Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Demonic Cult
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The next day, as soon as Dang Mujin stepped out of the house, he fell deep into thought.
Lately, he'd been tangled up in all sorts of miscellaneous affairs, leaving his mind a tangled mess.
Dang Mujin walked slowly, organizing his thoughts. There was only one topic. What did he need to do next?
The first thing that came to mind was chasing away the scavenger bird, as per the commission from the Demonic Cult.
'I can handle that somehow.'
Lately, Dang Mujin had been adapting to the scavenger bird's poison, and he'd grasped an important clue in Mok Wan-ah.
However, a short while ago, something nagging at him had arisen, somewhat separate from the scavenger bird's poison.
Starting from the day he'd spotted that guy entering and exiting the Cult Leader's Hall.
'What was that conical-hat bastard trying to do in the Cult Leader's Hall?'
'What the hell was that bead he was holding in his mouth?'
Once the thoughts began, they spread in other directions as well. Things he'd brushed off as insignificant until now scratched at his nerves like sand in his mouth.
'Why did the scavenger bird settle right on top of the Cult Leader's Hall of all places?'
'They said it's been about a year since the scavenger bird appeared. What the hell has it been eating to survive that long?'
No matter how much he pondered, there were no answers to be found. Dang Mujin let out a deep sigh and headed into the Poison Vein.
*
As Dang Mujin entered the Poison Vein, Mok Wan-ah turned her head to look at him.
She didn't seem particularly bothered by yesterday's events—no hint of aversion. If anything, there was a faint glimmer of anticipation. It was easy to guess what she was anticipating.
And the moment she spotted the tanghulu and other snacks in Dang Mujin's hand, Mok Wan-ah's expression brightened noticeably.
Was junk food really that great? But it was clear that the value Dang Mujin placed on snacks and the value Mok Wan-ah placed on them were worlds apart.
Dang Mujin spoke to Mok Wan-ah as she nibbled away at the snacks bit by bit.
"I've got a lot of questions for you today."
"Like what?"
"First off, explain how poison ended up infused in your internal energy."
"Sure? Where should I start?"
Mok Wan-ah pondered cooperatively for a moment before beginning her explanation.
"I don't know the exact details myself. The Poison Demon led the research. But I know the basic principle."
"How does it work?"
"You know how you can push out poison by circulating your internal energy, right?"
"Of course."
"So why do you think that's possible?"
Dang Mujin thought it over carefully. The question was so vague that nothing came to mind immediately.
In the end, Mok Wan-ah provided the answer.
"The correct answer is that internal energy and poison have properties that don't mix."
"Tell me more in detail. What does that mean?"
"It's not complicated. If internal energy mixed easily with poison, you couldn't push the poison out with it. The moment internal energy touches the toxic qi, they'd blend together."
So that's what it was.
It was something Dang Mujin already knew, something he'd taken for granted without ever delving deeper because it was so obvious.
Dang Mujin's thoughts continued. Why had Mok Wan-ah brought this up?
'Internal energy doesn't mix with toxic qi, like water and oil. But Mok Wan-ah's internal energy is mixed with toxic qi. How the hell did they mix?'
Dang Mujin thought of lye water. Lye made by pouring water onto ash from burned straw or bean pods for a long time.
Lye can mix water and oil. That must be the point Mok Wan-ah was trying to make.
'So, what has to play the role of the lye?'
Something came to mind.
"You're saying to use scavenger poison to mix the poison and internal energy?"
Unlike ordinary poisons that affect the body, the scavenger bird's poison had the property of seeping into internal energy as well.
It could latch onto internal energy to block its flow or burrow into meridians to scatter it.
There wasn't a special name for that property, but Dang Mujin privately thought of it as qi dispersal. Meaning, it scatters internal energy.
Mok Wan-ah's eyes went wide at Dang Mujin's answer, which skipped several intermediate steps to reach the conclusion directly.
"How did you know?"
A satisfying reaction. Dang Mujin feigned humility while puffing up with pride.
"It's the kind of answer you come up with if you think about it. Nothing impressive, so no need to be surprised."
"Not impressive? I was shocked!"
"You're making a fuss over nothing. Anyway, enough of that—tell me your personal experience."
Mok Wan-ah crunched into the sweet sugar coating the tanghulu, rolling it around on her tongue. She needed the sweetness to suppress the bitter, painful memories.
"First step is introducing the poison. Sometimes I drank it, other times they cut my skin and injected snake venom."
