Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Hunting the Poison Dart Frog
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A little while ago.
“What do you mean…! Scattering Mountain Poison…!”
“Shh. Quiet down. They’ll hear you over there.”
I calmed down the excited Uncle Mun-seok and whispered again.
“It’s exactly what I said. That Sichuan Tang Clan elder just passed through here and secretly scattered Scattering Mountain Poison.”
“N-No way. I didn’t feel a thing, and there are Tang Clan warriors here besides us…”
“Uncle Mun-seok, why are you so naive? Of course those guys took the antidote beforehand. And there’s no way someone at the level of a Tang Clan elder would let an uncle like you detect their secret poisoning with your martial arts.”
“…I suppose so. But then why would the elder scatter Scattering Mountain Poison here…?”
“To kill off all the Hao Gate people, probably. Wait, no—if he wanted to kill them outright, he’d have used a lethal poison, so the goal must be to subdue them.”
“……”
Uncle Mun-seok’s face turned pale at my words. I took the chance to ask him about something that had been bothering me.
“More importantly, Uncle Mun-seok. I’ve got a question.”
“…What is it, in a situation like this?”
“What’s the name of the Sichuan Tang Clan elder, by any chance?”
Uncle Mun-seok gave me a look like he couldn’t understand why I’d ask that now, but he sighed and told me.
And…
“Tang Yeon-myeong. The elder’s name is Tang Yeon-myeong.”
“…Ah, fuck.”
…No wonder the position of Sichuan Tang Clan elder had felt so familiar. The moment I heard his name, it hit me right away.
The Poison Shadow Emperor, Tang Yeon-myeong.
When the Murim Alliance first went to war with the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, many righteous faction warriors underestimated the Cult. But as the Cult’s true power emerged and the tide turned, many switched sides to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Tang Yeon-myeong was the highest-ranking traitor from the Murim Alliance.
The moment he defected to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, he handed over all the righteous factions’ secrets and inside information, then massacred his former comrades with his poison arts.
‘No wonder the kid knew so much information. There must’ve been some connection with the Hao Gate?’
In the original story, Tang Yeon-myeong dies right before the war at the hands of the regressor protagonist.
So at this point, a few years before the war, it wasn’t his time to die yet.
‘If I don’t intervene here, do the Hao Gate guys get completely wiped out by the Tang Clan bastards?’
That’s when I started pondering a bit.
“…Gate Leader.”
“…What?”
“The Gate Leader is in danger…”
Uncle Mun-seok muttered while staring at the top of Cheongwol Pavilion like he’d lost his soul.
He even…
“The Gate Leader…!”
“Hey, hey, Uncle. Calm down. Just calm down.”
I barely managed to grab him before he could rush toward Cheongwol Pavilion. When I blocked his path, Uncle Mun-seok said to me with an urgent expression.
“…The intent to subdue the disciples outside is clearly to threaten the Gate Leader. Or maybe the elder has already gone after her…!”
“I get it. But what are you going to do if you go now? Even brushing against that Tang Clan elder’s poison arts would melt your body into mush. Think rationally. We’re barely hanging on here as it is—where do you think you’re going?”
Everything I said was a rational judgment purely for Uncle Mun-seok’s safety. Even if he followed the elder to the Hao Gate Leader, he wouldn’t be of much help.
He’d just throw his life away.
Uncle Mun-seok knew that full well. But…
“The Gate Leader is my benefactor.”
“……”
“Even if I can’t help, I can’t just sit here if she’s in danger.”
…Uncle Mun-seok’s eyes were already filled with something indescribable. And it wasn’t something I could stop with mere rational judgment.
No matter what I did now, it was clear Uncle Mun-seok would charge off to the Hao Gate Leader.
“Argh, damn it…”
Frustrated, I scratched my head irritably and thought about whether I had any reason to help Uncle Mun-seok.
First, was Uncle Mun-seok my benefactor?
No.
He’d helped me out a few times with small things, but not enough to call him a benefactor.
Next, was Uncle Mun-seok someone I needed?
No.
The person I needed was the Hao Gate Sichuan branch chief, not Uncle Mun-seok. I already knew the code phrase to contact the Sichuan branch chief, so it didn’t matter if Uncle Mun-seok wasn’t him.
Then finally…
…Did I want Uncle Mun-seok to live?
…….
I couldn’t easily answer the question I’d asked myself. And an old memory surfaced.
“Hey, you. You look like a beggar… How about working at the brothel or inn I run? Huh? Why am I being nice? ‘Cause you look like me when I was young. Haha, I was quite the looker back in the day.”
“…Haa, fuck.”
Looks like it was true that Uncle Mun-seok had hustled as a brothel tout when he was young. Who knew he’d been flirting with me since when… My heart was in turmoil.
“…Step aside already. I’m going to the Gate Leader, so you just stay here and hold the position… No… You said Scattering Mountain Poison was used. Then…”
“…No.”
