The Suspension Bridge Effect
Thwack!
Without a jungle blade, I poured my energy into the Tagu staff and swung it hard. Wherever the tip struck, the dense undergrowth and greenery burst apart in showers of leaves. A dozen or so leaves shot straight at the short woman beside me.
“……You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?”
Dang Yeohye narrowed her eyes and glared at me.
“That obvious?”
I grinned shamelessly and kept swinging. The sheer force of my inner energy punched clear paths through the jungle ahead of us.
“Hah. Any other day I’d just deck you for that……”
“But you can’t, because you feel too guilty, right?”
“Ugh……”
She knew she was in the wrong; her usual bluster had vanished without a trace. Watching the infamous Poison Dog of the martial world avoid my eyes and scratch her cheek was a rare sight.
“Young Master, I’ve never seen a young lady quite like this one.”
Neungsam and Ilhong, walking beside us, watched with open fascination.
“You should’ve just told us the destination from the start.”
She had suddenly declared we were heading south and marched off, so of course I’d followed. After all, she was the only one who knew where the Human-Faced Spider was. Only once we were too far to turn back did she finally reveal the real destination.
“Outside the Central Plains. And of all places—Nanman.”
I still couldn’t believe it. I jabbed a finger into Dang Yeohye’s back as she strode ahead.
“But—”
“But?”
“If I’d told you from the beginning, you would’ve just gone straight back to Beijing.”
“Well…… that’s true.”
She had a point. If she needed to drag me here no matter what, lying had been her only option.
“But isn’t that just your side of the story?”
“People only ever talk from their own point of view.”
……Also true. For some reason the logic was weirdly persuasive.
“Boss, ever since you stuffed those weird bugs in your mouth earlier, you’ve been acting a little off.”
Ilhong, reading my dazed expression, tossed in a remark.
“Weird bugs? I just grabbed a few locusts.”
Old habit. Whenever something plump and edible zipped past my face, my hand moved on its own. Long-distance travel was also starting to thin out our rations, so it made sense to top up on high protein whenever I could.
“Hey. Those weren’t locusts. They were poisonous insects.”
“……What?”
Dang Yeohye casually informed me that I had just eaten poison instead of protein. No wonder the aftertaste had been so sharp and bitter.
“Why didn’t you say something before I ate them?”
“Well…… it’s amazing every time I watch you do it.”
“Aigoo, this noona of mine, seriously.”
She found it fascinating that someone who hadn’t even trained in poison arts could gulp down toxins and walk away fine. She still seemed to harbor a vague, scientific curiosity about this bizarre body of mine.
“Just assume that most of the things crawling around here are venomous insects, snakes, or poisonous creatures.”
Even ordinary-looking ants, frogs, spiders, and snakes could all be packing venom in this place, she explained. A kind late warning from my thoughtful noona not to stick random things in my mouth.
“……What kind of hellhole is this?”
Even within the southern fringes of Nanman, you had to travel deep to find a jungle this twisted. It was a place completely devoid of human presence—like some realm outside the world of men.
“Ilhong, do people actually live around here?”
I asked while blasting open another stretch of greenery that looked ready to swallow us whole.
“They do. Around here the famous ones would be the Nanman Beast Palace, the Five Poisons Gate, and Poison Valley.”
“……Ah. So they exist.”
The adaptability of humans—no, of martial artists—never ceased to amaze me. I never imagined there would be people who willingly nested in a place like this. Bound to be as vicious as the Tang Clan, no doubt.
“There are poisons that can only be made here, and rare beasts and creatures that only exist in this jungle.”
Ilhong added that the Yin-Yang Gu poison she carried in her robes had also been produced here in Nanman. Demand was surprisingly high, which meant the money was decent too.
“What a twisted world.”
I shuddered at the former Haomu Gate young lady’s explanation. A supply depot for every lethal toxin and venomous creature in the Central Plains. No wonder places like the Sichuan Tang Family Manor flocked here.
“For the record, Young Master Mujin, it’s best if we avoid running into the locals.”
“Why’s that?”
“They’re a warlike lot who prefer fists to words. Poison Valley in particular is hostile to outsiders. If they catch you, nine times out of ten they’ll use you as a test subject for their poisons.”
