Chapter 115: It's Been a While Since We Met, But My Heart Isn't What It Used to Be (3)

Han So-yu stared intently at Dam Ho. Tears were already welling in her eyes.

She was not certain. But seeing Dam Ho with his limp, she had wondered if it might be him. When her suspicion proved true, she felt an even more intense confusion.

"You were alive. Then why didn't you return to the Mount Hua Sect? Everyone worried about you so much."

"Is that so?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did they really all worry?"

"……"

Dam Ho's cold question left Han So-yu momentarily speechless.

Only then did she realize—the gaze Dam Ho turned upon her was frigidly cold. Not a trace of emotion remained in those eyes.

His eyes, as emotionless as those of a stranger with no connection whatsoever, were frighteningly unsettling.

"Cheong-gyeong."

"Where is Master?"

"Martial Uncle is… doing well."

At Han So-yu's answer, Dam Ho nodded.

That was what he had most wanted to hear.

For Dam Ho, that was enough.

As long as he was safe, that was all that mattered. Someday, they would meet again.

Dam Ho turned and looked at Eun So-cheong.

"Let's go."

"Cheong-gyeong!"

Just then, a booming voice suddenly rang out beside Dam Ho's ear.

Dam Ho turned to find Hyeon-mu Sage glaring at him.

Hyeon-mu Sage's voice echoed thunderously throughout the Azure Sun Sword Sect.

"Are you truly Cheong-gyeong? If so, how dare you fail to pay proper respects to your sect's elder when you see him?"

Most of the martial artists present nodded in agreement with his sentiment.

The martial world placed greater emphasis on the hierarchy within a sect than anywhere else.

Those of lower rank were required to show utmost respect to their sect's elders. Once one became a disciple of a sect, one could never be free from the hierarchy. Even Myeong-gyeong, currently praised as the Mount Hua Sect's greatest prodigy, had been no more than an Outer Disciple twelve years ago. His standing had been below even the Second Generation Disciples.

But when Sage Hyeon-geom accepted him as a disciple, everything changed. He became a First Generation Disciple, and the Second Generation Disciples were now required to address him as Martial Uncle.

That was the hierarchy of the martial world. That was the order of a sect.

Therefore, Hyeon-mu Sage's indignation was natural. If Dam Ho was truly a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, he should have paid his respects first to the sect's elder.

Dam Ho's gaze sank deep.

In that moment, the bold voice that had just cried out fell silent, and Hyeon-mu Sage instinctively recoiled like a turtle pulling its head into its shell.

Dam Ho's eyes, fixed upon him, were so black that not a single fragment of emotion could be found. But Hyeon-mu Sage could sense that those eyes held no goodwill whatsoever.

A chill ran up his spine.

He had boldly stepped forward upon hearing that the man was a sect disciple, but Dam Ho's overwhelming presence had caused him to shrink back without realizing it.

People held their breath, watching Dam Ho and Hyeon-mu Sage.

They were still under the lingering impression of Dam Ho's fierce display moments ago. They were captivated by his aftershock.

'The Fist Demon was a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.'

'As expected, only a prestigious sect like the Mount Hua Sect could produce such a person.'

If Dam Ho were to join the Mount Hua Sect, the destructive power would be beyond imagination.

They marveled at the Mount Hua Sect's hidden strength while watching the unfolding situation with guarded eyes.

Dam Ho said nothing and simply stared at Hyeon-mu Sage. This only intensified the pressure upon Hyeon-mu Sage.

For Hyeon-mu Sage, that brief silence felt like eternity. So he shouted.

"Why do you say nothing? Do you find the sect's elder laughable?"

"A sect, you say…"

At last, Dam Ho opened his heavy lips.

Everyone waited with expectant gazes for his next words. What followed was enough to plunge the hall into chaos.

"I may have a Master, but I have no sect."

"What did he say?"

"He denies the sect?"

Not just Hyeon-mu Sage, but the entire hall erupted in murmurs.

