Chapter 60 - I Have Plenty of Hidden Tails

The Demon Physician did not head for the infirmary. Instead, he took me to his residence, where a separate secret chamber had been prepared in the basement for important procedures.

Cabinets lining the walls displayed all manner of medicine bottles with unknown contents and medicinal herbs. Even I, an expert on herbs, had never seen many of them before.

“This is a dangerous procedure, so there is much to prepare.”

“Take your time.”

“What will you do if it fails? You could go blind.”

I could tell he was testing my resolve. Failure in the New Eye Procedure did not cause blindness. Had it carried such a risk, no one would have dared offer it to the Heavenly Demon.

“If even the Demon Physician fails to treat me, I suppose I simply wasn't blessed with good fortune.”

He chuckled at my faith in him and retrieved the materials needed for the procedure from a hidden safe.

Next, he lit calming incense and sterilized his acupuncture needles. He mixed various medicines, boiling some and leaving them to cool. Meanwhile, I lay on the bed with my shirt off and a warm, herb-scented cloth over my eyes.

“Now, let us begin.”

“I entrust myself to your care.”

He put several medicines into my eyes at intervals. Some were clear as water, others red as blood. There was a green liquid that looked like poison, and another as blue as my sword force. I trusted the Demon Physician completely and let him tend to my eyes without a worry.

After administering the medicines, he inserted the needles. They densely covered not only the area around my eyes but also my face and chest.

“Now, get some sleep.”

My eyes closed on their own. In my mind, I told the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art to relax and sleep soundly too, at least for today.

For the first time in ages, I slept well—so deeply that I wondered how long it had been since I last slept like this. When I woke, all the needles in my face and body had already been removed. The Demon Physician was reading at his desk, but he walked over when I stirred.

“How do you feel?”

“Good.”

“And your eyes?”

“Even better.”

My vision truly had cleared. My already good eyesight had improved, and everything looked incredibly clear. It felt as though I had emerged from a fog. To exaggerate a little, my surroundings were so sharp that I felt I had lived with my eyes closed until now.

“Follow me.”

We left the secret chamber and went up to the ground floor, where we stood side by side at a window. The sun was high in the sky.

“Look at the sun.”

I looked straight at it. The glare should have dazzled me, yet it did not bother my eyes at all.

“How is it?”

“It isn't dazzling.”

“Look over there, into the distance.”

I could clearly see things too far away for me to have seen before. My vision was astonishingly good. When I focused my eyes, I could even make out things I should not have been able to see.

“I can see clearly. Even the ants crawling along that branch over there.”

The Demon Physician smiled at that.

“I'm not joking.”

“I know you aren't. I smiled because I'm pleased.”

“Ah, this truly is incredible.”

“Now, follow me again.”

This time, he took me to a pitch-dark room within the basement chamber. Where I would once have had to draw on my internal energy to see even dimly, I could now see clearly without doing so.

“I can see everything clearly. The medicine bottles over there, the picture on the wall—everything.”

“That settles it. The procedure was a complete success. Your eyes have been reborn.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

When I first sought the New Eye Procedure, my main purpose had been to escape the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's scrutiny. Perhaps that was why I hadn't expected much from its effects. But the procedure was far more remarkable than I had imagined. There was only one way to describe this state.

My eyes had achieved complete mastery.

After leaving the dark room, I bowed deeply to the Demon Physician.

“Thank you.”

Flustered, he helped me upright.

“Why are you doing this?”

“You used a secret technique on me that you can perform only once in your lifetime. I will repay this kindness by keeping my promise.”

“Thank you. Once you become cult leader, I will tell you whom you must kill.”

The Demon Physician clasped my hand firmly, and I returned his grip.

As I left his residence, everything around me looked different. It truly felt as though a new world had opened before me. A thought suddenly occurred to me.

'First the Blood-Eye Purifying Water, and now the New Eye Procedure. My eyes and the Wind Heaven Cult were entwined by fate. In any case, thank you, Wind Heaven Cult Leader.'

And so the Wind Heaven Cult Leader received a mysterious expression of gratitude.

* * *

I realized anew just how important improved eyesight was to martial arts. My moves grew more precise, and that precision made them stronger. In truth, the benefits would be even greater in actual combat. I would evade attacks I couldn't have dodged before and spot openings I couldn't have seen.

It would also be an enormous help when running with Swift Step. I had worried whether my eyesight would be able to keep up with its extreme speed once I achieved complete mastery, but that concern was now gone. I possessed the most powerful eyes a human could have.

After entrusting Yellow Springs Pavilion's affairs to Seo Daeryong, I shut myself away in the training grounds for a while, giving my martial arts and body time to adjust to my new eyes. After immersing myself in training for some time, I finally went to see Yi An.

“Yi An, let's have some fun!”

She was absorbed in her martial training.

“I can't! I have to practice this twenty times.”

“What kind of moves are you practicing twenty times a day?”

“Sixty times a day. Twenty is just my evening practice.”

“Good grief. You'll make yourself sick.”

“I already am. I have a condition where I can't sleep unless I train.”

“Take today off. Come drink with me, and you'll sleep just fine.”

“After I finish.”

“How many more?”

“Eight. If you keep distracting me, it'll take even longer.”

I watched her train with an exaggerated pout.

“You haven't turned your waist enough.”

“Your left side is open.”

“Faster this time.”

