Chapter 186
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Who Is That Person?
Ha Mu-baek first sought out the waterfall.
He couldn't wander around smelling like this.
Unless he was a beggar from the Beggars' Sect, that is.
It was a waterfall he occasionally visited to wash off his sweat after training.
A small pond had formed there, making it perfect for bathing. Being in a moderately deep mountain, it saw little foot traffic.
After scrubbing thoroughly for a good while, the faint odor clinging to his body was completely gone.
"The clothes are the problem, though."
No matter what he did, the smell wouldn't come out.
Ha Mu-baek's expression turned troubled.
He hadn't anticipated something like this, so he'd come out with nothing but his bare body.
There was no way he had a change of clothes.
"No helping it, I suppose."
Ha Mu-baek ignited the Samadhi True Fire and burned all his reeking garments.
Even though it was poison qi he'd incinerated, some toxicity might still linger.
This was the surest way to dispose of them.
After all, fire was the natural counter to poison qi.
Now, only Ha Mu-baek stood there completely naked.
"What now... I can't go around like this."
Ha Mu-baek scanned his surroundings and pondered for a moment. With nothing useful around, his only option seemed to be wrapping himself in vines like kudzu.
That didn't sound appealing either.
As he thought a bit more, Han Seol-bing's Ice Soul Gate Chain Formation suddenly came to mind. The one that completely blocked visibility with frosty mist.
"Well, as long as it covers me, it'll do. Let's give it a shot."
Recalling the circulation path of Han Seol-bing's ice arts and the flow of energy in the Ice Soul Gate Chain Formation, he channeled his internal energy.
Woooong.
And just like that.
A thick white mist enveloped Ha Mu-baek, completely obscuring him.
It was a feat that would have made Han Seol-bing scream in disbelief, but Ha Mu-baek was using it merely to hide his nakedness.
"This should work fine."
Ha Mu-baek nodded in satisfaction.
"Still, to stay out of sight, I need to run at full speed without rest."
Bam!
Kicking off the ground, Ha Mu-baek unleashed his lightness skill at maximum velocity.
It was the fastest he'd ever moved since learning martial arts.
He truly gritted his teeth and gave it his all.
His destination was his quarters at the Dragon Training Pavilion.
He had to maintain that speed until he got there, ensuring no one saw him.
Mu-chang was hit by an unseasonably fierce gale that early morning.
Ha Mu-baek safely reached his quarters and was able to change into fresh, clean clothes.
"Guess I need to buy some more outfits."
He'd come with minimal luggage from the start.
He didn't have many clothes left.
Once this is wrapped up, I should stock up, he thought as he headed to the training grounds.
Today, Ha Mu-baek was the last to arrive.
Dang Ji-yeon and Han Seol-bing were already there.
Dang Ji-yeon's skin under her eyes was darkly shadowed.
No doubt she'd pulled an all-nighter again.
"Did you find anything?"
At Ha Mu-baek's question, Dang Ji-yeon slowly shook her head.
She hadn't detected any traces of the Blood Poison Art in the liquefied poison.
"I found something."
Han Seol-bing and Dang Ji-yeon widened their eyes at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"H-how...?"
"Really?!"
Dang Ji-yeon looked incredulous, while Han Seol-bing was visibly startled.
The cadets training nearby edged closer at their reactions.
It had to be about the food at Wolryong Inn. They couldn't help but be interested.
"It was some vicious poison."
Ha Mu-baek shook his head as he slowly recounted the previous night's events.
"If you ingest that much... it turns you like that?"
Dang Jin-san swallowed dryly, his face paling as he spoke.
"It was a close call, one I haven't had in ages."
Ha Mu-baek's words reminded him: he'd nearly died during the Mancheon Geumsa Storm Thunder too.
To face near-death twice recently.
One from the Demonic Cult, one from the Blood Cult.
They really needed to be rooted out completely.
He wasn't sure if it was possible, though, given how tenacious they were, worse than cockroaches or weeds.
"If he'd wanted to shovel dirt straight into his mouth too... he might've eaten anything in sight. Even if it was a person..."
