A Tongue Like a Sword
The wanderer has the wanderer's code. Cheong's tongue was a razor-sharp blade that spewed the formless poison guaranteed by the Tang Clan's Supreme Elder, the sinister whispers of hell itself. With the power to flip a person's rage and drive them straight into qi deviation, if her tongue truly was a blade, it would not be an exaggeration to say it had reached the realm of the formless sword. However, Cheong had not returned with some grand ambition to assassinate the Blood Sect bastards through verbal violence. It was, as some wretched scum from a certain piece of fiction once said, to keep allies close and enemies closer. It was annoying when these bastards tried to run away. Of course, if she could get some medicine out of it on the side, all the better.
"Y-you, how...!"
"I suppose the meals here are rather lacking. The Blood Sect's finances must not be doing so well, seeing how poorly they treat their guests. What is this, a bunch of beggars? Ah. That was just me talking to myself. Anyway, I couldn't possibly burden you, so I went out and ate on my own."
"I'm asking how you escaped! Not why!"
"Ah! Then you should have asked properly. You can't even speak straight, like some kind of idiot. Ah. Oops. That was me talking to myself again. Don't mind it. The self-talk keeps slipping out. I'll be careful. By the way, did this old bastard eat his age through his asshole or what..."
"W-what! You wench, how dare you!"
"Agh...!"
Cheong immediately dropped to her knees, slammed her forehead against the ground, and curled her body into a ball.
"Agh, aghh, haah, haaah...!"
The sounds were forced, so to Cheong they were screams, but to anyone else they sounded like shameful moans of pleasure. One of the Blood Sect warriors even shifted into an awkward stance. Of course, Cheong, with her head pressed to the floor, had no idea. She was simply thinking to herself.
Whoa, it feels like they're pouring alcohol straight into my organs. Wow, it's so hot. Is this addictive? Is this why drunkards can't quit?
"Kuhuhuk! Kuhuk! H-how about that! You were so arrogant, and it seems you have some skill in martial arts, but it looks like you've forgotten that your life is still in my hands. Kuhuk! Uhuuhuk!"
"Ugh, ugh, how frustrating. So frustrating."
"Good, have you become a little more obedient? Your skills are decent. How did you escape? And how did you know that Geomhwa wench was captured?"
"There was a corpse here, wasn't there? He asked me to suck his dick."
"S-stop! What kind of vulgar talk is that! Don't you dare say such things!"
Gyeong Damgan flew into a rage. After all, the disciples of the Sinnyeo Sect were supposed to be pure flowers. Only then could he fully enjoy the pleasure of breaking them. Seeing his reaction, Cheong's eyes lit up.
"Hm? Why? Is your dick embarrassed? Then how about cock? Right. He asked me to suck his dick a little, so I figured, why not give it a try once."
"Enough! Why do you keep saying such things!"
"You're so picky. He asked me to grind his dick a little, so I figured I'd give it a try, and he came right over—aaah."
"Kuaaaak!"
Unable to endure the vulgar language coming from a supposedly pure Sinnyeo Sect disciple any longer, Gyeong Damgan unleashed his poison. Thanks to that, Cheong stopped mid-sentence, thinking, Damn it, now I can't even talk, and let out another shameful moan.
"Huu, huu. Yes, if your goal was to get under my skin, you've done an excellent job."
"Did it work?"
Gyeong Damgan's eyes twitched violently. He couldn't understand why three simple words could make his rage boil over like this. In any case, Gyeong Damgan understood the situation now. The fool had been so blinded by lust that he'd approached her and gotten properly thrashed. Having witnessed the morning's tragedy, it made sense that once captured, there wouldn't even be time to use the poison.
"Kuhuk, then it is my turn to scratch you. Here. A gift for you."
