Chapter 31 – The Visit of Master Baek In-gyeom
After the noisy visitors finally left,
Baek In-gyeomarrived.
Yeong-woo, who had been lying down, struggled to sit up.
"Attention—!"
"Ugh…"
"You're a patient."
"Just lie down."
But Yeong-woo forced himself upright.
The wound in his abdomen felt as if it would tear open.
"My master has come."
"How could I remain lying down?"
"Master?"
Baek In-gyeom's voice carried a metallic edge.
Yeong-woo bowed his head.
"I'm sorry."
"You may not wish to accept me as a disciple."
"But I am learning something important from you."
"I cannot treat you as a stranger."
"That is why I addressed you that way."
"If you dislike it, I will stop."
Baek In-gyeom asked quietly,
"How is the injury?"
Yeong-woo smiled faintly.
"I've been wounded before."
"It doesn't trouble me much."
Baek In-gyeom tilted his head.
"That shouldn't be so."
"Eh?"
"Your abdomen should feel tight."
"The wound should sting and tear."
"It should feel like your insides are twisting."
"As if air leaks from your body."
"You probably cannot gather any strength at all."
"Master or not."
Yeong-woo examined his own condition.
He realized every word was accurate.
The pain.
The weakness.
The hollow feeling.
"Yes."
"That is exactly how it feels."
Baek In-gyeom nodded.
"You were cut open."
"The training you built up until now has been scattered."
"Ah…"
"The poison entered deeply."
"Antidotes do not erase poison like wiping a stain from cloth."
"They only neutralize it with another poison."
"Balance is restored through yin and yang."
"But traces remain within the body."
"That is why you still suffer."
"What should I do?"
Baek In-gyeom asked,
"Did you not notice something?"
"What?"
"The others swung their blades only for form's sake."
"They had no real intent to kill."
"They merely wanted to discipline you."
"But there was one short blade."
"The poisoned one."
"Yun Ji-woong."
"A bold little snake."
"He's the kind who flatters those above him to gain what he wants."
Baek In-gyeom snorted.
"What man does not seek advantage?"
"The difference is that he does not care whether something is right or wrong."
"I see."
"In any case, recovery will take time."
"So I should return to breathing practice."
Baek In-gyeom's expression suddenly hardened.
"You fool."
"Yes?"
"You say 'just breathing practice'?"
"That is the most important training."
"I'm sorry!"
"My mouth runs ahead of my thoughts."
"That's not what I meant."
"Sit if you can."
"Focus on Small Circulation."
"You know it, don't you?"
"No."
"I don't know what circulation is."
"I don't know what Small Circulation is."
Baek In-gyeom sighed.
"Small Circulation means the flow of qi completing one circuit through the body."
"The qi must travel along the Ren meridianand the Du meridian."