Tap... tap... tap...

A small sound that would be buried in the noise of the fierce battle, just the sound of a finger tapping a skull.

"Keok, keoheok..."

But to Tang Yuhwa, whom the skull's empty eye sockets were staring at, that sound was as if her heart was being squeezed and her whole body was being torn apart.

"Heok... heok..."

Tang Yuhwa, with her eyes wide open in pain, drooled and wrapped her arms around her body.

If it were only physical pain, she could have endured it.

However.

Avici Bell

That sound of hell dyed her world blood-red.

In the midst of her suffering, a chilling sound came to Tang Yuhwa's ears.

-You killed them.

Tang Yuhwa squeezed her eyes shut and tried to cover her ears, but her body did not move as she willed.

Quietly, Tang Yuhwa's head turned downwards.

There, the woman who had just received first aid should have been.

-You killed me and my family.

The woman's belly was torn open, and her two eyes had become empty holes, and she was pouring out words of resentment at Tang Yuhwa, her mouth, which had only bones left, moving.

-Ah, you definitely promised to treat me, and yet. If I had been treated, I would have lived.

At that chilling sound, Tang Yuhwa shook her head.

'This is a hallucination.'

A hallucination, she knew it was definitely a hallucination.

Moreover, the one who had promised to treat her was Tang Yuhwa's father, not her.

But Tang Yuhwa could not escape from her guilt.

That guilt stickily swept through Tang Yuhwa's insides and squeezed her heart.

"Heok... heok... it's, it's my fault..."

Tang Yuhwa's guilt continued to grow.

Around her, who was suffering, the woman and her family surrounded her and poured out words of resentment.

-You died because of me.

-I wanted to live.

-I asked you to save me.

The pouring sounds of resentment.

The pain of her heart, as if it were being continuously squeezed.

Tang Yuhwa could no longer think normally.

'This is... a hallucination... if I'm swayed...'

Although Tang Yuhwa was strong against pain because she had been poisoned by numerous poisons, her heart was not, so her heart gradually began to wear away.

Tang Yuhwa's breathing became more and more rapid.

The woman and her family around her became a blood-red vortex and began to be ground away.

-I wanted to live... I wanted to live...

Even as they were being ground away, the words of resentment became stronger and pressed down on Tang Yuhwa even more strongly.

Fortunately, as time passed, the woman and her family disappeared.

But Tang Yuhwa could not escape from the pain.

The woman and her family disappeared.

-Yuhwa, how do you like the scene this father has created?

Tang Yuhwa's father was smiling benevolently in front of her.

However.

-Keuak! Kuaak!

-Cough! Cough!

-H-help me!!

Around her father, numerous people were screaming, vomiting blood, and dying.

"Stop... stop..."

Tang Yuhwa could only let out a groan.

Although she knew this was not real, the scene in front of her eyes continued to whisper to her brain that this was real.

-Do you not like the scene this father has created?

Numerous people were dying from poison.

Although she knew it was an illusion, Tang Yuhwa wanted to reach out and save even one person.

But in a situation where her body did not move, all she could do was watch numerous people die.

"Please... stop..."

In the scene where numerous people were vomiting blood and dying, her father looked at Tang Yuhwa and smiled benevolently.

-Do you perhaps not like the scene this father has created?

Smiling benevolently, her father gently stroked her cheek.

-If so.

That stroking hand was gentle at first, but.

-How do you like the scene of this father dying?

The gentle touch changed to cold and hard.

Her father melted as he was, and a white bone was stroking her cheek.

-Do you like it?

Although her father smiled gently as he melted.

-Do you not like it?

Soon, all his skin and muscles had melted, so that smile soon disappeared, and a cold skull was revealed.

"Ah... ah..."

Although it felt as if her heart would be torn apart, all Tang Yuhwa could do was let out a groan as before.

-Aren't you the same?

The bone that had been her father began to melt.

-The poison inside you...

All of her father's bones melted.

And what appeared was Baek Yoonjun.

-Isn't it for killing people?

The appearance of her master, with his white robe and white hair fluttering, was the same as always, but.

-How can you be a doctor while holding such a fatal poison?

He had very cold eyes that he had never shown her before.

-You are not a doctor.

Even though she knew it was fake, that gaze seemed to be ravaging Tang Yuhwa's heart.

-You are a disaster.

At Baek Yoonjun's cold voice, Tang Yuhwa felt her heart stop.

-You will kill me too.

A cold word that seemed as if frost would form.

As if that word were a trigger, Baek Yoonjun collapsed powerlessly on the spot.

"Ah...! Aah!!"

