Chapter 7

Jin Ja-gang froze in shock, then, seeing the cane, was paralyzed in terror.

At the tip of the birch cane was a dried stain of blood. Behind it stood a man, supported by just one leg, the other having been cut off above the knee.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The voice sounded gentle, but the strong hand gripped Jin Ja-gang’s hair and yanked him out of the hole.

“Ugh!”

Jin Ja-gang struggled, but it was useless.

It was Mang-ryo.

“Boy, when an elder asks a question, you should answer.”

With a pleased look, Mang-ryo gazed at Jin Ja-gang, smiling with his face but with killing intent shining in his eyes.

“So you’re the bad little child that’s been running away, aren’t you?”

“Let go! Let go!”

“No, no. You didn’t do anything wrong—it’s those damned healthy legs that are at fault, running all over the place.”

“No, please!”

Jin Ja-gang, sensing something chilling in Mang-ryo’s tone, screamed, but no one came to help.

Mang-ryo tossed Jin Ja-gang onto the ground and, just as he had crushed Son Wi-hak’s corpse, he struck at Jin Ja-gang’s shin.

“You wicked leg!”

Crack!

With a single blow, Jin Ja-gang’s tender left shin snapped cleanly.

“Aaaaagh!”

He tried to endure the scream, but the pain of his bone shattering and splintering was impossible to withstand.

“Ahh, ahh… uh…”

In an instant, his whole body was drenched in sweat.

He went limp, his arms and legs trembling uncontrollably.

“After punishing the bad leg, you’ve become a good child now, haven’t you?”

Mang-ryo laughed loudly and slung Jin Ja-gang over his shoulder.

Only then did warriors rush in from all sides, but they merely watched and did nothing.

Step, step.

Mang-ryo hobbled along, carrying Jin Ja-gang as he left the branch.

He began to recite poetry, evidently in high spirits.

“With one cup of wine, the rising moon becomes a beautiful lady. With two cups, the blue waves of the river turn into cherished friends.”

As he hummed and quoted verses, Mang-ryo’s mood soared.

“If friends in Luoyang ask about me, tell them a piece of my pure heart is kept inside a jade bottle.”

Jin Ja-gang, his entire body bound, lay atop a cold stone bed.

It was a large, sealed room.

All around hung bundles of dried herbs and mushrooms, bamboo cages filled with captured insects, and countless scrolls, bamboo slips, and books were scattered on the floor.

“On a clear day when rain falls on and off, does it seek to break the soul of every traveler on the road?”

Mang-ryo, humming and reciting every poem he could remember while searching for something, made Jin Ja-gang shiver.

He could sense what was coming next.

***

Read only at nineheavens.org

Translated by Nine Heavens!

https://discord.gg/XC9DTsTQ9Z

***

That morning, Jin Ja-gang, unable to so much as move a finger, had been dragged all the way to the Extreme Poison Sect.

For the five days of travel in the carriage, Mang-ryo had, to Jin Ja-gang’s bewilderment, made sure he ate three meals a day without fail.

“Did you think I would just kill you? Not at all—not at all. How could I waste such a precious material? Someone who survived being bitten by the Five-Colored Centipede—isn’t your body a rare treasure?”

He would say this, then force spoonfuls of meat and soup into Jin Ja-gang’s mouth. Jin Ja-gang, unable to chew or even breathe properly, was forced to swallow everything.

But despite feeding him so well, Mang-ryo never bothered to treat his broken leg. He drove the carriage so roughly that the shattered bone pushed through the flesh. Whenever Jin Ja-gang groaned from pain, Mang-ryo seemed pleased.

That Mang-ryo was searching for something now could only mean he was about to inflict more torment on Jin Ja-gang.

“Well, if I do anything too severe at the start, you might become useless, so I’ll keep it simple for the first day.”

Eventually, Mang-ryo found what he was looking for—a grayish gourd bottle. He approached Jin Ja-gang.

“Your body’s flow of energy is completely blocked. What will you do with such a body? You can’t live like that. I’ll just make good use of you for a very long time.”

Mang-ryo held the bottle out, and from its neck, a venomous centipede poked out its head.

“Behold, the Black Centipede. Of course, the Five-Colored Centipede would’ve been a hundred, a thousand times more valuable, but some b*st*rd—who deserves to be torn apart—killed it. What a shame, but let’s see what this one can do instead.”

“Uhh! Uhh!”

Jin Ja-gang twisted his body, desperate to get away, but his limbs were bound to the stone bed—he could only move his head. Perhaps Mang-ryo had done it on purpose, so he’d see everything that was about to happen.

The black centipede crawled over his toes and up his leg. Wherever it passed, thin red streaks appeared as if sliced by a razor, quickly swelling up—since even the feet of a centipede carry poison.

Madness glinted in Mang-ryo’s eyes.

“Hold on, now—this is the broken leg. What’ll happen if I let it bite here? Will the leg refuse to heal? Will it rot? Or maybe it’ll heal even faster?”

“Uhh! Uhh!”

“Worried you’ll never be able to use that leg again? Don’t worry. I’ve lived with only one leg and I get by just fine.”

Jin Ja-gang shook his head desperately, but that only provoked the centipede, causing it to bite deep into his injured leg.

