Chapter 57
Dang Ho-yeop walked behind Dang Pae, watching his back. His older brother was usually impossible to read, but today especially, he was even less understandable than usual.
As Baek Mugeuk had said, what reason could there possibly be to meet Dang Hye the day before deciding the young family head?
And all he had said on top of that was nothing more than, let’s each do our best.
“Ho-yeop. You look like you’ve got a lot to complain about.”
“I don’t.”
“It’s fine. Say what’s on your mind.”
“Why do you keep paying attention to that lowborn bloodline?”
“Lowborn bloodline... yes. That child’s bloodline is lowborn, that much is true. But listen.”
Dang Pae turned and looked at Dang Ho-yeop. He was smiling faintly. Yet that smile was like a hidden dagger.
Dang Pae’s hand settled on Dang Ho-yeop’s shoulder.
“Sometimes I wonder. Are you perceptive, Ho-yeop, or are you just blind?”
“What? What are you talking about... ngh.”
Sharp pain shot through Dang Ho-yeop’s shoulder. Pressure from Dang Pae’s hand began to increase little by little.
“Don’t you know why that bitch is still alive?”
“Brother! At least let go of this first...”
“Are you really telling me you don’t know the family head has been protecting her?”
“Ahh! I’m sorry. Brother! Please stop!”
Dang Pae let out a laugh that sounded almost kind. But what Dang Ho-yeop saw was different. It was the smile of a demon, a fiend from hell.
“That bitch will die. But if you keep attacking her so openly, who do you think people will say killed her?”
Slowly, Dang Pae eased the pressure from his hand. Then he straightened Dang Ho-yeop’s wrinkled collar.
“Ho-yeop. You’re going to be the next Dang family head. So don’t act rashly.”
“Huff... yes. I’m sorry, Brother.”
Dang Ho-yeop clutched his shoulder and stared at Dang Pae. He could not understand why Dang Pae was trying to make him the Dang family head. But one thing was certain: the moment he went against Dang Pae’s words, he would die.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
There was no trace of emotion on Dang Pae’s face as he walked ahead.
Baek Mugeuk. Once that bastard showed up, everything started twisting out of place.
A faint thread of poison leaked from Dang Pae’s body.
* * *
Dang Hye’s whole body was shaking violently. Her neck was hot; her hand, pressed to it, tightened more and more as time passed.
The Dang family really are insane.
Eliminating an heir? Even in orthodox sects, that wasn’t exactly impossible. But to do it this openly, like this, was another matter entirely.
So why had they gone this far?
Because they were the Dang family.
It was that simple. Warriors of the Dang family could die of poison at any time.
Even if Dang Hye died now, it would be no problem to say she had died while cultivating poison arts.
What that bastard had failed to anticipate was my existence. He never would have imagined that someone who had reached the state of invulnerability to a thousand poisons would swallow that poison whole.
I quickly lowered my body and placed my hand on Dang Hye’s dantian. The moment I pushed my inner energy in, I felt her own energy thrashing wildly as it resisted the poison.
My inner energy began drawing the poison in. But I still couldn’t pull it out completely.
Because Dang Hye’s hand had grabbed my wrist.
“What are you doing?”
“...”
I looked into Dang Hye’s eyes. There was only one thing in them.
The certainty that she could detoxify it herself.
“You think you can do it alone?”
Dang Hye only let out a strained groan. Then she gave the faintest nod.
But to me, it looked like she wouldn’t overcome this on her own. The poison was that strong, and it was already devouring her body at terrifying speed.
“You’ll really die at this rate.”
“I... can... do... it...”
With that, I withdrew my hand from her dantian.
“Then focus. Don’t let yourself get eaten by some tool. Poison is nothing more than a tool you wield.”
“...”
I didn’t know whether Dang Hye heard me. All I could do was push more inner energy into her so her body could hold out a little longer.
* * *
It hurt. I couldn’t breathe. No, it felt as if someone were strangling my throat with all their strength.
The pain was beyond anything I had felt during the fifteen days I spent taking poison baths and forcing poison into my body.
It felt like I would stop breathing any second now. And then, in the darkness before my eyes, a door suddenly appeared.
When I stood before that door, I saw Baek Mugeuk.
More precisely, I saw the sight of Mancheonhwau unfolding from Baek Mugeuk’s hands, painting the sky.
Was that the lingering regret of something I had never managed to achieve, or the last vision seen just before death?
Then the Baek Mugeuk inside the door reached out and grabbed my shoulder.
A warm current flowed from his hand.
I wanted to lean on that hand right away, but...
I was certain. If I accepted help from Baek Mugeuk now, I would never grow any further.
The pain was burning my throat so badly that no sound would come out easily.
“I... can... do... it...”
The moment I uttered those few words, Baek Mugeuk disappeared. And then poison like a flood burst in from all sides and swept me away.
I couldn’t breathe. In that instant, I began reciting the formula of Mandok Guwon Simbeop like a madwoman. Because this was what I had spent all this time doing.
For a moment I felt the poison begin to melt, but the flood of poison kept pouring into me without end.
I had been born the daughter of the Dang family. I had never once feared poison. It was that familiar to me.
Even with the feeling of my body dissolving in poison baths and my organs burning, I had never thought of poison itself as something terrifying.
As my consciousness blurred, I saw my older brother’s face. No, not my brother—Dang Pae.
He wore that same pleasant smile.
Dang Pae. Unlike Dang Ho-yeop, he had shown me affection since I was young.
He had treated me like family. He had never called me lowborn blood. He was the only blood relative I had trusted.
And yet.
