Chapter 14: The Demonic Monk (3)

The old physician couldn't hide his astonishment as he checked the clan leader's pulse. Just this morning, it had seemed the man was on the brink of death. Now, there was a newfound vitality in his heartbeat.

"His complexion has improved as well," the physician mused. The mysterious symptoms that had plagued the clan leader had all but vanished. Though weakened from his long period of unconsciousness, with proper care, there was a high chance of recovery.

However, one problem remained - consciousness. The clan leader had been unresponsive for quite some time, leading to the current succession crisis within the Yeonmok Sword Clan. While the odds of him waking were now higher, there was no way to predict when that might happen. If someone were to harm him before then...

The physician's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp female voice. "How is he?"

He looked up to see Madam Seok, the clan leader's wife. Her expression was different from usual - this morning, her eyes had been full of arrogance and determination. Now, the physician sensed something ominous in her demeanor.

"Something's not right," he thought. When he had rushed here earlier, he had found the clan leader with a severed arm, surrounded by talismans and red threads - remnants of some mystical ritual. Yet the Taoist priest who had performed the ritual was found dead. And somehow, the third young master was involved.

"What in the world is going on?" the physician wondered as he carefully studied Madam Seok's eyes. They trembled slightly - the reaction of someone whose plans had gone awry.

Though the clan leader's arm was severed, his condition had improved significantly. Madam Seok, being a martial artist herself, should have been able to notice this improvement. Yet she showed no signs of joy...

"Could it be that she wasn't trying to heal him with the ritual, but had some other scheme in mind?" the physician speculated. It was plausible, given that everyone knew the clan leader intended to name his youngest son, MokYu-cheon, as his successor. From Madam Seok's perspective, it might be preferable if the clan leader never woke up.

"Has his condition improved at all?" Madam Seok asked again.

The physician hesitated. They were alone, and he feared what Madam Seok might do if he told her the clan leader was likely to wake soon. Carefully, he replied, "His complexion and pulse have improved, but his overall condition remains poor due to the prolonged illness. It's best to view this as a temporary rallying before the end."

"Ah, I see..." Madam Seok responded.

The physician inwardly scoffed at her reaction. Though she sighed as if dismayed, her expression and eyes betrayed a sense of relief. It was clear she didn't want the clan leader to recover.

"Clan leader... time is running out. You must wake up," the physician thought desperately. There was no telling what Madam Seok might do otherwise.

Outside, Madam Seok resumed her usual haughty expression. She was accompanied by Zhang Mingyin, the internal chief steward, along with her one-eyed female bodyguard Hu Ying and two maids.

"Are you certain about the cause of death?" Madam Seok asked Zhang Mingyin quietly.

He nodded, replying in a low voice, "Absolutely. It wasn't due to physical trauma. In all my years, I've never seen a corpse like that..."

The body of the dead Taoist priest(shaman), Myosin, lay nearby, covered with a coarse cloth. The visible skin was grotesquely distorted, with bulging veins protruding unnaturally.

"What did they say happened?" Madam Seok inquired.

"According to the guard, they came to pay their respects. Then the priest apparently became possessed and tried to kill the clan leader, managing to cut off his arm before they intervened," Zhang Mingyin reported.

"Paying respects... what a mess," Madam Seok muttered.

Zhang Mingyin bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry. I should have at least been guarding the entrance..."

Madam Seok shook her head. "What's done is done. But do you really believe that story?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you truly think that child happened to come for a visit and coincidentally discovered this?"

"Well... given the state of the corpse and the circumstances, it seems plausible," Zhang Mingyin replied hesitantly.

"Plausible?" Madam Seok's tone was skeptical.

"Young Master Mok Gyeong-un even suffered a severe sword wound to his thigh. The blood loss was significant enough to be life-threatening," Zhang Mingyin added.

From his perspective, such an injury would be difficult to fake. If it had been a shallow cut or minimal bleeding, there might be room for doubt. But this seemed genuine.

