The Poison King's Legacy (2)
Dang Juju’s curse made the corner of the Wall-Soul Lust Demon’s mouth twitch upward.
His lips smiled, but his eyes did not—they poured out murderous intent.
“What? I was being generous because you’re a pretty little girl, yet you don’t even know how to respect your elders.”
He looked to be in his fifties. Narrow eyes and thin lips—exactly the face of a lust demon. But this was a master you could never judge by appearance alone. The moniker “Lust Demon” might cling to him, yet the reason he still drew breath was simple: his martial arts were strong.
Dang Juju could never face the Wall-Soul Lust Demon, a Peak-level expert, on equal footing.
“You’re kidding me. Who the hell respects a public enemy of the Murim as an elder? You’re just a criminal waiting to be beaten to death.”
“You insolent little bitch? Hahaha! Fine. Let’s see if you can still talk like that while you’re pinned under me, whimpering.”
“Hmph. Why would I ever end up under a bastard like you?”
The Wall-Soul Lust Demon’s eyebrows lifted as he watched Dang Juju draw her sword with a sharp shing.
“Hm? A Four-Venom Sword? So you were a Dang girl all along?”
“I am the Poison Heart Flower of the Dang Family.”
“Oh-ho. I’ve heard the name. So the Poison Heart Flower, one of the Four Beauties of the Central Plains, was you. No wonder I thought you were pretty. But a pretty woman is nothing more than a man’s plaything.”
“Hmph. Ridiculous.”
“Whether it’s ridiculous or not, we’ll find out soon enough. Once I’ve subdued you and stripped you bare, I’ll prove it.”
“Not a chance. Hah!”
Her Four-Venom Sword uncoiled with a rattling hiss and shot forward like a striking serpent.
“Kh—! Thinking you can face me with a mere Four-Venom Sword is a grave mistake.”
Steel rang. Sparks flew. The Wall-Soul Lust Demon drew his blade in a flash of lightning and knocked her sword aside. The serpentine blade that had writhed toward him rebounded, and Dang Juju’s body was thrown backward with it.
Anyone watching could see she was hopelessly outmatched in raw power.
He’s a lust demon, but he’s Peak-level—that’s why he’s still alive. With your current skill, Dang Juju, you can’t take him.
Yet Dang Juju refused to accept that she was being pushed back by the likes of a lust demon. She launched another attack.
“I won’t lose to some lust demon! Hah!”
The Four-Venom Sword hissed and lunged again.
“Hmph. ‘Some lust demon’? Hahaha! Let me show you the power of this lust demon. Wall-Soul Slash—!”
A blade of crushing inner force carved through the dark.
Steel clashed. An explosion of force erupted.
“Ghk!”
Dang Juju was hurled through the air, smashed into the wall, and crumpled to the ground.
“Ah—Young Lady Dang!”
“Ghk… H-how can a lust demon… possess such powerful inner force…? Cough!”
The moment she blocked the Wall-Soul Lust Demon’s qi-laden strike, she had been sent flying. The situation was clear: she was being overwhelmed. One more second of pressure and she would be completely subdued.
“Haha. Now do you feel like showing this elder some respect?”
“Ghk… N-not a chance.”
“Young Lady Dang, the Wall-Soul Lust Demon is beyond you. We have to run.”
“Ghk… B-but he’s blocking the escape route. He’s cut off the cliff path, and behind us is only the cave.”
“Then we run into the cave. Get inside—now.”
“Ghk… I-into the cave?”
“Hurry. Trust me. Follow me.”
“Ghk… A-all right.”
I launched myself first; Dang Juju followed. The impact still rattled her—her movements lacked their usual sharpness.
“Haha! Where do you think you’re running? It’s been so long since I met a beauty—I simply must let you taste my cock.”
The Wall-Soul Lust Demon dove into the cave after us.
“I-it’s so dark I can’t see the path. And his pursuit is too fast. He’s going to catch us any second.”
“It’s a straight cave. Just keep running forward.”
“Hah… hah… If we only run straight he’ll catch us. He’s faster than me.”
I knew that. In lightness skill, I was the fastest of us.
If I were only saving myself it would be easy, but dragging Dang Juju along makes it hard. Still—just a little farther.
We kept sprinting through the darkness, eyes fixed ahead. The Wall-Soul Lust Demon chased relentlessly. A master of his caliber could track our presence even in pitch black.
“Haha! You think that speed will let you slip my grasp?”
“Huff… huff… He’s catching up.”
“We’re almost there. Keep running.”
“Almost there? What are you talking about?”
Footsteps hammered. Wind whistled.
“You arrogant bitch! Take this!”
