Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Gwak-o pushed the cart to the edge of the cliff with great difficulty, then sifted through the garbage. He took out a wooden barrel, placed it down beside him, and dumped the rest of the waste over the cliff.

With his pants still down, he stood at the cliff’s edge and urinated while looking down.

Jin Ja-gang felt the urge to push Gwak-o over. Then he would know how much suffering Jin Ja-gang had endured down there.

But he couldn’t end it like that.

Jin Ja-gang concealed his killing intent and approached the cart.

Looking at the wooden barrel that had been set down, he recognized it as the same one that occasionally floated downstream to the sulfur hot spring. The container was the same, but the contents were different. The wooden barrel that had previously contained only bones now held food.

Though it looked unappetizing—fried fish with bite marks, food that looked trampled and soiled—it was still food.

Why had it only contained bones all those times before?

He didn’t want to think about it, but it was a possibility.

Jin Ja-gang used the moment when Gwak-o turned away to urinate to spit the buttercup juice he’d been chewing into the food and smeared some on the cart handle.

Then he quickly retreated into the bushes.

Returning from urinating, Gwak-o took out the food from the wooden barrel and laid it out. Then he began to eat.

“Hehe.”

Gwak-o tore into a chicken leg and fish. After eating his fill, he even belched.

“Burp. Why do they only give this to Ja-gang? Is it like food offerings for the dead? I want to eat such greasy food regularly too.”

Only then did Jin Ja-gang fully understand why there had been only bones in the wooden barrel.

“The taste is a bit strange. My nose feels numb… Today’s food must have gone bad. You can eat it, Ja-gang.”

Jin Ja-gang flinched, but realized Gwak-o wasn’t speaking to the present Jin Ja-gang.

Gwak-o left a little food and threw it down the cliff. Seemingly unsatisfied, he even licked his fingers clean.

Then he grabbed the cart handle and began to descend. Jin Ja-gang carefully followed behind Gwak-o.

“My dream was to roam the martial world with outstanding female heroes… When did I last do laundry? Today’s garbage…”

Gwak-o kept mumbling incomprehensible things to himself, even though no one was listening.

“Ah, my stomach hurts a bit. Why is that?”

Gwak-o stopped while pulling the cart and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“I don’t feel well. My head is dizzy too.”

He couldn’t possibly feel well. He had eaten food laced with the highly toxic buttercup juice.

Rattle, rattle.

Gwak-o already had difficulty pulling the cart with one eye not working. But as he continued, the cart began to zigzag back and forth more and more.

“Why does my good eye hurt too? Ah! Did sweat get in it?”

Gwak-o rubbed his eyes. But since buttercup juice had been smeared on the handle, the more he touched his eyes, the worse they became.

“I… I need to rest quickly…”

Gwak-o pulled the cart with tears trickling from his eyes, barely able to keep them open.

Jin Ja-gang now stuck close behind the cart. As a precaution, he continued chewing more buttercups as he walked alongside the cart. Even if Gwak-o turned around, he wouldn’t easily recognize who Jin Ja-gang was.

After descending the mountain for some time, the narrow path ended, and a well-trodden road appeared. Buildings of the Extreme Poison Sect could be seen scattered around.

Ahead, near a well, a group of warriors stood guard. They were laughing and chatting among themselves. Their voices carried all the way to Jin Ja-gang.

Unfortunately, they had to pass by that spot. There was no other path.

Jin Ja-gang’s heart pounded.

Gwak-o heard the noise from up ahead and muttered:

“Those b*st*rds…”

Gwak-o cursed, then rubbed his eyes vigorously and pulled the cart along the edge of the road, staying as close to the side as possible.

Jin Ja-gang also hugged the roadside, staying with the cart.

He was extremely tense. He considered hiding behind the cart but realized they had already been spotted. Trying to hide now would only make him look more suspicious.

Jin Ja-gang placed his hand lightly on the back of the cart, pretending as if he had been pushing it all along.

He had no hair or eyebrows. He relied on the belief that no one except Mang-ryo would recognize his face.

