novelraw Chapter 149 : Binding
Chapter 149 : Binding
Chapter 149: Binding
‘Something had gone seriously wrong.’
Do Hoemyung.
No — Gui Yeongja clearly sensed an anomaly in his plan.
“Ugh, it hurts so much.”
“My face, my face!!”
“Waaaah!!”
Countless commoners writhed in front of him in agony.
At a glance their appearance made it clear that a terrible pestilence had swept through.
All of the commoners’ skin had grotesquely transformed, like lepers’ skin.
Yes, up to that point things had proceeded exactly according to his plan.
He had intended to poison the commoners with the Buyo Jade and then pin the cause on the Sichuan Tang Clan.
But.
‘……that unsettling feeling wouldn’t go away.’
Undoubtedly, the strengthening of the sorcery poison performed with the Heaven-Piercing Sect had produced effects together with the Buyo Jade.
So why did the experience and instincts he had accumulated over countless years serving as a soldier of the Blood Cult warn him of danger?
……Should he postpone the start of the grand plan?
In truth, considering the time and money already poured in, it was absurd to even think about it.
Yet he hardened his decision instead.
‘Yes, let’s tell ourselves we’re retreating to prevent a larger disaster.’
From Baek Yacha to Pa-eum Bima and even the Prayer Demon.
Recently the Blood Cult had been suffering painful failures.
Of course there were other places reporting more victories and successes.
Still, having three failures where there had been none before was clear proof that some strange currents had arisen.
Gui Yeongja walked forward slowly.
Over there the elders of the Qingcheng Sect, including Jeok Seongja, stood together with Ma Geollyun.
Their reactions were markedly different from Gui Yeongja’s complicated feelings.
“Ugh, it’s horrible.”
“I was surprised. I didn’t expect a sorcery poison to be this vicious.”
“Ugh, I feel like vomiting just looking at this. Master, we finished the inspection, so let’s hurry back now.”
“Sect Leader, at least with a situation like this no one could pick a fight with our actions.”
They were simply cheerful and satisfied, showing no concern while the commoners suffered.
“Tsk, idiots.”
Breaking that needlessly bright mood, Gui Yeongja addressed Jeok Seongja.
“Sect Leader, I must speak with you urgently.”
“What is it? Speak.”
Jeok Seongja looked at him with eyes full of vigilance as he spoke.
He still had not dispelled even a sliver of suspicion toward Do Hoemyung.
“Something about this is off.”
“Off? What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”
The voices of those who had been laughing and chatting quieted and turned toward Gui Yeongja.
“Although many are suffering, not a single patient has died. Originally there should have been at least twenty casualties.”
“Is what this man says true?”
“Y-yes. There are no dead yet.”
“Why wasn’t that reported?”
“S-sorry. Their outward transformation was so clear that we judged the toxin’s lethal effects might take a bit more time to manifest……”
“Hmm.”
Jeok Seongja made a thoughtful sound.
The other elders fell into thought at that expression.
‘If no one has died yet……’
‘It’s a bit thin as grounds for striking the Tang Clan……’
In that circumstance, Gui Yeongja spoke carefully.
“Clearly the sorcery poison took effect, but since things have deviated from the original plan, why not postpone the day of the grand undertaking by a little?”
“No!”
“!!”
At that moment a loud voice rose in objection.
It was none other than Ma Geollyun.
His eyes, fixed on Gui Yeongja, were full of discontent.
Lately Jeok Seongja had sought out only Do Hoemyung rather than Ma Geollyun, and he had been openly showing his displeasure.
“It’s far too late to turn back! If we waste time on trivialities, those sly bastards of the Sichuan Tang Clan will start countermeasures ahead of us!”
“……hmm.”
There was merit to his words. A shadow of worry crossed Jeok Seongja’s face.
Ma Geollyun thought this was the perfect chance to make a strong impression on his master.
“Master. For now the patients don’t seem to be in mortal danger, but couldn’t that be arranged by us?”
“……Arranged?”
“When we go to hold the Tang Clan responsible, we simply infect them with a new poison and wipe them all out.”
“……!”
“Yesterday the authorities finished their investigation and declared this place the origin of the pestilence. They won’t come back to investigate again, so even if we used a new poison it would just be covered up!”
Coldness crept into Gui Yeongja’s eyes as he looked at Ma Geollyun.
Of course, Gui Yeongja himself would have attempted a similar plan if he insisted on proceeding.
But if they pressed on blindly like that, many unforeseen problems could arise from unexpected places.
Jeok Seongja’s thinking, however, differed.
“Very well. Since we’ve come this far, we should steel ourselves properly.”
“…….”
“Leave that matter to you. Prepare an appropriate poison.”
“Trust me, Master!”
Ma Geollyun showed an assured smile.
Jeok Seongja decided to proceed with the grand plan as it stood.
Gui Yeongja had no more to say.
He kept silent and pondered slowly how to handle what came next.
At that moment Jeok Seongja spoke with a sanctimonious voice.
“Shall we, as the righteous sect, stand idly by while those who inflicted such horrific aftereffects on innocent commoners go unpunished?”
They now had the pretext they needed; it was time to make them truly pay.
“The grand undertaking will begin in two days. We will capture and kill them in an instant so they won’t even have time to struggle.”
