Chapter 35

Jin Ja-gang’s split sole finally stopped bleeding and scabbed over after two days.

Considering that Jin Ja-gang’s skin regeneration was several times higher than that of ordinary people, this healing was quite delayed. Wounds inflicted by a martial arts master’s sword energy typically don’t heal easily.

It was an important experience where he learned the terrifying power of sword energy firsthand.

Jin Ja-gang realized that it was dangerous to expose himself carelessly when facing martial arts masters. Especially when exposed to killing intent, he truly thought he would die.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t simply rest indefinitely, so Jin Ja-gang gathered fruits to eat and slept on the road as he continued walking back to the Extreme Poison Sect.

Since he had injured the sole of his good leg, it took longer than expected to return to the Extreme Poison Sect.

In the end, he returned to the Extreme Poison Sect three days after his escape.

To escape with such difficulty only to return…

Anyone who saw Jin Ja-gang would surely think he was insane.

However, from the moment Jin Ja-gang decided to return, he had been completely focused on methods to annihilate the Extreme Poison Sect and exact his revenge.

‘If everything goes as planned…’

The method Jin Ja-gang had in mind was to poison the well.

The most common yet most effective method since ancient times. Especially since the Extreme Poison Sect used well water to cook rice every dawn, the effect would be substantial.

Jin Ja-gang believed it was entirely possible. He knew where the well was. During his previous escape, he had taken note of the well’s location.

The problem was how to reach the well inside the Extreme Poison Sect. That’s what he had been considering during his entire journey back.

Jin Ja-gang stopped walking and took a deep breath.

In the distance, he could see the first gate, which was the only entrance and exit to the Extreme Poison Sect.

It was a small fortress gate constructed with earthen walls topped with rafters to form a roof. The wall’s height was easily five times Jin Ja-gang’s height, making it nearly impossible to climb over secretly.

Jin Ja-gang paused and entered the nearby grass thicket.

It was still midday, so the main gate was wide open.

Jin Ja-gang wandered through the grass, gathering a few pieces of dry bark that looked flammable. He drew poisonous energy to the Xiaochi acupoint in his little finger and bit it to create a wound. Then he coated the bark with the poisonous fluid.

He found thorny vines and applied poison to the thorns as well. Without any proper weapons, these served as Jin Ja-gang’s armaments.

After making these two preparations, Jin Ja-gang moved through the thicket as close as possible to the main gate and waited.

Two warriors were guarding the main gate.

When he listened carefully, he could hear the warriors’ conversation.

“Is there still no word from the pursuit team?”

“They’re supposed to report once a day, but apparently there’s been no contact for three days already.”

“Huh? Surely nothing has happened to the pursuit team?”

“Well, it seems they’ll wait until tomorrow and then form a second pursuit team.”

Jin Ja-gang felt relieved. He now knew he had until tomorrow.

‘I’ll finish everything and leave today anyway.’

Jin Ja-gang continued to listen to the warriors’ conversation.

“They’re not saying it, but the higher-ups must be quite anxious. That little brat has quite a record, after all.”

“Indeed. He’s already killed several masters. I still can’t believe he poisoned even Great Desert Saber.”

“By comparison, Elder Mang was crippled but not killed, so he was extremely lucky.”

“Lucky? Since he lost the brat, he’s been relegated to the back room, stripped of his authority to mobilize troops and conduct investigations directly. He’s just treated as a has-been now.”

“That’s all his own doing. That’s what happens when you’re so greedy.”

“It’s best to just live like us, doing what we’re told. Kill when ordered to kill, beat when ordered to beat, steal when ordered to steal. See how easy that is?”

“Ah, don’t talk like that in public. Show some dignity. Soon we’ll be proper members of the Martial Arts Alliance.”

“People like us in the Martial Arts Alliance. The way of the martial world has truly fallen, indeed it has.”

“Hee hee.”

Jin Ja-gang felt cold anger rise within him at the warriors’ words.

‘Just kill whoever you’re ordered to, you say?’

The victims were precisely Hundred Flower Valley and the Medicine King Sect.

Grinding his teeth, Jin Ja-gang thought:

‘You will certainly pay the price.’

Jin Ja-gang listened to the warriors’ words a little longer, then quietly retreated into the thicket to wait.

* * *

As the sun set, several torches were hung at the gate, and the warriors began to change shifts.

The warriors who had been guarding the main gate during the day chatted as they went inside to change shifts with the new arrivals.

“Nothing unusual?”

“Nothing at all.”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t miss this opportunity. Though he was limping, he crawled to the main gate as quickly as possible.

A large bronze brazier was placed in front of the main gate. At night, they would light a fire in it to illuminate the front.

Jin Ja-gang tossed the bark into the bronze brazier, which hadn’t been lit yet, then returned to the thicket.

Though it was a distance of barely ten steps, his entire body was soaked with sweat from tension.

‘Whew.’

Now he just had to wait.

Two warriors who were changing shifts came out from the main gate. One carried wooden kindling, while the other held a torch to light the brazier.

One placed the wood inside, and the other lit the brazier with the torch.

The brazier quickly caught fire and blazed up.

Whoosh.

“Ah, that’s warm.”

“It’s already getting a bit cold at night.”

The two warriors didn’t leave immediately but briefly warmed themselves at the brazier. Then, as if sensing something strange, they looked around.

“Do you smell something odd?”

“Yes… something like a sulfur smell…”

The warrior stopped mid-sentence and swallowed a groan.

“Keuup!”

“…Kkeok!”

The two warriors who had inhaled the sulfur fumes let out stifled groans one after another.

The bark that Jin Ja-gang had placed in the bronze brazier had caught fire, vaporizing the poison.

