Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Wanna Bet?
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The next day, Namgung San-yeong began to slowly extend her tentacles.
“This is from Madam?”
“Y-yes, it is.”
Hyeong Sam couldn’t quite meet my eyes and trembled as he offered the tray.
A bowl filled with soup medicine.
It was so pitch-black and murky that my reflection stared back at me from its surface.
「Young Lord!」
‘I know, me too.’
Seriously, do these people have no brains?
How could they expect me to drink this soup medicine with such blatantly suspicious intentions on display?
It was impossible to even play along.
This soup medicine was almost certainly a poison that induced madness.
So that I could cause a huge scene during the Patriarch’s visit.
「We must punish them at once! How dare they offer such poison to the Young Lord! Just give the order! I’ll burn these kids and their food the same way with my own hands!」
Well, well?
Look at this loyal subject.
I shot him a look of utter disbelief, and the big spider, feeling guilty, slyly turned his head away.
If he’d kept up the brazen act, I would’ve turned him into a soul pill right then.
Maybe it’s because he died once, but his instincts were spot on.
By the way, what was that elder’s name again?
I’d been calling him spider, spider for the past few months, so I couldn’t recall his identity at all.
Eh, doesn’t matter. From now on, I’ll just call him ‘the former elder’ or ‘Soul Number One.’
If he gets frustrated, he’ll tell me his name himself. Though I have no intention of remembering it. Heh heh heh.
“The Madam said that this should be enough for you to have repented your sins, Young Master, and sent this soup medicine to restore your vitality. She instructed you to focus on recovering your health until the Dark Lord visits…”
In other words, don’t even think about undermining the Dark Lord’s impression while you’re on death’s door.
“And from now on, she’ll send specially devised nutritious meals with every single one of your three daily meals, so make sure not to miss a single one.”
On top of that, she kindly explains she’ll feed me poison three times a day without fail.
I forcibly held back a sneer that threatened to escape and waved him off.
“Fine. You can go now.”
“Th-that is-”
“What? You still have more to say?”
“She strictly ordered me to confirm that you finish every last drop-”
You’re trying hard, really.
Without hesitation, I grabbed the bowl and downed the entire soup medicine.
Urk. Tastes awful.
“There. Happy?”
“Y-yes? Yes! Understood. Then this servant will take his leave.”
Only after Hyeong Sam left could I finally burst into laughter.
The bitter taste of the soup medicine still lingered in my mouth.
Let’s see. The ingredients: Baek Mountain Herb mixed with Mixed Harmony Pill, and a bit of Madness Poison added. Oh? Even Five Purity Pill? That rare stuff?
This went beyond regular drugs (麻藥); at this level, it was demonic drugs (魔藥).
If you just drink one or two bowls, there’s no obvious sign on the surface.
It’s more like a spiritual medicine. It restores vitality and even swells the internal energy in your dantian.
She must have heard that I’ve been diligently training my martial arts in preparation for the Dark Lord’s visit, so she wants to pretend to help.
I’ll have to demonstrate some decent martial arts in front of the Dark Lord, after all.
But if you take it steadily, the toxicity builds up layer by layer, damaging your mind gate.
And then.
“It even has brainwashing effects.”
「What? What do you mean by-」
“It contains Cinnabar Poison.”
「Gasp! Cinnabar Poison means!」
“They’re trying to cast a spell on me, of all people. Pfft!”
Cinnabar is a material commonly used by shamans when drawing talismans.
Because it’s the easiest medium to infuse with shamanic power.
So, with a little preparation, it’s easy to cast specific spells on it.
They probably schemed to manipulate me like a puppet once the poison drove me mad.
The problem is that the target happens to be ‘me.’
Heh heh heh. To dare challenge me with evil sorcery. Hilarious… no, this should be fun. I’m thrilled.
“There seems to be a shaman attached to Namgung San-yeong’s side. Go find out who.”
「We didn’t notice anything like that during surveillance… It must mean they have a secret way to make contact even within the Nine Dragons Branch Family. Understood. Leave it to this old spider!」
The big spider thumped his chest with his front leg and scampered up the wall with his baby spiders.
I sat cross-legged and circulated the Poison Dragon Heart Technique once more.
If there’s something Namgung San-yeong doesn’t know, it’s that while it may be Cinnabar Poison, no matter how potent the poison, it won’t even faze me right away.
Because nothing can compare to Soul Ghost Poison.
Kiiiiiaaaaa!
The ghostly energy fully fused into my internal energy let out a ghostly wail like a lullaby as it began dissolving the poison from the soup medicine.
Whish, whish, whish…!
* * *
Namgung San-yeong’s second tentacle arrived soon after.
“Martial Uncle?”
“That’s right. For the next four days, I’ve been assigned to briefly guide your martial arts training, Young Master. I look forward to working with you.”
Unlike his words of looking forward to it, his face was full of boredom, like ‘I’ll just kill some time,’ showing no enthusiasm.
Well, I was used to such looks, so it didn’t bother me much.
“Isn’t the Pure Wind Pavilion busy these days? Is it okay for you to come here like this?”
The identity of the man who came calling himself Martial Uncle was a bit unexpected.
Fierce Wind Knight Tang Gon.
In the past, he was one of the core members of the Wild Wind Squad led by Tang Ho-san, and now he was one of the top ten experts in the entire Nine Dragons Branch Family.
