Chapter 116: Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Reform (2)

After sterilizing the silver needles with strong liquor and applying the liquor to disinfect the areas where the needles would be inserted, the treatment for the meridians continued.

When all the treatment was finished, the Demonic Physician gazed at the liquor bottle with a face full of regret and remarked, “Hmm. This liquor is better off for experiments, just as the Deputy Master mentioned, rather than for drinking.”

But soon his expression changed, and he exclaimed as if struck by a revolutionary idea. “Ah! I’ve got it! If these ‘germs’ you speak of truly exist, then all we need is something that can kill them. How about using poison instead of strong liquor?"

Has this old geezer lost his goddamn mind?

"Poison is harmful to humans regardless of the dosage. So liquor is still the best option. How about this? We could adopt the distillation method, but instead of caring about the taste, we focus solely on increasing the alcohol concentration to create medical-grade alcohol."

“Hmm. Hearing you put it that way, it does make sense.”

I let out a silent sigh of relief when the Demonic Physician nodded his head.

If I’d just let him be, the world would have seen the birth of a mad doctor who went around poking people with poison-tipped needles.

The conversation about sterilizing alcohol must have triggered something, because my hygiene-obsessed brain forced a strange request out of my mouth.

“Ah, one more thing, Elder Demonic Physician. If you do manage to create that medicinal alcohol, could you spare a bit for me?”

"Hmm? Are you also interested in the art of acupuncture, Deputy Master?"

"I just thought I'd carry it around to wash my hands."

When it comes to hygiene, there's nothing quite like hand sanitizer.

“Wash your hands? Why…?”

The quack physician looked at me as if I were some kind of freak, but I couldn’t be bothered to care.

'Hmm. Come to think of it, medical alcohol and anesthetic drugs... Somehow, I have a feeling that surgeries will become popular in the Demonic Cult.'

The Cult was already teeming with lunatics whose daily routine consisted of grabbing a weapon and looking for a fight. Getting stabbed was, quite literally, an everyday occurrence.

With the problems of pain and infection on the verge of being solved, we could be looking at a significant leap in medical science.

'I have to make sure I never, ever get injured.’

That was a problem for another day. Right now, I have an ominous feeling we are about to enter an era of wildly unhinged medical experimentation.

As I shivered at the unwelcome thought, a roar echoed from outside the infirmary.

"We greet the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons!"

"The Heavenly Demon has arrived! Ten thousand demons bow!"

Looks like the news of my awakening had reached Master's ears.

A moment later, the doors swung open and Master made his entrance. Strangely enough, the Hall Master of the Demonic Way, Yeom Ga-hwi, was also by his side.

One day before Il-mok awakened.

Chu Il-hwan, who had gone berserk, opened his eyes with a groan.

The first thing that came to Chu Il-hwan's mind was confusion.

And rightly so, because his arms and legs were bound to a chair, and his internal energy was also sealed.

As his vision cleared, he saw Hall Master Yeom Ga-hwi and Vice Hall Master Yu Geuk seated before him with their eyes fixed on him.

Feeling the tension in the air, Chu Il-hwan finally pieced together what had happened.

'...Right. I fell into Qi Deviation.'

He didn't remember everything, but he vaguely recalled what he had done during his rampage.

While Chu Il-hwan was piecing together the situation, the stone-faced Yu Geuk opened his mouth.

"...Yes, Vice Hall Master."

"What is your reason for attacking Disciple Il-mok?"

"...I succumbed to Qi Deviation. The side effects of the Black Thunder Demonic Palm overwhelmed me.”

Yu Geuk nodded once and opened his mouth again.

"Then tell me this. Why were you loitering around the Black Dragon Hall when you fell into Qi Deviation?”

Chu Il-hwan vividly remembered the events leading up to his collapse.

However, Chu Il-hwan couldn't bring himself to answer.

It wasn’t that he was embarrassed to bring up the sordid affair involving six disciples and Instructor Eun Ryeo in a serious setting. No, it was because the moment he did, the next question would be why he was eavesdropping on them in the first place.