Those present belonged to the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families—the martial world's most prestigious organizations.

For them, the sect was the cradle and the grave from which one must never betray. It was the beginning and the end, and the entirety of one's life.

To deny one's sect was absolutely unthinkable. Such words were tantamount to severing one's own place in the martial world.

They gazed at Dam Ho with eyes burning with outrage.

Hyeon-mu Sage's beard trembled with fury.

"Are you denying the Mount Hua Sect? You learned martial arts from the Mount Hua Sect, and this is how you repay it?"

He was genuinely furious.

Such words were beyond understanding or acceptance according to Hyeon-mu Sage's values.

The Mount Hua Sect was everything to him. And a mere disciple dared deny it?

Not only had he insulted the sect's elder, but he had also denied the very order of the Mount Hua Sect and the entire martial world.

"It seems the Mount Hua Sect was a joke to you. The Mount Hua Sect—"

"Do not force your beliefs upon me."

"How dare you—"

"It was the Mount Hua Sect that abandoned me."

"What are you—"

"Seems you don't know."

Dam Ho's voice was as deep and cold as his gaze. His demeanor was so desolate that Hyeon-mu Sage could no longer press him.

Instead, events from twelve years ago surfaced in his mind.

After returning from beyond the seas, Sage Hyeon-so had entered seclusion. Mu-gyeong and Un-gyeong had fallen silent.

The elders of the Mount Hua Sect had pressed them for answers, but they said nothing. Thus, nothing was known about the circumstances of that day.

'What on earth happened that day?'

Dam Ho watched the pondering Hyeon-mu Sage with amusement. A faint sneer appeared at the corner of his lips.

"Curious?"

"……"

"Then ask that gentleman over there."

Dam Ho's gaze turned to Sage Cheong-heo, who stood in the distance looking lost. When their eyes met, Sage Cheong-heo's body flinched.

The one most shocked by Dam Ho's appearance was Sage Cheong-heo. Among all the martial artists present, he alone knew the truth of that day.

Though every person present was a master, not a single one had been able to protect Dam Ho, each having been consumed with saving their own life.

The memory of that day remained as a stain upon his conscience. Though he had done it to save his own disciple, Yeon So-ha, the guilt was inescapable.

He still sometimes dreamed of Dam Ho, left alone, being buried alive. The memory of that day remained a nightmare.

All eyes turned to Sage Cheong-heo. But Sage Cheong-heo could not bring himself to speak.

If he revealed what had happened that day, not only the Mount Hua Sect's reputation but also the honor of the Wudang and Zhongnan Sects would be dragged through the mud.

So Sage Cheong-heo sealed his lips tightly. But Dam Ho was not surprised by this reaction.

"I knew you'd say that."

"……"

Dam Ho turned away.

There was no further business for him here.

He did not care how they looked at him. Since the day he had been isolated from the world twelve years ago, he had ceased to care about the gaze of others.

It did not matter how the world saw him. He did not care what they said.

They were who they were, and he was who he was.

Hyeon-mu Sage and the Mount Hua Sect disciples, who did not know the circumstances, could only remain silent. But not everyone was like Hyeon-mu Sage.

"To dare deny one's sect—he is clearly a heretic!"

Elder Jin Do-gyeong of the Zhongnan Sect roared with fury.

He was a man of immense pride in the Zhongnan Sect, and correspondingly stubborn.

Though it was not his own sect's affair, watching Dam Ho deny his sect made his blood boil.

Dam Ho's words were not merely a denial of the Mount Hua Sect; they were a denial of the entire martial world's order.

"He who denies his sect has no place in the martial world!"

"No matter how the sect may have erred, how can a disciple dare deny it?"

Several people voiced their agreement with Jin Do-gyeong.

As their voices grew louder, the hall became a venue for denouncing Dam Ho.

Jin Do-gyeong stepped forward, pointing his finger.

