Chapter 61

His already dark face revealed white teeth as he looked up, sending a shiver down the spines of the two warriors.

“What, what… what’s this!”

The young warrior from Iron Umbrella Sect spoke in a tone that suggested he didn’t understand why they were reacting this way.

“I thought there might be some interesting conversation, so I wanted to listen in.”

Feeling unnecessarily startled, the slit-eyed warrior shouted.

“There’s no such thing! Why did you sneak up behind us without a sound and scare us like that!”

The bald warrior also yelled.

“And why are you limping!”

The young warrior from Iron Umbrella Sect replied in a tone of grievance.

“Don’t be too harsh on me. I don’t limp because I want to. It’s a badge of honor from when I took down some medicinal sect scum in the past.”

“Hey, are you the only one who took down medicinal sect trash? Between this friend and me, we’ve killed so many of those medicinal sect vermin that we can’t count them on ten fingers.”

The bald warrior added his piece.

“The bodies we disposed of alone would fill at least two carts.”

“Ah, yes, yes. I see. Well, if there’s no interesting talk, I’ll just be on my way.”

The young warrior from Iron Umbrella Sect grumbled as he went on his way.

The slit-eyed warrior and the bald warrior huffed in irritation.

“Tch, all sorts of things startle people these days.”

“Made me jump for no reason.”

But then, as if struck by the same thought, both fell silent at the same time. The bald warrior, with an awkward expression, asked the slit-eyed warrior.

“Hey, I might have seen wrong, so I’m just asking, but… did that guy look about twenty years old?”

“No. He looked even younger.”

“The medicinal sect business was eight years ago…”

Could it be that he was killing medicinal sect members at the age of ten? Had he been slaying them since he was ten years old?

Something about the timeline and age didn’t add up.

The bald warrior and the slit-eyed warrior turned to look behind them. They saw the back of the young warrior from Iron Umbrella Sect limping away.

The slit-eyed warrior’s face hardened.

“That guy isn’t carrying an iron umbrella.”

“I noticed that too.”

At that moment, the young warrior from Iron Umbrella Sect glanced back and, limping, hurriedly turned into an alley.

The two exchanged a look.

Something was suspicious!

Clang.

They each drew a dagger and a hook, immediately chasing after the young warrior.

It made no sense for a warrior of Iron Umbrella Sect not to carry an iron umbrella. It was as absurd as a swordsman from Sword Sect not carrying a sword.

“That guy must be connected to the Stone Forest Gang incident!”

“I knew something was off!”

They sprinted with all their might and turned the corner.

But the moment they entered the alley, a yellow powder was flung at them.

Poof!

Caught completely off guard, the two warriors flailed their arms.

“Argh!”

“My, my eyes!”

Unable to open their eyes, the two warriors slashed wildly in all directions. They only ended up scratching each other, causing injuries.

“Ugh! Stop!”

“It’s me, it’s me!”

As the two warriors stumbled and stopped attacking each other, Jin Ja-gang sprinkled more poison powder.

It was poison powder he had taken from the Stone Forest Gang. Though less lethal than the poison Jin Ja-gang typically used, it was still made to kill people, so its potency wasn’t low.

It was a powder made from finely ground cinnabar mixed with other poisons, primarily affecting mucous membranes. For instance, areas like the eyes, mouth, and nose.

“Cough, cough.”

“Urk.”

The two warriors clutched their faces and staggered. Tears mixed with the poison powder, sticking to their eyes, and a similar sticky mess clogged their noses and mouths, obstructing their breathing.

Gasping for air, the two warriors looked around with eyes that couldn’t see.

Jin Ja-gang stood in front of them and spoke.

“You said the number of medicinal sect members you killed exceeds ten fingers?”

It was a flat voice, unclear whether it was a question or a statement. Hearing Jin Ja-gang’s voice, the two warriors snapped to attention.

Kneeling, the two warriors pleaded.

“G-great hero! Spare us!”

“Th-that was all a lie! We’re not like that!”

Their pronunciation was slurred due to the poison powder sticking to their mouths and noses. Even so, they did their utmost to make excuses.

