Little Demon Reversion to Youth

Chapter 67

Hong Gai, after briefly rolling his head, asked Tang Yunqing, "Is it because of that that the Tang family has been so busy lately?"

"You could say that."

Baekji answered instead.

"If those brats want to do something in Chengdu, they have to be mindful of the Tang family, right? Of course they'll be watching the Tang family. That's why we're moving on the outskirts."

"..."

"But since they're such vicious brats, I don't know if beggars will be enough. The Blood Sect members won't go easy on a young beggar. If they think he's suspicious, they'll kill him right away."

"Don't worry. I'll call all the beggars in Sichuan who have some power."

The masters from the main sect would arrive today or tomorrow. Hong Gai needed something to present to them, and this was a perfect opportunity.

"Good... and watch us carefully. Those brats will definitely be aiming for us."

"Are you saying the Blood Sect is aiming for you?"

"If our mission succeeds, we can deal a fatal blow to the Blood Sect. That's why those brats are paying attention to us. You could say that the reason those brats have infiltrated Chengdu is because of us."

"Umm... who are you to be fighting the Blood Sect?"

"Hey, you've been following us since yesterday, and you don't know who we are? This is the Tang family's Young Master Yi, and the Poisonous Hibiscus and the chief investigator of the Martial Alliance's military affairs department are either having a meeting or a love affair inside... I can't tell. Why is it so quiet?"

Baekji glanced at Nangong Zhao's room and then continued, "...Anyway, since it's a joint operation between the Tang family and the Martial Alliance, you Beggars' Sect should not hesitate to participate."

Hong Gai looked at Tang Yunqing. Since the direct descendants of the Tang family were personally involved in the mission, it didn't seem to be a lie.

"I understand."

"Let's do well."

Baekji tapped the pile of silver ingots with his palm.

The silver ingots flew and stacked up neatly in front of Hong Gai. It was a technique close to divine.

'Where did such a master come from?'

Although he was still young, his internal energy was not ordinary.

Hong Gai took the silver ingots, stood up, and asked, "By the way, what is your esteemed name?"

"Me? It's better not to know. You could get into trouble if you know."

"Ah!"

Hong Gai let out a light exclamation as if he understood.

"I will be going now."

When Hong Gai disappeared, Tang Yunqing asked, "Cunning, aren't you?"

"What?"

"You used the Beggars' Sect as a guard."

"They've been following us from the beginning. What kind of guard are they?"

"Then why did you bother..."

He was about to ask why he had called the Chengdu branch head and beaten him, but Baekji answered first.

"What if the young beggars had gotten hurt? You have to let them know who their opponent is so that the strong brats will stick around."

"You did it for the young beggars?"

"Yes. I've decided to value human life."

For some reason, Tang Yunqing didn't believe him.

Baekji went down to the annex courtyard and then followed the 'Dragon Form Eight Palms' that Hong Gai had unfolded.

Tang Yunqing followed and asked, "What are you doing?"

"The palm technique that the beggar brat used is quite good."

Baekji said, unfolding his palm and striking down. It looked even better than what Hong Gai had unfolded.

"That's the 'Dragon Form Eight Palms'. It's something that the Beggars' Sect members basically learn."

"Really?"

"It's a shortened version of the 'Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms'."

"Oh! The 'Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms'! It sounds like an incredible martial art."

"You don't even know the 'Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms'?"

"I don't know much about miscellaneous martial arts."

"What are you talking about? The 'Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms' is a secret art that is among the top ten in the martial world."

"Really? I'll have to face it someday."

"Haha. You won't have a chance. Only the Beggars' Sect leader and his successor learn the 'Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms'. They are both figures who sweep through the world. An ordinary person will never have a chance to meet them in their lifetime."

Thump!

Baekji lightly hit Tang Yunqing's head with his bamboo staff.

"This older brother, you see. I'm not an ordinary person."

Tang Yunqing pushed away the bamboo staff with his hand and said, "Where is your older brother's sect? Did you learn your family's martial arts?"

"The Yang-Bai Sect! You could say I'm the founding master. Ah, is the master the founding master?"

"The Yang-Bai Sect? I've never heard of that sect before."

"You could say it's the root of the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect."

"What's the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect? Is it a merchant guild?"

"You don't know anything. Well, what would a child know?"

"What?"

As Tang Yunqing's eyes widened, Baekji changed the subject.

"Besides sprinkling poison, don't you know any proper martial arts?"

"I know many. People think that our family only knows how to use hidden weapons and poison, but that's a misunderstanding."

"Shall we have a match?"

"No."

Tang Yunqing was not in the mood for a match right now.

But Baekji lightly tapped his head with his bamboo staff.

"Come at me, Young Master Yi."

Tang Yunqing got angry and unfolded his hands, aiming for Baekji's chest acupoints and face.

It was the Tang family's secret art, the 'Thousand Poisons Hand'.

"Oh? This is quite good too."

"Quite good? If you get caught in this, you won't even leave a bone behind!"

