Chapter 194
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: What a Total Mess
He kicked off the ground.
Now it was time to head back to Wuchang.
The Demonic Cult bastard who had shown up at the end left a bad taste in his mouth, but there were more pressing matters at hand.
The well-being of Wuchang's people.
Thanks to that damnable Gwang Hoe-cheon and his Blood Cult goons, most of the city's residents had ingested some amount of the Craving Toxin.
Treating them came first.
Those who had taken small doses just needed to hold out against their impulses for a day or two, and the poison would naturally dissipate.
There shouldn't be any more Craving Toxin-laced food around now anyway, so even if they wanted to eat, they couldn't.
No need to worry about them too much.
The problem was those who had consumed large quantities.
And Ha Mu-baek knew he had missed some too—the traces of toxin scattered in minute amounts.
'Gotta whip up an antidote fast.'
He had a lead on it.
Gwang Hoe-cheon's Blood Arts.
He had seen its movements crystal clear.
With the clue on severing the link between the Blood Poison Art and the toxin in hand, all that remained was to test it out himself.
Then use that to formulate the antidote.
He couldn't go around personally channeling his qi into every single person to treat them.
Not when he knew just how many had been poisoned.
Ha Mu-baek pushed his lightness skill even faster.
"Ugh... Chicken! Fried chicken!!"
"No! Roast duck!!"
Cries begging for food erupted from all directions.
At first it was just one or two, but now everywhere was growing noisy.
Wuchang was steadily descending into chaos.
Han Seol-bing and her group grimaced as they took in the sight.
To cut a long story short, Dang Ji-yeon had failed to produce the antidote.
She had run every experiment imaginable using blood from the ghouls in Shigeum City, but nothing had worked.
Unable to keep experimenting there indefinitely, they had returned to Wuchang first.
Only to find pandemonium unfolding before their eyes.
The silver lining amid the misfortune: no one had turned into a ghoul yet.
Ha Seol-ran had confirmed it again with her qi sense.
The whole way back to Wuchang, she had scanned the entire city with her qi sense.
Focusing on just one thing.
The emergence of ghouls.
"Wh-what the hell...?"
The eldest of the Dongjeong Beggars muttered in bewilderment.
"They're in the same state as you were."
Han Seol-bing said curtly.
"But we did manage to compound a temporary antidote that dulls the impulses. We should start distributing that right away."
At Dang Ji-yeon's words, everyone sprang into action.
They headed for the Dragon Training Pavilion, the easiest place to gather people, to produce and hand out the temporary antidote.
The pavilion was already in an uproar.
Members of the Righteous Heaven Alliance's Wuchang branch and the pavilion's instructors were rushing about.
It was inevitable.
People howling for food were wreaking havoc everywhere.
Some had smashed up restaurants and inns, demanding they hand over food.
"What a total mess. Tsk."
Dang Jin-san clicked his tongue at the scene.
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul was darting around nonstop.
Yeon Baek-jin and Ki Yu-chan were doing the same.
Confusion was plain on their faces.
No, Ki Yu-chan was gritting his teeth as he moved.
He seemed to be fighting the food cravings too.
Han Seol-bing hurried over to them.
"Ah, Instructor Han! Perfect timing."
One pair of hands short, Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul welcomed her warmly.
Han Seol-bing quickly explained what had happened.
As he listened, Pang Do-yul's expression grew complicated.
"Moon Dragon Inn... you mean the One-Eyed Merchant Guild tested Blood Cult poison on Wuchang? Then that Hyeong Ui-cheon bastard..."
His voice brimmed with fury.
The One-Eyed Merchant Guild's push into Wuchang under Hyeong Ui-cheon.
It had put the Golden Hall on high alert, as they kept losing market share.
The Dragon Training Pavilion's budget had been strained as a result.
And it turns out it was all to sow this chaos—to test Blood Cult poison!
"D-does that mean I'm poisoned with the Blood Cult's Craving Toxin too?!"
