Chapter 288

Jin Ja-gang decided to stay in Gubuk Village for a while.

As it turned out, Oh Tae was the village chief of Gubuk Village, and everyone living in Gubuk Village was a member of the Gubuk Black Gang while also being a local branch affiliated with the Hao Sect.

Oh Tae was also a widely known gambler in the martial world who had gained considerable fame in his youth. He said that even his current level of martial arts was thanks to elixirs and secret manuals he had won through gambling.

Oh Tae tore at a boiled chicken leg and said.

“With the Martial Alliance Leader’s absence, the martial world is now in the calm before the storm. The large sects are doing groundwork and waiting cautiously, while the small ones are already busy fighting and squabbling over territory.”

Jin Ja-gang was holding several bone tiles in his hand, spinning them, when he dropped the tiles.

Thud, rattle rattle.

Jin Ja-gang picked up the bone tiles and continued practicing while asking.

“Is the empty seat of one Master Hae-weol that significant?”

“Those who were watching for opportunities to mediate disputes are deliberately leaving things alone. There need to be cracks or gaps for something to fall into their share.”

Oh Tae spat.

“I’ve been involved with bandits and experienced demonic cult invasions, but there’s never been a time like now. Even now I don’t understand what Master Hae-weol was thinking when he made the Martial Alliance like that. I’ve even seen him directly before, and back then he wasn’t this corrupt a person. He was more like a stubborn Taoist.”

At the mention of having met Master Hae-weol, Jin Ja-gang looked at Oh Tae.

“He was such a famous person that I saw him out of curiosity. West Forest Sword Sect Wudang Sect Leader! Master Hae-weol was someone who stood at the pinnacle of sword sects. He also established Yangtze River Sword Sect, one of the Nine Provinces Six Heavens. With overwhelming martial power, he dominated Wudang Sect and established Yangtze River Sword Sect like a storm, and based on that, rose to the position of Martial Alliance Leader.”

“That’s strange.”

It was odd for Oh Tae, who was both a fence and gambler, to say Master Hae-weol had become corrupt, but it was also strange that Master Hae-weol had originally been a Taoist who walked the righteous path.

“Anyway, what’s important is that a tremendous tsunami might sweep through the martial world soon. Those targeting Iron Umbrella Sect’s stolen goods are probably among them too.”

Oh Tae spoke while watching Jin Ja-gang spin the bone tiles. Jin Ja-gang reversed the order of tiles between his fingers and flipped his hand. At that moment, he dropped the tiles again.

Thud, rattle rattle.

“Tsk tsk, how is it that you have no talent except for spreading poison? I’ve seen people who could spin bone tiles like their own eyeballs in one day, but I’ve never seen anyone as bad as you.”

Jin Ja-gang had been holding bone tiles in his hands for three days straight.

With that much practice, even someone with no talent should have mastered the basics. But Jin Ja-gang couldn’t even imitate Heaven and Earth Dealing, only dropping the bone tiles. It was a strange sight.

Oh Tae thought it was odd even after saying it himself.

Could a master of Jin Ja-gang’s level really keep dropping three bone tiles?

“Wait? Let me see your hands.”

Jin Ja-gang extended his hands. Oh Tae grabbed Jin Ja-gang’s palms and flipped them up and down.

They looked fine on the outside. He had smoother and more transparent skin than even women.

But when he actually pressed the hands, the feeling was different.

Oh Tae’s expression became bewildered.

“What is this?”

The palms were hard. They were literally like stones. The outer skin looked soft, but when pressed, there were stone-like calluses embedded deep inside. The palms were harder than the backs of his hands.

“False bone? This isn’t just calluses!”

When bones break and bone fragments form, the surrounding flesh becomes as hard as bone. This is called false bone or pseudo-bone. Upon careful examination, not only the palms but also the insides of the fingers were all hard.

“What on earth did you do with your hands? Even blacksmithing wouldn’t get them to this extent.”

Jin Ja-gang looked at his palms and fell into thought.

