novelraw Chapter 139 : Into the Snake's Den
Chapter 139 : Into the Snake's Den
“Cough! Cough!”
Jin Sohyun, who had entered a deserted forest, leaned against a tree, vomiting blood repeatedly.
“Ugh… I’m dying… no… am I dying?”
Just when he thought he could finally live comfortably.
He had been poisoned by an exterminating poison with no antidote.
Thinking about it, it was unfair.
“How did I… cough! I should have just stayed at home… what would my family… think… cough! cough!”
His vision was getting blurry.
“Still… I saved hundreds with just myself… so maybe… it’s for the better…”
As drowsiness washed over him, Jin Sohyun gently closed his eyes.
If this was his end, let’s face death comfortably without any lingering regrets.
And so, Jin Sohyun quietly closed his eyes, leaning his body against the tree.
But he did not know.
His body, which did not accumulate turbid energy, and his vast great vessels were greedily devouring even the poisonous energy of the Formless Earth Killing Poison.
His body possessed the talent to make all the energy contained in nature its own, so no matter how powerful the poisonous energy was, it could not escape being a part of nature.
Although it was infinitely slow.
Even the poisonous energy of the Formless Earth Killing Poison, which mercilessly snuffed out the lives of living creatures.
It was slowly seeping into Jin Sohyun’s dantian.
***
“Why is the number short!?”
At Gwak Myeong’s question, Hwang Seohyang hesitated before finally opening her mouth.
“The thing is…”
Gwak Myeong, who had heard the story about Ju O from the Namrangbang and everything related to him, could somewhat grasp the situation.
‘He was the signalman!’
The three martial artists from the Namrangbang who had come up to the sparring stage had intended to assassinate the best late-stage prospect in the righteous martial world from the beginning if things went wrong.
And the late-stage prospect they had chosen was Cheon Yerang.
The daughter of the White Moon Divine Lord and a dazzling talent who had defeated Dohye of Shaolin Temple without much difficulty.
The assassins must have been most wary of Cheon Yerang.
“So! Where did the disciples go?”
“They left the estate about half a quarter-hour ago.”
“Damn it! You all go inside. I will find them.”
Gwak Myeong, who had sent the remaining Blue Dragon Daoist Temple disciples inside and turned around, met a group of people who had at some point blocked his path.
They were Cheon Gaseong, Jong Ryeo'ak, and Zhuge Ming.
“We’ve heard the story. Please let us go with you.”
At Jong Ryeo'ak’s proposal, Gwak Myeong grimaced.
“This is not the time to accept your whining. The situation is urgent, so hurry inside…”
“You said our purpose was to be a special unit, didn’t you?”
Jong Ryeo'ak took a step forward.
“Isn’t now… the time for us to be used?”
Gwak Myeong looked at the three disciples who were boldly blocking his path.
Even in the face of an extreme poison with no antidote that could kill a person, no fear could be found on the faces of the three.
Rather, they were angry.
“You could die.”
“We are prepared.”
“Do the rest of you have the same opinion?”
“Yes!”
Zhuge Ming answered forcefully, unlike himself, and Cheon Gaseong nodded his head.
He probably hadn't stepped forward for the sake of the righteous martial world’s well-being.
It was likely to find his missing younger sister.
Of course, the reason didn't matter.
“Follow me. But from the moment you leave the estate, you will have to protect your own lives.”
“Yes!”
With Gwak Myeong in the lead, Cheon Gaseong, Jong Ryeo'ak, and Zhuge Ming left the estate in order.
The place they were heading was the south, where Cheon Yerang and her party had gone, chasing after the mastermind.
***
“Son of a bitch! Shouldn’t something have happened by now?”
As Hong Daeil, who held the position of deputy leader of the Namrangbang, said irritably, Gwi Hak, who had been silently watching the situation, furrowed his brow.
“There’s a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“It seems the plan has gone awry.”
“The plan has gone awry!? Don’t tell me you made the wrong poison?”
At Hong Daeil’s suspicion, Gwi Hak snapped in anger.
“You think I would have made the poison wrong? Fine, good. Want to test it?”
As Gwi Hak thrust the Iron Poison Pill containing the Formless Earth Killing Poison before his eyes, Hong Daeil waved his hands and stepped back.
“Is this old man crazy! What are you doing!”
“You were the one who doubted me. You, a worthless southern riffraff.”
