So? Did Someone Force You to Become the Heavenly Demon?

Chapter 47: Medical Ward (2)

While Il-mok was knocked out, courtesy of the Heavenly Demon, various events were unfolding at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

The investigations of those connected to the assassination attempts of the Third Young Master continued. They also relentlessly pursued any clue regarding the late-night snack that affected Seo Wan-pyeong and also relentlessly interrogated Jang Hwi.

Jang Hwi, despite his side being cleanly sliced by Kwan Mu-yeol’s saber strike and getting his leg amputated due to suffering from frostbite—courtesy of Jin Hayeon’s palm strike—managed to escape from death, albeit barely.

As the interrogations and investigations progressed, the evidence began to point to someone as the culprit.

However, the investigation concluded in a rather anticlimactic manner.

***

Late at night.

Two elderly men met at their usual gathering place.

The man on the right, after a moment of observing the empty seat usually occupied by the Divine Guardian, addressed the man in the center.

“I didn’t expect you to act personally.”

“Since it involved the Divine Guardian, I couldn’t entrust it to anyone else.”

The old man on the right hesitated for a moment before asking, “But to stage it as a suicide? Do you think the Heavenly Demon would fall for such a trick?”

Among those who had prepared the assassination attempt for Seo Wan-pyeong, including Jang Hwi, one was a member of the Sacred Order.

Furthermore, during the investigation, they managed to trace back the Black Bean Demon Tea’s origin (黑豆魔茶) to the Divine Guardian.

(TL Note: Yes, that’s coffee. The Source of All the World’s Evil, lol)

And this thing that they called Black Bean Demon Tea was something the old man in the center had given to the Divine Guardian. Naturally, if things continued as is, the old man in the center would inevitably become implicated.

That’s why the old man had decisively eliminated the Divine Guardian.

He had personally gone to kill him and staged it as suicide by poison.

He even forged a suicide note imitating the Divine Guardian’s handwriting.

And after orchestrating all this, the central elder replied nonchalantly, “The Heavenly Demon would certainly not be fooled.”

“!?”

Regardless of the old man on the right’s shock, the old man in the center continued with an indifferent expression, “But what does it matter? The tail has been cut off, so it will be difficult to trace it back to us now. The dead tell no tales, don’t they?”

“Ah….”

The old man on the right let out a sigh filled with mixed emotions before quickly composing himself.

‘He’s more dangerous than I expected.’

The prerequisite of staging the Divine Guardian’s death as a suicide by poison is that there must be no trace of resistance in the scene. Conversely, if you think about it, this also means that the Divine Guardian couldn’t even react to the attack.

Sure, the old man in the center’s action must have caught the Divine Guardian off guard. But still, the Divine Guardian himself was one of the top martial artists within the cult.

To kill such a person without giving them a chance to resist and then disguise it as suicide…

As the old man on the right struggled to suppress his shock and fear, the old man in the center spoke again.

“However, this incident has likely sharpened the Heavenly Demon’s vigilance, so we should lie low for a while. Moreover, we’ve lost as a valuable chess piece, which will significantly hinder our grand plan.”

“I never expected things would go this far because of that child.”

Both elders simultaneously thought of the Heavenly Demon’s youngest disciple.

During the brief silence that followed, the elder on the right realized something strange and asked, “By the way, can you tell me the source of that Black Bean Demon Tea? You claimed no one would know about it, yet if even a mere inn attendant could identify it, it must not be from a very reliable source.”

At that question, the old man in the center’s expression instantly turned cold. It wasn’t out of anger toward those who had provided the Black Bean Demon Tea.

‘Come to think of it, black bean demon tea isn’t something a mere server would know about.’

It was a product that had only recently become popular in the distant Western regions and was virtually unknown in the Central Plains or here in Xinjiang.

Even if one searched the entire Central Plains, only a select few would recognize it and they are certainly not a mere innkeeper or server.

The problem was that pointing this out to the Heavenly Demon would be tantamount to confessing their own guilt.

