Chapter 31

Chapter 31

In that gap, Jin Ja-gang could be seen fleeing.

Longlao looked at the spot where Jin Ja-gang had been lying.

Spider lilies were blooming abundantly there.

He immediately understood the reason.

“Spider lily!”

The bulbs of spider lilies contain deadly poison.

Peculiarly, this poison spreads through the air. It emits a grassy smell, and inhaling it causes nosebleeds. Even without direct skin contact, the poison disperses into the air, damaging the inside of the nose just by smelling it.

‘This brat!’

He had thought it suspicious when Jin Ja-gang was frantically scratching at the ground claiming to be in pain. It seems he had crushed the spider lily bulbs against the ground, releasing the scent into the air.

Longlao’s suspicion was correct. As evidence, even Jin Ja-gang himself was suffering from a nosebleed.

Once he identified the poison, Longlao felt relieved. Though spider lily poison is potent, when transmitted through air, it only causes nosebleeds without being fatal. It’s dangerous only when the juice is ingested.

By pressing the blood channels around his nose to stop the bleeding and regulating his breathing, he already felt calmer.

Circulating his internal energy while simultaneously easing his headache and stomach discomfort, he relaxed.

As the saying goes, “a bird wounded by an arrow fears even a bent bow.” Having witnessed warriors dying one after another from Jin Ja-gang’s poison, he had been overly cautious even of this relatively minor poison.

Longlao was filled with rage at being tricked. He glared at Jin Ja-gang, who was escaping in the distance.

Jin Ja-gang was limping, unable to walk properly, staggering along.

From Longlao’s perspective, he wouldn’t be able to escape far. It seemed he could catch up in just a couple of steps.

But Longlao didn’t pursue Jin Ja-gang.

Instead, he drew his sword and walked in the opposite direction from where Jin Ja-gang was fleeing.

He grabbed Yong-myeong, who was lying there, and pulled him to his feet.

“Urgh…”

When Yong-myeong groaned, Longlao laughed loudly as if wanting Jin Ja-gang to hear.

“Hahaha!”

Then, channeling internal energy into his sword, he stabbed Yong-myeong’s leg.

Thunk.

“Ugh… urgh!”

Yong-myeong’s eyes widened. Though he gritted his teeth, a groan like a scream escaped through them.

Longlao paid no attention.

Thunk, thunk.

He simply continued to brutally stab Yong-myeong’s leg. Blood sprayed in all directions horribly.

Yong-myeong endured the pain until his lips split, but there was a limit.

“AAARGH!”

Finally, Yong-myeong let out a pitiful, heart-wrenching scream.

Only then did Longlao stop his sword and smile.

“Kee hee hee.”

Longlao wasn’t smiling because of Yong-myeong’s scream.

He was smiling because he saw Jin Ja-gang returning.

Yong-myeong could also see Jin Ja-gang coming back.

“I’m… sorry. I’m… sorry.”

It was a voice filled with remorse.

He thought Jin Ja-gang was returning because of him.

Jin Ja-gang felt his chest tighten as he looked at Yong-myeong.

Why was Yong-myeong, the victim, apologizing? With his leg slashed to the bone!

The one who should apologize is the old man who reduced someone to such a state.

“Even in this situation, you fled in the opposite direction to save this fellow? You’re unexpectedly thoughtful.”

Jin Ja-gang wiped his nosebleed and glared at Longlao with blazing eyes.

Longlao’s face wrinkled in disgust.

“Such a young brat, yet your eyes are so vile when looking at an adult.”

Longlao didn’t ask or demand anything more. He simply struck Yong-myeong’s leg with his sword again.

Blood and flesh splattered simultaneously.

“Urrgh!”

Yong-myeong gritted his teeth and suppressed his groan. His face was drenched in sweat from the pain.

It was Jin Ja-gang who couldn’t bear it anymore.

But instead of begging Longlao to stop or kneeling, Jin Ja-gang simply lowered his eyes slightly as a form of defiance.

Longlao was very displeased.

“I don’t like you. For a child, your gaze is too fierce. How did someone like you come into existence?”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t hold back and blurted out:

“It’s because of people like you.”

“Hmm?”

“You made me like this!”

Longlao made an incredulous face.

“My, my, the fall of Hundred Flower Valley was due to internal strife caused by that fellow Gwak-o, yet you blame others? Don’t you have any conscience?”

“Internal strife? Conscience?”

Jin Ja-gang felt like his blood was boiling. Who had instigated the otherwise peaceful Gwak-o, and who had released poisonous creatures into Hundred Flower Valley!

