Chapter 33: When Alive, Even a Thorny Path Is Walked (2)

Dam Ho and Bang Jin-bo bade farewell to Bang Woo-gwang's grave.

"Father, I will come again."

Bang Jin-bo's eyes reddened once more. He wiped away his tears with his sleeve and headed somewhere.

There, the wreckage of a carriage remained—the very carriage in which Bang Woo-gwang and Bang Jin-bo had traveled.

Bang Jin-bo began rummaging through the debris. Dam Ho watched him in silence, assuming there must be a reason.

After searching for some time, Bang Jin-bo found a guo—a Chinese-style cooking pot—and various spices and seasonings.

These were the last remnants his father Bang Woo-gwang had left behind. They could not be abandoned in a place like this. Bang Jin-bo loaded the items he had recovered from the wreckage onto the horse's saddle.

As Bang Jin-bo mounted the horse, he spoke.

"Brother, let's go."

In the span of a single night, Bang Jin-bo's gaze had deepened considerably.

Dam Ho nodded.

Bang Jin-bo had undergone a shattering experience that uprooted his way of thinking and his outlook on life entirely. The eyes of one who had lived through such an ordeal could not help but differ from those of ordinary people.

Dam Ho and Bang Jin-bo departed from the place where Bang Woo-gwang's grave stood.

Even as they rode, Bang Jin-bo whimpered intermittently. But as time passed, his weeping gradually diminished.

Throughout the journey, Dam Ho remained silent. Bang Jin-bo, too, said nothing. And so the two traveled the entire day without a word.

Occasionally, the black horse stamped its feet, eager to run but frustrated that Dam Ho would not quicken the pace.

Dam Ho patted the horse's neck to soothe it. He understood the horse's desire, but now was not the time for haste.

Thus they spent most of the day upon horseback. They finally dismounted when the sun was setting, arriving at a small nameless stream.

With nightfall, continuing the journey was impractical. Dam Ho decided they would camp here.

He tethered the horse by the stream and gathered nearby branches. Dam Ho built a campfire.

It was not for himself. Having spent countless years in the depths of the underground, Dam Ho could barely feel cold or heat anymore.

The campfire was for Bang Jin-bo. It was the minimum consideration he could offer.

Dam Ho sat by the fire and handed something to Bang Jin-bo.

"Eat."

What he gave the boy was dried meat—the same dried meat he had received from Bang Jin-bo before parting ways at Toro Banner.

Bang Jin-bo stared at it blankly. Then, as if suddenly remembering, he looked up at Dam Ho.

Dam Ho was chewing the dried meat slowly, his eyes half-closed. His expression, savoring the food, was almost reverent.

Bang Jin-bo suddenly tucked the dried meat into his robes and stood.

"Brother, just a moment."

Dam Ho opened his eyes and looked at Bang Jin-bo.

Bang Jin-bo pulled the guo from the saddlebag. He fetched water from the nearby stream, poured it into the pot, and set it over the fire.

Holding a burning branch, Bang Jin-bo began searching the brush along the streambank. By the light of the flame, he quickly gathered several herbs.

Just as the water in the guo began to boil, he chopped the dried meat and the herbs finely and added them.

Dam Ho watched Bang Jin-bo's actions without a word.

Bang Jin-bo opened a small pouch he had brought from the carriage wreckage. Inside was a fine, sifted grain powder.

He took a handful of the grain powder and added it to the pot. A fragrant aroma immediately wafted through the air. Bang Jin-bo added several spices to the mixture.

The dried meat, grain powder, and nameless herbs combined to form a respectable porridge.

"It should be edible."

Bang Jin-bo ladled a bowl of porridge and handed it to Dam Ho.

Dam Ho tasted the porridge Bang Jin-bo had made. A rich, savory flavor filled his mouth.

"This is delicious."

"It's a recipe my father taught me. When ingredients ran low, we would often make this."

"I see."

"It may not look like much, but it should be more than sufficient for a meal."

"I will eat well."

"Yes!"

Bang Jin-bo ladled a bowl for himself and sat beside Dam Ho.

Slurp!

The sound of the two of them swallowing the porridge echoed through the quiet.

Dam Ho ate the porridge with relish. It seemed he had never tasted anything so delicious in his life. Such was Bang Jin-bo's skill.

They quickly emptied their bowls. When the meal was finished, Bang Jin-bo looked at Dam Ho.

"Brother!"

"What is it?"

"Could you take me to Lake Dongjeong?"

"Lake Dongjeong?"

