Baekri Geomha's personality was a massive abyss itself.
Anger, thirst for revenge, hatred, murderous intent...
To shoulder all the remnants of the ugliest and foulest emotions a human could harbor.
Because such depth was necessary.
Therefore, he always crouched at the very bottom of the spirit, within the endless abyss.
And always had nightmares without being able to sleep.
It was because the fragments of the bloodbath, tangled with blood and screams, where betrayal and despair squirmed, constantly tore at his mind.
But this was an unavoidable fate.
Because he was only a shadow.
For Bu Eunseol to maintain a spotlessly clear spirit and an upright heart.
Because he himself had to embrace all the negative emotions and memories.
But strangely, right now.
He did not have nightmares.
Instead, he had a piercingly sad dream.
A natural landscape where warm sunlight shattered and fell through the leaves.
He was conversing with his benevolent grandfather in the air mixed with the smell of earth and the scent of grass.
When mealtime arrived, he saw noodles filled with warm heat, and his grandfather's eyes, which were even warmer than that.
When night fell, they lay side by side under the oil lamp and chatted amicably about what had happened that day.
When the sound of grass insects seeped into his ears like a low lullaby, he forgot all the worries of the world and fell asleep peacefully.
Trickle.
Tears flowed.
Even though it was a happy and warm dream.
It was bringing an ache that carved at his heart.
Because all these happinesses were ultimately.
Destined to turn into a handful of ashes and shatter into pieces.
Plop.
A single stream of tears that flowed in the dream eventually awakened Baekri Geomha's consciousness in reality.
At the cool sensation flowing down his cheek, Baekri Geomha slowly lifted his eyelids.
As his blurry vision came into focus, the face of a young girl came into view along with an unfamiliar ceiling.
She was a girl wearing clothes that were too simple to be called a physician's, and somewhat too unique to be called a martial artist's attire.
"You must not get up yet."
Though she was young, her voice was clear and firm.
"What?"
"The Soul Demon Dharma Energy has dissipated, and all of your five viscera and six bowels have deviated from their positions and twisted. Your leg muscles have also been severely damaged."
Baekri Geomha looked around.
It was the typical interior of a physician's house, a mixture of the fishy smell of blood, the thick scent of boiling decoctions, and the strong fragrance of disinfecting wounds.
"Where is this place."
Baekri Geomha struggled with all his might to raise his upper body.
Cr-r-runch.
In that instant, the muscles all over his body screamed, and an agonizing pain that felt as if his entire body was tearing apart surged in.
"Ugh."
"If you move now, your wounds will worsen, and your organs could rupture."
Unlike her worried-sounding tone.
There was no emotion whatsoever in the girl's voice, and her eyes were empty as if her soul had vanished.
"Lie down again."
With a low voice, the girl pressed down on Baekri Geomha's shoulders.
"Do not lay a hand on my body."
"You must not move."
As the girl blocked him once again,
Slap!
A sharp bursting sound rang out.
Baekri Geomha had ruthlessly struck the girl's cheek.
Thud.
Perhaps because she had learned martial arts, the girl did not suffer any significant shock and maintained her upright posture.
However, a clear handprint bloomed red on her white cheek, and a drop of fresh blood flowed from her burst lip.
Even so, there was no change in her expression and eyes.
"You could die if you move now."
Ignoring those words, Baekri Geomha dragged his staggering body and eventually stepped outside.
As he stepped out the door, the landscape of a quite large manor unfolded.
Several pavilions lined up, and various forms of clinics that seemed temporarily built could be seen here and there.
And women wearing the same clothes as the girl from earlier were treating the wounded without a moment's rest.
'That is.'
Baekri Geomha's eyes, which were looking around, narrowed.
The wounded. It was because of the energy flowing from their bodies.
The dark red demonic energy rising like a heat haze without extinguishing even from their wounded bodies.
Wasn't that the True Demon's power, the Soul Demon Dharma Energy?
"You must return."
At that moment, the girl calmly spoke from behind him.
"If you stay in a place where Soul Demon Dharma Energy spreads without being perfectly healed, your body will not endure, and your wounds will burst again."
Baekri Geomha did not answer and narrowed his eyes.
'Soul Demon Dharma Energy spreads... you say.'
According to the information Bu Eunseol had found out.
Soul Demon Dharma Energy has a total volume, and a superior can bestow power upon subordinates.
―'Did the Elder make it out of boredom again?'
Suddenly, the words of the leader who looked down at him before he lost consciousness came to mind.
'It means they mistook me for a person of the House of the True Demon.'
He could finally grasp the entire situation.
This massive facility was a hideout for the kin and bloodlines of the House of the True Demon to treat their subordinates wandering the martial world.