‘Please just let us pass. Please.’

The warriors stopped their conversation as the cart approached. Gwak-o stopped the cart, rubbed his eyes, and bowed respectfully.

“Hello, elders. I’d like to pass through. Hehe.”

The warriors looked Gwak-o and Jin Ja-gang up and down. They didn’t seem particularly interested.

But something must have caught one warrior’s eye, because he paused.

The warrior frowned and shouted:

“Hey! I told you to use the side path where you can’t be seen! It stinks! And you’re passing by the well of all places.”

“I’ll take the side path once I pass here. Hehe. This is the only road available.”

“And why is your one good eye so red? Filthy bastard.”

Gwak-o rubbed his eye.

“Hehe, I’ve always been a bit filthy… Sorry.”

Jin Ja-gang felt a surge of anger at Gwak-o’s servile behavior.

‘You betrayed Hundred Flower Valley just to end up like this?’

But this was no time for anger. There were four adult warriors. They weren’t opponents Jin Ja-gang could handle even if he were angry. Jin Ja-gang could only keep his head down.

“Hey, pass quickly. You stink.”

“You’re ruining the water.”

As the other warriors waved them away in annoyance, Gwak-o tried to pull the cart past. But the gaze of the warrior who had first confronted Gwak-o turned toward Jin Ja-gang.

“And what’s that? Why does it look so hideous?”

Thud.

Jin Ja-gang’s heart sank.

“What’s with that appearance… Hey!”

Gwak-o, with his poor vision and in agony, didn’t even know who they were talking to and continued to grovel.

“El-elders, my stomach hurts, so I need to quickly…”

“You! What are you?”

“Huh? I’m Gwak-o…”

Jin Ja-gang felt his newly growing hair stand on end.

If he spoke now, Gwak-o would recognize him!

Even if the warriors told Gwak-o, “We’re not talking to you!” he would still recognize Jin Ja-gang.

That would be the end.

Without further thought, Jin Ja-gang bit his tongue hard.

A metallic, blood taste filled his mouth. Unable to spit out the blood, he swallowed it.

“This guy…?” The suspicious warrior approached Jin Ja-gang. Gwak-o, unable to see clearly, only saw a blurry shadow approaching and raised both arms in alarm.

“Heeeek!”

Fortunately for Jin Ja-gang, Gwak-o’s hand touched the warrior’s body. The warrior jumped back in surprise.

“How filthy! What are these guys doing?”

“Oh elder, I’m sorry. I can’t see well right now.”

The warrior grabbed his sword and glared at Jin Ja-gang with fierce eyes. The other warriors also sensed something amiss and placed their hands on their sword hilts.

Click.

Startled by the metallic sound, Gwak-o sank to the ground.

“Hyak!”

But Jin Ja-gang still stood perfectly still.

“These guys?”

At that moment, Jin Ja-gang opened his mouth toward the warriors.

The warriors stepped back with shocked expressions.

Inside Jin Ja-gang’s mouth, his tongue was swollen, covered in blisters, and soaked in blood.

Jin Ja-gang had wounded his tongue, which had been chewing buttercups, allowing the juice to reach the wound. Thanks to Jin Ja-gang’s constitution, which responded quickly to toxins, blisters had immediately formed and swelled.

“Ugh…”

Even the warriors, who had seen many terrible sights, had never seen something so horrific.

The warriors grimaced and removed their hands from their sword hilts.

“With a tongue like that, he can’t speak.”

“You were being oversensitive.”

Even the warrior who had first confronted them took a step back.

“Ugh! It’s truly disgusting. No matter what research they’re doing, what are the elders thinking? We’ve joined the Martial Arts Alliance, but how long will they continue doing this to people?”

“Be patient, be patient. After this month, we’ll officially be members of a righteous sect.”

Gwak-o, who didn’t understand what was happening, looked confused.

“Excuse me?”

“Just get out of here! What rotten luck.”

The warriors looked at Jin Ja-gang and Gwak-o with disgust.

Gwak-o bowed repeatedly and quickly pulled the cart away.

