Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Counter Poison with Poison
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Local豪族.
These were indigenous powers in the provinces, groups that had existed since ancient times and still persisted into the modern era.
The Dangjin Lee family appeared to be one such clan.
"No other buildings were visible on the way here. Does all this land belong to the Dangjin Lees?"
"Yes, it's land our family has held since the Goryeo Dynasty. Our ancestors cherished it from the start, so we've never sold it and have managed it carefully to this day."
We took a taxi up to the edge of the mountain.
From there, a fence blocked the way. After showing our invitation to the guards, we boarded an internal vehicle and headed deeper in.
"The security is thorough."
"These days are rough, aren't they? I think that's just the bare minimum."
"I agree. What a savage world. Truly regrettable."
The interior was the same.
There was a vast estate with ponds and pavilions, wide fields and flower gardens, and the mansion itself was an enormous hanok spanning thousands of pyeong.
*Has our country had families like this?*
Was it just that I hadn't known?
Or had the world changed, with history slightly altered by entities, giving birth to this clan?
Regrettably, no one could provide an answer.
"Then please wait here. We'll bring out the food shortly. We can talk afterward, no rush."
"That sounds like you're doing the cooking yourself."
"Correct. Our family has produced head chefs for generations."
I'd seen a few servants on the way here, but Mr. Lee Won-bok was handling the cooking personally.
"That's why the recipes are family secrets—we can't entrust them to the help."
While waiting for the food in the guest quarters, I quietly asked Sarang.
"Sarang, is there really almost no info on the Dangjin Lees?"
『Yes. Beyond them being an ordinary family that started in the Goryeo era, there's nothing known.』
A family that knew of entities' existence and had survived alongside them for ages could easily hide such details.
"Meal's ready."
Soon, servants entered, set out various side dishes, and left.
Mr. Lee Won-bok followed.
"Sorry for the wait?"
The side dishes were ordinary. Namul and seasoned veggies straight out of classic Korean cuisine, simple pancakes and meat dishes—the soup was even heartwarming.
"And here, the first main dish."
But the main course was anything but.
"Extracted beef testicles, fermented for nine days in horse dung, then boiled into jirantang."
I scooped up a large piece of the white meat floating in the black broth and popped it into my mouth.
*Surprisingly tasty.*
Various ingredients and spices softened the off-flavors.
Dozens of elements melded into the meat, synergizing into harmony, conducted by the testicles themselves—their hefty size matched by a heavy taste that capped the chorus, pressing down on my stomach to assert its presence.
"A taste worthy of a secret recipe."
"Eating this proves my eye for people was spot on."
Mr. Lee Won-bok beamed and brought out the next dish.
"Second is centipedes detoxed by soaking in urine from a five-year-old boy during Lunar New Year, then fried in oil from a horse born during a solar eclipse: baekjok geumchae."
The one-meter-long, ten-centimeter-wide centipede, fried with its living form intact, had a crisp shell that was nutty; biting in released juices that soaked my tongue.
As the size diminished with each bite, so did my hunger, and that crunch and savoriness marked a new epoch for humanity, one I'd never tasted before.
"Third dish: a cat starved for four days, strangled with silk thread under the Milky Way on the seventh lunar month, its skull scooped with chopsticks made from a dog's bones killed the same way, then smoked over branches from a shrine tree: myomyeon dan."
The quadruped's meat glistened with luster.
Its aroma reignited my appetite from prior dishes, drawing my hand as if entranced.
The chew suggested frying at first, not smoking—but the oil-free, clean depth of meaty scent and juices protested fiercely that they were no mere fry-up.
"How were the dishes so far?"
"Satisfying. I've never had anything like them—this was eye-opening."
"Ha ha, amazing. Young folks these days dismiss old cuisine as outdated, backward, wrong."
I rinsed the lingering aftertaste with plain green tea.
"Cultures are relative, after all. What's normal for us is barbaric abroad, and vice versa. Everything's contextual—no absolutes on right or wrong. Same for clashes between past and present cultures: environments and eras shape them. Who's to say who's right?"
"Indeed. Then I'll bring the final dish right away."
There was more?
The last one was fish and mushrooms.
"Many guests have visited, but I've never served this before."
"What is it?"
