Chapter 9

“Please… please stop. My eye, my eye…”

Mang-ryo looked surprised.

“Heh heh, begging for your life? It’s been three months. You’ve finally given up after three months.”

Had it already been three months? Jin Ja-gang had no idea.

But that wasn’t important now. His eye hurt so badly he couldn’t bear it.

“Save me! Aaaagh.”

At that moment, anger flashed across Mang-ryo’s previously smiling face.

Mang-ryo shouted as if he had become a different person:

“If you were going to beg for your life, you should have thought about days like this before making my foot like this!”

As Mang-ryo shouted and released his killing intent, the startled twin-spotted paradise widow spider frantically bit Jin Ja-gang’s face all over.

“Aaaaargh!”

Jin Ja-gang screamed, shaking his head. The poison was so excessive that his entire face swelled up instantly. His eyes and mouth were buried so deeply they couldn’t be seen.

“Kuk kuk kuk!”

Mang-ryo laughed, pleased at Jin Ja-gang’s ruined appearance. But Jin Ja-gang was in no condition to laugh. As a result of his face swelling so severely, his nasal passages and airways were compressed, making breathing impossible.

“Kkeuk, kkeuik.”

Jin Ja-gang’s body began to convulse.

No matter how resistant to poison Jin Ja-gang might be, he would die if he couldn’t breathe.

A feeling of death unlike anything he had felt before enveloped his entire body.

Jin Ja-gang was terrified. Yet, at the same time, part of him was almost glad at the thought that he could finally die.

But due to the intelligence decoction, his consciousness still wouldn’t fade. It was a strange situation where he was clearly aware of his body ceasing to function.

Watching this, Mang-ryo’s laughter gradually subsided. His expression became stoic, then began to distort again.

When Mang-ryo checked Jin Ja-gang’s condition, he saw that Jin Ja-gang was at death’s door, unable to breathe.

If he waited for the poisoning symptoms to subside, Jin Ja-gang would simply die.

“This damned situation!”

This was a child he had hated enough to want to kill.

Because of him, Mang-ryo had become one-legged, and his standing within the Extreme Poison Sect had instantly diminished.

Back then, he had wanted to kill Jin Ja-gang, slicing through his flesh and bones. That was certainly how he felt three months ago.

But now, he hesitated.

He felt it would be a waste.

Recently, the Extreme Poison Sect had joined the Martial Arts Alliance. Outwardly, they were now considered a righteous sect. It was no longer as easy as before to kidnap living people for experimental materials through human trafficking or abduction.

In this situation, Jin Ja-gang’s body—which returned to normal no matter what was done to it—was a precious experimental material that would be difficult to find again.

Mang-ryo had to make a choice.

Whether to let Jin Ja-gang die like this, or actively try to save him.

“Nnnngh!”

There wasn’t much time to deliberate. If he just kept thinking and Jin Ja-gang died, Mang-ryo might regret it deeply.

After a brief moment of consideration, Mang-ryo finally decided to save Jin Ja-gang. He judged that the benefits of keeping him alive outweighed those of letting him die.

He had already gained considerable knowledge from experimenting with various poisons on Jin Ja-gang. These days, Mang-ryo was at the forefront of poison research within the Extreme Poison Sect, and it was all thanks to Jin Ja-gang. Of course, being pushed out of fieldwork was also a factor.

“To think I would end up saving this bastard.”

Mang-ryo frowned. Though he had decided to save him, the method wasn’t simple.

With Jin Ja-gang’s throat swollen, administering medicinal decoctions or antidotes was impossible.

Another option was to cut open the affected area and squeeze out the poison. But because so many parts of his face had been bitten, removing the poison would require cutting away half his face, including his eye.

In that case, there was no way Jin Ja-gang could survive.

The only remaining option was to use internal energy to expel as much poison as possible from Jin Ja-gang’s body. If the poison was expelled, the symptoms would subside more quickly, and Jin Ja-gang’s body could handle the remaining poison on its own. This method had the highest probability of survival.