"If you have any sense, you should immediately kneel before the sect's elder and beg forgiveness. That is the only way to atone for your—"

"Kuh!"

Crack!

In that instant, Dam Ho's fist struck Jin Do-gyeong square in the mouth.

Teeth shattered, lips were crushed.

Jin Do-gyeong clapped both hands over his mouth and collapsed to the ground. His face was a mess of tears and blood.

"Elder!"

The Zhongnan Sect disciples rushed toward him like madmen.

Bam!

At that moment, Dam Ho's fist slammed into the bluestone floor.

Crash! Boom!

From the point where his fist had sunk to the wrist, the bluestone exploded.

Powerful shockwaves and stone fragments radiated outward in concentric circles.

It was as though a thunderbolt had struck.

"Cough!"

"Ugh!"

The Zhongnan Sect disciples were struck by the stone fragments and swept away by the shockwave, tumbling ignominiously in all directions.

Dam Ho did not even glance at them.

His gaze was fixed solely on Jin Do-gyeong.

Jin Do-gyeong's face was twisted with pain and humiliation. He had never expected Dam Ho to punch him without warning.

He tried to charge at Dam Ho. But at that moment, their eyes met head-on.

Shudder!

Every hair on his body stood on end.

'If I fight, I die.'

The thought struck him suddenly.

Only then did he recall that Dam Ho had single-handedly slaughtered the Golden Demon Lion and the Blood Chain Demons—enemies that had given them all so much trouble.

That meant that even if everyone here attacked together, they could not guarantee victory.

He had provoked such a being. It was a miracle he was still alive.

His pride lay in ruins, and humiliation washed over him like a tide. But he could not move.

If he moved now, he would certainly die.

It was not mere premonition but absolute conviction. That was why he could not move.

Dam Ho looked at Jin Do-gyeong and spoke.

"Run your mouth one more time, and I'll rip your head off."

"Ugh!"

Jin Do-gyeong instinctively recoiled like a turtle pulling in his head.

Jin Do-gyeong and the Zhongnan Sect's honor had been trampled into the dirt, but those who witnessed it could not laugh. His situation felt too close to their own.

Dam Ho rose to his feet.

The eyes of countless people watched him.

Some gazes held contempt, others held fear.

What was certain was that very few gazes held any warmth.

Only Eun So-cheong, Cho Yeon-woon, and Hae So-wol looked upon Dam Ho with something resembling goodwill.

Dam Ho looked at Hyeon-mu Sage.

In that instant, Hyeon-mu Sage flinched.

He had just witnessed with his own eyes what had happened to Jin Do-gyeong, Elder of the Zhongnam Sect.

The usual rules did not apply to Dam Ho. Neither his Mount Hua Sect origins nor the framework of the martial world's hierarchy could bind him.

The only possibility was if Dam Ho's Master, Sage Hyeon-so, intervened. But Sage Hyeon-so had not been seen in nearly ten years.

As it stood, there was no method to compel Dam Ho. Not unless Dam Ho chose to bow his head of his own accord.

At that moment, Dam Ho made his declaration.

"My name is Dam Ho. I walk alone. I am a free man who belongs to no sect."

His cry echoed thunderously throughout the Azure Sun Sword Sect.

Baek Li-jung smiled with a gentle face.

Baek Li-jung’s expression and tone were truly worlds apart from when he dealt with Mang Ryo.

Baek Li-jung spoke in a soft tone.

“As you know, a significant incident has occurred in Yunnan.”

“I’ve heard.”

Baek Li-gwon also resembled Baek Li-jung in that he didn’t speak much.

He prioritized listening to his master Baek Li-jung’s words and presented his own opinions afterward.

An excessively prudent and serious personality.

Thanks to this, even Baek Li-jung trusted and cherished Baek Li-gwon.

Baek Li-jung smiled slightly.

“The poison sects have been completely annihilated. We’ve received intelligence that evil factions may be involved.”

Baek Li-gwon carefully considered Baek Li-jung’s intentions.