"Hmm. And then?"
"You consume your internal energy."
Dang Mujin raised an eyebrow. Consuming internal energy after the poison entered the body meant weakening the force that pushed out the poison—in other words, exposing the body more to the toxin.
"That must've hurt a lot."
At Dang Mujin's words, Mok Wan-ah made a sullen face, as if hearing something unfamiliar.
"Yeah, it hurt. I was lucky to just burn with fever every time. There were plenty of kids who went deaf or blind because the fever didn't break in time. And countless who died."
"Hmm..."
"Anyway, once the internal energy and poison reach a precarious balance, you add the scavenger bird's poison. Then the internal energy and poison slowly mix. Repeat that a few times, and the internal energy itself starts carrying toxic qi."
A simple method, but dangerous in equal measure.
Still, Dang Mujin decided he had to try it. The potential was too great to pass up without attempting.
"Oh, right. Do you know about the bead that blocks toxic qi if you hold it in your mouth?"
"Yeah. But how do you know about it?"
The immediate answer confirmed that asking Mok Wan-ah instead of the Great Protector had been right.
"I saw a guy holding one in his mouth not long ago. Anyway, what the hell is that bead?"
"It's called a Blood Poison Pearl. I think it's made using some kind of inner core, but that's all I know. I've never used one."
That was everything he could learn from Mok Wan-ah. Dang Mujin rummaged through the Poison Vein, stuffing his pockets full of venomous creatures.
Then he asked her,
"You don't like that I'm trying to chase away the scavenger bird, do you?"
"A little. To be precise, it's not chasing the bird I hate—it's that something might go wrong and it could get dangerous."
"You're more scared than a three-year-old kid."
"If you want to survive to the end, you have to avoid even small dangers in advance."
A very Mok Wan-ah-like response. Dang Mujin chuckled and exited the cave.
*
The existence of a cave implied a cliff or peak where the cave could form. The Poison Vein clung to a small cliff.
Dang Mujin chose the top of the cliff as his spot for qi circulation and breathing.
Doing it inside the cave would mean keeping an eye on Mok Wan-ah, and while she hadn't shown hostility yet, assuming she'd stay friendly forever would be foolish.
The temporary house was equally unsuitable for qi circulation and breathing, thanks to the noisy festival surroundings.
On the other hand, the deserted cliff top offered no interruptions. Plus, if he needed anything, he could head into the Poison Vein to get it—a prime spot, really.
Dang Mujin filled his poison pellet with poison from the Poison Vein, then slowly completed the full great heavenly circuit.
As he rose from his spot feeling refreshed, the Blood Poison Pearl came to mind.
'The Great Protector said he couldn't find it. So maybe it's still where I passed out.'
Dang Mujin headed toward the area near the Cult Leader's Hall and searched every inch.
But after quite some time, he still couldn't find the Blood Poison Pearl.
'Did someone take it? The conical-hat guy probably didn't come back for it. The Great Protector wouldn't lie either. Maybe ask the subordinate who carried me out.'
Just as he was wrapping up his thoughts to head back, Dang Mujin once again sensed an unfamiliar presence.
Dang Mujin flattened himself to the ground and scanned the surroundings.
A familiar figure appeared. The conical-hat guy. One edge of the hat was even slightly dented.
'The one I beat up last time.'
Though Dang Mujin had been the one to pass out in the end, he considered himself the winner of that fight.
A first-rate expert holding his own against a peak expert like that? Factoring in extra points for grit and future potential, the victory was his.
'You bastard. You've walked right into it.'
This time, he'd filled his poison pellet, so he could launch a needle ambush.
He even knew the weakness. Force out that one bead, and the guy couldn't even breathe.
The thought of taking down a peak expert single-handedly thrilled Dang Mujin with exhilaration. Time to unleash the suppressed rage of a first-rate expert.
However, Dang Mujin didn't attack right away. He waited, planning to observe more carefully what the conical-hat man was up to this time. The distance was shorter than last time, so he could see more.
The Blood Poison Pearl in the man's mouth was white. Last time, it had been grayish or black, he thought.
He was even carrying a sack that hadn't been there before.
Dang Mujin watched quietly to see what he was doing. As he drew closer to the Cult Leader's Hall, the Blood Poison Pearl's color gradually darkened.
'Does it turn pitch black when there's a problem?'
The conical-hat man leaped onto the Cult Leader's Hall roof and upended the sack in front of the scavenger bird. Centipedes, spiders, venomous herbs, and other poisonous creatures poured out. Rage boiled up inside Dang Mujin.