A blade howled through the dark toward Dang Juju. She poured everything into her defense. Neither could see the other, yet both attacked and parried by pure sense of qi. Once again the Wall-Soul Lust Demon’s power overmatched her; she was flung through the air and tumbled across the stone floor.
“Ghhh…! Aah… I-I can’t run any farther. Young Hero Hyun, you at least escape. I’ll hold him as long as I can.”
“We’re here. No more running.”
“Huh? W-what do you mean, ‘we’re here’…?”
“Hahaha! What nonsense are you spouting? We’re still deep inside the cave—how can we be ‘here’?”
In the lightless tunnel, faces invisible, the conversation continued. Sight was useless, yet each of us knew exactly where the others stood by the feel of their energy.
“This place… is the Poison King’s Cave.”
“Haha. So what if it’s the Poison King’s Cave?”
“You idiot. You still don’t understand why it’s called that?”
“What?”
“Young Lady Dang—check inside your body.”
“Inside my body…? Hhk…! Th-this is… poison?”
“That’s right. Poison.”
“W-what? Ghk! H-how is this possible?! P-poison…! Ghk!”
“Young Lady Dang, take your antidote.”
“Hhk… R-right! The antidote!”
In the absolute dark came the soft rustle of a pouch and the sound of a pill being swallowed.
People of the Dang Family always carry antidotes. But you, Wall-Soul Lust Demon—you don’t.
The moment Dang Juju swallowed the pill, the Wall-Soul Lust Demon lunged for her.
“Ghhh! I-I need an antidote!”
“Hmph. Not a chance.”
Dang Juju moved through the darkness. Thanks to the antidote she could still force her body to obey. The Wall-Soul Lust Demon, who moments earlier had displayed the overwhelming power of a Peak master, now moved with agonizing sluggishness. This time she dodged his strike with ease.
“Gahk! P-poison…! D-damn it! N-no…! Ghk! Cough!”
“You should have known this was the Poison King’s Cave and prepared. You should have taken an antidote before entering. But you were so busy chasing us that you never realized—and you walked in without any antidote. That’s why you’re poisoned.”
“D-damn… ghk!”
A heavy thud echoed through the dark. The Wall-Soul Lust Demon had collapsed, screaming. A Peak expert whose martial arts were anything but weak had been poisoned and died a hollow death.
“Th-the Wall-Soul Lust Demon… seems to be dead.”
“Yeah. He was poisoned.”
“Wait… Young Hero Hyun, you didn’t take any antidote either.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then you’re poisoned too! Quick, take my antidote—huh? Why are you still fine? Even a master like the Wall-Soul Lust Demon died. Why are you still standing?”
“I’m a little resistant to poison.”
“Resistant to poison?”
“Yeah. I’ve got some tolerance.”
“Tolerance? The poison here was strong enough to kill the Wall-Soul Lust Demon!”
True—strong enough to kill even him. The entire cave was saturated with it.
“I can still endure it.”
“That’s impossible. Even I can only hold on because I took an antidote!”
“Anyway, don’t worry.”
“Haa… Fine, the reason doesn’t matter. As long as you’re not affected, I’m just so relieved. Hing… I thought you’d been poisoned and I was so scared.”
Her voice was thick with genuine feeling.
“You were worried about me? Why? Afraid you wouldn’t find your father?”
“Why? You’re my… first man. The only one who took my purity… o-of course I worry.”
“The Poison Heart Flower herself fretting over me.”
“Hiiit! Don’t tease me. I really was worried.”
“I know.”
“But the cave is pitch black. I’ve lost all sense of direction. Which way is the entrance? Do we have to feel along the walls? Aah—what if we run into an even stronger poison?”
“I have a Night Pearl. It should be enough to light the way.”
“You have a Night Pearl? Something that rare?”
“Yeah.”
I did. That precious Night Pearl. Of course I never carried it on my person—too easy to steal.
Command: Open Lust God’s Space!
Opening Lust God’s Space.
What the—? Even the Lust God’s Space was pitch black just because the cave was dark. At least the Night Pearl stood out clearly.
The Lust God’s Space was one of the Lust God-tier skills—an interdimensional storage. For someone who had to travel constantly, it served as a secret vault for anything too important to lose. Valuable items and treasures I could never risk falling into enemy hands all stayed here until I needed them.
I reached in and took the Night Pearl—kept safe precisely because it was so precious.
In the absolute darkness it glowed alone, a soft blue light.
Command: Close Lust God’s Space!
The space sealed shut. Yet the Night Pearl I had drawn from it now rested on my palm, glowing with a cool blue radiance.