His teeth clenched and his hair stood on end.

These people had released poisonous creatures into Hundred Flower Valley yet refused to acknowledge their guilt until the end, using Gwak-o as an excuse.

Jin Ja-gang trembled with rage. All the resentment and indignation he had bottled up burst forth like vomiting blood.

“If it weren’t for you…! If it weren’t for you, my mother and grandfather wouldn’t have died! You released all those venomous centipedes!”

“Then you should confront the one who released the centipedes, why direct your anger at me?”

“What?”

“Honestly, did I do that? Why are you taking your anger out on me?”

Longlao spoke so sincerely that Jin Ja-gang was momentarily dumbfounded.

Is that true? Is Longlao innocent? Should he only confront Mang-ryo who released the centipedes?

Just seeing how Longlao had turned Yong-myeong’s leg into a rag was enough to know he wasn’t a good person. But was he truly unrelated to the Extreme Poison Sect?

Jin Ja-gang’s mind became confused.

His eyes lost focus and grew blurry.

Yong-myeong wanted to warn Jin Ja-gang to stay alert. Thinking about other matters at this moment was truly dangerous.

Especially against someone as devious and cunning as Longlao.

Sure enough, Yong-myeong could see Longlao subtly moving his hand behind his back.

Suddenly, a string appeared between his fingers. The string led to the book chest that Longlao was carrying on his back.

As Longlao pulled the string with his fingers, the side of the book chest lifted slightly, revealing a hole from which several scorpions began to crawl out.

They were unique scorpions with dark black bellies and yellowish backs.

The scorpions silently crawled along the string and into Longlao’s sleeve. Now, when Longlao shook his sleeve, the scorpions would fly out and cover Jin Ja-gang… Even from Longlao’s perspective, approaching Jin Ja-gang was risky. Going too close might lead to Jin Ja-gang doing something unexpected, so he planned to use venomous scorpions to immobilize him.

Yong-myeong quickly looked at Jin Ja-gang. He was completely defenseless.

“Wah!”

Yong-myeong’s body, not fully recovered from paralysis, was too slow compared to Longlao’s hand motion. When Longlao shook his sleeve, the scorpions flew toward Jin Ja-gang.

Knowing that Jin Ja-gang had some resistance to poison, Yong-myeong moved belatedly. Using all his strength, he headbutted Longlao’s chin.

Because Longlao hadn’t expected Yong-myeong to be able to move, he allowed this unexpected attack.

Crack!

“Kak!”

Longlao’s head tilted back as he staggered heavily.

Though he was an experienced martial artist and quickly regained his balance without falling, Yong-myeong pushed Longlao with his body, eventually knocking him down. Yong-myeong, now on top of Longlao, struggled and shouted:

“Run! Run away!”

“Get off! You!”

Longlao tore at Yong-myeong’s thigh, which was already in tatters.

“AAAAH!”

Despite the pain, Yong-myeong didn’t move away. Instead, he tried to bite Longlao’s neck. Though they were at close range, Longlao, being no weak martial artist, turned his head to avoid the attack.

Crack!

Yong-myeong bit down so hard that there was a chilling sound of teeth breaking.

“You madman!”

Longlao stabbed Yong-myeong’s side with his sword and pushed him away. Yong-myeong could no longer resist and collapsed to the side.

“Stubborn fools. You should have lived so fiercely when your sect was intact. Look at the state you’re in now.”

As Longlao cursed and barely managed to sit up…

He saw someone standing right in front of him. The body of a young boy. It was obvious who it was.

“Huh?”

Longlao couldn’t help but laugh out of disbelief.

“What’s this? You still haven’t run away?”

Though Jin Ja-gang’s body was too weak to flee effectively, it was laughable that he was standing right there.

But what about the scorpions?

If he had been stung by the venomous scorpions, he should be rolling on the ground in agony by now.

When Longlao looked up, he saw Jin Ja-gang staring down at him with scorpions attached to his face and body.

“What the…?”

It was an incredible sight. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been stung.

The scorpions on his face had already embedded their tails into Jin Ja-gang’s cheeks and forehead.

These were golden scorpions, called so because of their distinctively golden color. Normally, even a wild beast would be paralyzed and immobilized when stung by one.

Yet Jin Ja-gang stood there with scorpions hanging from his face, chewing on some kind of plant.

“What is this?”

His face was swelling, and veins were bulging visibly, showing clear signs of poisoning, yet Jin Ja-gang himself seemed to ignore the scorpions and continued chewing the plant without stopping.

“What’s happening right now?”