When they were far enough from the warriors, Gwak-o muttered again:

“B*st*rds.”

Rattle, rattle.

As Gwak-o had said, he soon turned onto a side path. It was the road used for collecting waste.

Even on this path, Jin Ja-gang encountered Extreme Poison Sect warriors several times. Jin Ja-gang walked with his swollen tongue sticking out. From then on, people only glanced at him but didn’t speak to him.

Fortunately, Mang-ryo wasn’t among those they encountered.

As they descended to the middle of the mountain, Jin Ja-gang could see the main gate in the distance.

‘If I can just get past there…’

But to reach the gate, they would have to pass through a square-shaped courtyard and along a wide entrance path. It was obvious that warriors and masters would be stationed in that courtyard, and even if they reached the entrance path, they would be instantly exposed in the open area.

No matter what method Jin Ja-gang tried, there was no way to escape unnoticed.

With regret, Gwak-o’s cart turned toward the outskirts.

It was somewhat isolated. There were dilapidated mud houses that could barely be called homes.

It was already past evening, and the surroundings were mostly dark.

Gwak-o stopped the cart in front of one of the mud houses and went inside. It seemed he had finished his day’s work and returned to his lodging.

Jin Ja-gang looked around inside the mud house. A chamber pot, a water jar, and a few broken dishes on a shelf…

The interior of the mud house was as pitiful as Gwak-o’s current state.

“Uuugh.”

Gwak-o frantically washed his face with water from the jar. Then he sat down on the floor, which was covered only with a straw mat.

“…Sob.”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t believe his ears.

‘Is he crying?’

Gwak-o was clutching his stomach, groaning and shedding tears.

“Sob, sob.”

Jin Ja-gang quietly sat down in a corner of the room.

Gwak-o’s small cries continued.

“It hurts… Why must I suffer like this? Why must I live like this?”

Gwak-o sobbed for a long time.

“Sob, sob, it’s all because of Ja-gang. If it weren’t for you… If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

Jin Ja-gang remained silent not out of pity or fear of discovery, but simply because his tongue hadn’t healed yet.

“You evil b*st*rd. Because of you, what has become of me? Sob.”

After listening for quite some time, Jin Ja-gang finally spoke:

“That’s not my fault, but the fault of a brother who betrayed Hundred Flower Valley.”

“…”

Gwak-o’s sobbing stopped abruptly. Goosebumps covered his entire body.

Gwak-o jumped up and frantically looked around. But it had been dark for a long time, and there were no lights in the room.

Moreover, with his poor vision, he couldn’t see Jin Ja-gang sitting in the corner of the room.

“W-who’s there?”

Gulp. The sound of Gwak-o swallowing echoed through the room.

“J-Ja-gang?”

Jin Ja-gang replied:

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Aaaaaah!”

Terrified, Gwak-o fell on his backside and scrambled backward while seated. Leaning against the wall, Gwak-o trembled and said:

“Y-you’re alive. You’re really alive. H-how did you…?”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t answer that question.

“Why did you…”

He wanted to ask why Gwak-o had pushed him off the cliff, but he didn’t feel the need. Looking at Gwak-o’s current state, his motives were obvious.

Gwak-o seemed to have regained some composure. He groped around the room, searching for Jin Ja-gang.

“Y-you’re alive. That’s really fortunate. I was wrong. At that time, I was blinded by something… But I swear, I didn’t say a word about you to those guys. Look at my face. This is what they did to me because I wouldn’t talk about you.”

Jin Ja-gang moved to the side, avoiding Gwak-o. He was tired of exchanging words with him.

“Where are the people of Hundred Flower Valley?”

After thinking for a moment, Gwak-o answered:

“They’re all dead. Those guys killed them all…”

“I saw Yang Il’s corpse.”

Suddenly, Gwak-o spoke excitedly:

“So that’s it! Then you saw the map Yang Il was carrying? They’re imprisoned there. Our Hundred Flower Valley people…”

“There’s no one there.”

“No, they’re there.”

“They’re not. I already went there.”

