196. The Living Buddha of Gangbuk (1)
Would he ever get another chance to face a corpse poison this vicious?
It was clearly a rare opportunity.
The key was what happened when Han Bin wasn't around.
Or if they ran into poison experts in some unexpected situation—the outcome wouldn't be as clean as this time.
Just as Han Bin had anticipated, no one knew what the future held.
The Red Blood Mangho Squad was Han Bin's subordinates.
They needed to possess power befitting that role.
Not as a burden, but as reliable backup he could trust at his back.
Now, they had to stand not just against the enemy's weapons, but their poisons as well.
They weren't completely without resistance to poison.
The problem came when facing poison users as formidable as these.
Overcoming even this level of toxin would be equivalent to acquiring all five poison resistance formulas from the Skill Book.
They'd surely reach a state somewhere in the middle of what was roughly called the "immunity to a hundred poisons" realm.
Han Bin drew in a deep breath.
He pulled the surrounding corpse poison deep into his lungs.
Seol-hwa, standing beside him, mimicked Han Bin and deeply inhaled the scattered corpse poison as well.
As he breathed it in, a change occurred in his Skill Book.
The attribute representing resistance to poison had increased by five.
At the same time, a message appeared.
You've taken one step closer to Myeokdokbulchim.
Just as Han Bin had expected.
The others would gain poison resistance too.
Of course, it wouldn't be exactly the same as Han Bin's.
Han Bin had naturally neutralized it, but for the others, the detoxification process still remained—that was the issue.
A quick glance showed Seol-hwa inhaling deeply just like him.
At the same time, her skin began to change color bit by bit.
After a few blinks, the corpse poison rapidly spread across her.
The Red Blood Mangho Squad members, their faces masked, were poisoned as well.
Whether they breathed it in or tried to avoid it, the result was the same.
The squad members rushed to Han Bin with faces turned blue-green.
Yi Mu-myeong, with his fake beard attached, came running with his face exposed in the same hue.
All of them were poisoned.
Sim Miho, poisoned first among them, shouted urgently.
"It's poison! Poison!"
As Sim Miho yelled, the squad members in the back echoed her.
"Poison!"
Sharing information as per their usual training.
They tightened the strings securing their masks even more.
Sim Miho, standing before Han Bin, asked,
"M-My lord, wh-what do we do? Should we jab it into our blood vessels?"
"Wait just a moment, Deputy Sim."
As Han Bin waved his hand, So Daeseop beside him cut in desperately.
"N-Not yet? What do you mean, my lord?"
"Prepare the antidotes for now."
At Han Bin's words, So Daeseop shouted,
"Everyone, get ready! Antidote prep, antidote prep!"
Following his lead, all the Red Blood Mangho Squad members gripped their accessories and pressed the grooves.
Click, click.
Sharp needles sprang from the accessories.
So Daeseop, clutching his tightly, asked in a trembling voice,
"N-Now do we jab into the blood vessels?"
"Not yet. Just a bit longer."
Finishing his words, Han Bin scanned their conditions.
In terms of rice, it was still undercooked.
This time, Jo Ho asked,
"My lord, still?"
Jo Ho's voice was frantic.
Looking closely, his face had turned pitch black.
At that sight, Han Bin narrowed his eyes.
'At that level...?'
The color was a bit faint, but it was still undercooked.
However, it was time to detoxify now.
Poisons affected people differently.
If they delayed even a little more here, they might lose a squad member.
It was the limit.
Sim Miho asked,
"M-My lord, still?"
"Listen carefully from now on. The poison has spread too deep. Simply injecting antidote into the blood vessels won't cut it anymore."
"Then what do we do?"
Sim Miho was baffled.
Spread too deep?
Then they should've jabbed the antidotes into their blood vessels sooner.
What was this about?
Why had their lord waited until the poison filled their bodies?
Sim Miho looked at Han Bin with complicated feelings.
All the squad members felt the same.
At that moment, Han Bin shouted,
"Everyone, stab your necklaces into your chests!"
"Pardon? What do you...?"
Sim Miho's eyes widened.
Han Bin continued explaining matter-of-factly.
"Right into the heart. That's how you'll survive. If you can't, your head will rot first."
Everyone looked at Han Bin with trembling eyes.
Of course, some weren't fazed.
Seol-hwa beside him unhesitatingly stabbed the antidote accessory into her heart.
Seeing her, Jo Ho yelled,
"Seol-hwa doesn't hesitate, so how can we cower? What face would we have to serve our lord? I'll follow suit!"
Stab!
Jo Ho stabbed the antidote in like Seol-hwa.
At that, Jangsan said in a serious tone,
"Jo Ho, Seol-hwa's stronger than you."
"I know."
Jo Ho replied with eyes closed, sitting down.
Jangsan said,
"Looks fine, then I'll..."
Stab!
Jangsan stabbed it in too.
Beside him, Sim Miho and So Daeseop had already embedded theirs in their hearts and were sitting cross-legged.
As some still hesitated, Han Bin shouted again,
"If you want to live, stab it in—now! A little longer and it's irreversible. Red Blood Mangho Squad that can't become tigers won't even leave their hides behind."
"......"
The hesitators' hands slowly moved toward their chests.
Then Han Bin continued,
"Whether you leave a tiger's hide or a cat's upon death is your choice. My advice ends here."
At Han Bin's words, the Red Blood Mangho Squad's eyes changed.
Until recently, they'd been third-rate warriors scorned by all.