Dang Jin-san muttered, looking utterly defeated.
Ha Mu-baek whipped his head toward him.
"What'd you say?"
Dang Jin-san flinched in surprise.
"D-dirt, just straight up..."
"No, the last part."
"Even if it was a person..."
Ha Mu-baek's eyes sharpened.
A Food Ghost Corpse.
He realized the danger of such a being from Dang Jin-san's words.
Having experienced the poison's savage impulse himself, he was certain.
Once addicted to this poison, one might lunge at anything edible—even a person.
It was poison designed to dominate the mind.
"So that's why Grandfather called it the most vicious poison."
Dang Ji-yeon murmured.
She finally understood the meaning.
Dang Ja-cheong hadn't explained that far.
The ancient author of the text had likely destroyed the Blood Poison Art manual for that reason.
It defied heaven and humanity alike.
It was poison that shouldn't exist in the world.
"If we can't eradicate this poison completely..."
"The martial world will plunge into chaos."
Dang Ji-yeon finished Ha Mu-baek's murmur.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Ha Mu-baek's gaze shifted to the side.
The moment his brow twitched.
"Kwaaaagh!!!"
"Kyaaak!!!"
A massive scream echoed from afar.
Ha Mu-baek kicked off the ground and soared. Han Seol-bing followed, then Dang Ji-yeon launched herself after.
The Fierce Dragon Corps cadets also propelled themselves at full speed.
Unleashing the lightness skills they'd honed in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, they chased after Ha Mu-baek.
The horrific scene that greeted them was too gruesome to behold with open eyes.
"Kwaaaagh!"
A man dangled midair, throat gripped by Ha Mu-baek, thrashing and howling monstrously.
His eyes had lost focus and rolled back.
His teeth and mouth were drenched in fresh blood.
"Ugh..."
"Ahh..."
People groaned in pain.
Bite marks marred their arms and legs, chunks of flesh torn away.
Blood poured ceaselessly from the wounds.
"What in the world..."
Baek Ri-pyeong stared at the carnage in disbelief.
"Who is that person?"
Then Yeon Ha-min recognized the face of the man Ha Mu-baek held.
"One of those down-and-out types from the Dongjeong Ten Heroes, for sure..."
The one who'd crawled on the ground wailing for fried chicken.
He'd apparently kept eating at Wolryong Inn afterward too.
"Third Brother! Snap out of it!"
"Little brother! Please!"
Two men, their thighs and arms gnawed, cried out desperately.
Their faces were familiar too.
Two of the Dongjeong Ten Heroes who'd tried to cut in line.
Ha Seol-ran watched the scene, her face drained of color.
Ha Mu-baek channeled his Infinite Freedom Heart Method internal energy into the man's body while gripping his throat.
The poison qi resisted but soon yielded a path.
The man's thrashing ceased simultaneously.
His mouth clamped shut, eyes closed, body going limp.
Yet Ha Mu-baek kept his throat firmly in hand.
As expected. It's completely devoured his brain.
The poison qi filled his head.
The tail of poison originating from his tongue had invaded the brain, claiming it entirely.
There was no saving him now.
Burning the poison would incinerate his brain too.
A Food Ghost Corpse had emerged from mere regular meals laced with poison.
This man had particularly gorged himself, but surely he wasn't the only one.
"Looks like we need an antidote after all."
Ha Mu-baek said, glancing at Dang Ji-yeon.
"What about him?"
"The poison has saturated his brain matter. No way to save him."
Dang Ji-yeon approached cautiously at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"May I take a look?"
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
"Eek! What have you done to my brother!"
One man staunching his arm wound charged forward furiously.
Ha Mu-baek fixed him with a chilling gaze.
"You call him your brother after seeing that earlier?"
When Ha Mu-baek arrived.
The poison-ridden man had been gnawing on this very man's arm.
"S-still..."
The man faltered under Ha Mu-baek's pressure.
"He's fully addicted to that heinous poison—no hope left. Release him now, and he'll come at you like before."
"B-but right now!"
"I'm suppressing it with my internal energy. Let go, and you'll see that horror again."
