Ch. 26 Murim Psychopath Chapter 26

Chapter 26: No Acupoints

What Tang Wu wanted from Dong Bong-su was not merely for him to become his disciple, but for him to become a full-fledged member of the Tang Clan.

“Grandfather! Such a grave matter, deciding it alone without the elders’ consent…….”

When the words she had anticipated finally spilled from Tang Wu’s mouth, Tang Hwa spoke in flustered confusion.

Tang Wu turned to Tang Hwa, smiled faintly, and moved his lips. At the same time, he raised the Dragon-Phoenix Gold Needles into view.

The two believed that Dong Bong-su could eavesdrop on their conversation and thus comfortably shared a secret discussion through the method of voice transmission into secrecy.

But then again.

That was truly an action born of not knowing Dong Bong-su at all. Just because one cannot hear does not mean one cannot “eavesdrop.” Even without hearing, there are people who can “read” conversations with their eyes.

Lip-reading.

Dong Bong-su was reading everything the two were saying simply by the shape of Tang Wu’s lips. Tang Hwa was wearing a veil, so it was impossible to tell what she was saying, but all the important points were being spoken entirely by Tang Wu anyway. Just by analyzing the shape of that man’s lips, he could infer what Tang Hwa was saying as well.

In the end, Dong Bong-su was able to figure out everything—why Tang Wu was trying to pull him in so desperately that he would even give him the Tang surname, and why he had taken out the Dragon-Phoenix Gold Needles.

‘So that’s what it was?’

Dong Bong-su layered a thin cloudy cover on his eyes and continued analyzing the conversation exchanged between the two behind him.

At some point, he went even further, grasping things that Tang Wu himself did not know. No, to be precise, it was more accurate to say that Tang Wu was simply unable to see them.

Half-human, half-character.

Dong Bong-su was not a complete game character, but by existing under the system of New Murim Online, he had acquired a strange body that was neither human nor a game character. Because of this, his physical structure was fundamentally different from that of ordinary people. The subtle changes brought about by this unusual body had captivated Tang Wu and led to the current situation.

Tang Wu was now conducting various analyses of Dong Bong-su’s constitution and explaining them to Tang Hwa, but his conclusion was simply, “I don’t know.” Not knowing, yet interpreting everything however he pleased.

Dong Bong-su sneered inwardly while already constructing his next behavioral pattern. If the other side was willing to interpret things arbitrarily, that was something to be grateful for. All he had to do was put on a performance to match it, and the other party would, on their own, carry out an excellent performance as an actor fitting that play.

A chilling ability.

The trap of believing they were conversing through voice transmission, and the trap of thinking Dong Bong-su was nothing more than a mute Horse Stable Hireling. Caught in this double trap, they would never even imagine that Dong Bong-su possessed such abilities.

A short while later.

The secret yet not-so-secret conversation shared only between Tang Wu and Tang Hwa finally came to an end. What made it “secret” was their shared belief that it was a conversation meant only for the two of them, and what made it “not secret” was the fact that Dong Bong-su had read through or reconstructed every bit of it. Of course, that fact was known only to Dong Bong-su.

Having been persuaded by Tang Wu by the end of the discussion, Tang Hwa no longer had any reason to stop him. She did not intervene further and silently stepped back.

Tang Wu, seeing this, formed a faint smile and looked at Dong Bong-su again as he asked,

“I will ask you again. Do you intend to receive the Tang Clan surname?”

Dong Bong-su had never had a reason to refuse in the first place.

Moreover, now that he had already grasped all the hidden schemes in Tang Wu’s heart, why would he push away such a favorable offer?

Dong Bong-su did not hesitate. With a fabricated yet resolute gaze, he nodded his head confidently.

Unaware of the face hidden behind that false expression, Tang Wu broke into a look of full satisfaction.

“Good. However, you have not yet become a complete member of the Tang Clan. You must go to the Tang Clan and prove, before the clan elders and the clan head, that you are someone worthy of bearing the Tang surname. You may even die in that process. Even so, will you do it?”

It had advanced one step further—from “it may be painful enough to feel like dying” to “you may die.”

‘So what. Nothing changes.’

He still had no intention of refusing. Because he knew he would not die.

