Chapter 278: Mad Dog
Chapter 278: Mad Dog
"Is there a bed?!"
"Yes, yes! Over here!"
"Please heat some clean water!"
"Ah, I understand!"
Seonwoo Jin's party entered the lodging of the Mad Dog gang and hurriedly laid the poisoned Baek Muho onto a bed and began examining his condition in detail.
Baek Muho was no longer vomiting blood, but he remained unconscious with a pallid face.
Seonwoo Jin took Baek Muho's wrist and began taking his pulse.
Of course, the one actually performing the examination was Mukrang.
[I noticed the black lines in the whites of his eyes and the blue tinge on his teeth from the first time I saw him. That's why I said he had been poisoned. Still, he seemed to be moving around fine, so I thought it was still in the early stages, but it appears that wasn't the case.]
'Is his condition serious?'
[Hmm, it is quite serious. There is a medicinal substance called seunghong. It's used to treat syphilis, and when used properly it can improve one's condition, but if overused, it causes lethargy and destroys the muscles. In severe cases, one can vomit blood and even lose their life.]
At the words "vomit blood and lose their life," Seonwoo Jin swallowed hard.
Because those were exactly the symptoms Baek Muho had shown.
'So was it the misuse of that medicine that caused this?'
[No, it's not seunghong. It's a similar mineral poison, but far more subtle and vicious than that. The characteristic of mineral poisons is that they slowly accumulate in the body and then suddenly manifest symptoms. Just like this. This man called Baek Muho was likely administered poison by someone over a long period. The symptoms have just now manifested at this moment.]
Seonwoo Jin shut his eyes tightly.
That a poison accumulated over a long time would erupt precisely during a duel with Jin So-eun—he felt sorry for Baek Muho, but the timing was far too coincidental.
At that moment, Jeon Seok-gu, who had been cautiously observing from the side, spoke up.
"Um, did you all seriously poison Young Master Baek?"
At this, Yeon Taejin, who had been watching Seonwoo Jin take his pulse with a frown, snapped back in irritation.
"You're looking at this and that's what comes out of your mouth?! If we poisoned him, why would we bring him here and do all this?!"
"Ah, I, I apologize."
The Mad Dog gang whimpered at Yeon Taejin's outburst and shrank back down again.
Then Jin So-eun, seeing this, looked at them with pitying eyes and said,
"We've suddenly had this happen to us, so I think Sister Yeon has become a bit sharp as well. Please understand. And I'm truly sorry for suddenly barging into your lodging like this. We seem to be causing you nothing but trouble in every way."
At her gentle tone and voice, the Mad Dog gang stared at Jin So-eun with dazed expressions.
Seeing her next to Yeon Taejin, who was fierce as a blade, was like gazing upon the Bodhisattva of Compassion herself.
They were once again able to realize the natural truth that a person's appearance is not what matters most.
And they also realized something else.
The fact that the one who poisoned Young Master Baek Muho could never be this young lady, as pure and serene as an orchid...
Meanwhile, Seonwoo Jin, having finished taking Baek Muho's pulse, was momentarily deep in thought with a grave expression.
At this, Seol Pung carefully asked,
"Brother, what is his condition?"
At his question, Seonwoo Jin smiled as though suddenly coming back to his senses and answered,
"It is not so critical that he will die immediately. However, there is a somewhat concerning point about his nerves."
Then he turned his head and asked Jeon Seok-gu,
"I heard that the family head of the Soju Baek Family is bedridden. Do you perhaps know any details about that? And where is the eldest young master of the Baek Family at the moment?"
The moment the topic of the Baek Family's eldest young master came up, the faces of the Mad Dog gang darkened in an instant.
They exchanged glances with each other, and then Jeon Seok-gu let out a sigh and answered as their representative.
"You didn't know. The eldest young master of the Baek Family passed away not long ago."
At that answer, Seonwoo Jin's eyes sharpened.
"Passed away? How did it happen?"
"It happened while chasing prisoners of the Four Kings Alliance. He received word that the Bijusagoe, who had escaped from the Thunder Prison of the Four Kings Alliance, were passing near Soju, and he went out to capture them, but..."
"The Bijusagoe..."
Seonwoo Jin, who had been momentarily lost in thought with a sharp gaze, asked again,
"What sort of people are these Bijusagoe? Were they masters compared to the eldest young master of the Baek Family?"
"Pardon? Ah, no, they weren't. If they had been, he wouldn't have gone with so few people in the first place. Though they were peak-level masters, they were evaluated as people the eldest young master, who was on the verge of the transcendent peak, could easily handle."
"Yet he went to capture such people and was instead undone by them, you say. Then what happened to the family head of the Soju Baek Family?"
Jeon Seok-gu, as he answered Seonwoo Jin's questions, began to feel that something was amiss.
Things he had merely taken as a sad event at the time and hadn't thought deeply about now, upon reconsideration, were striking him as oddly significant.
