Free Web NovelOnly then did I understand the look in Grandfather’s eyes when he wanted to tear the Martial Alliance Lord to pieces.
Of course he had been furious. The man had tried to move him by using the name of the beloved who was carved into his heart.
So the Martial Alliance Lord really was complete trash. No wonder I had hated the way he talked.
She was kind, considerate, and beautiful. I learned a great deal from her.
Remembering Tang Jung’s recollection left me a little melancholy.
I could not even imagine how agonizing his youth must have been, losing both his sister and his beloved.
So that was why. That was why he had told me not to go before him....
When my expression darkened, Yeon Ryang changed the subject.
“More importantly, how did you end up wandering around? The Poison King just stood by while his own disciple was driven out?”
“There were circumstances.”
“Hm. I suppose the Poison King must have gone into some closed-door training chamber?”
I jumped and scooted away from Yeon Ryang.
“Uh, Brother? Did the Demonic Sect plant spies inside the Tang Clan too?”
“...Sohae, you’re treating me like some Demonic Sect bastard now.”
“But you are. A Demonic Sect bastard.”
“I have no defense.”
Yeon Ryang shrugged, rubbed his chin, and said, “You said someone framed you for murder, didn’t you? It’s obvious even without seeing it. The Poison King must have been away, so they thought this was their chance and drove you out.”
“You know it pretty well. Just as you guessed, he’s in seclusion. That’s enough about Grandfather. Tell me more about the Demonic Sect. Why are you out in the Central Plains?”
“I can’t tell you that, little sister. There’s a restriction on me.”
“A restriction?”
“Right. If I reveal the Sect’s secrets, my head will burst open. I doubt that would be a pleasant sight for you.”
“What?”
Yeon Ryang chuckled as if he had just made a funny joke, but I could not laugh with him. I grabbed the hem of his clothes and pressed him.
“What is that supposed to mean? How do you undo it? It can be undone, right?”
“Who knows? I was told it would come undone if the old Bishop who placed the restriction on me dies, but the man’s still hale and hearty. He looks like he’ll live another fifty years. That old man has a long thread of life.”
“Then it isn’t impossible, is it?”
“No. We just have to kill the old Bishop. Simple, right?”
There was no way killing a Bishop of the Demonic Sect could be simple, but it was still better than having no method at all.
I folded my arms and grumbled playfully.
“Who is that old man? Bring him here right now. I’ll shove the Tang Clan’s Eight Deadliest Poisons down his throat. A ladleful of poison should settle it neatly, Brother.”
“Ahaha! That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard in a while, little sister. But it won’t work. Even if the restriction is lifted, the Blood Yin Parasite is still inside this body. I doubt I’ll ever escape being a dog on a leash until the day I die.”
He mocked himself bitterly. Yeon Ryang did not seem to have any hope of escaping the Demonic Sect’s snare.
After watching his expression, I asked carefully, “Is there no way to remove the Blood Yin Parasite?”
“Even the great Martial Alliance is floundering because they can’t solve it. What could an ignorant fool like me do? Beopgong searched through the Shaolin abbot’s quarters and brought back information, but it was no use. If you use the wrong antidote, it just speeds up the seizure cycle.”
“Wait, Brother. That fake monk you called your friend... No, that monk. Is he actually the direct disciple of the Shaolin abbot?”
“That’s what he said. He was a truly strange bastard.”
“...What is going to become of the Central Plains?”
I sighed and pressed a hand to my forehead.
There was no guarantee that man would become the next Shaolin abbot, but if things went well, I might end up witnessing the Shaolin abbot and a Demonic Sect member giggling over drinks together.
Just imagining it made my stomach twist.
“Haha, that fake monk doesn’t even shave his head. He goes around with his hair tied in a tail. He says he won’t look good if he shaves it.”
“Is he allowed to do that?”
“Of course not. Apparently, if he gets dragged back to Mount Song, the first thing they’ll do is shave his head, so he’s running away.”
“Mm. There really are all sorts of people in the world.”
It was none of my business, but the Shaolin abbot must be having a miserable time....
Yeon Ryang laughed softly at my muttering and looked at me.
“You’re not exactly ordinary either, little sister. A girl walking around with a black sable? You stand out tremendously.”
“Even if I had ten Canes, I’d still stand out less than you.”
“What? Where else would you find a martial artist who looks as kind and friendly as I do? If I mixed in among commoners, they wouldn’t even know I was a martial artist.”
“Please. Brother, you were already doomed the moment you became six feet four.”
Even when I stared at him deadpan, Yeon Ryang only grinned and organized the basket.
I watched him for a moment, then asked cautiously, “Does it hurt?”
“What does?”
“That thing inside your body.”
“Ah. I don’t really feel it most of the time. It starts wriggling when it gets close to the time I need the antidote, but I’m used to it now, so it’s bearable.”
“Ugh, it wriggles? Inside your body?”
“Right. Come to think of it, it should be about time for it to start making its presence known. It’s strangely quiet.”
He rubbed his stomach as if it were unusual. I frowned and answered, “Isn’t that because your body is in bad shape? If the host dies, it dies too, so maybe it’s keeping its head down.”
“True. That could be it. I suppose I have to be alive for it to keep feeding on my internal energy.”
“Don’t talk about it like you’re raising a pet, Brother. How long is left in the cycle? You can’t even go get the antidote in that condition.”
“About a month? We’ll have to leave the mountain before then—ugh!”
Yeon Ryang had been answering as he pushed himself up, but he groaned and hunched over.