Madam Seok's eyes remained narrowed with suspicion. Zhang Mingyin wasn't surprised by her reaction - she had never approved of any of the young masters except the eldest.

"Where is that child now?" Madam Seok asked suddenly.

"Pardon?"

"Mok Gyeong-un. Where is he?"

"Ah, I managed to stop the bleeding, but I sent him to the medicine hall for treatment," Zhang Mingyin explained.

Madam Seok's gaze turned towards the medicine hall, located to the west of the main building. Without a word, she began walking in that direction.

Inside the medicine hall, Mok Gyeong-un inhaled deeply, savoring the familiar scent of herbs. It brought back fond memories of gathering medicinal plants with his grandfather in his youth. But along with the nostalgia came a conflicting emotion - a deep, primal darkness that even made the Demonic Monk uncomfortable.

"Have you confirmed it?" Mok Gyeong-un asked in a low voice.

The Demonic Monk nodded, pointing to a wall filled with drawers containing various medicinal ingredients. One drawer was labeled "Wuliang" - the dried bark of the Chinese Parasol tree, rarely used in common practice.

"Clever," Mok Gyeong-un thought. They had deliberately chosen a seldom-used ingredient to hide whatever lay behind.

Mok Gyeong-un had sent the Demonic Monk to investigate based on the clan leader's faint words earlier: "Medicine... hall... underground... Ding... stone... door... inside..."

There was no visible entrance to any underground area in the medicine hall, but that was to be expected. If it contained something valuable enough for Madam Seok to covet, it wouldn't be out in the open.

Before Mok Gyeong-un could investigate further, the door opened, and the guard Go Chan entered. He handed over two books he had managed to salvage from the shaman's belongings before they were burned.

As Mok Gyeong-un examined the books - "Overview of Various Schools of Thought" and "Introduction to the Mysterious" - they heard commotion outside. The guards at the entrance were being dismissed.

The door opened again, revealing Madam Seok in all her ornate finery. Go Chan bowed hastily. "Greetings, Madam."

Mok Gyeong-un's eyes gleamed with interest. This was the woman described in the information provided by Guard Gam - more dangerous than even the eldest young master, skilled in martial arts, and cunning.

At Madam Seok's command, everyone else was ordered out of the medicine hall. Go Chan grew increasingly nervous, remembering Guard Gam's warning to avoid direct contact with the Mok family members if possible.

Madam Seok approached Mok Gyeong-un, who was propped up on a bed. Following Go Chan's frantic gestures, Mok Gyeong-un clasped his hands and bowed his head in greeting.

"Please forgive me for not standing due to my injured leg," Mok Gyeong-un said politely.

The greeting was well-executed, but the real test would be in the voice and manner of speaking. While this impostor's voice was similar to the real Mok Gyeong-un's, it was unclear if it would fool Madam Seok.

"I didn't come here for mere greetings," Madam Seok said curtly. She suddenly pressed down hard on Mok Gyeong-un's injured thigh.

Mu Jingyu hunched over, groaning in apparent pain. Go Chan watched anxiously, realizing that Madam Seok was testing whether the injury was genuine.

"What did you see? What did you hear?" Madam Seok demanded, pressing harder.

As Go Chan tried to intervene, Madam Seok's bodyguard Hu Ying drew her sword, warning him not to interfere.

Madam Seok continued to press on Mok Gyeong-un's wound, her voice growing more insistent. "You might not know this, but it's rare for a skilled priest to become possessed and die while performing a ritual. And you expect me to believe he became possessed, cut off the clan leader's arm, and you just happened to stop him?"

Suddenly, a chuckle escaped Mok Gyeong-un's lips. Madam Seok's brow furrowed in confusion. The young man who had been writhing in pain moments ago was now laughing?

Go Chan was equally baffled. What was this impostor doing? They were already under suspicion - this was no time for laughter!

As Madam Seok's anger rose, Mok Gyeong-un spoke calmly. "Let's not waste each other's energy. You need the clan leader's seal, don't you?"

Madam Seok's eyes widened in shock. How could he know about the seal? And more importantly, what game was this child playing?