Yunnan’s Five Great Poison Sects had joined the Martial Arts Alliance with Baek Li-jung’s support. If the poison sects were completely annihilated, the responsibility might fall on Baek Li-jung.

“Please tell me what I should do.”

“Who do you think should go?”

Baek Li-gwon looked at Baek Li-jung with an expression asking what he meant.

Naturally, he had thought Baek Li-jung would send him. Such major incidents were excellent opportunities to build one’s reputation.

But to ask who should go?

“I’m thinking of one of the Three Dragons and Four Phoenix. It would be good if it were a trustworthy and intelligent child. This matter requires wisdom more than martial prowess. You can think of it as them owing you a debt.”

“Ah!”

Baek Li-gwon understood Baek Li-jung’s intention. The Three Dragons and Four Phoenix were in competitive yet friendly relationships with each other, and each represented the face of their family.

If he gave one of them an opportunity to achieve merit, that person would owe Baek Li-gwon a debt.

Baek Li-gwon’s cheeks turned slightly red.

Seeing this, Baek Li-jung clicked his tongue inwardly.

Perhaps because he was still young, Baek Li-gwon didn’t know how to hide his feelings. Being prudent and quiet was good, but if his inner thoughts showed on the outside, it wouldn’t be easy to survive in the martial world.

However, Baek Li-jung didn’t show this at all and smiled.

“Do you already have someone in mind?”

Baek Li-gwon’s face became even redder.

“Yes. If it’s a matter requiring wisdom more than martial prowess, I believe Miss Zhuge Yan of the Zhuge family would be most suitable for this task.”

“The Zhuge family…”

Baek Li-jung seemed to think for a moment, then gave permission.

“Do as you wish.”

“Thank you, Master!”

“What thanks between master and disciple? Haha.”

However, Baek Li-jung’s face as he spoke wore a much softer smile than ever before.

* * *

He had failed.

Jin Ja-gang was troubled.

The symptoms occurring in Mr. Jang’s body were not blood heat rash.

Even after feeding him the ingredients of Three Yellows and Gypsum Decoction and soaking the areas with boils in medicinal solutions, Mr. Jang’s boils did not heal.

They seemed to improve slightly, then worsened again.

Rather, the color became deeper purple while his body swelled and blisters formed. In severe areas, the flesh was about to fester.

As the boils worsened, his condition gradually deteriorated, and Mr. Jang repeatedly fainted and lost consciousness.

It was an extremely vicious poison. If this poison had been directly encountered rather than inhaled from residual toxic energy in the air, it would have been fatal one hundred percent of the time.

Jin Ja-gang was troubled by the sudden severe deterioration, but at the same time felt somewhat certain.

‘This is the main poison!’

The symptoms he had initially caught did not reappear. Only the boils on the skin continued to worsen.

In other words, if he could resolve this alone, Mr. Jang’s condition would have a much higher chance of improving in the future.

The problem was what type of poison this was.

‘The biggest pathological change is purple boils forming and bursting, with blood vessels spreading like spider webs from the festering flesh. The current sores swell and subside repeatedly, so they shouldn’t be considered caused by poison.’

Unfortunately, Jin Ja-gang was encountering this type of symptom for the first time. Mang Ryo had never used it on Jin Ja-gang either.

Perhaps he had been affected during the fight at Poison Valley, but due to his confused mental state afterward, he couldn’t remember at all.

‘Purple sores… purple blisters.’

There are many cases where sores form, but purple ones are not common.

Jin Ja-gang was looking at the wounds when he suddenly recalled a passage along with a prescription:

“When one opens and strips dead cattle and horses and becomes poisoned, with purple blisters forming all over the body that ulcerate and cause pain, prescribe the Horse Poison Remedy.”

‘Could it be!’

Jin Ja-gang hurriedly left the room and searched the surrounding rice fields.

How fortunate it was autumn!

The harvested rice fields were strewn with straw.