However, to do this, he would first need to open Jin Ja-gang’s completely blocked energy channels to guide the poison. Since these channels were so blocked that poison couldn’t spread in the first place, this was by no means an easy task.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have had him bitten on the leg. Then I could have simply cut off one leg and been done with it! Aish!’

Mang-ryo clicked his tongue and took off his deerskin gloves.

Then he untied the ropes binding Jin Ja-gang.

After three months of just lying down, Jin Ja-gang had little muscle left in his limbs and had become emaciated.

Mang-ryo placed Jin Ja-gang on the floor and summoned his internal energy.

“Hoo.”

After taking a deep breath, he placed his palm on Jin Ja-gang’s Baihui acupoint. The internal energy from the center of Mang-ryo’s palm penetrated Jin Ja-gang’s Baihui acupoint.

Jin Ja-gang’s completely blocked Baihui acupoint rejected Mang-ryo’s internal energy. As Mang-ryo exerted his energy, his face turned red with effort.

Mang-ryo’s internal energy was at the level of one gapja. That was considered fairly high.

But properly opening energy channels usually required at least three gapja of internal energy. Nevertheless, Mang-ryo, with his one gapja, was attempting to open the channels because he didn’t need to fully open them—just create a tiny gap.

After a long struggle, pouring in his internal energy while grunting, Mang-ryo finally managed to slightly open Jin Ja-gang’s Baihui acupoint. It was just a tiny gap. He hadn’t even dreamed of opening it completely from the beginning.

Then he proceeded to open the next energy points in sequence. These weren’t properly opened either, just narrow passages barely wide enough for a thin thread to pass through. Even to do just this much, Mang-ryo’s entire body was drenched in sweat.

“Nngh!”

Through these narrow openings, Mang-ryo guided the poison accumulated throughout Jin Ja-gang’s face.

He continued connecting the energy points, guiding the poison through the shoulders, forearms, and finally to the right hand.

After connecting the poison all the way to the Shaoze acupoint at the tip of the little finger, he quickly stood up, took a dagger, and cut the tip of Jin Ja-gang’s little finger.

Dark red blood flowed out, followed by drops of clear fluid. The poison that had been drawn from Jin Ja-gang’s face had dissolved into the body’s fluid.

Mang-ryo collected the blood along with the poisonous fluid in a small vial.

He couldn’t just waste such expensive poison. He would have to use it even if he had to filter out Jin Ja-gang’s blood.

Though he wanted to extract more poison, Mang-ryo was now completely drained of energy. Not only his forehead but his entire body was soaked in sweat.

“This should be enough to keep him alive.”

Mang-ryo exhaled deeply as he closed the vial’s stopper and put it away. His limbs were trembling. When he checked Jin Ja-gang’s condition, he saw that, though feeble, he was still breathing. An ordinary person would have died long ago, if not from suffocation, then from the poison itself.

Once poison begins to spread throughout the body, it’s generally accepted that even a highly skilled martial artist can hardly expel the poison using internal energy.

Of course, since Jin Ja-gang’s body prevented poison from spreading, he could survive, and that’s why the poison could still be extracted after so much time had passed.

“Tough bastard.”

Mang-ryo stabbed Jin Ja-gang’s throat below the neck with his dagger.

Hissssss.

Bloody foam and air escaped. Since the upper part of the throat was swollen, he had made a hole lower down to allow temporary breathing.

Having roughly removed the poison, he expected that with Jin Ja-gang’s unique body, the swelling would soon subside, and by then, the hole in his throat would heal.

Mang-ryo glared at Jin Ja-gang.

It had been a very long time since he had used up his internal energy so completely. It would take quite a while to recover it.

“To think I would do this for the likes of you…”

Looking at Jin Ja-gang with irritated eyes, Mang-ryo couldn’t contain his anger and kicked him.

Thud!

Jin Ja-gang rolled over and fell face down. Though the shackles binding his limbs had been removed, his body was still unable to move.

Mang-ryo approached Jin Ja-gang, grabbed his hair as if to tear it out, and lifted him. Then he spoke with a growl:

“I will use you until the very end. Until I die of old age or am struck by lightning, you will not escape me, even in death.”

