Chapter 264

Baek Li-gwon’s decapitated body fell forward, spraying blood like an endless fountain.

Yang Jeon couldn’t believe it.

Silent Dragon! Silent Dragon Baek Li-gwon!

Seeing how he didn’t hesitate to kill, he was definitely not someone who would show mercy. Then it would be Yang Jeon’s turn next.

‘Damn it!’

Yang Jeon stealthily moved his steps.

When everyone’s eyes were focused on Baek Li-gwon and Jin Ja-gang. This was the only opportunity.

Yang Jeon went behind Tang Ha-ran. He had to take Tang Ha-ran hostage to survive.

Perhaps from too much tension, cold sweat formed and his body felt heavy.

‘Damn it! What’s wrong with my body?’

Moreover, the forearm that Jin Ja-gang had pierced with holes had been numb and dull since earlier.

‘Damned bastard!’

Tang Ha-ran seemed uncomfortable as she had been frowning since earlier, and all her attention was focused on the duel between Jin Ja-gang and Baek Li-gwon. She seemed unaware of Yang Jeon approaching.

If he attacked suddenly now…!

Yang Jeon rushed at Tang Ha-ran.

However, Yang Jeon’s movements were much slower than he thought. He was reaching for Tang Ha-ran but it felt like she was far away. He couldn’t reach her at all.

Suddenly Tang Ha-ran turned around.

“Tsk!”

Yang Jeon tried to raise his spear to block. But before he could even lift his spear, Tang Ha-ran’s hand came first. Yang Jeon didn’t even know what went wrong as he was hit in the shoulder by Tang Ha-ran’s hand blade.

BANG!

His shoulder was crushed and her hand drove deep. Yang Jeon knelt on the ground.

“Kugh!”

He dropped his spear. Now he couldn’t use either hand.

Tang Ha-ran grabbed the kneeling Yang Jeon’s neck.

“Kgh, kugh!”

Tang Ha-ran glared at Yang Jeon with cold eyes.

“Trash.”

“H-how!”

“Hmph. I’ve been watching your movements since earlier. Did you think I was my husband’s weakness? That will never happen.”

Tang Ha-ran put strength into her hand. Yang Jeon barely managed to speak in a voice like air leaking.

“W-wait…”

Tang Ha-ran paused briefly. But she looked at Jin Ja-gang, not Yang Jeon. If she didn’t kill Yang Jeon, she would leave behind future trouble, and if she killed Yang Jeon, she would become enemies with the Yang family head too.

Jin Ja-gang said.

“Even if left alone, he can’t survive. From the moment I saw him kill the Qingcheng Taoist and chase Miss Tang, I had no intention of letting him live.”

‘What?’

Disbelief flashed in Yang Jeon’s eyes.

Tang Ha-ran said.

“Looking at your expression, you didn’t even know you were poisoned. Your face has been deathly black for a while now.”

Yang Jeon still couldn’t believe it. He only felt his body was somewhat heavy without any particular symptoms, yet he was so severely poisoned?

“His judgment is probably clouded by the poison.”

The holes in his forearm!

When Jin Ja-gang had made holes in Yang Jeon’s forearm with Drilling Dragon Claw, he had let the absolute poison extracted from turbid energy flow in.

Only then did Yang Jeon feel like he was noticing something wrong with his body. His body was shivering and the paralysis that started from his arm was spreading throughout his body.

Yang Jeon desperately spoke.

“P-please spare me.”

Tang Ha-ran cut off Yang Jeon’s words like a blade.

“I’ll say it once more. I don’t want to become baggage that blocks my husband’s path. And likewise, I have no intention of leaving behind someone who would become such baggage.”

“Spare…”

Tang Ha-ran immediately put strength into her hand.

CRACK.

Yang Jeon’s neck snapped. Tang Ha-ran kicked Yang Jeon’s corpse away.

Jin Ja-gang approached Tang Ha-ran. Tang Ha-ran frowned seeing Jin Ja-gang slightly injured.