Letting out a scream that did not come out properly because her throat was blocked, Tang Yuhwa crawled towards him.

'Pulse! I have to check his pulse...!'

She checked Baek Yoonjun's pulse with a trembling hand.

Fortunately, a faint pulse was felt.

'He's alive! I can still save him!!'

But the time of relief was short.

Tap... tap... tap...

The warmth that had been felt at her fingertips disappeared, and a cold vibration took its place.

It was not a pulse.

It was an unpleasant bursting sound, as if someone were tapping a dry bone.

Tap... taptap...

That sound continued to change irregularly.

Bang!!

With a large bursting sound, Baek Yoonjun's wrist exploded.

Feeling the unpleasantly lukewarm sensation of blood splattering on her face, Tang Yuhwa stared blankly at her master's exploded wrist.

"Ah..."

Just as her mind was about to collapse, her world was turned upside down.

The familiar scenery of the Tang family clinic unfolded before her eyes.

"Ah, ah..."

At that moment, the only thing that came to Tang Yuhwa's mind was that she had to save Baek Yoonjun.

As if possessed, Tang Yuhwa gathered medicinal herbs and decocted a medicine.

"I... have to... save... him..."

She wrapped her arms around Baek Yoonjun's neck, gently lifted him up, and slowly poured the medicine into his mouth.

By feeding him the medicine, Baek Yoonjun's pale complexion gradually returned.

-Yuhwa.

Baek Yoonjun, who had opened his eyes, looked at her and had the same smile as always.

-Didn't I tell you.

At that moment, Tang Yuhwa thought this nightmare was over.

However.

-That you would kill me.

Baek Yoonjun's face collapsed.

His benevolent eyes, his warm lips, became a black poison fluid and flowed down.

Even in that terrible process of his flesh burning and his bones melting, his master's eyes were clearly staring at her and pouring out a curse.

Only the traces of his flesh and the bright red blood on Tang Yuhwa's hand told her that he had existed.

"Ah... ah..."

With despair, her heart collapsed as if a poison had burst.

"Aaaaaah!!"

With a scream, her dantian, the Ten Thousand Poison Field, shook.

The poison essence, which had lost its control, erupted as if exploding, dyed the Heavenly Tear Solitary Cocoon that was surrounding her, and numerous poisons mixed with each other and spread.

The cocoon that had once protected her became a disaster and began to swallow its surroundings.

---

Slice.

Having cut down numerous jiangshi, Baek Yoonjun looked around.

Although many jiangshi were still rampaging, fortunately, the martial artists had reorganized their ranks and were fighting back.

'That's a relief. It seems things are finally getting under control.'

Having confirmed that the situation had improved, Baek Yoonjun found his companions gathered and turned his feet in that direction.

'That brat Yuhwa must have escaped well, right?'

Moving towards where his companions were, Baek Yoonjun thought of Tang Yuhwa.

Before they had parted, Tang Yuhwa's condition had not looked bad.

'For now, if her body is fine, there's nothing to worry about...'

The training that Baek Yoonjun had made her do the most in the Sigongjin was not martial arts or poison.

It was the art of getting out.

In other words, the art of running away.

Although Tang Yuhwa had no talent for other martial arts, perhaps because her body was light, her lightness skill alone was quite passable.

'On top of that, I also got a definite answer...'

In Baek Yoonjun's mind, the conversation he had when he had gotten a definite answer while training Tang Yuhwa at that time came to mind.

-If your body is in danger, take care of your own body first.

-I know.

-I can't trust you, so let's pinky promise.

-P-pinky?

Although it was strange that Tang Yuhwa had blushed slightly when they had pinky promised at that time, he had gotten a definite answer anyway.

'If that brat Yuhwa got out, she would naturally be where her companions are, right?'

And so, worrying about Tang Yuhwa, Baek Yoonjun arrived at where his companions were.

"Brother Baek! Are you alright?"

As Baek Yoonjun arrived, his companions, led by Zhang Sanfeng, welcomed him.

Although there were wounds here and there, the condition of his companions generally looked fine.

However.

"Have you not seen Yuhwa?"

Tang Yuhwa was not among his companions.

"The Divine Doctor of Sichuan? Wasn't she with you, Brother Baek?"

"No."

Baek Yoonjun shook his head at Zhang Sanfeng's words and looked at his other companions.

"I haven't seen her."

"Me neither..."

None of his companions had seen Tang Yuhwa.

A sense of foreboding began to creep up in Baek Yoonjun's heart.

'Could it be that she broke her promise and was preoccupied with treating patients? Or...'

Just as he was about to move to find her due to a bad premonition, Baek Yoonjun sensed a strange energy.

