Chapter 61: Mimicking the Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source Divine Art - Part 1
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 61: Mimicking the Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source Divine Art - Part 1
Tang Seo-yoon’s poisonous qi began to burrow deep into him, seemingly without end.
He had been far too complacent.
To think that telling Tang Seo-yoon the truth would lead to this. He never imagined she would actually use a lethal move against him.
A surprise attack, even if it was a single strike, was more effective than any other form of assault. Especially in the world of Murim, killing an opponent who had let their guard down was a trivial matter.
The Murim was a place where one could be killed even by a child who knew nothing of martial arts.
He had been careless, and now he was paying the price.
He hurriedly tried to manifest his Protective Qi, but it was impossible to withstand the poison that had already grown to such overwhelming proportions. The venom pierced through his hastily formed barrier and began to cannibalize his internals.
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
A scream tore from his throat.
Tang Seo-yoon’s poison inflicted an agonizing, maddening pain. He tried to circulate his Yin-Yang Harmony Qi to neutralize the toxins invading his body, but it was useless.
He could understand her rage, though. What he had done was indeed an absurdity worthy of such fury.
Damn it, I should’ve just kept my mouth shut.
Sun-woo felt a wave of regret wash over him.
After sharing an intimate night with Un Ga-ryeo, Sun-woo had planned to take her with him when he left the Tang Clan. After all, if it weren't for him, she would spend the rest of her life lonely and sexually frustrated. He intended to take responsibility for her.
However, he wasn't actually her son, Tang Se-gi. If she ever discovered that he was the one who had killed the real Tang Se-gi, things would spiral out of control.
Ultimately, Sun-woo had no choice but to ask Tang Seo-yoon for help. He couldn't find a solution on his own.
Of course, he had fully expected Tang Seo-yoon to fly into a rage. He had gone to "pay his respects" to his mother and ended up sleeping with her—how could anyone react well to such a dog-like act?
Still, he had held onto a sliver of hope that she might understand. Besides, as long as he held the latter half of the Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers as an insurance policy, he figured she wouldn't actually kill him.
But Sun-woo’s prediction had missed the mark spectacularly, and now he was on the verge of death.
"Ha... ha..."
Poisonous mist escaped his lips with every breath, and agony radiated through his entire body. His consciousness began to fade. The Yin-Yang Harmony Divine Art alone wasn't enough to block the poison that had already seeped so deep.
Cough!
He spat out a glob of dark blood.
Fuck...
He didn't want to die. Dying like this, in a place where he had neither home nor kin, felt too unfair.
To hell with this, I’m going to live!
Sun-woo began to circulate the Yin-Yang Harmony Divine Art once more. He refused to give up like this. Even if he was going to die, he had to go down swinging.
If I can't expel it, I'll absorb it!
Sun-woo began to use his Yin-Yang Harmony Qi to mimic the Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source Divine Art.
His only remaining hope was this imitation. Only the Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source Divine Art—hailed as the greatest poison technique in the history of the Tang Clan—could resolve the Absolute Poison currently consuming his body.
As he began the mimicry, the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi, which had been violently trying to push the poison out, began to slowly envelop it instead.
The goal wasn't to suppress the poison, but to embrace it and unify it.
As the force that had been forcibly restraining the poison vanished, the venom began to rage even more wildly.
Urgh!
An immense wave of pain crashed over him. But he had to endure.
Aaaaaaaagh!
He felt like screaming again, but he had to hold it in. The moment he stopped the Yin-Yang Harmony Divine Art, he would die.
The Yin-Yang Harmony Qi, having wrapped around the poison, began to rotate fiercely. As the qi spun, the poison began to follow the flow and rotate along with it.
Yes!
Sun-woo cheered inwardly. If he could just achieve unification like this, he would survive. He began to spin the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi even faster. He had to fuse them. Not only would he survive, but he might even be able to store the poison within his internal energy.
A faint hope flickered within him. However, it didn't take long for that hope to be shattered.
What’s happening?!
The rotating poison suddenly ground to a halt. Panicked, Sun-woo spun his Yin-Yang Harmony Qi even faster, but the poison remained immovable.
He had failed the fusion. Too much poison had already encroached for the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi to manage.
With the failure of the fusion, the poison began to rapidly seep into the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi itself. Sun-woo felt his mind slipping away.
Am I dying?
Regret flooded his mind like a tide. If he had just kept his mouth shut, would he have avoided such a miserable death? Or if he had at least prepared properly before speaking, would he have died without even being able to put up a proper fight?
Hypothetical regrets tore through his mind. If he were ever given the chance to stand at a crossroads of life again, he would never make this choice.
Ok-ryeong... Ga-ryeo...
Sun-woo lost consciousness.
*
Sniff, sniff.
