Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: Five Poisons Divine Sand
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Dang Mujin's group couldn't catch Yu Jingwang because of the atmosphere. However, letting Yu Jingwang go didn't cause any particular problems. The next morning, Yu Jingwang came looking for Dang Mujin's group.
When the group had finished their morning meal and stepped out of the inn, Yu Jingwang was waiting for them with a serious yet awkward expression.
Dang Mujin looked around. The villagers were excitedly chattering about the incident at the gambling house from the night before, but no one seemed to realize that the masked man who had appeared there was the same as Yu Jingwang.
Yu Jingwang approached Dang Mujin and spoke.
"Upon reflection, I realized I hadn't heard the most important story."
"What story do you mean?"
"The story about Senior Brother Wi's death."
Putting off the talk about Wi Hwan's death had unintentionally brought Yu Jingwang to them. It was an unexpected stroke of luck.
Dang Mujin sat on a small chair in front of the inn, and the others followed suit.
Naturally, all eyes turned to Hong Geolgae, who conveyed only the key details to Yu Jingwang.
"A while back, I came north at Great Hero Wi's request. Naturally, it was to bring Great Hero Yu along. No sooner had we arrived in the north than we started inquiring about the man said to possess the fastest sword..."
At the mention of the fastest sword, Yu Jingwang's face lit up with pleasure.
But the fact that Hong Geolgae hadn't met Yu Jingwang back then meant there was someone with an even faster sword than Yu Jingwang.
"The one we encountered wasn't Great Hero Yu, but someone else. We met without knowing any title or nickname at the time, but it must have been the other Radiant Light Sword. No sooner had we crossed paths with this other Radiant Light Sword than his blade came flying at us, and Great Hero Wi thrust out his sword in response, only to be defeated."
"Do you remember what the Radiant Light Sword looked like?"
"Other than disheveled white hair, nothing comes to mind."
"Disheveled hair."
Yu Jingwang nodded.
"Does that ring a bell?"
"I thought it might be my father since it was about a fast sword, but the disheveled hair rules him out. My father has never let himself appear unkempt."
Just because someone had never appeared disheveled in the past didn't guarantee they never would in the future.
Yet Yu Jingwang seemed deliberately unwilling to consider that possibility. It would be too cruel a thought, not just for him but for the deceased Wi Hwan as well.
Yu Jingwang scratched the back of his head.
"I know this is a bit brazen to ask, but could you tell me where that man is?"
"I don't know where he is now either. We just happened to run into him while asking around here and there."
"That's fine. Then at least tell me where you encountered the old man. I need to go check it out."
Dang Mujin interjected with a suggestion.
"It might be simpler if we move together. Would that be alright?"
Yu Jingwang was in no position to refuse, and no one else objected.
The group rose from their seats and set off under Hong Geolgae's guidance.
*
Dang Mujin had noticed it before when they met in Gangseo, but Yu Jingwang was surprisingly talkative around those he was close to.
He had even spent several years without anyone to talk to. As a result, Yu Jingwang went on endlessly without pause, sharing all sorts of stories.
Among Yu Jingwang's many tales, the one that surprised Dang Mujin the most was the amount of money he had earned.
"You earned that much?"
"Yeah. Want to see?"
Yu Jingwang pulled out a sack from his baggage and showed off lumps of gold.
The quantity was so vast it had to be measured in guan rather than nyang, and it looked too heavy to fit in his bosom or hang from his belt.
"This must be about the same as the gold you had when you went to see the King of Ten Thousand Gold last time."
"A bit less, maybe. Still, it should cover about twenty percent of the debt."
Twenty percent might sound insignificant, but given the enormous debt, even that was an immense sum.
Yu Jingwang spoke with a satisfied expression.
"Gamblers have a lot of money. The poor ones don't have a single coin to their name, but the rich ones are wealthier than you can imagine. The steady earnings from escort agency work and the hauls from fleecing gamblers aren't even in the same league."
"But... isn't there something problematic about the way you're earning that money, Great Hero Yu?"
"I've been turning the lairs of unorthodox warriors upside down, taking money only from those who admitted their guilt. Does that trouble my conscience?"
Yu Jingwang's standards felt a bit off-kilter, but seeing the sheer amount of money he had amassed made Dang Mujin think that standards might not be the priority.
