Chapter 97

The third day.

Jin Ja-gang looked up at the sky from dawn.

A halo had formed around the moon all night, and now a faint rainbow could be seen in the distance.

His heart pounded.

‘Perhaps today…!’

Jin Ja-gang took out all the hidden weapons and poisons he had been hiding.

One vial of Abundant Sediment remained, along with small amounts of various other poisons. He organized them carefully and put them in his sleeves.

He threw away all the antidotes just in case.

He also checked the Four Emperor Divine Water remaining in his dantian.

Due to recent heavy use, less than five gwangcheung remained of the Four Emperor Divine Water skeins. He extracted two gwangcheung from these, applied them to needles, and inserted the poison needles into the leather band wrapped around his arm.

He also packed some light food.

“Phew.”

Poison Valley had the largest numbers and possessed many masters compared to all his previous opponents. Moreover, though they were small and medium-sized sects, most of those who had come were sect leader-level figures, so they wouldn’t be easy to deal with.

Jin Ja-gang made thorough preparations and waited for the right moment.

The main gate opened and entry to Poison Valley became possible. Jin Ja-gang mixed in with the outsiders and entered Poison Valley. Having worked there for the past ten days and become familiar with faces, there was no problem entering under the pretext of doing odd jobs.

In the main hall, various matters were being discussed today as well, continuing from yesterday. Intense discussions were taking place as everyone tried to secure good positions and obtain good business rights.

Jin Ja-gang looked at the sky.

It was cloudy.

A somewhat overcast sky without sun.

The ground smelled and was humid.

But it wasn’t time yet.

‘Before that…’

There was something he had to do.

Jin Ja-gang passed by the main hall and went to the inner courtyard of Poison Valley.

The place Jin Ja-gang went to was the finance officer’s office located on the outskirts of the inner courtyard.

Since the other foremen had already received their money last time, no one was waiting except Jin Ja-gang.

However, a warrior went inside to talk and then came out, telling Jin Ja-gang to wait outside.

Jin Ja-gang waited.

Before he knew it, it was noon.

Judging by the meal being brought into the office, they seemed to be eating lunch inside. But no particular news was conveyed to Jin Ja-gang.

After eating lunch and apparently going to take a nap, the scholar briefly left the office.

When Jin Ja-gang’s eyes met the scholar’s, he bowed his head slightly in greeting.

“I’ve come to collect the money on the promised date.”

The scholar picked his teeth arrogantly and looked down at Jin Ja-gang, then shrugged his shoulders.

“We’re still too busy to settle accounts. Wait a bit longer.”

Then he just went back inside.

As afternoon came, the weather became completely overcast.

Jin Ja-gang chewed on the jerky he had prepared and continued waiting until then.

Perhaps feeling sorry for his appearance, the guard warrior shook his head.

“Hey. You seem not to know, but you won’t get paid today. I’ve seen this kind of thing more than once or twice. Around evening, they’ll either give you a severely reduced amount or tell you to come back next time.”

“I see.”

Actually, he had been somewhat prepared for this.

Jin Ja-gang offered the jerky to the guard warrior.

“Would you like some?”

The guard warrior casually took and ate the jerky.

But a little while later.

“Ugh, urgh.”

The guard warrior clutched his stomach.

“Why does my stomach suddenly hurt so much? What, is there something wrong with the jerky?”

But Jin Ja-gang was still chewing jerky.

Chew, chew.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Uh, no. I just feel like I need to go urgently.”

The guard warrior looked back and forth between the office and Jin Ja-gang several times and said:

“Stay put while I go to the outhouse. Don’t go into that room carelessly. Got it?”

“Understood.”

“Really, really? If I come back and find you went in carelessly, you’ll die by my hands… Ow!”

The guard warrior was so urgent that he grabbed his buttocks and ran toward the outhouse.

He had no choice.

Like Mr. Jang, he had eaten jerky coated with poison that causes diarrhea.

It was natural that Jin Ja-gang would be fine after eating such poison.