Painful memories flashed by like a panorama.
Someone shouted,
"Nothing to lose! Stab it in!"
"I don't want to go back to how it was. I'll follow our lord!"
With one cry after another, the remaining squad members stabbed the antidotes into their hearts.
In the blink of an eye, everyone had done it.
Han Bin observed them.
A rough check showed color returning to their faces bit by bit.
Clearly, the antidote spreading from their hearts was suppressing the corpse poison.
As Han Bin caught his breath,
Seol-hwa tugged at his sleeve.
He turned to look at her.
Seol-hwa had already removed her accessory from her chest, her complexion back to normal.
"Good thing you're okay, Seol-hwa."
"But, um..."
"What's wrong, Seol-hwa?"
"What about the Volcanic Sect uncle?"
"Oh, the Volcanic Sect guy—Se Daehyeop is over there..."
Han Bin trailed off.
But his expression wasn't panicked.
It was too late to save Se Jaeo with just antidotes.
Han Bin told Seol-hwa to fetch more antidotes, then ran toward Se Jaeo.
Arriving where Se Jaeo was, he spotted what looked like Cheon Dok's corpse a short distance away.
The upper body was torn off.
As if a Heavenly Blood Wolf had ripped it apart—the torso had exploded clean off.
From what he'd seen earlier, it had clearly detonated.
There was no way Cheon Dok had suicided after taking a True Dragon Soul Scattering Sword.
This must've been due to some restriction someone had placed on him.
As life ebbed away, it activated.
Weakened, it naturally gathered the scattered poison around, and upon death, detonated the collected toxin—a ruthless method.
Now, the problem was Se Jaeo right in front.
Han Bin sat him down.
Cross-legged, then stood behind and placed a hand on his back.
Se Jaeo felt his whole body burning in agony.
Like a rabbit roasting over a campfire.
The pain pierced deep into his bones.
Death might be better, he thought, considering biting his tongue.
But he couldn't even move his mouth properly.
A warm energy touched his back.
Moments later, a clear energy flowed down his spine.
At the same time, a voice came.
"Circulate your qi, Se Daehyeop."
Se Jaeo quietly operated the Plum Blossom Heart Formula, the Volcanic Sect's unique method.
His faint energy accepted Han Bin's clear qi.
As if they'd always been one, their energies merged into immense power.
The torrent of massive qi united with his own inner power, driving out the pain.
As the agony eased somewhat, a question sprouted in Se Jaeo's mind.
This treatment Han Bin was doing—even his master back at the sect couldn't perform it.
What had entered him was clearly innate qi.
Nothing but innate qi could emit such pure energy.
Using innate qi to heal another required absolute sacrifice.
Who in the world would heal others with their innate qi?
No one—that was the answer.
Innate true qi wasn't something you could replenish after using; once spent, it was gone.
In a way, innate qi was like a warrior's life force.
From then, questions piled up in Se Jaeo's head.
This fourth young master, always itching to devour him, doing this for his sake?
It made no sense.
Yet his instincts, not reason, felt warmth from that touch.
As Se Jaeo's reason clashed with instinct,
Pain returned to spots across his body.
What is this?
The question was brief; the pain began converging in one place.
If the previous pain was his whole body aflame, this was just a few spots hurting.
Bearable, even.
As Se Jaeo gritted his teeth against it,
The pain gathered strangely in one spot.
His heart.
Suddenly, Han Bin's voice rang out.
"How many did you get?"
With eyes closed, Se Jaeo didn't grasp what it meant.
The response followed.
"Seven."
"Seven? Too many—take out five."
"Five?"
"Yeah, jab five antidotes in."
"Into the chest?"
"Right, just like you and the Red Blood Mangho Squad did—into the heart to survive. I've driven all the remaining corpse poison to your heart, so detoxify now while you can."
"What if he dies? We need the Volcanic Sect uncle..."
"He won't die. If you don't now, his heart will rot away—hurry."
"Should we space them out?"
"No, all at once!"
At their conversation, Se Jaeo nearly screamed.
'They're going to stab that terrifying antidote into the heart...'
Se Jaeo couldn't finish the thought.
Something stabbed into his heart.
Stab!
Immediately, burning pain followed in his heart.
Se Jaeo had no time for questions.
His consciousness faded.
Through the blurring haze, Han Bin's final voice reached him.
"Don't worry, Seol-hwa. The Volcanic Sect uncle will be fine."
Han Bin's words to Seol-hwa seemed laced with playfulness.
The tone that would normally annoy him.
But today, it oddly brought reassurance.
Now he could rest easy.
Just before consciousness snapped,
Sensation had returned to his limbs.
But a strange feeling came from his ankle.
Like someone gripping it.
Se Jaeo's spine chilled.
Didn't they say grim reapers or ghosts drag people off by the ankle first?
Weakened, childhood ghost stories flooded his mind.
Se Jaeo's consciousness ended there.
Two days later.
Se Jaeo let out a low groan as he opened his eyes.
"Urgh."
Unlike the groan, his body felt refreshingly rested, like after a good sleep.
Se Jaeo cautiously looked up at the ceiling.
"What is this?"
His eyes widened.
An unfamiliar ceiling stared back.
Looking at it, Se Jaeo's heart suddenly pounded.
Thump, thump.
Was this the afterlife?
Se Jaeo frantically turned his head.
Beside him lay someone completely wrapped in bandages, unrecognizable.