Ki Yu-chan asked, his face paling.
Yeon Baek-jin stared at him in astonishment.
He never thought he'd see Ki Yu-chan like this.
"I'll explain from there."
Dang Ji-yeon stepped forward.
"And you are...?"
Ki Yu-chan didn't recognize her.
He knew everything about the Dragon Training Pavilion inside out, but he was clueless about the outside world.
"Tang Clan's Thousand Poison Fairy, Dang Ji-yeon."
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul introduced her.
"Given the situation, I'll make this quick."
Dang Ji-yeon's explanation followed.
After that, things proceeded smoothly.
Countless tents went up in the pavilion's grand training grounds.
Fierce Dragon Corps Squads Seven and Twenty, along with their instructors, carried the poisoned into the tents.
Those with mild symptoms just needed one dose of the temporary antidote.
But the severe cases were different.
They required substantial amounts, and only Dang Ji-yeon could determine the dosage.
In the end, she ended up treating a flood of patients right there in the grand training grounds.
She needed to research the antidote, but there was no time.
That was when Ha Mu-baek arrived.
"Brother!"
All eyes turned to him.
"How'd it go?"
Han Seol-bing asked urgently.
"Handled it, more or less."
Ha Mu-baek gave a curt reply and headed straight for Dang Ji-yeon.
She had just been taking the pulse of someone thrashing about in a frenzy of hunger.
"I figured out how to neutralize the Craving Toxin."
At Ha Mu-baek's words, Dang Ji-yeon shook her head.
"Treating people comes first right now."
True enough.
Ha Mu-baek nodded and moved to the adjacent tent.
He would need to test the qi circulation method he had observed in Gwang Hoe-cheon's body anyway.
They sent the most severe cases—those who had ingested the Craving Toxin—to Ha Mu-baek's tent.
The Fierce Dragon Corps disciples were run off their feet.
They were the only ones who had actually seen ghouls up close.
So it fell to them to triage the patients and assign them appropriately.
Ha Seol-ran continued scanning Wuchang with her qi sense.
Every disciple had been assigned a task; no one was idle. Of course, the busiest was Dang Ji-yeon, directing the whole operation.
"Ha-min, give this one four-tenths of an antidote pill, and that one half."
"Got it."
Yeon Ha-min hurriedly sliced the pre-made temporary antidote pills as instructed.
"Sis! This one's looking bad...!"
Dang Jin-san's shout rang out.
"For emergencies, give them one sliver—one tenth of a pill first! Then take them straight to Instructor Ha!"
Her voice was sharp, utterly unlike how she spoke to the other disciples.
"Ugh, always picking on me."
Dang Jin-san grumbled but followed her orders to the letter.
After issuing orders here and there, Dang Ji-yeon headed to the rear tents.
Pill refining was in full swing there.
Wi Ji-gun was overseeing it.
He had volunteered, given his wealth of experience.
"Elder, how's the antidote production going?"
"Smoothly enough, but we'll run short compared to the number of patients."
Even with five furnaces under his command, it wasn't enough.
A feat even Dang Ji-yeon couldn't match.
If Wi Ji-gun hadn't taken charge of refining, the chaos would have been far worse.
"Brought more ingredients."
Nak Woo-jin was hustling too.
Dan Mok Un-roe was beside him, chopping herbs with a cleaver.
"Sis!"
At Yeon Ha-min's call, Dang Ji-yeon returned to the treatment tents.
Wuchang was a massive city.
Its population was enormous.
With the Moon Dragon Inn setting up shop and branches drawing crowds everywhere, they had dosed that huge populace with Craving Toxin.
No telling how many had been affected.
The Dragon Training Pavilion became a city that never slept.
They treated people around the clock.
Different intake amounts meant varying incubation periods and severity levels.
Patients poured in nonstop.
Even beggars from the Beggars' Sect were among them.
