Chapter 356
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 356
Chapter Title: Long Time No See
Guangxing Mountain was serene.
It stood unchanging, as it always had in that very spot.
The same as when Gong Dok-haeng had left in haste.
After crossing the mountain gate of Heavenly Poison Valley nestled deep in a ravine of Guangxing Mountain,
Yeo Hong-gi and Gong Dok-haeng let out secret sighs of relief at the unchanged sight.
Nothing had happened yet.
Yeo Hong-gi headed straight to his office.
'What is Fourth Martial Uncle waiting for...?'
He tapped on the desk in his office, lost in thought.
The conclusion came quickly.
He was surely waiting for everyone in Heavenly Poison Valley to gather.
"Hoo..."
With a frustrated sigh, he flung open the window of his office.
The highest tower in the complex, top floor.
The entire landscape of Heavenly Poison Valley came into view at a glance.
Yeo Hong-gi took it all in with eyes filled with anguish.
It was only natural.
If Fourth Martial Uncle came, everyone would die.
"I may bear Master's karma, but... the valley's disciples..."
They had their own karma too.
Their master's, their parents'.
They were disciples of the valley who had betrayed Myo Gu-eung and tried to kill him.
But the current disciples knew nothing.
It was from a generation ago, after all.
And above all, everyone kept silent about those events.
After Yeo Hong-gi's master, Wang Sa-geon, became valley lord and restored stability to the valley,
the disciples who had lost their minds to Wang Sa-geon's incitement regained their senses.
They realized what they had done.
It was a source of shame.
Wang Sa-geon had been a decent valley lord in his own right.
But swept up in his incitement, they had ousted a legitimate valley lord.
No one spoke of those days to their sons, daughters, or disciples.
Yeo Hong-gi was no exception.
Telling Gong Dok-haeng had been the first time.
"Who's there?"
Finally resolved, Yeo Hong-gi called out toward the door.
Gong Dok-haeng appeared in the office through the valley lord's attendant warrior.
"You called for me, Master?"
"Just you and me. We'll go alone."
Gong Dok-haeng hesitated at Yeo Hong-gi's words.
"I'm sorry. This has nothing to do with you, yet I'm passing Master's and grandmaster's karma onto you too."
"No, Master. I am part of Heavenly Poison Valley."
Gong Dok-haeng quickly steeled himself and spoke resolutely.
"Tell everyone in the valley to leave far away."
Gong Dok-haeng had already guessed as much.
On the way back to Heavenly Poison Valley, he had sent away all the attendants he had been traveling with, returning alone with his master.
"Understood."
Gong Dok-haeng withdrew from the office and moved swiftly.
And so, one by one, people departed.
Heavenly Poison Valley emptied.
Three days after the valley was completely vacated.
Three people appeared before the mountain gate.
It was Ha Mu-baek's group.
"It's quiet."
Dang Ja-cheong said, looking around.
"No one's here. Wait, just two people."
Dang Ja-cheong and Dang Ji-yeon were surprised by Ha Mu-baek's words as he scanned the entire interior of Heavenly Poison Valley with his senses.
What calamity had befallen the valley?
Perhaps...?
As Dang Ja-cheong quickened his steps with such thoughts, Ha Mu-baek continued.
"Both are unharmed. It doesn't seem to be what you're thinking, sir."
The three passed through the mountain gate bearing Heavenly Poison Valley's plaque and entered.
After traveling along the valley for a while,
a vast plain appeared, as if by magic.
Buildings filled the space.
This was Heavenly Poison Valley.
"From where do esteemed guests hail?"
A man appeared, cupping his hands in greeting as he asked.
Tension was evident on his face.
As if facing a life-and-death foe.
"I am Dang Ja-cheong of the Tang Clan. Might the valley lord be present?"
Dang Ja-cheong stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting.
At that moment, the tension filling the man's body melted away like snow.
'He knows something.'
Ha Mu-baek's eyes flashed briefly.
They had investigated the southern barbarians' incident, after all.
They must have uncovered something.
That was why Heavenly Poison Valley had been emptied like this.
"Ah! Greetings, Poison Emperor. I am Gong Dok-haeng, a disciple of Heavenly Poison Valley."
Gong Dok-haeng hurriedly bowed deeply.
"Haha, no need. Might I see the valley lord?"
"I will escort you."
At Dang Ja-cheong's question, Gong Dok-haeng immediately led the way.
Thus, they learned that only the valley lord and his disciple remained in Heavenly Poison Valley.
[It's because of that Poison Crystal, right?]
Dang Ji-yeon, sensing something, sent a transmission to Dang Ja-cheong.
Dang Ja-cheong nodded as he walked.
"Please wait here a moment. I will inform my master."
The tallest building in the center of Heavenly Poison Valley, first floor.
Gong Dok-haeng said this and disappeared up the stairs.
