Chapter 277
Chapter 277
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 277
Chapter Title: The Fall of the Poison King
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Crunch-.
As soon as Uncheon-geuk finished speaking, Dang Pae-gun's lips were crushed.
He had spilled it in the end.
This was something he absolutely should never have said. Lee Hyo-min's life was the last trump card in Dang Pae-gun's possession, and the moment it vanished, Ye-ryeong's hidden weapons could embed in his heart at any time without it being strange.
A sense of despair that everything was over crashed over him. And piercing through that despair, a single question arose.
'How on earth...?'
The antidote to treat Lee Hyo-min was never stored carelessly.
One was kept by Dang Pae-gun himself, and the other was hidden in the clan's secret underground vault.
In case of any unforeseen situation, he considered the antidote his lifeline.
"I-it's fake!"
Dang Pae-gun shouted as if having a fit.
Naturally, Ye-ryeong's gaze turned to Dang Pae-gun collapsed on the floor.
"It can't be real! Absolutely not!"
"Is that so?"
Ye-ryeong examined the antidote vial in her hand this way and that, then nodded.
"Then we'll just have to check."
"Wha...?"
As soon as those words ended.
"Leave verifying its authenticity to me."
An elderly man walked out from among the Tang Clan warriors.
He had come with Soo-hyuk, and it was Je Un-hak. Soo-hyuk, who had brought Je Un-hak, grinned at Ye-ryeong.
Ye-ryeong sighed in relief upon confirming Soo-hyuk was safe. She had thought there wouldn't be any major issues, but seeing Uncheon-geuk here alone had stirred some anxiety.
Dang Pae-gun's eyes widened once more, nearly tearing at the sight of the familiar face he hadn't seen in so long.
He had thought today's shocks ended there.
"Je, Je Un... ."
"To think I'd live to see you lying there like that."
Je Un-hak, approaching closely, looked down at Dang Pae-gun with an expressionless face.
A whirlwind of complex thoughts flashed across Dang Pae-gun's face.
He had certainly believed Je Un-hak was dead.
Both the claim that Je Un-hak was alive and that the Immortal Herb could be found—he had dismissed them all as Ye-ryeong's schemes to lure him out and infiltrate the Sacheon Tang Clan secretly.
So why...?
Je Un-hak, whose breath he had personally cut off fifteen years ago, stood here alive and well.
"Th-then... the Immortal Herb too...?"
In that instant, greed flickered in Dang Pae-gun's eyes.
A human coveting treasure even on the brink between life and death. Je Un-hak could only marvel anew at Dang Pae-gun's bottomless avarice.
And it was that very greed that had killed his son.
Anger hard to conceal surged in Je Un-hak's eyes.
Seeing it, Dang Pae-gun flinched.
He realized in this moment that Je Un-hak was the most dangerous one present.
"K-kill him! Kill himmmm-!"
Dang Pae-gun screamed as if seizing.
In response, several warriors moved reflexively.
All were Tang elites carrying the Tang name.
Hidden weapons flew toward Je Un-hak. All were the Tang Clan's secret techniques coated in poison.
But Soo-hyuk stood beside him.
Flash-!
In an instant, their vision turned pure white.
Boom-!
The flying hidden weapons lost power and bounced away. The Tang elites who had launched them and charged immediately were swept up in the lightning and fell limply to the ground.
Je Un-hak rubbed his eyes. Something had flashed, and now Tang Clan warriors lay collapsed around them.
"Y-you... you're quite the expert."
Soo-hyuk smiled at Je Un-hak's words.
That expression seemed to ask what he had taken his words for until now, leaving Je Un-hak with an awkward look.
"In one instant... ."
"That guy's no ordinary one either, is he?"
"You, who contended evenly with the Divine Lotus Castle Lord. It's only natural."
"But that ability, no matter how I look... ."
As the Tang elites were subdued in a single moment, the other hesitating warriors faltered.
Already, countless Sacheon Tang Clan warriors had gathered around. And they were all retainers who followed Dang Pae-gun's orders.
Yet no one dared step forward recklessly in this place.
It was an opponent who had subdued the Poison King Dang Pae-gun without a single wound. Even if all of them rushed in, there was no chance of victory, and even Uncheon-geuk stood there with arms crossed.
An enemy to fight not by risking life, but by throwing it away.
Such a thing required more than ordinary loyalty.
"Y-you bastards...!"
"It seems no one else will help you now."
"Je Un-hak!"
"You're still the same. To you, everyone else's lives are no different from objects."
Je Un-hak drew closer to Ye-ryeong and Dang Pae-gun.
He had thought that when the moment for vengeance arrived, he would surely feel joy.
But seeing the venomous, greedy old man, disgust came before any pleasure.
"Those of us who handle poison must always be cautious not to be consumed by it."
"......"
"By something like this... ."
His throat choked, and Je Un-hak lost his words for a moment.
Gazing at Dang Pae-gun glaring at him with bloodshot eyes, he gave a bitter smile.
"To think that good child died to trash like this."
The feeling with revenge right before him was closer to sorrow than exhilaration.
Because now it truly sank in that he had lost the person he loved most over something so trivial.
"Here... ."
Ye-ryeong handed the vial to Je Un-hak.
Je Un-hak opened it, sniffed the scent, dropped a drop on his fingertip, and tasted it on his tongue. After savoring it for a moment, he asked.
"Do you know anything about your friend's condition?"
"He's completely unresponsive, like he's in a coma. He seems to be breathing, but he won't regain consciousness."
"A coma state. If it's a poison that induces such a state, it's highly likely to be one made from Soul-Sinking Grass."
As if it had just come to her upon hearing the explanation, Ye-ryeong added.
"Ah! Right. That guy said it was poison made from a grass called Soul-Sinking Grass. Do you know the poison?"
