< Episode 432 > Lake of Regret (2)
Dokwang wore an expression suggesting he was displeased with my request.
Since I had come first thing in the morning to make such a request, it was only natural that it would appear presumptuous from the Family Head’s perspective.
I judged that he was not someone who would refuse simply because he was in a bad mood.
And that was exactly as I had predicted.
“From now on, you must be careful of the poison energy.”
Following the warning, I raised my internal energy.
In this life, my resistance to poison was virtually nonexistent, so I had to be somewhat careful.
Guided by another, I was currently heading toward Dogihosu (毒理湖水).
A curiosity that had emerged in the Sacheon Tang Family back in the days when Dokjeolcheon Dangjemun was Family Head.
Dogihosu (毒理湖水).
A mysterious lake that endlessly produced poisonous water.
While it might not be an extreme poison, the fact that it was an infinite poison gave it considerable value, and it was also added to the poisons produced by the Tang Family.
I had heard that in the past, they had earned considerable profits selling poison through this means, but—
due to a treaty with the Martial Arts Alliance, exporting it became impossible without the Alliance’s permission, and it became a place of mere historical interest.
And.
‘This is where the Baekma Stone sleeps.’
The secret stronghold where the Baekma Stone that Cheonma had given me in my previous life lay sleeping.
That place was right beneath Dogihosu.
‘To think I’d come here of my own two feet.’
I had been thinking of coming someday to snatch and devour it, but I hadn’t known I would attempt it before even coming of age.
The fact that my growth was faster than expected was a good thing, but—
‘Because of that, I’m going to die.’
I hadn’t known it would trip me up like this.
It was something I hadn’t known—that such rapid growth and increase in energy would damage the vessel.
What was more, since most of the energy wasn’t something I had consumed because I wanted to, it was all the more unfair.
‘That’s my life for you.’
Just as always, since things had never gone as expected, this time was no different.
As I walked, I asked the one guiding me ahead.
“I suppose the Family Head isn’t coming with us?”
“My master said he has an urgent schedule….”
“Mm, I see.”
The speaker was a woman. One I had seen before.
Back when I had gone to Hanam to dine with Dokwang.
She was one of the assassins stationed throughout the inn to test me, and among them, she had appeared to be the most skilled.
I had never heard her name from Dokwang, but I knew her name was Nahi.
“Is it alright for you alone to guide me?”
“…If I am not to your liking, I shall call someone else.”
“That’s not it. It’s quite a treasure, so I was wondering if it’s alright for only one person to watch over me like this.”
While Dogihosu was now considered just a peculiar curiosity, still, it was one of the representative treasures of the Tang Family, so I wondered if it was acceptable to assign only one person as both guide and guard.
To call this trust felt somehow amateurish.
‘Moreover, Dokwang didn’t come either.’
If this were normally a favor being granted out of gratitude, the Family Head should at least guide me personally for appearances’ sake.
Dokwang hadn’t even appeared with the excuse of a tight schedule.
‘Hmm.’
Then at the very least, there should be the Young Family Head or Dangsoyeol.
The fact that they hadn’t assigned any blood relatives meant….
‘Something’s up?’
It seemed something was going on after all.
I wondered if it was due to the issue of the transported criminals, but another thought had crossed my mind.
‘Has the Tang Family’s plan truly come to an end?’
The Heavenly Martial Body birth plan that Dangdeok had fallen victim to.
Combined with thoughts of the future Dokbi, I had often worried about this.
‘Cheonma’s actions also weigh on my mind.’
Back when he had trampled Sacheon in an attempt to wipe out the Tang Family.
To the point of Cheonma’s very actions—burning the land of Sacheon and attempting to verify what lay beneath this place.
At the time, I had simply thought Jegalhyeok had some idea and was carrying out such an operation, but—
‘…Did Cheonma know something?’
The thought that perhaps that wasn’t the case flickered through my mind.
The thought that there might be more to the story that I hadn’t properly known.
“This is the place.”
I came to my senses at Nahi’s voice.
Having followed blindly for a few minutes, I was now standing before a small lake.
My eyes widened slightly upon seeing the lake.
‘…This place.’
A lake suffused with a pale green light.
It wasn’t particularly large.
With its faint hue and tranquil ripples, it simply looked like a beautiful lake.
Having imagined a place bubbling over and filled with a foul stench since it was said to be a lake brimming with poison—
contrary to my expectations, the lake was an exceedingly beautiful sight.
‘Was it originally like this?’
When I arrived here with Cheonma.
Back then, it was already in a state that could not be called a lake.
All the water had drained away, and all that remained was a deeply dug pit.
Moreover, the area at the time was melting or rotting away due to the poison energy Dokbi had spread.
Looking at such a beautiful sight now, I couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
The moment I took a step toward the lake, Nahi spoke to me.
“…You must not approach beyond a certain distance.”
“Is all of that water poison?”
“Yes.”
“But for that, it looks far too clear.”
Clear.
So clear that one could see the bottom even from afar.
All of that is poisonous water?