A moment later,
a middle-aged man appeared.
It was Yeo Hong-gi.
"I am Yeo Hong-gi, lord of Heavenly Poison Valley. It's been a long time, Poison Emperor."
"Long time no see, Valley Lord."
The two cupped their hands toward each other.
"This is my granddaughter Dang Ji-yeon, and this is Ha Mu-baek, chief instructor of the Dragon Training Pavilion."
Dang Ja-cheong introduced his companions.
He nodded at Dang Ji-yeon but startled at Ha Mu-baek's name.
He had glimpsed him from afar at the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
This was the first time seeing him up close.
But the name was familiar, having heard it endlessly from Yeon Ja-kyeong.
Hadn't he just recently been researching Mountain-Piercing Poison to defeat this man?
"What brings the Poison Emperor to our humble valley?"
"It seems there's been a major incident in the valley."
Dang Ja-cheong answered Yeo Hong-gi's question with a question.
"As it's an internal matter of the valley, I kindly ask the Poison Emperor to depart swiftly. This is for your own sake."
Yeo Hong-gi's demeanor was impeccably polite.
"It seems related to that very matter. How about we wet our throats with some tea and talk? Valley Lord."
At Yeo Hong-gi's glance, Gong Dok-haeng hurriedly prepared a table and tea.
"My apologies. With only myself and this child here, the hospitality is lacking."
They already knew this from Ha Mu-baek's senses.
After moistening his dry throat with the tea cup Gong Dok-haeng had hastily prepared,
Dang Ja-cheong spoke.
"Supreme Poison Technique."
Just those short words.
Yeo Hong-gi and Gong Dok-haeng's faces changed drastically.
But they quickly composed themselves.
The Poison Emperor would naturally know of the Supreme Poison Technique.
No, the Soul-Exiting Bone-Dissolving Supreme Poison Technique was known as Heavenly Poison Valley's strongest poison art.
"Another Supreme Poison Technique besides the Soul-Exiting Bone-Dissolving one."
However.
At those following words, the two could no longer feign calm.
Yeo Hong-gi's hand trembled as it held the teacup.
"H-How...?"
That fact.
Not even disciples Geuk In-cheong and Gong Dok-haeng knew it.
Only because Yeo Hong-gi had told Gong Dok-haeng of the past shame during this incident did he learn it.
Thus,
when another Supreme Poison Technique came from the mouth of Dang Ja-cheong, former head of the Tang Clan,
Yeo Hong-gi could only wear an expression of utter disbelief.
"An old story."
It was a tale unknown even to Ha Mu-baek and Dang Ji-yeon.
Dang Ja-cheong had only said they needed to go to Heavenly Poison Valley from the southern barbarians.
"When I was not yet ten years old, I met Elder Ya Hul-han at a gathering of Sichuan sects."
At the sudden name,
Gong Dok-haeng tilted his head.
"My grandmaster."
Yeo Hong-gi explained briefly.
After Myo Gu-eung was chased from Heavenly Poison Valley for being from beyond the borderlands,
his name was gradually erased, knowingly or not.
Ya Hul-han.
For the same reason: he too was from beyond the borderlands.
Thus, Gong Dok-haeng had not even known his great-grandmaster's name.
Gong Dok-haeng was startled.
Yeo Hong-gi looked at Dang Ja-cheong.
"My lifelong goal has been to find the Poison Crystal."
Yeo Hong-gi flinched once more at the mention of the Poison Crystal.
"Did you find it?"
He had to ask.
The Poison Solo Poison Physique that Fourth Martial Uncle was presumed to have achieved
was a state that had to be attained to absorb the Ten Thousand Year Poison Crystal, as he had heard from his master.
"I found the place where the Poison Crystal was."
Dang Ja-cheong answered straightforwardly.
"Ah..."
Hearing that, Yeo Hong-gi let out a deep sigh.
From that reaction alone,
Dang Ja-cheong, Ha Mu-baek, and Dang Ji-yeon could guess he knew something.
"There exists a Supreme Poison Technique in Heavenly Poison Valley to wield the Poison Crystal. That was Elder Ya Hul's answer to my childish question about whether it existed. I vowed never to speak of it to anyone."
Yeo Hong-gi nodded at Dang Ja-cheong's continued words.
Dang Ja-cheong had learned of its existence from Ya Hul, his grandmaster.
A Supreme Poison Technique he himself had only heard of from his master.
"In my youth, that answer from the elder allowed me to make the Poison Crystal my lifelong goal. And with this southern barbarians incident, having concluded it impossible without the Poison Crystal, I headed there myself."
"So you found the place where the Poison Crystal was."
Yeo Hong-gi replied calmly, as if resigned.
"With my limited knowledge, I had no way to explain the Poison Crystal's disappearance. It was something no human could wield. While rummaging through memories, I recalled that childhood memory and came here."