“Miss…?”

Jin Ja-gang, who had expected Tang Ha-ran to be pleased, became somewhat embarrassed.

Tang Ha-ran asked coldly.

“Why did you come? If you saw what happened to the Qingcheng Taoist, you shouldn’t have chased after me.”

“I was worried about Miss…”

Jin Ja-gang stopped speaking mid-sentence and closed his mouth briefly. Then he spoke again.

“I’m sorry, my wife.”

Only then did Tang Ha-ran come close and embrace Jin Ja-gang. Tang Ha-ran, who had buried herself in Jin Ja-gang’s arms, whispered.

“I’ll forgive you this once for calling me wife. I don’t want to become your burden.”

“My wife is not a burden.”

“You’re standing on a knife’s edge. On a path where if you slip even for a moment, you can never climb back up. And as my belly grows, I’ll gradually become an uncomfortable burden to you. It’s enough for me to monopolize your attention after everything is finished and you return.”

Tang Ha-ran’s words were not wrong.

Tang Ha-ran was as desperate as Jin Ja-gang. Her wanting to distance herself from Jin Ja-gang was actually to increase even slightly the possibility of Jin Ja-gang surviving and returning.

“My wife…”

Tang Ha-ran silently embraced Jin Ja-gang. The first man she had opened her heart to and come to love. There was no way Tang Ha-ran wouldn’t want to be with him. Even briefly feeling this warmth made her so happy that she didn’t want to let go.

* * *

Tang Ha-ran also knew about the situation at Qingcheng Mountain, having heard from the Qingcheng disciple.

Tang Ha-ran washed Jin Ja-gang’s wounds by the stream and asked.

“What will you do?”

“I can’t abandon them. Elder Bian Bu, Soso, and the Fairy Maiden are people who saved me. But the siege is thick and I don’t know what to do.”

Tang Ha-ran scooped water with her hand to clean the wound on his chest.

“You must save them. You can’t face the Martial Alliance alone forever.”

“If Indestructible Heavenly Sword is dead, there might be no need to face the Martial Alliance anymore.”

“Even if you quit, the Martial Alliance won’t give up on you. That’s why you must save them even more. The reason the Martial Alliance tried to capture Fairy Maiden was because the eastern Shandong Evil Sect would be an obstacle whether they advance north or west.”

Tang Ha-ran advised again.

“If you can rescue Fairy Maiden, the Martial Alliance’s movements will be restricted and your room to maneuver will become much broader.”

Jin Ja-gang fell into thought briefly. How should he approach to rescue them from the siege?

Currently, there were virtually no methods available.

Tang Ha-ran said while watching Jin Ja-gang ponder.

“There’s a way.”

“Looking at your expression, it doesn’t seem like a good method.”

“We need to spread rumors in the martial world that you killed Silent Dragon and Swift Dragon.”

Openly announcing when it should be hidden?

“There might be better methods. But right now this is the best option.”

* * *

Jin Ja-gang stopped by the village to prepare for battle.

He obtained hundreds of sets of needles by type from the medicine shop and bought two sickles from the blacksmith.

Poison powder was unexpectedly useful in fights. Jin Ja-gang extracted poison liquid from turbid energy, mixed it with grain powder, and dried it in the shade.

Tang Ha-ran came and asked.

“What kind of poison is it?”

“It’s the turbid energy that was in my energy channels.”

“Turbid energy? The main family has techniques for storing poison in bone marrow. But I’ve never heard of carrying poison in energy channels.”

“It’s difficult for me to explain too… This poison contains the poison of Clear Gland Snake and also mixed with the poison of Crooked Vegetable I mentioned before.”

“What’s the effect?”

“Confusion, convulsions, difficulty breathing, paralysis, bleeding… It causes various symptoms, but I’m already immune so I don’t know exactly what symptoms it causes.”

“If the effects are random, it would be difficult to use.”

