Chapter 478 - What Has Rotten.
Fwoosh.
The blue flames clinging to the pillar fragments looked truly vigorous.
They looked so fiercely powerful that they were even flamboyantly tactless.
"..."
Grrr.
In the meantime, the gaze of the creature that had been Jeok Susa was sharp.
Those eyes brimming with betrayal stung somewhat, but.
'...Isn't life all about living to help one another....'
I had to do my best to ignore that gaze.
Ah, come to think of it, was calling it "human" life too much of a stretch now?
Since neither of us was human, after all.
Keh heh.
'...Fuck.'
I cracked a lame joke to myself, but that did nothing to improve my mood.
—Huin.
Dang Jemun called out to me.
The frost subtly laced within her voice plunged deep into my chest.
"Uh.... This just sort of.... Haha."
Trying to brush it off with an awkward expression, I clamped my mouth shut once, then spoke again.
"...I'm sorry."
When I offered my apology, Dang Jemun nodded her head slightly.
And after glancing at the collapsed pillar.
—As expected, no matter how I look at it, you resemble Shin Cheol greatly.... It would have been better if it weren't in this regard.
"No, that's a bit...."
[How could I resemble such a lacking wretch!]
Frowning, I looked at Noya, who had cut me off and burst into anger.
This old man?
"Why are you saying what I was going to say, Noya?"
[Of course I should say it. Is it even plausible coming from you?]
"Of course I should say it. What makes you so great, Noya...."
To be honest, Elder Shin was indeed great.
The figure known as the Mount Hua Sword Immortal was called the most revered Venerable One of the Mount Hua Sect.
Moreover, he was treated as a hero who had saved the Central Plains.
So he was on a completely different level from a turncoat like me, but.
'I don't want to be compared to this human who hasn't an ounce of tact.'
Separate from the martial artist known as the Mount Hua Sword Immortal, being compared to the human named Shin Cheol was unacceptable.
At that, Elder Shin scoffed.
[Heh heh. You stunted runt.]
"...What?"
He launched personal attacks that got on my nerves.
What annoyed me even more was that I didn't have much of a retort.
"...I have grown somewhat, you know?"
I ground my teeth and spat out.
My body had actually changed, and I'd grown about half a handspan taller.
Ah, of course.
[So what. Are you taller than me?]
"..."
The problem was that I was shorter than this old man, but.
'Damn it... if you're going to make me bigger, you could've at least made me taller.'
I was taller than in my previous life, but compared to the towering figures around me, I fell far short.
Even now, I was smaller than that bastard Woohyeok or Yeongpung.
So the least I could expect was for this stubborn old man to be smaller than me.
Why the hell was this human so tall? Nothing ever goes my way.
"Are you making personal attacks because you have no other argument?"
[I played dirty. What are you going to do about it?]
Feeling that shamelessness, I let out a deep sigh.
"...Well, it's not like I can do anything about it."
[Hmph.... Now that's more like it.]
"You're an old man who's never even held a woman's hand; I suppose I have to understand that foul temper of yours."
[...!]
Thud!
At the words I spat out with a smirk, a loud churning sound erupted from within my body.
[Heh heh... you impudent whelp....]
"You started it, Noya."
At that moment, as we were growling at each other and grinding our teeth.
—Enough.
At the cold voice piercing my ears, Noya and I both shut our mouths at the same time.
—...Haah.
The sigh sounded ominous.
—You two really are exactly the same....
[No, we're not the sa—]
—Be quiet. Shin Cheol.
[...]
When Dang Jemun added another word, Noya withered.
It was utterly satisfying.
'Judging by his state, I suppose she knows everything now?'
[...What.]
'That Lady Dang Jemun is not a man.'
[Why is your form of address like that. What's with this "Lady" business.]
Seeing that he wasn't denying anything else, it seemed he had definitely learned that Dang Jemun was a woman.
What could they have talked about?
I was curious what conversation they'd had that left Noya so deflated, but.
Rather than that, there was something else I had to look at first.
—Huin.
"Yes. Senior."
By the time I answered Dang Jemun's call, she had already approached my side.
Dang Jemun, drawing near, looked at the Dokcheon Pellets filling the stele and spoke to me.
—As I said before, you may take the Dokcheon Pellets.
"...Thank you."
I'd planned to take them even without her saying so.
I'd worked myself to the bone to obtain these; of course I was taking them.
If anything, if she'd told me not to, I would have burned everything down, Byeokgo be damned.