The two warriors had unwittingly inhaled the sulfurous fumes through their noses and mouths, causing their airways to swell.

“Kkeuk!”

Unable to breathe, the two warriors rolled on the ground, not understanding what was happening.

Thud!

A warrior who had fallen to the ground saw Jin Ja-gang crouching in the nearby thicket. The warrior’s eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Jin Ja-gang. However, he was in no condition to do anything.

“Keok, kkeuk, kkeuk.”

The warrior, with bloodshot eyes, clutched his throat with one hand while stretching the other toward Jin Ja-gang, trembling. His face, unable to breathe, turned bright red, then gradually darkened.

The other warrior was in the same condition. He staggered a few steps before collapsing and being unable to rise. After a while, the warrior’s body went limp.

‘Success!’

Jin Ja-gang rose to enter through the open gate. Now, until the morning shift change, no one would come to the main gate.

However, that was just Jin Ja-gang’s assumption. One of the warriors who had finished his shift and was about to leave happened to return and witnessed the scene outside.

“Huh? What’s this! What’s wrong with you all!”

The warrior, sensing something was amiss, entered the gate to ring the bell.

If the warrior went inside and called for others, everything would go wrong.

It was a critical moment.

Instead of hiding, Jin Ja-gang dashed out into the open.

The warrior who was about to ring the bell hesitated momentarily when Jin Ja-gang sprang out from the thicket.

Since Jin Ja-gang was not an adult but a young boy, the warrior felt both reassured and puzzled.

Wearing fire-scorched clothes and covered in dirt, Jin Ja-gang looked like a beggar boy, not threatening to anyone.

But why had he jumped out from there?

The warrior hesitated without entering, then drew his sword.

“Who are you!”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t answer but retreated, pretending to run away.

“Uh, uwaaaah!”

Since he was limping and his sole was injured, he couldn’t run properly. He pretended to be scared and running, then fell down.

Jin Ja-gang slowly crawled on the ground, trying to lure the warrior to follow him.

The warrior seemed to think Jin Ja-gang had seen something important.

The warrior looked around. Seeing no one else but Jin Ja-gang, he mustered his courage and ran toward Jin Ja-gang.

“Stop right there!”

However, as he passed through the lit bronze brazier, the warrior staggered.

“Ugh! Urgh!”

Thud!

The warrior dropped his sword and fell forward.

He didn’t seem to be severely poisoned. Instead of dying immediately, the warrior clawed at his face and neck, expressing his agony.

“Keu, keu.”

Fortunately, his throat was swollen, preventing him from making proper sounds.

Blisters formed on the face of the warrior who had inhaled the poisonous fumes. From rubbing so much, the blisters broke and oozed fluid.

“Uuuu.”

The warrior who had been rubbing his face suddenly looked up. The corpses of his colleagues rolling on the ground caught his eye. The horrific sight of corpses covered in blisters, oozing blood and pus!

“Uwaaaah!”

The warrior hurriedly stood up and met eyes with Jin Ja-gang, who was staring at him.

The warrior fell backward in terror.

“Kkeuyk! Kkeuyk!”

The warrior let out a stifled groan and scrambled to get up. He stood on trembling legs and looked at Jin Ja-gang again.

Then suddenly, he turned his body and began to walk-run toward the gate, away from Jin Ja-gang.

‘No!’

Jin Ja-gang jumped up. He picked up the sword the warrior had dropped, drew poisonous energy to his little finger, and coated the blade with poison.

Then he chased after the warrior.

However, with his painful sole and limping leg, it was not easy to chase an adult warrior, even one who was poisoned.

Seeing Jin Ja-gang running after him while dragging his leg, the warrior’s face filled with terror.

“Kkeuyk! Kkeuk!”

The warrior, though staggering, moved even faster. Despite foaming blood at the mouth, he wasn’t dead yet.

Jin Ja-gang grew desperate.

‘Stop right there!’

Jin Ja-gang’s hair stood on end.

Would the revenge opportunity he had worked so hard for disappear so futilely?

Whether by heavenly fortune or not, the warrior ahead stumbled and fell. Though fallen, he crawled desperately on the ground.

Jin Ja-gang, not wanting to miss this opportunity, ran with all his might.

‘Just a little, just a little more!’

If he could just take one running start, he could plunge the sword into the fleeing warrior’s back!

At that moment, as Jin Ja-gang desperately wished and planted his foot—

Pop!

The sole of his foot, which had barely begun to heal, burst open.

And then, thread-like energy flowed from the Baihui acupoint at the crown of his head, around the major meridian in his waist, and down to his right foot.

A momentary opening of the blocked energy channels occurred due to the explosive bleeding.

Energy surged in Jin Ja-gang’s leg. It was similar to the feeling he had when escaping from Mang-ryo’s laboratory.

The effect didn’t last long. Just one breath. For that moment, Jin Ja-gang could push off the ground and leap into the air more powerfully than ever before.

‘What did I just do?’

Jin Ja-gang didn’t even understand what he had done himself. Though not comparable to martial arts masters, it was similar to using lightness skills.

But.

‘Oh!’

Not expecting to jump so far, Jin Ja-gang misjudged the distance and overshot the fallen warrior. Jin Ja-gang landed near the warrior’s head.

Thud!

In the end, Jin Ja-gang became entangled with the warrior.

Before Jin Ja-gang could recover, the warrior roughly mounted him. No matter how much poison he possessed, his body was still that of a child. He couldn’t withstand an adult’s raw strength.

The warrior, with a terrifying face and eyes spread wide apart, foaming blood at the mouth, strangled Jin Ja-gang’s neck.

“Keuaaa!”