Chapter 298

Jin Ja-gang had left.

Yeong-woon, Pyo Sang-guk, and So-min moved to a nearby cave to avoid the poison fog.

Pyo Sang-guk flinched every time So-min removed needles embedded in his body because of the stinging pain. The needles stuck in his body were enough to fill a handful.

“I’ll keep the needles. They’re clues about Poison Dragon.”

“Ow, it hurts. Are there still more?”

“Yes.”

So-min clicked her tongue while extracting needles.

“That’s why you shouldn’t charge in recklessly. You couldn’t even break even.”

“Ah, since I was hit by poison needles anyway, I figured I’d die so I just went for it.”

“Tsk tsk.”

Fortunately, what he was hit by from Poison Dragon weren’t poison needles.

For Pyo Sang-guk, it was a ten-year reprieve.

“Poison Dragon really has a bad personality.”

“Why? I didn’t think he seemed bad. If Young Master Jin had a bad personality, brother would already not be of this world. He threw empty needles instead of poison needles.”

“You think regular needles don’t hurt? Doesn’t it hurt when you get stabbed with needles? It stings terribly!”

So-min slapped Pyo Sang-guk’s back.

“When someone shows mercy, you should be grateful.”

Only then did Pyo Sang-guk shut his mouth.

Yeong-woon, who had been listening, said.

“I agree with Sister Min. Brother Jin seemed like a different person from the rumors.”

“Right. I can’t believe such a person massacred civilians. Most of all, his eyes are too serious.”

Yeong-woon also agreed.

“From what I saw, those weren’t the eyes of a butcher either.”

Pyo Sang-guk grumbled.

“How can you judge a person by their eyes? And Sister Min is strange too. Before, whenever people died, you said it might be Poison Dragon’s doing.”

“Did Young Master Jin really massacre civilians? I’m starting to doubt that too.”

“Based on what?”

Yeong-woon said.

“The dead civilians at Stone Forest Gang were said to have died with their heads missing and limbs torn off. The same thing happened at Iron Umbrella Sect’s manor. It felt like random slaughter of whatever was within reach.”

So-min nodded.

“Right. After seeing today, the method is definitely different. Um, how should I put it. I could feel emotion contained each time he acted.”

“Emotion?”

“Emotions like hatred and anger. Could someone who puts such emotions into killing people have killed people indiscriminately?”

“Hmm.”

Pyo Sang-guk, who had briefly frowned, said.

“Are you both bewitched by something? Still, his actions weren’t those of an orthodox sect member. Like when he ambushed Phantom Poison Drooper who was holding his dead brothers.”

“That’s true. But martial world rumors aren’t always accurate. From now on, we should treat Brother Jin without prejudice. If we’re wrong about him, we’d be committing a great wrong against him.”

So-min said as if to herself.

“Everyone who commits themselves to the martial world has their own story, but Young Master Jin’s story seems particularly deep. It even seems connected to Northern Heaven.”

Yeong-woon nodded.

“I’m worried too. Why is Northern Heaven’s name, which had been quiet, suddenly being mentioned again?”

Pyo Sang-guk grumbled.

“Stop worrying about others and let’s quickly expel the poison first. We got unluckily involved in Poison Dragon’s affairs, so we’re in danger too. Don’t forget that one Leper Mound assassin was hit by a poison needle but escaped. We need to reach Chongqing to be safe.”

“Cough cough.”

So-min had a dry cough. Pyo Sang-guk was also short of breath with a darkened complexion.

“Wow, the poison energy is tremendous. Poison Dragon acted normally in poison fog containing such poison energy?”

* * *

The Leper Mound assassin fled desperately.

Why was Poison Dragon’s martial arts so strong?

Of course, poison was naturally something to be careful of, but his martial arts were also unexpectedly powerful. If it weren’t for those orthodox sect disciples who were annoyingly righteous, he might have been able to face Poison Dragon under better conditions.

