The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 229

"Dementia, you say?"

"Yes. That's right."

Dementia. To put it simply, it means that Minister Jeong has gone senile.

The head steward's face was full of worry.

"Actually, the symptoms have been showing little by little since before. He would suddenly see things that weren't there, or he would ask when we were going to eat after he had just finished his meal..."

I carefully observed the face of the head steward as he spoke.

Because I couldn't easily believe his words.

'Is that the look of a senile person?'

Of course, since the symptoms are not yet severe, he may be going back and forth, but I couldn't feel any senile energy in Minister Jeong's eyes.

Although he looked very tired with his sunken eyes, and he looked very anxious because of his nervous breakdown, I couldn't think of it as dementia at all.

'This person. Is he hiding something?'

After that, the head steward continued to ramble on about Minister Jeong, and I carefully observed his eyes and actions as he spoke.

It was with the thought that I might be able to find out something from his tone and gestures.

'It doesn't seem like he's trying to deceive us...'

But the head steward didn't seem like a person who was trying to deceive us or who was plotting something.

It felt as if he were really worried about Minister Jeong, and he was telling us this because he was concerned that we might be making a futile effort.

Of course, since I can't look into a person's heart, I, without completely dispelling my suspicion, asked him, "If you think so, shouldn't you call a physician? If it's still in the early stages, there might be some way."

"Of course, we have brought a physician several times. We have brought the most skilled physician in Chang'an, and we have even begged and brought a physician from Beijing who only treats the royal family."

"What did they say?"

"They all went back without even being able to examine him."

"Why?"

"Because the minister wouldn't let them come near him. No matter how much we explained that he was a skilled physician, he got angry, saying that he might be an assassin who had come to harm him, and told us not to bring him."

If it's to that extent, the situation seems a little serious.

Whether he has really gone senile, or whether his paranoia has grown so much that it is difficult for him to be near strangers, it is certain that it is eating away at his mind.

"But how were we able to face him?"

At that time, Senior Brother Un Cheol asked the head steward.

It was something I also wanted to ask, and it was an appropriate question.

"Well... you are the ones whom the third young master sent, aren't you? The minister, although he doesn't know other people, trusts the third young master as if he were a rock. In fact, if I had my way, I would even want to have the young master, who is in Wuhan, stay here for a few months and help treat the minister's heart."

"I heard that the master of the Shi-yue Pavilion... I mean, Mr. Gongsun Huan, said he was a good-for-nothing, but it seems that's not the case?"

"Yes. Of course, a few years ago, he suddenly became independent and said he would open a brothel, which caused some trouble, but seeing him succeed even in that, his trust in the young master grew even more. He said he was a child who would have succeeded no matter what he did."

A faint light returned to the face of the head steward, who had been speaking with a dark expression all along.

I think I can roughly understand what the master of the Shi-yue Pavilion means to Minister Jeong and the head steward.

"For now, I roughly understand the situation. Then where are the martial artists whom Minister Jeong has hired now?"

"They are all guarding the outer wall of the manor because he won't let them come near the inner building."

"Can I meet them?"

"Of course, you can."

"For now, I'd like to meet the person who has been hired here for the longest time, or the person who is the de facto leader of the hired martial artists."

"Ah! Then you can meet that person. Please follow me."

The head steward, after taking us, immediately headed somewhere and approached a martial artist standing on the outer wall.

He was standing there with a long face, and when he saw us and the head steward approaching him, he said in a blunt voice, "Head steward. What's the matter again? Are these the martial artists who have been additionally hired this time? They look a little young."

"No. Sir Baek-su. These people have not been hired, but have come to help Minister Jeong."

"To help...?"

Interest appeared in my eyes as I looked at him.

The Hundred Hands Swordsman, Do Won-hee. He is a wandering martial artist with no affiliation, and he is a martial artist with considerable skill and fame.

For a wandering martial artist with a short lifespan, he will build up his fame by being active in the martial world for quite a long time.

Although I don't remember how his end was, the end of wandering martial artists is usually similar.

"I am Unhwi of the Wudang Sect."

"I am Un Cheol."

"I am Il-jik of the Shaolin Temple."

"I am Il-won."

A strange light appeared in his eyes. Although they look young, they are disciples of the Nine Sects and One Gang.

He seems to be thinking, 'Is Minister Jeong's network of connections to the extent that he can mobilize the disciples of the Nine Sects and One Gang?'

"As you have heard, I am the Hundred Hands Swordsman. I have no sect, and I have barely obtained this title by rolling around the Central Plains alone. But... you are from the Nine Sects and One Gang. What business do you have with me?"

Apart from his surprised eyes, his voice was slightly sharp.

It seems he thinks we have come to interrogate him.

"I came because I have a few things I want to ask."

"Go ahead."

"Do you also think that Minister Jeong has gone senile?"

"...!"

"...?!"

Both the head steward and the Hundred Hands Swordsman looked at me with surprised eyes.

It seemed they had not expected me to ask so directly.

