Mabul came out of the Great Dharma Hall.
It was time to eat, so Geom Mugeuk would be waiting at the entrance.
Today marked the fifth day since he had begun eating with Geom Mugeuk.
They had not talked about anything in particular. They exchanged a few idle jokes, ate, and parted ways. It was much like a probing exchange in a spar, each throwing out feints to test the other.
Geom Mugeuk probably thought this would gradually bring the two of them closer, but that was utter nonsense. The Great Golden Operation? Why should someone else carry out an operation using his gold?
‘Sorry, but that operation is mine.’
Yes, they would grow close. And then, in reverse, he would persuade Geom Mugeuk to give up the seat of Heavenly Demon.
That was Mabul’s plan.
If he could do that, there would be no need to win over the other Demon Venerables. It was the fastest and surest method.
Of course, Geom Mugeuk would not give up easily, but Mabul saw a possibility because of Geom Mugeuk’s personality.
‘The Second Young Master is a man ruled by his moods.’
He was more emotional than anyone Mabul had ever seen. That must have been why the other Demon Venerables had fallen for him. And there was one more thing.
‘He is also someone who always tries to keep his word once he has spoken it.’
And most decisively, he was trying to end this succession struggle peacefully.
‘There is definitely an opportunity.’
His had not been a life spent merely chanting sutras in the Dharma Hall. The fact that people said he was blinded by power meant he had gone about diligently meeting people. He would use that experience to deal with Geom Mugeuk.
‘I am different from the other Demon Venerables!’
Just as he left the Golden Buddhist Temple, firming his resolve—
Whoooosh.
There was no one at the entrance. Geom Mugeuk, who had waited for him every day, was nowhere to be seen.
‘Why didn’t he come today?’
From what Mabul had seen so far, Geom Mugeuk was not the sort of person to give up so easily.
Mabul waited there for Geom Mugeuk for a while.
Had he ever stood outside like this, waiting for someone?
Even by the time he had exhausted that precious patience, Geom Mugeuk did not come.
Geom Mugeuk did not come the next day, nor the day after that. On the third day, unable to endure it any longer, Mabul went to Geom Mugeuk’s residence.
‘What is going on?’
And there, Mabul witnessed an unexpected sight.
Geom Mugeuk was sprawled like a corpse on a broad rock in the yard.
Startled, Mabul hurried over and looked down at Geom Mugeuk. Only then did Geom Mugeuk open his eyes. Their gazes, one looking up and the other looking down, met in the air.
“You’ve come?”
“I thought you were dead.”
“You must have been pleased, if only for a moment.”
Mabul sat down on the rock.
“This is comfortable. It cools your back too. Why don’t you lie down?”
“I’m fine.”
Geom Mugeuk was definitely different from usual.
“You came every day, then suddenly stopped showing up, so I came to see if something had happened.”
After staring up at the sky for a moment, Geom Mugeuk spoke quietly.
“Three days ago, I was on my way to see you, Mabul, when I happened to look up at the sky.”
Mabul’s gaze naturally turned toward the sky as well.
“There wasn’t a single cloud, and one bird was flying across it. As I watched that bird, this thought suddenly came to me: I’m envious.”
Mabul looked at Geom Mugeuk.
“Why am I envious? I have qinggong, so I can fly like that. I can even fly higher and faster. That was when I realized it. Ah, I’m worn out.”
It was a scheme, yes, but it was a scheme that held Geom Mugeuk’s sincerity.
“I’ve been running forward too much, looking only ahead.”
Needless to say, he had run himself ragged in the life before his regression, and even after regressing, he had run without pause. So what he had just said was the truth.
Mabul could not tell what Geom Mugeuk’s intention was in saying such things.
But one thing was certain. His own life had been one spent running forward, looking only ahead.
Born small, he had not wanted to be mocked until the day he died. Pity and help were even more hateful. He had endured hardships truly bad enough to kill him to reach this place.
‘Second Young Master, you have no idea what it means to run forward looking only ahead.’
At that moment, the rock carried two men who had run through life looking only straight ahead.
“From that day on, I spent three or four days just lazing around. I apologize for not sending word.”
To Mabul’s eyes, it did not seem as though Geom Mugeuk was playing some other trick. For a trick to be a trick, there had to be something to gain. What could he gain by lying here like a ruined man?
‘Well, at such a young age he’s accomplished so much. It’s only natural he’d be exhausted.’
He thought that if he used this exhaustion, he might be able to make Geom Mugeuk give up the succession more easily than expected.
Mabul made a casual suggestion.
“Why don’t you take this chance to rest for a while? Set down the burden of having to become the successor.”
Inwardly, Mabul prayed that this answer would come.
—Yes, I think I’ll just throw away the succession and everything else.
But instead of answering, Geom Mugeuk suddenly asked Mabul,
“Aren’t you tired, Mabul?”
