Chapter 441

Chapter 441

The leaders of the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques, including Elder Bok-cheon, were horrified.

What kind of thoughtless words about a baby who was just born!

Even if one lacked tact, there should be limits!

Funeral Parlour’s Baek Oh-sa deliberately emphasized as he spoke.

“I never thought Poison Dragon’s child would be ugly.”

The atmosphere turned cold at Funeral Parlour Baek Oh-sa’s words.

Jin Ja-gang’s eyes narrowed.

Moreover, since Funeral Parlour dealt with human corpses, the atmosphere they gave off was very gloomy. Their expressions were also rigid. With such a face saying the child was ugly, it was unclear whether this was picking a fight or what.

But Baek Oh-sa actually laughed after saying it.

“Huhuhuh, were you surprised? Actually, there’s a saying that if you’re ugly when young, you become handsome when you grow up. When I said she was ugly, it was actually a compliment.”

Elder Bok-cheon and the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques let out their breath.

“Ah, that’s what you meant?”

“We thought again, why are we risking our lives over something useless.”

“Of course not. Would I say anything bad about a newborn baby? Look at those thick eyebrows. You can see her brow is firm and her forehead is clear – when he grows up, he’ll make many women cry. He’s dependable general material.”

Jin Ja-gang coldly replied.

“She’s a daughter.”

Baek Oh-sa flinched.

The atmosphere became even colder.

Elder Bok-cheon clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

Funeral Parlour didn’t have a good relationship with Jin Ja-gang. So he tried to lighten the mood with a little joke, but the atmosphere became even more messed up.

Baek Oh-sa’s face hardened.

“The name is…”

The name is Little Poison Dragon!

It’s Dok-cheon!

The desire to argue was clearly displayed on Baek Oh-sa’s facial expression. Yuk Ha-seon cut off his words.

“It would be better not to say more. If you have no talent, it’s worse than not doing it at all.”

The embarrassed Baek Oh-sa turned his head away.

Tap Tak-yeon resumed the conversation.

“Let’s get to the main point.”

Jin Ja-gang asked first.

“By any chance, was Indestructible Heavenly Sword among the prisoners you captured?”

Elder Bok-cheon shook his head.

“According to their stories, Indestructible Heavenly Sword was indeed with them initially, but unfortunately he wasn’t among the prisoners.”

“I also felt his energy at the upper reaches of the Min River, but didn’t seem to feel it at the lower reaches.”

He had completely hidden his presence and fled.

“And from the stories we heard…”

The old official then explained the facts he had learned through interrogation.

The reason the Northern Heaven evil faction and Demon Cult participated in this affair was to create a foothold for entering the Central Plains. However, in reality, they harbored different intentions.

Salt becomes funding and poison becomes weapons.

Therefore, the Northern Heaven evil faction tried to intercept the ships midway and claim both salt and poison. And the Demon Cult also tried to seize the ships and use them as bait to threaten Baek Li-jung for greater profit.

So when Mang Ryo suggested they all go to one place instead of splitting between the Yellow River and Yangtze River as originally planned, they followed without opposition.

This meant that even if left alone, the Northern Heaven evil faction and Demon Cult would have ended up fighting each other midway.

Elder Bok-cheon summarized.

“King of Hell’s greed led to Northern Heaven’s involvement, where Indestructible Heavenly Sword Baek Li-jung’s greed overlapped, and Master Haewol’s intentions failed, causing the Demon Cult to join. Then Mang Ryo’s greed aligned with Northern Heaven and the Demon Cult’s interests, ultimately leading to the conclusion at the Min River.”

Jin Ja-gang listened to Elder Bok-cheon’s story in silence.

It wasn’t easily understandable.

King of Hell Tang Qing’s plan itself was nearly perfect. But the moment it was actually executed, everyone’s greed became entangled with each other, making it impossible to predict where things would go. It rather worked in favor of Jin Ja-gang and the Tang family, allowing them to stop the conspiracy.

If the Ghost King had predicted and calculated this complex and unpredictable situation, wouldn’t he have prevented it from falling into Jin Ja-gang’s hands?

Leper Mound’s Thousand Face Demon, the old official, said.

“There’s one more interesting story. There were apparently people who secretly diverted Five Paths Fatal Poison midway.”

Tang Ha-ran and Jin Ja-gang were greatly shocked.

Of all things, Five Paths Fatal Poison?

Pleasure Heaven’s Yuk Ha-seon added explanation.