The only peculiar thing was that he wasn’t part of Namgung San-yeong’s faction.
To begin with, this man had no interest in the succession struggle.
No, it would be more accurate to say he had no interest in worldly affairs at all.
He always preferred lounging around and slacking off whenever he could, making the Pure Wind Pavilion Master furious countless times.
There were even rumors that if not for the grace of saving Tang Ho-san’s life in his youth, he might have been kicked out of the branch family long ago.
So it was strange that he had come to ‘monitor’ me on Namgung San-yeong’s orders-
“What are you talking about? Of course I’m here because I’m busy.”
Huh?
“I’ll demonstrate the movement just once! Just once from now on. Train on your own.”
A brazen attitude like no other.
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Now I understood Namgung San-yeong’s scheme.
By assigning Tang Gon to me, she could gain three major benefits.
First, she could gauge my martial arts level or uncover any potential backing I might have.
Second, she could monitor me and prepare for any sudden actions during the Dark Lord’s visit.
But the most important was the third.
By attaching a ‘real’ expert who wasn’t part of her faction to help with my training, she gained legitimacy.
Hadn’t she already supplied me with spiritual medicine to restore my vitality?
Even if things went awry later and suspicion fell on her, she’d made an escape route.
When she openly tried to make me drink the soup medicine, I wondered how she’d claimed the mistress position with such a foolish head.
But apparently, she had some cunning sides.
The problem was that I’d seen through all her intentions.
Hmm, should I mess with him a bit?
If I play it right, I might get a chance to leave the estate.
“The martial art I’ll show you from now is called Dark Shadow Step. I assume you’ve heard of it at least once, Young Master.”
Well, well?
“Isn’t it definitely Tang Yu-chang’s signature-”
“Yes. Dark Shadow Qi. A qi art compatible with Dark Shadow Step, allowing secretive yet rapid internal energy deployment, making it perfect for covert techniques or poison arts. Dark Shadow Step is the same. The Madam insisted I teach this… well, I had no say in it.”
She plans to humiliate me by making me compare myself to her son in front of the Dark Lord?
“Then I’ll begin.”
Pop, papapa-pop-
Tang Gon placed his hands behind his back and slowly moved his feet.
A leisurely gait. But his movements were anything but.
Tang Gon’s figure appeared and vanished repeatedly along the not-small courtyard of the White Cloth Hall.
Even at such speed, no wind stirred. It was utterly stealthy, like a dark shadow shifting.
For someone like ‘Tang Un-hwi,’ whose only properly learned martial art was the Tang Clan Body Qi Art, it was an unparalleled technique impossible to imitate.
“That’s it.”
Tang Gon spread dozens of afterimages across the courtyard before quietly reappearing before me.
Still with that leisurely stride, as if he’d gone for a stroll.
“I’ve left footprints on the ground, so just practice following them. If you have questions, go ask the Pure Wind Pavilion Master, not m-”
“I’ve mastered it.”
“-e. Yes?”
At my brazen response, a crack appeared on Tang Gon’s languid face.
“I’ve mastered it all.”
“…You’ve mastered Dark Shadow Step?”
“Yeah.”
“Just by watching?”
“Yeah. It was nothing special.”
“…….”
Tang Gon’s face twisted grotesquely now.
He was holding back anger a bit.
“…Even I, called a genius in my youth, took a full five days to learn the form of Dark Shadow Step. The other Wild Wind Squad members took at least ten days. And on average, three months to grasp the intent of the movements.”
Calling himself a genius outright. This guy’s got some thick skin too.
“But if you say nonsense like that-”
“Wanna bet?”
“…Bet on what?”
“If I’ve properly mastered Dark Shadow Step, thirty silver taels.”
“…….”
“I hear the Pure Wind Pavilion’s monthly stipend is about ten taels? Gotta be three months’ worth to make the bet worthwhile. Right?”
Tang Gon’s face turned to one of ‘I’ve seen every kind of lunatic now.’
Then, belatedly coming to his senses, he lightly cleared his throat.
“Ahem! Martial arts are sacred. The value of Dark Shadow Step, infused with the Tang Clan’s soul, is even greater. To tie it to gambling like-”
“Scared?”
“…….”
“You’re scared. Totally scared.”
“…….”
“The Pure Wind Pavilion warrior, mainstay of the Azure Purity Blood Massacre, Wild Wind Squad member is scared. Fierce Wind Knight or whatever, it’s all hot air. Fine. Whatever. I’ll train alone.”
Crack! Crackle!
As I scratched at his nerves, veins bulged over Tang Gon’s formerly languid face.
As I turned to leave, a mighty aura swept in.
Whoooosh!
“You’d better… back up those words properly now.”
Got him!
I flashed the sleazy grin I used when baiting suckers in the gambling den.
“Just bring the money.”
“…Hoo! Every word you say gets under my skin—you’re a pro at it. Then hurry up and sta-”
It was then, as Tang Gon started to say something.
Pop!
My figure dipped inward.
Tang Gon’s eyes widened, and in that instant, a stealthy breeze brushed past his waist.
Tang Gon startled and turned around.
His hand fumbled at his waist.
The money pouch he’d definitely had when leaving the Pure Wind Pavilion was gone.
“Looking for this?”
The money pouch was in my hand.
As I playfully tossed it up and caught it, Tang Gon’s pupils trembled wildly.