A Taste of His Own Medicine (3)
"It's gotten even worse."
A hollow laugh escaped his lips.
The approaching poison energy was several times larger and more lethal than what he had seen before.
Who could call that a man-made disaster? It was more than enough to be called a calamity of nature.
How could such a massive amount of poison have accumulated inside a single person's body? And how had she managed to survive and endure it?
'Not a single day could have passed without agonizing pain.'
A woman born in pain and raised in pain. A woman who had never known a single moment of peace since birth. On top of that, a tragic woman destined to lose her life at the hands of her own brother. Tang Seo-yeon was a woman for whom the word "tragic" was an understatement.
Before his regression, Han Cheong-un had failed to save her. Back then, the Wulin Alliance had branded Tang Seo-yeon a villain, and Han Cheong-un had believed it. Thus, he had cooperated in her subjugation. But this time was different.
"I will save you now, Lady Tang."
Han Cheong-un uncorked the vial containing the Divine Elixir and downed it in one gulp. The slick medicine slid down his throat, spreading a massive surge of energy throughout his body. Normally, he would have had to guide this energy to his dantian through meditation, but...
"Here I go!"
Now was the time to move. To save that pitiful woman. Without hesitation, Han Cheong-un plunged himself into the toxic fog. And then...
"Ugh..."
The moment he stepped inside, an excruciating pain enveloped his entire body. It felt as if thousands of hornets were clinging to his skin, stinging him relentlessly.
'Damn it, wasn't I supposed to be immune to all poisons?'
The poison resistance gained from consuming the Divine Elixir was known to rival the Myriad Poisons Immunity. Yet, he was still feeling this much pain.
'If I had gone in bare-skinned, I would have melted instantly.'
Han Cheong-un grit his teeth. The poison energy was far more intense than he had anticipated. He couldn't afford to waste a single second.
One step. And then another. Slowly, he forged ahead.
He wanted to dash forward using lightfoot techniques, but he couldn't. Since the resistance from the Divine Elixir wasn't enough to completely neutralize this poison, he had to resist it with his internal energy as much as possible. Therefore, he had no choice but to walk. Right through the heart of this terrible poison.
Forward, and forward... The deeper he went, the stronger the poison became.
Sizzle... The sound of flesh searing echoed from his skin. Was it a burn? No, it was far worse. His skin was peeling away, and blood was oozing out. Yet, he did not stop.
Squish... Squish... His clothes grew heavy and damp, making it difficult to walk. Was it moisture from the poison?
'No, it's my blood.'
A dry chuckle escaped him. His skin was peeling off to the point of bleeding like this, yet he felt no pain. His pain receptors must have gone numb.
He ripped away the blood-soaked clothes that were hindering his movement. Rip! Tear! And he walked again. Time was of the essence. The moment the effects of the Divine Elixir wore off, he would melt into a puddle of blood.
He had to move forward. Right now, forward was the only way.
It was dark. Her mind was hazy. Yet, within this haze, she felt a sense of peace for the first time in her life. There was no pain. Normally, the poison accumulating in her body would constantly gnaw at her, but now she was fine. Was it because she was releasing all the poison outward? The pain eating away at her body had vanished.
'Ah, so this is what it's normally like.'
Everyone else in the world lived like this. Without coughing up blood at any moment, without their internal organs feeling as if they were being pricked by thousands of needles, they could just exist in peace.
She envied them. And she resented them. Why did she have to live in such agony?
'It's not like I chose to be born this way...'
Just then, she heard a sound. The faint ringing of a bell. Listening to that sound, which seemed to belong to another world, everything became peaceful. She wanted to close her eyes and remain immersed in this sound forever. It was incredibly sweet and tempting.
'I'm so tired now.'
She didn't want to strive for anything anymore. Tang Seo-yeon's eyes slowly closed as she relinquished all control over her body. One by one, memories of the past flashed through her mind.
Her struggles to master poison arts to escape the curse of the Myriad Poisons Body. The dining table of the Sichuan Tang Family, where everyone gathered except her. The maids who served her while trembling in absolute terror. The small puppy that had coughed up blood and died just because she touched it. There wasn't a single good memory.