As I corrected her posture, I was struck once again by her exceptional talent for martial arts. She grasped things quickly and learned well. After watching her moves another couple of times, I found I had nothing more to tell her today and immersed myself in practicing the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art.

While preparing to face the Soul-Seizing Demon, that was the art I had practiced most. The more I trained in it, the more it felt new. As always, it resonated with me more deeply than any other art, to the point that I felt I was learning something alive. Then again, it was probably that profound connection that allowed it to wake me from sleep.

How many times had I repeated the training? When I opened my eyes, Yi An was watching me from a short distance away.

“All done?”

“Yes. All twenty repetitions.”

“Let's go get a drink! I'm starving to death.”

“Of course you are. You haven't eaten for three whole days.”

“What? Three days?”

“Yes. You've been in qi-circulation meditation for three full days.”

“I have?”

“You came to see me three days ago. You seemed to have entered a state of complete absorption, so I deliberately didn't speak to you.”

I was astonished. It felt as though I hadn't trained for even one two-hour watch, let alone several.

“Maybe I fell asleep?”

“I checked in case you had, but you weren't sleeping. You even muttered things to yourself.”

Apparently, I really had entered a state of complete absorption. I remembered nothing of my training.

“Just a moment.”

I sat down and activated the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art once. My true qi circulated far more smoothly and precisely than before. I was beaming as I rose. I had made great progress in the art. It seemed my accumulated training had finally brought me to a higher level through this state of complete absorption.

“You made progress, didn't you?”

She could tell just by my expression. I nodded with a broad smile.

“Enough to treat you to a splendid meal.”

“Congratulations, Young Master.”

“Thank you. It's all thanks to you.”

“Why me?”

“If you hadn't insisted on finishing your training, I wouldn't have sat beside you and entered that state.”

“Oh, you're right! Then buy me dinner!”

“I will. I'll buy you anything you want!”

We hurried out of the training grounds together.

“You haven't eaten either, have you?”

“No, I ate.”

But her stomach was growling. She wasn't the sort to eat alone while I went hungry in qi-circulation meditation. She would also have stopped training for those three days for fear of disturbing my absorption.

“You foolish bear.”

“Not at all. If I really were a foolish bear, I wouldn't have let you discover that I'd gone hungry. Instead, I let you catch on just enough to show off what a loyal subordinate I am. I made it a perfect opportunity to earn points.”

“You're a fox. A real fox.”

“Of course. I still have plenty of hidden tails.”

I laughed happily.

“It's been a long time since we walked together like this, Young Master.”

“So it has.”

“It's lovely, just as I remembered.”

That little addition—“just as I remembered”—made me feel wonderful. I enjoyed it too, Yi An.

We entered the Merry Life Tavern in Demon Family Village.

“Welcome! It's been a while, Pavilion Master.”

Jo Chunbae's warm greeting reminded me of his cooking, making me even hungrier.

“Bring it out quickly!”

“Yes! I'll race there with my lightness art!”

He served us the liquor first, then ran to the kitchen.

We started with a drink on empty stomachs.

“Ah! That's killer.”

“Ugh! It's strong. It's really going to kill me.”

When the food arrived shortly afterward, we devoured it all without caring what anyone else thought.

Then, patting our full stomachs, we talked about martial arts over drinks. She asked me everything she had been wondering about, and I answered as earnestly as I could. My Heaven-Soaring Sword Art had stalled after breaking through the barrier of tenth-level complete mastery, and I hoped the New Eye Procedure would have a positive effect on it. Our discussion of martial arts naturally turned to Seo Daeryong.

“By the way, Investigator Seo is doing well, isn't he?”

“I'm sure he is. I've been so busy training lately that I haven't seen him either.”

“Everyone's busy.”

“I can't say for certain, but he'll be doing well. Both at work and in his training.”

“It's amazing that Investigator Seo gets along with the venerable Saber Demon.”

“We don't know that he does. He might be scolded all the time and soak his pillow every night.”

Yi An burst into amused laughter.

“I don't think so. The Saber Demon seems like a surprisingly good person.”

“That doesn't mean you can let your guard down. Just because he's good to Investigator Seo doesn't guarantee he'll be good to you. He's a Demon Supreme. Be careful.”

“Yes. I'll remember that.”

“Someday, you must surpass him through your own skill.”

Yi An flinched.

“Me?”

Unlike before, she didn't say, “How could I ever defeat a Demon Supreme with my skills?” Now that she had been taught the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art, saying that would be discourteous to Father and me.

“I'll do my best.”

“You know, don't you? Those with half-baked skills die first. Once you've set foot on this path, you must follow it to the end.”

“Yes!”

I raised my cup, and she drank with me.

“And once you reach a certain level in the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art, let's start recruiting the Ghost Shadow Squad in earnest. If we find the right team leaders, the rest should be easy.”

“Do you have anyone in mind?”

I nodded candidly.

“One or two. You'll come with me to hire them later.”

“Who?”

“Knowing now would only give you a needless shock. I'll tell you when the time comes.”

“Now you've already got my heart racing.”

“There's a fine solution for that, isn't there? A drink.”

The clink of our cups was as cheerful as our mood.

“Let's order more liquor and food.”

“Unfortunately, I think we'll have to stop drinking for today.”

Following my gaze, Yi An looked down at the ground floor. Seo Daeryong hurried into the tavern and came upstairs to our table, bringing news of the next person I would have to deal with.

“The Wind Heaven Cult Leader has just arrived at the Cult.”