“I have children at home. P-please, show mercy!”

Jin Ja-gang looked at them silently for a moment before asking.

“Eight years ago, how much were you involved in the attack on the medicinal sects?”

The bald warrior, his face a mess of tears and snot, shouted.

“We’re just foot soldiers who followed orders!”

“You killed because you were ordered to. Is that it?”

“N-no, that’s not…!”

The slit-eyed warrior also protested vehemently.

“Our Poison Valley was in charge of overall management, so we hardly did any actual killing…!”

As the two warriors opened their mouths to argue.

Whoosh!

Jin Ja-gang sprinkled more poison powder. This time, even more powder entered the open mouths of the two warriors as they spoke.

“Uwaaagh!”

“Urk, urk! This is too much! Urk!”

The two warriors screamed in disbelief. Wasn’t it too much to make someone talk and then throw poison at them?

However, Jin Ja-gang didn’t care in the slightest. He had no intention of seeking repentance or atonement from them. Even if he made them feel remorse in their final moments, it wouldn’t stop him from killing them.

He had already obtained the necessary information from other Poison Valley warriors who were now corpses.

As the two warriors rolled on the ground, venting their grievances, Jin Ja-gang looked down at them and spoke coldly.

“If you feel wronged, die feeling wronged. Those of us who died at your hands felt the same.”

“Urghhh…”

The two warriors clawed at their throats until they bled. Unable to breathe, blue veins bulged on their necks and faces from the excruciating pain, and they slowly died.

Jin Ja-gang dragged the bodies of the two warriors deeper into the alley and dumped them in a corner. He didn’t feel the need to hide them.

The number of people he had already killed exceeded ten. By now, they should be starting to catch on.

Jin Ja-gang stepped out of the alley.

His eyes met those of the middle-aged man who had been harassed by the Poison Valley warriors moments ago. The man trembled in fear.

Jin Ja-gang raised a finger to his lips, signaling silence, before leaving the scene.

Originally, Jin Ja-gang had intended to leave after annihilating the Stone Forest Gang.

However, as he prepared to depart, he realized he knew nothing about his enemies.

He didn’t even know where their bases were located.

Thus, after some thought, Jin Ja-gang decided to stay.

Unlike the Extreme Poison Sect, hidden deep in the mountains, the Stone Forest Gang was openly situated at the edge of the village. News of the Stone Forest Gang being burned and massacred would quickly reach the Yunnan poison sects.

He believed that, in some form or another, the poison sects would come to investigate, and when they did, he could extract information from them.

Sure enough, as Jin Ja-gang had predicted, all three remaining poison sects came to this place!

And Jin Ja-gang was able to obtain most of the necessary information by capturing and interrogating warriors from those three sects.

‘The Three Great Poison Sects! You, too, will pay the price.’

However, before leaving for his next act of vengeance, there was something he had to do.

That was to deal with the remaining members of the three poison sects who had come here.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

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***

As evening fell, Mang Ryo and the three experts from the poison sects, who had been investigating the Stone Forest Gang’s manor, agreed to meet again the next day and left the site.

Except for Mang Ryo, the other three poison sects had taken up residence in nearby civilian homes.

Of course, they had forcibly evicted the original occupants to stay there themselves.

Do Nam-gi, the elder from Iron Umbrella Sect, also returned to the civilian home he had seized as his lodging.

However, in front of the house, a warrior from Shadow Bureau was waiting. Upon seeing Do Nam-gi, the warrior approached and bowed his head, handing over a wooden plaque.

Do Nam-gi didn’t take the plaque immediately, instead touching his nose as he asked.

“What is it? Sniff.”

The Shadow Bureau warrior bowed his head and replied.

“I was told to show this to you.”

Do Nam-gi took the plaque and examined it.

It was a wooden nameplate bearing the name of Jo Yang, the former leader of the Stone Forest Gang.

Even after looking it over from various angles, it seemed no different from any other nameplate except for bearing Jo Yang’s name.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

“I was only told to show it to you. That’s all.”

