Chapter 56 – The Secret Medicine

Chapter 56 – The Secret Medicine

“······.”

At the calm reply, Tae Ju-ha was momentarily at a loss for words. It was to the point that he even wondered for a moment if this was a proposal or a threat.

Had there ever been someone this insolent in front of him before? However, the reason he could not do anything about it was probably because, for the first time in his life, his life hung in another's hands.

San-ho continued speaking, paying no heed.

“Someone I know said that humans can only feel one kind of pain at a time.”

What on earth was the connection between the extraction of the Gu poison, using poison to control poison, and the opinion on pain perception? Feeling an ominous premonition for some reason, Tae Ju-ha asked with a grimace.

“······What does that mean?”

“Oh, it is nothing much.”

San-ho shrugged his shoulders.

“Meaning that it will hurt a bit somewhere else from now on?”

Tae Ju-ha's complexion turned rapidly pale. It must be an illusion that his only lifeline looked like a rotten rope. Please.

***

San-ho began to prepare the ingredients for the removal of the Gu poison.

“Is there anything you need?”

“First, time, space, and ingredients. So, how much time do we have?”

San-ho asked, recalling the Moon-Dominating Stronghold ship which was in a state of lull. Since he did not know when battle would break out again, it was important to check the remaining time.

“Since the Stronghold Leader of the Moon-Dominating Stronghold abandoned the giant ship and went into hiding… he will not appear, at least not until he finds a way to reverse the situation. I launched a surprise attack in case he fled again, but in the end, it was in vain.”

“Hmm······.”

San-ho fell silent for a moment at those words.

That the leader of the rebel forces abandoned the giant ship and went into hiding for his own safety. There was no way that someone who cherished his life so cowardly would commit such an act without any certainty. The Stronghold Leader of the Moon-Dominating Stronghold was highly likely to know about the Gu poison.

“Since when did that man start causing trouble?”

“It has not been that long.”

“And when did the symptoms of the Gu poison appear?”

“······It was around the same time.”

Indeed. San-ho, who was tapping the table with his finger, asked another question.

“Are there perhaps any other books missing from the library?”

“As far as I know, the book on the Borrowing Flowers to Offer to Buddha is the only one.”

San-ho gauged the structure of the giant ship and the number of water bandits he had seen when boarding the Red Dragon Ship. Secretly infiltrating the Red Dragon Ship was already extremely difficult, but stealing something from the library without being caught by Tae Ju-ha was an impossibility.

‘Somehow… it feels like the pieces are fitting together.’

Pieces of information that were not yet certain scrambled disorientingly inside his head.

At that moment, Tae Ju-ha muttered in a low voice, suppressing his anger.

“The method you were confident about had better work. Because I must handle that bastard, no matter what.”

“Of course. Do you not trust me?”

“…I have nothing to say since you keep asking obvious things.”

“Anyway, think about that after we eliminate the Gu poison. Rather than that, the problem is whether we can find all the ingredients······.”

At San-ho's words, Tae Ju-ha raised one corner of his mouth.

“Tell me what you need. I have everything except for what is missing.”

***

The place where Tae Ju-ha led San-ho was a storehouse near the library.

“Wow······.”

San-ho, who only now understood Tae Ju-ha's confident expression, could not close his mouth.

The fairly spacious storehouse was filled with all kinds of rare treasures. On one side of the wall, medicine chests were neatly arranged in rows and columns, and on the table running across the center, rare minerals and gems, as well as well-maintained weapons, were placed.

“This is the place where the treasures of the Seven Rarities and Ten Thousand Treasures are gathered. Spiritual medicines and medicinal ingredients, as well as poisons from all over, are also here.”

Barely paying attention to Tae Ju-ha's explanation, San-ho walked around the storehouse with shining eyes. Among the various precious treasures, what San-ho showed particular interest in was, without a doubt, the poisons.

“Wow, is this huge chunk all ambergris? Wait, this is Dead Soul Herb. Even the Tang Clan does not have this…”

“Those are things I found by looking at geographical books.”