Since he had monitored Il-mok's surroundings on Hall Master Yeom Ga-hwi's orders, spilling that now would drag the Head into this mess.

“I was merely passing by the area when the heart demon suddenly took hold of me."

Yu Geuk maintained his indifferent face at this answer. He simply nodded. Fresh chapters posted on novel✦fire.net

“I see. So you were just coincidentally passing by the Black Dragon Hall when, out of nowhere and for no reason, your heart demon launched its attack. And as it happens Disciple Il-mok just happened to be there alone, you attacked him. Is that it?”

Chu Il-hwan had to fight the urge to grind his teeth. Even to his own ears, the excuse sounded pathetic.

As if losing his interest in Chu Il-hwan, Yu Geuk turned his head with a cold face and looked at Yeom Ga-hwi.

"Speak, Vice Hall Master."

“This is a grave matter. While students getting injured at the Hall of the Demonic Way is a normal occurrence, the magnitude of this matter is different. Injuries during education or examinations would be one thing. Still, a case where an instructor harmed a student during peacetime is unprecedented in history since the Heavenly Demon reformed the Demonic Way."

When Yeom Ga-hwi nodded with a serious expression, Yu Geuk spoke again.

“Most importantly, the victim was Young Master Il-mok. While it’s true that all cadets are treated as equals within these walls, this case is different. Moreover, he even dares to fabricate false testimony like that… one cannot help but question his true motives.”

Hearing Yeom Ga-hwi’s clipped response, Yu Geuk let out a quiet, cold sigh.

"I know that the Hall Master cherishes Instructor Chu. However, since you are always fair and just, Hall Master, I trust that you will handle this matter reasonably as well."

"Don't worry, Vice Hall Master."

With that, Yeom Ga-hwi closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at Yu Geuk.

"I'd like to have a conversation with Instructor Chu for a moment, so could you leave us alone?"

A crushing weight settled over the room as Yeom Ga-hwi fought to contain the roiling energy of his Asura Blood Fist. Yet, Yu Geuk didn't so much as flinch.

"I'll trust you, Hall Master."

Yu Geuk, who had warned him not to be buried in personal feelings, got up and left the room.

Once he was gone, Yeom Ga-hwi let out a sigh filled with complex emotions and rubbed his eyes once with his callused hands.

Still bound to the chair, Chu Il-hwan couldn’t bear to watch and hung his head in shame. But a moment later, raised his name when Yeom Ga-whi called his name after composing himself.

"...Yes, Hall Master."

“Tell me honestly. Were you the mole all along?”

Yeom Ga-hwi was torn on this matter.

Although he had directly seen Chu Il-hwan go berserk, the fact that Chu Il-hwan had gone berserk itself was strange.

'How could Instructor Chu, a man who was already starting to transcend the stage of Extremity, be consumed by the side effect of his Demonic Art and lose his reason completely?'

There are times when side effects flare up. But to lose his mind completely all of a sudden while just monitoring a student?

Even Yeom Ga-hwi couldn’t help but suspect that Chu Il-hwan had used the side effect as a pretext to kill Il-mok.

Chu Il-hwan shook his head with a pale face.

"Absolutely not, Hall Master. Punish me for my incompetence, and I will gladly accept it. However, I absolutely did not deceive or betray you, Hall Master."

“Then why did you lose control? As the Vice Hall Master said, attacking a cadet like that is not a normal occurrence.”

Chu Il-hwan hesitated for a moment.

What was the point of bringing up that bizarre story he’d overheard in this situation?

'This happened because my own discipline was lacking in the first place.’

Falling into Qi Deviation because he overheard some raunchy gossip and got spooked by an instructor’s sudden appearance… it was all just a pathetic excuse.

Through the fog of memory from after he went berserk, there was one thing Chu Il-hwan remembered.

“It is true that my heart demon struck while I was observing Cadet Il-mok on your orders. But I immediately began meditating to suppress it.”

