Chapter 167: A Good Deed Is Repaid Tenfold (2)

"Give me the medicine."

Jong Ri-yeon administered the second dose to Gwak Yeon.

Gwak Yeon's complexion was markedly improved compared to before. But she was still in danger.

Clang!

Outside, Hwa-no and the Sword King Unit were still locked in fierce combat. Explosive sounds erupted ceaselessly, and violent surges of energy shook the thatched hut.

Performing the Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle under such conditions was close to impossible. But Jong Ri-yeon's terrifying concentration turned the impossible into the possible.

Thud! Thud!

Jong Ri-yeon inserted silver needles into Gwak Yeon's body without hesitation. This was the second performance of the Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle. Beside her, the silver needles from the first performance lay discolored black—it was the foul energy within Gwak Yeon's body that had tainted them.

'If the needles are placed even slightly off course, Yeon will die. Focus, Jong Ri-yeon.'

Jong Ri-yeon urged herself on as she placed the needles.

Beads of sweat cascaded ceaselessly from her entire body.

Gwak San watched Jong Ri-yeon's efforts with anxious eyes as he prepared the final decoction.

At that moment—

Boom!

Suddenly, with a tremendous roar, one wall of the thatched hut burst open. A fierce gale immediately swept through the interior.

"N-no!"

Gwak San threw himself over the decoction pot to protect it with his body. His left arm was burned by the flames, but he had no time to feel the pain.

After confirming the decoction was safe, Gwak San quickly looked toward Jong Ri-yeon.

Jong Ri-yeon's head and shoulders were covered in splintered wood fragments. She had not emerged unscathed from the explosion either.

Though Jong Ri-yeon was certainly shaken and shocked, she gritted her teeth and struggled to maintain her composure.

Gwak San called to her.

"Young mistress!"

"I am alright. Uncle, please continue decocting the medicine."

"Un… understood."

At Jong Ri-yeon's response, Gwak San nodded desperately.

'Young mistress!'

Hwa-no, who was fighting the Sword King Unit, glanced sideways at Jong Ri-yeon.

He could see her desperately performing the Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle. It was because he had failed to completely block the Sword King Unit's assault that the hut's wall had collapsed.

Hwa-no was fighting the Sword King Unit with every fiber of his being.

Time had stolen his youth, but in exchange, it had granted him seasoned skill and experience. Hwa-no compensated for his diminished martial power with experience and fought with everything he had.

As a result, he had managed to bring down five Sword King Unit members. In exchange, wounds covered his body.

A deep gash gaped open like a fish's mouth. But Hwa-no did not have the luxury of feeling pain.

The Sword King Unit's coordinated attacks turned with the precision of interlocking gears.

Slash!

A Sword King Unit member's sword grazed Hwa-no's right arm.

"Ugh!"

Hwa-no's face contorted.

A nerve had been severed—his right arm would not move. Hwa-no instinctively realized he had reached the moment where he must make a critical decision.

'Young mistress!'

He had no attachment to his life.

It was a spare life he had been given by Jong Ri-yeon's grace. A life that should have ended long ago—he had lived a few years more.

"Chaaah!"

Hwa-no gathered every last shred of his remaining internal energy.

Whoosh!

The air rippled.

Sensing something was wrong, the Sword King Unit's deputy leader, Namgung Seong-chan, shouted.

"Everyone, be careful!"

"It is too late. Shattering Emperor Blood Demon Palm!"

Hwa-no spread his palm wide.

Krash!

In that instant, a blood-red energy erupted from his palm.

"T-this is?"

"Demonic energy!"

The Sword King Unit members cried out in alarm and tried to pull back from the melee. But more than a dozen were swept up in the blood-red current.

"Uwaaah!"

"Kwaaah!"

The Sword King Unit members caught in the blood-red current screamed in agony. Their bones and flesh were melting.

The surviving Sword King Unit members, witnessing the horrifying power, shuddered.

"What is this?"

They had never heard of a martial art that could melt a person's bones and flesh with a single strike.