"Of course. Soul-Sinking Grass. It's named for sinking the poisoned target's soul into slumber. It has the effect of putting the victim into a comatose state."
The explanation matched what Dang Pae-gun had said. It seemed the antidote was fake, but the poison description was real.
"It matches Hyo-min's condition."
"It should. This is the antidote for Soul-Sinking Grass."
"Lies!"
Dang Pae-gun screamed from underfoot like he was raging.
"That's not the antidote! Even saying it's made from Soul-Sinking Grass was a lie to buy time in that moment!"
Dang Pae-gun's outburst was natural.
If the vial in Ye-ryeong's hand was confirmed as Hyo-min's antidote, he could no longer survive.
And sure enough, Ye-ryeong wore a contemplative expression, perhaps suspecting as much.
Reading her face?
Je Un-hak stated firmly.
"Aside from special poisoning symptoms, no poison can keep a person asleep for decades except Soul-Sinking Grass."
"What do you know, you bastard! I'm the Poison King! There are plenty of poisons in the world that scum like you don't know!"
To Dang Pae-gun's ravings, Je Un-hak looked back and forth between Soo-hyuk and Ye-ryeong.
"Believe me."
Soo-hyuk nodded.
"That was the plan."
Even if they spared Dang Pae-gun, he wouldn't hand over the antidote. He knew it was his last lifeline.
It would be fortunate if he didn't scheme something else with it.
And as soon as that answer fell.
Stab-.
"Gahk-."
The hidden weapon left Ye-ryeong's hand and pierced Dang Pae-gun's heart.
With bloodshot eyes, he glared at Je Un-hak. As if Je Un-hak had severed his lifeline, he directed his resentment there.
"Cough."
Vomiting blood, Dang Pae-gun soon breathed his last with a face full of injustice.
In his final moment, the venom in his eyes vanished with his life.
Sizzle-.
Black smoke rose from Dang Pae-gun's corpse after death.
The various poisons within his body melted and rotted his flesh.
A rotten stench spread around. Ye-ryeong, nearby, openly grimaced and pinched her nose.
The death of the ruler who dominated the Murim world as the Poison King was thus filthy and ugly.
"Those who handle poison... perhaps they all end like this."
Even after watching his son's enemy die before his eyes, Je Un-hak's expression was bitter.
Even succeeding in revenge wouldn't bring back his lost son.
What awaited at the end of revenge was merely the ugly demise of the monster called Dang Pae-gun.
His son, Dang Pae-gun. And perhaps even Je Un-hak himself.
The end for all who handled poison might always be this bleak.
"It's because you're kind-hearted, elder."
"Kind?"
"You said it to that guy earlier. Those who handle poison must be careful not to be devoured by it."
Je Un-hak didn't rejoice even after seeing his son's enemy's death.
"You won't end up like that. Because no one knows poison better than you."
She could be certain. He would never become like Dang Pae-gun.
Though she hadn't known Je Un-hak long, she could tell. He exuded a completely different aura from Dang Pae-gun, Kim Il-su, or Uncheon-geuk.
"Is that so?"
Soo-hyuk's words seemed to comfort him, as Je Un-hak finally smiled faintly.
Gazing at Dang Pae-gun's melted corpse, he closed his eyes, and a tear that had welled up fell.
Soo-hyuk watched Je Un-hak for a moment before turning away. Uncheon-geuk, meeting his eyes, shrugged.
"Now that it's confirmed, can I go?"
It was hard to believe this was the same guy who had been fighting to the death moments ago; he was utterly nonchalant.
'He prepared even for this situation.'
The moment Ye-ryeong and Dang Pae-gun's duel was decided, he had sheathed his sword without hesitation. He had judged the momentum had shifted.
"Let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
"I'll give you the antidote to treat your comrade. That's what you want, right?"
His sudden proposal wasn't easy to refuse outright.
Though they had promised Je Un-hak to kill Dang Pae-gun, what Soo-hyuk and Ye-ryeong wanted most was Hyo-min's treatment.
Besides, Uncheon-geuk wasn't someone Soo-hyuk needed to avenge against.
If releasing him secured the antidote for Hyo-min's treatment, there was no need to hesitate.
Still, suspecting a trick, they had brought nearby Je Un-hak to verify.
'It's real.'
He was thoroughly prepared. He had preemptively taken the antidote that could be Dang Pae-gun's lifeline, in case of the unforeseen.
Thanks to that, obtaining the medicine wasn't difficult. Soo-hyuk nodded to Uncheon-geuk.
"Go."
"Thanks."
Uncheon-geuk, fully sheathing his sword, glanced back at Soo-hyuk before leaving.
For a moment, their eyes met. Uncheon-geuk, staring silently at Soo-hyuk, gave a meaningful smile.
Watching Uncheon-geuk's back as he fully turned and walked away, Soo-hyuk felt they would meet again soon.
"Really... this will cure Hyo-min, right?"
"It will. The elder confirmed it."
"Hey, hey! Handle it carefully!"
As Soo-hyuk reached for the vial to check it, Ye-ryeong startled and shouted. To her, this small vial felt like Hyo-min's life itself.
Feeling her earnestness, Je Un-hak chuckled heartily.
"Don't worry too much. I can make the antidote for Soul-Sinking Grass myself. Gathering the ingredients might be a bit tricky, though."
"Ah, really? Phew."
Only then did Ye-ryeong relax and hand the vial to Soo-hyuk.
Even if they lost it somehow, it could be remade, so she seemed somewhat relieved.
Still, Soo-hyuk handled the vial with care. For this single small vial, they could have waged war on the world.
A smile formed on Soo-hyuk's lips as he gazed at the transparent vial.
"Soon, we'll truly meet again."