Chapter 49

“What brings you here?”

Jaeha, who had come to Ji Cheolmin’s shop, pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over.

“What’s this?”

“I have somewhere I need to use these. Could you get them for me?”

“Hmm. Well, these are pretty common. What are you going to use them for?”

“Haha. That’s a secret.”

“Alright, want me to prepare them right away?”

“Yes. I came to take them with me.”

“Got it.”

With that, he went to the back of the shop and came out again before long.

“Most of these are poisonous herbs. What are you planning to do with these?”

“Ah, I have somewhere I need to use poison.”

“Why? Trying to assassinate someone?”

“It’s not that. There’s just something I want to try with poison.”

“Hmm. Well, do what you want. But if you’re going to kill someone, tell me in advance.”

“Don’t worry.”

With that, Jaeha rose from his seat. And Ji Cheolmin grabbed hold of Jaeha as he was about to leave.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever thought about joining a guild?”

“A guild?”

“Yeah. I heard Ju Jaeyong is starting up a new guild this time.”

“Chairman Ju?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm. A guild.”

Jaeha had never thought about guilds before. He’d never considered joining one, and he hadn’t thought about creating one either.

“I don’t really feel like joining one.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Well, working under someone else just doesn’t suit my temperament.”

“True enough. That makes sense.”

“And to be upfront, I have no plans to create a guild or join one.”

“Even if there were conditions attached?”

“Is there a condition that would tempt me?”

At Jaeha’s question, Ji Cheolmin nodded his head as well.

“Fair enough.”

“Is there anything else you’d like to say?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

With that, Jaeha left the shop.

* * *

Returning home, Jaeha carefully sorted through the poisonous herbs and medicinal plants he’d brought. Then he went to the blacksmith shop and crafted the necessary items. Once the preparations were finished, Jaeha went straight to where the people who would become jiangshi were.

The moment he opened the door, Jaeha spoke while looking at the dying people.

“We’re starting right away.”

At Jaeha’s words, the two who had been designated beforehand rose from their seats, moving as slowly as zombies. Leading them, Jaeha moved to the next room. He sat the two who were wobbling like zombies in chairs far from the entrance, then used Alchemy.

A Transmutation Circle spread out, and a large iron tub materialized in front of Jaeha. Then Jaeha called for Undine.

“Undine.”

And a moment later, Undine appeared.

<You called?>

“Fill this with water. Clean, purified water.”

<Okay.>

Undine filled the tub with water, and spoke with a smile.

“You can go now. Go help Sia.”

<Okay. Got it!>

With that, Undine disappeared, and Jaeha immediately opened his Inventory and took out the various poisonous herbs he’d brought, dropping them into the water. Then, using the Transmutation Circle, he extracted the deadly toxins from the herbs.

The clear water in the tub soon began to turn purple. Jaeha kept adding more poisons, and finally, he cut his own finger and let a drop of blood fall into the poisonous liquid.

Jaeha’s blood was no longer ordinary blood—it was Dragon Blood. Once his Dragon Blood entered the poisonous water in the tub, the preparation was complete.

“Done.”

Nodding, Jaeha looked at the two who were watching what he was doing from the side.

“Get in.”

“……You want us to get in there?”

“We’d melt the moment we step in……”

Whether speaking had become too difficult for them, they said this while breathing raggedly.

“Get in now. No more talking.”

At that, as if they’d given up, they climbed in as Jaeha had ordered. The moment they entered, Jaeha immediately poured his mana into the tub. Then he pulled out all the needles embedded throughout their bodies and drove a needle deep into their transfusion points.

“You’ll fall asleep right away.”

Just as Jaeha said, they fell asleep immediately. Once they were asleep, Jaeha immediately used Corpse Puppetry. Then he pressed the very last option.

[Beginning production of Reverse Heaven Jiangshi.]

[If ‘Darkin’s Deadly Poison’ is not injected into the corpse within 24 hours, production will fail.]

Jaeha, watching that, smiled and rose from his seat. Then, still smiling, he moved to where the others were. Upon arriving, he checked the pulses of the others.

‘No major problems.’

Jaeha immediately began cleaning up the remaining poison.

‘Four people left. With about 30ml of Darkin’s poison, six would be plenty. The other poisons I can just buy at the Auction House, so that’s fine. Still, for later, I should go hunt down this Darkin guy within the near future.’

Having said that, Jaeha smiled and spoke.

“The ones in the next room will be done by this time tomorrow. Since I’ll be working on them once they’re finished, you should prepare yourselves mentally.”

“If we do that, do we die?”

“After a good day or two of sleep, you’ll wake up with a healthy body, so you don’t need to worry.”

Having said that, Jaeha rose from his seat and went outside.

* * *

The next day, Jaeha woke up. He then went looking for John Smith. Waking John Smith, who was sleeping in his room, Jaeha looked at him and spoke.

“When does the poison get here?”

“Ah, I’ll call and check.”

John, still not fully awake, hurriedly made a call somewhere at Jaeha’s words.

“Yeah. It’s me. Where are you?”

After a moment, he nodded and spoke.

“Get to the address I sent you quickly.”

“What did they say?”

“They said they’ve landed at the airport.”

“Then they can make it in time. Good.”

Nodding, Jaeha rose from his seat and went to check on the condition of the jiangshi being created. After confirming there were no issues with the jiangshi’s condition, Jaeha used Alchemy to create a larger tub.