If he could earn this much, compromising on minor issues seemed almost human. Yu Jingwang didn't even seem to see it as a compromise.
As he stowed the gold lumps back into his sack and secured it to his back, Yu Jingwang continued.
"But lately, the pickings have been getting slimmer. Probably because I've been too active. On top of that, the guards at the gambling houses are getting stronger. Last time, some guys even pretended to be gamblers and ambushed me. It was a close call."
Yu Jingwang rolled up his left sleeve to reveal a scar on his forearm. It had mostly healed by now, but it had been a dangerous wound—one that could have shattered his elbow if it had gone just a bit off.
"So, what will you do from now on?"
"Since the opportunity has arisen, I plan to avenge Senior Brother Wi and then head south. Just as the unorthodox hold sway north of the Yellow River, they're even stronger south of the Yangtze. I've heard the gambling houses there are even bigger. I can work there for a few years and then come back north."
Yu Jingwang laid out his future plans smoothly. It seemed he had thought them through in detail long ago.
Dang Mujin couldn't help thinking that Yu Jingwang might really pay off all his debts just from robbing gambling houses.
"...I won't nitpick your methods of making money. But if you're planning to repay the debt, it might be best not to gamble with the King of Ten Thousand Gold again."
"Naturally. The thought of going back to him and rolling the dice again just makes me feel like I'd lose once more."
Yu Jingwang gave a wry smile as he said this.
The group traveled eastward along the border between desert and grassland. Occasionally, barbarian horsemen roamed the sands, but they showed little interest in Dang Mujin's group.
For them, targeting merchants from the northwest with their colorful goods was far more profitable than a lightly burdened group armed with swords.
After traveling like this for about four days, the group spotted a rocky mountain that resembled a soaring serpent dragon in its dynamic shape.
Hong Geolgae slowed his pace and said.
"The place where we encountered the strange man was around here."
The group didn't rashly approach the rocky mountain but first surveyed the surroundings. There were no signs of human presence.
Hong Geolgae led them a bit closer to the rocky mountain before stopping. It seemed Wi Hwan had died around here.
The group looked around. Enough time had passed that they couldn't find Wi Hwan's body or any bloodstains.
Instead, near the rocky mountain, they found a small grave. It didn't look very old.
The group approached the grave. A sword was thrust into it, which both Hong Geolgae and Yu Jingwang recognized.
"It's Senior Brother Wi's sword."
"Did the strange man make the grave?"
"Who knows. But if he was going to make a grave, he wouldn't have attacked in the first place."
Yu Jingwang stared quietly at the grave. He seemed torn between leaving his senior brother here or digging it up to send the body back home.
At that moment, Hyun-gong, who had been scouting the area, shouted as if he had found something.
"There's a cave here?"
Where Hyun-gong pointed was a cave whose entrance was cleverly concealed by bushes and vines. Hyun-gong spoke energetically.
"If you encountered the strange man here, there must have been a reason for him to be in this area. And sure enough, here's this cave."
Hyun-gong's judgment was spot on and swift. The group set aside their dilemma about Wi Hwan's body for the moment and entered the cave.
Pushing aside the bushes and stepping inside, they saw animal bones and fur scattered near the entrance. But no one was naive enough to turn back at the sight of that.
The group pressed deeper inside.
It wasn't a particularly deep cave, and the ceiling was high enough to walk comfortably without stooping. Before long, they reached the end, where they discovered something unexpected.
An enormous hoard of treasure was piled up inside the cave. It was at least several times more than what Yu Jingwang had shown them.
"This..."
Hyun-gong started to mention dividing it up but stopped. He realized it wasn't wise to take the lead on that here.
The others didn't bring up dividing it either. Namgung Myeong and Hong Geolgae had no greed for wealth, and Dang Mujin was too overwhelmed sorting out the current situation.
In the end, Yu Jingwang spoke first.
"Five of us, so shall we split it five ways?"
Knowing how desperate Yu Jingwang was, Hong Geolgae asked in surprise.
"Is that alright?"
"Honestly, I'm not even sure if it's right for me to bring this up. You've all come this far to help me without asking for anything, so it feels more proper to exclude me and split it four ways. But given my circumstances... I'll be a bit shameless. Sorry."
