Chapter 482 - Rotten.
Right after Nahi regained consciousness.
The first thing I did was, naturally, place a restriction on her.
Nahi seemed to have trouble grasping the situation, but...
...after sensing the circumstances and the restriction placed upon her, she seemed to quickly realize what was going on.
'They say she's quite sharp.'
How Dang Deok had ended up selling her out and betraying her, and what had happened to her transformed body.
The expression on Nahi's face upon learning those secrets was truly a sight to behold.
Should I call it despair?
Or perhaps, the moment right before it?
There is something strangely compelling about the sight of everything on the verge of collapse.
'Not that it mattered much.'
Of course, watching her didn't stir anything like sympathy within me.
If it were going to, it would have happened long ago.
I approached Nahi, who was barely holding on to her sanity, grabbed her by the hair, met her eyes, and asked,
"I have something I need to do."
"..."
Perhaps because it was right after the Demonization had taken place.
Nahi's eyes were filled with nothing but fear.
Though I could sense a trace of awe, I had no desire to concern myself with such trivial emotions.
"Hey, you."
I looked at Nahi and spoke with a smile.
"Do you want revenge?"
Nahi's expression changed drastically at those words.
I happened to have something to ask her.
And there was a use for her right away.
******************
The first place I headed after putting Nahi in the lead was, naturally, the Poison King's chambers.
There had been an incident at the Dokcheon Lake, and there were matters I needed to verify beforehand.
Kuuuuuu-!
The process became somewhat violent.
A tremendous pressure spread through the spacious room.
A rough and ferocious aura began to consume the chamber, as if embodying the Poison King's state of mind.
"What did you just say?"
His greatly contorted expression showed that he was quite furious.
The pressure was enough to make one's skin tingle.
Though the Poison King's level was somewhat lacking compared to the patriarchs of the Four Great Clans, the sheer weight of his pressure was top-notch—a clear sign that he was not someone to be trifled with.
The strange thing was, if it were the old me, I would have thought I was done for and tried to smooth things over.
"That would be the third time. Shall I repeat it?"
Strangely, I didn't feel inclined to do so.
Perhaps it was my calm response that was the problem.
The Poison King's momentum flared even further.
"You truly overstep your bounds. Soyeomra, I knew you possessed outstanding talent, but I did not think you were so... lacking."
Jjjaeng-!
The teacup before him was crushed.
I had to grab and protect my own teacup; there wasn't any reason for him to break mine.
I hadn't finished my tea yet.
After taking a sip from the teacup in my hand, I looked at the agitated Poison King and spoke.
"Why don't you calm down and hear me out?"
"Calm down? Did you just tell me to calm down?"
Well, naturally, he wouldn't.
A mere outsider—and a brat at that—had come barging in saying he needed to kill their elders.
What patriarch could accept such a thing?
While I understood the Poison King's anger, I shifted my gaze to observe what I could sense from his demeanor.
'He smells of blood.'
Though the Poison King looked perfectly fine on the outside, I sensed something abnormal about him.
A fishy stench and an unidentifiable pungent scent brushed the tip of my nose.
It was a distinctive trace I had felt before.
'Did he come here from torturing someone?'
The Poison King seemed to have come straight from torturing someone until just before this audience.
If I had to guess, the victim was probably...
'The Black Dragon Sword?'
They would be the prisoners transported here.
Meaning he had come here directly from torturing them.
'Hmm.'
Thinking that, a question crossed my mind.
A figure of the Poison King's caliber, no matter how sudden his arrival, would never have come here without erasing the smell of blood, the faint killing intent, and the poison energy.
Yet the fact that I could feel such an aura now meant...
'My senses have evolved.'
My senses, including my energy perception, had grown more acute.
'What a shame.'
I should have taken the time to better understand the changes in my body.
It was regrettable that I hadn't properly assessed my condition after moving in such haste.
But it couldn't be helped.
"I have heard that you damaged our sect's treasure. The action you ought to take now is not this, but an apology for your rudeness. Am I wrong?"
I was also here because I had caused the Dokcheon Lake to evaporate.
'This is a bit unfair.'
Damage to the treasure? To be precise, it wasn't damaged—it had been annihilated.
The evaporation of the Dokcheon Lake?
Strictly speaking, that wasn't my fault.
It was correct to see it as something caused by Dang Jemun. Thinking of it that way, it was the ancestor of this house who had taken a shit.