‘This time I need to do four at once, so I’ll have to make it bigger.’

Not long after, Jaeha finished the tub and continued by summoning Undine to fill it with water, then filled the tub with the poisonous liquids. After that, he brought the ones from the next room and placed them into the tub. Once that work was complete, he immediately used the Jiangshi Art to begin production.

After starting the production of the additional four, Jaeha quietly waited for Darkin’s poison to arrive. A few hours later, the alchemist carrying Darkin’s poison arrived, and Jaeha immediately received the poison and went back up.

Then Jaeha checked the time.

“Two hours.”

He waited quietly for two hours. Once the two hours had passed, Jaeha immediately dripped a few drops of Darkin’s poison into the poisonous liquid containing the jiangshi. At that, the liquid containing the poison began to glow, and a window rose before Jaeha.

[Reverse Heaven Jiangshi production complete.]

“Oh.”

As the completion window rose, Jaeha pulled the jiangshi’s bodies out of the poisonous liquid. The poisonous liquid dripped onto the floor, and with a sizzling sound, the ground began to melt. Seeing that, Jaeha summoned Salamander and asked it to evaporate all the dripping poisonous liquid.

“Evaporate the dripping poison for me.”

<Okay!>

Smiling at that, Jaeha began cleaning up the unconscious jiangshi bodies.

Chapter 21

After pulling the two jiangshi out of the poisonous liquid, Jaeha laid them down properly in one spot and began cleaning up the poisonous liquid.

“They must have been far stronger than I thought.”

Normally, the poisonous liquid left over after making a jiangshi had to be discarded. The reason was that while making the jiangshi, various waste products flowed out from the corpse or body, completely contaminating the poisonous liquid.

However, the poisonous liquid remaining before Jaeha now was clean enough to be reused. That meant almost no waste had come out of those two.

And the fact that no waste came out despite having such frail bodies meant they were far more remarkable individuals than Jaeha had imagined.

“Seems like they’re bigger shots than I thought.”

Muttering that, Jaeha began cleaning up the poisonous liquid. Then, looking at the remaining liquid, he transmuted a large bottle big enough to hold it and poured the poison in. After storing it neatly in his Inventory, he looked at the completed jiangshi.

“Hmm.”

Jaeha, who had been checking the jiangshi’s bodies while placing needles here and there, raised his head at the sound of a groan.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

“……Where is this.”

“Is your body alright?”

At Jaeha’s question, she quietly looked at him. And as she seemed to be grasping the situation in silence, the jiangshi who had entered the work with her also came to her senses.

After quietly assessing the situation, they suddenly sprang up from their seats and looked at Jaeha. Jaeha looked back at them, wondering what was going on, and they spoke with smiles.

“I can’t believe it’s this perfect.”

“Even better than I imagined. Now all we need is to find a way back.”

At the jiangshi’s words, Jaeha smiled. Looking at the smiling Jaeha, they smiled too.

“You saved my life, so I’ll spare yours.”

“Since you saved me, I’ll forgive you for using casual speech with me.”

At the jiangshi’s words, Jaeha was at a loss for words and quietly looked at them. They stood still, looking over their bodies and rolling their shoulders as they spoke.

“Feels no different from my prime.”

“Incredible. At this rate, rather than going back, it’d be much better to take this one with us…… Hey, you.”

At that, the Female Corpse Puppet spoke to the Male Corpse Puppet beside her.

“Are you also from the Fantasia Continent like me?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmph. I didn’t know there was a human of similar caliber to me.”

“Then are they also from the Fantasia Continent?”

“That seems to be the case. Though looking at their appearance, they seem to be from a different continent.”

“Anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to take that one with us rather than just going back?”

“Just in case. The body might break down or something.”

The two nodded as if they agreed with each other, then looked back at Jaeha.

“Going along quietly is the way to leave with all your limbs intact.”

Hearing his words, Jaeha raised his hand briefly and snapped his fingers, making a sound.

*Tsk-*

“Kya……!”

“Ugh……!”

“I don’t know if you had some kind of ability or a pretty high position in that world of yours.”

“……”

“……”

They began to writhe in pain so severe they couldn’t even let out a proper groan.

“You’re my property now. You shouldn’t be spouting nonsense about taking your master somewhere.”

“S, stop!”

“Stop?”

“P, please.”

“Please?”

“Stop it…… plea……se!”

At that, Jaeha snapped his fingers again.

“Hah, hah.”

“Hah, hah.”

He looked at the two gasping for breath painfully and spoke.

“Got a better grasp of the situation now?”

“U, ugh.”

“I went through the trouble of summoning beings from another dimension to make you. It’d be a waste to break you apart like this. So behave.”

Jaeha smiled as he said that and stood up from his seat.

“Well, rest for a bit. I’ll bring you some clothes to wear.”

Then Jaeha went down to the Blacksmith Shop and spoke to Sia.

“Sia.”

“Yes?”

“Make me some clothes.”

“Clothes?”

“Yeah. They’re for the jiangshi to wear—mine won’t fit them. There’s a woman too.”

Recalling the Male Corpse Puppet’s body structure, Jaeha said that, and Sia nodded and began making a large batch of clothes.

Then Jaeha gathered them up and headed back to where the jiangshi were. He tossed the clothes at them carelessly.

“Pick out whatever fits and put them on.”

At Jaeha’s words, they slowly began picking out and putting on clothes. Once they were all dressed, Jaeha asked.

“You two, what are your names?”

“……”

“……”