Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: Demonic Cult
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Dang Mujin showed a side of himself different from before, and Mok Wana's attitude completely changed.
"Why, why are you doing this?"
Dang Mujin's grip tightened on Mok Wana's throat.
"What are you hiding?"
"I've never lied!"
"You'd better think carefully before you answer. You've only got one life."
"What do you want? I'll do anything you say, so just let me go first!"
Mok Wana begged, but Dang Mujin's hand didn't loosen.
In ordinary circumstances, he might have let it slide. But this situation was far from ordinary.
A person who could take the Jimsae poison into their body without any issues. A person who harbored poison-infused internal energy, unlike an ordinary martial artist. Anyone would find that suspicious.
Dang Mujin's suspicions expanded. Had Mok Wana been monitoring him with malicious intent?
Furthermore, could the strange man he encountered in front of the cult leader's hall be connected to Mok Wana?
No, it would be stranger if there were no connections at all.
How much was hidden behind that pale face?
With a stern expression, Dang Mujin fiddled with the hilt of his sword. He knew a few ways to make someone tell the truth.
A thought crossed Dang Mujin's mind: this might be the natural conclusion, the inevitable fate. Just as the Strange Physician killed the Demonic Physician, Dang Mujin would kill the Demonic Physician's disciple. Wasn't that fitting?
But Mok Wana was quick on the uptake. He could easily read what Dang Mujin was thinking.
"Ask me anything! I can tell you everything!"
Dang Mujin nodded.
"Tell me everything. But if the story doesn't add up, you'll go through a painful process before spilling the rest."
"What do you want to know?"
"Well. Start with the nature of your internal energy. Were you born with it? Or did you learn a special internal art because you're the Demonic Physician's disciple?"
"...Neither."
"Explain in detail."
Mok Wana hesitated for a moment, then began an old tale.
"...I've lived in this cave since I was a child."
"Since you were a child—how young exactly?"
"Probably from around six years old until now. The other kids were the same."
"Who were the other kids?"
"The Demonic Physician brought children from somewhere. They were young, five or six at the oldest, brought before they turned ten."
Dang Mujin's interest turned to something Mok Wana hadn't intended. So this guy had a group.
"Where are the other disciples?"
"They're all dead except me."
"Don't skip ahead—explain carefully. How did they die? Is it related to your internal energy?"
Mok Wana stroked Dang Mujin's forearm gripping his throat.
"Before I explain, there's something I need to show you. Let me go for a bit."
His desire to put even a little distance from the threat to his life was obvious.
Dang Mujin knew it but released his hand anyway. Whether he held the throat or not, he could take Mok Wana's head whenever he wanted.
Mok Wana rubbed his neck for a moment, then went to the wall and pushed the desk aside. The small cave from before came into view.
Mok Wana stared at Dang Mujin. So, the thing he wanted to show was inside that small cave.
Dang Mujin jerked his chin.
"You go in first."
Mok Wana obediently crawled into the small cave, and Dang Mujin followed.
The small cave was dark and longer than expected. About the same depth as the Poison Blood cave, perhaps.
Soon, the small cave opened up. The ceiling was a bit low for an adult to stand straight.
The interior brightened a little. Mok Wana, who had entered first, had lit a small torch.
He didn't know what kind of wood it was, but it produced almost no smoke.
"It's still dark even with the light."
Dang Mujin muttered a simple observation, but Mok Wana took it as a complaint and answered hesitantly.
"Sorry. I can't make a big fire. It gets hard to breathe."
"Got it."
Dang Mujin looked around the small cave. Along the edges of the cavern, human skulls and unidentified bones were neatly arranged.
Dang Mujin didn't know the exact size of adult bones, but the skulls scattered around seemed too small for adults. These must be traces of the dead children Mok Wana mentioned.
"Why did you collect these bones?"
"The dead kids deserve to leave some trace behind, don't they?"
Mok Wana settled into a corner of the cave, leaning against the wall in a way that avoided the protruding rocks. It looked extremely natural.
Dang Mujin sat a short distance away and watched Mok Wana's expression.
Mok Wana looked relieved, as if grateful for the chance to talk, his anxiety and fear somewhat eased.
"The Demonic Physician taught us internal arts, then used us for poison experiments."
"Why teach internal arts?"
"People without martial arts can be subdued with ordinary poisons. The Demonic Physician's goal was to create the world's deadliest poison that could take down martial artists."
"Did he teach you martial arts too?"
"No. He didn't teach martial arts. Just repeated Qi Circulation and Breathing to build up internal energy."
Dang Mujin reached out and grabbed Mok Wana's forearm.
It was soft without any muscle. The body of someone who never exercised.
"Lie down."
Mok Wana obediently lay down and closed his eyes. But his posture was somehow rigid.
"You can relax."
"Mm."
Dang Mujin placed his hand on Mok Wana's dantian and checked the amount of internal energy.
In terms of quantity, it wasn't as much as Dang Mujin's, but it far exceeded the average first-rate martial artist.