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Gwak-o pushed the cart to the edge of the cliff with great difficulty, then sifted through the garbage. He took out a wooden barrel, placed it down beside him, and dumped the rest of the waste over the cliff.

With his pants still down, he stood at the cliff’s edge and urinated while looking down.

Jin Ja-gang felt the urge to push Gwak-o over. Then he would know how much suffering Jin Ja-gang had endured down there.

But he couldn’t end it like that.

Jin Ja-gang concealed his killing intent and approached the cart.

Looking at the wooden barrel that had been set down, he recognized it as the same one that occasionally floated downstream to the sulfur hot spring. The container was the same, but the contents were different. The wooden barrel that had previously contained only bones now held food.

Though it looked unappetizing—fried fish with bite marks, food that looked trampled and soiled—it was still food.

Why had it only contained bones all those times before?

He didn’t want to think about it, but it was a possibility.

Jin Ja-gang used the moment when Gwak-o turned away to urinate to spit the buttercup juice he’d been chewing into the food and smeared some on the cart handle.

Then he quickly retreated into the bushes.

Returning from urinating, Gwak-o took out the food from the wooden barrel and laid it out. Then he began to eat.

“Hehe.”

Gwak-o tore into a chicken leg and fish. After eating his fill, he even belched.

“Burp. Why do they only give this to Ja-gang? Is it like food offerings for the dead? I want to eat such greasy food regularly too.”

Only then did Jin Ja-gang fully understand why there had been only bones in the wooden barrel.

“The taste is a bit strange. My nose feels numb… Today’s food must have gone bad. You can eat it, Ja-gang.”

Jin Ja-gang flinched, but realized Gwak-o wasn’t speaking to the present Jin Ja-gang.

Gwak-o left a little food and threw it down the cliff. Seemingly unsatisfied, he even licked his fingers clean.

Then he grabbed the cart handle and began to descend. Jin Ja-gang carefully followed behind Gwak-o.

“My dream was to roam the martial world with outstanding female heroes… When did I last do laundry? Today’s garbage…”

Gwak-o kept mumbling incomprehensible things to himself, even though no one was listening.

“Ah, my stomach hurts a bit. Why is that?”

Gwak-o stopped while pulling the cart and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“I don’t feel well. My head is dizzy too.”

He couldn’t possibly feel well. He had eaten food laced with the highly toxic buttercup juice.

Rattle, rattle.

Gwak-o already had difficulty pulling the cart with one eye not working. But as he continued, the cart began to zigzag back and forth more and more.

“Why does my good eye hurt too? Ah! Did sweat get in it?”

Gwak-o rubbed his eyes. But since buttercup juice had been smeared on the handle, the more he touched his eyes, the worse they became.

“I… I need to rest quickly…”

Gwak-o pulled the cart with tears trickling from his eyes, barely able to keep them open.

Jin Ja-gang now stuck close behind the cart. As a precaution, he continued chewing more buttercups as he walked alongside the cart. Even if Gwak-o turned around, he wouldn’t easily recognize who Jin Ja-gang was.

After descending the mountain for some time, the narrow path ended, and a well-trodden road appeared. Buildings of the Extreme Poison Sect could be seen scattered around.

Ahead, near a well, a group of warriors stood guard. They were laughing and chatting among themselves. Their voices carried all the way to Jin Ja-gang.

Unfortunately, they had to pass by that spot. There was no other path.

Jin Ja-gang’s heart pounded.

Gwak-o heard the noise from up ahead and muttered:

“Those b*st*rds…”

Gwak-o cursed, then rubbed his eyes vigorously and pulled the cart along the edge of the road, staying as close to the side as possible.

Jin Ja-gang also hugged the roadside, staying with the cart.

He was extremely tense. He considered hiding behind the cart but realized they had already been spotted. Trying to hide now would only make him look more suspicious.

Jin Ja-gang placed his hand lightly on the back of the cart, pretending as if he had been pushing it all along.

He had no hair or eyebrows. He relied on the belief that no one except Mang-ryo would recognize his face.