He swallowed hard and answered.
"They said the family head suffered a great shock when the eldest young master passed away. So he suddenly vomited blood and collapsed, and... huh?!"
Jeon Seok-gu, who had been answering as the memories resurfaced, suddenly looked at Baek Muho with a start at the thought that had occurred to him.
Hadn't he also collapsed vomiting blood?
Of course, unlike Baek Muho who collapsed suddenly, the Baek family head had indeed experienced an event shocking enough to cause such a reaction.
And so at the time, no one had felt anything suspicious.
But thinking about it again, it was suspicious enough.
The family head of the Soju Baek Family, the Wind-Cloud Giant Whale Baek Cheonggwang, was a master counted among the Thirty-Six Supremes of the World.
Yet was it truly possible for such a master to be bedridden for nearly half a year just from receiving a bit of a shock?
Jeon Seok-gu murmured involuntarily.
"Could it be..."
A terrifying assumption, one he would never normally make, was surfacing in his mind.
At this, Jeon Seok-gu hastily shook his head and denied the thought.
"Ah, no. Th-that can't be! The Baek Family always has Elder Yang, who came from the Daepung Yang Family, in residence! With Elder Yang, who is renowned as a master physician, present, how could the family head's poisoning possibly go unnoticed!"
The Yang Family, located in Daepung, was one of the Four Kings and Thirteen Families, a medical family famed for their exceptional medicinal arts.
'The Daepung Yang Family...'
Seonwoo Jin turned the name over in his mind and then smiled faintly on the outside as he asked in return.
"I was merely asking about the circumstances under which the family head collapsed. What is it that you say cannot be?"
"Huh?"
At Seonwoo Jin's counter-question, Jeon Seok-gu was momentarily dumbfounded.
And then he realized it.
That Seonwoo Jin had said nothing to him at all.
Everything he had just thought were all conclusions Jeon Seok-gu himself had speculated and drawn in his own mind.
Jeon Seok-gu scratched his head and made an excuse.
"Ah, no, I was just..."
At this, Seonwoo Jin smiled faintly, as if he understood everything, and said,
"In any case, we need some medicinal ingredients to treat this young master. Brother Jeon, could you go and purchase them? We will of course pay for them."
Then Jeon Seok-gu frowned and shouted gallantly.
"We cannot use the money of outsiders to treat the young master of the Soju Baek Family, who is the pride of Soju! Just tell me what you need! I shall go and buy it all!"
That was when it happened.
Yeon Taejin, who had been listening from the side, cut in with a crooked tone.
"You're going to let that bastard go outside? I've always thought this, but aren't you being too soft? If that bastard goes out and reports us to the Baek family's warriors, what are you going to do then?"
At those words, Jeon Seok-gu flared up and shouted.
"Now that I know you are not the culprits, how could I possibly do such a thing?!"
He even had his eyes wide open, as if he had heard something terribly unjust.
But Yeon Taejin merely gave a scoff.
"No one ever announces they're going to do something like that before they do it, do they? So you can't really know how it'll actually turn out."
"Eek!"
It was when Jeon Seok-gu, boiling with rage, was about to forget even his fear and yell at Yeon Taejin.
Abruptly, Seonwoo Jin spoke quietly.
"That's enough, Miss Yeon. I trust Brother Jeon."
At his sudden words, the two of them simultaneously stared at Seonwoo Jin.
Yeon Taejin was frowning with a look of displeasure, while Jeon Seok-gu had a deeply moved expression at the words that someone trusted him.
Yeon Taejin asked in a sulky voice.
"I said you're too soft. What on earth do you see that makes you trust this man?"
The reason Seonwoo Jin trusted him was, in fact, because Mukrang had confirmed his heart for him.
But since he couldn't answer Yeon Taejin that way, Seonwoo Jin simply smiled gently and replied.
"Though he is but a second-rate martial artist, from the moment we first met, he never once acted in a manner unbecoming of a man. He did not act rudely by throwing his strength around, nor did he torment the weak. Even among the martial artists I saw today, he showed himself to be the most familiar with ordinary commoners. I believe a person such as that is more than trustworthy. And... realistically speaking, if we do not trust him, we cannot treat Young Master Baek Muho. In the end, that would also mean we cannot clear our names of the false accusation that we ambushed him with poison."
As if she was not terribly pleased with those words, Yeon Taejin's expression remained creased.
But she seemed unable to find anything to counter with.
In the end, she glared once at Jeon Seok-gu, then turned away with a scoff.
"Hmph!"
Then this time, Jeon Seok-gu beat his chest and shouted in a swaggering, bold voice.
"You have seen truly, squad leader! Though I am nothing more than a common second-rate martial artist, I have never once committed an act shameful to a warrior of Soju! Leave it to me! I will absolutely never betray your trust!"
At his words, Seonwoo Jin smiled gently and gave his thanks.