Meanwhile, Hwa-no, who had unleashed the Shattering Emperor Blood Demon Palm, fell to his knees and spat out a great mouthful of blood. The ground and his chest were stained red.

'Ugh! As expected, it was too much?'

Several years ago, he had been saved from the brink of death by Jong Ri-yeon's help, but his internal energy had not fully recovered.

The Shattering Emperor Blood Demon Palm was an extremely evil demonic art. Even with a complete body, it was not easy to withstand the recoil. To unleash it in an incomplete state meant the backlash was gnawing at Hwa-no's very life.

Hwa-no raised his head and looked ahead.

Five members of the Sword King Unit still remained. They had escaped the Shattering Emperor Blood Demon Palm by the narrowest of margins.

Their faces had turned ashen, but they were still functional enough to move. Hwa-no, on the other hand, was immobilized by the backlash, his internal organs shattered.

With his profound internal energy, he barely clung to life, but he was effectively a dead man.

The Sword King Unit members exchanged glances. They too had noticed Hwa-no's condition.

The deputy leader, Namgung Seong-chan, issued the order.

"You two, bring the Sage."

"Yes!"

Two Sword King Unit members advanced toward Jong Ri-yeon.

Jong Ri-yeon was performing the third Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle. She had reached the most critical juncture.

If interrupted now, not only Gwak Yeon but Jong Ri-yeon herself would be in danger. But the Sword King Unit knew nothing of this.

"N-no!"

Gwak San spread his arms and blocked their path.

His entire body trembled like an aspen. His face, drained of color with fear, had turned deathly pale, but he somehow did not step aside.

"Hmph!"

But the Sword King Unit had no reason to accommodate his situation. They scoffed and kicked Gwak San away.

"No!"

Watching this, Hwa-no vomited blood and cried out. But Gwak San had already been struck in the chest and was rolling across the ground.

"Worry about yourself, old man."

Namgung Seong-chan unleashed the Heavenly Thunder Palm at Hwa-no.

'N-no!'

Jong Ri-yeon's pupils, performing the Life-and-Death Soul-Hanging Needle, wavered.

Hwa-no's crisis shattered her concentration.

The hand holding the silver needles trembled violently. At this rate, she could not place the needles accurately.

'I must save Yeon…'

But she could not stand by and watch Hwa-no die either. For years, Hwa-no had been her protector and closest companion.

Just as Jong Ri-yeon was about to close her eyes in despair—

Crash!

Suddenly, a thunderous roar rang across the battlefield and a violent wind struck her body. But she felt no pain.

Jong Ri-yeon cautiously opened her eyes. Before her stood the back of someone blocking her path.

The back of a man clad in tattered black robes, completely stained red with blood.

At his feet, the two Sword King Unit members who had been advancing toward her lay in heaps of torn flesh.

"Ah!"

An involuntary exclamation escaped Jong Ri-yeon's lips.

It was Dam Ho.

He was walking toward Namgung Seong-chan and the remaining Sword King Unit members.

Were an ordinary person to limp, they would surely look diminished. But Dam Ho was different.

With each step Dam Ho took, Namgung Seong-chan and the Sword King Unit members retreated. They were overwhelmed by his sheer force of presence.

"Huuh!"

A ragged breath escaped between Dam Ho's lips.

"H-how?"

Namgung Seong-chan stammered.

Disbelief was written across his face.

Dam Ho's appearance meant that Su-cheon was dead. And that the eighty-odd Sword King Unit members who had accompanied him had been annihilated.

Su-cheon had long guarded the Namgung Family from the shadows. He was not someone who would die so easily.

"You… are you even human? How could you possibly…"

Namgung Seong-chan's face twisted grotesquely.

Of the hundred-strong Sword King Unit, only three remained. With such forces, they could not handle Dam Ho—if Dam Ho was in his normal state.

But it was obvious at a glance that Dam Ho was far from normal. The fact that he could move at all was miraculous, given the horrific wounds covering his body.

Namgung Seong-chan exchanged glances with the remaining Sword King Unit members.

'He is bluffing.'