Dam Ho looked at Bang Jin-bo with a puzzled expression. Bang Jin-bo dropped to his knees before him.

"I know I'm being shameless. But there is no one else I can ask but you."

"Why do you want to go to Lake Dongjeong?"

"It was my father's dying wish."

"Very well."

Dam Ho did not ask for further reasons.

That was reason enough.

"Truly?"

"Rest well. You will need your strength for the long journey starting tomorrow."

"Thank you, brother. I will never forget this kindness."

Bang Jin-bo shed tears once more.

He was grateful that Dam Ho had agreed without even asking why.

To others, Dam Ho might appear a fiend of terrible aspect, but to Bang Jin-bo, he was an irreplaceable benefactor.

When everyone else had turned their backs on father and son, only Dam Ho had not. Though countless lives had been lost at his hands, Dam Ho did not seem cruel to Bang Jin-bo.

Had it not been for Dam Ho, far more people would have been killed or wounded by the bandits. And even more would have been swallowed by grief.

"Brother, thank you."

Bang Jin-bo expressed his gratitude once more. Dam Ho nodded and leaned his back against a small rock by the campfire.

Meanwhile, Bang Jin-bo carried the guo and bowls to the stream and washed them. This was all he could do at the moment. Still, he resolved to give it his best.

Right now, he could not bear to remain idle. So Bang Jin-bo kept his body in constant motion, never resting for a moment.

Dam Ho said nothing.

Overcoming grief depended solely on one's own efforts. And Bang Jin-bo knew how to overcome his sorrow.

Dam Ho closed his eyes.

The following dawn, Bang Jin-bo rose before Dam Ho and prepared a meal. With only a handful of limited ingredients and spices, he produced food with remarkable speed.

Dam Ho did not try to stop him.

When cooking, color returned to Bang Jin-bo's face. That passion for cooking would become the strength that kept Bang Jin-bo alive.

After the meal, Dam Ho set out with Bang Jin-bo. The boy's grief had somewhat subsided, and he began to talk little by little.

Bang Jin-bo chattered endlessly, from tales of his childhood to his journey to the Western Regions with his father. Dam Ho listened to every word.

It did not matter that Dam Ho did not respond. Bang Jin-bo talked without cease, and as time passed, his expression grew brighter.

But Dam Ho understood. This was not because the boy had forgotten his father's death, but because he was processing his grief in his own way.

Bang Jin-bo missed his father.

Dam Ho suddenly raised his head and gazed at the sky.

'What must Master be doing now?'

He missed Sage Hyeon-so.

He wanted to go to Mount Hua, where his master was, at once. But he could not.

Sage Hyeon-so had told him to come when he was certain he would not be shaken, even by the fiercest storm. He had to verify that fact first.

Dam Ho silently urged the black horse onward. After some time, a small village appeared ahead.

Bang Jin-bo's face brightened.

"That's wonderful, brother. Let's stop there and buy some ingredients."

"Ingredients?"

"Yes! We've run out of ingredients. If we buy a few things, we should be able to manage. Let's stop briefly."

When Dam Ho nodded, Bang Jin-bo spurred his horse ahead toward the village. Dam Ho watched the boy's retreating figure and saw in it a reflection of his own childhood.

Too anxious to leave alone, and thus unable to turn away…

Perhaps Sage Hyeon-so, his master, had felt the same emotions back then.

The village was exceedingly small. Had it not been for Bang Jin-bo, they would have passed it by without stopping.

There were barely thirty households, and even counting the children, the population fell short of a hundred. One might wonder what food ingredients could possibly be found in such a place.

But Bang Jin-bo's perspective differed from Dam Ho's. He knocked on the doors of ordinary homes and haggled.

Through this, Bang Jin-bo acquired a piece of smoked pork, dried fish, and similarly sun-dried herbs of indeterminate identity.

Bang Jin-bo wrapped his hard-won ingredients carefully in a cloth and stored them with care. Though he had never formally trained as a cook, he had learned a great deal by watching over Bang Woo-gwang's shoulder.

He understood how vital ingredients were. For a skilled cook, nothing was more important than quality provisions.

"Let's go."

A smile graced Bang Jin-bo's face for the first time in a while.

The two departed the village immediately. They could sense the villagers' discomfort.

In such small settlements, suspicion of outsiders ran deep. Once their purpose was fulfilled, it was best to leave quickly for everyone's sake.

Dam Ho was not accustomed to sleeping outdoors. In his youth, he had lived in remote villages, and when he came of age, he had spent most of his time at the Mount Hua Sect.

