Chapter 649: It’s Not Easy to Let Someone Live
Chapter 649: It’s Not Easy to Let Someone Live
"You want to talk?"
It was certainly a better opening than "How should I kill you?", but So Jeong-rak wasn't pleased in the slightest.
He could talk to anyone else in the world, but he had no desire to speak with Geom Mu-geuk. The more they spoke, the more he felt cornered, as if a noose were slowly tightening around his neck.
"Is there anything left for us to discuss?"
His tone had shifted to one of respect. It had to. After witnessing the preceding battle, who would dare act out of spite?
"When circumstances change, the conversation changes with them," Geom Mu-geuk replied calmly.
So Jeong-rak spoke up, testing the waters. "If you're going to kill me anyway, just get it over with."
Of course, he didn't mean a word of it. So Jeong-rak intended to escape this situation by any means necessary.
However, Geom Mu-geuk’s reaction was not what he had hoped for.
"You are a man of reputation, so I suppose I can grant you that much."
Geom Mu-geuk, still seated, drew his Black Demonic Sword. Without a moment's hesitation, he thrust the blade toward So Jeong-rak’s throat.
"Wait!"
At So Jeong-rak’s desperate cry, the cold steel stopped just inches from his skin.
Geom Mu-geuk turned the sword flat and tapped him on the head with it, his expression clearly saying: Don't play games with me.
Who was he trying to fool? If So Jeong-rak were truly someone who didn't fear death, he would have unleashed every remaining toxin in his arsenal the moment the two Old Demons fell. For someone who claimed to be ready for the end, he was pressed far too tightly against the wall.
So Jeong-rak glared at Geom Mu-geuk with resentful eyes.
"You mock me even in a situation like this."
Geom Mu-geuk spoke his name softly.
"So Jeong-rak."
It was just a name, but So Jeong-rak felt his spirit wither and his body shrink.
"Do you want to experience what it’s like to actually be mocked?"
So Jeong-rak didn't dare say another word.
If poison didn't work, he had to coax, soothe, flatter, or threaten—anything to survive. He stole a glance at Geom Mu-geuk. Would any of those tactics work on this man? Had he ever felt this helpless in his entire life?
Then, Geom Mu-geuk’s calm voice drifted over to him.
"I don't care about your circumstances or what kind of life you've lived. You tried to kill me, and you tried to kill my friend. That alone is reason enough for you to die."
So Jeong-rak blurted out, "But they didn't die, did they?"
Geom Mu-geuk laughed at the pathetic plea. "True, they didn't."
So Jeong-rak pinned his hopes on that reaction. He believed Geom Mu-geuk had a weakness: he wasn't ruthless enough. He just had to exploit that soft heart. He had to walk out of this secret room alive. He had something he absolutely had to do once he got out.
"What about the people you killed while experimenting with poisons here?" Geom Mu-geuk asked. "What about trying to start the Great Demonic-Orthodox War and causing countless deaths?"
So Jeong-rak even had excuses for those sins. "I have saved countless patients throughout my life."
"Only to hide your true identity."
"Regardless, didn't those patients live? You didn't die, the patients lived, and the war hasn't happened yet. Can't that serve as atonement for my crimes?"
Before Geom Mu-geuk could bring up those who had perished in the poison experiments, So Jeong-rak spoke quickly.
"I thought I would be calm and dignified in my final moments. I never imagined I would say something like this." He let out a heavy sigh and added, "I don't want to die."
Geom Mu-geuk gave an honest answer. "I'm sorry, but it's not easy to let you live."
Even in this answer, So Jeong-rak saw a glimmer of hope. A truly ruthless man wouldn't have even said that much; he would have been cutting off limbs and gouging out eyes to extract information.
"I'm actually grateful for your honesty. It's better than saying you'll spare me only to kill me at the last second."
So Jeong-rak stared silently at the now-empty space. The bed, the desk, the cabinets, the poisonous herbs, and the two masters who were supposed to protect him—all were gone. His gaze was as pitiful as his current predicament, but his mind was still racing with plans to escape.
"Young Cult Leader, are you truly immune to all poisons?"
"Are you that curious?"
In truth, the moment Geom Mu-geuk chewed the Heavenly Yin Ten-Thousand-Poison Herb, there was no need to ask, but he wanted to hear it from the man's own mouth. It was simply that unbelievable.
"Should I eat something else to prove it?"
So Jeong-rak sighed. "The heavens are truly indifferent."
To think that a man with immunity to all poisons—a rarity seen perhaps once in a century—would be entangled with a poison master like himself.
"I suppose I'm less of a threat to you than a gatekeeper at the Murim Alliance."
