Chapter 302

Piercing Ghost stood in the middle of the village.

Jin Ja-gang was coming.

His figure could be seen walking from the village entrance.

On both sides of the road, villagers crawled out and wailed miserably.

“Uh-huh-hic…”

“Huh-uh-uh…”

The crying sounds of people who no longer had the strength to scream were eerily haunting.

Ghostly wails.

Ghostly wails heard from the darkness. An ordinary person would have their heart trembling just from hearing these sounds, making it impossible to approach.

One woman wailing by the roadside trembled as she grabbed Jin Ja-gang’s ankle.

“Please… please… kill me… huh-hic, please…”

Pause.

Jin Ja-gang stopped and looked down at the woman.

At that moment, the woman froze. Her body stiffened the moment she met Jin Ja-gang’s glaring eyes. The woman couldn’t even make a sound and just opened her eyes wide while moving her mouth.

She let go of Jin Ja-gang’s ankle.

Jin Ja-gang began walking again.

Cries for salvation and pleas for death could be heard from all directions.

However, whenever Jin Ja-gang passed by, the sounds mysteriously disappeared instantly.

Even those who had been pleading to be killed couldn’t make sounds, suppressed by Jin Ja-gang’s killing intent!

Then after Jin Ja-gang passed, they would moan again.

“Uh-uh-uh…”

“Huh-uh…”

It was a bizarre sight.

Piercing Ghost, who had been waiting for Jin Ja-gang, smiled with the eyes visible through his cloth-covered face.

“Good killing intent. As expected of Poison Dragon.”

Paradoxically, the three people who still had strength left, Yeong-woon, Pyo Sang-guk, and So-min, screamed the loudest.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“Kugh, kugh-hugh!”

Piercing Ghost had done nothing to them. He had simply poisoned them and left them alone. The three were writhing behind Piercing Ghost, screaming.

“Br, Brother Jin! Th, this person is too strong!”

“Run away! Ahhhhh!”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t give the three a glance or respond.

When Jin Ja-gang looked at Piercing Ghost, Piercing Ghost slightly shrugged his shoulders to deflect Jin Ja-gang’s killing intent.

“The night is cold. Come inside. I’ve prepared warm tea.”

Piercing Ghost pointed to a teahouse beside them and walked ahead. The teahouse was brightly lit with fires and even had tea prepared, as if deliberately showing it was prepared solely for Jin Ja-gang.

However, Jin Ja-gang didn’t follow and stopped.

Piercing Ghost stopped and turned around.

“Why?”

Jin Ja-gang spoke without hiding his hostility.

“Are you insane?”

“Hm?”

Piercing Ghost tilted his head slightly as if Jin Ja-gang’s words were unexpected.

“Uh-ahhhh…”

“Huh-ugh, huh-ugh. Save me…”

The villagers continuing to wail like ghostly cries.

These were words thrown at Piercing Ghost who calmly suggested having tea while leaving them like this.

“Ah, those things? Kekeke!”

“Are you joking?”

“Joking? That’s harsh language.”

“Did I use harsh language?”

Jin Ja-gang walked toward Piercing Ghost and suddenly punched him in the face.

Thwack!

Piercing Ghost’s face turned slightly.

Piercing Ghost defended with internal energy as if he had expected it. Jin Ja-gang’s hand stung from the counter-repulsion equal to what he had given.

Jin Ja-gang shook his hand.

Piercing Ghost turned his crooked head and chuckled.

“Then this much wouldn’t be enough to call harsh…”

Thud!

Jin Ja-gang hit Piercing Ghost’s face again. This time Piercing Ghost hadn’t expected it, so his head turned considerably. Piercing Ghost’s eyes filled with confusion.

Jin Ja-gang mercilessly pummeled Piercing Ghost’s face.

Thud! Thud!

It wasn’t simply a contest of pride or spirit, but gritting his teeth and striking with internal energy!

Piercing Ghost’s face spun wildly as even his upper body began to shake.

Crash!

Crack.

When Jin Ja-gang struck down with full force at the end, Piercing Ghost’s waist bent so much his upper body nearly lay backward. Even his legs swayed.

Yeong-woon, Pyo Sang-guk, and So-min were horrified by this sight even while suffering from poison.

Anyone could see that Piercing Ghost had deliberately taken the first hit. It seemed like he was engaging in a battle of momentum using the difference in internal energy.

But who would have known he would beat him to death instead of just one hit!

Moreover, at the end there was even the sound of bones breaking.

Only then did Jin Ja-gang say.

“Do you think it’s somewhat harsh now?”

Flutter.

The cloth covering Piercing Ghost’s mouth came loose and flowed down.

Two gaping holes where there was no nose and grotesquely distorted lips were visible. Few teeth remained, and the cheekbone area that Jin Ja-gang had hit last was swollen and puffy, making for a hideous appearance.

Blood flowed from the gaping nose holes.

Stagger.

Piercing Ghost barely maintained his balance and stood upright.

Jin Ja-gang and Piercing Ghost glared at each other. The tension was taut.

Piercing Ghost opened his mouth.

“There was a misunderstanding.”

“Did you say misunderstanding?”

“Do you think this old man does such things for amusement?”

“Isn’t that so?”

“Of course, it’s not entirely without amusement. With just a sense of duty, one couldn’t do such things as chasing people around, drilling holes in their shoulders and poisoning them.”

Jin Ja-gang’s eyes turned cold.

Piercing Ghost, who had regained his composure, smiled and said.

“Agonizing Ointment Blood.”

Piercing Ghost walked over and kicked a man who was almost on the verge of fainting. The man’s body was completely drained and limp, yet he still occasionally twitched and moaned from pain.

