Chapter 248
Chapter 248
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 248
Chapter Title: True Poison Resistance
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The Heavenly Poison Squad, subjected to Namgung Hyeok's vicious poison torture techniques, finally spat it out in a desperate frenzy. The Thunder Dragon Squad applauded their violent reaction, as if they were about to vomit up their own entrails.
"Just what kind of method lets you torture poison experts with poison?"
"He's insane. This is legendary."
"...Young Master must've been some messed-up soul in his past life. How does someone turn into a freak like that?"
The more they dug, the more hellish Namgung Hyeok proved to be.
How lucky they weren't his enemies....
"No, the real luck would be never crossing paths with him at all. Yeah!"
That thought flashed through everyone's minds.
As they chuckled dryly and muttered about each other's misfortunes, Namgung Hyeok glanced over the frothing Heavenly Poison Squad member.
"The Thousand-Year Crimson Crane, huh."
He'd worked over the whole squad, but that was all they'd coughed up.
They were guarding the Thousand-Year Crimson Crane.
But they claimed ignorance on its exact location or situation.
Two possibilities here.
Either they truly didn't know, or their mental fortitude was insanely tough to endure the torture.
"Nobody holds out against torture."
Which meant they really didn't know squat.
Namgung Hyeok let out a low breath.
He'd already suspected the Five Poisons Sect was after the Thousand-Year Crimson Crane.
The question was why they were still hanging around the border region.
"Either they haven't found the Thousand-Year Crimson Crane yet, or they've found it but can't catch it...."
Or maybe they'd caught it already but weren't moving.
If so, why hadn't they left this place?
By now, they should've bolted from the border and vanished into the wind.
Pondering the Hwe bastards' intentions started twisting Namgung Hyeok's thoughts.
"Ha, fuck. No one hunting that lord of ours is ever normal. Always causing trouble."
Back in his day, he'd have wiped them out ages ago.
"In the end, we've gotta catch those Hwe bastards...."
Namgung Hyeok clicked his tongue and turned his head.
Creak!
The warehouse door swung open, and the Tang Clan of Sichuan's leadership filed in.
Spotting Tang Ui-cheon at the front, Namgung Hyeok's head slowly tilted to the left.
He scanned Tang Ui-cheon up and down with a smirk.
Bluish skin, red blotches, blackened complexion.
"These guys are poisoned?"
Was some plague going around?
Namgung Hyeok's gaze shifted to Tang Myeong-ok.
She flinched under his strange, probing stare and turned away with a fake cough.
Suppressing a leaking laugh, Namgung Hyeok asked,
"What brings you here?"
"We need to head downriver along the Golden Thread River!"
"Downriver?"
"Skirmishes broke out there. Our clan's warriors got hit by them."
Tang Ui-cheon's face was grave. As Namgung Hyeok eyed him questioningly, he added quietly,
"Ten of the Green Shadow Blood Hands went down."
The Green Shadow Blood Hands were the Tang Clan of Sichuan's elite, clad in green robes with red blood-poison gloves.
It took twenty years to train one.
That ten of the clan's top poison masters and martial artists had fled an ambush was no small matter.
Namgung Hyeok knew of the Green Shadow Blood Hands.
Like the Plum Blossom Sword Squad of the Huashan Sect, they represented the Tang Clan's finest.
"Around here, aren't the Five Poisons Sect the real poison lords?"
As Namgung Hyeok mused, Tang Ui-cheon said,
"Seems they've brought in outside help."
"Outside help?"
"Yeah. Unknown assailants joined the attack...."
"Black-clad guys with face coverings?"
"How'd you...? Does the Beggars' Sect's reach extend here?"
"Ah, fuck! There they are!"
Tang Ui-cheon and the Tang clansmen blinked at Namgung Hyeok's sudden shout.
Ignoring them, he bared his teeth.
'Either way, the Thousand-Year Crimson Crane's still here. Confirmed.'
He'd worried if they hadn't shown, they might've grabbed it and run.
'But they showed! Perfect!'
Thousand-Year Crimson Crane!
He'd catch the bastard and boil it into a ginseng chicken soup!
'But first.'
His gaze slid to Tang Ui-cheon's forearm.
