I examined the small ring closely. It was light and strange.
Its band was made of some unknown metal and covered in unfamiliar patterns. The gemstone set in its center gleamed darkly, as though it held the night sky within it.
So this is the Myriad-Poison Ring.
The sacred artifact of the Sichuan Tang Clan—said to detoxify any poison—had fallen into my hands.
Its power had to be genuine if it could turn a Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake, a creature said to harbor an extraordinarily deadly venom, into a pet snake named Mimi-chan.1 Still, it couldn’t hurt to check.
Item Appraisal.
Beep.
System
Item Appraisal failed!
A special condition must be met to appraise this Item!
“Huh?”
“What is it? Is there a problem?”
I vaguely brushed off Tang Sadok’s puzzled question.
“No. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“The gemstone is pretty. It’s almost the same color as the snake’s eyes.”
A crease formed on Tang Sadok’s forehead.
I had momentarily forgotten that the old man standing before me was not only the Family Head of a great clan, but also a seasoned martial artist who had spent his entire life in the Murim.
Sure enough, Tang Sadok’s eyes widened as he bellowed.
“What nonsense!”
“Family Head, the thing is—”
“Our Mimi’s eyes are prettier!”
“What?”
“And that’s not all! I rub her down with fragrant oil every morning and evening, so she smells wonderful. Her teeth are pearly white too!”
“Ah… right.”
A seasoned martial artist, my ass. He was just a snake fanatic.
What kind of Family Head liked his pet snake more than his family’s sacred artifact?
At this point, I was starting to wonder whether Mimi-chan1 was the true sacred artifact of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
But why can’t I appraise it?
I tried Item Appraisal again just in case, but the result was the same. If appraising it required some special condition, then I supposed a sacred artifact really was a sacred artifact.
It bothers me that I can’t confirm its effects, but it should work.
I turned to the Divine Physician. He had been watching with a smile, and he spoke as though he’d been waiting for me.
“The Thousand-Year Poison Horned Snake is no ordinary venomous snake, but a spiritual creature. Yet the ring rendered even its venom glands useless… We will have to try it before we know the full extent of its power, but it is certainly worthy of the name Myriad-Poison Ring.”
“In that case…”
“Without the Myriad-Poison Ring, the chance of success would have been a mere one percent. Now, I would place it above seventy percent.”
“Even with the Myriad-Poison Ring, it’s only seventy percent…?”
“This old man’s medical arts will supply the remaining thirty.”
“Whew. You should’ve said that from the start.”
The Divine Physician laughed heartily at my sigh of relief and stroked his beard.
“Now only one thing remains.”
“What is it?”
“A place to conduct the treatment.”
Tang Sadok abruptly cut in, his tone blunt.
“Have you forgotten where you are?”
“I am well aware that the Sichuan Tang Clan has its own clinic. However, treating Great Hero Jeok requires two specific conditions.”
“Name them.”
“First, it must be secluded, somewhere people cannot easily come and go. Second, it must receive no sunlight and be permeated by a bitter, bone-chilling cold.”
“Somewhere secluded, dark, and cold…”
Tang Sadok considered this for a moment, then let out a quiet laugh.
“As it happens, I know the perfect place. I shall take you there myself.”
“Thank you for your generosity, Family Head.”
“I am no benevolent Great Hero. This is merely a matter of gratitude and grudges between us. And if you ever reveal the existence of the Myriad-Poison Ring or allow word of it to spread outside the clan…”
I sighed and finished for him.
“I’ll be dragged off, dunked waist-deep in a vat of poison, and have holes punched through me with needles.”
“You have a poor imagination. Whatever you can imagine, you will suffer worse.”
“That won’t happen unless I lose my mind.”
“I certainly hope so… What are you doing here?”
Good question. What was that guy doing?
While we were talking, Cheongpung had crept over and was reaching toward Mimi-chan.1
“Wow, she’s pretty. Can I touch her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Hmph. Do you think she lets just anyone touch her? If I had not summoned her, she would never even have shown herself before you.”
