Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Chang'an Ink Sword Grove Tang Medicine Hall (5)
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Time in Ink Sword Grove passed leisurely, with nothing urgent on the horizon.
No crises right in front of us, nothing to rush or fret over.
Martial arts was like that by nature.
Weaving cloth with years as the warp threads and effort as the weft.
Thus, my main occupation was watching Seolha, Yeonhwa, and Tang Sohye grow bit by bit.
Not obviously, but steadily.
Seeming stagnant, but definitely progressing.
Those kids were growing. As martial artists. As women. Slowly.
That said, I didn't just stare at them idly.
I'd occasionally head to Qing Mountain under the guise of an outing for drinks.
Qing Mountain Sect and Namgung Hwi. A pair whose bond as woman and man was growing stronger than that of master and disciple.
Perhaps they were the ones I watched with the most interest.
A man thriving on his fateful encounters, destined someday to descend the mountain and rebuild the Namgung Family.
The woman of the single-lineage Qing Mountain Sect and the future she would choose.
I was curious how their fates would unfold.
I hoped it would all turn out beautifully. Was that too selfish of me?
Besides Qing Mountain, my other focus remained Sichuan.
Over a month since leaving the Tang Clan, their movements had grown fiercely aggressive.
The daily updates from Tang Sohye on the situation there were riveting.
Few could stand against the man who had departed not as clan head, but as the Poison King.
Thus, Sichuan was swiftly falling under a new order.
"My little granduncle asked if he could come to Chang'an once he's fully wrapped up matters in Sichuan."
"Little granduncle? Ah, Tang Cheol?"
"Yes, Grove Lord."
"To Ink Sword Grove?"
"Yes, Grove Lord."
"No issue with him coming. But finishing up Sichuan will take quite a while, no?"
"He seems to want a promise in advance."
"Impatient sort. Tell him I won't stop him once it's done. Plenty of room in Ink Sword Grove anyway."
"Yes, Grove Lord. I'll relay that."
Tang Cheol was a funny one. Already making plans?
Meant he was that confident, I suppose. No wonder he was thrilled.
With his dantian restored, life must taste sweet again.
But what about that limp? A martial artist with a crippled leg faced dire consequences.
In any case, those leisurely days drifted by.
Crafting Tang Sohye's darts hadn't taken long.
I'd grown accustomed to carving Black Wall into weapons by now.
If I hauled out every last bit from Black Wall Cavern and shaped it, I could probably make hundreds, even thousands.
But was that okay? Not knowing the material's nature made me uneasy.
I might be recklessly scattering out-of-place artifacts from this era.
At the very least, I'd yet to see any metal tougher than Black Wall.
An ordinary steel blade could barely nick it. Only someone drawing power like mine could cleave it.
Well, I hadn't distributed much yet anyway. No harm done.
Tang Sohye received seven darts.
One short dart alone felt too skimpy, so I'd carved out roughly the volume of a full sword.
Palm-sized blades boasting pitch-black edges.
Looking at them finished, I couldn't help but marvel. Whoever forged the original was a genius. Truly.
Tang Sohye took them with an unusually radiant smile—unlike her typical demeanor—and named them Seven Cuts right there on the spot.
She really loved them? Guess that's the martial artist in her.
Anyway, Seven Cuts. Simple, but it rolls off the tongue. If she liked it, that was what mattered.
From then on, she trained hurling the Seven Cuts.
Seemed like Tang Clan hidden weapon techniques. I snuck in some pointers here and there.
Not a deep expert, but I knew modern baseball pitching mechanics well enough.
She absorbed it with keen interest, weaving it into her throws.
Before long, she dubbed it Seven Cuts Linked Tail and dove into practice.
Her ultimate aim: threading them with qi silk for remote control.
Sounded solid. Definitely flashy. Performance should be top-notch too.
The blowing wind grew chillier, ushering in a fine season for outdoor sweat.
The coolness was welcome. Perfect for warm baths.
Ink Sword Grove's bathhouse had improved day by day, and I found myself lingering there longer and longer.
Without Seolha and Yeonhwa, it wouldn't have come to this.
They deserved credit for my extended soaks.
These days, I flung open all the windows for a garden view while bathing—a true delight.
With my senses extended to the max, I could detect any peepers easily.
Seolha and Yeonhwa were embarrassed at first, but now they just went with it.
Humans adapt, after all.
Besides, they trusted me. If I said the coast was clear, it was.
So that day too, I lounged in the bath with the two women tucked close beside me.
Breasts filling my hands. Steamy bathwater rising in heat. Fragrant floral notes.
At Seolha and Yeonhwa's pleas, I'd started scattering petals in the bath—no helping it.
