The Terminally Ill Young Master of the Baek Clan

Yi-gang closed his eyes tightly.

Beep—

It seemed like such a sound was coming to his ears.

He thought he had forgotten. Born as the eldest son of the Baek Noble Clan here, the time he lived was almost as long as his previous life.

Since the cancerous lump settled in his stomach and spread in all directions, he had been unable to leave the hospital.

Busy nurses and doctors moving around.

People dying next to him, lying in bed. Their cheeks deeply sunken, their eyes cloudy and gray.

The artificial scent coming to his nose, mixed with the breath of the patients, that damp and subtly foul smell.

Memories of his previous life that he thought he had forgotten surfaced.

“Bring more hot water! And clean cotton cloths too. Bring everything you have!”

That’s how the Golden Needle Phantom’s voice bellowed.

No, this place was different from the intensive care unit. It felt more like an emergency room at dawn.

The Golden Needle Phantom seemed exactly like a doctor running around while shouting commands.

Slap!

Dam Hyun smacked Yi-gang’s cheeks hard.

“Wake up!”

Yi-gang carelessly let go of Dam Hyun’s arm that he had grabbed and twisted.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“Damn it… Pay attention and match the order to properly release the acupuncture points.”

“Yes.”

In front of Yi-gang, the Sword Emperor lay as if he were dead.

He wasn’t dead. His chest, though shallow, was still moving up and down.

However, his body had several large holes big enough for fingers to pass through.

Even modern medicine poured into him wouldn’t have been enough to save him.

Just moments ago, blood had been gushing from these holes.

Surprisingly, that severe bleeding had stopped.

He used his internal energy to seal the wounds caused by penetrating injuries with acupuncture points.

It had an effect similar to surgically suturing the blood vessels.

Naturally, it wasn’t a method that could last long.

The Golden Needle Phantom had prepared an excellent hemostatic that he had thoroughly infused into a clean cotton cloth.

Dam Hyun held it, timing the moment.

“Now, one, two… three.”

Yi-gang swiftly tapped the Sword Emperor’s shoulder.

When he slightly loosened the part where the acupuncture points had been sealed, the tightly closed entry wound opened up.

Just as blood was about to gush out, Dam Hyun forcefully stuffed in a cotton cloth soaked in hemostatic.

The Sword Emperor’s body twitched. Though unconscious, he must have felt pain.

As the Golden Needle Phantom was about to insert another needle, he frowned, and Dam Hyun asked, “Should I prepare the anesthesia?”

“No need! Using that now would damage his body too much.”

The anesthesia mentioned was a type of anesthetic. Using it on the Sword Emperor now might prevent him from waking up.

The Golden Needle Phantom’s face was contorted like a ghost’s.

But surprisingly, his mouth was smiling. It resembled the face of a rogue before a battle.

He too was a master of martial arts, but what truly excited him seemed to be saving a patient’s life.

The Golden Needle Phantom indeed was a divine doctor. Both Yi-gang and Dam Hyun knew medicine and assisted as aides, but they dared not even attempt to emulate the Golden Needle Phantom’s level.

He used his eyes, nose, and ears to fully assess the Sword Emperor’s condition.

With his mouth, he directed Dam Hyun and Yi-gang, and with his hands, he applied the most critical treatments in real time to prolong the Sword Emperor’s life.

Zhang Sanfeng even marveled.

「Such an incredible doctor…!」

It was as if he was forcibly tying the Sword Emperor’s departing soul back to his body.

Then the Golden Needle Phantom lifted his head and suddenly twisted his face.

The reason was that multiple people, including Myung Won and other elders of the Wudang Sect, were peering through the open folding screen doors left ajar for ventilation.

“Get lost, it’s annoying!” the Golden Needle Phantom shouted unabashedly.

It wasn’t something one would dare say to the Wudang Sect’s leader, but no one could rebuke him.

They flinched every time a sharp knife was waved.

“If you don’t want to see the Sword Emperor die, leave immediately!”

Who would dare to cross a doctor in such a mood?

They all retreated without a word.

The Golden Needle Phantom focused again.

He had to suture the wounds and blood vessels with threads finer than hair.

It was the most crucial and difficult task.

Every time the Golden Needle Phantom sweated like beads, Yi-gang wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

Many had died or been injured due to the self-destruction of the Hidden Ghosts.

Already seven had died. The number of injured was similarly high.

Among them, the Sword Emperor was in the most critical condition.

How much time had passed?

Finally, the Golden Needle Phantom relaxed his hands.

“Phew…”

He had been so focused that his hands were trembling from the tension.

He didn’t know what would happen next, but the major crisis had passed.

Yet, the Golden Needle Phantom’s expression remained troubled.

His eyes were fixed on the Sword Emperor’s head.

A piece of metal shot by the Heaven-Shaking Thunder had lodged in the Sword Emperor’s head. It was a fragment of an iron bead shattered by Yi-gang’s sword.

To examine the wound area clearly, the scar remained on the cleanly shaved scalp.

A white cotton cloth covered it, but still, a pinkish fluid slowly seeped out.

The Golden Needle Phantom had decided to leave that wound untreated for the time being.

