Chapter 39

Mang-ryo asked the surviving kitchen worker:

“Was this jar’s water used to cook rice?”

The worker, crying amid the chaos, answered:

“No! For cooking rice, we always use fresh water drawn every morning.”

Upon hearing this, Mang-ryo looked around the kitchen.

What caught his eye was a water carrier haphazardly placed outside the kitchen building.

“Could it be that?”

The water buckets attached to the water carrier.

While they might guard the well and watch over the water jars, nobody would think to guard the water buckets.

There was no need to go all the way to the well to release poison. Simply coating the buckets with poison would turn the water poisonous the moment it was drawn.

But after examining the water buckets, Mang-ryo tilted his head.

“That’s not it.”

In the Extreme Poison Sect, they didn’t cook rice normally.

Because the surrounding area had so much sulfur and poisonous plants growing, when cooking rice, they mixed in sorghum. The sorghum helped remove any toxins that might have seeped into the rice.

Therefore, they didn’t use the rice water directly, as it might contain toxins. While ordinary households typically cook rice twice by draining the first boil and adding fresh water to make “double-steamed rice,” the Extreme Poison Sect discarded even that water and added tea water for a third cooking.

So even if poison had been applied to the water buckets, it would likely have been diluted or washed away during this process.

“But it’s true that people were poisoned after eating the rice.”

Clearly, the rice did contain poison.

But how could it have bypassed all those processes?

At the very least, the steam during the rice cooking should have contained poison, causing those cooking to collapse from poisoning.

“Then it wasn’t poisoned before the rice was cooked…”

It was poisoned after the rice was fully cooked.

Mang-ryo carefully examined the kitchen again.

Soon, what caught Mang-ryo’s eye was none other than the rice paddle.

There were two types of paddles used in the kitchen. There was a large, foot-long paddle for mixing rice in the pot when it was done, and next to it, a smaller, palm-length rice paddle for serving rice into bowls.

However, while the large paddle was hanging on the wall, the small rice paddle was half-submerged in a bowl of water.

“Why is this soaking in water?”

The worker answered with a tearful expression:

“The rice paddle needs to be wet so the rice grains don’t stick and can be served cleanly. If we serve it messily in the rice bowls, some people complain…”

How could Mang-ryo possibly know about such trivial kitchen matters?

Mang-ryo silently observed the rice paddle, then picked it up and stirred the water in the bowl.

“Come here.”

“Yes.”

As the worker approached, Mang-ryo held out the rice paddle and said:

“Lick it.”

“What?”

“Hurry.”

The worker, bewildered amid the chaos, couldn’t refuse. He took the paddle and licked it with his tongue.

“…”

Nothing seemed to happen from just that much.

“It’s boring to wait.”

Mang-ryo grabbed the worker’s head. Then he took the bowl in which the rice paddle had been soaking and poured its contents into the worker’s mouth.

“Kuk kuk, gulp gulp. Kek kek.”

The worker was forced to drink the water and began coughing from choking.

But soon, blood mixed with his coughing.

“Huh?”

The worker looked at Mang-ryo with surprised eyes.

“Keuk!”

The worker’s face contorted as foam seeped from his mouth.

“E-Elder!”

The worker clutched his throat and gagged. But Mang-ryo, as if annoyed, kicked the worker away. The worker, who had rolled into the corner of the kitchen, began convulsing while spewing blood.

“Heo!”

An exclamation of delight escaped Mang-ryo’s lips.

Who would pay attention to something like a rice paddle?

Who would care about the water in a bowl holding a rice paddle?

Especially ordinary workers. They probably just served the rice as usual, placed the paddle back in the water, served more rice, and so on.

“That little brat really got us good.”

The poison from a single pufferfish can kill thirty-three adults. The amount of poison Jin Ja-gang possessed would have been more than enough to kill all two hundred warriors of the Extreme Poison Sect.

* * *

When Mang-ryo visited Miao Ligoujao’s office again, he encountered a warrior who was just about to enter.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m reporting to the Sect Leader! Someone has released poison within our sect, and most have been poisoned!”

“How many?”

“We can’t even count accurately. It’s an enormous number, almost everyone!”

The warrior was in a state of shock. “Almost everyone” essentially meant the Extreme Poison Sect was ruined.

Mang-ryo nodded and waved his hand.

“I understand, you may go.”

“What? But I need to report directly…”

“I’ll see the Sect Leader and tell him myself. Go.”

“Yes, yes…!”

Mang-ryo opened the door to the office and entered.

Miao Ligoujao was sitting in his chair with a deathly black face. Foaming at the mouth and gasping, he stared at Mang-ryo.

Judging by the rice bowls overturned on the floor, he too had been poisoned after eating rice. It seemed he had frantically consumed antidotes, as crumpled oil paper and small vials were scattered about.

Miao Ligoujao was also a martial arts master with considerable internal energy. He could expel minor poisons with his internal energy.

However, Jin Ja-gang’s poison was too potent even for his internal energy to handle.

“Heu, heu. The Elder wasn’t poisoned…”

Mang-ryo stared blankly at Miao Ligoujao.

“Because the Sect Leader ignored my words, the Extreme Poison Sect is now finished.”

The word “finished” came out so naturally.

Miao Ligoujao gritted his teeth.

“Yes… I was foolish. Did he… did he really attack our sect?”

“I am certain.”

Miao Ligoujao extended a trembling hand.

“The Elder knows him well… so you must also know about his poison? An antidote… is there an antidote?”

Mang-ryo looked at Miao Ligoujao with a sinister smile.