But twelve years in an enclosed subterranean space had transformed him into someone who could adapt to any situation with ease.

Dam Ho was convinced that no circumstance could be worse than the one he had endured. Having survived that, there was nothing he could not adapt to.

Sleeping outdoors was not a significant problem for him. The same was true of Bang Jin-bo. Though young, he had accompanied his father on countless camping trips and was in fact far more capable than Dam Ho in this regard.

The problem was Bang Jin-bo's stamina.

Until now, they had traveled comfortably in the carriage his father drove, so their stamina had not been greatly taxed. But riding horseback was an entirely different matter, draining their energy at an alarming rate.

Naturally, they could not travel as fast as when Dam Ho was alone. But Dam Ho did not grow impatient.

When Bang Jin-bo showed signs of fatigue, they rested. Sometimes they stopped briefly, other times they remained for quite a while.

Bang Jin-bo grew progressively brighter and soon regained his former liveliness.

"Brother, let's camp here tonight."

It was Bang Jin-bo who first proposed they spend the night.

When Dam Ho nodded, Bang Jin-bo grinned as though he had expected as much.

"Hehe! Brother, just rest for a moment."

Without waiting for Dam Ho's response, Bang Jin-bo set to work with bustling energy.

He gathered scattered twigs and kindled a fire, then fetched water from the stream he had spotted earlier.

He set the guo over the campfire and heated it. When the pot had warmed sufficiently, he added the pig fat he had obtained from the village.

Sizzle!

Smoke rose as the fat melted. Into the heated guo, Bang Jin-bo placed the smoked pork, kidneys, and liver he had acquired in the village and stir-fried them vigorously.

The dish Bang Jin-bo presented was a Huizu traditional dish known as Pao San Yang. Normally lamb was used, but he had ingeniously substituted pork.

Dam Ho's eyes gleamed with interest at this unfamiliar food.

"Where did you learn this?"

"I followed a recipe my father jotted down in his spare time. How is it?"

"Delicious."

"That's a relief. Hehe!"

At Dam Ho's response, Bang Jin-bo let out an embarrassed laugh. For the first time, Dam Ho smiled as well.

Bang Jin-bo clenched his fist tightly.

"I will absolutely become the greatest chef under heaven!"

Bang Jin-bo believed that was the way to honor his father.

What direction would the remaining pursuit team enter from if they heard the whistle?

They would likely come through the narrow entrance of the gourd-shaped area and into the center where Yong-myeong and Longlao’s corpses lay.

People usually prefer to take paths that are somewhat cleared rather than pushing through untouched undergrowth.

Jin Ja-gang emptied Longlao’s book chest completely, taking out everything inside. He then extracted all the poisons he could find and scattered them around. He didn’t care about the different types – he simply spread everything liberally.

He had created a wide circle of poison around the corpses of Yong-myeong and Longlao. The circle was large enough to contain fourteen people.

He also opened boxes containing scorpions and scattered them around. The chestnut-like throwing weapons were coated with poison and tossed outside the circle in various directions.

The area surrounding Yong-myeong and Longlao’s corpses was completely encircled with poison. Though it appeared to be just ordinary undergrowth, in reality, it had become a barrier of poison.

If he could block the entrance, those inside would clearly find it difficult to escape.

After spreading all these various poisons, he took out the whistle.

He turned the whistle over in his hands, trying to calm his pounding heart.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, Jin Ja-gang put the whistle to his lips and blew with all his might.

Shriiiiiek—

* * *

Shriek! Shriiiiiek!

The sharp sound of the whistle echoed throughout the mountain.

Sa Heung-sam and Relentless Dagger, who were part of the Extreme Poison Sect’s pursuit team searching for traces of Jin Ja-gang, also heard the sound.

“It seems to be Longlao’s signal!”

“So he was on the other side?”

They had been wondering why Jin Ja-gang’s traces had suddenly disappeared.

Relentless Dagger remarked suspiciously:

“The whistle sounds urgent.”

“Let’s go quickly.”

Sa Heung-sam led Relentless Dagger and the warriors back, retracing their steps.

At the fork in the path where they had originally gone in the opposite direction, they now saw drops of blood. The blood led from the path into the forest.

Just to be sure, they sent some warriors to investigate. The warriors entered but immediately rushed back out. Their faces had turned pale with fear.

“There are corpses here!”

Finding corpses wasn’t particularly strange. They had already encountered the bodies of warriors who had died from poison along the way.

However, when the warrior continued speaking, Sa Heung-sam and Relentless Dagger understood why he was so shocked.