‘Should I send word to them and request an investigation into the Eighth Young Master’s past?’

He briefly considered this but then shook his head.

He couldn’t show weakness to them. Appearing incompetent—being manipulated by a mere fifteen-year-old and unable to gather proper information—could become a vulnerability in the future.

Besides, there was no need to investigate the past of the Eighth Young Master.

Having organized his thoughts, the central elder smiled coldly, lifting only the corners of his mouth.

“Rather than the origin of the Black Bean Demon Tea, isn’t it more important to figure out how to deal with that brat?”

“Didn’t you say we should lie low for a while?”

At the old man on the right’s question, the coldly smiling old man turned his head toward the west.

“We don’t necessarily need to act directly. For example, an unfortunate accident could occur during training at the Hall of the Demonic Way, don’t you think?”

“……”

The old man on the right, who hadn’t expected the old man’s influence to extend even to the Hall of the Demonic Way, could only remain silent.

***

A few days later.

After waking up in the medical ward, Il-mok ate the meal that Jin Hayeon had brought as usual, then heaved a deep sigh.

With the expression of a prisoner awaiting his final fate, Il-mok closed his eyes, only to open them again shortly after with a puzzled look.

“What are you doing?”

At Il-mok’s question, Jin Hayeon furrowed her brow.

“What do you mean?”

“Knocking me out. Aren’t you going to knock me out again?”

For the past few days, except for meal times and bathroom breaks, Il-mok had been forced into a deep sleep by Jin Hayeon.

“According to the Demonic Physician, your body has now fully recovered.”

“Haah.”

Il-mok unconsciously let out a sigh of relief.

After watching him for a moment, Jin Hayeon spoke in her usual blunt tone, “Therefore, you can now return to Windrock Palace. I’ve prepared everything.”

Il-mok got up and left the medical ward with her.

On the way back to Windrock Palace, Ilmok learned from Jin Hayeon about what had happened while he was asleep.

During the extensive investigation of the Sacred Order, the Divine Guardian had been found dead by suicide, accompanied by a note.

And surprisingly, the one who welcomed Il-mok upon his arrival at Windrock Palace was the Heavenly Demon himself.

“I heard from the Demonic Physician. Now that your body has recovered, isn’t it time to begin training again?”

“……”

Planning to work a patient who had just recovered enough to rise from his sickbed—what a merciless old man.

As if reading my thoughts, the Master added, “Aren’t you feeling restless because of the side effects anyway? It’s safer for me to oversee your training rather than you pushing yourself alone.”

“Ahem. I am nothing but grateful for Master’s consideration.”

Pretending to be moved, I bowed respectfully before drawing my sword.

Ruthless training schedule aside, it was true that my body was feeling restless.

“Whew.”

After a deep breath to calm my mind, I recalled the events of that night.

The sight of Jang Hwi’s hurled spear flying toward me. The sensation of the world moving in slow motion.

The powerful flow of internal energy that had surged from my lower abdomen through all the meridians in my body.

But.

Wheeeeeing.

The sword I drew along with the Soul-Departing Sword technique only emitted a strong resonating sound.

It didn’t produce the same clear sword qi as before.

How should I put it? My mind roughly remembered, but my body couldn’t keep up?

No, it didn’t feel like it was properly ingrained in my head either.

The overwhelming enlightenment had come and gone in a flash, leaving my mind struggling to process it.

And since I had been unconscious for several days, all those insights had become blurred.

‘Damn it. Should I have trained immediately back then?’

I tried performing the Soul-Departing Sword technique several more times, but something was still lacking.

Watching my struggles, Master prescribed an extreme remedy.

“Hmm. It seems the passage of time has blurred your insights.”

“…It appears so.”

“Then, if we recreate the same situation as before, perhaps some of that enlightenment will return.”

“The same situation as then…?”

While I wore a puzzled expression.

Suddenly, an immense wave of energy swirled around Master, and a terrifying killing intent pressed down on my entire body.

Simultaneously, Master’s drawn sword flashed towards my heart.