"Please answer comfortably. No matter what you answer, I will not create a disadvantageous situation for you, Sir Baek-su."

"Hmm..."

He, as if he were looking at the head steward's expression for a very short time, soon opened his mouth.

"Hmm. It's not like I'm saying something that isn't there, and since I had a similar conversation with the head steward a little while ago, I'll speak really comfortably."

"Yes, Sir Baek-su."

"I think he has gone senile. No, it's certain that he has gone senile."

"Why do you think so?"

"Well, isn't it because he keeps saying crazy things? It's been seven months since I was first hired by Minister Jeong. At that time, I wasn't patrolling the outer wall like this, but I was standing guard at Minister Jeong's room. But at some point, he kept saying that an assassin had been in his room and started getting angry at me, asking what I was doing without guarding the outside properly."

"You mean Minister Jeong said that even though you were guarding the door?"

He, with a confident face, nodded his head greatly and answered, "That's what I'm saying. At that time, I and a few other martial artists were guarding the room together. Not just the room. We checked all the windows, and even the roof, and we were all watching with lights on all night, but he got angry, asking why no one knew that someone had come in and out of the room."

He, as if he were still resentful of what had happened at that time, continued with a frown.

"A martial artist who can secretly enter a room that is being guarded by a dozen or so martial artists and then leave without anyone noticing would be a strong martial artist who can be counted among the best in the world. But for what reason would such a martial artist persecute Minister Jeong, who has already retired from the political world? And if the purpose was assassination, he could have just killed him and left, but he hasn't even left a scratch until now."

He, as if he had a lot of things piled up until now, poured out his words like a storm as soon as he had the chance to speak.

"Have you ever watched him in his room while he was sleeping?"

"Why wouldn't I? Of course, I have."

"Even then, did no other martial artist intrude into the room?"

"No... if there is a person in the room, nothing happens, and only when Minister Jeong is alone, a night visitor comes and goes... so isn't it impossible not to suspect senility?"

Monk Il-jik, who was listening to his story, tilted his head and asked, "Then why doesn't Minister Jeong sleep with a person in his room? If it were me, I would have always had a person in my room and slept."

"That's... Minister Jeong couldn't sleep a wink even on that day."

"Why?"

"Because he can't trust us, the martial artists who were hired to protect him. He said he couldn't sleep a wink because he thought that while he was asleep, we might turn on him and harm him. Isn't this a serious case?"

As the Hundred Hands Swordsman said, Minister Jeong's current condition seemed quite serious.

It's to the point where I wonder how he has lived until now.

Well, just by looking at how he devoured the grain pill and beef jerky I had given him earlier, I feel like I know how much anxiety he is living in.

"Do you have anything else to ask? Although it seems I have nothing to do here, it's time for me to go on patrol."

"No. This is enough."

"Then I'll be on my way. Head steward, let's talk separately later."

"Yes, Sir Baek-su."

After that, we met with a few other martial artists and asked similar questions, and we heard similar answers.

The head steward's room, where we had returned.

The head steward's expression was worse than when we had first met.

Although he had never heard such details about Minister Jeong's strange behavior until now, he seemed to have received a great shock after hearing the details today.

"Taoist master... what do you think?"

"About what?"

"No matter how much I think about it, I think it's dementia... If the minister becomes like that, I... what am I supposed to do in the future..."

His eyes turned red.

He is said to have served Minister Jeong all his life.

Until now, it seems he had been thinking of somehow finding a way to treat Minister Jeong, but after hearing the stories of the martial artists today, it seems that has made him give up.

"I don't think so."

"Yes?"

"Actually, was there any new story among the stories we have heard so far? We have only confirmed the facts we already knew."

"What do you mean..."

"And in my opinion, Minister Jeong does not have dementia. I can tell just by looking at his eyes."

When I was living in the Un family in my previous life, I had lived with my grandfather, who had dementia, for quite a long time.

At that time, it was I who took care of my grandfather, cleaned his excrement, and took care of his meals myself.

Thanks to that, I am confident that I know better than anyone what kind of eyes a person with dementia has, and what kind of behavior they show.

"If it's not dementia, then why is the minister like this right now?"

"We'll have to find that out from now on. If what people see and hear is different, and what each person feels is different, we would call a spirit medium or an exorcist, thinking it's the work of a ghost, but everyone saw and felt the same thing. And the conditions under which Minister Jeong feels threatened are also very consistent. At night, when he is alone, when he is about to fall asleep."

The head steward, since he couldn't guess what I was trying to say, looks at me with eyes full of questions.

I, looking straight into his eyes, said, "That small room where Minister Jeong is staying, which doesn't even have any sunlight. You said that the minister can at least get some sleep there."

"Yes. That's why he's only staying there now."

"Then there might be a problem with Minister Jeong's original room. Please take me to that room."

At my confident words, the head steward answered that he would and then began to walk somewhere again.

'Perhaps this incident... is the work of an insider.'

Since there were a few things that came to mind, it was to confirm them.

(End of Chapter)