Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Songran Steps Forward
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On the hilltop, a white-haired elder muttered while gazing at the lantern hanging over the inn's main gate.
"I didn't expect the Hyuncheon Asura Corps to interfere."
"I'm sorry. I laced the food with poison, thinking it would work for sure, but I never imagined they'd detect it."
"No. No. It's not your fault."
Elder Gal was never one to show consideration to others.
That's why cold sweat trickled down his subordinate's back.
It was more terrifying than being cursed out harshly.
"You lot didn't know about Scholar Cheon. That man's cunning and eerie nature—you had no idea. If you did, you wouldn't have used poison so sloppily."
It was largely his own fault for only ordering the use of poison without giving detailed instructions.
"It's too late to use poison again now. Not with the Hyuncheon Sect getting involved."
"Chief Elder, why not prepare the poison puppets?"
"You mean use poison out in the open?"
His words were half-sneer, half-rebuke. His eyes naturally filled with displeasure.
The subordinate knew one wrong move could cost him his head, yet he spoke up anyway.
"Chief Elder, even if it's discovered, it wouldn't be a loss for us, would it? It's a chance for twice the gain with one stone."
Gal Woohun pondered for a moment, then patted his subordinate's head.
"For once, you've said something that suits my taste. But the problem is, if we use poison puppets, it'll be hard for us to approach too."
Poison puppets had the intelligence of a seven-year-old child, requiring control from no too far away—a major drawback.
Thus, the standard counter was to search the surroundings upon their appearance and kill the controller.
"We've trained them to come to us at a mere call. It took three years just to teach them to understand words. We suffered greatly during that time. So the puppets will find us on their own, and we can watch the results from afar."
The subordinate, hoping for praise from Gal Woohun, wove in tales of his own hardships.
"Is that so? And you want a reward for it?"
As Gal Woohun's yellowed, gapped teeth came into view, the subordinate bowed his head lower.
"N-no, sir."
Gal Woohun toyed with his subordinate's hair in a chilling tone.
"Do you think this is a place where you can just set foot in Gangseo? Scholar Cheon, I knew you had guts, but I wonder if you realize you've walked right into your own grave."
The subordinate knew the words weren't directed at him, yet he couldn't lift his head.
The occasional hiss of air through the gaps in his teeth sent chills down his spine.
"Prepare the poison puppets."
Only then did the subordinate raise his head and hurry off.
With over a hundred members of the Hyuncheon Asura Corps escorting the perimeter, it felt like a royal procession.
A righteous sect might form a practical escort of a dozen or so, but for unorthodox factions, ostentation was a virtue—hence half the Hyuncheon Asura Corps was deployed for protection.
Nangong Cheolung grumbled, clearly displeased.
"Unorthodox scum and their damn showboating—gotta give 'em that."
But Nangong Hwajoen and Nangong Pyo made no reply.
It did look rather impressive, after all.
Gwan Ryongjin said to me,
"We should reach the main city by evening."
Rushing to arrive by evening meant lunch in a roadside forest.
The Hyuncheon Asura Corps positioned themselves around the area like guards.
They finished a simple meal of rations.
We made do with the steamed buns bought from the inn that morning.
The horses needed rest too, so we passed the time with idle chatter.
I circulated my three streams of spiritual energy, reading the flow of qi around us.
Aside from the Hyuncheon Asura Corps, no blood flows registered.
"Hm?"
Moments later, I detected an odd blood flow entering my qi sense.
"What is that?"
It was so faint it was impossible to tell if it came from human or beast—an eerie, feeble pulse.
More than that, the moment I sensed the qi emanating from their bodies, goosebumps prickled my skin.
The aura resembled the sensation I'd felt in that soup not long ago.
"Everyone, stay away from them!"
As four men in black approached, the Hyuncheon Asura Corps warriors moved toward them.
At my shout, the warriors turned to look our way.
"I sense poison on them."
Gwan Ryongjin asked at my cry,
"Is that true?"
Gwan Ryongjin immediately devised a response.
"Block them with spears!"
The four simply trudged toward us.
Precisely toward me.
As the warriors fetched spears, Gwan Ryongjin bellowed,
"Loose spears!"
Shooo!
Dozens of spears rained down on the black-clad men.
Thud! Thwack! Crack!
Surprisingly, they dodged the flying spears by twisting their bodies or casually batting them aside with their hands.
Not a scratch from deflecting qi-infused spears barehanded.
"Ready arrows!"
When spears failed, they switched to bows.
Whirrr!
Dozens of arrows flew and struck, but only three or four hit their marks.
Those lodged in thighs or sides seemed to have no effect whatsoever.
Their pace and posture unchanged.
Gwan Ryongjin said to me,
"Let's use the carriage. See if those bastards walk away unscathed after crashing into it."
I nodded.
Gwan Ryongjin emptied the carriage of its contents and charged it at the four black-clad men.
As it neared, Gwan Ryongjin leaped into the air and fell back, sending the horses straight at them.
Neighhh!
Yet when they entered within ten zhang of the black-clad men, the horses foamed at the mouth and collapsed on the spot.
