Episode 31

Time, halt! You are a beauty that shames the moon and humbles the flowers.
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, <Faust>¹

In the slowed down time, moment and eternity faced each other.

‘…Did I succeed?’

The world viewed through silence and stillness showed colors quite different from usual.

During my training under Master, I never succeeded even once, but somehow, I managed to enter the realm of stopped time.
Perhaps my concern for Watson greatly heightened my concentration, making it possible.

‘Staying long still seems impossible, so I must hurry.’

This is the Faust Moment.
Or a single thought equals infinite eons.

It is a realm where even tranquility halts, perceivable only by those who have calmed their mind purely and straightly by letting go of worldly emotions.

One is many, many is one.
One is everything, and everything is one.

A person of great intellect can deduce the existence of the Atlantic Ocean and Niagara Falls from a single drop of water.
Life is a grand chain, and by seeing just one link, one can grasp its essence.

Likewise, when all the thoughts within me converge into one, a moment becomes eternity.
The boundless eternal is equal to a fleeting moment, and the distinction between eternity and an instant is also boundless.

‘I must begin.’

Those who enter the Faust Moment can use reality’s time stretched hundreds of times.

Of course, it doesn’t mean the body moves faster than usual.
What accelerates is one’s mind.

The reason for forcing myself into the Faust Moment, despite not being able to move my body faster, is simple.

Until one attains complete enlightenment, the only things that can move properly within frozen time are the mind and thoughts, namely intentions.

It’s more than enough for Watson to mobilize the energy she harbors.

-Fwush!

The Blazing True Yang Energy, which had lingered in Watson’s Governing Vessel, began to rotate, harboring the nail of Yin energy.
The concentrated intention swiftly moved the True energy, maximizing the speed at which the Yin energy nail embedded in the acupoints was worn away.

‘I’ll keep going until the end…’

As a portion of the internal energy concentrated in her brain flowed into the optic nerves and eyes, Watson could faintly perceive the shape of the Governing Vessel extending from her tailbone to beyond the occipital region.

The Yin energy nail, piercing the meridian diagonally, was being worn away due to friction with the Yang energy.
It seemed as if the rate at which the nail shrank had slowed compared to before, but I was in the Faust Moment, where time had effectively stopped.

In other words, the nail causing the meridian blockage was being ground away at least dozens of times faster than before.

-Ziiiing!!

However, even while watching the nail transform into particles of Yin energy, my head was plagued by sharp pain.

An agony like being directly pierced by a needle heated by nerves.
My brain, excessively consuming concentration, was screaming.

With all internal energy concentrated in my head, even a small mistake would lead to a horrific outcome.
If I allowed even a little internal energy to reverse flow, the internal energy lingering in my brain would explode, and when Watson comes to her senses, I’d be a headless corpse.

This was a tightrope walk with life on the line.

Though it required delicate manipulation of energy, I drew the power of intention to the extreme and moved the Blazing True Yang Energy at the fastest possible speed.

‘Just a little more…!’

The Yang energy spirals around the nail. In the center, the Yin energy was crumbling into powder.

The energy harmonized with the Blazing True Yang Energy, circulating repeatedly through the blood vessels, and began to stably fill Watson’s energy center.

The True energy created from the fusion of the Blazing True Yang Energy obtained from consuming the seasoned pill and the Yin energy solidified in the form of a nail.
The amount was more than enough to solve Watson’s chronic deficiency of power.

By the time the True Energy Conduction was complete, not only would the symptoms of vein blockage be alleviated, but she would also become stronger as a martial artist.

‘Hang in there, please!!’

The slow heartbeat climbed along the breath passage and resonated inside the skull.
The sound stretched like rubber with the passage of time, a death sentence.
As the brain pressure rose, the vibration transmitted through the blood vessels gathered in the brain like an inflated balloon, waiting to burst, just as I was about to touch the internal energy.

-Sarrk!

At last, the chunk of Yin energy, reduced to the size of a needle, dissolved into fine particles.

It was the moment the first nail blocking the Governing Vessel disappeared without a trace.

-Whoosh!

The clock hand began to move again.
Right after it stopped interfering with Watson’s meridians, the True energy that left my brain plunged straight down towards the energy center, following my intent.

“Huff… huff…”

Immediately after, a small amount of True energy climbed up Watson’s back and returned to my body through my palm.

Had I been even a moment late, my skull might have burst open, scattering my brain matter everywhere.

-Gulp.

After swallowing the thick blood that rose up my throat, I turned around to meet Watson’s eyes.

Amidst her flaming red hair, streaks of silver that hinted at the severity of the blocked meridian syndrome were swiftly regaining their original color.

“The Yin energy of the Governing Vessel…has disappeared?”

Tears still glistened on her cheeks, but there was no trace of pain left.
Although I had only removed one of the nine nails, I had succeeded in partially treating Watson’s Nine Yin-Qi Nails.

“Holmes. Please, tell me this isn’t a dream.”
“The first treatment has ended smoothly. And this is indeed reality.”
“Is that really true…?!”

Judging by her bewildered look at me, she still couldn’t believe the change that had occurred within her body.

“Didn’t I say I could fix it?”
“I’m fine, but somehow your complexion seems a bit off…”
“It’s just your imagination.”

It’s a relief.

It seems there are no side effects.

“I feel twice as light as usual. It’s all thanks to you, Holmes—”

I feel just as light.
Moreover, I was sensing a faint glimpse of understanding, something elusive yet almost within grasp.