The moment Dang Jemun gave permission, I reached out to grab the Dokcheon Pellets.
Then I realized there was one thing I hadn't asked.
"Senior."
—Yes.
"May I take this as well?"
At my words, Dang Jemun's head turned.
What I was pointing at was the White Demon Stone beside the Dokcheon Pellets.
—This?
Dang Jemun tilted her head.
If I recalled correctly, this was something she had kept after killing a hundred-grade demonic beast to show off to Elder Shin.
Since this had been my original objective in coming here, I cautiously asked.
'Do you know about this too, Noya?'
[What are you going on about.]
'I prepared this to show you, Noya.'
[...I already heard.]
The pitying tone of her voice was unusual.
Had she really been beaten up?
Unlike before, I couldn't see Noya's face now, so I couldn't tell.
I could only inwardly pray that his eyes had been bruised purple.
—Does Huin need this?
"Yes.... I'd like to have it."
I'd really like it.
Separate from the Dokcheon Pellets piled up there, the White Demon Stone also harbored no insignificant energy when compared individually.
It probably contained even more than a single Dokcheon Pellet.
'If I'm going to take things, I might as well take everything.'
If I was going to be greedy, I might as well be brazen about it.
Perhaps that shameless remark was the problem.
Chuckle chuckle.
Suddenly, Dang Jemun began to laugh, covering her mouth.
"...Senior?"
I looked at her with slightly fearful eyes, knowing I had slightly overstepped the line.
Fortunately, she didn't seem offended, speaking to me without wiping away her smile.
—Shin Cheol said as much.
"Noya did?"
—He said you'd surely try to take everything. He was right.
"..."
My brow furrowed involuntarily at Dang Jemun's words.
What on earth had that man said.
He couldn't even help me and instead laid the groundwork in advance. Clicking my tongue inwardly, I confirmed this.
'I should give up.'
Let's pass on the White Demon Stone for now.
Ah, of course, I'd pass on it for now, but I planned to come back for it later.
I couldn't just leave this here.
As I was thinking that and licking my lips in regret.
—If you're going to take it, you may.
"Huh? Really?"
My eyes widened at Dang Jemun's words. She was permitting this?
—Yes. If you wish for more.
As she spoke, Dang Jemun's gaze swept past the walls and around the pillars.
—You may take these Noctilucent Pearls as well.
"..."
Damn.
She seemed to have noticed that I'd been coveting the Noctilucent Pearls.
This was rather awkward.
"...Ahem."
As I was coughing to dispel the awkwardness.
—However.
Dang Jemun's fingertip flicked the White Demon Stone.
Not that the White Demon Stone moved.
Her fingertip simply passed through the stone.
Seeing this, I was once again reminded that she was not a living being.
—There is something I wish to request of Huin.
"..."
A request.
That weighty word made me step back.
—Huin?
"I won't accept it. I don't need this."
From the standpoint of someone who had experienced nothing but dogshit situations after getting involved with so-called heroes of previous generations, the word "request" annoyed me just hearing it, wondering what kind of shit they'd try to dump on me next.
"...I'll just leave quietly. It was an honor to meet you, Senior."
Hugging the Dokcheon Pellets roughly to my chest, I hurriedly walked away.
To get outside at once.
"Damn it, but where's the exit?"
Grrr.
As I was looking around for the exit, the creature that had been Jeok Susa approached and stuck out its head.
Seeing that, I nodded.
"Good. Find the door for me. You're good at finding things."
Grrr?
I said that, recalling how this one had shown me the entrance to Byeokgo at the lake when I was searching for it.
But it only responded with an expression of complete incomprehension.
"...Tch."
Does this one not know either?
Just as I was thinking I'd have to find my way out myself.
—Dang Soyeol.
Stiff—
At the name piercing my ears, my head whipped around.
"...What did you just say...."
My heart sank coldly.
It was an unexpected name to hear from Dang Jemun's mouth.
Filling my gaze with that sense of dissonance, I looked at Dang Jemun.
—It concerns that child. Is Huin not curious?
For some reason, she wore an expression full of sorrow.
Looking into Dang Jemun's eyes, I thought.
It was strange enough that she spoke of Dang Soyeol, but why was she making such an expression?
It was obviously no ordinary matter.
I wanted to drop everything and run away right now.
But I couldn't take a step.
The scale was always placed within my heart.
And this time too, the weight had tipped to one side.