"Thank you. Then I shall entrust this to you. Please go and purchase the medicinal ingredients I am about to list. Cheonggye, Tobok...."
Jeon Seok-gu began listening carefully to Seonwoo Jin's words with a solemn expression.
It was a rather reliable sight, ill-fitting for his nickname of the Mad Dog.
***
The Soju Baek Family.
Located at the very heart of Soju, the city of pleasure, and consisting of the largest estate, the place was currently in a state of utter upheaval.
"Dispatch all the warriors immediately and have them search every nook and cranny of Soju! Do not let the culprits escape, no matter what!"
"Yes! My lady! Do not worry!"
For the past hundred years, the Soju Baek Family had lived peacefully within Soju without a single incident or accident.
This was because the founder of the Soju Baek Family, the Easygoing Rod Baek Dong-seong, had been a martial artist of an exceedingly unpretentious nature, and his descendants likewise inherited their ancestor's character, not being the type to covet power or wealth.
Because of this, they had been able to make Soju like a utopia where martial artists and ordinary commoners could live together in harmony.
Needless to say, the martial artists and commoners of Soju also respected and loved the Soju Baek Family for this.
But the past year had been different.
Shaming the hundred years of peaceful, uneventful time, the past year had been a repetition of nightmarish days for the people of the Baek family.
A year ago, the eldest young master Baek Muryong, who was called the most perfect candidate for successor, had died.
Then, the family head Baek Cheonggwang, having suffered a tremendous shock, had collapsed as well.
People understood the shock Baek Cheonggwang must have received as the eldest young master's father.
But at the same time, they had believed without doubt that he would soon dust himself off and rise.
Because he was an ultimate master, one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World.
Yet even as the year neared its end, he was still unable to rise from his bed.
Rumors even circulated that perhaps he might never rise again, forever.
Thus, the only people left in the Soju Baek Family now were the second young master Baek Muho and the third young master Baek Mujak.
However, the second young master Baek Muho was someone who personally had no interest whatsoever in the clan's successor position.
His temperament was simply that of a free-spirited ronin, and the third young master Baek Mujak, going a step further, had ambition but was evaluated as lacking in both ability and character.
And in the midst of this, even the second young master Baek Muho had fallen to a culprit's hidden attack.
Thus, the fury the martial artists of the Soju Baek Family were currently feeling was beyond expression in words.
"Find them! A group of three men and two women—two beauties, one old man, and two young men!"
"Those sons of bitches! I'll tear them to shreds!"
The warriors of the Soju Baek Family, who could be called the pillars of Soju, were fully mobilized, packing the city gates shut as they began to thoroughly search every corner of Soju.
Not only the Baek family's elite peak-level warriors, but even transcendent peak elders who were not normally seen easily had all been deployed.
At that menacing atmosphere, even the normally free-spirited citizens of Soju could not help but turn grim.
"What's going on? Why are the Baek family's martial artists spread out all over like this? Huh? Even the Great Elder has come out?"
"Have you still not heard the rumor? They say there are scoundrels who ambushed Young Master Baek Muho with poison."
"What?! Young Master Baek Muho?! Who are the bastards who dared?!"
"I heard they're a group of three men and two women—outsiders."
"Three men and two women?! You damnable bastards! Just let me get my hands on you!"
In that way, all the people of Soju, who usually cherished the Soju Baek Family, boiled over in an instant.
Then, at that moment, paradoxically, the quietest place was the interior of the Soju Baek Family itself.
Lady Byun, the mistress of the Soju Baek Family who had ordered the full deployment of the warriors, watched their movements with meaningful eyes, then abruptly and quietly moved her steps towards the inner courtyard side.
The place she headed for was the Medical Hall.
A moment later, upon arriving at the Medical Hall and entering, she soon saw Physician Yang, who had come from the Daepung Yang Family, still examining the condition of the family head Baek Cheonggwang, who had yet to regain consciousness.
She watched the family head's form with momentarily complicated eyes, then asked Physician Yang.
"How is he?"
Then Physician Yang let out a sigh and answered.
"It does not seem likely that he will rise."
And he relayed to her further through telepathic transmission.
- And so, the third young master will soon be able to ascend to the family head's position.
At this, a faint smile rose upon Lady Byun's face.
It was a smile that oddly suited her beautiful face and looked far too cruel.
Lady Byun, she was the biological mother of the Soju Baek Family's third young master Baek Mujak.
Lady Byun asked Physician Yang through telepathic transmission.
- The second one is certainly dead from this incident, yes?
At that, Physician Yang let out a thoughtful hum for a moment.
"Hmm."
Then he sent a telepathic transmission once more.
- I cannot yet guarantee it is irreversible. So, to prepare for the unexpected, send people to the apothecaries as well. If there is anyone purchasing the medicinal ingredients I am about to list, have them followed. Cheonggye, Tobok....
As she listened to his telepathy, Lady Byun's eyes glinted with the light of greed and ambition.