Chapter 647: I’m Giving These to Our Poison King
Chapter 647: I’m Giving These to Our Poison King
Geom Mu-geuk scanned the interior and realized one thing immediately.
“It seems you haven’t been in this secret room for very long.”
So Jeong-rak stiffened. How had he figured that out?
Just as Geom Mu-geuk said, this was a newly constructed underground chamber. Originally, it had been located beneath a secluded warehouse within the clinic, but a few years ago, So Jeong-rak had rebuilt it under his own residence. The previous space had become too cramped and inconvenient for his growing ambitions.
Seeing the questioning look in So Jeong-rak’s eyes, Geom Mu-geuk gave a meaningful smile.
“Didn’t I tell you earlier? You were likely perfectly cautious at first, but you gradually grew complacent.”
So Jeong-rak couldn’t refute those words. He had indeed grown careless.
He was now a man respected by everyone. Even if this place were discovered, he could simply claim it was a private laboratory for researching and manufacturing antidotes. He could argue that an underground room was a necessary safety measure for handling dangerous toxins.
However, the situation had changed the moment Geom Mu-geuk began prying.
If the boy used his silver tongue to insist that this was a den for practicing forbidden Poison Arts, So Jeong-rak might truly be branded a villain.
Geom Mu-geuk was a man who had brought them all this way without drawing his sword once or even scowling. The key that had opened the door to this secret room was nothing more than that three-inch tongue of his.
So Jeong-rak quickly composed himself.
Stay calm. He must be trembling with anxiety too.
His gaze shifted from Geom Mu-geuk to the two Old Demons. The ones he had to win over now were them. No matter how much Geom Mu-geuk tried to bewitch them with flowery speech, it couldn’t possibly be more persuasive than the promise of his medicine.
If, by some impossible chance, the two Old Demons refused to listen, he intended to poison them and use the antidote as leverage to force them to kill the boy.
“The Young Cult Leader is mistaken. I will release your seals here,” So Jeong-rak said, walking toward a large stone bed in the center of the room. “Look at this. Haven’t I even prepared a bed specifically for the Great Regression Art?”
To any observer, it looked like a ritual altar prepared for such a purpose. The expressions of Ma Yeom-gun and the White Bone Soul Demon softened considerably.
However, Geom Mu-geuk’s eyes remained sharp.
“It looks more like a slab used for experimenting with Poison Arts.”
Ma Yeom-gun’s face hardened as he turned to Geom Mu-geuk. “What do you mean by that?”
“Look at the side over there.”
Where Geom Mu-geuk pointed, faint red stains remained. Recognizing them as bloodstains instantly, the two Old Demons’ expressions soured.
Geom Mu-geuk ran his hand over the stone bed. “I wonder how many people died here?”
The two Old Demons glared at So Jeong-rak with cold eyes. Hadn’t the physician just spoken as if he had prepared this bed specifically for them? The thought of undergoing the Great Regression Art in a place where people had rotted away from poison was hardly pleasant.
So Jeong-rak was inwardly flustered and annoyed, but he forced himself to remain calm.
“That is true. This is also the laboratory I use. I must perform the Great Regression Art in a familiar environment to ensure there are no mistakes.”
He didn’t deny it, but the tension in the room didn't dissipate. So Jeong-rak quickly changed the subject.
“The Great Regression Art will proceed without issue. The basic ingredients are already prepared, and the remaining materials will be brought in on the day of the ritual.”
At his explanation, Geom Mu-geuk looked at the surrounding herbs. “Is that so?”
The two Old Demons turned their gaze toward the boy.
“There is nothing here but poisonous herbs,” Geom Mu-geuk stated flatly. “Not a single ingredient for the Great Regression Art is present. He is deceiving you again, assuming you know nothing about medicine. You can tell just by looking at him. Even though a fight is about to break out in the very place where his ritual materials are supposedly kept, he’s just standing by and watching, isn’t he?”
So Jeong-rak spoke calmly to the two Old Demons. “They are basic materials that can be easily reacquired. Please, do not be toyed with by that treacherous tongue. He is merely sowing discord in a desperate attempt to survive.”
He had to kill Geom Mu-geuk as soon as possible.
“Now, since you have seen the location for the ritual, please kill the Young Cult Leader as promised. You two must judge for yourselves whom to trust.”
He was certain they would ultimately have no choice but to trust him. No matter how much Geom Mu-geuk tried to drive a wedge between them, he was the only one who could release their seals.
And what if, by some miracle, they believed Geom Mu-geuk?
Then everyone would die here together. They wouldn’t be able to withstand his hidden poisons. Of course, those Old Demons wouldn’t die alone, so he wouldn’t survive either. In the end, only Geom Mu-geuk would be left alive.
So please, don’t even think about attacking me, you old farts.