“Riffraff? You senile old man! If you had made the poison properly, the Martial Alliance would be in an uproar by now! With wails and screams! But look! Isn’t it quiet!”
“Then why haven’t the birds you raised returned? Don’t tell me they can’t find their master because they have bird brains?”
“That’s…!”
Come to think of it, it was strange.
Hong Daeil stared at the dry sky, but the Southern Eagles that had left for the estate had not returned.
‘There’s definitely a problem!’
If there really was a problem in the process of transporting the poison.
‘Rather, our Namrangbang might be in trouble!’
If, by a stroke of luck, the Formless Earth Killing Poison had spread properly and they had succeeded in assassinating at least dozens, or at most hundreds, of late-stage prospects, the Namrangbang would be recognized for its contribution and could enter the direct command of the Heretic Path's Alliance.
But if their plan had failed.
‘The Heretic Path's Alliance will discard us, and the Martial Alliance will try to kill us with fire in their eyes!’
The heretical path sects that had tried to assassinate the late-stage prospects of the Blue Dragon Daoist Temple in Guizhou had already fled in the middle of the night without even being able to take down their signboards.
Nevertheless, the number of those who were caught by the Beggars' Sect and died without a sound exceeded two digits.
‘I should get out of here first.’
Hong Daeil, who had grasped the situation, secretly ordered them to clean up the place.
At his command, the Namrangbang martial artists cleaned up the place.
Meanwhile, Gwi Hak had a face of utter incomprehension.
“That was definitely the recipe for the Formless Earth Killing Poison. There’s no way it could have failed.”
There was no way it could have failed in the manufacturing process.
Gwi Hak threw the Iron Poison Pill he was holding at a Namrangbang martial artist who was cleaning up the place.
“Ack!”
The martial artist, who was hit by the iron ball in the heat of the moment, rubbed his back and writhed in pain.
But he no longer needed to be in pain.
Because he had died, bleeding from all the orifices of his body, due to the poisonous mist that spewed out when the Iron Poison Pill exploded.
“Ugh!”
“Dodge! It’s poison!”
The Namrangbang martial artists launched themselves here and there to avoid the poison.
Hong Daeil, who discovered this belatedly, glared.
“Son of a bitch! What is this crazy old man doing! Has he really gone senile!?”
“Hmm… there’s no problem with the poison, as expected. The problem must be on your side.”
“What!?”
Unable to bear it any longer, Hong Daeil grabbed his spear.
“You must really want to die.”
“Hmph, foolish bastard.”
Gwi Hak slowly raised his hand.
As a strong poisonous energy began to flow from his hand, Hong Daeil’s face turned pale.
“Have you already forgotten who I am?”
“S-Soul-Chasing Poisonous Snake!”
“Yes. I am the Soul-Chasing Poisonous Snake.”
“My apologies. I must have been out of my mind for a moment. If the Great Warrior would generously forgive me…”
“Wouldn’t the world be so much more convenient if everything could be forgiven with a single apology. Don’t you think?”
“G-Great Warrior…!”
“In any case, the Namrangbang is finished. If it’s true that the plan has gone awry, the Martial Alliance will immediately investigate the Namrangbang, and the Heretic Path's Alliance won’t care about you as much as a passing stray dog.”
“Is there no way? The Nameless Pavilion also received our Namrangbang’s help, and thanks to that, the one called Jin Sohyun can no longer use martial arts. Wouldn’t the talents we have be of great help in the future…”
Hong Daeil couldn't continue his words.
Because Gwi Hak, who was looking at him with a contemptuous gaze, had launched a poison palm without a word of warning.
“Keuk!”
As befitting the deputy leader of the Namrangbang, Hong Daeil hurriedly brandished his spear and blocked the poison palm.
But the size of the power they possessed was different.
As Hong Daeil staggered from the strong force, Gwi Hak approached with ghost-like movements and launched a series of palm strikes.
“N-no!”
Hong Daeil swung his spear, squeezing out all the strength he had, but his struggle did not last long.
Peobeok—!!
Two palm strikes hit his thigh and abdomen respectively.
“Keoheok!”
Hong Daeil, who was hit by the poison palm, staggered, vomited blood, and collapsed.
A part of his body turned blue.
“Save… save me…”
Hong Daeil couldn't even finish his plea for help and plunged his head down.