'Because I killed the people of the Baekri Family, it's only natural.'
They had discovered him, who had butchered the people of the Baekri Family.
Seeing the Soul Demon Dharma Energy flowing, it was clear that they had brought him here and were treating him.
'It turned out well instead.'
A cold sneer hung on Baekri Geomha's lips.
If that was the case, he simply had to receive treatment, recover his body, and wipe out this place.
Pop.
At that moment, the stitched wound burst, and the bandage wrapped around his flank was instantly dyed red.
Ultimately, unable to withstand the spreading Soul Demon Dharma Energy, the wound had burst open.
'It is indeed serious.'
Having all his power blocked was something Bu Eunseol also frequently experienced, so it wasn't very surprising.
However, for himself to be like this.
Taking control of the body for such a long time was something that had never happened even once until now.
"Fine."
Erasing his thoughts, Baekri Geomha looked at the girl.
"I will go back and receive treatment."
* * *
Returning to the pavilion, Baekri Geomha lay on the bed and entrusted his body to the girl.
Her medical skills were extremely profound; she skillfully stitched the re-burst wound and applied medicine.
For an ordinary person, it would have been pain enough to faint, but Baekri Geomha kept his eyes closed with a calm expression.
'It's strange after all.'
Why was he continuing to occupy the body?
Why did Bu Eunseol's existence feel as if it had disappeared?
'Before, after getting caught up in the fight between the Heavenly Emperor and the Baekri Family, my consciousness was extinguished... and I regained my senses again at Saha Manor.'
Baekri Geomha slowly reviewed the events that had occurred in the meantime.
Back in the secret treasury of the Baekri Family.
Individuals wearing the exact same clothes as the ones who had come to Saha Manor appeared, and unable to contain his anger, he had run wild like crazy.
Then, when Bu Eunseol fell into danger, he felt a sense of responsibility and...
He blocked the explosion created by the collision between the Heavenly Emperor and the Baekri Family with all his might.
After that, his memories completely disappeared, and out of nowhere, he opened his eyes again at Saha Manor.
Then this time, the situation became the exact opposite of the previous one.
Bu Eunseol felt tremendous guilt towards him, and then suddenly disappeared so cleanly that his very existence could not be felt.
'Just what exactly is going on.'
Vwoom.
At that moment, a low vibration was heard, and Baekri Geomha's body began to tremble.
The girl, who had finished all the treatments, was pushing Soul Demon Dharma Energy into his body.
"What are you doing."
Baekri Geomha furrowed his brow.
Soul Demon Dharma Energy was no different from life force and true essence for the bloodlines of the True Demon.
But to inject it without hesitation?
"What is the matter."
"Are you crazy? If you inject this, you will die, won't you?"
"I do not die immediately."
"What?"
The girl spoke calmly.
"When it is all exhausted, I will die then."
"Why are you doing such a thing?"
The girl blinked her large eyes as if it were strange.
"Then what use are Hollow Men like me?"
"Hollow Men?"
"I mean Earthen Figures."
"Earthen Figures? Dolls made of clay?"
As Baekri Geomha furrowed his brow, the girl blinked her large eyes as if it were strange.
"You say you do not know us?"
Realizing he was being suspected, Baekri Geomha quickly made an excuse.
"Due to the previous injury, my mind has become cloudy. I do not remember well what happened before that."
"I heard. That you killed the Elder Leader of the Baekri Family and his two subordinates."
"Well, did I."
Baekri Geomha quickly changed the subject.
"So what were Earthen Figures?"
The girl spoke in a low voice.
"There are those who are born with mighty Soul Demon Dharma Energy, but whose bodies are exceedingly ordinary. If they use Soul Demon Dharma Energy, their bodies cannot endure it."
The Baekri Family uses the power called Dragon Transformation Manifestation to prevent the collapse of the body and freely use that mighty power.
But because the House of the True Demon does not have such power.
Unless they were born with incredibly powerful bodies, or were kin bestowed with powerful strength by a superior being.
If an ordinary person uses that power, their body has no choice but to break down.
"So?"
The girl continued speaking with emotionless eyes.
"Isn't there only one thing such people can do?"
Baekri Geomha furrowed his brow.
"Then this thing called Earthen Figures..."
"We are healers meant to treat the Baek-Extinguishers spread throughout the Central Plains when they get injured."
Baek-Extinguishers.
Though it meant extinguishing a hundred, it definitely must mean the Baekri Family.
The Earthen Figures were tasked with treating the True Demon's combat members known as the Baek-Extinguishers.
"Are all the Baek-Extinguishers of the Central Plains treated here?"
