Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Doubting the Savior
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"You think you can save me?"
If detoxifying it were that easy, as the boy claimed, she wouldn't be dying like this.
The Sichuan Tang Family—living and dying by poison.
As that saying went, Dang Ha-ryeong borrowed poison's power to kill her foes,
only for poison to now devour her own life. The notion was utterly ridiculous.
To neutralize Cold Snow Poison, mere proficiency with toxins wasn't enough.
First, one needed medical knowledge sharp enough to see through another's body like an open palm.
Second, they required an abundance of vital yang energy to counter the poison's chilling yin.
Otherwise, they'd need the inner core of a spirit beast on par with Cold Snow Poison or some miraculous elixir.
Judging by his appearance, the boy was about her age or younger at best.
How could a kid from the backwoods possibly help her?
Poison was the Tang Family's pride.
Normally, she'd lash out in fury, but Dang Ha-ryeong just let out a sigh.
Snapping at words spoken out of kindness would be laughable.
Even on the brink of death, she didn't want to stoop that low.
"Forget it. This isn't a poison just anyone can detoxify."
One wrong move, and the boy might succumb to Cold Snow Poison's yin chill too.
She'd held out this long only because she was a woman.
If an ordinary man untrained in martial arts touched her now, he'd freeze solid in an instant.
Yet Lee Seon didn't back down.
"I think I can detoxify it."
Dang Ha-ryeong extended a hand to block his approach.
"Cut the nonsense. Go."
Lee Seon hurriedly ducked behind a tree.
He thought she was about to unleash a palm strike, just like before.
Seeing this, Dang Ha-ryeong managed a faint smile.
"Don't worry. I don't have the strength for that anymore."
"How do I know that's true?"
Lee Seon shot her a distrustful glance.
"I thought you were with those bandits. Now that I've confirmed you're not, I have no intention of attacking."
Lee Seon glanced at the bandits frozen stiff nearby.
Turned into ice statues while still alive—it was pretty eerie.
Sturdy brutes armed with swords, frozen solid by a mere gesture from one woman.
Dang Ha-ryeong apologized.
"Sorry."
A bit late, but an apology was an apology. He'd let it slide.
Only then did Lee Seon's expression soften.
"My name's Lee Seon. Yours?"
Dang Ha-ryeong hesitated for a moment.
She worried how this boy might change upon hearing her name.
The Sichuan Tang Family's fame was immense.
Even with pure intentions, people's gazes shifted the instant they learned her identity. She'd seen it countless times.
'Whatever. Does it matter?'
A bitter smile tugged at her lips anyway.
What difference did revealing she was a Tang make?
She was dying soon regardless.
"Dang Ha-ryeong."
Without fear, Lee Seon approached and plopped down beside her.
"What brings you to these mountains for fun?"
Had anyone ever spoken to her so casually?
Dang Ha-ryeong blinked in surprise.
Lee Seon pointed at the frozen bandit statue with one finger and the deep gouge in the tree with the other.
"Judging by those bizarre techniques, you must be a martial artist, right? First time seeing one up close like this."
"Really? There are martial artists everywhere in this world."
"For all those supposed martial artists, none ever come this deep into the mountains."
Dang Ha-ryeong let out a scoffing laugh.
"These mountains are famous for all sorts of reasons."
"Famous?"
Blood Gate Mountain.
Originally called Form Gate Mountain, it lay between Sichuan and Hubei.
But after the bloody incident decades ago, it became known as Blood Gate Mountain.
'Ha-ryeong, never go near Blood Gate Mountain.'
'Because of the rumors about people vanishing there?'
'Not just that. I'm worried something might happen to you.'
Dang Ha-ryeong nodded.
It was her father speaking, after all.
Poison King Dang Cheon.
The Tang Family patriarch, feared by all in the martial world. It was odd that he bought into such rumors,
but she had no intention of disobeying, even if it didn't make complete sense.
'Don't worry. I won't go anywhere near it.'
She'd sworn it, yet here she was—not by choice.
In the frantic chase, she'd stumbled into this place unknowingly.
Had he foreseen something like this?
After all his warnings, she'd pay for trespassing with her life.
"Why'd you stop talking and start grinning like an idiot?"
Dang Ha-ryeong glared at the boy for his crude words.
"Keep going. What's the deal with Blood Gate Mountain?"
"It's a place where people keep vanishing. Some say it's yokai, others claim a terrifying freak lives here."
"You avoid the mountains just because of that?"
"A few times might be coincidence, but when it keeps happening? That's no fluke. That's why folks fear coming here. You should leave soon too."
Lee Seon stood frozen in place, seemingly pondering her words.
"First I've heard of it."
"Now you have."
Lee Seon raised a question.
"Did you see it yourself? Or just hearsay?"