Although Tang Yunqing used his 'qinna' techniques with all his might, Baekji dodged them here and there.

While doing so, he carefully observed Tang Yunqing's 'Thousand Poisons Hand'.

Until now, Baekji had overwhelmed his opponents with his powerful internal energy and terrifying speed.

When an opponent attacked, his body would counterattack on its own. That was why he couldn't know the origin of his martial arts. He thought that if he came into contact with various martial arts like this and followed them, there might be a technique that was familiar to his body.

Tang Yunqing, who had been launching a series of attacks, noticed that Baekji was observing his techniques.

'Oh no!'

He remembered that Baekji had followed the 'Dragon Form Eight Palms' after seeing it once.

"You're trying to steal my martial arts!"

Tang Yunqing got angry and retreated.

"Martial arts thief!"

"I was just looking at what the Tang family's martial arts were like. It was a pretty sharp 'qinna' technique. What's its name?"

"I won't tell you!"

Tang Yunqing went into the living room.

Just then, Nangong Zhao and Tang Yunseol came out.

"What did you decide to do?"

"First, I have to go to the abandoned estate where the young family head went."

"They say there are no traces."

"If I can find even a small clue, it will be advantageous for Miss Yunseol."

Nangong Zhao asked Baekji to release the law enforcement warriors whose acupoints had been hit.

If their acupoints were hit for a long time, their meridians could harden and they could become crippled.

The law enforcement warriors walked stiffly.

"Tell Lord Go. In three days, I will personally go to the Tang family with the young miss."

After sending the law enforcement warriors back, Nangong Zhao went out and came back.

Two sturdy men followed Nangong Zhao, pulling a cart. The men loaded the Blood Sect members disguised as the Twin Wing Brigade onto the cart.

"What are you doing?"

"These are important witnesses. The Blood Sect will surely try to get them back."

When Nangong Zhao gestured, the men loaded the Blood Sect members onto the cart, covered it with a camouflage net, and disappeared somewhere.

After getting rid of the Blood Sect members, Nangong Zhao said to Baekji, "I'll be back. It will take two days. In the meantime..."

He was about to tell him not to cause trouble, but stopped. Baekji was not one to listen.

Nangong Zhao said to Tang Yunqing instead, "The young family head's trusted subordinates will be watching the inn. Act as if we are staying. Call a doctor once a day and make it look like you are receiving treatment."

Nangong Zhao left with Tang Yunseol.

Baekji said to Tang Yunqing, "I want to see the Tang family, but how can I get in?"

"Is the Tang family a tourist attraction? Do you think just anyone can get in? Not a chance."

"I need to know what the young family head is doing."

"Chief Investigator Nangong told me not to cause trouble."

Tang Yunqing refused flatly.

'What a prickly brat. I just want to see his house.'

Baekji looked back and forth between his bamboo staff and Tang Yunqing's head, but decided to endure it.

There must be another way. He couldn't hit the still young Tang Yunqing's head.

In the afternoon, a doctor came and was disappointed to find that there was no patient.

"You shouldn't be moving around carelessly yet."

"She's a woman who has learned martial arts. At that level, she's no different from normal."

"Umm. What do you know about internal injuries? If you don't treat it cleanly, it will become chronic and you will suffer for the rest of your life."

The elderly doctor was offended that the young brat was talking back to him informally.

He was only enduring it because he seemed to be a child of a powerful family.

When the doctor was about to get up, Tang Yunqing stopped him. To pretend to be receiving treatment, he had to drag out the time a little.

"Stay for a little while."

"What is this..."

The doctor, with a displeased face, went to the table, sat down, and took out a few books from the bundle he had brought and flipped through them.

He looked quite serious, tilting his head and pondering.

Baekji stealthily approached and looked.

He looked at the book spread out in front of the doctor and asked, "What is this? 'Using poison to counteract poison'?"

"It is the principle of subduing poison with poison. It is useless for children to look. Go away."

Since it was the principle of 'using poison to counteract poison', Tang Yunqing also became interested.

"It seems the doctor is also interested in the Tang family's 'using poison to counteract poison' assignment."

"How does the young master know that?"

The doctor had no idea that Tang Yunqing was a direct descendant of the Tang family.

"Everyone in Chengdu who is worth knowing knows that the Tang family gives an assignment every year and asks for the opinions of doctors."

Poison and medicine were two sides of the same coin. Yet, it was true that the Tang family was biased towards poison.

That was why Tang Qianhui had invited doctors as guests and had treated them well.

Also, every year, he would offer a huge reward and give a difficult problem as an assignment for the doctors to solve.

This year's assignment was 'using poison to counteract poison', to turn ten kinds of poisonous herbs into medicine.

"I know this, this, and this."

The doctor was greatly surprised.

"The young master is well-versed in poisonous herbs."

Unlike Baekji, since he was refined and respected him, the doctor took a liking to Tang Yunqing.

"You've solved quite a lot. You can receive a prize even if you solve only half. One, two... you've solved six. That's amazing."

"Ahem."

The doctor cleared his throat.

