Bringing the Fire (4)
"That's a bit tough."
Mun Il-ji's response was just that. I pursed my lips and let out a whistle.
"Ho. You wanna die?"
"No, no. I'm saying this because I don't want to die."
"If you don't convince me within one keung, your head's coming off."
At my arrogance, Mun Il-ji's words sped up. His tone grew more polite as a bonus.
"Truth is, no one knows this, but the Black Dragon Sect Leader planted gu poison in my brain."
"Gu poison? Didn't that get removed?"
This was another bewildering statement. Gu poison referred to a parasitic worm embedded in a person's brain. The method of creating it was gruesome.
Throw all sorts of venomous insects into a single jar and let them devour each other. The survivors are collectively called gu. Breed male and female gu to produce offspring gu. The offspring devours its father and inherits even stronger venom.
Feed a tiny offspring gu to a person, and it crawls up to parasitize the brain. If the person with the mother gu kills the mother gu, the offspring dies along with it in the brain. So it was like feeding someone offspring gu, then using the mother gu holder to control the host.
Naturally, creating, administering, or using gu poison violated imperial law. It was a capital crime punishable by extreme torture, just like curses or live organ harvesting.
"I don't even know where that bastard got it. That's why I drank the poisoned liquor without suspicion."
I nodded unwittingly at his words. In this day and age, who even used gu poison? Everyone thought it had vanished along with the demonic cults.
"Gu poison, huh. Never even crossed my mind."
"Exactly. Why would I let myself be controlled by some worm like that? I regret that day to death. I never thought sharing a drink with an old hometown friend would lead to this."
"But it's not a lie, right?"
At my words, Mun Il-ji slammed the desk in fury.
"You have no idea how much I've suffered. That guy tweaks the gu whenever I displease him even a little or step out of line. Do you know how intense the pain is? It breaks your spirit. Breaks your spirit."
"Not my problem."
At my curt reply, Mun Il-ji hung his head.
"Fair enough. And yeah, you might think it's a lie. Gu poison is just a legend, after all. But..."
Mun Il-ji suddenly trailed off, his complexion changing drastically. His face flushed red, then turned pale blue. He clutched his head and rolled on the floor.
"Hey, hey. What's wrong?"
"Kuhk, urk."
Mun Il-ji couldn't even scream properly, just drooling tears, snot, and saliva.
"...Those are symptoms of gu poison. They say activating the mother gu makes the offspring release toxins, inflicting immense pain on the host."
Jo Chung-heon chimed in from behind. I knew that much, but for some reason, it was hard to believe. The very concept of gu poison strained credulity. I squatted and poked Mun Il-ji with my finger.
"Hey, hey. Cut the act."
"Aaaak, uuuuuk."
Mun Il-ji could only groan in response. I glanced at Jo Chung-heon, who looked equally baffled, unsure what to do.
"He seems genuinely in pain."
"Who knows. Maybe he's a master actor."
"Hah, hahk. You... fucking bastard... Does this look like acting?"
Mun Il-ji twisted his body, even letting out gurgling death rattles.
Then it hit me. Gu poison was practically the exclusive domain of the long-vanished demonic cults. Couldn't demonic qi control it? If it was real gu poison, that is.
I flipped Mun Il-ji's body over and placed my hand on his back. As he kept writhing, I pinned his waist with my knee to hold him still.
He was still suffering. Being unable to move amid the agony must have been hell.
"Rowing Master, step out for a bit."
"A, yes, yes."
Jo Chung-heon shot me a look like he's up to something weird again and left the room.
"U-urk. Just... kill me."
Mun Il-ji cried out amid the torment. His voice brimmed with sincerity—he truly felt death would be mercy. They said gu poison pain rivaled dismemberment while alive, and it seemed no exaggeration.
"Hold still."
I pinned his neck with my other hand to steady him.
I sent a thread of my internal energy as a probe through his back. Closing my eyes to sense it better. Normally, foreign energy in one's dantian causes injury or qi deviation, but this tiny amount was fine, and I wasn't sending it to his dantian anyway.
The energy traced his Governing Vessel up to the Baihui acupoint. My eyes snapped open upon arrival. Sure enough, the gu harbored demonic qi. I could feel it plastered to his brain, arching its back and spewing demonic qi.
Am I a merchant or a doctor?
Using demonic qi to heal people—twice now. Two coincidences in quick succession stretched plausibility. Was the demonic cult really up to something in Wuhuan?
I channeled more demonic qi. From treating people, I'd learned my demonic qi could control others'. I was the progenitor of all demonic qi.
The flow reached his brain. Mun Il-ji could barely breathe now. With both the gu's demonic qi and mine clogging it, the pain must have been unbearable.
Delay too long, and he might turn into an idiot. I swiftly seized the gu with my demonic qi. It shrank at my touch, like awaiting orders. Extracting it was easy. I pulled it out and expelled it.
A grotesque worm emerged from Mun Il-ji's nose amid the mucus. It flailed in the sticky snot: six eyes in three rows, twelve legs—six per side. Just looking at it killed my appetite.
"Ugh."
I withdrew my demonic qi from his head and was about to crush the gu, but it convulsed and died on its own.
Soon, Mun Il-ji blinked, stopped thrashing, and sat up. His face was a mess of saliva, snot, tears, and sweat—so gross I nearly stomped him again.
"What?"
Mun Il-ji tilted his head.
"What do you mean, what?"
"The pain just... vanished. It usually fades gradually."
"Look on the floor."
"Urk. What kinda bug is that?"
"It was in your brain."
"Nonsense. Once a gu parasites, it doesn't come out."
"It did. Just now. No more pain, right?"
"Maybe the sect leader just didn't tweak the mother gu."