The man's eyes flickered with turmoil at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"He's crossed the river of no return. No technique will bring him back to normal. Not even if you drag him to Seonyugok."
Ha Mu-baek continued.
Finally.
The man slumped his shoulders.
"...I understand. Please, make it quick."
He acquiesced.
He had no choice.
The Dongjeong Ten Heroes—no, now Nine Heroes—had all witnessed it.
Two of them had even suffered the bites.
That was no human form.
A monster. No, a malevolent spirit.
To think poison could turn a man into a demon. What a terrifying world.
As the Dongjeong Nine Heroes began to withdraw, Ha Mu-baek signaled with his eyes.
Han Seol-bing blocked their path.
"Wh-what is this?!"
"We need to check if you're infected too. Especially the two he bit."
A Food Ghost Corpse spreads its curse through bites, turning victims into more of its kind.
Nothing said this one wouldn't, so he had them held.
Meanwhile, those who'd fled earlier began trickling back, gathering.
The murmurs grew louder.
"We should move."
Han Seol-bing nodded at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"Don't just stand there gawking—help out."
At Ha Mu-baek's gesture, the cadets positioned themselves beside each of the Dongjeong Nine Heroes.
The remaining three were handled by Han Seol-bing and Dang Ji-yeon.
"Follow closely."
Confirming preparations, Ha Mu-baek lightly kicked off and took to the air.
The cadets and Han Seol-bing followed.
Of course, gripping the napes of their assigned Dongjeong Nine Heroes.
Ha Seol-ran struggled a bit, but Han Seol-bing's assistance made it manageable.
They arrived at an open plain outside Mu-chang.
They set down the Dongjeong Nine Heroes.
Han Seol-bing scanned the area, then pulled an iron rod from her bosom and swiftly erected the formation.
The frosty mist of the Ice Soul Gate Chain Formation enveloped everything.
"This is...?"
Dang Ji-yeon recognized it at a glance.
She seemed well-versed not just in poisons but in various martial world matters.
"The formation isn't the point. Let's examine this one first."
What they'd tried earlier but couldn't.
Dang Ji-yeon took the pulse of the man, now essentially a Food Ghost Corpse, and probed his internals.
She soon shook her head.
"Just as you said, Instructor Ha. The poison has fully claimed his brain and even marrow. He's no longer human."
She then drew a small dagger and vial from her bosom.
Slicing his arm, she collected blood in the vial.
"This is all I have on hand. Can you keep suppressing him?"
Ha Mu-baek nodded at her question.
"Shouldn't be hard."
"Then I'll fetch some tools."
Han Seol-bing escorted Dang Ji-yeon out of the formation.
And Ha Mu-baek.
Crack. Crunch. Crraaack.
"Kreeegh. Krgh. Kreugh."
Shattered the Food Ghost Corpse's shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees.
Then tossed him aside casually.
The man writhed on the ground.
But he couldn't move anywhere.
He just thrashed his neck wildly, gaping his mouth as if craving something.
Even in that state, all he wanted was to eat.
The Dongjeong Nine Heroes, witnessing it all, trembled with pallid faces.
"You don't want to end up like that, right?"
Nine heads nodded vigorously at Ha Mu-baek's question.
At his beckoning finger, they approached without protest.
He checked each one's pulse, probing their internals one by one.
Eight had poison qi clumped under their tongues, larger than a grain of rice.
"Cravings for food?"
Ha Mu-baek asked.
The eight shook their heads.
"We visited Wolryong Inn about an hour ago."
That was why they felt no impulses—the poison-laced dishes there had satisfied them.
But one.
"I-I... the dumplings..."
Ha Mu-baek gripped his pulse.
The last one remaining.
Ha Mu-baek frowned.
A peach-pit-sized clump of poison qi, with tendrils just starting to emerge.
Come to think of it, this was the one who'd craved food second that day.
"You're in for some suffering."
Ha Mu-baek's internal energy surged into him, incinerating the poison qi under his tongue.
"Kwaaaagh!!!"
A raw scream erupted.