However, in any case, all his twin brothers were dead, and even his eldest brother had died with his chest crushed.

“Ugh!”

The leper assassin vomited blood. The poison from the poison needle embedded in his back began spreading. He could suppress it somewhat with Leper Mound’s mental techniques for handling poison, but even that had limits. Moreover, he couldn’t properly suppress the poison energy while frantically fleeing.

“Qu, quickly send a signal.”

When the leper assassin felt he had gained some distance, he hurriedly gathered dry grass from the surroundings. After taking out flint to start a fire, he pulled out long sticks from his bosom and broke them. Then he sprinkled the powder inside the sticks onto the fire.

Hissing sounds came as black smoke and red smoke rose.

The leper assassin shed tears of bitter grief thinking of his dead brothers. But he vomited blood again and fell to his knees.

“Ugh…”

Limp, limp…

The leper assassin raised his head while kneeling at the asymmetrically approaching footsteps. Jin Ja-gang had somehow followed him.

Jin Ja-gang looked down at the leper assassin intently. The leper assassin glared at Jin Ja-gang while showing his blood-stained teeth.

“He, hehe. You’re dead now. Our, our Leper Mound never lets go once we bite prey, hehe, won’t let go…”

Jin Ja-gang answered calmly.

“I’ve heard such talk quite often while living.”

The leper assassin suddenly had a strange thought. He thought Jin Ja-gang had followed him here to interrogate or question him, but wasn’t he just looking without saying anything?

When he stayed quiet without saying anything, Jin Ja-gang also kept his mouth shut. Since he was poisoned and dying, the one without time was himself, not Jin Ja-gang.

The leper assassin asked in confusion.

“What, what business do you have with me?”

“No particular business.”

“You, you followed me without any business?”

The leper assassin vomited blood and shouted.

“Don’t, don’t, don’t talk nonsense! No matter what you do to me, you won’t get anything!”

“I’ll just confirm your death and go.”

“If, if that’s the case, kill me! Cut, cut me into pieces and kill me quickly!”

“That’s up to me.”

The leper assassin found Jin Ja-gang’s just watching unpleasant and irritating. The emotionally shaken leper assassin’s breathing became rough.

“Right, right. You… I’ve seen many with eyes like yours. Because I’m different from others, strangely shaped, so you’re staring. Am, am I funny to you?”

Jin Ja-gang didn’t answer and just watched. The leper assassin gripped his skewer and swung it wildly.

“Uh, uhhh! Uhhhhhh!”

Jin Ja-gang stepped back two steps and easily avoided the attack.

Then he finally asked.

“I heard you were driven from your village after being bullied.”

“That, that’s right! Driven out! Stabbed with tree branches and hit with stones until my head split.”

“So after finding refuge, the work you did was killing people?”

“What’s it to you! How can someone normal like you understand our hearts?”

Jin Ja-gang slowly answered.

“My mother and maternal grandfather died before my eyes, and my friends became corpses in one day. I was forced to eat poison daily and became a test subject for half a year, then escaped but was trapped in mine tunnels for ten years.”

The leper assassin shouted in frustration.

“Good, good for you! You should have just died back then!”

“I couldn’t die because I had to get revenge.”

“…”

Jin Ja-gang looked quietly at the leper assassin and asked.

“Is there someone you want to get revenge on?”

“You’ll kill them if there is?”

“I’ll carry that burden.”

“…”

Jin Ja-gang, who had killed his brothers, was currently his greatest enemy. However, when Phantom Poison Drooper said he would die as a tool, Jin Ja-gang said he would respect his will. Though a cruel murderer, his attitude toward enemies was serious.

It smelled like treating person to person. The leper assassin became confused.

The leper assassin, who couldn’t continue speaking for a while and watched Jin Ja-gang, vomited blood and laughed.

“He, hehe… Do I look like an idiot? Asking me to owe a debt to my enemy when I’m about to die? What do you take me for?”