'Yet I'm the one being suspected.'
That was the truly frustrating part.
"Damage? You must have heard the report. If you phrase it like that, I'm in a difficult position too."
I deliberately furrowed my brow as I faced the Poison King.
The reason I was acting this way was simple.
"I didn't do anything."
Through Nahi's testimony, the Poison King would have heard the story.
That I had done nothing, yet the moment I arrived before the lake, all the water suddenly evaporated.
"Ha."
Ah, of course.
"And you expect me to believe that?"
The Poison King wouldn't believe such words.
Looking at him, I smiled and said,
"Then, conversely, if I had blatantly made all the water in the lake disappear, would that be believable?"
"..."
"Are you suggesting I drank all the water to make it vanish?"
As I spoke with slight irritation, the Poison King's momentum wavered a bit.
Surely he couldn't think I actually drank it all.
In the first place, he probably didn't think it possible for all that water to disappear at once.
'Even I, who actually drank it, can't wrap my head around it.'
Where did all the lake water go after entering my body?
And where did all that poison energy end up?
Questions floated to mind, but quarreling with the Poison King took priority.
"If you're going to bring someone here and suspect them from the start, what exactly do you expect them to do?"
Ppadeudeuk.
It was the sound of the Poison King clenching his fist.
Was he regretting it? The fact that he had sent only a girl named Nahi and me alone?
I had wondered why he did that at the time.
But observing the Poison King's state, I roughly understood.
'No wonder he looked busy.'
It seemed that as soon as he had brought the members of the Black Dragon Squad, including the Black Dragon Sword, to the Dang Clan, he imprisoned them and began torturing them personally.
He probably wasn't alone, but with so many people, perhaps he was pressed for time.
'Or perhaps...'
...he was using them to accomplish something.
Having vaguely heard talk of the Dang Clan, I realized this household wasn't exactly clean either.
Ah, perhaps I already knew as much.
I already knew that among those called the righteous factions, few households were clean.
"If you were so suspicious, you should have come to see for yourself. Then everything would have been resolved."
I prodded the Poison King with these words.
Of course, even setting aside how busy he had been, I suspected his personal dislike of me had played a part.
But since things had turned out this way, it was decisively the Poison King's fault.
'There is no evidence. And the witness says it isn't my fault.'
Trying to detain me based on suspicion alone would yield nothing but circumstantial conviction.
Knowing that, I brazenly held my ground.
"In the first place."
The Poison King looked at me and asked,
"Why in the world did you go to see the lake?"
This was the source of his suspicion.
That I had gone so far as to ask a favor just to see the lake.
He was suspecting me because of this.
"I was simply curious."
"You must know that is far too flimsy a reason?"
"Then, should I fabricate a reason where none exists? Is that what you're asking?"
"If you are capable, try to do just that."
Kkiing.
The Poison King lowered his posture and met my eyes.
"Though evidence and proof are lacking, this is the Dang Clan, Soyeomra."
The pressure in his gaze was razor-sharp.
It meant that if I didn't explain myself properly, he could capture and deal with me even without evidence.
The Poison King was using the Dang Clan's standing in the martial world to pressure me.
However,
Deureureuk.
I, too, did not back down. Looking at the Poison King, I continued to wear a smile.
"That's right. This is the Dang Clan."
A clan that was one of the Four Great Clans and stood at the absolute pinnacle of poison arts.
Furthermore,
"A powerless clan that doesn't even know how rotten its own house has become."
The moment those words left my mouth,
The Poison King's fingertips shot out like lightning.
Kwak.
"!"
I grabbed his hand and blocked it.
At that, the Poison King's eyes widened to the size of lanterns.
It seemed he hadn't expected me to block it.
I was no different.
'Oh... I reacted to that.'
Not only did I react, but I blocked it.
Was it because I had ascended to the complete Transcendent Realm?
'Though I feel a bit sluggish because I'm using the Body Transformation Technique.'
I had forcibly reduced the size of my body. Moreover, because I had altered my state, it was as if I were wearing shackles.
Then what would happen if I released them and fought with all my might?
Could I defeat the Poison King?
A faint, useless desire to win stirred within me.
'Now isn't the time.'
I wanted to know how much stronger I had become, but now wasn't the time.
Releasing his arm slightly, I spoke to the Poison King once more.
"I apologize for my rudeness just now. My words were too harsh."
