Reincarnation of the Demon - Chapter 4



Only Noblemtl

Get patients with your dexterity

“You are sick.”

The beggar, leaning completely against the wall, muttered.

“There definitely is. Whether it’s fate or something, there’s someone you want.”

“Please tell me-”

“But why me?”

The beggar looked at Yongun and said.

“Does openness seem like a place that gives out information for free?”

A dirty hand was extended to Yongwoon. The intention was clearly shown by the palm facing the sky.

Yongwoon nodded. His hand went into his arms.

“How much would it cost?”

“Three nyang of silver.”

Stop-

“what?”

The shocking price was enough to make Yongwoon forget to use polite language for a moment. The beggar said, as if he was shocked.

“Look at this guy’s true nature coming out. You punk, you’re saying something like that after you sent me a killing spree?”

Three nyang of silver was the price of a cow. And Yongwoon didn’t have that kind of money.

“…It’s a matter of saving one person, so how can it be like that in the opening of the political party-”

“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll raise the fine to five nyang. There are a lot of bastards who are dying of illness. Should I introduce them to you?”

“I would like to do so, but I don’t have time.”

Yongwoon, who had been thinking about it for a while, smiled and said.

“Would you like to make a bet with me?”

“what?”

“A martial art that doesn’t use internal energy. If you can subdue the enemy’s wrist, you win. If I win, I’ll tell you who the sick person I just mentioned is.”

“Hey, look at that kid.”

‘You say that even after feeling my level?’

The beggar with a quizzical expression said with a hollow laugh.

“What if I win?”

“I’ll tell you how an illegitimate child who was locked in a warehouse for twenty years learned the art of acupuncture.”

“Heh heh.”

It was ridiculous. It couldn’t be helped. Does that guy with no blood on his head even know what he’s talking about?

“What should I do with this?”

Should I accept this? Such a ridiculous act? If the other elders of the Central Plains had seen it, it would have been a joke for twenty years. Regardless of whether they won or not, it was like bullying a child who didn’t know the ways of the world.

‘But looking at this guy’s eyes, it doesn’t seem like he’ll give up…’

“Sigh,” the beggar said, holding out his right arm.

“I will yield the initiative.”

Geumnasoo (擒拿手) is a martial art that encompasses the techniques of blocking an opponent’s attack with one’s hands while simultaneously counterattacking.

Although it is a martial art that focuses primarily on subduing, such as breaking joints or breaking the center of gravity, Geumnasoo also refers to hand-to-hand combat.

Grabbing the opponent’s hand and holding onto their wrist or otherwise subduing them. The beggar did not even get up from the straw he was sitting on, so the fight between Yongwoon and the beggar’s gold-plated sword became a fight between only hands.

‘I guess I should take this opportunity to show you how vast the Central Plains is.’

The old man didn’t even think about it until Yongwoon’s hand wrapped around his wrist.

There was no energy. The only thing that mattered was dexterity. The beggar’s wrist struck hard at the palm that was approaching him with its palm wide open.

At that moment, an alarm bell rang in the beggar’s head. The slow movement of his hands, devoid of energy, contained an insight that was impossible for a twenty-year-old country boy to have.

Yongwoon’s hand, which had been thrown out, moved like lightning. The hand, which seemed to be made of bone, twisted like a snake and wrapped around the beggar’s arm.

‘what!’

A moment of carelessness. That was fatal to the beggar. He hurriedly pulled his arms toward his body to avoid Yongwoon’s hand, but the attack was not over.

Knock, knock, knock. The sound was not grand. Rather, it was insignificant. The momentum was the same. This hand-to-hand play that looked like child’s play from afar was, however, a fierce battle where the psychology, strategy, and intuition of the two masters clashed.

Reaching out. Dodging. But there was no counterattack. It was so dense that there was no gap. Hands collided, and bent wrists struck the fingers that were trying to squeeze me and ran away.

But the beggar could not escape from Yongun, or rather, Ma-ui’s Geumnasu.

The doctor uses his hands. When taking the patient’s pulse, pressing the acupoints, and pricking the needles.

For such members, mistakes were not tolerated. The acupuncture points, which had six hundred acupoints, were so sensitive that even a momentary error, the size of a single dust particle, could ruin them, so extreme meticulousness was essential for members.