A killing intent gleamed wetly in Jeok Seongja’s eyes.
At the same time.
The Grand Martial Training Hall of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
‘……how did it come to this?’
Saeun scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he looked at the two figures standing on the Grand Martial Training Hall stage, ready to duel.
His expression was filled with unease.
“Haha, wouldn’t it be better to give up now? The warriors of the Beast Palace don’t know how to hold back.”
“The warriors of the Beast Palace sure talk a lot.”
“Oh? How did you know? You’re absolutely right!”
Astonishingly, Ta Sadon and Saeun’s sister, Tang Serin, were engaged in a fierce war of nerves atop the martial stage before the duel even began.
“Ahaha! You fool, Ta Sadon!”
“Lady Master of Heaven’s Medicine Hospital! You can do it!”
Every single servant of the Tang Clan, along with the warriors of the Beast Palace, the Sect Leader of the Priestess Sect, and Seo Surin, had gathered in the Grand Martial Training Hall to witness it.
To understand how this scene came to be, one had to go back to the night before, when a heavy drinking feast took place.
[Hahaha. Now, brothers of the Beast Palace, have a drink each.]
[Ohhh! It’s delicious! So this is the liquor of the Central Plains!]
The night before, a grand banquet celebrating the alliance between the Tang Clan and the Beast Palace had continued endlessly from noon until late at night.
In the midst of the joyous laughter and harmony, the warriors of the Beast Palace and the Tang Clan had their arms around each other’s shoulders, downing drink after drink when—
[Hiccup. Heehee, but isn’t the Tang Clan Leader’s guard unit composed of the elite of the Dark Flower Unit? Can there be two guard units under the same heaven?]
Seo Surin, who had arrived late and gotten drunk in an instant, set off a spark with her drunken rambling.
[The Dark Flower Unit has been doing just fine all this time. Wouldn’t it be right to keep things that way?]
[Eh, absolutely not! Look at them—all skin and bones! They couldn’t even block a fire bomb meant for the Palace Lord!]
Though the topic had been delayed due to the festivities, the reason Ta Sadon and the warriors of the Beast Palace had come here was to serve as a personal guard for the Palace Lord of the Beast Palace.
However, the Dark Flower Unit was already in charge of guarding Saeun.
Without someone yielding, the matter would never end—and the real problem was that neither side had any intention of yielding.
As the atmosphere of the banquet grew increasingly heated, Ta Sadon spoke first.
[Hmm, there’s only one way we of the Beast Palace resolve things like this.]
[And that is?]
[The stronger one decides what’s right!]
[……?!]
He had proposed settling the matter of the guard units through the Law of the Strong (強者尊).
Normally, it would never have been approved—
[Fine! Let’s do that then!]
[The Beast Palace is as straightforward as the Tang Clan, I see!]
—but the drunken warriors of the Dark Flower Unit agreed without hesitation.
‘Ah, good grief.’
Saeun pressed his temple lightly.
Both sides’ resolve was too firm for him to stop it.
At least, changing what would have been a full-scale battle into a representative duel was the best Saeun could manage.
However, the reason Tang Serin, not a member of the Dark Flower Unit, was chosen as the duelist was all thanks to Ta Sadon.
[Haha, quite the joke. Though she may be of the Palace Lord’s bloodline, how could a woman possibly defeat a warrior of the Beast Palace?]
[……?]
At Ta Sadon’s outrageous remark during the banquet, Tang Serin’s temper—long dormant—finally exploded.
‘……I couldn’t refuse her after that.’
Even Saeun had shivered at the icy glare in her eyes, colder than the frozen snows of the Northern Sea.
“I won’t go easy on you just because you’re of the Palace Lord’s bloodline, so you’d better be care—”
“That mouth.”
“Huh?”
“If you chatter one more time, I’ll slice that tongue right out.”
“……!!”
When the two’s fighting spirit reached its peak, Saeun slowly stepped onto the martial stage.
He was there to serve as referee.
‘Phew, well, at least this will help both sides improve their martial skills.’
Before the upcoming war with the Qingcheng Sect, which could erupt at any time, this would be a good chance to strengthen themselves.
Not only for the two who would duel, but for everyone watching, it would have a positive effect—
because the martial arts of the two sides were fundamentally opposed.
The martial arts of the Beast Palace focused on physical cultivation, which meant their weakest point was poison techniques.
Conversely, the Tang Clan’s greatest weakness was against the hardened defense of those who had refined their external arts to the extreme—since their throwing techniques had little effect.
Experiencing such drastically different styles of combat would surely aid in their martial progression.
As Saeun slowly opened his mouth, the hall grew quiet.
“There is only one rule. Killing is forbidden. All other martial techniques are permitted.”
Both nodded at once.
So long as they refrained from killing, even severe injuries could be healed by his medical arts or the Priestess Sect Leader.
Crack!
Swish!
Ta Sadon clenched both fists tightly.
Tang Serin raised her snow-white folding fan.
It was the Hundred Silk Fan, one of the Ten Demon Treasures, which Saeun had gifted her in the past.
Confirming that both were fully prepared, Saeun swiftly stepped back and shouted,
“The duel begins!”
At that moment—
Shaaak!
Paaat!
Two beams of light carved through the air as the two figures collided in a fierce clash.