With the horses down, the plan to ram the carriage went awry.
To kill horses with poison qi from that distance—only one possibility.
"Isn't that the Sichuan Tang Clan's poison puppets?"
Gwan Ryongjin looked at me as he spoke.
Nothing short of the Sichuan Tang Clan's poison puppets could wield such power.
Their blood flow was barely animal-level, and the poison qi they emitted bordered on absolute toxin.
If such things existed, it had to be the Tang Clan's poison puppets.
Even the surrounding grass blackened and withered.
No matter the expert, victory against poison puppets was unlikely.
They knew basic martial arts, felt no pain.
Above all, with the consciousness of a seven-year-old, they were like dolls obeying only their master's commands.
Sword qi required closing within ten zhang, but facing puppets spewing poison qi that far was no easy task.
'No choice. Use the secondary dantian? But if poison contaminates it, I might not be able to swallow it again.'
I might never use the secondary dantian again.
The Tang Clan's poison puppets were infamous for their near-irreversible toxins.
'But how are Sichuan Tang Clan poison puppets here? Is the Tang Clan involved?'
Gwan Ryongjin, familiar with poison puppets, issued orders at once.
"Search every inch within a hundred zhang around here! Seize anyone you find!"
He assumed controllers lurked nearby.
I hoped they'd capture one too.
But after a short while, the returning Hyuncheon Asura Corps members reported not even an ant in sight.
'No helping it then. Have to use the secondary dantian.'
I raised my hand to my mouth, preparing to retrieve it.
That was when it happened.
Songran turned her head toward me.
"Scholar Cheon."
A voice shook through my mind.
I instantly recognized it as telepathy.
I'd mastered telepathy back at the Murim Alliance but never used it on others.
The moment I did, it'd confirm I practiced martial arts.
"Yes, Lady Song."
Songran showed no surprise at my telepathic reply.
As if she'd expected it.
"I have a way to subdue them."
"Yes?"
A sudden thought struck me, and I voiced it.
"Do you know how to handle poison by any chance?"
To counter poison puppets, poison was the only way.
"No. It's not poison."
"Then how?"
Songran sent a wistful smile via telepathy.
"You're not surprised even if I say I can handle the poison puppets. As expected, you know something, don't you?"
I chuckled inwardly and replied.
"We'll talk about that later. Right now, we need to stop those poison puppets. If they rampage, it won't just be us—everyone nearby will suffer too."
Villages dotted the forest outskirts; poison qi spreading would doom countless innocents.
"Understood. Tell everyone to close their eyes. Absolutely no peeking."
Not an easy command in such peril.
Closing eyes with poison puppets approaching? Hard to fathom.
"It's odd, I know, but got it."
I relayed to Gwan Ryongjin: when I signal, have all Hyuncheon Asura Corps members shut their eyes.
Gwan Ryongjin frowned, clearly puzzled.
But he soon agreed.
This showed the difference from righteous sect warriors.
They'd refuse incomprehensible requests.
As the poison puppets drew nearer to me, Songran nodded my way.
I told Gwan Ryongjin,
"Everyone, close your eyes."
Gwan Ryongjin and the members glanced at me—expecting some technique—then complied.
I told Yeoseol and Cheongyo too.
"You two as well."
If elite Hyuncheon Asura Corps warriors closed theirs, these two had no choice.
Yeoseol stared at me unblinking until I scowled, then reluctantly shut hers.
Cheongyo closed her eyes, then cracked them open slightly.
'Ran must be plotting something with Scholar Cheon to stop them.'
Cheongyo sensed the exchange between Songran and Scholar Cheon, watching them intently.
To protect the blind Songran, she'd monitored her closely since the poison puppets appeared.
That's when she noticed Songran's subtle shift.
"Ran, come here."
Songran couldn't stay with Cheongyo now.
"Sister, just a moment. Wait a bit. I'll explain later. Keep your eyes shut tight."
Despite Cheongyo grabbing and pulling her hand, Songran slipped free and put distance between them.
'Sister probably saw me as a naive, blind girl all this time. This might shock her.'
It risked alienating Cheongyo.
But stepping up now meant no deaths and a clean resolution.
Knowing that, she couldn't pretend ignorance.
Songran's telepathy flowed into my mind.
'As I thought, she knows martial arts. Songran sensing my secondary dantian wasn't coincidence.'
"Scholar Cheon, tap these points with half a pun of force."
I nodded.
"Dazhui, Shenzhu, Lingtai, Ganshu, Zhongshu, Mingmen."
I struck the points Songran named.
A poison meridian along the spine.
Impossible to strike alone.
"Now three pun on both Taiyang points."
I flinched.
Three pun of force? It meant striking hard enough to bruise.
"Hurry. They're closing in."
As instructed, from behind her, I struck both Taiyang points with my index fingers.
Thump!
At that instant, her blood flow surged dramatically.
From ordinary human flow to qi concentrating in her eyes.
Internal energy rushing to her eyes.
'What is this?'
I felt an unknown power emanating from her eyes.
By then, the four poison puppets had closed to within ten zhang.