“Who are those three people?”
Instead of answering Geom Mugeuk’s question, So Jeongnak gave him a suspicious look.
“This poison isn’t the sort one can easily fall victim to even if one wishes to.”
He stared intently at Geom Mugeuk and asked,
“Who are you people?”
So Jeongnak truly seemed not to know Geom Mugeuk’s identity.
Did he really not know? Or was he pretending not to?
From what showed on the surface alone, there was no way to tell what sort of man he was.
Geom Mugeuk had told Jin Hagun that those bastards would know even that he had met the Alliance Leader.
He thought this So Jeongnak might know him as well. And if he did not, then even that would be part of the plan intended by those behind the scenes.
That was how little Geom Mugeuk underestimated this opponent.
“I am Geomyeon of the Seodopa Sect in Gansu. This is my elder brother.”
For now, Geom Mugeuk revealed his identity using the name and sect he always used when disguising himself.
“How did he come to be poisoned?”
Geom Mugeuk answered honestly.
“We were drinking tea at the teahouse across the street when my brother suddenly complained of pain and collapsed.”
There would be people who had seen him run out of that place carrying his brother on his back, so it would be confirmed soon enough.
“But is it all right to waste time like this? My brother is going to die!”
Even at this moment, Geom Muyang was gritting his teeth and enduring the pain.
Yet even while looking at him, So Jeongnak did not seem particularly urgent. He seemed to know that it was not a poison that would take his life immediately. And then came the decisive remark.
“Endure it. The more it hurts, the more beneficial it will be for you.”
With those words, it became clear. He knew exactly what this poison was.
“Ah! To think I would see this poison here. I had never heard of it being used in this era, so I thought it was a lost poison.”
Geom Mugeuk saw an irrepressible surge of emotion pass over So Jeongnak’s face.
So Jeongnak explained to the physicians who had followed him in.
“The poison this man has suffered is called Omang Sindok. It is made by mixing powdered Pal Saek Ogong with the inner core of a Taeum Hyeolmang.”
The Pal Saek Ogong was a venomous centipede said to possess eight colors and be as long as a grown man was tall, while the Taeum Hyeolmang was a serpent spirit beast that lived only in regions where extreme yin energy flowed.
In other words, this Omang Sindok was a poison made by combining two spirit beasts, either of which one might go a lifetime without ever seeing.
Hearing his explanation, Geom Muyang was inwardly moved.
‘The Poison King truly gave me a precious poison.’
The pain had been so intense that he had forgotten the Poison King’s words—that once the treatment was finished, his resistance to poison would become stronger. Since it was such a precious poison, it must have such an effect.
Of course, Geom Muyang knew. He had not administered this poison because he liked him. It was probably because of his relationship with his younger brother.
So Jeongnak’s explanation continued.
“Once poisoned by Omang Sindok, one suffers excruciating pain as if being burned alive for seven days, and on the final, seventh day, one dies while feeling the blood vessels throughout the body freeze over.”
So Jeongnak, who had been explaining to the physicians, turned his head to look at Geom Mugeuk and said,
“It is an extremely deadly poison against which no antidote in the world has any effect.”
Geom Mugeuk threw himself flat on the ground, clutched his leg, and pleaded.
“Please save my brother! He is my only brother. Please tell me you are one of those three people!”
Then So Jeongnak pulled Geom Mugeuk to his feet.
“That is right. I am one of those three.”
Geom Mugeuk rejoiced and grabbed his hand.
“What a relief! Physician! Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
Even when Geom Mugeuk touched him, he did not reject it at all. Rather, he gripped Geom Mugeuk’s hand tightly and said,
“In that sense, your brother is truly a fortunate man. There are exactly three people in the Central Plains who can detoxify this poison, and he was poisoned near the place where one of them is.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk released the hand he had been holding and took a step back.
“Then my brother was poisoned because of you, Physician?”
