I Spent a Night with the Terminally ill Daughter of the World’s Greatest Master

“The Evil Sect of our generation has been defeated.”
At a gathering of orphans, the Demon King said.
“Until a few years ago, I referred to myself as ‘This Lord,’ but after being defeated in a life-and-death duel, I returned shamefully to the Evil Sect.”
The black-haired man who looked to be in his mid-thirties stripped off his martial robe in front of us children.
“Look at these scars. The sword techniques of the Sword Star etched into my body.”
It was horrific.
Even more terrible than the corpses of my family murdered by forest bandits.
The cross-shaped scar on his chest appeared deeper than a finger.
Since the wound was stitched with needles, it seemed like the black thread would split open if it came undone.
“Sword Star Mo Yong Cheon. I was defeated by him.”
Sword Star Mo Yong Cheon.
A name I recognized.
“He is the world’s greatest master, and I am the second greatest.”
The Demon King of the Evil Sect was defeated by the righteous faction’s greatest master.
“It is the Evil Sect’s defeat. Since there is no one in the Evil Sect who can surpass me, this is the Evil Sect’s defeat.”
Can one individual be related to the defeat of an entire group?
I didn’t fully understand concepts like Demon King or Alliance Chief, so I could only stare blankly at those standing behind the Demon King.
“My Dharma Protectors were also defeated by their matched opponents. The Evil Sect’s masters were defeated by the heads of the Nine Schools and One Faction, and by the patriarchs of the Five Great Families.”
So that’s what happened.
We were defeated.
But why was he telling this to us “orphans” while keeping us confined in a cave?
“You’re starting to look curious. About why I brought you here. Why I gathered orphans from all across the Central Plains.”
The Demon King was kind, unlike the rumors.
“Do not be afraid.”
He had no choice but to be kind.
“You are the Evil Sect’s future and hope, and the ‘hidden poison’ that will lead the righteous path to destruction.”
In the Demon King’s eyes as he looked at us, a glimpse of ‘hope’ was visible.
“I will inject poison into your bodies. I will hypnotize you using soul-controlling techniques. You will not be able to refuse orders.”
With a hint of madness.
“If the Evil Sect of the present cannot win, then the Evil Sect of the future shall win.”
Not just the Demon King, but the Dharma Protectors as well.
“Rising talents. Such a lovely phrase. The next generation of hidden dragons who will lead the golden age of the righteous path. Those who will eventually become ascending phoenixes and receive countless praises.”
The Demon King stretched his hand to the side.
“Kill them.”
The Demon King raised his hand, emitting a dark, sticky energy as he mimicked slicing someone’s neck.
“Disciples. Childhood friends. Branch family members. Children of old friends. Children of enemies. It doesn’t matter how you make contact. You have two tasks.”
The Demon King had captured us orphans with a clear purpose.
“First. You will infiltrate each faction. Wash away your past and disguise yourselves so they won’t suspect you, infiltrate each faction, and report regularly to the Evil Sect.”
One. He planned to use us as spies.
“Second. This is the main task. Most importantly… yes.”
The Demon King pointed at me, of all people.
“How old are you this year?”
“T-ten years old, sir.”
“Ho.”
I answered because he asked.
But the Dharma Protectors widened their eyes in surprise, and the Demon King showed his white teeth in an amused smile.
“You will infiltrate the Mo Yong family. However you infiltrate, kill Mo Yong Cheon’s only daughter, Mo Yong Seol.”
The Demon King threw a dagger at me.
“The Dharma Protectors who will become your masters will teach you the specific methods.”
With those final words, the Demon King left the cave.
“…What will you do?”
“There are hardly any children with martial talent. If not for the orders, they wouldn’t even qualify as direct disciples… hah.”
“Kekeke. That’s actually good. If we teach them half-baked demonic arts, those sharp-eyed ones might notice.”
As they say, ten people, ten colors.
The diversely-appearing Dharma Protectors passed by me one by one.
“Our lives depend on your missions. Kekeke.”
It seemed each Dharma Protector had their own assignment.
“Poison Demon. The child who will enter the Sichuan Tang family, what will you do? Will you infiltrate as a poison master?”
“Well… I might approach through cooking.”
“To put poison in the food?”
“No. I will make them sick through food. There are ways to ruin the body by making them eat only flour their entire life.”
“Ha, the best method you could come up with….”
“Seems better than the Sex Demoness who thought of being a widow.”
Was it because they were so-called evil people?
Or was it that since their usual method of “killing with power” wouldn’t work, they were each considering new approaches?
“I’ll take these children.”
“Good. I’ll take these children. The more girls, the better.”
“…Follow me.”
All ten Dharma Protectors took their children and left.
About a hundred young children had been captured, but only I remained in the cave.
“…….”
I gripped the fallen dagger.
No warmth could be felt from the dagger.
Was it telling me to die?
Or did I feel an impulse because I was abandoned even by the Evil Sect?
“Are you thinking of killing yourself?”
A woman crouched in front of me and grabbed the dagger I was holding.
“Or are you planning to kill someone with it?”
A pathologically pale face.
Rather than a beauty—the ghostly aura emanating from her body made it seem like a dead person was speaking.
“If so, why not entrust that life to this Evil Physician?”
Evil Physician White Face.
I became her disciple and received orders to kill the precious daughter of the world’s greatest master.