Geom Mu-geuk spoke to the two Old Demons. “Since you’ve come all this way, why not perform one last check?”
“What check?”
“I told you I’d show you the person who will perform the Great Regression Art with him, didn’t I? Why not see that person as well?”
So Jeong-rak couldn’t understand why Geom Mu-geuk was so obsessed with this location and that person. “Do not fall for his tricks!”
Geom Mu-geuk countered as if he had been waiting for that. “If this were a trick, I wouldn’t be asking to see another person. That would just mean I’m gaining one more enemy. Wouldn’t it?”
Since his logic was sound, Ma Yeom-gun and the White Bone Soul Demon nodded slightly.
So Jeong-rak was puzzled. Yes, he’s right. Why does he keep insisting on seeing him when it means facing another powerful foe?
In that moment, a chill ran down his spine. So Jeong-rak’s trembling gaze fixed on Geom Mu-geuk.
You… surely! Are you planning to gather us all in one place and kill us all at once?
The thought occurred to him that it might be true. How else could he explain the absolute composure on that face?
Then, a natural question arose. If he was that confident in his skills, why didn’t he just kill them back at the clinic? Why did he insist on coming here?
Whether it’s there or here…
At that very moment, So Jeong-rak realized the one difference between the two places. Something that was there, but not here.
The sleeping physicians, the patients, and their families.
The reason he asked to come here was because of them?
To avoid fighting there? If a battle had broken out at the clinic, many of those innocent people would have been injured or killed. Even if they fought just outside, the area was swarming with patients.
Only this place allowed for a fight where bystanders wouldn't get hurt. Had he really thought that far ahead in the midst of all this?
Ah! Come to think of it!
Earlier, to prove he possessed internal energy, Geom Mu-geuk had severed the poison lines connected between So Jeong-rak and the patients. Throughout their conversation in the clinic, Geom Mu-geuk hadn’t spared a single glance for the patients, so So Jeong-rak hadn’t noticed. Even when they left the place, he hadn’t looked back once.
Was all of that just to avoid letting his true feelings—his concern for them—be discovered?
That wasn’t the only surprising thing. He knew well enough that Geom Mu-geuk wasn’t an ordinary Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. He might normally value human life. So Jeong-rak himself had lived such a life on the surface.
But the important thing was the current situation. Anyone could wear a mask when things were going well. However, this wasn't a banquet; it was a life-or-death crisis. To wear a mask of indifference while actually worrying about the lives of strangers?
So Jeong-rak found it hard to believe. Even he, who had been treating them until this morning, hadn’t given the sleeping patients a second thought.
“Did you ask to come here because of the patients?”
Instead of answering, Geom Mu-geuk asked So Jeong-rak a question. “Aren’t those the people you’re supposed to look after?”
“What?”
“You’re a physician, and they’re patients. I assumed that’s why you readily brought us here?”
So Jeong-rak could tell. Geom Mu-geuk was rebuking him. He was the one who had used them as hostages rather than caring for them. He had even threatened that if he died, they would die too.
Geom Mu-geuk was touching the dragon’s reverse scale of a man who had lived his whole life as a respected physician.
“Stop the mockery.”
Geom Mu-geuk stared at him silently. That deep gaze felt as if it were peering into the depths of So Jeong-rak’s heart—into that pitch-black hole.
“I think it’s the same for Hwa Yul-cheong. Just as you satisfied the desires you suppressed by killing innocents in this basement, he must have something as well.”
Feeling a strange sense of shame, So Jeong-rak urged the two Old Demons. “Are you just going to keep watching?”
At that, the two Old Demons stepped forward. They had already decided to kill Geom Mu-geuk. That fact had remained unchanged from the beginning. It wasn’t because they trusted So Jeong-rak; it was because they didn’t trust the man who had come to persuade them.
Ma Yeom-gun looked at the White Bone Soul Demon. “I will handle this junior.”
However, the White Bone Soul Demon shook his head. “Let us do it together.”
“You want to perform a combined attack?”
To Ma Yeom-gun’s surprise, the White Bone Soul Demon nodded. Ma Yeom-gun knew that the White Bone Soul Demon was an old man whose pride was as strong as his own—if not stronger.
And yet he wants to use a combined attack?
Ma Yeom-gun had noticed that the White Bone Soul Demon had become less talkative and more cautious ever since he had peered into Geom Mu-geuk with his Dark Mind’s Eye.
“What did you see in that Young Cult Leader?”
A deeper darkness flowed from the White Bone Soul Demon’s eyes as he looked at Geom Mu-geuk.
The individuals the White Bone Soul Demon had seen until now had shown various forms. Some appeared as ferocious beasts, while others appeared as little children crying after losing their way. He had seen well-forged swords, and he had seen pure darkness.
But what he saw in Geom Mu-geuk was Geom Mu-geuk himself.