His body was trembling like an aspen leaf. It looked like his muscles had seized.
“Give me the basket, Brother. Let’s go inside and put some needles in you.”
His face stiff, he handed me the basket. Cold sweat dripped from his body.
I swallowed a sigh and slung Yeon Ryang over myself.
He was used to enduring pain, so he kept wandering outside the room, but his recovery was so slow that even the weakened parasite was keeping still. Leaving the mountain within a month was impossible.
Just getting those torn muscles to knit would take two months.
I hid my gloom and laid Yeon Ryang down on the bed. Then a thought suddenly flashed through my mind, and my eyes widened.
...Wait. The parasite has weakened along with him?
Then wasn’t now the perfect chance to get rid of it? It was short on internal energy, so even a small shock might kill it.
It was a sorcery used to control people, but at its root, the Blood Yin Parasite was still a parasite.
If things went well, I might be able to kill it the way one expelled worms.
Among the medical books I had read with Tang Un, there had been one about parasites....
I sank deep into thought and stuck needles into him one after another. Yeon Ryang, who had turned into a hedgehog, gave a hollow laugh.
“Little sister. I think you’ve put in too many needles.” freeweɓnovel.cѳm
“Uh, no. They’re all acupoints.”
“Something is running down my forehead.”
“It’s sweat. Sweat. It isn’t blood, so don’t worry about it.”
I wiped his sweat roughly and recalled the contents of the medical book.
I definitely remembered how to make deworming pills. There had been several prescriptions that used the toxicity of medicinal ingredients to kill parasites.
If Yeon Ryang had no poison resistance, the parasite rooted inside him would not have any resistance either. There was a possibility.
If the parasite was weakened, couldn’t I remove it without using lethal poison?
Ah. This ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ might work.
Yeon Ryang, who had been lying still, asked awkwardly, “Sohae. Why are you smiling like that? Your brother is getting nervous.”
The corners of my mouth lifted in a broad grin as I began.
“Brother. Do you know what wild animals do when they’re infected with parasites?”
“Hm? Wild animals? No idea.”
“They eat poisonous plants.”
“They eat poisonous plants?”
“Yeah. Instinctively, they know poison can kill parasites.”
“That’s fascinating. When you look closely, animals are surprisingly smart. But why are you telling me this?”
Yeon Ryang blinked at me as if wondering why I had suddenly brought up something so random.
“I’m saying it’s a method verified by nature. How about we use poison too?” freёwebnovel.com
“Hm?”
“We use poison to dissolve and kill the Blood Yin Parasite, and before the poison spreads through your body, Cane sucks out the poison energy.”
“So you’re going to cut off my breath before the parasite seizes and kills me. How kind of you.”
“I’m serious, Brother. If we control the speed at which the poison spreads, I think it might work.”
“I see. Will you control the speed at which I reach the afterlife too?”
Yeon Ryang twisted his mouth as if telling me not to talk nonsense, then narrowed his eyes when he saw my expression.
“Sohae, you’re serious. I’ve never heard of removing a Blood Yin Parasite with poison.”
“I’ve never heard of a Blood Yin Parasite either, but poison is used to treat parasites. When you think about it, the Blood Yin Parasite is a parasite too.”
“It’s different from an ordinary parasite.”
“Yeah. But it’s the same in that it draws nourishment from your body. It’s also the same in that it can’t live outside your body.”
“That’s bullshit logic, but it sounds oddly plausible.”
“Brother. Can you suppress poison for about fifteen minutes so it doesn’t spread through your meridian channels? It would be even better if you could gather the poison around the area where the Blood Yin Parasite is sleeping.”
“No. I might manage a few breaths, but not that long. I told you, little sister. I have no poison resistance.”
“That means we have to finish it quickly.”
My brow furrowed on its own.
If it were Grandfather, he would have understood Yeon Ryang’s condition just by flowing internal energy into him, but I could not.
It would probably take time to find a concentration Yeon Ryang could endure that could still dissolve the parasite.
Seeing me seriously thinking it over, Yeon Ryang asked in alarm, “Are you serious? You really intend to use poison on me?”
“Let’s try it, Brother. I don’t know about anything else, but when it comes to poison, I’m far better than the Martial Alliance or that monk. I’m the first disciple the Poison King accepted in seventy years.”
“The Poison King is your master. You aren’t the Poison King....”
Yeon Ryang muttered. I pretended not to hear and asked, “Do you know what ingredients go into the antidote you take?”
“No. I heard the manufacturing method is such a secret of the Sect that even the old Bishops don’t know it.”
“Then we have no choice. We’ll have to try them one by one.”
“...Try what?”
“What else? Poisons.”
“...W-wait. Sohae. Your brother loathes poison. Taking it once every three months is already awful, and you want me to try all kinds of unknown poisons?”
“Let’s give it a try, Brother. You can’t spend your whole life dancing to the tune of trash who kidnap people and threaten them by feeding them poison.”
“I don’t think you’re the one who should be saying that.”
Ignoring Yeon Ryang’s mutter, I sprang to my feet.
If I had to restore Yeon Ryang’s body, restore the deposed consort’s body, and make poison at the same time, I would have to move busily.
“Call me in thirty minutes. I’ll come take the needles out.”
“Sohae? Your brother thinks it would be better to just take the antidote than stir up trouble for nothing. Sohae. Are you listening to your brother? Sohae!”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make it so you don’t have to use it as much as possible.”
I answered and strode away.
They controlled people with some parasite?
Don’t make me laugh.
Let’s see who wins, you damned Demonic Sect bastards.