Ma-ui was the best among them. Moreover, the countless blood vessels he had seen were those of the highest masters in the martial arts world. He had seen all their muscles, bones, and movements of their bets more than anyone else.

Geumnasoo is a martial art that subdues an opponent with one’s hands. It is one of the martial arts that ordinary martial artists look down on along with the point-blood technique, but when it reaches its peak, one can rip off an opponent’s entire arm with just two fingers.

It was literally possible to lift a thousand pounds in four directions.

Geumnasu was one of the few strengths of the legendary Ma-ui. In fact, when he died, he killed Namgung Cho-jin, the greatest master of Cheonyeong-ui-gyeong, after tearing off his entire right arm with Geumnasu.

“Ugh…..”

The beggar’s eyes could not understand my current situation. My right hand was completely caught by the right hand of a young man who had no nickname, no, who had never even set foot in the world of martial arts.

A twenty-year-old joke is a piece of crap. If rumors spread throughout the Central Plains, it would be an incident that would turn the world of martial arts upside down.

Yongwoon said with a smile.

“I won. This is a bonus.”

Yongwoon’s right hand moved. His index and middle fingers were placed on the beggar’s wrist.

It was a pulse diagnosis.

“what-”

“You were attacked by a demon. About twenty years ago?”

The beggar listened to Yongwoon’s words in silence. He was somewhat surprised and couldn’t shake it off.

“How did you figure that out?”

“It’s strange that a doctor can’t recognize a wound caused by a demonic spirit. It’s that unpleasant spirit that rots muscles and damages nerves just by touching them.”

Twenty years ago, it was the year that Ma-ui died, and it was also the time when the Great Battle of Jeongma broke out, so it wasn’t strange.

The beggar agreed with Yongun’s words.

“During the Great Heavenly Rebellion, I killed one of the Demonic Cult’s chieftains. I was hit on the shoulder by the demonic spell he used.”

‘Is the Jeongma War called the Cheon-gwang War?’

Yongwoon nodded, having gained information in his head.

“The internal injury was treated, but it was not completely cured. So, on days when the left shoulder had a lot of yin energy, it would have been sore. It would have been painful when practicing energy at the acupuncture points nearby.”

“You’re right. There was a doctor I originally wanted to see, but he died that year due to many debts. So I treated him, but he still had aftereffects.”

‘…Me?’

There was a high probability of that. Even though his nickname was ‘Ma-ui’, there were quite a few people from the sect that he had treated. Of course, it was annoying that no one helped him when he was dying in the end.

“It’s only natural that there would be aftereffects since it was an attack by a master magician. Of course, it’s easy to treat. Even acupuncture-”

“what?”

The beggar cut off Yong-un. He spoke with an expression of disbelief.

“This… can be treated?”

“Of course. You don’t even need to go to acupuncture.”

The beggar looked at Yongwoon with a strange look at his confident attitude. He spoke slowly.

“…The doctor who treated this injury at the time is the one who is closest to the nickname of God. He said that it was an inevitable aftereffect. But, are you saying that it is curable now?”

“The congressman wouldn’t have lied, since a strong man wouldn’t have gone to a stone-thrower. He just said that because he lacked the ability.”

“Huh…. So what is that method?”

“It’s simple. When your shoulders feel sore on a rainy day, at night, or on a day with strong yin energy, take a potion containing yang energy and store that energy in the meridian of your shoulder through your luck.”

“Keep it?”

“Qi is not static, but dynamic. However, for someone like you, isn’t it like eating cold porridge to hold onto your energy for a while? Even a fifth-grade elixir will do. Just use a medicine that contains yang energy.”

A chronic disease that has plagued the master of openness for twenty years. A prescription that is so light that it is hard to believe it is the cure.

The beggar, who had been lost in thought for a moment, slowly nodded his head. The beggar’s gaze as he looked at Yongwoon was very different from the first time.

“I will do as you say. This is your reward.”

An old wooden card came out of the beggar’s arms. Yongwoon didn’t want to give up the worn-out, dirty card, but he took it.

There was no pattern drawn on it. All there was was a Chinese character for dog (丐) roughly engraved in the center of the pattern. Even the outer part of the card was worn and broken, making it look like a cheap card.

“It’s the beggar of openness. If you give it to the beggar of openness, he will treat you well. Then I will tell you the information I promised.”