‘Please just let us pass. Please.’

The warriors stopped their conversation as the cart approached. Gwak-o stopped the cart, rubbed his eyes, and bowed respectfully.

“Hello, elders. I’d like to pass through. Hehe.”

The warriors looked Gwak-o and Jin Ja-gang up and down. They didn’t seem particularly interested.

But something must have caught one warrior’s eye, because he paused.

The warrior frowned and shouted:

“Hey! I told you to use the side path where you can’t be seen! It stinks! And you’re passing by the well of all places.”

“I’ll take the side path once I pass here. Hehe. This is the only road available.”

“And why is your one good eye so red? Filthy bastard.”

Gwak-o rubbed his eye.

“Hehe, I’ve always been a bit filthy… Sorry.”

Jin Ja-gang felt a surge of anger at Gwak-o’s servile behavior.

‘You betrayed Hundred Flower Valley just to end up like this?’

But this was no time for anger. There were four adult warriors. They weren’t opponents Jin Ja-gang could handle even if he were angry. Jin Ja-gang could only keep his head down.

“Hey, pass quickly. You stink.”

“You’re ruining the water.”

As the other warriors waved them away in annoyance, Gwak-o tried to pull the cart past. But the gaze of the warrior who had first confronted Gwak-o turned toward Jin Ja-gang.

“And what’s that? Why does it look so hideous?”

Thud.

Jin Ja-gang’s heart sank.

“What’s with that appearance… Hey!”

Gwak-o, with his poor vision and in agony, didn’t even know who they were talking to and continued to grovel.

“El-elders, my stomach hurts, so I need to quickly…”

“You! What are you?”

“Huh? I’m Gwak-o…”

Jin Ja-gang felt his newly growing hair stand on end.

If he spoke now, Gwak-o would recognize him!

Even if the warriors told Gwak-o, “We’re not talking to you!” he would still recognize Jin Ja-gang.

That would be the end.

Without further thought, Jin Ja-gang bit his tongue hard.

A metallic, blood taste filled his mouth. Unable to spit out the blood, he swallowed it.

“This guy…?” The suspicious warrior approached Jin Ja-gang. Gwak-o, unable to see clearly, only saw a blurry shadow approaching and raised both arms in alarm.

“Heeeek!”

Fortunately for Jin Ja-gang, Gwak-o’s hand touched the warrior’s body. The warrior jumped back in surprise.

“How filthy! What are these guys doing?”

“Oh elder, I’m sorry. I can’t see well right now.”

The warrior grabbed his sword and glared at Jin Ja-gang with fierce eyes. The other warriors also sensed something amiss and placed their hands on their sword hilts.

Click.

Startled by the metallic sound, Gwak-o sank to the ground.

“Hyak!”

But Jin Ja-gang still stood perfectly still.

“These guys?”

At that moment, Jin Ja-gang opened his mouth toward the warriors.

The warriors stepped back with shocked expressions.

Inside Jin Ja-gang’s mouth, his tongue was swollen, covered in blisters, and soaked in blood.

Jin Ja-gang had wounded his tongue, which had been chewing buttercups, allowing the juice to reach the wound. Thanks to Jin Ja-gang’s constitution, which responded quickly to toxins, blisters had immediately formed and swelled.

“Ugh…”

Even the warriors, who had seen many terrible sights, had never seen something so horrific.

The warriors grimaced and removed their hands from their sword hilts.

“With a tongue like that, he can’t speak.”

“You were being oversensitive.”

Even the warrior who had first confronted them took a step back.

“Ugh! It’s truly disgusting. No matter what research they’re doing, what are the elders thinking? We’ve joined the Martial Arts Alliance, but how long will they continue doing this to people?”

“Be patient, be patient. After this month, we’ll officially be members of a righteous sect.”

Gwak-o, who didn’t understand what was happening, looked confused.

“Excuse me?”

“Just get out of here! What rotten luck.”

The warriors looked at Jin Ja-gang and Gwak-o with disgust.

Gwak-o bowed repeatedly and quickly pulled the cart away.