'What is that fog?'

A thick fog with a hazy color, through which the inside could not be seen, was spreading.

The fog, writhing like a living beast, spread as if swallowing all the light and sound of the battlefield.

-Ugh!

-What on earth is this fog?!

-It's poison!! Retreat!

'Not fog, but poison?!'

The moment he confirmed that the fog was poison, only one thing came to Baek Yoonjun's mind.

'Could it be related to Yuhwa?!'

Tang Yuhwa certainly did not have the nature or the ability to create such a poison.

However, Baek Yoonjun's instinct was shouting at him to jump into the fog right away and find Tang Yuhwa.

But he couldn't.

The fog was already approaching the place where Baek Yoonjun's party was.

'Why is this damn fog spreading so fast?!'

Baek Yoonjun gritted his teeth and gathered the surrounding wind.

A huge wind pressure spread like a curtain and barely blocked the invasion of the fog.

'If I leave my position, all the people here will die!!'

Baek Yoonjun looked around and screamed inside.

No matter how he looked, there were no martial artists of a higher rank than him, and it seemed there was no one with the talent to block this fog.

The problem was not just the fog.

-Keuk! My head!!

-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!

Some of the people, as if they had gone mad, began to scream, banging their heads on the ground.

A situation that could only be called a pandemonium and a total mess.

'What can I do about this?'

In a situation where he couldn't even move because he was blocking the fog, Baek Yoonjun even felt a sense of powerlessness.

At that moment.

"It seems a wicked sorcery is spreading, Senior Brother."

"It seems so, Junior Sister."

Hyejin and Su Yeohyang exchanged a conversation.

"Namu Amitabha Gwanseeum Bosal..."

They began to chant a Buddhist scripture.

'What's with the sudden Buddhist scripture... hmm?'

As Hyejin and Su Yeohyang suddenly began to chant a Buddhist scripture, Baek Yoonjun, who had frowned.

-My head is clearing up?

-That sound is starting to fade!

He witnessed the people who had gone mad coming to their senses.

'Did a Buddhist scripture have such an effect?'

Thanks to that, Baek Yoonjun was relieved for a moment, but the problem of the fog still blocked him.

"Is your second disciple perhaps in there?"

At that moment, Gu Wolju approached Baek Yoonjun.

"It seems so..."

Baek Yoonjun frowned and received Gu Wolju's words.

"Are you perhaps unable to move because you are blocking the fog?"

"...That is so."

"If so."

Gu Wolju stood next to Baek Yoonjun.

Then he began to gather his internal energy.

As Gu Wolju drew up his internal energy, a faint wind began to blow around him.

"Although I cannot move the wind directly, I think I can maintain it."

At those words, Baek Yoonjun released his control of the wind.

At that, Baek Yoonjun's wind gathered around Gu Wolju and maintained the phenomenon.

"This is the Immortal's wind... It's a little overwhelming, but... I think it's possible..."

Although Gu Wolju looked quite strained, he maintained the wind that Baek Yoonjun had created and blocked the fog from attacking the people.

Thanks to that, Baek Yoonjun was able to move freely.

"Thank you, Elder Blacksmith."

Baek Yoonjun politely performed a fist-and-palm salute towards Gu Wolju.

"Go! Immortal!!"

As if he had no leeway to perform a fist-and-palm salute, Gu Wolju smiled with difficulty and urged Baek Yoonjun.

Baek Yoonjun turned his body and jumped towards the fog.

Although he had handed over the wind to Gu Wolju, a faint wind was still blowing around him and was blocking the fog from reaching him.

"I will help! Brother Baek!"

Zhang Sanfeng followed such a Baek Yoonjun.

Looking back at his voice, Baek Yoonjun opened his mouth with concern.

"It is dangerous, Brother Baek."

"You know what I have realized, don't you?"

Baek Yoonjun observed Zhang Sanfeng's energy.

A barrier of internal energy, gently rotating around him, was naturally deflecting the fog.

It was the mystery of the Taiji.

'Brother Zhang's martial arts have improved a lot. To even be able to do something like that.'

If it wasn't dangerous, the more people, the better.

Therefore, Baek Yoonjun politely bowed his head.

"I'll be counting on you, Brother Baek."

"Although it will be difficult for a long time, I will help as much as I can."

The two men looked at each other for a moment, briefly performed a fist-and-palm salute, and then disappeared into the fog.

And what greeted the two in the fog was.

Tap... tap... tap...

An ominous sound, as if tapping a bone.

"Aaaaaah!!"

And the desperate scream of a girl, echoing as if her soul were breaking.

(End of Chapter)