And it wasn't just simple immunity. This was a natural disaster-level immunity, possessed by a man with the skill to kill Ma Yeom-gun and the White Bone Soul Demon in a single strike.
"Killing me will cause major problems," So Jeong-rak threatened weakly. "Many people saw you visit the physician today. If I die, it will eventually be revealed that you killed me. The Orthodox warriors in Wuhan won't just sit idly by."
Physician So Jeong-rak. He had believed this identity would be his greatest hope for salvation. Geom Mu-geuk’s cold reply shattered that hope instantly.
"I think nothing will happen even if you die."
It was a comment that truly gouged at his pride. For a moment, strength returned to So Jeong-rak’s eyes.
"You said it, didn't you? That there are far more people I didn't save than those I did? But you say that because you don't know how heavy a debt of life is to a martial artist. There are many who would stand up for me."
Geom Mu-geuk nodded as if conceding the point. But his reasoning lay elsewhere.
"It's not because I'm dismissing your influence. It's because of the Heaven’s End Recluse."
"Because of the Heaven’s End Recluse?" So Jeong-rak stared at him, confused.
Then, Geom Mu-geuk asked an unexpected question. "How many people have you killed for the Heaven’s End Recluse so far?"
The Young Cult Leader truly was a master of catching people off guard. So Jeong-rak hadn't expected such a direct strike. If he hadn't killed anyone, he could have answered easily. But he had killed many. How many years had he spent protecting that man's secrets?
Flustered, So Jeong-rak couldn't find an answer. He should have immediately denied it, but he was so overwhelmed by Geom Mu-geuk’s pressure that his mind couldn't keep up.
"You must have killed many," Geom Mu-geuk remarked.
As So Jeong-rak prepared a belated excuse, a thought flashed through his mind. Wait, maybe this is actually better? Geom Mu-geuk would think he needed him to uncover the Heaven’s End Recluse's true identity.
"Just tell me why the Heaven’s End Recluse makes it okay to kill me!"
Geom Mu-geuk revealed the cold logic. "Because your death will be buried under the scandal of the Heaven’s End Recluse."
"!"
"The matter of the Heaven’s End Recluse will be concluded soon. Once it's revealed that he is a two-faced villain, the Murim will be consumed by his story. Once that's properly exposed, you become a mere footnote. 'Ah, Physician So was the one who helped the Heaven’s End Recluse?' No one will be angry about your fate. They'll think it's only natural that you died, given the shocking things he's done."
Rage erupted within So Jeong-rak. His entire life was being completely negated. However, he knew all too well that getting angry now wouldn't help his situation in the least.
"Perhaps you're right."
Feeling stifled, So Jeong-rak stood up and paced the secret room. Then, leaning against a far wall, he asked, "But can you really uncover the Heaven’s End Recluse's other side? He is a different kind of man than I am."
He meant it. Was it because of his poison arts, or just his nature? No matter how much he lived the life of a kind physician, he couldn't hide the temperament that occasionally flared up. He felt that might be why Geom Mu-geuk had seen through him.
But the Heaven’s End Recluse was different. Sometimes, So Jeong-rak even wondered: Is this man really on the same side? That was how thoroughly the man lived the lie of the Heaven’s End Recluse.
Geom Mu-geuk replied as if he weren't worried at all. "Everyone has a dark hole in their heart. If he's hidden it that well, his hole is likely even larger than yours."
If he couldn't survive as Physician So Jeong-rak... then this next question would be his only lifeline.
"What is it you want to ask me?"
Finally, the question he had anticipated came.
"Where is the person who will perform the Great Regression Art with you?"
Yes, So Jeong-rak had expected him to be curious about that. He had tried everything to lure that person here. For now, that person was the rope that would save his life.
Geom Mu-geuk already knew things he hadn't been told. "That's the person who persuaded Ma Yeom-gun and the White Bone Soul Demon, isn't it?"
So Jeong-rak’s eyes widened in surprise. "You really are...!"
He had wondered why Geom Mu-geuk hadn't asked about the person who persuaded them before killing them. It seemed Geom Mu-geuk already knew it was the same person who would perform the Great Regression Art.
"How did you know?"
"Because I don't believe those two suspicious men were persuaded by words alone."
Even after coming here, Ma Yeom-gun and the White Bone Soul Demon hadn't fully trusted So Jeong-rak. That was why they had wavered at Geom Mu-geuk’s words. They were not people who trusted others by nature. If someone had made them break the Forbidden Demonic Order...
"Their internal energy is too profound for them to be perfectly controlled by the Soul-Seizing Technique, but he could have used enough of it to make them participate in this task."
He had to be a master of the Soul-Seizing Technique. The people who had committed suicide with the forged hidden weapons earlier must have been under his influence as well.