“King of Hell’s plan had been progressing for a long time. During that time, there seem to have been those who diverted it bit by bit.”

Coal Mining Group’s Tap Tak-yeon nodded.

“When we checked the ships that weren’t wrecked, some of the sacks covering the salt had particularly insufficient amounts of Five Paths Fatal Poison. Some even had impurities mixed in. The amount was considerable – I estimate more than one-third was diverted.”

Funeral Parlour’s representative Baek Oh-sa said.

“The salt and Five Paths Fatal Poison had been secretly made over a long time and stored in hundreds of warehouses. It wouldn’t be strange if it was diverted from anywhere. The managers might have hidden shortages without reporting them to avoid responsibility.”

However, Tang Ha-ran denied this.

“That’s impossible. Grandfather doesn’t carelessly manage precious materials. Even if he made double ledgers, he would definitely ensure what went into and came out of warehouses matched without error. In other words, it wasn’t diverted from the warehouses.”

Yuk Ha-seon said.

“Since the Northern Heaven evil faction was in charge of escort during transport, they could have diverted it.”

This time Jin Ja-gang voiced opposition.

“Thunder Emperor was greatly surprised when he heard during our fight that Emei Sect was poisoned with Five Paths Fatal Poison. He learned for the first time that someone had already diverted the poison when they themselves were planning to divert it midway.”

“Then who… no, when could the poison have been diverted?”

Everyone looked puzzled.

“Is this a job for ghosts…”

Moreover, the finished Five Paths Fatal Poison must include the soul extinction poison that comes from King of Hell’s body. Knowing this, Jin Ja-gang found the current situation even more suspicious.

After a long silence, Tap Tak-yeon rubbed his earlobe and said.

“Anyway, since we caught all the salt ships, there’s no avoiding criticism from all of the Central Plains.”

Yuk Ha-seon scolded him.

“You didn’t charge in without that level of resolve, did you?”

Tap Tak-yeon groaned in response to Yuk Ha-seon’s words.

“I knew that much from the beginning. It’s just that even the Tang family has become ambiguously involved, so we have nowhere to watch our backs.”

Originally, this was something Jin Ja-gang alone was going to take the blame for.

But now Emei Sect, Qingcheng Sect, and the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques were all walking the same path. Moreover, since Tang Ha-ran became acting family head and Jin Ja-gang returned to the Tang family, now even the Tang family couldn’t easily withdraw.

The Tang family had already made enemies with Shaolin Temple.

Depending on how Indestructible Heavenly Sword Baek Li-jung emerged, the Tang family could face another worst crisis.

However, Tang Ha-ran already had thoughts about this as well.

“No, we won’t keep the salt. If there are certificates proving trades with us, we’ll hand over that amount to the merchants and compensate for any shortfall.”

“If they don’t bring certificates?”

“I plan to use all remaining salt for relief of the poor.”

“Quite a gamble.”

Still, it was certainly a good idea.

If they didn’t show greed for the salt, they might at least avoid being labeled as martial world public enemies.

However…

Yuk Ha-seon said with concern.

“But since the amount of salt mixed with poison or lost during battle is considerable, the Tang family’s burden won’t be light.”

The old official said.

“Leper Mound will also contribute maximum funds to help with the shortfall.”

The other leaders of the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques agreed.

“We’ll suffer serious financial difficulties for a while, but it’s better than dying.”

Tang Ha-ran bowed with clasped fists.

“This isn’t the time to decline, so I gratefully accept everyone’s goodwill.”

Yuk Ha-seon accepted the greeting with a warm expression.

“We were also somewhat involved in King of Hell’s affair, so we’re not without responsibility. Acting family head needn’t feel too sorry.”

Funeral Parlour’s Baek Oh-sa asked Jin Ja-gang.

“What do you plan to do from now on?”

Jin Ja-gang thought for a moment then answered.

“First, I need to find out how Five Paths Fatal Poison leaked out. Since it was reportedly used at Emei Sect, I plan to go to Emei Sect.”

“That’s right. If we can find out how they got hold of Five Paths Fatal Poison there…”

But then, someone urgently shouted from outside the door before the maid could announce them.

“Acting family head! I request an audience!”

It was the elder in charge of intelligence. The elder requested to meet Tang Ha-ran.

When Tang Ha-ran granted permission to enter, the elder came in holding dozens of bamboo slips and piled them all on the table.

“Strange things are happening!”

“What are these?”