‘There’s no smell at all.’
With that thought, I relaxed my qi barrier slightly and circulated a bit of internal energy through my body.
‘…Hm.’
Then I felt something entering my body.
Very faint, but this was definitely poison.
Feeling this, I spread my qi barrier again, circulated my internal energy to expel the poison, and looked at the lake once more.
If just breathing at this distance filled me with poison to this degree…
the time I could endure if I plunged my body directly in would be….
‘At best, in my current physical condition….’
A quarter-gak at most.
‘That’s cutting it close.’
It was a shorter time than I had thought.
‘So I have to find the entrance to the secret stronghold within that time.’
Back then, I had simply followed where Cheonma led, so all I knew was a vague location.
For the secret stronghold to have remained undiscovered despite the lake being so clear, it was undoubtedly concealed by a formation.
‘Hmm…’
As I was repeatedly contemplating what to do—
“Young Master.”
Nahi approached me, slightly bowing her head as she spoke.
“The time my master set has come. You must return now.”
“Already?”
“Yes.”
Haha.
Look at this guy.
Did he really intend to just give me a quick look?
To tell me to leave when not even half a gak had passed since I arrived?
‘This is because I came to him first thing in the morning, isn’t it?’
No matter how I looked at it, he was clearly being petty.
He was a narrower-minded man than I had thought.
Indeed, asking to suddenly see such a lake was probably suspicious.
I hadn’t thought he would let me look at it for long.
And.
‘It doesn’t matter if he imposed a time limit.’
I had expected as much anyway.
Slowly, I turned to Nahi and spoke.
“Hey.”
“…Please speak.”
“Want to make a deal?”
At my sudden words, Nahi looked at me with a questioning expression.
I briefly appraised the woman’s face.
She was an ordinary woman with light green hair and black pupils.
“…What in the world do you mean, all of a sudden…?”
“Ah, it’s nothing much.”
Grinning at her, I continued.
“I need to briefly go into that lake. Could you pretend not to notice?”
“…?! What are you—!”
Startled by my words, Nahi tried to speak, but—
I cut her off mid-sentence.
“In exchange.”
There was something I had once asked Dangdeok.
Dangdeok was a smarter bastard than expected, but even so, it should have been difficult to pinpoint all of Dokwang’s movements and devise an operation.
Yet contrary to expectations, he had seemed to know exactly when and how Dokwang would move.
It was truly strange.
How could he have done that?
There was no need to ponder this for long.
Because, put another way, it was obvious.
He must have planted a spy.
It couldn’t have been otherwise, given that there were certainly eyes and ears near Dokwang.
So I asked Dangdeok.
Who his eyes and ears were.
And the bastard had told me the information about the spy.
“I won’t tell Dokwang that you’re a little bat. How about that?”
“…!”
That woman right in front of me, Nahi, was exactly that person.
Nahi flinched at my words and immediately tried to draw up killing intent.
I swung my hand.
Slap—!
“Kgh!!”
Nahi’s head whipped around from the blow to her cheek, and her internal energy was instantly disrupted.
I immediately grabbed her by the throat, pulled her in, and locked eyes with her.
“I’ll ask you once more.”
I didn’t reveal even a hint of killing intent.
“Are we making a deal, or not?”
“…How… how did….”
“How did I know?”
How did I know?
“Dangdeok told me everything. Quite kindly, in fact.”
This was the truth. Because I had truly heard it from Dangdeok.
When I spoke the truth, Nahi suddenly shrieked.
“That can’t be! My brother…! He would never say such…!”
Slap—!
I struck her again for being noisy. Nahi collapsed onto the floor with a thud.
I stomped on her chest and spoke.
“Urk…!”
“What are you going to do about it if you don’t believe me, you wench.”
“Krrrrgh….”
“Don’t shout so annoyingly. I might get pissed and snap your neck without realizing it.”
From her swollen red cheeks, blood dripped from her lips.
In some ways, it was an utterly miserable sight, but I was not bothered by such things.
“It doesn’t matter if you refuse. I’ll just kill you, take care of my business, and tell Dokwang that you, a spy, pushed me into the lake.”
I had known from the very beginning that Nahi would come as my guide.
I hadn’t expected her to come alone, but—
that was because I had expected that if Dangdeok was captured by my guards, Nahi—unaware of the situation—would end up sticking to me.
Thanks to that, the situation had become considerably easier.
‘Turning this wench into a thrall would be fastest, but…’
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the energy to do so.
At the very moment I had to head into the lake, corrupting Nahi—who appeared to be at the consummate peak—into a thrall would cause problems later.
With my internal energy depleted, enduring in the lake would be too difficult.
That was why I had chosen this method.
I would turn her into a thrall once I had the energy to spare, but—
since now wasn’t the time for that, this was my own kind of considerate kindness.
I put a bit more strength into the foot stepping on her.
“Urgh…!”
Grinning, I asked Nahi once more.
“Well? Are you not going to do it? Or are you?”
I hoped she would answer quickly.
Because even if she thought it over, there was only one choice anyway.