Mang-ryo tossed Jin Ja-gang aside and stood up.

His clothes were dirty from touching Jin Ja-gang, who was covered in sweat and hadn’t been properly washed.

Mang-ryo was about to leave the room to wash and change clothes when he hesitated momentarily.

He realized he hadn’t tied Jin Ja-gang up.

But the sprawled Jin Ja-gang didn’t look like he could possibly get up. Anyway, after being tied up for three months, he lacked the strength to move, and just locking the door would be enough to prevent his escape.

Moreover, this was inside the Extreme Poison Sect; even if he somehow managed to get out of the room, there was nowhere to run.

“Hmph.”

Mang-ryo snorted as if to dispel any lingering unease, then left the room and locked the door.

But as soon as Mang-ryo locked the door, Jin Ja-gang’s seemingly motionless body stirred.

Jin Ja-gang’s consciousness was perfectly clear.

He had been conscious throughout all the pain and agony, even as he was dying. He vividly remembered the pain, like his energy channels being torn apart, when Mang-ryo used his internal energy to open the channels. He just couldn’t scream because his throat was blocked, and he couldn’t struggle because his body was stiff.

And he was fully aware that he was now untied.

Jin Ja-gang opened his swollen eyes with difficulty. The room’s interior came into view, albeit hazily.

‘This is my only chance!’

Such an opportunity might never come again.

The room contained many living venomous creatures and books that Mang-ryo treasured. Perhaps that’s why no one else had visited during this time. Judging by the lack of human sounds, it seemed to be in a somewhat remote location.

Though he didn’t know how much time had passed, he remembered everything that had happened because he had never lost consciousness.

Jin Ja-gang crawled along the floor toward the door.

He barely managed to lift his hand and push, but the locked door wouldn’t open. The door, reinforced with thick planks because of the venomous creatures inside, would be difficult for Jin Ja-gang to open even if it weren’t locked.

Breathing through the hole in his throat rather than his mouth, Jin Ja-gang crawled to the opposite side of the room. Even this much movement was taxing because he hadn’t moved for so long.

At the far end of the room, there was a trapdoor in the floor with a handle.

‘This is it!’

The opening he had seen countless times.

It was a hole for disposing of the remains or waste from venomous creatures after Mang-ryo’s various experiments. Jin Ja-gang, after resting briefly, pulled the handle on the floor with his hand. Due to his lack of strength, it didn’t work well. He bit the handle with his teeth. Then he pulled upward with all his might.

Creeeeak.

The handle lifted slightly.

Jin Ja-gang, tears streaming down his face, used all his strength. His body trembled violently, and his neck was about to cramp, but he didn’t stop.

If not now, there would be no next time!

He wanted to live. He didn’t want to suffer any more.

Jin Ja-gang desperately pulled the handle.

Finally, as the handle lifted, the trapdoor in the floor opened.

Clunk.

As soon as the trapdoor opened, the smell of rot and a fresh breeze wafted up simultaneously.

Jin Ja-gang was elated.

The feeling of a breeze meant it was connected to the outside somewhere.

Jin Ja-gang pushed the trapdoor aside and looked down into the hole.

His blurry vision made it difficult to see clearly. It was a hole made by connecting hollowed logs like a drainage pipe, but he couldn’t tell how deep it was or where it led.

Could he escape?

How far would he have to crawl before finding an opening to the outside?

Wait.

At that moment, Jin Ja-gang felt something was wrong and felt the hole with his hand.

The hole was too small. Its diameter was barely about the span of a large adult hand.

Jin Ja-gang tried to force his body into it. But while his head could fit, his shoulders could not.

Jin Ja-gang struggled so much that the skin on his shoulders was scraped and torn, even bleeding.

But he still couldn’t fit through. If he had been one or two years younger, he might have been able to squeeze into such a hole.

But not now.

Jin Ja-gang despaired. He wailed through his damaged throat.

Thunk, thunk.

The asymmetrical noise of a cane with iron railings echoed from the barred window, coming from a distance.

Mang-ryo was returning.