That was the conclusion they had drawn from considering Dam Ho's condition, breathing, and other factors.

'Swift resolution!'

There was no more room for hesitation.

Shing!

The instant their swords cleaved through the air, Dam Ho moved.

Boom!

Dam Ho's body was the first to slam into the chest of the martial artist on the left. The man's chest caved inward and he vomited blood. Dam Ho, splattered with the man's blood, continued driving forward.

"Ugh!"

Namgung Seong-chan, who had been building momentum to swing his sword, froze for an instant. If he continued his swing, his subordinate's body would be cleaved in two by his blade.

Even if the man was certainly dead, damaging a subordinate's corpse with his own sword was something he could not bring himself to do.

That momentary hesitation sealed Namgung Seong-chan's fate.

Dam Ho's fist drove into his side.

Thwack!

"Kuhuk!"

The fist had struck his right side, but his left side burst open.

A hole was punched clean through his side, and his organs spilled out.

Namgung Seong-chan's eyes, wide with shock, lost their light.

"Ugh. No."

The last surviving Sword King Unit member staggered backward.

They had come a hundred strong. He alone remained.

"F-fist Demon…"

It was like a nightmare.

'The Sword King Unit annihilated. How can this be…'

Dam Ho was approaching him.

He was still limping.

In that instant, the martial artist saw one possibility of survival.

He threw himself backward and launched into a movement technique with everything he had.

'He is a cripple. He can never catch me. No matter how shameful it is, I must survive. I must return to the main family and tell them of his existence.'

That was why he fled.

Grab!

In that instant, someone seized his leg.

It was Hwa-no. He had gathered his last remaining strength to grab hold of the martial artist.

"Ugh! Let go!"

The moment the martial artist tried to shake off Hwa-no's grip—

Shing!

Dam Ho unleashed Fortress Breaking Fist.

A violent surge of energy swept in like a tidal wave and engulfed the martial artist's entire body.

His face distorted from the pressure. Then Dam Ho's fist crashed into his face.

Boom!

The martial artist's head burst open like a watermelon.

Having dispatched the last member, Dam Ho's body swayed.

Thud!

Dam Ho dropped to one knee and vomited blood. His face was deathly pale.

He was paying the price for his exertion, having sustained life-threatening injuries both internal and external.

Dam Ho gritted his teeth and activated the Dark Soul Heart Method.

If he lost consciousness now, his life would be at stake. He had to hold on to his awareness until the very end and heal himself through his own power.

Hwa-no watched Dam Ho, who insisted on resolving everything through his own strength, with an expression of awe.

But the light in his eyes faded rapidly. His body had sustained injuries beyond recovery. That he had held on until now was itself a miracle.

"Keep the Heavenly Evil in…"

Hwa-no's lips moved, then stopped.

His breath had ceased.

Jin Ja-gang squeezed out what little strength he had left and crawled toward the opposite side from Woon-jeong.

It was an instinctive movement to get as far away as possible from Woon-jeong, the source of the sound.

“It’s useless.”

Woon-jeong continued to shake the ceremonial bell while reciting Taoist scriptures.

“The True Person’s surname is No (路), his name is Gwang, and he is from Daean. He is from Hwanghyeon in Daeryeong County of Western Shu, and was well-versed in all classics. He is the Primordial Sect Leader No Jin-gun. His courtesy name is Hyoseon and his name is Hyeon, from Danyang. He received the Nine-Stage Golden Liquid Immortal Scripture from Jwaja and was transmitted the Spiritual Treasure Scripture, Penetrating Mystery Scripture, and Great Unity Scripture, passing down to later generations the methods of Supreme Clarity, Spiritual Treasure, Penetrating Spirit, Great Unity, and Taoist Elixir Preparation. The Primordial Sect Leader Gal Jin-gun is Gal Hyeon.”

Ding-a-ling…

Ding-a-ling…

Jin Ja-gang felt as if his body was melting and sticking to the ground. It seemed as though he was sinking into the floor, his body endlessly collapsing.