“All living beings generate poison in their blood when their lives are in crisis. The more extreme the pain becomes, the more muscles contract making flesh tough, body fluids dry up and harden, and the poison in blood becomes denser. Eventually, if a predator eats them, it will cause trouble. Lions bite deer’s necks to kill them instantly, and humans strike cattle and chickens dead at once for the same reason. The longer it takes to catch them, the more the meat becomes inedible.”

Piercing Ghost grabbed the man’s head and lifted his body. From the collarbone hole that had been bleeding profusely, thick blood now pooled.

“Horse Poison Entering Wounds is the same. Horses with tenacious vitality don’t die easily. Therefore, if the fresh blood of a horse that died painfully touches a person, they get purple sores and die.”

Piercing Ghost made the man lie face down and placed a small bottle against the collarbone hole. Then he deeply stabbed his finger into the spine of the lower back.

“Uh-uh… Ahhhhhh!”

The man’s body trembled like an aspen tree. Thick, black blood pooled in the collarbone hole. Piercing Ghost collected the black blood in the bottle and kicked the man away with satisfaction.

“He won’t die. However, I make him suffer painfully enough to die so he develops blood poison. That is the source of the Infinite Ghost Poison that this old man uses.”

“So you committed such acts to squeeze poison from people like squeezing ointment blood from them.”

“That’s right. So strictly speaking, it’s not something done for amusement or play.”

Jin Ja-gang opened and closed his fist.

“Do you think that becomes a reason for forgiveness?”

“Forgiveness?”

Piercing Ghost picked up the fallen cloth and covered his face again while saying.

“From the moment I set foot in this world, this old man has never sought forgiveness from anyone. I just wanted to talk about the poison I use.”

Piercing Ghost slowly walked up to the teahouse. He went to the table where tea was prepared and offered Jin Ja-gang a seat.

“Now then, won’t you tell me about your poison? While having a cup of tea.”

Jin Ja-gang stared at Piercing Ghost.

“You may find it enjoyable, but I don’t. How many times must I go through such bothersome acts?”

“I promise. This will probably be the last time. This old man is second-in-command of Leper Mound. If you kill me, Leper Mound will withdraw from Poison Dragon.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I can’t ask you to trust me unconditionally at first meeting. Then what should be done?”

“Tell me Leper Mound’s base location.”

Piercing Ghost’s eyes narrowed.

Jin Ja-gang gritted his teeth and said.

“If Leper Mound continues to lurk around me even after killing you, Leper Mound will become ashes that day.”

Piercing Ghost thought briefly then moved his lips. He had told Jin Ja-gang Leper Mound’s location through voice transmission.

“Will you believe me now?”

Jin Ja-gang looked quietly at Piercing Ghost then climbed the teahouse stairs.

Yeong-woon, who had been watching, squeezed out strength to shout.

“Br, Brother Jin! There’s definitely poison in the tea too!”

Piercing Ghost chuckled.

“Those who use poison have an elegant way of fighting different from ignorant sword-wielders. Would I have prepared tea to have silly chatter like little girls?”

“Kugh!”

“Anyway, the fight between Poison Dragon and me isn’t about martial arts but poison. The key is who can endure the other’s poison longer. If so, there’s no need to waste strength fighting.”

Jin Ja-gang agreed.

“Fine.”

Jin Ja-gang sat at the table facing Piercing Ghost.

Piercing Ghost poured tea into the cups placed in front of each.

Then he took out a red scale smaller than a fingernail and put it in the teacup.

“Let’s start slowly. This is ordinary poison that our Leper Mound uses frequently. In the martial world, it’s well known as the poison of the Single-Horn Blood Snake.”

Single-Horn Blood Snake!

The poison of a snake with a single horn that uniquely secreted poison from red scales attached to the sides of its body. Despite its small size, one drop of poison squeezed from the scales could kill dozens of people. Even martial world people would die instantly within an hour if caught off-guard by a Single-Horn Blood Snake. Even if lucky enough to survive, it was an extreme poison requiring months of recuperation.

Jin Ja-gang looked at Piercing Ghost and raised his right hand to bite the tip of his little finger.

Crunch!

Jin Ja-gang dropped that blood into the tea water.

Drop.

A drop of blood with dissolved poison spread like thread in the teacup.

“I’ve been seeing a lot of mistletoe lately.”

Piercing Ghost pushed his teacup toward Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang likewise pushed his cup containing his blood to Piercing Ghost.

The three people, Yeong-woon, Pyo Sang-guk, and So-min, couldn’t help but watch even while screaming, as their lives depended on this outcome.

Pyo Sang-guk spat out curses with his face completely scrunched up.

“Cr, crazy. Kugh.”

They were openly giving each other tea with poison dissolved in it to drink.

Jin Ja-gang and Piercing Ghost looked at each other and slowly drank their tea. Jin Ja-gang even put the scale in his mouth before spitting it out.

A breathtakingly heavy silence fell. Whether poison spreads or is suppressed by internal energy, it takes time.

The Single-Horn Blood Snake’s poison manifested first in Jin Ja-gang’s body. The area below his eyes yellowed and his nose became sore, bleeding slightly. Jin Ja-gang rubbed his nose with his sleeve to wipe the nosebleed.

“Huff.”

In comparison, Piercing Ghost remained unchanged without any particular expression.

The three felt something close to despair.

This was just the beginning, but anyone could see the clear difference in poison mastery!

Jin Ja-gang said.

“What you said about Leper Mound wasn’t false.”

“Mistletoe, the poison of parasitic plants becomes less effective in humid conditions. Will you believe this old man’s words now?”

He had said Leper Mound’s base was on an island. A humid place. Jin Ja-gang had confirmed Piercing Ghost’s words with mistletoe poison.

“I’ll believe you.”

“Good. Then next.”

This time Jin Ja-gang poured tea into the teacups.

Glug glug.