Among them, he found millet straw.

He grabbed a handful of millet straw, called sokgan, returned and put it in the furnace to burn. The dry sokgan burned quickly.

Jin Ja-gang collected the ashes of the sokgan, mixed them with water until thick, put them in a pot and boiled them down. After cooling slightly, he applied it to Mr. Jang’s boils.

Then, in no time at all, white foam began bubbling up!

Jin Ja-gang gritted his teeth.

He had finally identified the main poison.

‘Horse poison! Horse poison entering sores!’

Purple sores had formed on Mr. Jang’s body due to horse poison.

Horse poison was literally poison from horses. One becomes poisoned through the blood or excrement of dead horses.

If the fresh blood of certain species of horses entered the body, one might not survive even a day.

‘For horse poison entering sores, one can use peach kernels, horse chestnut, aconite, smoked plums, etc.’

These could be obtained from the mountains in abundance.

However, two essential items were missing.

Menstrual blood and Purple Gold Pills.

Horse poison causes major symptoms both internally and externally. When the sores on the skin burst, they contaminate the surroundings making it worse, and continuously penetrate internally to damage organs and cause death.

Therefore, menstrual blood should be applied to severe horse poison sores to suppress the toxic energy, and Purple Gold Pills should be taken along with the Horse Poison Remedy prescription to block internal toxic energy.

He knew how to make Purple Gold Pills. The most important ingredient for making Purple Gold Pills was musk, and if necessary, he could obtain it by hunting deer.

However, menstrual blood was a blood clot that could only be obtained from menstruating women. How could Jin Ja-gang possibly obtain it?

No matter how much Jin Ja-gang racked his brains, there was nothing he could do about menstrual blood.

Still, after much deliberation, Jin Ja-gang forced himself to get up.

It was already the fifth day since Mr. Jang had collapsed.

He could no longer just watch and wait.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang put on Mr. Jang’s clothes and went down to the village below.

Jin Ja-gang’s outward appearance looked quite decent. Even though he was bruised inside, had bones pierced through, and organs damaged, the outside had mostly healed.

Even his lips that had been burned from holding acid in his mouth had recovered considerably. Though the inside of his mouth was still ulcerated and his tongue stiff making pronunciation slow, his lips had healed to just having some scabs.

While internal injuries were unknown, external wounds healed several times faster than ordinary people.

It was a mysterious ability granted by the sulfur steam and Kunlun Sulfur Jade Poison from steaming his entire body for a month at Honwonji.

Thanks to this, Jin Ja-gang could move around the village without drawing much attention from others, even if his movements were somewhat inconvenient.

The village atmosphere was unsettled from the entrance.

Originally, this place had always been prosperous due to being near the great sect Poison Valley along with Kunming Lake. Various wine houses, pleasure quarters, tea houses, and restaurants were concentrated here.

However, now this place had become lifeless beyond being merely quiet. People walked around looking frightened and watchful, with hunched shoulders.

Sharp-eyed individuals who appeared to be martial artists could be seen everywhere.

In pairs, they sat on the streets or watched and observed passersby.

As expected. Since Yunnan’s poison sects and righteous factions had clashed head-on and mutually destroyed each other in an unprecedented incident.

No matter how much Yunnan was a frontier martial world, it couldn’t avoid drawing the attention of the entire martial world.

Jin Ja-gang walked while enduring the stabbing pain with each step, then sat at a noodle shop on the street at a crossroads.

“One bowl, please.”

The old woman who owned the street stall glanced up and down at Jin Ja-gang, then immediately served him a bowl.

Jin Ja-gang ate the noodles silently. Though he was extremely grateful since he hadn’t had a proper meal for several days, he just ate quietly.

Moving his chopsticks neither too fast nor too slow, he concentrated on the words of passersby. However, perhaps because the atmosphere was too ominous, no one carelessly opened their mouths on the street.

Unfortunately, most just kept their mouths tightly shut and hurried their steps to their destinations.