Dang Ja-cheong's explanation ended.
Now it was Yeo Hong-gi's turn.
The three pairs of eyes turned to Yeo Hong-gi.
Yeo Hong-gi lifted his teacup to moisten his dry lips.
"It was probably the Ten Thousand Year Poison Crystal."
At those words, Dang Ja-cheong, Ha Mu-baek, and Dang Ji-yeon's eyes widened in shock.
The Poison Crystal alone was extraordinary, but a Ten Thousand Year one?
"Haha. So that's it. That's why such vicious poison qi..."
It wasn't even that a Poison Crystal was there.
Even the spot where it had been held such deadly poison qi.
If it was a Ten Thousand Year Poison Crystal, it made sense.
"A lost Supreme Poison Technique. Ten Thousand Desolation Soul-Exiting Bone-Dissolving Supreme Poison Technique. My fourth martial uncle, chased from the valley, is the last inheritor."
Yeo Hong-gi said briefly.
"Myo Gu-eung..."
At that, Dang Ja-cheong immediately recalled who it was.
He knew the broad strokes of Heavenly Poison Valley's internal strife.
After Ya Hul-han's death, the first disciple Myo Gu-eung, who should have become valley lord, vanished for unknown reasons, and the youngest disciple Wang Sa-geon became lord.
As a Sichuan matter, Dang Ja-cheong couldn't have been ignorant, even as a child.
"Yes, my fourth martial uncle. I sensed the qi of the lost Supreme Poison Technique in the poison brought from the southern barbarians. That's how I knew he had returned. Yet you came here seeking the Poison Crystal without knowing anything. Truly the Poison Emperor."
Yeo Hong-gi spoke with genuine admiration.
"I don't know when Fourth Martial Uncle will come to the valley. Please leave. It's dangerous."
As he spoke, Yeo Hong-gi glanced at Ha Mu-baek.
He was curious, in truth.
Could that man withstand Fourth Martial Uncle's Ten Thousand Desolation Soul-Exiting Bone-Dissolving Supreme Poison Technique after absorbing the Ten Thousand Year Poison Crystal?
It was a poison that even Immunity to All Poisons couldn't block.
"I don't know the circumstances, but is it revenge?"
Ha Mu-baek interjected with a question.
That was the only possibility he could think of.
Fourth Martial Uncle, who had perfected a terrifying poison art in the southern barbarians, was returning.
Yet he had sent away all the valley's disciples.
This could only be seen as awaiting death.
"..."
Yeo Hong-gi did not answer.
It was the valley's shame, after all.
"I understand the situation. Thank you for answering honestly."
Dang Ja-cheong said, looking at Yeo Hong-gi.
"Ji-yeon, you return to the clan now."
Dang Ji-yeon, Yeo Hong-gi, and Gong Dok-haeng were startled by those words.
It meant
Dang Ja-cheong intended to stay.
"I don't think Senior Myo Gu-eung will stop here after returning to Heavenly Poison Valley. If he were, he wouldn't have devastated all those southern barbarian villages. After Heavenly Poison Valley comes the Central Plains. I'll lend a hand in stopping him here."
"G-Grandfather..."
Dang Ji-yeon looked at Dang Ja-cheong with a shocked face.
"You'd only be a hindrance. And inform the clan of this. Notify the Righteous Heaven Alliance too for preparations. A supreme poison art master who absorbed the Ten Thousand Year Poison Crystal has appeared."
"Poison Emperor, please leave as well. Facing Fourth Martial Uncle here without preparation would just be a dog's death."
Yeo Hong-gi pleaded once more, but
Dang Ja-cheong was resolute.
"This is probably his weakest moment. Even if he's absorbed the Ten Thousand Year Poison Crystal's energy, no matter how supreme Heavenly Poison Valley's poison art, fully integrating it takes time. This is the perfect chance to stop him. And we have the instructor here too."
Dang Ja-cheong's gaze turned to Ha Mu-baek.
"I'll lend a hand."
Ha Mu-baek replied calmly.
If what they'd heard was true, the Central Plains was in danger.
He had no sense of mission to save it.
Ha Seol-ran was simply there.
"Hurry and go."
As Dang Ja-cheong urged Dang Ji-yeon again,
Ha Mu-baek's expression changed.
A tremendous energy suddenly caught in his senses.
"Too late to leave. He's here."
At Ha Mu-baek's words, Yeo Hong-gi's face trembled violently.
'He hid his presence until this close. Impressive.'
Ha Mu-baek gave generous praise to the enemy now upon them.
This was the first since the Blood Cult Leader and Demonic Cult Leader to fool his senses like this.
Of course, he was different now from then.
But so was the enemy's level.
Blood Cult Leader Gae Hong-cheon, Demonic Cult Leader Seok Won-cho.
A foe surely stronger than those two was now approaching slowly.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned toward the mountain gate.