Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 8

The hospital was shrouded in darkness.

Kang Jin-ho slowly made his way to the pediatric ward.

The time was three in the morning. He had already figured out that the nurses checked on patients at two and four o’clock. Unlike Kang Jin-ho, Moon Ji-eun was in a private room, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

Even if someone saw Kang Jin-ho moving around, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but a man entering a girl’s hospital room at this early hour was still awkward, so Kang Jin-ho carefully made his way to the room, trying not to be seen by others.

Moon Ji-eun.

After checking the name tag outside the room, Kang Jin-ho carefully opened the door.

He tried to be quiet, but some noise was unavoidable. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like anyone had woken up.

Moon Ji-eun was sleeping in the bed, and her mother was asleep on the cot next to her.

Kang Jin-ho carefully approached and touched Ji-eun’s mother’s IV line [intravenous line for blood transfusion].

She wouldn’t wake up for a while now.

Kang Jin-ho looked at Moon Ji-eun, who was lying still. Her sleeping face should have been peaceful, but it was slightly contorted, as if the pain didn’t go away even when she was asleep.

Kang Jin-ho slowly raised his hand and placed it on Moon Ji-eun’s lower abdomen.

Then, he closed his eyes and examined her body.

The energy that was flowing was blocked around her heart and was being pushed back. Because her energy channels were blocked, excessive energy was flowing into the surrounding channels, eating away at her body.

In this case, all he had to do was open the blocked energy points.

It was an easy task, yet not so easy.

Opening the energy points was easy, but the first problem was whether Moon Ji-eun could handle the aftermath, and the second problem was that Kang Jin-ho didn’t have the strength to open these energy points in his current state.

‘What’s the solution?’

If he knew the problem, he just had to find a solution.

Both the first and second problems could be solved with one thing.

More energy.

If he surrounded the energy points with Kang Jin-ho’s energy to protect them and then opened the points, there wouldn’t be any problems.

But where could he get that much energy?

Should he create a dantian [an energy center in the body, often associated with martial arts] right now?

Kang Jin-ho shook his head. That wasn’t the right way. It was something he had already decided, and unless there was no other way, it wasn’t a shallow concern that he would break for such a trivial matter.

Then there was only one way.

Kang Jin-ho drew upon his innate energy.

The power that sustains human life.

The energy that humans are born with from the beginning.

Even without drawing in external energy, innate energy is always within a person’s body, protecting them.

Yet, it’s not often used because once innate energy is used, it’s extremely difficult to replenish. That’s why it’s hard for someone who has been seriously injured to become as healthy as before.

Another reason is that innate energy is extremely difficult to use, unlike normal true energy. Because it’s an energy that’s like the origin of humans, it has a strong tendency to return to its original state. Therefore, to use innate energy, a high level of understanding of martial arts is required.

Of course, Kang Jin-ho was a martial artist who had reached the level where he could use innate energy.

Kang Jin-ho unhesitatingly drew upon his innate energy.

If he received something, he would repay it. And…

Kang Jin-ho wanted to see it.

Moon Ji-eun living a normal life after recovering from her illness.

If Moon Ji-eun could do that, Kang Jin-ho could do it too.

They had different reasons, but neither Moon Ji-eun nor Kang Jin-ho were living normal lives.

Perhaps that was why Kang Jin-ho was interested in Moon Ji-eun’s illness.

With Kang Jin-ho’s focus, a hot energy gathered and pushed into Moon Ji-eun’s dantian.

The energy that went up along the great meridian [a major energy pathway in the body] began to stay around her heart. As he pushed in the energy, he began to feel the inside of Moon Ji-eun’s body as if he could touch it.

‘It’s here.’

The faintly flowing energy couldn’t advance any further and was being pushed back. If a place that wasn’t even a life-or-death gate was blocked, it was obvious that there was a problem.

Kang Jin-ho first spread his energy wide and surrounded her heart. This was to minimize the shock of the moment when the energy channels were opened.

‘Here I go.’

Kang Jin-ho’s innate energy surged and pierced into Moon Ji-eun’s heart. The blocked energy points collided with the energy.

Thud!

It was as if a loud noise was heard.

Perhaps because it had been blocked for so long, the energy points didn’t open easily and pushed back Kang Jin-ho’s innate energy. The innate energy and the blocked energy points collided continuously, causing Moon Ji-eun’s body to shake.

‘Ugh…’

Opening the energy points wasn’t that difficult. If he pushed and pushed again, the energy points would eventually open.

The problem was that Moon Ji-eun’s body was too weak, and whether she could handle the aftermath.

Wasn’t the reason why opening the life-or-death gate was dangerous because the body might not be able to handle the backlash when the blocked energy points were opened?

‘Stopping now will have the same result.’

Kang Jin-ho looked at Moon Ji-eun with lowered eyes. If he left it like this, the energy in her whole body would be twisted soon because of the blocked energy points. And then the result was obvious.

He had to solve it while he could still handle it.

Kang Jin-ho made up his mind and drew upon even more innate energy.

He pushed more innate energy into Moon Ji-eun’s body and protected her whole body. Then, he put strength into a single strand of innate energy and pushed it into Moon Ji-eun’s blocked energy points.

Thud!

And as a result, the blocked energy points were opened too easily.

The opened energy rushed in like a waterfall, opening all the remaining energy points. Moon Ji-eun’s body trembled as if she had caught malaria.