When Longlao realized that the eyes of Jin Ja-gang, staring down at him, looked so cold and emotionless, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine and a creeping sense of fear rising within him.

‘Am I afraid? Me? Of this little brat?’

Longlao unconsciously channeled internal energy into his hand, almost striking Jin Ja-gang before barely restraining himself.

‘No! If I kill him, I won’t get the poison!’

While Longlao hesitated, Jin Ja-gang seized the opportunity and spat what was in his mouth at Longlao.

Pfft!

The juice and crushed pieces of the plant he’d been chewing showered onto Longlao’s face.

Longlao quickly covered his face with his palms, but the juice seeped through his fingers.

Trained martial artists often don’t close their eyes even when a sword flies toward their face. This is to observe their opponent until the very end.

Longlao, too, instinctively kept his eyes open. By the time he realized his mistake and tried to close them, the plant juice that Jin Ja-gang had spat had already seeped into Longlao’s eyes.

“Urkh?”

Longlao felt his eyes burning. Angered, he rose and swung his hand, but Jin Ja-gang had already backed away.

“Urrgh!”

He couldn’t open his eyes. When he forced them open, his vision was cloudy and unclear.

His eyes stung and hurt, causing tears to flow continuously.

“What is this! What did you do—!”

Longlao staggered backward, swinging his hands wildly.

As if answering him, Jin Ja-gang said:

“Ground cherry.”

“What?”

Only then did Longlao remember. The ground cherries that had been scattered around when he found Yong-myeong.

Jin Ja-gang had been chewing on them.

‘I need to wash my eyes! If I stay like this, I’ll go blind!’

Longlao screamed:

“Why are you doing this to me! What did I do wrong!”

“I just remembered.”

“What?”

Whoosh! He heard the sound of wind. Even though he couldn’t see, he knew it was an attack from Jin Ja-gang.

Longlao quickly leaned back, then directed a palm strike toward the ground.

Bang!

He hit only the ground, missing Jin Ja-gang entirely.

A stone flew and struck Longlao’s head.

Normally, even without sight, he could have dodged by sound, but now, with ground cherry poison in his eyes, his senses were impaired. He couldn’t properly avoid the stones that Jin Ja-gang was throwing.

Stones kept flying.

Thwack! Thwack!

“Stop, stop it!”

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In that gap, Jin Ja-gang could be seen fleeing.

Longlao looked at the spot where Jin Ja-gang had been lying.

Spider lilies were blooming abundantly there.

He immediately understood the reason.

“Spider lily!”

The bulbs of spider lilies contain deadly poison.

Peculiarly, this poison spreads through the air. It emits a grassy smell, and inhaling it causes nosebleeds. Even without direct skin contact, the poison disperses into the air, damaging the inside of the nose just by smelling it.

‘This brat!’

He had thought it suspicious when Jin Ja-gang was frantically scratching at the ground claiming to be in pain. It seems he had crushed the spider lily bulbs against the ground, releasing the scent into the air.

Longlao’s suspicion was correct. As evidence, even Jin Ja-gang himself was suffering from a nosebleed.

Once he identified the poison, Longlao felt relieved. Though spider lily poison is potent, when transmitted through air, it only causes nosebleeds without being fatal. It’s dangerous only when the juice is ingested.

By pressing the blood channels around his nose to stop the bleeding and regulating his breathing, he already felt calmer.

Circulating his internal energy while simultaneously easing his headache and stomach discomfort, he relaxed.

As the saying goes, “a bird wounded by an arrow fears even a bent bow.” Having witnessed warriors dying one after another from Jin Ja-gang’s poison, he had been overly cautious even of this relatively minor poison.

Longlao was filled with rage at being tricked. He glared at Jin Ja-gang, who was escaping in the distance.

Jin Ja-gang was limping, unable to walk properly, staggering along.

From Longlao’s perspective, he wouldn’t be able to escape far. It seemed he could catch up in just a couple of steps.

But Longlao didn’t pursue Jin Ja-gang.

Instead, he drew his sword and walked in the opposite direction from where Jin Ja-gang was fleeing.

He grabbed Yong-myeong, who was lying there, and pulled him to his feet.

“Urgh…”

When Yong-myeong groaned, Longlao laughed loudly as if wanting Jin Ja-gang to hear.

“Hahaha!”

Then, channeling internal energy into his sword, he stabbed Yong-myeong’s leg.

Thunk.

“Ugh… urgh!”

Yong-myeong’s eyes widened. Though he gritted his teeth, a groan like a scream escaped through them.

Longlao paid no attention.

