A searing liquid slid down Daeho’s throat.
It was a taste he had never experienced before. The instant he swallowed it, Daeho realized that he had consumed something he absolutely should not have.
The Poison King approached and handed him a black pill.
“Chew it thoroughly before swallowing. Otherwise, your insides will melt.”
Startled, Daeho hurriedly swallowed the pill. As the antidote took effect, he felt a cooling sensation within his stomach.
“Until I completely purge the poison from you, you must take this antidote once a day without fail. For every hour you’re late, another organ will melt. The last one to melt will be your heart.”
Daeho’s vision went dark. Yet, at the same time, a thread of hope remained. They must have kept him alive because he had some value to them.
“What do I have to do now?”
“You’ll take us to Jisaeng. That man over there is Number Two, I’m Number Three, and that gentleman over there is Number Four.”
The first person Geom Mugeuk indicated when speaking to Daeho was Seo Daeryong, while the last was the Poison King.
The Poison King asked me with a startled expression,
“Why am I Number Four?”
“We need three people, but as you can see, you’re wearing a mask and can’t go out.”
I deliberately refrained from calling him Soma in front of Daeho.
The Poison King and the Extreme Evil Demon’s eyes met again.
“Given the circumstances, I ask this of you.”
It was not something the Extreme Evil Demon should have needed to ask, but he spoke politely to the Poison King.
Just as the Extreme Evil Demon had willingly stepped aside earlier, the Poison King readily accepted the request.
“Very well. I’ll do it.”
At that moment, Daeho said cautiously,
“They all look too young. I’m not sure he’ll believe us.”
Geom Mugeuk then said something meaningful.
“The key to this operation is making sure he doesn’t believe us.”
Daeho could not understand what he meant. Still, he asked the one question that had been bothering him all along.
“Since I’ve already been poisoned, let me ask just one thing. Who in the world are you people?”
“Who are we? We’re merely the younger brothers our leader cherishes.”
When Geom Mugeuk pressed Daeho’s acupoint, Daeho collapsed and fell asleep.
After putting him to sleep, Geom Mugeuk spoke to the two Demon Venerables.
“Military Advisor Go is proceeding with the operation, so Jisaeng should contact us within a few days. We dangled a dazzling, glittering bait that he absolutely cannot refuse.”
This operation was proceeding exactly according to Goweol’s plan. Geom Mugeuk had told Goweol not to feel burdened and to make his plans at ease.
Goweol’s enemy was not the Evil Path Alliance or Jisaeng. It was the pressure he felt as a military advisor to carry out his duties properly and earn Geom Mugeuk’s approval.
Seo Daeryong tucked the corpses of the dead Iron Sword Four Tigers beneath his arms.
“I’ll dispose of the bodies.”
“I’ll help.”
Geom Mugeuk tucked the remaining corpse beneath his arm and followed him outside.
Together with Seo Daeryong, he dug a deep pit in the backyard and buried the three men. Considering the evil deeds they had committed, they should have thrown the bodies into the hills to be devoured by wild beasts. But for the moment, they had to impersonate these men, so that was impossible.
“As expected, whenever I go out with you, Hall Master, corpses come pouring out.”
“It may be because of you.”
“Because of me?”
“When we first met, you said that the Cult would never change. Those words made me steel my resolve. I swore I would make it change.”
Seo Daeryong stared silently at Geom Mugeuk before speaking in a low voice.
“I gave you only one, yet Hall Master, you’ve repaid me with ten.”
He meant that Geom Mugeuk’s words had given him that much gratitude and strength.
If someone knew how to appreciate kindness like that, Geom Mugeuk could give him not ten, but a hundred. That was what he felt.
Looking at the bodies in the pit, Seo Daeryong said,
“I’m sorry. They died because of me.”
After Seo Daeryong covered the bodies with earth, he stamped down the ground with his foot. Once they had concealed the site so it would not draw attention, Seo Daeryong said to me,
“Aren’t you coming in?”
“We’ll go in later. Give those two some time to grow closer.”
Looking at the building, Seo Daeryong said,
“Come to think of it, the two most frightening people in the Cult are in there.”
Seo Daeryong was secretly curious. How would Geom Mugeuk describe those two people?
* * *
The Extreme Evil Demon was looking out the window, while the Poison King pointlessly reorganized the poisons in his bag.
Then the two of them spoke at the same time.
“Poison King…”
“Soma…”
“Ah, please, go ahead.”
“No, you go ahead.”
Silence followed, until the Poison King spoke first.
“I never expected that I would end up in a place like this with you.”
“Neither did I.”
“Do you know something? Whenever Second Young Master talks about the Demon Venerables, his eyes shine the brightest when he mentions you, Soma. You could say he gets excited. That’s the impression I get.”