Jin Ja-gang immediately headed into the office.

When Jin Ja-gang entered the office, the finance officer and scholar looked at him.

The two seemed to have nothing particularly busy to do and were just chatting while drinking tea.

The scholar’s face contorted.

“What? Who told you to come in?”

The finance officer’s expression was also frowning.

“These stupid people can’t even do what they’re told. I’ll have to fire them right after the assembly ends.”

Jin Ja-gang lightly ignored their grumbling.

“I’ve come for the settlement.”

The scholar, who had been playing around until then, went to sit at a table piled with documents for no reason.

“We’re busy, so wait.”

“Understood.”

Jin Ja-gang readily agreed. Rather, the scholar and finance officer became puzzled.

But instead of leaving, he stood in place and stared directly at the scholar.

The annoyed scholar threw documents and shouted:

“Wait outside!”

“Are you free?”

“Huh?”

“I’m asking if you’re free enough to shout at me.”

“What, what?”

The scholar clicked his tongue as if incredulous.

“Tsk, this impudent…”

The finance officer also snorted.

“Leave him alone. He must not want to get paid.”

Jin Ja-gang looked at the finance officer.

“I came because I want to get paid.”

“Then why is your attitude like that when you came to get money?”

“Do I need an attitude to collect money from a legitimate transaction?”

“Of course you do! Because I’m the one who has to pay, and I’m in a bad mood!”

“Then what happens if the person receiving the money is in a bad mood?”

The finance officer got angry.

“You arrogant b*st*rd!”

The finance officer threw an inkstone at Jin Ja-gang. With a crack, the inkstone hit Jin Ja-gang’s head and fell, splitting in half.

Jin Ja-gang stood still without moving and glared at the finance officer.

“You… you…!”

The finance officer shouted.

“Isn’t there anyone outside! Drag this guy out immediately!”

But there was no one outside. The person who should come wasn’t coming.

Jin Ja-gang said:

“Do you know why I’m waiting?”

“What?”

“Because I’m troubled.”

The finance officer waved his hand.

“Bah! I don’t want to hear any more! Drag him out right now!”

“Would you wait just a moment? My troubles aren’t resolved yet.”

Since the guard warrior wasn’t coming, the scholar had no choice but to approach to drag Jin Ja-gang out.

“Get out while I’m being nice.”

When the scholar grabbed Jin Ja-gang’s collar, Jin Ja-gang shook his sleeve, took out a needle from the band around his forearm, and used half a breath of internal energy to stick the needle into the scholar’s hand like lightning.

“Ahhh, it stings!”

The startled scholar grabbed his hand and stepped back. A long needle was embedded deep in the back of his hand.

“Ugh…” The scholar trembled his hand, perhaps experiencing this for the first time. He was so scared he couldn’t even properly pull out the needle.

The finance officer slammed the table with his hand, stood up, and shouted:

“You, you b*st*rd! If you don’t want to die miserably…”

Jin Ja-gang walked up to the finance officer and stuck a needle into the back of the finance officer’s hand that was gripping the table.

“Ahhhhh!”

Since he used the remaining half breath of internal energy, the needle pierced through the finance officer’s hand and embedded itself into the table.

“How, how dare you do this…”

“It’s called Four Emperor Divine Water.”

The finance officer who understood those words became speechless.

Though the finance officer was just a clerk who managed finances, his position in Poison Valley wasn’t low. He knew enough about what was going on. The words “Four Emperor Divine Water” immediately brought something to mind.

Four Emperor Divine Water was Shadow Bureau’s poison and had recently been used to attack Iron Umbrella Sect.

‘The, the limping one!’

Was the guy in front of him the rumored limping one!

Come to think of it, he seemed to limp slightly when he came in.

The finance officer’s heart shrank completely. He was suddenly terrified.

But the cunning finance officer didn’t easily reveal his inner thoughts. Rather, he pretended not to understand what Four Emperor Divine Water was and said:

“Don’t do this. I’ll give you money if it’s money you want. I was just playing around a bit…”

Jin Ja-gang just stared quietly without answering.

