Chapter 110
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Crimson Peach Powder
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The moment he heard her voice coming from behind him, Ak Jigwang sprang to his feet and whirled around.
Ever since parting ways with her in Lanzhou, Ak Jigwang had longed for Moyong Cheong day and night.
The other three men also rose from their seats, greeting her warmly.
“Moyong Miss. How could you possibly...”
Unlike Ak Jigwang, who was too overcome with emotion to speak properly, the others offered calm greetings.
“Have you been well?”
“Good to see you.”
“Oh, Moyong Miss.”
But despite their warm welcomes, Moyong Cheong's gaze wasn't on any of the four men.
She was fixated on Seonwoyong, who had his head bowed and was even picking at his nose.
Then she walked right past the four of them and approached Seonwoyong, tapping him on the shoulder.
“Hey, come on, get up. Do you have any idea how worried I've been?”
Only then did Seonwoyong lift his head, spotting Moyong Cheong, and tossed out a single remark.
“Huh? And who might you be?”
Then he dropped his head again.
Moyong Cheong called over the waiter and ordered some iced tea, then sat beside him with an anxious expression.
She paid almost no attention to the four men.
The four of them awkwardly took their seats again, their faces etched with shock.
Ak Jigwang was the first to react.
“Moyong Miss. You didn't come looking for us?”
The other three just stared at Moyong Cheong with baffled expressions.
“Why on earth would I go searching for you all?”
With that one line, Moyong Cheong dismissed their confusion.
Just then, the waiter brought out the chilled tea, and she lifted it to Seonwoyong's lips.
“Here, it's iced tea. Have some. Pull yourself together.”
Strangely enough, Seonwoyong—who had been completely out of it—parted his lips and began sipping the iced tea.
The four men watching this were utterly dumbfounded.
Not only Moyong Cheong carefully supporting Seonwoyong's upper body to feed him the tea, but Seonwoyong himself—who had just asked who she was—now casually accepting it without a second thought.
Ak Jigwang's expression shifted by the moment.
From surprise to sadness to disbelief to anger, and now it was downright menacing.
“Moyong Miss. What exactly is your relationship with that man?”
Ak Jigwang demanded, but Moyong Cheong offered no response.
In truth, the situation didn't call for any explanation.
Anyone could see that the two of them looked like newlyweds—or at least lovers who had already shared deep intimacies.
Ak Jigwang recalled what had happened back in Lanzhou.
When Moyong Cheong had parted ways with them to travel with the Shenzhou Merchant Group, her eyes had already been on Seonwoyong.
Jealousy was a monster that swept away all reason and emotion, leaving only the pettiest instincts behind.
And right now, Ak Jigwang had been utterly consumed by that jealous monster.
Then, as if on cue, Seonwoyong seemed to regain some clarity. He gently pushed Moyong Cheong away and straightened his upper body.
“Hmm, what are you doing here?”
Seonwoyong asked bluntly, and Moyong Cheong replied with a face brimming with joy.
“What do you mean? I've been so worried! You've been gone a whole day without a word...”
“Enough. Go on home. I'll have a bit more and head back.”
“Come on, let's go together now. You can have another drink at home if you want.”
“What fun is drinking at home? The booze there tastes awful.”
“I'll make it fun for you, then.”
As the two bickered like this, Ak Jigwang reached his limit.
“To think a mere merchant could be so rude.”
As the heir to the Shandong Ak Clan, he had never truly regarded ordinary merchants as people.
And yet here was Moyong Cheong—the woman he had secretly admired—being treated this way, and he couldn't even step in...
At Ak Jigwang's outburst, Seonwoyong turned his head.
“What are you lot still doing here? You've eaten your fill—now be on your way.”
Seonwoyong's voice was now free of any drunken slur.
It was all because of that Absolute Intoxication Pill.
It wasn't anything special, but the pill was still a kind of poison, and the Northern Sea Divine Art coiled within Seonwoyong's body was especially sensitive to toxins.
As soon as the pill entered his system, the intricacies of the Northern Sea Divine Art activated on their own.
The vast sea of inner energy—which he had deliberately suppressed to get properly drunk—surged forth in an instant, sweeping away the alcohol's haze from his body just as quickly.
Seonwoyong had feigned sleep to avoid bothering with the four men, but Moyong Cheong had made even that impossible.
At Seonwoyong's words, Ak Jigwang puffed up with bravado.
“Looks like you've finally sobered up a bit. In that case, punishing your insolence shouldn't be a problem.”
Moyong Cheong stepped forward first.
“Insolence? Ak Young Master, you're the rude one here. Apologize at once and leave.”
“Heh heh... Moyong Miss. I never realized you were this kind of woman. Siding with a mere merchant... We'll settle that later, but for now, stand aside while I discipline this fool.”
Ak Jigwang muttered as he rose, extending his hand as if ready to strike at any moment.