A pungent, foul smell brushed against the tip of his nose. Sun-woo furrowed his brows. What on earth was that smell?
Sun-woo turned his head and buried his nose in the bedding. The smell seemed to fade slightly. Just as he was about to drift back into sleep—
Splash!
A wave of cold water slammed into the back of his head, jolting him awake.
"Fuck! What the—?!"
Startled, Sun-woo bolted upright and glared at the person who had dumped the water on him.
"Stop sleeping."
Tang Seo-yoon stood before him, holding an empty bucket. Seeing her face brought back the memories from just before he blacked out.
After sleeping with the Great Matriarch again, Sun-woo had told Tang Seo-yoon the truth. Enraged, she had unleashed her poison, and he had been infected. He had tried to survive by mimicking the Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source Divine Art, but it was too much, and he had eventually succumbed to the poison and fainted.
But why was he still alive?
Sun-woo looked at Tang Seo-yoon with a bewildered expression.
"What are you looking at?"
"Why did you save me?"
"What?"
"Earlier, you were releasing poison like you were going to kill me. What caused the change of heart?"
"This bastard... I save his life and he still complains."
She spoke with extreme curtness.
"Are you forgiving me, then?" Sun-woo asked.
She had definitely been emitting a murderous aura earlier. In fact, he had been so saturated with poison that he was on the brink of death. So why save him? What had changed?
"If it weren't for the oral secrets of the latter half of the Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers, I would have killed you long ago," she spat out.
It seemed his insurance policy had indeed saved his life.
"Tsk."
Sun-woo smacked his lips in disappointment. He had wondered for a moment, but as expected, it wasn't because she had developed feelings for him.
"Don't bother thanking me. Once I get the Rain of Ten Thousand Flowers, I'll kill you immediately."
"......"
She was cold. Tang Seo-yoon was radiating a chill far more intense than before. It seemed he was well and truly in her bad books now.
This bitch... who's the one who should be angry here?
Sun-woo swallowed his curses. He knew that if he spoke his mind, he might end up soaked in poison again.
"Wait, just listen to me for a second."
"Forget it. What more needs to be said in this situation?"
Tang Seo-yoon cut him off firmly. She clearly thought there was nothing worth hearing. Even if the drunken Great Matriarch had jumped him the first time, they were both sober this time.
Furthermore, Sun-woo was wearing the face of Tang Se-gi. She felt disgusted by the Great Matriarch for sleeping with her "son," and she felt contempt for Sun-woo for using Tang Se-gi's appearance to satisfy his lust through her.
"You're a piece of trash."
She had thought he was at least somewhat human, but it seemed she was wrong. From Tang Seo-yoon's perspective, both Sun-woo and the Great Matriarch were no different from beasts driven by lust.
"......"
Since she wasn't exactly wrong, Sun-woo just scratched his head. The first time might have been an unavoidable accident, but this time he had been fully conscious. It was only natural for her to feel betrayed and disgusted by him and her sister-in-law.
"Hey, you crazy woman, stop cutting me off and listen. You should at least hear my excuse, shouldn't you?" Sun-woo replied, his voice tinged with annoyance.
He knew. He knew that no matter what he said, it would sound like an excuse and her anger wouldn't fade. Still, if he didn't resolve this here, he would lose everything—not just the only friend he had made in the Murim, but also the ally he needed to steal the Poison Essence.
"I've learned Sexual Arts. It's a power that amplifies pleasure during the act..."
Sun-woo began to calmly explain the circumstances involving the Great Matriarch. How, due to the Sexual Arts, her body could no longer live without him. How she had tried to take her own life out of the shame of being aroused by her "son." How he had wanted to stop her. The lie he told to keep her alive. He told her everything.
Tang Seo-yoon listened to his words in silence.
"It's not that the Great Matriarch and I were running wild like beasts in heat. It ended up like this because of the nature of the martial arts I practiced."
The Great Matriarch was innocent. If anyone was to blame, it was him. Even after Sun-woo finished speaking, she remained silent.
"......"
A heavy silence filled the space between them.
"And why are you telling me this?"
"Because I don't want you to misunderstand me."
"Why bother?"
"Because you're worth the effort."
He was sincere. He couldn't help that she felt betrayed; Sun-woo had made a poor choice and was the one who had let things escalate. But it would be problematic if his relationship with Tang Seo-yoon soured. She had to help him until he stole the Poison Essence, and she was the only ally who could help him smuggle the Great Matriarch out. If they continued their relationship under this misunderstanding, disaster was inevitable.
"......"
Hearing Sun-woo's words, Tang Seo-yoon fell into deep thought. She was confused. Sun-woo's attitude—revealing the very source of his martial arts just to clear a misunderstanding—baffled her. She wondered if there was any need to go this far for someone who was merely a temporary ally.