“What, you even have a separate pharmacy? You really do have everything except for what is missing. Wow······.”

As San-ho salivated while inspecting the treasures in the room, Tae Ju-ha's lips twitched.

“H-Humph… What, looking at my rare treasures, do you not regret asking only to be allowed to read the books in the library?”

“You are right, I thought wrong. I should have asked for something else.”

With his lips twitching more at the regretful voice, Tae Ju-ha asked with a triumphant face.

“Is that so? What are you so greedy for?”

“The Red Dragon Ship······.”

“…Huh?”

“This ship.”

“·········?”

“Tsk. People really need to be smart. I should have asked for the entire ship instead of getting a measly library or books······.”

Why did I not think of that? San-ho muttered with regret.

“Mea… No, what does a member of the orthodox faction plan to use a giant ship of the Waterway Fort for?”

“Geez, when it comes to greed, what does the distinction between orthodox and unorthodox matter?”

“······.”

When San-ho spoke grumpily, Tae Ju-ha's mouth gaped. Having never seen such a diversely insolent rascal before, he was simply at a loss for words.

‘What kind of guy is he really?’

Infiltrating the Waterway Fort secretly was already astonishing, but there was not even a speck of nervousness in front of him, the Chief Stronghold Leader. He could not tell at all whether this guy had guts or had simply lost all fear.

“Let's see. Then datura… Ah, there is Drunkening Flower Powder too.”

As San-ho picked and chose deadly poisons as if selecting sweets at a marketplace, Tae Ju-ha gulped.

“Alright. Now I can just use the poison I brought for the rest.”

“······What poison is it?”

“There are two kinds, one of which is Blood-Melting Poison. Do you know it?”

“·········.”

Of course he knew. It was a poison that traveled through the blood vessels and ultimately stopped the heart. Tae Ju-ha, who knew the efficacy of the terrifying poison, nodded with a grim expression. Should he stop even now? Was it not better to live just a few days longer? He firmly suppressed the impulses that popped up from time to time.

“The other is an anesthetic fluid made from Earth Dragon's venom. If you ingest a deadly poison directly without anesthesia, your body won't be able to withstand it, and you could suffer a heart attack before the medicinal effect kicks in.”

It was a statement from San-ho that made the eyes of him, who loved rare things, wide open.

“Ha, Earth Dragon's venom? Though I have traversed the Yangtze River for decades, the one thing I have yet to encounter is an Earth Dragon. As expected of the Tang Clan, who is well-versed in poisons.”

“Well, I went through some trouble.”

“To venture into the Jianghu with such a precious thing. Your position within the family must be quite good?”

“Haha… Rather than that, it is because I can get it again.”

“That might be so if you are lucky. But searching for it alone takes a long time, does it not?”

“Ah, because the kids live in my backyard.”

The one who was startled by San-ho's nonchalant words was, of course, Tae Ju-ha.

“······What?”

“The Earth Dragons.”

No way. He must have misheard.

“Where did you say the Earth Dragons live?”

“The backyard of my quarters. More importantly, could you please step out now? It will be trouble if you accidentally get poisoned while I am blending the poisons.”

“······?”

With a dazed face, Tae Ju-ha was pushed out of the storehouse in a daze.

Even as the door closed behind his back, he was busy sorting out his chaotic mind.

‘What… lives where?’

Even as the Chief Stronghold Leader of the Yangtze River Waterway Forts, he had never once seen an Earth Dragon of spiritual beast class that possessed venom. Though he had occasionally come across records about them, he had never actually seen one, which was why he had been searching for them for a long time.

Yet, that tremendous spiritual beast… was living in the backyard of his quarters, right now?

Tae Ju-ha muttered blankly.

‘Another reason to live has appeared. I must survive and go to the Tang Clan. Indeed, I cannot die before I see it with my own eyes.’

It was the moment the patient's will, which was the most important factor in the treatment, burned fiercely.

***

Having sent Tae Ju-ha out, San-ho tidied up the place and laid out the ingredients.

He had wondered if he could obtain the ingredients in time, but fortunately, most of them were resolved with the items in the storehouse.