“Eek!?” I shrieked involuntarily and swung his sword

Slash.

Even worse, my sword, still lacking the sword qi, was cut off in one strike.

With his sword now touching my chest, Master spoke, “It seems you grow stronger faster in life-threatening situations, so we’ll train like this until you regain the enlightenment from that day.”

“Gulp….”

I unconsciously swallowed hard.

What the fuck does he think I am? A Saiyan from the Dragon Ball series who grows stronger by screaming and facing death as if eating breakfast?!

“Ha, haha. M-Master? E-Even so, isn’t there a difference between real combat and training?”

In response to my comment, Master withdrew the sword from my chest and smiled gently.

“Hehehe. The human body is simpler than you think. Even if you think in your head that you won’t die, your body will react on its own. And most importantly.”

Master’s smile faded as he once again exuded tremendous killing intent and energy while saying, “Can you truly guarantee that you won’t die?”

My bones chilled, and every hair on my body stood on end.

Even more intensely than when I was ambushed by Jang Hwi that night.

***

“Huff… Huff…”

Though only about two hours had passed, sweat poured like rain from my exhausted body.

Having faced Master’s tremendous killing intent and energy waves for two hours straight, not only my body but my mental energy had been severely depleted.

“Hahaha. See? It works!”

But in exchange, I succeeded in manifesting the sword qi on my blade.

Wheeeeeing.

The sword qi, like a mirage, would scatter and disappear the moment my concentration wavered.

Thanks to Master’s threats, my forcibly heightened concentration allowed me to occasionally manifest sword qi.

Of course, maintaining this forcibly elevated state of concentration doubled my mental strain.

In addition, there was another subtle benefit.

‘I’m so exhausted that the side effects seem to have subsided a bit.’

Whether it was because I had somewhat caught up to the enlightenment from that night or simply because I was tired, the other self that had been screaming in a corner of my mind had quieted down a bit.

“That’s enough training for today, so take some rest.”

Master, who had been driving me to the brink of death for two hours, had returned to his gentle demeanor.

“Master. Before you leave, could we speak briefly?”

Even in my exhausted state, I forced myself to hold Master from leaving.

Now that the side effects had somewhat subsided, there were a few things I needed to discuss in advance.

“Speak.”

“I’ve heard the situation briefly from Miss Jin, but I find it rather odd.”

At my comment, Master nodded.

“This old man is also aware of that issue. However, with the Divine Guardian’s suicide, the trail of evidence has been cut off. And we can’t torture and purge everyone at headquarters, can we?”

I couldn’t argue with that.

Based on the atmosphere and Master’s character as I had observed it, he wasn’t the type to just let things end like this.

He was probably continuing the investigation in secret, waiting for the big fish to make a move so he could capture them in one fell swoop.

“I’ll keep an eye on that issue, so you focus on your training. The entrance exam for the Hall of the Demonic Way is less than half a year away.”

As Master turned to leave after saying this, I hurriedly stopped again.

“Master! I have something else to discuss.”

In truth, I had only asked about the Divine Guardian because something felt off after hearing Jin Hayeon’s story. My main point was something else.

“Do you remember those black beans we found as evidence?”

“How could I forget? To ordinary people, it’s just a drink, but for some, it’s a poison that amplifies depression. It’s no different from poison to our Cult.”

“Exactly. But conversely speaking, just as the poisonous mushroom acted as medicine for Warrior Kwan, there are undoubtedly things that are poison but can also act as medicine.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Master looked at me with expectant eyes, as if he had somewhat guessed my intentions.

To fulfill Master’s expectations, and above all, for my future safety—

During my time in the medical ward, whenever I wasn’t unconscious, I had been diligently formulating a plan.

“Just like those black beans or poisonous mushrooms, there are foods or medicinal ingredients in the world that affect people’s minds. Therefore, we must establish an institution that researches such foods and herbs. Additionally, we should train specialized physicians to treat and counsel those suffering from the side effects of Demonic Arts.”

It was, in essence, a proposal to establish a psychiatric ward within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.