“Heuheuheuheu. You ignored me when I tried to warn you, but now you’re asking me for an antidote?”

Miao Ligoujao’s eyebrows trembled faintly.

“Elder Mang… don’t do this.”

“Sect Leader, you ruined this Extreme Poison Sect in a single night—the one I built with my blood and sweat day and night.”

“Yes… that was my mistake. But that’s not what’s important right now… If I survive, if we join forces, the Extreme Poison Sect can always… revive.”

Mang-ryo’s eyes flashed with fire.

“I built it, I did! I brought the Extreme Poison Sect this far! Yet you ignored me, cast me aside, and finally ruined the Extreme Poison Sect! What? You want to revive it?”

Mang-ryo yelled.

“This is all because of you!”

“You?”

In that moment, Miao Ligoujao’s eyes flashed.

Being naturally gloomy and cunning by nature, Miao Ligoujao had his own thoughts.

Miao Ligoujao believed Mang-ryo wasn’t poisoned because he had an antidote.

Having resented him for some time, and now consumed by madness, he was clearly beyond reasoning.

In that case.

‘I’ll kill him and find the antidote!’

He swiftly drew the sharp iron hook from his waist. Summoning his remaining internal energy, he threw it at Mang-ryo.

Shuririk!

Mang-ryo quickly twisted his body.

Bang!

The iron hook flew past Mang-ryo and embedded itself in the wall. The iron chain attached to the hook dangled close to Mang-ryo’s face.

Miao Ligoujao glared at Mang-ryo, grinding his teeth.

“Give me the antidote!”

At that moment, Mang-ryo’s expression, which had been filled with anger, gradually subsided.

Then, his lips began to curl upward, and eventually, he started laughing.

“Kek kek kek. I was just testing you; surely I wouldn’t withhold the antidote from the Sect Leader.”

“What kind of trick is this!”

“I feel better now that I’ve expressed my feelings. I’ll give you the antidote.”

“Hmm…”

Miao Ligoujao was displeased, but since Mang-ryo was offering the antidote, he had no choice but to wait.

Mang-ryo pulled the iron hook out of the wall.

The tip of the iron hook was always coated with poison, causing it to be discolored to a yellowish hue.

Mang-ryo respectfully brought the iron hook to Miao Ligoujao.

“Now, now, don’t be angry. Let’s put this ugly thing away. It’s not right to throw such things over a little friction between us, is it?”

“Krrng… sorry about that.”

Just as Miao Ligoujao was about to take the iron hook from Mang-ryo with an embarrassed face.

Mang-ryo didn’t simply hand over the iron hook but suddenly raised it.

As Miao Ligoujao frowned, wondering what he was doing, Mang-ryo brought the iron hook down directly on Miao Ligoujao’s head.

Thwack!

The iron hook embedded itself in Miao Ligoujao’s head.

“Kraak! E-El…”

Mang-ryo, expressionless, continued to bring down the iron hook.

Thwack, thwack, thwack.

He didn’t stop even as blood splattered and bones cracked.

Mang-ryo only stopped when the floor was soaked with blood. He wiped his hands on the tablecloth and spat on Miao Ligoujao’s corpse.

Only then did an expression appear on Mang-ryo’s face. His single eye, filled with killing intent, gleamed. His face had turned bright red.

“You dare… try to kill me?”

Mang-ryo took a candle from one side of the room and threw it at the bookshelf. Flames slowly rose.

Once the fire had spread somewhat, Mang-ryo left the office.

Outside was still chaos.

At a glance, it seemed only about twenty or thirty percent had survived.

Just those who hadn’t eaten rice at that time.

A martial arts master who had survived but was still suffering from poisoning was coming to the Sect Leader’s office when he saw the fire and was shocked.

“Elder Mang! What’s happening!”

Mang-ryo glanced at him briefly, then turned away and went on his way.

Now the Extreme Poison Sect had been erased from his mind.

The Extreme Poison Sect was ruined anyway.

Revival? Nonsense.

While warriors could be replaced, the dead masters could not be brought back. Moreover, this bloodbath had occurred just as they were about to join the Martial Arts Alliance. And all because of one child.

If they had been so belittled in the martial arts world, it was over.

What master would want to join a ruined sect like this? Especially the Extreme Poison Sect, which was a sect in name only with no true master-disciple relationships.

Mang-ryo ignored the moans and corpses around him and returned to his quarters.

Riiiip!

He tore off the cumbersome long robe he was wearing. He pulled out a new leather overcoat and put it on. He also fastened a wide belt around his waist, designed to hang various items.

He packed all kinds of poisons, antidotes, and concealed weapons into the pockets of his overcoat and hung them on his belt.

Especially, he packed plenty of medicine that could counter Jin Ja-gang’s main poison, arsenic.

Then he sat at the table, placed a mirror on it, and meticulously combed his hair.

He tied his combed hair into a topknot and neatly pinned it up. He also wrapped and tied a headband.

He looked more serious and neat than ever before.

Finally, he opened a small box on the table and put on new deerskin gloves.

A smile spread across Mang-ryo’s lips.

It was time.

Now it was time to hunt him, Jin Ja-gang.

The deeper the resentment, the greater the joy of revenge.

He trembled with excitement at the thought of pouring all his resentment and anger onto Jin Ja-gang.

But suddenly, he felt something strange in his right thigh.

It felt burning hot.

Mang-ryo, still sitting in the chair, looked under the table.

Jin Ja-gang was under the table, driving a sharp metal skewer into Mang-ryo’s leg.

Mang-ryo felt all the hair on his body stand on end.