Looking at the bamboo slips, Tang Ha-ran saw names of regions and sects written on them.

The elder’s face was serious.

“These are sects that have had incidents.”

“Incidents? What do you mean?”

The elder said with an expression of disbelief.

“Incomprehensible disturbances are occurring simultaneously everywhere! Internal strife is breaking out, rebellions are happening, and fights are occurring here and there. Not just in one or two places… chaos is erupting throughout the entire martial world!”

Tang Ha-ran, Jin Ja-gang, and all the leaders of the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques were shocked.

“Is this true?”

“It’s true.”

The elder held the bamboo slips in his hands with a pale face and shouted.

“These are all news sent from various places in the Central Plains! From thousands of our family’s communication posts!”

It was news that was hard to believe.

Could this even make sense!

Jin Ja-gang’s expression became serious.

“I need to go to Emei Sect right now.”

***

Divine Physician An Yul-jin.

Among the renowned martial world families, protecting the An family medical practice until now had been his pride.

After learning through Jin Ja-gang at the Tang Family Compound that King of Hell’s poison was mixed with salt, he immediately returned to his family to protect them.

He also didn’t forget to give advance hints to forces and sects close to the An medical family to maintain relationships.

However, now An Yul-jin was very confused.

“The second son of the Gongsun family in Taihe started a rebellion and the family head died!”

“The Quan family gate in Zhengzhou is burning down due to internal strife!”

“The sect master of Golden Emperor Sect was poisoned to death, and the disciples are fighting over succession!”

“A large-scale fight broke out between Yan family gate and Red Sword Workshop over a dispute!”

The succession of bad news made An Yul-jin panic.

“Wh-what is all this? What on earth.”

The families that had incidents were all cooperative families that An Yul-jin had leaked information about salt to in advance. They must have all been careful and on guard. But how could poisoning, internal strife, and rebellions be happening in the midst of that?

No, the salt ships carrying poison weren’t even in Sichuan yet!

An Yul-jin felt like he’d been hit on the head.

“Something’s wrong, something…”

Slumping into a chair, An Yul-jin unconsciously looked up. Between the ceiling beams, a figure in a black mask was looking down at him.

Goosebumps ran down An Yul-jin’s back.

“Who are you!”

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The leaders of the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques, including Elder Bok-cheon, were horrified.

What kind of thoughtless words about a baby who was just born!

Even if one lacked tact, there should be limits!

Funeral Parlour’s Baek Oh-sa deliberately emphasized as he spoke.

“I never thought Poison Dragon’s child would be ugly.”

The atmosphere turned cold at Funeral Parlour Baek Oh-sa’s words.

Jin Ja-gang’s eyes narrowed.

Moreover, since Funeral Parlour dealt with human corpses, the atmosphere they gave off was very gloomy. Their expressions were also rigid. With such a face saying the child was ugly, it was unclear whether this was picking a fight or what.

But Baek Oh-sa actually laughed after saying it.

“Huhuhuh, were you surprised? Actually, there’s a saying that if you’re ugly when young, you become handsome when you grow up. When I said she was ugly, it was actually a compliment.”

Elder Bok-cheon and the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques let out their breath.

“Ah, that’s what you meant?”

“We thought again, why are we risking our lives over something useless.”

“Of course not. Would I say anything bad about a newborn baby? Look at those thick eyebrows. You can see her brow is firm and her forehead is clear – when he grows up, he’ll make many women cry. He’s dependable general material.”

Jin Ja-gang coldly replied.

“She’s a daughter.”

Baek Oh-sa flinched.

The atmosphere became even colder.

Elder Bok-cheon clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

Funeral Parlour didn’t have a good relationship with Jin Ja-gang. So he tried to lighten the mood with a little joke, but the atmosphere became even more messed up.

Baek Oh-sa’s face hardened.

“The name is…”

The name is Little Poison Dragon!

It’s Dok-cheon!

The desire to argue was clearly displayed on Baek Oh-sa’s facial expression. Yuk Ha-seon cut off his words.

“It would be better not to say more. If you have no talent, it’s worse than not doing it at all.”

The embarrassed Baek Oh-sa turned his head away.

Tap Tak-yeon resumed the conversation.

“Let’s get to the main point.”

Jin Ja-gang asked first.

“By any chance, was Indestructible Heavenly Sword among the prisoners you captured?”

Elder Bok-cheon shook his head.