Perhaps because he had heard something pleasant, the eyes within the Extreme Evil Demon’s eye sockets smiled happily.
“I feel the same. I think I get excited whenever I’m with Second Young Master, too. I don’t know why.”
He would never know. He would never know that, in Geom Mugeuk’s life before his regression, he had wanted to make Geom Mugeuk his friend. That he had been the only person to die by Geom Mugeuk’s sword after showing him his face. He would never know that the deep bond between them had existed since before the regression.
The Poison King, on the other hand, felt something different.
“I feel uneasy whenever I see Second Young Master. As if he were a poison without an antidote.”
It meant that once one was poisoned, there was no remedy. His words also carried the implication that he did not want to fall into such a relationship.
“When we make poison, we consider poison without an antidote a failure.”
The Extreme Evil Demon’s gaze turned back toward the window. In the distant courtyard, the poison without an antidote was walking this way while speaking with Seo Daeryong.
In a voice so quiet it could barely be heard, the Extreme Evil Demon said,
“I don’t mind.”
* * *
Several days later, Jisaeng received a report from one of his subordinates.
“I heard a strange rumor about the Iron Sword Four Tigers.”
“What rumor?”
“Apparently, about a month before they came here, they raided a caravan and obtained three top-grade Night Pearls.”
At the mention of top-grade Night Pearls, Jisaeng was startled. They were extraordinarily expensive, and so rare that even those with money could not easily acquire them. The wealthy men of the martial world bought them up the moment they appeared. And the Iron Sword Four Tigers had obtained three?
“There’s even a rumor that several of the Iron Sword Four Tigers died in the process.”
“When we investigated them beforehand, there was no mention of anything like that.”
There had been several candidates to entrust with Sinseonchae. Jisaeng had investigated them thoroughly, and that was why he had ultimately chosen the Iron Sword Four Tigers.
“Perhaps it happened recently.”
Even so, Daeho had not shown the slightest sign of it. When he had said he wanted to see his brothers’ faces, hadn’t Daeho offered to show them at any time? If several of the four had died, then that meant everyone except Daeho was dead.
“It won’t be difficult to confirm. We had to meet them once anyway. Go and tell the Iron Sword Four Tigers that I wish to see them.”
Half an hour later, Jisaeng met the Iron Sword Four Tigers again at the manor where they had met last time.
As before, a screen had been lowered before Jisaeng, allowing only those on the other side to see his face.
“I greet the elder. These are my younger brothers. Come, greet him.”
At Daeho’s words, the three men removed their bamboo hats. The moment Jisaeng saw them, he flinched.
The young man to Daeho’s left was handsome. His eyes were clear and deep, making it difficult to believe that he was one of the Iron Sword Four Tigers, men who had lived by committing evil deeds. The man on the other side was small and slight, which also did not suit the Iron Sword Four Tigers. The last man looked far too young to be one of them—he seemed to have only just entered the martial world.
“You’re younger than I expected.”
“Wouldn’t youth make us more passionate in our work?”
Geom Mugeuk, the Poison King, and Seo Daeryong had not even bothered with a simple disguise. If they had come wearing so much as a fake beard, they might have avoided suspicion, but they had deliberately done no such thing. This was all part of Goweol’s operation.
Jisaeng asked Geom Mugeuk,
“When did you become one of the Iron Sword Four Tigers?”
Geom Mugeuk glanced at Daeho, then spoke in a trembling voice.
“It’s been quite some time.”
His vague answer, deliberately avoiding an exact time, caused the corners of Jisaeng’s mouth to rise.
‘The rumor may be true.’
He assumed that the brothers had died while raiding the caravan, and that Daeho had recruited new men afterward.
As if he had nothing to hide, Daeho said boldly,
“Some of my younger brothers were recently injured or left, so I took in new ones. They’re all trustworthy men, so you needn’t worry about Sinseonchae.”
Concealing his vicious thoughts, Jisaeng spoke in a pleasant tone.
“Seeing these young and stalwart tigers gives me confidence. Devote yourselves to the greater cause. I’ll repay you with wealth, honor, and glory.”
“We will give you our utmost loyalty.”
Thus ended the first meeting between Jisaeng and the Iron Sword Four Tigers.
* * *
Three days later, in a speeding carriage, Jisaeng sent a voice transmission to the real Jisaeng.
―The man named Daeho among the Iron Sword Four Tigers possesses a top-grade Night Pearl.
The real Jisaeng brought the carriage to a halt. No matter how important the matter, he had always exchanged voice transmissions while driving the carriage. But this time, he stopped it altogether.
―Is that true?
―Yes.
The real Jisaeng could not conceal his excitement. Top-grade Night Pearls were his favorite treasures, and he collected them by any means necessary.