“What? What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”
Not only So Jeongnak, but also the physicians behind him stiffened. Their expressions said, How dare you say such a thing to So Jeongnak?
Geom Mugeuk, however, raised his voice instead.
“No matter how foul my brother’s temper is and how many enemies he has, would he just happen to be struck by such a rare poison in the teahouse right in front of Myeongsim Clinic? This is someone challenging you, Physician. They’re asking, Can you detoxify this poison or not! Isn’t that right?”
When Geom Mugeuk instead pressed him like that, So Jeongnak could not refute him.
“Take responsibility. Save my brother! If my brother dies, I’ll let everyone in the world know! I’ll tell them you let my brother die!”
Even in pain, Geom Muyang, who was lying down, shook his head. They really were on the same side, but how could he be that shameless?
“Save my brother!”
So Jeongnak was flustered. Even though it was a situation where he would have had every right to burst into anger and drive them out.
“Very well. I will detoxify him.”
So Jeongnak had the physicians who had come with him bring medicines, medicinal herbs, and the tools needed for treatment.
If one only looked at him now, he seemed like an innocent and pure man who had spent his whole life studying medicine.
Even while forcing his way and throwing a fit, Geom Mugeuk did not miss a single look in So Jeongnak’s eyes or a single word he spoke. He watched how he reacted and how he spoke.
Where did that confidence come from, that he did not mind at all even when his leg was grabbed and his hand was seized? Are you truly an ordinary physician?
A little while later, the physicians brought the medicines, herbs, and medicine bottles he had told them to bring.
“Great fortune must accompany this treatment. It is such a difficult detoxification that it will fail if the herbs are combined even slightly incorrectly.”
So Jeongnak closed his eyes for a moment and organized his thoughts.
Geom Mugeuk had naturally assumed that he would send everyone away or enter some room and make the antidote alone before coming out.
“Now, listen carefully to what I say from this point on.”
So Jeongnak began making the antidote while explaining it to the physicians.
At that sight, Geom Mugeuk and Geom Muyang looked at each other. Even amid his pain, his older brother seemed truly surprised by this scene, his expression full of astonishment.
“You said this is a poison that only three people in the world can detoxify, yet you are teaching everyone how to make it?”
Not only the physicians, but even he and his brother were listening, and so were the other patients.
The reason So Jeongnak gave was even more unexpected.
“It is not a secret method for making poison, but a secret method for making an antidote. What would I gain by hoarding it? As a physician, what pride is there in being the only one who knows how to detoxify something?”
Then he said to the physicians,
“When it comes to saving people, do not keep secret methods of your own. Spread them widely, and then spread them again, so that even one more life that need not die may be saved.”
“We will keep it in mind!”
The physicians’ faces were full of respect.
He combined the ingredients carefully. Of course, there were critical moments in the process. When the combination did not go as he intended, he would sink into thought for a long while.
Geom Mugeuk truly had never imagined that he would come here and watch him make the antidote. And that while even passing it down to the physicians.
If the quantity was even slightly wrong, he made it again. If the ingredients were not fresh, he had new ones brought and made it again. If the color he had in mind did not appear, he mixed it again.
He concentrated so intensely that his whole body was soon drenched in sweat. Perhaps because he was large, he sweated a great deal as well.
After a full two double-hours of effort, the antidote was completed.
So Jeongnak took a deep breath and administered the antidote to Geom Muyang.
Everyone watched tensely.
As the pain subsided, Geom Muyang’s face became somewhat more at ease.
“It succeeded.”
At that, all the other patients there cheered and applauded.
“The antidote must be taken three times over three days. I will come again tomorrow morning.”
So Jeongnak, completely drained, staggered as he walked. The physicians supported him by both arms and walked out with him.
Watching his retreating back, Geom Mugeuk looked down at Geom Muyang and said,
“Somehow, I feel like we’ve become the villains.”
With a face that now seemed a little more alive, Geom Muyang said in a weak voice,
“We are the villains.”