Woon-jeong’s bell sounds, which had been slow, gradually became heavier, weighing a thousand pounds as they pressed down on Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang found it difficult to even move a single finger.

But then.

Jin Ja-gang saw something strange before his eyes.

It was a snake. Except for two red lines drawn along the sides of its body, its flesh was so transparent that you could see right through it.

It was only about two spans long, but its flesh was so transparent that you could clearly see its round eyes, teeth and the poison glands attached to the teeth, its yellow and blue internal organs, and the bones that surrounded its body in circles like centipede legs.

Hiss, hiss-hiss.

Since its entire face was transparently visible, you could see its red tongue darting in and out.

‘Am I dreaming… or am I already returning to hell?’

However, as if it wasn’t a dream, the transparent snake crawled over and bit Jin Ja-gang’s finger.

Extreme pain like being burned by fire erupted in his finger. Jin Ja-gang’s mind snapped to attention.

The transparent snake’s poison penetrated Jin Ja-gang’s body, causing pain as if his left arm below the elbow was being torn away. But that was as far as it went. The poison didn’t spread further from there.

The transparent snake, realizing that things weren’t going as it wanted, twisted its body wildly while keeping its teeth embedded. The more it did so, the more severe the extreme pain became, actually making his mind clearer.

Memories of the Five Colors Five Merits from long ago overlapped.

Jin Ja-gang opened his mouth wide and bit the snake’s waist.

Crunch!

The snake’s bones crumbled as Jin Ja-gang’s teeth sank in and its internal organs burst. But the snake also didn’t let go of Jin Ja-gang’s finger. Jin Ja-gang pressed both sides of the snake’s jaw with his right hand to force its mouth open.

With his left hand, which was numb and had no sensation, he pressed and broke the snake’s fangs. Poison liquid flowed out drop by drop from where the broken fangs were. Jin Ja-gang put his mouth to the snake’s open mouth and sucked out the poison.

No, he didn’t eat it but absorbed the poison energy. Using the alchemical method he had created by combining external elixir and internal elixir techniques in his own way, he sent the poison energy directly to his dantian through the Xuanying point under his tongue.

The Ren meridian through which the poison energy traveled became burning hot.

Tremendous poison energy that he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

It had an intensity incomparable to the small amount of false hellebore poison he had been accumulating in his body.

As the snake poison entered his dantian, Jin Ja-gang realized his entire body was becoming hot. His body, which had been bound by Woon-jeong’s Ceremonial Bell Resonance, began to awaken.

Jin Ja-gang sucked out the snake’s poison to the very end and accumulated as much as possible in his dantian. The snake, having its poison stolen, thrashed about wildly. It coiled around Jin Ja-gang’s arm with such force that blood circulation was cut off and his arm nearly broke.

Jin Ja-gang bit hard into the middle of the snake’s body.

Crunch! Crunch!

The snake struggled and released his arm, gradually going limp.

Jin Ja-gang raised his internal energy once more. The energy he had accepted through his Baihui point combined with the snake’s poison and began circulating through his right side.

Instantly, sweat broke out on his forehead and heat rose up.

Tick, tick, tick.

With sounds like chains breaking, strength surged through Jin Ja-gang’s body. Jin Ja-gang raised his Mad Blood Heaven technique to the maximum, inflated his internal energy to the extreme, then raised his body.

“Uaaaah!”

Twisting his body, he shot out the internal energy he had inflated in one moment.

Parting Hand Arrow Shot!

The finger wind Jin Ja-gang shot out instantly struck the ceremonial bell in Woon-jeong’s hand directly.

Clang!

A hole was punched in the ceremonial bell as it dented and warped. Woon-jeong dropped the ceremonial bell. The damaged bell floated in the air before falling to the ground.

A stream of fresh blood flowed from Woon-jeong’s mouth. Because he had been ringing the bell with internal energy, he had suffered damage to his main body as well.

Woon-jeong showed a slightly pained expression as he shook his hand.

Jin Ja-gang was glaring at Woon-jeong with fiery eyes. The beast had been revived. And as a wounded beast at that.