Could it be that I have, for the first time, directly embodied the profound truth within the Auguries of Innocence?

This is that, and that is indeed this.
One and ten are the same, and ten is not different from one.

The distinction between martial arts and magic is unhindered, as is a single step and a hundred steps.

“Indeed, for this, Master left that mnemonic verse—”

I had finally succeeded in reaching a clear conclusion.

-Thud!

“Is this another prank? If you think I’ll be fooled by you suddenly collapsing…”

It wasn’t an act, but unfortunately, I had no energy left to respond.

‘I’m exhausted.’

Perhaps due to the excessive strain on my concentration, my eyelids feel heavy.
It seems I need to rest for a while.

“Holmes…!! Holmes—”

My fading consciousness.
I drifted into sleep, using Watson’s fading screams as a lullaby.

A few days later.
Ludgate Hill in the City of London.

On this street, home to the iconic St. Paul’s Cathedral alongside Westminster Abbey, a charming pub frequented by gentry and the traditional middle class was situated.

-Bang!

On the first floor of the pub, from a glass set on the bar table, the liquor overflowed.

The attire of the man holding the glass was impressive.
A monocle that exuded intelligence and a clean beard. The suit and silk hat he wore were quite expensive.

The man worked at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, known by everyone living in the vicinity.
The men sitting beside him, drinking, were all fellow doctors from the same hospital.

“I just can’t understand.”

The doctors, gathered at the pub after work, had been debating a single topic for a while.

“What on earth happened to his body…?”

The subject of their conversation was the condition of a physician who had recently started working at the hospital.

His name was John Watson.

Watson was a military doctor who had captured the attention of many patients and nurses at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, thanks to his outstanding appearance.
Of course, Watson was exceptionally skilled as a doctor, but his popularity had little to do with his abilities.

His small frame and suffering from meridian blockage disorder evoked a sense of futility and pity, stirring maternal instincts.
His striking red hair, interspersed with silver strands, appeared mysterious.

The reason he was adored by women lay in his external appearance.

Because of this, quite a few doctors working at the same hospital were envious of Watson.
Of course, since it was obvious that Watson would die young due to suffering from meridian blockage disorder, no one openly showed jealousy.

However, the situation changed over the past few days.

“It’s unbelievable that his meridian blockage disorder is improving so quickly.”
“Maybe he just dyed his hair?”
“Nonsense. Didn’t you notice the change in the aura that Watson exudes?”

The doctors working with Watson, even if they didn’t realize she was hiding her gender and real name, could at least sense the change in her aura.

Watson, who always had a pale face and scattered negative energy, had become incredibly healthy after returning from a short vacation.
Not only had his complexion noticeably improved, but he also collapsed from fatigue less often.
The decrease in silver strands mixed in his hair wasn’t due to dyeing either.

“The Nine Yin-Qi Nails have partially been cured for sure.”
“But how? Isn’t his family in huge debt? They couldn’t have had money to buy extreme Yang substances.”
“Even if he got an elixir by luck, there’s no one to help guide his True energy.”
“Right. The treatment for Nine Yin-Qi Nails was lost in the last century.”
“Could he have met a hermit with a secret manual…”
“If that’s true, it’s an unbelievable stroke of fortune.”

Stanford, who had been quietly listening to his colleagues’ conversation, smiled.

“A hermit with a secret manual, it’s not entirely wrong.”

Stanford introduced a consulting detective to Watson, who was looking for a roommate.

The one who likely helped improve Watson’s constitution was probably that man, Sherlock Holmes.

Although he usually roams the hospital’s laboratory and morgue at will, engaging in strange activities, he is a martial artist who reached the Peak realm at the age of twenty-eight.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he knew the treatment method for Nine Yin-Qi Nails.

‘For now, it’s probably best that I remain quiet.’

However, Stanford had no intention of spreading his hypothesis to his colleagues.
Unless the person involved, Watson, first brought up the story about his peculiar roommate.

-Flap!

The noise from the doctors sitting next to him seemed irrelevant, as Stanford unfolded the evening newspaper he was reading earlier.

<Shock! A patricide incident defying natural order occurs at the Debutante Ball.>
<The victim was the eldest son of Baron Drake, and the perpetrator is known to be his younger brother, Jonathan Drake—>
<The case was solved by Sir Edmund Henderson, Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, and the inspectors of Scotland Yard—>
<According to eyewitness testimony, Her Majesty Victoria, who secretly visited, not only imparted wisdom to the debutantes but also personally participated in the arrest—>
<According to testimony from informant I.A., who wished to remain anonymous, an amateur detective named Sherlock Holmes provided a crucial clue during the investigation.>

Seeing an unexpected name in the article surprised him at first.

Stanford knew Sherlock Holmes was doing something akin to private detective work, but he didn’t expect him to solve a shocking murder case worthy of front-page news.
Stanford, who had internally considered Holmes as little more than a madman who couldn’t take care of himself, reflected on his own arrogance.

Holmes’ eccentric actions at the hospital, such as infusing internal energy into a corpse to punch it or mixing elixir extracts with alcohol to drink, seemed to be experiments to uncover the truth of a crime.

‘I almost had a big misunderstanding.’

‘If he requests cooperation in the future, I will provide the necessary help without question.’
Stanford made this resolution as he emptied a glass full of beer.

‘I should buy him a drink next time we meet.’

In the not-too-distant future, it would be useful to have a boast ready for when that extraordinary detective of Baker Street becomes famous throughout the British Empire.