Geom Mu-geuk was looking down at him from above a pit. And he himself was standing in a pit just the right size for a coffin, looking up at him. This was the first time since he began using the Dark Mind’s Eye that he had seen not only his opponent but himself as well.
If there had been killing intent, hatred, or anger in Geom Mu-geuk’s eyes, he wouldn’t have been this bothered. But those eyes held no emotion. They were as indifferent as if he were looking at a pebble on the side of the road. That gaze was unpleasant and unsettling.
When he finished using the Dark Mind’s Eye, he felt as if he hadn’t peered into the boy, but rather into himself. The reason he had greeted him so compliantly was because of that intense discomfort.
The White Bone Soul Demon didn’t tell Ma Yeom-gun what he had seen, but his tension was clearly conveyed. Because of that, Ma Yeom-gun didn’t let his guard down either.
Watching this, So Jeong-rak was inwardly delighted.
It’s done.
As long as those two didn’t get careless, they could kill the Young Cult Leader no matter how great his martial arts were.
As the two Old Demons began to radiate their aura, Geom Mu-geuk raised his hand.
“Wait! Just wait a moment.”
So Jeong-rak almost screamed. What now! Please, just stop talking and fight! Fight and die!
This time, it wasn’t words, but an action. And a completely incomprehensible one at that.
“One step, two steps, three steps…”
Geom Mu-geuk was measuring the distance from one end of the wall to the other with his footsteps.
“What are you doing?”
An answer came out that made Ma Yeom-gun wish he hadn’t asked.
“My presence has grown larger recently. I’m having trouble gauging the space.”
So Jeong-rak looked at the two Old Demons. His expression pleaded with them to just get rid of him, but they were simply watching Geom Mu-geuk’s actions. He had made them that curious, and their lack of trust in So Jeong-rak kept them observant.
After measuring the width of the underground room, Geom Mu-geuk made one more request.
“Ah, I have more to do. It’s very important! It’s something that can settle the retirement of our seniors here.”
How could they not be curious when he put it like that?
Geom Mu-geuk picked up a leather pouch that had been lying in a corner and began packing poisonous herbs into it.
“Gihwa Herbs can only be found in the Outer Lands, yet you’ve gathered quite a lot. There are even Yin Wind Flower roots here. These are truly rare.”
Sensing an inexplicable foreboding, So Jeong-rak shouted. He thought the boy was up to some trick. “Hurry up and kill him!”
Instead, Geom Mu-geuk scolded him. “Then you’re a failure as both a physician and a poison user!”
“What?”
“You’re fine with these precious poisonous herbs being damaged in the middle of a fight? Are poisonous herbs nothing more than trivial things to you? You abandon patients, and you abandon herbs. What exactly are you?”
So Jeong-rak was so taken aback by the scolding that he couldn’t find the words to refute it. It was absurd. Who was the reason he was caught up in this mess in the first place?
Geom Mu-geuk focused on packing the rare poisonous herbs that were kept separately in the display cases.
“You just stay there. I might not be able to make poison, but I know exactly which herbs are precious. These are things you can’t buy even with money.”
So, his comment about settling their retirement meant that after killing So Jeong-rak, they should take these herbs and sell them. He wasn’t just playing a trick; Geom Mu-geuk was sincerely packing the herbs.
He stuffed the leather pouch full, as if trying to fit in every last leaf. They were truly precious poisonous herbs whose value was hard to even estimate in gold.
So Jeong-rak watched the scene, half-resigned. As the boy said, they could be damaged in the fight, so having them organized like that was actually better for him. What if the two Old Demons coveted the herbs after killing Geom Mu-geuk? That was unlikely, but even if they did, it wouldn’t matter. Would they really be that greedy when they needed their seals released?
“Seniors, please move aside for a moment.”
Geom Mu-geuk even gathered the poisonous herbs behind the two men. They were inwardly tense, wondering if he would launch a surprise attack, but Geom Mu-geuk focused solely on gathering the herbs.
Watching this, So Jeong-rak sneered coldly. “No matter how much you stall for time, no one is coming to help you. I appreciate you packing my herbs, though.”
“I’m sorry, but these aren’t for you.”
“What?”
“I’m giving these to our Poison King.”
So Jeong-rak looked dumbfounded. In other words, the boy meant he would win this fight. At the same time, rage surged within him. He was going to give these precious herbs to the Poison King of all people?
Geom Mu-geuk tossed the leather pouch full of herbs to him.
“If you want to live, hold onto that and stick close to the wall. If you step forward, you die.”
Then, Geom Mu-geuk turned toward Ma Yeom-gun and the White Bone Soul Demon and drew his Black Demonic Sword.
“Now, you’ve waited long enough. Let’s have a conversation in the style of our Cult.”