“Was the position of family head that precious to you? Precious enough to kill your own younger sister!”
I shouted at Dang Pae. His expression twisted at once. Then he slowly opened his mouth.
“Family? You lowborn bloodline really don’t know your place.”
For the first time in my life, I felt fear. Maybe I had been born carrying poison from the moment I entered the Dang family.
“Die quietly when I’m being merciful.”
Dang Pae smiled thinly and turned away. Then he began to move farther and farther from me.
Rage flared up inside me. I clenched my teeth hard. I curled my fist until it hurt.
“I’m not dying. I’m a daughter of the Dang family, and I’m an heir. How dare you try to kill me with poison?”
The pain piercing through my body gradually transformed into fury. And before long, I began swallowing the tide of poison whole.
Even as it felt like my body was melting away, I kept going, again and again, without stop.
* * *
Every member of the Dang family was packed tightly inside the Dang family’s main hall. At the very top sat the Dang family head, Dang Bo.
He lowered his head. The only people visible in his line of sight were Dang Pae and Dang Ho-yeop. Even as the announced time approached, there was still no sign of Dang Hye.
Whispers spread through the hall from all directions.
“Why isn’t Dang Hye here yet?”
“Looks like she finally knew her place.”
Ding.
The sound of the bell rang out. Along with it, Dang Bo rose to his feet.
“From this moment, the test to select the young family head begins. There are three tests in total.”
Dang Bo made a light gesture. At once, countless poisonous herbs and poisons began to pile up in the seats before Dang Pae, Dang Ho-yeop, and the empty place where Dang Hye should have been.
“Distinguish the poisons above and write down an explanation for each one. That is the first test.”
Dang Bo motioned toward the water clock.
“You will have one hour.”
With that, the first test to choose the young family head began.
Dang Pae and Dang Ho-yeop examined the shapes, scents, and more of the poisons, recording each one in turn. For ordinary people, no, even for the Dang family, one hour was too short to distinguish all of them.
“Three quarters remain.”
There was no major difference between the two when it came to identifying the poisons. But unlike Dang Ho-yeop, Dang Pae began distinguishing them by tasting them directly.
“Ooh!”
Gasps broke out among the Dang family members watching.
“I heard the first young master reached invulnerability to a thousand poisons. Seems that was true.”
“So the young family head really belongs to the first young master?”
“Two quarters remain.”
After two and a half quarters had passed, Dang Pae stood and submitted his paper. Then, when three quarters had passed, Dang Ho-yeop also rose and handed in his own work.
But Dang Bo did not declare the first test over. He only kept looking toward the entrance of the main hall.
“One quarter remains.”
Even though no one was still taking the test, the announcement of the remaining time did not stop.
“Half a quarter remains.”
The voice announcing half a quarter remained echoed through the hall. And at that moment, another voice was heard.
“The test isn’t over yet, is it?”
Everyone turned toward the voice.
Dang Hye was walking slowly in from the entrance of the main hall. Seeing her, Dang Bo gestured toward the last empty seat stacked with poison.
“Half a quarter remains.”
“Enough.”
With that, Dang Hye stood at her seat and quickly began sorting the poisons.
“What can you possibly do with half a quarter? Isn’t that right, Brother?”
Dang Ho-yeop looked at Dang Hye with open mockery. Unlike him, Dang Pae began glaring sharply at her.
“...How are you still alive?”
Dang Hye should have died. No, even if she hadn’t died, she should have been too busy detoxifying herself to appear here. Yet she was standing there, taking the first test.
And then there was this.
“Ooh! Dang Hye too?”
The Dang family’s exclamations burst out once more.
“Dang Hye is also identifying the poisons by tasting them.”
And at an incredible speed, too.
Ding.
Just before the bell rang, Dang Hye submitted her completed paper.
The papers from all three candidates were handed to Dang Bo. Slowly, he began reading them.
Not a breath could be heard. It was as though time had stopped.
After a short while, Dang Bo rose to his feet. Then he spoke in a low voice.
“First place, Dang Hye. Second place, Dang Pae. Third place, Dang Ho-yeop. That is all.”
At those words, everyone in the hall turned their eyes to Dang Hye. But there was no cheer, no applause.
“Wait here until the next test.”
Dang Bo sat back down in the head seat. And Dang Pae approached Dang Hye.
“Hye. Congratulations.”
“Congratulations on what?”
Dang Pae spoke to her with a smile, but Dang Hye answered with utter coldness. Then Dang Pae leaned close to her ear.
“So you were invulnerable to a thousand poisons? You could have said so earlier. Then I wouldn’t have wasted such valuable poison.”
He spoke in a cold voice, as if he no longer had any intention of hiding anything. Dang Hye lightly shoved him away.
“What would’ve changed if I had told you?”
“Fair enough. Do well in the next test too.”
“You’re disgusting.”
At Dang Hye’s words, Dang Pae smiled brightly. Then he turned back to his place.
Dang Bo watched them.
Then, in a low voice so that no one else noticed, he spoke.
“So you managed to make Dang Hye invulnerable to a thousand poisons.”
“You knew she was here?”
“A rat snuck in behind her just before Dang Hye reached the main hall.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“How did you make her reach invulnerability to a thousand poisons in such a short time?”
“Well... it’s complicated to explain, but in one phrase...”
“...”
“Family affection, I suppose.”
“Family affection?”
Baek Mugeuk glanced at Dang Pae. Then he smiled faintly.
“You’ve got a good older brother. Teaching you just how terrifying poison can be.”
“...”
At Baek Mugeuk’s words, Dang Bo said nothing. He only looked coldly down at Dang Pae.