Chapter 344
Chapter 344
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 344
Chapter Title: Muslin Cloth
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The day after arriving at the Unnamed Stream, at dawn. As Dang Mujin was quietly packing his belongings, he felt a gaze from behind.
He turned around. Dan Seolyeong was lying in bed, watching him.
As Dang Mujin pondered what excuse to make, Dan Seolyeong let out a big yawn and spoke.
"You're leaving early this time?"
Dang Mujin would wander the land and then return to his hometown.
Once home, he usually stayed at the Tang family estate for a year or half a year before departing again.
But this time, his stay had been much shorter. He had returned in winter and was leaving as spring ended.
So, there was only one thing he could say now.
"Sorry."
He expected anger or grumbling.
But Dan Seolyeong's response was different from what he anticipated. She wriggled under the blanket and said,
"What're you sorry for? I'm fine, so no need to apologize. Still, it feels nice that you say it..."
"It's not empty words. I really am sorry."
"My saying I'm fine isn't a joke either. Back then, I'd get upset and angry when you up and left, but I've changed my mind lately."
"...How so?"
"I started thinking—if I were just one of the many people around you, and something urgent came up for me, who would I ask for help? No matter how I thought about it, no one was better than you."
Reluctant to leave the warmth of the blanket, Dan Seolyeong stretched her legs out under it and yawned. Her toes wriggled faintly beneath the covers.
"It just took me a bit longer to realize. It took five years after marriage to see that my husband isn't just great in my eyes."
The words could sound sarcastic depending on the tone, but Dang Mujin could tell Dan Seolyeong meant no mockery.
How much inner turmoil had she endured alone at home to reach those thoughts? Dang Mujin couldn't easily imagine.
"And there's something even more important."
"What?"
"I thought about whether you'd staying cooped up at home would make me that much happier. But it wouldn't. Of course, I'd love to have you by my side, but I also enjoy seeing you wield your abilities and talents, earning recognition. There's something thrilling about it whenever people flock to the Tang estate."
Dang Mujin stopped packing and sat by the bed. He reached under the blanket and took Dan Seolyeong's hand.
As always, her hand was a bit rough. But unlike a swordsman's callused grip or a housewife's from washing in cold water, it was rough yet soft. To Dang Mujin, Dan Seolyeong felt like the texture of that hand.
She spoke.
"No need to worry so much. I'm not someone who can't do anything without you. By the time you return, the Tang estate will be riddled with mechanisms. I might even tear down a few buildings to rebuild them for better formations. I'm a busy woman with no time to spare."
Dang Mujin smiled quietly. He recalled first meeting her near Shaolin Temple.
Many things had captivated him about Dan Seolyeong. Her overflowing vitality. Her confident demeanor. Her brain that effortlessly grasped complex mechanisms.
But what stood out most was her aura. Even at a young age, she stood alone with such assurance.
To Dang Mujin—who had leaned on his father then traveled relying on a strange benefactor—Dan Seolyeong standing solo shone vividly.
She asked,
"You're taking a backpack again, right?"
"Have to."
"Open that box over there."
She pointed to a small box by the bed.
It contained various odds and ends, some familiar, some not.
"I put in whetstones and flint, some new tinder pouches, antidote powder in a silk pouch, and Rainstorm Flower Needles. See the square box next to the Rainstorm Flower Needles?"
"I see it."
"You said you starved all the bloodthirsty worms last time? This is a double-walled container so they can move freely and feed. Don't forget the worms and their food."
"Uh... You knew I was leaving?"
Even as he asked, Dang Mujin knew it wasn't possible. He'd decided only the night before.
"Didn't know it'd be today. But it's always been like that, hasn't it? I figured you'd head out eventually, so I prepared ahead."
"..."
Dan Seolyeong knew Dang Mujin all too well. Perhaps even better than he knew himself.
"Will it take about a year this time too?"
"Three or four months, maybe? I'll try to come back as soon as possible."
"That means roughly a year."
"Why?"
"Whenever you say two or three, or three or four months, it always ends up taking a year."
She smiled faintly, then reached out from under the blanket and placed her hand atop his.
With a confident grin, she gripped his hand and pulled him close.
"Anyway, with this much prep, I get this morning, right?"
"Of course."
Dang Mujin slipped under the blanket and embraced her tightly.
*Around noon, Dang Mujin dragged his weary body out of the room.
Hyun Gong soon appeared, bowing politely.
"Here for your pay?"
"As if. I just came to bid farewell to the Tang estate lord before you leave."
"Is that so? Guess no travel funds needed then."
"Haha, estate lord, that's too much joking."
"Not joking."
"Hey, Tang boy. Don't be like that—it's no fun."
The estate lord was instantly demoted to "Tang boy." Dang Mujin chuckled.
"Come with me."
Hyun Gong beamed at his reply.
"Lucky me!"
With Dang Mujin along, funds would be ample, and there'd be plenty of perks.
By Hyun Gong's standards, Dang Mujin was a whopping seventeen-and-a-half point catch.
Hyun Gong asked amiably,
"All packed? How long you think it'll take?"
"Pretty much. Just wait a bit."
As Dang Mujin unpacked his backpack to finish packing, Mok Wana approached and asked,
"Seolyeong says you're running off again?"
"That's the plan. Was gonna pack first then tell you."
Mok Wana pondered briefly, then said,
"Don't leave today—go tomorrow, okay?"
"Why?"
"Got something for you. Come to my room tonight!"
Dang Mujin thought it over, but he had nothing to receive from Mok Wana.
At most, bloodthirsty worms and their feed, but he doubted she'd make him delay a day for that.
Still, it wasn't a tough request.