"...Soyeomra."
Even with my apology, the Poison King still looked furious.
Naturally—some wet-behind-the-ears whelp had brazenly declared that his clan was rotten.
However, I couldn't think of a more apt expression.
The Dang Clan was rotten.
Perhaps because it was a clan that had poured all its strength into the art of poison, it felt as though the rot had spread from the very roots, reeking of corruption.
It was completely different from the sweet fragrance I had sensed from their ancestors.
The Poison King's eyes held bewilderment, as if he hadn't expected me to catch on.
Looking at him, I asked what I had wanted to ask.
"Patriarch, do you know of... the Heavenly Martial Body Birth Project?"
"...!"
At my words, the Poison King's pupils shook.
Seeing that, I became certain that he knew of it as well.
"...How could you possibly...?"
The sight of the flustered Poison King was refreshing, if rare.
But this wasn't the end.
"Then, going further, Poison King... are you also aware that this project is still proceeding in secret?"
"Nonsense...!!"
Jjaenggrang-!
The Poison King rose, flipping the table and shattering the cups.
Worse still,
"You insult our main sect, and on top of that, you spew such baseless rumors. What exactly is your aim?"
Now, I could feel killing intent radiating from the Poison King.
Watching him, I thought,
Was that display genuine?
Was he acting that way because he truly didn't know?
'Not yet.'
It was still too early to judge that.
For now, I had to focus only on what Dang Jemun had mentioned.
"Patriarch."
The Poison King's eyes looked as if he would kill me at any moment if I didn't give a proper explanation.
Coupled with the killing intent that filled the room.
Breaking through that heavy pressure, I slowly rose to my feet as well.
"Even if you argue that it's true or not, Patriarch, what I said at the beginning remains unchanged."
The matter of whether I could kill the elders of the Dang Clan.
At first glance, it seemed as though I were asking for permission.
But that wasn't the truth.
"This is also the reason I came to Sichuan—to the Dang Clan itself."
That wasn't it.
I had originally intended to grab the secret manual and flee; as if I would come all this way to kill the elders of the Dang Clan.
It was a blatant lie.
But wrapped up nicely, it looked somewhat plausible.
'Because this was also Dang Jemun's wish.'
The request Dang Jemun had made of me before he left.
I had declared to the Poison King that I would kill the Dang Clan's elders for the sake of that request.
A declaration.
That's right.
This was a declaration.
"It is not a request for permission."
"...What?"
"It is a transaction of sorts, and an offer to assist you."
"Soyeomra. You seem unaware of how much patience it takes to keep myself from killing you with my own hands right now. Do you truly wish to die?"
"I am offering to cut away what has rotted and help cleanse you. Why are you so angry?"
"You insolent...!"
Just as the Poison King, unable to contain his fury, reached for me again,
Tuk.
I took something from my bosom and presented it before the Poison King.
At a glance, it looked like a pretty, light-green rice cake.
"...!"
The moment the Poison King recognized it, his movements stiffened completely.
Fortunately, he seemed to know immediately what it was.
It was wondrous.
A spiritual pill lost for hundreds of years—perhaps because he was a blood descendant of the Dang Clan, the Poison King recognized it at once.
The identity of the object was none other than...
"Th-this... is..."
"The Dokcheon Pill."
It was the Dokcheon Pill.
Upon hearing its identity, the Poison King's pupils shook madly.
Had one asked what the most lamentable lost legacy of the Dang Clan's ancestors was, nine out of ten would have named this.
An overwhelming spiritual medicine rivaling Shaolin's Great Return Pill.
To those without poison resistance, it granted immunity.
To those who practiced poison arts, it was an unparalleled miracle.
The spiritual medicine lost by the Dang Clan centuries ago was now before the Poison King's eyes.
Forgetting even his rage from moments ago, the Poison King looked at me with entranced eyes.
"This... you... how?"
"First, please sit back down."
After gently sliding the Dokcheon Pill toward him, I smiled at the Poison King and spoke.
"At this point, surely you can spare a moment to hear me out?"
"..."
"Including the story of the Dokcheon Pill."
I wasn't worried about the Poison King's reaction.
Whatever the clan's discourtesy, whatever my attitude had been,
once he had seen the Dokcheon Pill, there would be no other choice for him.
And sure enough,
Seureuk.
The Poison King sat back down before me.
Confirming this, I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.