“Mimi, Mimi. Come here.”
“What ridiculous nonsense—”
Hissssss.
Mimi-chan1 slithered down Tang Sadok’s shoulder and licked the back of Cheongpung’s hand.
“Gasp!”
“Mimi, Whirlwind!”
Whirlwind, my ass. He was ordering her to perform a technique even a person wouldn’t understand.
As expected, there was no telling what went on inside Cheongpung’s head.
Sssshk, sssshk, sssshhhk!
“…What the fuck?”
What had I just witnessed?
My jaw dropped as Mimi-chan1 began spinning wildly in a tight spiral.
“Wow! Good job, Mimi!”
“This can’t be! How could Mimi use Whirlwind on someone she’s never met before?”
“Wait, that’s a real technique?”
“That is not what matters right now!”
It seemed pretty important to me. At this rate, I wondered whether she might start firing a Thunderbolt or a Hyper Beam.2
Can she evolve too…?
As I tried to decide whether the Myriad-Poison Ring or Mimi-chan1 was the true sacred artifact, Cheongpung beamed.
“I’m good with animals. When I lay in the grass at Huashan, birds, deer, and even tigers would come play with me. Hehe.”
What was he, some kind of Huashan druid?
Tang Sadok had been staring blankly at Cheongpung, still reeling from the shock of losing Mimi-chan1 to him. Now he raised an objection.
“Wait. Something strange slipped in at the end. Why would there be a tiger? How dare you tell such an obvious lie before this old man!”
“We were all about to say goodbye when the tiger tried to eat the deer, so I knocked it out with Crouching Tiger Fist!”
“…”
“…”
It sounded completely insane, no matter who heard it.
Which probably meant it was true.
Silence filled the main hall, making Mungyeong’s mutter ring out with unusual clarity.
“Is the Huashan I know a different Huashan…?”
I didn’t know about that, but one thing was certain.
If heaven and earth were ever overturned and Cheongpung somehow became Huashan’s Sect Leader, from that day onward, it would be your Huashan—not mine.
“…Let’s go. You said you would show us the place.”
“…Very well.”
Following Tang Sadok, we arrived at a cave on the distant outskirts of the Sichuan Tang Clan’s grounds.
Its entrance yawned open like a pitch-black maw.
Aside from two large braziers on either side, there was no one in sight.
“Where are we? It doesn’t look like anyone is guarding this place.”
“If no one is here, I suppose it must be feeding time.”
“Feeding?”
“You will understand once we enter. Follow me.”
Unlike the Jin Family of Taiyuan’s training hall, this cave did not run in a straight line.
We descended stone steps leading deep underground for what felt like ages. Eventually, we reached a narrow corridor barely wide enough for two people to pass through side by side, and a familiar smell invaded my nose.
Is this… the smell of blood?
A bad feeling came over me. I looked around and saw barred iron doors spaced along the corridor.
“Don’t tell me…”
“That is correct. This is our family’s underground prison.”
“…Not a torture chamber?”
“Oh, you will see plenty of those farther inside.”
What the hell had I just heard?
Everyone turned to stare at Tang Sadok, myself included, but he continued as though it were no big deal.
“Except for the Family Head’s Hall and a few other pavilions, this is the oldest space in the family compound. It must be well over two hundred years old by now. In any case, it is a historic place steeped in history.”
Forget its venerable history. I felt like I ought to leave a will before I got dragged any farther inside.
The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.
“Isn’t it still just a prison?”
“Is that a problem?”
“Of course there is! You want us to treat Old Master—no, my Master—in here?”
“Not a single ray of sunlight reaches this place, and the chill permeates it to the bone. There is no more suitable location.”
“You said you conduct torture here, too.”
“Of course. Is that even worth asking?”
“…”
Anyone listening would have thought he was asking whether I wanted extra toppings on my pizza.