He wasn't in a rush, and delaying Hyun Gong by a day was a simple flip of the hand.
"Got it."
He agreed readily.
*That evening, Dang Mujin headed to Mok Wana's room. Her door was closed.
But something was off. The gaps between door and wall were meticulously sealed with layers of paper.
He asked,
"Can I come in?"
No answer came. But he entered anyway. She'd invited him, after all.
A single candle burned inside, with Mok Wana seated beside it.
The key wasn't Mok Wana—it was the room's scent. A faint sweaty tang mixed with a sharp aroma, and thick poison qi.
Dang Mujin knew that poison qi: from the human-faced spider.
"You!"
As he cried out, Mok Wana murmured softly without opening her eyes.
"Sit far away and take in the poison qi."
Her exhaled breath carried dense poison qi—enough to kill most with a whiff.
This confirmed it. Mok Wana had swallowed the human-faced spider's poison sac.
But the airborne poison wasn't as vicious as when he'd handled the sac directly. Her body had filtered it once, purifying it.
She bore the rough, dangerous, crude impurities herself.
That meant she shouldered the greatest risk.
Her poison resistance outstripped Dang Mujin's. Yet even she seemed overwhelmed by the human-faced spider's sac.
Her face was corpse-pale. Her body convulsed endlessly, sweat beading on her skin.
Dang Mujin lowered his voice.
"You'll die! Spit out the sac now."
"I can... handle it... probably."
Her trembling voice betrayed her lack of certainty, even in short words.
"Hurry! It's dangerous!"
"But... it helps, right?"
She flashed a pained smile through the agony.
"Enough talk. Help if it gets risky."
She had no intention of regurgitating the sac.
Dang Mujin considered forcing acupoint strikes to make her vomit it, but gave up. That could make it worse.
He emptied his mind and sat cross-legged at a distance.
No words passed between Dang Mujin and Mok Wana. In the silence, they felt each other's breaths.
Her exhales carried more poison qi than he inhaled.
The room's poison thickened. His body began to tremble faintly. Muscles disobeyed.
But he focused his mind, guiding the poison qi to his dantian, then his poison core.
"..."
Yet his body soon hit its limit.
Like a leather pouch that can't hold endless water, his body had a poison capacity.
...Too much. From here, it's not cultivation—it's survival.
He steadied his breathing.
Poison kills. Even Dang Mujin, versed in poison arts, was no exception.
He was in greater peril than most martial artists. The poison in him dwarfed what others could endure by dozens or hundreds of times.
Like an overstuffed pouch bursting, the stored poison leaked. Control it, survive; fail, die.
But contrary to his fears, the human-faced spider's poison didn't scatter wildly.
Instead, like a spider expanding its web, it built a new nest. Larger, sturdier than before.
It felt like ages had passed.
In truth, from limit to completion took mere breaths.
Still, Dang Mujin sensed clear progress in his poison arts.
He belatedly realized Mok Wana had undergone something similar—alone, writhing in endless agony to find a way through.
Thanks to her miserable, torturous experience, he achieved this relatively smoothly.
Finally, his inhalations surpassed her exhalations in poison qi.
The room's thick poison slowly drew into his lungs. The massive amount settled in the spider's new nest.
He realized this nest resembled an inner core, yet differed.
Like his poison core, but distinct.
A nameless phenomenon.
What to call it?
'Poison essence, maybe.'
A double-edged sword.
It would fuel his poison arts, but if an enemy's blade pierced it, death was inevitable.
The condensed poison would flood his body instantly—no survival.
And he realized: unlike the immobile poison core in his lower dantian, the poison essence moved slowly as he guided it.
'If it gets pierced anyway, I die. Where's best to put it?'
The answer was obvious from the start.
He slowly shifted it between his heart and spine.
Heart pierced means death anyway. Proximity also let poison spread faster through his body.
The poison essence settled fully.
The room's poison was all stored within.
Yet Mok Wana's breath still held poison qi.
The sac had dissolved in her gut, but its toxin coursed her blood.
'Now what?'
As he pondered, their eyes met.
Mok Wana lightly bit her tongue tip. Red blood welled, forming a droplet.
But soon, the red turned clear.
At first, he thought saliva. No—it was blood-mingled pinkish fluid swirling with immense poison qi. The sac's final essence.
She stared at him intently.
Her body still quivered faintly, soaked in sweat from enduring pain.
Biting her tongue, she grinned through her mouth's shape.
*Hard. Hurry.*
Dang Mujin approached to absorb the human-faced spider's essence.
*
"Take care out there. You know?"
"Yeah."
The next morning, Dang Mujin departed the Tang estate amid farewells.
With him were Hyun Gong, Hong Geolgae, and Seolhwa.
Nearly out of Chengdu, Hong Geolgae asked,
"What took you an extra day?"
An idle question.
But Hyun Gong smirked slyly at Dang Mujin. Seolhwa's eyes glinted with subtle curiosity. Their thoughts were obvious.
Dang Mujin felt the need to clear the misunderstanding. Last night wasn't just that.
"Yesterday? Mok Wana gave me human-faced spider poison by swallowing the sac herself..."
He explained the night's events, skipping only the final steps.
Hyun Gong and Seolhwa looked subtly disappointed.
Once done, Hong Geolgae shared his take.
"Looks like muslin cloth."
"Muslin cloth?"
"You know, when making broth, you put veggies in muslin and simmer slow to strain it."
"..."
Hyun Gong burst laughing.
True to beggar roots, a cheap analogy—but it nailed the night's essence.
'...How does he describe Mok Wana's devotion like that?'
Dang Mujin wanted to retort but found no words.
Instead, he countered differently.
"Handle your own meals from now on."
Hong Geolgae regretted it a bit.