“That’s why I can’t use it often either. I think I need to collect poison herbs separately this time too.”

Jin Ja-gang conversed with Tang Ha-ran while climbing the mountain near the village to search for poison herbs.

He saw a wetland where water parsley grew abundantly.

Jin Ja-gang pulled up water parsley and broke the root. The inside was hollow like bamboo, and yellow sap flowed out. It wasn’t ordinary water parsley but a type of poison parsley.

“It’s Poison Parsley Flower. The toxicity is extremely strong.”

Tang Ha-ran also knew somewhat about poisons.

“Abdominal pain, vomiting, blisters, skin redness, limb paralysis, convulsions… An ordinary person could die from eating just one root of Poison Parsley Flower wrong.”

“That happens if you eat the roots and stems, but different symptoms appear if you eat the leaves.”

“What?”

“If you consume large amounts of Poison Parsley Flower leaves, you can’t see the sun. Your eyes hurt from brightness and your skin burns and stings.”

Tang Ha-ran was puzzled.

“But to extract that much poison from leaves…”

Jin Ja-gang was already digging up poison parsley and eating the leaves. He was collecting the roots and stems separately.

Anyway, with Jin Ja-gang’s method, he had no choice but to chew as much as possible.

Tang Ha-ran said with a quite serious expression.

“I think we need to think about our eating habits.”

Jin Ja-gang smiled awkwardly and said.

“I eat well without being picky, so it should be fine.”

Tang Ha-ran burst into laughter.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang looked at his clothes awkwardly.

It was because of the outfit wrapped in splendid silk.

Tang Ha-ran had insisted.

“You have finer skin than me, a woman, so if you wear clothes that are too shabby, you’ll look awkward instead. Rather, looking like a noble family’s son suits you much better.”

Indeed, Jin Ja-gang looked like a high official’s son to anyone.

“At least no one will bother you on the way to Qingcheng Mountain. Just be careful of women.”

“I understand.”

Jin Ja-gang and Tang Ha-ran held hands. Now it was time to part. They had to go their separate ways again.

Having to part after meeting not long ago was not easy.

Moreover, this time if they parted, there was no telling when they would meet again.

Jin Ja-gang looked at Tang Ha-ran with a reluctant expression.

Tang Ha-ran shook her head and smiled.

“You didn’t forget what you promised me, did you?”

“I remember.”

“Good. I’ll wait.”

Tang Ha-ran stroked Jin Ja-gang’s face with her hand and smiled.

“Handsome, my husband. So you must come back alive this time too. Understood?”

* * *

Qingcheng sect’s Supreme Pure Palace.

Dan Ryeong-gyeong was immersed in grief.

Having her arm cut off was nothing.

However, losing Woo-am was too heartbreaking.

She missed Woo-am’s smiling face when he would joke around for no reason. The man who had looked only at her for his entire life had died. She knew such a day would come someday, but she didn’t know it would come so quickly.

Her heart felt empty as if a hole had been punched through it.

Why had her past self made such choices?

Was it simply because she had no eye for men?

She felt like drinking alcohol until she was drunk if any was available.

Then Mang Ryo entered the great hall of Supreme Pure Palace.

Clunk, clunk.

Mang Ryo showed a gourd bottle.

“I thought it might be needed.”

“Good timing.”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong didn’t refuse and drank the alcohol.

Mang Ryo said.

“That fellow killed Silent Dragon and Swift Dragon.”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong stopped drinking mid-sip.

Jin Ja-gang killed Silent Dragon and Swift Dragon?

When she first met him, Jin Ja-gang had difficulty even handling Young Phoenix. Yet that same Jin Ja-gang had already surpassed Silent Dragon and Swift Dragon!

“Of course that’s not all. The Tang family just lifted the siege and withdrew.”

Dan Ryeong-gyeong looked at Mang Ryo as if asking what that suddenly meant.

Mang Ryo smiled.

“It means you’re all alive now. Because that fellow is coming.”