Thunk, thunk.

He simply continued to brutally stab Yong-myeong’s leg. Blood sprayed in all directions horribly.

Yong-myeong endured the pain until his lips split, but there was a limit.

“AAARGH!”

Finally, Yong-myeong let out a pitiful, heart-wrenching scream.

Only then did Longlao stop his sword and smile.

“Kee hee hee.”

Longlao wasn’t smiling because of Yong-myeong’s scream.

He was smiling because he saw Jin Ja-gang returning.

Yong-myeong could also see Jin Ja-gang coming back.

“I’m… sorry. I’m… sorry.”

It was a voice filled with remorse.

He thought Jin Ja-gang was returning because of him.

Jin Ja-gang felt his chest tighten as he looked at Yong-myeong.

Why was Yong-myeong, the victim, apologizing? With his leg slashed to the bone!

The one who should apologize is the old man who reduced someone to such a state.

“Even in this situation, you fled in the opposite direction to save this fellow? You’re unexpectedly thoughtful.”

Jin Ja-gang wiped his nosebleed and glared at Longlao with blazing eyes.

Longlao’s face wrinkled in disgust.

“Such a young brat, yet your eyes are so vile when looking at an adult.”

Longlao didn’t ask or demand anything more. He simply struck Yong-myeong’s leg with his sword again.

Blood and flesh splattered simultaneously.

“Urrgh!”

Yong-myeong gritted his teeth and suppressed his groan. His face was drenched in sweat from the pain.

It was Jin Ja-gang who couldn’t bear it anymore.

But instead of begging Longlao to stop or kneeling, Jin Ja-gang simply lowered his eyes slightly as a form of defiance.

Longlao was very displeased.

“I don’t like you. For a child, your gaze is too fierce. How did someone like you come into existence?”

Jin Ja-gang couldn’t hold back and blurted out:

“It’s because of people like you.”

“Hmm?”

“You made me like this!”

Longlao made an incredulous face.

“My, my, the fall of Hundred Flower Valley was due to internal strife caused by that fellow Gwak-o, yet you blame others? Don’t you have any conscience?”

“Internal strife? Conscience?”

Jin Ja-gang felt like his blood was boiling. Who had instigated the otherwise peaceful Gwak-o, and who had released poisonous creatures into Hundred Flower Valley!

His teeth clenched and his hair stood on end.

These people had released poisonous creatures into Hundred Flower Valley yet refused to acknowledge their guilt until the end, using Gwak-o as an excuse.

Jin Ja-gang trembled with rage. All the resentment and indignation he had bottled up burst forth like vomiting blood.

“If it weren’t for you…! If it weren’t for you, my mother and grandfather wouldn’t have died! You released all those venomous centipedes!”

“Then you should confront the one who released the centipedes, why direct your anger at me?”

“What?”

“Honestly, did I do that? Why are you taking your anger out on me?”

Longlao spoke so sincerely that Jin Ja-gang was momentarily dumbfounded.

Is that true? Is Longlao innocent? Should he only confront Mang-ryo who released the centipedes?

Just seeing how Longlao had turned Yong-myeong’s leg into a rag was enough to know he wasn’t a good person. But was he truly unrelated to the Extreme Poison Sect?

Jin Ja-gang’s mind became confused.

His eyes lost focus and grew blurry.

Yong-myeong wanted to warn Jin Ja-gang to stay alert. Thinking about other matters at this moment was truly dangerous.

Especially against someone as devious and cunning as Longlao.

Sure enough, Yong-myeong could see Longlao subtly moving his hand behind his back.

Suddenly, a string appeared between his fingers. The string led to the book chest that Longlao was carrying on his back.

As Longlao pulled the string with his fingers, the side of the book chest lifted slightly, revealing a hole from which several scorpions began to crawl out.

They were unique scorpions with dark black bellies and yellowish backs.

The scorpions silently crawled along the string and into Longlao’s sleeve. Now, when Longlao shook his sleeve, the scorpions would fly out and cover Jin Ja-gang… Even from Longlao’s perspective, approaching Jin Ja-gang was risky. Going too close might lead to Jin Ja-gang doing something unexpected, so he planned to use venomous scorpions to immobilize him.

Yong-myeong quickly looked at Jin Ja-gang. He was completely defenseless.

“Wah!”

Yong-myeong’s body, not fully recovered from paralysis, was too slow compared to Longlao’s hand motion. When Longlao shook his sleeve, the scorpions flew toward Jin Ja-gang.

Knowing that Jin Ja-gang had some resistance to poison, Yong-myeong moved belatedly. Using all his strength, he headbutted Longlao’s chin.