The martial artists of the Namrangbang, who had lost their deputy leader before their eyes, had confused expressions.
Gwi Hak spoke to them, who were watching him, in a monotonous voice.
“The Namrangbang has no roots from its history. They were bandits who became ronin, and then established the Namrangbang because they had a little talent for handling beasts. How rootless must they have been to use the character for ‘workshop’ (坊) in their name.”
Gwi Hak, who had clicked his tongue and carelessly kicked Hong Daeil’s corpse, looked around at the martial artists of the Namrangbang who had lost their focal point.
“From now on, this Elder Gwi Hak will rule you. Is there anyone who has any complaints?”
The Namrangbang martial artists, who were glancing at each other, said without delay.
“There are not.”
“Good. As expected of rootless bastards, they are easy to handle, which is nice.”
Gwi Hak, who was dusting off his hands and cleaning up the place, discovered a boy who had appeared, pushing through the bushes.
The boy looked back and forth between the dead Hong Daeil and Gwi Hak, and then clasped his fists.
“I am Ju O of the Namrangbang.”
Even at the death of Hong Daeil, who could be seen as their leader, there was no great change in Ju O’s expression.
Gwi Hak, who liked the appearance of Ju O, who was about to follow him immediately, faced him with a satisfied gaze.
“So you are that signalman. You’ve done well to come this far.”
“I have come this far, risking danger, to report the situation.”
“Speak. Why did my plan fail.”
“There was a variable.”
“A variable?”
“Yes.”
Ju O explained what had happened at the sparring stage.
The signal was sent correctly, and Hong Daeil, who had confirmed it, had tied the Iron Poison Pills to the legs of the Southern Eagles and sent them flying.
The Southern Eagles had flown exactly over the estate where the Four Divine Assembly was being held, as they had been trained.
But at this time, the variable Ju O had mentioned appeared.
“A man in black… you couldn’t see who it was?”
“That’s right. There was no means to identify his affiliation. Moreover… it was strange, but the people of the Martial Alliance also seemed not to recognize who he was.”
“Hm.”
He had handled the short spears freely and captured all the iron balls containing the Formless Earth Killing Poison with a large net.
And then, an explosion.
‘Then the explosion at that time was created by him.’
Gwi Hak drew the movements of the man in black in his mind and then looked at Ju O.
Swish—!
Gwi Hak’s hand grabbed Ju O’s neck.
“Keueuk…”
“Do you take me for a fool? You’re telling me that a single person shot down ten hawks with short spears, caught the falling Iron Poison Pills in a single net, and then shot it up into the sky to make it explode!?”
Putting it all together, it was an impossible feat.
For this to be possible, someone would have had to inform them of their plan in advance, and at least five masters would have been needed to execute it.
But to have done all this alone without any prior information?
It was an impossible thing.
Gwi Hak glared fiercely, thinking that Ju O was trying to deceive him to hide the failure of the Namrangbang.
Ju O, who was on the verge of death, desperately opened his mouth.
“I-it’s… the truth…!”
Soon, Ju O, who was barely free, continued to speak while choking.
“That person really… did everything… by himself.”
“So who is that bastard?”
As Gwi Hak’s grip loosened slightly, Ju O’s words became faster.
“I don’t know… but, when the martial artists of our sect tried to assassinate Cheon Yerang, he was poisoned instead while trying to save her.”
Gwi Hak’s face lit up.
“That bastard was poisoned by the Formless Earth Killing Poison?”
“That’s right. I saw it with my own two eyes.”
“Hahaha! That’s a relief. If the person you mentioned really exists, he would surely have been a great obstacle in our path. Although we failed to kill the best late-stage prospect of the righteous martial world, we succeeded in killing an excellent martial artist they possessed.”
Gwi Hak had a much more relieved face.
But that was also for a moment.
Gwi Hak smiled slyly and stared into the dark forest.
“You’ve brought a tail.”
“That can’t be.”
“They will be here soon. You all bring that large wooden box over there.”
“Yes!”
While the martial artists of the Namrangbang were bringing the large wooden box, Gwi Hak rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his slender fingers together.
“There’s a fine line between being brave and being reckless. I’ll be able to save face when I return to my sect.”
Gwi Hak’s eyes shone brightly.
“Now, come. You fearless little rats. This is a snake’s den.”
(End of Chapter)