The Shadow Bureau warrior bowed and left.

Do Nam-gi fiddled with the plaque, pressing it here and there, but found nothing unusual about it.

“Gu Sang-wol was with me just a moment ago, and now he’s pulling strange stunts. Sniff.”

Assuming it was something Gu Sang-wol from Shadow Bureau had ordered since it was delivered by one of his warriors, Do Nam-gi let out a scoff and entered the house.

However, the atmosphere inside felt chaotic.

“What’s going on?”

A warrior from Iron Umbrella Sect replied with a bewildered expression.

“The comrades who went out to gather information haven’t returned yet.”

It was already past sunset. They should have returned to report long ago, but there was no sign of them.

Do Nam-gi counted the numbers and saw only four warriors present. He had brought ten with him, meaning six were missing.

Two had accompanied him to the Stone Forest Gang’s manor as escorts, and two were guarding this house, so all the warriors who had gone out hadn’t returned.

“What are they doing, taking so long?”

They waited a little longer, but there was still no news.

Do Nam-gi felt an odd sensation.

“This won’t do.”

Just as he was about to go look for them himself.

“Urghhh!”

A warrior from Iron Umbrella Sect, his face swollen and disfigured, covered in blood from head to toe, stumbled into the house holding an iron umbrella.

The other Iron Umbrella Sect warriors gathered in shock.

The blood-soaked warrior let out a scream-like utterance before collapsing forward.

“Enemy… ambush!”

“What?!”

Do Nam-gi and the Iron Umbrella Sect warriors tensed up and looked outside.

At that moment, the blood-soaked warrior, flailing as he collapsed, suddenly pulled out a pouch hidden inside the iron umbrella and threw it at Do Nam-gi.

Whoosh!

A yellow powder burst into the air.

Though it was a sudden attack, Do Nam-gi reacted swiftly. He immediately held his breath, summoned his internal energy, and unfolded the iron umbrella he was holding in front of him.

Snap!

The iron umbrella opened, blocking the yellow powder from reaching him.

Do Nam-gi proved himself a skilled expert. Calmly, he swung the iron umbrella, dispersing the yellow powder in all directions.

Jin Ja-gang, seeing his surprise attack fail, pulled out two more poison pouches from his waist.

Then, he slammed the pouches onto the ground with force.

Even for a skilled expert like Do Nam-gi, it would be difficult to act recklessly with poison scattered everywhere.

The powder from the pouches rose like smoke, obscuring Jin Ja-gang’s body and spreading in all directions.

“Well, well?”

Do Nam-gi looked at Jin Ja-gang with an intrigued expression.

But the other warriors weren’t as composed. The gathered warriors hesitated to approach, coughing as they did.

“Stay back, all of you!”

Do Nam-gi commanded the warriors and pulled a mechanism on the handle of his iron umbrella.

Ping!

A poison needle shot out from the tip of the iron umbrella and embedded itself in Jin Ja-gang’s shoulder.

There was no way to dodge it. In an instant, his shoulder grew stiff, and sensation vanished.

Jin Ja-gang gritted his teeth and pulled his body back. Due to the poison powder he had scattered everywhere, even Do Nam-gi couldn’t charge in recklessly. Moving would inevitably stir up the poison powder.

For a brief moment, a stalemate ensued with the poison powder between them.

Do Nam-gi infused his voice with internal energy and shouted.

“Who are you, you b*st*rd!”

Do Nam-gi’s use of internal energy in his voice wasn’t meant to ensure Jin Ja-gang heard him clearly.

Jin Ja-gang, clutching his stiff shoulder, stared at Do Nam-gi.

He couldn’t see any clear weaknesses in Do Nam-gi standing before him. Though he had considered the possibility, he hadn’t expected his surprise attack to fail.

Indeed, compared to the experts of the Stone Forest Gang, this man was on a different level. In comparison, the Stone Forest Gang had truly been far too weak.

Still, it wasn’t entirely unexpected, so Jin Ja-gang straightened his back and stood tall.

Do Nam-gi’s eyebrows twitched.

“Hoo, look at this guy?”