'Is that bastard feeding the scavenger bird right now?'
One thing was clear now: what the bird had been eating to survive a whole year. He couldn't help thinking, 'If not for that guy, I could've taken it easy without even coming to the Demonic Cult—'
Dang Mujin watched the scene with seething anger. The conical-hat man shook out the sack completely, then slipped down into the Cult Leader's Hall.
Only after about this much time did the man emerge from the Cult Leader's Hall. As Dang Mujin suspected, the Blood Poison Pearl was mud-black.
Dang Mujin waited hidden until the man approached, then spat needles. Ten needles shot out at once, twisting mid-air to target the man's entire body.
'Holding the Blood Poison Pearl in his mouth for breathing means he can't block poisons that seep in other ways.'
The needles pierced the man's body through the cover of darkness. Since it was a covert attack without revealing himself, even a peak expert had no chance to dodge.
Dang Mujin sprang out confidently and said,
"Nice to see you. You have no idea how much I've missed you."
With the Blood Poison Pearl clenched in his mouth, the man mumbled a shout.
"You damn rat, sneaking up again!"
"Think of it as a stay of execution. You should've died last time!"
Dang Mujin swung his sword at the man while continuously spitting needles. The gap in martial prowess couldn't shine against an opponent struggling to even breathe.
With each needle embedding in his body, the conical-hat man's face grew increasingly black. In the end, he couldn't withstand Dang Mujin's attacks and spat out the Blood Poison Pearl.
How unjust this must feel—the conical-hat man collapsed to the ground and shouted clearly,
"You fucking bastard! Where'd a brat like you learn such cowardly tricks!"
"The whining of the weak doesn't reach my ears."
"A mere first-rate punk...!"
Dang Mujin whipped his sword like lightning, stabbing into the opponent's chest. The loser’s ravings weren't worth hearing for long.
The conical-hat man slumped to the ground, looking as if he were the most wronged man in the world, and stopped moving.
'As expected. What's a peak expert to me?'
Next, Dang Mujin rummaged through the man's pockets. When he'd stabbed the chest, he'd felt an odd sensation at the sword tip. Not the feel of piercing flesh.
What came out from the conical-hat man's pocket was a small scroll.
The scroll was filled with unfamiliar characters, or perhaps drawings.
'I have no clue what it means.'
Dang Mujin carefully felt the scroll. It had a strange dampness—not just from the man's blood. It was the slimy texture unique to paper recently soiled with feed.
'Did he write these suspicious characters inside the Cult Leader's Hall?'
As Dang Mujin continued thinking, he felt a tingling around his dantian.
'Hold on. Did drinking the scavenger poison cause the poison pellet and dantian poison to start mixing?'
It didn't seem like a big problem yet, but he had no time to dawdle.
Dang Mujin quickly pocketed the scroll and dashed in the opposite direction from the Cult Leader's Hall, toward the village. Precisely, toward the Great Protector's residence.
Once he reported killing the freak who fed the scavenger bird and handed over the suspicious scroll, his mission would be complete. Soon enough, the bird would fly off in search of food, and he could relax for a while.
However, midway through his run, Dang Mujin felt uneasy.
'...Is telling the Great Protector the right move?'
Dang Mujin stopped and sorted his thoughts.
Looking back, there were suspicious things about the Great Protector.
First, whenever Dang Mujin tried to chase the scavenger bird, the Great Protector's responses were lukewarm.
Take it slow, or leave the Poison Vein and relax in the village.
It almost seemed like he wanted the scavenger bird to stay atop the Cult Leader's Hall.
Just like the guy who'd been feeding it.
Dang Mujin shook his head side to side, trying to shake off the stray thoughts.
'Nah, no way. Repaying kindness with suspicion? That's ungrateful.'
Yet there was no conviction in Dang Mujin's steps.
On second thought, it was also fishy that the conical-hat man had reappeared with a new Blood Poison Pearl after losing the first one.
Dang Mujin's steps halted again.
From experience, ignoring his instincts always led to trouble.
'Then, who should I tell about this instead of the Great Protector?'
Someone came to mind.
Someone definitely wanting the scavenger bird gone. The one who brought Dang Mujin to the Demonic Cult.
Three-Eyed Buddha.
If he had to trust one person now, it was Three-Eyed Buddha.
Dang Mujin's steps turned toward Three-Eyed Buddha's residence instead of the Great Protector's.