"That cannot be. Earthen Chambers are also secretly deployed throughout the Central Plains. So that when the Baek-Extinguishers located everywhere are damaged, they can be treated at any time."
"Earthen Chambers, you say."
Baekri Geomha furrowed his brow.
The clinics of the House of the True Demon are spread throughout the Central Plains? If so, places called Earthen Chambers were not created in just a day or two.
'Were the restrictions lifted a long time ago.'
The bloodlines of the Baekri Family and the True Demon had not revealed themselves in the martial world, but.
They had continuously been engaged in secret feuds.
'Is it from the time the Three Realms failed to function properly?'
The Three Realms that should have opposed the bloodlines of the True Demon had become corrupted long ago, leaving no forces to restrain them.
'So this was the effect of the sanctuary or the Covenantors.'
Bu Eunseol almost collapsed the Infinite Realm that had revealed itself in the martial world, stirred up the Eight Human Heavens and the Four Divine Heavens, and cut them down.
If that was the case, the ones called Baek-Extinguishers should have naturally pursued and assassinated Bu Eunseol.
However, because Bu Eunseol was recognized by the Sacred Domain as a person outside the covenant, he was able to escape from the fight between the two families.
"May I continue treating you?"
At the girl's question, Baekri Geomha averted his gaze.
"Suit yourself."
Then, the girl generously used Soul Demon Dharma Energy, replenishing his lost power.
"I will stop at this much for today."
The girl, sweating profusely on her forehead, removed her hand and spoke in a low voice.
"Because Soul Demon Dharma Energy has been injected, you will be very sleepy. Get some sleep."
Even without her saying so, as her Soul Demon Dharma Energy seeped in, his eyelids grew heavy and drowsiness poured over him.
"Rest comfortably."
"Your name is."
"Pardon?"
"I'm asking for your name."
Baekri Geomha said.
"I received life force that is like life itself, shouldn't I at least know who that person is."
"Person."
The girl put on a strange expression.
"You are a strange Baek-Extinguisher."
Baek-Extinguishers were all emotionless and incredibly cold-hearted.
And an Earthen Figure was just an Earthen Figure.
In the eyes of the Baek-Extinguishers, they were nothing more and nothing less than clay dolls.
But why was he asking such a question?
"Is it strange to ask for a person's name?"
"Having become an Earthen Figure, I am not a person."
"What?"
"If I were a person..."
The girl spoke with an exceedingly emotionless expression and voice.
"I wouldn't have done something like generously injecting my life force into others."
She was not an emotionless human.
She had merely given up on being human a long time ago because she was born as a clay doll.
'It's none of my business, isn't it.'
Come to think of it, this girl.
Even if it wasn't for him, she was destined to die while treating other martial artists called Baek-Extinguishers anyway.
Besides, hadn't he already made up his mind to wipe out everyone here anyway?
There was no need to unnecessarily pay mind to a mere tool of the House of the True Demon.
"I'm sleepy."
As Baekri Geomha sprawled out and closed his eyes, the girl quietly put away her tools and withdrew.
A few days passed like that.
Baekri Geomha's condition was not light, so he had to receive considerable treatment.
This nameless girl meticulously tended to his condition during that time, and fed him medicine to replenish his body along with food at every meal.
"The treatment of the ones called Baek-Extinguishers is quite good."
Having eaten his fill, Baekri Geomha returned to his residence and sprawled out on the bed.
"It's probably because they are combat members capable of containing the Profound Divine Technique Qi or Soul Demon Dharma Energy."
According to Bu Eunseol's memories.
In the martial world, there were already beings called Holy Ones who contained both of the two great powers.
Although they were not ones who possessed complete power, since they were created with great effort over a long period, they would be treated accordingly.
Perhaps the ones called Baek-Extinguishers also possessed similar strength, and that is why such Earthen Chambers were created.
Knock, knock.
At that time, breaking the silence, along with the sound of knocking on the door, a shadow with its back to a ray of light entered inside.
It was that girl from before.
Stepping inside, she approached Baekri Geomha and spoke.
"What is it."
"You must walk now."
It was a low but unwavering voice.
"Come with me."
"You are talking nonsense."
As if uninterested, Baekri Geomha stared at the ceiling without moving a muscle.
"Get out. Because it's annoying."
"Since your wounds have healed to some extent, you must begin training to recover your body. If you miss the timing now, you will limp for the rest of your life."
"Training?"
At those words, a cold sneer hung on Baekri Geomha's lips.
"Do you think I will do it."
"You absolutely must do it."
The corners of Baekri Geomha's eyes turned sharp like blades.
Even so, the girl's eyes were calm.
Neither resignation nor mockery, it was just an expression as if she had to do what naturally must be done.