Three years passed.
I turned 13, and each Dharma Protector raised their own disciples, meeting regularly to discuss “how to kill the next generation.”
“Disciple. What methods are there to kill the rising talents of the righteous path?”
The Evil Physician asked me while preparing one of her dead disciples for burial—carefully wiping the corpse with cloth.
“Become a master and kill the rising talent.”
“Correct answer. That’s why orphans, including my disciples, keep dying like this.”
The orphans captured with me were killed.
Beaten to death by other orphans.
“Raising strong disciples to break their martial arts. That’s the thinking of martial artists whose heads are filled with internal energy.”
To become the disciple of the Scroll Demon.
The disciples of other Dharma Protectors were the same.
“I heard the Sex Demoness wants to violate the adult rising talents. Ah, perhaps that’s a bit early to tell my young disciple?”
“…….”
“Hehehe. But that too is a method of killing. There are ways to make them fall into poison addiction, and ways to trap them in mechanism formations. Like this….”
My master, the Evil Physician, took out a long needle.
Stab.
“There are also ways to kill people through medicine.”
While recklessly stabbing the corpse with long needles, my master bestowed her teachings.
“Remember the acupoints. You must become a physician.”
“Are you saying I should pretend to be a physician and kill with long needles? If I fail, you will die, Master.”
“Disciple. Humans die anyway.”
Master sometimes showed a detached attitude toward life.
“Death comes early to some, suddenly to others, and can also be delayed.”
“…….”
“Have hope. No matter what the other Dharma Protectors say, you will surely survive.”
“Why is that?”
“Looking at your physiognomy, Master can tell you were born with the fate of woman troubles.”
It must have been a joke.
Probably.

At 17.
“I hear Mo Yong Cheon’s daughter has the Nine Yin Terminal Meridian.”
Hope descended upon me, while despair like a bolt from the blue fell upon others.
“Mo Yong Cheon’s only daughter has become terminally ill, that’s what this means.”

Nine Yin Terminal Meridian.
“Unable to find a cure, they eventually sent someone to the Evil Sect. They’re looking for the Evil Physician.”
A disease where strong yin energy twists the blood vessels, preventing proper circulation of qi, ultimately leading to death.
“The Evil Physician said she doesn’t know how to treat the Nine Yin Terminal Meridian either. Congratulations. You’ve completed your mission just by sitting still.”
The Demon King mocked me.
Meridian blockage is a disease that frequently appears in children of martial artists, and if it’s the final stage called “Nine Yin Terminal Meridian,” there’s basically no way to survive.
“We can’t just let her die like that.”
The Demon King, sitting on the throne but withered and twisted with age, was filled with madness.
“This is an order. Before she dies of the Nine Yin Terminal Meridian, you must kill that man’s daughter.”
The Demon King commanded.
With poison embedded in my heart, that order must be absolutely followed.
“Yes.”

Unless the poison is removed from my heart.
“Let’s go, disciple.”
As the Evil Physician’s disciple and assistant physician, I headed to the Martial Arts Alliance.
There, I met a white-haired young girl.
She was beautiful.
To be honest, I fell for her at first sight.
They say a flower is most beautiful just before it falls, and despite her sickly appearance, she was incredibly beautiful.
“Alliance Chief. Even so, to go as far as the Evil Physician….”
“Listen, Sword Star. Lady Mo Yong Seol is the hope of the righteous path.”
The righteous faction had their own issues, it seemed.
“Evil Physician and disciple, listen. You are not from the Evil Sect but from Kunlun, and we will present it as though you found some answers to the Mo Yong family’s meridian blockage by winning first place in the medical competition.”
“Is Kunlun okay with this?”
“I, the Alliance Chief, am the head of the Kunlun Sect, and I represent Kunlun’s will—how could my disciples go against me?”

I don’t know the details, but that’s how the Evil Physician and I infiltrated the righteous path with disguised identities.
Only the Martial Arts Alliance Chief and the Sword Star knew.
“Are you the disciple of the Heavenly Fairy Physician?”
“Yes, young lady.”
“Don’t call me ‘young lady.’ Just… call me Seol.”
Thus, I was able to approach Mo Yong Seol, my assassination target, as the disciple of a capable physician.
“Not much progress with the treatment, right?”
“Yes, Miss Mo Yong.”
Having learned medicine, I could tell.
“I see. Then I’ll die not long after becoming an adult. I wonder if I’ll barely make it past coming of age.”
I knew that treatment sometimes has no use for those who have given up on being cured.
“I have a favor to ask. Before I die, there are many things I want to do. Would you help me?”
The girl wanted to experience as much as possible before she died.
“If death is my fate anyway, I want to do something more before I die.”
I was the same.
Unless I killed Mo Yong Seol in the most miserable and cruel way to break the Sword Star’s heart, I was destined to be killed by the Demon King.
“Alright. What would you like me to help with?”
“Everything I can think of!”

And the night before Mo Yong Seol became an adult.
“…Miss Mo Yong?”
“Shhh.”
Near midnight, Mo Yong Seol snuck into my room wearing only white clothes.
“I’ll die tomorrow. Or maybe today.”
“…After midnight, it will be your birthday, miss.”
“That’s why I want to do something I’ve never done before as a birthday present.”
Mo Yong Seol pushed me back down as I half-rose from the bed.
“Will you help me?”
“…….”
If I do this, I’ll die.
But if I’m going to die anyway.
If it’s the wish of a terminally ill person who will soon die.
“What if you die from shock during the act, not from the Nine Yin Terminal Meridian?”
“Pfft, would that be considered a good death?”
So I spent the last night of my life with a terminally ill woman.
Yes.
The precious daughter of the world’s greatest master.
On the day she became an adult, I spent the night with this terminally ill woman.
Waiting for the final moment, her deathbed.
…
…
…
“Huh?”
Her meridian was unblocked.
“How did this…?”
I saved her life.
…….
I’m screwed.