"Whoa. What a madhouse."
Thunderclap Beggar, rescued unscathed from the ruined hall, wrapped in bandages, stuck out his tongue at the sight.
"Help out as much as you can."
After ordering his men, he sought out Ha Mu-baek.
Ha Mu-baek was gripping a patient's wrist, channeling qi into them.
He had gotten the knack of the circulation; the patient showed no pain.
Before, he had simply burned the poison with raw qi, but now he was severing the link between the toxin and the Blood Poison Art.
Still, each treatment took about a quarter of an incense stick's time.
A fair while.
Even without breaks, he could only manage thirty per hour.
"You're swamped."
"As you see."
Ha Mu-baek spoke freely even while circulating qi.
Typical of him.
The patient's insides were different now. Ha Mu-baek's qi sought out the toxin's malevolence.
Naturally, toward the tongue root at the back of the head, where it extended its tail.
Sure enough, a long toxin tail stretched out.
Ha Mu-baek infused it with qi, shaped to mimic the properties of Gwang Hoe-cheon's Blood Arts.
The moment his qi touched the toxin...
Shrrrr.
The tail scattered and vanished.
"Hngh."
A small groan escaped the patient.
The bizarre sensation of the ravenous hunger fading.
Thunderclap Beggar, watching, sent Ha Mu-baek a transmission.
[Gwang Hoe-cheon. What of that bastard?]
He had stopped by Dan Mok Un-roe's house first.
Heard the rundown from Yeo Hwa.
That's why he came looking for Ha Mu-baek.
[Torn to shreds. Not a trace left.]
Ha Mu-baek replied via transmission.
Thunderclap Beggar's eyes widened.
[I see.]
[Wasn't just the Blood Cult tangled up.]
[What do you mean?]
Thunderclap Beggar tilted his head at Ha Mu-baek's follow-up.
[The Demonic Cult was involved too.]
Thunderclap Beggar's eyes bulged again.
[That son of a bitch was in bed with the Demonic Cult on top of the Blood Cult?!]
[No. More like he got used by the Demonic Cult...]
Ha Mu-baek trailed off.
It was a new one for him too.
A sorcery that puppeteered people, letting it convey intent and converse.
Not even seen in the last war.
'Wonder if Elder Gong Son knows about it.'
He figured he should meet him at least once because of that spell.
[Details later.]
Too many questions, but not the time or place to chat.
Gwang Hoe-cheon, the mastermind, was dead.
But Blood Cult remnants might linger.
The Beggars' Sect's job: hunt them down and wipe them out.
As Thunderclap Beggar left the tent, he ordered his men.
Leave some to help here, send the rest scattering to Moon Dragon Inns and Towers across Wuchang.
He went to find the Righteous Heaven Alliance Wuchang branch chief.
Time to brief him on everything.
Those frenzied days dragged on.
Five days later.
An old man entered the still-chaotic Wuchang.
"Heh heh. So this is that poison's doing."
He had bolted from home the moment he got his granddaughter's urgent letter.
All because she said that poison had appeared.
The old man headed for the Dragon Training Pavilion.
No need to ask around.
All the strangely afflicted patients were converging there.
He passed through the main gate into the grand training grounds packed with tents.
"Kraaaah!!"
A monstrous roar.
"Kyaaah! Monster!"
"Uwaaak!"
Screams followed.
"R-run away!"
People came pouring out.
The place turned to hell in seconds.
"Damn it. A ghoul?"
Then a familiar man's voice reached the old man.
His wastrel grandson.
"No. Not yet."
A lovely woman's voice.
"What the hell happened? It's been days, and now this...?"
Someone voicing doubts.
"Th-that... Isn't that a piece of hardtack?"
A surprised voice, someone spotting something.
"Shit. Did the Moon Dragon Inn sell hardtack too?"
His grandson's voice again, caught off guard.
"Out of the way!"
Another voice boomed from afar, making the old man flinch.