Poison and Medicine Are a Hair's Breadth Apart - 3
As soon as I stepped out of the prison, Jo Wi-cheo greeted me. "Are you feeling all right, sir?"
"Yeah. So-so."
His question wasn't about whether I'd wrapped up my business—it was about my condition. Jo Wi-cheo knew a little about the Righteous Heart Technique, after all.
I really didn't want to use it if I could help it.
I let out a sigh, feeling my head throb faintly, my limbs ache with every movement, and my meridians scream in protest.
Righteous Heart Technique (靜理心功). True to its name, it calms and masters the mind—a signature hereditary art passed down in Giwangga. Unlike other techniques that bolster the user, this bizarre martial art binds the opponent's energy, temporarily reducing them to the level of an ordinary person.
Not your average technique if a first-rate can hobble a super peak expert.
The Righteous Heart Technique was personally created by Giwangga's founder, Gi Chung Mu Wang Han Se-chung, and remained his exclusive signature in his era. There were even tales of him subduing ten thousand Jurchen warriors single-handedly with it.
That's why it boasted performance and learning difficulty beyond comparison to other arts. Few in Giwangga's history had ever mastered it, and none had reached great completion like Gi Chung Mu Wang. Even Grandfather had given up on perfecting it.
So why had I—a civil official—learned such a vicious, intricate technique? Simple.
"If you master this, you won't get beat up wherever you go."
It was worth enduring all that. Even a super peak master like Mu Kyung had his energy sealed by Silence Hell. Sure, it had a long activation time and plenty of restrictions, but a first-rate had taken down a super peak. As Grandfather said, master the Righteous Heart Technique, and you'd never get thrashed on the road.
The restrictions were a filthy hassle, but I had Jo Wi-cheo to handle them. Manageable drawbacks.
If there were no restrictions, I'd be the world's strongest by now.
Sealing the opponent's arts and pummeling them one-sidedly—the unrivaled supreme under heaven. Just imagining it made my chest tighten with envy, and a chuckle slipped out.
"Wi-cheo."
"Yes, sir."
"...Let's head back to the inn for now."
Laughing made my head ring a bit.
Damn it.
Every use left me like this—it wasn't something to toss around lightly.
The captured Dang duo spilled everything as I'd advised. Thanks to them, the poisons stolen from Cheong-seong-pa and Ami-pa were recovered intact, with no losses or missing items. That softened the sects' fury a touch.
Anger over lost wealth fades once it's recovered. Of course, unlike tangible poisons, their intangible pride remained bruised. But since the duo had targeted the three-headed snake, Nang-jung Wang emerged as the biggest victim.
That kept the sects from demanding the duo's custody or immediate execution.
Punishing them ahead of Nang-jung Wang would slight him.
A king himself was en route. Daring to stir chaos in his domain and even eyeing his possession? They wanted to see this unprecedented criminal firsthand.
Executing them before he arrived? Even a founding merit sect's demand wouldn't fly. It'd disrespect the court's courtesy toward such sects. Besides, fury is surprisingly volatile—it flares fast with a trigger but cools just as quickly. And the culprits were caught.
It might irk them, but not enough to lose control.
"Your master needs to show up before I can move on elsewhere."
- Shiiik?
The three-headed snake, heads buried in its dish, lifted them at my words.
Jo Wi-cheo and I were lounging indefinitely at the inn. With the culprits captured and poisons recovered, we had no urgent tasks. Officially, I'd sustained minor injuries taking down a super peak expert—no one dared assign me work.
But everything wrapped only when Nang-jung Wang arrived, so we waited in Chengdu. Not ideal for someone eager to tour the provinces and return to Kaepyeong.
She rushed over for the Shaanxi tournament, but now that I actually want to see her...
No word. What a spiteful lady.
"...Tasty?"
Staring blankly at the three-headed snake while thinking of Nang-jung Wang, I stroked its heads.
- Shiiik! Shiiiiiik!
- Sieeeeek!
- Shiuuuk!
It wagged its tail, shaking its heads every which way like it was dancing. The enthusiastic reaction drew a smirk. Looked delicious, alright.
What a bizarre thing to make.
I peered at the tiny egg in the dish the snake had been devouring.
Mu Kyung was jailed, and confiscating possessions was standard procedure. We'd snagged the egg that lured the snake as a bonus.
"May I take this egg?"
"Go ahead. We were going to dispose of it anyway."
So I'd swiped it while watching Pojeongsa inspect the loot. The shut-in snake craved it fiercely—why not? Making one myself would've been a pain, but handing over someone else's was easy.
- Shiiik! Shiiiiiik!
As I grabbed the egg, the snake jolted awake from my bosom and poked its head out. I'd planned to give it anyway, but the frenzy startled me. If I'd skipped it, would it have run away?
"Finish it off."
- Shiiiiiik!
Recalling its sparkling eyes, I stroked its heads again. Served on a plate for convenience, the heads divvied it up neatly. Watching snakes crunch shell and lap yolk was oddly mesmerizing.
...Huh?
Was it my imagination? It looked a tad longer.
Growth spurt?
I watched the snake a while longer before looking away. Pups grow by the day, whatever the beast.
Exactly one week after capturing the Dang duo.
"Greetings, Your Highness Nang-jung Wang."
"Good to see you again, Left Vice Inspector General."
The long-awaited Nang-jung Wang descended upon Chengdu.
"It feels like yesterday we met in Shaanxi, and now here in Sichuan too. Where to next?"
Confirming my face, she patted my shoulder with a joking smile. An ordinary greeting, but it stung. I hadn't expected to see her in Shaanxi and Sichuan either. Not like you could summon a king on a whim.
Maybe I need an exorcism.
Tears welled up. As a Confucian scholar, relying on shamanism was wrong, but if every trip triggered a king-level incident...? Nah, my very existence as a reincarnator was the real freakish anomaly.
"More importantly, I heard you caught the troublemakers."
"Yes, Your Highness. Thanks to your grace, we captured and imprisoned them safely."
Pojeongsa bowed beside her. As he said, it was Nang-jung Wang's three-headed snake that made it possible. Without it, we'd still be chasing them.
"All I did was provide a little bait. You did the hard work catching them."
She shook her head modestly at the credit. Not wrong—the snake was key bait, but we'd chased through the night, nabbed them, and thrashed Mu Kyung right under its nose.
Of course, I kept that thought to myself. Self-deprecation is one thing; hearing "you did nothing" from others is another.
"Still, I sent my child-like pet, so I can't claim zero credit."
Chuckling softly, she extended her hand to me.
"Left Vice Inspector General. You said you were keeping it safe?"
"Ah, yes. Here you go."
Grabbing the snake from my bosom—nothing else she'd want from me.
...?
What the—
It wouldn't budge. I'd gripped what felt like its tail, but no dice. Weird. A delicate thing like this should've yanked free easily.
"Something wrong? Did it bite you?"
Nang-jung Wang raised a brow as I rummaged.
Better if it had—I'd just pull the bitten hand out.
"Your Highness, it's..."
No luck after several tugs, so I cautiously parted my robes.
"Heh?"
The snake was clamped onto my clothes, holding firm. What the hell? Time to return to its owner—why cling?
"Heh. Grown attached to the Left Vice Inspector General already, have you?"
Amused, Nang-jung Wang grabbed its body, laughing. Caught by its master now—it'd come quietly—
- Shieeeeeek!
One head gnashed empty fangs at her in feeble threat.
"What."
Her "child-like pet" rebelled, freezing her stiff. Naturally, I froze too.
Oh shit.
Nang-jung Wang's pet latching onto me. Not my fault, but I had to tread carefully.