"If you don't get out right now..."
"Hit me."
"What?"
"Even if you hit me like that time, what must be done must be done."
As Baekri Geomha put on an exasperated expression, the girl held out a cane for him to step on and stand up.
"Use this."
Smack!
Baekri Geomha immediately threw the cane to the ground.
"Do you think this body would walk while holding onto a miserable wooden stick!"
"I know your memories are incomplete, but you should control your emotions."
The girl spoke in a low voice.
"The Baek-Extinguishers here all do not reveal their emotions. If you continue to display your emotions so violently, you might receive suspicion from the others."
And she picked up the fallen cane. However, she didn't urge him to take it, but merely held it.
As if he couldn't help it, Baekri Geomha raised his body from the bed.
"Please follow me."
The place the girl led Baekri Geomha was a steep mountain located at the rear gate of the manor.
She was walking comfortably, but Baekri Geomha following behind had to clench his teeth.
'Kuugh.'
Every time he walked, the muscles and nerves of his ruined legs screamed.
Like creaking rusted hinges.
It took a long time for his knees to straighten, and cold sweat flowed like rain, drenching his back.
Thump.
Eventually, before even half a quarter-hour had passed.
He lost his balance and plummeted straight onto the cold ground.
More than the agonizing pain piercing his shattered joints, the sound of his pride shattering into pieces rang out louder.
"Use this."
As the girl held out the cane.
Craaack!
Baekri Geomha smashed it in a single breath.
"It does not matter."
The girl spoke calmly.
"Because there are many trees here."
Snap.
And then she broke off a large branch, removed the twigs, and made a cane for him again.
Baekri Geomha glared at her wordlessly, but eventually accepted the offered cane.
"When I fully recover my body, I will not leave you be."
The girl did not answer.
She merely looked at him without moving a muscle from a few steps away.
It meant to get up again and walk.
Leaning on the cane, Baekri Geomha forced himself up.
While climbing the mountain, he fell, and fell again.
Occasionally, his groans and curses echoed through the empty mountain, but the girl did not even blink an eye.
Time in the Earthen Chamber flowed endlessly.
Climbing the mountain was a daily repeated training and torture.
Every joint in his bones screamed, and his mind grew distant from the pain.
Whenever that happened, the girl silently guarded his side.
When he tried to slump down, thin arms silently approached and supported his body.
When that hellish mountain trek was over.
The girl carefully wiped his body stained with blood and sweat, and brought in a neatly prepared meal table.
At first, he didn't even have the strength left to hold chopsticks.
Whenever that happened, the girl scooped up the food and brought it to his mouth.
Every time, Baekri Geomha nervously swatted that hand away.
The girl silently cleaned up the scattered food.
It was an expressionless face with no resentment or pity.
And then again, as if nothing had happened. She scooped up a spoonful and brought it to his mouth.
Before that persistent and indifferent touch, Baekri Geomha eventually gave up his resistance.
Opening his mouth with a short sigh as if grumbling was the best compromise he could make.
When the meal was over, he drank a pungent decoction.
As much as his complexion returned, the girl's face was drying up pale like a sheet of paper.
Because the end of the day was always.
Concluded by carving away her life force to inject Soul Demon Dharma Energy into him.
"Do you like this kind of life."
Today as well, having finished the day's routine, Baekri Geomha looked at the girl who had brought the decoction and asked.
"I'm asking if you like carving away your life like a consumable and dying."
The girl did not answer.
She was emotionless as always and did not speak useless words.
"If you don't answer, I won't drink the decoction from now on."
"It is destiny."
"Destiny?"
The girl answered calmly.
"It means I neither consider this work noble, nor do I consider it miserable."
She was merely accepting her destiny as if breathing, as if drinking water.
Baekri Geomha shook his head.
"It's not normal. Neither the martial world, nor everything."
Stagger.
At that moment, the girl, who was setting down the decoction with a haggard face, leaned against the wall for a moment.
Her cheeks had sunk palely, and her wrists illuminated under the lamp were so thin they looked as if they would break at any moment.
Ziiiing.
But from somewhere, a strange sound was heard.
That sound spreading while gnawing at the air felt as if it was echoing directly inside his skull rather than being heard through his ears.
At the same time, the sky visible beyond the window was smudging like a wet watercolor painting.
The boundary between the sky and the clouds melted limply, and the colors lost their original places.
Wasn't it beginning to twist in a spiral, as if an invisible massive finger was forcefully twisting and squeezing the real space?
However, that bizarre and ominous phenomenon of two worlds forcibly overlapping.
Swoosh.
As if such a thing had never happened, it vanished in an instant... and everything had returned to a perfectly normal state.
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