Bluish skin dotted with red blotches.
'Dragging them like this, they'll end up in a graveyard.'
The rising poison in their skin was beyond ordinary.
Signs of top-tier torture.
'Are these really the Tang Clan?'
How do poison experts not notice they're poisoned?
'Worse than my karma, jeez.'
It was obvious they'd all collapse foaming at the mouth en masse—dragging them anywhere was suicide.
'Absolutely not. Need them at full strength!'
If the enemy's leadership was involved, normal prep wouldn't cut it. Like before, these weren't run-of-the-mill foes.
So charging blindly where they showed up was out.
"First, we prep."
"Prep?"
"Not like this."
"Don't worry about prep. I've already contacted the main house for reinforcements...."
"No, build poison resistance first. You'll all die otherwise."
"Ha! Poison resistance? We're already building it with the method you taught."
Tang Ui-cheon looked confident as he eyed Namgung Hyeok.
It was bizarre, the pain unspeakable, but enduring it had genuinely improved things over time.
"Starting today, we'll mix in one of the main house's ultimate poisons, Seven Jewels Disordered Soul, to strengthen the resistance training."
"Whoa."
"Ha!"
"You're gonna take Seven Jewels Disordered Soul?"
"Exactly! It'll be potent, but it should bolster the training. We're seeing results already. True, the main house's version is risky, but control the dose, and it's doable!"
"Ha. You all nearly met the grim reaper."
"Ha! Yeah, we nearly met the grim reaper... met him?"
What was that supposed to mean?
Tang Ui-cheon stared blankly at Namgung Hyeok.
Namgung Hyeok met his eyes with pity.
He clicked his tongue, shaking his head at Tang Ui-cheon.
"Why the hell would you eat Seven Jewels Disordered Soul? You almost croaked."
"What're you talking about? This is how you build resistance...."
"Who builds resistance by chowing down ultimate poisons?"
"But... you...."
"That's a torture method."
"Torture method?"
"It's my invention—Poison Torture Broth."
Blink, blink.
What kind of twisted joke was this?
"Fun guy!"
"Isn't the numbness kicking in now? Skin prickling, guts itching?"
"Ha! As if! No way... that... way...."
Tang Ui-cheon's face darkened to black.
He looked at Namgung Hyeok in panic.
Namgung Hyeok clicked his tongue again, shaking his head.
Y-you mean for real?
"Th-then what we've been doing...."
"Ingenious self-harm. Ha!"
"Ugh!"
Betrayal in his eyes, Tang Ui-cheon glared at Tang Myeong-ok.
"Y-you... you tried to kill your father...!"
Her face drained white as she denied it.
"No! Father, this is...!"
"You... you tried to kill us, you wretch!"
"Fatherrr!"
Tang Myeong-ok cried out as the leadership's eyes blazed at Tang Ui-cheon's roar.
Tang Myeong-jin bellowed furiously,
"You crazy sister! I told you it was weird!"
"N-no! It's not! No way!"
Namgung Hyeok chuckled as the Tang leadership trembled with betrayal.
He addressed them,
"That's not how you handle poison. Before moving, let's build real resistance. You'll foam and drop dead otherwise."
"...."
"This is why superstition kills."
Tang Ui-cheon and the others flinched, staring at Namgung Hyeok.
Everyone gawked at him treating the poison-lord Tang Clan like shamans while lecturing on poison, but none spoke up.
Namgung Hyeok snapped his fingers.
Instantly, the Thunder Dragon Squad hauled the Heavenly Poison Squad from the warehouse pit and dumped fresh toxic herbs in.
He nodded at them.
"What're you waiting for? Get in."
"Uh, uh...."
"Hurry up. We gotta move fast."
The Tang leadership shuffled hesitantly into the pit.
Namgung Hyeok jerked his chin.
"Hey, pour it in!"
"W-wait!"
"Dunk 'em to the hairline. Pull 'em out, bury 'em—alive!"
"W-waaaiiit!"
The Tang leadership's screams echoed through the warehouse.
* * *
Between towering mountain ranges surging like waves, the Golden Thread River flowed majestically.
The winding peaks evoked a giant crouched in solemn repose.