When they were far enough from the warriors, Gwak-o muttered again:

“B*st*rds.”

Rattle, rattle.

As Gwak-o had said, he soon turned onto a side path. It was the road used for collecting waste.

Even on this path, Jin Ja-gang encountered Extreme Poison Sect warriors several times. Jin Ja-gang walked with his swollen tongue sticking out. From then on, people only glanced at him but didn’t speak to him.

Fortunately, Mang-ryo wasn’t among those they encountered.

As they descended to the middle of the mountain, Jin Ja-gang could see the main gate in the distance.

‘If I can just get past there…’

But to reach the gate, they would have to pass through a square-shaped courtyard and along a wide entrance path. It was obvious that warriors and masters would be stationed in that courtyard, and even if they reached the entrance path, they would be instantly exposed in the open area.

No matter what method Jin Ja-gang tried, there was no way to escape unnoticed.

With regret, Gwak-o’s cart turned toward the outskirts.

It was somewhat isolated. There were dilapidated mud houses that could barely be called homes.

It was already past evening, and the surroundings were mostly dark.

Gwak-o stopped the cart in front of one of the mud houses and went inside. It seemed he had finished his day’s work and returned to his lodging.

Jin Ja-gang looked around inside the mud house. A chamber pot, a water jar, and a few broken dishes on a shelf…

The interior of the mud house was as pitiful as Gwak-o’s current state.

“Uuugh.”

Gwak-o frantically washed his face with water from the jar. Then he sat down on the floor, which was covered only with a straw mat.

“…Sob.”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t believe his ears.

‘Is he crying?’

Gwak-o was clutching his stomach, groaning and shedding tears.

“Sob, sob.”

Jin Ja-gang quietly sat down in a corner of the room.

Gwak-o’s small cries continued.

“It hurts… Why must I suffer like this? Why must I live like this?”

Gwak-o sobbed for a long time.

“Sob, sob, it’s all because of Ja-gang. If it weren’t for you… If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

Jin Ja-gang remained silent not out of pity or fear of discovery, but simply because his tongue hadn’t healed yet.

“You evil b*st*rd. Because of you, what has become of me? Sob.”

After listening for quite some time, Jin Ja-gang finally spoke:

“That’s not my fault, but the fault of a brother who betrayed Hundred Flower Valley.”

“…”

Gwak-o’s sobbing stopped abruptly. Goosebumps covered his entire body.

Gwak-o jumped up and frantically looked around. But it had been dark for a long time, and there were no lights in the room.

Moreover, with his poor vision, he couldn’t see Jin Ja-gang sitting in the corner of the room.

“W-who’s there?”

Gulp. The sound of Gwak-o swallowing echoed through the room.

“J-Ja-gang?”

Jin Ja-gang replied:

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Aaaaaah!”

Terrified, Gwak-o fell on his backside and scrambled backward while seated. Leaning against the wall, Gwak-o trembled and said:

“Y-you’re alive. You’re really alive. H-how did you…?”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t answer that question.

“Why did you…”

He wanted to ask why Gwak-o had pushed him off the cliff, but he didn’t feel the need. Looking at Gwak-o’s current state, his motives were obvious.

Gwak-o seemed to have regained some composure. He groped around the room, searching for Jin Ja-gang.

“Y-you’re alive. That’s really fortunate. I was wrong. At that time, I was blinded by something… But I swear, I didn’t say a word about you to those guys. Look at my face. This is what they did to me because I wouldn’t talk about you.”

Jin Ja-gang moved to the side, avoiding Gwak-o. He was tired of exchanging words with him.

“Where are the people of Hundred Flower Valley?”

After thinking for a moment, Gwak-o answered:

“They’re all dead. Those guys killed them all…”

“I saw Yang Il’s corpse.”

Suddenly, Gwak-o spoke excitedly:

“So that’s it! Then you saw the map Yang Il was carrying? They’re imprisoned there. Our Hundred Flower Valley people…”

“There’s no one there.”

“No, they’re there.”

“They’re not. I already went there.”

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