Even at the abrupt question, Mabul did not reveal his feelings at all.
“I’m tired because of you. If you stepped down from the succession competition, I’d be brimming with energy.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled faintly, then suddenly shouted.
“Ah! That’s the bird. The bird that ruined your meal with me!”
A small bird was flying here and there.
“How do you know it’s that bird?”
“The way it flies is exactly that bastard. Look over there. Can’t you see it saying, I’m free, aren’t I? You’re envious, aren’t you?”
“To my eyes… it just seems to be saying that because it keeps flying only forward, its wings hurt too much. That it’s exhausted.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Mabul.
Mabul was still looking at the bird. He had said it like a joke, but he was sincere. He did not envy that bird at all.
The sight of it flapping its wings ceaselessly as it flew was like looking at himself. He had always been busy. Moving with the First Young Master, meeting people, controlling the Mad Monks, training in martial arts.
It’s hard because you’re weak. Only those with rotten spirits say they’re tired. He had lived with such words on his lips. And all the while, the years had passed far too quickly. That had made him even more anxious. That had made his life even busier.
‘And so what remains for me is…’
After being lost in various thoughts for a long while, Mabul looked at Geom Mugeuk.
At some point, he had fallen asleep beside him. Seeing him sleep with Mabul right there beside him, Mabul was inwardly startled.
‘He trusts me this much?’
He thought it was an act. Since the Second Young Master was such a fox, it had to be an act meant to deceive him into thinking he was trusted this much.
‘That won’t work on me, Second Young Master.’
Mabul rose from the rock without a sound.
‘It won’t work on me…’
As Mabul walked far away, out of the house, Geom Mugeuk spoke quietly with his eyes still closed.
“Mabul, forget the successor seat and everything else. Let’s rest a little.”
I’ll tug gently, so be gently drawn in.
* * *
The next day, Geom Mugeuk still did not come.
Mabul naturally made his way to Geom Mugeuk’s residence.
Geom Mugeuk was not home, and just then a maidservant came out of the building.
“Where has the Second Young Master gone?”
“He received word from the Thousand Poisons Forest and went there.”
“The Thousand Poisons Forest?”
Mabul, who had been about to return to his own residence, turned his steps toward the Thousand Poisons Forest.
He thought the Poison King was on the First Young Master’s side, but the Poison King had not yet officially announced his support for the First Young Master.
That Poison King had called Geom Mugeuk, so Mabul intended to go and see. What they talked about, and how they got along.
His steps toward the Thousand Poisons Forest quickened.
* * *
It had been a while since I came to the Thousand Poisons Forest.
On the way, I met several poison adepts. After I had barked with the Poison King on the training ground, the looks they cast at me had become quite varied. They ranged from “We actively support the Second Young Master” to “How dare you turn our Poison King into a dog!”
When I reached his residence, the Poison King was making something. I went closer and saw that it was not a poison he had made before.
“It seems like an extraordinary poison.”
Absorbed in making the poison, the Poison King did not even answer.
Seeing him fully immersed in his own world after so long was welcome.
I looked around the place for a moment.
This place was exactly as it had been before. The furniture, of course, and even the medicine bottles and tools placed on top of it. They were truly still in the same places.
Then one sight caught my eye.
“Gasp! This is!”
When I was too shocked, the Poison King raised his head.
“It’s something I was eating before and left behind.”
It was still sitting there exactly as it had been.
Instead of nagging him, Please, for heaven’s sake, clean up after yourself! I wrapped that laziness up nicely for him.
“The more dangerous the things one handles, the more everything must remain where it is, in a familiar place. Is that it?”
At that, the Poison King turned his gaze back to the poison he was making and answered.
“No. After coming back, I was busy making this, so I couldn’t clean. The next time someone says it’s dirty, I should answer like that.”
Even before, Sangseon had not entered this space carelessly. The Poison King did the cleaning himself. Thinking about it, he had allowed me into a space that belonged solely to him.
While I did a rough job of cleaning, the Poison King completed the pill.
“It’s done!”
Seeing the rapture flash across his face, it was clearly a poison that had not been easy to make.
It possessed vivid, colorful hues like a flower.
“It looks poisonous. Who on earth did you make it to kill? The Murim Alliance Leader? The Unorthodox Alliance Leader?”
At that, the Poison King abruptly held it out to me.
“Eat it.”
“You’re going to poison the Second Young Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult this openly?”
“Can’t I?”
“Then my elder brother must be hiding behind that curtain.”
Even as I said that, I accepted the pill.
“What exactly is this?”
“It’s the Cheongi Pill (天氣丹).”
At the words Cheongi Pill, I was startled.
Among those who used poison, the Cheongi Pill was one of the three greatest poisons of all time, and at the same time a spiritual medicine. It was a spiritual medicine, but not one that increased internal energy.
