Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Medicine and Poison
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My heart pounded wildly, my mind a tangled mess of emotions.
The sticky discomfort of warm blood. The thrill of battle. The ecstasy of victory. The joy of survival.
And the raw passion ignited by killing.
Yet the shock wasn't as overwhelming as I'd expected. From the moment I left home, I'd known something like this could happen.
Those flocking to the Qingcheng Chengdu Branch were one of two types.
People wanting to learn swordsmanship in advance for future battles, or those who had barely survived one and now sought to prepare.
If anything, the latter outnumbered the former. There were men who had gone to war and killed, escorts who had fought bandits, third-rate martial artists who had scraped by in life-or-death duels.
Yes, this was a world rife with unexpected fights.
The best outcome would be for no one to die—not them, not me—but the next best was to kill the enemy and live.
And Dang Mujin had lived.
A hazy guilt was swept away by the joy of victory and the patter of rain.
"Head-Striking Rod!"
Hong Geolgae's voice rang out from beside me, followed by a sharp crack. The bandit I'd faced slumped to the ground.
Blood streamed from his nose despite the blow to the head—his brain must have been shaken loose inside. He probably wouldn't survive.
Hong Geolgae scanned the surroundings with oddly gleaming eyes. Even if it wasn't his first time, killing wasn't something he was used to either.
Huff, huff. Dang Mujin and Hong Geolgae panted as they gazed down the hill.
The commotion from the fight was muffled by the rain and didn't carry far. The bandits were still piling up the embankment.
"Huuuuh."
Dang Mujin let out a long sigh and sank to the ground. Hong Geolgae did the same.
As they caught their breath in the brief lull, Dang Mujin's voice broke the silence.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Did you hear what that guy said?"
"Nope."
"He called me a master."
Hong Geolgae didn't reply, just smirked. Dang Mujin chuckled too. He wasn't saying it because he truly believed he was a master now.
But he was definitely much better than before.
Unlike the day he'd first gripped a wooden sword, he could now vaguely sense how his opponent would attack and how to respond.
Another question suddenly flitted through Dang Mujin's mind.
"Hey, Hong Geolgae. One more thing."
"What?"
"Why do you shout technique names?"
Dang Mujin's real combat experience was meager, but among everyone he'd met so far, no one else shouted their moves.
The Ja-yang Twin Killers hadn't. The strange physician hadn't. Even these bandits had just swung their swords without a word.
Only Hong Geolgae and Ma Jeon-gae did.
"Who knows. Maybe it's cool."
"Cut the crap."
"My mentor taught me that way. Said you have to shout the technique name loud and clear when swinging your weapon."
"Why the hell?"
"Who knows."
Dang Mujin couldn't understand Ma Jeon-gae's bizarre teaching. But Hong Geolgae could guess why.
Training was usually done by calling out technique names, of course. But only during practice. Shouting them in real combat was foolish.
Ma Jeon-gae, though, had never learned martial arts formally and had no real fight experience.
All he knew was what he'd glimpsed hiding in hemp fields, so it wasn't strange if he thought you had to shout moves even in battle.
"Anyway, don't shout them anymore when fighting. What if the enemy reads your moves?"
"Who knows. It's a habit—might not be easy to break."
Hong Geolgae figured he probably couldn't shake it. He had no complaints. It was still a teaching from Ma Jeon-gae.
As they bantered about nothing important, the tension eased. Dang Mujin stood and said,
"Anyway, it worked out. Let's change clothes first."
The fight had started because of Hong Geolgae's rash action, but it had netted them two sets of bandit garb. With the sky full of clouds and rain pouring, they could easily pass for bandits now.
The two hurriedly changed. The outfits even included large bamboo hats to block the rain, almost perfectly hiding their faces.
"Perfect."
"Let's go."
They descended the hill and began cautiously scouting the buildings. The first small one was a warehouse.
'Nothing much here.'
No gold or jewels. Just some gear and weapons for bandit work.
Dang Mujin and Hong Geolgae checked the second and third buildings too. Unlike the first, these were clearly living quarters, but empty inside.
So Soseon must be in the fourth.
They crept to the fourth building, eased the door open.
"Uh, welcome back."
A bandit inside greeted Hong Geolgae and Dang Mujin the moment they entered.
His face shadowed by the bamboo hat, he must have taken them for patrol returnees.
Hong Geolgae and Dang Mujin said nothing, scanning the room. No Soseon. Two bandits inside.
The one who'd greeted them had a splinted shin—broken leg probably—and lay sprawled. The other seemed uninjured but was lounging around. Must be the lazy type who skipped embankment duty in the rain.
Dang Mujin nudged Hong Geolgae, pointing at the splinted one. Then he approached the lounging bandit. A large scar across his face made him look menacing.
The scarred bandit barked,
"What? What's with the dawdling at your rank? Get back to the embankment."
Dang Mujin didn't answer, thrusting his palm forward. The Flying Floss Palm technique from the strange physician.
As the palm flew toward his face, the bandit frantically swatted Dang Mujin's arm away. Unlike the earlier foes, he had some martial foundation.
"Intruders!"
Dang Mujin gave him space to stand.
