Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: Sweet Lips, Poisonous Heart [Honey Hiding a Vicious Heart] (1)
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Zhuge Soso stripped off Four Thousand Four's upper garment.
The spots where the flesh-eating spider had bitten turned a dark purplish-black against his skin, making them obvious at a glance.
Four Thousand Four had been bitten in three places.
In just a fleeting moment, before he even realized it, the spider had struck, injecting a nerve-paralyzing venom.
Slice!
Zhuge Soso drew a small knife and carved out the discolored flesh.
"Will this heal him?"
Miansosal asked without letting his guard down on the surroundings.
"No. It's just a stopgap. It can prevent the flesh from liquefying, but it won't remove the venom that's already entered his body."
"So this guy's just dead weight from here on out."
Slice! Slice!
Zhuge Soso ignored Miansosal's words and focused on cutting away the tainted flesh.
"We don't have time to hang around like this."
Zhuge Myeong urged her on.
Zhuge Soso ignored Zhuge Myeong's words as well and silently continued the treatment.
She applied golden sore medicine, wrapped bandages around the wounds, and even pulled out a small pill wrapped in oiled paper from her bosom.
"You plan to feed him that too?"
"I don't know if this will bring him back to his senses. But we have to try our best."
"You..."
Zhuge Myeong started to say something but trailed off.
The pill Zhuge Soso had taken out was the Zhuge Clan's secret elixir, the Vitality Pill.
It was an elixir among elixirs, said to revive even those on the brink of death as long as their last breath hadn't escaped.
As might be expected, it was priceless and nearly impossible to obtain, even for a fortune.
The Zhuge Clan had only about twenty left, and it was a forbidden pill they could no longer produce without the essential heavenly blood grass.
Yet Zhuge Soso had pulled it out without hesitation.
As if sensing what Zhuge Myeong wanted to say, Zhuge Soso spoke first.
"I told you. Without this man, we can't escape this place. Everyone, cover your mouths and noses with your wet clothes. Poison smoke will spread soon. It might already be here."
At Zhuge Soso's words, Miansosal and Zhuge Myeong simultaneously covered their mouths and noses with damp cloth.
"Ngh!"
Four Thousand Four let out a groan.
The fact that he could make a sound was a sign the paralysis was lifting.
"Are you coming to?"
"Poison..."
"I know. We're prepared."
"Let me..."
Four Thousand Four reached out a hand.
Zhuge Myeong approached and offered his back. As he did, he muttered,
"Ugh! Dead weight it is."
The best way to recover stamina was to rest deeply.
The more exhausted you were, the more rest you needed; with mild fatigue, a short break sufficed.
Both the duration and method of rest mattered greatly, as the recovery time could vary immensely depending on how you rested.
Among resting methods, sleep was the best.
During sleep, the body fully relaxed. All functions halted except those vital for sustaining life. Even the mental energy used for seeing, hearing, and tasting was shut off.
Four Thousand Four could achieve true sleep.
With eyes open, without actually sleeping, he could rest as deeply as in slumber.
He released tension from his limbs, relaxed every minute muscle, and even forgot the pain surging through his body—not just mentally dismissing it, but truly erasing the sensation of pain.
The Open Senses Full Release made this possible.
After the five senses, it opened the sixth sense wide to the world.
"Opening" didn't mean merely sensing or perceiving the world. It meant becoming one with it, merging so completely that the body itself faded from awareness.
He deployed the Open Senses Full Release as described in the fourth chapter on divine steps.
Poke!
A sharp blade tip brushed past his nose.
Tap tap!
Four Thousand Four tapped Zhuge Myeong's shoulder.
Left... left...
Zhuge Myeong understood and turned left.
The acrid poison tickling his nose grew slightly fainter. The stench was still thick enough to warrant turning his head, but it was better than before.
"Urk! This way?"
Zhuge Myeong staggered as he asked.
Four Thousand Four didn't answer. He only intervened when he sensed they were on the wrong path.
Otherwise, he simply rested deeply.
"Hee hee! Hee hee hee!"
The Poison Master chuckled slyly.
Four Thousand Four had identified the flesh-eating spider. He'd pinpointed the forest predator.
The moment he did, the spider's effect was halved.
Ambush was most effective when you didn't know what was attacking. If you knew the assailant, effective countermeasures came to mind, making the ambush far harder.
That was why the poison mist had been added.
The plan was to trap and fell the entire Zhuge Clan group in the toxic fog. And it could have worked. Generously estimating, just one daekyeong's time, and they'd all be captured.
But... Four Thousand Four had found the poison paths.
Even poison mist had paths.
Like paths trodden by people, there were paths the poison traveled.
When dispersed, poison spread well in some terrains and poorly in others. It didn't blanket evenly—thick in some spots, thin in others.
Of course, even thin poison was deadly. One breath could kill.
This led worldly folk to believe poison filled every corner when scattered. They thought anyone hit by a Poison Master's dispersal was as good as dead, merely awaiting disposal.