Yu Jingwang scratched the back of his head awkwardly, as if he truly meant it.
He then spread out a sturdy leather cloth, carefully gathered the newly found treasure without mixing it with his existing haul, and packed it into his baggage.
The sheer volume made the straps dig into Yu Jingwang's shoulders visibly, and the baggage hung awkwardly limp.
The moment they stepped back out of the cave, all five stopped in unison. A thick killing intent emanated from behind them.
Namgung Myeong was the first to turn around. Atop the cave, an old man with disheveled white hair was glaring down at the group.
His face was obscured by hair and beard, but his piercing eyes gleamed sharply, as if ready to pierce the hearts of all five right then.
And he appeared to possess the skill to do so. No matter how they looked at it, the old man's martial prowess was at the absolute peak level.
Namgung Myeong shouted.
"Fall back!"
There was no need to shout. The other four had already pivoted into defensive stances before his voice even reached them.
In the blink of an eye, the old man closed in and thrust his sword like a bolt. It was a blindingly fast strike that Dang Mujin's group could barely track with their eyes.
The silver lining was that Hyun-gong had exited the cave last, putting him at the front to block the old man's sword.
Even so, Hyun-gong had no confidence he could parry it upon seeing it. In the end, he thrust his own sword based on the old man's wrist movement and the blade's trajectory.
By heaven's grace, the old man's sword grazed Hyun-gong's blade tip, veering off course. The first strike merely punched a small hole in Hyun-gong's side.
But it was the old man who seemed frustrated, not Hyun-gong. Since the lethal blow hadn't taken a life, Hyun-gong had succeeded in defending by half.
The old man then leaped into the midst of the five, swinging his sword. Its speed made blocking nearly impossible, so the group scattered backward without protecting each other.
As space opened up among them, Dang Mujin slipped his hand into his bosom pocket and clenched his fist. A sharp sensation filled his palm.
Over the past few years, while working as a physician, Dang Mujin had focused more on poison than the sword.
While Dang Mujin and Mok Wan-ah pondered potent poisons, Dan Seol-yeong thought about ways to use them.
Her idea was simple yet effective: poison sand.
Even martial artists who could block fast swords or deflect hidden weapons couldn't easily evade sand scattered by a child.
Combining Dan Seol-yeong's concept with Dang Mujin and Mok Wan-ah's poisons resulted in the Five Poisons Divine Sand now clutched in Dang Mujin's hand.
At a glance, Five Poisons Divine Sand resembled sand, but it was actually tiny, razor-sharp metal shards. Shards long steeped in five different poisons.
For anyone else, merely grasping it would shred their skin and let the venom seep in, leading to death. The poison posed little threat to Dang Mujin.
Dang Mujin extended his arm and shouted.
"Dodge!"
The three who knew of Five Poisons Divine Sand, and even Yu Jingwang who didn't, threw themselves aside with all their might.
A handful of Five Poisons Divine Sand scattered from Dang Mujin's hand, engulfing the strange man. Even with his tremendous skill, the old man had no way to evade thousands upon thousands of flying shards.
The moment the strange man was covered in Five Poisons Divine Sand, Dang Mujin's group watched him. They wondered if now was the chance to finish him off.
Yet the old man, even dusted with it, fixed them with his piercing gaze.
They might kill him if they all attacked together now, but it would cost two lives.
There was only one choice. The five simultaneously distanced themselves from the old man and fled, and he couldn't pursue as he focused on expelling the poison.
Dang Mujin's group ran for nearly half a shichen before stopping to catch their breath and check on each other.
Hyun-gong had a sword wound on his side, and the other four had picked up a few scratches they hadn't even noticed. But no one had lost their life.
"Whew. We barely survived. Who the hell was that old man?"
"Who knows. Hyun-gong, let me see the wound. We need to treat it."
The four heaved sighs of relief and chattered away, but unexpectedly, Yu Jingwang's expression was off.
It was as if his heart had been pierced.
Feeling suspicious, Dang Mujin spoke to him.
"Great Hero Yu, what's wrong... Ah!"
Then Dang Mujin understood why Yu Jingwang looked so grave.
Yu Jingwang's baggage was gone.