Feeling that, I suppressed my emotions and answered Dang Jemun.
Like this, there was only one answer I could give.
"...What is it? This request?"
Hearing my question, Dang Jemun approached me.
—I have but one request.
Her expression was still dark, her eyes unreadable, but.
—...When Huin goes outside....
The words flowing from her mouth were quite shocking, unlike her calm expression.
******************
Saaaaaah....
The sound of ripples trembling in the wind.
The weather was still at high noon, and the lake still maintained its beautiful color.
It was a scene unchanged from before.
"..."
The eyes of the woman watching this were trembling without cease.
'What?'
The woman seemed to pay no mind to her swollen cheeks or the blood trickling down, staring only at the lake.
The woman was none other than Nahi, the secret guest of the Dang Family.
'What on earth... is the situation?'
A quarter of an hour had already passed since Guyangcheon, whom she had guided, had suddenly leaped into the lake.
It was strange enough that the man named Guyangcheon had discovered her true identity.
He had said he needed to enter the lake for a moment, but he had truly jumped in and wasn't coming out.
'Did he really just die in there?'
From Nahi's standpoint, she couldn't help but think this.
'Really... suicide...?'
There was no other way to interpret suddenly jumping into poisonous water.
No matter how profound the Poison King's resistance to poison was, enduring a dive into the center of that lake would be no easy feat.
Given that, since Guyangcheon, who appeared to be an ordinary martial artist, had thrown himself into the lake, it could only be seen as suicide.
'What do I do?'
Nahi bit her lips repeatedly.
She had been the one to guide Guyangcheon.
But if Guyangcheon had jumped into the lake and died.
'...What am I supposed to say?'
She had no idea how to report this to the Poison King.
Even if Guyangcheon had requested to enter the lake, she would obviously be asked if it had been right to leave him be.
And she couldn't possibly mention the circumstances that had led her to allow it.
'...Huuu....'
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
It was a situation that perfectly described Nahi's predicament.
'Orabeoni....'
Biting her nails, Nahi thought of her older brother.
From the day they had joined hands to take revenge on this filthy house, she must have endured all sorts of hardships until now.
'Why on earth...!'
Why had such an older brother betrayed them for a young junior?
To Nahi, it was incomprehensible.
And unbelievable.
There must have been circumstances. There surely had to be.
'I have to think... what do I do?'
At this rate, it was truly over.
Nahi had to think urgently.
Because she couldn't die like this.
'At the very least.... I have to destroy that "underground" before I die.'
The rotted, rotten truth of the Dang Family.
She had to destroy the underground of the Dang Family, which wore the mask of a prestigious house while committing filthy deeds, before she died.
That was.
The path for her brothers and sisters who had died before her.
Drip.
Having torn at her nails so much, blood trickled from her thumb.
Plip.
The moment that drop of blood fell to the ground with a tap.
Saaaaaah...!
An anomaly suddenly began to occur at the lake.
"...?"
Nahi's eyes widened as she witnessed it.
"What...?"
She urgently rose and headed toward the lake.
"...Huh?"
The closer she got to the lake, the stronger the signs of the anomaly.
Normally, the poison should grow thicker the closer she approached, but for some reason, she couldn't feel anything at all.
"What on earth...."
What in the world was happening? As Nahi approached right up to the lake with trembling eyes.
Kwaaaaah—!
Suddenly, the lake began to surge violently. It was a whirlpool.
A rough vortex appeared in the lake, as if being sucked into the center.
And without stopping, the lake water gradually began to decrease.
"...Wh... what?"
Dokcheon Lake, the precious treasure of the Dang Family, was disappearing.
Nahi exclaimed in confusion at this bizarre situation, but the lake didn't stop.
About ten seconds passed.
In that brief span of time, the lake water had vanished entirely.
Dokcheon Lake was called a lake, so the amount of water couldn't possibly have been small.
Where had all that water gone?
Without hiding her trembling hands, Nahi surveyed the center of the lake.
Since that had been the center of the whirlpool, she judged something would be there.
And at the place she checked with her own eyes.
"...Huh?"
At the center of the lake, not a trace of water remained.
Someone could be seen standing still and shaking off his body.
"Ptooey."
He roughly spat, as if something had gotten in his mouth.
And then began to look around his surroundings.
The figure who surveyed the completely hollowed-out space of the lake for a moment.
"Ah."
Soon, as if confirming the situation.
"...Fuck... I'm screwed."
He spat out a thick curse.