“Hah…”

Woon-jeong sighed, then quietly recited a Taoist greeting. Then he turned his head not toward Jin Ja-gang but to the side.

“Primordial Heavenly Venerable. This poor Taoist is called Woon-jeong of Qingcheng Sect. What kind of master might you be?”

Heh.

A light laugh was heard, then two figures appeared.

One was Tang Li-sim, whom he had met before, and the other was someone who had pulled a bamboo hat low to hide his face.

Tang Li-sim smiled meanly and said.

“Since you were oppressing someone, I wondered who it might be, and it turns out to be a Taoist of Qingcheng Sect? The bell sounds were so noisy that I couldn’t just pass by. Hmm?”

However, Tang Li-sim soon opened his mouth in disbelief when he saw Jin Ja-gang standing behind Woon-jeong.

“Uh, what. Right now… what you have in your mouth is…”

Jin Ja-gang was standing with the transparent snake in his mouth. Tang Li-sim’s face turned pale.

“That, that’s… uh…?”

At that moment, the bamboo hat wearer next to Tang Li-sim laughed loudly.

“Hahaha! Ahahaha!”

Though dressed as a man, the laughter was thin and sharp.

“Ah, who else but Snake Scorpion Poison King would do such a thing.”

The bamboo hat wearer giggled.

“I honestly thought what people said about Snake Scorpion Poison King was making a mountain out of a molehill until I saw it directly. But seeing it today, it wasn’t making a mountain out of a molehill. Snake Scorpion Poison King, no, Poison Dragon. You’re worthy of being called Poison Dragon.”

The bamboo hat wearer looked at Jin Ja-gang and asked.

“Hey, Poison Dragon. Do you know the name of the snake you have in your mouth right now?”

Munch, munch.

Jin Ja-gang chewed the snake while looking at the bamboo hat wearer. He wasn’t in a state where he could answer. His killing intent was boiling up and he was forcibly trying to calm it down.

The bamboo hat wearer spoke with laughter in their voice as if they knew Jin Ja-gang’s situation.

“Clear Blood Gland Snake. It’s one of the precious poison creatures our Tang family treasures. Even skilled masters die with their blood boiling if bitten by a Clear Blood Gland Snake. However, for those who have mastered poison techniques, it becomes an incomparable elixir under heaven. Of course, you need poison techniques at a level where you can handle the Clear Blood Gland Snake’s poison. Seeing that you’re fine, you seem to be at that level?”

“Is that so?”

Jin Ja-gang grabbed the snake and tore it apart, eating it raw.

Rip!

Munch, munch.

Tang Li-sim opened his eyes wide and shouted.

“Even after hearing how precious the Clear Blood Gland Snake is, how dare you!”

Jin Ja-gang showed the finger where the Clear Blood Gland Snake had bitten him.

“The owner failed to properly guard their creature and I was bitten.”

“You, you…” Tang Li-sim couldn’t finish his words.

But the bamboo hat wearer was calm.

“It wasn’t that we failed to guard it, but deliberately released it. To torment the Qingcheng Sect Taoist.”

“But I nearly died.”

“Died? You’re fine, aren’t you? Surely the world’s Poison Dragon isn’t going to say he nearly died from being bitten by a snake?”

“That’s not something someone who carelessly releases poisonous snakes should say. If I had died from the snake bite, would it be my fault?”

“Of course. If you die, you should blame your own weakness, who else would you blame?”

Jin Ja-gang chewed the snake’s entire head while baring his teeth at the bamboo hat wearer.

“If I kill you, can I say it’s because you’re weak?”

At that moment, the bamboo hat wearer waved their sleeve.

Pop!

The snake hanging from Jin Ja-gang’s mouth burst into pieces.

The bamboo hat wearer sneered.

“Don’t act arrogant when you can’t even handle a trivial sonic technique. How presumptuous.”

Those words made not only Jin Ja-gang but also Woon-jeong angry.

Woon-jeong stepped forward.

“Look here! If you’re from the Tang family, have you forgotten that you shouldn’t interfere with our Qingcheng’s affairs!”

