Underground martial training hall beneath the Clan Head’s residence.

Seolhwa greeted Namgoong Hyeok, Lord of the Black Dragon Unit, who stood guarding the entrance. After returning his courtesy with a clasped fist, she descended the stairs.

The further down she went, the stronger the smell of herbs became.

They were laid out to delay the corruption of the corpses and suppress the stench.

Upon reaching the training hall, she saw the Immortal Physician moving swiftly among the corpses, with Chor Yeon assisting her.

“You’ve come?”

Seolhwa answered Chor Yeon’s greeting with a nod and stepped toward the Immortal Physician.

She was placing needles across a corpse’s body.

“Have you discovered anything?”

The Immortal Physician gave no reply, only moved her hands faster. Though her eyes were blind, her fingers, probing and driving in the needles, never wavered.

Seolhwa sat nearby and quietly waited until her work was finished.

Time passed.

“Hm.”

The Immortal Physician withdrew her hands from the corpse.

From the side, Chor Yeon approached with a basin of water infused with herbs and a clean cloth.

The Immortal Physician washed her hands in the water, then turned toward Seolhwa.

“What was it you said?”

“I wondered if the corpse I gave you was of any help, Master.”

“Ah, the Jiangshi.”

“I’ve learned nothing at all. No matter how I cut here or cut there, it’s just a corpse.”

“Is that so?”

“It would have been better if you had brought me that venom said to dwell in the heart....”

She clicked her tongue, turning her face back toward the corpse, regret plain in her expression.

Though known as the Hundred Medicines Master, who understood every herb beneath heaven, her knowledge of sorcery was shallow.

“If you were going to provide something, you should have at least brought me the venom. I did save the Sword Emperor’s life for you....”

“Wasn’t the bargain for a single Jiangshi?”

That was why they had been able to keep her here after treating Seop Mugwang.

The Immortal Physician was eager to learn the sorcery she did not know, and in exchange for one Jiangshi, she had agreed to help heal Namgoong Mucheon.

“It’s unbecoming to be so ungracious.”

“I jest. I would have liked to bring it for you, but the circumstances didn’t allow it.”

“Well... in that case, nothing to be done.”

“In return, I’ll see that you meet the one who commanded the Jiangshi.”

“!”

Her head snapped swiftly back toward Seolhwa.

The one who commanded the Jiangshi.

Mangwol — his dantian destroyed, gagged, and imprisoned in the Namgoong Clan dungeon.

“You’ll let me... meet him?”

“Yes.”

“...Not for nothing, surely.”

“There is something I would ask of you.”

The Immortal Physician let out a groan, as though she had expected that answer.

There was only one person in the world she could call a friend.

The eccentric of the Jegal Clan, Jegal Myeong.

Though a young master of a noble clan, he wandered about stealing. She found it amusing, and through occasional correspondence their friendship grew.

Sometimes she treated his wounds; sometimes he brought her rare ingredients he had stolen.

Then one day, he gave up thieving and withdrew to his clan’s residence.

He left only one strange phrase: that he was waiting for his Lord.

And so, for more than a decade, silence.

Until suddenly, a message reached her.

Would she help his Lord?

‘Curious who could have moved his heart, I came. But to think that “Lord” would be the young daughter of the Namgoong Clan.’

What was so special about her? The Immortal Physician had healed the so-called Wind-and-Thunder Deity and decided to watch for a while. But before she knew it, she was thoroughly ensnared.

‘The child is something else.’

Recognizing her identity immediately. Staging the Sword Emperor’s death to ensnare the enemy.

‘And myself as well.’

The Immortal Physician gave a short, incredulous laugh.

“Do you know this?”

“What?”

“No one has ever kept me bound this long before.”

“I’ll take that as praise.”

“So then, what’s the next request?”

Seolhwa smiled faintly.

“I would have you save a person.”

“And nothing else to ask of a physician? Who?”

“He resides in Songshan.”

“Songshan? Then Shaolin?”

“No. He is under Shaolin’s protection, but he is no monk. Surely you’ve heard the name.”

“?”

“He goes by the epithet Ouyang Do.”

The Immortal Physician’s face lit with shock.

“He’s still alive?”

“Does that pique your interest a little?”

“....”

Her lips snapped shut almost by reflex.

A frightening child. Calculating, piercing.

The moment the name Ouyang Do was spoken, she felt her curiosity stir: how different must the body of one who had lived so long be? And somehow the girl already knew.

The Immortal Physician cleared her throat and turned her head aside.

“...Very well. I’ll grant that request.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll depart at once tomorrow morning, so be aware.”

“You won’t remain a little longer?”

“In a few days this place will be swarming with martial artists, why would I stay!”