‘I must pay special attention to the blending.’

Normally, when combining poisons of different components, the basic rule was to blend them so that their respective effects did not diminish. However, it was the opposite now. They had to neutralize each other's effects while ensuring that the instantaneous efficacy did not drop.

San-ho, who remembered the ingredients, efficacy, and dosage of each poison without omission, adjusted the ratio needed for blending in his head in an instant.

However, this was something only possible in theory for now.

Calming his mind, San-ho reached for the poisons with an unwavering gaze.

How much time had passed like that?

Finally, the poison liquid that would stop the breath of Tae Ju-ha and the Gu poison, and the antidote fluid that would sustain his life, were prepared.

There was not much time left.

Tae Ju-ha lay down with a tense face.

“San-ho, you can do it.”

“·········.”

Unfortunately, the words of encouragement had not come from Tae Ju-ha's mouth. San-ho, who had offered encouragement to himself, regulated his breathing. Tae Ju-ha, who had entrusted his life to an unfamiliar lifeline with his own hands, squeezed his eyes shut.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Tae Ju-ha's body, which swallowed the poison liquid handed over by San-ho, gradually stiffened.

Amidst his fading consciousness, Tae Ju-ha felt his past life flash by. Though he was a member of the Ten Venerables of the Martial World and the Chief Stronghold Leader of the Yangtze River Eighteen Waterway Forts, a smirk escaped him at the fact that he was nothing more than a patient helplessly waiting for help in front of San-ho.

‘To make me entrust my life to someone I met for the first time. There is something… indescribable in words about this greenhorn.’

With that thought as the last, Tae Ju-ha's vision plunged completely into darkness.

Twitch.

The body of Tae Ju-ha, who had lost consciousness, shook violently.

Thump, thump, thump. The heartbeats that had been beating regularly suddenly cut off, and the shallow breath leaking out also grew faint.

In an instant, the surroundings fell quiet.

Now, San-ho was the only one breathing in this room.

Confirming that Tae Ju-ha's breath had stopped completely, San-ho infused internal energy into his body. The time available for resuscitation after a human heart stopped was four minutes at most.

Although it was a short time, he could not act hastily.

San-ho began to examine the qi of his entire body minutely.

A moment like eternity.

Sensing that the bizarre energy of the Gu poison had completely disappeared, San-ho withdrew his internal energy and opened his eyes. Once Tae Ju-ha's breath stopped, the Gu poison, which had nothing left to parasitize, was also destroyed with him.

‘Now is the important part.’

Firmly clenching his trembling hands to calm himself, he opened the lid of the glass bottle placed beside him.

‘What remains is······.’

Then, he poured the antidote fluid, which exuded a rich scent of rain-soaked grass, into Tae Ju-ha's mouth.

It was a secret elixir that would bring Tae Ju-ha back from the state of suspended animation to life.

***

Two days later, news from the Red Dragon Ship leaked and flew to various parts of the Yangtze River.

“Is it true… that the Ch-Chief Stronghold Leader is unconscious?”

“Who dared to stop the Fist Demon's breath?!”

“There was suspicious movement centering around the Moon-Dominating Stronghold recently, so I suspect it might be their doing.”

“Sigh, how is the supremacy over the Yangtze River going to unfold?”

The Fist Demon of the Ten Venerables of the Martial World. The shocking news that the master of the Yangtze River had been unconscious for several days swept the Yangtze River in an instant.

And this rumor also reached the ears of the hiding Stronghold Leader of the Moon-Dominating Stronghold, the Blood Axe Jang Dae-gwang, without fail.

“Stronghold Leader, news has come from the Red Dragon Ship.”

“What is it?”

“They say the Chief Stronghold Leader suddenly collapsed after the clash with the Moon-Dominating Stronghold ship two days ago. Since he has not regained consciousness until now, it is suspected to be a seizure caused by the Gu poison.”

“Is that so? Is that how it is?”

Upon hearing the news, Jang Dae-gwang's eyes gleamed greedily.

“Hehe… The time has come.”