“It’s… it’s Elder Long’s corpse!”

“What?”

Sa Heung-sam entered the forest with the warriors.

True to the warrior’s words, Longlao’s body lay sprawled in the middle of the forest.

He had been brutally killed, with multiple sword wounds around his neck. His head was half-severed and dangling.

It was a sight that could only come from deep hatred. Even Sa Heung-sam involuntarily winced at the cruelty of the death.

“Hmm!”

Beside Longlao lay Yong-myeong, the Vice Sect Leader of the Medicine King Sect, with his leg horribly mutilated and covered in blood.

Sa Heung-sam approached the bodies of Yong-myeong and Longlao to examine them. He tilted his head in confusion.

“The bodies are cold. It seems they died quite some time before we arrived.”

Relentless Dagger frowned.

“Then who blew the whistle…?”

Shreek!… As if in response to those words, the whistle sounded again.

Sa Heung-sam, Relentless Dagger, and the warriors turned their heads.

At the entrance to the path they had just come through stood Jin Ja-gang, holding the whistle.

Relentless Dagger was dumbfounded.

“What’s this? Did he just willingly reveal himself? Is he insane?”

No one in their right mind would appear and essentially say “please catch me!”

Sa Heung-sam asked Jin Ja-gang:

“Did you kill Elder Long?”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t answer. He merely wiped the blood from his hands onto his clothes and took out an oiled paper from inside his garment.

“What are you doing?”

“…”

“Why did you blow the whistle to lure us here?”

Jin Ja-gang unfolded the oiled paper and shook its contents onto the ground. With an expressionless face, he stared directly at Sa Heung-sam and answered:

“Why? I blew it to kill all of you.”

There was a moment of silence.

No one had expected such words to come from Jin Ja-gang’s mouth.

After a long pause, Relentless Dagger finally spoke with an incredulous expression:

“What?”

He couldn’t help but sneer.

“This crazy little…”

As Relentless Dagger reached for his dagger, Sa Heung-sam stopped him.

“Wait.”

“Why? One throw of my dagger would take his head.”

Sa Heung-sam shook his head while nodding toward Jin Ja-gang.

“I think he has some scheme.”

“What could a mere child’s scheme amount to…”

But Relentless Dagger couldn’t finish his sentence.

It was difficult to dismiss a child’s scheme when so many had already died because of him.

Jin Ja-gang had not been far away all along. He had been hiding tightly pressed against a tree at the entrance. If the pursuit team hadn’t been distracted by the blood on the ground, they would have easily found him.

After Sa Heung-sam and the warriors passed by, Jin Ja-gang calmly counted his enemies.

Fourteen.

After confirming their number, he revealed himself and blocked the entrance by spreading poison.

Sa Heung-sam and the others, unaware of these circumstances, found Jin Ja-gang’s blatant appearance not only baffling but also increasingly unsettling.

Jin Ja-gang spread the poison and stepped back. Then, from a distance, he took out another oiled paper. This time, instead of shaking it onto the ground, he shook it into the air.

Whoosh.

Relentless Dagger laughed incredulously.

“Are you trying to keep us away by spreading all your poison? If that’s the case, why did you…”

However, he quickly realized his assumption was wrong.

“Sniff. What’s that smell?”

A warrior who was close to Jin Ja-gang sniffed the air. His face immediately turned yellow, and he covered his mouth.

“Ugh!”

The wind was blowing.

From Jin Ja-gang toward the Extreme Poison Sect’s pursuit team.

The fine powder Jin Ja-gang had sprinkled was drifting toward the pursuit team like pine pollen.

The terrified pursuit team backed away.

“Poison!”

They hastily held their breath and took out cloths to cover their noses and mouths as they retreated, but two more warriors collapsed in the process.

“Urrgh!”

The poisoned warriors had blue veins bulging on their faces and frantically scratched their bodies as if they were itching terribly. They continued to claw at themselves even as their skin tore and bled.

“Aaaah!”

Yellowish pus formed and oozed from their torn skin.

Sa Heung-sam quickly identified the poison.

“Hell’s Itching Powder!”

Sa Heung-sam shouted:

“Everyone, retreat! Contact with the skin will cause poisoning!”

While Jin Ja-gang was indiscriminately spreading all the poisons he could find, Hell’s Itching Powder was known as one of the most lethal poisons in Longlao’s arsenal.

The warriors retreated as far as possible from Jin Ja-gang. However, this entire area had already been surrounded with poison by Jin Ja-gang. Warriors who tried to push through the forest to go around behind Jin Ja-gang screamed in pain.

