‘What do I do now?’
Ogyo, having fled Zhangye, hid in the mountains for the time being.
And, hanging upside down from a tree, she sank into thought.
This was an old habit of the wild dog’s.
Even after being scolded by her old master, Dan Gohyeong, she would hang upside down from a tree.
And sometimes, when she did not want to hear Yohwa’s nagging, she would hang upside down from a tree in the yard.
Whenever something painful, difficult, or exhausting happened, Ogyo always did this.
She did not know why, but staying like this calmed her heart, and people who saw her would burst into laughter and often forgive her.
‘The Jinyiwei have put a bounty on me. That woman is definitely still chasing me even now.’
Just thinking about it sent chills down her spine.
She had fought Yang Uisin several times so far, but she had never once been able to beat her.
That woman was a demonic beast wearing human skin.
Of course, over the past three years, Ogyo had trained repeatedly and learned new martial arts as well, but even so, she still did not feel like she could defeat Yang Uisin.
No.
Just like Jo Wihyeon.
Avoiding that woman was the best plan too. But unlike Jo Wihyeon, that woman still had a long way to go before she died of old age!
“Ugh, ugh…”
Dangling beneath the tree branch, Ogyo groaned.
Originally, she was not the type to use her head like this.
She never thought deeply about anything.
She had lived that way all her life.
If something was troublesome and tiring, she ran away.
If something was unpleasant to think about, she forgot it.
Whenever an unbearable disaster appeared, she always chose escape.
If the other party was weaker than her, she barked; if they were stronger, she flattened herself to the ground. It was truly an attitude befitting a wild dog.
If she stayed in these mountains, even Yang Uisin would not be able to find her.
That much was certain.
The Ogyo of the past would undoubtedly have chosen that path.
But now, she could not run away.
Because she had to keep her promise to Yohwa.
And so, for the first time in her life, Ogyo began to use her head in order to overcome a difficulty.
Leaving aside, for now, the fact that her enemies were chasing her, what was she supposed to do from here on?
Yohwa had asked her to find a deadly poison that could kill her soul.
For that, she had to complete the mind method of Myriad Poisons Return to the Origin.
Myriad Poisons Return to the Origin was a mind method that took in poison and refined that poison as internal energy.
At a glance, this seemed simple, but anyone who actually tried to do it would run into a wall.
A poison too weak would be of little help to one’s internal energy, while a dangerous poison might take one’s life.
Only someone thoroughly versed in poisons could complete this mind method through precise control.
Ogyo’s old master, Dan Gohyeong of the Miaojiang Five Poisons Sect, was exactly such a person.
The reason Dan Gohyeong had set her sights on Ogyo was because of her innate constitution.
Ogyo had the qualities to become a vessel for the Poison King Body.
It was a realm that even Dan Gohyeong herself had not reached.
Once one reached the Poison King Body, no poison would work on them anymore, making it possible to experience all the deadly poisons under heaven and raise one’s internal energy without limit.
If it were completed, becoming the number one under heaven would not be a distant dream.
“Gyo, come sit here.”
“Why, Master?”
When Ogyo obediently approached and sat beside her, Dan Gohyeong gently stroked Ogyo’s head as though petting a cat.
“Training is hard, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I feel like I’m going to die. Master, can’t we stop?”
“Endure it. Fortune comes to those who endure.”
Her master always said that.
Ogyo endured and endured according to those words, but since there was no sign of fortune coming at all, she had eventually run away from the Five Poisons Sect.
“Only someone like me can temper you. Not just anyone can do it.”
“Because you’re strong, Master?”
“Of course. I am strong. But if you only achieve great success in the mind method, you will be able to surpass even me.”
All people of the jianghu strive in their own ways to cultivate strength and transcend their realms.
They do not even begrudge throwing away their lives over many long years.
For what?
Ogyo could never understand.
If one could live comfortably, was that not enough for a life?
Dan Gohyeong was a terrifying female devil whose infamy resounded throughout the jianghu, and everyone feared her.
Even the disciples of the Miaojiang Five Poisons Sect trembled at a single glance from their sect master.
Yet that Dan Gohyeong spared no affection only for Ogyo.
When teaching Ogyo, she always put in sincere effort, and in order to preserve her disciple’s body, she did not hesitate to feed her expensive pills.
But Dan Gohyeong, who had been born wicked, did not understand the human heart.
She cherished her disciple in her own way, but that was nothing more than a warped affection.
To endure harsh training, one needed a reward equal to it.
A person’s will was powerful, but it did not spring forth from just anywhere.
Ogyo did not yearn to grow strong like other people of the jianghu.
Among those who used poison arts, there was no one who did not long for the realm of the Poison King Body, but Ogyo was an exception.
Because she had no strong desire to achieve it, Ogyo ultimately failed to endure the painful training and ran away.
Even though a new realm dreamed of by countless people had been right before her eyes.
In that sense, the fairy Yohwa was truly remarkable.