Startled by the sudden shrillness of her voice, Seolhwa blinked in surprise.

“At first light, I’m gone! And you keep your word — that I’ll meet the one who controlled the Jiangshi.”

“Understood.”

Snorting through her nose, the Immortal Physician strode out of the training hall, her confident gait making it hard to believe she was blind.

****

The next morning, she departed early.

As Seolhwa saw her off and turned back toward her quarters, she suddenly halted.

She felt it — the aura of the Imoogi, vanished since the funeral day.

— Been a while. You’re truly all /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ right now?

[Hmph. Pathetic human. That’s why I warned you not to use your upper dantian at will. Because you were so stubborn, you couldn’t even eat sweets all this while!]

From her sleeve, a black snake slid out and coiled around her hand.

It was as slender as the first time she had seen it.

— Good. Now you can return to your former form too. Isn’t that wonderful?

[Wonderful? Was it wonderful for you?! I thought I would suffocate! I nearly rampaged in your body out of sheer frustration...!]

— I was grateful then. You shouldn’t have come out, but you did. To comfort me.

[...Hmph. All that tough facade, yet if you were going to hurt so much, why hatch such a scheme?]

— I didn’t know it would grieve me that deeply. It was the first time I had ever felt such emotions.

[Pathetic.]

The Imoogi’s grumbling voice tickled in her head.

[But... is it fine to let her leave like that?]

— Why?

[Will she return?]

The Imoogi was worrying over the Immortal Physician.

[A physician of such skill is not easily found again. And she doesn’t seem the type to be bound by anyone. I doubt she’ll return so easily.]

Though Seolhwa had promised to provide knowledge of sorcery, what if the Immortal Physician discovered it on her own?

The Imoogi believed she wouldn’t come back.

But Seolhwa thought otherwise.

“She’ll return.”

[Why do you think that?]

“Because I showed her. Which path is righteous.”

In her past life, the Immortal Physician never appeared.

Surely she had known the orthodox world was crumbling under the Blood Demon Cult’s assault.

Seolhwa now thought she understood why the woman had never come forth.

‘The Blood Demon Cult stood for the powerless common folk, at least on the surface.’

Its cruel, bloodthirsty essence hidden, its hand was raised only for the downtrodden and wronged.

So how could anyone have known?

That the Blood Demon Cult was evil.

‘The Immortal Physician isn’t one to ignore injustice.’

That she never appeared meant she could not decide which side was unjust.

The orthodox sects, by contrast, reeked of hypocrisy and selfish gain. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

‘But this time is different.’

Now it had been made plain: what was wrong, where the evil lay.

And so, when the winds of blood swept across the Central Plains, the Immortal Physician would certainly appear.

— She’s gone now, so let’s return. I should visit Grandfather.

[Before that, don’t you have something for me?]

The Imoogi’s sly tone made Seolhwa laugh.

— Of course. I’ve been preparing. I bought every kind of sweet I could find. Which one do you want first?

Whenever she thought of the Imoogi, she had set one aside. Now she had a full bundle.

[Apple! Lotus root! No, something sour! No, give me all of them! All of them!]

The lean black snake writhed in glee upon the back of her hand, hissing sharply.

She hesitated, wondering whether to give three. Then decided to hand over the whole bundle.

She would surely need the Imoogi’s strength again — and that would mean keeping it from eating sweets too often.

****

The Clan Head’s residence bustled with preparations for the Assembly, now only two days away.

There was no time to fully rejoice over Namgoong Mucheon’s return; everything was directed toward readiness.

It had been decided to keep his survival secret until the Assembly itself.

Some delegations had already departed. And when the time came, all would be revealed before the gathered crowd — there was no need to spread confusion beforehand.

Namgoong Mucheon handed a seating chart of the guesthouse to Cheongun.

“Separate the sects and clans as much as possible. This is meant to be a gathering for harmony, but they still look upon one another with suspicion.”

“Yes, Father.”

Cheongun studied the chart carefully.

Mucheon then turned to Seop Mugwang.

“Have you secured sufficient guard strength? During the Assembly, we must oversee not only the clan grounds but all of Anhui.”

“Worry not. I have coordinated with the Lord of the Black Dragon Unit; the men are deployed.”

Mucheon nodded, then addressed the Chief Steward.

“And the accommodations for the guests? They must lack nothing, and every visitor must be treated as if a distinguished guest of the Celestial Guesthouse....”

His brow furrowed faintly.

“Mun. Are you even listening?”

“Please don’t call me that.”

“...What?”

The Chief Steward, who had been poring over documents, slowly lifted his narrow eyes toward Mucheon.

“If you call me that, won’t others misunderstand? That the Clan Head favors me too much.”