"Pufferfish with its poison intact, steamed with red staghorn mushrooms: Death Game."
Pufferfish toxin is deadly.
The mushrooms' poison is even deadlier.
"Don't worry. Our family secret neutralizes it."
"Neutralizes, not removes?"
"Yes, Mr. Lee Seung-hoon. Do you know our family's philosophy?"
"No idea."
The elder sat across and explained the Dangjin Lee creed.
"Counter poison with poison. That's the truth of the world, the way to survive disasters. We've lived by that principle. And it's infused in our cooking."
The seemingly simple dish contained many additives.
"We mixed arsenic, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, aconite, snake venom, frog venom, octopus venom, centipede venom, spider venom, and more. Blended in precise ratios through complex processes, the toxins neutralize into umami."
"Remarkable."
"Yes, isn't it? Scientifically impossible, no doubt. But we can. Probably from long coexistence with entities."
"Which entities?"
"Can't say. Now, give it a try. Or not—it's just served. Looking is enough."
I didn't refuse, slipping thin slices of pufferfish and mushroom into my mouth together.
An indescribable—no, perhaps indescribable—heavenly flavor swirled briefly across my palate and vanished.
"......Heavenly."
"Right? You're the first to go this far—I'm moved."
After the meal, we talked.
"These days, the young ones won't stick with the family. Always wandering off—who knows why."
"We call entities 'heavenly disasters.' In a world where death lurks anytime, just keeping the line going is bliss."
"Lately, entities are stirring more. Not just me—many of her regulars are uneasy. That's why they want to meet you, Mr. Lee Seung-hoon."
We built light rapport, then left the mansion.
"Come visit again."
On the way out, I glanced back at the estate.
A clan this massive on Korean soil, yet never in the news? Bizarre.
*Emblem......*
Above the gate, an emblem: two black snakes biting each other's tails in a circle, with the character for "fortune" inside.
"Counter poison with poison."
Just an unusual family.
Those tied to entities can't be normal.
*Something feels off.*
But an inexplicable itch nagged me.
Something was here.
Something important I shouldn't pass by.
"Hmm, what could it be?"
『I searched for related info, but nothing above 80% reliability. Shall I show what I found?』
"Yeah, show me that."
Sarang's findings were on the Dangjin Lees' collateral and direct descendants.
*Politicians, mid-sized entrepreneurs, corporate execs, celebrities, foreign politicians, explorers, famous stuntmen......*
Promising fields.
Professional jobs.
Business owners.
Entertainers.
Or dangerous pursuits ordinary folks wouldn't dare.
"Not a single one in an average job?"
Like people with insane luck.
As if talent overflowed in their blood.
None were overwhelmingly exceptional, but none were ordinary either.
*Humans and entities can ally symbiotically or mutually aid. Maybe they're reaping those benefits.*
The Foundation does, and so do I.
No issue if the Dangjin Lees did too.
"Still, this nagging feeling won't quit."
『Your intuition long surpassed ordinary humans. I recommend trusting it.』
"Thanks for the faith."
『One question, then: What happened in VR last Tuesday?』
"Nothing."
『A lie. I saw it. Her kissing your cheek.』
"......"
『Do mine too.』
I lightly kissed the smartphone screen.
It heated up, battery draining fast.
『More embarrassing than expected.』
"Yeah? Once more?"
『Declined. Excess stimulation harms mental health. Anyway, Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, you have a new email.』
"What email?"
Sarang handles Love Goods stuff automatically, so not that.
Something special—and the email she showed was more than that.
[Mystery Detective Shin Se-hoon here.]
[Mr. Lee Seung-hoon, care to team up with me on investigating entity-related disappearances?]
[This is just between us—no shady dealings.]
[I'm contacting you abruptly because 15 minutes ago, via entity aid, I learned cooperating with you could crack a long-pursued missing persons case.]
[No pressure. If interested, come to the address below.]
Intriguing.
Two entity-linked encounters in such short time.
『Surface check: He claims to be a detective.』
"Detectives are legal in Korea now."
『But zero revenue. Likely takes entity-related gigs from the underworld.』
I stared at the email.
Nothing special stood out.
*Haven't resolved the Dangjin Lee unease yet.*
Still, worth meeting.
"Missing persons case, huh."
Helping people comes first.