Chapter 21

Witnessing Gwak-o’s end was very uncomfortable, but it provided Jin Ja-gang with valuable information.

It seemed true that people were being transported elsewhere tomorrow. Gwak-o had called them people of the Medicine King Sect.

If he went there now and secretly hid among them, he might somehow be able to escape from the Extreme Poison Sect.

However, Jin Ja-gang hesitated.

It was because of the Hundred Flower Secret Scripture tucked in his garment. Even knowing it was fake, he couldn’t bring himself to discard it—reflecting his inner sentiment.

After wavering, Jin Ja-gang made his decision.

‘I need to find the authentic version. Leaving comes after that!’

Survival is important. Truly important.

But if the lineage of Hundred Flower Valley were to end here, Jin Ja-gang would have no meaning beyond mere survival.

Finding the authentic Hundred Flower Secret Scripture might be the last mission remaining for Jin Ja-gang.

Now that he knew of its existence, and who possessed it, he couldn’t ignore it.

Jin Ja-gang left Gwak-o’s house.

He didn’t set out blindly to find the authentic Scripture. Jin Ja-gang had his own plan.

‘First, let’s find where that old monster is.’

Jin Ja-gang excluded the place where he had been held captive and experimented on by Mang-ryo. He had rarely seen Mang-ryo reading books there.

That meant he was either carrying it on his person or had placed it where he resided.

Jin Ja-gang kept the fake Scripture close and followed the side path used by waste carts, moving uphill.

The Extreme Poison Sect had built its pavilions along the mountainside. Fortunately, the buildings weren’t clustered together, giving Jin Ja-gang some room to maneuver.

He hurried along, constantly surveying his surroundings. Since it was deep into the night, only occasional torches were lit, and warriors patrolled the paths.

Jin Ja-gang chose a suitable spot.

Two warriors stood with swords, looking bored.

Jin Ja-gang took a deep breath. Then he drew a drop of poisonous energy from his dantian and extracted it through his right little finger.

Next, he coated the edge of the broken dish fragment with the poisonous energy from his little finger, then scratched his own face with it.

He didn’t need to cut deep enough to draw blood. Just grazing it in a couple of places was enough to cause a tingling pain. Soon his face became swollen.

After confirming his face was swollen, Jin Ja-gang rushed forward.

“Woooo! Wooooo!”

The two warriors who had been yawning by the torches were startled and stared at Jin Ja-gang.

“W-what!”

Jin Ja-gang held out the handwritten copy of the Hundred Flower Secret Scripture and shouted in a hoarse voice:

“To Elder Mang-ryo quickly…!”

Then he collapsed forward.

The warriors looked at each other, trying to pass the responsibility, until finally the warrior with the diamond-shaped face approached. With a disgusted expression, he tried to take the Scripture that Jin Ja-gang was holding out.

“Ugh.”

Jin Ja-gang pretended to hand over the Scripture while using the broken dish fragment hidden beneath it to scratch the warrior’s fingertip.

“Ah, that hurts!”

The warrior jumped in surprise. His companion, standing at a distance, was also startled.

“What’s wrong?”

“The book cut my—”

Jin Ja-gang interrupted the warrior.

“Kkuk, kkuk. Elder Mang-ryo quickly!”

“No, that’s…”

The diamond-faced warrior couldn’t finish his sentence as he stared at his own hand. His finger was severely swollen.

“Ahhh!”

The diamond-faced warrior lost strength in his legs and collapsed. Soon he fell sideways, foaming at the mouth. Immediately, his limbs began to shudder and convulse.

Perhaps because the poison entered through blood, it worked faster than expected.

“Hey! Hey!”

The remaining warrior looked back and forth between Jin Ja-gang and the diamond-faced warrior.

Jin Ja-gang’s face was swollen, and the diamond-faced warrior’s hand was swollen, foaming bloody bubbles from his mouth.

Anyone could see they were poisoned.

“Ugh…!”