* * *
The next day as well, So Jeongnak combined the medicine with utmost care.
If anything, it took even longer than on the first day.
He asked the physicians questions and, in the middle, even had them do the mixing themselves. He truly was sincere about educating the junior physicians.
“You should make it yourself! What do those people know!”
Even when Geom Mugeuk shouted, it was no use.
“It is fine because they are making it as I instruct.”
“What do you mean, fine? Can’t you see his hand trembling?”
Despite Geom Mugeuk’s protests, he did not give up on making the junior physicians do it.
“Who are the other two people you said can make the antidote?”
At that, So Jeongnak had them stop mixing for a moment and looked at Geom Mugeuk.
“Of course, the Divine Physician of the Martial Alliance must be included, right?”
Though he knew that was not the case, when he casually mentioned him, So Jeongnak shook his head.
“If we speak only of medical arts, there is no one who can surpass Senior Divine Physician of the Martial Alliance or the Demon Physician of the Demonic Cult. But just because one’s medical arts are the best does not mean one can detoxify poison the best as well. That is a separate matter.”
Then a name that was extremely welcome to Geom Mugeuk’s ears flowed out.
“There is someone called Chungui. She treats illnesses using poisonous insects. If it is her, she should be fully capable of treating this poison.”
Yes, how could she be left out, when she had made him immune to all poisons?
If his brother had truly been in an urgent situation after being struck by a deadly poison, he would have carried him on his back and run to her with Swift Steps.
‘Lady Chungui! You are doing well, aren’t you?’
He wondered whether Pyo Gwang, who had become her disciple, was massaging her shoulders properly.
“Who is the other one?”
After a brief pause, he spoke. He was far more cautious than when he had mentioned Chungui earlier.
“The Poison King of the Demonic Cult.”
Geom Mugeuk carefully observed his expression and words when he mentioned the Poison King.
“Do you know the Poison King?”
“I have never seen him. But I have heard of his reputation.”
“What sort of person is the Poison King?”
As if he did not even want to think about it, he once again instructed the physicians on how to combine the medicine.
“If you keep doing this, I’ll carry my brother and go to Lady Chungui. Where does she live? Do you think I can’t find the Demonic Cult?”
Still, it was no use.
And so, the antidote for the second day, which So Jeongnak made together with the junior physicians, was completed.
He confidently administered the completed antidote to Geom Muyang.
Then his complexion returned even more than yesterday.
“It is a success.”
Geom Mugeuk was relieved.
“I am sorry for shouting for no reason earlier.”
“It is all right.”
“Tomorrow, I will make it. Together with that patient over there with the broken arm.”
At that joke, So Jeongnak smiled brightly. With even a smile added, he truly looked like a good person. So much so that Geom Mugeuk felt sorry for doubting him.
“I will say it again, but your brother truly is a fortunate man.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward his brother.
“I had always thought my brother was a very unlucky man.”
He was someone who had been pushed out of the position of successor to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult because of his younger brother, so how could he be fortunate?
Then Geom Muyang said quietly,
“I think I am fortunate too.”
Others would think he said it because he had met So Jeongnak.
But Geom Muyang’s answer held another meaning.
‘Having a younger brother like you is also good fortune.’
Because even after losing that succession struggle, he had not died and was still alive like this.
Given his personality, even if he had lived, it would not have felt like living. But because he had lost to such an extraordinary opponent, he had been made to feel not particularly wronged.
“Then I will see you tomorrow for the final treatment.”
That day as well, Geom Mugeuk went around Myeongsim Clinic and examined the place.
The patients were out of their minds from pain, and the physicians were out of their minds from busyness. So Jeongnak was busy, and the other physicians were busy too. Patients flooded in endlessly. Amid the crossroads of life and death, there was no gap for suspicion to seep in.
He looked here and there, but could find nothing suspicious. The only suspicious person in this Myeongsim Clinic was himself.