“Yi-gang.”

He then called Yi-gang in a low voice.

As Yi-gang looked up, the Golden Needle Phantom strode forward and grabbed him by the collar.

“Normally, I wouldn’t have listened to the likes of you while treating my patient.”

It was a strong tone, as if he might spew fire, clearly after exerting all his strength.

“You’re the only one who heard about the Sword Emperor’s condition in that room, so I trust you.”

“Thank you for trusting me.”

The Golden Needle Phantom hadn’t touched the Sword Emperor’s head because of what Yi-gang had said.

Yi-gang, who had moved the Sword Emperor to this place, strongly insisted to the Golden Needle Phantom.

Even if they treated the Sword Emperor as he was, it would be meaningless if they didn’t remove the root cause of the dementia.

After some thought, the Golden Needle Phantom accepted Yi-gang’s opinion.

“If it turns out to be nonsense, I won’t forgive you, even if it’s you.”

“Yes.”

The Golden Needle Phantom then released Yi-gang’s collar.

Yi-gang massaged his strained neck.

He too was not at ease.

That’s why he said the same thing as the Golden Needle Phantom.

‘If it turns out to be nonsense, I won’t forgive you, even if you are a sage.’

「Trust me.」

It was actually Zhang Sanfeng who conveyed this through Yi-gang.

「The doctor handled it well, but the Innate Qi is already depleted. Moreover, the most critical thing is the yokai Qi that coiled inside his head after he consumed the heart of the evil dragon.」

In the Heaven Ascension Cave, he heard the whole story from the Sword Emperor.

For some reason, the seal on the heart of the evil dragon had come undone, and because of this, the Sword Emperor ended up consuming the heart that had not been fully purified.

A dragon was naturally a spiritual creature, but an evil dragon was sinister.

It meant the yokai Qi of that evil dragon was what made even an Absolute master appear as if afflicted by dementia.

Then, what was necessary to treat the Sword Emperor?

「He has clearly prepared himself to burn everything down. As a fellow swordsman, I wish to fulfill his will.」

Like the Sword Releasing Tree that sprouted anew at the cost of its own lifespan.

The Sword Emperor wished for such a fate.

‘I wish for the same.’

To do so, they must first retrieve the power stored in the heart of the evil dragon.

However, the method was not ordinary.

“I never thought it would come to this… sigh.”

The Golden Needle Phantom sighed deeply.

“Dam Hyun, prepare the skull-opening surgery.”

“Yes!”

“After the bleeding has stopped and we can use the anesthesia, we’ll start immediately.”

As soon as the declaration for skull-opening surgery was made, Dam Hyun hurried to prepare.

The Golden Needle Phantom spoke to Yi-gang in a low voice, “Your role is the most important. Yi-gang.”

Even if the head was opened, extracting the yokai Qi inside was beyond the scope of normal medical practice.

Yi-gang nodded gravely.

---

As the day darkened, it became chilly rather than cool.

Breathing out slowly was enough for it to become visible.

Dam Hyun was fetching cold water to wash his face.

After cleaning his face thoroughly, he tightly tied his hair back.

Then, he washed his hands again. His hands needed to be clean for the skull-opening surgery.

He then took long breaths in and out. Deep breathing.

“Phew… Phew.”

Yi-gang was intently watching Dam Hyun, who was seriously taking deep breaths.

Yi-gang too had his hair tightly tied back and his sleeves rolled up.

“What are you doing?”

“…Trying.”

Dam Hyun responded a beat late, as if startled.

“What do you mean ‘trying’?”

Dam Hyun glanced at Yi-gang with a weary face and muttered in a low voice, “Trying not to laugh.”

“…”

Yi-gang was slightly taken aback by the unexpected answer.

He was not sure how he took that silence, but Dam Hyun soon added an explanation.

“I’ve always wanted to try skull-opening surgery. Besides, opportunities to open the Sword Emperor’s head aren’t common.”

“That’s true.”

“To be honest, I’m excited. It makes me want to laugh.”

“…”

Yi-gang didn’t respond. The idea of laughing about opening the Sword Emperor’s head—Yi-gang neither found it absurd nor got angry out of misunderstanding.

“Then why don’t you just laugh?”

He genuinely thought that. What could possibly be wrong with laughing?

Yi-gang understood Dam Hyun, and the Golden Needle Phantom was also aware of Dam Hyun’s twisted personality.

Faced with Yi-gang’s question, Dam Hyun instead looked bewildered.

“No, I shouldn’t laugh… Yeah, it’s not right.”

He seemed to be reflecting on why it wasn’t appropriate.

“You don’t dislike the Sword Emperor, do you, Yi-gang? Wouldn’t your heart ache if he died?”

“Hmm, it probably would.”

“If I laughed, you’d feel bad, right?”

“…I know Senior Brother is a weird person, I think it’d be okay.”

Dam Hyun chuckled.

“Cheong Su, that ugly guy, would either burst into anger or whine about it.”

“He’s not here right now.”

“Right, he isn’t.”

Dam Hyun nodded in agreement with Yi-gang’s words.