Kang Jin-ho pushed in energy until sweat dripped from his forehead, protecting her so that the impact of the collision wouldn’t spread to other places.

Only after the energy slowly subsided and he confirmed that there was no problem with her heart did he withdraw the energy.

“Hah…”

When energy is blocked, toxins tend to form. Kang Jin-ho absorbed the toxins remaining around Moon Ji-eun’s heart into his own body.

Flash.

Only then did Kang Jin-ho take his hand off Moon Ji-eun’s dantian and open his eyes.

He saw Moon Ji-eun’s face with a rosy complexion.

She seemed a little out of breath now, but she would soon be comfortable.

“I’ve repaid the debt.”

What remained was not his job. Returning to a normal life was Moon Ji-eun’s responsibility.

He quietly looked at Moon Ji-eun’s sleeping face for a while.

Seeing that her expression had become comfortable, free from pain, Kang Jin-ho’s heart also seemed to feel at ease.

Kang Jin-ho carefully left the hospital room. Then, he went up to the rooftop and looked at the night sky.

It was a slightly strange feeling.

It was refreshing, and there was a ticklish feeling.

But it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

In the past, he wouldn’t have been like this. Even if someone died in front of him, he wouldn’t have batted an eye.

But Kang Jin-ho had changed.

Whether the reason for the change was because he had returned to the modern era, or whether the memories of the Kang Jin-ho who had been using this body until recently were influencing his personality, he didn’t know.

But it wasn’t a bad result.

To live a normal life, the Heavenly Demon Lord had to disappear.

The memories of the Heavenly Demon Lord were too rough and full of pain, so they didn’t suit a normal life. If possible, the Heavenly Demon Lord sleeping inside him should disappear forever.

Kang Jin-ho knew that fact well.

Kang Jin-ho, who had a slight smile, looked at the sky.

This was not the sky of the martial world.

Once he left the hospital, a normal life would begin for him too.

“Oppa!”

Moon Ji-eun came running towards Kang Jin-ho, who was about to leave the hospital.

Her steps were light, unlike before. Her face also seemed to have lost some of the darkness that had been there before. Or maybe it was just Kang Jin-ho’s feeling.

“Um…”

Kang Jin-ho hesitated, not knowing what to say.

“Are you being discharged?”

“Yeah.”

Kang Jin-ho examined Moon Ji-eun’s body again.

The blocked feeling was definitely gone.

“I heard you were moving hospitals today.”

“They suddenly decided not to move me this morning. They said something had improved?”

“I see.”

“They said I’ve gotten a lot better, and they need to observe the situation more. Hehe.”

“Is that so.”

“You’re not surprised?”

When Kang Jin-ho nodded as if it was nothing, Moon Ji-eun said, sounding a little disappointed.

“I thought you would be.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Hehe, Moon Ji-eun, who had scanned him up and down, smiled happily and grabbed Kang Jin-ho’s clothes, pulling them up and down.

“It’s really strange. I used to be in pain four or five times from morning until lunchtime, but I haven’t been in pain even once today!”

“That’s a relief.”

“So…”

Moon Ji-eun took out a cola from her pocket and held it out.

“A gift.”

It was clear that in this kid’s mind, Kang Jin-ho was a polar bear craving cola.

Everything was connected to cola, wasn’t it?

Or maybe she thought aliens lived on cola as their staple food.

“Um…”

While Kang Jin-ho was wondering where to start to clear up this misunderstanding, Moon Ji-eun grabbed Kang Jin-ho’s lowered hand and, looking a little awkward, turned her head slightly and said,

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Anyway, thank you.”

What was she thanking him for?

For playing with her until now?

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head slightly.

Since he was being discharged today, they wouldn’t see each other again. So it wasn’t that strange for her to say that.

Was she a little sad?

“Okay.”

Moon Ji-eun smiled slightly at Kang Jin-ho’s somewhat blunt tone. Before, there was a hint of darkness in her smile, but now her smile felt natural, like a child’s smile.

Moon Ji-eun, with a playful smile, grabbed Kang Jin-ho’s hand as if pinching it.

It seemed like she was grabbing it to hurt him… When Kang Jin-ho just stood there blankly, Moon Ji-eun, as if she had lost her enthusiasm, clicked her tongue and looked straight at Kang Jin-ho and said,

“And next time…”

“Yeah?”

“You shouldn’t touch a lady’s body carelessly!”

Kang Jin-ho’s body flinched for a moment.

“I’ll sue you?”

“…”

“If you get caught, you’ll go straight to jail. The law is so scary these days!”

“…”

“I almost screamed.”

While Kang Jin-ho was looking for something to say, a voice calling Moon Ji-eun was heard from afar.

“It’s Mom.”

With those words, Moon Ji-eun grabbed Kang Jin-ho’s hand tightly once and then let go, then ran away. Then, she turned her head, looked at Kang Jin-ho, and waved her hand.

“Don’t come to the hospital again, and stay healthy. See you next time. For sure.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and said quietly, watching Moon Ji-eun’s retreating figure.

“Did I not touch her blood transfusion?”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

“I don’t know.”

Whatever, as long as the result was good.

“What’s wrong?”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head at his mother’s words, who had approached him.

“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho left the hospital.

When he turned his head, he saw Moon Ji-eun holding her mother’s hand in the distance.