Just as I ran out of words, a hunched old man came limping toward us from the distance, accompanied by a faint glow.
“Family Head, what brings you here?”
“Ah, Old Man Gung. You’ve been working hard. How are they?”
“Oh, much the same as usual. I just checked whether they were still breathing. But who might these people be…?”
“They are guests of our family. Circumstances require them to stay in the prison for fifteen days. It won’t be too noisy, will it?”
“No, sir. Those still alive are little better than walking corpses, so it should be quiet.”
“When I saw him a few months ago, that Heavenly Power Demon fellow still seemed full of energy.”
“Ah, him? You needn’t worry about that one anymore.”
The hunched old man grinned, revealing a mouthful of almost entirely rotten teeth.
“He made such a racket that I drained every last bit of energy out of him. And since I was at it, I took a few other things too. Hehe.”
“You are always working hard.”
“Oh, Family Head, you flatter me. I only do it because I enjoy the work.”
As I listened to their conversation, I made a firm resolution.
I must never make an enemy of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
After exchanging a few more words with Old Man Gung, Tang Sadok spoke with a bright expression.
“Excellent. It seems the deepest and largest cell has just been vacated. We can use that one.”
I didn’t need to hear why it had been vacated.
It wasn’t as though someone had checked out at the prison’s front desk and walked away.
They must’ve checked in to the afterlife by now.
Even if this place met all the necessary conditions, could we really conduct a medical treatment here?
The Divine Physician had clearly thought the same thing. Mungyeong addressed his Master, who had put on a frown, in a calm voice.
“Master, are we not medical apprentices? For the patient’s sake, we must endure the place even if it displeases us.”
The Divine Physician let out a low groan before answering.
“…Yes. You are right. We shall do so.”
“And the people imprisoned here are certainly evil men who have committed countless murders. Please do not let it trouble you too much.”
Tang Sadok, who had been listening to their conversation, added his own remark.
“Well, well. You are quite composed for such a young medical apprentice. Divine Physician, as the boy said, every man imprisoned here is a thoroughly wicked fiend. Do not think poorly of our family.”
“This old man allowed his concern to lead him into discourtesy. I ask your generous forgiveness.”
“I shall gladly forgive you. Of course, the same does not apply to those bastards who harmed members of our family. Isn’t that right, Old Man Gung?”
Old Man Gung picked up a torch and let out a bizarre, metallic laugh.
“Come, then. This humble one will show you the way.”
“…”
For some reason, I felt as though I were following the Grim Reaper.
Judging by the atmosphere alone, that old man seems more dangerous than the culprit who killed the Poison King.
It had to be my imagination.
Yes. Definitely my imagination.
And so, we began walking toward the suite boasting the finest facilities in the Sichuan Tang Clan’s underground prison.
“Hm?”
The middle-aged man suddenly looked around.
Winter had passed. The sky was clear, and the once-bare mountain forest was slowly regaining its green.
The valley in this nameless mountain was as peaceful as ever. Yet no matter how long he thought about it, he could not understand why he felt such a strange sense of déjà vu.
“How very strange. Very strange indeed…”
The middle-aged man muttered softly, then turned his head and asked,
“Don’t you agree?”
Grrk. Gk.
Blood bubbled up from the man’s gaping throat.
The fallen man glared up at the middle-aged man, his eyes burning with hatred.
“M-my family… will make you pay…”
“What boring last words. Then again, the Sichuan Tang Clan has always been like that.”
Crunch!
The middle-aged man wiped his leather shoe, drenched in blood and brain matter, against the grass before straightening.
Four corpses lay scattered around him.
He smiled at the sole surviving man.
“Now, will you answer my questions obediently, or would you prefer to writhe in unimaginable agony until you die?”
“…!”
“For your information, the Poison King chose the latter. He held out for four days before finally dying.”
The man shuddered, then slowly closed his eyes.
A broad smile spread across the middle-aged man’s lips as he watched the man brace himself for death.
“Good. Let’s find out how long you can last.”
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