Jin Ja-gang still held and waved the Hundred Flower Secret Scripture, but the remaining warrior dared not approach. He was so panicked that he couldn’t even think about why Jin Ja-gang, who seemed equally poisoned, was still fine while his companion was dying.

“Y-you wait here!”

The warrior just said that to Jin Ja-gang and ran back along the path.

Jin Ja-gang, who remained behind, had gleaming eyes.

‘Success!’

Jin Ja-gang rose to his feet.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

The warrior ran past a couple of forks in the road toward a single-story house in sight. It wasn’t far from where Jin Ja-gang had been held captive.

On the way, whenever he encountered guards, he pointed behind him and shouted:

“Go that way. Hurry!”

Thanks to this commotion, Jin Ja-gang, who was following behind, had ample time to hide. The guards were so startled and rushed by that they passed right by Jin Ja-gang, who was hidden behind a nearby rock.

The warrior ran into the courtyard of the single-story house and knelt outside the door, calling out:

“Elder! Something terrible has happened. Please come out quickly!”

Mang-ryo emerged, leaning on his cane with a scowling, disheveled face as if he had been sleeping.

“What is it?”

“Someone appeared, poisoned and disfigured, asking for you, Elder.”

“Who was it?”

“His face was so disfigured from poisoning that I couldn’t recognize him, but he looked like one of the menial workers.”

“And?”

“He was holding a book, but something seemed strange about it.”

“Where is the book?”

The warrior quickly continued:

“I tried to take it, but it must have been coated with poison, because whoever touches it gets poisoned. One of our men tried to take the book and was poisoned! You must come quickly, Elder.”

Mang-ryo scratched his ear with an irritated expression.

“To disturb me for such a trivial matter…”

Mang-ryo paused mid-sentence, as if suddenly remembering something, and turned to the warrior.

“What kind of book was it?”

“It had ‘Hundred Flower Secret Scripture’ written on it!”

Mang-ryo’s single eye widened.

“What did you say!”

Mang-ryo unconsciously glanced back toward his room, then turned his head again.

“Where exactly is this person?”

“Just down there below!”

“Let’s go!”

Mang-ryo immediately came down to the courtyard. Though he limped, he had grown accustomed to his cane and moved surprisingly quickly.

After Mang-ryo and the warrior rushed off, Jin Ja-gang immediately sprang out from the shadow of the thick tree at the edge of the courtyard.

When the Hundred Flower Secret Scripture was mentioned, Mang-ryo had glanced back at his room. It was certainly there.

Mang-ryo had been so distracted that he’d left the door open. Entering the room, Jin Ja-gang saw that one wall was filled with a bookcase packed with books, while the other side had a bed and various medicinal ingredients.

‘Where is it? Where?’

Jin Ja-gang grew anxious. Even though his eyes had adapted to darkness, finding one volume of the Hundred Flower Secret Scripture among so many books wasn’t easy.

There was no time.

‘No, it’s not there!’

Though Hundred Flower Valley might be treated as a third-rate sect, it had maintained its lineage for centuries. No matter what, it was unlikely that the Secret Scripture of such a sect would be casually placed among ordinary books. If Mang-ryo had given Gwak-o a handwritten copy rather than the original, it meant the Hundred Flower Secret Scripture was quite valuable.

Jin Ja-gang recalled how Mang-ryo had unconsciously looked back when he heard about the Hundred Flower Secret Scripture, then quickly turned his head.

‘He realized the Scripture was in a safe place.’

A safe place.

Where could it be?

Jin Ja-gang frantically scanned the room. Suddenly, he noticed a box placed beside the bookcase.

It was a suspicious-looking box even at first glance. It seemed too obvious a place, but there was nowhere else that could contain a book.

The box was closed but had no lock.

Mang-ryo disliked inconveniences. He probably hated the hassle of opening and closing locks. But there would surely be something else instead.

Jin Ja-gang steeled himself and grabbed the lid of the box.

Sure enough.

At that moment, something sharp shot out and pierced Jin Ja-gang’s palm.

‘Ah!’

Jin Ja-gang quickly gritted his teeth and swallowed his groan.