She had coaxed and sweet-talked this wild dog, who had lived only chasing trivial desires before her eyes, and made her constantly chase the moon that was herself.
Now, even in the wild dog’s heart, there was something called longing.
There was a reason to endure painful and difficult things.
Will surged within her heart.
‘What was it Master said back then?’
Ogyo furrowed her brow and desperately forced her dull head to work.
“Once the Poison King Body is complete, let us go out into the jianghu together.”
“What will we do in the jianghu?”
“Conquest.”
Dan Gohyeong grinned.
“There are several sects in this jianghu that use poison arts. Have you heard of them? The Tang Clan of Sichuan, the Myriad Poisons Sect of Guizhou, the Yanluo Sect of Qinghai, the Tianluo Sifang of the Western Regions…”
Dan Gohyeong stroked Ogyo’s cheek with the tip of her long fingernail.
At her bewitching smile, Ogyo felt a chill.
“We will subjugate them and seize their poisons. Myriad Poisons Return to the Origin can only display its true worth when it has experienced all the poisons under heaven.”
“And after that?”
“We take all under heaven into our hands.”
“And after that?”
When Dan Gohyeong looked down, Ogyo was gazing up at her master with eyes full of pure curiosity.
A soft smile settled on Dan Gohyeong’s lips.
“I see… Then perhaps we shall go to the Forbidden City, drive out the powerless emperor, and I shall sit in that seat.”
“Master, you’re going to become the emperor?”
“Hehe, you adorable thing. If your master becomes emperor, I shall make you the mistress of the Twelve Palaces.”
The Inner Twelve Palaces were the places where the imperial consorts resided.
To become their mistress meant becoming empress, but naturally, Ogyo did not understand her master’s joke.
‘Myriad Poisons Return to the Origin can only display its true worth when it has experienced all the poisons under heaven…’
Ogyo repeated in her mind the words she had heard from her master long ago.
‘…And for that, subjugate the sects that use poison arts and seize their poisons.’
Surely, that was the answer.
‘Can I do it?’
If she were together with her master Dan Gohyeong, perhaps, but conquering great sects alone would not be easy.
That did not mean she could return to the Miaojiang Five Poisons Sect and ask her master for help, either.
Dan Gohyeong was certainly furious to the very top of her head over Ogyo’s escape.
Having seen how her master dealt with the sect’s traitors, Ogyo did not dare think of going back.
She had no choice but to do it herself.
“Good.”
At last, her course of action had been decided.
So thinking things through really did work once you did it.
She had broken out in a cold sweat from using her head, but having reached a conclusion on her own, she felt proud.
Good. What was there to hesitate over now?
She would immediately charge into those sects and kill and seize to her heart’s content!
“…But I don’t know the way.”
How could this be?
Ogyo groaned. It seemed it was not yet time to come down from the tree.
“…”
Just then, she suddenly heard signs of someone in the distance.
The sound of feet kicking off the ground, the noisy rustling of brush…
It seemed someone was sprinting along the mountain path.
Ogyo pricked up her ears and focused on that presence.
They were still far away, but they were approaching this way at high speed.
Could it be a pursuer from the Jinyiwei?
Ogyo’s eyes flashed open, and she immediately pulled herself up onto the tree branch.
She took out a throwing dagger, gripped it, lowered her stance, and waited for the enemy to reveal themselves. Before long, a person appeared beyond the brush.
It was a young man.
What he wore was a blue uniform.
Officers of the Jinyiwei wore ornate purple robes, so for now, he was not one of them.
But that did not mean she could feel relieved.
He might be someone who had come chasing her for the bounty, like that trio she had met in Zhangye.
When the man saw Ogyo up in the tree, his eyes widened in surprise.
“What are you doing up there? Are you a monkey?”
“If I’m a monkey, then you’re a dung beetle.”
“Haha, I was joking, so don’t get so angry.”
The man smiled good-naturedly and waved his hand, but Ogyo did not lower her guard.
He had a sword at his waist, so he was probably a martial artist.
The sound of his feet coming up the mountain had been light and fast.
Judging by his rather excellent movement technique, he did not seem to be some small fry like those three brothers.
In a fight, taking the initiative was more important than anything.
When Ogyo assumed a posture to kick off the branch, the man was startled and tried to stop her.
“W-wait! I haven’t even told you who I am yet, so why are you trying to kill me right away?”
“You chased me.”
“I did chase you, but I didn’t exactly come to capture you.”
His words were vague.
Her master Dan Gohyeong and Yohwa had both said in unison that in the jianghu, one must beware of the cunning.
“You are foolish and innocent, perfect for being deceived. Gyo, do not trust others easily. If you are going to trust easily, suspect easily instead.”
“Ogyo, if a strange man smiles and starts talking to you, don’t respond. Nine times out of ten, he’ll be a bad person.”
“Why don’t you come down first? Let’s talk for a bit. Ah, I have some candy I got from the inn earlier. Want one?”
“…!”