Dang Ha-ryeong hesitated to answer.
Truth be told, she'd only heard rumors too.
But her father—the Tang patriarch—had warned her to stay away.
"It's probably not baseless."
Lacking full conviction herself, her voice grew quieter.
Lee Seon smirked, catching on.
"You don't know for sure either, do you? Let me set it straight. It's all nonsense."
"Got proof?"
"Believe the testimony of someone born and raised here since infancy."
Dang Ha-ryeong was taken aback.
"You've lived on Blood Gate Mountain your whole life?"
"Yep. I know every inch of it. That's how I found you."
Only then did Dang Ha-ryeong take a closer look at the boy's clothes.
They were just what you'd expect for someone stepping out for a local errand.
'...Blood Gate Mountain's also infamous for its venomous creatures.'
Before it earned that bloody name, the Tang Family had foraged here for poisons.
Of course, they'd stopped coming after the incident.
With the Tangs gone and fewer people overall, the venomous population had likely exploded.
How had this boy survived among them?
"You live alone?"
"Why do you ask?"
"No one grows up alone in a place like this—don't lie."
Lee Seon flashed a mischievous grin.
"What if wild animals nursed me like some immortal or god from the stories?"
So he was just a braggart after all.
She should've seen it when he stepped up to detoxify her poison.
Dang Ha-ryeong sighed.
Still, having someone by her side as she died was a small comfort.
"Let me see... where'd I put it? Ah, here."
Lee Seon rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small pill.
"Eat this. It'll ease things."
"No need."
She was already feeling relief in real time.
Her body was growing steadily colder.
She could sense her heart wouldn't be far behind from freezing over.
"It's the giver's heart. Take it."
"It's the receiver's heart that decides."
Lee Seon clicked his tongue.
"You don't yield an inch."
Her face pale, her eyes dimming.
No doubt about it—she was dying.
Then again, a woman ready to sacrifice her life to take out enemies wouldn't back down easily.
"This'll reduce the pain."
Lee Seon had a rough gauge of her condition.
With yin energy flooding her body, her muscles, organs, meridians, and channels were all freezing bit by bit.
No words could capture that agony.
"...I don't need it."
"You're dying. Drop the pride."
She seemed serene only because she could barely move.
She could be writhing on the ground and it'd be no surprise.
Lee Seon persuaded her gently.
"I'm not just giving you a pill right now. I'm giving you the right to die with dignity. Think about it—just letting you go like this. Imagine the people who'll see your twisted face, tormented to the last breath. Won't it break their hearts?"
His words struck home. Dang Ha-ryeong gritted her teeth.
"Wouldn't it be better to go peacefully, even at the end?"
Her tightly sealed lips parted.
Like a flower bud blooming, her pearly whites gleamed.
But Lee Seon's hand, near her mouth, pulled back.
"Huh?"
As Dang Ha-ryeong looked bewildered, Lee Seon grinned mischievously.
"Why'd you suddenly open wide? You a fish?"
"What?"
"If you need something, say it."
A faint flush of color returned to her pale face.
"You said you'd give it!"
"You're delirious from dying, but you clearly said you didn't need it."
Dang Ha-ryeong bit her lip.
"I don't need it!"
"Really?"
Lee Seon smirked slyly, dangling the pill from his finger.
"Just say the word. What's so hard? Peace. Rest without pain. A death that isn't cold beckons."
Dang Ha-ryeong burst out.
"Give it! Hand it over!"
"There we go."
Lee Seon slipped the pill between her lips.
Crunch crunch.
Dang Ha-ryeong glared at him.
She chewed the pill as if it were Lee Seon himself.
Whatever it was made of, it tasted bitter yet burned going down her throat.
Once she'd swallowed every bit, Lee Seon's smile brightened.
"Still nothing."
"Glare all you want—it won't make it work faster."
Dang Ha-ryeong swallowed her rising anger.
He meant well, but he was toying with her too.
Then, something stirred oddly in her dantian.
Amid the surging yin energy, a lava-like heat erupted.
Ultimate yin clashed with ultimate yang inside her dantian.
"Cough!"
Bright red blood poured from her eyes, nose, and mouth.
"What... the hell did you feed me..."
"Poison."
Lee Seon smiled faintly.
"I know that! What poison?!"
"Fire Blood Heavenly Poison."
A name she'd never heard, but she could guess it countered the one ravaging her.
"...You wanted to see me suffer, huh?"
Her face twisted in disgust and pain.
The extreme yin and yang energies mingled, colliding violently, amplifying the torment.
Some perverts enjoyed others' agony, and she'd drawn the short straw.
"Why would I want to see you hurt?"
Lee Seon shook his head in disbelief.
"Then why..."
His eyes curved into crescents.
"I told you I'd save you."