Moyong Cheong immediately reacted, jumping to her feet.
But in that instant, Seonwoyong's hand seized her wrist.
He quietly pulled her down, seating her again.
“Sit. This isn't something for you to get involved in. Women shouldn't.”
Incredibly, Moyong Cheong sat back down without a peep.
Her face flushed pink as she gazed at Seonwoyong.
“By the way, you. What was that stuff earlier? The drug-laced thing.”
Surprisingly, Seonwoyong ignored Ak Jigwang entirely and turned to Tang Ho first.
Tang Ho flinched for a moment but quickly deflected.
“What are you talking about? You were passed out drunk, and now you're babbling nonsense.”
“Thanks to your drug, a full day's worth of booze went to waste. So how do you plan to make up for it?”
“Heh heh... You're truly set on dying now, aren't you? I am Tang Ho of the Sichuan Tang Clan. Taking your worthless life would take no more than a flick of my wrist—so get lost.”
Seonwoyong didn't react strongly to the words. He simply rose to his feet.
“Follow me outside. Too many people here.”
With that, he headed out of the tavern.
Moyong Cheong—and even the four men—immediately stood and followed.
“Excuse me, young masters. What about the bill...”
“Follow me out. I'll settle it right away. Won't take long.”
The one who answered was Un Jahong.
Seonwoyong had done a lot of thinking over that full day of drinking.
It had started after he crippled Dae Jongdo and severed the wrists of countless masters, including Seong Ilchung.
And the conclusion he had reached was simple: Don't overthink things.
He had been carrying too heavy a burden. On himself.
His wife's dying words kept echoing in his mind.
“Just live freely.”
Stepping outside the tavern, the night air felt utterly refreshing.
The sky was filled with countless stars, and a cool breeze gently rustled through.
Seonwoyong took two deep breaths.
He no longer needed the drunken haze.
Now with a clear mind, Seonwoyong gazed up at the night sky before turning around. The four men stood before him.
“When you used that poison on me, you must have been prepared for this?”
Seonwoyong's eyes were fixed solely on Tang Ho as he spoke first.
Tang Ho snorted in response.
“The Absolute Intoxication Pill might be mere medicine to you, so you should be thanking me instead.”
“You're right about that. Thanks to it, the alcohol's all gone. But I've never let anyone who messes with me—poison or drug—get away with it.”
“Hmph. Let's see if you can say that after tasting a real poison.”
Seonwoyong laughed as if genuinely delighted.
“Haha. Alright then, hit me with whatever you've got. I'd love a real poison... What was it again? Poison Essence? Some kind of Poison Essence? The one with no smell or form.”
At Seonwoyong's question, Tang Ho faltered and asked back.
“Are you talking about the Formless Poison Essence, by any chance?”
“That's it. Formless Poison Essence.”
Formless Poison Essence.
It was the Sichuan Tang Clan's secret treasure, an unparalleled poison.
A colorless, odorless, tasteless, shapeless toxin that could kill dozens with a single drop—earning it the title King of All Poisons.
But there was no way the current Tang Ho possessed such a treasure.
Now smirking, Tang Ho reached into his robes with both hands.
“Heh heh. A merchant like you must have picked up some trivia somewhere. That's far beyond your station, so here—try this instead.”
In an instant, Tang Ho spread his hands, and a sweet peach fragrance wafted through the air.
It was night, so the poison's form was invisible, but anyone with some knowledge of the jianghu would recognize that scent.
It was Crimson Peach Powder, which was actually a type of aphrodisiac.
But the Sichuan Tang Clan, being a righteous sect in its own right, couldn't openly produce aphrodisiacs.
Thus, Crimson Peach Powder was officially classified as a qi-dispersing poison.
It did disperse qi—quite potently, in fact—so it wasn't entirely false, but its aphrodisiac effects were so overwhelming that the clan had banned its export.
Tang Ho carrying it around was highly suspicious, but that was a matter for later. For now, Seonwoyong was the issue.
“Hmm. Quite the sweet peach scent.”
Seonwoyong deliberately inhaled deeply.
“B-Be careful. That's Crimson Peach Powder, a kind of... aph... um... qi-dispersing poison.”
Moyong Cheong, watching from the side, stammered a warning.
She was holding her breath as she spoke, giving her words an adorably cute lilt.
Seonwoyong breathed in the fragrance with utter nonchalance before bursting into hearty laughter.
“Qi-dispersing poison? Nah, this is an aphrodisiac, isn't it? Already feeling the heat rising. Haha!”
Moyong Cheong's face flushed even deeper in the darkness, while Tang Ho inwardly gloated.
“Heh heh. Since you're clueless, merchant, let me explain. That powder you so eagerly inhaled is called Crimson Peach Powder, just as the young lady said. For an ignorant fool like you with no martial arts, there's no inner energy to disperse, so you'll just feel a bit languid. Then, of course, you'll start craving it madly. Heh heh heh.”