When Gyeong Damgan waved his hand, a Blood Sect warrior brought over a box that had been set aside. Gyeong Damgan opened it with a flourish to show the contents: four heads with pained expressions, crammed tightly inside. However, no matter how much she looked, Cheong didn't recognize any of the faces, so she simply tilted her head in confusion.
"What is it? Do you know them?"
"Kuhuhuk, they are innocent commoners with no crimes. They are also the ones you killed."
"Ooh? What do you mean, the ones I killed? Then they must be commoners who did have crimes, right?"
"You killed them. If you hadn't acted so arrogantly this morning, my mood wouldn't have been ruined. Then I wouldn't have had to kill innocent commoners just to show them to you."
Gyeong Damgan waited expectantly. Well? How will you react? Cheong reacted.
"Why are you blaming me when you killed them?"
"What?"
"I mean, think about it. It's not like I threatened you with a knife and told you to behead them. You killed them because you wanted to, so why blame me?"
Cheong was from the modern era and had already encountered this kind of story many times through various media. It was a logic that few people sympathized with, so there was no way Cheong would understand it just because she was experiencing it firsthand.
"You don't understand? If you hadn't caused such a ruckus this morning, these people would still be alive, spending time with their families. It's all because of you, because you were so arrogant, that these people died."
"Ooh? Why? These people died because Eunuch Grandpa cut off their heads. Did I order you to cut off their heads?"
"No, just! Just! Why don't you understand? Think about it! You killed my subordinates, so I did this to get revenge on you!"
"But Eunuch Grandpa didn't even tell me about that. If you'd at least threatened me once, saying that if I didn't behave, you'd capture and kill innocent people, I might have thought about it."
"Why does it have to be like that!! Fine. So you're saying you don't know these people? Then would you say the same thing if I had cut off the heads of those wanderers you cherish so much and presented them to you?"
"I'd be angry, of course, but it's not like it would be my fault. I'd get proper revenge, but there's no reason for me to feel sorry."
"Why does the conversation keep going like this! Think! Just think! If these were the heads of those wanderer bastards, think about how your reckless actions caused the wanderers to die!"
"Hmm. Weren't you planning to kill the wanderers anyway, even if it wasn't me? So even if they were the wanderers' heads, what would be different? Whether I'm here or not, they'd die either way, right?"
"Why! Won't! You understand! It's because of you! It's all because of you, you wench!"
"Why is everything my fault? Then is it also my fault that Eunuch Grandpa is a son of a bitch, my fault that Eunuch Grandpa killed and ate people's parents when he was hungry, and my fault that Eunuch Grandpa is a eunuch?"
"No!! Just!!!"
Gyeong Damgan exploded. And then he exploded again.
"And when did I ever eat anyone!"
"I think you did. You're the kind of bastard who'd do something like that, Eunuch Grandpa."
Gyeong Damgan erupted for the third time.
"Eunuch! Who are you calling a eunuch!!"
"Oh, so you're not? The Double-Line Blood Gu Unit members all said that Eunuch Grandpa is a eunuch, a castrated bastard whose dick doesn't even work."
"Aaaak! Aaaak!! Ugh..."
The elderly Gyeong Damgan grabbed the back of his neck. This was the power of the formless poison, the formless sword, or rather, the absolute mouth known as the heart sword. Then, glaring at Cheong with eyes filled with venom, he belatedly unleashed his poison as if he had just realized something. Feeling the heat in her stomach, Cheong prostrated herself again. However, having used her voice so much, she found even moaning bothersome, so she decided to just lie still and pretend to be someone in too much pain to speak.
An ambiguous amount of time passed. In the Central Plains' system of measurement, the smallest unit of time was one gak. In modern terms, that was fifteen minutes, which really showed just how primitive and uncivilized this society was. About half a gak must have passed. Cheong, who had been lying face down, slowly lifted her head.
"Hey. Isn't this taking too long? At this rate, I'm going to pass out from the pain."
"......?"
"Poison is life too, you know, life. What are you going to do if you take away the poison I've worked so hard to collect? You might as well suck the blood out of a flea."