Baekji's interest was elsewhere.

"If you're a doctor, can you eat and sleep at the Tang family without any questions?"

"There are no conditions. You have to participate in the medical discussions."

Baekji's eyes sparkled. He had found a way to enter the Tang family.

A moment later, the doctor stood up.

"Can I go now?"

Baekji followed the doctor out.

When they came out of the inn, Baekji grabbed the doctor's sleeve and stealthily showed him his money pouch.

"Gasp!"

What was sparkling in the money pouch was a gold ingot.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"When you apply for the 'using poison to counteract poison' assignment, take me with you."

"...?"

"Don't you need a medicine boy? I know a lot about medicinal herbs."

"What are you trying to do? If you play any tricks at the Tang family, your neck won't be safe."

"Tricks? I just want to see the number one family in Sichuan."

Baekji took out a gold ingot and held it out.

Gulp.

The doctor swallowed his saliva.

* * *

After Tang Qianhui had assumed the position of family head, he held a meeting every morning.

"What about the young family head?"

Tang Yunlong's seat was empty.

"He said he had urgent business and would be absent today."

The head of the inner hall reported instead.

"..."

Although Tang Qianhui frowned, he said nothing.

The head of the inner hall, after glancing at Tang Qianhui's expression, reported. Then, the outer hall, the law enforcement hall, and each hall reported in turn, and it was the turn of the medicine hall.

"There is a doctor who has solved seven of the 'using poison to counteract poison' difficult problems."

"Seven?"

The ten poisonous herbs that Tang Qianhui had given were rare, so it was amazing to have solved even three or four.

"He is a doctor named Wu Qingshu."

The head of the medicine hall handed over the answer sheet that Wu Qingshu had submitted.

As Tang Qianhui scanned the answer sheet, a strange light flashed in his eyes.

"..."

Tang Qianhui had given the 'using poison to counteract poison' assignment after hearing that the Blood Sect had reappeared.

When the Blood Sect had caused a calamity in the past, what had driven them into fear along with the 'soul exchange grand law' and the 'Blood Hand Grand Seal' was the 'blood poison'.

Even the Tang family, which was said to know the most about poison in the Central Plains, had not been able to find an antidote for the blood poison.

Tang Qianhui had included a few poisonous herbs that were presumed to be the raw materials for the blood poison in this assignment, and a doctor named Wu Qingshu had solved one of them.

"I must meet this person."

"He is currently staying at the guest house."

As soon as the meeting was over, Tang Qianhui went to the guest house.

At the words that the head of the Tang family had come in person, Wu Qingshu was extremely tense and entered the main hall of the guest house.

Wu Qingshu looked to be about forty, and his pale complexion made it clear to anyone that he was a doctor. A medicine boy in luxurious black clothes followed behind Wu Qingshu.

When Wu Qingshu bowed excessively, Tang Qianhui extended his ki and raised him.

"As people who walk the same path, an excessive greeting is burdensome."

Tang Qianhui had the thought that poison and medicine were the same.

When the head of the number one family in Sichuan treated him as a companion walking the same path, Wu Qingshu was moved.

"The doctor is well-versed in poisonous herbs."

"Isn't medicine just poison?"

"You are the first to have detoxified seven of the ten poisonous herbs."

"I was lucky."

Tang Qianhui said, unfolding the assignment sheet.

The ten poisonous herbs were drawn as pictures, and there was no explanation.

Wu Qingshu had written the names of the poisonous herbs and the detoxification methods in detail on the assignment sheet.

Tang Qianhui pointed to one of them and said, "This 'life and death grass' is rare in the Central Plains, but you managed to recognize it."

"My roots are in Xizang. It is a rare poisonous herb that grows on the high plains of Xizang, and I was able to recognize it because my grandfather happened to leave a record of it."

"The detoxification method for the 'life and death grass' is the root of the 'dragon's beard tree'... if you do it this way, will it be detoxified?"

"According to my grandfather's records, it is so. But since the 'life and death grass' and the 'dragon's beard tree' themselves are so rare in the Central Plains, there is no way to prove it."

Wu Qingshu said in an unconfident tone.

The assignment was not just to write down the answer sheet. He had to prove it by detoxifying it with the poisonous herbs and medicinal herbs himself.

He had prepared the other poisonous herbs, but there was no way to obtain the 'life and death grass' and the 'dragon's beard tree'.

"Where is this?"

Tang Qianhui said.

"Isn't it the Tang family? It is the place where all the poisonous herbs and medicinal herbs in the world are."

"Are you saying you have the 'life and death grass' and the root of the 'dragon's beard tree'?"

Wu Qingshu came to his senses.

"I will give you the dried 'life and death grass' and the root of the 'dragon's beard tree', so will you try to detoxify it?"

"I will."

Wu Qingshu answered.

Tang Qianhui's gaze turned to Baekji.

"Honored One of the Yang-Bai Merchant Sect, what business brings you here?"

At the unexpected words, Baekji was also surprised.

'What? He knew me?'

(End of Chapter)