* * *
“How is your body?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Geom Muyang nodded. The pain that had felt as if his whole body were burning had vanished without a trace. After taking the final, third antidote, he was completely recovered.
Over the three days, So Jeongnak had not made a single mistake.
“You are truly a divine physician!”
When Geom Mugeuk exclaimed in admiration, So Jeongnak smiled.
Geom Muyang also expressed his gratitude to him.
“Thank you truly. How should I repay this grace?”
Then Geom Mugeuk said from beside him,
“Why ask? We have to repay him with money. How much is the treatment fee?”
Considering the poison, he thought the price would be whatever the man named.
“Just go. If anything, I’m the one who should be grateful for the chance to detoxify such a precious poison.”
So Jeong-rak patted Geom Mugeuk on the shoulder.
“I was truly moved by how much you care for your older brother. Do continue to get along well.”
After smiling so brightly, So Jeong-rak turned away.
On the first day, it had been a large-built physician walking toward them, but now, it was an immortal walking away.
Geom Mugeuk and Geom Muyang left Myeongsim Clinic and set off toward their lodging.
“At least with So Jeong-rak, we misjudged him.”
He was, in the truest sense, a divine physician sent by the heavens.
If it had been any poison other than the Omang Divine Poison, then they really would have spent three entire days suffering in vain.
But thanks to the effects of the Omang Divine Poison, he had gained a powerful resistance to poison.
Just then, unexpected words flowed from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.
“That man is definitely someone who uses poison arts.”
Sensing that he was not joking, Geom Muyang stopped walking.
On the first day, he had been in too much pain to think straight, but even through that, he had watched and listened to So Jeong-rak carefully.
As far as he could judge, there had been nothing suspicious about him. If anything, that was what made him suspicious.
But he was definitely someone who used poison arts? Why on earth?
Geom Mugeuk calmly explained his reasoning.
“When he confirmed that the poison hyung had been struck with was the Omang Divine Poison, he was genuinely delighted. That joy was clearly not a physician’s joy, but the joy of a master of poison arts.”
Geom Muyang nodded, but he thought that could not serve as proof that So Jeong-rak was a poison practitioner.
“He’s famous for detoxification, so couldn’t he have been happy because it was a rare poison?”
When Geom Muyang spoke cautiously, Geom Mugeuk offered another piece of evidence.
“Do you remember what he said on the first day? He said he thought the Omang Divine Poison had been lost because it hadn’t appeared in the present age. Saying that a poison has been ‘lost’ is the sort of thing said by those who use poison arts.”
Geom Muyang tilted his head.
“He’s someone with great interest in poisons. He could have said it that way.”
That was not the only point Geom Mugeuk found suspicious.
“He explained the poison in such detail, so why didn’t he mention that?”
“Mention what?”
“The person capable of administering this poison. If he could say there were only three people capable of detoxifying it, it would have been natural for him to say there was only so-and-so who could administer it.”
This time, Geom Muyang nodded as well.
“He didn’t say it because he already knew who it was?”
That guess was plausible. But all three points were only circumstantial; there was no definite physical proof.
“Aren’t you finding him more suspicious because you decided from the start that he was the one behind it?”
“No. It’s definitely him.”
For the first time, Geom Muyang felt as though he was seeing a flaw in his younger brother. It felt as if Geom Mugeuk was forcing everything to fit just to push through his own argument.
‘So you had this side to you too.’
He did not dislike it. Until now, Geom Mugeuk had only shown an unbearably perfect side. Yes, he needed to have gaps like this for me to help him.
As they walked on like that, Geom Mugeuk suddenly spoke as if something had occurred to him.
“Ah, there was one more thing.”
“What is it?”
You don’t have to pretend to be so perfect with me.
“When he patted my shoulder earlier as we parted…”
Geom Muyang assumed it would be another circumstantial suspicion.
But shocking words flowed from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.
“He poisoned me.”
“!”
After staring blankly for a moment, Geom Muyang shouted.
“You should have said that first!”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 641