'Yes, let's forget it all.'
She was tired of resentment, tired of self-blame. She would forget everything and sink into the depths of the dark abyss. That would bring peace. If she did that...
It was at that moment. Tang Seo-yeon's eyelids, which had almost completely closed, trembled and stopped. What came to mind was the memory of a boy with a bright smile.
In that instant, Tang Seo-yeon realized. She had it too. Though she had believed her life was empty, there was a single existence that brought light to her world. That small, warm light. The first tiny star to visit her, who was like a pitch-black night without a single ray of light. Without even that, her life would truly be no different from a dark night sky devoid of stars.
"Ugh..."
Tang Seo-yeon struggled to regain consciousness. She tried to somehow regain control of the poison energy spreading outward. But... Although excruciating pain flooded her body once more, she endured it. However...
Ring. Ring. Ring... The sound of the bell grew louder. With every chime, a violent wave of pain threatened to force her submission.
"Aaargh... Aaaah!"
Tang Seo-yeon screamed in agony. She was accustomed to pain, but this was different. The soul-controlling art of the Daoist, which had seized her mind, was directly attacking her soul. This pain was on an entirely different level from physical suffering.
The growing sound of the bell warned her. Do not resist. You cannot fight back anyway. Submit and find peace. It was merely the sound of a bell, yet it carried an inescapable force of coercion.
"Ah... Ah..."
She felt like she was going mad. Or perhaps she had already lost her mind. Was she even herself anymore?
'I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I'm sorry for being born. I'm sorry for being useless. Everything...'
She could feel nothing but irresistible terror and a pain akin to a living hell. Just as she was about to shatter, unable to hold onto herself...
"...Lady."
Someone was calling her.
"Lady Tang."
It wasn't exactly familiar, but it was definitely a voice she recognized. And the moment she heard it, the terrifying sound of the bell began to recede.
"Are you alright, Lady Tang?"
Her vision slowly returned. Someone was calling her from within the thick, toxic fog. The owner of the reliable arms gently supporting her back and neck. He was...
"Young Hero... Han?"
"I'm glad you seem to be safe."
It was Han Cheong-un. Her tiny light had appeared before her. But her overwhelming joy and emotion were short-lived. The moment her mind cleared, she...
"Get... get away... Ah... ah..."
What should she say first? It was dangerous to touch her, the possessor of the Myriad Poisons Body. No, this entire space was dangerous. And the sight of Han Cheong-un before her eyes...
"Young... Young Hero?"
Most of his skin had melted and peeled away. Blood was trickling from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Seeing how his eyes couldn't focus, it seemed his senses were no longer intact either.
"Run... run away."
"Lady Tang..."
"I'll die. I... I'll die alone... So please, run away."
"It's already too late."
She knew. It was already too late. She, too, was trained in the poison arts of the Sichuan Tang Family. How could she not know? Han Cheong-un's condition was so severe that it was a miracle he was even alive.
"Ah... Ahhh..."
Seeing her writhe in guilt, Han Cheong-un smiled bitterly.
'My calculations were off. To think even the resistance from the Divine Elixir wouldn't be enough.'
He had thought that with the resistance of the Divine Elixir, he could withstand the poison emitted by the Myriad Poisons Body. But he had miscalculated. The poison she released was so toxic that even the resistance granted by the elixir could not fully block it. Of course, it was only thanks to that resistance that he had managed to reach this spot in the first place. And he could still achieve his primary goal for coming here.
"Lady Tang. I will save you now."
"Don't do it. Just run away. Please!"
Han Cheong-un smiled. Then, with great effort, he raised his spear. Though his body lacked proper strength, he could still manage one final strike. In that state, Han Cheong-un...
Han Cheong-un immediately deployed his Domain. An anomalous ability that even he did not fully understand. This power, which altered the flow of time for himself and others, was not martial arts. It was an innate ability Han Cheong-un had obtained unexpectedly. In other words, it was a power of the same lineage as Gwiryeongdosa's sorcery or her Dragon Eyes. Because of that...