If everything Tang Wu had said to Tang Hwa through voice transmission into secrecy was true, no one in the Tang Clan would reject him. No, they would not be able to. They might later devise schemes and try to place him in danger, but they would not be able to stop him from entering the Tang Clan, nor would they have any reason to. That was how extraordinary the contents of Tang Wu’s voice transmission had been.

Even Dong Bong-su himself had never imagined that such a secret lay within his own body.

Once again, he found New Murim Online amusing. A “game” in which he could not let his guard down for even a single moment, nor overlook a single detail, a game perfectly tailored to Dong Bong-su, that was precisely what New Murim Online was.

A smile formed on his lips for the first time in a while.

From that plain smile, Tang Wu sensed the sincerity of “Sosam.”

Although Dong Bong-su’s true feelings and the “Sosam” sincerity Tang Wu perceived were different, sincerity was sincerity nonetheless.

The cold gaze of Tang Wu and the passionate eyes of Dong Bong-su became fiercely entangled in midair.

A moment later.

As if he had finally made up his mind completely, Tang Wu declared,

“You are no longer a Horse Stable Hireling of the Danri Family, but a member of the Tang Clan, the foremost family of Sichuan.”

With that, Dong Bong-su shed the shell of being a Horse Stable Hireling.

“I will now carry out the grand technique. Are you prepared?”

When Dong Bong-su nodded once more, Tang Wu signaled with his eyes to Tang Hwa, who was standing behind Dong Bong-su. It was a request for her to stand guard.

Tang Hwa bowed her head in affirmation and left the room.

If another person were to intrude during the execution of the grand technique, it could become dangerous, possibly leading to deviation and demonic backlash. Thus, she was to stand guard and block others from approaching.

Now that only the two of them remained, Tang Wu stepped closer to Dong Bong-su.

“I will now perform the Open Crown Grand Technique upon you. This Open Crown Grand Technique will clear your mind and unblock your sealed speech. From now on, you are to close your eyes, and no matter what happens, you must absolutely not move. Do you understand?”

Dong Bong-su already knew—having “heard it directly”—that what Tang Wu was about to perform on him was not merely the Open Crown Grand Technique, but he did not particularly care. After all, he was using Tang Wu, and Tang Wu was using him as well.

The only difference was that Dong Bong-su already knew what Tang Wu was thinking and what he intended to do to him, while Tang Wu did not know that Dong Bong-su knew all of it.

With that alone, the game between the two had already ended.

In a poker game, if you know your opponent’s hand and possess a perfect poker face yourself?

The game is already over. There is no reversal.

The opponent merely entrusts himself to a thread-thin hope that he might win by aiming for a reversal that does not exist, continuing the game all the same.

But.

The game had been Dong Bong-su’s victory from before it even began.

● ● ●

Tang Wu opened the case of the Dragon-Phoenix Gold Needles. Inside the case were several hundred golden needles, each intricately engraved with dragons and phoenixes befitting their name. Their lengths and thicknesses all differed, as if each needle served a distinct purpose.

Dong Bong-su gave the Dragon-Phoenix Gold Needles a brief glance, then quietly closed his eyes. Soon, he entered meditation, slowly sinking into the familiar world of martial non-being.

“Hoo—.”

Letting out a long breath, Tang Wu slowly lifted the Dragon-Phoenix Gold Needles into the air using the technique of Void Telekinesis.

In truth, Tang Wu was in the most tense state of his entire life.

Having come out into the Jianghu for the first time in a long while under the pretext of a marriage alliance with the Namgung Family, he had, in Bongyang, “picked up” an unbelievable talent for free.

The Aspect of the Wheel-Turning Sacred Emperor (轉輪聖帝相), the Heavenly Yang Divine Martial Body (天陽神武之體), the Heavenly Meridian Body (天脈之體), the Ninth-Grade Sacred Bone (九品聖骨), the Heavenly Martial Heart Meridian (天武心脈), the Purple Cloud Void-Spirit Divine Body (紫霞空靈神體), the Cosmic Sacred Bone (宇宙聖骨)…….

There were many terms in the world that referred to bodies exceptionally suited for learning martial arts. All of them were accompanied by modifiers such as appearing once every ten years, once every hundred years, or once every thousand years.

However, today, Tang Wu encountered a talent whose body rendered such modifiers meaningless. The very person sitting in front of him now—the Horse Stable Hireling named Sosam—was that individual.