The finance officer quickly changed his words:

“Right! You said you were troubled earlier, didn’t you? What’s your trouble? Is this because of your trouble?”

“My trouble?”

“Yes, your trouble. Tell me. I might be able to help.”

Jin Ja-gang thought for a moment and said:

“Originally, I didn’t want to kill people carelessly.”

The finance officer felt his hair stand on end.

“Of, of course! You shouldn’t kill people carelessly.”

“I was thinking of only killing my enemies. Actually, I thought I could do that.”

“…Is, is that so? Living in the world, things don’t always go as planned. So?”

“I was troubled about what to do with people who aren’t my targets for revenge, whether I have the right to kill them just because they extort others’ money… I was troubled.”

The finance officer swallowed dry saliva. The scholar next to him was also completely cowering, frightened by the atmosphere.

“So, so that trouble…”

Jin Ja-gang looked at the finance officer and said in a tone telling him not to worry:

“You don’t need to worry about it. It was just resolved.”

“Huh? No, why was it resolved? Wasn’t it a serious trouble?”

“While I was troubled, I unconsciously acted, making the trouble meaningless. And I didn’t bring any antidote.”

The faces of the finance officer and scholar turned pale.

“Ugh… please…”

Sweat beaded on their foreheads. Their bodies began to ache. The scholar also realized this wasn’t just a needle but a poison needle.

The scholar awkwardly held up one hand with the needle stuck in it and put five silver coins on the table. No, he put down his entire money pouch.

Clink!

“Here, here’s money! If you want more, I’ll give you as much as you want! Please spare us!”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t refuse and took only five coins from there.

“I’ll only take what’s in the contract.”

Then he turned as if to just leave!

Blood began flowing from the scholar’s nose. His vision became blurry.

The scholar knelt and begged:

“Please spare us! Please!”

The finance officer vomited blood and screamed:

“Save me! I’ll do anything, just give me the antidote!”

“I just said I don’t have an antidote, but you don’t seem to believe me.”

Jin Ja-gang shook his head. Perhaps because they had lived that way all their lives, they didn’t listen to others.

Four Emperor Divine Water is an extreme poison. The scholar and finance officer, who were ordinary people and not warriors, quickly foamed blood at their mouths.

“Kugh, kek.”

Not long after, the two died with final convulsions.

Jin Ja-gang no longer watched them and came out of the office.

Waiting outside for a moment, the guard warrior approached, staggering on his legs.

“Nothing happened, right?”

“No.”

“They didn’t look for me inside… ugh!”

“They didn’t look for you, so go ahead. I should just go too.”

“Ugh, okay.”

The guard warrior ran to the outhouse again.

The guard warrior would be suffering from stomach problems all day and wouldn’t be able to pay attention to the room, and others were too busy with the assembly to come here. Even when Jin Ja-gang had been waiting for half a day, not a single person had come. The finance officer’s death probably wouldn’t be discovered until evening.

Evening would be enough time.

Jin Ja-gang watched the guard warrior’s awkward retreating figure running away, then looked up at the sky.

The sky was overcast and the surroundings were dim.

Jin Ja-gang left the inner courtyard and headed toward the main hall.

Inside the main hall, the atmosphere was still heated. Everyone was gathered, frantically focused on dividing up interests.

Jin Ja-gang waited for the right moment, but the perfect time didn’t easily come.

His heart grew anxious.

The sky had been overcast all day but wasn’t showing the weather Jin Ja-gang wanted.

‘But…’

The clouds continued to darken and the humid smell was much stronger than in the morning.

If he waited just a little longer, it seemed like it would become what Jin Ja-gang wanted.

But if the right time really didn’t come, he might have to postpone his plan.

He could only hope that wouldn’t happen.

Jin Ja-gang waited for the right moment, sitting by the wall and watching the main hall where the meeting continued.

Occasionally warriors passed in front of Jin Ja-gang, but no one paid attention to him.