A needle was embedded in his palm.

It must have been a poisoned needle. The moment it pierced him, his palm felt numb. The poison was so potent that his head spun.

‘It’s okay. It’s okay.’

Before his hand swelled further, Jin Ja-gang pulled out the needle and firmly grasped the lid to open it again.

Ping!

Once more a needle shot out, but this time it flew over his head and embedded itself in the ceiling.

The mechanism was probably designed for an adult’s height, which is why it missed. Still, Jin Ja-gang felt a chill down his spine.

‘Whew.’

He removed the lid.

Inside were two books.

‘There it is!’

The second book from the top was the Hundred Flower Secret Scripture. To be sure, he checked the contents and found it filled with text and illustrations. He couldn’t confirm if it was the original, but it certainly wasn’t a handwritten copy.

As he retrieved the Hundred Flower Secret Scripture, his eyes caught the book beneath it.

Without hesitation, Jin Ja-gang took that book as well.

‘Herbal Cultivation Method.’

Though the title was unfamiliar, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t out of greed for someone else’s secret manual, but to prevent Mang-ryo from using it.

He tucked both books inside his clothes against his stomach and tied them securely. Then he placed the fake Hundred Flower Secret Scripture in the box.

He was about to just leave it there, but then took the poisoned needle that had pierced his hand and discreetly inserted it into the cover of the fake Scripture.

He closed the box lid again.

‘Done.’

He had finally found the authentic sect manual. His heart swelled with emotion. But it wasn’t time to rejoice yet.

Jin Ja-gang cautiously checked outside before leaving the room. He went around the back of the house and headed toward the waste pit. The path there was used by waste carts and had much fewer people.

It smelled terrible, but this was no time to be picky.

‘Now I need to find the carts where the Medicine King Sect people are held.’

Jin Ja-gang patted his stomach where he had secured the secret manuals.

Though still tense, thinking about how upset Mang-ryo would be when he found out improved Jin Ja-gang’s mood slightly.

* * *

By the time Mang-ryo arrived with the warrior’s guidance, more than a dozen warriors had already gathered in a circle, buzzing with conversation.

Mang-ryo pushed through the warriors.

One warrior lay dead on the ground. Mang-ryo put on deerskin gloves and shouted:

“The book!”

“When we arrived, there was nothing here, Elder!”

“Fools.”

Mang-ryo gritted his teeth. Still, his hands were already moving. He checked the dead warrior’s eyes, turning them over, and even pulled out his tongue.

Suddenly, he removed the warrior’s shoes to examine his toenails.

He also closely inspected the hand that had supposedly been cut by the book.

Then an incredulous exclamation escaped Mang-ryo’s lips.

“What is this…?”

All the warriors turned their attention to Mang-ryo.

“You said he was poisoned just now?”

“Yes.”

“But blisters have already formed on his tongue, and his fingernails and toenails have turned dark blue. These symptoms usually require at least ten bowls of arsenic to develop such acute signs.”

The warriors murmured among themselves.

By now, some of the Extreme Poison Sect’s masters had also arrived.

“Elder Mang, what’s happening?”

Mang-ryo didn’t answer, just frowned and looked around at the Extreme Poison Sect masters, his eye widening.

“Where is Bloody Hand?”

One of the Extreme Poison Sect elders asked in confusion:

“Didn’t you insist on having Bloody Hand guard somewhere?”

“That’s why I’m asking where Bloody Hand is now! Didn’t you agree to take shifts over several days?”

A master of the Extreme Poison Sect named Ju Song responded awkwardly:

“I was supposed to take over the shift starting tonight, but I’ve been waiting for word from Miao Weng.”

Hearing this, Mang-ryo’s shoulders trembled.

The Extreme Poison Sect masters looked at Mang-ryo with concern.

“Elder Mang?”

But there was nothing wrong with Mang-ryo. Instead, he was smiling.

Mang-ryo was grinning with his mouth stretched to his ears, his single eye filled with killing intent!

“It’s him. That brat has returned!”