When Jin Ja-gang was about to get up with no choice, two men suddenly sat beside him.

“Two bowls here.”

When the men sat down, metallic sounds clinked from their waists.

‘Martial artists!’

Jin Ja-gang slowed his eating pace. To listen to the conversation the two men had while eating noodles.

“The situation?”

“Same as before.”

“Once the Martial Arts Alliance investigation team is dispatched soon, some news should come out.”

“Let’s keep our heads down until then.”

“Mm.”

The men’s words were also very brief. They appeared extremely tense, with their nerves on edge to a visible degree.

It seemed he wouldn’t be able to hear more information even if he stayed longer.

When Jin Ja-gang paid for his noodles and got up, he felt the men’s gazes pouring onto his back.

Jin Ja-gang walked with hunched shoulders looking tense like other people. At times like this, being too natural would actually be strange. Only then did the men’s gazes move elsewhere.

Only after turning the corner did Jin Ja-gang let out a short breath.

He didn’t know where they came from, but from their movements to every word, they were considerably trained individuals. Such people were not just these two men, but were coming and going throughout the village.

‘It’s as if all the sects in the martial world sent people to gather information.’

Their eyes were different from the beginning compared to the mediocre martial artists of the poison sects.

At a time when there were so many watching eyes, if Jin Ja-gang went around asking questions everywhere, it would be perfect for drawing suspicion.

‘I can’t buy medicine here.’

Jin Ja-gang left the village with a frightened expression. He moved to Yunhua Village, which was somewhat closer.

Yunhua Village had quite a few open pharmacies, perhaps because Poison Valley was nearby.

Moreover, perhaps due to the Poison Valley incident, each pharmacy had posted signs saying they sold various medicines that could resolve poison. Purple Gold Pills were among them. It was harder to find a place that didn’t advertise selling Purple Gold Pills.

Jin Ja-gang tilted his head slightly.

‘I heard that Purple Gold Pills are extremely troublesome and difficult to make, requiring a lot of work…’

However, Jin Ja-gang had lived without seeing the world for eight years. He couldn’t know whether pharmacies actually sold them or not, or whether they were originally this common.

In any case, Purple Gold Pills were also used for simple detoxification or poison prevention. It could be that people anxious due to the Poison Valley incident were buying them.

Thinking this way, Jin Ja-gang decided to purchase Purple Gold Pills from one of them. The medicinal herbs hanging outside and those in the baskets looked very fresh and good.

The old man at the pharmacy was cutting licorice with a chopping knife when he looked up at Jin Ja-gang entering the pharmacy. More precisely, he looked him up and down.

“Elder, please give me some Purple Gold Pills.”

The old man wordlessly wrapped a handful of Purple Gold Pills in paper made from mulberry bark.

“Forty pills. For prevention, take half a pill at a time, and if your body feels strange, take one pill at a time. Half a tael of silver.”

Though Jin Ja-gang had sufficient money, he paused once in case he might be told he was buying without knowing the market price.

“The price is expensive.”

The old man frowned.

“There are many people looking for them these days, so the price has gone up a bit. If you don’t like it, go try somewhere else.”

Jin Ja-gang seemed to think a bit more, then decided to pay.

“Please give them to me.”

“Right. Medicine prices aren’t originally for bargaining. Instead, I’ll add a bit more.”

The old man added a few more Purple Gold Pills as a bonus.

At that moment, Jin Ja-gang suddenly felt strange.

“Go on. Come again if you need more. Our medicine is very effective.”

The old man grinned with yellowed teeth.

Jin Ja-gang left the pharmacy but the uncomfortable feeling didn’t go away.

‘Purple Gold Pills are made with one and a half nyang of euphorbia, three nyang of realgar, two nyang of orpiment, one nyang of croton seeds, and three jeon of musk. With those ingredients, exactly forty pills are produced.’

But adding a few more pills as a bonus?

For medicine that’s made forty pills at a time?