For eight years, he had chipped at hard bedrock with hammers and chisels. Even when his hands tore and calluses formed, he didn’t let go. There were times when blood flowed particularly severely and it was very painful, and apparently his bones had broken then, creating bone fragments.

“Ha.”

Oh Tae looked at Jin Ja-gang with a dazed expression. He understood why the bone tiles kept bouncing out.

“You can’t do Heaven and Earth Dealing with hands like these. Never mind Heaven and Earth Dealing, you can’t use any techniques.”

Oh Tae released Jin Ja-gang’s hands and said.

“Beginners develop calluses to avoid dropping their weapons. But masters deliberately soften their flesh to delicately control their weapons. Gambling techniques are the same. To execute the highest techniques, you must be able to move even the small muscles in your palms.”

Oh Tae placed bone tiles on his palm. Without moving his fingers at all, the bone tiles wriggled and moved. He was bouncing the tiles using the small muscles in his palm.

“Give up. If it were calluses, you could use medicine to swell the flesh and scrape the skin to make it soft, but false bone is different. You’d have to cut open your palms and find and remove the bone fragments one by one.”

“So it can be done.”

“It could be done. But could you endure that? And it would take several months to heal and recover. It’s not a procedure you can do right now.”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t hesitate.

“Then let’s try it.”

“Hey, does what I’m saying sound like a joke? I’m saying you’d have to cut open your hands and split and dig through the false bones. Do you think a person could endure that?”

“I’ll handle that myself.”

“Wow, look at this crazy guy.”

Oh Tae was appalled seeing Jin Ja-gang’s eyes. It wasn’t the look of someone resolved or making a great decision. He was just calm. If anything, there was a feeling of being pleased that a method had been found.

“Don’t blame me.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll give you mountain attack poison. If you use internal energy during the procedure, you’ll be ruined.”

“I don’t think it will work.”

“…”

Since he was Poison Dragon, it was probably natural.

“Then I’ll tie you up tight so you can’t struggle.”

“You don’t need to go that far.”

“I’m not saying this for you. If you go crazy and rampage, I need to survive.”

* * *

Oh Tae called a doctor from a day’s distance away. The middle-aged doctor spoke as soon as he arrived.

“Where’s that crazy bastard? Let me see his face.”

“I tied him up.”

Oh Tae guided the doctor to the room. Jin Ja-gang was tied to a chair waiting for the doctor.

The doctor immediately prepared for the procedure. Then he offered Jin Ja-gang liquor with a very strong smell.

“I’m fine.”

Oh Tae placed Jin Ja-gang’s hands on the table. The doctor pressed various spots on Jin Ja-gang’s palms with long acupuncture needles and said.

“I’m telling you in advance, if I can’t find the bone fragments, I might have to remove the entire false bone. It takes a year for flesh to grow back. During that time, you can’t hold a sword. Is that still okay?”

“I’ll take that into account.”

“Your answers are refreshing.”

The doctor put cloth in Jin Ja-gang’s mouth and immediately picked up a knife. It was a triangular bone removal knife with a sharp, pointed tip.

Jin Ja-gang controlled his poison energy as much as possible so that poison mixed in his blood wouldn’t splatter on the doctor.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

The doctor unhesitatingly raised the knife and cut Jin Ja-gang’s palm.

“It’s severe. There are more chunks than I thought.”

He was a doctor who mainly treated ruffians from back alleys who had been stabbed, had their heads cracked, or limbs broken. He was used to situations with spurting blood and exposed bones.

The doctor probed Jin Ja-gang’s palm with a thinner knife. There was a sound of thick things being cut as he split the false bones.

Thud thud thud.

The doctor glanced at Jin Ja-gang’s face. Sweat appeared on Jin Ja-gang’s forehead.

“You’re enduring well. I can see bone fragments.”

The doctor dug through Jin Ja-gang’s palm with a small needle.

There was a sound of the needle scraping the bones in his palm.

Scrape, scrape.

Oh Tae shrugged his shoulders as he got goosebumps. Jin Ja-gang’s eyes also tensed up.

The doctor pulled out a bone fragment. It was a very small piece.

But that was just the beginning. There was still a long way to go.