Fists first, and used as poison guinea pigs at the drop of a hat. I silently eyed the petite beauty currently foraging for useful toxic herbs beside me.
“Sounds exactly like Yeohye-noona.”
“Precisely.”
Neungsam nodded in complete agreement.
“……What the hell did you just say?”
Dang Yeohye bristled and raised a fist, then seemed to remember her current position and only chewed her lip hard instead. She couldn’t very well thrash the people who had come all this way to help her. Watching her squeeze her eyes shut and take deep breaths was pretty entertaining.
“Therefore I recommend we avoid all contact with others, capture the Human-Faced Spider as quickly as possible, and leave.”
“Sounds good to me, Uncle Neungsam.”
I really did get along with this man. Especially the part where he said what needed saying even if it meant getting hit for it—that matched me perfectly.
“Then let’s move.”
Apparently finished gathering herbs, Dang Yeohye stuffed something into her pouch, stood, and took the lead again.
Whoosh!
Her hand, wrapped in water-qi, sliced diagonally through the air. Sharp cutting force sheared through the undergrowth, and the follow-up shockwave swept the remaining plants away.
Thwack!
I swung my Tagu staff right beside her, carving a path through the primeval rainforest. Thwack! Thwack! Slash!
After about the time it takes to eat a meal of pushing deeper into the dense jungle, the steamy humidity and heat of Nanman had us all dripping with sweat. Even seasoned masters would have been left gasping under nature’s sheer violence. Circulating inner energy to dry the sweat was pointless when the entire air was saturated with moisture.
“Huff…… huff…… You take over for a while.”
Dang Yeohye stopped swinging her hand-blade and dropped back behind me. In terms of both inner energy reserves and stamina, the Heavenly Killing Star had the overwhelming advantage, so of course she tired first.
“What a vicious place.”
Even the ordinary-looking puddles were steeped in residual poison, and the grass that brushed against us carried mild toxins; Ilhong’s and Neungsam’s skin had already turned an angry red.
“Paradoxically, that’s exactly why a Human-Faced Spider that’s lived for hundreds or thousands of years can exist here.”
Dang Yeohye muttered between gulps from her water flask. When I thought about it, she was right.
“Hoo.”
Looks like I’d be clearing the path alone for a while. I stripped off my sweat-soaked outer robe, rolled it up, and tied it around my waist. The surroundings suddenly went quiet.
“……”
The moment my trained upper arms and shoulders showed through the thin inner clothes, Dang Yeohye and Ilhong both fell silent and stole glances.
“Why’d everyone go quiet? You’re making it weird.”
“No, it’s just…… that doesn’t look bad either…… yeah.”
What was “not bad” about it? I was doing this because of the sweat, not to put on a show.
“Noona, eyes front. That’s a crime.”
“What kind of nonsense is that……? Why would it be a crime?”
Because Dang Yeohye was nineteen this year and I was still only fifteen.
“Shameless.”
“What the actual…… haah, seriously.”
She looked utterly speechless. Of course, by Central Plains standards we were both adults. I shrugged once and stepped forward again to clear the path.
Thwack! Thwack!
After roughly another half-hour of hacking through the undergrowth, Nanman began to reveal a new landscape.
“So, which way now?”
I pointed past the thick trees toward the mountain ranges that rose like folding screens.
Dang Yeohye unfurled the secret map passed down through her family for generations and checked it.
“That way. We have to climb Hungry Ghost Mountain over there.”
“What a charming name for a mountain……”
Who names a mountain that? It was deliberately designed to make you never want to climb it.
“What’s the problem? Sounds cool to me. Anyway, hurry up!”
People who casually drank poison for breakfast clearly didn’t care about ominous names.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.”
She grabbed my arm and pulled hard, as if the summit were right around the corner.
“From here on, it would be wise to take antidote pills in advance and keep walking.”
Neungsam’s observation came after spotting Red Frogs and Blood Poison Bugs—creatures rarely seen even in the Central Plains—scattered casually across the mountain. The higher the elevation, the more rare and deadly poisonous creatures appeared. Dang Yeohye, the poison master, was already dodging and neutralizing them, but prevention was still better than cure.