In the past, Yi-gang had nearly removed all the dark energy from his head.

Yet, despite that, his personality had been twisted. Had time worked some kind of magic on him?

Dam Hyun was also changing, little by little.

“Let’s go inside.”

“Yes.”

Yi-gang and Dam Hyun entered the room where the Golden Needle Phantom was waiting.

The Golden Needle Phantom had been waiting for them for some time.

The Sword Emperor’s body had been moved to a slightly elevated bed.

After being administered anesthesia, he lay motionless as if dead.

“We start the skull-opening surgery. Dam Hyun, assist me by my side. Yi-gang, sit in front and wait for the moment.”

“Yes.”

Yi-gang sat cross-legged.

Others could not see him, but Zhang Sanfeng was standing beside him.

「There’s only one chance.」

‘Yes.’

The Golden Needle Phantom picked up a small knife.

Normally, a saw was used to cut bone, but a master can substitute this by imbuing a weapon with Qi.

“Let me emphasize once again. Skull-opening surgery doesn’t mean completely opening the skull.”

“Yes,”

“We make an incision that allows the skin to be sutured back, and remove only the necessary pieces of bone from the skull.”

“Yes.”

The Golden Needle Phantom recited the process of the skull-opening surgery as if he were performing a solemn ritual.

“The important thing is to minimize damage to the brain inside the skull. After removing the fragments embedded in the bone, we will disinfect the wound with boiled water.”

“It’s ready.”

“Yi-gang, that’s when you step in.”

“Yes.”

That will be done.

And so, the skull-opening surgery began.

Even the Golden Needle Phantom had only performed the skull-opening surgery three times before.

And all three times, the patients did not survive.

The Golden Needle Phantom brought the small knife to the Sword Emperor’s scalp.

Swoosh—

The knife precisely sliced through the skin.

The blade that cut through human skin gathered blood and sebum. He placed the knife on a white cloth, then extended his hand to Dam Hyun.

“Give me the third knife.”

Dam Hyun handed him a slightly blunter and shorter knife.

A white light shone on the blade that the Golden Needle Phantom was holding.

He then applied it to the Sword Emperor’s skull.

Scrape—

It sounded more like cutting through the flesh of a radish or pumpkin rather than hard bone.

He placed the removed piece of skull on a silver tray with a clang, using gold tweezers.

From that point on, even more concentration was required.

Holding the gold tweezers, the Golden Needle Phantom didn’t even blink.

The silence, where not even a breath could be heard, lasted a long time.

The Golden Needle Phantom even controlled his breathing length.

It seemed to take him three times as long as an ordinary person to take a single breath.

The Golden Needle Phantom stirred the gold tweezers inside the Sword Emperor’s skull.

It took a considerable amount of time.

Finally, a nail-sized piece of metal was captured by Golden Needle Phantom’s gold tweezers.

Clang—

The piece of metal that had been consuming the Sword Emperor’s life was now exposed to the world.

By then, Yi-gang was already standing.

He strode forward and raised his hand, which had been disinfected with alcohol.

Soon, he did something tremendous.

He placed his white fingers on the Sword Emperor’s head, deep enough to feel the heat and softness.

「Focus. However, you only need to play the role of the legs. Empty your mind.」

The Golden Needle Phantom sat quietly in a meditative pose.

Dam Hyun’s eyes were wide open, as if not wanting to miss a single moment.

「Like true energy, yokai Qi also exists and does not exist.」

There was a concept known as Qi Bu Zai Lun.

It meant that Qi did not exist. If you saw a martial artist emitting sword Qi, this might seem incorrect.

However, some masters who have reached the Absolute realm have spoken of Qi Bu Zai Lun.

「You cannot touch Qi, and even less so yokai Qi. If you ask how one can extract the yokai Qi firmly entrenched in a person’s bones…」

Then how does one extract the yokai Qi from the mind, which seemed to exist yet not exist?

「Empty your body completely. Let the yokai Qi flow out as if dry paper were absorbing ink.」

Yi-gang did just that.

A strange energy was drawn from his hands.

It was not human Qi. It was neither pure nor evil.

It felt as if his fingertips were both freezing and burning.

This was demonic Qi.

Even Yi-gang, familiar with Heavenly Thunder Bell, could not handle the power of beasts and monsters.

「Let it flow. It is not a power you can handle.」

Cheongho poked its face out from Yi-gang’s embrace.

「Yokai Qi suits monsters. The power of the evil dragon has waned over time, so even your young fox could handle it.」

Cheongho flicked its tongue.

It looked more enticed than when it faced its favorite acorns.

Yi-gang removed his hand from the Sword Emperor’s skull.

And immediately, he thoroughly washed his fingers with boiled water.

The absorbed yokai Qi was gathered at his fingertips. Perhaps because of that, his fingers were tinged with a purplish hue.

As he brought it closer to Cheongho, Cheongho looked up at Yi-gang’s face.

A single drop of saliva fell from the corner of its mouth.

The moment Yi-gang nodded.

“King.”

Cheongho bit Yi-gang’s finger.

Cheongho’s still-white fur suddenly emitted a blue light.