'I see it.'
A dark, hazy shadow loomed behind Tang Seo-yeon. It had a human shape, but it was filled with malice and yin energy. There was no need to think about who it belonged to.
"I'll give you a taste of your own medicine."
With those words, Han Cheong-un swung his spear. Perceiving it clearly within his Domain, he slashed at the entity.
Slash! The moment the dark entity took Han Cheong-un's blow, it shattered into pieces and scattered.
In a dark, empty secret chamber, a man coughed up blood and collapsed.
"Cough..."
The one who had been conducting the ritual in the center of the magic circle was Gwiryeongdosa, who had been casting his soul-controlling art on Tang Seo-yeon. He suddenly spat out blood and fell to the floor.
"Urgh... To break my spell?"
In sorcery, the stronger the effect, the greater the backlash. Especially when a spell was broken by force, the repercussions fell entirely upon the caster.
"How dare that brat..."
Gwiryeongdosa gnashed his teeth. To lose the Myriad Poisons Body when it was almost in his grasp.
'I needed to use her to extract the poison for the jiangshi...'
A sigh escaped him. A pawn he had painstakingly prepared for a long time for his grand design had been ruined. All because of some brat who had appeared out of nowhere.
"Damn brat, I'll tear him apart alive..." Gwiryeongdosa bit his lip mid-sentence, realizing he couldn't do so.
'He's already poisoned by the Myriad Poisons Body. There's no way he'll survive.'
Indeed. No matter how powerful Gwiryeongdosa was, he could not kill a dead man.
"Whew... It can't be helped. I have no choice but to give up on the Myriad Poisons Body and find a substitute..."
Gwiryeongdosa let go of his lingering regrets. Since things had turned out this way, he would have to slightly modify his original plan. But it was fine.
'There isn't only one path.'
Although that annoying brat was bothersome, if he was going to die here anyway, there was no need to pay him any further mind.
"Ah..."
The moment Han Cheong-un destroyed Gwiryeongdosa's spell, Tang Seo-yeon's mind suffered a severe shock, and she lost consciousness. Han Cheong-un caught her as she fell and gently laid her on the ground. And then...
"Is this the end?"
He had done enough. Since he had broken Gwiryeongdosa's scheme, the Tang Family Massacre should be prevented now. Of course, there was still plenty to do after this. But...
"Cough... It seems this is as far as I go."
He coughed up blood, but felt no pain. In Han Cheong-un's experience, this was a bad sign. If even the nerves transmitting pain had been destroyed, not even a Great Golden Immortal could save him.
"It can't be helped. Still... at least I saved them..."
Ultimately, Han Cheong-un let go of his final thread of consciousness and collapsed. Or, at least, that was what he thought.
Thud. Just as he was about to hit the ground, Han Cheong-un regained his balance and stood up nonchalantly. And then...
"..."
Han Cheong-un looked around. A toxic fog filled the entire area. Realizing he was standing in the middle of it, he let out a smirk. And then...
"What a feast."
With those words, Han Cheong-un—no, the entity inside him—began to absorb the poison energy spreading in all directions.
All the poison Tang Seo-yeon had released. The lethal poison energy that even she, born with the Myriad Poisons Body, could not fully handle, was sucked away and vanished. The catastrophic poison that seemed ready to shroud the entire world in death disappeared as if it had all been a lie. And then...
"Splendid. I have recovered a significant amount of my power."
The entity wore a highly satisfied smile. Its gaze then fell upon Tang Seo-yeon, who lay unconscious on the ground. Looking at the woman with snow-white hair, the entity smacked its lips and spoke.
"So that girl was the source of this energy?"
Smiling, the entity approached Tang Seo-yeon. It placed its hand over her heart and infused her with a pitch-black energy. As it did so, it murmured...
"Consider it an honor. You have received my essence."
That was the end of it. Having finished its business, the entity returned the body to Han Cheong-un, leaving only Han Cheong-un and Tang Seo-yeon lying unconscious on the ground.