Poor guy was so accustomed to the gu pain he'd lost all hope of freedom. Once tamed by suffering, that was common.
"Take a closer look. You said no bug looks like that."
Only then did Mun Il-ji press his face to the floor for a better look.
"...It looks like a mother gu."
"Told you."
"For real? How? You killed the gu? You?"
"I'm the Divine of Hebei, remember?"
Ridiculous claim, but it landed surprisingly well. Mun Il-ji nodded solemnly.
"Makes sense. The guy who wiped out Wuhuan's plague. But how? Why run a merchant group? Open a clinic—you'd rake in gold."
"My medicine isn't for making money."
"...Weird. Doesn't sound like you."
"Want me to shove it back in?"
His face paled. Then he glanced at the crushed gu on the floor, chuckled, and burst into roaring laughter. I wondered if my demonic qi had addled his brain.
Mun Il-ji sprang up. I sat in the chair, looking up at him.
"You said you wanted to crush the Black Dragon Sect?"
"Yeah."
"Precisely, just crush the sect leader, right? He's the one opposing you."
"True. No reason to fight if sides change."
"Good. Wait here."
Mun Il-ji left after those words, shutting the door. He returned shortly.
"Why?"
"Felt like I forgot to say this."
"What?"
"You're my lifesaver."
Mun Il-ji bowed deeply to me. The door was open, so the merchant group folks saw it all. They gasped at the sight.
"What the hell is that?"
"Master Mun bowing?"
Ignoring the murmurs, Mun Il-ji completed his respectful bow.
"From now on, you're my big bro."
"Big bro? I look way younger."
"I'm twenty-five."
That shocked even me. He looked like a middle-aged man past forty. How was he just past twenty?
Leaving me stunned, Mun Il-ji exited the merchant group.
And soon, rumors spread that the Black Dragon Sect's leader had changed.
The guy's action was killer.
***
"What? Mun Il-ji's gone?"
The Black Dragon Sect Leader shot up, slamming the desk. His weak punch barely made a sound, so everyone just thought, here we go again.
"From the rumors I heard, Master Mun lost to Hwi-yeong Merchant Group Leader."
"Ridiculous!"
Not just the sect leader—everyone dismissed it. Who was Mun Il-ji? The Black Dragon Sect's top fighter.
But witnesses started appearing one by one.
"I heard it too."
"Me too..."
"All nonsense! How could a punk like Hwi-yeong Merchant Group Leader beat Mun Il-ji?"
Everyone nodded along, gauging moods. Rumors in the Central Plains were unreliable. How many times had "someone died" rumors swirled, only for them to turn up alive?
The Black Dragon Sect controlled half of Wuhuan's underworld thanks to Mun Il-ji. The sect leader just rode his coattails.
Many in the sect saw Mun Il-ji as the real leader. They just played along since he treated the sect leader as such. The sect leader had zero dignity.
"That bastard Mun Il-ji..."
The sect leader trembled, fists clenched, then stormed into the leader's chamber.
Only the leader and Mun Il-ji entered that room. Folks sighed watching him go.
Whenever the leader entered, Mun Il-ji emerged haggard. It pained those who respected Mun Il-ji over the leader.
Sure enough, Mun Il-ji soon returned to the sect, looking even more drained than usual. People swarmed him immediately.
"Master Mun!"
"You're alive!"
"...Yeah, sure."
He replied half-heartedly. People noted he was off—normally, he'd check if they'd eaten.
"Master Mun, weird rumors are flying in the markets."
"What rumors? Oh, I can guess."
"Yes. Wuhuan's buzzing. That absurd claim Hwi-yeong Merchant Group Leader beat you. We should hit the inns and shut those flapping mouths."
"Nah, no need."
Mun Il-ji scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"It's true. He spared my life."
"...Pardon?"
"What?"
They doubted their ears. Mun Il-ji, the Flame Ghost Demon who purged all rogue ronin and unorthodox scum to protect Wuhuan. And he lost to some merchant leader—not even a famed sect warrior?
"Anyway, I'm heading in."
"A, yes..."
They watched him enter the leader's chamber with uneasy faces. Soon, thumping punches echoed. They winced.
That violence always happened when Mun Il-ji entered. The leader beating him, obviously. By martial prowess alone, no one understood why Mun Il-ji took it. He just treated the leader like big bro, so they shrugged.
"The leader's too much. We eat because of Master Mun."
"Shh. Say that, and he flips."
"Thinks it's all his doing."
The sect members whispered. The leader's low skill meant he couldn't hear low voices with his dull senses.
"Master Mun..."
They eyed the chamber worriedly. The door opened soon after.
Normally, a nose-bleeding Mun Il-ji would emerge. Instead, he dragged the leader out by the hair. The leader's limbs were twisted impossibly. The gruesome sight drew gasps.
"Whew."
Mun Il-ji wiped sweat from his brow, refreshed.
"Um, Master Mun."
"Yeah?"
"I-Is he... dead?"
He looked dead to them. But he twitched soon after, screaming. He'd passed out from agony. His bloodied mouth showed missing teeth. Awakening brought pain anew.
"Why would he die?"
Mun Il-ji smirked and stomped the leader's broken knee. Another horrific scream echoed through the sect, chilling spines.
"Too many sins for eternal rest."
The members gawked. The guy who'd bowed to the leader and taken beatings had pulped him. It made no sense.
"Listen up."
"Y-Yes?"
"From today, the Black Dragon Sect is mine. Got it?"
"You mean...?"
But they didn't care about causes or processes. It was the outcome they wanted.
Thus, they cheered cluelessly. Mun Il-ji grinned and stomped once more. The Black Dragon Sect Leader's scream rang out again.
This was the moment all of Wuhuan's underworld fell under Hwi-yeong Merchant Group.