Because Longlao hadn’t expected Yong-myeong to be able to move, he allowed this unexpected attack.

Crack!

“Kak!”

Longlao’s head tilted back as he staggered heavily.

Though he was an experienced martial artist and quickly regained his balance without falling, Yong-myeong pushed Longlao with his body, eventually knocking him down. Yong-myeong, now on top of Longlao, struggled and shouted:

“Run! Run away!”

“Get off! You!”

Longlao tore at Yong-myeong’s thigh, which was already in tatters.

“AAAAH!”

Despite the pain, Yong-myeong didn’t move away. Instead, he tried to bite Longlao’s neck. Though they were at close range, Longlao, being no weak martial artist, turned his head to avoid the attack.

Crack!

Yong-myeong bit down so hard that there was a chilling sound of teeth breaking.

“You madman!”

Longlao stabbed Yong-myeong’s side with his sword and pushed him away. Yong-myeong could no longer resist and collapsed to the side.

“Stubborn fools. You should have lived so fiercely when your sect was intact. Look at the state you’re in now.”

As Longlao cursed and barely managed to sit up…

He saw someone standing right in front of him. The body of a young boy. It was obvious who it was.

“Huh?”

Longlao couldn’t help but laugh out of disbelief.

“What’s this? You still haven’t run away?”

Though Jin Ja-gang’s body was too weak to flee effectively, it was laughable that he was standing right there.

But what about the scorpions?

If he had been stung by the venomous scorpions, he should be rolling on the ground in agony by now.

When Longlao looked up, he saw Jin Ja-gang staring down at him with scorpions attached to his face and body.

“What the…?”

It was an incredible sight. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been stung.

The scorpions on his face had already embedded their tails into Jin Ja-gang’s cheeks and forehead.

These were golden scorpions, called so because of their distinctively golden color. Normally, even a wild beast would be paralyzed and immobilized when stung by one.

Yet Jin Ja-gang stood there with scorpions hanging from his face, chewing on some kind of plant.

“What is this?”

His face was swelling, and veins were bulging visibly, showing clear signs of poisoning, yet Jin Ja-gang himself seemed to ignore the scorpions and continued chewing the plant without stopping.

“What’s happening right now?”

When Longlao realized that the eyes of Jin Ja-gang, staring down at him, looked so cold and emotionless, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine and a creeping sense of fear rising within him.

‘Am I afraid? Me? Of this little brat?’

Longlao unconsciously channeled internal energy into his hand, almost striking Jin Ja-gang before barely restraining himself.

‘No! If I kill him, I won’t get the poison!’

While Longlao hesitated, Jin Ja-gang seized the opportunity and spat what was in his mouth at Longlao.

Pfft!

The juice and crushed pieces of the plant he’d been chewing showered onto Longlao’s face.

Longlao quickly covered his face with his palms, but the juice seeped through his fingers.

Trained martial artists often don’t close their eyes even when a sword flies toward their face. This is to observe their opponent until the very end.

Longlao, too, instinctively kept his eyes open. By the time he realized his mistake and tried to close them, the plant juice that Jin Ja-gang had spat had already seeped into Longlao’s eyes.

“Urkh?”

Longlao felt his eyes burning. Angered, he rose and swung his hand, but Jin Ja-gang had already backed away.

“Urrgh!”

He couldn’t open his eyes. When he forced them open, his vision was cloudy and unclear.

His eyes stung and hurt, causing tears to flow continuously.

“What is this! What did you do—!”

Longlao staggered backward, swinging his hands wildly.

As if answering him, Jin Ja-gang said:

“Ground cherry.”

“What?”

Only then did Longlao remember. The ground cherries that had been scattered around when he found Yong-myeong.

Jin Ja-gang had been chewing on them.

‘I need to wash my eyes! If I stay like this, I’ll go blind!’

Longlao screamed:

“Why are you doing this to me! What did I do wrong!”

“I just remembered.”

“What?”

Whoosh! He heard the sound of wind. Even though he couldn’t see, he knew it was an attack from Jin Ja-gang.

Longlao quickly leaned back, then directed a palm strike toward the ground.

Bang!

He hit only the ground, missing Jin Ja-gang entirely.

A stone flew and struck Longlao’s head.

Normally, even without sight, he could have dodged by sound, but now, with ground cherry poison in his eyes, his senses were impaired. He couldn’t properly avoid the stones that Jin Ja-gang was throwing.

Stones kept flying.

Thwack! Thwack!

“Stop, stop it!”

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