The bamboo hat wearer said coldly.

“You’re noisy. Shut up.”

“What?”

Woon-jeong thought he had misheard because the words were too harsh.

The bamboo hat wearer ignored Woon-jeong and said to Jin Ja-gang.

“Let’s just look at the facts. You were just suppressed by the Taoist and nearly captured. And I released the snake. You could have died from the bite, but anyway, you escaped from the sonic technique. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then whose merit is it?”

Under the bamboo hat, the bamboo hat wearer’s mouth seemed to have a slight smile.

“Do you want to hear me say thank you?”

“It’s not just a matter of gratitude – you owe me a great debt. The Clear Blood Gland Snake and your life. Those two things.”

Jin Ja-gang stared intently at the bamboo hat wearer. However, he couldn’t read the expression of the bamboo hat wearer hidden under the hat.

“What do you want?”

The bamboo hat wearer answered concisely.

“Nothing.”

Woon-jeong interrupted.

“Look here!”

The bamboo hat wearer said to Jin Ja-gang.

“I just came to see what kind of person this Poison Dragon fellow is. I was disappointed in some ways, but impressed in others.”

“…”

Jin Ja-gang replied.

“I never wanted your evaluation.”

“Someone involved with poison who comes to Sichuan should consider it an honor to receive our family’s evaluation.”

“I said look here!”

When Woon-jeong kept interrupting, the bamboo hat wearer turned their head with an annoyed expression.

“Why do you keep bothering me?”

“I was carrying out my master’s orders! But since you interfered, I politely request that you withdraw now. If you continue to interfere, I will formally protest to the Tang family. Reveal your honorable name and withdraw!”

The bamboo hat wearer removed their bamboo hat.

“I am Tang Ha-ran.”

Tang Ha-ran had tied her hair in a topknot and wore a hero’s headband to dress as a man, but her appearance clearly revealed she was a woman. Her sharp gaze gave off a cold atmosphere, but her pretty beauty couldn’t be hidden.

Woon-jeong opened his mouth blankly and blinked. Then, receiving Tang Ha-ran’s gaze, he quickly bowed.

“Ah… so it was Young Lady Tang Ha-ran. Primordial Heavenly Venerable.”

Woon-jeong’s tone and voice had completely changed from before.

Tang Ha-ran snorted.

“I heard that Master Bok-cheon had taken in a very talented disciple, and that’s you, Taoist?”

Woon-jeong’s expression brightened.

“Yes, that’s right. I am Woon-jeong.”

When Tang Ha-ran looked at Woon-jeong, he couldn’t meet her eyes directly and smiled awkwardly.

Jin Ja-gang watched them from the side, then quietly turned around.

Woon-jeong was startled and tried to stop Jin Ja-gang.

“Wait, sir! You cannot leave!”

Tang Ha-ran said.

“Let him go.”

“What? But as Young Lady knows, I received orders, so this isn’t something I can decide on my own. And if I let Poison Dragon go like this, big trouble will happen.”

Tang Ha-ran’s gaze went past Woon-jeong to Jin Ja-gang. Jin Ja-gang had turned around to leave but stopped and turned his head.

With beast-like eyes burning fiercely, he looked directly at Tang Ha-ran.

“Do you want to hear me say thank you? Then leave me alone.”

Tang Ha-ran’s eyebrows trembled slightly. Tang Ha-ran suddenly snorted, then crossed her arms.

“Fine. I’ll let you go. I’ll overlook the Clear Blood Gland Snake incident from earlier. But with this matter, you definitely owe me one thing.”

Woon-jeong looked back and forth between Tang Ha-ran and Jin Ja-gang in surprise.

“Look here, sirs!”

Tang Ha-ran said briefly.

“Go on. I’ll hold onto the Taoist.”

Jin Ja-gang had no choice. Jin Ja-gang nodded slightly toward Tang Ha-ran and turned around.

Woon-jeong’s despairing expression could only follow Jin Ja-gang’s retreating figure with resentment.