Digging the Aphrodisiac Trap (3)
The sun set and rose again. About two days had passed since people from the Jageommun Sect entered as caregivers for Yugiyeon, and Dang Yuri revealed her true identity.
I'd been watching closely, wondering if there might be some big move in those two days, but unfortunately, the Jageommun Sect showed no unusual activity.
"What a shame."
"What's a shame?"
"The Jageommun Sect. We let them in on purpose."
"What?"
Moyong Seol's eyes widened in shock.
"You let them in on purpose...? That sounds awfully meaningful."
"Of course it's meaningful. The Jageommun Sect is a bit special."
There was no point hiding it now.
"The Jageommun Sect is a branch of the Magyo."
"......What?"
The Jageommun Sect was one of Magyo's tentacles.
"More precisely, they're spies planted by Magyo all over the Central Plains. They wear the mask of the righteous sects on the outside, but in truth, they're fools chanting 'Long live the Cheonma, eternal glory to the Demon Realm.'"
"Uh, uh...."
"I held back from telling you, Lady Moyong, to spare you the discomfort. To be honest, we've known all along, and we've just been watching to see what tricks they'd pull by letting them in."
I pointed to the side.
"Without even realizing one of their own spies had betrayed them."
"Ahaha."
Dang Yuri, dressed like a pharmacist as one of Yugiyeon's caregivers, laughed awkwardly.
"Betrayal? I never thought of them as allies in the first place."
"Uh, well...."
"Sorry, Lady Moyong. Their antics are so sloppy yet they drag their feet, and it's frustrating enough that we've decided to make the first move."
"So... the Jeolmok Jeong was fake...?"
"No, the Jeolmok Jeong was real. It's just that the sect with a woman afflicted by Jeolmok Jeong happened to be one of Magyo's tentacles."
In truth, there were quite a few Magyo spies or sects allied with Magyo near the Moyong Family estate, but Jageommun was the only one with a Jeolmok Jeong patient.
"Then why let them in...?"
"To see how the Magyo folks would respond to this situation."
Creeeak.
The door opened, and a new guest arrived at the medical hall.
"Uncle!"
"Yes, Seol-ah. Even though we're in the same compound, it feels like ages since we last met."
Moyong San, the deputy head of the Moyong Family, entered the third floor of the medical hall.
"First, my apologies. We've been handling the Jageommun Sect on our own without telling you, but now it seems we need to take the lead, so I'm here to ask your understanding in advance."
"Understanding?"
"Yes. Physician Seok must have mentioned...."
"I'm sorry, Deputy Head. I haven't brought it up."
"Oh, really?"
Moyong San scratched his cheek with an embarrassed look.
"To put it simply, our family's guards are so competent that those fools can't make a move."
"...Pardon?"
"Tricks need an opening to work, but they can't find one, so they're stuck."
Moyong San sighed in genuine exasperation.
"Magyo's reputation has really hit rock bottom. Of course, our Moyong Family warriors are all exceptional on average, but with a Magyo spy in righteous disguise and even her daughter brought into the family, and still no movement...."
"...You knew about them and let them right under the physician's quarters?"
Moyong Seol glared at Moyong San with a cold expression.
"That's dangerous...!"
"Not dangerous at all."
Moyong San pointed out the window at the blue-glowing swords hanging like laundry from the eaves.
"Your father—my brother—has been guarding this place all along, hasn't he?"
"Ah."
"Of course, they don't know he's watching in real time. But regardless, we're getting tired of waiting for them to move, and they just won't."
Moyong San turned his gaze to me.
"So, we need to create a crisis on purpose. If we don't give them an opening, they'll just keep playing the patient and hunker down."
"......."
"I leave it to you, son-in-law."
Son-in-law, he said.
"Deputy Head. As a member of the Moyong Family, I'll make choices that benefit the Moyong. If that's the way, I'll follow."
"Good. With that in mind...."
Moyong San's eyes shifted to Dang Yuri, who had been silently watching the exchange with her lips sealed.
"Hey, disciple of the Poison Demon."
"M-Me?"
"Yes, you. This is just my guess."
Moyong San glanced back and forth between Dang Yuri and me.
"You betrayed Magyo and came here to stick by our son-in-law, right?"
"To Physician Seok?"
"Betrayed Jageommun, betrayed Magyo, and now you're sidling up to Physician Seok, picking off the women eyeing him like scraps from a table."
"...Ehehe."
Dang Yuri laughed awkwardly.
"Well, not all of them, but...."
"I know who you're after."
"......!!"
Some transmission must have passed between them. Judging by Dang Yuri's startled reaction.
"Um... who do you mean...?"
Moyong Seol tried to ask slyly, glancing around, but neither Dang Yuri nor Moyong San answered.
Swish.
So instead, I moved the hand I'd placed on Moyong Seol's back and secretly gave her the answer.
—To get revenge on the father who abandoned me, I'll poison my mother and little sisters right in front of him. Until then... I can't die.
Discarded children often have twisted emotions, but Dang Yuri's thirst for revenge was especially fierce.
So why had she sided with us?
"...What do you say, disciple of the Poison Demon?"
"Sounds good. I'm grateful."
The answer was surprisingly simple.