“I discovered Gillyeongcho (奇靈草) in a corner of the safe house. No one recognized something so precious.”
“Ah! Investigator Seo told me. He said you dug up the entire safe house.”
“I was trying to find the Hwaning Snake (花寧蛇) that would be nearby. Wherever there is Gillyeongcho, there is always a Hwaning Snake. The Cheongi Pill is made by combining the fruit of the Gillyeongcho and the inner core of the Hwaning Snake.”
“Why are you giving me something this terrifying?”
“You should be asking why I’m giving you something this precious.”
As if boasting of the Cheongi Pill’s effects, the Poison King said,
“If you take the Cheongi Pill, your constitution will become one that can withstand any heat or cold. Even with no internal energy, you could be stripped naked and thrown into the desert, or stripped naked and thrown into a snowy mountain, and still survive.”
And that was not all. It would make one far more advantageous when facing martial arts of extreme yang or extreme yin.
“But the problem is that its toxicity is so strong that you die if you eat it, don’t you?”
“That’s right. More than a few people melted while greedily trying to endure it for the sake of the Cheongi Pill’s effects.”
The Poison King stared straight into my eyes and added,
“But you can live, can’t you?”
“!”
For a moment, silence flowed between us.
From his expression and his eyes, I could tell.
“You knew.”
“Yes. I already knew you had a body impervious to all poisons. Did you think I wouldn’t know after being with you for so long?”
As expected, the Poison King was the Poison King.
“What a shame. I was planning to reveal that fact someday at a dramatic moment.”
“I was planning to reveal that I knew at a dramatic moment myself.”
“You succeeded. I was very surprised.”
Even though the Poison King knew I was impervious to all poisons, he was not as displeased as I had expected.
“I thought you would be very offended if you knew this.”
“Why would I be offended? You’re someone I’ve been waiting for a long time.”
“My immunity to all poisons?”
The Poison King’s eyes gleamed.
“I can test all sorts of poisons on you. Now, take this first and tell me everything. How it tastes, how poisonous it is, what would be good to add.”
I playfully stepped back.
“I am the Second Young Master. The man who will become the Heavenly Demon. I am a hellhound who ran across the training ground with you. I’m not a test subject.”
At my joke, the Poison King laughed. I had naturally assumed that because he was the Poison King, he would dislike immunity to all poisons. Only after living this second life did I come to realize that too could be prejudice and a preconceived notion.
“Then I will take it.”
I sat down cross-legged and took the Cheongi Pill. It truly was an extreme poison. If I had not been impervious to all poisons, I would not have been able to fully dissolve this vicious energy.
Its taste, too, was more bitter and poisonous than any spiritual medicine I had taken until now. It set a new record for bitterness and toxicity.
“You made it this bitter on purpose to give me a hard time, didn’t you?”
It was a complaint I truly could not help making.
Thus, I dissolved all the energy of the Cheongi Pill. Unlike other spiritual medicines, the Cheongi Pill’s energy seeped not into my dantian, but throughout the blood vessels of my entire body.
Now, even if I fell into ice-cold water, I would not die of the cold. Now, I would be able to bask in ordinary flames as if warming myself by a campfire.
I bowed deeply to the Poison King.
“I will never forget the grace of you bestowing such a precious spiritual medicine upon me.”
“Forget grace. Can you answer one question?”
“Even a hundred would be fine.”
“Who is the one you are trying to face?”
The Poison King had sensed it. The fact that there was some powerful goal behind my endless drive forward.
“If I discover Gillyeongcho, I will send word to you immediately.”
I had said, in a roundabout way, that I could not tell him. With that alone, I had given him half an answer. Because it was not “There is no such person.”
The Poison King’s gaze toward me deepened. Just as he was about to say something, Sangseon came and reported.
“Mabul has arrived.”
“Why has Mabul come here?”
Startled, the Poison King glared at me.
“As if everything else weren’t enough, you even made Mabul come to the Thousand Poisons Forest. What on earth did you do?”
It seemed Mabul had probably never once come to the Thousand Poisons Forest.
“If I had done something, he would never have come here. Because I did nothing, he came.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
The Poison King quickly tried to leave through the back door.
“Tell him I’m not here. That man Mabul makes me uncomfortable.”
I swiftly blocked his way.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“Next time.”
“If you grant me this favor, I’ll come running whenever you need me for poison experiments.”
The Poison King let out a sigh, then ordered Sangseon to bring Mabul in.
“If I don’t grant it, you’ll pretend to be busy that day, won’t you? Or run away through the back door.”
“You know I won’t do that.”
“That’s why I’m granting it. Fine, what favor is it? Do you want me to persuade Mabul to abandon the First Young Master and come to your side? Or should I poison him without a trace and bury him in the Thousand Poisons Forest?”
“It may be even harder than that.”
My request was something the Poison King had never expected.
“Please play with us for just one day.”