“Just as I was about to get it under control, I had a vague feeling of something external invading my body. After that, the rampage clouds my memory. It’s… hard to say more with any certainty.”

“…Someone approached you during your Qi Deviation and aggravated your Demonic Art?”

While Chu Il-hwan hung his head low in his own incompetence, Yeom Ga-hwi looked at Chu Il-hwan's head with a face that clearly showed his complex feelings.

'Is he telling the truth? Or is this just another lie?

Yeom Ga-hwi couldn’t decide. Ironically, it was his own unbending character that paralyzed him.

If he chose to trust Chu Il-hwan, it would be simple. He would accept his story—that someone had targeted Chu Il-hwan.

However, Yeom Ga-hwi couldn't trust himself rather than Chu Il-hwan.

'Am I being blinded by sentiment?

If it had been anyone else, he would have condemned them as the culprit without a second thought. But because it was Chu Il-hwan, he was agonizing over the possibility of his innocence. And that very hesitation felt like a betrayal of his principles, a surrender to personal feelings.

After wrestling with himself for a long time, he came to a conclusion.

'If personal emotions blind me, I just need to leave the judgment to someone else.'

If Yeom Ga-hwi himself were the supreme leader, he would have to make the decision himself, but in this matter, he wasn't the final decision-maker from the beginning.

"I'll postpone the judgment on you for now. However, I cannot release those bonds, so endure it."

"...I'm sorry, Hall Master."

Yeom Ga-hwi gave the shamed man one last look and left.

He told Vice Hall Master Yu Geuk who was waiting outside the building, "Since this matter is also related to Young Master Il-mok, I'll report directly to the Heavenly Demon and receive his judgment. I plan to report exactly what happened, you have my word.”

"...I will follow the Hall Master's will."

Yeom Ga-hwi left the Hall of the Demonic Way and headed to the Heavenly Demon Palace at the main headquarters.

Yeom Ga-hwi reported the entire situation of the Il-mok attack incident exactly as it was.

He reported his deep suspicions about Chu Il-hwan, but he also relayed Chu Il-hwan’s defense that he had been influenced by an unknown party.

Since it was the Heavenly Demon who had originally ordered him to catch the mole, there was no need to hide that he had ordered Chu Il-hwan to monitor Il-mok.

Of course, if the Heavenly Demon judged Chu Il-hwan as the culprit, Yeom Ga-hwi, who had appointed him as the monitor, would also be unable to escape punishment.

However, even knowing this fact, Yeom Ga-hwi still reported everything. He believed that if Chu Il-hwan was guilty, he who had trusted him should also gladly accept punishment.

Such was Yeom Ga-hwi, an upright man who showed no compromise even to himself.

After hearing all of Yeom Ga-hwi's explanation, the Heavenly Demon stroked his beard and seemed to ponder for a moment, then brought up an unexpected topic.

"I've only heard Instructor Chu's story; it's foolish to make a judgment one-sidedly. So, how about we also hear the story of the person involved?"

"The person involved?"

"I just received word from the medical wing. My youngest is awake."

The Heavenly Demon rose from his seat and left the Heavenly Demon Palace, and Yeom Ga-hwi also understood the Heavenly Demon's intention and followed behind.

So there I was, having just been given the full story by my Master and the Hall Master.

'...Wait. So his side effect wasn’t that he was gay?’

Only then did I realize that I had been misunderstanding Instructor Chu Il-hwan all this time.

Thanks to that, a question I had completely forgotten could also be resolved.

Of why Instructor Chu Il-hwan’s strikes were laced with killing intent every time we clashed. Unless necrophilia was his preference, attacking like that was just plain crazy.

It was a question I had completely forgotten while being tormented by the Demonic Physician immediately after awakening from the incident.

But once the question disappeared, it was replaced by sheer, dumbfounded disbelief.

‘Are you telling me that all those times I felt a chill down my spine, it wasn't my purity in danger, but my fucking life?!’

What in the actual fuck were these senile old bastards thinking, putting a psycho with homicidal urges in charge of students?