“Arrrgh!”

They clutched their feet and rolled on the ground. Their soles were pierced with throwing weapons shaped like chestnuts and needles. These were also coated with poison, and as they rolled on the ground, they inhaled additional poison that Jin Ja-gang had previously scattered. Even those fortunate enough to avoid stepping on the throwing weapons were poisoned by the powder sprinkled on the grass.

“Bleeeurgh!”

Some had inhaled the Nausea Powder that Jin Ja-gang had eaten earlier and were now vomiting.

Whether the poisons were lethal or not, so many people were simultaneously suffering from various poisoning symptoms that chaos erupted instantly.

Sa Heung-sam realized what was happening.

“That brat has gotten his hands on Longlao’s poisons!”

Less than half of the warriors remained unaffected by poison.

Relentless Dagger gritted his teeth and drew his dagger. Jin Ja-gang had already seen Relentless Dagger’s throwing technique before.

Jin Ja-gang immediately hid behind a tree. Relentless Dagger threw his dagger with internal energy.

Thunk!

The dagger embedded itself into the thick tree trunk all the way to the handle. Even Jin Ja-gang, who was hiding, was startled by its force.

Gritting his teeth, Relentless Dagger shouted:

“Come out, you brat!”

It was a nonsensical demand. Jin Ja-gang didn’t even bother to respond.

Instead, he took out a flint. He had found it among the miscellaneous items in Longlao’s book chest. He had already gathered dry underbrush into bundles.

Click, click.

Jin Ja-gang set fire to the dry underbrush with the flint.

The fire caught instantly. Jin Ja-gang threw the burning underbrush in all directions.

The bone-dry autumn grass ignited immediately.

“That, that brat has started a fire!”

Sa Heung-sam, Relentless Dagger, and the Extreme Poison Sect warriors turned pale.

The wind was blowing from Jin Ja-gang toward them.

Fire in front, poison behind.

If they stayed still, they would burn to death; if they fled, they would die from poison.

Smoke rose thickly and drifted toward the pursuit team with the wind. As the fire spread, the poison powder burned, making the smoke even more toxic.

“Cough, cough!”

The warriors coughed continuously.

“Cough! We can’t let him escape!”

Sa Heung-sam’s shout could be heard. But Jin Ja-gang had no intention of escaping. He had never planned to run away. Rather, his only thought was to kill them all.

Deciding to kill fourteen people, even if it was unavoidable, was not something that brought pleasure.

But Jin Ja-gang knew well that letting his guard down meant death. He had seen with his own eyes how quickly and cruelly Great Desert Saber and Relentless Dagger had killed. There was no room for carelessness in this situation.

Once started, he couldn’t leave any loose ends.

Jin Ja-gang was about to set fire to more underbrush to throw… when suddenly, a dark hand shot out through the smoke!

A bony, long-fingered, powerful hand grabbed Jin Ja-gang’s face from behind the tree. The grip was so strong that Jin Ja-gang’s nose was crushed, causing it to bleed.

“Aaargh!”

The hand lifted Jin Ja-gang high into the air.

“You little rat!”

It was Relentless Dagger, his body blackened and burned in several places. Black blood flowed from his mouth, suggesting he had been poisoned. He had endured using his internal energy and pushed through the fire.

“Urrrgh!”

Jin Ja-gang struggled and kicked at Relentless Dagger, but he didn’t budge at all.

Jin Ja-gang quickly tried to draw poisonous energy.

But Relentless Dagger was faster.

“You dare try to kill me?”

As Relentless Dagger tightened his grip, Jin Ja-gang’s nose and skull made cracking sounds.

“Aaargh!”

Jin Ja-gang was in so much pain that he could hardly think. He had been in the process of drawing poisonous energy, and the poison was now dripping from the torn Xiaochi acupoint in his little finger.

Below was burning underbrush.

Though completely unintentional, when the poison droplets touched the fire, the flames suddenly flared up intensely.

Whoosh!

A sulfurous smell filled the air as highly toxic smoke rose. It was even more poisonous than the sulfur fumes that constantly rose from the Mixed Spring Ground.

“I’ll crush your skull and kill—ugh!”

Relentless Dagger stopped mid-sentence.

His nose tingled, and he tasted something burning in his mouth.

By speaking, he had unwittingly inhaled the toxic sulfurous smoke. The poison in the smoke immediately penetrated the mucous membranes of his nose and mouth, rapidly absorbing into Relentless Dagger’s body.