Leaving a quick “I’ll be right back,” the warrior slipped inside.How long passed?From within, several people rushed toward the gate.The eldest-looking among them reached the door first, hurried straight to Su Cheon Kang, and seized his hand.“Master Physician! Welcome. I am Gongsun Deok, Grand Elder of the Gongsun Clan.”Naturally, he assumed the oldest-looking member of the party was the doctor.Su Cheon Kang, flustered, said,“I’m not the physician—he is.”He pointed to a young man who looked barely past his early twenties.Gongsun Deok’s gaze wavered.That boy is the master physician?Unbelievable.Even if he’d learned medicine in the womb, it made no sense.Had the Afternoon Gate deceived them?His trembling pupils betrayed his turmoil.“Hello. I’m the physician—Yeon Woo Jin.”“Y–you are… truly… a physician?”His voice shook.Yeon Woo Jin smiled.“I am.”“You’re truly the one who treated the Namgoong Clan’s lady of the house?”“I am.”“Heh…”Gongsun Deok’s pupils shook harder.Eyes at a loss over whether to believe or not.His gaze slid to Su Cheon Kang.No matter how he looked at it, Su Cheon Kang looked like the doctor.The face, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the bearing, the clothing.“Then who is he?”Clinging to his doubt, Gongsun Deok asked. Su Cheon Kang replied,“I am the physician’s bodyguard.”“Bodyguard? You don’t look like a warrior.”At that, Su Cheon Kang gave a faint chuckle—and let a hint of his aura leak.Feeling it, Gongsun Deok jerked in shock.A master far above his own tier.If such a man served this youth, then odds were high it was true.Gongsun Deok bowed with clasped fist toward Yeon Woo Jin and apologized.“My apologies. I judged by appearances and thought you weren’t the physician.”“It’s fine. Everyone thinks so. I’m used to it.”“Please, come inside. I’ll personally introduce the clan.”“Thank you, but I’d like to see the patient first.”At the request to see the patient, Gongsun Deok nodded.That’s how a real physician speaks.Even so, he couldn’t decide easily.Was it right to show this man the Young Clan Head’s condition?If he saw the Young Clan Head and bolted in fright, could they stop him?What if he treated poorly and the Young Clan Head died?What then?Gongsun Deok flicked a glance at Su Cheon Kang.To handle that one would cost them dearly.If they handled Su Cheon Kang, the other two attendants would be manageable—so he thought.The “attendants” in his mind were Jang Woon and Seon Woo Baek.Calculations complete, Gongsun Deok smiled.“Heh heh heh, a true master physician indeed. Very well. I’ll guide you.”He turned to lead Yeon Woo Jin.Su Cheon Kang caught the look in his eyes.No doubt he’d decided how to deal with them if things went wrong.Su Cheon Kang chuckled.He alone could wipe out eight-tenths of the Gongsun Clan’s fighting strength.And he had Jang Woon and Seon Woo Baek—no pushovers.The three of them could raze the Gongsun Clan.Would it end if they captured the three of them?No.Su Cheon Kang glanced at Yeon Woo Jin following Gongsun Deok and smiled.Please don’t make the wrong choice.If they did, he would reveal who they were and stop it.After all, this clan had helped him endure the grind of leading the Alliance.With that thought, Su Cheon Kang followed the two ahead. ****The Gongsun Clan, underground.A clammy air, tinged with a sour reek, rolled over Yeon Woo Jin’s group.Even so, for an underlevel, it was kept tidy—hardly filthy.After a long walk behind Gongsun Deok, they reached a sector under stringent guard.Dozens of warriors held an ironclad perimeter.At once, they bowed upon spotting Gongsun Deok.“Grand Elder, you’re here.”“Yes. Is the Clan Head inside?”“Yes!”“Go inform him. I’ve brought the physician.”“Understood.”One warrior sprinted in.Moments later,Gongsun Chan appeared with him.He greeted Gongsun Deok, then approached Su Cheon Kang.“Welcome, physician.”Beaming with genuine relief, Gongsun Chan clasped Su Cheon Kang’s hands.Gongsun Deok coughed.“Ahem! Clan Head—it isn’t him. This is the physician.”Gongsun Chan turned—and saw the young man.For an instant he looked startled, glancing to Gongsun Deok.When the Grand Elder nodded, Gongsun Chan erased his surprise, bowed with clasped fist to Yeon Woo Jin, and apologized.“My apologies. I naturally expected someone older… I’ve given grave offense, Doctor.”Unlike Gongsun Deok, he didn’t doubt—he apologized at once.“It’s all right. My age causes that mistake often. Please don’t worry.”“Heh heh, thank you. They call you a master physician—and your heart is as vast as the sky.”Yeon Woo Jin smiled.“Where is the patient?”At the word patient, the smile vanished from Gongsun Chan’s face.Slowly, he turned his head down the corridor.“At the room at the end.”“Then let’s go.”Gongsun Chan hesitated, exhaled, and led the way.When he and Yeon Woo Jin moved to enter, Su Cheon Kang, Jang Woon, and Seon Woo Baek followed——and the warriors barred them.“You stay here.”Su Cheon Kang’s expression turned deadly.