No matter how much the Murim was a veritable death zone crawling with murder and violence, people in every field learned to observe some decorum once they reached the upper ranks.
Especially when you were the Family Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan, one of the Five Great Families.
In that regard, Tang Sadok could speak bluntly enough, but he was not accustomed to hearing blunt words himself.
Like now.
“Please lend me the Myriad-Poison Ring.”
“……!”
It was a blow from completely out of left field.
For a brief moment, the corners of Tang Sadok’s eyes trembled before he opened his mouth.
“You still believe that ridiculous nonsense? I knew you were young, but you’re a complete child.”
“I saw your eyes twitch just now.”
“Ridiculous!”
“Your voice gets louder whenever you’re feeling guilty, doesn’t it?”
“I already told you it wasn’t!”
“Oh, you’re clenching your fist now.”
“I told you I don’t have it!”
“If it falls out when you empty your pockets, can I have it?”
“Fine! Search me! If you search me and it isn’t there, I’ll put your neck in there instead!”
“Oh, so you hid it somewhere else. Then I’ll take that back.”
“Grrr…!”
“What a loss…!”
“You insolent little bastard!”
I probably should have held back that last one.
After being hit by a fantastic barrage of combo attacks, Tang Sadok’s eyes rolled back.
I hurriedly shouted before he could scatter his hidden weapons.
“I’m only asking you to lend it to me once! Just once!”
“I already told you it doesn’t exist!”
“Fine, let’s assume it doesn’t. Just hear me out.”
“Nothing you say will change that.”
“Even if I offered to deal with the culprit?”
“What did you say?”
“The culprit who harmed Great Hero Tang Taesang, the Poison King.”
The next moment—
“This little blood brat, I’ve been letting you talk, but now you—!”
Whoosh!
Green qi rose like a haze from Tang Sadok’s entire body. He glared at me with burning eyes, then spoke in a low, settled voice.
“Do you truly wish to die?”
“I have a bright future ahead of me. I’d rather not.”
“Punishing the culprit is our family’s responsibility. How dare an outsider like you—!”
Whoom!
An aura like a raging gale erupted and shook the pavilion. I stepped in front of the trembling Divine Physician and Mungyeong before answering.
“So how did that turn out?”
“……!”
“The culprit is a master powerful enough to defeat the Poison King. And he managed to evade the Tang Clan’s eyes in Sichuan itself and cause a bloodbath at the Emei Sect. His strength clearly isn’t limited to martial arts.”
Sichuan was vast, but it was still the land where the Tang Clan had put down roots over countless years.
It was like losing an enemy of the family in your own front yard. Tang Sadok had led most of his family in pursuit, only to return empty-handed. His face hardened.
“Are you blaming our family for being incompetent?”
“Of course not.”
If the Sichuan Tang Clan was incompetent, most of the sects scattered throughout the world might as well bar their gates and shut themselves off from the martial world.
The Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Families were giants who supported the entire Murim. The current situation was not proof that the Sichuan Tang Clan or Emei Sect were incompetent.
The culprit was simply a monster.
“I’m only pointing out a possibility.”
“A possibility?”
“He possesses martial arts comparable to the Ten Kings, and he’s also exceptionally skilled at escaping. If more hands joined the search, wouldn’t our chances of catching him improve?”
“Our Green Shadow Squad is already pursuing him. I merely returned for a while in case of an emergency. I will hunt him down and kill him before long.”
Tang Sadok’s sharp gaze swept over Cheongpung and me.
“We are the great Sichuan Tang Clan. We have no need for help from outsiders. Least of all from brats like you.”
“……Ah. Right.”
I had long since left the level of a young prodigy behind, hadn’t I?
Especially that guy.
I glanced at Cheongpung, who was standing there watching everything with a blank expression, and scratched the back of my head.
Well, I suppose I expected things to go roughly like this.
Considering the Sichuan Tang Clan’s family tradition of doing everything their own damn way, this was more or less what I had anticipated.
That was why I had come up with a more appealing plan on the way here.
“Then what about the Fire King instead of brats whose origins are unknown?”
“……!”
“Let’s say you somehow track down the culprit. Do you think he’ll stick out his arm and say, ‘Hurry up and stick poison needles into my veins’? That’s not how it’s going to work.”
One side would be fighting to survive. The other would be fighting to kill. A fierce battle was inevitable.
If the Sichuan Tang Clan committed all its strength, they might be able to avenge the Poison King—but they would also have to prepare for enormous losses.
Countless members of the Tang Clan, whether from the collateral branches or the direct line, would die.
“Old Master—no, my Master—and we will help. We’ll minimize the Sichuan Tang Clan’s losses, and leave the culprit’s punishment to you, Family Head.”
“……Impossible. No matter what losses we must endure, we will accomplish it with our own strength.”
“Your answer came half a beat late.”
“This is the path our ancestors took. It is the path our family has walked until now. It is what made the Sichuan Tang Clan what it is!”
“I know. I know what path the Sichuan Tang Clan has walked.”
A tightly bound family connected by blood. They never forgot a grudge once it had been formed, and their vengeance was merciless.
That was the path the Tang Family had walked—and the reason people respected and feared them at the same time.
I continued in a quiet voice.
“But people won’t point fingers at you just because you sometimes take a shortcut. Especially if you chose that shortcut to reduce the sacrifices among your family.”
Tang Sadok bit down hard on his lip.
Perhaps he was not as cold as he appeared.
No. Even if he was, he was not the sort of ruthless Family Head who would place revenge above everything else.
If he were, he wouldn’t have returned to the family.