Even I had grown used to the subtle bloom.
And it was rather nice, truth be told.
A faint floral scent on the skin was pleasant. Especially since it lingered into the bedroom.
Like now, burying my face between Seolha's thighs to lap at her secret folds.
Subtle fragrance mingling with tender flesh on my tongue. And Seolha's moans.
"Hnnng... Hero..."
A voice moist with urgency, her body begging for me.
I loved that look pleading for me to enter her without delay.
I lifted my head, gripped my shaft, and pressed it to her entrance. Only then did Seolha flash a lewd smile.
I thrust deep inside, her body rippling, breasts jiggling.
Fingers clutching the bedsheets tight. Moans spilling free.
Then Yeonhwa pressed her body flush against my side and claimed my lips.
We did this daily, yet never grew bored. If anything, each time was pure joy.
We were deep in that bliss when I sensed movement through my aura.
It was Tang Sohye from the medicine hall.
Where to in the dead of night? No reason for her to venture out.
Yet an oddly strange feeling crept in.
Her movements were sluggish. And there was a subtle wrongness to them.
Above all, she was heading straight for my chambers.
She'd never come near my quarters at night since arriving in Ink Sword Grove. It struck me as peculiar.
I halted, furrowing my brow. Seolha and Yeonhwa caught my expression, sensing the anomaly too, and fixed me with cautious gazes.
And still, amid it all, Tang Sohye drew nearer to the chambers.
Slowly. Almost staggering.
"Stay put for a moment."
With that, I hastily tugged on my pants and stepped out of the chambers.
Heading her way, the situation snapped into clarity.
Tang Sohye was hunched over, clutching her lower belly, shambling awkwardly toward the chambers.
Her face, when she looked up, was drenched in sweat.
"Tch."
I rushed over and scooped her into my arms.
A vicious wave of poison qi hit me from her body.
The moment I supported her, she reached her limit and fainted dead away.
"Hero!?"
"Oh!? Tang little sister!?"
Seolha and Yeonhwa came running, hastily dressed.
But I barked at them urgently.
"Stay back! The poison qi is intense!"
It truly was. For whatever reason, poison qi was rampaging wildly through her entire body.
Seolha and Yeonhwa watched with faces full of worry, but I flashed a smile to reassure them.
"Don't you trust me?"
That single line melted the tension from their faces.
Felt good. Being trusted like this by someone.
"Head inside. It'll be fine."
"Yes, Hero."
"Got it, Hero."
They bowed their heads and retreated to the chambers.
Yeonhwa glanced back once, but I waved her on inside before turning my eyes to the cradled Tang Sohye.
Sigh. Thought she was sharp, but youth will out, I guess.
Looked like she'd tried hastily absorbing the spirit medicines inside her, leading to this. Nothing else made sense.
Carrying Tang Sohye back to the medicine hall, I burned away the poison qi that had dripped to the floor with my true qi.
So potent even her spilled sweat carried a biting poison.
Seolha or Yeonhwa wouldn't suffer much from this level, but the maids around Ink Sword Grove were ordinary folk.
Exposure here could prove fatal.
Thus, thorough cleanup was essential. To avert any mishaps.
Back in the medicine hall, I laid Tang Sohye on the bed at once.
Her sweat-soaked martial robe was little more than poison-pickled rags.
No choice—I stripped her bare and incinerated the clothes entirely with true qi.
Burned them down to a mere handful of ash, filling the room with acrid haze.
Opening the windows let in a cool breeze, clearing it somewhat.
Good enough. Now for Tang Sohye herself.
I gazed at her body, laid nude upon the bed without a stitch.
A lithe figure. Admiration rose before any stir of lust.
Big breasts were right. Bigger is better, universally.
But pretty breasts were right too.
Ones not overly large but beautiful like Tang Sohye's—she could hold her head high for them.
Anyway, not here to ogle. I pressed a hand to her abdomen and probed within.
As expected, her internals were a mess.
Poison qi flooded every meridian throughout her body.
I circulated true qi at once to gather it up.
Routine work from purging the nameless poison countless times. This posed no real challenge.
I coalesced the poison qi. Clumped it tight, then wrapped it in true qi.
Took a bit of time, but I managed without issue. Her body was pristine once more.
The problem was the sweat caked all over her.
Cooled by the breeze and dried, it clung dark and crusty across her skin.
Sigh. Here came an unwelcome chore fated not for me.
But no one else could handle it.
Even this dried sweat's poison would drop most folk dead on the spot.
Thus, no helping it—I fetched clean cloth and a basin, filled it with water, and set it to boil.