“According to their stories, Indestructible Heavenly Sword was indeed with them initially, but unfortunately he wasn’t among the prisoners.”

“I also felt his energy at the upper reaches of the Min River, but didn’t seem to feel it at the lower reaches.”

He had completely hidden his presence and fled.

“And from the stories we heard…”

The old official then explained the facts he had learned through interrogation.

The reason the Northern Heaven evil faction and Demon Cult participated in this affair was to create a foothold for entering the Central Plains. However, in reality, they harbored different intentions.

Salt becomes funding and poison becomes weapons.

Therefore, the Northern Heaven evil faction tried to intercept the ships midway and claim both salt and poison. And the Demon Cult also tried to seize the ships and use them as bait to threaten Baek Li-jung for greater profit.

So when Mang Ryo suggested they all go to one place instead of splitting between the Yellow River and Yangtze River as originally planned, they followed without opposition.

This meant that even if left alone, the Northern Heaven evil faction and Demon Cult would have ended up fighting each other midway.

Elder Bok-cheon summarized.

“King of Hell’s greed led to Northern Heaven’s involvement, where Indestructible Heavenly Sword Baek Li-jung’s greed overlapped, and Master Haewol’s intentions failed, causing the Demon Cult to join. Then Mang Ryo’s greed aligned with Northern Heaven and the Demon Cult’s interests, ultimately leading to the conclusion at the Min River.”

Jin Ja-gang listened to Elder Bok-cheon’s story in silence.

It wasn’t easily understandable.

King of Hell Tang Qing’s plan itself was nearly perfect. But the moment it was actually executed, everyone’s greed became entangled with each other, making it impossible to predict where things would go. It rather worked in favor of Jin Ja-gang and the Tang family, allowing them to stop the conspiracy.

If the Ghost King had predicted and calculated this complex and unpredictable situation, wouldn’t he have prevented it from falling into Jin Ja-gang’s hands?

Leper Mound’s Thousand Face Demon, the old official, said.

“There’s one more interesting story. There were apparently people who secretly diverted Five Paths Fatal Poison midway.”

Tang Ha-ran and Jin Ja-gang were greatly shocked.

Of all things, Five Paths Fatal Poison?

Pleasure Heaven’s Yuk Ha-seon added explanation.

“King of Hell’s plan had been progressing for a long time. During that time, there seem to have been those who diverted it bit by bit.”

Coal Mining Group’s Tap Tak-yeon nodded.

“When we checked the ships that weren’t wrecked, some of the sacks covering the salt had particularly insufficient amounts of Five Paths Fatal Poison. Some even had impurities mixed in. The amount was considerable – I estimate more than one-third was diverted.”

Funeral Parlour’s representative Baek Oh-sa said.

“The salt and Five Paths Fatal Poison had been secretly made over a long time and stored in hundreds of warehouses. It wouldn’t be strange if it was diverted from anywhere. The managers might have hidden shortages without reporting them to avoid responsibility.”

However, Tang Ha-ran denied this.

“That’s impossible. Grandfather doesn’t carelessly manage precious materials. Even if he made double ledgers, he would definitely ensure what went into and came out of warehouses matched without error. In other words, it wasn’t diverted from the warehouses.”

Yuk Ha-seon said.

“Since the Northern Heaven evil faction was in charge of escort during transport, they could have diverted it.”

This time Jin Ja-gang voiced opposition.

“Thunder Emperor was greatly surprised when he heard during our fight that Emei Sect was poisoned with Five Paths Fatal Poison. He learned for the first time that someone had already diverted the poison when they themselves were planning to divert it midway.”

“Then who… no, when could the poison have been diverted?”

Everyone looked puzzled.

“Is this a job for ghosts…”

Moreover, the finished Five Paths Fatal Poison must include the soul extinction poison that comes from King of Hell’s body. Knowing this, Jin Ja-gang found the current situation even more suspicious.

After a long silence, Tap Tak-yeon rubbed his earlobe and said.

“Anyway, since we caught all the salt ships, there’s no avoiding criticism from all of the Central Plains.”

Yuk Ha-seon scolded him.

“You didn’t charge in without that level of resolve, did you?”

Tap Tak-yeon groaned in response to Yuk Ha-seon’s words.

“I knew that much from the beginning. It’s just that even the Tang family has become ambiguously involved, so we have nowhere to watch our backs.”

Originally, this was something Jin Ja-gang alone was going to take the blame for.