Even as I hesitated, Uncle Mun-seok tried to push past me, saying time was short. I firmed my resolve and blocked him.
That’s when…
“What have you two been up to over there?”
…One of the Tang Clan warriors who looked like their leader approached us with suspicious eyes, having noticed our whispering.
“…….”
From the moment the elder scattered Scattering Mountain Poison, a clash between the Sichuan Tang Clan and Hao Gate was inevitable.
And I…
Crack-!
“……!”
“……!”
Decided to help Uncle Mun-seok—no, the Hao Gate.
I drew my sword in an instant and slashed the guy’s throat. The youngest, Uncle Mun-seok, the other Tang Clan warriors, and the Hao Gate swordsmen all stared at me in shock.
The Tang Clan warriors recovered first.
“…Th-Those bastards killed the squad leader—! Kill them—!”
They immediately reached into their wide sleeves and pulled out hidden weapons and daggers. Seeing this, the Hao Gate swordsmen…
“Those guys are moving—! Block them—!”
…Drew their swords and met them head-on, starting the fight.
Even as the area grew noisy, I slapped the shoulder of Uncle Mun-seok, who still wore a dazed expression, and said.
“I took out the strongest one first. The Scattering Mountain Poison’s effects will take a little time to spread through their bodies, so hurry and subdue them. You can do it, right?”
“…Wh-Why would you…”
“I’ll head up there in the meantime.”
“…!”
As I turned away, Uncle Mun-seok’s slightly trembling voice came from behind.
“…Thank you.”
“…Don’t get the wrong idea. I’ll collect proper payment. Two hundred nyang of gold won’t cut it.”
With that, I turned to the youngest.
“Youngest, just don’t die.”
“Got it!”
Even in this situation, the kid’s spirited response put me at ease.
I sheathed my sword and headed up the stairs.
**
‘Tch.’
I clicked my tongue in regret as I gazed at my sword, which had grazed Tang Yeon-myeong’s neck before flying off and embedding in the wall.
I knew an attack like that wouldn’t work, but it still stung that I’d failed to get a free kill.
“…Who are you?”
“Who am I? I’m the top hustler here, and I came to deal with a troublesome customer. You fucking bastard.”
“You spout strange nonsense that’s hard to comprehend.”
Tang Yeon-myeong said this while subtly sizing me up. He was probably trying to gauge my level of martial arts.
But…
“What about my subordinates outside…”
Whoosh-, Boom-!!!
Of course, I had no intention of letting him.
I leaped forward, channeling gang qi into my fist and swinging. He had no choice but to dodge.
He dodged, but my fist definitely connected.
I could see Tang Yeon-myeong’s face distort like mush. And…
Fsssh-.
The part of my fist that touched his face reddened as if burned by strong acid, a stinging pain spreading.
In that moment, I understood Tang Yeon-myeong’s level.
A mature poison body. Perhaps even beyond that.
At that realm, his body was poison, and the poison was his body.
‘But to melt gang qi even for a moment at that level.’
I couldn’t help but be shocked at Tang Yeon-myeong’s realm, higher than I’d expected. And I wasn’t the only one surprised by the situation.
“You used gang qi…?”
His face, always twisted in arrogant contempt for others, finally began to contort.
“Is that possible at your age…? What is your identity…?”
“Turn off your poison arts, and I’ll tell you.”
“You dare play word games before me.”
Fsssh-.
At my demand to stop his poison arts, he scoffed, and even more toxic miasma began pouring from his body.
Seeing this, someone approached me.
Grab.
“Stop…”
It was the Hao Gate Leader.
She’d clearly been poisoned already, her face pale and body unsteady since I entered.
Even so, she dragged herself over and whispered to me.
“You too… run… away…. That guy… no one can beat…”
Her eyes held a learned sense of helplessness. I could understand why she said that.
The realm of a mature poison body.
If an eagle eats a poison dart frog, gets poisoned, and dies, whose victory is it?
That’s what a poison body is. No one—no matter who, even the supreme under heaven—would want to fight one.
The moment you choose battle, even if you kill the opponent, you’ll suffer fatal wounds yourself.
‘In the original story, the protagonist caught that guy and lost one eye in the process.’
When he beheaded Tang Yeon-myeong, poison gas briefly entered his wide-open eye—an unavoidable result.
Losing one eye is a devastating blow for a warrior, but the protagonist inwardly sighed in relief that he’d taken him down at a cheap price.
But…
“Hao Gate Leader, no matter how strong the poison, do you think a frog could be the strongest creature?”
“What do you…”
“I just can’t stand watching punks who only know poison act all high and mighty.”
…I had no intention of sacrificing my eye just to take down a mere Tang Yeon-myeong.
“It’s pitiful, that old man who devoted his life to becoming nothing but a poison dart frog.”
“…….”
The Hao Gate Leader was speechless and looked at me with a flustered expression. I pushed her away from me and enveloped my entire body in gang qi.
Then I leaped toward him.