Tang Wu focused his gaze and looked at Sosam once more. Sosam was sitting with his eyes closed, immersed in a state of no-thought, no-mind. It was perfect. The moment Tang Wu had told him not to think, Sosam had already completely erased all thoughts from his mind.

A smile once again formed at the corner of Tang Wu’s lips.

Ten years? A hundred years? A thousand-year genius? What were those worth?

That fellow possessed a body that had been born for the first time since the Martial World began its history. Compared to known constitutions, it was not outwardly conspicuous, but it was unquestionably one of the finest materials in existence.

The Body of No Acupoints.

Sosam had neither the acupoints nor the pathways that every human should possess. When Tang Wu first saw Sosam, he had failed to notice this. He had simply thought it was an ordinary body that had never learned martial arts. Yet when he looked again, he realized that was not the case.

Sosam’s body was far too “still.” No matter how untrained a person was, there should always be at least a minimal amount of energy within the body, naturally flowing along the meridian pathways.

But within Sosam’s body, there was no such flow whatsoever.

Nothingness.

There was simply nothing at all, as if he were not human.

If Tang Wu had not been a master of the Tang Clan, he would not have been able to detect it with just a glance. That was because such characteristics all appeared in corpses.

The only martial sects capable of creating corpses were the Tang Clan and the Blood Pavilion of Heavenly Demon Castle. Even so, unless one were a master of the Tang Clan or the Blood Pavilion who had actually created corpses before, one would still fail to recognize Sosam’s traits.

Tang Wu had dipped his toes, at least a little, into every martial art and miscellaneous technique passed down within the Tang Clan. Corpse Arts were naturally among them.

The foundation of corpse creation lay in artificially sealing off all the meridian pathways of a corpse. As a result, the flow of energy was completely severed. This was done to block the flow of living energy and instead maintain the flow of deathly energy.

However, unlike that, Sosam was not blocked nor had anything been sealed off; he had possessed no acupoints and no pathways from the moment he was born. Having no paths meant that whatever was made would become a path. It also meant he could go wherever he wished, freely. Whether it was vital energy or anything else.

Upon hearing this explanation, Tang Hwa readily stepped back.

Even in her eyes, the Body of No Acupoints was an unparalleled material that would never appear again. In the current Martial World, there were likely only a handful, if any at all, who possessed a constitution that could rival it.

Then again, there might be someone else. Another talent born with the Star of Heavenly Slaughter or the Star of Divine Authority. Those born with such destinies, regardless of their innate aptitude, were fated either to plunge the Martial World into danger or to save it.

Perhaps this Sosam had been born with the Star of Heavenly Slaughter or the Star of Divine Authority. Verifying that, however, was beyond what he could do. Although he could read the concentrated essence and sharp vitality hidden deep within Dong Bong-su’s eyes, he could not be certain. Proof and verification of matters beyond physical constitution would be handled by the elders once they returned to the family.

For now, it was enough to pull in this thing called Sosam into the Tang Clan and secure him first.

Even if this child had been born with the Star of Heavenly Slaughter, the Tang Clan could deal with it. It would not be a major problem. If anything, the Tang Clan would gain renown for having dealt with the Star of Heavenly Slaughter before it could fully manifest.

And if he had been born with the Star of Divine Authority, that alone would earn the Tang Clan tremendous fame and place it at the very center of the Orthodox Martial World. Even if he were neither, and merely the owner of the Body of No Acupoints, that too was excellent. With that material alone, it would be possible to restore Myriad Flower Rain, which for the past several hundred years had been passed down with only its form remaining.

If Myriad Flower Rain were to be reborn in the Jianghu after several hundred years, the heroes of the Martial World would bow their heads before the name of the Tang Clan.

In short, if Sosam had been born with the Star of Heavenly Slaughter, the Tang Clan would gain fame; if he had been born with the Star of Divine Authority, the clan would gain glory; and even if he was neither, Sosam’s Body of No Acupoints alone guaranteed the revival of the Tang Clan.

The Tang Clan’s ancestors must have sent me to Bongyang to open the path for the clan’s resurgence.

‘Heh heh heh. The future of the Tang Clan hangs on my fingertips!’

Thinking that, Tang Wu grew even more tense.

Papapak!

Tang Wu’s hand, drawn taut like a bowstring, finally began to move.