But now Emei Sect, Qingcheng Sect, and the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques were all walking the same path. Moreover, since Tang Ha-ran became acting family head and Jin Ja-gang returned to the Tang family, now even the Tang family couldn’t easily withdraw.

The Tang family had already made enemies with Shaolin Temple.

Depending on how Indestructible Heavenly Sword Baek Li-jung emerged, the Tang family could face another worst crisis.

However, Tang Ha-ran already had thoughts about this as well.

“No, we won’t keep the salt. If there are certificates proving trades with us, we’ll hand over that amount to the merchants and compensate for any shortfall.”

“If they don’t bring certificates?”

“I plan to use all remaining salt for relief of the poor.”

“Quite a gamble.”

Still, it was certainly a good idea.

If they didn’t show greed for the salt, they might at least avoid being labeled as martial world public enemies.

However…

Yuk Ha-seon said with concern.

“But since the amount of salt mixed with poison or lost during battle is considerable, the Tang family’s burden won’t be light.”

The old official said.

“Leper Mound will also contribute maximum funds to help with the shortfall.”

The other leaders of the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques agreed.

“We’ll suffer serious financial difficulties for a while, but it’s better than dying.”

Tang Ha-ran bowed with clasped fists.

“This isn’t the time to decline, so I gratefully accept everyone’s goodwill.”

Yuk Ha-seon accepted the greeting with a warm expression.

“We were also somewhat involved in King of Hell’s affair, so we’re not without responsibility. Acting family head needn’t feel too sorry.”

Funeral Parlour’s Baek Oh-sa asked Jin Ja-gang.

“What do you plan to do from now on?”

Jin Ja-gang thought for a moment then answered.

“First, I need to find out how Five Paths Fatal Poison leaked out. Since it was reportedly used at Emei Sect, I plan to go to Emei Sect.”

“That’s right. If we can find out how they got hold of Five Paths Fatal Poison there…”

But then, someone urgently shouted from outside the door before the maid could announce them.

“Acting family head! I request an audience!”

It was the elder in charge of intelligence. The elder requested to meet Tang Ha-ran.

When Tang Ha-ran granted permission to enter, the elder came in holding dozens of bamboo slips and piled them all on the table.

“Strange things are happening!”

“What are these?”

Looking at the bamboo slips, Tang Ha-ran saw names of regions and sects written on them.

The elder’s face was serious.

“These are sects that have had incidents.”

“Incidents? What do you mean?”

The elder said with an expression of disbelief.

“Incomprehensible disturbances are occurring simultaneously everywhere! Internal strife is breaking out, rebellions are happening, and fights are occurring here and there. Not just in one or two places… chaos is erupting throughout the entire martial world!”

Tang Ha-ran, Jin Ja-gang, and all the leaders of the Poison Sect’s Three Cliques were shocked.

“Is this true?”

“It’s true.”

The elder held the bamboo slips in his hands with a pale face and shouted.

“These are all news sent from various places in the Central Plains! From thousands of our family’s communication posts!”

It was news that was hard to believe.

Could this even make sense!

Jin Ja-gang’s expression became serious.

“I need to go to Emei Sect right now.”

***

Divine Physician An Yul-jin.

Among the renowned martial world families, protecting the An family medical practice until now had been his pride.

After learning through Jin Ja-gang at the Tang Family Compound that King of Hell’s poison was mixed with salt, he immediately returned to his family to protect them.

He also didn’t forget to give advance hints to forces and sects close to the An medical family to maintain relationships.

However, now An Yul-jin was very confused.

“The second son of the Gongsun family in Taihe started a rebellion and the family head died!”

“The Quan family gate in Zhengzhou is burning down due to internal strife!”

“The sect master of Golden Emperor Sect was poisoned to death, and the disciples are fighting over succession!”

“A large-scale fight broke out between Yan family gate and Red Sword Workshop over a dispute!”

The succession of bad news made An Yul-jin panic.

“Wh-what is all this? What on earth.”

The families that had incidents were all cooperative families that An Yul-jin had leaked information about salt to in advance. They must have all been careful and on guard. But how could poisoning, internal strife, and rebellions be happening in the midst of that?

No, the salt ships carrying poison weren’t even in Sichuan yet!

An Yul-jin felt like he’d been hit on the head.

“Something’s wrong, something…”

Slumping into a chair, An Yul-jin unconsciously looked up. Between the ceiling beams, a figure in a black mask was looking down at him.

Goosebumps ran down An Yul-jin’s back.

“Who are you!”

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