“Come to think of it, Uncle Neungsam, it’s probably too dangerous for you. You didn’t have to come.”
I should have told him to wait at the foot of the mountain. We had a lot of gear, but Yeohye and I could have split the load.
“Wherever the young lady goes, I go. That is not an option.”
Damn. Look at that loyalty. The more I saw of him, the more impressive the man became.
“Ilhong, don’t you want to say something equally heartwarming?”
“I’m good.”
“……Right.”
Even if she talked like that, Ilhong still brought me useful information whenever she could. So she was loyal in her own way…… right? I decided to think positively.
Anyway, we climbed and climbed, carefully avoiding any chance of poisoning. When we reached the mountain’s waist, suspicious traces began to appear little by little.
“Boss, no matter how you look at it, these are human tracks, right?”
Trail markers scratched into trees, carefully cleared paths through the brush—everything reeked of human presence.
“Well, this place is a treasure trove of poisons. Of course various sects come and go.”
Dang Yeohye’s mutter made it sound completely natural. Probably the territory of those beast-related sects Ilhong had mentioned earlier.
“Five Poisons Gate?”
“No. These are probably Poison Valley’s traces. Those vicious bastards have been mass-producing extreme poisons lately at a level that almost rivals our Tang Clan.”
And all of it was flowing into the Central Plains through the Black Market. She added that the Corpse Bone Pill Ilhong used had most likely been made in Poison Valley as well.
“Are they even more vicious than the Sichuan Tang Family?”
“Ha! What a ridiculous thing to say. Poison Valley? They should pick a fight they can actually win.”
She snorted, telling me not to compare a pack of evil-path thugs who specialized in forced abductions and human experiments with one of the pillars of the orthodox martial world. I had only asked which group was more vicious.
“Young lady, there’s a bridge ahead.”
At that moment a long wooden bridge spanning the gap between two mountains came into view. A fragile rope bridge that swayed and creaked in the wind. I hated to say it, but it looked exactly like the kind of bridge that always collapses in movies at the worst possible moment.
“……Noona, do we absolutely have to cross this?”
“Yeah. According to the map, we do.”
My bad premonitions were never wrong. Dang Yeohye pointed at the bridge and told us to hurry across. The ropes and wooden planks looked battered by years of weather. The moment I set a foot on it, the groaning creak only made my unease worse. Through the gaps between the planks I could see the raging torrent far below the cliff, thrashing like a wild horse. If you fell in, you’d be lucky to recover even bone fragments.
“What, Boss? Don’t tell me you’re scared of heights?”
Ilhong snorted as if she found it hard to believe when she saw me flinch on the bridge, lost in old memories.
“It’s not heights. It’s just…… old trauma.”
The combination of cliff and raging water had terrible chemistry for me. It brought back the very first day I was abandoned and betrayed by my own blood relatives in the martial world.
“What kind of trauma? Anyway, so even the boss has a side like this. Heh.”
She had always thought I could handle anything, that nothing scared me. Looking amused, she held out her hand toward me.
“Here. You can hold my hand.”
“Hey, that’s not necessary—”
“Yes, yes. Just grab it already. My arm’s getting tired.”
When someone offered kindness, it would be awkward to leave them hanging. I took her small hand. Ilhong pulled me forward with surprising strength.
“Not so scary now, right?”
Was this the famous suspension-bridge effect? Just a little, she actually felt somewhat reliable. And despite all the creaking, the wooden planks turned out to be surprisingly sturdy. I shouldn’t underestimate this era’s craftsmanship.
“Hm? Young lady, there’s someone behind us.”
At that moment a figure in black appeared soundlessly on the side of the bridge we had just crossed.
“What is it, Boss?”
“Who knows……”
Maybe someone from a nearby sect who had come to harvest poisons. According to Uncle Neungsam, all of them had foul temperaments. The man stared our way, then abruptly drew a sword from his waist.
“……?”
I raised my energy, thinking he might attack, but he wasn’t looking at us. He glanced at the old bridge, then lifted his sword and began cutting the support ropes one by one.
Slash! Slash! Twang!
“You son of a—!”