“I am his bodyguard. My job is to guard him at his side. Move.”Aura rose off Su Cheon Kang’s frame.Feeling it, the warriors flinched.They’d thought him insignificant—he was not.All the warriors present together might not be able to subdue him.Sensing it as well, Gongsun Chan quickly waved his men back.“They’re guests. Treat them with respect and let them through.”“Yes, sir.”The warriors stepped back and opened a path.Su Cheon Kang smiled and took station behind Yeon Woo Jin—every inch a bodyguard.They entered the room at the end.A broad sickbed dominated the chamber, and a young man, bound fast, writhed in agony.“Grrrr! Blood! Give me blood… I’m thirsty!”The youth screaming for blood—He was the Gongsun Clan’s Young Clan Head, Gongsun Mingyi.When Yeon Woo Jin moved to approach, Gongsun Chan seized his hand.With a pleading face, he said,“Please… save my son.”At his earnestness, Yeon Woo Jin clasped his hand in return.“I’ll do everything I can.”“And be careful. He bites people and sucks their blood.”Yeon Woo Jin nodded and walked slowly to Gongsun Mingyi.“Grah!”The instant he saw Yeon Woo Jin, Mingyi thrashed to bite him.Yeon Woo Jin studied him closely as he raved.“Hm.”The sclera were shot with blood and gone red; the canines jutted, grotesquely sharp.Thick black-red veins bulged over his body, and his skin had a bluish cast.Yeon Woo Jin pressed here and there along the convulsing body.Then he took the wrist and began the pulse.The beat was abnormal.As he read the pulse, his eyes turned black.Black Eyes.He peered inside Gongsun Mingyi’s body.The bluish skin—poisoning symptoms. The protruding canines—also sequelae of toxicity. But why the blood craving?While inspecting the body, he found a heart grotesquely enlarged compared to others.Looking closer, he saw countless somethings squirming within the heart.What is that?He’d seen that organism before.He searched his memory.There it is. The Vampiric Demon Parasite.A parasite that surfaced during the Great War of Righteous and Demonic.It nests in the human heart and drives the host to crave blood.In exchange, it transforms the human body, granting superhuman strength.So it can obtain more blood.Indeed, Gongsun Mingyi’s strength was beyond normal.THUNG—! THUNG—!With each movement of his bound hands, the massive bed shuddered.The bed was forged of ten-thousand-year cold iron to never break, and the chains were the same.Someone had promised to reinforce the patient’s body—and implanted Vampiric Demon Parasites.Saying they’d make him strong wasn’t a lie.His body had strengthened.The problem was the loss of humanity.There are, as far as known, two ways to remove those parasites:Pulverize the heart that houses them—or burn the host’s body.Beyond that, there is no way to eradicate those damned demonic creatures.Use drugs or meddle rashly, and they’ll burrow throughout the host’s body and bring death.Whatever you do, the host dies.There is one way to keep him “alive”:Keep supplying blood.During the Great War of Righteous and Demonic, countless lives were lost to these blood-craving Vampiric Demons.Yeon Woo Jin released Mingyi’s wrist.He looked to Gongsun Chan.He knew—Yeon Woo Jin could tell.“Clan Head—you know what his diagnosis is, don’t you?”Gongsun Chan glanced at the Grand Elder, sighed, and nodded.Gongsun Deok asked in shock,“Didn’t you say you didn’t know what it was?”“I didn’t. Not until recently… I learned of a disease with similar symptoms.”“What is it?”“Vampiric Demon.”“The Vampiric Demon… the cursed demonic beings the Demonic Cult sent into the Central Plains in droves? Don’t tell me—the Young Clan Head has become one of those?”Gongsun Chan nodded heavily.“Yes. Every symptom matches.”“Impossible!”Gongsun Deok turned to Yeon Woo Jin, desperate.“Master Physician! You would know—what is the Young Clan Head’s illness?”“As the Clan Head says. Vampiric Demon Parasites have colonized the heart and already completed reproduction.”“T–then the treatment? There is a treatment, yes?”Gongsun Chan shook his head before he could answer.“As of now, there’s said to be no treatment.”“I did not ask the Clan Head! Master Physician—speak.”Yeon Woo Jin met Gongsun Deok’s eyes.“It can be treated.”“So it can’t be… eh?”Gongsun Chan gaped.“Truly?”Hope burned in Gongsun Deok’s eyes.“Yes. I can treat it.”At his sure voice, Gongsun Deok gripped both his hands.“I knew it! You are a master physician indeed! Heh heh! Clan Head! Well? The master physician I brought says he can treat the Young Clan Head!”Gongsun Chan, incredulous, asked,“T–that can’t be. I searched every direction. There was no way to treat this.”“The Clan Head is correct. There is no treatment for this disease. Only ways to eliminate it.”At that, Gongsun Deok’s face hardened again.“What are you saying? You just said treatment was possible.”“Yes—possible. I meant in others’ hands.”“Then in your hands, Master Physician—you can?”He pressed again.“Yes. I can.”

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