He was an utterly unpredictable man. He had killed Tang Se-gi and taken his place to steal the Tang Clan's treasure, the Poison Essence, yet he claimed he couldn't bear to see the Great Matriarch die because of him. She had wanted to scoff at his hypocrisy. When she asked if that justified killing Tang Se-gi, he simply said the bastard deserved to die.
How incredibly self-centered. And yet, this same self-centered man was now fumbling over himself to clear a misunderstanding with her. He was the ultimate pushover.
It was irritating. If he had just gotten angry, she wouldn't be this annoyed. She even wondered how someone with such a soft personality ever planned to steal the Poison Essence.
"Sigh."
After a long silence, Tang Seo-yoon let out a deep sigh.
Flinch.
Sun-woo flinched at the sound of her sigh. It seemed the experience of being marinated in her poison had left him with a lingering fear of her.
"So, what are you going to do now?"
"About what?"
"The Great Matriarch. Are you just going to leave her like that?"
The question about the Great Matriarch was her own way of offering a truce. It was a sign that she understood the situation and would let it slide.
Phew, I’m saved.
Sun-woo breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she had decided to move past it.
"For now, I plan to take her with me when I leave the Tang Clan."
He was serious. Her body had already reached a point where she could only find satisfaction through Sun-woo. Moreover, he had become her new source of hope in the guise of Tang Se-gi. If he abandoned her, it was a certainty that she would take her own life. She looked fragile, but she was a woman of firm resolve.
"How?" Tang Seo-yoon asked, sounding incredulous.
It was absurd. Smuggling out the mistress of the Tang Clan was even more difficult than stealing the Poison Essence.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"That's why I told you, even at the risk of being beaten to death. I couldn't find an answer on my own."
"You're insane."
Tang Seo-yoon spat out a curse. He was definitely not in his right mind. The idea of smuggling out the Great Matriarch, and the fact that he risked death to tell her the truth—none of it was the behavior of a sane person.
"Help me. I need your help."
Sun-woo bowed his head. He currently faced two major tasks. One was stealing the Poison Essence to cure Ok-ryeong, and the other was smuggling out the Great Matriarch. The plan for the Poison Essence was progressing steadily and taking shape, but he didn't have the slightest clue how to handle the Great Matriarch.
"Do you really think she'll elope with the man who killed her son?"
"That's why it's a dead end."
Would it have been easier if he were just a mysterious intruder who had fallen for her? Since he had already performed the deed while disguised as her son, there was no easy answer. If she ever found out she had shared a bed with the villain who murdered her child, she would kill herself. Sun-woo did not want that ending. His head began to ache from all the complications.
"Do you plan on telling her the truth?"
"I don't know. I don't know what to do."
He couldn't recklessly reveal his identity until he had stolen the Poison Essence. And certainly not the fact that he was the killer who took her son's life.
"Even if I do tell her, I'll keep my mouth shut until I've stolen the Poison Essence."
He felt sorry for the Great Matriarch, but he had no choice. The Poison Essence was that important to him.
"......"
Tang Seo-yoon stared at him in silence. He was a man who meddled far too much in things that didn't concern him. All his problems would be solved if he just gave up on the Great Matriarch. She couldn't understand why he was making life hard for himself by trying to take responsibility.
Still, she didn't hate it. It was proof that he was maintaining at least a shred of humanity.
"I'll try to think of a way too. Nothing comes to mind right now, though."
"Thanks."
Sun-woo expressed his gratitude. The situation was so tangled that it was no surprise she didn't have an immediate solution either. Still, the fact that she was willing to help made him feel grateful.
"More importantly, how are you feeling?" she asked, belatedly checking on his condition.
"Don't people usually ask that right when someone wakes up?"
"I felt like cursing at you first."
"......"
Sun-woo fell silent at her sharp remark.
"I performed an emergency detoxification, but the poison reached your bone marrow, so I'm not sure what the outcome will be."
"You should have said that sooner!"
Sun-woo quickly began to circulate the Yin-Yang Harmony Divine Art. If the poison had reached his bone marrow, he was in a truly dangerous situation. He had to burn away the toxins immediately.
Huh?
As he circulated the technique, Sun-woo noticed something strange. There was still poison left inside him. Since it had reached his marrow, he likely hadn't fully recovered. That was why he had hurriedly activated his martial art, but the movement of the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi was bizarre.
As he operated the technique, the Yin-Yang Harmony Qi began to mix with the internal poison.
What? Why is it doing this?!
Sun-woo was panicked. He wasn't even trying to mimic the Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source Divine Art right now. And yet, his energy was unifying with the poison.
Something unbelievable was happening.