Naturally, the beggar’s mouth was talking about the Guangxi Railway. Yongwoon’s eyes turned upward. On the other side of the building, on the top floor, there were indeed young warriors chattering away.

He made eye contact with one of them. It was a large, bear-like creature with a ferocious appearance, and when it saw Yongwoon, it began to snicker.

Are you laughing? All of a sudden?

The beggar finished speaking and pulled down his hat.

“You should watch your body. The lynxes that are after the unbalanced iron fence are slowly revealing their claws.”

“No problem. Thank you.”

Just as Yong-un, who had politely accepted the lottery ticket, was about to head to the base, the beggar spoke.

“My nickname is Hyugae.”

When Yongwoon looked puzzled by the sudden introduction, the beggar coughed in vain, saying, “That’s big.”

“You don’t have to know. As for the treatment of my aftereffects… I will repay you soon.”

Yongwoon looked at the beggar with his arms folded and his head bowed for a moment, then resumed walking.

Hyugae. A name with only two characters, including the nickname Gae (丐), like Punggae, the current owner of the open space.

‘I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before.’

I stopped thinking about it right away. As I said, there wasn’t much time.

“It’s really hard to use polite language.”

He was a man whose memories of Yongun and Ma-ui were mixed together. Ma-ui was different from Yongun, who originally had a docile personality, so honorifics were difficult for him.

It was polite language that was not used even to Cheonma or Kwonjon.

Of course, Yongwoon had some ego now, and the beggar named Hyugae he had just met was not ordinary, so he had to speak politely.

“Come on in, Sher!”

Jeom So-i, who was welcoming the guests, was startled for a moment by Yong-un’s attire. However, he quickly recovered and approached Yong-un with a smile.

“Our store is prepaid. Is that okay?”

“Did he see Yongwoon fighting with a beggar, or was it because of his behavior?” Yongwoon asked Jeomso-yi.

“Is the man named Cheolhakjae here now?”

“Yes? Uh, yes…”

After hearing the answer, Yongwoon passed him and headed towards the stairs. Jeomsoi, who was momentarily surprised, followed him.

“Hands, sir! The third floor of the building is now rented entirely by the nobles!”

Yongwoon didn’t answer him. As he strode up the stairs, the warriors in front of the stairs leading to the third floor greeted him.

“Who are you?”

Yong-un also did not answer the questions of the glaring warriors. When he tried to pass them and head to the third floor, they raised their arms and stopped him.

“Didn’t Jeomsoi do his job properly? The third floor is currently off-limits.”

“I have come to see Cheolhakjae. Get out of the way.”

“what?”

Yongun’s proud demeanor could not hide his miserable behavior.

“Phuhat!”

Someone burst out laughing, and the bodyguards of the Guangxi Postscripts began to collectively laugh at him.

“Look at this crazy guy, do you know what you’ve become?”

“There are guys like this. Guys who try to form relationships with our masters in any way possible.”

“Get out of here. If you don’t want to see me in bad shape.”

Laughter and ridicule. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. The reason he moved like this was also to avoid experiencing such things again.

After a moment, Yongwoon took a deep breath to calm his mind.

“You just have to meet the man named Cheolhakjae once. Can you at least give him a word?”

The laughter that was unpleasant to hear grew louder. Some of the warriors sighed and slumped down in their seats. It seemed as if they were looking at Yongwoon with pity.

One of the warriors who stood up and blocked his path pushed Yongwoon’s chest with his sword sheath.

“I’ll give you five seconds. Get out.”

Yongwoon looked at the man’s expression for a moment and then chuckled.

“Yeah, this suits me.”

A little later, the noise from below was heard on the third floor. One of the guards, who had forgotten about the beggars’ game and was talking among themselves, asked the warriors on the third floor.

“What’s going on? There’s a commotion down there.”

“Let me check once-”

Kwaaang!

The third floor entrance was destroyed with a loud noise. The one who broke the door was a guard warrior, or rather, his body.

“What, what is it!”

A few of the followers jumped up, startled by the sudden commotion, and the guards drew their swords.

Yongwoon stepped onto the third floor amidst the acrid dust that came out as the entrance was broken.

He asked with a body that was completely bare.

“Who is Cheolhakjae?”