent of medicinal herbs and filled my lungs.
Then I sensed someone approaching.
I raised my head.
Under the dim light, a man bound in ropes came into view.
His entire body was covered in blood, and he was breathing heavily.
He was already half-dead.
“Please... stop... no more...”
The dying man begged in a weak voice.
But the man standing before him in pure white robes merely smiled.
He pulled a jade bottle from inside his robe.
Inside was a dark liquid that gave off thin trails of black smoke.
He gently shook the bottle and muttered.
“Today, I added Yin Blood Grass to the Soul-Dissolving Fluid.”
“I wonder where the rotting will begin this time... the lungs? Or perhaps the liver?”
His voice sounded playful.
But beneath that smile was a disgusting madness.
He forcefully lifted the man's chin.
Then he tilted the jade bottle and poured the black liquid straight into his mouth.
“AAAAAAARGH!”
The man's body twisted like a drawn bow.
His hands and feet bent unnaturally.
An animal-like howl burst from his throat.
Soon, the scream changed into a wet choking sound mixed with blood.
The convulsing body gradually lost its strength.
His eyes rolled back until only the whites remained.
Dark red foam spilled from his mouth.
And a short while later...
his body stopped moving completely.
At that moment, the man's eyes shone brightly.
“Haa... beautiful.”
“There is nothing quite as beautiful as the instant when a life disappears....”
He stared at the corpse with dreamy eyes.
Then he turned toward me.
“You're truly strange.”
“No matter how much poison I feed you, no matter how many bones I break... you keep surviving.”
A delighted smile spread across his face.
“A man who refuses to die. How interesting.”
“Today, I'll find out exactly how far you can endure.”
The Blood Physician Butcher.
Baek Cheongu.
The moment his lips curled upward again...
cold fear crawled down my spine.
I blinked.
The bloodthirsty Blood Physician Butcher was no longer standing before me.
Instead...
there was only a young man smiling warmly beneath the bright lantern light.
“I heard you will be participating in the Elders' Lecture Gathering as a representative.”
“It is an honor to meet you.”
The White-Robed Benevolent Gentleman, Baek Cheongu.
Representative of the envoy group sent by the Righteous Alliance.
A true physician famous for saving countless lives.
Everyone around us looked at him with favorable eyes.
But I alone knew the truth hidden behind that bright smile.
In my memories...
Baek Cheongu was nothing more than the bloodthirsty Blood Physician Butcher.
...I want to tear you apart right now.
But I showed none of it.
Instead, I answered him with a bright smile of my own.
“My name is Han Mujin.”
“It is my honor to meet the White-Robed Benevolent Gentleman who has saved so many lives.”
“You praise me too highly.”
Baek Cheongu smiled modestly.
“I merely did what anyone who studies medicine should do.”
I looked at the murderer pretending to be a saint and asked a question.
“May I ask what first led you onto the path of medicine?”
“When I saw people suffering from illness or injury, I felt their pain as though it were my own.”
His expression was gentle.
“I simply wanted to free them from that suffering.”
I almost snorted.
Bullshit.
You didn't feel their pain.
You enjoyed it.
I could still vividly remember his delighted smile whenever the test subjects in the Shadow Corps' underground prison screamed in agony.
I ignored the disgusting words of the mad murderer and casually continued.
“I've heard that when someone spends too long looking at the darker side of humanity, such as illness and death, even a healer can gradually become closer to that darkness.”
I smiled.
“Come to think of it...”
“someone skilled enough to save lives through medicine would probably also be highly skilled at striking vital points capable of taking lives.”
"..."
A strange light passed through Baek Cheongu's eyes.
I immediately waved my hand.
“Ah, forgive me.”
“That was an inappropriate thing to say before someone with a noble spirit like yours.”
Baek Cheongu studied my face.
Then he smiled again.
“Mujin, you're quite an interesting person.”
His head tilted slightly.
“Strangely... you look familiar.”
“I feel as though we've met somewhere before.”
“There is no possibility of that.”
I answered naturally.
“Ever since I was old enough to remember, I have never left Kunlun.”
“You must be mistaking me for someone else.”
“Is that so?”
Baek Cheongu seemed thoughtful for a moment.
Then he nodded.
“I suppose I must be mistaken.”
His smile returned.
“Still, for some reason...”
“I have a feeling that you and I will be seeing each other often from now on.”
Just hearing that made my skin crawl.
That murderous bastard was probably already imagining all kinds of twisted human experiments he could perform on me.
...Should I just kill him now?
The moment I felt his gaze...
killing intent rose inside me before I could stop it.
The urge to snap that murderer's neck right here and now twisted inside my chest.
Then...
“Hahaha!”
Sect Leader Cheon Gwangcheon laughed warmly.
“Seeing young talents from both Kunlun and the Righteous Alliance gathered together like this is truly wonderful.”
He naturally stepped between Baek Cheongu and me.
Baek Cheongu finally looked away.
Thanks to that...
I managed to calm myself as well.
Blood Physician Butcher...
I'll personally take your head.
I clenched my teeth and forced my anger back down.
Now wasn't the time.
I still had to wait.
Cheon Gwangcheon turned toward Baek Cheongu.
“Didn't you say there was something you especially wanted to tell us today?”
Baek Cheongu smiled.
“I prepared a small gift to thank you for granting my difficult request.”
“A gift?”
Baek Cheongu reached inside his clothes.
He pulled out a small box wrapped in fine silk.
After carefully unwrapping it...
he opened the lid.
A subtle fragrance immediately spread through the room.
Inside were several jade-colored pills.
Everyone's attention was drawn to them instantly.
“These are pills I recently created after devoting considerable effort to their refinement.”
“They restore vitality and also help increase internal energy.”
He looked around.
“If you do not mind, I would like to offer them as gifts to everyone gathered here.”
Admiration immediately spread throughout the room.
“Oh!”
“A pill personally refined by one of the Ten Great Physicians of the Central Plains!”
“Even the fragrance is impressive.”
“One can already tell how powerful its effects must be.”
Everyone looked delighted.