Revenge against the Sacheon Dang Family was one thing, but none of the poisons from her master, the Dokma, worked on the Moyong Family.
'My master got completely countered.'
Maui Baekmyeon had devised antidotes for every poison Dokma ever created. She could even analyze the ingredients and ratios for newly invented poisons in the blink of an eye.
And I was her disciple, inheriting all her pharmaceutical knowledge.
If there was one way Dokma could poison her master, there was only one possibility.
—Disciple. Even this master doesn't know an antidote for spring medicine. Spring medicine is like a 'law of the world' itself.
There was no true antidote for spring medicine. At best, you could make auxiliaries to shorten its effects or ease the agony during onset.
"Alright, then. Let's get ready. Loosen the defenses so they can move. Oh, son-in-law?"
Moyong San looked back and forth between me and Moyong Seol.
"Our girl here is completely immune to spring medicine now, right?"
"Yes... that's how it turned out."
"That's right. Even if someone douses me in spring medicine, I won't succumb to it anymore."
Moyong Seol clung tightly to my arm and beamed.
"I've got that kind of body now."
* * *
[Outside the Moyong Family estate, at a certain eatery.]
A group of people had gathered at a restaurant after leaving the Moyong Family compound. There was only one man among them, mostly young women, and they sat facing each other around a large round table. But the seat farthest from the door, at the head, was occupied by a middle-aged man.
"Everyone, you've all worked hard getting into the Moyong Family estate."
Yugoein, the sect leader of Jageommun Sect. He had summoned several women as caregivers for his daughter Yugiyeon, who was staying at the Moyong Family, and they had now gathered at his invitation for this meal.
"You don't practice martial arts. That's why you could enter the Moyong Family."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
The caregivers bowed their heads in response. Among them was a woman with an expressionless face, 'Yuri'.
"Now it's time to show your true colors. I have orders for you."
Yugoein placed a paper envelope in front of each caregiver with a blank expression.
"Tonight, release spring medicine in the medical hall."
"Pardon?"
"Open the envelopes."
At Yugoein's command, the caregivers cautiously opened them.
"This is...?"
"Candied pills. Spring medicine powder is inside."
Milky-white candies coated in something oily, looking almost like finely crafted porcelain.
"Don't worry. Made with agar powder. They're edible."
Yugoein took one out himself, chewed and swallowed it to demonstrate.
"Eating it like this releases the aphrodisiac inside. The one I just ate had no drug in it. I did this personally to prove there are no doubts among you."
If anyone questioned why the mighty sect leader of Jageommun needed to prove it this way.
"I know one of you is a disciple of the Dokma. Even as Jageommun's sect leader, propriety demands I show respect to Dokma's disciple."
Yugoein clasped his hands in a formal fist salute.
"Please, help us. So my daughter can claim Physician Seok."
As Yugoein bowed his head, the people in the room exchanged uneasy glances, flustered.
"Um, sir. Disciple of Dokma? We're just...."
"We're merely mobilized Magyo agents. None of us could be Dokma's disciple, right?"
One shocking(?) truth.
Every caregiver gathered in this small banquet hall, and even Yugoein, were Magyo's undercover agents. Jageommun Sect was one of Magyo's branches disguised as a righteous murim sect near the Moyong Family, and the caregivers it mobilized were all Magyo affiliates.
The only reason they hadn't been exposed as Magyo until now was that none of them practiced a single Magyo martial art.
Yet they followed Magyo because they shared the same goal.
"Sorry, but there is a Dokma disciple here. The one saying that could be her. Well... even if it's Dokma's disciple, the mission is the same."
Yugoein pointed to the candies before him, his expression hardening.
"Swallow them. Then, once inside the Moyong Family...."
Yugoein picked up a cup of liquor and splashed it forward.
"Disguise it like someone scattered spring medicine."
"Spring medicine...."
"One question."
Caregiver Yuri raised her hand.
"Why kidnap Physician Seok?"
"That's because."
Yugoein lowered his voice gravely.
"Personally, my daughter has fallen for Seok Mu Wol."
"?"
"I have no idea why... haa."
Yugoein's sigh deepened.
"Your role is crucial. Release the spring medicine. Carry it in your bellies and breathe it out, poisoning everyone near the Moyong Family medical hall."
"What about us?"
"In your drugged state, throw yourselves at the Moyong Family guards."
"Pardon?"
"They can't suppress you with martial arts, but sympathy might work."
Yugoein scanned the caregivers.
"Do you know why I gathered only 'virgins' like you?"
"Uh...."
"If drugged virgins cling and embrace them, even the Moyong Family's elite masters will drop their guard."
Yugoein made a ring with one hand and thrust his opposite finger through it repeatedly.
"While you keep them 1:1, I'll infiltrate the medical hall...."
Puuk.
"And abduct Seok Mu Wol. Then...."
Yugoein declared.
"Imprison him underground and make him produce Geukyang Jihwan endlessly. Unknown to anyone."
"......."
He was dead serious.
"That."
Caregiver Yuri asked once more.
"What gives you such confidence?"
"Obviously, they don't know I'm still a Magyo spy, or that I'll steal Seok Mu Wol!"
Yugoein was utterly sincere.
"Before my 'Flying Shadow Divine Step', even the Sword Saint of the world has to yield a move!"