But the Myriad-Poison Asura Tang Sadok had returned. To protect his family from even the slightest possible danger. To protect the powerless members left behind after he had departed.
“What will you do?”
The answer did not come until a long while later.
“……If—and I mean if—the Myriad-Poison Ring exists, can you treat Great Hero Jeok?”
“A certain person I know says it can.”
At my glance, the Divine Physician opened his mouth.
“We have nearly finished preparing. If the Myriad-Poison Ring is added, there will be no problem with the treatment.”
“How long will it take?”
“Fifteen days. Fifteen days will be enough.”
“Fifteen days…”
Tang Sadok let out a low groan before looking at the Divine Physician.
“I examined Great Hero Jeok’s condition once before. Though my medical knowledge is shallow compared to my expertise in poison arts, I could not determine what sort of symptoms he was suffering from. Is it truly possible?”
“It is possible.”
A clear voice rang out.
Mungyeong stepped forward and added a single sentence.
“The Divine Physician can do it.”
“What an audacious young man. Is he your Disciple?”
The Divine Physician answered Tang Sadok’s question with a faint smile, then spoke.
“The Myriad-Poison Ring is essential for the patient’s recovery. I understand your desire to conceal such a sacred artifact, but please show your generosity and extend your benevolence.”
“Benevolence. Do you think so too?”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Speak. I want to hear your thoughts.”
“If you insist.”
I shrugged and answered.
“Rather than benevolence, let’s call it gratitude and grudges.”
“Why?”
“Because this is the Murim. If someone helps you, isn’t repaying them the martial world’s code?”
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Tang Sadok’s wrinkled mouth.
“That sounds much better.”
“It sounds better, and it isn’t empty flattery.”
“What will you do if the culprit flees to some far-off foreign land while Great Hero Jeok is being treated?”
“I’ll pursue him alone and bring him back. Ah, of course, I’m not saying I’ll leave right away. I won’t move an inch until my Master wakes up.”
“You’re an amusing bastard. Even tearing the culprit limb from limb wouldn’t be enough, but he is also an extraordinary master. Do you think a wet-behind-the-ears brat like you can capture someone like that?”
“If there’s absolutely no way to capture him, I’ll have to kill him.”
“Ha… hahahaha!”
Tang Sadok burst into uproarious laughter. Then, once he had finished, he casually threw out a single sentence.
“The Myriad-Poison Ring does not exist.”
“……What?”
What the fuck was he talking about?
Had this old man been playing with me the entire time?
Just as I felt the back of my head going numb, Tang Sadok continued.
“The Myriad-Poison Ring is nothing more than an old legend. Even among our blood relatives, it is merely a stale tale.”
“What do you mean, it doesn’t exist? It really doesn’t?”
“No one knows, and no one must know.”
“Fuck! Then you should have said that from the beginning! Have you been messing with me this whole—”
Ssssss.
I could not finish my sentence. I shut my mouth.
A pure white snake had slowly crawled out from inside Tang Sadok’s robes and was staring fixedly at me, flicking its tongue.
What is that?
This wasn’t Voldemort. Why was a snake suddenly appearing here?
To make matters worse, it had horns, which snakes were not supposed to have. As I stared into the snake’s black eyes, the Divine Physician muttered as if groaning.
“The Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake…?”
The name alone sounded like a deadly viper.
Tang Sadok gave a quiet laugh at my slow retreat and stroked the snake’s triangular head.
“Don’t be afraid. It isn’t dangerous, so there’s no need to back away.”
“The name alone sounds fucking dangerous.”
“The Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake?”
“Yes. What kind of name is that? It’s not a golden retriever. It’s a Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake… Never mind. Does the Myriad-Poison Ring really not exist?”
“It isn’t the Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake. It’s Mimi.”
“Excuse me?”
“Tang Mimi. That is the name I gave it.”
What was that supposed to mean? Terrifying…
As Tang Sadok stroked Mimi-chan with a hand full of affection, he suddenly looked at the Divine Physician.
“You must know. This creature is not an ordinary Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake.”
The Divine Physician nodded.
“As far as I know, a Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake is a rare venomous creature that carries an extremely deadly poison. Its entire body is black, and its temperament is so ferocious that it can never be tamed. However…”
“As you can see, this one not only looks different, but is also exceptionally gentle.”
“But we do not know when it might suddenly turn on us. Is it not a venomous creature capable of killing a hundred cows with a single drop of its venom?”
“You have nothing to worry about. This one has no venom.”
“What?”
“To be precise… it would be more accurate to say that its venom is gone.”
After finishing his sentence, Tang Sadok met the gaze of Mimi-chan—or rather, the Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake.
It lasted only a brief moment, but it was clearly a moment of communion. The clever snake had evidently understood its master’s intentions.
Hiss! Ssssss!
The snake lowered its head and let out a metallic hiss before spitting something onto Tang Sadok’s palm.
With a soft plop, the object emerged from the slime covering it.
That’s…
A ring.
A black gemstone was set into it, as if it had trapped the darkness of the entire world inside.
It had absorbed even the Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake’s deadly venom, and now it gleamed with a beautiful yet ominous light.
“No way…”
As I stared at the ring, half dazed, Tang Sadok’s low voice pierced my ears.
“Remember this. No one knows, and no one must know.”
“Then…”
“Yes.”
Tang Sadok held it out toward me.
“It is our family’s sacred artifact.”
The moment I picked up the ring with trembling hands, the bell I had been waiting for rang out.
Ding.
System
Quest Condition complete: Myriad-Poison Ring Acquired!
Chain Quest Myriad-Poison Ring has been successfully completed!
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