“And if that man even tries to coax you by giving you something sweet, absolutely do not fall for it! That person is surely a very sinister man who covets your beauty!”
“Uh, um…? You don’t like sweets? Why are you growling like that?”
“Die!”
“No, wait!”
When Ogyo charged at him with the throwing dagger in hand, the man retreated in alarm.
Without delay, Ogyo pursued him and swung the throwing dagger again and again.
A throwing dagger, as its name suggested, was a weapon meant to be thrown.
It was short and light, making it unsuitable for close combat.
However, the story was different if she had burrowed into the opponent’s space like this.
Ogyo was small, and her core was extremely well trained, so her movements were truly like those of a flying beast.
From a low posture like a leopard, she approached quickly and aimed for the legs, and even when an attack missed, she maintained the rotational force and flowed into her next movement like water.
Every attack aimed for joints and vital points, making each and every one extremely dangerous.
Moreover, Ogyo’s throwing dagger was coated in poison, so even a small scratch could not be overlooked.
“Calm down a little!”
Though flustered, the man retreated and dodged all of Ogyo’s consecutive attacks.
When the distance between them widened, Ogyo planted her foot and threw the dagger with all her strength.
The man barely twisted his head aside to avoid the dagger flying toward his eye.
For an instant he felt relieved, but when he saw Ogyo make a motion of pulling with her left hand, he quickly ducked.
At the same time, the dagger grazed past above his head.
‘He dodged it!’
Ogyo pulled the thread to retrieve the throwing dagger, then flipped backward to retreat and leapt lightly onto a nearby tree branch.
When the opponent was stronger than expected, put distance between you first.
This, too, was something she had learned from Yohwa.
“You, you… What were you going to do if I hadn’t dodged that just now? Were you really trying to kill me?”
The man shouted, his face gone pale as though his heart had turned cold with fear.
He had been a talkative man from the start.
But why was he not counterattacking?
Even after things had come to this, the man still had not drawn the sword at his waist.
Could he be an expert?
The footwork he had shown when dodging her attack just now had been anything but ordinary.
How long had it been since she came down the mountain, for enemies to appear one after another like this?
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t bully me!”
“I’m the one who got bullied, you little brat! If I hadn’t noticed beforehand that you use thread, that throwing knife would’ve pierced my throat long ago, and I’d be meeting King Yama by now!”
When the man instead flew into a rage, only then did Ogyo grow a little flustered and furrow her brows.
“……Who are you?”
“You’re asking that now?”
As if his tension had finally eased, the man let out a long sigh.
“I am Wi Pungso of the Namhae Sword Sect.”
“…….”
“Hey, you. I just told you my name.”
At the man’s remark, Ogyo gave a short, “Ah.”
When someone gave their name, you gave yours in return—what was known as exchanging names.
“……Ogyo.”
“Right, so you’re Ogyo.”
Wi Pungso smiled broadly.
Why did he keep smiling? Suspicious.
Yohwa had been right after all when she said to keep away from smiling men who approached you.
With his arms crossed, Wi Pungso stared intently at Ogyo as if expecting something.
Ogyo was disgusted by that gaze.
“Why are you staring?”
“Ogyo, after hearing my name, you have nothing to say?”
“……No.”
Could he perhaps be an enemy of hers? Was that why he had chased her?
Ogyo now had a vague understanding that, in the past, she had lived committing all manner of wicked deeds.
It was because, while living with Yohwa, she had learned from her about morality, good and evil.
It was her first time seeing this man’s face, but perhaps he was a relative of someone she had harmed in the past.
If so, this would become troublesome.
“Nothing to say…… How can that be?”
“W-what are you acting like this for?”
When Ogyo asked, shrinking back a little, Wi Pungso shouted as if he could not believe it.
“If you’re of the gangho too, you must have heard my name at least once. Heoryu Wi Pungso of the Namhae Sword Sect! One of the three great disciples of Sangak Jin Mugyeong! Have you really never heard of me?”
“…….”
So it was self-praise.
“I don’t know.”
“You really don’t know? Think carefully. Heoryu, Heoryu. At the mere sound of that martial name, villains tremble and women blush.”
Of course, it was a bluff.
But Ogyo was half-convinced.
Because it was undeniably true that this man’s martial skill was rather outstanding.
‘……Is he really famous? How strong is he? Is he stronger than Master?’
If that was the case, there was no way she could stand against him.
But this man had chased her all the way into these mountains, so he certainly would not let things pass just like this.
‘I can’t die in a place like this.’
If she did not want to die, she had no choice but to use all her strength to bring down the enemy.
Ogyo tightened her grip on the throwing knife.
Seeing the look in her eyes change, Wi Pungso clicked his tongue.
“You little— I said we should talk……”
As if he had no choice, he drew his sword.
“Fine. For us of the gangho, this is a means of conversation, after all.”
“……I told you, I’m not of the gangho.”
There really was no getting through to this one.
The two of them looked at each other and thought the exact same thing at the same time.