Namgung Hyeok, the Thunder Dragon Squad, and the Tang Clan's elites raced along the river, leaping hills swiftly.
Every Tang warrior wore a discomforted expression.
Locked in the "resistance training" pit, their bodies still tingled fiercely.
They passed barren, grassless mountains and a long ravine.
Along the gorge, ochre waves churned.
"Further down!"
At Tang Ui-cheon's call, they picked up speed.
The Green Shadow Blood Hands had fallen less than a day ago.
The enemy might still lurk or leave traces nearby.
'I'll show the main house our might this time!'
Just taking hits wounded their pride as Tang warriors.
The Tang Clan forgave no enemies.
"These are the ones who crushed the Green Shadow Blood Hands. No slacking!"
"Yes!"
If ten elites fled without a fight, the foes were no joke.
The group dashed downriver along the ravine.
Killing intent rose in Tang Ui-cheon's eyes.
At the river's lower reach along the gorge, a band of enemies had set camp.
Around thirty strong, matching reports.
'They were waiting?'
An ominous feeling stirred.
But they'd spotted the enemy and steeled themselves.
Tang Ui-cheon bellowed thunderously,
"No quarter! Wipe them out!"
With his cry, the Poison King Squad charged downriver fiercely.
Tang Myeong-ok and Tang Myeong-jin leaped in too.
"It might be a trap!"
"So what? We outnumber them!"
"Stick to protocol...!"
"Shut it!"
Whoosh!
Tang Myeong-jin accelerated, launching skyward.
Riding the wind, he soared toward the Five Poisons Sect's poisoners.
Spotting the Tang warriors diving from above, the Five Poisons Sect lit up.
Subtle sneers crossed their faces as they yanked hidden ropes on the ground.
Instantly, toxic smoke erupted beneath the vanguard Poison King Squad and Tang Myeong-jin.
Fwoooosh!
Blood Plasma Poison spewed forth, red-and-black fumes engulfing them in a blink.
"No!"
"Trap!"
"Impossible!"
Tang Myeong-ok, keeping distance and braced for poison arts, widened her eyes in horror.
The Blood Plasma Poison shrouded everything in red-black fog instantly.
That foul, rancid stench matched the toxic cloud from their clash with the Heavenly Poison Squad.
Just as joy and shock traded places on Tang Myeong-ok and the Five Poisons Sect's faces—
"Gaaahhh!"
"Uwaaaah!"
"P-poison...!"
"Th-the bastards... urk!"
Roars and screams mingled from the Blood Plasma Poison cloud.
"Urgh! You sneaky fucks! Die!"
"Kill 'em!"
"What the hell, you bastards!"
Familiar voices rang from the cloud, leaving Tang Myeong-ok and the leadership slack-jawed.
The engulfing Blood Plasma Poison merely tickled them.
Tang Myeong-ok shouted in astonishment,
"Resistance!"
"The resistance held!"
"Real resistance?!"
"We endured! We did it!"
Tang Ui-cheon and the leadership gaped at Namgung Hyeok in shock.
Real resistance in such short time?
Seeing and experiencing were worlds apart!
The Tang experts marveled endlessly at this miraculous resistance method, gazing at Namgung Hyeok in admiration.
Whatever. Namgung Hyeok pierced the cloud with gleaming eyes.
Before anyone could react, he rolled up his sleeves and plunged in.
Namgung Ryong hurled himself after.
Geon Cheon-hwi clutched his face and yelled,
"Ah, damn it. He's off again. Chase!"
Tak Hyeok-dong hoisted his massive club, laughing.
"Kahaha! Let's go, lads!"
Jang Ung sighed.
"Ah, not a cat, but he pounces at anything that moves."
The Thunder Dragon Squad streamed after, and So Hye-yeon leaped in.
Peng Yeon-hwa followed, vowing to slaughter them all.
Peng Jung-hyeok and So Geol-gae exchanged glances and sighs.
"...The Tang Clan could handle this."
"Sigh, beggar's lot. Fuck."
Reluctantly, they dove into the cloud.
Tang Ui-cheon blanked at their leopard-like agility, then snapped to and roared,
"Charge! Poison's useless! Sweep them!"
The Tang warriors surged downriver en masse.
Like furious wolves charging prey.