Poison Master (6)
On the day of the incident.
An old servant who had long worked for the Tang Clan gave this testimony about that day.
That day was a bit busier than usual. It was almost time for the eldest young master, Tang Manyeong, to arrive in Sichuan. Since a family member was visiting for the first time in a long while, there was talk of giving the whole estate a thorough cleaning. I was assigned to sweep the courtyard and take the trash piled outside to the refuse heap. Thanks to that, I was able to work in a spot from which I could see everything happening inside the estate.
I don't know exactly where the other servants were or what they were doing, but the Tang Clan members themselves were particularly noticeable. That was because, as on any other day, they were walking around with their faces caked in white powder. Just as I lifted my broom to start sweeping the courtyard, I heard the Family Head yelling at some servants.
"What is this excuse for cleaning?! Do you expect me to conduct experiments in a dust pit like this?"
That was the sound of the Family Head supervising the cleaning of the reception hall and meeting room, pressing the servants relentlessly. The elder was always a bit fastidious when overseeing this kind of cleaning, so I secretly thought I was lucky to have drawn courtyard duty. As long as the courtyard was free of visible trash, nobody complained, and the gardener maintained it regularly anyway, so there wasn't much to clean.
Perhaps the Family Head showed me consideration because of my age.
In any case, while I was about halfway done sweeping the courtyard, I caught sight of the youngest young master, Tang Man-woo, heading toward the underground facility with servants carrying brooms and dusters. It seemed like he wanted to use this opportunity to give the underground facilities a thorough cleaning as well.
Honestly speaking, I felt a little sorry for the servants following him. The Tang Clan members have poison resistance and apply medicine to their bodies, so they don't get seriously hurt, but people like us often fall ill for days or become bedridden after just one trip down there. In my case, I've grown so old that I'm not even allowed into the underground anymore.
As he was going in, young master Tang Man-woo said this:
"Let's finish quickly and go help my brother."
At that time, young master Tang Man-ho was probably supervising the paperwork for ordering food and supplies to prepare the banquet for young master Tang Manyeong's return. Illiterate fools like me can't even get close to the paperwork. While everyone was moving around in a frenzy like that, I was the only one leisurely sweeping the courtyard.
It must have been around the time I finished sweeping the courtyard.
A heavy, dull explosion erupted from the underground, and the ground felt like it shook.
Wondering if I'd felt it wrong, I looked around, and the servants walking in the corridor had all frozen in place, staring at each other. At that moment, everyone inside the estate seemed to share the same thought.
Whatever it was, something had gone terribly wrong.
******
A young servant who had been underground on the day of the incident was found in a near-death state.
He survived for about a month after the incident but breathed his last shortly after giving his testimony.
I was assigned to clean the underground with young master Tang Man-woo. The older servants almost invariably fell sick after a single trip underground, so being young, I volunteered. The young master seemed quite touched when I stepped forward first and said I'd go with him. He even promised to set aside a portion of meat for me once the banquet started.
There's a rumor that the Tang Clan's underground chamber is a sealed-off place, but cleaning the underground was a regular task. Since it's a place where poisons are used, hygiene is, ironically, supervised even more strictly. Only the young masters or the Tang Clan members themselves enter the chamber housing the Poison Human for minimal cleaning, but the other experiment storehouses need periodic cleaning because dust, insects, or rats could cause problems.
That day, I was assigned to clean the storehouses at the very back. Even calling it cleaning, it was really just picking up the bottles containing chemicals, sweeping and wiping the dust underneath, checking if there were any spots where water was leaking onto the floor, and clearing away the trash—simple work.
I just wanted to finish quickly and get outside for some fresh air. The underground chamber was a mix of all kinds of medicinal herbs and toxic substances, so even wrapped in protective clothing, my throat would burn and I'd feel suffocated. So I hurried through the cleaning and was walking down the corridor with my cleaning tools, heading to clean another storehouse.
And that was when the explosion rang out.
It came from the room holding the Poison Human.