* * *

The doctor took a full half day to complete the procedure.

The bone fragments extracted from Jin Ja-gang’s palms numbered over thirty. Additionally, he removed all the chunks of false bone that had become too hard. The false bone chunks varied in size from millet grains to bean-sized pieces.

Jin Ja-gang was drenched in sweat all over but never let out a single groan. With a hoarse voice, Jin Ja-gang expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you. You worked hard.”

As the doctor left, he looked at Oh Tae and shook his head.

“Really vicious. I should tell the people I know to unconditionally run away if they meet Poison Dragon. Those who have grudges against Poison Dragon, whoever they are, won’t live their full lifespan.”

* * *

Jin Ja-gang held bone tiles even with his bandaged hands.

His fingers wouldn’t bend properly so he dropped the tiles, but at least he tried to fit them between his fingers and spin them.

Oh Tae shuddered.

“Don’t you know what moderation is? Will that help you heal?”

“The bleeding has stopped. If it’s not a wound from sword energy, it heals quickly.”

“Oh, is that so? Yes, yes, I’m sorry for worrying when I didn’t know better.”

Indeed, from the very next day Jin Ja-gang was well enough that he didn’t need bandages. The reason he kept wearing bandages even after two days was because the doctor had forcibly insisted that it would help the palm flesh grow back faster.

Jin Ja-gang only removed the bandages after seven days. Most of the wounds on his palms had healed. There were marks from the knife cuts, but even the scars would soon disappear without a trace. This was Jin Ja-gang’s unusual skin recovery ability due to the Kunlun Sulfur Oil.

However, recovering the removed flesh would take a little more time.

Jin Ja-gang put three bone tiles in his palm and spun them.

The movement was unstable, but he didn’t drop the tiles at all while spinning them. They no longer bounced off calluses and flew out.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang almost fully recovered his previous sensation in just two weeks.

“Let me see your skills?”

At Oh Tae’s words, Jin Ja-gang extended his hand instead of answering. Three bone tiles were fitted between his fingers.

Rattle rattle rattle.

Each time Jin Ja-gang moved his fingers, the three bone tiles freely moved between his fingers, changing positions.

“The procedure seems to have gone well. But you’re still far from perfect.”

Oh Tae pulled out chopsticks, placed them on the table, fitted three bone tiles between his fingers, and spun them using Heaven and Earth Dealing techniques. While doing so, he also picked up the chopsticks on the table. He spun the bone tiles while holding the chopsticks. The tiles spun between his fingers, changing order.

“It took me thirty years to make a living with this. After only two weeks…”

Jin Ja-gang shook his wrist as if dusting it off, closed his palm, then opened it. Then he closed it again and opened it. There were four tiles, then five again. Each time he folded and unfolded his palm, the number of tiles changed. There had been two more bone tiles in Jin Ja-gang’s palm from the beginning.

“…”

Oh Tae fell silent.

“I tried using pickpocket techniques together with grappling hand techniques. It’s much easier now that my palms are soft.”

Oh Tae spoke with an annoyed expression.

“I get it, so stop showing off. Showing off is taboo in gambling dens. If you meet someone better than you, you’ll get cleaned out.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jin Ja-gang lowered his hands below the table. But he still continued practicing Heaven and Earth Dealing without rest.

“Ugh, such a stubborn type.”

Oh Tae had never seen Jin Ja-gang rest except for the day his palms were operated on.

Jin Ja-gang liked the Heaven and Earth Dealing technique that much. After the calluses and false bones disappeared, Jin Ja-gang could use his hands much more delicately, as Oh Tae had said.

Thus, he became able to do things that were previously unimaginable.

Jin Ja-gang could deploy grappling techniques while hiding poison needles in the creases of his palms instead of bone tiles, and his finger sensitivity became extremely acute, allowing him to throw ten poison needles at once with one hand.

It was also possible to hold a handful of poison needles and continuously throw them by pulling them out one by one between his fingers.

Whether fifty or a hundred people, as long as poison needles were prepared, Jin Ja-gang no longer needed to fear numbers.