So Jeong-rak stared at Geom Mu-geuk in silence. The admiration in his expression served as his answer.
"You will never be able to find him."
"What do you mean?"
So Jeong-rak said something incomprehensible. "Because every meeting with him is like the first."
Geom Mu-geuk looked at him, questioning his meaning.
"Every time I met him, he was a different person."
"Are you saying he's good at disguises?"
So Jeong-rak shook his head and dropped a bombshell. "He is the same person, but every time I try to recall him, the memory shifts. Sometimes he was fat, sometimes he was gaunt. There were even days when I wondered if he had been a woman."
Geom Mu-geuk understood. The man was using the Soul-Seizing Technique to distort the memories of those he met. He was no ordinary foe. This was exactly why So Jeong-rak had revealed the information so readily.
"He can only be contacted through me."
Geom Mu-geuk wouldn't kill him because he would surely want to catch that man.
"I was going to release the two Old Demons' seals with him. Though you didn't trust us."
Geom Mu-geuk stared at him intently. "Would you have stopped at just releasing the seals?"
So Jeong-rak flinched.
"While releasing the seals, you would have also implanted Gu poison to make them obey you."
There was no way they would spend a fortune to release the seals just to let them go. They would have used them as subordinates until the day they died.
So Jeong-rak shook his head. How did this Young Cult Leader know everything? How could he have made such a man his enemy?
Geom Mu-geuk slung the leather pouch of poisonous herbs onto his back. So Jeong-rak tensed. This was the moment of life or death.
"You have to keep me alive to meet him. And I'm not a threat to you anyway, am I?"
After a moment's thought, Geom Mu-geuk made a proposal. "If you let me meet him, I'll let you live."
"I will."
Geom Mu-geuk added one more condition. "Can you live the rest of your life as a physician?"
"I will."
"You must never use poison arts again."
So Jeong-rak nodded. "The life of a physician wasn't so bad."
Geom Mu-geuk’s gaze softened. "Physician, your patients must be waiting. Let's head out."
So Jeong-rak was truly overjoyed. It wasn't just because he had saved his life. Now, the second plan will proceed.
He had prepared a backup plan in case things went wrong with Ma Yeom-gun and the White Bone Soul Demon. It was a plan centered around himself. A mass-slaughter poison would be released in Wuhan, killing thousands. And the blame would fall on the Poison King, who was currently in the city.
You damn Demonic Cult bastards! You'll pay for looking down on me!
He would gladly die with a smile then. So Jeong-rak smiled brightly, and Geom Mu-geuk smiled back.
As they walked side by side toward the passage, Geom Mu-geuk pulled something from his robe as if he had just remembered it.
"Oh, right. This."
Geom Mu-geuk pulled out a small pouch.
Pffft!
As he opened the pouch, a cloud of smoke billowed between them.
"A gift from the Poison King."
The moment he heard those words, So Jeong-rak was struck with terror. He didn't even have time to speak. The poison was already rapidly invading his blood vessels.
So Jeong-rak frantically pulled out an antidote and swallowed it. One wasn't enough, so he pulled out another powder and scattered it in the air, then opened another vial and drank it.
"Gah...!"
Blood sprayed from his mouth. The antidotes weren't working. He took another, and then another.
Amidst the swirling mixture of poison and antidotes, Geom Mu-geuk waved his hand through the powder and spoke.
"The Poison King said that the true essence of poison arts is detoxification."
But So Jeong-rak could not detoxify the Poison King's toxin.
Thud.
He collapsed, bleeding from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears—every orifice of his body. So Jeong-rak looked up at Geom Mu-geuk with eyes full of resentment.
The cold, indifferent gaze looking down at him was identical to the gaze of the evil ghost he had seen earlier. A lack of ruthlessness was his weakness? He had misjudged Geom Mu-geuk until the very end.
"It was the Poison King's turn, wasn't it?"
Earlier, So Jeong-rak had poisoned Geom Mu-geuk, not knowing he was immune. Detoxify it if you can—it had been a clear challenge to the Poison King. And now, Geom Mu-geuk was witnessing the definitive difference in their skill.
Even without the Poison King's toxin, Geom Mu-geuk had intended to kill him. Just as the Poison King was a terrifying existence, So Jeong-rak was far too dangerous. Geom Mu-geuk was not the type to release such a threat into the world just because he himself was unharmed.
So Jeong-rak truly never dreamed he would die like this.
"...You can only find him... through me..."
As the life faded from his eyes, the last thing So Jeong-rak saw was Geom Mu-geuk’s leather pouch as he strode toward the passage. The protruding poisonous herbs swayed as if waving goodbye.
"I'll handle it myself."