It meant missing an immediate attack chance, but he wanted to test the Flying Floss Palm's power now. Only those who objectively knew their own strength survived the martial world.
The bandit spread his arms shoulder-width and lowered his stance.
"You'll regret dawdling."
Dang Mujin's palm shot out again. The bandit deflected it once more, but this time Dang Mujin didn't stop. His arm slithered up the bandit's like a snake despite the push.
"Wh-what!"
The bandit shook it off in panic, but too late.
Dang Mujin's hand struck hard at the Jianzhen and Jiquan acupoints. The strange physician might have channeled qi to seal them instantly, but Dang Mujin didn't know acupoint strikes yet.
No matter. Those points were vital spots on their own.
"Argh!"
The bandit's stance crumpled instinctively.
Dang Mujin swiftly circled behind him. A hint of Cloud Step subtlety infused his movement, though he didn't realize it.
His hands gripped the bandit's head and jaw. Then twisted in opposite directions. Crack.
Hong Geolgae startled and asked,
"What? You kill him?"
The bandit before Hong Geolgae had gone limp too. No way a legless cripple could dodge his attack.
"Nah. Won't die from that. Let's drag them out and interrogate."
They hauled the bandits outside, careful not to be seen—it looked suspicious as hell.
They moved far enough that screams wouldn't carry, then Dang Mujin kicked the scarred one awake.
"Ugh... uuu."
Clutching his throat, the bandit woke and slowly looked around.
Dang Mujin expected terror, but the guy had spine.
"Why'd a master like you come to the riverside stronghold? What do you want?"
"The girl you took. Where is she?"
The bandit grinned.
"You think I'd tell you?"
He didn't realize it, but Dang Mujin gleaned one key fact: the stronghold had indeed taken Soseon.
Useless without her location, though. Dang Mujin drew his blade threateningly.
"Never thought you would. Where should I start carving holes?"
"Holes? Try it. I've killed over ten men, taken dozens of blades in this line of work. Think that'll scare me?"
Even with steel at his throat, the bandit held firm. The closer it got, the more defiant he grew.
Dang Mujin realized: he meant it. Unshaken eyes and scars numbering dozens screamed no bluff.
He glanced at the leg-injured one Hong Geolgae had downed. He looked softer, but seeing his tough comrade hold out gave him courage.
'Trouble.'
Dang Mujin didn't know torture and had no desire to learn.
He knew acupoints as a physician's apprentice, but that was for needles, not blades. One wrong poke could kill and lose their info source.
Hong Geolgae whispered,
"Hey, got any ideas?"
"Nope. Figured waving a knife would make him spill."
"Do something."
After agonizing, Dang Mujin pulled a metal pillbox from his bosom. One compartment held a bit of properly processed aconite tuber.
Aconite tuber—from monkshood roots—was the most toxic part of a highly poisonous plant, needing special care in prescriptions.
Raw, overdosed, or improperly cooled aconite caused agonizing fever throughout the body. Fail to cool it in time, and death followed.
Which meant overdosing it could work for interrogation. A different pain from blades—might crack even tough bandits.
Dang Mujin pointed at the scarred one.
"Hong Geolgae. Pry his mouth open."
The scarred bandit sensed something bad coming. He clenched his jaw and thrashed.
His grip was shockingly strong—Hong Geolgae struggled with both hands, and without anything to wedge it, it'd snap shut even when pried.
Panting, Hong Geolgae said,
"Won't work. Other way?"
Finally, Dang Mujin had an idea. Like bees injecting venom through stingers into skin, why not push aconite through the skin?
He scooped rainwater into a small pouch, mixed in the processed aconite. Dipped his needle to test—the amount on the tip seemed too scant.
'Never injected through skin before, but will this take forever to work?'
He fetched the box again, mixing cnidium rhizome, ground prepared rehmannia root, and ginger.
All promoted blood flow. Should speed things up. With little water and much herb, it thickened nicely.
He redipped the needle and jabbed the bandit.
To spread fast, he hit Tanzhong near the heart too.
As Dang Mujin pondered how many needles for effect, the bandit reacted oddly. Eyes reddening after mere breaths.
"What the hell did you do!"
"Uh...?"
It worked instantly.
The bandit groaned, writhing. Soon his eyes rolled back, body convulsing. The agony was plain.
'What went wrong? Too much blood-activating herb?'
After brief thought, Dang Mujin got it.
Highly toxic aconite plus three blood-activators—straight into the blood, bypassing the gut.
Worse, all three activators were hot-natured, clashing with the ultra-yang aconite. Deadly combo.
He wouldn't have messed up normally, but rushing with limited stuff...
Was it really a mistake?
The scarred bandit still shuddered violently. Cold rain might save him, but no guarantee. He looked in agony now.
Dang Mujin eyed the broken-leg one. Jaw trembling.
Seeing his hale comrade seize up terrified him anew.
'No choice—use this.'
Dang Mujin approached, jabbing the needle into the pouch visibly for the bandit to see. Cold expression, like all planned.
"This needle rips your limb arteries apart in agony till you die. Don't want that? Behave. Where's the girl?"
The crippled bandit screamed desperately.
"A cave! In the cave!"
He pointed to a stronghold corner.
A cave overlooked from the hilltop.