"You, how."
"Hmm. One. I endured it with sheer willpower. Two. I got the antidote from my Tang Clan friend and took it in advance. Three. I removed the poison after eating lunch. Which one do you think it is?"
Gyeong Damgan was momentarily stunned. The poison of the Blood Gu inflicted extreme pain, as if burning a person alive. Those weak to pain could even have their hearts stop from the shock. So the first option was impossible. And since she had known exactly when the Blood Gu would release its poison and had only pretended, it wasn't the third either.
"Fine, it seems you're quite confident because you took the neutralizing medicine in advance, but do you think the effects will last forever?"
"So you chose the second one. Well, I won't tell you the correct answer. But if the poison doesn't work, what does an old demonic bastard like you have left? A flimsy underground facility? Or iron bars?"
With that, Cheong pulled out a bundle of keys from her robes and shook them with a jingle.
"Didn't you notice that I went out and came back? I have the keys, you know?"
"Damn it! Chains, bring the chains!"
Gyeong Damgan shouted. Cheong watched curiously as the Blood Sect warriors raised their spears and pointed them at her, while one of them brought over chains and began wrapping them around the iron bars of the window. The warrior wrapping the chains glanced at Cheong nervously, his hands trembling as he hurriedly worked to seal it shut. When Cheong approached, the spear tips thrust forward. Cheong grabbed the spear shafts and yanked them away.
"Really, you call this a threat? Did you think you were locking up some woman who doesn't know martial arts?"
Cheong snatched away the spears one by one and tossed them behind her, then finally grabbed the wrist of the Blood Sect warrior who had been wrapping the chains.
"L-let go!"
"Even if you asked politely, I might or might not listen, but giving orders?"
Cheong yanked the Blood Sect warrior's arm. His shoulder blade slipped through the iron bars, and with a thud, his head slammed hard against them. But the pain in his head was nothing compared to what came next. Cheong had already grabbed his shoulder and dug her fingers deep into the shoulder blade.
"Aaaak!"
Crack, snap, crack. Sounds that should never come from a human body. Sounds that only the warrior making them and Cheong could hear. At her fingertips, through her awakened fingers and the palms of her hands, came the sensation of muscles, cartilage, and tendons tearing apart. Ah. Aah. Finally, the warrior's shoulder separated. Cheong pulled out a large chunk of shoulder blade, like digging out a king oyster mushroom, then grabbed the warrior's forearm and slammed him to the ground. Then she blinked, blinked again, and blinked once more with a dazed, disbelieving expression.
Screams of agony echoed through the chamber. The Blood Sect warrior, clutching his shoulder that had been torn open like a tiger had taken a bite, caused a commotion. The sight of someone ripping off another person's shoulder while they were still alive brought a heavy silence to the room. In that silence, Cheong stood up unsteadily and looked at the warrior's arm in her hand.
Whoa. An improvised blunt weapon. Not exactly a green-haired princess. I've only seen this kind of thing on screens before. It doesn't look as neat as I thought it would. Maybe if I trim off some of the flesh, it'll look cleaner, like the ones you see in the wild.
"So. Anyone else want to try wrapping chains?"
At that, the warriors' faces turned deathly pale, visible even in the dim underground light, and they quickly backed away. Even Gyeong Damgan was completely horrified.
"What kind of cruel technique is this! Is this something a righteous sect's chivalrous heroine would do!"
"Oh come on. Does Eunuch Grandpa call it cruel when he kills mosquitoes or fleas? What's cruel about killing pests? What kind of human treatment did you expect as Blood Sect vermin?"
"V-vermin..."
"I watched how you people operate, and hmm. At this point, comparing you to bugs would be an insult to the bugs. Wouldn't mosquitoes or fleas be more beneficial to the world?"
Cheong said this as she naturally opened the prison door and stepped out. Gyeong Damgan took a hesitant step backward.