Of course, if you spent the time others used on swordsmanship and various martial arts just building internal energy, this would be the expected result. Dang Mujin withdrew his hand and spoke.
"You have quite a lot of internal energy."
"I had to build it diligently if I didn't want to die. If your internal energy was lacking, you couldn't push out the poison and you'd die."
"You can get up now. Were you chosen as the Demonic Physician's disciple because you had the most internal energy?"
Mok Wana sluggishly returned to his original spot against the wall.
"...No. I survived the longest, so I became his assistant. Usually, the longest-surviving kid among the survivors got the assistant position. Some kids survived a long time but weren't chosen because they were too oblivious. I wasn't that oblivious."
Unlike the Strange Physician, the Demonic Physician hadn't properly trained his disciple. That explained why Mok Wana seemed so unpolished. Mok Wana continued.
"Being an assistant had perks. You could volunteer for less dangerous experiments first to manage the order, or put kids you liked into safer ones."
That meant pushing kids he didn't like into more dangerous experiments.
But Dang Mujin didn't want to condemn Mok Wana. Anyone would have done the same.
At the same time, he had no intention of sympathizing. He had no right to judge, nor was it necessary.
"That's enough of that. Why does your internal energy have that property?"
Dang Mujin coveted Mok Wana's poison-infused internal energy.
If he could obtain it, he could deploy poison techniques even without a poison core. Harmonizing it with his poison core's poison would make it even stronger.
But the answer was disappointing.
"I don't know the exact reason. Maybe because of the art, or from exposure to too much poison. Probably the latter. My internal energy wasn't like this from the start. After surviving near-death several times pushing out poison, the poison qi mixed with my internal energy and became like this."
"So the poison qi and internal energy fused... You've encountered Jimsae poison before."
"Yeah. A few times when I was young."
Dang Mujin scratched his chin. If research had progressed that far, there should be records.
"Be honest. The Demonic Physician left data, right?"
"There used to be. Not anymore."
Dang Mujin frowned.
"Where are those records now?"
"After the Demonic Physician died, other people came and took them all."
"Who took them?"
"I don't know. While I was hiding here, people burst in and took everything. I heard rustling sounds nonstop, but I stayed hidden."
"Why? You should have stopped them from taking it."
"That would've been dangerous. What if they killed me for seeing their faces?"
Dang Mujin couldn't help but chuckle wryly. It wasn't wrong, technically.
"You must have at least read them."
"No. I can't read."
Dang Mujin was caught off guard by the unexpected admission of illiteracy.
But on second thought, it made sense.
There was no reason to teach writing to children raised as test subjects. What the Demonic Physician needed were sturdy bodies with adequate internal energy, not smart assistants or disciples.
"Then why didn't you say you could withstand Jimsae poison? You knew people were searching for a way."
"I don't know how people would react. From my experience, staying hidden like you don't exist gives you the best chance of survival."
True, Mok Wana had tried to hide every time outsiders appeared. He would have reacted the same even if it wasn't Three-Eyed Buddha or Great Dharma Protector.
A sudden thought struck him.
"You only eat Wall Valley Pills to avoid drawing attention from outsiders, right?"
"Yeah."
Dang Mujin pressed his temples.
The motive behind every story Mok Wana had told so far, and the reason for every action he'd shown, boiled down to one thing: he didn't want to die.
Dang Mujin glanced at Mok Wana. A bit of ease had returned to his expression, and the tremor in his voice had stopped. He seemed to believe Dang Mujin wouldn't kill him.
'Sharp one.'
Dang Mujin muttered inwardly and spoke.
"So, you planned to stay holed up in this cave forever?"
"Of course. I've lived like that for over a year."
There was no dissatisfaction on Mok Wana's face.
But Dang Mujin found it hard to understand. Isn't it normal for people to reach for opportunities, even risking a little danger?
"...Don't you ever want to live more like a human? Live in a village instead of a cave, eat good food."
"Is living like a human such a big deal? The last year or so has been plenty happy by my standards. The best time in my life."
Dang Mujin let out a deep sigh as he looked at Mok Wana.
Mok Wana gazed back quietly before speaking.
"Do I seem stupid to you?"
"...Maybe."
Dang Mujin couldn't arbitrarily judge Mok Wana's life.
As many skulls and bone fragments littered the cave, countless brushes with death must have passed by Mok Wana.
Mok Wana asked again.
"Do you pity me?"
"A little."
"Then bring more danggo. Unlike you, that would make me the happiest person in the world."
With that, Mok Wana curled up in a corner of the small cave, burying his face between his knees.
It was a stifling story, but there were gains.
He could find a solution to this situation, either by using Mok Wana or training through him.
Dang Mujin stared at Mok Wana before speaking.
"I'll come back tomorrow."
Dang Mujin exited the Poison Blood cave. The Jimsae poison had already faded to the point where it was barely noticeable.
Dang Mujin stretched largely, then headed toward the village.
The festive atmosphere unique to the sacrificial rites hadn't reached the Poison Blood cave.