Directly across from the storehouse I had just finished cleaning was the chamber that held the Poison Human. It was a room sealed with an incredibly thick door. The sound of the explosion leaked through even that thick door. It was no simple explosion.
The entire underground shook, and behind me, medicine bottles sloshed precariously, pressing against their shelves. I couldn't form a single thought at that moment and just stumbled backward.
Someone had started pounding on the door. It was terrifying. It felt like a wild animal I couldn't control, or some unknown entity, was trying to crawl its way out. I couldn't even think to go outside and report the situation. All I could think was that I had to hide and stay alive, so I crouched down and hid inside the storehouse.
Right after that, I heard a scream from inside the chamber.
"Uwaaaaaaagh! Kkeuaaaaaaagh!"
It was a horrifying scream, as if chunks of flesh were being torn off a living body. I could tell the owner of that voice was the young master. Hearing the young master who, just moments before, had kindly promised to give me meat shriek in such agony... I absolutely could not keep my wits about me.
Hugging my own body, I just stood there trembling. All I did was wait for this moment to pass, hoping I had misheard.
After a moment, the door opened. Out came the Poison Human. One hand stained pitch-black, it staggered forward. In the corner, the young master had collapsed and was shuddering.
Pitiful young master. Half of his face had melted away, leaving his features unrecognizable, and he was wailing in grief as tears streamed down.
"Aaaaagh! Uwaaaaaagh!"
The sight of him convulsing, his limbs unable to overcome the pain, was so heartbreaking and terrifying that I had to shut my eyes. The Poison Human must not have seen me then. It ignored the storehouse where I was and walked out.
The servant standing near the entrance was not as lucky as I was.
"Uwaaaaaaagh!"
A scream rang out, accompanied by the sizzling sound of burning flesh.
The sound was so gruesome that, without realizing it, I dug myself deeper into the corner, hunched my body, and shrank back. I wonder if that cowardly act became my sin. The shelf I was leaning against collapsed, and medicine bottles poured down onto my head.
Yes.
That is the reason I ended up in this miserable state. Now, I can't even properly live unless someone spoon-feeds me.
******
On the day of the incident.
A young errand boy survived the clutches of the Poison Human.
He recalled the incident as follows.
I was running errands for other people. The Family Head had ordered me to bring fresh water, so I was running down the corridor holding a bowl. But then, the corridor suddenly shook and there was the sound of an explosion. I stopped, and the grandfather who was sweeping the courtyard was also blinking and staring at me.
That grandfather also looked like he had no idea what was going on. When I looked to the side, all the other servant men and women had anxious faces too. As I stood there frozen, the Family Head, who had been in the reception hall, poked his head out. With a puzzled face, the Family Head said to me:
"What is the meaning of this? And what in the world was that sound just now?"
There was no one who could answer. Because no one could tell what had happened. One of the men standing next to the door leading to the underground simply pointed down and said:
"It seems the sound came from underground."
"A sound from underground?"
His tone was one of disbelief. When the Family Head walked toward the underground with a bewildered face, those of us near the entrance to the underground chamber could hear it clearly.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaagh! Kkeuaaaaaaaaaagh!"
A scream.
It was a horrifying scream. The Family Head's face went pale as he stroked his chin, and the servants were all restless, shuffling their feet.
I had always believed that the Family Head, always so calm, had the answer to everything, you know? But that day, he was shuffling his feet just like the other servant men, biting his lips. Just like someone who didn't know what to do.
"Uwaaaaaaaagh! Aaaaaaaagh!"
Then a second scream rang out.
This time, the scream came from somewhere closer to the entrance. A sort of boiling sound rang out, and I thought I could smell a faint, acrid stench. The man who had been sniffing the air suddenly plugged his nose, gestured to me, and told me to run away fast. I did as the man said and ran away as far from the underground chamber as I could.
I still remember the Family Head shouting from behind.
"The Poison Human has escaped! The Poison Human has escaped! Gather the people immediately! We must stop that bitch from escaping!"
What exactly is a Poison Human?
People sometimes spoke of treasure hidden in the underground chamber. Is the Poison Human that treasure?