Among treasures, there were two whose prices only rose and never fell. They were Night Pearls and Poison-Repelling Pearls.
Jisaeng bought Night Pearls whenever money accumulated. He did not buy cheap ones. He sought only the finest Night Pearls.
He did not put his money in the gambling houses. Yulhan or the Evil Path Alliance might one day search his gambling house and take all the money he had amassed. They possessed that much power, and were more than capable of doing so.
So he kept only a portion of his money in the gambling houses and converted the rest entirely into Night Pearls. The reason he chose Night Pearls rather than gold, paintings, or works of art was that they were small and light, easy to store and transport.
―Could someone be trying to trick us?
In response to the suspicious question, the false Jisaeng answered confidently,
―That’s why I checked again through an information broker. It’s certain. They raided the caravan, and three of the Iron Sword Four Tigers died in the process.
He did not know that Goweol had spread the rumor—and that Goweol controlled the information in this region.
―There is one strange thing, though. They made such a large sum of money, yet they still accepted this assignment.
―Have you ever seen greed be satisfied?
That was what Jisaeng felt every time he looked at the real Jisaeng.
―Perhaps he was trying to hide beneath the elder’s shadow.
―How many does he have?
―They say three.
Not one, but three. There was no need for even a moment’s hesitation.
―Get rid of him as quickly as possible and recover the Night Pearls. Find others to entrust with Sinseonchae.
―The Central Plains are full of scum like the Iron Sword Four Tigers. I’ll find someone soon.
No one could restrain him when it came to greed for wealth.
―I went hunting for venison and ended up with tiger hide!
Jisaeng laughed heartily and set the carriage moving again.
There was only one thing that could make him laugh so boisterously.
* * *
The Iron Sword Four Tigers received an invitation from Jisaeng.
When they arrived, food and alcohol had been prepared in the room. The side dishes were meager, and the liquor was such cheap swill that it was difficult even to put it to one’s lips.
Guessing what this spread signified, Geom Mugeuk smiled and said,
“We’re all one family now. Would you mind removing the screen between us? I’d like to see the elder’s esteemed countenance.”
Jisaeng laughed from behind the screen.
“Young men truly are full of vigor. Very well.”
The screen between Jisaeng and the Iron Sword Four Tigers was removed. Since Jisaeng had already decided to kill them all, he had no reason to hide his face.
Geom Mugeuk raised his cup.
“Come, let’s have a drink together!”
Jisaeng did not raise his cup. He revealed his cold emotions, and the atmosphere naturally froze.
“Daeho, I heard a rumor about you.”
“What rumor are you referring to?”
“I heard you came into possession of something valuable.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”
“We’re all family here. Let’s have a look.”
“I truly don’t know what you mean.”
Daeho flatly denied it.
Jisaeng nodded.
“Yes, of course you would. I would have done the same. I understand.”
As soon as those words fell, four martial artists entered the room. They were filled with killing intent and possessed martial skills superior to those of the Iron Sword Four Tigers.
They were the limbs Jisaeng cherished most. He mainly used them when he needed to kill someone discreetly.
“Since those three newcomers don’t know anything, kill them first.”
Geom Mugeuk then said to Daeho,
“Poor Big Brother. He’s about to lose all his younger brothers again.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Daeho sighed and looked at Jisaeng. His eyes seemed to say,
‘You’re in deep trouble now, too.’
An inexplicable sense of disharmony sent a chill through Jisaeng’s chest. He shouted at his subordinates,
“Kill them at once!”
The instant the words left his mouth, the four men collapsed all at once, crumpling to the floor.
Jisaeng was so shocked that his face turned pale. All four of his subordinates had died without even getting the chance to swing their swords. He had ordered them to kill—not to die—so why had they all—
“Poison!”
The Poison King was already waving his fan gently back and forth. It was his unique weapon, the Endless Fan.
Even though all four men had been poisoned simultaneously, the others in the room remained unharmed. This astonishing technique was a feat of poison arts that only the Poison King could perform. When he wielded poison, there was no trace of cuteness or youthful innocence about him. Cold and ruthless, he seemed like an entirely different person.
Jisaeng sprang to his feet and drew his sword.
Just as he was about to shout and alert the real Jisaeng and the other subordinates waiting outside, Geom Mugeuk raised his index finger to his lips.
Shh!
It was only a gesture telling him to be quiet, yet Jisaeng’s mute acupoint had already been sealed.
“You invited us here and served us liquor this cheap. This will probably be better.”
Staring at the small vial of poison held out toward him, Jisaeng realized that the greatest crisis of his life had come to the life he had enjoyed so gleefully under the protection of the Evil Path Alliance.
And it was not merely a crisis.
It was a crisis of unimaginable proportions.