The leper assassin seemed to have some thought, glared for a while, twisted his lips and said.

“The, the Tang family recently agreed to kill you. Northern, Northern Heaven is also your enemy now.”

After briefly spilling his words, the leper assassin laughed.

“Wait in hell, wait in hell. Poison Dragon. Soon another Leper Mound assassin will come for you.”

The leper assassin stabbed the skewer into his own chest and committed suicide.

Jin Ja-gang watched the corpse of the leper assassin who had collapsed forward.

The leper assassin’s words contained much meaning.

Remaining Soul Blade, whom he met in Gubuk Village, initially hadn’t tried to kill him. But the fact that Northern Heaven also became an enemy after the Tang family agreed meant that the Tang family and Northern Heaven were connected in some way.

The Tang family was involved in everything. Of course, since the Tang family was the head family of poison sects, it might be natural.

As Jin Ja-gang continued his revenge journey, someday he would inevitably have to target the Tang family.

The Tang family, which was Tang Ha-ran’s natal family…

* * *

A Leper Mound watcher saw the dark red smoke from afar.

“Phantom Poison Drooper and the twins failed.”

Black smoke meant failure, and three streams of red smoke meant there were interferers. Disciples from Wudang, Zhongnan, and Mount Hua had entered this area, so they must have interfered.

The Leper Mound watcher immediately sent a messenger bird.

Chongqing had many watching eyes and was close to Huguang Province where orthodox sects were dominant, making it difficult to act freely. They had to do everything to kill Poison Dragon before he reached Chongqing.

* * *

Yeong-woon, Pyo Sang-guk, and So-min barely managed to expel the poison energy and moved.

It took two full days to remove the poison energy, so much time was delayed.

However, Yeong-woon’s abdominal wound was severe and So-min’s instep hadn’t healed, so they couldn’t run quickly with light body techniques either.

The three people continued to be vigilant while camping and walking until they finally saw an inn. The first floor was completely open with several chairs and dining tables where food could be eaten, and the second floor was a shabby inn with rooms for staying.

“Ah, finally we can have warm soup and comfortable sleep.”

At So-min’s moved words, Yeong-woon shook his head.

“Given assassins’ nature, they’ll definitely come again. That inn might become the most dangerous place for us. Wouldn’t it be better to go a bit further even if it’s difficult?”

Pyo Sang-guk stopped him.

“Forget it. What more can you do with that body? I’ll go check it out, so wait a moment.”

But before Pyo Sang-guk could step forward, they saw someone pulling a small cart and trudging into the inn.

“Huh? Who’s that?”

“Someone living nearby?”

“His height and build seem similar to Brother Jin…”

He was pulling a heavy cart so they couldn’t be certain, but he didn’t seem to be limping particularly.

The man with a hood on his head, barefoot and wearing dirty clothes, ordered a bowl of soup at the inn, ate it, and went on his way without incident. It was an inn run single-handedly by an owner who served as cook and server.

The three people looked at each other.

“Seems like no problem.”

“Does it look that way?”

Having already smelled the greasy soup, the three couldn’t resist their awakened appetite. The three immediately went to the inn and ordered food.

Pyo Sang-guk and So-min ate a soup dish with pork wrapped in thin wheat skin and chicken broth, while Yeong-woon, being a Taoist, ate noodles boiled in plain water and seasoned with soy sauce.

Slurp, slurp.

“Ahh! Having warm soup after so long really soothes the stomach.”

The three ordered two more bowls each.

The middle-aged owner who came to collect payment said.

“Did you enjoy your meal? In Sichuan they put red oil in the soup, but in Guizhou they make seasoning sauce with chili and soy sauce, so there’s a taste difference.”

Yeong-woon answered.

“The taste was good, but it was a bit salty.”

The middle-aged owner smiled broadly and said.

“Oh my, sorry about that. Cooking isn’t my main profession.”