The stabbing pain was just like when the Five-Colored Centipede had bitten him.

“Aaaargh!”

But this time, pinned down and unable to resist, he couldn’t tough it out. His head spun, his chest tightened, and his mind grew cloudy.

***

When Jin Ja-gang came to, Mang-ryo was examining his mottled body.

Jin Ja-gang looked down at his leg. There was some oozing around the bite, but no other clear symptoms.

“Interesting. The black centipede’s poison hasn’t spread, it just faded away at the spot.”

Mang-ryo scowled, displeased to see Jin Ja-gang awake.

“Tch, you lost consciousness too quickly and I didn’t get any results at all.”

He blamed Jin Ja-gang, though it was hardly his fault.

“It seems I’ll need to make some special preparations.”

He paced, thinking, when a Poison Sect warrior entered.

“Elder, it’s time for the meeting.”

“I know.”

Mang-ryo came over and gently patted Jin Ja-gang’s head.

“You’ve had a hard time, so rest today. Good job.”

The falsely affectionate words made Jin Ja-gang’s skin crawl.

Perhaps he’d be allowed to rest for today.

Just as Jin Ja-gang felt a touch of relief, Mang-ryo, who had almost left, turned back.

“No, wait. Why waste time resting? Maybe the poison didn’t spread because it was your bad leg. Let’s try the healthy one.”

He retrieved the bottle again and approached.

“Uhh…”

The black centipede crawled up his right leg, stabbing Jin Ja-gang sharply with its stinger.

“Aaaargh!”

Mang-ryo’s laugh mingled with Jin Ja-gang’s screams, echoing through the room.

***

When the pain swelled until it felt like his body would burst, Jin Ja-gang would sometimes faint—and, fortunately, when he came to, the pain was significantly lessened. His body was drenched in cold sweat, lips parched, but he told himself he could endure it.

No matter how long he had to live like this, one day he would escape and get his revenge. Jin Ja-gang clenched his teeth and steeled himself.

But Mang-ryo was not about to let him be.

***

Late at night.

Jin Ja-gang, dozing fitfully, was jolted awake by a sudden stabbing pain in his leg.

Crack!

“Aaaaaaaagh!”

Mang-ryo stood over him, brandishing his cane. The leg that had just begun to heal was shattered once more.

The agony was indescribable.

“Arrrgh! Aaaaagh!”

Ignoring Jin Ja-gang’s howls, Mang-ryo’s eyes burned with rage as he raised his cane again.

He brought it down over and over, raining blows on Jin Ja-gang’s helpless, bound body.

“Because of you, I’ve been driven out! Me! I’ve worked night and day at the forefront, striving for the Poison Sect’s rise in the martial world! But now, I’m crippled because of you!”

The madness in Mang-ryo’s eyes deepened.

Thud, thud!

With his arms and legs tied, he was helpless to defend himself.

Ribs broke, organs were bruised, and soon he was coughing up blood.

He wanted to yell, “It was you who attacked Hundred Flower Valley!” but the pain was so consuming he couldn’t utter a word.

“The head of the sect told me to retire from the field. Can you believe that? I worked so hard, and because of you, everything’s ruined!”

After venting his anger, Mang-ryo finally lowered his cane, seeing Jin Ja-gang lying motionless.

Panting, Mang-ryo seized Jin Ja-gang’s hair and pulled his face close.

“You… I’ll never let you die easily. You’ll live and pay the price for this for the rest of your life!”

Even as Mang-ryo snarled, Jin Ja-gang forced himself to smile.

“Heh…”

A spark of fury flashed in Mang-ryo’s eyes.

“Argh!”

With a roar, he struck Jin Ja-gang’s head with the tip of his cane.

Bang.

As darkness descended, Jin Ja-gang’s senses and sight faded into nothing.

***

When he awoke, white daylight streamed in through the window, suggesting it was already midday.

“Are you awake?”

Mang-ryo, using a gentle voice, applied ointment to Jin Ja-gang’s battered body.

“Thinking it over, I was a bit harsh yesterday.”

Jin Ja-gang’s skin crawled.

His whole body, covered in bruises and mottling, was covered with poultices as Mang-ryo looked on with a pitiful expression.

“There, drink this too.”

Mang-ryo handed him a decoction.

As the liquid entered his mouth, he felt a tingling on his tongue—or perhaps not just tingling, but his entire mouth growing numb. His head grew heavy, his stomach queasy, and slowly his body began to seize up.

When Jin Ja-gang looked at Mang-ryo in terror, the old man smiled kindly.

“I’ve mixed refined pufferfish poison into a decoction for clearing blood stasis. Since ordinary poison doesn’t work well on you, I added ten times the normal amount.”

Pufferfish poison.

Jin Ja-gang, unable to move now, found even breathing growing difficult. His chest was so tight he could only manage the barest gasp to keep himself alive.

He began to cough up white froth as his breathing grew more labored.

“I’ll be away for a few days. Don’t go anywhere, alright?”

Mang-ryo didn’t even wipe Jin Ja-gang’s mouth, just watched him for a moment with satisfaction, then left.

He heard Mang-ryo close the door.

Alone in the room, Jin Ja-gang experienced a terror like death by suffocation—the room empty, and time dragging on.