There was a way to survive. Do what Four Thousand Four did.
Seal your airways against invasion, and move through non-poison paths.
Enter a poison-gathered spot or path, and even soaked cloth wouldn't save you. The water itself would become tainted, tormenting you severely.
Choose non-paths, and survival was possible.
Such knowledge was unknown to non-poison experts, untrained in toxins.
Four Thousand Four had trained in poison before.
Not formally, perhaps, but he possessed profound knowledge of it.
"Hee hee! What an amusing fellow. No wonder he dared enter my forest. Hee hee!"
"No total annihilation."
A calm voice whispered in the Poison Master's ear.
"Hee hee! Just grab Soso, right? The likes of Zhuge Myeong or Miansosal..."
"Hee!"
Bukmyeong made no reply.
He wanted only Zhuge Soso. The rest meant nothing to him.
"I'll take that as permission. Hee hee!"
The Poison Master giggled.
"Gah!"
The first Zhuge Clan warrior fell. Clutching his throat, he collapsed in a heap.
"Everyone, be careful! Seal your breaths tight!"
Zhuge Myeong glanced at the fallen man and shouted.
The dead man's seven orifices oozed black blood—not a dribble that stopped, but a steady stream.
His eyes melted, ears bored through. Nose too. Flesh dissolved.
Four Thousand Four saw the corpse as well.
Death came swiftly. The moment he spat bloody froth was the peak of agony. Knowing the poison's invasion, death rushed in before a second scream.
'Third Master's poison!'
Four Thousand Four frowned.
He'd chosen paths where poison dispersed thinly. That's how they'd traversed the fog-shrouded forest without a single casualty.
This time was no different.
The poison was thin—not weak in potency, but spread thinly in terrain resistant to it.
Yet extreme toxin had struck?
"Put me down."
Four Thousand Four tensed his limbs.
Until now, he'd been carried fully relaxed like floating in water, but now it was time to move.
He'd rested enough.
The flesh-eating spider's venom was completely neutralized.
The Vitality Pill Zhuge Soso fed him had helped immensely—not just purging the poison but invigorating his stamina.
"Can you move?"
"I can."
"Stay on my back if you can. I'm fine."
"Put me down."
"So stubborn..."
Zhuge Myeong reluctantly set Four Thousand Four down.
Four Thousand Four's wounds were far from minor. The flesh Zhuge Soso had carved out looked to exceed a jin in total.
Three large chunks removed, much blood lost.
Even with the Vitality Pill's aid, it was too soon for exertion. For an ordinary man, three or four months bedridden might barely allow rising—a grave injury.
Four Thousand Four first examined the dead man.
He scooped the blood from the seven orifices and sniffed.
Poke!
A foul stench stabbed his nose.
In that instant, Four Thousand Four recalled gu poison. The dead blood's odor was unmistakably gu.
"Ah!"
He sighed, eyeing the Zhuge Clan warriors.
Too late. What now!
As if understanding his gaze... one by one, Zhuge warriors clutched throats and fell.
"Gah!"
"Argh!"
Short screams echoed from multiple spots.
The Poison Master had scattered gu on non-paths, embedding tiny living creatures.
Insects capable of stealing life lay hidden along the oblivious Zhuge path.
Had he led the way, he might have noticed. But carried on Zhuge Myeong's back, focused solely on the mist, he hadn't anticipated gu from the Poison Master.
This went beyond poison mastery. It was the work of an evil physician.
"What is it!"
"What poisoned them?"
Zhuge Myeong and Zhuge Soso asked simultaneously.
Four Thousand Four stirred the dead blood. Surely gu lurked within.
And there—finally—a tiny worm.
Like an earthworm, but thinner than a thread. Indiscernible head or tail, both ends curled black like suckers.
"One-Step Death Worm!"
Zhuge Soso gasped at the sight.
Zhuge Myeong and Miansosal's faces darkened too.
"One-Step Death Worm? That thing really exists? How could such a demonic creature..."
Zhuge Myeong's words were cut off by Four Thousand Four.
"This is the One-Step Death Worm."
Four Thousand Four held up the thread-thin worm.
"Lady Soso."
Four Thousand Four looked at Zhuge Soso.
His meaning was clear: Everyone here was infected with One-Step Death Worms.
The gu caster could control them.
That one—the Poison Master—was demonstrating by killing Zhuge warriors as examples. Not all at once. Slowly, giving Zhuge Soso time to think.
The message: I can kill you all. Or just some. Who lives, who dies? That's up to me.
Four Thousand Four merely looked at Zhuge Soso, but his eyes conveyed it all.
"No choice but to surrender?"
Four Thousand Four nodded at her question.
"No antidote for gu can be made or found. We have no option but to entrust our lives to the caster."
Zhuge Soso asked one more thing.
"That's something we can all figure out. Let's ask the assassin Four Thousand Four. In this situation, what would you do? Surrender?"
Zhuge Soso stared straight at Four Thousand Four.